I've been putting some time into converting a lot of the fluff in my group's wiki into mechanics. Here is my latest attempt.
Guardian of Aligindel
These mysterious ranger/illusionists are generally not seen or heard, but the knowledge of their existence deters many crimes and invasions. The training of a Guardian is long and slow, so it is generally only suited for elves. In their off seasons, Guardians take bounties on wanted criminals. The Guardians are the Empire of Aligindel's first line of defense.
Here is a link to the Google Document and below is a (poorly formatted) version.
HD: D8
BAB: 3/4
Saves: Poor Fort/Good Ref/Good Will
Requirements
Class Features: Favored Terrain
Spellcasting: Ability to cast 1st-level arcane spells without preparation.
Skills: Stealth 5 ranks, Knowledge (arcana) 2 ranks
Class Skills
The guardian of Aligindel’s class skills are Climb (Str), Handle Animal (Cha), Heal (Wis), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (Arcana) (Int), Knowledge (dungeoneering) (Int), Knowledge (geography) (Int), Knowledge (nature) (Int), Perception (Wis), Ride (Dex), Spellcraft (Int), Stealth (Dex), Survival (Wis), and Swim (Str).
Skill Ranks per Level: 6 + Int modifier
Class Features
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A guardian of Aligindel gains no proficiency in any weapons or armor.
Spells per Day: At the indicated levels, a guardian of Aligindel gains new spells per day as if he had also gained a level in an arcane spellcasting class he belonged to before adding the prestige class. He does not, however, gain other benefits of that class other than spells per day, spells known, and an increased effective level of spellcasting. If he had more than one arcane spellcasting class before becoming a guardian of Aligindel, he must decide to which class he adds the new level for the purpose of determining spells per day.
Bonus Spells: A guardian of Aligindel adds the following spells to his spells known: disguise self (lvl 1), faerie fire (lvl 1), silent image (lvl 1), invisibility (lvl 2), minor image (lvl 2), major image (lvl 3), greater invisibility (lvl 4), persistent image (lvl 5), permanent image (lvl 6), veil (lvl 6).
Armored Casting: A guardian of Aligindel has been taught to cast arcane spells while wearing enough protection to continue his martial traditions. He can cast arcane spells while wearing light armor without incurring the normal arcane spell failure chance. Like any other arcane spellcaster, a guardian of Aligindel wearing medium or heavy armor or using a shield incurs a chance of arcane spell failure if the spell in question has a somatic component. If a guardian of Aligindel has more than one arcane spellcasting class, he must decide to which class to apply this ability.
Studied Tracker: Guardians of Aligindel are excellent trackers, knowing their quarry better the longer they pursue them. If a guardian of Aligindel tracks a creature for longer than 24 hours, he gains a +1 competence bonus to attack rolls, AC and saves against that specific creature. If he tracks the creature for longer than 1 week, these bonuses increase to +2. If he tracks the creature for more than 1 month, the bonuses increase to +3.
Favored Terrain (Ex): At level 2, a guardian of Aligindel may choose an additional favored terrain from the ranger favored terrains table. In addition, the skill bonus and initiative bonus in any one favored terrain (including the one just selected, if so desired), increases by +2.
At level 8, he may choose an additional favored terrain and may choose to increase the bonus on any one favored terrain by +2.
If a specific terrain falls into more than one category of favored terrain, the ranger's bonuses do not stack; he simply uses whichever bonus is higher.
Swift Tracker (Ex): Beginning at 3rd level, a guardian of Aligindel can move at his normal speed while using Survival to follow tracks without taking the normal –5 penalty. He takes only a –10 penalty (instead of the normal –20) when moving at up to twice normal speed while tracking.
Pierce the Veil (Su): At level 4, a guardian of Aligindel gains a +2 luck bonus to Will saves against illusion spells. He also gains a +5 luck bonus to Perception to detect invisible creatures. At level 9, the bonus to Will saves increases to +3 and the bonus to Perception increases to +10.
Guardian Training: At level 5, a guardian of Aligindel is inducted into one of many orders inside the organization itself. Each order, often called a company, has a particular set of tactics they use to stalk, ambush, beguile or fool their quarry. If an ability requires a save, the save DC is equal to 10 + ½ the guardian of Aligindel’s level + his Charisma modifier. He may choose one of the following abilities:
-Forestblind (Su): A guardian of Aligindel may cloud the eyes of his opponents in an illusion, filling their vision entirely with the sight of branches, leaves and undergrowth, rendering them effectively blind. This ability affects all sighted creatures within 30 feet of the guardian of Aligindel. Targets receive a Will save to negate this effect. This ability is a mind-affecting effect. He may use this ability a number of times per day equal to his Charisma modifier (minimum 1). Whether or not the save is successful, a creature cannot be the target of this ability again for 1 day.
