Questions about Class: the Cavalier

Image taken from www.deviantart.com and by biotechbob

Welcome back readers! Here is another entry in our Questions about Class series, this time focusing on the Cavalier. As you may (or may not) know, Flying Pincushion Games is about to released its next book, Into the Breach: The Cavalier.  So we thought it was a good time that I, Kiel Howell, sit down with fellow Pincushioneer Jeffery Harris to talk about the class.

KH: First of all, thank you for taking the time to sit down and answer these questions!

JH: My pleasure Kiel, thank you for taking the time to lay down some excellent questions about the cavalier class!

KH: Can you give the readers a little about yourself and your role at The Flying Pincushion?

JH: Well sure, I am of course Jeff Harris, co-owner, CFO, sometimes editor and lead designer here at The Flying Pincushion.  I have been gaming for more than 24 years, but have only been in the industry officially for about two and a half years.  I am married to a lovely wife and live in a house with as many cats as there are core classes.

KH: So what exactly is a cavalier? Isn’t it just a Paladin on a horse? Minus the curatives?

JH: For those who are not aware, the word cavalier in our real world actually means: Cavalier (/ˌkævəˈlɪər/) was the name used by Parliamentarians for a supporter of King Charles I and his son Charles II during the English Civil War, the Interregnum, and the Restoration (1642 – c. 1679). Cavaliers were also known as Royalists.

But for our discussion purposes here, the cavalier is much more than just a magicless paladin with looser ethics.  To me a cavalier in Pathfinder is something of the quintessential hero, or villain.  Charging, challenging, holding the front line, or bolstering allies with tactics, are all things that great heroes and villains do in fantasy literature, and the cavalier does on the battle matt.  While paladins gain power from divine sources, a cavalier draws inspiration and power from dedicating themselves to an ideal, except that ideal need not be honorable or goodly.  In short cavaliers gain their power by belief in the tenants of their Order.

KH: Why does this stand as a whole class to you? Would it have been better as an archetype of the Fighter?

JH: The cavalier is to me a very different animal from the fighter.  Fighters are martial characters, just like cavaliers, but the main difference to me comes back to motivation.  Fighters can certainly have a number of motivations for fighting, but there is no inherent code or motivating factor built into the class, players usually decide why their fighter fights.  A cavalier however comes with a built in ethical and moral compass, which a fighter does not.  Because of the edicts of conduct attached to each order, cavaliers automatically come with some type of ethical motivation, be it personal glory for the Order of the Cockatrice, all the way to defending the common people as with the Order of the Land.  Basically cavaliers take the great role play and ethical/moral aspect of paladins, add all the shades of gray that lie between black and white, and put the end result on a war mount and say “once more unto the breach!”

KH: What is a class that is so dependant on a mount supposed to do when they can’t have their mount?

JH: That is a great question Kiel, as just such an issue often arises for those playing a cavalier in dungeon or narrow terrain heavy games.  The Flying Pincushion deals with this issue in the forthcoming Into the Breach: the Cavalier by providing cavalier archetypes that trade out or alter the mount class feature.  For instance one of our new archetypes trades your mount for an animal companion that you cannot ride, but who makes an excellent combat partner, while another trades your normal horse for a ghostly one, which narrow walls bother not a bit.

However, that answer does not address all of the cavaliers who have a large sized horse or mount, but really want to get into that narrow dungeon.  I suspect this is where clever thinking or a little help from your parties wizard comes in handy here.  A quick casting of carry companion or similar magic can help keep your mount with the party.  Also small sized cavaliers on medium sized mounts are not only interesting to play, but work just fine in most dungeons, I highly recommend trying one out, I happen to know from personal game experience that they can be very fun.

KH: Can you explain Cavalier Orders a bit?

JH: The best way to think of a cavalier Order is as an ethical or moral stance from which all cavaliers of that order work.  They may do things a little differently from person to person, but their strong belief in the tenants of their order make cavaliers what they are and influence how the character interacts with the game world.  

