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ooooooookay then.
While I was making a homebrew race I created a Racial Archetype for the Witch class. my whole goal was to give it the feel of an Arcane Caster who taps into a more primal power. After a few revisions it ended up taking on a life of its own and soon became a form of Hybrid class between Arcane Caster and Druid.
Personally I would like everyone's advice on Balance, Fluff, and Crunch for this Archetype.
so here is the
Natural Patron: A Ley Caller’s patron is an entity of nature; as such they are limited as to their bonus patronal spells. A Ley Caller may only choose from the Patrons of Animals, Elements, Healing, Moon, Stars, Transformation, Water, Winter, and Wisdom. In addition the following spells replace their Patron spells: 4th-Warp Wood, 8th-Obsidian Flow, 12th-Transport Via Plants, 16-Earthquake.
Terrain Bond: A Ley Caller calls upon the inherent arcane power of the natural world as their patron, channeling their magic through the very land rather than a familiar. Choose a Bonded Terrain from the ranger’s favored terrain list. As long as you are within your bonded terrain you are treated as having the Eschew Materials feat and all spell material costs cost ¾ as much as usual. In order to cast spells a Ley Caller must spend eight hours meditating and communing with their bonded terrain, if they leave their terrain they are unable to prepare spells but may cast them if they succeed a concentration check at a DC equal to 20 + the Spell’s level or lose the spell. A Ley Caller who wishes to switch to a new Bonded Terrain must spend 24 hours in the new terrain and perform a ritual worth 500gp per Witch level. This replaces the Witch’s Familiar.
Ley Tapping: At 4th level, a Ley Caller learns to identify and tap into ley lines in their bonded terrain. As a free action, they can tap into the magic of a nearby ley line and increase her caster level by +1 for 1 round. They can use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3+ their intelligence bonus and only in their bonded terrain. This replaces the Hex gained at 4th level.
Primal Magicks: At 10th level learns how to harness their nature-bound magic in a more pure form, similar to that of druids. As a standard action a Ley Caller may treat their spells as Divine rather than Arcane. Divine spells cast this way are cast with a -2 penalty to their caster level, but do not require somatic components. At 12 level the caster may increase this penalty to -3 in order to treat their spells as having the Selective Spell metamagic feat applied to them, though doing so does not require the usage of a higher spell slot as normal. A Ley Caller must be in their Bonded Terrain to use this ability and can activate it 3+ their Intelligence bonus times per day. The duration for this effect is equal to 1/4 their class level+their Intelligence bonus minutes per day. This time need not be consecutive, but must be spent in minute increments. This replaces the Hexes gained at 10th and 12th level.
Patronic Oath: All Ley Callers gain their powers from a powerful patron tied to the natural world. As such should they do something to anger the natural world then their power is forfeit. Though a Ley Caller is not required to worship nature they must not perform acts against nature such as creating Undead, intentionally ravaging ecosystems, or other such depravity (GM’s Discretion). Should the Ley Caller perform such acts they lose all of their class abilities.
Thoughts, Questions, Concerns, Constructive Criticisms?
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Well its not a pc set up. I like it though for an npc. As for balance I'm not sure it seems really strong inside its choosen area and crap outside it which makes it a bit funky.
That is the concept. its for characters who are more Defenders/Tribal Shamans/Village hunters than adventures. As I said I used it mainly for a homebrewed race, and they weren't the type to normally go adventuring.
The all or nothing terrain is a killer, especially when you have ley line components in the class archetype itself. If they gained benefits in their bonded terrain but were able to still prepare and cast spells outside of that bonded terrain but doing so required more time, that would be different. Also, the patron could be a committed force of nature.
Example:
Natural Patron: A ley caller’s patron is an entity of nature. Her patron spells are 2nd-pass without trace, 4th-warp wood, 6th-speak with plants, 8th-obsidian flow, 10th-commune with nature, 12-transport via plants, 14th-control weather, 16th-earthquake, and 18th-foresight. This replaces the standard witch's patron.
Terrain Bond (Su): At 1st level, a ley caller selects a bonded terrain from the ranger's favored terrain list. As she gains power, her connection to this terrain increases. Her spells are gleaned from the ethereal whispers of the natural world surrounding her. Her bonded terrain acts in all ways like a witch's familiar for the purpose of preparing and gaining spells. Rather than communing with a familiar to prepare spells each day, a ley caller must tap into the ley lines of her bonded terrain. If a ley caller is outside of her bonded terrain, she must navigate the network of interconnected ley lines in order to find one connected to her bonded terrain, a process that doubles her normal preperation time. A ley caller must be in her bonded terrain in order to add new spells to her bonded terrain, but new spells added automatically from leveling do not.
While in her bonded terrain, a ley caller gains the benefits of the Eschew Materials feat and the cost of expensive material components for spells are reduced by half. She also gains an empathic link to her bonded terrain, granting her a +2 bonus on initiative checks and Knowledge (geography), Perception, Stealth, and Survival skill checks when she is in her bonded terrain. At 6th, 11th, and 16th level, these bonuses increase by +2.
A ley caller may change her bonded terrain by spending 24 in her new terrain and performing a ritual worth 500 gp per level.
This ability otherwise functions like and replaces the standard witch familiar.