-Quickrunner (Sp): A guardian of Aligindel may take prefer a more direct approach to his ambushes, darting from long distances to strike before his opponents can react. As a swift action, he gains a 30 foot bonus to his land speed for a number of rounds equal to his guardian of Aligindel level. He may use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + his Charisma modifier (minimum 1).
-Might of the Trees (Sp): A guardian of Aligindel might prefer to eschew all pretense of stealth once the ambush is revealed, instead relying on size and strength to ensure that his quarry doesn’t escape.. As a swift action, he may make himself large, as if affected by enlarge person. The effect lasts for a number of minutes per day equal to his guardian of Aligindel level. This duration does not need to be consecutive, but it must be spent in 1-minute increments.
-Persistent Blur (Sp): A guardian of Aligindel might prefer to keep some semblance of stealth, even after the ambush is revealed. Whenever he is under an effect that would make him invisible and takes an action that would break his invisibility, he gains the effects of blur until the beginning of his next round.
-Shadow Essence Poison (Su): A guardian of Aligindel may choose to weaken their opponents before finishing them off. He gains the ability to produce a limited amount of shadow essence poison every day. He may apply this poison to any weapon he wields as a swift action without any risk of poisoning himself. He may use this ability a number of times per day equal to his Charisma modifier (minimum 1).
.......Shadow essence poison: Injury; save Fortitude DC 10 + ½ the guardian of Aligindel’s level + his Charisma modifier; frequency 1/round for 6 rounds; initial effect 1 Str drain; secondary effect 1d3 Str damage; cure 1 save.
-Sneak Attack (Ex): A guardian of Aligindel may choose to use his ambushes to strike at his opponent’s weak points. He gains +2d6 sneak attack.
-Summon Nature’s Ally (Sp): A guardian of Aligindel may prefer to have more than just nature as his ally. He gains summon nature’s ally V as a spell-like ability usable a number of times per day equal to his Charisma modifier (minimum 1). The caster level for this ability is equal to 5 + his guardian of Aligindel level.
Favored Casting (Su): At level 6, whenever he is one of his favored terrains, a guardian of Aligindel is more capable of tailoring his illusions to fool others. All illusion spells cast while within one of his favored terrains gains a +1 bonus to caster level.
Never Forget a Footprint (Ex): At level 7, guardian of Aligindel is trained to remember minute details of every creature he tracks, so that he may recall weaknesses or vulnerabilities of that creature. He may make a Sense Motive check to determine if a set of tracks he is following are those of a specific creature he has tracked before. The DC of this check is equal to 10 + the creature's CR. Success on this check brings back to memory the specific creature being tracked, and grants the guardian of Aligindel a +5 bonus to Survival check to track that creature. If he fails by 4 or less, he does not recognize the tracks, and failure by 5 or more means that the guardian of Aligindel misidentified the specific creature and takes a -2 penalty to Survival checks to track. Additionally, if the check is successful, he is considered to have tracked the creature for 3 days.
Pernicious Illusions (Su): At level 10, a guardian of Aligindel gains mastery over his illusions. He may choose to have any illusion spell he casts become quasi-real. These illusions have their save DC increased by 4 and creatures cannot bypass a saving throw to disbelieve. His figments are semi-solid and can hold or resist 10 pounds per caster level. If an illusion would cause damage to an area (such as an illusion of rocks falling from a cliff or of a fire in a creature’s space), all creatures in that area take 2d8 damage. They may attempt a Reflex save with a DC equal to the spell’s save DC to halve this damage. Illusions that would cause damage to a single creature only (such as a soldier swinging a sword or a trap firing an arrow) are treated as missing the creature, but otherwise are treated as if real.
I appreciate any opinions on the class. I'm pretty sure Pernicious Illusion doesn't do what I want it to, but I can't figure out a better way to make illusions quasi-real.
*bump* Probably a bad weekend to post this with the ACG coming out.
New prestige classes are always tricky. Here are some thoughts on what you have:
Requirements: Why did you choose to limit the class to spontaneous casters? This seems more restrictive than necessary, specifically preventing Illusionist Wizards from entering this class (for example), who might otherwise be interested.
Studied Tracker: While I like the idea behind this mechanic quite a bit, I think the implementation is counter to your goal. The bonus you gain from this ability improves the longer you spend tracking an individual. However, as you improve in this class, your ability to track improves, which means it takes less time to track. The end result is that as you improve your tracking skills, you are less likely to be able to take advantage of this ability.
Never Forget a Footprint: This is another ability with an idea that I like, but implementation that I don't. Making the DC for this ability scale with CR has a strange consequence. More dangerous creatures, which should be more memorable, are actually harder to identify (and it is more likely that you will mis-identify them). Have you looked at the ranger's quarry ability? It might give you some inspiration for this.
Pernicious Illusions: Traditionally, Pathfinder handles quasi-real illusions with the shadow evocation and shadow conjuration line of spells. Have you considered basing this ability off of those spells? You could make a mechanic that strengthens them when in your favored terrain, perhaps.
