Xallace
2012-08-05, 08:16 PM
THE UNKINDNESS
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9ktjx62oGdc/Tuio4FmJkKI/AAAAAAAAAsM/_wkV90jltR8/s1600/murder%2Bof%2Bcrows.jpg
Image from here (http://sister-sleep.blogspot.com/2011/12/murder-of-crows.html)
”You’re worried about making me angry? Oh, no no, you got it all wrong. You shouldn’t be worried about me. You should worry about them.”
Warlocks must deal with dark powers by their very nature. Demons, fae, staring stars, spider goddesses, even glorious and terrible angels grant the warlock their unique abilities. But most never know where it is their powers exactly derive from - some vague darkness generations back that has tainted their family since. A few realize themes in their abilities, and can piece together potential progenitors for their curses.
An Unkindness has a particularly strange clue to his origin. It’s innocuous at first - he studies the arcane ways of his fellow magicians and performs the ritual to summon a familiar. What he’s unaware of - how could he be otherwise? - is that this ritual unlocks something deep within his curse. He has tapped into his progenitor in a way he could never prepare for. In a matter of months, weeks, even days, his transformation begins... and there is nothing that can stop it.
BECOMING AN UNKINDNESS
All Unkindnesses have some ability as a warlock, although some have training as a wizard or sorcerer. The quickest way to become a member of this class is to take warlock from the start and acquire the Obtain Familiar feat.
ENTRY REQUIREMENTS
Invocations: Eldritch Blast, Hungry Darkness
Special: Must possess a raven familiar.
Class Skills
The Class Name's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Bluff (Cha), Craft (Int), Handle Animal (Cha), Hide (Dex), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (Arcana) (Int), Knowledge (Nature)(Int), Knowledge (religion)(Int), Knowledge (the planes)(Int), Move Silently (Dex), Profession (Wis), Sense Motive (Wis), and Use Magic Device (Cha).
Skills Points at Each Level: 2 + int
Hit Dice: d6
{table=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special
1st|
+0|
+0|
+0|
+2|A Murder Most Foul
2nd|
+1|
+0|
+0|
+3|Quoth the Raven, Voracious Darkness
3rd|
+2|
+1|
+1|
+3|A Murder Most Foul (Second Commands), Sparing the Master’s Flock
4th|
+3|
+1|
+1|
+4|Internalized Unkindness
5th|
+3|
+1|
+1|
+4|Thousand Talon Blast
6th|
+4|
+2|
+2|
+5|A Murder Most Foul (Third Commands), Empathic Commands
7th|
+5|
+2|
+2|
+5|An Unkind Departure
8th|
+6|
+2|
+2|
+6| Hungry Tenebrous
9th|
+6|
+3|
+3|
+6|A Murder Most Foul (Final Commands)
10th|
+7|
+3|
+3|
+7|Mortal Never More, A Sudden Departure[/table]
Weapon Proficiencies: The Unkindness neither gains or loses proficiency with any weapons or armor.
Arcane Caster Level: Levels of Unkindness stack with a single other class in which you have levels for the purpose of increasing spells known, spell per day, invocations known, grade of invocations used, and eldritch blast effective spell level and damage. Once this choice is made it cannot be changed.
A Murder Most Foul (Ex): It first happens when the warlock falls asleep - dreams, horrible, awful dreams. Visions of infinite, monstrous shapes peering hungrily from twisted branches of impossible trees. Demon talons erupt from inky blackness, laughing at the warlock’s terror in a cacophony of cawing that could shatter sanity. They descend with unimaginable speed, engulfing their victim in a maelstrom of feathers and sound and blood. There is no escape.
Until the warlock awakes, of course. Often panting, in a cold sweat, sometimes screaming, the warlock jolts upright into the land of the living... to find his loyal raven perched over or before him. His relief lasts only a moment before he feels something tugging on his soul. Shaking, the warlock’s eyes crawl beyond his pet. Countless dark eyes peer from rafters, or branches, or window sills. There’s dozens of them... oh Pelor, there’s hundreds of them!
Upon acquiring his first level in Unkindness (a prospect rarely chosen by the warlock in question), the character is bound to a swarm of ravens, crows, rooks, or whatever sort of common corvid the DM determines to have found him in his sleep (combinations of several species are not unusual). Mechanically, the warlock’s familiar is replaced with the swarm detailed below, enhancing as the character gains levels in Unkindness.
It is of note that the original familiar is not gone, per se. Instead, the warlock’s previous raven acts as the “head” of this unwholesome procession, a channel between the Unkindness and his feathered extensions. The original raven cannot be targeted separately from the swarm - no matter how many of the swarm are killed, the primary familiar always seems to get away unharmed (unless the whole swarm is destroyed - see the sidebar on swarm mechanics).
