Kaedrin, would a base class like this be possible?

[slit518]

I was wondering if you could make a base class like this? I got a PDF from somewhere, but here is the specs.
Warning:
Quite long

The Witch
The witch is a staple of fantasy, and two witches (at least) of
note have made appearances in the annals of Greyhawk
history, Iggwilv (who probably started as a witch, and then
multiclassed as a necromancer), and Thinggizzard, the Witch
of the Fens. As the DMG suggests, the witch is a dabbler in
many types of magic, both arcane and divine. Witches are
usually solitary figures, and usually eyed with suspicion, even
though they may well help a nearby community or individual.
Witches, don’t appear to be “natural” spell-casters, like
sorcerers, but like bards, don’t have to keep a spell book. All
witches’ spells have a verbal component (usually reciting an
incantation, rhyme, or spoken charm) even if the spell doesn’t
normally require one. The goals of witches vary from witch to
witch, and are usually unclear to others. They tend to be
solitary herbalists and potion-makers, rarely inserting
themselves in others’ business. Occasionally, witches do
gather in small groups (usually of two or three, and never
more than thirteen) to work together towards particular ends.
The smaller groups are often siblings. Witches do seek
mastery of their art, and may use it to further good or ill aims.
Adventures: Witches see adventuring as an opportunity to
learn more about their craft. Finding new herb lore, or some
forgotten enchantment or charm often drives a witch to leave
her solitude. Good witches seek the opportunity to help others
and to promote harmony, and this despite the suspicion that
often lies over them. Evil witches seek to gain power over
others, and to subvert good. A motif of jealousy often
accompanies the evil witch’s desires…
Characteristics: Witches cast divine spells and arcane
spells, with spells of the divine nature drawing their energy
from nature, much as a druid, and those of an arcane nature
coming from lore and tradition passed from other witches, and
from bards, shamans, sorcerers, and, rarely, wizards. Like
sorcerers, witches have a sense of intuition that allows them to
cast without memorizing. Although they know fewer spells
than a wizard, they are able to cast more often, as is true with
a sorcerer. Charms and form-changing are major strengths of
the witch’s casting ability, with illusions, divinations, nature
spells and cure spells rounding out her spell arsenal. Witches
weapon use ability is greater than a wizards, but not so varied
as a sorcerers. Witches do not use armor.
Alignment: Witches are drawn to freedom and to nature,
and so tend to favor either chaotic or neutral alignments.
Religion: The witch, like the druid, is a devotee of nature,
and many have affinity with Earth Goddesses (like Beory) or
Moon Goddesses. Male witches usually have an affinity with
a god of the hunt (like Obad-hai).
Background: Young witches usually discover an affinity
for working with herbs and nature, they also tend to be very
interested in “meddling” in the relations of others. Many
communities tend to be suspicious of youngsters who show
affinity for magic, but do not have the studious bent of
wizards, nor the piety of clerics. Oftentimes, these individuals
may be driven out of their towns, and are forced to find ways
to exist on their own. Sometimes, these individuals may find
other witches, hedge-wizards, shamans, sorcerers or even
bards who start them on their path of developing magical
capacities.
Races: The vast majority of witches are humans, although
half-elves, and rarely, elves might follow this class.
Especially intelligent half-orcs and some “monster” races
(most notably hags) also become witches.
Other Classes: Witches tend to have the most in common
with other classes that tend toward being loners (rangers and
rogues), those that have an affinity toward nature (druids,
clerics of nature deities), and those who have a natural affinity
for magic, but learn it vicariously or inherently (bards and
sorcerers). Evil witches tend to get along with necromancers
as well. Classes such as paladins, monks and wizards
generally do not get along well with witches, nor do witches
