About Hadda SogardHadda Sogard
--------------------
--------------------
--------------------
Spellbook
I calculated the cost of the spellbook at 2970 gp + 15 gp for the cost of the book itself. It currently has 71/100 pages filled. There are five level one spells (15 gp each), 10 level two spells (60 gp each), and 17 level three spells (135 gp each). The costs are taken from the following part of the CRB: Writing a New Spell into a Spellbook --------------------
Planar Lore (Ex): A chronicler of worlds can take 10 on Knowledge (planes) checks. A number of times per day equal to her Intelligence modifier, she can take 20 on a Knowledge (planes) check. This ability stacks with that gained by lore master at 5th level. A chronicler of worlds can attempt all Knowledge checks untrained. This alters bardic knowledge. Amoral Scholar (Ex): A chronicler of worlds rejects cosmic morality. At 2nd level, she does not take penalties imposed by planar alignment traits, and she gains a +4 bonus on saving throws against spells and effects that vary based on their target’s alignment. This replaces well-versed. Scrivener’s Versatility (Ex): A chronicler of worlds seeks to emulate history’s greatest scribe; studying the lore of Tabris grants insight into widely varying subjects, from anatomy to discourse. At 2nd level, a chronicler of worlds selects a skill from the following list: Bluff, Diplomacy, Disable Device, Heal, Intimidate, Profession (scribe), Sense Motive, or Survival. When attempting skill checks of that type, a chronicler can use her Linguistics skill bonus in place of her bonus with the chosen skill. At 6th level and every 4 levels thereafter, a chronicler of worlds selects an additional skill to gain this benefit. This replaces versatile performance. Scribe Scroll: A studious librarian gains Scribe Scroll as a bonus feat. This ability replaces distraction. Lore Master (Ex): At 5th level, the bard becomes a master of lore and can take 10 on any Knowledge skill check that he has ranks in even when threatened or distracted. A bard can choose not to take 10 and can instead roll normally. In addition, once per day, the bard can take 20 on any Knowledge skill check as a standard action. He can use this ability one additional time per day for every six levels he possesses beyond 5th, to a maximum of three times per day at 17th level. Comparative Arcane Studies (Su): At 6th level, the studious librarian is exposed to a wide variety of magical writing, and can use his own magic to duplicate spells from other classes’ spell lists. Once per day, a studious librarian can cast any spell from the bard, sorcerer/wizard, or witch spell lists from a scroll or spellbook in hand as if it were one of his bard spells known, expending a bard spell slot of the same spell level to cast the desired spell. Casting a spell from a scroll this way does not cause the spell to vanish from the scroll. A spell cast in this way cannot be modified by metamagic. The studious librarian gains one additional daily use of this ability at 10th level and again every 4 bard levels thereafter, to a maximum of four times per day at 18th level. This ability replaces suggestion and jack-of-all-trades. Critical Research Focus (Ex): At 8th level, the studious librarian threatens a critical hit on a Research check (Ultimate Intrigue 148) with a roll of 18, 19, or 20. He gains a +4 bonus on Research checks to confirm a critical hit. Bardic Performance: Countersong (unable to use effectively without rank in Perform), Fascinate, Inspire Courage +2, Inspire Competence +3 Focused Study: All humans are skillful, but some, rather than being generalists, tend to specialize in a handful of skills. At 1st, 8th, and 16th level, such humans gain Skill Focus in a skill of their choice as a bonus feat. This racial trait replaces the bonus feat trait. Restless Wayfarer (campaign): You have long led a nomadic life—perhaps because your parents were travelers (whether roaming Varisian caravaneers or traveling merchants who traded far and wide), you belonged to a nomadic tribe, or you ran away from home to discover the world at a young age. Some call it wanderlust, but to you the thought of new places and experiences is truly what makes life worth living, and no region catches your imagination like the windswept wilderness of the North. You are used to getting along in unfamiliar lands and interacting with interesting new people. You gain a +1 trait bonus on Knowledge (geography) and Knowledge (local) checks, and one of these skills (your choice) is a class skill for you. You can also speak one additional language (this does not count toward your number of languages). Pragmatic Activator (magic): While some figure out how to use magical devices with stubborn resolve, your approach is more pragmatic. You may use your Intelligence modifier when making Use Magic Device checks instead of your Charisma modifier. Background:
Hadda is the daughter of an Iobarian merchant living in the port city of Mirnbay and a Galtan baroness fleeing the Red Revolution. Mirnbay was a charmed place to grow up compared to most of the rest of Iobaria, and it certainly sounded like a happier place to be than Galt. It was likewise home to an arcane college with its attendant libraries, which is where her mother eventually found a teaching position. Hadda grew up running through the college’s libraries, upsetting her tutors who were trying to pin her down for formal lessons. But the young girl grew tired of their lectures. Anything she wanted to know, she could find in the books, and without their silly censorship.