As a swift action, he may command the swarm to act in any one of the following ways:
Move: The swarm moves up to its fly speed in any way the character desires. He may make this command as part of his own move action, allowing the swarm to move with him and leaving him free to take another standard action. While not in combat or an otherwise stressful situation, the swarm will follow the character on their own, no command necessary (not that it would matter, they won’t leave any way).
Attack: Any creature who begins their turn within the swarm’s area takes damage, as detailed in the swarm description. Initially, the swarm attacks friend and foe alike, only taking mercy upon their “master” and leaving him unharmed. The swarm will continue to deal damage until otherwise commanded.
Halt Attack: The swarm ceases any sort of damaging actions.
Disperse: The swarm flies off in all directions, dispersing entirely. Initially, the swarm cannot be called back together; They only reappear when the warlock next wakes, ominously cawing around him like the night they first arrived.
Commands are verbal (until later on, see below), and require the warlock to speak or otherwise communicate by sound. No command (including ones gained later) requires the warlock to point, motion, or otherwise indicate specifics - the empathic connection between the Unkindness and his familiar is enough to get the specifics across.
As the Unkindness gains class levels, he learns more commands he may give his swarm. At 3rd level, he adds the following to the list above:
Hound: The birds focus their efforts on a single individual of the warlock’s choice. They will follow the target, ending every turn with the target in their area if possible - if not, they’ll chase him until he is. The swarm will actively attack during this time - the target will take an additional +1d6 points of damage, while all other creatures in the space take 1d6 less damage.
Protect: The warlock must be in at least one space occupied by the swarm to give this command. So long as the warlock remains in the same space as his swarm, he gains concealment equal to 30% + 5% per class level, although if the swarm is reduced to half of its HP or less, this concealment is cut in half as well. Should the warlock move from the swarms space, or give them any other command, this protection ceases and he must give the command again while within the swarm’s space to regain the benefit.
Wait: The birds wait in a place of the warlock’s choosing. While the warlock can only give verbal commands, he must find and retrieve them (a simple “move” command will get them to follow you again). If he does not retrieve them by the time he next falls asleep, they will appear around him when he wakes.
At 6th level, the swarm understands the following commands:
Invade: The swarm swoops into a building of the warlock’s choice by any means possible - wriggling into holes in the walls, waiting for open doors (or unlocking them themselves, the birds can automatically unlock any lock with a DC of 10 or less), even breaking through windows. The warlock can be inside the building, but it isn’t necessary. The birds will cause as much havoc as they are capable, usually by tearing up fabrics, knocking over art, eating food, breaking anything they come in contact with (within reason, the birds are not capable of pecking through adamantine). They will generally avoid living creatures, but will retaliate if damaged.
Transport: The swarm engulfs a solid object or person that the warlock can see and transports it to him. The swarm moves at their fly speed to and from the object, although particularly heavy objects will slow them down; They have an effective strength of 15 + ½ the warlock’s class level for this purpose only. If the object is small enough for the warlock to hold, the birds will drop it into his open hands (or open backpack, sack, or whatever else the warlock desires). Otherwise, the birds will deposit the person or object in the nearest open space in front of the warlock. Unwilling creatures get a Reflex save every round (DC10 + the Unkindness’s class level + the swarm’s effective carrying Strength modifier) to escape the birds, and any bonuses gained from feats or other features for the purpose of escaping grapples are added to this roll.
Shield: As Protect, except the birds will protect a target of the warlock’s choice, rather than just himself.
Finally, at 9th level, the swarm understands these last commands:
Split: The swarm splits into two separate 5 x 10 ft swarms, each with ½ the health of the full swarm. The warlock commands both swarms simultaneously with a single standard action, and he may give them two different commands on a given turn. If the warlock chooses to use Voracious Darkness, Hungry Tenebrous, or Thousand Talon Blast during this time, he affects both swarms at once.
Reform: With this command, a split swarm flies to a single point of the warlock’s choosing, reconfiguring into a single swarm once more.
Devour: With this horrible command, you can set your swarm about the gruesome task of consuming a single target of your choice. You must spend a standard action to concentrate each round this command is in effect, and you may be subject to Concentration checks in appropriate situations, as though concentrating on a spell. Each round that you are able to maintain concentration and the target begins his turn in a space occupied by your swarm, the target takes 2 points of Constitution damage. When the target is reduced to 0 Constitution, he dies instantly, reduced to nothing but bare bones (if the target has a skeletal system, that is).
