Akasha Expanded: Enhanced Veils (Patreon)

This ruleset for Akashic Mysteries helps to rebalance weapon-like veils to act more fairly and to fix a number of the numerical issues related to their current implementation, and introduces a few new veils utilizing this ruleset to be used in your games!

Enhanced Veils

A veil with the [Enhanced] descriptor is a veil that functions as a wearable or wield-able item and can be enhanced as if it were a masterwork version of that item.

Type: A veil with the [Enhanced] descriptor can be enhanced using the Craft Arms and Armor feat as if it were a masterwork suit of armor, shield, or weapon and acts as a specific type of armor, shield, or weapon for all purposes (such as feats that only affect a single weapon such as Weapon Focus, or class features that require a specific weapon or armor) as denoted in its descriptor. These items are also treated as magical for effects that apply to or are affected by magical items. For example, a veil with the [Enhanced (scythe)] descriptor can be enhanced as if it were a scythe and is treated as a scythe for all purposes; the same applies to a veil with the [Enhanced (breastplate)] descriptor. It is treated as a breastplate for all purposes, and can be enhanced as if it were a masterwork breastplate. If an [Enhanced] veil specifies a broad type instead of a specific item, such as [Enhanced: Armor], that veil is not treated as any specific type of armor, shield, or weapon and its statistics will usually be found in the veil’s description.

Proficiency: A veilweaver is always proficient with the armor, shield, or weapon that is created as part of a veil with the [Enhanced] descriptor. If such a veil creates multiple different suits of armor, shields or weapons but only one type is referenced in the descriptor, such as an [Enhanced (longsword)] veil that also creates a shield, the veilweaver is proficient with any additionally created suits of armor, shields, or weapons as well.  If this veil is shaped onto another creature by the veilweaver, that creature is treated as proficient instead. If the veil is affected by multiple proficiencies (such as a bastard sword or a scorpion whip), the veilweaver is treated in being proficient in all applicable proficiencies. The veilweaver is only treated as being proficient with the armor, shield, or weapon that is created as part of this veil in this way, not with any other item of the same type.

Upgradable: A veilweaver may enhance this veil as if it were a masterwork item of its type, following the same rules as enhancing normal items. This can be done using the Craft Arms and Armor feat for armor, shields, and weapons, or by using class features, feats or spells that temporarily or permanently enhance such an item. When a veil is enhanced using Craft Arms and Armor or similar abilities, the veil must be shaped and the veilweaver must be present during the entire enhancement period, but the veil need not be shaped when it is not being actively enhanced. You may also improve armor, shields, and weapons with special materials by paying the price modifier of that material, treat armor as costing 500 gp, and treat shields and weapons as costing 100 gp when calculating price modifiers. Enhancing a veil takes the same amount of time to enhance the item as normal. If an [Enhanced] veil creates multiple different types of items, such as an [Enhanced (longsword)] veil that also creates a shield, only the items created of the type referenced in the [Enhanced] descriptor gain any benefits upon being enhanced unless specified otherwise by the veil. If a veil denotes multiple types for its [Enhanced] descriptor or has multiple [Enhanced] descriptors, refer to the veil’s description for how it is specifically enhanced. Some [Enhanced] veils may refer to their Enhancement within their description. When referred to in this way, a veil’s Enhancement is equal to the veil’s modified bonus: its enhancement bonus plus its special abilities. For example, a veil enhanced with +2, flaming, and holy would have an Enhancement of 5 (2 for +2, 1 for flaming, 2 for holy).

Size: A veil with the [Enhanced] descriptor produces a suit of armor, shield, or weapon sized appropriately for the veilweaver who shaped it, or the creature the veil has been shaped on in the case of a shared veil. If the creature can wield weapons sized for creatures larger than it, the veil can produce weapons of that size as well.

Sundering: Armor, shields, and weapons produced by an [Enhanced] veil are treated as being part of that veil for the purposes of sundering, and follow all of the normal rules for sundering a veil.

Armor: Veils with the [Enhanced (armor)] descriptor that create a suit of armor do so immediately when the veilweaver shapes the veil, unless the veil states otherwise. Armor created by an [Enhanced] veil applies its normal penalties to the veilweaver or character it is shaped to, such as a penalty to movement speed for medium or heavy armor, maximum Dexterity bonus, arcane spell failure chance, and the like. Unless otherwise specified, armor created by an [Enhanced] veil has all of the statistics of a normal suit of masterwork armor of the created type.

