Stargazer



"Such beauty and wonder! Truly, I have never seen its like. If we could harness even the tiniest measure of the power in that distant sea of stars, the world would know no reason for darkness." -Precia, a Stargazer

Mortals have always looked to the stars. They have sung songs in their honor, painted great masterpieces in a vain attempt to capture the beauty of the heavens above. It has been said that even angels, when seeking beauty not to be found in their eternal gardens, have gazed upwards in reverence at the most ancient of lights and whispered their praises. All beings look to the stars... and yet, so very few truly see them.

The light of the stars is faint. It may be drowned by the sun, by the moon - even the torches of mortals can hide them from view. Most who hear their song ignore it, if they notice it at all. But some seek it out. The task of these few is not an easy one - to extract from the vast emptiness the notes of a song older and more complex than any mortal mind could fathom. A song of beauty and ugliness both, and of the battles fought by the purest radiance the cosmos has ever known. Calling upon hidden secrets imparted by the very constellations above, stargazers shine as stars reborn in flesh, and with patience and foresight, they shall chart the path to an era bathed in light.

Abilities
A stargazer's power is ancient and complex, kindling their inner light through rites engraved in the stars themselves. Thus, a high Intelligence will allow them to most effectively wield the Illuminations that form the bulk of their power. A good Dexterity score will also likely be important to a stargazer hoping to make frequent use of Blasts, and complements the lighter costumes most stargazers favor. As with any class possessed of a low HD, Constitution can prove useful to any stargazer expecting to spend time near the front line of battle.

Role
A stargazer lacks the raw power of a true caster, but she more than makes up for it with her flexibility and versatility. Capable of empowering an ally with one hand even as she blasts a foe into oblivion with the other, a well-prepared stargazer can provide aid in nearly any sort of battle imaginable.

Races
Members of any race can take up the mantle of a stargazer, but they are most common among races and cultures with strong traditions of formal learning. The call of starlight is a faint one, and it is easily missed - those who have heard and ignored it simply because they did not know how to seek it out are without number.

Alignment
Many hear the faint calling of the starlit path, but those that choose to walk it are rarely non-good in alignment. To an evil creature, the light - if they notice its presence at all - is a sickly, wretched noise at best, to be avoided rather than pursued. However, neutral and evil evokers do exist - some such beings have fallen from their once-lofty morals, while others walked a shadowed path from the very beginning, resisting every effort to be drawn into the light they have learned to wield.

Starting Gold
As wizard

Starting Age
Most stargazers come into their power early, perhaps out of the innocence of childhood. When rolling for age, roll as a Bard - but subtract the total from adult age rather than adding it (to a minimum of half an adult’s age). If rules are in place that would reduce the statistics of child characters, the stargazer is exempt from them.

Class Skill List
Appraise (Int), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Decipher Script (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge [All skills, taken separately] (Int), Listen (Wis), Perform (Cha), Search (Int), Sense Motive (Wis), Spot (Wis), Use Magic Device (Cha)

Skill Points
(2 + Int modifier) x4 at 1st level.

2 + Int modifier at each additional level.

Hit Die
d6

Weapon and Armor Proficiency
Stargazers are proficient with all simple weapons, and with light armor.

Illuminations
Infused as they are with the power of light, a stargazer is capable of crafting and calling upon powerful manifestations of radiant energy known as Illuminations. A stargazer knows a fixed number of illuminations, and may change any number of her known illuminations freely each time she gains a level in this class. To use her known illuminations, a stargazer must first prepare them – preparing illuminations is a simple process requiring five minutes of introspection, weapons drills, or some other mentally relaxing activity. Once her preparation is complete, the stargazer may choose a number of her known illuminations to ready. Readied illuminations remain readied until the stargazer prepares new ones.

A Stargazer's Evoker attribute is Intelligence.

Illuminations are explained more completely in their own section.

Radiant Armaments (Su)
Upon awakening to the radiance within her soul, a stargazer establishes a bond with a particular weapon and suit of armor. How a stargazer finds the armaments that are hers by right varies widely; she may stumble upon them in a dream, only to awake clutching them in hand, or she might find them in the crater left behind by a falling star, but they always appear within a week of attaining her first level in this class. As she advances in level, the stargazer may imbue her armaments with an ever greater number of powerful modifications, as indicated above.

Radiant Armaments and Imbuements are described more completely in their own section.

Merciful (Ex)
Whenever a stargazer deals damage with an attack or an Illumination, she may choose to deal non-lethal damage instead with no penalty to attack or damage rolls.

Complex Formula (Su)
A stargazer understands the workings of her power in ways other evokers could only dream of, coaxing their inner light into incredible displays of power. At 1st level, the stargazer may craft a single illumination as a complex formula, independent of her normal illuminations known. When evoking this illumination, the stargazer gains an effective +1 increase to evoker level for all purposes, and the illumination may be crafted using this increased evoker level for the purpose of determining mote limits. Any mote cost above the stargazer’s unmodified evoker level is paid for by this ability – she receives the full effect of the illumination, but will never pay a number of motes greater than her unmodified evoker level. If a complex formula is used to create a Companion illumination, that companion will automatically dismiss itself at the end of the stargazer's next turn. A stargazer may use her complex formula once per encounter.

