Cryomancer (Prestige Class)

Cryomancers usually hail from lands of cold, snow, and ice tundra, glaciers, even outer planes perpetually shrouded in winter. Others become obsessed with the power of glacial cold and focus all their energy into discovering the mysteries of the frosty environment and its magic. All cryomancers, however, eventually become adapted to cold environments as their skin slowly turns to frost. They learn to take advantage of the natural or magically enhanced frosty environment, harnessing the existing cold to further empower their own spells.

As members of this prestige class must have the ability to cast frost spells, cryomancers come from a narrow group, usually bards, sorcerers, and wizards but occasionally a winter oracle or winter witch. Some cryomancer sorcerers believe silver dragon blood runs in their veins, while others feel they possess an innate talent for works of cold and ice magic. Most wizards who become frost mages see the icy tundra as a mysterious and undiscovered frontier of arcane power, one from which they can draw strong magic for their own purposes.

As NPCs, cryomancers live and study in complexes of ice caverns, towers constructed in frozen reaches of the outer planes, or within dungeons they have magically altered into icy environments. Sometimes they serve more powerful evil characters singly or in a group, such as frost giants, cryohydras, or deities of cold or ice. More often, the evil cryomancer commands his own forces of ice and cold, growing a frozen army as she prepares to bring about a new ice age and become overlord of a frozen world.

### Requirements

To qualify to become a Cryomancer, a character must fulfill all the following criteria:

* **Feats**: Elemental Spell (Cold)
* **Spells**: Ability to cast 3 spells with the cold descriptor
* **Knowledge (arcana)** 5 ranks or **Knowledge (religion)** 5 ranks

### Class Skills

The cryomancer's class skills are Craft, Knowledge (arcana) or Knowledge (religion), Knowledge (local), Knowledge (geography), Spellcraft, and Perception.

Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier.

### Class Features

All of the following are class features of the cryomancer prestige class.

**Weapons and Armor Proficiency**: Cryomancers gain no new weapon or armor proficiencies.

**Spells per Day/Spells Known**: A cryomancer continues training in magic as she gains levels. At each level the cryomancer gains new spells per day (and spells known, if applicable) as if she had also gained a level in the spellcasting class she belonged to before she added the prestige class. She may add her cryomancer level to her previous class level for advancing features such as a sorcerers bloodline or oracle mystery, but only if it is frost themed (gm discretion). If the character has levels in more than one spellcasting class before becoming a cryomancer, she must decide to which class she adds each level of cryomancer level for the purposes of determining spells per day. In addition, when gaining new spells you may select spells with the [cold] descriptor from any spell list. If you have access to cleric domains, you gain access to the Ice subdomain. Non clerics may add *freezing sphere* at 7th level and *polar ray* at 10th level to their list of spells known. A cryomancer may never cast a spell with the [fire] descriptor unless they use their Elemental Spell (cold) metamagic feat to change the spell to do 0 fire damage.

**Frozen Flesh (Ex)**: At 1st level and every odd level after, a frost mage's body becomes more like the ice she venerates. Her skin turns whiter and colder to the touch as the permanent layer of frost grows deeper. This provides an increase to the character's existing natural armor and she takes no damage from cold environments. In warm temperatures, the frost continually evaporates and replenishes itself, enshrouding the frost mage in a wispy vapor.

**Bonus Feat**: At 1st level, and at every odd level thereafter, a cryomancer gains a bonus feat in addition to those gained from normal advancement.

**Rime Spell (Ex)**: At 1st level, all spells you cast with a [cold] descriptor have the Rime Spell metamagic feat automatically applied to them. This does not increase the spell level of the spell cast.

**Cold Resistance (Ex)**: At 1st level, a cryomancer gains endure elements as a constant spell-like ability, but only against cold temperatures. A cryomancer has a cold resistance equal to 2 times her cryomancer level. At level 10, this becomes cold immunity and the cryomancer gains a fire vulnerability. A cryomancer suffers double the normal effects of heat when in a hot environment.

**Piercing Cold (Ex)**: At 1st level, your cold spells are so cold that they can damage creatures normally resistant or immune to cold. This ability only works with spells with the cold descriptor or that gain the cold descriptor. Piercing cold spells ignore cold resistance equal to the cryomancers cold resistance and at cryomancer 10 do half damage to creatures immune to cold damage. Creatures with the fire subtype, fire vulnerability or a weakness to frost who are damaged by a piercing cold spell take +50% cold damage in addition to the normal increase.

