SYNTACTIC MAGE Wizards learn spells by rote, preparing them daily. Sorcerers feel their power inside them, but still draw it out in a limited set of abilities. To a select few, however, magic is not limited by spells and rote, but by discovering the key words needed to unlock it. The syntactic mage is akin to the sorcerer in that he eschews learning by rote. However, he is akin to the wizard in that he studies magic intellectually rather than coming upon it naturally. To him, magic is not codified into hundreds of little spells, but is broken down into many magical Words, which can be strung together to form spells. Each spell is unique, created at the time it is cast. Note: Syntactic magic is extremely flexible and powerful, as well as potentially game- breaking. The player should work with the GM to make sure that the spell when cast makes sense; "Inflict Fire9 Self" may make sense, if a bit suicidal, but "Summon Illusion Explosive {Target}" does not. It is also inherently tied to the spell point variant for magic, as each Word (with a few exceptions) requires spell points to be added to a spell. Alignment: Any. Hit Die: d4 (d6 in Pathfinder). Starting Wealth: 2d6 × 10 gp (average 70 gp). In addition, each character begins play with an outfit worth 10 gp or less. Class Skills: The Syntactic Mage's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Decipher Script (Int), Knowledge (all skills, taken individually) (Int), Profession (Wis), Spellcraft (Int), and Use Magic Device (Cha). Skill Points at 1st Level: (2 + Int modifier) × 4. Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 2 + Int modifier. Class Features: Weapon and armor proficiency: Syntactic Mages are proficient with all simple weapons, but not with any type of armor or shield. Armor of any type interferes with a mage's movements, which can cause his spells to fail. Eschew Materials: Gained as a bonus feat at level one; syntactic magic does not rely on minor material components. Spell Points: The syntactic mage uses the variant Spell Point system from _Unearthed Arcana_, using the Wizard column for spell points per day. Syntactic Magic: At first level, the caster knows all basic Verbs, the Adjectives "Self", "{Target}", and "Touch", and four first-level Nouns. At each additional level, the character may gain one or more Nouns; see the Nouns Known Per Level table below. The syntactic mage gains bonus Nouns same as a wizard gains bonus spell slots. At 3rd level, the mage learns the Adjectives "Area", "Cone, and "Line". At 5th level, the mage learns the Adjectives "Double" and "Explosive". At 8th level, the mage learns the Adjective "Exempt {Target}". When gaining a higher level Noun, the mage may decide to increase the spell level of a Noun he already knows. The mage may choose at this point to replace the lower spell level Noun with a different one or to keep the lower-level version of the Noun as well as the higher- level one. He must from that point on specify at casting which version of the Noun he is using. A syntactic spell consists at minimum of a Verb, a Noun, and an Adjective. As the mage increases in level, the number of Nouns that can be added into a spell increases. At any time the mage may substutite an Adjective for a Noun, so long as the spell contains a minimum of one Noun. Syntactic Magic is considered to be spontanteous casting for applying metamagic feats. The saving throw of a syntactic spell is 10 + the spell level of the highest Noun used + the caster's Int modifier. Familiar: A syntactic mage can obtain a familiar. Doing so takes 24 hours and uses up magical materials that cost 100 gp. A familiar is a magical beast that resembles a small animal and is unusually tough and intelligent. The creature serves as a companion and servant. The mage chooses the kind of familiar he gets. As the mage advances in level, his familiar also increases in power. If the familiar dies or is dismissed by the mage, the mage must attempt a DC 15 Fortitude saving throw. Failure means he loses 200 experience points per mage level; success reduces the loss to one-half that amount. However, a mage's experience point total can never go below 0 as the result of a familiar's demise or dismissal. A slain or dismissed familiar cannot be replaced for a year and day. A slain familiar can be raised from the dead just as a character can be, and it does not lose a level or a Constitution point when this happy event occurs. A character with more than one class that grants a familiar may have only one familiar at a time. (If using Pathfinder, this may be replaced with the Arcane Bond class feature, which may grant a bonded item instead of a familiar.) Bonus Feats: At 5th, 10th, 15th, and 20th level, a syntactic mage gains a bonus feat. At each such opportunity, he can choose a metamagic feat or an item creation feat. The mage must still meet all prerequisites for a bonus feat, including caster level minimums. These bonus feats are in addition to the feat that a character of any class gets from advancing levels. The mage is not limited to the categories of item creation feats or metamagic feats when choosing those feats. Spellbook: A syntactic mage must spend an hour at the start of each day reviewing his spellbook. This is similar to yet different from the wizard's spellbook in the following way. A mage's spellbook does not