The Gods and The Planes

In the world of Vifel, the Gods and the Planes are tied together. The Gods live in the planes and their powers are tied to the planes they live in. The transcendentals understand all of that; they know all about the planes and how the powers of a god are affected by the plane where that god lives and they may worship and devote themselves to several gods.

But even if transcendentals believe in multiple gods, only one will choose them as herald - a hand-picked champion that hears a calling to deliver the god's word to the world. The herald's job is to bring peace (or war) to the material plane in the name of the god they represent. The god sends powers, protection and allies from the plane they are, to aid their heralds.

Transcendentals use their faith in the gods and their understanding of the planes to handle the powers they receive. This allows them to channel powerful spells and summon powerful creatures through the manipulation of the weaves of the planes.

This can sometimes also work backwards, where the transcendental sends something back to their gods through their connection, usually in exchange for more power. Sometimes they will send wealth, other times knowledge and other times even their own life force to their god.

The relationship between a transcendental and their god is like the one of a master and an apprentice. The transcendental worships several gods, like a student that learns with several teachers, but one of them will accept the transcendental as apprentice and guide them into a more specialized path, making them a herald.

The transcendental borrow themes from clerics and paladins, as expected, due to their faith and spiritual link to gods and religion, but at the same time they also dip a little into sorcerer and warlock themes due to the fact that the planes are more tied to arcane magic, rather than divine magic.

When creating a transcendental, consider how and why a god chose you as their herald. You must have something in common with your patron god for them to take a liking for you. How did you experience your calling to become a Transcendental? How were the signs sent by your god? After being chosen, how did it shape your character and what do you do to your god to maintain this connection?

Additionally, when a connection is created between you and your god, an item that is important to you becomes your Portian Key - a mundane item that you use to channel your god's power. Define this item, how important it is to you and how you use it to cast spells and use abilities.

Quick Build

You can make a transcendental quickly by following these suggestions. First, put your highest ability score in Wisdom, followed by Constitution. Second, choose the Acolyte background. Third, choose the Chaotic Shaft, Dancing Lights and Mage Hand cantrips.

Class Features

As a transcendental, you gain the following class features.

Spellcasting Focus

You can use a Portian Key as a Spellcasting focus for your Transcendental Spells. Most class features also use a Portian Key.

Ritual Casting

You can cast a transcendental spell as a ritual if that spell has the ritual tag and you have the spell prepared.

Mana Exchanges

You have the power to call upon your deity's help. You give some power to your deity, in the form of spell slots, and they return some benefits to you. These features that allow you to spend spell slots and gain some new effects are called Mana Exchanges.

You can check your Mana Exchanges at the end of the class' description.

Education in Cosmology

Starting at 2nd level, whenever you make a check to recall information about cosmology, the gods and the planes, you do it at advantage.

Additionally, you can use an action to gain the ability to see into the Ethereal Plane, out to a range of 60 feet, for 1 minute. You can use this ability once and you regain its use after a short or long rest.

Aberrant Explorer

Starting at 2nd level, you are particularly familiar with certain types of plane and are adept at traveling and surviving in such places. Choose two favored planes that aren't the Material Plane, the Astral Plane or the Ethereal Plane. You gain the following benefits:

• When you make an Intelligence or Wisdom check related to your favored planes, your proficiency bonus is doubled if you are using a skill that you're proficient in;
• You can identify when a creature, object, deity or anything comes from or is affected by one of your favored planes;
• You can sense when there are portals that lead to one of your favored planes, up to 100 feet from you in any direction, and where exactly they are within that range.

Also choose one of your favored planes, you absorb energy from it to improve your damage. Each plane is associated with a type of damage, and, once per turn, when you deal that type of damage, you increase the instance of damage by 1d4. The bonus applies to one damage roll of a spell or attack, not multiple rolls.

Whenever you finish a long rest, you can change the plane that you absorb energy from to another from your favored planes.

Your GM determines the type of damage associated with each plane, but here's a few examples:

For example, if you absorb energy from the Elemental Plane of Fire, you can increase the damage of one of the rays from Scorching Ray by 1d4 or the damage of your Fireball by 1d4.

At 6th, 11th and 15th levels, you gain both effects again, choosing two more favored planes and one more of your favored planes to absorb energy from.

Herald of the Planes

You are the messenger of an entity, and they grant you a fraction of their power, but, this power is drawn mainly from the plane that the entity lives. Starting at 3rd level, choose one plane related to your deity: Astral Plane, Feywild, Shadowfell, Mount Celestia, The Abyss or Mechanus. Each plane is detailed at the end of the class description, and each one provides examples of entities associated with it.

Your choice may grant you either access to specific spells or additional options when making Mana Exchanges. It also defines which creatures you can summon as your planar guardian. Finally, it also grants benefits at 3rd, 6th, 11th and 18th levels.

Otherworldly Influence

At 3rd level, you use the influence of the planes to modify your spells. You learn a cantrip of your choice from the Transcendental spell list. It uses your choice from Intelligence, Wisdom or Charisma as its spellcasting ability (You choose it when you gain the cantrip).

Whenever you cast it, you can apply one of the modifications below:

• Change one of its damage types to other of your choice;
• Change one of its saving throws to other of your choice;

At 5th, 9th and 13th levels, you choose one more cantrip to learn, that can be modified as well.

Ability Score Improvement

When you reach 4th, 8th, 12th, 16th, and 19th level, you can increase one ability score of your choice by 2, or you can increase two ability scores of your choice by 1. As normal, you can't increase an ability score above 20 using this feature.

Mana Creation

Beginning at 5th level, you can create mana to conjure powerful spells. Choose one 3rd-level spell from the Transcendental spell list. You can cast it once without expending a spell slot. You must finish a long rest before you can do so again.

