Mark Charke

Writing by
Chris Perrin and Mark Charke
Art by
Omaik
Charke Publishing: www.Charke.ca
\ Exhaustion magic is not new but it was going to
be. The wizard Cornelius Durmshar was developing
exhaustion magic before the destruction of Solaris.
There was not much interest in his work and so getting
support for the expensive research was difficult. Never
the less, he spent a lifetime working on the new form
of magic and was about to release his findings when
Solaris was destroyed.
\ Progress on exhaustion magic stopped for many
years. Durmshar continued to use it but only to survive.
He did not have the resources to develope it further.
His daughter, Alana learned the craft and studied void
magic as well. Alana was able to leave their small
workshop and explore the void. She found resources
and brought them back. In his final years Durmshar
was able to continue his research but never complete
it. Alana conintued the work and taught it to her twin
sons, Leo and Tyr.
\ The twins have explored the void even farther than
their mother and taught their skills to others in exchange
for food, resources and other magical training. Theirs
is a success story. It is by no means a brilliant success.
They still live in the hardships of the void, but they have
kept their grandfathers legacy alive and spread it to
others.

that comes with it. As they gain experience, they

manage to control it more effectively, which allows
them to cast more powerful spells and use them more
often. However, this control is only an illusion. While it
is true they can overcome the immediate effects of the
magical tax, the long term effects will end up getting
the mage in the end. Exhaustion mages are old before
their time, such is the force of the magic that flows
through their beings. Few exhaustion mages live their
maximum life span, but in their time, they more than
make up for it with their versatility and raw power.
\ Role: Like their wizard counterparts, exhaustion
mages know spells for any manner of creature, situation,
or danger. They do not have to prepare spells or pick
them from a list, they just shape the arcane energies
to make them. Also, the specialist exhaustion mages
extensive knowledge of one particular school makes
them especially powerful in their chosen focus. Still, a
specialist will have powers to overcome any situation.
\ Alignment: Any
\ Hit die: d6

Class Skills
\ The wizards class skills (and the key ability for
each skill) are Concentration (Con), Craft (Int),
Decipher Script (Int), Knowledge (all skills, taken
individually) (Int), Profession (Wis), and Spellcraft
Exhaustion Mage
\ Inside the living body lies the capability for terrific (Int).
magic, however, that living body must pay a terrible \ Skill Ranks per Level: 2 + Int modifier
price.
\ Exhaustion mages are a radical blend of the arcane Class Features
knowledge of the Wizard, the innate primal mastery of All of the following are class features of the exhaustion
the Sorcerer, and the perfection of body of the Monk. mage.
Their magic comes from within their bodies, which are
connected to arcane sources on a physical level other \ Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Exhaustion mages
magic users can only envy. This connection allows are proficient with all simple and ranged weapons.
them to channel tremendous magical energies through They are not proficient with any type of armor or shield.
their bodies, but the magic takes something from them Armor interferes with an exhaustion mages gestures
which can cause her spells with somatic components
every time they do it.
\ Once an exhaustion mage learns their way of magic, to fail.
they then must control and deal with the physical tax \ Bonus Starting Feat: The exhaustion mage gains

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Douglas GardinerCharke
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Mark Charke

Table 1-1: The Exhaustion Mage

Level

Base
Attack
Bonus

Fort
Save

Ref
Save

Will
Save

1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th
8th
9th
10th
11th
12th
13th
14th
15th
16th
17th
18th
19th
20th

+0
+1
+1
+2
+2
+3
+3
+4
+4
+5
+5
+6/+1
+6/+1
+7/+2
+7/+2
+8/+3
+8/+3
+9/+4
+9/+4
+10/+5

+0
+0
+1
+1
+1
+2
+2
+2
+3
+3
+3
+4
+4
+4
+5
+5
+5
+6
+6
+6

+0
+0
+1
+1
+1
+2
+2
+2
+3
+3
+3
+4
+4
+4
+5
+5
+5
+6
+6
+6

+2
+3
+3
+4
+4
+5
+5
+6
+6
+7
+7
+8
+8
+9
+9
+10
+10
+11
+11
+12

Special
Bonus Starting Feat, Cantrips,
Familiar, Old
Moment of Rest
My Burden is Your Burden
Bonus feat

