Raconteur (Savant)

While savants understand the underlying principles of how the world works, raconteurs make it up as they go along. As these tale-spinners talk, they bring to life fictional heroes capable of real acts of greatness. Some believe a raconteur’s powers come as a gift from the gods of theater and poetry. Others suggest that they arise through esoteric insight into the nature of heroism, with stalwart exemplars and personal flexibility standing in for arcane tomes. A few even believe that raconteurs tap into the rhythms of energy that create magic, their heartbeats acting as spoken incantations, the flow of their blood as the subtle movements that unlock spells. But all can agree that when a raconteur speaks, he does more than spin a yarn.

Avatar (Su)

As a full-round action, a raconteur can summon the protagonist of one of his stories to the battlefield. These conjured heroes, called avatars, fall into one of four categories: arcane avatar, combat avatar, divine avatar, and expert avatar. Each avatar is one of four separate characters, distinct from one another and the raconteur (although some raconteurs can’t help but insert aspects of their own personality into the characters they tell stories about). These four avatars should be created ahead of time following the rules outlined in Creating Avatars.
When a raconteur summons an avatar, he can attempt a storyteller check (see below) as a free action and apply knacks to the avatar instead of to himself. These knacks remain active until the avatar vanishes or is reduced to 0 hit points. An avatar is summoned within 30 feet of the raconteur and within line of sight. An avatar remains for as long as the raconteur concentrates (as a standard action) each round. The avatar vanishes at the end of the raconteur’s turn if he does not concentrate. An avatar that has been reduced to 0 hit points vanishes immediately and cannot be summoned again until the raconteur rests for 8 hours.
When an avatar is summoned, its hit points are unchanged from the last time it appeared that day. Otherwise, it arrives fully healed. The first time an avatar is summoned after the raconteur has rested for 8 hours, it appears with its full suite of spells and abilities. Spent abilities remain spent until the next time the raconteur rests for 8 hours.
Whenever a raconteur gains a level, he can choose to rebuild one avatar. At 5th level, the raconteur can rebuild all four of his avatars as avatars of legend. If he chooses not to rebuild one or more of his avatars at that time, he can choose to use his one rebuild per level to do so. See Creating Avatars below for more information.
This ability replaces areas of interest.

Storyteller (Su)

A raconteur doesn’t let details like facts and reality get in the way of a good story. As a standard action, a raconteur can attempt a Perform (oratory) check to tell a story. Storyteller works like scrutinize, except instead of scrutinizing aspects of a target to gain access to basic knacks, the raconteur makes up the information, using whichever basic knacks he chooses. The DC to tell a story is 10. For every 5 by which his check exceeds the DC, the raconteur gains access to an additional basic knack. For a knack like arcane spell, he can choose the spell (subject to the GM’s discretion).
Additionally, any savant ability that relies on scrutinize instead relies on storyteller, and the raconteur uses his Charisma modifier for effects that rely on a savant’s Intelligence modifier. This ability replaces scrutinize.

Creating Avatars

Avatars are as important to a raconteur as eidolons are to a summoner. They are also a complex class feature that requires more preparation on the part of the player than any other. If you play a raconteur, it’s important that you are as familiar with your avatars’ abilities as you are with your raconteur’s.
Avatars are created like NPCs. An avatar’s abilities are determined by the raconteur’s savant level.
Class Each avatar has a type, and each type of avatar is associated with one or more NPC classes, as shown below. The avatars’ initial class levels, and at least half of their class levels at any time must be in a class related to their type. Avatars do not gain experience on their own. Instead, they gain a level in an NPC class whenever the raconteur gains a level.
Arcane: Arcane adept. (An arcane adept is like the standard adept but she casts arcane spells instead of divine spells and uses Intelligence rather than Wisdom to prepare spells and determine the DC of her saving throws.)
Combat: Warrior.
Divine: Adept.
Expert: Aristocrat or expert.
Race An avatar can be of any core race—dwarf, elf, gnome, half-elf, half-orc, halfling, or human.
Ability Scores Before applying racial modifiers, an avatar has the following ability scores in any order: 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, and 8.
Alignment An avatar’s alignment must be within one step of the raconteur’s.
Gear An avatar automatically acquires gear whenever the raconteur gains a level. This gear is equal to the gear of a basic NPC of the raconteur’s level. When an avatar vanishes, its gear vanishes with it.
At 5th level, each of the raconteur’s avatars can be rebuilt as an avatar of legend instead of gaining a level. An avatar of legend follows slightly different rules.
Class An avatar of legend is no longer restricted to taking levels in NPC classes. However, any class they take a level in must meet specific criteria based on the avatar of legend’s type, as shown below and are subject to GM discretion. An avatar of legend’s level is equal to the raconteur’s level –1.
Arcane: Able to cast arcane spells.
Combat: Base attack bonus is equal to class level.
Divine: Able to cast divine spells.
Expert: Gains 6 or more skill points + Int per level.
Race In addition to the core races, an avatar of legend can be an aasimar, catfolk, dhampir, drow, fetchling, goblin, hobgoblin, ifrit, kobold, orc, oread, ratfolk, sylph, tengu, tiefling, or undine. A GM might allow other race options of similar power.
Ability Scores Before applying racial modifiers, an avatar of legend has the following ability scores in any order: 15, 14, 13, 12, 10, and 8.
Gear The gear an avatar of legend acquires whenever the raconteur gains a level is equal to the gear of a heroic NPC of the raconteur’s level –1.

Section 15: Copyright Notice

New Paths Compendium - Unleashed. Copyright 2013 Open Design LLC; Authors: Marc Radle, Crystal Frasier, John Ling, Jr., and Jerall Toi.