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A version of the Seer Prestige Class was developed for use in the Wold Online Campaign. This version is for divine spellcasters only and requires a +4 BAB. A generic (and more flexible) version is below. Enjoy!
Seer Prestige Class
There are philosophers who believe that an incorporeal world coexists with the natural one -- a world of spirits and unseen powers. Others think that everything is alive -- plants and animals, dirt and dust, wind and waves, mountains and clouds -- and that all living things influence each other in subtle ways. And some suspect that invisible lines connect everything that exists to gods and greater beings. All agree, however, that certain people have the power to detect and interact with these hidden forces: prophets, spiritualists, shamans, oracles -- that is, seers.
Seers perceive what others cannot, and they have great sensitivity. They commune with spirits and discern strange truths. For clerics, druids, and adepts, becoming a seer is a natural progression in one's spiritual development. The refined skills and attuned senses of bards and monks may lead them to deeper, almost mystical insights. Introspective paladins and rangers sometimes find themselves called into these mysteries. Students of the arcane, wizards and sorcerers, may find that their studies bring them to unexpected understandings. Fighters, barbarians, and rogues may respect seers, but usually lack the seer's necessary insight, will, and intuition.
As NPCs, solitary seers may be hermits, pursuing lonely courses of enlightenment. Cloistered seers, called oracles, may advise kings and channel gods. In hunter/herder cultures, seers, called shamans or witch doctors, help their tribes find game, evade dangers, and interpret omens.
Hit Die: d6
Requirements: To qualify to become a seer, a character must fulfill all the following criteria.
Concentration: 8 ranks
Diplomacy: 4 ranks
Perform: 4 ranks
Sense Motive: 4 ranks
Feat: Iron Will
Base Will Save: +6
Ability Scores: At least a 12 in Int, Wis or Chr.
Special: The seer must complete a solitary quest for enlightenmentClass skills: The seer's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Animal Empathy (Cha), Concentration (Con), Diplomacy (Cha), Listen (Wis), Perform (Cha), Scry (Int), Search (Int), Sense Motive (Wis), Spellcraft (Int), Spot (Wis), and Wilderness Lore (Wis). See Chapter 4: Skills in the Player's Handbook for skill descriptions.
Skill Points at each level: 4 + Int modifier.
Class Features: The following are class features of the seer prestige class.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Seers are proficient with all simple weapons, with light armor, and with shields. Druid seers must still accept standard druidic restrictions on armor and weapons. Note that armor check penalties for armor heavier than leather apply to the skills Balance, Climb, Escape Artist, Hide, Jump, Move Silently, Pick Pocket, and Tumble.
Spells per Day --
-- For seers who cast divine spells before becoming a seer: As with the loremaster, a seer gains spells per day as if she had advanced levels in the divine spellcasting class. Her effective level for duration, range, and so on also rises. This benefit is gained at level 1, 3, 5, 6, 8, and 10, not every level.
-- For seers who cast arcane spells before becoming a seer: As with the loremaster, a seer gains spells per day as if she had advanced levels in the arcane spellcasting class. Her effective level for duration, range, and so on also rises. This benefit is gained at level 2, 4, 7, and 9, not every level.
-- For seers who had more than one spellcasting class before becoming a seer: Pick one class for the extra spells and higher casting level.
-- For seers who did not cast spells before becoming seers: For every "+1 div" you can cast one first or zero level divination spell per day. For every "+1 arc" you can cast one second level divination spell per day. So as a second level seer you can cast two spells per day: one first and one second level. At tenth level you can cast 6 first and four second level spells. These can be any first or second level divination spells listed in the Player's Handbook of any class. If the spell is listed at a higher level for one class than for another, the lowest level is used. These spells are divine spells that do not derive from a particular god (like druid spells); there is no chance of arcane spell failure. They are chosen at will at the time of casting (like a sorcerer). Metamagic feats may not be used with these spells. Your seer level is your casting level. For the DC modifier, use whichever is highest of Int, Wis, or Chr.Lvl...BAB...Fort...Ref...Will...Spells/Day...Supernatural Abilities
.1.....+0....+0....+0.....+2.....+1 div.......Spirit Guide, Totem Bag
.2.....+1....+0....+0.....+3.....+1 arc.......Insight
.3.....+1....+1....+1.....+3.....+1 div.......Dream Revelation
.4.....+2....+1....+1.....+4.....+1 arc.......Spirit Call
.5.....+2....+1....+1.....+4.....+1 div.......Insight
.6.....+3....+2....+2.....+5.....+1 div.......Omen Revelation
.7.....+3....+2....+2.....+5.....+1 arc.......Spirit Walk
.8.....+4....+2....+2.....+6.....+1 div.......Insight
.9.....+4....+3....+3.....+6.....+1 arc.......Prophecy Revelation
10.....+5....+3....+3.....+7.....+1 div.......Spirit Ban
SUPERNATURAL ABILITIES
Spirit Guide: A loyal and helpful spirit befriends the seer after she completes a solitary quest. The spirit is bound into the seer's animal companion or in her weapon, as the seer desires. See below for more details.
