Lantern

Lantern

A Base Class for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game

“Not All Who Wander Are Lost...”

Lanterns are the guides of a secret network of roads that exist in the spaces between spaces. These unassuming passages can only be navigated by those with a humble heart. Using their very soul to light a torch to lead the way, lanterns lead others in the fight against the darkness.

These places, collectively known as the Neverwhere, are roads that one has to accidentally stumble upon. They look like any other cobblestone road or seldom-used farm path but should you stray from the path once you are on it, your soul will be forfeit. Should you find yourself on one of these roads without a guide, turn back for if you walk long enough upon it you will find that there are shadows at the edge of the path that no eye can pierce. What lies beyond the edges in that darkness, none should challenge for even the gods quiver in their shadows.

These humble guides ignite any kind of shielded receptacles like hooded lanterns, chōchin (paper lanterns),and even oil lamps with their hearts, offering an area of safety to those who stay in its warm glow. On the other hand, should this flame die- so too dies the lantern.

Lanterns are not trained. Instead they find themselves upon a secret path and never turn back. They wander on these secret highways, sometimes for years, before they exit forever changed by the experience. Their humble hearts keep the shadows at bay and they can pass with impunity, unknowingly at first, on the webwork of ever changing roads to far off places. Eventually they all come to understand their calling and emerge with a deeper understanding of the Neverwhere.

Finding yourself in the Neverwhere is not an uncommon occurrence. Anytime you walk the dizzying streets of a new city, it is likely that you slipped into the Neverwhere once or twice- if only briefly. That feeling of being lost in a place you’ve never been before is the first sign of your visit and the panic that sets in soon after is the first indication you have of the nature of the shadows that now watch you from afar. Lanterns are simply people who have embraced this feeling and walked on the road longer than most.

Some eventually congregate, finding each other on the typically empty spaces between spaces, and share secrets amongst themselves. If they form groups they many have names like “Brothers of the Lanterns”, “Those Who Wander”, or “Shepherds of the Lost”.

Hit Dice: D8.

Role: Lanterns are primarily support characters, providing those in the aura of their lantern’s light with bonuses though they can also turn the light into a powerful weapon to harm foes and drive off the shadows. They are also divine casters, though they worship no god. Their magic comes from within- the humility of their heart lends them strength.

Sidebar: What is The Neverwhere?

It has many names but essentially the Neverwhere is akin to the space between realms. The longer you travel on a path in the Neverwhere, the closer the insane and malicious aberrations who call it home draw- unless you have a humble heart. Collectively these creatures who stalk the Neverwhere are called “the shadows”. The things that lurk beyond are typically at least CR 9, though often much higher. They commonly include swarms of delvers, neothelids, hordes of destrachan, froghemoths, gaggles of gugs, ghorazagh, and even such nightmares as hyakume. All these things exist in the darkness, waiting in endless numbers for the unwary to stray off their path. It is even said these places are watched by the great old ones as they can touch these spaces...

Alignment: Any Non-Evil

The only qualifier to becoming a lantern is humility. To be humble is to have a low-view of one's own self-importance in the grand scheme of things, the lack pride and arrogance, and to live within one's means. While this is a trait typically associated with good creatures, neutral creatures may still be humble in their actions. Evil creatures, whose actions eventually seek to improve their own standing, are incapable of being truly modest.

Code of Conduct: Humility

Lanterns must maintain a humble heart. They means they must not brag or seek attention for their actions beyond a modest degree of self-praise. They must not intentionally make themselves out to be better or more powerful than they are- always undervaluing themselves to a degree. They must not take actions out of hubris or pride. Violations of this code must be grievous to warrant considering it a true violation of the code (such as striking a man who has insulted your honor), though a lantern should always strive to remain humble with all their action. A lantern who acts with pride loses all spellcasting, and cannot ignite his soul-lantern. If they should violate their code of conduct while within the Neverwhere, they remain in there for the duration of their spell but their soul-lantern no longer functions- almost assuredly resulting in their death and the death of those they guide.

Starting Wealth: 2d6 × 10 gp (average 70 gp.). In addition, each character begins play with an outfit worth 10 gp or less and a hooded lantern (or other suitable vessel for their soul-lantern) for free.

## Class Skills

The lantern’s class skills are Knowledge (arcana) (Int), Knowledge (geography) (Int), Knowledge (local) (Int), Knowledge (planes) (Int), Perception (Wis), Profession (Wis), Survival (Wis), Sense Motive (Wis), Spellcraft (Int)

Skill Ranks per Level: 4 + Int modifier.

Table #-1: The Lantern

Table #-2: Lantern Spellcasting

## Class Features:

The following are the class features of the lantern.

