Dynamancers, or simply “ ‘mancers” are a uniquely and categorically stubborn lot. They cultivate their ego which fuels within them a magic flame known as the “flame of the soul” (or “soulflame”). ‘Mancers are loud, passionate, dedicated, obnoxious, boisterous, flippant and unwaveringly loyal badasses who don’t take nothing from nobody. Their soulflame literally manifests itself, granting them fantastic abilities to back up the stuff they’ve been talking. Dynamancy takes years of practice and mystic rituals to unlock. However, they say a dynamancer isn’t “made” but “born”. Only those who already possess an innate and explosively passionate soul can become dynamancers.
Dynamancers are souls that resemble an unlit match- unable to awaken their true potential without the screaming flames of a challenge. They thrive on challenge- evening the playing field so they can have a legitimate fight that awakens them from the depths of their souls. However, this willingness to handicap oneself brings about new skills and new levels of powers that the dynamancer himself cannot truly comprehend. “Challenge” is like a drug to them, fueling them to reach new heights against impossible odds and forcing them to joyfully handicap themselves when the odds are in their favor. It is said that a dynamancer would give a child a fair fight by tying himself to a ship’s mast and fighting with but one arm free and both eyes closed.
Role: Dynamancers are front line fighters who excel at taking on higher than average CRs. They are also jacks of all trades, bringing a grab-bag of tricks, talents, and explosions to an otherwise boring party.
Alignment: Any Chaotic
Dynamancers, by their very nature, rebel against rules. A dynamancer who fails to remain Chaotic loses access to all of his supernatural class features and can no longer advance in the dynamancer class.
Hit Dice: d10
Starting Wealth: 1d6 × 10 gp (average 35 gp.). In addition, each character begins play with a stylish, distinct, and unique outfit worth 100 gp or less.
Class Skills: The dynamancer’s class skills are Acrobatics (Dex), Appraise (Int), Bluff (Cha), Disguise (Cha), Handle Animal (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (local) (Int), Perception (Wis), Perform (Cha), Ride (Dex), Sleight of Hand (Dex), and Use Magic Device (Cha).
Skill Ranks Per Level: 4 + Int Modifier
Class Features[]
| Level | Base Attack Bonus | Fort Save | Ref Save | Will Save | Special |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | +1 | +0 | +0 | +2 | Love beam 1d6, momentum, strength to overcome |
| 2nd | +2 | +0 | +0 | +3 | Brash, compulsions, struggle |
| 3rd | +3 | +1 | +1 | +3 | Love beam 2d6, signature style |
| 4th | +4 | +1 | +1 | +4 | Boiling over, passion punch, indomitable will |
| 5th | +5 | +1 | +1 | +4 | Love beam 3d6 |
| 6th | +6/+1 | +2 | +2 | +5 | Compulsions, signature style, strength of the heart |
| 7th | +7/+2 | +2 | +2 | +5 | Love beam 4d6 |
| 8th | +8/+3 | +2 | +2 | +6 | Love knows no bounds |
| 9th | +9/+4 | +3 | +3 | +6 | Love beam 5d6, signature style |
| 10th | +10/+5 | +3 | +3 | +7 | Elite status |
| 11th | +11/+6/+1 | +3 | +3 | +7 | Love beam 6d6 |
| 12th | +12/+7/+2 | +4 | +4 | +8 | Compulsions, signature style |
| 13th | +13/+8/+3 | +4 | +4 | +8 | Love beam 7d6 |
| 14th | +14/+9/+4 | +4 | +4 | +9 | Improved elite status (2nd) |
| 15th | +15/+10/+5 | +5 | +5 | +9 | Love beam 8d6 |
| 16th | +16/+11/+6/+1 | +5 | +5 | +10 | Improved elite status (6th), signature style |
| 17th | +17/+12/+7/+2 | +5 | +5 | +10 | Love beam 9d6 |
| 18th | +18/+13/+8/+3 | +6 | +6 | +11 | Compulsions, improved elite status (12th) |
| 19th | +19/+14/+9/+4 | +6 | +6 | +11 | Love beam 10d6, signature style |
| 20th | +20/+15/+10/+5 | +6 | +6 | +12 | Golden god, improved elite status (any) |
Weapon and Armor Proficiency[]
The dynamancer is proficient with all simple weapons, martial weapons and nunchucks, as well as light and medium armor but not with shields.
