Black Crescent Mage

D&D 3e (3.0/3.5) Rules

by Valharic

The Black Crescent. One of the lesser known symbols of Tahkisis and for good reason. Be it philosophy, religion, or a drive for power, Black Crescent Mages are typically mages or sorcerers that have come to serve Tahkisis. It could be because of their disdain for the Wizards of High Sorcery and their restrictive ways, or purely a drive for power. Whatever the reason, these mages are branded renegades from that moment on.

Black Crescent Mages are a rare and secretive sect of mages who have sworn allegiance to the Dark Queen Tahkisis. They revel in the power bestowed upon them by Tahkisis, and summon foul monsters and demons from the planes outside the lands of Krynn, particularly from the home of her Dark Majesty, the Abyss. Once this pact with the Dark Queen has been made they have become, in the eyes of the Wizards of High Sorcery, renegades. Their renegade status is not overtly known to other mages, since this group is secretive and typically has a singular relationship with the Dark Queen. Particularly crafty ones can enjoy the benefits of both the Wizards of High Sorcery and as a Black Crescent Mage. Once discovered though, they are judiciously hunted down by the Orders and dealt with accordingly.

Black Crescent Mages tend to be solitary mages; there is no organization to the order. They are typically are approach by agents or servants of the Dark Queen upon her behest. On rare occasions they are approached by the Dark Queen herself.
Hit Die: d4.

Requirements

Alignment: Any evil.
Ability Scores: Charisma 15
Skills: Knowledge (planes) 11 ranks
Feats: Arcane Focus (conjuration).
Spellcasting: Must be able to cast Summon Monster IV as an arcane spell.

Class Skills

The Black Crescent Mage's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Decipher Script (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (planes) (Int), Profession (Wis), and Spellcraft (Int).

Skill Points at Each Level: 2 + Int modifier.

Class Features

All of the following are class features of the Black Crescent Mage prestige class.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Black Crescent Mages gain no proficiency with any weapon or armor.

Spells per Day/Spells Known: When a new Black Crescent Mage level is gained, the character gains new spells per day (and spells known, if applicable) as if he had also gained a level in whatever arcane spellcasting class in which he could cast 7th-level spells before he added the prestige class level. He does not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained. If a character had more than one arcane spellcasting class in which he could cast 7th-level spells before he became a Black Crescent Mage, he must decide to which class he adds each level of Black Crescent Mage for the purpose of determining spells per day.

Will of Tahkisis: Upon joining this order, the Black Crescent Mage gains the knowledge to summon and control evil outerplanar creatures. The summoner uses dark rituals that take 1 hour per Hit Die of the outsider or outsiders being summoned. Many of the rituals used to summon the outsiders include vile arcane rites of blood and sacrifice. The higher the risk, the higher the price for the requirements for sacrifice. Once the outsider(s) is summoned, the mage must make an Intimidate or Diplomacy check (DC = Creatures HD + Will Save), whichever is better for each outsider. If the check is successful, the summoned outsider(s) is under the control of the mage as if under a Geas. For the purpose of this ability the duration of the geas is 1 day per total caster level. If the skill check fails by 5 or less the outsider returns to its home plane. If the failure is more than five, then the summoned outsider has free will and can choose to either return home or stay and wreak havoc upon Krynn, including killing or torturing the mage that brought it to Krynn. The summoner may only control a total HD of 5 + Total Caster Level at one time.

Secrets of the Abyss: Through time spent on researching the dwellers of the Abyss, and insight from Tahkisis, the Black Crescent Mage starts to become quite familiar with the home of her Dark Majesty, understanding the aspect, geography, and dangers of the plane itself. Upon reaching 2nd level, the Black Crescent Mage gets a +4 skill check bonus to Knowledge (planes) when the check involves knowledge pertaining to the Abyss.

Skin of the Demon: After studying so much about the Abyss and interaction with demons and devils, the Black Crescent Mage's body begins to change. Their bodies begin to contort and show qualities of the denizens of the Abyss within their soul and upon their person. The changes can be a wide range of things including scaly skin, bony protrusions, blood-red eyes, a devilish tail, or clawed hands. These changes continue as he grows in power. Therefore upon reaching 3rd level, the Black Crescent Mage gains immunity to poison as well as cold resistance 5 and electricity resistance 5.

Infernal Name: As the summoner becomes more powerful in the dark art, they gain the ability to research and discover the true name of summoned outsiders they call upon and use this knowledge to their strength. If the Black Crescent Mage does not already have the spells Legend Lore and Contact Other Plane they gain access to learn these spells. Researching a true name can be costly but garnishes powerful rewards. It requires 1 week of research per 2 HD of the evil outsiders and an expenditure of 1,000 stl pieces a week. Legend Lore must be cast once a week, the material cost of the spell is included in the 1,000 stl. At the end of the research time the mage casts Contact Other Plane to contact the Abyss. At that point the Mage makes a Knowledge (planes) check (Secrets of the Abyss applies) with a DC of 10 + Creature's Hit Dice and if successful the mage has learned the true name of the intended summoned outsider. If they have failed they must start the whole process over again.

Once the caster has learned the true name, the mage gains the following benefits when summoning the specific outsider:

• The caster gets a +6 skill bonus to their Diplomacy or Intimidate check on the specific summoned outsider.
• The geas (provided by Will of Takhisis) will last twice the normal duration.
• The caster can cast teleport on the outsider without including himself as the target of the spell.

Portal to the Abyss: Through time, knowledge, power, and surviving the dangers of the order, the Black Crescent Mage are bestowed a gift by the Dark Queen to cast Gate 1/day. The mage is the only creature allowed to pass through this gate to the Abyss. This ability can also allow communication through the gate.

Notes: There are a few reasons I created this class. The main reason was my need to have a type of demonologist class for a specific NPC I was writing up. Yet all the versions of this specialty class that I had seen published didn't seem to work or fit my needs in the Dragonlance world. One of those reasons is that I always saw that a native arcane spellcaster of Krynn would draw this power or knowledge from the Dark Queen to have this ability. This class is just one possible benefit once one has sworn their allegiance to Tahkisis. The other reason is that I have always seen summoning a devil or demon as something of a risky proposition for the summoner, and I never saw that effectively portrayed in any of the PrCs I had read through. The old saying you can never hope to control them, just contain them seems to apply to demonology. They always seem on the cusp of turning on you if you let them. I hope you enjoy this.

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