At every two levels, you can change this spell into one of higher level. At 7th-level you can change it to a 4th-level spell, at 9th-level into a 5th-level spell, and so on.

Repel Evil and Good

Starting at 10th level, you gain enhanced protection against extraplanar entities. As an action, you can target an aberration, celestial, construct, elemental, fey, fiend, ooze or undead within 30 feet (9 meters) of you and banish it to the border regions of the Ethereal Plane.

While banished, the target remains in the Ethereal Plane and repeats a Charisma saving throw at the start of each of its turns. On a success, it returns to an unoccupied space of its choice within 30 feet (9 meters) of the location it was banished from.

Once you use this feature, you cannot do so again until you finish a long rest. However, you regain the use of this feature if a aberration, celestial, construct, elemental, fey, fiend, ooze or undead causes you or one of your allies to fall unconscious.

Planar Grace

Beginning at 13th level, the blessings of the planes are always present with you. You add a bonus +2 to all your saving throws.

Breaching Arcana

At 17th level, any creatures roll for saving throws in disadvantage against 1st-level transcendental spells that you cast.

Energy Resistance

At 20th level, you become one with the magical energy of the planes. You gain resistance to two damage types of your choice.

Mana Exchange: Planar Protection

Using an action, you can perform a quick ritual using your Portian Key to connect with your patron and ask for protection. You must spend a number of spell slots equal to or fewer than your transcendental level.

Touch a target creature. That creature gains the following effects:

• When rolling a saving throw, they add a bonus equal to double the number of spell slots used.
• They gain 5 temporary hit points per spell slot used.

The protection lasts until the creature’s next long rest or until an effect triggers a saving throw. Once the saving throw resolves, any remaining temporary hit points vanish, and the protection ends. A creature can have only one Planar Protection active at a time; applying a new protection ends the previous one.

While the protection is active, the creature glows faintly with an aura tied to your patron’s plane, such as shimmering flames, colored dust, bubbles, crackling energy, etc.

Mana Exchange: Planar Guardian

During a short or long rest, you can perform a ritual using your Portian Key, connecting with your patron to summon a Planar Guardian. The ritual requires you to expend a number of 1st-level spell slots equal to your proficiency bonus (PB). The summoned guardian is friendly to you and your companions and obeys your commands.

The guardian's stat block scales with your proficiency bonus (PB) and transcendental level (TL). At 1st and 2nd levels, you determine the guardian's general type and appearance. Starting at 3rd level, your subclass defines its specific type and appearance.

In combat, the Guardian acts during your turn. It can move and use its reaction on its own, but the only action it can take is the Dodge action, unless you take a bonus action on your turn to command it to take another action. That action can be one in its stat block or some other action. If you are incapacitated, the guardian can take any action of its choice, not just Dodge.

You can summon a new guardian by performing the ritual again. Summoning a new guardian causes the previous one to vanish. The guardian also vanishes if you die.

Improve Ranged Damage

(Costs 1 spell slot)

The guardian gains a new ranged attack:

• Ranged Weapon Attack: your spell attack modifier to hit, range 30/120m (100/400ft), one target. Hit: 1d6 + 2 + PB damage.
• Damage type: Bludgeoning, piercing or slashing (you choose when selecting this option).

You can spend 2 additional spell slots to change this attack into a ranged spell attack with range 40m (120ft), dealing any damage type of your choice.

Improve Movement

(Costs 2 spell slots)

You can increase the guardian's walking speed by 3m (10ft).

Adaptative

(Costs 1 spell slot)

The guardian gains a climbing and swimming speed equal to its walking speed.

Grant Flying

(Costs 2 spell slot)

The guardian gains a flying speed equal to its walking speed.

Champion

(Costs 1 spell slot)

The guardian gains proficiency in Athletics and Acrobatics.

Scout

(Costs 1 spell slot)

The guardian gains proficiency in Stealth and Perception.

Darkvision

(Costs 1 spell slot)

The guardian gains darkvision with a range of 18m (60ft).

Communication

(Costs 1 spell slot)

The guardian gains the ability to speak the same languages that you do. Additionally, when it is not in your presence, it has advantage on checks to determine how you would wish it to act and to recall information related to you.

You can spend 1 additional spell slot to establish a telepathic link between you and your guardian. While within 18 meters (60 feet) of each other, you can communicate telepathically.

New Ability: Return

(Costs 1 spell slot)

If the guardian has died within the last hour, its master can use an action to touch it and expend PB spell slots. The guardian returns to life after 1 minute with all its hit points restored.

New Action: Protect

(Costs 1 spell slot)

The guardian uses its body to shield another creature, granting it Half Cover. Any damage that would normally be dealt to the cover is instead dealt to the guardian.

New Action: Withdraw

(Costs 2 spell slots)

If you and your guardian are on the same plane of existence and within 150m (500ft) of each other, the guardian can teleport instantly to your side. Once the guardian uses this feature, it can't use it again until it finishes a long rest.

You can spend 2 additional spell slots to remove the distance requirement and, if you do, you can spend 2 more to allow the guardian to teleport to your side even if you are on different planes of existence.

New Ability: Preserve Command

(Costs 2 spell slots)

If you don't give a command to the guardian, it attempts to repeat the last given command. If it can't, it takes the Dodge action.

Ranger

Chosen options, by priority of most important to least important:

• Improve Ranged Damage (1 slot)
• Scout (1 slot)
• New Action: Withdraw (2 slots)
• Improve Movement (2 slots)

Total: PB + 6 slots

Scout

Chosen options, by priority of most important to least important:

• Scout (1 slot)
• Communication, with telepathy (2 slots)
• Grant Flying (2 slots)
• Darkvision (1 slot)
• Improve Movement (2 slots)

Total: PB + 8 slots