## Weapon and Armor Proficiency:

The lantern is proficient with all simple weapons, flail, heavy flails, greatclubs, and dire flails. They are proficient with light armor but not with shields.

## Passplace (Su):

Once per day at 1st level (and one additional time per day at 4th level and every 3 levels thereafter), a lantern can cause a passage suitable for general foot travel to appear as a swift action directly when it is needed. These typically appear as uninhabited alleyways (in urban environments), disused shafts (in dungeons), animal trails (in forests and jungles), or even as currents that ensure safe passage through dangerous waters (on the high sea). This passage is long enough to be equivalent to 1 minute of typical travel for the environment they are in (300 feet for a lantern with 30 foot movement) and is devoid of any innate dangers (like traps, encounters, difficult terrain, or other creatures) and connects to another avenue of travel nearby.

Prior to a use of this class feature the passage appears to have been concealed or easily missed (“I would never have seen that alleyway! It’s really hidden between those two signs!”) though, prior to the lantern needing it, the passageway did not in fact exist. Once exited it cannot be found again. While in use it can be perceived with a DC 20 Perception check. If a lantern resides within one of these passages for more than 5 minutes he finds himself on whichever end he was closest too. This goes for all creatures who resided in this space while he was in there and should they not leave within 30 seconds of a lantern who made it leaving the passage they also suffer the same fate. This effect can be quite disorienting for some and confusing for all. All creatures (including the lantern) who are shunted out in this fashion must make a Fortitude save (DC 15) or be sickened for 1d4 rounds.

There must be reasonable precedent for the path to exist. A passplace cannot lead to a locked vault for example, but is completely reasonable to exist as an extra road in a crowded city. A straight dungeon hall isn’t a good place for one but a confusing labyrinth might offer a great home for a passplace. Ultimately, a GM has discretion over where a passplace may be found.

## Power of the Light (Su):

Allies within the initial 20 foot radius of a lantern’s soul-lantern (henceforth referred to as the “aura”) benefit from a sacred bonus equal to 1/3rd his lantern level (minimum +1) on all saves in addition to other benefits described later in this class. Evil allies cannot not benefit from this.

Any creatures of the evil subtype or who is an aberration within the initial 20 foot radius takes 1 negative level so long as they remain in the aura. They receive a Will save while within this radius (DC 10 + 1/2 lantern level + Charisma modifier) the first time they enter this radius. If they fail this save, they take 1 additional negative level + 1 for every 5 levels of lantern they possess. These additional negative levels remain for 1 hour. If they successfully save they are immune to this Will save for 1 hour.

At 3rd level, and every 3 levels thereafter, the radius of the lanterns aura increases by 10 feet, to a maximum of 80 feet at 18th level.

## Secret Spaces (Su):

At 1st level, a lantern can take paths that don’t normally exist to the eyes of anyone who is looking for them. This webwork of secret, seemingly mundane (though actually planar) paths allow him to travel twice the normal distance when using overland travel (they can travel 48 miles per day if they have a 30 ft movement rather than 24 for example). Furthermore lanterns are immune to maze spells and cannot become lost.

## Soul-Lantern (Su):

At 1st level, the lantern can light any covered light source such as a hooded lantern, chōchin (paper lanterns),and oil lamp (not a torch or other open fire) with the power of their humble soul as a swift action. This literally transfers the soul of the character to that lantern. He may only light one lantern in this fashion (as he only has 1 soul) and the object that holds his soul is called the “soul lantern”. While lit the soul-lantern casts supernatural light that shields his allies, this display varies between individual soul-lanterns, but always takes an appearance reflective of some aspect of the lantern’s personality.

A lantern must touch a receptacle to put his soul in it and may retrieve his soul from it as a move action. Should the soul-lantern leave the possession of the lantern, it ceases to function. A lantern can reclaim his soul as a move action from anywhere in existence.

At 1st level it sheds bright light, shedding normal light in a 20 foot radius, and increasing the light level for an additional 20 feet by one step, up to normal light (darkness becomes dim light, and dim light becomes normal light). At 3rd level and every 3 levels thereafter the radius of the soul lantern’s light increases by 10 feet to a maximum of 80 feet at 18th level. A lantern may adjust the radius of his soul lantern’s light to anything below his maximum as a free action.

A soul-lantern gains an amount of hardness equal to 10 + twice the lanterns level. Should a soul-lantern take damage, the damage is dealt to the character's hitpoints.

A lantern may be attached to a heavy flail or dire flail in place of the head of the weapon. This imposes a -1 penalty on all damage rolls with the weapon (minum 0 damage).