care much for them.
Although witches can be very charismatic, they generally
act as support characters in adventuring situations, acting as
minor diviners, healers and the like. Witches who have a
personal stake in a particular adventure, may, however, put
themselves in a leadership position, although they often do
this by manipulation rather than an overt show of power.
GAME RULE INFORMATION
Witches have the following game statistics.
Abilities: Charisma determines how powerful a spell a
witch can cast, how many spells the witch can cast per day,
and how hard those spells are to resist. To cast a spell, a witch
must have a Charisma score of 10+the spell’s level. A witch
gets bonus spells based on Charisma. The Difficulty Class of
a saving throw against a witch’s spell is 10+the spell’s level+
the witch’s Charisma modifier. Like a wizard, a witch
benefits from high Dexterity, Intelligence and Constitution
scores.
Alignment: Any
Hit Die: d4
Starting Gold: as sorcerer
Class Skills
The witch’s class skills (and key abilities for each skill) are
Alchemy (Int), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Knowledge
(arcane) (Int), Knowledge (nature) (Int), Profession (Wis),
Scry (Int, exclusive skill), and Spellcraft. See Chapter 4:
Skills in the PHB for skill descriptions.
Skill Points at 1st Level: (2 + Int modifier) x 4.
Skill Points at each additional Level: 2+ Int modifier.
Skills that witches can’t buy include: Animal Empathy,
Decipher Script, Use Magic Device.
Class Features
All of the following are class features of the witch.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Witches are
proficient with the club, dagger, dart, quarterstaff, sickle and
sling. Witches are not proficient with any type of armor nor
with shields. Armor of any type interferes with spellcasting
that requires somatic components, and can cause spell failure.
Note that armor check penalties for armor heavier than leather
apply to Balance, Climb, Escape Artist, Hide, Jump, Move
Silently, Pick Pocket, and Tumble. Swim also suffers a –1
penalty for every 5 pounds of armor and equipment carried.
Spells: A witch casts spells both arcane and divine. A
witch’s spell selection is more limited than a wizard’s, but
slightly better than a sorcerer’s. A witch begins play knowing
three 0-level spells (called cantrips if arcane and orisons if
divine) and two 1st-level spell of your choice. At each level,
the witch gains one or more new spells, as indicated on Table
1-2: Witch Spells Known. (Note: the number of spells a witch
knows is not affected by her Charisma bonus, if any; the
numbers on Table 1-2 are fixed.) These spells are chosen
from the witch’s spell list, or can be unusual spells that the
witch has developed, or developed by, and learned from
another witch. In any case, a witch can’t learn spells at a
faster rate than presented.
Table 1-1: The Witch
Level
Base
Attack
Bonus
Fort
Save
Ref
Save
Will
Save
Special
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
1 +0 +0 +0 +2 Nature
Sense,
Summon
Familiar
5 3 — — — — — — — —
2 +1 +0 +0 +3 6 4 — — — — — — — —
3 +1 +1 +1 +3 6 5 — — — — — — — —
4 +2 +1 +1 +4 6 6 3 — — — — — — —
5 +2 +1 +1 +4 Poison
Brewing
and Use
6 6 4 — — — — — — —
6 +3 +2 +2 +5 6 6 5 3 — — — — — —
7 +3 +2 +2 +5 6 6 6 4 — — — — — —
8 +4 +2 +2 +6 6 6 6 5 3 — — — — —
9 +4 +3 +3 +6 6 6 6 6 4 — — — — —
10 +5 +3 +3 +7 Wild
Shape
(1/day)
6 6 6 6 5 3 — — — —
11 +5 +3 +3 +7 6 6 6 6 6 4 — — — —
12 +6/+1 +4 +4 [phone] — — —
13 +6/+1 +4 +4 [phone] — — —
14 +7/+2 +4 +4 [phone] — —
15 +7/+2 +5 +5 +9 A
Thousand
Faces
6 6 6 6 6 6 6 4 — —
16 +8/+3 +5 +5 [phone] —
17 +8/+3 +5 +5 [phone] —
18 +9/+4 +6 +6 [phone]
19 +9/+4 +6 +6 [phone]
20 +10/+5 +6 +6 +12 Timeless
Body
6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6
Table 1-2: Witch Spells Known
Level
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
1 3 2 — — — — — — — —
2 4 2 — — — — — — — —
3 4 3 — — — — — — — —
4 5 3 1 — — — — — — —
5 5 4 2 — — — — — — —
6 6 4 2 1 — — — — — —
7 6 5 3 2 — — — — — —
8 6 5 3 2 1 — — — — —
9 6 5 4 3 2 — — — —
10 6 5 4 3 2 1 — — — —
11 6 5 5 4 3 2 — — — —
12 6 5 5 4 3 2 1 — — —
13 6 5 5 5 4 3 2 — — —
14 6 5 5 5 4 3 2 1 — —
15 6 5 5 5 5 4 3 2 — —
16 6 5 5 5 5 4 3 2 1 —
