[House Rules]Divine Elves Part 2: Spellblade

A recent thread on RPG.Net had an awesome premise.  What if you removed Clerics from OD&D and gave their magic to elves?

I thought the idea had merit.  The more I rolled it around in my head, the more I liked it.  Even if you left Clerics in, the spell creation and class creation rules in ACKS gave a perfect opportunity to build a ‘better elf’… or at least a different one.

So I did…see the previous post about the race build

In this post I’m going to rebuild the Spellblade class as a divine warrior champion (essentially a full on paladin).  I’ve tweaked the spell list to my own tastes and vision, but it could have easily been a straight up cleric list (or bladedancer, or shaman, or whatnot).

The Divine Elven Spellblade

The Elven Spellblade

Elves are lithe, fey beings with pointed ears, delicate features,
and graceful movement. They typically weigh about 130-160lb and
stand between 5 3/4′ and 7′ tall. Humans envy their agelessness.

Though elves are a peaceful people
that enjoy poetry and art, they are also very talented fighters
and skilled spell-casters.
The elven spellsword class represents one such remarkable elf,
trained in the arts of both fighters and spell-user.
Elven spellswords learn an elegant, deadly style of ighting. At
irst level, elven spellswords hit an unarmored foe (AC 0) with an
attack throw of 10+. hey advance in attack throws and saving
throws as ighters, by two points every three levels of experience.
hey increase their base damage roll from successful missile and
melee attacks by +1 at 1st level, and by an additional +1 at 3rd,
6th, and 9th level. Elven spellswords can wield any weapon and
wear any armor. hey are trained to fight wielding a weapon and
shield, wielding a two-handed weapon, and wielding a weapon
in each hand.

In addition to their fighting prowess, elven spellswords cast
spells like a cleric, using spell list below and the same rules
for learning and casting spells. Elven spellswords follow the
same spell progression as clerics.  They can use any magic item available to fighters or
clerics.

At first level, elven spellswords gain the ability to turn undead.  This is exactly the same as the current cleric class ability.  It represents the elf revealing their divine connection to the first light of the gods (creation, life force, what-have you for your campaign).
Elves gain a +1 bonus to surprise rolls when in the wilderness
due to their attunement to nature. Elves have keen eyes that
allow them to detect hidden and secret doors with a proiciency
throw of 8+ on 1d20 when actively searching, or 14+ on casual
inspection. Because of their connection to nature, elves are
completely unafected by the paralysis ghouls can inlict, and
the target values for all their saving throws versus Petriication/
Paralysis and Spells are reduced by 1. Elves can speak the
Common, Elven, Gnoll, Hobgoblin, and Orc languages.
Starting at 5th level (Fey-Guardian), elven spellswords
may begin to research spells, scribe scrolls, and brew potions.
When an elven spellsword reaches 9th level (Fey-Knight Lord), he
is able to create more powerful magic items such as weapons,
rings, and staffs. hese activities are explained in the Campaign
chapter.
At 9th level (Fey-Knight Lord), elven spellswords can also establish a
fastness in a natural setting, such as a forest or glen. Rather than
impose upon nature, this keep must blend seamlessly with it. A
total of 3d6x10 1st level elven NPCs will move in to help with it
and defend the fastness at no cost to the character. Additional
rules for elven fastnesses are detailed in the Campaign chapter.

Elven Spellblade Proficiency List: Apostasy, Battle Magic, Beast Friendship, Combat Reflexes, Combat Trickery (Disarm, Sunder), Command,  Divine Blessing, Divine Health, Familiar, Fighting Style, Healing, Laying on Hands, Leadership, Loremastery, Magical Music, Magical Engineering, Mystic Aura, Naturalism, Precise Shooting, Quiet Magic, Riding, Righteous Turning, Sense Evil, Skirmishing, Swashbuckling, Unflappable Casting, Wakefulness, Weapon Finesse, Weapon Focus

Spellblade Level Progression					Spellblade Spell Progression
Experience	Title	Level	Hit Dice	Special Abilities	1	2	3	4	5
0	Fey-Bulwark	1	1d6	+1 Damage, Turn Undead	–	–	–	–	–
2125	Fey-Warder	2	2d6	Divine spellcasting	1	–	–	–	–
4250	Fey-Defender	3	3d6	+2 Damage	2	–	–	–	–
8500	Fey-Protector	4	4d6	–	2	1	–	–	–
17000	Fey-Guardian	5	5d6	Magic research (minor)	2	2	–	–	–
34000	Fey-Sentinel	6	6d6	+3 Damage	2	2	1	1	–
70000	Fey-Justiciar	7	7d6		2	2	2	1	1
140000	Fey-Knight	8	8d6	–	3	3	2	2	1
300000	Fey-Knight Lord	9	9d6	+4 Damage, magic research	3	3	3	2	2
460000	Fey-Knight Lord 10th	10	9d6+2*	–	4	4	3	3	2
620000	Fey-Knight Lord 11th	11	9d6+4*	Ritual spells	4	4	4	3	3
780000	Fey-Knight Lord 12th	12	9d6+6*	+5 Damage	5	5	4	4	3
*Hit point modifiers from constitution are ignored

Elven Spellblade Attack and Saving Throws
Level	Petrification & Paralysis	Poison & Death	Blast & Breath	Staffs & Wands	Spells	Attack Throw
1	14+	14+	16+	16+	16+	10+
2-3	13+	13+	15+	15+	15+	9+
4	12+	12+	14+	14+	14+	8+
5-6	11+	11+	13+	13+	13+	7+
7	10+	10+	12+	12+	12+	6+
8-9	9+	9+	11+	11+	11+	5+
10	8+	8+	10+	10+	10+	4+
11-12	7+	7+	9+	9+	9+	3+

Divine Spell List (Spellblade)

First Level Divine Spells

1	Command Word enc
2	Cure Light Wounds*
3	Detect Evil*
4	Detect Magic
5	Faerie Fire elm(fire)
6	Light*
7	Pass Without Trace
8	Protection from Evil*
9	Remove Fear*
10	Resist Cold elm(water)

Second Level Divine Spells

1	Bless*
2	Chameleon
3	Charm Animal enc
4	Charm Person
5	Find Traps
6	Hold Person enc
7	Resist Fire elm(fire)
8	Shimmer
9	Speak with Animals
10	Swift Sword

 

Third Level Divine Spells

1	Call Lightning
2	Call Fire
3	Continual Light*
4	Cure Blindness
5	Growth of Animals trn
6	Invisibility
7	Prayer
8	Remove Curse*
9	Striking
10	Winged Flight

Divine Elf version of ‘Winged Flight’

Fourth Level Divine Spells

1	Create Water elm(water)
2	Cure Serious Wounds*
3	Dispel Magic
4	Divination
5	Neutralize Poison*
6	Prot. from Evil, Sustained*
7	Skinchange
8	Smite Undead* nec
9	Vigor
10	Tongues

 

Fifth Level Divine Spells

1	Charm Monster
2	Commune
3	Create Food
4	Dispel Evil
5	Flame Strike elm(fire)
6	Polymorph Self
7	Quest* enc
8	Restore Life and Limb* dth
9	Sword of Fire elm(fire)
10	True Seeing

New Spells

Call Fire

Level 3 Divine (Spellblade)

Range: 90’

Duration: Instant

Summons elemental flame into an area covered by a 15’ diameter sphere.  The sphere does 1d6 damage per caster level, up to 4d6.  Targets can save versus blast to take half damage.

(Note-The spell list was chosen to reflect their usual depiction of more nature oriented beings.  I also tried to remove some of the more ‘Catholic’ spells from the list.  I added things like Call Lighting and created Call Fire as I still envision them as wielding elemental powers, but those could be removed easily enough for people who don’t want them having such abilities.)