Quoth the Raven (Ex): It is well known that a raven, when taken as a familiar, learns to speak his master’s tongue. For the Unkindness, this goes both ways. At 2nd level, the warlock may converse with and understand common ravens, crows, rooks, and other such birds. He does not need to go through his familiar as a translator, and such communication comes entirely naturally to him - often to the warlock’s surprise.
It’s worth noting that, while corvidae are exceptionally intelligent as far as birds go, they are not quite on par with humanoid races. The DM should take this into consideration when giving information from the birds’ points of view.
Voracious Darkness (Sp): They are not true ravens, not these birds - and 2nd level, the Unkindness can begin to bring about their true nature. If the warlock uses Hungry Darkness on the area his swarm occupies, a strange... interaction occurs.
Firstly, the normal effects of the invocation fail to take place. Instead, the swarm itself changes - feathers meld, shapes appear less distinct. The swarm itself becomes as though made of darkness, with only glinting eyes and talons indicating some solidity. A 20ft radius of darkness, as per the Darkness spell, expands from the swarm and is centered on them.
More terrifying than this, however, is that the swarm can now use anyone trapped in the darkness to feed themselves. Every time the swarm does damage while in this state, it heals ½ the damage dealt.
The warlock may guide the ravens to move as he wishes while they are in this state, moving them up to their speed each round.
This effect lasts as long as the warlock concentrates, which requires a standard action per round and may require him to make Concentration checks, should he take damage or otherwise become distracted.
Sparing the Master’s Flock (Ex): As much as the birds regret it, upon 3rd level the Unkindness’s allies will no longer take any negative effects from being caught in the swarm... unless the warlock wishes it. Activating or deactivating this power requires no action and no verbal command, the player simply decides if his allies will take damage or not.
Internalized Unkindness (Su): It’s not always convenient to have a horde of nightmarish ravens dogging your every step, and in that way, a 4th-level Unkindness gains a small respite. But there’s more to this new-found ability than keeping your pets out of sight.
As a full-round action, the Unkindness can draw his swarm into his own body. The warlock must be standing in a space occupied by the swarm for this ability to be effective, but the exact visual effects are left up to the player - the swarm might funnel into the warlock’s open mouth, fly up his sleeves and disappear into his body, or take any other appropriately creepy action. When the action is complete, the swarm has entirely disappeared within the warlock.
While the swarm is internalized, the warlock gains the following benefits and drawbacks:
The warlock gains a +4 bonus to Spot and Listen checks.
Occasionally, the warlock’s skin pushes outwards in certain places, as though a number of animals are trying to escape. This requires a DC15 Spot check to notice, but particularly loose or heavy clothing can hide it entirely.
The beasts within the warlock exude a palpable aura of menace, even while unseen. The warlock gains an aura of fear out to 30 feet. Creatures passively interacting with the warlock (passing him on the street or sitting nearby in a tavern, for example) feel a creeping up their spine, and seek to keep their distance, but are otherwise unaffected. Anyone engaged with the warlock and within the radius (talking to him, selling him something) must make a Will saving throw or become shaken. Creatures in combat against the warlock must make a Will saving throw or become frightened (or shaken on a success). Any given creature can only be affected by this aura once per encounter.
The save DC for this effect is 10 + Unkindness class levels + the warlock’s Charisma modifier. It is a mind-affecting fear effect, and cannot be turned off while the warlock’s swarm is internalized.
While internalized, the warlock’s various invocations take on a more raven-like theme. His Eldritch Blast exudes a phantom swarm to scour enemies, while Fell Flight causes great, wispy raven wings to sprout from his shoulder blades. These have no mechanical effects.
The warlock can end the internalization as a full-round action, at the end of which the swarm reappears in full, at least one space occupying the warlock’s position. Exhuming the swarm is often as grotesque and spectacular as absorbing it. The effect does not end if the warlock fall unconscious for any reason, including sleep, but the swarm erupts to full size should the warlock die before releasing them.
Thousand Talon Blast (Sp): At 5th level, the Unkindness no longer needs to unleash his eldritch blasts between the holes of his swarm if he wishes to attack enemies within. Instead, when using his eldritch blast, he may instead choose to add his damage to his swarm’s damage for a single round, ending at the beginning of the warlock’s next turn. The bonus damage is magical in nature and cannot be reduced via damage reduction, although spell resistance does apply as normal (although even a target with spell resistance is still vulnerable to the normal swarm attack). This is a Blast Shape invocation, and may be paired with any Eldritch Essence invocation as desired.
While this invocation is active, purple-black energies mix with the swarm. Ghostly lights like will o’wisps might zip between the crows, while in other cases beaks and talons crackle with dark lightning. The exact aesthetics are left to the player to determine.