Totem Bag: A seer always carries a small bundle of sacred relics, called a totem bag. A seer's totem bag serves as her divine focus. If a seer defeats an opponent single-handedly, then the seer can add a totem or relic from the defeated opponent to the totem bag. Each totem (a small bone, tooth, claw, or bit of horn) grants a +1 insight bonus against creatures of the totem's race, as a favored enemy. Like a ranger's favored enemy bonus, this gives a +1 to Bluff, Listen, Sense Motive, Spot, Wilderness Lore, and weapon damage rolls; it applies to creatures of a particular race, not type, so a goblin totem gives the bonus against goblins only, not hobgoblins or bugbears, for example. The seer may have only one totem per level, only one totem per race, and no totem from a creature immune to critical hits. This bonus does not stack with a ranger's favored enemy bonus. A seer can discard a totem to make space for a new one.
Insight: The seer chooses to gain a +1 insight bonus to one of the following areas: attack rolls, saving throws, armor class, skill checks, or initiative rolls. Each time the seer gains insight, a new area must be selected.
Dream Revelation: After meditating on a topic and sleeping all night undisturbed, the seer can interpret her dreams to gain insight into the topic. The knowledge revealed is not detailed and may not even be very relevant; it may consist of cryptic words or images, or something else, or nothing at all, as decided by the DM. This power is comparable to a Divination spell, cast with a 20 xp cost component as a full round action immediately upon waking.
Spirit Call: Once per day, the seer can attempt to call a spirit to manifest and communicate. The seer can call a spirit if she can sense it (see Spirit Guide), if she can touch its physical remains, or if she is holding hands with those who knew the spirit in life. Even then, the seer must convince the spirit to communicate by making a Perform roll vs. the spirit's wisdom check, adjusted by -2 for every alignment step difference between the seer and the spirit. Most called spirits are invisible and can be heard only by the seer, but they can manifest as if they had cast a Mage Hand spell. Others may be ghosts or incorporeal undead. The spirit is not obliged to be truthful, but a seer can detect prevarication with a Sense Motive check vs. the spirit's Bluff check. Spirit Call requires a full minute to initiate, and lasts for one minute per level -- usually enough time to ask one question per level, since spirits often need to have the question repeated and are generally slow to answer. The answers may be simple or extended, depending on the DM's judgement of the spirit. If the spirit is friendly, it may manifest and help; if hostile, it may manifest, attack, and do other harm.
Omen Revelation: Once per day, the seer can reveal knowledge based on a reading of natural omens -- like a red moon or a hail of frogs -- or of contrived omens -- like the pattern of tea leaves at the bottom of a cup or a throw of relics from a seer's totem bag. The revelations gained are similar in kind to Interpret Dream, but are generally more accurate and detailed. This power is comparable to a Legend Lore spell, cast with a 100 xp cost component as a full round action.
Spirit Walk: Once per day, for one round per level, the seer can attempt to project her spirit out into the world. As a projected spirit, the seer is incorporeal (see the DM's Guide, page 77). She looks like a naked, ghostly, slightly see-through version of herself. She can bring with her only ghost touch items, her spirit guide, and her totem bag -- making clothes, tools, and material components problematic. After stepping out of her body, the seer moves incorporeally at a rate of 5 feet per point of Wisdom. While in spirit form, the seer's physical body seems to be sleeping -- any attack against the seer's physical body is made against a helpless opponent. Initiating a Spirit Walk is a full-round action that requires a successful Concentration check against a DC of Con plus Character Level, modified by -1 per each 10 percent that the seer's current hit points are reduced from her max. For example, a ninth character level, 18 Con seer with only half her current hit points has a Spirit Walk DC of 9+18-5=22. When the duration ends, if the seer has not returned to her body already, she snaps back instantaneously, taking 1d4 points of temporary Con damage.