Love Beam (Su)[]
With just a snap of his finger a dynamancer can freeze the heart of enemies with his raw, untapped, funky love energy. As a standard action that costs 1 momentum, this crazy ray is shot from the finger of the dynamancer after he strikes a stylish pose. This is a ray attack with a 30 foot range that deals 1d6 + the dynamancer’s Charisma modifier love damage at 1st level. It deals an additional 1d6 damage at 3rd level and every odd level thereafter. The Will save for this love damage is DC 10 + 1/2 dynamancer level + Charisma modifier. This spontaneous love beam is generated by the power of the dynamancer’s soulflame.
| Rule: Love Damage
Love is a universal force that none can resist. Creatures who take love damage may make a Will save for half damage (DC 10 + 1/2 level + Charisma modifier). Evil creatures gain a +2 bonus on such saves. However, evil creatures take 1.5 times damage from love damage. Creatures immune to mind affecting effects gain a +4 bonus on love damage Will saves. These bonus on saves stack (an evil mindless creature would gain a +6). |
Momentum (Ex)[]
A dynamancer’s soulflame slowly awakens to the exhilaration of a true challenge. Any time he successfully hits a creature or is hit by a creature he gains 1 momentum. A dynamancer can have a maximum amount of momentum equal to his dynamancer level + 3 at any one point.
Momentum mounts and is the determining factor for his class features. A dynamancer can also spend momentum to activate some class features giving him an edge but lowering the challenge of it. All bonuses granted and penalties imposed on the dynamancer via a class feature that is reliant on momentum to determine the bonus or penalty are morale bonuses.
A dynamancer may spend momentum, even if that sends his momentum into a negative value. While positive momentum provides bonuses from any class features, negative momentum provides penalties. A dynamancer may never have a negative value greater than 1/2 his dynamancer level (minimum 1).
For every 2 momentum below 0 a dynamancer is, he takes a -1 penalty on all attack rolls (example: If he is at -8 momentum, he takes a -4 penalty to attack rolls). Furthermore, some class features (such as the fight-or-flight signature style) grant a bonus or penalty equal to the dynamancer’s momentum. Going negative means it imposes a penalty instead, so long as it is below 0.
As a dynamancer’s momentum is inherently linked to the challenge of combat - once combat ends a dynamancer’s momentum is reset to 0. As a dynamancer’s momentum builds, so does his excitement. A dynamancer may exhibit more and more reckless thinking and he may become loud and boisterous.
Strength to Overcome (Ex)[]
At 1st level, the base attack bonus of a dynamancer is always equal to the CR of the encounter. This cannot be in excess of 3 + his dynamancer level. At 10th level his maximum BAB can be as high as 5 + his dynamancer level if the CR of the encounter is sufficiently high. In instances where a dynamancer is out of combat, his BAB is listed on Table: The Dynamancer. For the purpose of feat prerequisites the dynamancer uses the BAB on Table: The Dynamancer.
Brash (Ex)[]
A dynamancer’s force of will comes not from his intuition and wisdom, but from his overwhelming self-confidence and brashness. At 2nd level, a dynamancer can use his Charisma modifier in place of his Wisdom modifier, or whichever is higher, when calculating his Will saves.
Compulsions (Su)[]
At 2nd level a dynamancer can cause enemies who fail their Will save against his love beam to fall victim to one of the following compulsions for a number of rounds equal to 1/4th his dynamancer level (minimum 1). Compulsions are mind affecting effects and only a single compulsion can be inflicted upon a creature at a time. A dynamancer can only inflict a particular compulsion on a given creature once in a 24 hour period. A dynamancer knows all compulsions a dynamancer of his level can know.
(Dynamancer Compulsions can be found here)
Struggle (Ex)[]
At 2nd level, a dynamancer’s blood gets pumping the worse off they are. So long as the dynamancer has taken at least 5 damage since his last turn he gains a dodge bonus to his AC equal 1/4th their dynamancer level (minimum +1).
Signature Style[]
A dynamancer is unique and special in ways others wouldn’t dare. They go all out, forming their lifestyle into a work of bold self-expression.
At 3rd level and every 3 levels thereafter a dynamancer gains one dynamancer signature style.
Boiling Over (Su)[]
At 4th level, by spending 3 momentum, a dynamancer may elect to convert all of his weapon or unarmed damage to love damage after he has rolled his damage dice. The creature struck does not receive a Will save against this love damage.
Passion Punch (Su)[]
At 4th level, a dynamancer may snap an ally out of a mind-affecting effect with a passionate punch once per day per Charisma modifier. Any time a dynamancer makes an unarmed strike against an ally that ally gains a new save against an ongoing mind-affecting effect. The dynamancer must go all out, he cannot hold back. If the GM feels as if the dynamancer did not make an adequate attempt to deal damage, they may choose to disallow the additional save. If the dynamancer critically hits an ally with this punch/strike/ability, the ally instead gains a +2 morale bonus (or +4 if unarmed style was selected) on the Will save.
Rise (Ex)[]
Starting at 4th level, so long as the dynamancer has taken at least 5 damage since his last turn he gains a morale bonus on damage rolls equal to 1/4th his dynamancer level (minimum +1).
Indomitable Will (Su)[]
At 4th level, when a dynamancer makes a Will save he rolls twice and takes the better result. If he is making the same save as an ally within 30 feet of him the dynamancer may, by expending 2 momentum, grant this bonus to that ally. He may pay 1 more momentum per additional ally to grant the bonus to multiple allies.
