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The most advanced practitioners of arcane magic are frequently archmages.

Requirements

Class Features

All the following are class features of the archmage prestige class.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Archmages gain no proficiency in any weapon or armor.

Spells per Day: When a new archmage level is gained, the character gains new spells per day as if he had also gained a level in whatever arcane spellcasting class he belonged to before he added the prestige class. He does not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained (bonus metamagic or item creation feats, bard or assassin abilities and so on). This essentially means that he adds the level of archmage to the level of whatever other arcane spellcasting class the character has, then determines spells per day and caster level accordingly.

If a character had more than one arcane spellcasting class before he became an archmage, he must decide to which class he adds each level of archmage for the purpose of determining spells per day.

High Arcana: The archmage learns secret lore unknown to lesser wizards and sorcerers. She gains the ability to select a special ability from among the following by permanently eliminating one spell slot. For example, a 15th-level wizard normally can cast two 7th-level spells per day (not counting bonus spells for specialization or high Intelligence). A Wiz13/Acm2 who chooses the arcane reach ability forfeits on 7th-level spell, and so can only cast one 7th-level spell per day, not counting bonus spells.

The archmage may choose to eliminate a spell slot of a higher level than that required to acquire the high arcana in question, if she so desires.

Arcane Fire (Su): The archmage gains the ability to channel arcane spell energy into arcane fire, manifesting as a bolt of raw magical energy. The bolt is a ranged touch attack with long range (400 feet +40 feet/level of archmage) and deals 1d6 points of damage per level of archmage plus 1d6 points of damage per level of the spell channeled to create the effect. Therefore, a 5th-level archmage that channels a 7th-level spell into arcane fire deals 12d6 points of damage to the target if it hits. This ability costs on 9th-level spell slot.

Arcane Reach: The archmage can use touch spells on targets up to 30 feet away. If the spell requires a touch attack (melee or ranged), the archmage must make a ranged touch attack. If selected a second time as a special ability, the range increases to 60 feet. This ability costs one 7th-level spell slot.

Mastery of Counterspelling: When the archmage countersplls a spell, it is turned back upon the caster as if it were fully affected by a spell turning spell. If the spell cannot be affected by spell turning (for example, if it is an area or effect spell), then it is merely counterspelled. This ability costs one 7th-level spell slot.

Mastery of Elements: The archmage can alter an arcane spell when cast so that it utilizes a different element from the one it normally does. For example, an archmage could cast a fireball that does sonic damage instead of fire damage.

This ability can only alter spells with the acid, cold, fire, electricity, or sonic descriptors. The spell's casting time is unaffected. The caster decides whether or not to alter the spell's energy type and chooses the new energy type when he begins casting. This ability costs one 8th-level spell slot.

Mastery of Shaping: The archmage can alter area and effect spells that use the following categories: burst, cone, cylinder, emanation, or spread. The alteration consists of creating spaces withing the spell's area of effect that are not subject to the spell. The minimum dimension for these spaces is a 5-foot cube. For example, the archmage could cast a fireball and leave a hole where is ally stands, preventing any fire damage. Furthermore, any shapeable (S) spells have a minimum dimension of 5 feet instead of 10 feet. This ability costs one 6th-level spell slot.

Spell Power +1: This ability increases the DC for saving throws against the archmage's arcane spells and caster level checks for her arcane spells to overcome spell resistance by +1. This ability can only be selected once, and stacks with spell power +2 and spell power +3, as well as spell power effects from other sources, such as from the Red Wizard prestige class. This ability costs one 5th-level spell slot.

Spell Power +2: As spell power +1, except the increase is +2 instead of +1. This ability can only be selected once, and stacks with spell power +1, spell power +3, as well as spell power effects from other sources. This ability costs one 7th-level spell slot.

Spell Power +3: As spell power +1, except the increase is +3 instead of +1. This ability can only be selected once, and stacks with spell power +1, spell power +2, as well as spell power effects from other sources. This ability costs one 9th-level spell slot.

Spell-Like Ability: The archmage can use one of her arcane spell slots (other than the spell expended to learn this high arcana) to permanently prepare one of her arcane spells as a spell-like ability that can be used twice per day. The archmage does not use any components when casting the spell, although a spell that costs XP still does so and a spell with a costly material component instead costs her 10 times that amount in XP. This ability costs one 5th-level spell slot.

The spell-like ability normally uses a spell slot of the spell's level, although the archmage can shoose to make a spell modified by a metamagic feat into a spell-like ability at the appropriate spell level. For example, the archmage can make lightning bolt into a spell-like ability by using a 3rd-level spell slot to do so, or a maximized lightning bolt into a 6th-level spell-like ability.

The archmage may use an available higher-level spell slot to be able to use the spell-like ability more often. Using a slot three levels higher than the chosen spell allows her to cast it four times per day, and a slot six levels higher lets her cast it six times per day. For example, Hezark (Wiz15/Acm2) is a pyromaniac and never wants to be denied the ability to cast fireball, so she permanently uses a 9th-level spell slot to get fireball as a spell-like ability usable six times per day. She forfeits a 5th-level spell slot to master the ability.

If selected more than one time as a special ability, this can apply to the same spell or to a different spell.

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