Occult Philologist (Wizard/Oracle)

All wizards believe in the power of words, particularly the written word. Words possess tremendous power, whether it is capturing an idea, conveying feelings, or unleash potent magic. The occult philologist takes this a step further, for he reveres the written word as something supernal, as a symbol or manifestation of the divine. As such, occult philologists seek to decipher ancient codes and devise new ones, greedily search out lost tomes of magic and legends, and unleash their magic through the use of written text. Whether a cabalist or scientist, or a calligrapher, poet, or linguist, the occult philologist can be all these and more. (Original Concept by Bardess)

Primary Class: Wizard.

Secondary Class: Oracle.

Alignment: Any.

Hit Dice: d6.

Bonus Skills and Ranks: The occult philologist may select three oracle skills to add to his class skills in addition to the normal wizard class skills. An occult philologist also adds his mystery skills to his list of class skills. An occult philologist gains a number of ranks at each level equal to 4 + Int modifier.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: The occult philologist is proficient with all simple weapons, with light armor, but not with shields. He can cast wizard spells while wearing light armor without incurring the normal arcane spell failure chance. Like any other arcane spellcaster, an occult philologist wearing medium armor, heavy armor, or a shield incurs a chance of arcane spell failure if the spell in question has a somatic component. A multiclass occult philologist still incurs the normal arcane spell failure chance for arcane spells received from other classes.

Spellcasting: An occult philologist casts arcane spells drawn from the wizard’s spell list and gains his mystery spells at the indicated levels. An occult philologist prepares his spells by scribing them onto special leaflets and casting them by reading the spell directly from the leaflets (see Philology). An occult philologist otherwise learns spells as a wizard of equal level.

Arcane Mystery: At 1st level, an occult philologist gains the oracle’s mystery ability. An occult philologist may only choose the Ancestor, Dark Tapestry, Heavens, Lore, Occult, or Time mystery, or the new Spirits mystery or Words mystery. An occult philologist gains one mystery spell slot for each level of spell he can cast, from 1st on up. Each day, an occult philologist can prepare his mystery spells in those slots. An occult philologist can select a mystery spell modified by a metamagic feat to prepare in his bonus slot, but it uses up a higher level mystery spell slot. The occult philologist may also prepare mystery spells in his normal spell slots if he so chooses. An occult philologist must select two magic schools as his opposition schools.

An occult philologist also gains one revelation from his mystery at 1st level, and an additional revelation at 5th, 10th, and 15th level. At 20th level, an occult philologist gains the final revelation from his mystery. This ability replaces arcane school and the wizard’s bonus feats.

Philology: An occult philologist doesn’t cast spells in the same manner that other wizards do. Instead of preparing his spells of memorizing them like a wizard, an occult philologist prepares his spells by transcribing the spells he wishes to cast for the day from his spellbook and onto a special piece of parchment called a leaflet. Once transcribed, the occult philologist must read the spell from the leaflet to cast it, much like reading a spell from a scroll. Casting the spell erases it, leaving the leaflet blank and ready to be used again. Leaflets are written in a unique personal code that is decipherable only by the occult philologist. In many ways, leaflets function like spell scrolls, using the occult philologist’s level as the caster level. However, they don’t require the time and cost of actual spell scrolls, and can only be read by the occult philologist who wrote them. Preparing spell leaflets consumes raw materials and focuses just as it would for creating a scroll. If a spell has a focus requirement, the focus is used in the reading process.

An occult philologist can transcribe only a certain number of leaflets of each level per day. His base daily allotment of spells is given on Table: Occult Philologist. In addition, he receives bonus leaflets per day if he has a high Intelligence score, in the same way a wizard receives bonus spells per day. Once transcribed, a leaflet remains potent for 24 hours, after which time the spell is erased and the leaflet left blank. Thus, an occult philologist must re-prepare his leaflets every day. Transcribing a leaflet takes 1 minute of work—most occult philologists prepare many leaflets at the start of the day or just before going on an adventure, but it’s not uncommon for an occult philologist to keep some (or even all) of his daily spell slots open so that he can prepare leaflets in the field as needed.

Wordspell Bond: At 1st level, an occult philologist forms a powerful bond with a creature or the written word. Once an occult philologist makes this choice, it is permanent and cannot be changed. An occult philologist that chooses the creature bond gains a familiar. This functions as a wizard’s familiar, except with the following changes. The occult philologist’s familiar adds Linguistics to its list of skills and gains the ability to speak all of its master’s racial languages. The familiar also gains the following ability.

Cast Master’s Spells (Su): If the master is 5th level or higher, an occult philologist’s familiar can cast a spell for him once per day. If the master and the familiar are within 30 feet, the master can designate his familiar as the “caster” of a prepared spell as a swift action. The familiar can then cast the spell just as the master would. As usual, if the master casts another spell before the designated spell is cast, it dissipates. The familiar can only cast spells in this manner that have a verbal component and require a standard action. It must also have a components pouch with the appropriate material components inside to cast the spell. A familiar cannot cast spells affected by the Quickened spell metamagic feat. An occult philologist can use this ability an additional time per day at 8th level, and every three levels thereafter, up to a maximum of 6 times per day at 20th level. This ability replaces the familiar’s Deliver Touch Spells and Speak with Master abilities.

An occult philologist who selects the word bond forms a powerful bond with his spellbook. His spellbook is of masterwork quality, but is not made of any special material. At 1st level, an occult philologist adds erase and scrivener’s chant to his spellbook. At 5th level, he adds book ward and secret page to his spell book. At 10th, level he adds explosive runes and sepia snake sigil to his spellbook. At 15th level, he adds glyph of warding to his spellbook as a 4th level spell.

In addition, a bonded spellbook can be used to cast any spell that he has in his spellbook and is capable of casting without preparing it ahead of time by expending a spell scroll of equal or higher level. A bonded spellbook cannot be used to cast spells from the wizard's opposition schools (see arcane mystery). These spells are treated like any other spell cast by the occult philologist, including casting time, duration, and other effects dependent on the occult philologist's level. These spells cannot be modified by metamagic feats or other abilities.

Regardless of which bond is chosen, the occult philologist finds very difficult casting spells without his bonded creature nearby or his spellbook at hand. If an occult philologist attempts to cast a spell with his leaflets without his spellbook in his possession, or when his familiar's not adjacent to him, he must make a concentration check or lose the spell. The DC for this check is equal to 20 + the spell's level. This ability otherwise functions as and replaces arcane bond.

Table: Occult Philologist