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dman11235
2008-07-01, 06:49 AM
Soul Power!



Whenever you need some soul...

_/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/

The contest begins with the posting of this thread and will run through midnight of July 31st.

Soon after a poll will be opened for everyone to vote for their favorite that will last until midnight of the last day of the month.

Rules

1) You will be creating an 'original' prestige class. Magic of Incarnum introduced a radically new system to the game, based on the power souls. Your mission: create an Incarnum based PrC focusing on the use of essentia and soul melds to their fullest capacity.

2) Entries must include name, complete class, and fluff, combat related and role playing related. Incomplete entries at the deadline will be disqualified.

3) Entries must be 3.5, using the standard format below.

4) Post all entries in this thread. Post all conversation, questions, etc here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=81995) in the chat thread.

5) Maximum of one entry per participant (gotta save up those creative juices for the next one too!)

6) Entries must be your own work, and must not be copied for other places. Such entries will be disqualified.

7) No reserving posts. Feel free to tweak your class, but the initial post must include the basics.


VOTING IS OPEN (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=4626512#post4626512)

dman11235
2008-07-01, 08:01 AM
On the Philosophy of Class Design (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php%3Ft%3D55947)

Fax Celestis' Prestige Class Creation Thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10433)

As well here is the format you are to use, with a copy/paste version in spoiler blocks. The table is for 20 levels, just eliminate the levels you do not need. The image is optional.

PRESTIGE CLASS NAME

http://Picture URL

Quote of Some Kind by a member of the class!

A general description of whatever the class is!

BECOMING A CLASS NAME
How you would normally become a member of this prestige class.

ENTRY REQUIREMENTS
:
:
:
:
:

Class Skills
The Class Name's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are....
Skills Points at Each Level: x + int

Hit Dice: dx

{table=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special

1st|
+x|
+x|
+x|
+x|Class Ability

2nd|
+x|
+x|
+x|
+x|Class Ability

3rd|
+x|
+x|
+x|
+x|Class Ability

4th|
+x|
+x|
+x|
+x|Class Ability

5th|
+x|
+x|
+x|
+x|Class Ability

6th|
+x|
+x|
+x|
+x|Class Ability

7th|
+x|
+x|
+x|
+x|Class Ability

8th|
+x|
+x|
+x|
+x|Class Ability

9th|
+x|
+x|
+x|
+x|Class Ability

10th|
+x|
+x|
+x|
+x|Class Ability

11th|
+x|
+x|
+x|
+x|Class Ability

12th|
+x|
+x|
+x|
+x|Class Ability

13th|
+x|
+x|
+x|
+x|Class Ability

14th|
+x|
+x|
+x|
+x|Class Ability

15th|
+x|
+x|
+x|
+x|Class Ability

16th|
+x|
+x|
+x|
+x|Class Ability

17th|
+x|
+x|
+x|
+x|Class Ability

18th|
+x|
+x|
+x|
+x|Class Ability

19th|
+x|
+x|
+x|
+x|Class Ability

20th|
+x|
+x|
+x|
+x|Class Ability[/table]

Weapon Proficiencies: A place to put the different proficiencies.
Put all the different class abilities in here!

PLAYING A CLASS NAME
Brief description on how to play the class you are designing.
Combat: Here's a section where you will describe common combat methods for your class. Remember to include information on how your class will use his powers in combat.
Advancement: This is a section on different options and paths that the class can go down when they advance in power.
Resources: What resources might a member of this PrC be able to draw on..

CLASS NAME IN THE WORLD
A quote of somebody else talking about your class!

A brief description of how your class is persevered in the world and how he interacts with the world.
Daily Life: Some general information about the typical day in the life of your class.
Notables: Make up some cool information about notable figures in the history of your class. It's best to give a little information from one of the good alignment and evil alignment (unless it's a good or evil only class).
Organizations: Some information about organizations dedicated to the practice of your class and other organizations which members of your class will be attracted towards.