Strength of the Heart (Su)[]
At 6th level a dynamancer can force his soulflame to explode with energy. A dynamancer can transform into pure love energy by expending 5 momentum as a move action. This has three effects. Firstly it grants weapons he wields (that he is proficient in) and his unarmed strikes the brilliant energy and ghost touch properties. Secondly it causes him to act as though he was under the effect of ethereal jaunt . Finally, the dynamancer sheds light as though he was a torch. For each round after the 1st the dynamancer must spend 2 momentum at the start of his turn as a free action. When the dynamancer ends this effect (or he reaches 0 momentum) he is fatigued for a number of rounds equal to the number of rounds he utilized this for. A dynamancer cannot use this ability if he is fatigued.
Love Knows No Bounds[]
At 8th level, mindless and evil creature creatures no longer gain a bonus on Will saves against love damage caused by the dynamancer.
Elite Status (Su)[]
At 10th level, a dynamancer exudes an aura of cool unlike anyone else. The unworthy may not approach him unless he deems them acceptable to approach. Their aura of confidence and brashness is akin to a supernatural velvet rope and bouncer outside a club- only letting in those confident enough in themselves to enter. Creatures with a Charisma score of 14 or less may not approach within 10 feet of the dynamancer. If they attempt to do so, the creature must make a Will save (DC 10 + 1/2 dynamancer level + Charisma modifier) or end their movement prematurely once they hit the radius of the dynamancer’s elite status. This ability has no effect on objects or ranged attacks as it is not a literal barrier- it is simply mind affecting effect. A creature who has passed the Will save is not affected by this ability for 24 hours. Allies are, by default, unaffected by this ability. The dynamancer can chose to have it affect or no longer affect an ally as a free action.
Improved Elite Status[]
At 14th level, a creature who fails the Will save against the dynamancer’s elite status is also subject to one compulsion that he knows and could qualify for at 2nd level. At 16th level this may be a compulsion of 6th level, at 18th it may be a 12th level compulsion, at at 20th it may be any compulsion.
Golden God (Su)[]
At 20th level, a dynamancer’s ego and pride swells to a level that makes it visible. At the start of each of their turns their momentum pool fills to its full value, This causes some supernatural appearance (glitter, sparkles, a visible but harmless flame aura, etc) and causes them to shed light like a torch. They can suppress or reactivate this as a free action.
A Player’s Guide to the Dynamancer[]
The dynamancer is a very dynamic class and, if you are not careful, will bog you down. Like a lot of classes in this book this one is probably not for beginners. The biggest thing to watch out for is the variable BAB- that means your bonus to hit will fluctuate pretty regularly. If you GM is tossing you up against normal CR things- it’s pretty standard stuff. However, if your GM starts throwing higher CR monsters (like bosses), you can actually go above your character level in your BAB.
The next thing you need to track is your momentum. You gain this any time you hit something or are hit by it. It has no inherent benefit and is mostly used with your class features. Keep this above 0 because, while you can drop it below in a pinch, it lowers your BAB and that’s not good.
Dynamancers have a lot of options and focusing them on one build is probably best rather than trying to play a switch hitter. You will always have versatility however as you are full BAB with a built in range attack.
A dynamancer is meant to get “messy” in combat. Taking damage and dealing damage fuels your abilities so the more blood that is shed (yours or theirs), the more you’ll be able to shine. For this reason it’s advisable to engage in melee when you can so you can soak up some damage so class features like “rise” trigger. You are a tough cookie and can take the damage so its worth the damage to gain the benefits.
Read the love damage paragraph pretty carefully. Every time someone takes a hit from it, they get a Will save to negate half of it. “Ouch, that sucks!” you might say, but it has a nice built in bonus against evil creatures. Besides, it’s best not to use things like love beam simply for damage. Use it to control and cripple your opponents with the compulsions that go along with it. Later on you don’t have to worry about things that are immune to it as much and it essentially turns into free bonus damage against evil.
The last thing we are going to talk about are signature styles. There is a whole range of them here so try to stick to ones related to each other, though you’ll probably be able to grab one or two of the packages:
Control: Dirty fighting, dance battle, and funky pheromones
Melee Damage: Breakdancing, fantastic hair (love the extra attack), fight or flight, love explosion
Defensive: Breakdancing, down but not out, mad style
Some of the signature styles are called “handicaps” which impose some sort of permanent penalty in exchange for some big bonus. If you are going to do this, plan your build around it from the start. Don’t just take them willy-nilly. For example, if you want to go unarmed “weaponless” might be a good one to take for some extra damage and monk-like benefits. Taking “amputated arm” is, ironically, a good choice for a dynamancer who wants to use a two-handed weapon.
Momentum, Grit, and Panache[]
Momentum, while separate from grit and panache, draws from the same universal resource. Some call it luck, some call it daring, and other call it flair. While there are no in-game implications to this, Dynamancers tend to see eye to eye with swashbucklers and gunslingers as they “get” them (and vice versa).