Invoker

Invoker

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Invoker, or more accurately, the Invoker sub-classes (Elementalist and Hemomancer) are custom base classes available on Arelith. Both sub-classes are addressed in this single page because they share a parent concept; they are however treated by the game as completely independent base classes.

Introduction

Invokers, rather than using the conventional spells per day approach to casting, instead uses a managed mana-like resource pool called Focus to cast spells.

Invocations are but another form of magic, generated by mixing elemental energy or life energy, called Focus, with the small amounts of arcane magic that suffuse all things and shaping them into Weave-like spell-effects.

Some might argue invocation is the power itself, the very primal essence of magic. Others research how it resonates with arcane, divine, and psionic forces; as it often acts as a natural amplifier for those, though it is potent in its own right. Sages and scholars have debated whether invocative-spellcraft is the result of those power sources mixing and meshing with the life energy of mortal beings, or if perhaps it is the undiluted source from which those diverse powers sprang. What is known is that all creatures have some facility to access this power or be accessed by it.

Invocation spells are created when a creature channels magic through conduits in the body. Molded by the willpower of the creature from which it sprang, borne from raw energy known as focus, the invocation exchanges the energy for an ability to bring forth a desired effect into existence.

Arelith offers two sub-class options, selectable in game, as individual base classes:

• Elementalist: An Invoker who gathers energy from the surroundings and store it within themselves as a reservoir of focus ready to be unleased on a whim. They often attune themselves to one of the four Elemental Primes: Air, Earth, Fire or Water.

• Hemomancer: An Invoker who looks inwards, either by research, instinct, trial and error, experimentations, curses, or bindings; they have found a way to transform life energy to focus. They usually do not have as developed a reservoir, nor are as proficient in gathering external energy as other Invokers, but have discovered their own ways to leech energy out of others, or even themselves, at the cost of their own lives.

Important Notes

• There are a number of important #Class Restrictions that should be reviewed before selecting this class.
• Both Elementalist and Hemomancer sources and approaches to magic are being left open, there is no one sure way to design PC stories and the lore of the Invoker may develop alongside and by, the Player Characters.

Invoker Class

Although the Invoker is referenced as a class in this wiki document, the game does not treat it as a base class. This class is a super categorization of two, in game selectable sub-classes; the Elementalist and the Hemomancer. These sub-classes share a common resource concept and some common generalizations as noted below in this section.

Class Restrictions

When considering this class, there are some important restrictions that should be understood:

• Invokers will not gain the benefits of the following:

• Dark Blessing class feat (Charisma to saves)
• Divine Grace class feat (Charisma to saves)
• Divine Shield feat (Charisma to AC)
• Dodge AC granted by class feats when Monk levels are present nor with Vigilante (Path of Vigilance).

• Invoker sub-classes are mutually exclusive, the Elementalist and the Hemomancer cannot be mixed, selecting one class prevents multiclassing the other.
• Invoker, as a caster with unique mechanics, cannot be mixed with other full casters: Druid, Cleric, Sorcerer, Wizard, Favored Soul, Shaman, etc. Selecting one of these classes when levelling up will result in a forced relevel from level 1.
• Invokers gain Epic Arcane Caster at 21 Class Levels, but require 22 hard Charisma points to take epic spells.

Spellcasting

• To cast a spell, the Invoker has to pay points from the Focus pool. If there is not enough Focus in the pool, the spell will fail.

Note: Cantripts (0 level spells) are an exception – they cost no Focus.

• A custom UI has been created to track available focus, this UI can be accessed using Arelith custom Console Commands. More information can be found here.
• The cost of the spell is determined by:

• Spell level
• Spell itself: for balance reasons, some spells have added cost
• Whether the Invoker is wearing Invoker-specific gear (see Invoker Equipment)

• Continuous casting: casting the same spell consecutively doubles the base cost, until it the spell is cast from a feat or is a theme spell.

• Invoker level: Novice, Adept, Mastery (See class level progression)

Invoker Novice is the base level of Invoker gained upon taking 1 class level in either sub-class

Invoker Adept additionally allows to cast same spell without doubling the base cost from spell levels: 1 to 2

Invoker Mastery additionally allows to cast same spell without doubling the base cost from spell level: 1 to 4

General Information

• Invokers are treated as full casters to determine Dweomercraft (magic) tier.
• Invokers have access to Arcane wands.

Invoker Equipment

Wearing or wielding Invoker-specific weapons and armor provides a discount to the spell's base focus cost. Added spell costs to individual spells are not discounted.

