HEROES OF TIAN XIA
Tian culture encompasses more than a dozen nations, each with its own unique customs emerging from thousands of years of history, but the rise and fall of uniting empires and the steady flow of diplomats, merchants, philosophers, priests, and warriors have forged conventions and legends that are familiar among nearly all of the people of Tian Xia. Nomadic tribes wandering the great deserts of Shaguang and the citizens of the great metropolis of Kasai might have little in common, but they may still respect certain shared traditions and venerate cultural heroes whose deeds are told across the entirety of the continent.
PHOENIX SORCERER BLOODLINE
One of your ancestors bore witness to a phoenix’s resurrection and formed a bond with the magical creature. The resurrecting flames still course through your veins, surging with power.
Class Skill: Knowledge (Arcana).
Bonus Spells:Color spray (3rd), see invisibility (5th), magic circle against evil (7th), wall of fire (9th), break enchantment (11th), path of the windsARG (13th), firebrandAPG (15th), prismatic wall(17th), fiery bodyAPG (19th).
Bonus Feats: Dodge, Elemental Focus (fire), Fast Healer, Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Mobility, Quicken Spell, Skill Focus (Knowledge [arcana]).
Bloodline Arcana: When casting any spell that deals fire damage, you can instead heal your targets. The spell deals no damage, and living creatures affected by the spell instead regain a number of hit points equal to half the fire damage the spell would normally deal.
Bloodline Powers: The phoenix is an elemental creature of sky and primal fire, and its blood within you sings with a similar power.
The Unseen World (Su): At 1st level, you gain detect magic and read magic as spells known. At 5th level, the phoenix’s blood drives you to find and save lost knowledge and magical items. As a swift action, you can automatically identify the properties of a non-cursed magic item you hold; you must still identify a cursed item as normal to correctly identify it as cursed. You can use this ability a number of times equal to your Charisma modifier per day.
Immolation (Su): At 3rd level, you gain the ability to surround yourself in fire as a swift action. This fire burns for a number of rounds per day equal to your character level plus your Charisma bonus. These rounds do not have to be consecutive. Any unarmed attacks you make while affected by immolation deal an additional 1d6 points of fire damage, and any creature that ends its turn adjacent to you while you’re affected by immolation also takes 1d6 points of fire damage.
Vermilion Wings (Su): At 9th level, you gain the ability to grow a pair of phoenix wings from your back as a standard action. The wings grant you a fly speed of 60 feet with good maneuverability. You can dismiss the wings as a free action.
Restoring Flames (Sp): At 15th level, you can cast greaterrestoration once per day as a spell-like ability.
Rebirth (Su): At 20th level, the full power of a phoenix erupts from within you if you perish. When you die, you are brought back to life, as trueresurrection, after 1 minute. This ability can be used only once every 24 hours, and if you are slain again within this period, your death is permanent.
SPIRIT EATER (MEDIUM ARCHETYPE)
Shenmen is a ghost-haunted nation trapped in the shadow of the Gossamer Mountains and held beneath the yoke of jorogumo witches. The mediums of Shenmen face brazen yokai that hunger for the living, and these mediums have learned to devour them instead. Guardians of their communities, spirit eaters absorb the dead to channel their power and serve as a line of defense against all manner of incorporeal yokai.
Ectoplasmic Strikes (Su): At 3rd level, a spirit eater medium treats his attacks as if they had the ghost touchweapon property.
This replaces haunt channeler.
Consume Spirit (Su): At 7th level, a spirit eater can attempt to consume an incorporeal creature and house it within his body. If he reduces an incorporeal creature to 0 hit points or fewer, he can instead leave the creature at 1 hit point and consume the creature as an immediate action. A consumed creature is contained in the spirit eater’s body and grants him a +1 bonus on either attack rolls, saving throws, or skill checks, chosen by the spirit eater, and a number of temporary hit points equal to the consumed creature’s Hit Dice. A spirit eater’s body can hold a number of creatures equal to his spirit bonus. If he attempts to consume another creature after this point, he releases the creature that has been contained in his body longest. He can release a consumed creature as a free action. A consumed creature attempts to escape after 24 hours. The spirit eater can attempt to keep a consumed creature in his body by attempting a Will save (DC = 10 + half the spirit eater’s level + twice the number of the creatures he has contained in his body). If he succeeds, the consumed creatures remain, but they grant the spirit eater’s channeled spirit 1 point of influence over him. A released creature is destroyed as if it were reduced to 0 hit points and can reconstitute again later, if able.
This replaces location channel and connection channel.
TIAN ALCHEMY
The alchemists from the many nations of Tian Xia have developed unique subcultures around the processing and application of inks and dyes. Their use of these materials allows them to develop unique alchemical creations not seen outside of the Dragon Empires. The following discoveries are available to alchemists.
Constructive Dyes: The alchemist’s dyes congeal and solidify, allowing him to make physical objects from them. The alchemist can expend two uses of his daily bombs to create a nonmagical object, as minor creation, using his alchemist level as the spell’s caster level. The alchemist must be at least 8th level and have the divine inks discovery before selecting this discovery.
Divine Inks: The alchemist can develop special pigments and combine them with his alchemical reagents to create unique dyes that cling to the empty space around him, allowing him to paint images in the air to fool his enemies. By expending two daily uses of his bombs, he can use the dyes to create an image in a space adjacent to him, as silent image, using his alchemist level as the spell’s caster level. The image he creates remains for a number of minutes equal to his alchemist level. He can dismiss this image as a standard action.
Explosive Calligraphy: The alchemist can create especially volatile pigments that detonate when agitated. This requires expending one daily use of his bombs, but otherwise functions as explosive runes except that it deals damage as one of the alchemist’s bombs. The alchemist can expend an additional daily use of his bombs to apply one discovery that applies to his bombs, such as acid bombAPGor dispelling bombAPG, to the runes created with this discovery. An alchemist must be at least 6th level before selecting this discovery.
Greater Constructive Dyes: The alchemist expands the set of objects he can create with his constructive dyes. The alchemist can expend one additional use of his daily bombs when using his constructive dyes discovery to create objects, as major creation. The alchemist must be at least 10th level and have the constructive dyes and divine inks discoveries before selecting this discovery.
Greater Divine Inks: The alchemist’s unique dyes allow him to create lifelike images. If he expends an additional daily use of his bombs, the image he creates with the divine inks discovery also produces sound, smell, and heat, as major image. The alchemist must be at least 6th level and must have the divine inks and improved divine inks discoveries before selecting this discovery.
Improved Divine Inks: The alchemist’s unique dyes allow him to create images accompanied by sound. If he expends an additional daily use of his bombs, the image he creates with the divine inks discovery also produces minor sounds, as minor image. The alchemist must be at least 4th level and must have the divine inks discovery before selecting this discovery.
Living Pigment: The alchemist infuses his inks and dyes with a spark of animating force. As a standard action, he can expend one daily use of his bombs and a 1st-level extract he has prepared to create a creature, as summon monster I, using his level as the spell’s caster level. The extract is expended as if the alchemist had consumed it. The alchemist can expend a higher-level extract when using this ability to create a creature using a summon monster spell of a level equal to the level of extract expended. For example, if the alchemist expends a 4th-level extract, he can create a creature as if using summon monster IV. Additionally, the alchemist can expend an additional use of his daily bombs when creating a creature in this way to grant the creature the celestial or fiendish template. The alchemist must have the divine inks discovery before selecting this discovery.