**Frozen Spellcasting (Ex)**: At 2nd level, if you add a handful of snow or ice as an additional material component to a spell when you cast it, the spell gains the cold descriptor. This does not actually change the nature of the spell you cast; a fireball cast with this feat still deals fire damage (unless otherwise changed), but since it also carries the cold descriptor, it can be augmented with other cryomancer abilities. If you add a handful of snow or ice as an additional material component to a spell when you cast it and that spell already has the cold descriptor, you increase the effective level of the spell being cast by +1. Adding this additional material component requires you to spend a move action immediately before the spell is cast to gather fresh snow or ice from the surrounding environment. This snow or ice can be magically created by a conjuration spell, but no other ice manifested by a spell will do. You may take no other action between gathering the snow or ice and casting the spell.

**Ice Specialist (Ex)**: At 2nd level, a cryomancer gains a +1 bonus per die to any dice rolled to determine damage caused by cold spells you cast. In cold areas (below 40 degrees Fahrenheit), the damage bonus increases to +2 per die. In extreme cold areas (below 0 degrees Fahrenheit), the damage bonus increases to +3 per die. The save DC for any cold spell cast by the cryomancer gains a bonus equal to the damage bonus provided by this ability.

**Absolute Zero (Su):** At 4th level, a cryomancer may cause the temperature within 10 feet (+10 foot per 5 caster level) of themselves to abruptly drop to 0 degrees (absolute 0) as an immediate action. One round after using this ability the cryomancer becomes enshrouded in show, offering her partial concealment, at level 10 the snow enshrouding her becomes so thick that it offers her total concealment. She may dismiss the effect as a free action. She may use this ability a number of minutes per day equal to 3+ her casting modifier. The time limit for this ability does not need to be used consecutively, but must be used in 1 minute increments minimum. The effect lasts for one round after the duration ends.

**Frozen Summons (Su):** At 4th level, any creatures summoned by the cryomancer may be granted the Cold Creature template by increasing the spell slot used by the summoning spell by 2 levels. For example, *Summon Monster IV* would normally use up a level 4 spell slot and result in one creature from the 4th-level list, 1d3 creatures of the same kind from the 3rd-level list, or 1d4+1 creatures of the same kind from a lower-level list. Using this ability would make *Summon Monster IV* use a 6th level spell slot and would result in one creature from the 4th-level list, 1d3 creatures of the same kind from the 3rd-level list, or 1d4+1 creatures of the same kind from a lower-level list with the cold creature template. In addition, if the cryomancer has a mount, companion or familiar from another class, they may spend perform a ritual that takes 3 days and expends approximately 10,000 gold pieces in materials to transform their companion into a Cold Creature.

**Cold Specialist (Ex)**: At level 5, when using her elemental spell metamagic feat, the cryomancer no longer increases the spell level by 1 when changing the elemental damage type to cold.

**Blizzard Sight (Su):** At 6th level, a cryomancer can see normally in natural or magical rain, sleet, hail, fog, snowstorms, blizzards, and similar weather conditions.

**Permafrost (Su):** At 8th level, a cryomancers spells with the [cold] descriptor can be changed to reduce the damage dice used by 1 step and partially freeze the target, causing them to take +1d6 dexterity damage for a number of rounds equal to half of the cryomancers caster level. For example, a 10d6 fireball would instead do 10d4 fire damage and +1d6 dexterity damage to all targets and a magic missile would do 1d2+1 damage and +1d6 dexterity damage.

**Master of the Frozen Wastes (Ex)**: At 10th level, a cryomancer has become a master of dealing damage with her cold spells. Whenever a cryomancer casts a cold spell that deals hit point damage, she adds her casting modifier bonus (if any) to the amount of damage dealt. For instance, if a 15th-level Wizard/cryomancer with 17 Intelligence casts magic missile, she deals 1d4+1 points of damage normally, plus an extra 3 points of damage due to her casting modifier bonus.

A single effect of the spell spell can never gain the extra damage more than once per casting. For instance, a fireball deals the extra damage to all creatures in the area it affects. However, if a cryomancer casts magic missile and produces two missiles, each of them gains the extra damage, even if both missiles are directed at the same target. If a spell deals damage for more than 1 round, it deals the extra damage in each round.

Scrolls scribed by a cryomancer do not gain any benefit from her master of the frozen wastes ability. Scrolls activated by a cryomancer also gain no benefit from her master of the frozen wastes ability. The same is true for most other magic items, such as wands and potions. However, staves activated by a cryomancer use not only the cryomancer's caster level but also gain the benefits of her master of the frozen wastes ability, if applicable.

In addition, the cryomancer gains the Cold Creature template but you do not become incorporeal. Furthermore Cold Aura (Su) can be suppressed as a free action even out of your turn.