PDA

View Full Version : The Art of Villainy [PrC]



Maerok
2006-12-26, 08:16 PM
There are some who call evil an artform. There are some who see the necessity of unnecessary complexity. There are some who dwell in grandeur. There are some who see the mastery involved in crafting the most diabolical and overly elaborate of schemes. If any of these pertain to you, then perhaps you are a villain.

Villain
Requirements:
Bluff 10 ranks
Intimidate 10 ranks
Skill Focus (Intimidate)
Leadership feat
Evil alignment

HD: d6
Class Skills: Bluff, Concentration, Craft, Diplomacy, Escape Artist, Gather Information, Intimidate, Perform
Skill Points: 4

[Damn tables]
Fortitude: Poor
Reflex: Poor
Will: Good

Class Abilities:
1-Persona; Quality over Quantity, Any Day
2-Bolster the Henchmen
3-Evil Monologue
4-Overly Elaborate Trap Making
5- Evil Laughter
6-Treachery
7-Lair; We'll Meet Again

Persona: You gain three traits, chosen from this list (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/buildingCharacters/characterTraits.htm). If you already have traits, pick enough so that your total number of traits equals three. At level 3, double all effects of your traits. At level 5, they are tripled.

Quantity over Quality, Any Day: Any followers you have or will recruit must have 9 or less Intelligence. Followers you currently have lose enough Intelligence to meet this requirement. No bonus or effect may increase their Intelligence over 9. Add 4 to your Leadership score to determine the amount of followers you may have.

Bolster the Henchmen: All followers (from Leadership) within 30' of you receive a +2 morale bonus to saves and attacks as well as a +4 bonus versus fear effects.

Evil Monologue: As a full-round action, you may initiate an evil monologue. It takes 1 minute to complete the monologue, in which you must reveal at least three secrets about your plans (a DM may test the validity of these secrets against answers someone might find in a successful detect thoughts or contact other plane). For each secret you unveil (to a maximum of 10), you gain a +1 bonus to your next check.

Overly Elaborate Trap Making: Whenever you craft a trap, you may reduce its CR category (for determining the Craft DC) by up to 2. For every category you lower it, the DC of checks to counter the trap (Search, Disable Device, Reflex save, etc.) are reduced by 4. You may craft a trap requiring spells of level 2 or lower without actually having those spells but it costs an extra 250gp per spell level to find proper replacements. By reducing the Spot and Search DC for a mechanical trap to 1, increase the dice of damage it deals by one category (d4->d6->d8->d10->d12->d20).

Evil Laughter: It takes a truly skilled villain to master the evil laugh. Three times per day, you may make an evil laugh as a full round action. All enemies within earshot (a 60' burst) have their morale bonuses converted to morale penalties and doubled for 3d4 rounds (any lesser morale bonuses are negated for the duration). For each enemy affected in this way, you gain a +1 circumstance bonus (stacking within the context of this effect) to Charisma-based checks against those enemies so long as the effect lasts.

Treachery: As a full-round action once per day, a Villain may try to coerce or persuade an enemy into serving them. The Villain makes a Bluff check, with the result being the DC for a Will save that the victim must succeed on to ignore the effects. If they fail, they become an ally to the Villain but only to the extent of tasks in the defense of the Villain or in direct opposition to their former allies. The victim's alignment becomes Evil. It takes a Diplomacy check of at least 4 greater than the Bluff check (as a full-round action) for the victim's ally to show them the error of their ways (an their alignment is Neutral on the Good-Evil axis until they make amends).

Lair: You receive a 600'x600' plot of land (in a field, on an island, etc.) that is uninhabited. Within 4d4 weeks, an stronghold of your design (with minimal furnishings and supplies) will be constructed. While in this area, you receive a +2 morale bonus to the DC of your spells and to your AC, attacks, and saves. Confer with your DM for the specifics. If the Villain is slain within the lair, the stronghold becomes a deathtrap (collapsing, sealing shut, etc).

We'll Meet Again: Once per month, when the Villain is slain in a way that would leave remains or they died out of sight (falling off a cliff, being swallowed, etc.), they might have actually survived. There is a 25% chance they may return (either resuming at the place of 'death' or arriving back at the stronghold or a nearby city) in full health. If they were slain in the stronghold, there is a 33% chance they may return. However, a Search check (opposed by an Escape Artist check of the Villain at a bonus of +3) of the area where they 'died' will reduce the chances by 10%.

Traveling_Angel
2006-12-28, 04:17 PM
*stops laughing histericly*

Great class. Looks good to me.

Dragonmuncher
2006-12-28, 05:30 PM
Nice. I especially like the "We'll meet again" ability.

Don't really like the Treachery ability. Instead, maybe "Expediditious Retreat" at will?

Triaxx
2006-12-28, 06:32 PM
Could a bard potentially use a perform (voice, instrument) check to counteract the effects of ' Evil Laugh'?