GLOG: The Channeler

Some folks on Phlox's GLOG Discord were talking about a wizard who channels their magic through a gun, so I figured I'd give something similar a whirl with less modern weapons. By nature, it doesn't have a great deal of non-combat utility, but I tried to make at least a fair few of the spells useful in creative ways that don't involve murder. Still, though, not great in that respect.

 

Starting Equipment: A leather helmet, a small shield, a wolfskin cloak with a silver brooch, a staff, and either a shortsword or a sling with 20 bullets.

Skills: Occult Lore and 1d3: 1. Poetry, 2. Embroidery, 3. Hunting

 

You gain +1 to-hit for every second template of Channeler you take.

A: Arcane Weapon, Weapon Dice

B: Always to Hand, +1 WD

C: Eldritch Blows, +1 WD

D: Master of Creation, +1 WD

Arcane Weapon: You can weapons out of pure magic: a sword, an axe, a club, a polearm (including spears), a bow, a javelin, or a sling. Manifesting one of these weapons requires an hour, and you take 1d6 damage upon completion. If you create an arcane weapon while you already have another, the first disappears. Whenever you use a ranged arcane weapon (includes javelins), you can manifest the required ammunition instantaneously as you attack. You can also convert an already extant magic weapon into an arcane weapon with the same process, although rather than disappearing when another is created, it will simply no longer be an arcane weapon.

Weapon Dice: You have a pool of d6s, called Weapon Dice. You start with only one WD. When you strike with your arcane weapon (or in another relevant situation), you can roll any number of these WD, which add +[dice] to all attack rolls you make this round and use a spell of your choice, although you may only use a weapon-specific with that weapon, not any other types. Your WD deplete on a roll of 1-3 and are recovered when you sleep for 8 hours. When you roll doubles, you suffer a Mishap, and suffer a Doom on triples. You know one spell from either the melee or ranged list, rolled on a d4, and the signature spell of any one weapon type. When you take more templates of this class, you learn another spell from any list of your choice, rolling a d4 at B and a d6 at C if you choose the melee or ranged lists, and picking completely freely at D.

Always to Hand: No matter how far you are from your arcane weapon, you can always summon it to your open hand at will. It will fly the distance at a speed of 10 feet per second, although it cannot pass through any solid obstacle. Attempting to hit an opponent between you and the weapon is a ranged attack roll (it probably won't do much with a ranged weapon, though, only with melee weapons)

 

Eldritch Blows: Your arcane weapon counts as a magic weapon for purposes of overcoming resistance and immunity to damage.

Master of Creation: Creating an arcane weapon is now instantaneous for you, and you only take 1 damage rather than 1d6.

Melee Spells:

1. Cleave: If you hit an attack, make another attack against another foe within reach. This continues until you miss an attack, run out of enemies you haven't already attacked, or attack [sum] times (if [sum] is 1, you may attack 2 times).
   
2. Mirror Image: For the next [sum] rounds, you are surrounded by [dice] holograms of yourself, which have an AC of 10. Enemies attacking you determine their target from among these and you randomly, and they disappear immediately when hit.
   
3. Freeze: Your target takes [sum] additional damage and must Save vs Magic or be reduced to half speed for [sum] rounds as ice crackles over them.
   
4. Long Blow: The range of your weapon is [dice] * 10 feet longer than usual for this attack.
   
5. Impalement: If you hit with this attack, your target is impaled, taking [dice] additional damage, and your weapon freezes in place for [sum] rounds, during which the enemy is immobilized. They may Save vs Magic to pull themselves off of the weapon, and if they succeed they take 2d6 damage.
   
6. Bouquet of Arms: For the next [dice] rounds, including this round, you grow [dice] additional arms all bearing copies of your arcane weapon, each of which may attack once per round.

Ranged Spells: 

1. Snipe: Gain an additional +[sum] to hit. If you meditate on the shot for a minute before firing, gain another +[dice] to hit, and a further +[dice] at an hour and a day of meditation. You may take a -5 to-hit to declare exactly where you hit the target, if that's in any doubt.
   
2. Thunderclap: Every creature within [dice] * 5 feet of the target takes [dice] damage and must Save vs Magic or get thrown back [dice] * 5 feet. Everyone within the radius is also deafened for [dice] rounds.
   
3. Disarm: The target takes no damage, but has anything they are carrying thrown [dice] * 20 feet away from them in a direction of your choice.
   
4. Cloak of Darkness: This round and the next [dice] rounds, whenever you shoot your ranged weapon, you create a sphere of impenetrable magical darkness with a radius of 10 feet. These spheres last for 1 minute after their creation.
   
5. Chain Lightning: Instead of a regular projectile, you fire a bolt of lightning. Select [dice] + 1 targets, each of whom must be within 60 feet of yourself or at least one other target. Every target must Save vs Magic, taking [sum] + [dice] damage on a failure or [dice] damage on a success.
   
6. Hailstorm: You fire a vast horde of projectiles up into the sky, and next round they begin to come down in a [dice] * 20 feet radius around a point within your weapon's range. All creatures within that area take [dice] damage at the start of every round for the next [sum] rounds. The affected area is difficult terrain until the end of the spell.
   

Signature Spells per Weapon:

• Flaming Brand (Sword): Flames run down your sword for [dice] * 10 minutes, casting light within 30 feet and dealing an additional [dice] damage. 
  
• Animate (Axe): Your axe takes on a life of its own, floating in the air and doing as you tell it for [sum] rounds. It keeps your to-hit bonus.
  
• Pound (Club): If you hit with this mace attack, your target flies back [dice] * 10 feet. If their motion is stopped by anything, both they and the thing they impact take 1d6 damage per 10 feet they moved.
•  Hedge of Steel (Polearm): When at least one creature comes within reach of your polearm, you can summon a row of floating ethereal polearms that either form a line [dice] * 50 feet long or a circle [dice] * 10 feet in radius (or smaller, if you wish it). Any creature that hits this line must Save vs Magic, taking [sum] damage and being repulsed 5 feet from the line on a failure or half that damage on a success. The polearms last for [dice] minutes, and while they are extant you are immovable when you wish to be.
• Quickshot (Bow): You let loose a flurry of [sum] attacks with your bow.
• Pierce (Javelin): This attack with your javelin, once it makes contact with solid or liquid matter, will not stop for 3 feet no matter what it hits. If your target is a creature and you hit their unarmored AC, you hit them regardless of their regular AC, and you deal [sum] + [dice] additional damage.
• Magic Stone (Sling): You touch [sum] small stones and turn them into +1 magic weapons. Rocks are base -2 grapple weapons with -1 thrown 20/60, and the stones can also be used as ammunition for a sling. The enchantment lasts for 1 day. 

Mishaps: 

1. Take 1d6 damage.
2. Take +1 damage from all sources for the next hour.
3. After striking, your arcane weapon disappears.
4. Your hands and eyes appear bloodstained for the next week.
5. All mundane weapons within 20 feet have a 2-in-6 chance of shattering.
6. Your arcane weapon is affected by Animate (the axe's signature spell) with 1 MD, but it will only attack you for the duration. It will not disappear if you create a new arcane weapon until the end of the spell.
   

Dooms:

1. For the next hour, take 1 damage whenever you touch a weapon and a further 1 damage per round while holding a weapon.
2. For the next day, take 1d6 damage for every die of damage you deal to any other creature.
3. For the rest of your life, you are incapable of touching a weapon or deliberately harming another creature. If you even attempt to do so or are forced to do so, you take 1d8 damage and are incapacitated with crippling pain for a minute.