High Wizard

[Arnkel]

Sorry about how disorganized it is.

High Wizard
Wizards differ from Witches and sorcerers in that they practice the Arts of Thaumaturgy. Thaumaturgy breaks reality, as opposed to the bending of reality done by Witches and sorcerers. As such, it is a violent and dangerous process. Thaumaturgy is the dominant form of Arcane Magic(known on Nahwaer as Thaumaturgical Magic). Where sorcerers inherit their bloodlines, and Witches learn from covens or lone hermits, the Wizard is trained in the Arts by attending one of the many Towers Arcane. Specialists are now Prestige classes.
Adventures: Most wizards do not make adventuring into a career, but out of necessity. The material components they require are often very expensive or exceedingly rare and fragile, requiring the wizard to harvest them himself. Additionally, a wizard is always after the Mana, or essence of magic, which often forms at places called Power Nexi(Power Nexus being the singular), or travelling along Ley lines between two Power Nexi.
Characteristics: Wizards are incredibly powerful when they are prepared, able to deal incredible amounts of damage or help on a grand scale. Unprepared however, they are often weak and easy to defeat, though one should never count them out.
Alignment: Very few wizards are Good(because defiling for the mana they require brutalizes Life in the immediate area) or Chaotic(they prefer to study in carefully maintained enviroments).
Religion: Many wizards worship magic itself, or so it is believed by the common folk. The reality is that they reun the gambit from religious zealots to firm atheists.
Background: Wizards are taught at one of the many Towers Arcane, where they study ancient texts and manuscripts under the watchful eyes of powerful teachers. Upon leaving the Towers arcane they find themselves shunned by the common folk because of their incredibly dangerous powers. In some instances, they are even hunted out of fear. Because of this, most wizards end up becoming loners, dwelling as hermits in their lofty towers, as companions to those will deal with them, or they return to the Towers Arcane and become instructors.
Races: Humans make up the vast majority(think over 90%) of wizards, with Wercyn being the most common culture. Other civilized races do have a few wizards, and among the "uncivilized" races there are perhaps, at most a handful. Interestingly, none of the Fae races have had any wizards, instead preferring the path of the sorcerer.
Other Classes: Wizards see the value in having people of other professions around, but it is often a master-servant relationship where the wizard pays for the services of others. Additionally, wizards rarely see the use of other spellcasting classed characters, especially the workers of Divine magic, whom they believe to be completely out of their minds.
Role: Thanks to the large spell list, a wizard's role depends entirely on which spells he has memorized.

Game Rule Information
Wizards have the following game statistics:
Abilities: Intelligence is by far and away the most important ability for a wizard, but all the other abilities are important as well.
Alignment: Any
Hit Dice: d4

Class Skills
The wizard's class skills are Bluff, Concentration, Craft, Decipher Script, Disguise, Intimidate, Jump, Knowledge(All knowledges, taken individually), Profession, Sense Motive, Spellcraft, and Use Magic Device.
Skill Points at First Level: (6 + Int Mod) x 4
Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 6 + Int Mod
Weapon Proficiency Points at First Level: (1 + Int Mod) x 6
Weapon Proficiency Points at Each Additional Level: 1 + Int Mod
Armor Proficiency Points at First Level: (0 + Int Mod) x 6
Armor Proficiency Points at Each Additional Level: 1 + Int Mod