KH: This class seems to suffer from what I’ll call GM arbitration issues. As in, judging when a cavalier character is keeping to his Order’s edicts. Yet there are no rules for “fallen” cavaliers. What do you think?

JH:  On one side, this open area is role play opportunity and wiggle room for the player, but for GM’s it boils down to a judgement call.  If I were GMing a player whose cavalier has very clearly and often violated their Orders edicts, I would have that player lose their Order abilities until he or she undertook making reparations or returns to following more closely the edicts of their Order.  Falling further out of line with ones edicts could well also cause an alignment change or invoke the wrath of that Order, again, it falls to the GM to deal with such an issue as they deem appropriate.  However it does pay to remember that cavaliers are not paladins, and as such likely do not need a “fallen” template.  Also, if a player cannot or does not follow the edicts of their current Order, the GM and player may well just want to sit down and perhaps find an Order whose edicts are more in line with the players style.  This is a spot where communication is likely key to keeping the game fun for all while keeping with the spirit of the cavalier’s Orders.

KH: The way the class itself reads, there isn’t much flexibility for what type of character you can play...

JH: At first glance, that looks very true, as on the surface the cavalier seems very much a “challenge BBEG, charge BBEG.  However, not only have we attempted to broaden the horizons of the cavalier class with our offerings in Into the Breach: the Cavalier by reimagining what the scope of a cavalier is, but just like any other class, how you build and play it define it.  Sure you can just go with the change on a mount basic build and optimize that all day, but taking time to really imagine a unique and personal take on the cavalier is likely more satisfying.  Being size Small opens up quite a few interesting options, as does experimenting with styles that may not be perfect, but that are interesting and flavorful.  As with any class, a cavalier is only what you make of it.

KH: Should the Cavalier get some sort of Weapon Training ala the Fighter?

JH: From a strict balance perspective, I would say no, simply because there is a plethora of feats, traits, and other options that are just as good as Weapon Training that the cavalier can already obtain.  From the theme perspective the cavalier is more than just a fighter on a horse, he can be a general, an outrider, a robber knight, and much more, all just by using the features that class already has.  The answer is not always giving a class something more, it is making what they already have go further.

KH: Challenges are interesting enough, but they seem limited in both number of uses and number of creatures affected. Your thoughts on the mechanic?

JH: I cannot speak for the Paizo design staff, but the limits to challenge make sense to me.  In keeping with the flavor of the cavalier, challenge is likely very much limited in target scope to further play up the heroic and brave/egotistical and brash aspects of a cavalier.  Challenging the BBEG or BLGG (big lawful good guy) and going at him one on one, is cavalier in the extreme (as in, having a cavalier attitude).  Limiting the number of challenges a cavalier gets per day, just like limited spells, or limited channel bursts, is just that, a balance factor, as in the end, Pathfinder is still a game that needs balance to its rules in order to function, and here we see just that.

KH: Should the cavalier be a full BAB class?  Most cavalier type stories I can think of don’t revolve around being able to attack a whole bunch of times...

JH: Here again the choice of making the cavalier a full BAB class is a balance choice in my opinion.  Fiction tells tales of one great charge, hundreds of horses hooves churning the ground and their riders in gleaming plate lowering lances in unison to devastate a massed foe on foot.  However fiction does not have a complex system of rules, which must balance out against each other.  As a martial class the cavalier falls in line with all other martial classes, which means a full BAB.  Sometimes reality needs to be ignored in order to retain balance.

KH: What would you change about the base class if you were given free reign?

JH: I would expand the available mount options for cavaliers, especially for Small sized characters.  However as it sits, cavalier is near the top of my list for favorite martial class to play.

KH: Have you ever had to ban or have you seen the class banned at a table?

JH: At least from personal experience I have never had an issue with a cavalier character at my table, and have not seen any sort of article alluding to there being a ban.  That is not to say it has not happened, but as a martial character, the cavalier lacks many of the “game breaker” factors of certain other classes that will remain nameless.  The GM may feel differently when a cavalier impales his four hours worth of work BBEG with a lance using Spirited Charge, but generally that just means you doing something right.