Shields: Veils with the [Enhanced (shield)] descriptor that create a shield normally create the shield in a free hand of the wielder’s choice as a free action on their turn.  Shields created by a veil with the [Enhanced] descriptor cease to exist as soon as they leave the veilweaver’s possession unless otherwise specified by the veil. Such a veil can only create a single shield unless otherwise specified by the veil. Shields created by an [Enhanced] veil apply their normal penalties to the character who wields it, such as the shield’s armor check penalty and arcane spell failure chance.  When enhancing a shield created by an [Enhanced] veil, the veilweaver can choose whether to enhance the shield component of the veil, to enhance the shield as a weapon to improve its shield bash, or both. Enhancing a shield in this way as both a weapon and a shield does not incur an increase in cost, but does require the shield enhancements and weapon enhancements to be performed separately. If such a veil refers to its Enhancement, use the higher value of the two separate Enhancements. Of note, many [Enhanced] veils that produce a shield allow one form of Enhancement (shield or weapon) to modify or alter the other form of Enhancement. When being used as a weapon, such a shield follows all of the normal rules of a weapon created by a [Enhanced] veil as well (see below).

Weapons: Veils with the [Enhanced (weapon)] descriptor that create a weapon normally create the weapon in a free hand of the wielder’s choice as a free action on their turn.  Weapons created by a veil with the [Enhanced] descriptor cease to exist as soon as they leave the veilweaver’s possession unless otherwise specified by the veil. Such a veil can only create a single weapon unless otherwise specified by the veil. If a veil can create multiple weapons, treat all weapons it creates after the first as if they had an enhancement bonus 1 lower (minimum 0). If the weapon is enhanced with special abilities, the veilweaver may choose to lose a special ability with an effective bonus of at least +1 instead. If this reduction would reduce the weapons bonus to +0, it is treated as a masterwork weapon, gaining the usual +1 enhancement bonus to attack rolls, but not to damage rolls. This may allow a weapon to have a +0 enhancement bonus but still possess weapon special abilities.

New Veils

Aldain’s Alchemical Armory

Descriptors: Acid, Cold, Electricity, Enhanced (weapon, see text), Fire

Class: Daevic, Guru, Vizier

Slot: Belt

Saving Throw: Reflex, see text

A silken sash of velvety akasha wraps its way around your waist. Amongst its countless pockets rest palm-length phials of textured crystal that store bubbling liquids of various colors.

Shaping this veil grants you the ability to draw from the vast quantity of alchemical weapons created by the alchemist Aldain. These alchemical weapons come in two types: exploding phials and alchemical blades. For the purposes of enhancement, both of these alchemical weapons are treated as daggers. You may draw an exploding phial or an alchemical blade as a free action, even when it’s not your turn. When you draw an alchemical weapon from this veil, choose a single type: acid, cold, electricity, or fire. You may only draw a number of alchemical weapons from the veil each round equal to your veilweaving modifier, and may only have that many alchemical weapons drawn from the veil total at any time. After drawing an alchemical weapon, it persists for 1 minute or until it is used, after which it crumbles away into inert dust. If you have multiple alchemical weapons created at a time, they all suffer the penalties for creating multiple weapons with an [Enhanced] veil.

When drawing an alchemical blade, you may uncork it as part of drawing it, causing the liquid inside to immediately crystallize into a shortsword formed of alchemical matter. If you don’t choose to uncork it as part of drawing it, you may do so as a free action, even if it’s not your turn. After being uncorked, an alchemical blade lasts until the beginning of your next turn; afterward, it crumbles into inert dust. Rather than dealing piercing damage, all of the physical damage dealt by an alchemical blade is of the elemental type you chose when you drew it. When you successfully hit an enemy with an alchemical blade, you can choose for it to shatter and immediately return to a liquid that sprays on the target. The target must succeed at a Reflex saving throw or take 1d6 points of damage of the elemental type chosen when drawing the alchemical blade.

