Wind Mage (3.5e Class)
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Low - Moderate - High - A mage who uses wind as his weapon of choice, manipulating it through invocations. 20 0 Moderate Poor Good Good Invocations Full
Contents
Wind Mage[edit]
Air. We hardly notice it, but it's all around us. When it's calm, its presence is benign, but stir it up to violence, and it'll throw everything all over the place. The Wind Mage is a student of manipulation of the air, and he can use it to assault, disrupt, and overcome his enemies.
Making a Wind Mage[edit]
Wind Mages are perhaps a little lacking in attack power, but they make up for that through their excellence at controlling the battlefield. A wind mage can use his mastery over wind to put his opponents precisely where he (and his teammates) want them, or just launch them into a deep pit or repeatedly slam them into a wall until they're nothing but bloody paste.
Abilities: Charisma is paramount for a wind mage, as it governs his invocations. Dexterity is extremely helpful for Armor Class, since the wind mage isn't exactly able to use anything more protective than light armor, but it's even more important for ranged attack rolls, like Wind Bullet, since the Wind Mage's AC is absolutely fine thanks to his Tornado Cloak (but that same Tornado Cloak wreaks havoc on his attack rolls). Constitution is always useful for extra hit points, and the wind mage finds it extra-important since his Fortitude save is poor. Strength is also useful if the wind mage cares to try his hand at melee combat — a role that he's not horrible in, though he's not superb, either.
Races: Any.
Alignment: Any, though wind mages lean a little towards chaos on average.
Starting Gold: 5d4×10 gp (125 gp).
Starting Age: Moderate.
Class Features[edit]
All of the following are class features of the Wind Mage.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Wind mages are proficient with all simple weapons, plus all martial swords, all martial shields, saps, kukris, chakrams, shuriken, and whips. Wind mages are proficient with light armor and shields (except tower shields). Although the wind mage uses spell-like abilities, they are affected by arcane spell failure if wearing anything more than light armor. A wind mage wearing medium or heavy armor or using a shield incurs a chance of arcane spell failure. A multiclass wind mage still incurs the normal arcane spell failure chance for arcane spells received from other classes.
Bonus Language: A wind mage knows Auran, the language of air-type beings, which he learns upon taking his first level in wind mage. Auran is a free language for a wind mage; he knows it in addition to his regular allotment of languages and it doesn't take up a language slot.
Wind Bullet (Sp): As a standard action, a wind mage can launch a bullet-like pulse of pressurized air which deals 1d4 damage per caster level as a ranged touch attack (its caster level is equal to the wind mage's class level). In addition to the damage, a wind bullet causes a creature it strikes to stumble backwards 5 feet, unless augmented with an essence that says otherwise. The bullets of air have a range increment of 60 feet. There is no save against the damage or the pushback. The pushback force is not strong enough to cause damage if it would push a victim into a wall (though it's perfectly capable of pushing someone off a cliff), nor is it strong enough to knock a creature prone. Spell resistance applies to each bullet separately. Wind Bullet has the [Air] descriptor. Wind Bullet counts as eldritch blast for the purpose of prerequisites.
Unlike some spell-like abilities, a wind bullet has a spell level. A wind bullet's spell level is equal to ½ the wind mage's class level, rounded down (minimum 1st, maximum 9th), the spell level of the shape applied to the bullet (if any), or the spell level of the essence applied to the bullet (if any), whichever is highest.
- Wind Launch (Sp): Starting at 12th level, the pushback from a wind mage's wind bullet becomes 10 feet, unless augmented with an essence that says otherwise, and the forced movement from a 12th-level wind mage's wind bullet provokes an attack of opportunity from all creatures except for the wind mage who launched that wind bullet.
- Greater Wind Bullet (Sp): At level 16, the pushback from the wind bullet becomes 15 feet, unless augmented with an essence that says otherwise.
