Polymath (Apath)

Unofficial rules compendium

"A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects."
Robert A. Heinlein, Time Enough for Love (1973).

Renaissance man is a spellsword archetype that is a generalist, striving to master all aspects of life. Combining learning with arcane magic and fencing tricks, the renaissance man is truly universal in his interests. This is a martial artist of the way of the mind

Class Information

This is a martial arts archetype

Class: Spellsword.

Hit Die: d10.

Class Features

The renaissance man has all the standard spellsword' class features, except as noted below.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency

Renaissance men are proficient with all simple and martial weapons. A renaissance man is also proficient with light armor and with shields (excluding tower shields). He can cast spellsword spells while wearing light armor and using a buckler or light shield without incurring the normal arcane spell failure chance. Like any other arcane spellcaster, a renaissance man wearing medium armor, heavy armor, or a heavy or tower shield incurs a chance of arcane spell failure if the spell in question has a somatic component. A multiclass spellsword still incurs the normal arcane spell failure chance for arcane spells received from other classes.

Canny Defense (Ex)

When wearing light or no armor and not using a large or tower shield, a renaissance man adds 1 point of Intelligence bonus (if any) per class level as a dodge bonus to CMD and Armor Class while wielding a melee weapon. If a renaissance man is caught unarmed or is flat-footed or otherwise denied his Dexterity bonus to armor class, he loses this bonus.

Fencing Block (Ex)

When weilding a light or one-handed weapon in one hand, the renaissance man adds a +1 dodge bonus to armor class. This improves by +1 for at level 6 and every 4 levels afterwards (+1 at levels up to 5, +2 at levels 6-9, +3 at levels 10-13 and so on). The renaissance man must have one hand free, he cannot carry a shield or two weapons when using this ability, not can he use a weapon in two hands. He may momentarily use the off hand for things like somatic components or drawing and throwing a weapon in the same round.

Sprezzatura (Ex)

The renaissance man develops a certain style, distinguished by making his tasks appear effortless and natural. At 10th level, the renaissance man can use any skill, even if the skill normally requires him to be trained. At 14th level, the renaissance man considers all skills to be class skills. At 19th level, the renaissance man can take 10 on any skill check, even if it is not normally allowed.

Table: Renaissance Man

Class Level	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Special	Spells per Day
						0	1	2	3	4
11st	+1	+2	+0	+2	Canny defense, cantrips, fencing block, magic theorist	2	—	—	—	—
2nd	+2	+3	+0	+3	Scribe scroll, spellbook mastery	3	—	—	—	—
3rd	+3	+3	+1	+3	Bonus feat	3	—	—	—	—
4th	+4	+4	+1	+4	Somatic weapon	3	0	—	—	—
5th	+5	+4	+1	+4	Arcane pool +1	3	1	—	—	—
6th	+6/+1	+5	+2	+5	Uncanny dodge	4	1	—	—	—
7th	+7/+2	+5	+2	+5	Spellsword special	4	1	0	—	—
8th	+8/+3	+6	+2	+6	Spellstrike	4	1	1	—	—
9th	+9/+4	+6	+3	+6	Arcane pool +2, spellbook mastery (1 minute)	4	2	1	—	—
10th	+10/+5	+7	+3	+7	Sprezzatura (skilled use)	4	2	1	0	—
11th	+11/+6/+1	+7	+3	+7	Bonus feat	4	2	1	1	—
12th	+12/+7/+2	+8	+4	+8	Spellsword shift	4	2	2	1	—
13th	+13/+8/+3	+8	+4	+8	Arcane pool +3, quick casting	4	3	2	1	0
14th	+14/+9/+4	+9	+4	+9	Sprezzatura (class skills)	4	3	2	1	1
15th	+15/+10/+5	+9	+5	+9	Spellsword special	4	3	2	2	1
16th	+16/+11/+6/+1	+10	+5	+10	Spellbook mastery (round)	4	3	3	2	1
17th	+17/+12/+7/+2	+10	+5	+10	Arcane pool +4, spellsword jaunt	4	4	3	2	1
18th	+18/+13/+8/+3	+11	+6	+11	Sprezzatura (take 10)	4	4	3	2	2
19th	+19/+14/+9/+4	+11	+6	+11	Bonus feat	4	4	3	3	2
20th	+20/+15/+10/+5	+12	+6	+12	Master spellsword	4	4	4	3	3

Summary of Changed Class Abilities

These abilities of the original class are lost or modified in this archetype:

• Armor Proficiency
• Lighten armor (Lvl 6, 10, 14, 18)

The text in this article is Open Game Content. It is covered by the Open Game License v1.0a, rather than the Action copyright. To distinguish it, these items will have this notice. If you see any page that contains OGL material and does not show this license statement, please contact one of the Action administrators. Please note that images used in article may have different copyright than the text.