The Brainiac

I took some inspiration from the Lamentations of Flame Princess Specialist and Rolang's Illusionist and decided to try a very Specialist-y, self-policing, self-defeating mentalist. Think of it as a form of magic limited to extending a user's direct physical influence, instead of a whole new power source or anything.

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HD: d4
Saves: as Thief
Attacks: as Thief
Advances: as Dwarf
Requirements: Constitution 9, Intelligence 9

• Brainiacs may wear leather armor and use any weapon a Magic-User can use.
• Brainiacs can enter a trance once per day for four hours, gaining all the benefits of restful sleep.

Brainiacs have seven gifts. You roll 1d6 to use them, except for Biofeedback.

• Intuition- Guessing the intent of something or someone.
• Telepathy- Conveying a thought, image, or idea mentally, at an effective range in feet of the Brainiac's Wisdom.
• Telekinesis- Manipulating physical objects with mental force. Use Wisdom as range and Intelligence as strength.
• Pyrokinesis- Lighting things on fire as if you had a torch. Use Wisdom as range.
• Misdirection- Confusing or misleading a target's perceptions. They get a save for this one, against the Brainiac's Intelligence.
• Empathy- Reading or imbuing an emotional state. Range is Brainiac's Charisma.
• Biofeedback- Force of will and total control of mind and body give you a bonus to AC.

Your chance in 6 for each of these to be successful can be improved by spending points on them. When you have 6 in an gift, you must roll a 6 followed by another 6 to fail your test. Biofeedback begins with 1 point in it already so you begin play with a 1 point bonus to AC, and improve your AC further for each point you spend. You begin play with 4 points to assign anywhere, and gain 1 point each time you level.

At level 7, a Brainiac may receive information with Telepathy, as well as transmit.

A Brainiac may attempt to use her gifts as many times per day as she likes, with two major caveats:

1) DM rolls their die, and may allow them to believe an erroneous result.
2) A normal botch (6) results in psychic backlash, reducing Constitution by 1 point. A major botch (6, then 6 again) reduces Constitution by 2 points. Brainiacs lose all Biofeedback bonus until their Constitution is restored, at a rate of 1 point per day. It is possible to die from psychic backlash if the reduction in Constitution reduces your Hit Points to 0 or fewer, and it is possible to die if your Constitution is reduced to 0 or less.

At level 9 Brainiacs may convene a network of Psychic Friends. These may be other PCs or NPCs but always equal the Brainiac's level. These beings can always sense one another, can freely communicate with one another, and their communications and sensations are not impeded by distance.

Brainiacs may advance to level 16.