Aeon Walker (3.5e Prestige Class)

Aeon Walker
"I know where my foot shall fall."

Every once so often, a time walker comes along who is truly gifted in their control over time, and who is able to use it to even more magnificent effect than a normal time walker. These time walker are formidable foes, for they can never be seen coming, and they can rarely actually be kept up with. These time walkers are known as aeon walkers, and they are truly clever foes, who are often underestimated.

Becoming a Aeon Walker
Aeon Walkers are daughting, deadly warriors in the heat of battle, twisting time in such ways as to gain the upper hand on the warground. Aeon Walkers are often attracted to weaponry and schools of combat, in the same way that soldiers and generals are fascinated by aeon walkers, and how they can dominate the battlefield the way they can. Due to this, fighters and psychic warriors may find themselves wanting to take a few levels in time walker just for the purpose of taking a level or two of aeon walker.

Class Features
All of the following are class features of the aeon walker.



 (Ex): An aeon walker is someone who can manipulate the flow of time, and, by extension, the flow of combat, with mere pushes of willpower, twisting it and turning it to his fancy. At first level, an aeon walker gains the ability to, as a full-round action, sacrifice a single daily use of his flow of time ability, and immediately either raise one place in order of initiative, or fall one place in order of initiative (at his choosing). If he chooses to rise one place in order of initiative, then his initiative count increases to where the combatant who went before him, is going after him (that combatant also gains an extra turn, after the aeon walker's turn concludes). If he chooses to fall one place in order of initiative, then his initiative count decreases to where the combatant who would be going after him, is suddenly going before him (after the aeon walker's turn concludes, that combatant is treated as having already gone, and is therefore skipped in the initiative count). Additionally, the aeon walkers initiative is changed to the new place in order of initiative for the rest of combat, unless this ability is used again.

 (Ex): An aeon walker is a warrior of time, and knows how to see things coming, especially a battle. This fact leads an aeon walker to always seem to move first when the time comes. At second level, an aeon walker gains the ability to add his Wisdom modifier to his initiative rolls

This ability functions exactly like the time walker ability of the same name. The distortion bonus increases by +1 every other level (2nd, 4th, 6th, 8th, and 10th). If an aeon walker gets a temporal strike bonus from another source the bonuses on damage stack.

 (Ex): Aeon Walkers can see into the future by a split second, and, from this, they can learn where they need to move in order to avoid an attack. At third level, an aeon walker gains evasion. If exposed to any effect that normally allows him to attempt a Reflex saving throw for half damage, he instead takes no damage with a successful saving throw. The evasion ability can only be used if the aeon walker is wearing light armor or no armor.

 (Ex): An aeon walker eventually learns how to twist and warp time into extremely confusing patterns, and seem to move faster than anything, while, from their perspective, they are merely moving at a leisurely rate. Of course, this manipulation does not come without drawback, and at fourth level, an aeon walker gains the ability to bargain with time itself, and pull time from the future, and into the present. This ability can be use one of two ways: The two versions of this ability can be used in conjuction, and in the same turn, but, there are certain matters that arrise when they are. For example, if an aeon walker exchanges his turns standard action for his next turns move action, then attempts to pull an action from his next turn as well, he cannot pull another move action, as that turn would not have any move actions in it. Such matters are simple to see and figure out, but, they need to be kept in mind.
 * An aeon walker can choose to, during his turn, as a free action, sacrifice a single daily use of his flow of time ability, and exchange one of the actions available to him during his turn, with a single action available to him in his upcoming turn. For example, an aeon walker can exchange this turns move action for his next turns standard action, and take two standard actions on his turn, losing the ability to take any move action on his turn, and, on his next turn, only being able to take two move actions and no standard action, unless this ability is used again on that turn. Only standard actions and move actions can be exchanged this way.
 * Or, an aeon walker can choose to pull an action from his next turn altogether, by taking a free action during his turn, and sacrificing two daily use of his flow of time ability. When an aeon walker uses this ability, he may gain a single standard, swift, or move action on his turn, and immediately use it for whatever purpose. Though, on his next turn, he loses the ability to make that particular kind of action (and, if the action pulled is a standard or move action, the ability to make a full-round action), unless this ability is used again, to pull an action from his next turn.

 (Ex): An aeon walker is an impressive warrior in battle, and can seem to keep his cool even when a thousand attacks are pointed at his throat. Starting at fourth level, an aeon walker retains his Dexterity bonus to AC (if any) regardless of being caught flat-footed or struck by an invisible attacker. (He still loses any Dexterity bonus to AC if immobilized.)

 (Ex): An aeon walker is someone who can glance into the future by an instant, see the flow of battle coming, and prepare himself for it. At fifth level, an aeon walker gains the ability to act normally in a surprise round, no matter the circumstances.

 (Ex): For one who can see events before they even take place, being hurt is, at times, actually difficult to manage. This ability, gained at sixth level, works like evasion (see above). An aeon walker takes no damage at all on successful saving throws against attacks that allow a Reflex saving throw for half damage. What’s more, he takes only half damage even if he fails his saving throw.