Although the school’s library had many books, Mirnbay was still a small city compared to metropolises like those Hadda’s mother spoke of in Avistan. Across the forested wilds of Iobaria and the deadly Icerime Peaks, or a sail away across the Castrovin Sea, were countries with even more knowledge than what was guarded by Mirnbay’s wizards. Isarn, Oppara, Almas, Absalom, Korvosa, Egorian, Caliphas, Whitethrone…each city sounded grander than the last. Hadda could barely wait to go and travel. When her parent decided she was old enough, Hadda’s father took her on one of his mercantile expeditions. He had established some clients in Ustalav who were interested in some of the rarer ingredients found nowhere in Golarion except in Iobaria. So they dodged pirates along the coasts of the Castrovin Sea, and then caravanned across the River Kingdoms until they found themselves in the town of Rozenport in Ustalav. Knowing that his daughter would probably be interested in the library, Hadda’s father left her in the protection of an old friend, Dr. Henri Meritmane, the Dean of the Sincomakti School of Sciences. Hadda once again ran throughout the school’s libraries, amazed at all the books she had never heard of. In that library, Hadda found a locked door. She had been growing progressively craftier and managed to break into this forbidden section without being seen. To this day, she can’t quite recall everything that she read, nor how long she was in the room. But her father says that she was missing for a while, and that he mustered the students and faculty to look for her. When they found her, her hair had turned completely white and she was unconscious. She was in a coma for three months. The book believed to be the culprit was a copy of a portion of the Book of the Damned, an infamous tome written by the fallen angel Tabris about the Fiendish realms. Tabris had been commanded to travel to and catalog all that was known about the Outer Planes. For doing his job too well, he had been disowned and locked out of Heaven. Or at least that was how the story went. Hadda was changed after that day. The youthful exuberance and charm that had characterized her childhood dulled. In its place, there was a voracious hunger for knowledge that bordered on obsession. It took her a long time to piece together what had happened to her, the lore surrounding the Book of the Damned and Tabris, and what it meant for her. She sympathized with the cause of this angel whose only crimes were knowing what some deemed to be too much and sharing that information with others. Yes, what Hadda had read had nearly killed her. But she reasoned that her mind just wasn’t ready for it yet. Given more time and more training, perhaps she could understand this lore. And surely there was still knowledge to be gained about the world. Tabris could not have documented everything there was to know in the multiverse. As soon as she was well enough to travel, Hadda left her home and began to travel across Casmaron and Avistan on her own. She would sit in on lectures at different academies of arcane and occult learning. She sometimes even stopped long enough to enroll in a course, which she was lucky to get attend if she could pry herself away from the school’s libraries. If a school tried to deny her access, she tried to reason with them, employing a dispassionate but effective silver tongue. Failing that, she would break in and take what she desired anyway. She was not so bold as to steal the books, but she would frequently transcribe copies that she could distribute them to interested parties later. Hadda was certainly caught more than a few times. If she couldn’t manage to escape—and she often could—then she dealt with a brief stint before talking her way out of her troubles. No one could keep her down for long. While she sought information about many topics, she was particularly drawn to lore about others like Tabris who pursued dangerous truths. Who disseminated knowledge, who hoarded it, and who tried to prevent access to it? As she studied their stories, she found herself allied with the promoters and at cross-purposes with the gatekeepers. Empyreal lord Bharnarol, The Tempered Inventor, was an enemy because of how he prevented the invention of devices he deemed dangerous. But fellow empyreal lord Zohls, driven by the search for truth, was a friend. She greatly distrusted Norgorber, who trafficked in secrets above almost all else. But she admired the demon lord Abraxas whose Abyssal libraries were well-regarded and, presumably, accessible. Irori, Brigh, Ydajisk: there were many who seemed to share in the quest for knowledge, however they intended to use it. To go beyond would require more. There was certainly magic—most of it beyond Hadda’s powers—that would allow her to travel to other worlds and other planes. But most of those solutions were unreliable. She needed something that she could learn to control. Searching for this such a solution led Hadda to legends of Baba Yaga and her Dancing Hut. She now seeks the Queen of Witches to ask how she might harness such magic for herself. |
