Voidblood [creature/class]

[Nonanonymous]

Voidblood are the result of a humanoid or otherwise host having a parasitic creature from the negative energy plane take residence within their blood stream. The creature is an intelligent ooze, which can communicate telepathically with its host and is mostly a benefit to its host, although it requires the blood of living creatures to sustain itself, and typically tries to warp the mind of its host to evil in order to maintain a healthy diet.

Type: The base creatures type changes to undead.
Darkvision: Voidblood can see in the dark out to 60 ft.
+2 inherent bonus on jump checks, voidblood are particularly agile.
+2 racial bonus on Hide and Move Silently checks. Voidblood are quiet and sneaky.
+2 racial bonus on Listen, Search, Sense Motive, and Spot checks. Voidblood are very perceptive.
Seperation: If a voidblood is seperated, it must succeed on a DC 20 fortitude save, or the host creature will die. Methods of seperation include: Dropping to 0 HP, the parasite requires life energy as nourishment. Entering non-frigid waters/bodies of liquid, the parasite experiences difficulty mainting a direct link in such environments. If 3 days pass without proper nourishment, the parasite may attempt to leave the host creature within 1d6 hours of the third midnight, and 1d4 hours afterwards, until the hunger is satiated. It may also begin to feed on the host creatures hit points instead, following the same rules for blood drain, but not granting the host creature temporary hit points.
Class Skills
The voidblood's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Bluff (Cha), Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Hide (Dex), Jump (Str), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Profession (Wis), Search (Int), Sense Motive (Wis), and Spot (Wis).
Skill Points at 1st Level: (4 + Int modifier) × 4.
Skill Points at Each Additional Hit Die: 4 + Int modifier.
Class Features
All of the following are class features of the voidblood monster class.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Voidblood are proficient with all simple weapons, but not with armor or shields.
Tentacle (Ex): At first level, a voidblood's parasite can manifest a tentacle of up to 10 ft at first level, which extends from near its wrist, and deals damage as a spiked chain of the appropriate size category. At 3rd level, a 2nd tentacle manifests, and at 7th level, the range of both increases to 15 ft.
Improved Grapple (Ex): Voidblood can apply Improved Grapple to any checks made with their tentacles, as long as they are not within range to use their ordinary limbs to grapple.
Bonus Feats: Voidblood gain Alertness at 2nd level, Lightning Reflexes at 5th level, and Improved Initiative at 8th level.
Blood Drain (Ex): A voidblood can suck blood from a living victim with its tentacles by making a successful grapple check. If it pins the foe, it drains blood, dealing 1d4 points of Constitution drain each round the pin is maintained. On each such successful attack, a voidblood gains 5 temporary hit points that last for up to 1 hour.
Spider Climb (Ex): A voidblood can climb sheer surfaces
as though with a spider climb spell.
Skill Bonus (Ex): At 4th level, a voidblood’s racial bonus
on Jump, Hide, Listen, Move Silently, Search, Sense Motive, and
Spot checks increases from +2 to +4.
Fast Healing (Ex): A voidblood gains fast healing 1 at 5th level. At 8th level, this improves to fast healing 2. A voidblood heals damage each round so long as it has at least 1 hit point. If reduced to 0 hit points in combat, the parasite will attempt to leave the host.
Energy Drain (Su): Living creatures hit by a voidblood's constrict attack gain one negative level. The Fortitude save to remove a negative level is DC 10 + 1/2 voidblood’s HD from class levels + voidblood’s Cha modifier. For each such negative level bestowed, a voidblood gains 5 temporary hit points
that last for up to 1 hour.
Ooze form (Ex): A voidblood at 8th level is so in tune with its parasite, that it can assume an ooze form, in which it can move along any surface, and at half speed through cracks and under doors. It can attack with its tentacles, but nothing else. Changing forms takes a full action.

{table=head]Level | Hit Die | Base Attack Bonus | Fort Save | Ref Save | Will Save | Skill Points | Special |
1st|1d12|+0|+0|+0|+2|(4+Int mod) x4|Blood drain, feat, improved grapple, constrict 1d4, tentacle (10 ft)
2nd|1d12|+0|+0|+0|+2|--|+1 natural armor, +2, Alertness|
3rd|2d12|+1|+0|+0|+3|4 + Int mod|2nd tentacle (10 ft), +2 Dex|
4th|2d12|+1|+0|+0|+3|--|+2 natural armor, +4 skill bonus, +2 Str|
5th|3d12|+1|+1|+1|+3|4 + Int mod|Fast healing 1, +2 Wis, Lightning Reflexes|
6th|3d12|+1|+1|+1|+3|--|Feat, +2 Cha, resistance to cold 10 and electricity 10|
7th|4d12|+2|+1|+1|+4|4 + Int mod|+3 natural armor, +2 Int, spider climb, constrict 1d6, energy drain, 15 ft tentacle range, fast healing 2, +2 Str, Improved Initiative, Ooze form|
8th|4d12|+2|+1|+1|+4|--|--|
[/table]

[EvilElitest]

A tad bit more fluff please
from,e
EE

[Finerty]

First off, change all your instances of vampire spawn to voidblood. Cool name, by the by.
It seems as though this is the 'Parasite' to Savage Species' 'Symbiote' (which a. does not do justice to the concept of Symbiote a la Spiderman and b. was apparently a joke that went too far and got published). I'm struck by your decision to make it a monster class. It feels like a cool, balanced template... but not a monster class. What's the monster here? The host, or the parasite? Would the character be a human or elf or goody-goody 'normal' race who, whether he hopes to be free or embraces her dark gift, is nonetheless an inconsequential thrall to the curse of carrying Voidblood? Or is the character the ooze itself, happily moving from host to host?
If the character is the parasite, then keep the monster class. If the character is the host, you might want to make this a template. Either way, it looks like it has the potential to make some fascinating characters if personality conflicts arise.
Might I also suggest offering a couple of different options, regarding the manifestation of the voidblood? Perhaps being able to choose between tentacles and spikes (perhaps, combat-wise, counting as armor spikes one size larger than normal) as a manifestation? Perhaps the option of different kinds of damage dealt to receive different kinds of benefits (i.e. instead of turning the foe's Con into temporary hit points, turning the foe's Wis into profane bonuses to Atk or AC, or turning the foe's dex into land speed or dodge bonuses?) It seems like the monster, class or template, could benefit from having a couple of different variations. I hope I'm not stepping on your toes with these suggestions, they just came to mind when I saw your concept.

[Nonanonymous]

Honestly I haven't read Savage Species yet, but I did base a good deal of the idea for it off of the Marvel Symbiote, as well as the Necris from Unreal Tournament, but thinking about it, a good deal of the inspiration may have come from Los Plagos from RE4. One of the original ideas for the background was that they were employed by a secret undead empire/organization to gain loyal members, and were distributed as some form of drug, though this primarily worked for modern and future campaign settings, and in the future, they may have also been marketed as cheap substitutes for genetic/cybernetic amplifications. The concept of the parasites actually communicating in a manner other than suggestions has moved back and forth in my head, so that more or less explains why it has a rather small amount of fluff. In fact I still can't really decide, maybe an initial will save or Cha based save for when the parasite bonds could determine it, the highest making the parasite subservient, below that dual conflicting personalities, and the lowest being a mind totally dominated by the parasite, with only a few traits originally derived from the host. In regards to your suggestions, Finerty, I don't really know how I could work this into a template, and I believe it might be better to give it a prestige class that would allow for more freedom on the way it builds. I don't think the ooze should be the character, but it probably could be made a bit more malleable, maybe with an ancestral memory feat that allowed it to transfer the character classes from one host to another, or even rewriting the new host to fit the stats exactly.

[Finerty]

I think that it's a wise decision to make the Voidblood the creature, in which case the Monster Class looks fairly solid. The poor saves and terrible BAB allow for pretty good abilities, so the level adjustment seems about right.
Also, even though the rules as written state that you cannot multiclass until you complete the full monster class progression, I for one always allow my characters to multiclass, and I'm sure other DMs do as well. In which case, although you are required to, no one would WANT to take that last level of the class. No skill points, no BAB or save increase, no class abilities - I might take some of those level seven abilities and move them down to level 8. I can't see anyone saying, "Hmmmm, yes, it's a completely dead level but you have to take it anyway."
Also, settle on some fluff for this guy. I'm personally a huge fan of the Marvel Symbiote, but if you want to do Los Plagos (Which I think make for a better 'swarm' power-in-numbers kind of enemy) go for it, since parasitic possession right now seems to equal zombification. And the drug handed out thing doesn't seem all that modern either - drugs have existed, if not medievally, at least for quite some time. The Book of Vile Darkness has them, Eberron has them standard, and there was recently a Campaign Arc in Dungeon, "The Seeds of Sehan", which started with a drug on the street that turned its imbibers into mutated plant/zombie slaves to a demon.
My vote is for the Marvel Symbiote, though. I think they'd be more fun to play than Los Plagos.