17 6 5 5 5 5 5 4 3 2 —
18 6 5 5 5 5 5 4 3 2 1
19 6 5 5 5 5 5 5 4 3 2
20 6 5 5 5 5 5 5 4 3 3
Spells Per Day
Spells Known
A witch is limited to casting a certain number of spells of
each level per day, but she need not prepare or memorize
spells in advance. All witch spells have a verbal component
(chanting, rhyming, intoning), even if this is not normally
indicated. The number of spells she can cast per day is
improved by her bonus spells, if any. For instance, at 1st level,
the witch Drisella, with a Charisma of 16, can cast three 1st
level spells per day—two for being a witch (see Table 1-1:
The Witch), plus one for high Charisma. However, she only
knows two 1st level spells: charm person and cure light
wounds (see Table 1-2: Witch’s Spells Known). On any given
day, she can cast cure light wounds three times, or charm
person three times, or cast some combination of the two spells
a total of three times. Like bards and sorcerers, she does not
have to decide ahead of time which spell she will cast. Unlike
a cleric, a witch can’t lose a spell to cast a cure spell in its
place. To learn or cast a spell, a witch must have a Charisma
score of at least 10 + the spell’s level. The Difficulty Class for
saving throws against witch spells is 10 + the spell’s level +
the witch’s Charisma modifier.
Chaotic, Evil, Good, and Lawful Spells: A witch can’t
cast divine spells of an alignment opposed to her own. For
example, a neutral good witch can’t cast evil spells. Spells
associated with Chaos, Evil, Good and Law are identified as
such on the “School, Subschool and Descriptor” line of the
spell description.
Nature Sense: a witch can identify plants and animals
(their species and special traits) with perfect accuracy (as a
druid). She can determine whether water is safe to drink or
dangerous (polluted, poisoned, or otherwise unfit for
consumption).
Familiar: At 1st level, a witch can summon a familiar in
exactly the same manner as a sorcerer or a wizard. See the
sorcerer description and the accompanying Familiars sidebar
for details.
Poison Brewing and Use: At 5rd Level gain the ability to
use natural non-processed poisons (such as bloodroot or
arsenic) and venoms (such as Purple Worm poison or Black
Adder venom) and never risk accidentally poisoning
themselves. Additionally, at 6th level, witches gain the
capacity to gather, harvest, brew, distill or concoct poison
according to the following chart (note that other exotic local
Poisons and Types could be substituted, but Initial Damage
and Secondary Damage values, and Price [see DMG 80]
should remain similar.). The witch may still be harmed by
poison used against her by others, or by natural creatures or
plants that use poison (including those on the following table).
Table 1-4: Witch Poison Brewing Progression
Level Max. Price Example Types
6 100gp Small Centipede, Bloodroot, Oil of
Taggit
7 200 gp Blue Whinnis, Large Scorpion Venom
8 300 gp Shadow Essence, Sassone Leaf Residue
9 700gp Malyss Root Paste, Purple Worm
Poison
10 1000 gp Terinav Root, Ungol Dust
11 1500 gp Dragon Bile, Insanity Mist
12 2100 gp Deathblade, Burnt Othur Fumes
13 3,000 gp Black Lotus Extract, Wyvern Poison
In order to successfully create a poison, the witch must
gather the ingredients (or have them gathered for her), spend
½ the gp value of the poison multiplied by the number of
doses she wishes to create (for preparing it), and make a
successful roll against the DC value of the poison (modified
by her Will bonus). If she fails, the poison is rendered nontoxic,
and she must began the process again.
It generally takes 1 day of preparation for each 100gp
(rounding up for any value over 100 gp) value of the poison,
and one additional day for each dose. Example: Drisella
desires to make two vials of a poison equivalent to Black
Adder Venom (120 gp). She must find the ingredients (which
may require harvesting from a black adder, or some other
materials), spend 60 gp in preparation per dose (two vials =
120 gp), take 4 days in the preparation (120 gp=2 days; 2
vials=2 days). She then rolls against the DC of Black Adder
Venom (DC 12) modified by her Will modifier to determine if
she succeeds. Poisons equivalent to Wyvern Poison and Black
