Origami Master (Origami no Tensai)

"Oni!" The proud samurai thrust the object before Shei' wan and sat back, exhaling smugly. Red lines curved and folded between dark swirls of the paper's design. The replica held in its hand a naginata, bearing even the slight bend of the weapon's blade. The samurai had even seen to incorporate the paper's pattern into the folds - two golden specks made glaring eyes, and a red mon displayed clearly on the creature's face. The creation was so intricate that the assembled audience spent nearly an hour passing it reverently from person to person, admiring the obvious mastery of the art form. The samurai indeed had already won the contest, they whispered.

Shei' wan took a yellow sheet from the lacquered tray on the table between her and her opponent. She held it between her fingers, pulling one of the corners to the other and then repeating the fold with the other. Tuck, crease, fold, pull, bend… time passed, and the form of a yellow oni appeared. It was not obvious that this form was better than the samurai's - indeed it wasn't. Shei' wan's opponent watched in amusement.

"Oni." Shei' wan placed the origami on the table between them. The samurai openly smirked, lifted the paper in his hand, looked at it a minute, and put it back on the table. He looked at Shei' wan with disdain. "You are a fool to proffer such worthlessness."

Not taking his eyes off the man, Shei' wan bent low to the table, and whispered, "Oni."

The table shattered, the oni grew. Within an instant, a great beast with stood between them. Yellow throughout, it boasted a horn rising from the center of its head, broad shoulders and a musculature that would make even samurai tremble. Head and chest above anyone in the room, it looked down, and glared.

The audience was silent.

Oni won.

…..

The origami master is that - a person able to fold nearly anything from a simple piece of paper. What elevates her above the station of a mere artist is the ability to instill reality into the paper replica. Folding a horse makes a horse; making a blade yields an actual katana. While accomplished spellcasters in their own right, the origami no tensai is a true master of the art.

    Hit die: d4

Requirements

Skills Craft (Origami) 10 ranks

Feats Craft Wondrous Item, one more item creation feat

Spellcasting abilities Must be able to cast minor or major creation and at least one of the summon monster spells.

Special If the candidate for this class is a specialist wizard, she can have neither Conjuration nor Transmutation as a schools barred to her.

Skills & proficiencies

Skills The skills of the origami no tensai are typical to a spellcaster and a person who is deft with her hands. They include Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Disable Device (Int), Knowledge (each taken individually, Int), Open Lock (Dex), Spellcraft (Int), and Use Rope (Dex).

    Skill points 2 + Int modifier per level

Proficiencies The origami master is proficient with all simple weapons.

Class features

Spells - Every level the tensai advances also adds to her spellcasting abilities as if she were advancing in her previous spellcasting class. This advancement only applies to the spell slots she earns each day, the levels of the spells she knows, and the total number of spells she is capable of casting (e.g., in the case of a sorcerer). It does not grant her any other benefits of advancing in her previous class. For example, a Wizard 7 / Origami Master 3 could cast spells as if she were a tenth level wizard but would not gain the bonus feat normally granted wizards at tenth level. To cast a spell, a character must have an appropriate ability score equal to 10 plus the spell's level.

Origami - Though a skilled person can create intricate object from simple paper, the origami no tensai has the ability to create actual objects with her craft. That is, the paper she folds transforms into the actual object it depicts.

Effects The effects of this ability are similar to the minor creation, major creation, and summon monster spells (please see the PHB). At first level, an origami master can fold a piece of paper that will transform into any object the minor creation spell could produce. She can also craft a monster that summon monster I or II could conjure. As she advances in experience, she can "cast" higher levels of summon monster as stated in the table below. At fourth level she can fold a piece of origami that can transform in to any object the major creation spell could produce. She can do this a number of times per day, as listed in the table below. The object lasts as long as a normal object created by the appropriate spell. All other effects are based on the tensai's level plus her base spellcasting class.

Process Folding the paper is similar to casting the spell, meaning that it takes 1 minute (minor creation), 10 minutes (major creation) or a single action (summon monster), and the "caster" is susceptible to events that break her concentration (and thus ruin the attempt and count toward one use of the ability for the day). Folding origami always involves somatic "gestures," but requires no speech or material components other than the paper. When finished, the master simply holds the origami in her hand or tosses it on the ground where it transforms into the desired object or creature. To create complex objects with moving parts, the origami master must make a Craft (Origami) check with an appropriate DC (minor creation and major creation normally require an appropriate Craft check for such items).