contain the individual spells he can cast. Instead, the spellbook can be thought of like a quick-reference guide for the various Words he can cast; in essense, he's reminding himself of the various Words he has access to and determining how they can be put together (as well as which combinations are valid or invalid). A syntactic mage may choose at this time to prepare a handful of spells, much like a wizard, with metamatic feats (such as the Quicken Spell feat), spending the spell points at that point instead of at casting. Fort Ref Will Level BAB Save Save Save Special 1 +0 +0 +0 +2 Syntactic Magic, Eschew Materials 2 +1 +0 +0 +3 3 +1 +1 +1 +3 4 +2 +1 +1 +4 5 +2 +1 +1 +4 Bonus Feat 6 +3 +2 +2 +5 7 +3 +2 +2 +5 8 +4 +2 +2 +6 9 +4 +3 +3 +6 10 +5 +3 +3 +7 Bonus Feat 11 +5 +3 +3 +7 12 +6/+1 +4 +4 +8 13 +6/+1 +4 +4 +8 14 +7/+2 +4 +4 +9 15 +7/+2 +5 +5 +9 Bonus Feat 16 +8/+3 +5 +5 +10 17 +8/+3 +5 +5 +10 18 +9/+4 +6 +6 +11 19 +9/+4 +6 +6 +11 20 +10/+5 +6 +6 +12 Bonus Feat Nouns Known Per Level Level 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1 4 ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ 2 5 ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ 3 5 1 ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ 4 5 2 ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ 5 6 2 1 ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ 6 6 3 2 ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ 7 6 3 2 1 ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ 8 7 3 3 2 ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ 9 7 4 3 2 1 ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ 10 7 4 3 3 2 ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ 11 8 4 4 3 2 1 ‒ ‒ ‒ 12 8 4 4 3 3 2 ‒ ‒ ‒ 13 8 5 4 4 3 2 1 ‒ ‒ 14 8 5 4 4 3 3 2 ‒ ‒ 15 8 5 5 4 4 3 2 1 ‒ 16 8 5 5 4 4 3 3 2 ‒ 17 8 5 5 5 4 4 3 2 1 18 8 5 5 5 4 4 3 2 2 19 8 5 5 5 4 4 4 3 2 20 8 5 5 5 4 4 4 3 3 Nouns Per Spell Level 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1 1 ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ 2 1 ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ 3 1 1 ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ 4 1 1 ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ 5 2 1 1 ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ 6 2 1 1 ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ 7 2 2 1 1 ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ 8 2 2 1 1 ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ 9 3 2 2 1 1 ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ 10 3 2 2 1 1 ‒ ‒ ‒ ‒ 11 3 3 2 2 1 1 ‒ ‒ ‒ 12 3 3 2 2 1 1 ‒ ‒ ‒ 13 4 3 3 2 2 1 1 ‒ ‒ 14 4 3 3 2 2 1 1 ‒ ‒ 15 4 4 3 3 2 2 1 1 ‒ 16 4 4 3 3 2 2 1 1 ‒ 17 4 4 4 3 3 2 2 1 1 18 4 4 4 3 3 2 2 1 1 19 4 4 4 4 3 3 2 2 1 20 4 4 4 4 3 3 2 2 1 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In a casting, the default range is 10 feet, modified by certain Adjectives. Each Word, with a few notable exceptions, requires one spell point to use. Nouns require a number of spell points equal to the minimum caster level needed to use the Word. Sample Nouns: Acid Air Agony Animal Body Chaos Cold Earth Evil Fire Food Force Good Illusion Language Law Lightning Light Magic Mind Neutrality Outsider Plant Poison Senses Sound Spirit Undead Water Weapon Basic Verbs: Control - by default, lasts 1 round per CL Create - conjurations last 1 minute per CL Detect - by default, lasts 1 minute per CL, does not cost a spell point Inflict - by default, does 1d6 damage to the target per caster level of the Noun Protect - by default, lasts 1 minute per CL Strengthen - by default, lasts 1 minute per CL; adds +2 base, with another +1 per additional spell level, usually used with (but not exclusive to) Body or Mind (designate stat at casting) Summon - beings brought in from extraplanar sources last for 1 round per caster level before returning from whence they came; beings brought in from the local area appear immediately. Advanced Verbs: Merge - ? Negate - cancels one magical effect Adjectives: Area - makes a spell an area effect spell with an radius of 10 feet Cone - makes an attack spell into a 60 degree wide, 10 foot long cone Double - doubles the range or power of a spell; if used with Area, doubles the radius; if used with Explosive, doubles the explosive radius Explosive - turns an attack spell into an area effect spell centered on the target with a radius of 10 feet Exempt {Target} - can only be addded to Area, Cone, and Line, used to designate a target that will not be affected by the spell; must be added multiple times to exempt additional targets Line - makes an attack spell into a 10 foot long jet hitting all targets Self - makes the spell affect the caster instead of having a range; does not cost a spell point {Target} - specifies the target of the attack within 10 feet; does not cost a spell point. Touch - makes a spell into one that has to be delivered as a melee attack; does not cost a spell point. Feats ----- Advanced Verbs - Syntactic Mage bonus feat Prerequisites: Syntactic Magic class features or a feat granting access to syntactic magic You've been researching your Words so thoroughly you've unearthed a few new Verbs not discovered until now! This feat grants access to the Verbs on the Advanced Verb list; these Verbs cause spells crafted with them to be counted at the *higher* of the highest Noun's caster level or CL 3.