KH: What is your advice for building a successful Cavalier?

JH: The best advice I can give is be flexible, build smart, and pick a few things you want your cavalier to do well, and build towards those.  The cavalier has plenty of class features that work fine when not mounted, and there are plenty of ways to work with or around the limiting factor of mount size and dungeon/tight space areas.  While mounted charging does lots of damage, I urge people to explore and play with the other features of the class, like Tactician and challenge.  And of course, if you want new and interesting options for the cavalier, pick up a copy of Into the Breach: the Cavalier, as it has lots of new twists and takes on the vanella jump on a horse with a big sharp stick cavalier.  Cavalier is an attitude along with a class, and the The Flying Pincushion writers have really put some ‘tude into their work on the Cavalier.

KH: Thank you for taking the time to have this chat, Jeff!

JH: Not a problem, as it has been an honor to respond to your insightful and interesting set of Questions about Class this time around.  And I hope this discussion helps folk better understand a great class and that its just not for horse fans anymore.  If you like playing a martial character with a reason for being that has nothing to do with gods and lots of attitude, the cavalier is most definitely for you.

Recession Reviews - Thunderscape the World of Aden Campaign Setting

Review written by Richard Litzkow

Thunderscape the World of Aden Campaign Setting

Written by: Shawn Carman & Rich Wulf (Kyoudai Games)

Page Count: 227

Throw Away Pages: 8 (2 cover pages, 1 toc page, 2 backer list pages, 1 OGL page, 2 Index pages)

Golden Pages: 11 (Races), 73 (New Classes and Alternate Classes), 5 (New Feats and Skills), 47 (Cosmology and Geography), 29 (New Equipment and Rules), 11 (New Monsters and Antagonists) total 179

Cover price: $19.99

Price per page: $0.09

Modified price per page: $0.09, cover price/pages + golden pages – throw away pages = modified price per page

Crunch to fluff ratio: 1.32 to 1

Our rating out of 10: 9 (highly reusable classes, feats, new equipment and races. Concepts like the Fallen class and it’s versatile and clever approach to combat, or the Ferran race are things that have been largely missing from core Pathfinder and are worthy imports into any home-brew or established campaign setting - either wholesale or with minor tweaks).

Description

For nearly a thousand years the world of Aden knew peace, technology and magic flourished and the realms grew rich and fat. Then one day, with no warning the sun disappeared and the world was plunged into darkness – as if someone had switched off the light. And in this darkness emerged the Nocturnals – the nightmares of every sentient living creature made real, and though the darkness lasted only a short time when the sun appeared again the Nocturnals were still there. Killing, feasting on an unsuspecting world – millions fell, others gave in to the madness and terror giving their souls over to it to become another horror. 10 years after the Darkfall the world struggles grow against a land overrun and tainted by the Nocturnals.

This is the premise for Thunderscape the World of Aden a godless world where magic and technology are synonymous. The book features all new classes, races, feats, other uses for skills and an entire section to new mecha-magical equipment and the rules surrounding it.

It also adds a terrifying new monsters, and an even more horrifying template – Nocturnal, that allows you to turn old monsters into new sinister specimens for your party to fight.

There are 7 new races in the Thunderscape campaign setting as well as the classic Dwarves, Elves, Humans and Half-Elves. Many of these new races are evolved forms of classic fantasy races. Goreaux are hyper intelligent goblins, Jurak are more civilized descendants of Orcs, Faerkin are gnomes who have crossbred with fey to such an extent that they often manifest outwardly fey traits. Rapcians are almost a south american themed lizardfolk. The new original races are the Echoes – featureless humanoids with an inky exterior that can adopt the shape and features of the deceased. The Illithix Exiles, a insectoid species with the hybrid features of bees and ants and the Ferran. The Ferran are a species of anthropomorphic animals, with three different racial packages – Ferran Predator, Brute or Sneak allowing players to decide what category their Ferran wants to come from. Mice Ferrans are probably sneaks, likewise Foxes, but there are no hard restrictions.