## Spells:

A lantern casts divine spells drawn from the lantern spell list. He can cast any spell he knows without preparing it ahead of time. Every lantern spell requires him to be wielding a lit soul-lantern. To learn or cast a spell, a lantern must have a Charisma score equal to at least 10 + the spell level. The Difficulty Class (DC) for a saving throw against a lantern’s spell is 10 + the spell level + the lantern’s Charisma modifier. If a lantern casts a single target spell on a creature, that creature must reside within the aura of the lantern’s soul-lantern (see Table #-1: the lantern for a soul-lanter’s radius).

Like other spellcasters, a lantern can cast only a certain number of spells of each spell level per day. His base daily spell allotment is given on Table #-2: Lantern Spellcasting. In addition, he receives bonus spells per day if he has a high Charisma score.

The lantern’s selection of spells is extremely limited. A lantern begins play knowing four 0-level spells and two 1st-level spells of the lantern’s choice. At each new lantern level, he gains one or more new spells, as indicated on Table #-2: Lantern Spellcasting. (Unlike spells per day, the number of spells a lantern knows is not affected by his Charisma score (See Table: Ability Modifiers and Bonus Spells).

Upon reaching 5th level, and at every third lantern level after that (8th, 11th, and so on), a lantern can choose to learn a new spell in place of one he already knows. In effect, the lantern “loses” the old spell in exchange for the new one. The new spell’s level must be the same as that of the spell being exchanged, and it must be at least one level lower than the highest-level lantern spell the lantern can cast. A lantern may swap only a single spell at any given level, and must choose whether or not to swap the spell at the same time that he gains new spells known for the level.

A lantern need not prepare his spells in advance. He can cast any spell he knows at any time, assuming he has not yet used up his allotment of spells per day for the spell’s level.

## Sparks:

At 2nd level and every 4 levels thereafter, a lantern gains a spark from the list below.

* Lantern Lancer (Ex): The lantern no longer suffers a penalty on damage rolls made with his lantern, furthermore he gains a +2 competence bonus on damage rolls and a +1 competence bonus on attack rolls made with weapons that have their lantern attached.
* Greyflame: Any class feature that prohibits evil characters from benefiting from it now affects evil characters. In addition, the lantern may cast spells such as dismissal and banish on outsiders of any alignment rather than just aberrations and evil aligned outsiders.
* Armored Caravan (Ex): The lantern becomes proficient in medium and heavy armor. Furthermore the lantern and his allies within his aura never have their speed modified by armor or encumbrance. The lantern must be at least 6th level before selecting this spark.
* Boon Giver: Any ally who the lantern casts bear's endurance, bull's strength, eagle's splendor, fox’s cunning, owl's wisdom on (or the mass version of one of those spells) also gains a +2 luck bonus to their AC for the duration of the spell.
* Stoke the Fire (Su): Any time the lantern lands a killing blow on a creature or confirms a critical hit with a weapon that has his lantern attached to it the aura of his soul-lantern improves by 20 feet for 3 rounds. This does not stack, but subsequent applications of it do reset the duration. In addition, he gains a +1 morale bonus hit with weapons that have his soul lantern attached to it under all circumstances.
* Bludgeoning Master (Ex): Select 3 weapons that only deal bludgeoning damage and become proficient in their use (exotic or martial). Furthemore, the lantern may attach his soul-lantern to any bludgeoning weapon he is proficient with.
* Casting Shadows (Ex): By manipulating the shadows, allies may attempt to make a Stealth check as if they were in shadows while in lantern’s aura.
* Dispelling Shadows (Su): Any time an enemy tries to cast a spell of the necromancy school or shadow subschool within the aura of the lantern’s soul-lantern they must make a concentration check (DC 15 + spell level) or lose the spell.

## Brilliance:

At 3rd level and every 4 levels thereafter a lantern gains a new brilliance. A brilliance is a new benefit that empowers his allies within the aura of his soul-lantern. A lantern may only have a number of brilliances active at a give time equal to his Charisma modifier.

* Neart (“Might”): +1/4th lantern level sacred bonus on all damage rolls that rely on a character’s Strength modifier. Evil allies cannot not benefit from this.
* Dírithe (“Focused”): +1/4th lantern level sacred bonus on all attack rolls that rely on a character’s Dexterity modifier. Evil allies cannot not benefit from this.
* Tine (“Fire”): All attacks made by the lanterns allies deal 1d6 additional fire damage and are treated as magical for the purpose of bypassing DR. This additional damage improves by 1d6 for every 5 levels of lantern he possesses.
* Croga (“Brave”): All creatures within the aura of the lantern's soul-lantern are immune to fear effects. A lantern must be at least 7th level to select this.
* Cosaint (“Protection”): +1/4th the lantern’s level to all allies AC as a sacred bonus if they are within the aura of his soul-lantern. Evil allies cannot not benefit from this.
* Grian (“Sun”): The light in the aura of the lantern’s soul-radius is treated as if it was natural daylight. In addition, any spell from the evocation school that deals damage deals 2 points of additional damage per damage dice if cast by anyone within the aura of the soul-lantern.
* Ghnothu (“Recovery”): All allies within the aura automatically stabilize and if they are below 0 HP are healed for a number of hit points equal to 1 + 1/3th his lantern level at the start of each of their turn. In addition, any spell from the conjuration school that heals damage heals 2 points of additional damage per damage dice if cast by anyone within the aura of the soul-lantern.