Lotus Extract are costly and take many days to create.
Note that good witches don’t use or brew poisons that
lower Constitution (Greenblood Oil, Bloodroot, Wyvern
Poison, Blue Whinnis, etc.) or that are permanent (Shadow
Essence, Ungol Dust, Burnt Othor Fumes). Their goal isn’t to
kill with poison, but to incapacitate.
Wild Shape: At 10th level a witch gains the ability to
polymorph self as a druid (see page 35 in the PHB).
A Thousand Faces: At 15th level, a witch gains the
supernatural ability to change her appearance at will, as if
using the spell alter self (page 172, PHB).
Timeless Body: After achieving 20th level, a witch no
longer suffers ability penalties for aging (See PHB 93) and
cannot be magically aged. Any penalties she may have
already suffered, however, remain in place. Bonuses still
accrue, and the witch still dies of old age when her time is up.
Human Witch Starting Package
Armor: None, speed 30 ft.
Weapons: Sickle (1d6, crit x2, 3 lb., Small, Slashing),
Sling (1d4, crit x2, 50 ft.., 0 lb. Small, Bludgeoning)
Skill Selection: Pick a number of skills equal to 2 + Int
modifier.
Feat: Toughness
Bonus Feat: Spell Focus (Enchantment or other school)
Spells Known: 0-level spells: cure minor wounds, read
magic, daze
1st level spells: charm person, doom
Gear: Backpack with waterskin, one day’s trail rations,
bedroll, sack, flint and steel. Hooded Lantern, 5 pints of oil.
Spell components pouch, 5 empty glass vials. Pouch with 20
sling bullets.
Gold: 3d4 gp.
Skill Ranks Ability Armor
Spellcraft 4 Int
Concentration 4 Con
Knowledge
(arcana)
4 Int
Knowledge
(nature)
4 Int
Alchemy (cc) 4 Int
Sense Motive
(cc)
2 Wis
Heal (cc) 2 Wis
Witches tend to select skills and feats that focus on
spellcasting (Brew Potion is a favorite!), increase in natural
knowledge (Sense Motive, Wilderness Lore), or help with
physical survival (Alertness, Dodge, Listen, Toughness, etc.).
_________________WITCH SPELLS*
0-LEVEL WITCH SPELLS (Cantrips and
Orisons)
Arcane Mark. Inscribes a personal rune (visible or
invisible)
Cure Minor Wounds. Cures 1 point of damage.
Dancing Lights. Figment torches or other lights.
Daze. Creature loses next action.
Detect Magic. Detects spells and magic within 60 ft.
Detect Poison. Detects poison in one creature or small
object.
Flare. Dazzles one creature (-1 attack).
Ghost Sound. Figment sound.
Light. Object shines like a torch.
Mending. Makes minor repairs on an object.
Read Magic. Read scrolls and spellbooks.
Resistance. Subject gains +1 on saving throws.
Virtue. Subject gains 1 temporary hp.
1st –LEVEL WITCH SPELLS
Cause Fear. One creature flees for 1d4 rounds.
Change Self. Changes your appearance.
Charm Person. Makes one person your friend.
Command. One subject obeys one-word command for 1
round.
Comprehend Languages. Understands all spoken and
written languages.
Cure Light Wounds. Cures 1d8+1/level damage (max. +5)
Doom. One subject suffers –2 on attacks, damage, saves
and checks.
Endure Elements. Ignore 5 damage/round from one
energy type.
Hypnotism. Fascinates 2d4 HD of creatures.
Identify. Determines single feature of a magic item.
Silent Image. Creates minor illusion of your design.
Sleep. Put 2d4 HD of creatures into comatose slumber.
Ventriloquism. Throws voice for 1 min./level.
2nd –LEVEL WITCH SPELLS
Alter Self. As change self, plus more drastic changes.
Blindness/Deafness. Makes subject blind or deaf.
Calm Emotion. Calms 1d6 subjects/level, negating
emotion effects.
Cure Moderate Wounds. Cures 2d8+1/level damage (max
+10).
Delay Poison. Stops poison from harming subject for 1
hour/level.
Detect Thoughts. Allows “listening” to surface thoughts.
Enthrall. Captivates all within 100 ft. + 10 ft./level.
Invisibility. Subject is invisible for 10 min./level or until it
attacks.
Locate Object. Senses direction toward object (specific or
type).
Minor Image. As silent image, plus some sound.
Scare. Panics creatures up to 5 HDS (15-ft. radius)
Speak with Animals. You can communicate with natural
animals.
Whispering Wind. Sends a short message one mile/level.
3rd-LEVEL WITCH SPELLS
Bestow Curse. –6 to an ability; -4 on attacks, saves, and
checks or 50% chance of losing each action.
Clairaudience/Clairvoyance. Hear or see at a distance for
1 min./level.