Explosive phials drawn from the veil are treated as thrown weapons with a range increment of 10 feet and attacks using the phials are made as touch attacks. You apply any enhancement bonuses applied to this veil when making touch attacks using explosive phials, as well as any special properties that affect your accuracy. On a hit, the phial explodes, dealing 1d6 points of damage of the elemental type chosen when drawing the phial, plus any enhancement bonus to damage rolls or any special properties that affect the veil’s weapons. Each creature within 5 feet of the target of this veil must succeed at a Reflex saving throw or take 1 point of damage of the chosen elemental type. If you miss the initial target, they must attempt this saving throw as well.

Essence: For each point of essence invested in this veil, the damage dealt by an alchemical blade when shattered against a target increases by 1d6, the damage of a hit by an explosive phial increases by 1d6, and the splash damage of an explosive phial increases by 1.

Chakra Bind (Belt): Binding this veil to your Belt chakra allows you to draw from a wider variety of alchemical weapons. In addition to the normal elemental types you can choose from when drawing an alchemical weapon from this veil, you can choose from the following types as well: force, negative energy, positive energy, and sonic. Choosing one of these damage types causes your alchemical blade to have a weapon die one size smaller (1d3 for Small creatures, 1d4 for Medium, 1d6 for Large) and it deals 1d4 damage when shattered (instead of 1d6). It also causes your explosive phials to deal 1d4 damage (instead of 1d6). This reduction in damage applies to the bonus damage granted by investing essence in this veil as well.

Creatures that are healed by positive energy or negative energy are not healed by alchemical weapons that deal those energy types; instead, they are sickened for 1 round instead of taking any damage of that type (they still take any additional damage from weapon special properties, such as the flaming property).

Robes of Splintered Light

Descriptors: Enhanced (armor, see text)

Class: Daevic, Guru, Vizier

Slot: Shoulders, Chest

Saving Throw: see text

Brilliant robes of opalescent white akasha drape your body, splitting the light that falls upon you into gleaming threads of power that weave themselves into the form of the veil.

When you shape this veil, choose one of the following colors: Red, Yellow, Green, Blue, or Violet. The properties of this veil are based on the color you selected. When enhancing this veil as a suit of armor, you cannot apply any armor special properties that only apply to a single type of armor or are restricted by armor weight.

Red: You are enveloped by robes of burning red akasha, granting you a +1 armor bonus to your AC. The heat that emanates from these robes distorts the air that surrounds you, granting you concealment (20% chance for attacks to miss you).

Yellow: You are protected by robes plated with hardened yellow akasha. The veil functions as masterwork full plate, granting you a +9 armor bonus to your AC, a maximum Dexterity bonus of +1, an armor check penalty of -5, and a 35% arcane spell failure chance. While using this veil, your speed is reduced as normal for wearing heavy armor.

Green: You are adorned with robes inlaid with chains of green akasha. The veil functions as a masterwork chain shirt, granting you a +4 armor bonus to your AC, a maximum Dexterity bonus of +4, an armor check penalty of -1, and a 20% arcane spell failure chance.

Blue: You are shielded by robes layered with rigid blue akasha. The veil functions as a masterwork breastplate, granting you a +6 armor bonus to your AC, a maximum Dexterity bonus of +3, an armor check penalty of -3, and a 25% arcane spell failure chance. While using this veil, your speed is reduced as normal for wearing medium armor.

Violet: You are warded by robes lined with wispy threads of violet akasha, granting you a +2 armor bonus to your AC. This protection is derived from force, so incorporeal creatures cannot bypass it as they can mundane armor.

Essence: For each point of essence invested in this veil, you gain a bonus based on the color you selected when you shaped the veil.

Red: When struck by a melee non-reach weapon, the attacker takes 1d3 fire damage per point of essence invested in this veil. This damage increases to 1d4+1 points of fire damage per point of essence invested in areas of bright light. An individual creature can only suffer from this damage once per round.

Yellow: The veils you have shaped are infused with hardened yellow akasha, increasing their hardness and the amount of damage they can take before being suppressed by 2 per point of essence invested in this veil. This increases to 3 per point of essence invested in bright light.

Green: You gain a +1 insight bonus on saving throws versus poison, disease, death effects, and effects that would age you per point of essence invested in this veil. This bonus is increased by 50% (rounded up) in bright light.