Origami paper is special in that it usually square and colorful. It also costs twice the normal price of a sheet of paper. One normal sheet of paper can be used to create one object or creature, and paper can be used only once.

Object and creature qualities Objects are creatures created by this ability have the qualities of a normal item or creature of their type (a katana can cut, a kirin can fly). They are susceptible to the forces that a normal object or creature would. The only difference is that they suffer double damage when they fail a save vs. fire.

At the master's option, objects and creatures can retain their origami-like appearance - that is, a large boat would appear as a paper boat (but still float and be capable of carrying a normal load), and a summoned lion would look like a paper lion (but have the normal AC, HD, attacks and so on). Regardless, the color of the object or creature is determined simply by the color of the paper used to create it. While most origami paper is a monochromatic, some has designs (which normally makes it cost triple the normal price). Thus, the objects created are slightly limited - an origami master could create a picture frame but not a picture (unless she wanted a "picture" of a single color). Likewise, coins made from green paper will be green and so forth.

Duration Objects are creatures created with origami last as long as they would were they manufactured by the appropriate spell. When the duration expires, they revert to their nonmagical, folded origami form.  Once so "consumed," a piece of paper cannot be used with this ability again.

Metamagic If the origami master has a metamagic feat, she can apply it to the origami she creates. To do so, she must spend a spell slot equal to the level of the spell the origami mimics plus the appropriate levels according to the feat used. Minor creation is treated as a fourth level spell, major creation as a fifth level spell, and the summon monster spells as appropriate (e.g., summon monster I is first level, summon monster II is second, and so forth). The spell slot spent in this manner is taken from the master's normal spell slots (not the origami slots granted by her class). Thus, if she can't cast a spell of high enough level to add the metamagic feat, she can't apply it to the origami. Metamagic feats cannot be applied to origami made with the Prepare and Permanent abilities (below).  Sorcerers adding metamagic feats to their origami do not increase their "casting time".

Folding origami is normally a silent activity, so Silent Spell is useless in this regard. Still Spell does not remove the basic necessity of manipulating the paper, and so is also useless. Eschew Material (Tome and Blood) does not work when applied to folding origami - paper is still required.

Origami masters do not gain bonus origami slots for high ability scores.

Prepare - At second level the origami master can "prepare" a number of origami equal to her Intelligence bonus (if any). This allows her to fold a piece of paper into the desired object or creature, and then make it become real at a later time. That is, a tensai could fold the replica of a sword, keep the paper in a sleeve, and then turn it into a sword later in the day.

The benefit is that she needs not spend the normal time to fold the paper - causing an origami to become real requires only a standard action. The disadvantage is that she must decide what objects of creatures to create beforehand.

Prepared objects take the appropriate "spell slot" allotted to the tensai. That is, a fourth level tensai can prepare two minor and one major origami, and two monsters. If she prepared a rope, she would have to declare whether it would be a minor or major creation, and then it would take one of those slots. She can tear an origami apart, rendering the slot it occupied free, but she would have to wait a day until she could use that slot again.

Permanent - At fourth level the origami no tensai can craft objects that can be used repeatedly. To do this, she must spend one of her minor, major, or summon monster slots and spend the normal amount of time folding the paper. The paper can then be transformed into the real object or creature upon command as a standard action, as if it were made with the Prepare ability (above). It lasts as long as an object or being would created by the appropriate spell. As long as the origami exists (regardless of its form), it occupies the appropriate slot.

When the duration expires (or when commanded by the tensai), the object reverts to its original (small) paper form, and can be used again. A permanent object or creature can be used in this manner a number of times per day equal to the master's Intelligence bonus divide by two (minimum once per day). If slain or destroyed it cannot be used again (and the origami slot is opened for use again). A permanent origami separated from the master's person for more than 1 day loses all its magical qualities.

At fourth level, the origami master can have in her possession one permanent origami. At seventh level she can have two, and at tenth level three.

The Origami Master

* These columns list the number of origami a master can create and turn into real objects or creatures each day.  Thus, a fourth level master could make two minor and one major origami, and two origami that mimiced summon monster I, II, or III.

Created by exempt at The Wu Jen.