Empathic Commands (Su): As the familial connection grows between the warlock and the birds, he finds they will follow commands with only an act of will. Beginning at 6th level, the warlock no longer needs to issue verbal commands to his swarm, although he must still concentrate on the appropriate command as a standard action.
Because of this, the Unkindness can issue commands from any distance. He may now call together a dispersed swarm or summon a swarm waiting elsewhere. The birds can cover the distance to their master in only 1d4 minutes, no matter how far away they are. The DM should use her best judgement if the birds are less than a minute away. Ravens sitting just outside the window won’t take 4 minutes to burst into the room.
An Unkind Departure (Su): When an Unkindness incorporates his swarm by way of Internalized Unkindness, the birds are not simply inside the warlock somewhere, they are part of him. Beginning at 7th level, the character may transmute his own body into a swarm of birds while under the effects of Internalized Unkindness as a standard action. Most Unkindnesses use this form for travel or escape.
While in this state, the warlock’s statistics change in the following ways:
Any equipment the warlock has on his person is absorbed into the new form and ceases to function.
The warlock takes on the size, space, reach, speeds, type and subtypes of his swarm.
The warlock gains the physical ability scores of his swarm, although he retains his own mental abilities.
The warlock retains his own hit point total, skills, feats, base attack bonus, and base saving throws.
The warlock deals damage as his swarm would.
The warlock gains his swarm’s deflection bonus to his Armor Class.
The warlock can speak only the language granted to his familiar, although he can still understand any language he knows.
The warlock gains the distraction and blindness special abilities of his swarm, as well as his swarm’s spell resistance.
The warlock may not use any class feature he has gained, including ones granted by this class, save for the ones mentioned below.
The warlock may take advantage of any command he could normally give his swarm, save for any that require him to be within his own swarm (such as Protect), or the Disperse command.
The warlock can end this ability as a standard action. He appears in one of the squares previously occupied by his the swarm. Deactivating An Unkind Departure reactives Internalized Unkindness.
Hungry Tenebrous (Sp): Creatures of death and destruction, the warlock’s ravens shun the light of life and devour their prey in the inky blackness of night. Should the warlock activate Hungry Darkness upon the space occupied by his swarm, he gains an alternative to Voracious Darkness. The warlock may decide to use either ability on a given casting, but not both.
First, the usual effects of Hungry Darkness do not take place, as per Voracious Darkness. Instead, any space occupied by the swarm is plunged into a deep, unnatural blackness. This is a magical darkness effect that effectively blinds every creature within the swarm’s space, and no light effect short of one cast by a god can pierce through it. Further, the swarm counts as difficult terrain for the purpose of creatures moving through it - the cloying darkness seems to stick to victims like a mass of grasping hands.
Mortal Never More (Su): So long as the swarm lives, their master can never die. Upon reaching 10th level, a dead Unkindness may find himself reborn within his swarm. When he dies, the swarm dissipates immediately, taking off in all directions. If the warlock is raised within the next 24 hours, the swarm returns to their now-living master. Any attempts to catch the warlock’s soul during this time simply fail. This part of the ability is Extraordinary.
If the warlock is not returned to life in 24 hours, the swarm coalesces once more. They appear, to the best of their ability, somewhere safe for the warlock; There are no environmental hazards, dangerous predators, enemies to the warlock, or other immediate threats to the swarm’s or the warlock’s well-being. Similarly, the swarm never reconvenes in an anti-magic zone or other area where supernatural effects cannot be used. The swarm doesn’t care if such a place is in public or not, meaning that townspeople may run and get guards or otherwise bring danger with them - so long as the townsfolk themselves are of no immediate threat, it doesn’t matter.
After convening in such a place, the swarm condenses itself down into a 5’ square, fluttering, crawling, and clawing over each other into a massive egg-shape. After 1 minute of forming the shape, the birds simply stop - no sound, no movement. Anyone nearby feels the same pressure of a crowd holding its breath.
This lasts only a few moments, for then the birds immediately erupt into a raging cacophony, exploding outwards into their full size once more. In the very center of the full swarm lays the warlock - naked, but conscious and unharmed. Elsewhere, the warlock's original body disappears in an explosion of black feathers.
Unfortunately, this resurrection comes at a bit of a price: the warlock cannot use it again for three days, regaining the power at dusk of the final day. The birds are noticeably lethargic during this time, inducing a 1 die penalty to swarm damage, and a 5-foot penalty to flying speed.
This ability even comes into effect while the warlock is using Internalized Unkindness, as the swarm erupts from his body and disperses into the distance.
A Sudden Departure (Su): As of 10th level, an Unkindness may activate or deactivate An Unkind Departure as an immediate action. This action may be taken after an attack against the warlock has been declared, but before it has been resolved.