Class Features
All of the following are class features of the Wizard:
Familiar: All wizards start the game with a familiar, in fact, it is one of the first things an apprentice wizard gets after beginning his training. Unlike the standard d20 familiar, the wizard's familiar is not a real creature, but a being formed entirely of magic. The familiar may take the form of any creature or object the wizard wants the familiar to have, and may shift form as a free action. The forms are limited however, by the level of the master(see Wizard Table I: The Familiar). When the familiar shifts form, he retains his hp total, his Intelligence, Wisdom, Charisma scores, as well as his skill ranks. Otherwise, the familiar gains all the new physical properties and special abilities of the creature whose form it wears. A familiar has the same Intelligence, Wisdom, Charisma, and skill ranks as its master, but only half the Hit points. If the familiar dies, the Wizard takes the standard damage for losing a familiar(as in the PHB). He must summon another familiar(a ritual that takes 12 hours + 1 hour per wizard level and costs 1,000 gp/wizard level to do) or he will be unable to use any Supernatural ability provided by the class. Additionally, the Familiar functions as a receptacle for magical energy. When in physical contact with his familiar, the wizard may draw magic from the familiar instead of the surrounding area. A familiar carries an amount of mana equal to the wizard's level multiplied by the multiplier on Wizard Table I: The Familiar. The familiar ceases to exist if the mana is drained to zero, but reappears after a number of rounds equal to its total mana pool. It regains mana at the rate of 1/round.
Table I: The Familiar
Level   Max Size   Max HD   Mana Store
1-3     -2 Steps   1 HD     x3
4-6     -1 Step    3 HD     x4
7-9     Equal      6 HD     x5
10-12   +1 Step    10 HD    x6
13-15   +2 Steps   15 HD    x7
16-18   +3 Steps   21 HD    x8
19+     +4 Steps   28 HD    x9
Grimoire: The Grimoire is the source of the wizard's magic. Most wizards hide their grimoires and carry travelling spellbooks, as destruction of the grimoire forever robs the wizard of his ability to cast spells, kills his familiar, and can age him instantly. A grimoire may appear as any kind of book, scroll, or even slabs of stone. Regardless of form however, the grimoire always has the same statistics. The grimoire has limitless space for copying spells, writing arcane formulas, and even as a journal of the Wizard's exploits. If the wizard who owns it is dead, as in fully dead, not undead, the grimoire reverts to a normal everyday spellbook. For the Statistics of the grimoire see Wizard Table II: The Grimoire.
Table II: The Grimoire
Level  Int   Hardness   hp    Special
1-3    10    14         70    Limitless Memorization
4-6    12    15         80    Extended Life
7-9    14    16         90    Knowledge
10-12  16    17         100   Wizard's Slumber
13-15  18    18         110   Foreknowledge
16-18  20    19         120   Spellcasting
19+    22    20         130   Rejuvination
The Grimoire has a slew of special abilities granted at different levels. The abilities are explained here:
- Limitless Casting: At first level the wizard may, by spending a full round action per spell level to prepare(and assuming he has the mana necessary), the wizard may cast any spell from his grimoire(in essence, he is reading the grimoire and casting at the same time). In addition to the mana, he must also be able to fulfill the vocal, somatic, Focus, and material components at the time the spell is cast. This only works for spells that take 1 round or less to cast.Other spells take a number of time units(usually turns or hours) equal to the spell level in addition to the normal casting time if it is cast in this way.
- Extended Life: By expending 100 xp and 1 hour of ritual for every hit die the wizard has, he may ward off the physical signs(penalties) of aging for a decade. In addition his Life span increases by a decade. It should be noted that though he does not deteriorate, he does still appear to age.
- Knowledge: When using his Grimoire to aid in research, his grimoire provides a +(1/every 2 wizard levels) research bonus that stacks with all other bonuses when using knowledge skills.
- Wizard's Slumber: As a full round action, the wizard may bind his soul into his grimoire. for all intents and purposes he becomes dead. His staff loses its powers, his familiar ceases to exist, and to all but the most powerful wizards, his grimoire appears to be a normal spellbook. In reality, his Grimoire retains its power and sentience. When the wizard enters Wizard's slumber he instructs the Grimoire to release him when certain events occur, decided upon by the wizard himself. Upon entering the slumber, the Wizard and all possessions worn or carried turn to dust. When his soul emerges, dust flies together, and the Wizard is exactly the same as he was when he entered the Wizard's Slumber. In this way, a wizard may be born in one century but arise to fight many centuries later without the costly experiance loss.
- Foreknowledge: By reading his grimoire for a full turn, the wizard may use his grimoire like a Crystal ball. However, this is costly, and requires the expenditure of 1 xp per round when the grimoire is used in such a fashion. Also, this ability allows the wizard to see what has already occured by spending an additional 1 xp/round for each day in the past.
- Rejuvination: A more powerful version of Extended life, by expending 500 xp and 1 hour of ritual for every hit die the wizard may extend his current age category and life span by 100 years. In addition, He may choose whether to continue to appear to age as normal, or he may erase up 50 years of aging. Alternatively,he may the ritual to remove up to 2 points of aging penalties instead of extending his life.
Staff: Without his staff, the wizard cannot focus his spells. The staff has special abilities and statistics(regardless of form) depending on the Wizard's Level(See Wizard Table III: The Staff).The staff can take the form of an actual staff, a wand, rod, or scepter, and the construction doesn't have to make sense(a staff made of crystal shards for instance, with a few small shards orbiting the top). If the staff is broken, the staff explodes for 1d6 damage/ wizard level. In order to create a new staff, the wizard must undergo an elaborate ritual costing 1000 gp and 1 hour per wizard level.