Contagion. Infects subject with chosen disease.
Create Food and Water. Feeds three humans (or one
horse)/level.
Lesser Geas. Commands subject of 7 HD or less.
Magic Circle against Chaos/Evil/Good/Law. As
protection spells, but 10-ft. radius and 10 min./level.
Major Image. As silent image, plus sound, smell and
thermal effects.
Remove Blindness/Deafness. Cures normal or magical
conditions.
Snare. Creates a magical booby trap.
Speak with Plants. You can talk to normal plants and plant
creatures.
Suggestion. Compels subject to follow a stated course of
action.
Tongues. Speak any language.
Water Breathing. Subjects can breathe under water.
4th-LEVEL WITCH SPELLS
Charm Monster. Makes monster believe it is your ally.
Confusion. Makes subject behave oddly for 1 round/level.
Discern Lies. Reveals deliberate falsehoods.
Divination. Provides useful advice for specific proposed
actions.
Emotion. Arouses strong emotion in a subject.
Fear. Subjects within cone flee for 1 round/level.
Giant Vermin. Turn insects into giant vermin.
Locate Creature. Indicates direction to familiar creature.
Minor Creation. Creates one cloth or wood object.
Neutralize Poison. Detoxifies venom in or on subject.
Polymorph Other. Gives one subject a new form.
Polymorph Self. You assume a new form.
Scrying. Spies on subject from a distance.
5th-LEVEL WITCH SPELLS
Animal Growth. One Animal /two levels doubles in size,
HD.
Break Enchantment. Frees subject from enchantments,
alterations, curses, and petrification.
Dream. Sends message to anyone sleeping.
False Vision. Fools scrying with an illusion.
Feeblemind. Subject’s Int. drops to 1.
Greater Command. As command but affets one
subject/level.
Greater Scrying. As scrying but faster and longer.
Magic Jar. Enables possession of another creature.
Major Creation. As minor creation, plus stone and metal.
Mirage Arcana. As hallucinatory terrain, plus structures.
Nightmare. Sends vision dealing 1d10 damage, fatigue.
Seeming. Changes appearance of one person/two levels.
Sending. Delivers short message anywhere, instantly.
6th-LEVEL WITCH SPELLS
Animate Object. Objects attack your foes.
Eyebite. Charm, fear, sicken, or sleepone subject.
Find the Path. Show the most direct way to a location.
Geas/Quest. As lesser geas, plus affects any creature.
Heroes’ Feast. Food for one creature/level. Plus cures and
blesses.
Legend Lore. Learn tales about a person, place or thing.
Mass Suggestion. As suggestion, plus one/level subjects.
Mislead. Turns you invisible and creates illusory double.
Project Image. Illusory double can talk and cast spells.
Repulsion. Creatures can’t approach you.
Tenser’s Transformation. You gain combat bonuses.
True Seeing. See all things as they really are.
Control Weather. Changes weather in local area.
7th-LEVEL WITCH SPELLS
Creeping Doom. Carpet of insects attacks at your
command.
Finger of Death. Kills one subject.
Insanity. Subject suffers continuous confusion.
Repel Wood. Pushes away wooden objects.
Transport via Plants. Move instantly from one plant to
another of the same species.
Veil. Changes appearance of a group of creatures.
8th LEVEL WITCH SPELLS
Antipathy. Object or location affected by spell repels
certain creatures.
Binding. Array of techniques used to imprison a creature.
Discern Location. Exact location of creature or object.
Horrid Wilting. Deals 1d8 damage/level within 30 ft.
Polymorph any Object. Changes any subject into anything
else.
Trap the Soul. Imprisons subject within gem.
9th-LEVEL WITCH SPELLS
Earthquake. Intense tremor shakes 5-ft./level radius.
Foresight. “Sixth Sense” warns of impending danger.
Refuge. Alters item to transport its possessor to you.
Shapechange. Transforms you into any creature and
change forms once per round.
Wail of the Banshee. Kills one creature/level.
Weird. As phantasmal killer but affects all within 30 ft.
*NOTE: These spells are based on the list presented in the
DMG 26, along with the errata to repair this list suggested by
Sean Reynolds (found on Eric Noah’s Web Page). However,
Sean’s corrections created new problems (e.g. falling under
“13 spells for the first six levels”) and did not account for
other problems like the non-existent spell “Prophesy.” This
list attempts to correct those problems.

