Ezekiel "Zeke" Blakros's page

Hypnotic Stare (Su): The mesmerist can focus his stare on one creature within 30 feet as a swift action. That creature takes a –1 penalty on Will saving throws. This penalty increases to –2 at 12th level. A mesmerist can maintain his stare against only one opponent at a time; it remains in effect until the opponent dies, the opponent moves beyond 30 feet away, or the mesmerist stares at a new target. The mesmerist can remove the memory of his stare from the target’s mind, so a creature doesn’t remember that he affected it (or that he is currently affecting it) unless he wants it to. The hypnotic stare is a psychic effect, and relies more on the mesmerist’s focus than the target’s perception of his stare; it can’t be avoided in the same ways a gaze attack can. The mesmerist can use this ability even while blinded, but must succeed at a DC 20 concentration check to do so. Effects from multiple mesmerists’ stares don’t stack. This is a mind-affecting effect.

Mesmerist Tricks (Su): A mesmerist can implant a hypnotic bond with his allies, implanting magical suggestions in their minds that he can later activate to give himself and his allies an edge over foes. He can implant a number of these tricks per day equal to 1/2 his mesmerist level (minimum 1) plus his Charisma modifier. He can have only one trick active at a given time, and setting up a new trick ends the previous one (and he still loses the use he spent on the previous trick).
To implant a trick, the mesmerist must spend a standard action and either touch a willing creature or implant the trick on himself. A creature can be the subject of only one mesmerist trick at a time. The mesmerist can activate the trick as an immediate action once a trigger condition is met, as defined in the trick’s description. The subject must be within medium range (100 feet + 10 feet per level) for the mesmerist to trigger the trick. The mesmerist monitors for the trick’s condition through a subtle telepathic connection, so he doesn’t need line of sight to trigger it (but anything that blocks telepathic contact prevents him from triggering tricks). An implanted trick lasts for 1 minute per mesmerist level. Once triggered, an instance of a trick is no longer implanted, and that instance can’t be triggered again. The duration of the effect caused by triggering a trick appears in the trick’s entry. The DC for any mesmerist trick or masterful trick that requires a saving throw or skill check is 10 + 1/2 the mesmerist’s level + the mesmerist’s Charisma modifier.
The mesmerist gains one trick at 1st level, and another trick at 2nd level and every 2 levels thereafter (to a maximum of 11 tricks at 20th level). Each daily use of mesmerist tricks can be used to implant any trick the mesmerist knows. Unless specifically noted in the mesmerist trick’s description, a mesmerist can’t choose a particular trick more than once.

Psychosomatic Surge: Confidence bolstered by psychic magic fills the ally, soothing his wounds temporarily. The mesmerist can trigger this trick when the subject takes damage. The subject gains a number of temporary hit points equal to 1d6 + 1/2 the mesmerist’s level. If the damage would have reduced the subject to 0 hit points or fewer, this trick grants an additional 1d6 temporary hit points. These temporary hit points last for 1 hour or until discharged.

Psychic Spellcasting:

Psychic magic originates from the distinctive qualities of the caster’s composite being, rather than through arcane formulas or rote supplication to divine entities. Therefore, psychic spells never have verbal or somatic components. Because of this, psychic spells are purely mental actions, and they can be performed even while the caster is pinned or paralyzed. Psychic spells still retain focus components just as other spells. When a spell calls for an expensive material component, a psychic spellcaster can instead use any item with significant meaning and a value greater than or equal to the spell’s component cost. For example, if a spiritualist wanted to cast raise dead to bring her dead husband back from the grave, she could use her 5,000-gp wedding ring as the spell’s material component.
Instead of verbal and somatic components, all psychic spells have components related to the caster’s inner being. The two psychic components are called thought components (marked as T) and emotion components (marked as E).
Thought components represent mental constructs necessary for the spell’s function, such as picturing a wolf in vivid detail—down to the saliva dripping from its jaws—in order to cast beast shape to transform into a wolf. Thought components are so mentally demanding that they make interruptions and distractions extremely challenging. The DC for any concentration check for a spell with a thought component increases by 10. A psychic spellcaster casting a spell with a thought component can spend an extra move action before beginning to cast the spell to center herself and avoid the increased DC.
Emotion components represent a particular emotional state required to cast the spell. A psychic spellcaster marshals her desire in order to focus and release the spell’s energy. It is impossible to cast a spell with an emotion component while the spellcaster is under the influence of a non-harmless effect with the emotion or fear descriptors. Even if the effect’s emotion matches the necessary emotion to cast the psychic spell, the spellcaster is not in control of her own desires and animal fear impulses, which is a necessary part of providing an emotion component.

Panache (Ex): More than just a lightly armored warrior, a swashbuckler is a daring combatant. He fights with panache: a fluctuating measure of a swashbuckler’s ability to perform amazing actions in combat. At the start of each day, a swashbuckler gains a number of panache points equal to her Charisma modifier (minimum 1) and Intelligence modifier (minimum 1). His panache goes up or down throughout the day, but usually cannot go higher than his Charisma modifier (minimum 1) plus his Intelligence modifier (minimum 1), though feats and magic items can affect this maximum. A swashbuckler spends panache to accomplish deeds (see below), and regains panache in the following way:

Critical Hit with a Rapier: Each time the inspired blade confirms a critical hit with a rapier while in combat, he regains 1 panache point. Confirming a critical hit on a helpless or unaware creature or on a creature that has fewer Hit Dice than half the swashbuckler’s character level doesn't restore panache.

Deeds wrote:

Deeds: Swashbucklers spend panache points to accomplish deeds. Most deeds grant the swashbuckler a momentary bonus or effect, but some provide longer-lasting effects. Some deeds remain in effect as long as the swashbuckler has at least 1 panache point. A swashbuckler can any deeds of his level or lower. Unless otherwise noted, a deed can be performed multiple successive times, as long as the swashbuckler has or spends the required number of panache points to perform the deed.

Derring-do (Ex): At 1st level, a swashbuckler can spend 1 panache point when he makes an Acrobatics, Climb, Escape Artist, Fly, Ride, or Swim check to roll 1d6 and add the result to the check. He can do this after he makes the check but before the result is revealed. If the result of the d6 roll is a natural 6, he rolls another 1d6 and adds it to the check. He can continue to do this as long as he rolls natural 6s, up to a number of times equal to his Dexterity modifier (minimum 1).

Dodging Panache (Ex): At 1st level, when an opponent attempts a melee attack against the swashbuckler, the swashbuckler can as an immediate action spend 1 panache point to move 5 feet; doing so grants the swashbuckler a dodge bonus to AC equal to his Charisma modifier (minimum 0) against the triggering attack. This movement doesn't negate the attack, which is still resolved as if the swashbuckler had not moved from the original square. This movement is not a 5-foot step; it provokes attacks of opportunity from creatures other than the one who triggered this deed. The swashbuckler can only perform this deed while wearing light or no armor, and while carrying no heavier than a light load.

Opportune Parry and Riposte (Ex):At 1st level, when an opponent makes a melee attack against the swashbuckler, he can spend 1 panache point and expend a use of an attack of opportunity to attempt to parry that attack. The swashbuckler makes an attack roll as if he were making an attack of opportunity; for each size category the attacking creature is larger than the swashbuckler, the swashbuckler takes a –2 penalty on this roll. If his result is greater than the attacking creature’s result, the creature’s attack automatically misses. The swashbuckler must declare the use of this ability after the creature’s attack is announced, but before its attack roll is made. Upon performing a successful parry and if he has at least 1 panache point, the swashbuckler can as an immediate action make an attack against the creature whose attack he parried, provided that creature is within his reach.

The bastard child of Countess Sasandra Livgrace of the Sinari province of Ustalav, Ezekiel's childhood was one of neglect and loneliness. Though not truly a noble, he lived within his mother's house, the unmarried Countess having borne several children during her sordid youth and caring for them from a distance. Inattentive nursemaids and uncaring servants were the closest he had to parents, leading to a quiet and withdrawn attitude as he grew. In his teenage years, whispers began to spread that there was something wrong with the boy, for no child should have a gaze so penetrating, so piercing. His eyes... they feared his gaze. Locked into his bedchamber at night, peering into his own reflection for hours by candlelight, the boy could see nothing of what they spoke. His eyes were normal... right?

As he grew into adulthood, he began to enjoy the nervousness he could conjure simply with his gaze. He took to the art of dueling, the lightness of the rapier appealing to the frail young man. Staring his foe down as he fought, his opponents felt their grip weaken, their concentration slipping, until his deft strike ended the match. They spoke of him afterwards. His eyes... yes. Something was wrong with those eyes!

In his twenty-third year, an illness struck him. He struggled for three nights, bedridden and wracked with visions of ghostly shapes. When the fever broke, something was different about him. Objects near him would shift, ever so slightly, off tables and shelves. Cracks appeared in mirrors as he passed them. Whispers that the boy was cursed began to fly once more. When a maid who had come to clean his chamber simply blacked out upon meeting his eyes, his mother summoned an exorcist. His door thrown open, two footmen tied Ezekiel to a bed and left as the shouting priest began his incantations, desperately trying to cast out whatever fiend or spirit inhabited him. Thrashing back and forth, Ezekiel was unable to get free... until he locked his gaze with the bloodshot eyes of the man above him. The priest's hollers stopped, words caught in his throat as his eyes bulged. Ezekiel's unblinking stare pierced into his mind as the man's face reddened, choking and sputtering as the stare bored into him. With a strangled gasp, the man collapsed, blood trickling from his nose as he lay in a crumpled heap on the floor.

Breathing heavily, Ezekiel strained against his bonds, eventually pulling an arm free to cut himself loose. He checked the fat body on the floor, slowly accumulating a small pool of blood on the carpet. He'd killed a man... how, he didn't know. He glanced about the room, grabbed his sword, and fled through the window, never looking back.

In the two years after, he wandered from place to place, always feeling that he was being followed, imagining that at any moment his past might catch up to him. He learned more of his strange gifts, and began to learn how to control them. Eventually finding himself in Absalom, he signed on to an expedition to a 'new world,' figuring that there, at least, he could be free of whoever he felt pursued him.

Ezekiel has grown in the two years since he fled Ustalav in the dead of night. No longer the quiet child he once was, he can be charming and friendly, but ever-present is the force of his gaze. Few can meet it for long without feeling apprehension. He is eager to explore his budding mental powers and subconsciously seeks validation from others to show his worth. He thrives when shown appreciation for his help, but is quick to scorn those who do not value his contributions. His greatest fear is that he will be caught and dragged back home, a place which, to him, has never meant anything but scorn and neglect.

Ezekiel is pale and thin, and keeps his hair neatly trimmed. He is never without his rapier, and wears armor with practiced ease. He prefers fine clothing, though hasn't had the opportunity to possess a proper wardrobe in months. Despite this, he meticulously cares for whatever outfits he wears, even resorting to his strange inner magics to ensure he is never covered in dirt and grime.