Prophecy Revelation: Once per week, the seer may invite a higher power, god, or divine agent to possess her and reveal truths to those assembled nearby. The seer must make a successful Diplomacy check against DC 25 to attract the attention of the higher power. The seer herself, protected by her spirit guide, is overwhelmed by the experience -- neither seer nor spirit guide has any memory of the prophecy, so they must rely on witnesses to relate the divine message. The seer has no control over the duration of the possession or what the divinity says or does during the prophecy. This power is comparable to a powerful Vision or lesser Miracle spell, cast with a 500 xp cost component as a full round action. Note that divinities may be angered by frivolous or frequent calls upon them.
Spirit Ban: Once per week, the seer may attempt to force nearby spirits off the Material Plane. The seer rolls a Concentration check vs. a Concentration check by each incorporeal being in medium range (100 ft. + 10 ft./level) -- those spirits that fail are exorcised and cannot appear or manifest for a year and a day. This power will also counter possessions by ghostly Malevolence, Magic Jar, Dominate, and Compulsion effects, although when initiated by corporeal beings, the possession simply ends and no one is banished. This power has a 500 xp cost component and requires a full round action.
Note to DMs on Dreams, Omens, and Prophecies. Do not let these abilities ruin your adventures by giving away crucial secrets. Use these to offer hints, direct the plot, and guide the players. It is reasonable to limit the use of these abilities to once per adventure, and even to the end of an adventure, so that you have time to create mystic clues between sessions. Feel free to have these abilities fail from time to time, at your discretion.
SPIRIT GUIDE
A qualified seer candidate must complete a spiritual quest in order to attain the enlightenment that is the seer's hallmark. This quest may involve combat, but it more often involves trials of endurance and will. There may be tests of faith and ethics, as well as fasting, meditation, and exposure. If the candidate fails her test, she must advance in another class -- not seer. She can attempt another quest the next time she is ready to gain a level.
If she succeeds, she befriends a spirit guide. She binds the guide permanently either into an animal companion (gained from an Animal Friendship spell) or a weapon. If she has neither companion nor weapon, she must make a club, staff, or other weapon for the purpose as part of her quest.
Once bound, the spirit cannot leave the animal or weapon; it is neither undead nor incorporeal. A spirit guide-in-animal becomes a magical beast. A guide-in-weapon becomes an intelligent magical weapon. The guide's alignment matches the seer's. Spirit guides gain a resistance bonus to saving throws of +4 against mind-influencing and -controlling effects.
Spirit Guide-in-Weapon
A spirit guide cannot be bound into a weapon that is already intelligent. If the weapon is magical, it retains all its properties and becomes an intelligent Ghost Touch weapon (as the weapon ability in the DM Guide, not as the arcane spell). If it is not magical, it becomes a magical intelligent +1 Ghost Touch Weapon. The guide-in-weapon has a Charisma and Intelligence of 2d6+6 each and a Wisdom of 1d6+12. It communicates with Empathy, and once per month it can choose to speak, when the DM determines that it has advice or something it wishes to say. If the seer has the Craft Arms and Armor feat, she can improve the weapon's enhancement bonus just as she can add capabilities to any magical weapon.
Shield: The guide-in-weapon protects the seer. If the weapon is carried or held, the seer gains a +1 force-based deflection bonus to AC, a +1 resistance bonus to saves, and a +2 resistance bonus to saves against possession/compulsion attacks.
Sense Spirits: The guide-in-weapon can sense spirits and other incorporeal beings as a free action at short range (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels), and, when the seer is holding the weapon, the seer also has this sense. If the spirit is invisible, this ability lets the guide or seer target the correct 5-ft square, but the standard 50% concealment miss chance still applies.
Rejuvenation: The spirit guide has the ghostly ability of rejuvenation. If the guide-in-weapon is destroyed or passes out of short range (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels), it fades away, and the spirit guide is banished. The guide (still bound into the weapon) is rejuvenated (like a ghost, see the Monster Manual) at the seer's location in 2d4 days with a successful level check (1d20 + seer’s level) against DC 16. If the guide fails, it can make more attempts every 2d4 days. During this period, the seer loses all the supernatural abilities of the prestige class. The guide can be destroyed by death magic, wishes, and miracles; if the guide is destroyed (not just banished), the seer must undergo another spirit quest to gain a new spirit guide.