[Loudent2]

I didn't read the whole thing, but I can confidnently say that, until Obsidian changes the way .2das work, this class is not possible. Basicaly you can't make custom spellbooks.

By that I mean you can't flag a spell as a "witch" spell. You can only flag it as one of the existing base casting classes. So the witches spell selection would have to come from one alreayd there (i.e. no mixing divine and arcane). You *could* make arcane or divine versions of some of the spells, but then all classes with access to that spell selection could take them, not just witches.

[slit518]

Thanks for the information. I hope Obsidian changes the way that is handled soon, it would be cool to see something like this implemented.

[Loudent2]

Oh man, if Obsidian made that change there is no end to the cool stuff we would have. Think about assasins and blackguards actually have spells for them, new Magic base classes. So....much....goodness.

[mammothtruk]

who what? a battle sorcerer base class? a beguiler? duskblade anyone? paramander???!?!?!

If they hadnt hardcoded all that into the engine the sky would be the limitless barrier we would never see the end of.

[Beldar]

MMT's post almost makes me wish I had invested in PnP books beyond first edition...

[Kaedrin]

Duskblade and Hexblade are mostly doable with the current limitations due to the classes only knowing 5 spells of each level anyway. It falls apart for anything divine though.

[mammothtruk]

you could make them work sort of? That would rock out but until it all loads before character creation the PW aint going to see it.

Paramander isnt divine but in fact a paladin that uses the arcane arts instead of the divine. They are from a 2nd edition mag I had at one time. They worship arcane gods that control magic and thus in their dogma and such. Totally makes sense if they are restricted to those gods.