NPC Reaction
This is an in detail description of how NPC's would perceive your class and the immediate generalization that people would give of your class.

CLASS NAME IN THE GAME
This is a good place to provide a quick note on how your class will effect game play statistically.
Adaptation: This is a place where you put in detail how people can adapt your class into their campaign setting.
Encounters: This is a place to describe what sort of encounters PC's will have with NPC versions of your class.

Sample Encounter
Give an example of how one might encounter a member of this PrC.
EL x: Give the encounter level and description of a sample member of this class and a stat block for him/her.


Name
alignment/Gender/Race/Levels
Init +0, Senses: Listen +, Spot +,
Languages
------------------------------------------------
AC , touch , flat-footed ()
hp ( HD)
Fort +, Ref +, Will +
------------------------------------------------
Speed ft. ( squares)
Melee
Base Atk +, Grp +
Atk Options
Combat Gear
Spells Prepared
Supernatural Abilities
-----------------------------------------------
Abilities Str , Dex , Con , Int , Wis , Cha
SQ
Feats
Skills
Possessions

PRESTIGE CLASS NAME

http://Picture URL

Quote of Some Kind by a member of the class!

A general description of whatever the class is!

BECOMING A CLASS NAME
How you would normally become a member of this prestige class.

ENTRY REQUIREMENTS
:
:
:
:
:

Class Skills
The Class Name's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are....
Skills Points at Each Level: x + int

Hit Dice: dx

{table=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special

1st|
+x|
+x|
+x|
+x|Class Ability

2nd|
+x|
+x|
+x|
+x|Class Ability

3rd|
+x|
+x|
+x|
+x|Class Ability

4th|
+x|
+x|
+x|
+x|Class Ability

5th|
+x|
+x|
+x|
+x|Class Ability

6th|
+x|
+x|
+x|
+x|Class Ability

7th|
+x|
+x|
+x|
+x|Class Ability

8th|
+x|
+x|
+x|
+x|Class Ability

9th|
+x|
+x|
+x|
+x|Class Ability

10th|
+x|
+x|
+x|
+x|Class Ability

11th|
+x|
+x|
+x|
+x|Class Ability

12th|
+x|
+x|
+x|
+x|Class Ability

13th|
+x|
+x|
+x|
+x|Class Ability

14th|
+x|
+x|
+x|
+x|Class Ability

15th|
+x|
+x|
+x|
+x|Class Ability

16th|
+x|
+x|
+x|
+x|Class Ability

17th|
+x|
+x|
+x|
+x|Class Ability

18th|
+x|
+x|
+x|
+x|Class Ability

19th|
+x|
+x|
+x|
+x|Class Ability

20th|
+x|
+x|
+x|
+x|Class Ability[/table]

Weapon Proficiencies: A place to put the different proficiencies.
Put all the different class abilities in here!

PLAYING A CLASS NAME
Brief description on how to play the class you are designing.
Combat: Here's a section where you will describe common combat methods for your class. Remember to include information on how your class will use his powers in combat.
Advancement: This is a section on different options and paths that the class can go down when they advance in power.
Resources: What resources might a member of this PrC be able to draw on..

CLASS NAME IN THE WORLD
A quote of somebody else talking about your class!

A brief description of how your class is persevered in the world and how he interacts with the world.
Daily Life: Some general information about the typical day in the life of your class.
Notables: Make up some cool information about notable figures in the history of your class. It's best to give a little information from one of the good alignment and evil alignment (unless it's a good or evil only class).
Organizations: Some information about organizations dedicated to the practice of your class and other organizations which members of your class will be attracted towards.

NPC Reaction
This is an in detail description of how NPC's would perceive your class and the immediate generalization that people would give of your class.

CLASS NAME IN THE GAME
This is a good place to provide a quick note on how your class will effect game play statistically.
Adaptation: This is a place where you put in detail how people can adapt your class into their campaign setting.
Encounters: This is a place to describe what sort of encounters PC's will have with NPC versions of your class.

