Student of Caiphon - Paragon Path

The Dream Whisperer pays more attention to the world than any other of its ilk. It might have a plan and a part to play in the world final destiny.

Prerequisites: Warlock class, star pact

You studied the limitless abysses and the bright points of enigmatic light that hang between them. You listened to the baffling disordered sounds that emerged from the simple astronomical lenses you used for your study. You learned the stars were not the innocent lamps above the world that most assumed. Despite this unsettling knowledge, you continued your study, eventually narrowing your concentration to just one star star named Caiphon. That when the dreams began.

You dreamed of a fitful star of purple fire. You walked in its light to the edge of a slime-lined pit that pulsed and heaved like a living maw, eager to consume. You hurled yourself into the cavity as the purple star flared. You fell into an amoebic sea, where you were digested over the course of a thousand years, or perhaps just one night.

When you woke, your eyes were opalescent purple orbs, and Caiphon began whispering-whispering- into your ear. Even though you could hear only the merest fragments of Caiphon never-ending instructions and insights, a knowing smile stitched itself across your face.

Student of Caiphon Path Features

Star Bright (11th level): When you spend an action point to take an extra action, if you use your action to make an attack that hits, that hit deals ongoing 5 radiant damage (save ends). Such powers are considered to have the radiant keyword.

Caiphon Guidance (11th level): You can score critical hits with fear and radiant powers on a roll of 18-20

Caiphon Intercession (16th level): You can choose to use Caiphon Intercession in place of your Fate of the Void pact boon when an enemy under your Warlock Curse drops to 0 hit points or fewer. One ally of your choice within 10 squares of you can make an immediate melee basic attack against a target you choose; if the attack hits, it deals ongoing 5 radiant damage (save ends) in addition to normal damage. If your ally makes the attack, Caiphon takes its due and deals 5 damage to your ally. If your ally refuses to accept Caiphon Intercession, you take 5 damage (despite the fact no attack was made); in such an instance, you regain the use of Fate of the Void pact boon for the dropped target.

Ritually Speaking

At your command, walls of earth rise around your position and offer protection.

In Dungeons & Dragons, rituals provide some of the most flexible options for your heroes. They represent all the magic that isn't designed for combat, from cleansing your clothes to moving an entire village hundreds of miles across the continent. Rituals cost nothing to learn (though they might be expensive to find), so a ritual caster should learn as many as possible. Acquire all the rituals you can and accrue an enormous body of mystic literature describing the many strange things you can accomplish through ritual.

The Player's Handbook covers the basics of ritual casting. The assortment of travel rituals and exploration rituals there will keep you busy for a while. But when your ritual caster starts to feel the pinch, gets the urge to have more options hidden under the cover of that expensive ritual book, take a look here. Some of these rituals expand on the ideas in the Player's Handbook, pushing the boundaries of teleportation or interpolating lesser wards, and others break new ground - literally, in the case of Excavation.

Top 10 Ways to Make Your Traps More Fun

10. Reward the PCs with treasure. Perhaps the last victim’s skeleton

is still impaled on the spear trap, including his belt pouch.

9. Reveal a world detail. Perhaps the falling block from the ceiling

reveals the ghoulish carving that represents the true deity of the

temple.

8. Have an encounter with the trap keeper. The PCs can discover

information about later traps (assuming the clever trap keeper

doesn’t figure out a way to deceive them).

7. Give an adventure tip. The iron portcullis that drops down to seal

the PCs in the hall of spinning blades has a representation of the

dungeon complex in the pattern of its iron bars. It’s a map!

6. Give the players something to learn. If removing the green gem

set off the statue’s trap, stepping on the green mosaic in the floor

sounded the alarm, and turning the green-handled crank made the

bridge turn sideways, the PCs might think twice about opening that

giant green door.

5. Reveal a new section of the dungeon. The spiked pit might have

an access tunnel so that bodies and valuables can be retrieved without

a risky climb into the pit.

4. Team it with other traps. The trapped chest is a bit more interesting

when it sits on the lap of a fire-breathing statue in a room where

poison darts shoot from the wall.

3. Give the PCs control. The PCs reset the trap and trick their foe

into stepping into it.

2. Provide ways for every PC to contribute. Maybe the wizard

can make an Arcana check to reveal a panel hidden by an illusion.

Perhaps the fighter can try to hold the trap open with a Strength

check.

1. Combine it with combat. The room with pit traps is a lot more

interesting if the PCs can push monsters in the pits.

For more advice about how to use traps, check out this article:

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/dd/20060302a

Although its traps are designed for the third edition of the game,

much of the advice in the article remains useful.