Overall, I like the goal of this class - mixing skill with illusions and tracking has a very strong elven feel to it. With a bit of adjustment to some of the ability implementation, I think this will work out quite nicely.
The limitation to spontaneous casters was because the creator of the concept told me, when helping me decide what mechanics to use to fit his vision, that "they cast more like sorcerers than wizards". While I think sorcerer is a decent entry (I will be making an illusion-focused bloodline as well), I think bard would also be a fun way to enter the class as well. Do arcanists count as prepared or spontaneous casters? Are SLAs considered "casting spells without preparation"? I know they count for "casting spells of X level".
Well, with improved level comes improved foes. Sure, tracking a low level foe while at low level means that it might take a while, and you therefore get to use your bonus more. However, high level foes have lots of tricks up their sleeves, and might therefore be able to evade pursuit for a longer period of time. A high level tracker following a low level foe ought to get a low level reward, in my opinion. I can see where you are coming from, but I don't see it as a significant problem. Most of the time, it's going to provide just the +1 bonus anyway. However, I would defer to you if you think there is a better way to implement the concept mechanically.
Looking at Quarry better, it's pretty close to what I want, but I want something that isn't as combat focused. I rather like the idea of a Guardian going, "I recognize these tracks. See? Here. Where the right foot presses slightly harder on the outside and the pressure seems to fall slightly harder on the heel than the toe? Yes. It's clearly Hadrik Morningstar, that hobgoblin knight we fought last spring at Winterspire Castle." I want him to then be able to bring back combat tactics, weaknesses, strengths, foibles, personality traits, etc. from that figure. I just couldn't figure out how to model that mechanically, though. I might try to model the Perfect Memory ability from the Cassisian Angel for this instead. It will need a tweak, though, I strongly agree. Do you have any ideas?
Favored Casting already gives a bonus to illusions when in a favored terrain. So good idea, but we are already there. I had looked at the Shadow Conjuration/Evocation spells but wasn't sure how to tailor that into "cast Veil, but rather than the room being just illusory, it's actually partially real". I guess I could steal the language from Shadow Evocation about everything being 20% or 60% real (including damage, resistance/support, etc.) and apply it to all Illusion (figment) spells, which is really what I want. Maybe something like this?
Pernicious Illusions (Su): At level 10, a guardian of Aligindel gains mastery over his illusions. He may choose to have any illusion spell he casts become quasi-real. These illusions have their save DC increased by 4 and creatures cannot bypass a saving throw to disbelieve. Creatures, objects and effects are treated as having been created by shadow conuration or shadow evocation as appropriate. All other effects are considered one-fifth (20%) as strong as the real thing.
Thanks for the extra set of eyes on this.
I like that capstone language a bit better - I think this version is easier to adjudicate and use consistently. I would recommend adding that only those who disbelieve the illusion treat it as 'one-fifth as strong'; others treat it as the full thing (this language is just to clarify. Stealing language wholesale from shadow evocation/conjuration is probably sufficient here.) There are, of course, still some calls you'll have to make as DM (Does that wall now only grant one-fifth cover, or does it grant full cover but only have one-fifth hardness and hit points?), but that's not a bad thing.
I am still, however, unsatisfied with Never Forget a Footprint. The idea is thematically very interesting, especially hearing your explanation. My problem is that the mechanic makes identifying the tracks of powerful enemies more difficult, even though these are the enemies that should be memorable. Right now it is easier to identify the tracks of Gunguk, Hadrik's whipping boy, than those of Hadrik himself. Perhaps you could simply grant the benefit without requiring a skill check. Or, if you like a check of some sort, grant a small bonus that increases with a better check result.
Updated Pernicious Illusions:
Pernicious Illusions (Su): At level 10, a guardian of Aligindel gains mastery over his illusions. He may choose to have any illusion spell he casts become quasi-real. These illusions have their save DC increased by 4 and creatures cannot bypass a saving throw to disbelieve. Creatures, objects and effects are treated as having been created by shadow conjuration or shadow evocation as appropriate. A pernicious illusion is only one-fifth (20%) as strong as the real thing, though creatures who believe the pernicious illusion to be real are affected by them at full strength. Any creature that interacts with the spell can make a Will save to recognize its true nature.
Updated Never Forget a Footprint: (modification in bold for clarity)
Never Forget a Footprint (Ex): At level 7, guardian of Aligindel is trained to remember minute details of every creature he tracks, so that he may recall weaknesses or vulnerabilities of that creature. He may make a Sense Motive check to determine if a set of tracks he is following are those of a specific creature he has tracked before. The DC of this check is equal to 10 + the tracked creature's Wis modifier. Success on this check brings back to memory the specific creature being tracked, and grants the guardian of Aligindel a +5 bonus to Survival check to track that creature. If he fails by 4 or less, he does not recognize the tracks, and failure by 5 or more means that the guardian of Aligindel misidentified the specific creature and takes a -2 penalty to Survival checks to track. Additionally, if the check is successful, he is considered to have tracked the creature for 3 days.