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9ktjx62oGdc/Tuio4FmJkKI/AAAAAAAAAsM/_wkV90jltR8/s1600/murder%2Bof%2Bcrows.jpg
Image from here (http://sister-sleep.blogspot.com/2011/12/murder-of-crows.html)
”You’re worried about making me angry? Oh, no no, you got it all wrong. You shouldn’t be worried about me. You should worry about them.”
Warlocks must deal with dark powers by their very nature. Demons, fae, staring stars, spider goddesses, even glorious and terrible angels grant the warlock their unique abilities. But most never know where it is their powers exactly derive from - some vague darkness generations back that has tainted their family since. A few realize themes in their abilities, and can piece together potential progenitors for their curses.
An Unkindness has a particularly strange clue to his origin. It’s innocuous at first - he studies the arcane ways of his fellow magicians and performs the ritual to summon a familiar. What he’s unaware of - how could he be otherwise? - is that this ritual unlocks something deep within his curse. He has tapped into his progenitor in a way he could never prepare for. In a matter of months, weeks, even days, his transformation begins... and there is nothing that can stop it.
BECOMING AN UNKINDNESS
All Unkindnesses have some ability as a warlock, although some have training as a wizard or sorcerer. The quickest way to become a member of this class is to take warlock from the start and acquire the Obtain Familiar feat.
ENTRY REQUIREMENTS
Invocations: Eldritch Blast, Hungry Darkness
Special: Must possess a raven familiar.
Class Skills
The Class Name's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Bluff (Cha), Craft (Int), Handle Animal (Cha), Hide (Dex), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (Arcana) (Int), Knowledge (Nature)(Int), Knowledge (religion)(Int), Knowledge (the planes)(Int), Move Silently (Dex), Profession (Wis), Sense Motive (Wis), and Use Magic Device (Cha).
Skills Points at Each Level: 2 + int
Hit Dice: d6
{table=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special
1st|
+0|
+0|
+0|
+2|A Murder Most Foul
2nd|
+1|
+0|
+0|
+3|Quoth the Raven, Voracious Darkness
3rd|
+2|
+1|
+1|
+3|A Murder Most Foul (Second Commands), Sparing the Master’s Flock
4th|
+3|
+1|
+1|
+4|Internalized Unkindness
5th|
+3|
+1|
+1|
+4|Thousand Talon Blast
6th|
+4|
+2|
+2|
+5|A Murder Most Foul (Third Commands), Empathic Commands
7th|
+5|
+2|
+2|
+5|An Unkind Departure
8th|
+6|
+2|
+2|
+6| Hungry Tenebrous
9th|
+6|
+3|
+3|
+6|A Murder Most Foul (Final Commands)
10th|
+7|
+3|
+3|
+7|Mortal Never More, A Sudden Departure[/table]
Weapon Proficiencies: The Unkindness neither gains or loses proficiency with any weapons or armor.
Arcane Caster Level: Levels of Unkindness stack with a single other class in which you have levels for the purpose of increasing spells known, spell per day, invocations known, grade of invocations used, and eldritch blast effective spell level and damage. Once this choice is made it cannot be changed.
A Murder Most Foul (Ex): It first happens when the warlock falls asleep - dreams, horrible, awful dreams. Visions of infinite, monstrous shapes peering hungrily from twisted branches of impossible trees. Demon talons erupt from inky blackness, laughing at the warlock’s terror in a cacophony of cawing that could shatter sanity. They descend with unimaginable speed, engulfing their victim in a maelstrom of feathers and sound and blood. There is no escape.
Until the warlock awakes, of course. Often panting, in a cold sweat, sometimes screaming, the warlock jolts upright into the land of the living... to find his loyal raven perched over or before him. His relief lasts only a moment before he feels something tugging on his soul. Shaking, the warlock’s eyes crawl beyond his pet. Countless dark eyes peer from rafters, or branches, or window sills. There’s dozens of them... oh Pelor, there’s hundreds of them!
Upon acquiring his first level in Unkindness (a prospect rarely chosen by the warlock in question), the character is bound to a swarm of ravens, crows, rooks, or whatever sort of common corvid the DM determines to have found him in his sleep (combinations of several species are not unusual). Mechanically, the warlock’s familiar is replaced with the swarm detailed below, enhancing as the character gains levels in Unkindness.
It is of note that the original familiar is not gone, per se. Instead, the warlock’s previous raven acts as the “head” of this unwholesome procession, a channel between the Unkindness and his feathered extensions. The original raven cannot be targeted separately from the swarm - no matter how many of the swarm are killed, the primary familiar always seems to get away unharmed (unless the whole swarm is destroyed - see the sidebar on swarm mechanics).