Blue: You gain +1 insight bonus on saving throws against charm, compulsion, emotion, and fear effects per point of essence invested in this veil. This bonus is increased by 50% (rounded up) in bright light.

Violet: You gain DR 1/piercing per point of essence invested, and reduce the damage you take from constriction, falling, being buried, and similar crushing effects by 4 per point of essence invested (to a minimum of 0). Both of these bonuses are increased by 50% (rounded up) in areas of bright light.

Chakra Bind (Shoulders): When you bind this veil, choose an additional color. You may choose a color you have already selected once if you wish. You have one primary and one secondary color, chosen when the veil is shaped. You can choose which of the two colors is primary and which is secondary whenever you reallocate essence. Your primary color determines the properties of the veil granted by shaping it (see above), and the secondary color grants you a secondary ability (see below). Additionally, you gain the benefits of investing essence for both of your chosen colors.

Red: You can spray forth burning red light to form a sticky pool of transparent red tar that functions as the tar pool spell. This spell uses this veil’s saving throw DC to determine its DC and your veilweaving level to determine its caster level. Using this ability drains a significant amount of power from the veil, requiring you to wait 1 minute before it can be used again. In areas of bright light, the DC of this ability increases by 2.

Yellow: You can use minor creation as an at-will spell-like ability, using your veilweaver level as its caster level, with the following restrictions: Objects you create using this veil are all made of a transparent yellow glass with the hardness and HP of steel. If you create an object while in an area of bright light, these objects have their hardness increased by 10. Objects made using this veil only persist as long as you have this veil shaped and the created items remain within close range (25 feet + 5 feet per 2 veilweaver levels) of you.

Green: You can shape light into a transparent wall of transparent green thorns that functions as the wall of thorns spell. This ability uses your veilweaver level as its caster level, and only has a duration of 1 round / level. Using this ability drains a significant amount of power from the veil, requiring you to wait 1 minute before it can be used again. If you use this ability while in an area of bright light, the DC of the Strength check to move through the wall is increased by 5, and the damage a creature takes while attempting to move through the wall is equal to 35 minus the creature’s AC.

Blue: You can shape light into a transparent wall of blue glass that functions as the wall of stone spell. This wall persists as long as you have this veil shaped and as long as any portion of it remains within close range (25 feet + 5 feet per 2 veilweaver levels) of you. Using this ability drains a significant amount of power from the veil, requiring you to wait 1 minute before it can be used again. If you use this ability while in an area of bright light, the wall’s hardness increases by 5 and the DC of the Strength check to break it increases to 20 + 3 per inch of thickness.

Violet: You can shape light into a nearly-invisible bubble of violet vapor. This vapor blocks both sound and scent from leaving the vapor. Creatures outside the bubble cannot hear or smell things inside the bubble, and vice versa. This effectively makes detecting a creature on the other side of the barrier impossible via hearing or scent. You may create, destroy, or resize this bubble as a free action once per turn. The bubble can have a minimum radius of 0 feet, only surrounding you, up to a maximum radius of 20 feet. This bubble can be sundered. It has 5 HP per veilweaver level and hardness equal to your veilweaving modifier. Its HP resets to its maximum at the beginning of each of your turns. If the bubble is destroyed by sundering it, you cannot create it again for 1 minute.

Chakra Bind (Chest): When you bind this veil, choose two additional colors. You may choose a single color twice, if you so wish. This ability otherwise functions as the Shoulders bind, save that you have one primary color and two secondary colors. If you select a single color twice, you gain the primary and secondary abilities of that color, as the effects of the Shoulders binding.

The Piercing Light

Descriptors: Enhance (longbow), Light

Class: Daevic, Guru

Slot: Hands, Shoulders

Saving Throw: none

Bright golden light envelopes you for a moment when you shape this veil before coalescing around your hand as a faintly glowing archer’s glove, and upon your back as a gilded quiver holding arrows of golden crystal.

