Custom Prestige: Monk of the Shattered Mirror

[Nietzscheese]

Monk of the Shattered Mirror
   The Monks of the Shattered Mirror, through years of practice and concentration, have mastered the unique ability of manifesting duplicates of themselves.  The ‘trick’ was first developed by a monk as an exercise for focusing one’s mind and developing a higher level of consciousness and the understanding of reality and perception.  This understanding of perception grew into a control of perception.  Thus through the utilization of the same energy that imbues a monks unarmed strike with magical energy, a Monk of the Shattered Mirror is able to produce the effects of the spell Mirror Image.  The combat applications of this skill were at first not viable due to its difficulty to maintain; it required an immense amount of concentration.  However, over the years some monks have gained a greater control over this skill through their focus and dedication in mastering it.  This control allows them to manifest and maintain this ability on the battle field.  The sad truth is that many who study this technique have forgotten its humble origin in meditation and seek only its benefit in combat.
Hit Die: d8.

Requirements
Skills: Knowledge (Arcana) 8 ranks, Concentration 8 ranks.
Abilities: Ki Strike (Magic).
Feats: Skill Focus (Concentration).

Class Skills  Balance (Dex), Climb (Str), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Escape Artist (Dex), Jump (Str), Knowledge (Arcana) (Int), Knowledge (Religion) (Int), Listen (Wis),  Perform (Cha), Profession (Wis), Sense Motive (Wis), Spot (Wis), Swim (Str), and Tumble (Dex).
Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier.



L   BAB   F     R     W   Special
1   +0   +2   +2   +2   Shattered Mirror
2   +1   +3   +3   +3   Heightened Threat
3   +2   +3   +3   +3   Elusive Figments
4   +3   +4   +4   +4   Evasive Figments
5   +3   +4   +4   +4   Greater Shattered Mirror



Class Features
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A Monk of the Shattered Mirror gains no new proficiencies in weapons or armor.
Monk Abilities (Ex): A Monk of the Shattered Mirror continues in some of the learning of traditional monk abilities.  Levels in this class stack with that of a normal monk for determining a monk’s AC bonus, unarmed strike damage, as well as a monk’s unarmored speed bonus.  It does not stack for any other abilities.
Shattered Mirror (Sp): The trademark ability of this class is to manifest illusory duplicates of one’s self.  You must first succeed on a Concentration check (DC 15), this is done as a move action.  If successful, you create 1d4 images plus one per class level to a maximum of eight images total (as the spell Mirror Image except as noted here).  These figments separate from you and remain in a cluster each within 5 feet of at least one other figment or you.  You can move into and through a mirror image.  Furthermore, you may share a square with any number of your images as they constantly move through you and each other.  When you and the image separate, observers cannot use vision or hearing to tell which one is you and which the image.  The figments act seemingly freely of your actions but in perceived logical manners.  One may attempt to dodge attacks while another seems to be drinking a potion, all while you take normal actions (these actions can be random or you may decide what actions they take provided that it is within reason and pertaining to your perception of the scenario.)  Enemies attempting to attack you or cast spells that target you must select among indistinguishable targets.  Generally, this is done by rolling randomly to determine a target.  Any successful attack against a figment destroys it.  A figments AC is 10 + your size modifier + your Dex modifier.  You can continually move through figments so that enemies who have learned which image is real are again confused.  An attacker must be able to see the images to be fooled by them.  These figments last for 1 minute per class level.  You may use this ability 1 + Wis modifier times per day.

Heightened Threat (Ex): While the Shattered Mirror ability is manifest, you appear to pose a greater threat to opponents as they are uncertain from where your attack will come thus granting allies a better opportunity to strike.  Whenever an ally makes an attack on an enemy that you flank, they gain an additional +1 on their attack roll for every two figments (rounded down) you have manifest.  This is in addition to the normal bonus of +2 that flanking grants.  For example; if a Monk of the Shattered Mirror had 5 figments manifest, any ally he offered a flank to would receive a +4 to their attack roll (+2 from normal flanking rules, +2 from the 5 figments)

Elusive Figments (Su): The AC of the figments created by Shattered Mirror now benefit from your Monk’s AC bonus (including a Monk’s Wisdom bonus).  This is in addition to the normal modifiers that affect a figment’s AC.  For example, the figment created by a human Level 5 Monk/Level 3 Monk of the Shattered Mirror with a Wisdom of 16 and Dexterity of 16 would have an AC of 17 (10 + 3 Dexterity + 3 Wisdom + 1 Monk AC bonus)

Evasive Figments (Su): Your ability to avoid damage through your reflexes now extends to your figments.  Any time that you successfully avoid damage with a reflex save that would normally deal damage to your figments as well, you may make a special reflex save for each figment using your base reflex save and dexterity bonus only.  If successful they take no damage as well.  If for any reason you lose the monk ability of evasion you lose this ability as well.  
 