Table III: The Staff
Level   Hardness   hp    Break DC Special
1-2     5          10    8        Cantrips, Deliver Touch Spells, Wizard's
                                  Parry, Vital Transfer, Focus
3-4     8          15    12       Mighty Weapon, Wizard's Strength
5-6     10         30    15       Enchanted Stave 1/day
7-8     15         30    25       Return, Mighty Weapon
9-10    20         40    30       Spell Resistance
11-12   25         40    35       Mighty Weapon
13-14   30         50    40       Enchanted Stave 2/day
15-16   35         50    45       Mighty Weapon
17-18   40         60    50       Staff of Power
19-20   45         60    55       Mighty Weapon
Staves have special powers listed here:
- Cantrips: While the wizard holds on to his staff, he may cast cantrips for no mana cost, even if he doesn't have the cantrip memorized.
- Deliver Touch Spells: The wizard may use his staff to deliver touch spells.
- Wizard's parry: When holding the staff in two hands, the wizard may add his Wisdom bonus to his AC, even when flat footed. Alternately, for the expenditure of 1 mana per point, a wizard may boost his parry score. He is limited to spending a number of points in this fashion equal to his wizard level each round.
- Vital Transfer The wizard may spend mana to repair the staff. For every 4 mana, the wizard heals the staff 5 hp or for every 10 mana, the staff regains 1 charge.
- Focus: By holding his staff in both hands the wizard may replenish his mana token pool. the length of time spent focusing determines the amount of tokens gained: Swift Action: 1 Token; Move Action: 2 Tokens; Standard Action: 3 Tokens; Full Round Action: 4 tokens. Note that drawing mana tokens in this manner causes the same ill effects as normal defiling. The benefit here is that a wizard will never draw excess mana, and therefore will not be burned like he is when he uses standard defiling.
- Mighty Weapon: The wizard may add either a +1 bonus to the staff, or he may take a single +1 price modifier special ability. Alternately he may trade in the +1 price modifer ability or +1 bonus he recieved at earlier levels to get higher price modifier costing abilities.
- Wizard's Strength: Whenever fighting with his staff as a full round action, the Wizard may add his wisdom modifier to his attack and damage rolls. Additionally he gains +2 arcane bonus to all attempts to sunder or disarm an opponent with his staff.
- Enchanted Stave: This ability requires the wizard to grip the staff with both hands. By doing so, the wizard may cast any spell he knows that is 1 level or lower than his max spell level castable as a spell like ability. He may do this only a limited number of times each day(see Wizard Table III: The Staff).
- Return: As a swift action, the wizard may summon his staff, causing it to fly through the air in a straight line, to his outstretched hand. For opposed strength rolls, us the Wizard's Intelligence plus wizard class levels to function as the Wizard's strength. This ability only works within 10'+5' per wizard level. Additionally, the wizard now gains a +2/wizard level bonus to resist disarm attempts when the opponent attempts to disarm his staff.
- Spell Resistance: As long as the wizard grips his staff in both hands, he gains(or adds to any already existing) spell resistance equal to half his wizard level.
- Staff of Power: The wizard enchants the staff to have the same effects as a Staff/Wand/Ring/Rod. The choice is permanant.
Spells: The wizard casts spells drawn from the Wizard spell list(same as the Sorcerer/Wizard List from standard d20) provided he has the spell recorded in his grimoire(travelling spellbooks don't count for this). A wizard needs to choose his spells ahead of time. Unlike normal d20 wizards however, he only needs to memorize a spell once. After it is memorized, he can cast it as many times as he wants to, until he chooses to replace it by memorizing another spell in his grimoire. A wizard may have a number of spells memorized at any given moment depending on spell level and his wizard level as shown on Wizard Table IV: Spell Slots. Additionally, he recieves bonus spell memorization slots depending on his Intelligence score(see the table in the PHB). At first level, a wizard has access to 1 primary school of magic, and 2 secondary schools.
Wizard Table IV: Spell Memorization Slots
Level 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
1     3 1 0 0 - - - - - -
2     3 2 0 0 - - - - - -
3     3 2 1 0 0 - - - - -
4     4 3 2 0 0 - - - - -
5     4 3 2 1 0 0 - - - -
6     4 3 3 2 0 0 - - - -
7     4 4 3 2 1 0 0 - - -
8     5 4 3 3 2 0 0 - - -
9     5 4 4 3 2 1 0 0 - -
10    5 4 4 3 3 2 0 0 - -
11    5 5 4 4 3 2 1 0 0 -
12    5 5 4 4 3 3 2 0 0 -
13    6 5 5 4 4 3 2 1 0 0
14    6 5 5 4 4   3 3 2 0   0
15    6   5 5 5 4   4 3 2 1   0
16    6   6 5 5 4   4 3 3 2   0
17    6   6 5 5 5   4 4 3 2   1
18    6   6 6 5 5   4 4 3 3   2
19    7   6 6 5 5   5 4 4 3   2
20    7   6 6 6 5   5 4 4 3   3
The wizard gains additional schools as he levels. When the wizard casts a spell he must make a Fort Save DC(10 + Spell Level). If the wizard fails, he loses 1d6 ability points(see Wizard Table V: Spell Drain) depending on the school of the spell(he loses from each ability equally if it is a multischool/Ability spell). He must also make an additional Will save(same DC) if the fortitude save fails. This second save, if failed, results in the spell fizzling out. Regardless of whether the spell worked or not, the mana tokens are spent. As with standard d20 wizards, in order to memorize, cast, or learn a spell a wizard must have an Intelligence score of at least 10 + Spell's level. The DC for a save against a wizard's spell is 10 + Spell's level + the wizard's Intelligence modifier.
Wizard Table V: Spell Drain
Ability Drained   Schools
Strength   Conjuration, Divination, Invocation
Dexterity   Illusion, Transmutation
Constitution   Necromancy, Enchantment, Abjuration

