Ardent
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"The multiverse is infinite in variety. Chaotic in its uniformity and all in its oneness with all things. Its is nothing and everything."

No two places in the multiverse are exactly alike. Creatures teem across a multitude of terrains, forming infinitely diverse ecologies. Despite the amazing variety displayed, however, some elements or, as some call them, philosophies persist. These fundamental concepts about the way things function have a basic truth to them that transcends any physical, emotional, or ideological boundary.

Some enlightened individuals have found that by acknowledging these concepts, they can tap a reserve of great power. These ideas, they believe, are the only constants throughout the multiverse; as such, they hold the potential to empower anyone who tries to understand them. Through the strength of their minds, these individuals can master these constants, and the great power they offer. They are known as ardents.
The philosophies ardents pursue include aspects such as life, death, annihilation, and fate, among others. Each ardent chooses a philosophy that seems the most powerful to her, personally, based on her experience and mental and emotional leanings. As a result, an ardent develops a unique
understanding of her philosophy and approach to the pursuit of power.

An ardent gravitates toward a set of philosophical concepts suitable to her heritage, upbringing, and life experiences. Many mistake an ardent for a cleric or paladin, because she is often as enthusiastic about her personal philosophies as any divine missionary could be. Unlike a divine spellcaster who gains her power through a deity, an ardent directly taps the concepts the deity represents, bypassing any connection to a conscious higher power.

Alignment: Any

Hit Dice: d6

Class Skills: (2 + Int modifier per level, ×4 at 1st level):
Autohypnosis, Concentration, Craft, Diplomacy, Heal, Knowledge, Profession, Psicraft.

Ardents are Literate (see Languages for details).

Level BAB Fort Save Ref Save Will Save Special Power Points Powers Known
1st +0 +0 +0 +2 Assume psionic mantles (2) 2 2
2nd +1 +0 +0 +3 Assume psionic mantle 6 3
3rd +2 +1 +1 +3 - 11 4
4th +3 +1 +1 +4 - 17 5
5th +3 +1 +1 +4 Assume psionic mantle 25 6
6th +4 +2 +2 +5 - 35 7
7th +5 +2 +2 +5 - 46 8
8th +6/+1 +2 +2 +6 - 58 9
9th +6/+1 +3 +3 +6 - 72 10
10th +7/+2 +3 +3 +7 Assume psionic mantle 88 11
11th +8/+3 +3 +3 +7 - 106 12
12th +9/+4 +4 +4 +8 - 126 13
13th +9/+4 +4 +4 +8 - 147 14
14th +10/+5 +4 +4 +9 - 170 15
15th +11/+6/+1 +5 +5 +9 Assume psionic mantle 195 16
16th +12/+7/+2 +5 +5 +10 - 221 17
17th +12/+7/+2 +5 +5 +10 - 250 18
18th +13/+8/+3 +6 +6 +11 - 280 19
19th +14/+9/+4 +6 +6 +11 - 311 20
20th +15/+10/+5 +6 +6 +12 - 343 21

Class Features:

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Ardents are proficient with all simple weapons, with all types of armor (heavy, medium, and light), and with shields (except tower shields).

Power Points/Day: An ardents ability to manifest powers is limited by the power points she has available. Her base daily allotment of power points is given on the table: The Ardent. In addition, she receives bonus power points per day if she has a high Wisdom score. Her race might
also provide bonus power points per day, as might certain feats and items.

Powers Known: An ardent begins play knowing two of the first powers available to her based on her choice of mantles. Each mantle features at least one power or ability with a cost of 1 power point. An ardent selects two of these powers from her two known mantles at 1st level.

At each additional level, an ardent learns one new power from her available mantles. She must be able to manifest the new power at the level at
which she learns it, however. For example, an ardent who attains 5th level can learn any power from one of her mantles that costs 5 power
points or less to manifest; she cannot learn a power from a mantle that costs more than 5 power points to manifest until she attains a level capable of manifesting a power with that cost.