Greater Shattered Mirror (Su):  At level 5 a Monk of the Shattered Mirror can produce much more powerful figments.  An opponent cannot determine that the figments created are illusions through the means of magic divination such as True Seeing.  These figments have a more tangible impact on reality, thus their footsteps now produce sounds and they share a common scent as you preventing the use of scent or tremorsense in determining the real image.  Furthermore, these images share a piece of your essence with you.  They seem to echo your thoughts and mirror your life force; thus the use of detect life, detect thoughts, read thoughts, and true seeing as well any other applicable spell no longer assist in determining the real image.


****This is a class I've been messing with for some time.  I really liked 'Multiple Man' of the X comics in the 90s.  Wanted to make his ability something playable but still reasonable and not broken.  If anyone has any thoughts or advice on this class it would be greatly appreciated.  I've done a little playtesting.  Surprisingly it lost about 60% of one on one battles with a fighter of equal level; the big difference was damage output in that battle though...the fighter had enough attacks to cut through images until he was cutting into monk.
Origionallly it had a different ability instead of 'evasive figments' so it lost outright to most casters...fireball = no images.  havent playtested it since the change.

[weenog]

I'd say it's too front-loaded.  A 2-level dip gets you mirror image 1+Wis times per day, which will be a lot for any decent Wis-based character, and the ability to provide everyone else with a free Vexing Flanker feat.  The mirror images are also significantly better than real mirror images even before you start boosting them with additional class features, what with being unable to distinguish them with hearing, and with being able to perform different actions from you entirely... this seems to be what you're going for, but it's too much, too early.

After reading the first paragraph, I expected this to be something like the Swiftblade, except with mirror image and monk abilities instead of haste.  I think that would be a good direction to go.  Take a look at the class if you haven't already, and consider revising this class to look more like that one.  Stretch it out into 10ish levels, spread the abilities out so it's not so front-loaded anymore (really, the main reason not to dip this is the garbage Skill Focus requirement, and there are ways to get that essentially free), and either mix it with some spellcasting, give it more unique abilities, or let it progress more of what a monk gets normally (this last option probably isn't a good one, monk is a scattered mess that doesn't work well with itself).

It's kind of an interesting idea, though... sort of like a summoner's instant army, except yours is totally fake.

[Nietzscheese]

I could revise uses and durations to be more based on levels in the class.  That would make it so dipping into the class isn't really an option.  I guess I thought the 5th level ability was tempting enough to stick in the class.  And entry is fairly restrictive due to the ki strike.  I want to keep it as a 5 level prestige just because the overall gaining of mirror image (from my playtesting anyway) has proven to be not as powerful as I had imagined.  I could probably stack abilities at odd levels too.

Would a duration of class level + wisdom mod rounds work better?

[Prime32]

Kage bunshin no jutsu!

There's a class in Hyperconscious (astral zealot?) which is something like this, except that it can also do stuff like absorb the projections as armour.

[Nietzscheese]

Kage bunshin no jutsu!

There's a class in Hyperconscious (astral zealot?) which is something like this, except that it can also do stuff like absorb the projections as armour.

I'll have to take a look at that; is 'Hyperconscious' a D20 game or a suppliment or something else?

@Weenog

Started thinking about making it a 10 level prestige and it seems like the right direction.  I'll just leave the 'Greater Shattered Mirror' ability at 5 or 6 because i feel like at higher levels mirror image is pretty sub par without it; at least for my group.  Every caster has true seeing, half the monsters have blindsight/tremorsence/scent and nearly all other threats have something they can do to get around it. Our group is pretty big on invisibility & greater invisibility & stealth in general so our DMs respond as such.

[Prime32]

I'll have to take a look at that; is 'Hyperconscious' a D20 game or a suppliment or something else?

It's a supplement written by the creator of the Expanded Psionics Handbook, and without a doubt the most well-respected third-party 3.5e product around.

The PrC is based around a power called throw ectoform, which costs 1XP. The first level of the class removes the XP cost.

[PhaedrusXY]

I'd say it's too front-loaded.  A 2-level dip gets you mirror image 1+Wis times per day, which will be a lot for any decent Wis-based character, and the ability to provide everyone else with a free Vexing Flanker feat.  The mirror images are also significantly better than real mirror images even before you start boosting them with additional class features, what with being unable to distinguish them with hearing, and with being able to perform different actions from you entirely... this seems to be what you're going for, but it's too much, too early.

Meh. You're still a monk. You need this kind of boost. And it's only 1 spell. Compare this to what a real caster is getting at this level, and you'll see that this is still weaksauce.