Base Requirements

• Races: Any
• Sub-Classes: Mage or Specialist
• Ability Requirements: Health 13, Willpower 13, Leadership 13
• Alignments: Any
• Starting Cash: By class

Weapon Proficiencies

• Weapon Slots: By class
• Bonus Weapon Proficiencies: none
• Required Weapon Proficiencies: none
• Allowed Weapons: By class
• Allowed Armors: By class

Non-Weapon Proficiencies:

• Non-weapon Slots: By class
• Available Categories: By class, plus Social
• Bonus Non-weapon Proficiencies: Battle Command, Modern Languages (allied species), Netherworld Knowledge
• Required Proficiencies: Portal Feel
• Recommended Proficiencies: Alertness, Ceremony, Chaos Shaping, Chanting, Debate, Defensive Tactics, Elemental Resistance, Fast-Talking, Intimidation, Lens Crafting, Locksmithing, Magical Tactics, Mental Resistance, Occult Lore, Offensive Tactics, Planar Sense, Planology, Raise Army, Spell Recovery, Survival (Planar), Thaumaturgy
• Forbidden Proficiencies: none

Overview: Born of the very nature of the Outer Planes, the Blood War is as old as time itself, possibly even older, and spans all the known Planes of existence; and no battlefield is more important to that planar war than the Prime Material. The Openers of the Ways are mortal spellcasters who have chosen to side with one of the many planar armies, using their expertise to bring planar soldiers through to the material so that they might wage war on their enemies. Of course, this same arrangement grants them powerful allies for their own agendas.

Each Opener of the Way allies himself with a specific species of extraplanar creatures, commensurate with his alignment (according to the chart below).

Alignment	Allied Outsiders	Plane
Lawful Good	Archons	Celestia
Neutral Good	Guardinals	Elysium
Chaotic Good	Eladrin	Arborea
Lawful Neutral	Modrons	Mechanus
True Neutral	Rilmani	Outlands
Chaotic Neutral	Slaadi	Limbo
Lawful Evil	Baatezu	Baator
Neutral Evil	Yugoloth	Gehenna
Chaotic Evil	Tanar’ri	The Abyss

Description: Openers of the Way tend to model themselves on their extraplanar allies. Lawful Neutral Openers might favor metal armor and accessories with prominent clockworks, while a Neutral Good Opener prefers furs and animal masks.

Role-Playing: Openers of the Way are quite dedicated to their chosen factions, and as such tend to be rather more militant in bearing than your average wizard — equally at home bivouacked with an army of devils on the plains of Avernus as they are reading in a tall tower. Regardless of alignment or faction, they are prepared to take charge of a situation, issuing orders to their allies both native and summoned.

Special Abilities:

• An Opener of the Way’s spells from the school of Conjuration/Summoning are not impeded by the wearing of metal armor. They still suffer the normal reduction in caster level when casting spells from any other school while wearing armor.
• When an Opener of the Way casts any Monster Summoning spell, he may freely select what creatures he summons from among those of the appropriate level, rather than rolling randomly. All members of his allies species are automatically added to the Monster Summoning tables for their appropriate levels. If he chooses to summon an Outsider of his aligned species, he summons 1 additional creature and the spell’s duration is doubled.
• Opener of the Way are used to giving orders to their summoned allies. Any time an Opener of the Way casts a Monster Summoning spell, they may immediately attempt a Battle Command check. This does not count against the normal once per 8 hours limit of using this proficiency.
• An Opener of the Way who uses the Find Famiiar spell will always attract a familiar native to the plane inhabited by his allied species, regardless of where or when the spell is cast. Thus a LE Opener may attract an Imp familiar, whereas a CG Opener might attract a Coure Eladrin familiar.
• Using the secret rituals of his craft, an Opener of the Way who uses the Raise Army non-weapon proficiency always attracts an army made up of creatures native to the plane inhabited by his allied species (of appropriate levels or HD). As the called soldiers travel metaphysically, rather than physically, the Opener of the Way may use this proficiency anywhere.

Special Disadvantages:

• Openers of the Way must not have Conjuration as a forbidden school. In addition, the Opener of the Way must always take the Road of Pentacles as his first path (this is not a bonus path).
• Because of their focused study to the Summoning arts, Openers of the Way do not gain any bonus Paths that other wizards would for having a high Knowledge score; learning only those Paths granted by their class levels.
• Because of their vow to “Open the Way” for their extraplanar masters, Openers may never learn any spells from the Road of True Names or the Road of Seals and Wardings, even if these spells are made available by another Path. Nor may they use any magic item that duplicates a spell from one of those Paths.
• Openers of the Way are not secretive about their allegiances, nor about the participation in the Eternal War. When encountering an Outsider not of their aligned species, they suffer a -4 penalty on all NPC reaction rolls and may never receive a result better than Indifferent.

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