Spiritualist

Base Requirements

  • Races: Any
  • Sub-Classes: Any Spellcaster or Psionicist
  • Ability Requirements: Willpower 16
  • Alignments: Non-Chaotic
  • Starting Cash: By class

Weapon Proficiencies

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

Non-Weapon Proficiencies:

  • Non-weapon Slots: +2 slots
  • Available Categories: By class
  • Bonus Non-weapon Proficiencies: Ancient History, Religion, Spirit Lore
  • Required Proficiencies: none
  • Recommended Proficiencies: Alertness, Ancient History, Artistic Ability, Astrology, Burial Customs, Dancing, Occult Lore, Disguise, Endurance, Feign Sleep, Folklore, Fortune Telling, Healing, Herbalism, Hiding, Hypnotism, Local History, Netherworld Knowledge, Observation, Religion, Soothsaying, Spellcraft
  • Forbidden Proficiencies: none

Overview: The spiritualist is a character who has been gifted with the ability to sense unseen spirits and to communicate with them. Most are born with this ability choose to become psionicists or priests (especially Shamans), but some spiritualists finds that it helps the cause of wizardry equally well, particularly that of necromancy.

Spiritualist know that something more exists beyond their own existence. They believe that that some form of order exists in the netherworld, regardless of the culture they come from. Spiritualists often attempt to contact the spirits of deceased beings and have a strange fascination with the undead. They are also able to sense spirits and presences around them; some are able to control these spirits, too.

Description: Spiritualists tend to be mysterious and ambiguous, preferring to dress in long, concealing robes rather than more modern styles, and speak in riddles, verse, or roundabout phrases. Spiritualists always have mystic equipment like candles, tarot cards, and Ouija boards on hand and they often carry a crystal ball (magical or otherwise) around with them for effect.

Role-Playing: Spiritualists are often contacted for divination purposes. Their expertise in occult spirit summoning is widely known, and many common folk bolt their doors and bar their shutters at the mere passing of a spiritualist. Spiritualists are treated in much the same way as necromancers and witches. Because of their regular communion with the dead, Spiritualists have great stores of wisdom and lore and as such are highly respected for their advice and knowledge, even by those who fear them for their means of acquiring it.

Special Abilities:

  • All Spiritualists have the ability to sense and see spirits. They automatically gain the Spirit Sense psionic ability as a wild talent at 1st level. Psionicist spiritualists gain this wild talent (and the commensurate power points) in addition to any powers they would gain normally.
  • Spiritualist priests (including Rangers and Paladins) gain minor access to the Necromantic sphere. If the priest’s class already grants minor access to the Necromantic sphere, the Spiritualist instead gains major access. If he would already have major access, he gains no additional benefit.
  • Spiritualists start out by rolling percentile dice for their Health, Reason, and Willpower ability scores in a manner similar to warriors with 18 strength. This number is added to the scores and every level thereafter a further 2d10 are rolled and added to these percentile scores. When the percentile scores reach or exceed 100, a point is added to the ability and the excess is applied to the new ability score. These abilities may be increased to a maximum of 19 through this method.
  • Spirit Armor: Protective spirits constantly hover around the Spiritualist, protecting him from danger. In complete darkness, these spirits are visible as a hazy blue aura composed of swirling humanoid figures. The spirit armor provides him with a +3 bonus to Armor Class. Additionally, the Spiritualist suffers only half damage from all attacks from undead. Level or ability draining undead only drain half of their usual amount, subject to a minimum drain of one.
    If affected by dispel magic or a similar spell, the spirit armor disappears for 24 hours (no saving throw). Likewise, a cleric can turn the spirit armor as a ghost; if turned, the spirit armor vanishes for a full day.
  • Spirit Horde: Once per day, the Spiritualist may attempt to summon a horde of sympathetic spirits to annoy his opponents and reduce their combat effectiveness. If the Spiritualist makes a successful Intuition check, the horde appears in one round, then harasses the indicated opponents by fluttering around their heads, shrieking in their ears, and tickling their skin. The horde will harass a number of opponents whose total hit dice or levels are less than or equal to the Spiritualist‘s level. While harassed, the opponents suffer a -1 penalty to Armor Class, attack rolls, and damage rolls. The harassment lasts for a number of rounds equal to the Spiritualist‘s level, then the horde disappears.
    The horde can be repelled by protection from evil or similar magic that shields the victim from conjured and summoned creatures.
  • Once a day, Spiritualists can render themselves invisible to undead (as the invisibility to undead spell), lasting 1 round per level.
  • Beginning at the 3rd level, Spiritualists gain the ability to cast speak with dead three times a day. No material components are needed, and the dead spirit can be communicated with even if the skull lacks a lower jaw (no bones are needed, if non-corporeal undead are the target of this spell).
  • At 7th level, the Spiritualist has enough knowledge of spirits that he can pen a protection scroll that protects against ghosts, poltergeists, wraiths, and other non-corporeal undead. It costs 750 gp and takes a month to write, and it protects against 17 Hit Dice worth of spirits.