Mana Token Pool: A wizard's ability to cast spells is limited by the mana tokens he has available. His mana token limit at any given time is on Wizard Table XI: . In addition, she recieves bonuses to the limit if she has a high Intelligence score. Certain feats and items may also increase the limit. Each spell costs a certain amount of mana tokens to cast. The higher the level of the spell, the more tokens it costs. The cost can be found on Wizard Table VI: Mana Cost
Wizard Table VI: Mana Cost
Spell
Level   Mana
Cost
0   1
1   2
2   4
3   6
4   8
5   10
6   12
7   14
8   16
9   18
  Just as common spellcasters recieve bonus spells per day due to high ability scores, gifted Wizards gain bonuses to their mana token limit. To determine the mana limit gained from a high Intelligence score, use Wizard Table VII: Bonuses to Max Mana Pool for High Intelligence.
Wizard Table VII: Bonuses to Max Mana Pool For High Intelligence
Int Score   0   1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9
10-11       -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -
12-13       -   1   1   1   1   1   1   1   1   1
14-15       -   1   4   4   4   4   4   4   4   4
16-17       -   1   4   9   9   9   9   9   9   9
18-19       -   1   4   9   16   16  16   16  16   16
20-21       -   2   5   10  17   26  26   26  26   26
22-23       -   2   8   13  20   40  40   40  40   40
24-25       -   2   8   18  25   34  45   58  58   58
26-27       -   2   8     18  32   41  52   65  80   80
28-29       -   3   9   19  33   51  62   75  90   107
30-31       -   3   12   22  36   54  76   89  104   121
32-33       -   3   12   24  38   56  78   104 119   136
34-35       -   3   12   27  48   66  88   114 144   161
36-37       -   4   13   28  49    76  98   124 154   188
38-39       -   4   16   31  52    77  110   136 166   200
40-41       -   4   16   36  57   84  117   156 186   220
42-43       -   4   16   36  64   91  124   163 208   242
44-45       -   5   17   37  65   101 134   173 218   269
46-47       -   5   20    40  68   104 148   187 232   283
48-49       -   5   20   45  73   109 153   205 250   301
50-51       -   5   20   45  80   116 160   212 272   323
  Your mana pool degrades over time, and mana not used seeps out at a rate of 1/turn(10 rounds).
  Additionally, having mana in your mana Token Pool makes you easier to detect. All creatures get a Wisdom check to detect wizards who have mana in them. The DC is (5+Wizard's level-[Mana pool/2)