As a swift action, he may command the swarm to act in any one of the following ways:
Move: The swarm moves up to its fly speed in any way the character desires. He may make this command as part of his own move action, allowing the swarm to move with him and leaving him free to take another standard action. While not in combat or an otherwise stressful situation, the swarm will follow the character on their own, no command necessary (not that it would matter, they won’t leave any way).
Attack: Any creature who begins their turn within the swarm’s area takes damage, as detailed in the swarm description. Initially, the swarm attacks friend and foe alike, only taking mercy upon their “master” and leaving him unharmed. The swarm will continue to deal damage until otherwise commanded.
Halt Attack: The swarm ceases any sort of damaging actions.
Disperse: The swarm flies off in all directions, dispersing entirely. Initially, the swarm cannot be called back together; They only reappear when the warlock next wakes, ominously cawing around him like the night they first arrived.
Commands are verbal (until later on, see below), and require the warlock to speak or otherwise communicate by sound. No command (including ones gained later) requires the warlock to point, motion, or otherwise indicate specifics - the empathic connection between the Unkindness and his familiar is enough to get the specifics across.
As the Unkindness gains class levels, he learns more commands he may give his swarm. At 3rd level, he adds the following to the list above:
Hound: The birds focus their efforts on a single individual of the warlock’s choice. They will follow the target, ending every turn with the target in their area if possible - if not, they’ll chase him until he is. The swarm will actively attack during this time - the target will take an additional +1d6 points of damage, while all other creatures in the space take 1d6 less damage.
Protect: The warlock must be in at least one space occupied by the swarm to give this command. So long as the warlock remains in the same space as his swarm, he gains concealment equal to 30% + 5% per class level, although if the swarm is reduced to half of its HP or less, this concealment is cut in half as well. Should the warlock move from the swarms space, or give them any other command, this protection ceases and he must give the command again while within the swarm’s space to regain the benefit.
Wait: The birds wait in a place of the warlock’s choosing. While the warlock can only give verbal commands, he must find and retrieve them (a simple “move” command will get them to follow you again). If he does not retrieve them by the time he next falls asleep, they will appear around him when he wakes.
At 6th level, the swarm understands the following commands:
Invade: The swarm swoops into a building of the warlock’s choice by any means possible - wriggling into holes in the walls, waiting for open doors (or unlocking them themselves, the birds can automatically unlock any lock with a DC of 10 or less), even breaking through windows. The warlock can be inside the building, but it isn’t necessary. The birds will cause as much havoc as they are capable, usually by tearing up fabrics, knocking over art, eating food, breaking anything they come in contact with (within reason, the birds are not capable of pecking through adamantine). They will generally avoid living creatures, but will retaliate if damaged.
Transport: The swarm engulfs a solid object or person that the warlock can see and transports it to him. The swarm moves at their fly speed to and from the object, although particularly heavy objects will slow them down; They have an effective strength of 15 + ½ the warlock’s class level for this purpose only. If the object is small enough for the warlock to hold, the birds will drop it into his open hands (or open backpack, sack, or whatever else the warlock desires). Otherwise, the birds will deposit the person or object in the nearest open space in front of the warlock. Unwilling creatures get a Reflex save every round (DC10 + the Unkindness’s class level + the swarm’s effective carrying Strength modifier) to escape the birds, and any bonuses gained from feats or other features for the purpose of escaping grapples are added to this roll.
Shield: As Protect, except the birds will protect a target of the warlock’s choice, rather than just himself.
Finally, at 9th level, the swarm understands these last commands:
Split: The swarm splits into two separate 5 x 10 ft swarms, each with ½ the health of the full swarm. The warlock commands both swarms simultaneously with a single standard action, and he may give them two different commands on a given turn. If the warlock chooses to use Voracious Darkness, Hungry Tenebrous, or Thousand Talon Blast during this time, he affects both swarms at once.
Reform: With this command, a split swarm flies to a single point of the warlock’s choosing, reconfiguring into a single swarm once more.
Devour: With this horrible command, you can set your swarm about the gruesome task of consuming a single target of your choice. You must spend a standard action to concentrate each round this command is in effect, and you may be subject to Concentration checks in appropriate situations, as though concentrating on a spell. Each round that you are able to maintain concentration and the target begins his turn in a space occupied by your swarm, the target takes 2 points of Constitution damage. When the target is reduced to 0 Constitution, he dies instantly, reduced to nothing but bare bones (if the target has a skeletal system, that is).
