Difference between revisions of "Cradled"

Revision as of 08:32, 28 October 2011

Background

After the Fae King was reborn, he awoke his people and the land he created for them, the Cradle of the Wold. This fey kingdom had slept with the King for ages of the Wold. Eberyon and his people returned with enthusiasm not seen since the earliest dawn of the Wold. The King rose in anger at his long sleep, and attempted to use Nature herself as a weapon to conquer the Wold. The combined might of the Wold's heroes, aided by Queen Maab, the King's wife (who had been the one to put him to sleep in ages past), rose to defeat the Fae King. In defeat, the King vowed to reform and atone. Although some mortals fear and shun the fey folk, others are drawn to the fey. As part of his atonement, King Eberyon now offers mortals a deep connection to the magic and power of the fey. Those who accept the power that the Fae King offers are the Cradled.

The King wants many people to accept his hand in friendship, so he has made it easy to be Cradled, and any mortal of any class can join the fey with a modicum of study. Those who seek out fey lore and who learn the fey tongue, Sylvan, can learn to cast spells, call on fey folk for favors and friendship, and gain wonderful gifts tailored to their particular interests. Those who seek martial prowess, especially learning the combat tricks and archery of the fey, become Cradled Armigers. Those who admire Eberyon's role as the creator of worlds become Cradled Makers. Seers and sages become Cradled Lorists. Those who summon fey creatures for service become Cradled Callers. Those who delight in pranks and cleverness become Cradled Tricksters. And those who share a devotion to the musical arts become Cradled Musicians.

As NPCs, many fey friends avoid cities, living in natural places, especially those where fey folk gather. Others wander, not only through the Wold, but into the realm of the fey where time plays tricks. And of course, many NPCs accept the King's gifts and then go on with their lives. Some Cradled are noble, and others are corrupt, but all have a deep fascination with all fey creatures.

Hit Die: d6

Requirements

To qualify to become Cradled, a character must fulfill the following criteria.

• Skills: Knowledge (Nature) 3 ranks, Knowledge (Planes) 3 ranks
• Language: Must be able to speak Sylvan
• Special: The aspiring Cradled must stand in a fairy ring on the Day of the Nymph in the Month of the Lady and call out five times the names of the Fae King and his Queen Maab.

Class Skills

The fey friend's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Bluff (Cha), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge-Nature (Int), Knowledge-The Planes (Int), Linguistics (Int), Perception (Wis), Profession (Wis), Sense Motive (Wis), Spellcraft (Int).

Skill Points per level: 4 + Int modifier

Class Features

Cradled Emissary Ethos: These fey friends think of themselves as emissaries, that is, envoys and ambassadors, offering the friendship of mortals to the fey. Some fey greet the cradled emissaries as long lost cousins, and other fey treat them with amusement or contempt. Some of the fey call these friendly mortals "bargainers" or "ephemerals." Among themselves, the cradled emissaries call themselves "the cradled" because they seek to be linked to the fey as the Wold is linked to its Cradle. They call themselves "emissaries" because they seek to bring messages of alliance between mortals and fey folk. The cradled treat all Fey creatures with respect, even those they are forced to oppose or even fight. No emissary will ever attack a member of Maab's or Eberyon's royal courts except in self defense.

Weapon & Armor Proficiency: Emissaries gain no additional proficiency with armor or weapons.

Spells Per Day: When a new emissary level is gained, the character gains new spells per day as if she had also gained a level in a spellcasting class she belonged to before she added the prestige class. She does not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained (better wildshape, metamagic or item creation feats, and so on). This essentially means that she adds the level of emissary to the level of some other spellcasting class the character has, then determines spells per day, spells known, and caster level accordingly. If a character had more than one spellcasting class before she became a fey friend, she must decide to which class she adds her cradled levels for purposes of determining spells per day when she first adopts the PrC.

Fey Affinity: Emissaries gain a +1 bonus on all skill interactions with fey creatures, including negotiations for services. This bonus rises every four levels, to +2 at level 5 and +3 at level 9.

Improved Ally: When an emissary casts a planar ally spell to call a fey (including the lesser and greater versions), he makes a Diplomacy check to convince the fey to aid him for a reduced payment. If the emissary's Diplomacy check adjusts the fey's attitude to helpful the creature will work for 50% of the standard fee, as long as the task is one that is not against its nature. The emissary's improved ally class feature only works when the planar ally shares at least one aspect of alignment with the emissary. A cradled emissary can have only one such ally at a time, but he may bargain for tasks from other planar allies normally.

• NOTE: It can be dangerous to call on the fey for favors. Although only non hostile fey will answer a call from an emissary, even a "friendly" fey may play tricks or behave in ways that seem odd to a mortal.

Lesser Fey Travel: The cradled can cast Plane Shift as a spell-like ability once per day, but only to travel to the Wold's Cradle and to return. No material component is needed. Note that travel to the fey realm is fraught with dangers, not least being that time moves oddly there.

Augment Summoning: At 4th level, a cradled emissary gains the Augment Summoning feat.

Extended Summoning: At 6th level and higher, all spells from the summoning subschool that the cradled casts have their durations doubled, as if the Extend Spell feat had been applied to them. The levels of the summoning spells don't change, however. This ability stacks with the effect of the Extend Spell feat, which does change the spell's level.

Greater Fey Travel: The emissary can use the fey travel ability twice per day. Also, the ability now returns the friend to the Wold at about the place (within a mile) and moment (within an hour) from which the emissary left. This minimizes the danger of getting very lost in time or place upon one's return.

Contingent Conjuration: An 8th-level emissary can prepare a summoning or calling spell ahead of time to be triggered by some other event. This functions as described for the contingency spell, including having the cradled cast the summoning or calling spell beforehand. The spell is cast instantly when the trigger event occurs. The conditions needed to bring the spell into effect must be clear, although they can be general. If complicated or convoluted condition as are prescribed, the contingent conjuration may fail when triggered. The conjuration spell occurs based solely on the stated conditions, regardless of whether the emissary wants it to, although most conjurations can be dismissed normally. An emissary can have only one contingent conjuration active at a time.

Fey Cohort: A 10th-level cradled emissary can use any of the planar ally spells to call a fey to act as his cohort. The called fey serves loyally and well for a period of time from a month to a year, as long as the fey friend continues to advance a cause important to the creature. To call a fey cohort, the cradled must cast the relevant spell, but no expenditure of experience or gold is needed to convince it to serve as a fey cohort. The fey cohort can't have more Hit Dice than the cradled has, and must have an ECL no higher than the emissary's character level -3. An emissary can have only one fey cohort at a time, but he can continue to make agreements with other called creatures normally. A fey cohort replaces a cradled's existing cohort, if he has one by virtue of the Leadership feat, but in this case the cohort's ECL can equal the cradled's level. After the cohort leaves the emissary's service, the emissary must wait a week before calling another.

Notes on Fey Travel

Note that the DM makes all decisions physical and temporal displacement, as well as other dangers.

Some ground rules:

• the PC (and party) never returns to the Wold at an earlier time than they left. The exception being when the module depends on this and the PC's seek out a reverse time stream.
• the solo PC never arrives so distant in time or place that they are effectively written out of the module. The exception being a PC whose player wishes to go on walkabout for a fixed or indefinite period.
• the PC (and party) never returns to a time and/or place where survival is impossible
• For Lesser Fey Travel using teleport %):
  • On Target = within 1d12 hours in time & 1d10 miles in distance
  • Off Target = within 3d8 hours in time & 3d10 miles
  • Similar Target - DM fiat but merely inconvenient or embarrassing
  • Mishap - DM fiat but hazardous

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