Defiling: This is the standard, but most dangerous method by which a wizard gains mana tokens for the casting of spells. To do this, a wizard needs only to concentrate. The length of time a wizard concentrates and where he concentrates determines how many mana tokens he gains. The side affect however is that all living creatures in a radius in feet equal to the number of mana points taken divided by the wizard's level loses hp equal to the mana tokens taken. Excess Mana, drawn over the Wizard's limit causes Mana burn, damaging the Wizard's hp. By using a Ley line, a Wizard gains a mana point buffer on his defiling radius and defiling damage as he is drawing from the ley line/power nexus and not the surrounding life force. A wizard may not focus his staff and defile in the same round.
Wizard VIII: Defiling
   Location
Action     Urban Mountain Desert Plain Forest Rough Hill Coast Swamp Sub
Free(1/rd) -     4        2      2     4      -     -    2     4     4
Immediate  -     8        4      4     8      -     2    6     8     8
Swift      -     12       6      6     12     2     4    8     12    12
Move       -     16       8      8     16     4     8    12    16    16
Standard   1     20       10     12    20     6     12   14    20    20
Full Round 2     24       12     16    24     8     16    18    24    24

Ley Lines(Su): By concentrating, the wizard may tap into ley lines by using his staff. This allows him to cast spells at greatly reduced costs. A wizard gains additional Ley Line abilities depending on his level.
- Detect Ley Lines: At 4th level the wizard is able to detect Ley Lines and Power Nexuses within 1'/wizard level.
- Anchor Ley Line: At 7th Level, a wizard may make a caster level check. If he succeeds he makes it so only he may use the Ley Line or Power Nexus. The DC for this Check is the Nexus'/Line's Power Level x 4.
- Traverse Ley Line: At 10th level, this ability allows a wizard to travel instantly a number of miles along a ley line or nexus web equal to his wizard level each round.
- Construct Ley Line: At 13th level, by expending 1000 xp/Power level a wizard may raise a raise a Ley Line's level temporarily, or may connect 2 power Nexuses.
- Construct Power Nexus: At 16th level, by expending 5000 xp/Power level, a  Wizard may create a Power Nexus or temporarily increase the level of an existing Nexus.
- Nexus: The wizard becomes a walking level 1 Power Nexus.

Scribe Scoll: At 1st level, the wizard gains scribe scroll as a bonus Feat

Bonus Feats: At 6th, 10th, 14th, and 18th level, the wizard may take a bonus feat from the standard d20 Wizard Bonus feat  list.

Aspect of Power(Su): As a result of channeling magical energy through their bodies and back into the world, a wizard develops a variety of subtle, perhaps unnerving magical abilities. These aspects of power reflect the slow alterations to to wizard's body and soul over a lifetime of intense occult study. All aspects of power have a caster level equal to the wizard's character level. Each time you gain an aspect of power, select a new ability. In order to use the abilities, you must have at least 1 token in your mana pool to use any aspect of power abilities. Use of many of these abilities requires a successful Concentration check; some of the abilities can cause unfortunate side effects when you roll a one.

Greater Aspect of Power(Su): Each time you gain this ability, you can either improve one of your aspects of power or gain a new aspect of power that you do not possess.