The classic fantasy races listed follow many of the original tropes, Elves as aloof and distant, Humans as versatile. Dwarves get a new backstory though, originating beneath the earth they eventually dug to the surface whereupon they believed themselves to have 'dug into heaven', fully three quarters of the race went back underground decrying those that stayed as heathens and waging a secret war on them.

Racial abilities are fair and balanced, with interesting note to the Jurak who gain a bonus to damage against any foe that has injured them within 3 rounds. Echoes likewise must make poppets incorporating material from the deceased they wish to appear as.

There are 9 all new core classes to play as, Arbiter, Entomancer, Fallen, Golemoid, Mechamage, Seer, Steamwright, Thaumaturge and Thunderscout. Very few of these will feel familiar, one could loosely compare the Mechamage to a Wizard but the focus on building familiar-esque golems and modifying them is a big enough difference to be worth read over a few times.

    The Arbiter is an Int based shield and weapon fighter with rogue like elements thrown in with their 'Strategic Maneuvers' picked every 2nd level after 3rd level.

The Entomancer is almost a sort of totemic druid that venerates insects, they too chose at every odd level an insect themed power from a series of lists including 'The Way of the Mantis', 'The Way of the Bee'. While they can take powers from any list they can only access the greater powers by having a certain number of abilities from within a single Way.

    The Fallen is perhaps one of the most unique classes to Thunderscape, they are those people who have been corrupted by the Darkfall but are often the anti-heroes that use their sinister powers to fight the darkness. From the 1st level of the Fallen class a player must choose one of 6 'Stigmas' (Befouled, Behemoth, Horror, Incinerator, Madcap and Seducer) these stigmas mark you are tainted but are also your source of power. As you level up you gain powers associated with the stigma you chose and each functions differently.

    As a class the Fallen is about combination, a default ability native to any Fallen is the ability to inflict a form of psychic torment on an opponent as a swift action. Opponent so marked save vs a status effect (like Shaken) and whether they save or not against the status effect are marked as 'tormented'. Tormented subjects take additional damage from the Fallen and are subject to a variety of other effects based off that mark.

    An example would include the Madcap stigma ability to be invisible to any tormented foe, allowing a Madcap to use another ability to inflict an area effect burst of torment so that a room full of enemies cannot see him until either the tormented condition runs it's course or he breaks the invisibility by attacking – at which point he becomes visible to that particular victim.

By far this class is one of the most clever in the entire book as each stigma has different ways of inflicting area affect torment as well as offering other unique debuffs that go along with their tormented condition.

    The Golemoid is another thoroughly unique class, they represent people who have either willingly or unwillingly become hosts to mechamagical implants (called manite implants) that reduce their life-span but become a part of them. As they level so given over to this magic they begin to grow new implants, shedding their organic heritage to become living constructs.

Almost all of their implants function off a grit like system called 'Steam' gaining an amount equal to their Level + Constitution modifier. This spendable resource allows them to activate many of their implants or gives them the ability to detect magic, buff their AC for a round, help them make acrobatics checks or break objects.

    Similar to a fighter the Golemoid chooses early on a specialty, in this case a form of combat. Steam powered weaponry, ranged combat or natural weapons. Their implants reinforce these decisions with a Gunner specialty Golemoid likely taking an internal ammo belt and finger guns for an optimal build. But implants are not limited by specialization allowing the player to customize as they see fit.

    The Seer is another original class, functioning as a close range bard who altered reality around her with her prophetic auras. Many of these auras allow a save, and an enemy that saves can be forced to make another save if they leave and re-enter the aura. Possibly subject to abuse by Seers who dance backward and forward to trigger a new save. The auras are unique offering things like 'decrease the amount of healing an enemy receives by the Seer's Wisdom modifier, while increasing ally healing by the same amount', or even allowing her to give additional actions to allies with her new but limited spell list.

