The Monomyth (3.5e Prestige Class)

The Monomyth

“	"They say "Death, is only the beginning.". They don't realize that Death is actually the end. It is the end of your old ways; The end of your old ideals; The end of your mortal comprehension. Death is not the beginning. Reviving. That, is the beginning."	”
—Sharon Mayn, Human Warlock, Tome of Existence; A Theory of Rebirth"

This is a Prestige Class built entirely around the idea of Hero Points. Hero Points are an optional concept in 3.5 that your DM may or may not be open to, therefore discuss this Prestige Class prior to setting up your tables and future stats. Your DM may need to research Hero Points and how it can alter their current formatting of the game. A basic general concept of Hero Points will be outlined in the Discussion area once this Class is built.

Becoming a Monomyth

Be honest; Ask yourself a very simple question; Do you actually feel "heroic"? Is there anything that actually sets your character apart from the rest? You may have your spells, your weapons, and your skills but at the end of the day aren't you a little tired of everything coming down to your d20? Have you ever missed an action by a single point? Your Attack Roll failed by that one sliver of a value and now you wish you DID take Weapon Focus? Or your Check failed because you thought to yourself; "Nah, I don't REALLY need points in Balance." Have you ever had a day where you just can not get a break? Well, maybe it's because faith and fortune isn't actually on your side... The Monomyth is a character to help break that. By utilizing a concept known as "Hero Points" you allow the game to bend in your favor, making yourself more heroic.

***DISCLAIMER*** This Class very much can, in the wrong hands, be a total game breaker. The decision is entirely up to the DM, so discuss this Class idea first. The majority of these Feats are Pathfinder Feats, while the few that I have created are meant to supplement and expand the idea of Hero Points on a do-or-die basis, not on a game-breaking-rolls basis.

Entry Requirements

Alignment:	None.
Base Attack Bonus:	+4.
Race:	None.
Skills:	None.
Feats:	None.
Spellcasting:	None.
Patron:	Any, but you must have one.
Domains:	Preferably something with either Life, Death, or Strength.
Special:	You must have had a near-death experience; Reduced into Negative Hit Points yet you survived.

Table: The Monomyth

Hit Die: d6

Level	Base Attack Bonus	Saving Throws			Special
		Fort	Ref	Will
1st	+0	+0	+0	+0	Hero's Fortune
2nd	+1	+0	+0	+0	Endurance
3rd	+1	+0	+0	+0	Toughness
4th	+2	+1	+1	+1	Diehard
5th	+2	+1	+1	+1	Blood of Heroes
6th	+3	+1	+1	+1	Improved Toughness
7th	+3	+2	+2	+2	Improved Diehard
8th	+4	+2	+2	+2	Luck of Heroes
9th	+4	+2	+2	+2	Heroic Toughness
10th	+5	+3	+3	+3	Heroic Diehard, Last Ditch
Class Skills (2 + Int modifier per level) Autohypnosis (Wis).

Class Features

Hero's Fortune: At 1st Level you gain Hero's Fortune. The basic idea is that you currently gain +1 "Hero Point" and you have a maximum of +3 which can be achieved. You gain Hero Points when you Level up, complete difficult tasks decided by your DM (Such as slaying a mighty Dragon), or by some sort of holy quest governed by your Patron. When you use a Hero Point, you lose it forever until you gain a new one; These are not like Hit Points or Power Points where you regain them through healing or meditation; You gain them by physically being active, adventuring, and expanding your character. All situations call for the use of spending one Hero Point, with the exception of "cheating death", which costs +2 (A concept discussed in the Discussion board of this page). For now, only worry that you gain +1 Hero Point and that at each Level hereafter you gain another +1, but at a maximum of +3. To answer the question ahead of time, yes you continue to gain Hero Points even after you have stopped progression in this Prestige Class, or after you have expanded through all 10 Levels and move onto something different.

Endurance: At 2nd Level you gain Endurance. If you already had Endurance, you gain a Bonus Feat for any which you meet the Prerequisites for.

Toughness: At 3rd Level you gain Toughness. If you already had Toughness, you gain a Bonus Feat for any which you meet the Prerequisites for.

Diehard: At 4th Level you gain Diehard. If you already had Diehard, you gain a Bonus Feat for any which you meet the Prerequisites for.

