Insightful Mind (Monk/Wizard)

Long ago, a group of the brightest of elves established an acetic order centuries ago. This order utilizes a combination of mental prowess and physical conditioning to access an internal reservoir of arcane power. Unlike the magus, the insightful mind doesn't just seek to blend magic and combat, but to improve themselves as well. In the Golarion setting, such a process would be invented by elves pursuing the “Brightness”. (Original Concept by +5 Toaster)

Primary Class: Monk.

Secondary Class: Wizard.

Alignment: Any.

Hit Dice: d8.

Bonus Skills and Ranks: The insightful mind may select three wizard skills to add to his class skills in addition to the normal monk class skills. The insightful mind gains a number of ranks at each level equal to 4 + Int modifier.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: The insightful mind is proficient with the brass knuckles*, cestus*, club, crossbow (light or heavy), dagger, handaxe, javelin, kama, nunchaku, quarterstaff, sai, shortspear, short sword, shuriken, siangham, sling, spear, and temple sword*. Insightful minds are not proficient with any armor or shields. When wearing armor, using a shield, or carrying a medium or heavy load, an insightful mind loses his AC bonus, as well as his fast movement and flurry of blows abilities. (*Advanced Player’s Guide)

Illuminated Spellbook: An insightful mind finds less time to research new spells, but has mastered an elaborate manner of scribing those he learns. At 1st level, the insightful mind incorporates illuminated images into her arcane writings. He begins with an illuminated spellbook containing all cantrips plus three 1st-level spells of his choice. The insightful mind also selects a number of additional 1st-level spells equal to his Intelligence modifier to add to the spellbook. Creatures take a –4 penalty on skill checks involving the insightful mind's spellbook. The insightful mind's spells take one extra page each in his spellbook. At each new insightful mind level, he gains only one new spell of any spell level or levels that he can cast (based on his new insightful mind level) for his spellbook. At every odd level beyond 1st, if he has chosen to specialize in a school of magic, the chosen spell must be from his specialty school. At any time, an insightful mind can also add spells found in another insightful mind’s or wizard’s spellbook to his. In all other respects, an insightful mind's spellbook functions as a normal wizard's spellbook.

Spellcasting: Beginning at 1st level, an insightful mind gains the ability to cast arcane spells which are drawn from the insightful mind spell list. An insightful mind must choose and prepare his spells in advance.

To prepare or cast a spell, an insightful mind must have an Intelligence score equal to at least 10 + the spell level. The Difficulty Class for a saving throw against an insightful mind's spell is 10 + the spell level + the insightful mind's Intelligence modifier.

Like other spellcasters, an insightful mind can cast only a certain number of spells of each spell level per day. His base daily spell allotment is given on Table: Insightful Mind. In addition, he receives bonus spells per day if he has a high Intelligence score. When Table: Insightful Mind indicates that the insightful mind gets 0 spells per day of a given spell level, he gains only the bonus spells he would be entitled to based on his Intelligence score for that spell level.

An insightful mind may know any number of spells. He must choose and prepare his spells ahead of time by getting 8 hours of sleep and spending 1 hour studying his illuminated spellbook. While studying, the insightful mind decides which spells to prepare. An insightful mind otherwise learns, prepares, and casts spells as a wizard. This ability replaces flurry of blows, maneuver training, slow fall, high jump, wholeness of body, abundant step, diamond soul, quivering palm, timeless body, tongue of the sun and moon, and empty body.

Arcane Defense: At 1st level, when wearing no armor and not using a shield, an insightful mind gains a +3 armor bonus to his Armor Class and a +3 bonus to his CMD. This bonus functions much like bracers of armor. These bonuses increase by +1 at 4th level and every four levels thereafter, up to a maximum of +8 at 20th level. If the insightful mind is caught flat-footed or otherwise denied his Dexterity bonus, he also loses his bonus to his CMD. This ability replaces the monk’s AC bonus.

Arcane School: At 1st level, an insightful mind gains the wizard’s arcane school ability and gains his first listed school power. At 3rd level, he gains his second listed school power. At 8th level he gains his third listed school power. This ability otherwise functions as arcane school and replaces stunning fist, the reduction to his unarmed strike ability, and still mind.

Unarmed Strike: This is exactly like the monk ability of the same name, except that an insightful mind reduces his unarmed damage dice by one step, as shown on Table: Insightful mind.

Bonus Feats: This is exactly like the monk ability of the same name, except that the insightful mind can also choose a metamagic feat, an item creation, or Spell Mastery. The insightful mind must still meet all prerequisites for these feats, including caster level minimums.