 (Ex): As an aeon walker grows more and more powerful, he eventually learns how to pull time's flow appart at the seams, and reconstruct it as he see's fit, stopping it, slowing it down, and removing himself from it entirely, even. At seventh level, an aeon walker gains the ability to bend the world itself to his whim, and stretch the borders of probability to a breaking point. This ability can be used in one of three ways:
 * An aeon walker can, as a move action, sacrifice a single daily use of his flow of time ability, and freeze time in it's tracks, sending it skidding off of it's preset track and into nothing. When an aeon walker uses this ability, he is 'shifted' into a world that is an exact copy of the material world, except that all things that existed in the material world, exist as mere statues in this world. This world is a now, an infinitely minute point in time where there is no future coming, and there is no past that has passed. The statues in this world are mere represenations of the placement of all things in the 'real' world at that particular point in time, though, since in the now, there is no future to speak of, altering one of these statues will have no effect on the 'real' world, as nows of the future will still be the same. While in a now, the aeon walker has no need to eat, sleep, or do anything that he would otherwise be required to do in order to survive, he does not heal or recover in any other way that he might be capable of, nor does he age, he is incapable of being harmed, and items and abilities he may have that have an number of uses or charges per day do not regain uses or charges. If he attempts to create an instantaneous effect that does not directly affect him, while in the now, that effect immediately fails, and if he attempts to create an effect with a duration, it instead has no effect, but, when he leaves the now, it's duration begins. The aeon walker can craft an item while in the now, if he wishes to, following the usual rules for creating that particular kind of item, though, he may only take up to 10 lbs. of items that he created while in the now with him when he leaves it. The aeon walker can stay in the now for any period of "time", though, he must always leave eventually, and he is aware of this fact.
 * An aeon walker can also, using this ability, as a free action, sacrificing a single daily use of his flow of time ability, slow time down. When he uses this version of repose of time, he must declare an external duration and an internal duration. The external duration can be any number of rounds ranging from one minute (10 rounds) to one day (14,400 rounds). The internal duration can be any number of rounds ranging from twelve seconds (2 rounds) to thirty seconds (5 rounds). For the external duration he set, the internal duration he set (from his perspective) is equal to a single round of actual time (For example, if he set the external duration for 12 hours, and the internal duration for thirty seconds (5 rounds), then, the 12 hour duration (7,200 rounds) would last for 2 days, 12 hours (36,000 rounds), from his perpsective). This change in time is only relevant to anything directly (or indirectly) dealing with the aeon walker himself, where-as other things are oblivious to (and not affected by) the alteration unless they begin interacting with the aeon walker. For example, if the time walker slows down time to allow his friends to get 8 hours of rest in 1 hour and 36 minutes, then, the rest of the world is only aware of 1 hour and 36 minutes having passed, while those who were involved with, observing, standing near, or otherwise interacting with the aeon walker or something else that is interacting with him, just had 8 hours of time to spend. This effect is useful for attempting to race the clock.
 * Or, an aeon walker could, using this ability, as a free action, sacrificing a single daily use of his flow of time ability, completely remove himself from time altogether. When he uses this version of repose of time, he, and everything he is carrying, vanishes. At any point in time after this, he may reappear, at his choosing, in the exact same orientation and state he was in when he vanished. While he is 'away', he is vaguely aware of the world around the point that he had existed in before when he vanished, but, he is not aware of the passage of time, as he is not part of it, and all events that occur in that area while he is 'away' seem to happen at both the point in time when he vanished, and the point in time when he reappears, meaning that his only way of judging when he's about to come out, is by feeling how much action has taken place. In this way, he can vaguely 'see' the future of that particular area and he may choose to re-enter time at any point, even one minute before a particular action he felt about to take place occurs, and recount what he felt.

 (Ex): Aeon Walkers are supremely aware of the battlefield, and everything that goes on there-in, for they have seen it beforehand. At eighth level, an aeon walker can no longer be flanked. This defense denies rogues the ability to use flank attacks to sneak attack the walker. The exception to this defense is that a rogue at least four levels higher than the aeon walker can flank him (and thus sneak attack him).

 (Ex): As an aeon walker begins to approach his peak, he learns to manipulate time to the point that he can change things, and make it so that he can only exist in the present, meaning that he does not exist in the future or the past, as far as space goes, allowing him to technically never move as he hurtles across the battlefield. At ninth level, while in his flow of time ability, an aeon walker does not provoke attacks of opportunity because of his movement, and he gains the ability to move through occupied spaces as though they weren't occupied.

 (Ex): An aeon walker can move in the blink of an eye, and can attack with such exact prescision, that he can make a dozen attacks before a creature even realizes it left itself open. At tenth level, an aeon walker gains the ability to make a number of additional attacks of opportunity equal to his Wisdom bonus, each round. These extra attacks of opportunity stack with the extra attacks of opportunity gained from the combat reflexes feat.

The epic aeon walker gains a (selected from the list of epic aeon walker feats) every three levels after tenth.