Quoth the Raven (Ex): It is well known that a raven, when taken as a familiar, learns to speak his master’s tongue. For the Unkindness, this goes both ways. At 2nd level, the warlock may converse with and understand common ravens, crows, rooks, and other such birds. He does not need to go through his familiar as a translator, and such communication comes entirely naturally to him - often to the warlock’s surprise.
It’s worth noting that, while corvidae are exceptionally intelligent as far as birds go, they are not quite on par with humanoid races. The DM should take this into consideration when giving information from the birds’ points of view.
Voracious Darkness (Sp): They are not true ravens, not these birds - and 2nd level, the Unkindness can begin to bring about their true nature. If the warlock uses Hungry Darkness on the area his swarm occupies, a strange... interaction occurs.
Firstly, the normal effects of the invocation fail to take place. Instead, the swarm itself changes - feathers meld, shapes appear less distinct. The swarm itself becomes as though made of darkness, with only glinting eyes and talons indicating some solidity. A 20ft radius of darkness, as per the Darkness spell, expands from the swarm and is centered on them.
More terrifying than this, however, is that the swarm can now use anyone trapped in the darkness to feed themselves. Every time the swarm does damage while in this state, it heals ½ the damage dealt.
The warlock may guide the ravens to move as he wishes while they are in this state, moving them up to their speed each round.
This effect lasts as long as the warlock concentrates, which requires a standard action per round and may require him to make Concentration checks, should he take damage or otherwise become distracted.
Sparing the Master’s Flock (Ex): As much as the birds regret it, upon 3rd level the Unkindness’s allies will no longer take any negative effects from being caught in the swarm... unless the warlock wishes it. Activating or deactivating this power requires no action and no verbal command, the player simply decides if his allies will take damage or not.
Internalized Unkindness (Su): It’s not always convenient to have a horde of nightmarish ravens dogging your every step, and in that way, a 4th-level Unkindness gains a small respite. But there’s more to this new-found ability than keeping your pets out of sight.
As a full-round action, the Unkindness can draw his swarm into his own body. The warlock must be standing in a space occupied by the swarm for this ability to be effective, but the exact visual effects are left up to the player - the swarm might funnel into the warlock’s open mouth, fly up his sleeves and disappear into his body, or take any other appropriately creepy action. When the action is complete, the swarm has entirely disappeared within the warlock.
While the swarm is internalized, the warlock gains the following benefits and drawbacks:
The warlock gains a +4 bonus to Spot and Listen checks.
Occasionally, the warlock’s skin pushes outwards in certain places, as though a number of animals are trying to escape. This requires a DC15 Spot check to notice, but particularly loose or heavy clothing can hide it entirely.
The beasts within the warlock exude a palpable aura of menace, even while unseen. The warlock gains an aura of fear out to 30 feet. Creatures passively interacting with the warlock (passing him on the street or sitting nearby in a tavern, for example) feel a creeping up their spine, and seek to keep their distance, but are otherwise unaffected. Anyone engaged with the warlock and within the radius (talking to him, selling him something) must make a Will saving throw or become shaken. Creatures in combat against the warlock must make a Will saving throw or become frightened (or shaken on a success). Any given creature can only be affected by this aura once per encounter.
The save DC for this effect is 10 + Unkindness class levels + the warlock’s Charisma modifier. It is a mind-affecting fear effect, and cannot be turned off while the warlock’s swarm is internalized.
While internalized, the warlock’s various invocations take on a more raven-like theme. His Eldritch Blast exudes a phantom swarm to scour enemies, while Fell Flight causes great, wispy raven wings to sprout from his shoulder blades. These have no mechanical effects.
The warlock can end the internalization as a full-round action, at the end of which the swarm reappears in full, at least one space occupying the warlock’s position. Exhuming the swarm is often as grotesque and spectacular as absorbing it. The effect does not end if the warlock fall unconscious for any reason, including sleep, but the swarm erupts to full size should the warlock die before releasing them.
Thousand Talon Blast (Sp): At 5th level, the Unkindness no longer needs to unleash his eldritch blasts between the holes of his swarm if he wishes to attack enemies within. Instead, when using his eldritch blast, he may instead choose to add his damage to his swarm’s damage for a single round, ending at the beginning of the warlock’s next turn. The bonus damage is magical in nature and cannot be reduced via damage reduction, although spell resistance does apply as normal (although even a target with spell resistance is still vulnerable to the normal swarm attack). This is a Blast Shape invocation, and may be paired with any Eldritch Essence invocation as desired.
While this invocation is active, purple-black energies mix with the swarm. Ghostly lights like will o’wisps might zip between the crows, while in other cases beaks and talons crackle with dark lightning. The exact aesthetics are left to the player to determine.