    The Steamwright is another new class, as cutting edge techno-mages they invent volatile gadgets that only function a certain number of times per day but offer a fair bit of bang for their buck. These inventions can be modified, limited by whether it is a primary or secondary invention and by the class level of the Steamwright. Inventions include new weapons; like the Belcher (cone effect elemental damage), Grenade Launcher (the envy of alchemists everywhere) or even small auto Turrets. Utility inventions include rocket packs, translation goggles, trap detectors and so on.

    In addition Steamwrights may over-charge their weaponized inventions adding a pool of damage dice that they must declare beforehand. A Steamwright with a grenade launcher by level 5 could in theory deal 2d10 + Int mod AoE with an additional 2d8 firepower damage. In addition to deploying an auto turret that fires independently for 1d8 + Int mod. In terms of game-play balance Steamwrights pose a bit of a balance issue, outclassing all other similar level classes in raw damage even with a limited number of uses per day.

    After the Steamwright is the Thaumaturge, a reimagining of the Magic of Incarnum supplement for 3.5. The Thaumaturge has a deliberately abominable stat line, because all their power comes from drawing about legends and their aspects. These change your base saves, BAB and even give you temporary hit points. A Thaumaturge might never be able to cast spells but if you need a stand in Fighter, Rogue or Ranger then they are the Swiss army knife of classes.

    Finally the last new class is the Thunderscout, and one that impressed me least. They are small vehicle driving rangers meet 3.5ed Scouts and for certain nations they fit well with the fluff, so they make sense contextually. But mechanically compared to any of the other new classes they are far more boring. They get spells earlier but a limited selection and they are designed as swift moving vehicular ranged support. They don't have the interesting combination build up tool box the fallen have, or the customizability of the Golemoid. They don't bring highly modified golems to the party, or super-tech inventions. They aren't as flexible as the thaumaturge and they don't buff their allies as well as the Seer. Thunderscouts are a great fluff class and mechanically they are what Rangers dream of being but that doesn't make them as interesting – only competent.

    After the new classes there are explanations for how all the old classes fit in, including a bunch of new archetypes to make regular classes work in Thunderscape. This is also where the first mention of godless clerics and paladins come up. See if Thunderscape ever had deities, then they aren't there now. The World of Aden lives and dies on it's inhabitants, divine spellcasters still power their spells through faith but no-one is answering any calls when they try to start up a conversation.

    Additionally we learn that Detect Good/Evil, etc spells only function on the supernatural. Monstrous Humanoids, planar beings, all detect as an alignment, but ordinary beings don't. This is because as a setting Thunderscape focuses on surviving and thriving in a world being devoured by nightmares. Mundane evil is as invested in their own survival as they are mostly avoiding corruption and losing their mind. This means that a game revolves less around party alignment and more about prevailing what ever the cost.

    An important note though about the base classes in Thunderscape, guns in Thunderscape are treated as highly common to the point where many of the base classes gain a firearm proficiency or two, the twist is that guns, work like bows. So Gunslingers are problematic as many of their abilities function on hitting touch still. Either you nerf them, or you let them out class almost every other class.

    The new feats are all fairly standard, with exceptions like the feat Studied that grants additional free skill points base on your current level and gives you 1 additional skill point each level thereafter. This could be prone to abuse, but it also indicates that the writers wanted characters not to ignore skills as is commonly a problem.

    The remainder of the book covers a detailed historical timeline of the setting, a large section dedicated to each of the countries and a section dedicated to new weaponry and rules. Including the effects of manite implants on living beings – a fascinating read and delightful new mechanic. The Bestiary section is only 11 pages long and could do with more substance, and after that the index section (along with the original table of contents) is all nicely hyper-linked – like all proper pdfs should be, allowing easy navigation of the book.