Spirit Guide-in-Animal
A spirit guide that is bound in an animal companion does not count against the seer's hit dice limit for other animal companions. The guide-in-animal has the Ghost Touch ability (as the weapon ability in the DM Guide, not as the arcane spell) and becomes a magical beast. It has a Charisma and Intelligence of 2d6+6 each and a Wisdom of 1d6+12; Str, Dex, and Con are the original animal's. Once per month the guide can choose to speak, when the DM determines that it has advice or something it wishes to say.
Advancement: The guide-in-animal uses the seer's or the base animal's BAB and saves -- whichever is better. The guide also gains an extra hit die at level 1 and another +1 per two levels: +2 dice at level 2, +3 dice at level 4, +4 dice at level 6, +5 dice at level 8, and +6 dice at level 10. The guide-in-animal has all the skills of the base animal, with an extra +1 per seer level in both spot and listen. And the spirit retains all other feats and characteristics of the base animal.
Shield Other: As a free action, the guide can cast a Shield Other spell to protect the seer. Generally, the guide keeps this up all the time, unless doing so is likely to bring the guide to zero hit points. The guide can end the effect as a free action as well.
Sense Spirits: The guide can sense spirits and other incorporeal beings as a free action at short range (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels), and, when the guide is touching the seer, she also has this sense. If the spirit is invisible, this ability lets the guide or seer target the correct 5-ft square, but the standard 50% concealment miss chance still applies.
Connection with seer: If the seer does not have a familiar, the spirit guide-in-animal has the same Alertness, Improved Evasion, and Share Spells abilities that familiars do.
Rejuvenation: The spirit guide has the ghostly ability of rejuvenation. If the guide-in-animal is reduced to 0 hp or passes out of short range (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels), it fades away, and the spirit guide is banished. The guide (still bound into the animal) is rejuvenated (like a ghost, see the Monster Manual) at the seer's location in 2d4 days with a successful level check (1d20 + seer’s level) against DC 16. If the guide fails, it can make more attempts every 2d4 days. During this period, the seer loses all the supernatural abilities of the prestige class. The guide can be destroyed by death magic, wishes, and miracles; if the guide is destroyed (not just banished), the seer must undergo another spirit quest to gain a new spirit guide.
COMMENTS ON BALANCE
Cleric seers have worse attacks and worse hit dice than if they had stayed clerics. Turning Undead and level-based domain granted powers don't get better. But they get more (and more varied) skills per level and six divine spellcasting "extra" levels over ten seer levels. Wizards and sorcerers get the same attacks, better hit dice, and more skills, so there's no down side there. That's why they get only four "extra" levels. Druids are shafted: since they get no domain spells, the "extra" levels do them less good, plus they get no more skills than they already had, plus they lose out on wildshape improvement -- so, to compensate, the spirit-guide-in-animal option is somewhat better than the spirit-guide-in-weapon.
Non-spellcasters get great flexibility for low level divinations -- to me that seems small enough compensation for worse attacks, worse hit dice (for all but rogues) and worse saves (especially worse for monks).
INTERNET RESOURCES
Here are a few Seer-like classes I found on the Web after I had completed the prestige class described above. It is interesting to see where convergent evolution has lead others to ideas that echo my own. Enjoy!
Shaman
A spirit-oriented prestice class, using allied spirits to gain the use of certain spells. Perhaps a bit overpowered, since spell progession continues on a one-for-one basis.
From The Lighthouse.
e-mail: estlor.geo at yahoo.comDrabardi [Prestige Class]
A very campaign-specific prestige class of specialized Roma -- remarkable for divinations, dreaming, and favored enemies, all of which I used for my Seer. Also interesting use of curses and the expansion of Bard class abilities.
From The Great Hall game.
e-mail: rihana at selinakyle.comThe Shaman
A full character class (in PDF format) that is well detailed and follows the format of official 3E classes very well.
By Steve Wilson, from Eric Noah's Conversion Page.
e-mail: sbwilson at ou.edu -- or -- tamerlain at aol.comPrestige Class: The Seer
A divination-oriented prestige class designed as an NPC option only.
From Beastshade's Oblivion Dungeons and Dragons Portal.
e-mail: beastshade at hotmail.comThe DREAMER
A prestige class inspired by Lovecraft's Dreamland. Not much like my Seer, really, but interesting.
From Vincent N. Darlage's Inzeladun game.
e-mail: vincent at tls.netThe Shaman (spell list)
Another full class, but scant of details and somewhat hard to understand.
By Jughead, from Eric Noah's Conversion Page.
e-mail: jughead at tig.com.au