Fast Movement: At 3rd level, an insightful mind’s land speed is faster than the norm for his race by +10 feet. This benefit applies only when he is wearing no armor and not carrying a medium or heavy load. Apply this bonus before modifying the insightful mind's speed because of any load carried or armor worn. This bonus stacks with any other bonuses to the insightful mind's land speed. This changes the monk’s fast movement ability.

Ki Pool (Su): This is exactly like the monk ability of the same name, except that an insightful mind uses his Intelligence modifier instead of his Wisdom modifier to determine his ki pool.

Ki Metamagic (Su): At 8th level, an insightful mind can use his ki pool to reduce the spell cost of using metamagic feats. As a swift action, he can spend a number of ki points up to the level increase of the metamagic feat to reduce it by the same amount (minimum 0). For example, a 4th level insightful mind casts burning hands with the Elemental Spell metamagic feat. This would normally expend a 2nd level spell slot (1st–level spell plus the metamagic feat’s +1 level increase). He can spend 1 ki point as a swift action to reduce the Elemental Spell feat’s level increase to 0, allowing him to cast burning hands with the Elemental Spell feat using only a 1st–level spell slot. An insightful mind can only affect a metamagic spell if he can normally cast it using his available spell slots. Thus, a 7th level insightful could not reduce the level increase of a 1st–level spell using the Maximize Spell feat since he has no access to 4th level spell slots. This ability replaces the reduction to the monk’s fast movement ability.

Ki Mastery (Su): At 20th level, an insightful mind can perform any ki ability for 1 ki point fewer (minimum 0) than usual. If the number of ki points to perform an ability is reduced to 0, the insightful mind can perform this ability as long as he has at least 1 ki point. If a ki ability could already be performed as long as he had at least 1 ki point, he can now perform that ability even when he has no ki points. This ability replaces perfect self.

INSIGHTFUL MIND SPELL LIST

Insightful minds gain access to the following spells.

0-Level Insightful Mind Spells—arcane mark, bleed, dancing lights, detect magic, detect poison, disrupt undead, ghost sound, light, mage hand, mending, message, open/close, prestidigitation, read magic, resistance.

1st-Level Insightful Mind Spells—air bubble, alarm, animate rope, anticipate peril, cause fear, color spray, comprehend languages, detect secret doors, detect undead, disguise self, ear-piercing scream, endure elements, enlarge person, erase, expeditious excavation, expeditious retreat, feather fall, hold portal, identify, jump, ki arrow, magic aura, magic weapon, protection from chaos/evil/good/law, ray of enfeeblement, reduce person, see alignment, shield, silent image, sleep, true strike, ventriloquism.

2nd-Level Insightful Mind Spells—alter self, arcane lock, bear's endurance, blindness/deafness, blood transcription, blur, bull's strength, cat's grace, command undead, create treasure map, darkvision, detect thoughts, eagle's splendour, elemental speech, false life, fiery shuriken, fox's cunning, glitterdust, knock, levitate, locate object, magic mouth, make whole, minor image, mirror image, misdirection, obscure object, owl's wisdom, protection from arrows, pyrotechnics, resist energy, rope trick, scare, see invisibility, share language, share memory, snapdragon fireworks, spectral hand, spider climb, steal breath, whispering wind.

3rd-Level Insightful Mind Spells—aqueous orb, arcane sight, blink, blood biography, clairaudience/clairvoyance, cloak of winds, cloak of winds, deep slumber, dispel magic, displacement, flame arrow, fly, gaseous form, gentle repose, halt undead, haste, hold person, illusory script, keen edge, locate weakness, magic circle against chaos/evil/good/law, magic weapon (greater), major image, nondetection, protection from energy, ray of exhaustion, secret page, seek thoughts, shrink item, slow, tongues, water breathing.

4th-Level Insightful Mind Spells—animate dead, contagion, dimensional anchor, enlarge person (mass), false life (greater), fear, ghost wolf, globe of invulnerability (lesser), illusory wall, mnemonic enhancer, phantasmal killer, rainbow pattern, reduce person (mass), remove curse, scrying, stone shape, stoneskin, wall of fire, wall of ice.

5th-Level Insightful Mind Spells—animal growth, blight, break enchantment, dismissal, fabricate, hold monster, icy prison, interposing hand, magic jar, overland flight, passwall, permanency, planar adaptation, sending, shadow conjuration, telekinesis, transmute mud to rock, transmute rock to mud, wall of force, wall of stone.

6th-Level Insightful Mind Spells—antimagic field, circle of death, contagion (greater), control water, create undead, curse (major, ), disintegrate, dispel magic (greater), enemy hammer, eyebite, flesh to stone, globe of invulnerability, guards and wards, mage's lucubration, move earth, rampart, scrying (greater), shadow evocation, shadow walk, sirocco, stone to flesh, transformation, undeath to death, wall of iron.

Table: Insightful Mind