Savant
Spiritual and psychic energies permeate the fabric of the multiverse from the internal energy of the souls of creatures, the natural wellsprings of life in nature, and the overarching memory that is the Collective Conscious. For some, tapping into psychic energies is simply a way to exert control over one’s self or the surrounding world. Certain savants delve into mysticism to gain a sense of inner peace. Others seek to tap such forces to gain immense power.
Psychic energies are complex and require rigorous discipline and understanding to master. Most savants focus on one particular form of study, learning to shape psychic energies in a particular way. This way could be in pursuit of certain psionic disciplines, such as clairsentience and telepathy, or it could be manipulating the energies for specialized pursuits.
Master of the Mind
Seeking to master and control psychic energies, savants often join exclusive orders to pursue learning and share techniques. While psionic power is shaped by will, the understanding of disciplines is a scholarly pursuit. This approach allows savants to more rapidly learn how to shape psychic energies across disciplines.
In some cases, savants might chase experience in more practical applications, and can readily find a place with other adventurers. Savants bring knowledge along with their ability to manipulate and shape psychic power into a wide range of psionic effects that often proves valuable to adventuring.
Creating a Savant
As you craft your savant, you need to determine which psionic discipline your character first studied. This will define what powers you can select and help shape what roles in your adventuring group you can fill or support.
You will want to decide what drove your character to trade its sheltered life of study for one of risk and adventure. Were you bored of study and sought something more practical to further your knowledge? Maybe you were tasked with some labor by your order to prove your place among the learned. You also want to decide how your savant treats others. Perhaps you are haughty and feel mundane people are inferior to your cognitive feats. Maybe psionics are misunderstood and hated or feared, so you take on the role of emissary to challenge those beliefs. As a savant, you’ll find you fill roles similar to spellcasters. Your power selections will determine the reach of your abilities.
Quick Build
You can make a savant quickly by following these suggestions. First, Intelligence should be your highest ability score, followed by Constitution. Second choose the sage background.
The Savant
| Level | Proficiency Bonus | Features | Power Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | +2 | Power Manifesting, Psi Blast | 1 |
| 2nd | +2 | Esoteric Order | 3 |
| 3rd | +2 | Psicrystal | 5 |
| 4th | +2 | Ability Score Improvement | 7 |
| 5th | +3 | Psychic Fortitude | 10 |
| 6th | +3 | Esoteric Order feature | 12 |
| 7th | +3 | Expanded Mind (1) | 14 |
| 8th | +3 | Ability Score Improvement | 16 |
| 9th | +4 | − | 19 |
| 10th | +4 | Esoteric Order feature | 22 |
| 11th | +4 | Expanded Mind (2) | 24 |
| 12th | +4 | Ability Score Improvement | 27 |
| 13th | +5 | − | 30 |
| 14th | +5 | Greater Psicrystal | 33 |
| 15th | +5 | Expanded Mind (3) | 36 |
| 16th | +5 | Ability Score Improvement | 39 |
| 17th | +6 | − | 42 |
| 18th | +6 | Esoteric Order feature | 45 |
| 19th | +6 | Ability Score Improvement | 48 |
| 20th | +6 | Indomitable Will | 51 |
Class Features
As a savant, you gain the following class features.
Hit Points
Hit Dice: 1d6 per savant level
Hit Points at 1st Level: 6 + your Constitution modifier
Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1d6 (or 4) + your Constitution modifier per savant level after 1st
Proficiencies
Armor: None
Weapons: Simple weapons
Tools: None
Saving Throws: Intelligence, Wisdom
Skills: Choose two from Arcana, Deception, History, Insight, Investigation, and Religion
Equipment
You start with the following equipment, in addition to the equipment granted by your background:
- (a) a light crossbow and 20 bolts or (b) any simple weapon
- (a) a scholar’s pack or (b) an explorer’s pack
- 10 darts
If you forgo this starting equipment, as well as the items offered by your background, you start with 3d4 x 10 gp to buy your equipment.
Power Manifesting
1st-level Savant feature
Whether born with latent psychic talent, through mutation, or by being affected upon by some mysterious source, you have the ability to manifest psionic powers with only a concerted thought. See the Power Mechanics section for the general rules of power manifesting and below for the savant power list.