Overall

    At the end of the day I love this book, it is well thought out and while there are minor editing oversights (some inconsistent phrasing of pathfinder core rules) or omissions in detail (regarding the new spells for animating constructs) the editing and presentation of the book are superb. The art is a bit of a mixed bag with many internal chapter pages having gorgeous tableaus but other art being markedly less high in quality (most commonly in the races section).

Jeff Crunch: Aletheian Scholar

A note from the author,                                                                                                                                           

This archetype is delving into untested ground, as it modifies an NPC class, the expert.  I personally believe the expert to be a viable player character, though it can be difficult and trying as I also personally believe that even with an enhanced expert they are still bellow the bar of many PC classes.  Also because of the nature of this class, I strongly suggest allowing the use of the tomes presented by Frank Gori earlier in our week of H.P. Lovecraft madness.  But without further ado the Flying Pincushion presents to you the aletheian scholar.

                                                                                                                                                           Sincerely,                                                                                                                                   

                                                                                                                                                           Jeff Harris      

Aletheian Scholar (Expert)

What thing is all at once the most powerful weapon, most deadly poison, most useful tool, and most seductive drug known to all men?  There are many answers to give, but to some there is but one true answer, knowledge.  As a weapon against it there is little defense, it easily poisons even the truest of hearts,  as a tool there is nothing in this world that knowledge did not create, and as a drug, none is more addictive, as the hunger for it can never be truly sated. For those who feel this in their very being there is a name, the aletheian scholar.  They are willing to risk death and madness to relearn what we have forgotten, and discover that which we are afraid to. To them there is no greater calling then truth, no knowledge too dangerous or taboo, for knowledge is neither good nor evil. If knowledge is the sword and men the hand, should it not be the hand that terrifies us then, for like the sword, without the hand knowledge has no will, and can do no harm of its own.  It would stand to reason then that exposing the worlds many secrets to the harsh light of truth is worth any cost. For truth should be unbound by the shackles of morality.  No matter their ethical standings however, all aletheian scholars share the belief that truth and knowledge are mans keys to unlocking reality, and our place in it.   

Weapon and Armor Proficiency Same as a standard expert plus the following; fire arms (both one and two handed) and one martial or exotic weapon of your choice.  Aletheian scholars are also proficient with bucklers and small shields as well as light armor.

Skills In addition to picking 10 class skills, Linguistics, Perception, and Knowledge (history) are always class skills for the aletheian scholar.

A Use for All Things: Sometimes the search for knowledge leads to dangerous places, and sometimes you have to adapt to the situation at hand.  Because of this at 1^st level the aletheian scholar receives Equipment Trick as a bonus feat and may pick one item and use its associated tricks, you must still meet the requirements for using the specific tricks in each item category.  Every six levels attained (7^th, 13^th, and 19^th) after 1^st you gain this feat again as a bonus feat and may choose an additional item from the list.  Also this ability reduces the penalty to hit when using improvised weapons from -4 to -2 for an aletheian scholar.  This reduction also applies to using a fire arm as a melee weapon, such as pistol whipping or stock bashing, as these attacks are being considered improvised weapon attacks.

Candle of Truth: Because of the boundless curiosity and unending appetite for knowledge aletheian scholars often know at least something about many subjects, they simply need to recall that knowledge from the library of their mind.  As a result beginning at 3^rd level you may add a bonus of ½ your class level in this class (minimum 1) to any knowledge skill check you wish.  You may use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + your intelligence modifier. 

Harbor No Secrets:  Because bringing to light all the knowledge of the world is an intrinsic part of the aletheian scholar’s philosophy, finding that which is hidden in words comes as second nature.  As a result at 3^rd level whenever the aletheian scholar attempts to use the Linguistics skill to decipher a code or unfamiliar language or the Perception skill to investigate books and documents in any way they add a bonus to the die roll equal to 1/2 of their class level (minimum 1) in this class.