As a free action, you can conjure into your hands a longbow formed of glowing golden light. If this bow leaves your grip, it immediately disappears. This longbow glows with bright light out to a radius of 30 feet, and then dim light for another 30 feet beyond that. When using this bow, you can choose to draw and fire special arrows from the veil’s quiver. These arrows count as magical for the purpose of bypassing damage reduction. When they strike a creature or surface, they shine with an inner light for one minute, glowing with bright light out to a radius of 10 feet, and dim light out to a radius of 10 feet beyond that. A creature can remove any number of arrows from themselves or a single arrow from a surface within their reach as a move action, causing the glow to sputter out as the crystalline arrow dissolves away.

Bright light produced by this veil causes any creatures that take penalties in bright light to take those penalties while in the area of bright light.

As a full-round action, you can fire a beam of light from the bow. This beam of light affects every creature in a line with a length equal to the bow’s first range increment. Make a single attack roll and apply it to each creature within this line. If it matches or beats a creature’s Armor Class, they take damage as if they were struck by the bow. If this attack roll is a critical threat, roll a critical confirmation against each target struck by this attack individually. Damage dealt by this beam of light is untyped, bypasses damage reduction and resistances (excluding hardness) and deals 50% more damage to undead, evil outsiders, and creatures that suffer penalties from bright light. Any damage dealt by weapon special abilities (such as the bane or flaming abilities) is not changed or increased by this ability.

Essence: For each point of essence invested in this veil, the range of the light, both bright and dim, emitted by the longbow created by this veil increases by 5 feet, and the range increment of the bow increases by 10 feet.

Chakra Bind (Hands): Binding this veil to your Hands chakra allows you to cause the special arrows fired by this veil’s bow to flare with an even brighter light on the round they are fired. For the first round of the arrows’ duration, they instead glow with bright and dim light out to the same radius as the bow, including any bonuses to their range from investing essence in this veil. This bright light is equivalent to the daylight spell, dispelling any magical darkness of a level equal to or less than half your veilweaving level. Any creature that takes penalties from bright light doubles those penalties while in this area of even brighter light.

Chakra Bind (Shoulders): Binding this veil to your Shoulders chakra grants you all the benefits of binding it to your Hands chakra, and also allows you to fire a volley of piercing light. When you use a full-round action to fire a beam of light, you can instead fire a beam for each attack you could normally make using the bow as part of a full attack. Once you use this ability, you cannot use the bow to fire beams of light again for 1d6 rounds.

Adapted Veils

The following veils, originally found in Akashic Mysteries, have been adapted to utilize the [Enhanced] keyword. For some of these veils, they have been slightly rebalanced to account for their newly acquired ability to be enhanced.

Crimson Totem (Enhanced)

Descriptors: Enhanced (great club)

Class: Daevic

Slot: Blood

Saving Throw: none

This totem glows a violent red as akashic energy is reinforced with pure life’s blood.

You can inflict a small, harmless cut to yourself as a free action, allowing your blood to flow out into your hands into the shape of an akashic totem. This totem is wielded as a greatclub, and you use your Constitution modifier instead of your Strength modifier when determining your attack and damage rolls made using the totem. If this totem leaves your grasp without being anchored (see below), it immediately disappears.

As a move action, you may anchor your totem to any horizontal surface within your reach; while anchored in this way, the totem cannot be wielded as a weapon, but it creates an aura with a 30-foot radius centered on itself. All allies within this area gain a +1 morale bonus on damage rolls. Retrieving the totem is a move action, and you do not need to be adjacent to the totem to retrieve it.

Essence: For each point of essence invested in this ability, you gain a +1 morale bonus to damage rolls while using this veil as a weapon, and the morale bonus to damage rolls granted by anchoring the totem increases by 1 per point of essence invested.

Chakra Bind (Blood): Binding this veil to your Blood chakra unlocks two potent abilities. When wielding the totem as a greatclub, any successful attack with it against an opponent whose Hit Dice are no fewer than half your veilweaver level heals you for 2 points of damage per point of essence invested in this veil (to a maximum of the damage dealt by that attack). This ability does not work if the attack is used to deal nonlethal damage. When the totem is anchored, all allies affected by the aura gain DR/bludgeoning equal to the essence points invested. This stacks with other sources of DR/bludgeoning.

Crusader’s Shield (Enhanced)

Descriptors: Enhanced (heavy shield)

Class: Daevic

Slot: Hands

Saving Throw: none

Bands of hardened akasha stretch out from your hands, creating an impenetrable wall of akashic energy.