Special Disadvantages:

  • A wizard Spiritualist (including spellcasting rogues) must take the Road of Soul’s Release or the Ghostly Path as one of their paths known at 1st level. This is not a bonus path. In addition, they may not have Necromancy as one of their forbidden schools.
  • Common people tend to be very suspicious and nervous while around spiritualists. The few who are not terrified witless by rumors of “demon worship” perceive occult divination as a dangerous waste of time. Thus, spiritualists receive a -5 reaction penalty when dealing with such superstitious people. Even in civilized, enlightened areas, such as Waterdeep, Cormyr, or Sembia, spiritualists are looked upon in the same light as necromancers, and such PCs may find themselves being chased around by peasants intent on burning them.
  • Likewise, while religious figures are generally aware of the actual nature of Spiritualists, they still view them as violating the natural cycle of death and denying souls their final rest. Thus, the Spiritualist suffers a -2 penalty on NPC reaction rolls when dealing with any priest. Even priests of the spiritualist’s own religion and priests that would normally collaborate with necromancers still distrust spiritualists (as their abilities are not entirely understood by traditional clergy). The only priests with whom this penalty does not apply are those that are also Spiritualists themselves.
  • A Spiritualist priest cast only the reversed versions of heal or cure spells, regardless of his alignment.
  • The Spiritualist must meditate for two hours each day in addition to what he needs to rest and pray for or memorize spells. This meditation must be performed at the same time each day and if not performed, he acts as if one level lower in all respects until the meditation is performed. This loss is cumulative (to a minimum effective level of 0), so that if three nights of meditation are missed, the character acts at three levels below his level until he meditates.
  • Spiritualists sometimes suffer from hauntings, whereupon a (more or less) harmless lesser spirit decides to attach itself to the spiritualist, most likely taking “residence” in some object he possesses (or perhaps his home). The spirit may pop up at odd hours to talk to the spiritualist, rearrange his backpack as a prank, etc., and stays unless it is destroyed or driven
    away. There’s a base 15% chance per level gained beyond 3rd level (non-cumulative) that a spirit latches on.
  • Spirit War: As compensation for use of their aid to the Spiritualist, spirits may occasionally call on the Spiritualist to aid them in their battles. Whenever the Spiritualist rolls a natural 20 on any Spirit Lore proficiency check or on any ability check to use spirit horde, his spirit has been conscripted to participate in an otherworldly war; the Spiritualist has no choice in the matter. The participation occurs the next time the Spiritualist falls asleep and lasts only a few moments. When he awakens, the Spiritualist remembers nothing about the battle, but damage incurred by his spirit may affect his physical body. Occasionally, the spirits may reward him instead. The DM should roll 1d20 and consult the table below. The effects begin as soon as he wakes up.
d20 Roll Spirit War Effects
1-10 No effect
11-13 2d4 damage
14-16 Suffer the effects of a curse spell for the next 24 hours
17-18 No spirit armor for the next 24 hours
19 Spirit Armor increases to +4 for the next 24 hours
20 One of the Spiritualist’s weapons functions as a +2 magical weapon for the next 24 hours

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Spiritualist

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