Building Bhakashal - New Classes - The Cavoral

 The Cavoral

The Caveral is a subclass of warlock that specializes in evocation magic. In addition to this focus, the cavoral delivers their spells through dance. Each spell is represented by a series of motions carried out by the Caveral, all Cavoral spells have somatic components only. 

Hit Dice: d8

Experience Progression: As Spartan (Monk)

Armor: None

Weapon Proficiency Starting, Penalty and Progression*: As Spartan (Monk)

*note: there are no weapon restrictions on Cavorals, but they cannot carry weapons that will impede their movement, so they tend to have fewer weapons but gain greater expertise with them, e.g. use their weapon proficiency slots to improve existing weapons (+1/+1 per slot according to the Proficiency Bonus rules) rather than taking new ones at each opportunity.

 

Ability score minimums: 

Caverals require high stats in several areas, as their spell casting involves physical discipline. Their initial spread of stat is as follows:

DEX 12 STR 12 CON 14 INT 15

 

Those stats not given a value have a value of 9. 

Add 3 points anywhere desired, collectively or individually

Deduct 1 point from something

Abilties

1. AC, Move as Spartan (monk) of equivalent level 

2. Open Hand* attacks per round and damage, stun and kill odds as Spartan (monk) of equivalent level. 

2. Deflection of missiles and saving throw damage reduction as Spartan (monk) of equivalent level

*Note the open hand attacks of the cavoral resemble martial arts moves from Karate to Aikido to Judo to Capoeira, as well as Parkour, it is not uncommon for a Cavoral to flip off a wall to land a kick, or to do a handspring and land a blow in its culmination. 

Spell Casting

When a cavoral is training as an apprentice they take one item from their possession, it must be at least 4’ long, that item is the cavoral’s circle tracer.

Just like regular magic users have read magic, cavorals have the spell, “Trace the Circle”. Every Cavoral has this spell in memory, and when cast it makes their chosen item into a circle tracer. If it is destroyed, the cavoral must enchant a new one. If the Cavoral has cast all of their 1st level spells for that day, they must rest to cast it again and cannot cast spells until this is done.

The Cavoral trains for months to be able to draw a quick and relatively geometrically accurate circle around them. The circle is 5’ radius centered on the cavoral. All spell casting takes place inside this circle. Once the cavoral has laid down the circle with their item it functions as a protective circle: 2 point penalty to any attack against them, +2 bonus on any saves, and it hedges summoned and conjured creatures. 

It takes two segments to trace the circle, so add 2 to the casting time for the spell for the first round of combat, then after casting times are as listed. All spells take the same amount of time to cast as listed, generally 1 segment per level. 

The closest parallel to the spell-casting dance of the cavoral is a combination of capoeira and breakdancing, it is ground hugging, with explosive vertical leaps, bends, stretches, rolls, rises, drops, spins, flips dives and slides using the whole body, as well as movements of the arms, hands, feet, legs and head, all of which combine to cast their spells. 

Starting and final position and pose matter as much as the movements. A given sequence of these moves accompanies every spell, and must be carried out exactly from within the circle. 

If the circle is broken, the enchantment lasts for a number of additional rounds equal to the level of the caster before having to be retraced. This does not require the spell Trace the Circle, just the Cavoral’s Circle tracer. If the cavoral has no access to an object to use as a circle tracer, they can do so with their feet, they must cast circle tracer on themselves then walk an exact circular path. They must cast Trace the Circle on themselves once per day to do this. 

If a cavoral takes damage while casting a spell their dance is broken and the spell casting stops. However, the spell is not discharged or lost from memory. 

When the spell culminates the movement of the dance should manifest the result. To give a few examples:

Magic Missile - the cavoral does a spin of some sort, on hand, back, body, that culminates in one of their hands being thrust forward, and the energy, in the form of a sizzling purple sphere the size of a baseball, flies forth from there. 

Wall of Fire - The casting time for this spell is 4 segments, so that’s 24 seconds, in that time the cavoral will do a bend, a slide, and a stretch, then culminate by placing the hands behind their back touching, then bringing them around to the front where they touch again. As they separate from behind the cavoral a wall of fire appears in the air behind them, as they bring the hands forward the wall of fire forms and surrounds the cavoral, and when the hands meet in the front, the wall of fire closes the circle in front of them.

Shield - The cavoral springs upwards once landing with one foot pointing forward, again with one foot pointing right, then backward, then to the left. On the last landing the Cavoral spreads her hands out describing a “W” and the shield is manifested by a shimmer and flux in the air.

These are just for flavor, but should be suggestive.

Cavorals have the spell acquisition rules and the spells per day progression of a warlock. 

Spells Cavoral

Level / Spell Title

1 Hagellan's Thunderous Staff

1 Kansharr’s Darting Wasps

1 Magic Missile 

1 Morlan’s Dagger of Darkness 

1 Rillistan’s Shadow Weapon 

1 Rinnimar’s Chilling Touch 

1 Shield

1 Tenser's Floating Disc

1 Trace the Circle

2 Control Gasses

2 Fire Trap

2 Lyre Penwith’s Hidden Pockets 

2 Stinking Cloud

2 Web

3 Fireball

3 Glyph of Warding

3 Lightning Bolt

3 Miasma

3 Soromon’s Steps 

3 The Black Mist of Jax 

3 Thunder

4 Airot Civ’s Minor Shadow Walk

4 Candlin’s Minor Destruction 

4 Dig

4 Fire Shield

4 Fire Trap

4 Ice Storm

4 Illeana’s Raise the Chorus

4 Moorlith’s Rapidly Oscillating Strike

4 Raggelash’s Blackened Rain

4 The Penetrating Visor of Illyin Moonsabre

4 Tonnerath’s Torn Shadows

4 Wall of Fire

4 Wall of Ice

4 Wind Hammer

5 Bigby's Interposing Hand

5 Candlin’s Major Destruction

5 Cloudkill

5 Cone of Cold

5 Flame Strike

5 Ghanna’s Shadow Shield 

5 Higgenbotham’s Cantilever 

5 Wall of Fire

5 Wall of Force 

5 Wall of Iron

5 Wall of Stone

6 Bigby's Forceful Hand

6 Create Tulpa

6 Guards and Wards

6 Otiluke's Freezing Sphere 

6 Spiritwrack

6 Tenser's Transformation

6 The Emerald Lanthorn of Abinrus

6 The Stealthy Shadow Archers of Shon-Sinn

7 Bigby's Grasping Hand

7 Chariot of Sustarre

7 Delayed Blast Fireball

7 Demon Chain

7 Fire Storm

7 Hammer of the Gods

7 Lansharr’s Celerius Spatial Fugue 

7 Mereon’s Ebony Ribbons 

7 Mordenkainen's Sword

8 Bigby's Clenched Fist

8 Incendiary Cloud

8 Bigby's Crushing Hand

9 Meteor Swarm

Notes on New Spells

Cavorals get access to a number of new illusionist spells. Illusionists (phantasmists in Bhakashal) have access to spells that manipulate negative plane energy and shadow energy. So many of these spells (usually having “black” or “ebony” in the name) make up a number of the new spells available to them.

Note that if a Cavoral spell enchants a weapon the cavoral does not need to stay in the circle to use it.