Empathic Commands (Su): As the familial connection grows between the warlock and the birds, he finds they will follow commands with only an act of will. Beginning at 6th level, the warlock no longer needs to issue verbal commands to his swarm, although he must still concentrate on the appropriate command as a standard action.
Because of this, the Unkindness can issue commands from any distance. He may now call together a dispersed swarm or summon a swarm waiting elsewhere. The birds can cover the distance to their master in only 1d4 minutes, no matter how far away they are. The DM should use her best judgement if the birds are less than a minute away. Ravens sitting just outside the window won’t take 4 minutes to burst into the room.
An Unkind Departure (Su): When an Unkindness incorporates his swarm by way of Internalized Unkindness, the birds are not simply inside the warlock somewhere, they are part of him. Beginning at 7th level, the character may transmute his own body into a swarm of birds while under the effects of Internalized Unkindness as a standard action. Most Unkindnesses use this form for travel or escape.
While in this state, the warlock’s statistics change in the following ways:
Any equipment the warlock has on his person is absorbed into the new form and ceases to function.
The warlock takes on the size, space, reach, speeds, type and subtypes of his swarm.
The warlock gains the physical ability scores of his swarm, although he retains his own mental abilities.
The warlock retains his own hit point total, skills, feats, base attack bonus, and base saving throws.
The warlock deals damage as his swarm would.
The warlock gains his swarm’s deflection bonus to his Armor Class.
The warlock can speak only the language granted to his familiar, although he can still understand any language he knows.
The warlock gains the distraction and blindness special abilities of his swarm, as well as his swarm’s spell resistance.
The warlock may not use any class feature he has gained, including ones granted by this class, save for the ones mentioned below.
The warlock may take advantage of any command he could normally give his swarm, save for any that require him to be within his own swarm (such as Protect), or the Disperse command.
The warlock can end this ability as a standard action. He appears in one of the squares previously occupied by his the swarm. Deactivating An Unkind Departure reactives Internalized Unkindness.
Hungry Tenebrous (Sp): Creatures of death and destruction, the warlock’s ravens shun the light of life and devour their prey in the inky blackness of night. Should the warlock activate Hungry Darkness upon the space occupied by his swarm, he gains an alternative to Voracious Darkness. The warlock may decide to use either ability on a given casting, but not both.
First, the usual effects of Hungry Darkness do not take place, as per Voracious Darkness. Instead, any space occupied by the swarm is plunged into a deep, unnatural blackness. This is a magical darkness effect that effectively blinds every creature within the swarm’s space, and no light effect short of one cast by a god can pierce through it. Further, the swarm counts as difficult terrain for the purpose of creatures moving through it - the cloying darkness seems to stick to victims like a mass of grasping hands.
Mortal Never More (Su): So long as the swarm lives, their master can never die. Upon reaching 10th level, a dead Unkindness may find himself reborn within his swarm. When he dies, the swarm dissipates immediately, taking off in all directions. If the warlock is raised within the next 24 hours, the swarm returns to their now-living master. Any attempts to catch the warlock’s soul during this time simply fail. This part of the ability is Extraordinary.
If the warlock is not returned to life in 24 hours, the swarm coalesces once more. They appear, to the best of their ability, somewhere safe for the warlock; There are no environmental hazards, dangerous predators, enemies to the warlock, or other immediate threats to the swarm’s or the warlock’s well-being. Similarly, the swarm never reconvenes in an anti-magic zone or other area where supernatural effects cannot be used. The swarm doesn’t care if such a place is in public or not, meaning that townspeople may run and get guards or otherwise bring danger with them - so long as the townsfolk themselves are of no immediate threat, it doesn’t matter.
After convening in such a place, the swarm condenses itself down into a 5’ square, fluttering, crawling, and clawing over each other into a massive egg-shape. After 1 minute of forming the shape, the birds simply stop - no sound, no movement. Anyone nearby feels the same pressure of a crowd holding its breath.
This lasts only a few moments, for then the birds immediately erupt into a raging cacophony, exploding outwards into their full size once more. In the very center of the full swarm lays the warlock - naked, but conscious and unharmed. Elsewhere, the warlock's original body disappears in an explosion of black feathers.
Unfortunately, this resurrection comes at a bit of a price: the warlock cannot use it again for three days, regaining the power at dusk of the final day. The birds are noticeably lethargic during this time, inducing a 1 die penalty to swarm damage, and a 5-foot penalty to flying speed.
This ability even comes into effect while the warlock is using Internalized Unkindness, as the swarm erupts from his body and disperses into the distance.
A Sudden Departure (Su): As of 10th level, an Unkindness may activate or deactivate An Unkind Departure as an immediate action. This action may be taken after an attack against the warlock has been declared, but before it has been resolved.