Bonus feat

Bonus feat

Bonus feat

Endurance, Eschew Materials, Combat Casting or

Scribe Scroll (pick one) as a bonus Feat at 1st Level.
\ Familiar: The exhaustion mage can gain a familiar
exactly as a wizard does.
\ Old: The exhaustion mage increases the ability
score penalties for old age by 1 at each age category.
This reduces their Strength, Dexterity and Constitution
by an additional one point at each category.
\ Spells: The exhaustion mage is an arcane spellcaster
with an innate ability to cast magic. Exhaustion mages
arcane powers (their spells) derive from their ability to
take massive amounts of spell energy and channel it
through their body. The problem is that doing so causes
a great deal of physical exhaustion. Throughout the
course of the day, their exhaustion (represented by a
percent chance of spell failure) continues to build until
the exhaustion mage is able to rest for eight hours at
which point all exhaustion goes away.
\ The more spells the mages casts the more exhausted
she mage is. This type of physical exhaustion leads
to a greater chance that the mages concentration
will fail at some point during the casting process. If
the mages concentration falters, the spell will fizzle
into nothingness. Failing is tiring but not nearly as
much as if he had succeeded and drained himself of
magical energies. Failing does not increase the mages
exhaustion level.
\ The sum of all of an exhaustion mages exhaustion
is called her Exhaustion Level. It is represented as
a percent chance that any given spell will fail. It is the
single most important factor for an exhaustion mage
because once it reaches 100% or more, every spell
they try to cast normally will fail.
\ After the mage has started the casting process each

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Douglas GardinerCharke
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Spells per Day

Half
Max
Exhaustion
Exhaustion
Spell
Rate
Rate
Level

25%

13%

15%
12%
9%
7%
5%
4%
3%
3%
2%
2%
1%
1%
1%
1%
1%
1%
1%
1%
1% per two
levels

8%
6%
5%
4%
3%
2%
2%
2%
1%
1%
1%
1%
1%
1%
1%
1%
1%
1%
1% per two
levels

1
2
2
3
3
4
4
5
5
6
6
7
7
8
8
9
9
9
9

day, she must see if she is too tired to cast her next
spell. To do this, the exhaustion mage must roll above
her exhaustion level or the spell fails. So if the mages
exhaustion level is 25%, the mages spell will fail on any
percentile roll of 1-25%. After the spell has been cast,
if it was successful, that spells exhaustion is added to
the mages exhaustion level.
\ Exhaustion is figured by taking the Exhaustion Rate
(a percentage) from Table 1-1: The Exhaustion Mage
and multiplying it by the level of the spell the mage
is casting. For instance, a 5th Level Exhaustion mage
has 7% exhaustion. This value is multiplied by the
spell level of the spell the mage is casting. If the mage
wants to cast a Lightning Bolt (level 3), the exhaustion
is 21%. If the mage wants to cast Magic Missile (level
1), the tax is 7%. If the mage wants to use a cantrip (a
0 level spell), the tax is half that of a first level spell so
use the half exhaustion amount.
\ Lets look at an example:
\ Gravan is a 6th level Exhaustion mage. His exhaustion
is 5% and the highest level spell he can cast is 3rd.
When he awakens in the morning, his exhaustion level
is at 0%. During his first encounter, he decides to cast
Fireball, a 3rd level spell. He casts his spell and fries
a group of attacking orcs. After casting the spell, his
exhaustion level is 15% (5% exhaustion rate x Level 3
spell = 15% tax. Since he started with a 0% exhaustion
level, adding 15% makes his new total 15%.)
\ Later on during the day, the party is again attacked.
This time Gravan casts Magic Missile, a 1st level spell.
Before he can roll to damage, Gravans player must
first roll to see if the spell worked. The player rolls a
percentile and gets a 55%, rolling well above Gravans
exhaustion level of 15%. The spell goes off, Gravan

Mark Charke

rolls damage, and adds 5% tax (5% Tax Modifier x

Level 1 spell = 5% tax) to his exhaustion level, making
it 20%.
\ Later that day, the party is ambushed again and
Gravan needs another Fireball. On his turn, he casts
the spell. He rolls percentile and gets an 11%, which
is a failure Right in the middle of casting the spell,
the physical toll of his earlier spellcasting causes his
concentration to slip and he loses control of the arcane
energies he was marshalling. This results in no spell!
However, because the spell was unsuccessful his
exhaustion level does not change. He can always try
to cast the spell again. As any day progresses and the
exhaustion mage casts spells, he will most likely find
himself needing to try to cast spells more than once
before they are successful.
\ Consult the Table 1-1: The Exhaustion Mage to
determine Exhaustion. After 8 hours of rest, an
Exhaustion mages exhaustion level goes back to 0%
and the mage may cast a spell with 0% chance of
failure.
\ Because exhaustion mages use their bodies to fuel
their arcane powers, their magics are based on their
Constitution score, rather than their Intelligence or
Wisdom. Thus, to use a spell, the mage must have a
Constitution score equal to 10 + the spells level. The
spell difficulty for an Exhaustion mage is 10 + the spell
level + the mages Constitution modifier.
\ Exhaustion mages gain access to new spell levels
at the rate listed on table 1-1: The Exhaustion Mage.
Once the exhaustion mage can cast a particular spell
level, she must learn each spell they know and record it
in a spellbook exactly as a wizard does. Like a sorcerer,
she can also cast each spell as many times as she
wants but only until her exhaustion level reaches 100%.
At the end of each day, any spell the exhaustion mage
has cast once, or more, is erased from their memory.
After an 8 hour rest they can review their spells from
their spellbook and regain access to them.
\ Cantrips: Exhaustion mages knows all 0-level
spells, called cantrips. Because they are 0-level spells,
they cause half the tax of a 1st level spell. Cantrips from
a prohibited school cost twice as much tax to cast (the
same cost as a 1st level spell).
\ High Constitution: The exhaustion mage earns
bonus spells for a high constitution but they are
different than a Wizard or Sorcerer. These spells add
to exhaustion but they never fail. If they are cast last
during any given day, the exhaustion mage can cast
them even when his exhaustion is 100% or higher.
They are best used once the Exhaustion Mage has
reached high levels of exhaustion.
\ Arcane Specialties: Like Wizards, exhaustion
mages can choose to specialize in one school of
magic. Instead of representing time spent in a school

or magical college, it represents the exhaustion mage

spending time purifying herself and focusing inward to
reveal knowledge about how that magic works.
\ The end result is the same, though. Specializing
grants the mages all additional powers listed for her
chosen Arcane specialty in the Wizard class write up.
It also means that the exhaustion mage must select two
opposition schools for which she has sacrificed study.
Instead of costing two spell slots for each opposition
schools spell, the exhaustion mage must pay double
tax for each spell of that type.
\ Note that it does not cost any tax to use an Arcane
schools special powers. These powers are granted
to the exhaustion mage because of their introspective
study, not because they are exhausting themselves.
\ Bonus Arcane Specialist Spells: The exhaustion
mage can cast two spells per spell level, from his
specialty school at half normal cost. For these spells
he uses the Half Exhaustion Rate cost instead of the
regular cost. Effectively this gives him one free spell
per day from each spell level.
\ For example, a 5th level illusionist exhaustion mage
could can two illusion spells of 1st, 2nd and 3rd level
and they could cost 3%, 6% and 9% instead of the
normal tax cost.
\ Metamagic Feats: Exhaustion mages can learn
and use metamagic feats. They use them on the fly,
like sorcerers. When they increase a spells level, they
increase the amount of exhaustion it causes. (Use the
exhaustion for a spell of the spells modified level.) Like
a sorcerer they can not increase a spells level this way
beyond the maximum spell level they can cast.
\ Moment of Rest: At 3rd level, the exhaustion
mage has started to truly control the physical toll her
magic causes. At 3rd level she may cast one 1st
level spell without fear of exhaustion failure. The
spell still increases the mages exhaustion level by the
calculated tax amount, but it does not fail. Every two
levels there after she gains the ability to cast one spell
of an additional spell level without fear of failure.
\ So a 9th level exhaustion mage can cast a 1st, 2nd,
3rd and 4th level spell without fear of failure. (She may
substitute a lower level spell, or cantrip for any of these
spells if she wishes.)
\ Unlike bonus spells, these spells can not be cast if
they would increase the total exhaustion over 100%.
\ My Burden is Your Burden: Starting at 4th level,
an exhaustion mage may, once per day, take some life
energy to recharge herself from a willing target. The
amount of tax this erases is 1% per hit point the target
is willing to give the mage. The mage can only take a
number of hit points this way equal to his level. These
hit points can not be healed magically. Only natural rest
will restore them.

Calculating the Benefits.

\ This class is math intensive compared to other classes. You must be able to multiply numbers and keep
a running total of your spell failure. Another drawback is the frustrating nature of spell failure. Although an
exhaustion mage has potentially more spells per day than other casting classes, the failure rate makes casting
them all unlikely. To compensate, the Exhaustion Mage is a little more powerful than the sorcerer or wizard
classes. It has more hit points and benefits from a wide range of spells which can be cast on the fly.

Publishing
Douglas GardinerCharke
(order #6854153)

Mark Charke