Ex-Wizards
Wizards who lose their staves, grimoires, or familiars are truly in dire peril. In the unlikely event that they survive the loss, it is an expensive process to regain the staff or familiar. In the case of the grimoire, the character's power is entirely broken, and he loses all the supernatural, spell-like, and spellcasting abilities of the Wizard Class forever. His staff ceases to function, and his familiar fades from existance.


Wizard Table X
Lvl BAB   BMB ADB PDB Fort Refl Will Special
1   +0     +0  +3  +0  +0   +0   +2   Familiar, Grimoire, Staff, Scribe
                                     Scroll, Spellcasting, Mana Pool,
                                     Aspect of Power, Defiling
2   +1     +0  +3  +0  +0   +0   +3   -   
3   +1     +0  +4  +0  +1   +1   +3   Tertiary School
4   +2     +1  +4  +1  +1   +1   +4   Ley Lines
5   +2     +1  +4  +1  +1   +1   +4   All Schools, Aspect of Power
6   +3     +1  +5  +1  +2   +2   +5   Bonus Feat
7   +3     +2  +5  +2  +2   +2   +5   -
8   +4     +2  +5  +2  +2   +2   +6   -
9   +4     +2  +6  +2  +3   +3   +6   -
10  +5     +3  +6  +3  +3   +3   +7   Bonus Feat
11  +5     +3  +6  +3  +3   +3   +7   Aspect of Power
12  +6/+1 +3  +7  +3  +4   +4   +8   -
13  +6/+1 +4  +7  +4  +4   +4   +8   -
14  +7/+2 +4  +7  +4  +4   +4   +9   Bonus Feat
15  +7/+2 +4  +8  +4  +5   +5   +9   Greater Aspect of Power
16  +8/+3 +5  +8  +5  +5   +5   +10  -   
17  +8/+3 +5  +8  +5  +5   +5   +10  -
18  +9/+4 +5  +9  +5  +6   +6   +11  Bonus Feat
19  +9/+4 +6  +9  +6  +6   +6   +11  Greater Aspect of Power
20  +10/+5+6  +9  +6  +6   +6   +12  -   
Wizard Table XI
Wizard  Mana    Primary Secondary Tertiary  Other
Class   Token   School  School    School    School
Level   Limit   Limit   Limit     Limit       Limit
1   12   2   1   0   0   
2   15   2   1   0   0   
3   18   3   2   1   0   
4   21   3   2   1   0   
5   24   4   3   2   1   
6   27   4   3   2   1   
7   30   5   4   3   1   
8   33   5   4   3   2   
9   36   6   5   4   2   
10   39   6   5   4   2   
11   42   7   6   5   3   
12   45   7   6   5   3   
13   48   8   7   6   4   
14   51   8   7   6   4   
15   54   9   8   7   5   
16   57   9   8   7   5   
17   60   9   9   8   6   
18   63   9   9   8   6   
19   66   9   9   9   7   
20   69   9   9   9   7   
Wizard  Lore    Tactics Social  Other
Class   Feat    Feat    Feat    Feat
Level   Mastery   Mastery   Mastery Mastery
1   2   1   1   -
2       2   1   1   -
3       3   2   2   -
4       3   2   2   -
5       4   3   3   1
6       4   3   3   1
7       5   4   4   2
8       5   4   4   2
9       6   5   5   3
10      6   5   5   3
11      7   6   6   4
12      7   6   6   4
13      8   7   7   5
14      8   7   7   5
15      9   8   8   6
16      9   8   8   6
17      10   9   9   7
18      10   9   9   7
19      10   9   9   7
20      10   9   9   7

[brainface]

You seem to have houserules and additions from all over the place, man. :). This guy's gonna be more powerful than a normal wizard by far, but i assume you're changing all the other classes as well?

couple things i saw:

Aspect of Power(Su):

In the case of the grimoire, the character's power is entirely broken, and he loses all the supernatural, spell-like, and spellcasting abilities of the Wizard Class forever.[/quote]Mighty Weapon: The wizard may add either a +1 bonus to the staff, or he may take a single +1 price modifier special ability. Alternately he may save up the Mighty weapons and buy more powerful price modifier special abilities at a later point. The staff gains the abilities as a free action, and it may not be altered once applied.[/quote]
it may be better to simply let the wiz switch out enchantments whenever they gain the ability again. (so they could take flaming, then, when they next got the ability, they could get flaming burst. or switch out to holy. whatever.)