Epic Aeon Walker Bonus Feat List: Blinding Speed, Epic Dodge, Epic Fortitude, Epic Reflexes, Epic Speed, Epic Will, Extended Life Span, Improved Combat Reflexes, Improved Manyshot, Perfect Health, Perfect Two-Weapon Fighting, Superior Initiative, Swarm of Arrows, Uncanny Accuracy.

Playing an Aeon Walker
Combat: On the battlefield, aeon walkers seem to be at home, and can seemingly see attacks coming before even the attacker knows he's going to attack, making them extremely annoying foes to fight, as they dodge every attack, and seem to be in place before it should be possible for him to be there. An aeon walker is a truly daunting foe to go up against, and can seem to outsmart even the most weathered veterans, and overwhelm even the most savage wild men.

Advancement: Aeon walkers will find that they have several avenues of advancement available to them, as one aeon walker may seek to further themselves in the ways of speed and focus, and take levels in duelist or enlightened fist, becoming overwhelmingly focused forces. On the other hand, an aeon walker could seek to improve their ability of aggressision, and begin levelling in undefeated or dwarven destroyer, to sharpen their ability on the battlefeild. Even further still, an aeon walker may seek to know of his enemies, and have them not know of him, taking levels in assassin or unnatural warrior, and becoming undetectable upon the feild of battle.

Resources: While aeon walkers are not wide-spread enough to have developed a particular organizations purely in and of themselves, they often find themselves drawn into warrior guilds and armies, as their skills are extremely desirable for such organizations. After all, aeon walkers are truly taught, daunting fighters. An aeon walker would also quickly befriend a travelling fighter, threat, or commander, for this reason.

Aeon Walkers in the World
"We will fight when you have grown. Now is not the time."

Seasoned warriors, cool-headed duelists, cruel assassins, and clever generals are all natural roles to find an aeon walker filling in their day to day life. As a part of this, aeon walkers are typically seen in arenas and fields of battle, where they seem to find themselves at home. It also seems that, as long as there have been battles to fight, there have been aeon walkers there, sometimes stealing the spotlight of the combat, other times merely as side notes to the war.

NPC Reactions: Everyone reacts to an aeon walker differently. Some people don't even recognize them as aeon walkers at all, and merely pass them off as another of the warrior rabble. When a person does recognize an aeon walker, they might respond with respect for their unusual skill set, apprehension at how they can seem to be in places before they even move, or even paranoia and fear, sprouting from the idea that aeon walkers are all assassins.

Aeon Walker Lore
Characters with ranks in gather information can research aeon walkers to learn more about them. When a character makes a skill check, read or paraphrase the following, including information from lower DCs.

Aeon Walkers in the Game
Aeon Walkers are exceptional warriors. When in the heat of a raging battle, they always seem to be a step ahead of everyone else, despite chaos and a need for split second decision that need to be made. And, at the same time, out of combat, they can steady, sometimes intimidating and almost overwhelming presences to encounter, and who can outwit, outrun, or even overpower others who would be considered 'experts' in their respective fields. It is difficult to deny, aeon walkers are exceptional characters in the world.

Adaptation: Aeon walkers can be redesigned to lock into any puzzle or situation. For example, the professional guards that protect the king with unending fervor could actually all be highly trained aeon walkers who just took up the mantle of a guardsmen. On the other hand, aeon walkers could all simple be ghosts that have been around for a thousand millenniums, and simple have honed their combat ability down to a nearly impossible degree. Yet another situation could arise in which aeon walkers are scholars who have conducted experiments upon their own body, and turned themselves into entities without a timeline, which affords them prowess few are privy to. It is true, aeon walkers can adjust to any storyline or universe.

Sample Encounter: Orin Maske grew up in a cold world, always shunned out into the freezing darkness of the night, always powerless as he saw atrocities acted upon those closest to him, always wishing death upon the evil people of the world, but never getting his wish. Until that is, the day he turned 13 he realized that he had a strange power, the ability to actually see the passage of time, in ways that others couldn't understand. The possibilities rushed through his mind, and so he trained himself, learning to react faster than most believed could be possible, learning to catch birds as they fluttered across the the rooftops of his home town. As he trained, of course, others were watching, noticing his extreme speed and almost precognitive abilities, and they were wary. Some wished to persuade Orin to their side, but others thought he was too good, and that, if they brought him in, their own positions of power might be threatened. So, as a precaution, they sent out mercenaries, to 'deal with' Orin. Strangely enough, though, Orin seemed to have been prepared for them, as though he knew they were coming, and defeated them without much difficulty. After this, those who had been watching him grew wary and fearful, and sent dozens of men after him. In the coming months, the town where Orin had grew up, would slowly become a battered battleground, with scars from where Orin had defeated the mercenaries littering the entire landscape. Orin found that he wasn't actually able to keep this up forever, of course, as he found himself severely wounded one day, having just barely defeated the most recent characters who had been sent after him. So, he left the town, hoping to put an end to his fighting by going onto the road, and keeping away from combat, lest he destroy another town, like he did he home town.

EL 14: