Axel Hagerson's page

Axel son of Hager son of Bragi son of Uffgard son of Delen Trollslayer. Bourn on the eve of the Swallowtail Festival, it was said his birth was marked by a shooting star. Whether or not there was any truth in the matter, Axel has always honoured Desna.

Axel's parents hailed from frigid north. They were traveling south for a wedding in X but never made it. Bandits ambushed their wagon train killing almost everyone and taking everything of value. Axel only survived because his mother stuffed him into a trunk filled with clothes and other junk. Varisian wanderers saw the smoke from the burnt out wagons and rescued Axel, taking him to Standpoint where he was taken in by the Turandarok Academy. He spent ten unhappy years there before being discharged to find his own way in the world. Of late he's been getting by doing manual labour for whoever needs it and by spinning tales in The Hagfish. On a good day he has a proper bed and a hot meal, on a bad day he sleeps under the stars with an empty belly. One day soon, he’s sure he’ll get a break and hit the big time, destiny awaits.

Tall and pale with eyes as blue as the sky, muscles like whipcord. His flaxen hair is longer than strictly necessary although his beard is closely cropped. There's an intensity to his bearing that draws the eye, and his deep and melodic voice commands attention. He has an old scar across his back, thanks to a youthful mishap.

Axel is an angry young man, although rather than flaring brightly, his anger tends towards a cold hard rage. He's something of an instigator, his words stirring the emotions of others. There's some indefinable quality about him somehow that makes him rise above, perhaps his birth was blessed by Desna and he is destined for greatness...

I’m planning to play Axel like a reach cleric. Standard actions to buff or debuff, AOOs for damage.

Mechanically I suspect Aberrant Bloodline would be better than Destined (the 5’ reach is huge) but it doesn't fit the image I have for him.

He’ll pick up a bunch of support rage powers that hopefully folks will appreciate, e.g. Lesser Celestial Totem. Maybe savage dirty trick too. Too bad inspired rage can't gift rage abilities gained from Extra Rage Ability.

Destined Strike (Su)

At 1st level, as a free action up to three times per day you can grant yourself an insight bonus equal to 1/2 your bloodrager level (minimum 1) on one melee attack. At 12th level, you can use this ability up to five times per day.

Fated Bloodrager (Su)

At 4th level, you gain a +1 luck bonus to AC and on saving throws. At 8th level and every 4 levels thereafter, this bonus increases by 1 (to a maximum of +5 at 20th level).

Certain Strike (Su)

At 8th level, you may reroll an attack roll once during a bloodrage. You must decide to use this ability after the die is rolled, but before the GM reveals the results. You must take the second result, even if it’s worse.

Defy Death (Su)

At 12th level, once per day when an attack or spell that deals damage would result in your death, you can attempt a DC 20 Fortitude save. If you succeed, you are instead reduced to 1 hit point; if you succeed and already have less than 1 hit point, you instead take no damage.

Unstoppable (Su)

At 16th level, any critical threats you score are automatically confirmed. Any critical threats made against you confirm only if the second roll results in a natural 20 (or is automatically confirmed).

Victory or Death (Su)

At 20th level, you are immune to paralysis and petrification, as well as to the stunned, dazed, and staggered conditions. You have these benefits constantly, even while not bloodraging.

Bonus Spells: alarm (3rd), blur (5th), protection from energy (7th), freedom of movement (9th), break enchantment (11th), mislead (13th), spell turning (15th), moment of prescience (17th), foresight (19th).

You are skilled at wearing light armor.

Benefit: When you wear a type of armor with which you are proficient, the armor check penalty for that armor applies only to Dexterity- and Strength-based skill checks.

Normal: A character who is wearing armor with which he is not proficient applies its armor check penalty to attack rolls and to all skill checks that involve moving.

Special: All characters except monks, sorcerers, and wizards automatically have Light Armor Proficiency as a bonus feat. They need not select it.

You are skilled at wearing medium armor.

Prerequisite: Light Armor Proficiency.

Benefit: See Armor Proficiency, Light.

Normal: See Armor Proficiency, Light.

Special: Barbarians, clerics, druids, fighters, paladins, and rangers automatically have Medium Armor Proficiency as a bonus feat. They need not select it.

Benefit: You are proficient with all Martial weapons.

Normal: When using a weapon with which you are not proficient, you are at -4 to attack rolls.

You can create magic scrolls.

Prerequisite: Caster level 1st.

Benefit: You can create a scroll of any spell that you know. Scribing a scroll takes 2 hours if its base price is 250 gp or less, otherwise scribing a scroll takes 1 day for each 1,000 gp in its base price. To scribe a scroll, you must use up raw materials costing half of this base price. See the magic item creation rules in Magic Items for more information.

You are trained in how to properly use a shield.

Benefit: When you use a shield (except a tower shield), the shield's armor check penalty only applies to Strength- and Dexterity-based skills.

Normal: When you are using a shield with which you are not proficient, you take the shield's armor check penalty on attack rolls and on all skill checks that involve moving.

Special: Barbarians, bards, clerics, druids, fighters, paladins, and rangers all automatically have Shield Proficiency as a bonus feat. They need not select it.

You are trained in the use of basic weapons.

Benefit: You make attack rolls with simple weapons without penalty.

Normal: When using a weapon with which you are not proficient, you take a –4 penalty on attack rolls.

Special: All characters except for druids, monks, and wizards are automatically proficient with all simple weapons. They need not select this feat.

Your song and your enthusiasm combine to invigorate you in battle.

Prerequisites: Raging song class feature.

Benefit: While maintaining a raging song, you gain fast healing equal to the Strength bonus your song provides, starting in the round after you begin the song.

If you stop maintaining your song, the fast healing ends, even if the effects of your song persist.

You can blend the power of your performance and spellcasting.

Prerequisites: Cha 13, bardic performance class ability, able to cast 1st-level spells.

Benefit: You can combine your bardic performance and your spellcasting in two ways.

First, you can conceal the activity of casting a bard spell by masking it in a performance. As a swift action, you may combine your casting time of a spell with a Perform check. Observers must make a Perception or Sense Motive check opposed by your Perform check to realize you are also casting a spell. This uses 1 round of your bardic performance ability, regardless of the spell's casting time.

Second, as a move action, you can use 1 round of bardic performance to maintain a bard spell with a duration of concentration. You can cast another spell in the same round you are using bardic magic to maintain concentration; if you do this, your concentration on the maintained spell ends when you end the bardic performance the spell is part of.

The fates watch over you. Whenever you are under the effect of a luck bonus of any kind, that bonus increases by 1.

You are a virtuoso musician, actor, or storyteller. You gain a +1 trait bonus on checks with a single Perform skill (your choice), and all Perform skills are always class skills for you.

Level 0
School Enchantment (Compulsion)
Componants Verbal, Somatic, Material
Duration 1 round
Target one humanoid creature of 4 HD or less
Range close (25 + 5 ft./2 levels)
Save DC 14 Will negates
Cast Time 1 action
Class Skald

This spell clouds the mind of a humanoid creature with 4 or fewer Hit Dice so that it takes no actions. Humanoids of 5 or more HD are not affected. A dazed subject is not stunned, so attackers get no special advantage against it. After a creature has been dazed by this spell, it is immune to the effects of this spell for 1 minute.

Level 0
School Divination ()
Componants Verbal, Somatic
Duration concentration, up to 1 min./level (D)
Target
Range 60 ft.
Save none
Cast Time 1 action
Class Skald

You detect magical auras. The amount of information revealed depends on how long you study a particular area or subject.

1st Round: Presence or absence of magical auras.
2nd Round: Number of different magical auras and the power of the most potent aura.
3rd Round: The strength and location of each aura. If the items or creatures bearing the auras are in line of sight, you can make Knowledge (arcana) skill checks to determine the school of magic involved in each. (Make one check per aura: DC 15 + spell level, or 15 + 1/2 caster level for a nonspell effect.) If the aura eminates from a magic item, you can attempt to identify its properties (see Spellcraft).

Magical areas, multiple types of magic, or strong local magical emanations may distort or conceal weaker auras.

Aura Strength: An aura's power depends on a spell's functioning spell level or an item's caster level; see the accompanying table. If an aura falls into more than one category, detect magic indicates the stronger of the two.

Lingering Aura: A magical aura lingers after its original source dissipates (in the case of a spell) or is destroyed (in the case of a magic item). If detect magic is cast and directed at such a location, the spell indicates an aura strength of dim (even weaker than a faint aura). How long the aura lingers at this dim level depends on its original power:

Original Strength - Duration of Lingering Aura
Faint - 1d6 rounds
Moderate - 1d6 minutes
Strong - 1d6 x 10 minutes
Overwhelming - 1d6 days

Outsiders and elementals are not magical in themselves, but if they are summoned, the conjuration spell registers. Each round, you can turn to detect magic in a new area. The spell can penetrate barriers, but 1 foot of stone, 1 inch of common metal, a thin sheet of lead, or 3 feet of wood or dirt blocks it.

Detect magic can be made permanent with a permanency spell.