At 4th level, and every four levels thereafter, the stargazer may use her complex formula an additional time per encounter, and the effective increase to evoker level increases by +1. At 8th level, and again at 16th level, the stargazer may learn an additional complex formula. All of a stargazer's complex formulae are considered readied at all times, and do not count against her normal limit of illuminations known or readied, but the encounter usage limits are shared between all of them. A stargazer may alter or replace any of her known complex formulae freely whenever she gains a permanent evoker level.

Astral Celerity (Su)
As she adapts to take in the distant starlight so closely tied to her power, a stargazer’s awareness of minor disturbances in her environment grows to be heightened by this spiritual alertness. At 2nd level and onwards, the stargazer may add her Intelligence modifier as a bonus to initiative checks, up to a maximum bonus of her class level.

The Power of Friendship (Ex)
A stargazer is capable of swaying the alignment of captured foes, as described in the Power of Friendship section below.

In addition, a stargazer is remarkably skilled at couching her arguments in rationality and healthy common sense. Appealing to head as much as heart, a stargazer may use her Intelligence score, rather than her Charisma score, when making redemption checks. And while such arguments may at times fall of deaf ears, they do not cease to be true with repetition – a stargazer may ignore any increase in DC that would result from the Jaded penalty.

Luminous Reservoir (Su)
Most evokers are limited to shaping the surging light within them as they would an untamable river, unable to meaningfully control it beyond the fleeting instant in which it passes through them. Stargazers, however, develop the talent of quieting their inner fire, gathering portions of radiant energy for carefully-planned later use. At 3rd level, a stargazer gains a reservoir of bonus motes at the beginning of each encounter. These motes may not be invested in costume elements or feats, and do not refresh with her mote pool, but they otherwise may be spent exactly as normal motes. Whenever a stargazer spends motes, she may choose to draw them from her regular mote pool, her luminous reservoir, or any combination of the two she wishes. At 5th level, and every odd-numbered level thereafter, the number of motes in this reservoir expands by three.

Shining Schemata (Su)
At 6th level, a stargazer’s understanding of her radiant power reaches a point where she can use it as fuel for the magic of others. Carefully channeling raw energy into frameworks devised by more traditional academics, a stargazer may use this power to craft magical items, even if she does not know the spells required to make an item (although she must know the appropriate item creation feat). The stargazer can substitute a Use Magic Device check (DC 15 + spell level) in place of a required spell she doesn’t know or can’t cast.

If the check succeeds, the stargazer can create the item as if she had cast the required spell. If it fails, she cannot complete the item. She does not expend the XP or gp costs for making the item; her progress is simply arrested. She cannot retry this Use Magic Device check for that spell until she gains a new level. For the purpose of qualifying for item creation feats, and for all purposes involved in the item creation process, treat the evoker as having a caster level equal to her evoker level.

Additionally, the stargazer may henceforth use either her Intelligence modifier or her Charisma modifier on Use Magic Device checks, and she gains Scribe Scroll as a bonus feat.

Sagacity (Ex)
Beginning at 10th level, a stargazer’s graceful intellectualism and breadth of study grants her words a weight that cannot be accounted for with mere force of personality. When attempting to persuade a creature or sway its opinions, the stargazer may use a relevant Knowledge check in place of a Bluff of Diplomacy check. For example, a stargazer masquerading as a priest might use Knowledge (Religion) to fool ‘fellow’ devotees, or dissuade a king from declaring war by calling upon Knowledge (History). Applicability of a knowledge skill for use with this ability is ultimately a matter of DM discretion, but lenience is encouraged.

Grace of Aeons (Su)
Radiance is the sword of the stargazer, and it is her shield. Its power infuses her, and the lesser ills of the world find little purchase in her gleaming essence. Beginning at 14th level, a stargazer adds her Intelligence modifier as a bonus to all saving throws.

Starlight Apotheosis (Ex)
The barrier between the stargazer and the radiant power she channels has all but dissolved. She is likely a very different person from the one who first set foot on her long adventure, but her blazing spirit has preserved against all odds in the darkness of the world, beaming forth with a fury that angels and demons might envy. At 20th level, a stargazer forevermore becomes a Native Outsider with one alignment subtype of her choice and an Augmented subtype pertaining to her previous type, with all the traits that implies. Further, she can no longer be aged by any means mundane or magical, and will never die of old age.

Additionally, the stargazer’s powers have grown so precise, and so pure, that the cosmos truly cannot differentiate her radiance from its own, and her mastery over the lights around her is without reproach. With naught but the glimmer of a lantern, she can craft lights to rival the stars above. So long as there is a light source within 60’ of the stargazer, her illuminations and any supernatural abilities granted by this class cannot be suppressed by an anti-magic field or similar effect, regardless of its strength or origin.