Right Tool for the Job: Long hours spent in seedy taverns waiting for contacts and battling strange horrors have honed the everyday tools and items aletheian scholars carry into an effective means of self defense.  At 6^th level the aletheian scholar gains Improvised Weapon Mastery as a bonus feat.  For the purposes of applying this feat melee attacks with a fire arm, such as pistol whipping or stock bashing, are also considered to be improvised weapon attacks, and are subject to this feat.

Rune Foil (Su):  Because runes are simply an attempt to hide knowledge behind archaic mystic symbols aletheian scholars delight in deciphering and unraveling them.  At 8^th level the scholar gains a +5 insight bonus on all Perception checks to find magical glyphs and spell runes.  Additionally an aletheian scholar can attempt to dispel such runes (symbol spells, sepia snake sigils, glyph or warding, etc).  For the purpose of dispelling a rune the scholar’s class levels count as his caster level, if this meets or exceeds the rune creator’s caster level, then the rune is dispelled.  Using this ability is a full round action.

Unravel Scroll (Su):  While aletheian scholars do not gains spells or spell-like abilities, they do have an amazing knack for deciphering writing.  Because of this at 10^th level the aletheian scholar may attempt to use spell scrolls even if they have not invested skill ranks into the Use Magic Device skill.  In this case the scholar’s class level is considered their total modifier for the skill check.  However if the aletheian scholar has ranks in Use Magic Devise then they may roll their skill check twice and take the better of the two results when attempting to use a spell scroll. Using a scroll remains a standard action, and all scrolls are covered by this ability regardless of if arcane or divine.

Read Weakness (Ex):  An aletheian scholar may not seem to be a dangerous opponent, as spectacles and ink wells are rather no threatening.  However many that have tried to stop an aletheian scholar’s pursuit of knowledge has found otherwise.  At 12^th level the scholar has gained an almost supernatural ability to spot the weaknesses of their foes.  As a standard action a scholar may attempt a Perception check against an opponent.  If this skill check result meets or exceeds the targets Armor Class, the aletheian scholar has found a weakness.  As a result for 1d4 rounds the target of this ability losses the benefit of their armor and or shield to their Armor Class.  Magic pluses and enhancements are not lost, only the armor’s base defense value.  You may only affect a given target once with this ability in a 24 hour period, and those not wearing armor or carrying a shield cannot be affect by this ability.

Dangerous Knowledge (Su):  The greatest strength of the aletheian scholar is their mind, and the stores of lost or taboo knowledge contained therein.  As a result a 15^th level the aletheian scholar may choose a special class feature of another class and use that ability for a short time.  The class feature may not be spell casting.  A short list of choices includes; evasion, wild shape, channel energy, weapon training, armor training, monks unarmed strike, and uncanny dodge.  When using this ability you gain access to the chosen class feature for a number of rounds equal to your intelligence modifier.  Also for any class feature that scales by level, your level in the “class” is considered to be 3/4^th of your aletheian scholar level.  Also if you happen to have the class feature already from levels in another class, when using this ability you gain the improved version of the class ability (such as improved evasion or improved uncanny dodge) if one exists.  Class features that do not have an improved version are not affected in this way and are used normally if selected.  You may use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + your intelligence modifier.  Using this ability is a full round action.  Feats cannot be taken and used by this ability.

Master of the Mind (Ex):  An aletheian scholar’s mind has become so strengthened by knowledge, and so strong in will, that few can sway them from their goals.  As a result at 18^th level the aletheian scholar becomes immune to all charm or mental domination affects.

Ascended Scholar (Su):  At the pinnacle of their studies, the aletheian scholar has gained so much knowledge and delved so many secrets that they are often compelled by posterity to record for all time the truths they have learned.  This takes the form of a special book, which can be a standard magical tome, grimori, or manual. Also any one of the Lovecraft themed books presented in “mishelved; H.P. Lovecraft” by Frank Gori would be appropriate.  Additionally an aletheian scholar may roll twice and take the better of the two results whenever they are forced to make a save or percentile role regarding a negative effect of a tome or book.  It should be noted that books that only function once still disappear after use, so chose carefully.