You can summon a heavy shield formed of brilliant silvery akasha into your hands as a free action. If this shield leaves your grip, it immediately disappears.

As a move action, you can cause this shield to expand outward, creating a translucent, flat, vertical plane of akashic energy in the form of one 10-foot square wall that stops attacks, movement, breath weapons, and any targeted spells or effects which would pass through.

Teleportation spells or effects that do not require physical contact, such as hypnotic pattern, are not impeded. Effects that deal hit point damage that are intercepted by this akashic wall instead deal damage directly to the veil. You cannot move while this wall is shaped but may dismiss it as a free action.

Essence: For each point of essence invested in this veil, its hardness increases by 2 and the wall extends an additional 5 square feet.

Chakra Bind (Hands): [D4] Binding this veil to your Hands chakra makes it vastly more responsive; you may now activate the barrier as an immediate action a number of times per day equal to your veilweaving modifier.

El’s Utterdark Shield (Enhanced)

Descriptors: Darkness, Enhanced (heavy shield), Teleportation
Class: Daevic
Slot: Hands, Wrists
Saving Throw: Will negates
A shield of utter darkness forms in your hands, a gateway to oblivion.

You can summon a heavy shield composed of pure darkness into your hands as a free action. If this shield leaves your grip, it immediately disappears.

Once per round when an opponent within your reach misses you or an adjacent ally with a melee attack, you may spend an attack of opportunity to perform a shield bash against that opponent. If you successfully hit the target, they must succeed at a Will saving throw or be swallowed by your shield, cast into a dimension of utter darkness for 1 round (plus additional rounds depending on points of essence invested). While trapped in this dimension, the creature takes 1d8 negative energy damage each round and cannot take any action or be targeted by any other effect. Creatures trapped in this way may attempt a Will saving throw at the start of their turn each round to end the effect. On a successful save or when the effect ends, the creature appears in the space they last occupied (or the nearest adjacent space if that space is now occupied).

Essence: For each point of essence invested in this veil, your shield bash attacks deals 1d8 additional negative energy damage and the damage dealt to those trapped within your utterdark effect increases by 1d8. For every 2 points of essence invested, the duration of the dimensional trap effect increases by 1 round.

Chakra Bind (Hands): [D4] Binding this veil to your Hands chakra makes it even more deadly; you gain a +1 profane bonus per point of essence invested in this veil to shield bash attack rolls made using this veil, and to all negative energy damage rolls.

Chakra Bind (Wrists): [D7] You may activate this veil’s ability one additional time per round for every 2 points of essence invested, though you cannot activate this ability if you do not have any attacks of opportunity remaining.

Loyal Paladin’s Spear of Light (Enhanced)

Descriptors: Enhanced (shortspear), Good

Class: Daevic, Guru, Vizier

Slot: Hands

Saving Throw: Reflex half

Holy light forms into a gleaming spear, ready to plunge into your foe’s evil heart.

You can summon a shortspear formed from akashic energy infused with the power of the upper planes to your hands as a free action. If this spear leaves your grasp, it disappears at the end of your turn. Treat this spear as a shortspear, except that it is a light weapon and the damage dealt results directly from sanctified akashic energy and is therefore not subject to damage reduction or energy resistance. Any damage dealt by weapon special abilities (such as the bane or flaming abilities) is not changed or increased by this ability. Treat the base weapon size as one category smaller if the target of an attack is good, or one size category larger if they are evil; these size modifiers stack with all other size changes or virtual size changes. You may choose to use your veilweaver level in place of your base attack bonus to determine your to-hit and other abilities of this veil.

Essence: For each point of essence invested in this ability, the spear deals an additional 1d6 damage; this bonus damage is not multiplied on a critical hit. For every 2 points of essence invested in this veil, the spear’s reach increases by 5 feet.

Chakra Bind (Hands): [G3, V2] Binding this veil to your Hands chakra gives you the ability to throw the spear as a standard action, causing it to transform into a bolt of holy light that strikes all enemies along a 10-foot long line, plus 10 feet per point of essence invested, dealing damage as normal for the weapon. Feats such as Deadly Aim or Point Blank Shot have no benefit when using the spear in this manner. Creatures in the line can attempt a Reflex save for half damage.

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