Blood of Heroes: At 5th Level you gain Blood of Heroes. Your maximum Hero Points is increased to +5. Additionally you gain +2 per Level, not +1. Note that this overlaps Hero's Fortune; You do not gain a total of +3 now (1+2).

Improved Toughness: At 6th Level you gain The Player's Handbook's version of Improved Toughness. You gain +1 HP per HD. To modify, this is both retroactive and continuous. Account for your total HD, from past Levels up to your current. At each Level you expand to next, you gain another +1 HP. Should anything cause you to lose HD on a permanent basis, such as losing a Level, you also lose the according amount of HP, too.

Improved Diehard: At 7th Level you gain Improved Diehard. Your Negative Hit Points are increased up to -15. This means that you can remain SRD:Stable from -1 to -14 HP now.

Luck of Heroes: At 8th Level you gain Luck of Heroes. When you make the decision to use a Hero Point before you make your d20 roll, and your d20 roll comes up at a 17 or higher, you retain your Hero Point as if you did not spend it at all, however you still gain +1/2 of the Bonus that it would have granted. If this still does not meet what you were trying to do and using the full amount would have, you may opt to still lose the Hero Point and gain the full amount instead. This can not be used with cheating death. This is a modified version of the actual Feat, which allowed you to retain your Hero Point if it was a 15 or higher and you gain the full effects. I felt this was a little unbalanced; I made it slightly more difficult odds with a less pay off for retaining something so important.

Heroic Toughness: At 9th Level you gain Heroic Toughness. You may spend a Hero Point to gain Temporary Health equal to gain x4 of your Constitution Modifier. This value, however, can not surpass your actual full Health. This overlaps any existing Temporary Health and will replenish that which has been lost previously. When using Heroic Toughness, you can not regain Temporary Health by resting, healing, or eating. Once this Temporary Health is depleted you become Fatigued for 1d8+1 Hours. You may use a second Hero Point to reduce this value by half. When dealing with an odd value, such as 7, maintain the "0.5" value as this equates to a half hour in-game time. You may use Heroic Toughness before using Heroic Diehard to gain Temporary Health, but you can not use it after you are in Negative Hit Points to try and "step out" of them and become "stable" once more.

Heroic Diehard: At 10th Level you gain Heroic Diehard. When in Negative Hit Points you may spend a single Hero Point to try and recover yourself. When you do this, you make a Fortitude Save DC 18 + current Negative Hit Point Value. For example, if you are at -12 HP, your DC would be 18 + 12, or 30. If you fail this DC, you lose your Hero Point. If you succeed this DC, you automatically become Stable with positive 10 HP. However you are both Exhausted and Sickened for 1 hour, without the possibility of prematurely ending these effects.

Last Ditch: At 10th Level you gain Last_Ditch_(3.5e_Feat).

Ex-Monomyth

If the DM feels you are abusing the power granted by this Prestige Class, they can forcibly end progression and remove your Heroic Feats. The Class Abilities you retain are the following, assuming you made it far enough to unlock them; Endurance, Toughness, Diehard, Improved Toughness, Improved Diehard, Last Ditch. The other Class Abilities; Hero's Fortune, Blood of Heroes, Luck of Heroes, Heroic Toughness, and Heroic Diehard are removed along with your current and future Hero Points. However, you gain a number of Bonus Feats equal to those which you have lost, to make up for the fallbacks. You maintain your current Character Level along with all stat-based progression such as BAB and Saving Throws.

Playing a Monomyth

As a Monomyth you are typically meant to venture out and be on the front lines of your game style. As a Warrior you are expected to be there in battle, raging and thirsting for blood. As a Rogue you are expected to be disarming traps, ambushing targets, and gathering information. As a Wizard you are expected to be preparing Spells, shifting the battles, and participating in that which your Schools govern. Whatever you "do" you are expected to do.

Combat: Typical for whatever your Base Class was.

Advancement: Open.

Resources: You are really meant to be more of a loner; Rather than relying on others for assistance, you create your own assistance.

Monomyths in the World

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NPC Reactions:

Monomyth Lore

Characters with ranks in can research to learn more about them. When a character makes a skill check, read or paraphrase the following, including information from lower DCs.

DC	Result
11	.
16	.
21	.
26	.

Monomyths in the Game

Adaptation:

Sample Encounter:

EL whatever:

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