Sucking now in exchange for power later isn't really fun. (i know, cuz it's been a point of gameplay in every final fantasy game, past 1.)

[Poseptune]

Limitless casting - 2 or more consecutive rounds to cast a spell seems a bit excessive. I donâ,¬,,¢t see anybody using this ability in combat with a 3rd or higher level spell. If he takes damage does he have to succeed on concentration checks? If he prepares a spell in this way, how long does he have before he must cast the spell? Immediately or is it stored?

Wizardâ,¬,,¢s slumber- What happens if the Grimoire is taken or his ashes have blown away in the wind? If the book is destroyed is the Wizardâ,¬,,¢s soul released or destroyed as well? How many soul release conditions can he place on the book before his slumber?

I havenâ,¬,,¢t finished reading it yet, but it looks as though it is a lot more powerful than the PHB wizard. I donâ,¬,,¢t know if that is what you were trying to make and I havenâ,¬,,¢t finished it, but that is the way it looks from what I have read. I know they are limited by the staff and grimoire, but not many DMâ,¬,,¢s would try to steal or destroy these items because they would make the character almost completely useless. Iâ,¬,,¢ll read more and comment later.

[Arnkel]

Brainface: 1) Yes, the other classes are all getting major overhauls in a similar manner. These guys pick their teeth with the classes in the PHB.
           2) I've got a list of them somewhere, my player who happens to be playing this class right now may have it.
           3) That's the idea. I've always liked stories where that could happen, such as in The Prydain Chronicles by Loyd Alexander when Acheron lost her powers. Additionally, there MAY be a way for a for a wizard to gain a new grimoire, but at this point in my campaign setting, no wizard who has ever lost his grimoire(and it has happened a couple of times to NPCs) has been able to get a new one. Most PCs usually don't bring their grimoires with them, instead leaving them under lock and key that only they can get into(the player I have currently has it encased in a boulder deep under his tower).
           4) That's a good idea, I'll change it in a moment.
Neptune: 1) The excessive length of time is because the wizard has to spend time actually looking up and going over the spell before he can cast it. Remember, these are spells he didn't memorize. Had he memorized the spell, and still had mana available, he could cast that spell as many times as he wanted(well, until his mana ran out and he decided not to get more). He only needs to make a concentration check when damaged, only if the damage occured during the round when he is actually casting the spell.
          2) he still remains in Wizard's slumber. If the ashes are blown away, he reforms out of any dust and tiny scraps that are present near his spellbook. The Wizard will always reform within a few feet of the spellbook, whether his ashes are there or not.

[brainface]

On limitless casting: would a wizard have to be standing over his (most likely hidden and warded) grimoire to do this? So you'd expect this ability to be used maybe by a cornered npc wizard, and not a player?

(i like this guy. it's obviously blatantly overpowered compared to core classes, which is going to muck up any number of things which you'll then have to fix (CR), but giving every class a number of fanciful abilities is just cool.)

[Arnkel]

The wizard would have to be standing over it, and looking through it(hence why it takes so long to cast the spell). Some of my players didn't like the fact that a wizard can only cast the spells he has memorized, so I allow this as the way to cast spells you didn't bother memorizing.

CR? heck, I threw that idiotic thing(and the currency system, the Treasure per level stuff, and a couple other things) straight out the window in trade for logic, well, my logic anyway. If the players are too dumb to have their characters run the hell away from a horde of monsters that could rip them a new one, it's their own fault for not withdrawing. And that's stated up front before they even pick up the dice. Having said that, attrition in my campaigns(the non-Dark Sun, non-Ravenloft ones which have numbered in some cases in 3 digit numbers) is remarkably low, losing maybe 1 character per party over 5 levels, and then it's usually b/c the player decided to drop out of the game b/c of scheduling problems, although, kobolds do happen.