Armors and weapons individually provide a 10% discount for a maximum of 20% with one armor and one weapon equipped. Armors and weapons stack, while weapons do not.

• Athame of Carnage (Hemomancer Dagger)
• Runestaff of Elements (Elementalist Staff)
• Focus of the Shukenja (Elementalist Wakizashi)
• Invoker's Bindings (Cloth Armor)
• Ichoret (Hide Armor)
• Impermissicon's Shard (Scale Armor)

Elementalist

More about elementalist at the class page.

Hemomancer

More about the Hemomancer at the class page.

Roleplay Tips

Invokers are arcane spellcasters that have, to some degree or another, inherent magical power. The reasons for this can be varied. Invokers are known to be produced by magically rich areas (specially by elemental or necromancy magic), simply by virtue of diffusion of magic through the environment. They can be produced by having some amount of magical blood in them from a lineage that includes a magical creature. Invokers can also be produced as a side-effect of a parent having been a sorcerer or wizard. Essentially: exposure to magic produces Invokers. The aptitude doesn't seem to be distilled by distance from its source.

Invokers are, historically, only rarely invokers by choice. While certain cultures may pride themselves of selective breeding aimed at producing and training individuals with inherent magical abilities and will have culturally sanctioned invokers, most societies don't mean to produce invokers; they just do.

Invoking tendencies tend to manifest around puberty in humanoid creatures, frequently earlier for already highly magical creatures. These powers generally begin as uncontrolled, unexpected and fairly dangerous. An average commoner has about four hit points, a ray of frost does 1d4+1. You can see how even a teenage invoker in a bit of an angry moment can rather painfully cripple someone. This means that invokers come to be feared, reviled or sequestered away. Nobody expects a invoker in the family, unless they're extremely stoic, or just plain not commoners.

Because magic works in an instinctive way for invokers, they already know how to wave their hands around and what words to say to produce magical effects. These things just happen to them, it's like figuring out you can close one eye at the same time as another. You don't forget it.

Invokers tend to be people that have a bit of a breakdown after discovering their power, and becoming very afraid of what they can do to another person. They become conservative, then, through fear of themselves. Perhaps they were someone that just wanted to ignore their power and remain part of the community, but was forced out or away, as no other could handle what they could, and they needed to leave to defend it. Invokers are also, frequently, sent to wizards to be trained, the people sending them not understanding their power, and the wizard fairly ineffectually trying to channel it into more logical pursuits.

Not to say that all invokers are afraid of themselves. Some become rather absorbed in themselves, believing themselves somehow greater than their peers, and frequently attempting to rescue or aid people with their magical powers, becoming good-hearted but hopelessly romantic. Alternatively some could see their power as placing them above others, and decide it is their prerogative to nurse it until they can strike back against their own community for perceived slights, operating off of a false sense of entitlement to justice.

Mechanics of Invocations

Deciding how and why your character uses its power can be one of the greatest aspects of being a Invoker. How your character found his elemental affinity, or blood affinity, is up to you and is one of the great things of this class.

Charisma, to a Invoker, is essentially a measurement of how overbearing their presence is to the world, just like a sorcerer. How much of a dent they make in society by their existence, how much people are inclined to listen to them, and how much the weave of magic they can sink into. It is, for all intents and purposes, the "weight" of your personality. In this way, it gives invokers power. You can elbow a bit more compliance out of the weave with a bit more weight.

Another fun aspect of creating a invoker is determining the source of their power. They may not even be aware of this source, and it may not even come up, but the way in which it can influence the way your character acts can be a bit of a subtle bonus to those who figure it out.

For instance, Elementalists born on another plane tend to gravitate towards powers that would be closely associated with that plane. A Elementalist born on the Inner Plane of fire, or any genasi, really, would be more likely to harness and invoke using the element from which it is derived. Negatasi frequently become hemomancers. Hemomancers can also be under a curse, or have a bloodline tainted with vampirism (thralls) or necromancy.

If the invoker's power came from a creature in their lineage, they likely will still have some traits of that creature loitering around in their bloodstream. There are literally hundreds of creatures that humans could have cross-bred with that would produce invokers. This doesn't mean flip open the Monster Manual and choose arbitrarily, but certainly put some thought into the idea of what monstrous or humanoid creature could be in your bloodstream to produce a invoker. The creature could also influence the type of powers that choose to manifest. If one is a invoker derivitive of an Alcor, then have them manifest primarily frost based spells.

External Links

Click Here for one player's guide to the Hemomancer experience and how to play this class.