To learn or manifest a power, an ardent must have a Wisdom score of at least 10 + the power's level. For example, an ardent with a Wisdom score of 13 can manifest powers of 3rd level or lower. The total number of powers an ardent can manifest in a day is limited only by her daily power points. In other words, an 9th-level ardent (with a total of 72 power points, not including bonus power points for a high Wisdom score) could manifest a power costing 1 power point seventy-two times in one day, a power costing 9 power points eight times in one day, or any combination of power point costs that does not exceed 72 power points in total.

An ardent simply knows her powers; they are ingrained in her mind. She does not need to prepare them (in the way that some spellcasters prepare their spells), though she must get a good night's sleep each day to regain all her spent power points.

The Difficulty Class for saving throws against ardent powers is 10 + the power's level + the ardent's Wis modifier. For example, the saving throw against a 6th-level power has a DC of 16 + Wis modifier.

Mantles: The first two mantles an ardent selects are her primary mantles. All others gained are secondary mantles. Primary mantles represent the two philosophies the ardent feels most strongly about and champions above all others. An ardent must maintain at least as many powers in her primary mantles as she takes in her secondary mantles, reflecting that personal allegiance. An ardent cannot choose a power from a secondary mantle if doing so would give her more powers known from that secondary mantle than she knows from either of her primary mantles.

For example, an ardent has the Fate and Good mantles as primary mantles and the Law and Light and Darkness mantles as secondary mantles. When she gains a new level, she could only choose a power from one of her secondary mantles if she had fewer powers in those mantles
than in either of her primary ones. The exception to this rule is that if the only choice an ardent can make at a given level would give her more
powers in a secondary mantle than in a primary mantle.

Under those conditions, that choice is allowed. An ardent can choose to swap the priority of two mantles making one primary and one secondary at 8th level, and again at 15th level. As an ardent gains experience, her worldview changes. Many find themselves more devoted
to different concepts later in their careers. If an ardent knows fewer powers from a newly designated primary mantle, she must take powers known exclusively from that mantle at each of the next few levels until she has learned more powers from that mantle than the rest of the
mantles she has.

Assume Psionic Mantle:
An ardent chooses a pair of psionic mantles at 1st level and assumes one additional mantle at 2nd, 5th, 10th, and 15th level. Each mantle provides a list of powers (usually six or more) that an ardent can learn as she increases in level. Each mantle also provides an ardent with a
special granted power.

Mantles represent a psionic distillation of a universal concept or philosophical idea that the ardents believe transcends the multiverse. These concepts exist beyond deities or any creation of a creature, whether mortal or immortal.

An ardent can select any mantle she wants over the course of her advancement, even choosing two that seem diametrically opposed to one another, such as Good and Evil. Such ardents might seem to embody a series of contradictions, constantly seeking ways to balance (or not) the conflicting philosophies they endorse. Other ardents who pursue this approach are merely scholars seeking to understand these powerful universal truths. An ardent with both the Good and Evil (or Law and Chaos) mantles might share one or none of those alignment factors.
For example, some good ardents seek to better understand the evil they combat by taking up the mantle of Evil, and the reverse is also true. Manifesting a power from an aligned mantle is considered an act of that alignment, however, so most ardents who take two opposed mantles are neutral.

Most of the powers provided by a mantle are psionic in nature. Some mantles feature new abilities unlike any psionic power in existence. These abilities are still treated as psionic powers in every respect, and always have a power point cost to manifest.

Substitute Powers:

Considering the esoteric nature of mantles, different ardents may have the same mantle but have different powers available to them. A mantle can have no more than ten powers in it, and if it has fewer, add further powers to fill the gaps if that mantle has no powers of that level. The powers need to fit the theme of the mantle at the Admins discretion. Otherwise, you can substitute a power of equal or lesser level. For example, the sense danger* power could be added to the Fate mantle as a 3rd-level power since only seven powers and no 3rd-level powers are in it, or the faint memory* power could replace escape detection in the Deception mantle.

*Orginally published in Magic of Eberron.