## Brightness (Su):

At 4th level, a lantern’s soul-lantern aura increases to at least normal light regardless of the existing lighting conditions. This counteracts spells such as darkness and deeper darkness.

## The Touch (Su):

A lantern of 5th level can affect any ally within the aura of their soul lantern with touch range lantern spells.

## Neverwhere (Sp):

At 6th level, once per day and one additional time per day at 10th level and every 4 levels thereafter a lantern may enter the Neverwhere with anyone he can shelter in his light. This functions as the spell shadow walk as a full round action with the following changes. They may take with them any willing ally creature within the aura of their soul-lantern so long as that creature remains in that radius for the full duration of the spell. Creatures do not have to be touching. To use this class feature, the lantern must begin on a path. When the spell ends, the lantern is not shunted out but arrives on the nearest path (no matter how vague) within 100 feet of his current location when the spell ends. This ability cannot be used to arrive at the border of a another plane of reality like shadow walk normally allows.

A creature that leaves this radius for more than 30 seconds they will be shifted, as if by plane shift (cast by a 10 + 1d10 level caster) to a desolate region of the Neverwhere and set upon by the creatures of the Neverwhere (see the sidebar at the beginning of this class). If they make the save, every interval of 30 seconds they stray from the light the creature (re-roll caster level each time). This happens to individual creatures, rather than groups to ensure they are split up. The regions of the Neverwhere they are deposited in are always different from each other.

## Lifeline (Su):

At 9th level, a number of times per day equal to his Charisma modifier a lantern can teleport any and all willing allies within 100 feet to the nearest unoccupied space within his aura as a standard action.

Furthermore, this may be used to recall a single willing ally who has been plane shifted by the darkness in the Neverwhere back to a random unoccupied square within the lantern’s aura. The creature must have been plane shifted no more than 1 minute ago for this to function and only works on willing creatures. If the creature is not willing, the use of this class feature is still consumed.

## Lord of Neverwhere:

At 20th level, a lantern knows all the nooks and crannies of the Neverwhere. When traveling in the Neverwhere (via shadow walk) the lantern and all those in his aura may travel 300 miles per hour (rather than 50). Creatures who started a trip to the Neverwhere with him who are plane shifted by the darkness are instead returned to his aura when shifted.

## Lantern Spell List

* 0th Level: Daze, detect magic, detect secret doors, guidance, know direction, light, resistance, spark
* 1st Level: Cure light wounds, enlarge person, expeditious retreat, faerie fire, flare burst, longstrider, pass without trace, magic weapon, moment of greatness, sanctuary
* 2nd Level: Aid, bear's endurance, bull's strength, cure moderate wounds, daylight, eagle's splendor, glitter dust, fox’s cunning, heroism, hide campsite, lesser restoration, owl's wisdom, protection from arrows, status, scorching ray, see invisibility, zone of truth
* 3rd Level: Banish seeming APG, campfire wall, cat’s grace, communal protection from arrows, cure serious wounds, dispel magic, greater longstrider, greater magic weapon, haste, invisibility purge, keen, searing light, wrathful mantle
* 4th Level: Call lightning, cure critical wounds, death ward, dimension door, discern lies, dismissal\*, freedom of movement, life bubble, mass daze, mass enlarge person, planar adaptation, restoration, shadow step\*\*, spell immunity
* 5th Level: Banishment\*, breath of life, communal spell immunity, flame strike, greater dispel magic, flame Strike, greater heroism, mass cure light wounds, plane shift, teleport, true seeing
* 6th Level: Disintegrate, ethereal jaunt, find the path, getaway, greater teleport, heal, mass bull’s strength, mass cat’s grace, mass cure moderate wounds, mass eagle’s splendor, mass fox’s cunning, mass owl’s wisdom, sunbeam, teleport object

\*Only effects aberrations (sends to far planes or the neverwhere) and evil outsiders.

\*\*This can only be done while your soul-lantern is lit and does not have to be in an area of shadows.