Imprinting Powers
You imprint the list of savant powers that are available for you to manifest. To do so, choose a number of savant powers from a single discipline equal to your proficiency bonus + your Intelligence modifier (minimum of one power).
For example, if you’re a 3rd-level savant with a 16 Intelligence, your list of imprinted powers can include five powers. Manifesting a power doesn’t remove it from your list of imprinted powers.
You can change your list of imprinted powers when you finish a long rest. Imprinting a new list of savant powers requires time spent in meditation: at least 5 minutes for each power on your list.
Power Points
The Savant table shows how many power points you have to augment your savant powers. When you manifest a power, you can expend power points to enhance the power. You can expend a number of power points no greater than your savant level on a single power manifestation. You regain all expended power points when you finish a short or long rest.
Psionic powers differ from spells in that powers can have different expressions when augmented by power points. These different expressions have a similar theme, but the scope and scale can change. For example, the suspension power includes expressions that can affect single targets or an area with different measures of control.
Manifesting Ability
Intelligence is your manifesting ability for your powers. You use Intelligence whenever a power refers to your manifesting ability. In addition, you use your Intelligence modifier when setting the saving throw DC for a savant power you manifest and when making an attack roll with one.
Power save DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Intelligence modifier
Power attack modifier = your proficiency bonus + your Intelligence modifier
Psi Blast
1st-level savant feature
Raw psionic energy can be shaped into a wave of deadly psychic force. As an action, you can make a melee power attack against a creature within 5 feet of you. On a hit, the target takes 1d6 + your Intelligence modifier psychic damage. Your psi blast damage increases by 1d6 at 5th level (2d6), 11th level (3d6), and 17th level (4d6).
Esoteric Order
2nd-level savant feature
A savant chooses one esoteric order to serve as the foundation for its studies. These include the Order of Essence (mind over body), the Order of Force (psychokinesis), Order of Foresight (clairsentient powers), the Order of Substance (spatial powers), and the Order of Thought (telepathy). You gain features at 2nd level, and again at 6th, 10th, and 18th level.
Psicrystal
3rd-level savant feature
You can prepare a special crystal with psionic energy. When you imprint your savant powers after finishing a long rest, you can also imprint a single power into this crystal, your psicrystal. The psicrystal retains the imprinted power until you change it. The psicrystal has its own power point reserve equal to half your savant level (rounded up). It regains all expended power points when you finish a long rest. If you lose your crystal, you can imprint a power into a new crystal, but doing so renders the old crystal inert.
Activating the psicrystal requires it to expend at least 1 power point to augment the power; it can expend a number of power points up to your proficiency bonus on a single expression. Manifesting a power with the psicrystal is an action equivalent to manifesting the power yourself.
The psicrystal can maintain powers without using your concentration, but is subject to interruption as if you were maintaining the power; it uses your Constitution saving throw modifier. The crystal must remain in your possession during the maintenance or the effect ends. Only you can manifest a power through your psicrystal.
Ability Score Improvement
4th-level savant feature
When you reach 4th level, and again at 8th, 12th, 16th, and 19th level, you can increase one ability score of your choice by 2, or you can increase two ability scores of your choice by 1. As normal, you can’t increase an ability score above 20 using this feature.
Psychic Fortitude
5th-level savant feature
You are more resilient against stress caused by maintaining psionic powers at length. When you take damage from the psychic strained condition, you reduce the damage caused from stress by an amount equal to your proficiency bonus (minimum of 0 damage).
Expanded Mind
7th-level savant feature
At 7th level, and again at 11th and 15th level, you can imprint savant powers from one additional discipline of your choice when you imprint your powers.
Greater Psicrystal
14th-level savant feature
Your psicrystal can imprint one additional savant power. The psicrystal can only maintain one power at a time, manifesting a new power that requires concentration with it ends the previous power. In addition, it regains a number of expended power points equal to your proficiency bonus when you finish a short rest.
Indomitable Will
20th-level savant feature
Once per turn, if a target succeeds on its saving throw against one of your powers or one manifested by your psicrystal (but not a psychic item), you can force it to reroll that saving throw. The result of the new save must be used. Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a short or long rest.
Savant Powers
Clairsentience
Psychometabolism