Air Focus: Levels in wind mage are added to the caster level, initiator level, manifester level, or meldshaper level of any [Air] spells, maneuvers, powers, and soulmelds you know. This does not grant additional spells, maneuvers, powers, or soulmelds known. In addition, all [Air] spells and powers are considered to be on your class list for the purpose of creating and activating magic items, such as wands and scrolls.
Tornado Cloak (Su): As an immediate action, a wind mage can conjure up a shroud of high-speed winds to cover him like a cloak. This shroud acts like a full-body suit of armor (but without an armor check penalty), granting the wind mage a deflection bonus to AC equal to his class level ×2 by literally blowing incoming attacks off-course. However, this attack interference goes both ways; the tornado cloak blows the wind mage's attacks off-course, too, causing him to take a −8 penalty to attack rolls and a −2 penalty to damage rolls with physical attacks, and it's also rather loud, causing him to take a −6 penalty to Move Silently checks. He also automatically fails to confirm critical hits (even when performing a coup de grace) or perform other precision-based attacks (such as sneak attacks) while his tornado cloak is active (regardless of whether his attack is physical or magical), as the roaring winds surrounding him make it impossible for him to strike with the degree of precision required to score a critical hit. The tornado cloak can be deactivated as an immediate action.
While the tornado cloak does offer a massive deflection bonus to AC, especially at higher levels (where it can get flat-out ridiculous), that is literally all it does. It offers no protection from attacks that don't require attack rolls, such as a dragon's breath weapon. Use it wisely.
- Tornado Cloak Swish (Su): At 9th level, the wind mage is good enough at working with air that he can subvert the limitations of his tornado cloak. The penalty to attack rolls is reduced to −6 and the penalty to physical damage rolls is eliminated entirely.
- Tornado Cloak Sweep (Su): At 11th level, the wind mage becomes still better at working around his tornado cloak's drawbacks. The penalty to attack rolls is reduced to −4, and the wind mage can strike with enough precision to score critical hits some of the time; if he threatens a critical hit with his tornado cloak active, he is allowed to confirm it, but there is a 50% chance that the critical hit will not actually be a critical hit (rolled after and separately from fortification). Other precision-based attacks, such as sneak attacks, also suffer from a 50% failure chance while the tornado cloak is active (but that's still better than the 100% failure rate they had before!).
Invocations: The wind mage receives several spell-like abilities identical in nature to the warlock's[1] invocations. He may use these invocations at will, though he must still pay any relevant gold and experience costs, and they are affected by arcane spell failure in medium and heavy armor and with shields. Invocations do not provoke attacks of opportunity unless otherwise noted. Invocations come in three types: shapes, which alter the shape and spread of his Wind Bullet class feature; essences, which augment his wind bullet class feature with a rider effect; and invocations, which duplicate spells or have other, sometimes long-standing effects.
At 1st level, he can select one invocation known, and an additional invocation at 2nd and every odd level. At first, he may only select from least invocations. At level 7, he may select from least or lesser invocations. At level 13, he may select from least, lesser, or greater invocations. Finally, at level 19th and beyond, he may select from least, lesser, greater, or final invocations. At every even level, he may choose to switch out one of his invocations known for another, so long as the invocation swapped is the same or lower level invocation as the original. He may only swap out one invocation at each even level. Any saving throws are Charisma-based. Essences which force a save against an effect only need one save each round, regardless of how many times you hit. Wind mages choose their invocations from the following list1.
Least — all-seeing eye[2], baleful utterance[1], bane of balance, beguiling influence[1], breath of the night[1]2, charged shot, dark one's own luck[1], deafening roar[3]2, drain incarnum[4], eldritch glaive[3], eldritch spear[1], entropic warding[1], frightful blast[1], hammer blast[2], hideous blow[1], leaps and bounds[1]2, magic insight[3], miasmic cloud[1]2, otherworldly whispers[2]2, repelling blast[1]3, scalding gust[3], see the unseen[1], walk unseen[1], wind grab
Lesser — baleful wind, beshadowed blast[1], bewitching blast[1], charm[1], curse of despair[1], deteriorating blast[3]2, draconic flight[3], dread seizure[3], eldritch chain[1], energy resistance[3], exploding blast5, fell flight[1]2, flee the scene[1], frightful presence[3], hindering blast[2]4, knockdown blast, relentless dispelling[2], repulsor gale, sandy gust, searing wind, steal incarnum[4], voidsense[1], voracious dispelling[1], weighty utterance[3]6, wind blast, wind shunt, witchwood step[2]2
Greater — baleful geas[3], devour magic[1], draconic toughness[3], eldritch cone[1]5, eldritch eruption, eldritch line[3]5, eldritch stream5, hurricane barrier, painful slumber of ages[2], path of shadow[1]4, penetrating blast[3], retributive invisibility[1]4, Super Smash blast, windborne message, wingstorm[3]
Final — binding blast[2]2, caster's lament[2], dark discorporation[1]2, dark foresight[1], eldritch doom[1]5, eldritch riverflow5, instill vulnerability[3], greater draconic flight[3], perilous veil[3]
- Some invocations taken from official materials work differently for the wind mage than they do for the warlock. Where differences exist, they will be pointed out in footnotes like this one.
- This invocation gains the [Air] descriptor.
- For a wind mage, repelling blast[1] is cast as a 2nd-level invocation, gains the [Air] descriptor, and its pushback stacks with the pushback of the basic wind bullet.
- Why Wizards of the Coast thought it was a good idea to put effects equivalent to a 6th-level spell in the "dark" grade is beyond me. Especially since there are also 6th-level effects in the "greater" grade. This also goes for putting 4th-level effects in the "greater" grade, when they should belong in the "lesser" grade.
- When this invocation is used by a wind mage, the wind bullet's pushback applies to every affected space. A creature that fails its Reflex save is pushed all the way back to the end of the area of effect. A creature that succeeds on its Reflex save is pushed off to the side (if the invocation's area is a line or a cone) or not pushed back at all (if the invocation's area is a cylinder or sphere). In any of these cases, the pushback pushes victims out to the edge of the area of effect, but no farther, instead of the standard pushback distance.
- A wind mage performs this invocation by generating a downdraft that essentially flings the victim towards the ground. As a result, it does not require the wind mage to utter the Dark Speech, the saving throw is changed from a Will save to a Reflex save, the invocation affects all creatures within a 30-foot-wide cylinder, the invocation does not disable the flight of a creature that hits the ground as a result of the forced downwards movement, and the invocation becomes an [Air] effect.
Elemental Summoning: At 2nd level, a wind mage can take a full-round action to call on the Elemental Plane of Air and summon any [Air]-subtyped creature with a CR equal to or less than ½ his HD. This behaves like a summon monster spell, except the duration is 1 hour/class level. He may use this ability 1/day.
Fast Movement (Ex): At 3rd level, a wind mage gains the furious speed and rush of an air elemental. His base land speed increases by +10 feet.
At 6th level and every three levels beyond, he gains another +10 bonus to his base land speed.
Windy Weapon (Su): At 4th level, a wind mage can channel the power of air into the weapons he wields (including the wind bullet, eldritch/wind glaive, and any other effect which requires an attack roll). The weapon gains the auran enhancement[5], automatically overcoming the damage reduction of creatures with the [Earth] subtype and dealing an extra 2d6 damage to such creatures. This stacks with the actual auran enhancement.
At 8th level, the wind mage can grant the high frequency enhancement to his weapons, stacking with the actual high frequency enhancement.
Air Power (Ex): A 5th-level wind mage's skill with manipulating the air has grown beyond the capabilities of less specialized mages. He gets a +1 increase to the caster/manifester/initiator/meldshaper level (if applicable) and save DC of all [Air] effects he casts, manifests, initiates, shapes, or otherwise uses, including his invocations and spell-like effects (such as Wind Catapult).
- Greater Air Power (Ex): At 16th level, Air Power is improved to grant a +2 increase to the caster/manifester/initiator/meldshaper level (if applicable) and save DC of all [Air] effects the wind mage casts, manifests, initiates, shapes, or otherwise uses, including his invocations and spell-like effects.
Wind Without Air (Su): At 6th level, a wind mage can generate air from out of nothing, allowing him to use [Air] effects in places where it shouldn't be possible, such as strongly earth-dominant areas and the vacuum of space. He can breathe comfortably in such places (as well as anywhere else that breathable air isn't normally easy or even possible to procure, such as underwater) and generate enough oxygen for as much as one Medium creature (other than himself) per class level to survive indefinitely. (This only protects the wind mage and other creatures from suffocation; it doesn't protect them from other dangers of total vacuum or burial, such as lack of heat or being crushed. It also doesn't prevent suffocation due to blockage or damage to the respiratory system, such as being strangled or having one's lungs ripped out.)
Air Adaption (Ex): At 10th level, a wind mage starts gaining partial traits of an air elemental. He gains 25% fortification as his vitals are transformed into air, and he becomes immune to sleep and poison, and no longer needs to sleep or breathe, though he must still eat. He also gains the [Air] subtype, if he doesn't have it already.
Wind Aura (Su): At 10th level, a wind mage can manipulate wind which he isn't responsible for. The wind mage effectively grants spell resistance equal to 10 + his HD to himself and all allies within 30 feet, but only against [Air] effects or effects that involve the manipulation of gas or wind (such as stinking cloud, scalding wind, etc.). If an opponent fails to breach this spell resistance, the wind mage takes control and can shape the wind/gas as he sees fit, placing holes, channels, and other parts of safety and suppressing winds and harmful gases completely while in the aura. Winds and gases so suppressed return once out of range of your aura if their duration has not expired.
Mundane winds and harmful gases can be manipulated this way, automatically failing against the spell resistance as they have no caster level. (Note that an area that's completely filled with some non-oxygen, non-noxious gas, such as carbon dioxide, doesn't count as "harmful gas" for this purpose; while it may be harmful to creatures in the area, that's not the fault of the gases themselves. The real issue is the lack of oxygen. Wind Without Air already solves lack-of-oxygen issues, though, and a wind mage of a sufficient level to have this ability doesn't need to breathe anyways. Gases that actually do harm in and of themselves, such as carbon monoxide, can be negated by Wind Aura.)
Elemental Body (Su): At 14th level, a wind mage gains stronger elemental traits. He gains 50% fortification, does not need to eat, and becomes immune to stunning and paralysis.
Wind Catapult (Sp): At 15th level, the wind mage can generate a massive buildup of air to attempt to get a creature or group of creatures out of his hair. As a full-round action, the wind mage may select a point in space within Medium range and generate a buildup of kinetic energy near it, in any direction that he desires. Without warning, he causes the built-up energy to erupt in a geyser of roaring wind (which happens roughly at the end of his turn), forcing all creatures within a 50-foot, cube-shaped burst centered on the selected point in space to make a Reflex save (DC = 18 + Charisma before applying Air Power) or else be launched 50 feet per caster level in a direction of the wind mage's choice, including straight up, straight down, a direct horizontal line parallel to the ground, or... well, in any orientation, really. The victim is not affected by gravity until its forced movement ends (this is not an arc of effect). If a victim collides with an obstacle during its forced movement, both the creature and the obstacle take 1d6 damage per 20 feet remaining in the victim's forced movement; if this destroys the obstacle, the victim continues traveling outwards, but if it doesn't, the victim's movement is interrupted, and it drops to the ground (taking the appropriate fall damage) and falls prone. A creature that is in midair at the end of its forced movement is entitled to a second Reflex save to stabilize itself if it is capable of flight, hovering, or otherwise modifying its momentum in midair; this secondary Reflex save is made at a +2 bonus per step above average maneuverability, a −2 penalty per step below average maneuverability, or a −6 penalty if the creature has a means of modifying its midair momentum other than flight or hovering, such as double jumping, as such methods are even clumsier than clumsy flying or hovering. If the secondary Reflex save succeeds, the creature can begin flying, hovering, or otherwise modifying its midair momentum at any point before hitting the ground; if the secondary Reflex save fails, or the creature has no way to modify its momentum in midair, it falls down to the ground, taking the appropriate falling damage and falling prone. A creature in midair that is blown to the ground is able to make a Reflex save to stabilize itself as above if it is capable of doing so and its forced movement ends before it hits the ground; if it hits the ground during its forced movement, it takes 2d6 points of falling damage per caster level of the wind mage (bypassing the usual calculation and 20d6 limit) and lands prone, as the force of the wind mage's downdraft propels victims to speeds well above terminal velocity. Note that a downdraft does next to nothing to a creature that's already on the ground; the only noteworthy effect is knocking the victim prone, though this happens forcefully enough to inflict 1d6 damage per 2 caster levels. Wind Catapult counts as an 8th-level spell (already accounted for in the DC) with the [Air] descriptor, and can be used once per minute. Its caster level is equal to the wind mage's class level (before applying Air Power).
Windy Haven (Sp): At 17th level, a wind mage gains the ability to use genesis as a spell-like ability which does not have a material or XP cost. However, he may only perform it on the Elemental Plane of Air, and the created demiplane is subject to limitations. It may only have properties either found on the Elemental Plane of Air, the Material Plane, or the Astral Plane. It technically exists as part of the Elemental Plane of Air and will always have at least one active portal there, though it may be guarded or sealed. The caster also gains another portal as usual, typically to his home plane.
As a standard action, the wind mage may use plane shift to transport himself and willing allies to his demiplane or the Elemental Plane of Air, and back to the last location he used this ability from. He may use this at will, and cannot send the unwilling.
Born of Air: At 20th level, a wind mage becomes one with the wind, effectively an air elemental in a shell of mortal skin. He becomes immune to critical hits and sneak attacks, his type changes to Elemental with the augmented subtype, and he gains the Whirlwind ability of an air elemental. He may count as his original type when beneficial, and may be raised and revived as normal. Finally, his wind becomes more powerful than ever before. His wind bullet now knocks its victim back 20 feet (which can potentially add to collision damage, but can't inflict collision damage on its own) and forces creatures up to three size categories smaller than the wind mage to succeed on a Reflex save or be knocked prone (the wind bullet must still be augmented with an essence to knock larger creatures prone).
Epic Wind Mage[edit]
| Level | Special | Invocations Known | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21st | Fast Movement +70 ft. | 12 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 22nd | 12 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 23rd | 13 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 24th | Fast Movement +80 ft., Bonus Feat | 13 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 25th | 14 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 26th | 14 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 27th | Fast Movement +90 ft. | 15 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 28th | Bonus Feat | 15 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 29th | 16 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 30th | Fast Movement +100 ft. | 16 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
4 + Int modifier skill points per level. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Invocations: The epic wind mage learns a new invocation at each odd-numbered level after 20th. He can choose an invocation from the grades of least, lesser, greater, and final.
Tornado Cloak: The deflection bonus to AC granted by the epic wind mage's tornado cloak is equal to his class level ×2, just as it was in the pre-epic levels. The penalties for having the tornado cloak active are not reduced any further beyond 20th level.
Fast Movement: The epic wind mage's base land speed continues to improve by 10 feet for every 3 levels beyond 18th.
Bonus Feats: The epic wind mage gains a bonus feat (selected from the list of epic wind mage bonus feats) every 4 levels after 20th.
Epic Wind Mage Bonus Feat List: Additional Magic Item Space, Blinding Speed, Craft Epic Magic Arms and Armor, Craft Epic Rod, Craft Epic Staff, Craft Epic Wondrous Item, Distant Shot, Efficient Item Creation, Epic Fortitude, Epic Reflexes, Epic Speed, Epic Toughness, Epic Will, Extra Dark Invocation, Forge Epic Ring, Great Dexterity, Great Charisma, Scribe Epic Scroll, Tarrasque's Fortitude, Uncanny Accuracy.
Elf Wind Mage Starting Package[edit]
Weapons: Short sword.
Skill Selection: Pick a number of skills equal to 4 + Int modifier.
| Skill | Ranks | Ability | Armor Check Penalty |
|---|---|---|---|
| Escape Artist | 4 | Dex | <-armor check penalty based on starting armor. If inapplicable put "—"-> |
| Search | 4 | Int | — |
| Spellcraft | 4 | Int | — |
| Use Magic Device | 4 | Cha | — |
Feat: Improved Initiative.
Bonus Feats: <-1st-level feat bonus feats due to class or sample race. Remove this section if this sample doesn't get any bonus feats at 1st level. ->.
Gear: <-Starting armor and other equipment outside of weapons.->.
Gold: <-Starting gold using this package.->.
Campaign Information[edit]
Playing a Wind Mage[edit]
Religion: Gods of air and wind, gods of chaos, and primal elemental forces are the favored gods of wind mages. After all, they've seen both the serene beauty and the savage fury that the wind can embody.
Combat: The wind mage is a blend between a blaster and battlefield-controller mage. While certainly capable of a solid, steady damage output, the wind mage's damage capability is ultimately smaller than the pyromaniac's, due to the smaller damage dice of the wind bullet and its lack of options for overcoming resistance. However, the wind mage is superior to the pyromaniac in terms of tactical utility, as it has many solid debuffing invocations and several abilities that focus on repositioning opponents into the most inconvenient locations possible.
Advancement: The wind mage's invocations are similar to those of the warlock and pyromaniac. Like the warlock, the wind mage can use classes which advance arcane spellcasting to advance its acquisition of new invocations and the caster level for all its class features, including the wind bullet. Unlike the warlock's eldritch blast, your wind bullet's damage is based on your caster level (albeit to a lesser extent than the pyromaniac's fire bolt, due to the smaller damage die), so multiclassing is more of a valid option if you wish to keep your main gun. Just keep in mind that compared to the pyromaniac, the wind mage is less about raw damage and more about solid tactics and maintaining an advantage over the enemy. Eldritch Weaver is one of the more fantastic advancement options for the wind mage, as their natural abilities work quite well in the prestige class.
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 1.18 1.19 1.20 1.21 1.22 1.23 1.24 1.25 1.26 1.27 1.28 1.29 1.30 Complete Arcane
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 Complete Mage
- ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 3.15 3.16 3.17 Dragon Magic
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Magic of Incarnum
- ↑ Magic Item Compendium
Back to Main Page → 3.5e Homebrew → Classes → Base Classes
| Luigifan18v |
|---|
| Article Balance | Very High + |
| Author | Luigifan18 + |
| Base Attack Bonus Progression | Moderate + |
| Class Ability | Invocations + |
| Class Ability Progression | Full + |
| Fortitude Save Progression | Poor + |
| Identifier | 3.5e Class + |
| Length | 20 + |
| Minimum Level | 0 + |
| Rating | Unrated + |
| Reflex Save Progression | Good + |
| Skill | Balance +, Bluff +, Concentration +, Craft +, Decipher Script +, Disguise +, Escape Artist +, Hide +, Intimidate +, Jump +, Knowledge +, Listen +, Move Silently +, Search +, Sense Motive +, Sleight of Hand +, Speak Language +, Spellcraft +, Spot +, Tumble + and Use Magic Device + |
| Skill Points | 4 + |
| Summary | A mage who uses wind as his weapon of choice, manipulating it through invocations. + |
| Title | Wind Mage + |
| Will Save Progression | Good + |
