Strategist (3.5e Class)
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Strategist
A master of command, the Strategist relies on the use of her Monster Control Vault to wield armies for inter(national/continental/planetary/planar/universal) conquest.
Making a Strategist
Strategists have the advantage of numbers and spreadability, but the actual Strategist often hides in her Monster Control Vault, miles or planes away from the rest of the party.
Abilities: Intelligence, Charisma, and Wisdom are all important for the Strategist. Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution are almost completely useless for the strategist, since she spends most of her time inside a vault.
Races: Any race that has some members following other members of it is far more likely to have Strategists.
Alignment: Any.
Starting Gold: 10d4×10 gp (250 gp).
Starting Age: Complex.
Class Features
All of the following are class features of the Strategist.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: The Strategist is not proficient with any armor or weapons.
Monster Control Vault: A first level Strategist automatically gains possession of a Monster Control Vault, a Large wheeled box with AC 6 + 1 per class level, 10 Hit Points per class level, and Hardness 10 + 1 per class level. The Monster Control Vault can deploy into a structure composed of five 10' cubes per class level with one minute of transformation, and can undeploy with one minute of transformation as well. While deployed as a structure, and only while deployed as a structure, the Strategist and his allies can enter it. Inside it are a number of handy devices. At first level, it contains a scrollable, scalable magic map which reveals any terrain features the Strategist or one of her Transponders has explored, and a speaker system for communication with her Transponders.
Monster Control Vaults weigh 3000 pounds, but their wheels make them easily pulled over terrain that isn't difficult terrain by anyone with a maximum load of 200 or more pounds.
Replacing a Monster Control Vault that has been destroyed costs 10,000 gold in materials and takes one week.
Transponder (Su): A Strategist can create or destroy Transponders. These are small (1/2 pound) devices that permit instantaneous verbal communication with the Monster Control Vault at any distance. Creating a Transponder takes 1 gold piece worth of materials and 10 minutes of work. Destroying a Transponder is a purely mental full-round action with unlimited range. The Strategist can only have a number of Transponders equal to her class level at a time.
Craft Monsters: A second level Strategist's Monster Control Vault gains a vat for generating Large or smaller monsters of a particular type, chosen when the vat is first obtained. Even destroying and rebuilding the Monster Control Vault does not permit changing the type. You cannot use the Monster Control Vault to craft monsters that have a higher CR than your character level. Crafting a monster has a price according to this chart:
| Challenge Rating | ¼ or less | ⅓ | ½ | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price (gp) | 25 | 50 | 100 | 200 | 300 | 400 | 600 | 800 | 1200 | 1600 | 2400 | 4800 | 7200 | 9600 | 14400 | 19200 | 28800 | 38400 | 57600 | 76800 | 115200 | 153600 | 230400 |
| Price (xp) | 2 | 4 | 8 | 16 | 24 | 32 | 48 | 64 | 96 | 128 | 192 | 256 | 384 | 512 | 768 | 1024 | 1536 | 2048 | 3072 | 4096 | 6144 | 8192 | 12288 |
| Crafting Time (hours) | 0.25 | 0.5 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 12 | 16 | 24 | 48 | 72 | 96 | 144 | 192 | 288 | 384 | 576 | 768 | 1152 | 1536 | 2304 |
Any experience that the monster would gain is given directly to the Strategist. When experience would be split between characters, any number of monsters only counts as one character for this purpose.
All monsters created in this way start out completely loyal to the Strategist. Sufficient persuasion or magic can change this state, but they still give all their experience to the Strategist.
At 4th level, and every four levels after that, the Strategist's Monster Control Vault gains another vat for generating monsters of a new type.
At level 7, the vats can produce Huge monsters as well. At level 14, the vats can produce Gargantuan monsters.
Strategist's Initiative: A third level Strategist grants her Intelligence bonus as a morale bonus to Initiative checks to all allies within 30' of her or any of her Transponders.
Mental Transpondence (Su): At 5th level, the Strategist can hear communication over her Transponder system mentally, and does not have to be in the Monster Control Vault to communicate in this way.
Recruiter: At 6th level, a limited, one-way infinite multiversal door appears in the Monster Control Vault. The Strategist can recruit characters with a CR of 1 or less of any race she has previously met (so long as CR 1 or less characters of that race are possible) for a standard fee: 3 silver pieces per day, with the first year paid in advance (usually 109.5 gold pieces). In addition, any followers or cohorts she gets from the Leadership feat or equivalent can come from this door, permitting her absolute control over their attributes (within the limitations of the feat).
Resistant Vault: A 6th level Strategist's Monster Control Vault and all characters within it have Spell Resistance against non-harmless effects equal to 5 + class level + Wisdom modifier.
Strategist's Precision: A 9th level Strategist grants her Intelligence bonus as a morale bonus to attack rolls to all allies within 30' of her or any of her Transponders.
Visual Transponders: At 10th level, the Strategist can upgrade any of her Transponders with a visual component with 100 gold pieces of materials and 1 hour of work. A screen appears in the Monster Control Vault that allows people inside to see what one of the Transponders at a time sees, and a scrying sensor appears in the Monster Control Vault that allows people inside it to show things on tiny screens on any or all Transponders upgraded with visual capability. No corresponding visual effect is added to the "Mental Transpondence" ability.
Concealed Vault: A 10th level Strategist's Monster Control Vault has a device that makes it invisible and immune to scrying, although while it is immune to scrying, the Scrying sensor for Visual Transpondence fails to work. Turning this device on or off is a standard action that requires contact with the device. Invisibility and immunity to scrying can be toggled separately.
Return to Base (Sp): At level 11, while the Strategist's Monster Control Vault is deployed, she can use a standard action to teleport herself and up to 1 willing ally per class level to a marked circle in the Monster Control Vault. This can transport her across planes.
General's Powers: At level 13, the Monster Control Vault gains a special crystal ball that can be used to cast spells as though the caster within the Monster Control Vault is at the location of one of the Strategist's Transponders that has visual capability. The crystal ball can only be used once per day per three Strategist class levels.
Uninvadable Vault: A 14th level Strategist's Monster Control Vault has a device that makes teleportation into it impossible. Turning this device on or off is a standard action that requires contact with the device.
Strategist's Protection: A 15th level Strategist grants her Intelligence bonus as a morale bonus to Armor Class (including Touch and Flat-footed AC) to all allies within 30' of her or any of her Transponders.
Town Portal: At 17th level, the Monster Control Vault gains a teleportation ring (size dependent on the shape of the Monster Control Vault at the moment). Anyone with one of the Strategist's Transponders can, with the Strategist's permission, teleport theirself and any number of their allies within 30' of them into the ring as a 1-round action, so long as all of them can fit in the ring together.
Expanded Strategy: At level 18, the bonuses for Strategist's Initiative, Strategist's Precision, and Strategist's Protection are extended out to 1 mile.
TeleVault: A 19th level Strategist's Monster Control Vault has a device that allows it to use greater teleport and plane shift at-will while undeployed. The Strategist has sole telepathic control over this ability.
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