Level 0
School Evocation, Wood Elemental ()
Componants Verbal, Material or Divine Focus
Duration 10 min./level
Target object touched
Range touch
Save none
Cast Time 1 action
Class Skald

This spell causes a touched object to glow like a torch, shedding normal light in a 20-foot radius, and increasing the light level for an additional 20 feet by one step, up to normal light (darkness becomes dim light, and dim light becomes normal light). In an area of normal or bright light, this spell has no effect. The effect is immobile, but it can be cast on a movable object. You can only have one light spell active at any one time. If you cast this spell while another casting is still in effect, the previous casting is dispelled. If you make this spell permanent (through permanency or a similar effect), it does not count against this limit.

Light can be used to counter or dispel any darkness spell of equal or lower spell level.

Level 0
School Divination ()
Componants Verbal, Somatic, Focus
Duration 10 min./level
Target you
Range personal
Save
Cast Time 1 action
Class Skald

You can decipher magical inscriptions on objects - books, scrolls, weapons, and the like - that would otherwise be unintelligible. This deciphering does not normally invoke the magic contained in the writing, although it may do so in the case of a cursed or trapped scroll. Furthermore, once the spell is cast and you have read the magical inscription, you are thereafter able to read that particular writing without recourse to the use of read magic. You can read at the rate of one page (250 words) per minute. The spell allows you to identify a glyph of warding with a DC 13 Spellcraft check, a greater glyph of warding with a DC 16 Spellcraft check, or any symbol spell with a Spellcraft check (DC 10 + spell level).

Read magic can be made permanent with a permanency spell.

Level 1
School Conjuration (Healing)
Componants Verbal, Somatic
Duration instantaneous
Target creature touched
Range touch
Save Will half (harmless); see text
Cast Time 1 action
Class Skald

When laying your hand upon a living creature, you channel positive energy that cures 1d8 points of damage + 1 point per caster level (maximum +5). Since undead are powered by negative energy, this spell deals damage to them instead of curing their wounds. An undead creature can apply spell resistance, and can attempt a Will save to take half damage.

Level 1
School Illusion (Figment)
Componants Verbal, Somatic, Focus
Duration concentration
Target
Range long (400 + 40 ft./level)
Save DC 15 Will disbelief (if interacted with)
Cast Time 1 action
Class Skald

This spell creates the visual illusion of an object, creature, or force, as visualized by you. The illusion does not create sound, smell, texture, or temperature. You can move the image within the limits of the size of the effect.

A bard or skald adds 1/2 his class level (minimum 1) on all Knowledge skill checks, and may make all Knowledge skill checks untrained.

At 1st level, affected allies gain a +2 morale bonus to Strength and Constitution and a +1 morale bonus on Will saving throws, but also take a –1 penalty to AC. While under the effects of inspired rage, allies other than the skald cannot use any Charisma-, Dexterity-, or Intelligence-based skills (except Acrobatics, Fly, Intimidate, and Ride) or any ability that requires patience or concentration. At 4th level and every 4 levels thereafter, the song’s bonuses on Will saves increase by 1; the penalty to AC doesn’t change. At 8th and 16th levels, the song’s bonuses to Strength and Constitution increase by 2. (Unlike the barbarian’s rage ability, those affected are not fatigued after the song ends.)

If an ally has her own rage class ability (such as barbarian’s rage, bloodrager’s bloodrage, or skald’s inspired rage), she may use the Strength, Constitution, and Will saving throw bonuses, as well as AC penalties, based on her own ability and level instead of those from the skald (still suffering no fatigue afterward). However, inspired rage does not allow the ally to activate abilities dependent on other rage class abilities, such as rage powers, blood casting, or bloodrager bloodlines; the ally must activate her own rage class ability in order to use these features.

At 1st level, as a free action up to three times per day you can grant yourself an insight bonus equal to 1/2 your bloodrager level (minimum 1) on one melee attack. At 12th level, you can use this ability up to five times per day.

The crescent axe-blade of this polearm is attached to the haft at two points: the center of the blade attaches to a socket at the top of the haft, and the lower point of the blade attaches to a secondary mount point. The blade is often very long, sometimes almost as long as the haft. You gain a +2 bonus to your CMD to resist sunder attempts against a bardiche.

A dagger is a fighting knife. Its blade is usually less than 1 foot long, and can be curved or straight, with one edge or two. Dagger designs vary widely, and can have many different names (such as a thrusting dagger being called a "dirk"). You get a +2 bonus on Sleight of Hand skill checks made to conceal a dagger on your body.

Scale mail is made up of dozens of small, overlapping metal plates. Similar to both splint mail and banded mail, scalemail has a flexible arrangement of scales in an attempt to avoid hindering the wearer's mobility, but at the expense of omitting additional protective layers of armor. A suit of scale mail includes gauntlets.