Sample Encounter
Give an example of how one might encounter a member of this PrC.
EL x: Give the encounter level and description of a sample member of this class and a stat block for him/her.


Name
alignment/Gender/Race/Levels
Init +0, Senses: Listen +, Spot +,
Languages
------------------------------------------------
AC , touch , flat-footed ()
hp ( HD)
Fort +, Ref +, Will +
------------------------------------------------
Speed ft. ( squares)
Melee
Base Atk +, Grp +
Atk Options
Combat Gear
Spells Prepared
Supernatural Abilities
-----------------------------------------------
Abilities Str , Dex , Con , Int , Wis , Cha
SQ
Feats
Skills
Possessions

Krimm_Blackleaf
2008-07-03, 09:48 PM
Taker of the Damned
"Some might say I am wicked... but are those who would take from the wicked truly be called wicked themselves? I'm not to be so lightly dismissed as another twisted hellion..." -Serrik Daark

http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/completechampion_gallery/104743.jpg
Serrik Daark, taker of the damned

The Nine Hells of Baator are a place where the wicked and vile are tortured for eternity after their final moments on the Material Plane. Most accept this as an inevitability, letting the unclean soul spend all of time under the iron and the knife. There are some who instead sitting and watching, witness their evil and exploit it for their own power. The Takers of the Damned are masters of exploiting wicked souls to draw power into themselves at their expense. Most takers of the damned are incarnates with the dead souls of devils or the like attached to their soul to grant them power, and a very rare few are lawful evil totemists, who find their totem animals to be tied closely to the Nine Hells.

HD: d6

Requirements
Alignment: Lawful evil or neutral evil
Skills: Concentration 4 ranks, Knowledge (the planes) 8 ranks, Spellcraft 4 ranks
Feats: Disciple of Darkness, Soulsight
Meldshaping: Must be able to bind soulmelds to your crown, hands and feet. Meldshaper level 5th.
Special: Must have witnessed a character or creature of lawful evil alignment die during an act of evil.

Class Skills: Bluff, Concentration, Craft, Diplomacy, Disguise, Intimidate, Knowledge (arcana), Knowledge (religion), Knowledge (the planes), Profession, Sense Motive, Spellcraft and Spot
Skill-points per level: 2+Int modifier

{table="head"]Level|BAB|Fort|Ref|Will|Special|Meldshaping
1st|+0|+2|+0|+2|Witness damnation, bend alignment|+1 level of meldshaping class
2nd|+1|+3|+0|+3|Crown of the damned|+1 level of meldshaping class
3rd|+1|+3|+1|+3|--|+1 level of meldshaping class
4th|+2|+4|+1|+4|Impure legions|+1 level of meldshaping class
5th|+2|+4|+1|+4|Harvest the impure|+1 level of meldshaping class
6th|+3|+5|+2|+5|Infernal talons|+1 level of meldshaping class
7th|+3|+5|+2|+5|Moral discourse|+1 level of meldshaping class
8th|+4|+6|+2|+6|--|+1 level of meldshaping class
9th|+4|+6|+3|+6|Legion belt|+1 level of meldshaping class
10th|+5|+7|+3|+7|Open the maw of hell|+1 level of meldshaping class
[/table]

Weapon and armor proficiencies: Takers of the damned gain no additional weapon or armor proficiencies.

Meldshaping: At each level, a taker of the damned increases their meldshaper level, the number of soulmelds they can shape, the number and kinds of chakra binds they can create, and their essentia pool as if they had gained a level in the meldshaping class to which they belonged to prior to gaining the taker of the damned level. They do not, however gain any other abilities of that class. If they had more than one meldshaping class before becoming a taker of the damned, they must decide to which class to add each level for the purpose of determining their essentia pool, meldshaper level, and the number of soulmelds and chakra binds available.

Witness Damnation (Su): You have looked into Hell itself and have seen the damned tortured for all eternity in the blink of an eye, but where others might cower in fear, you draw power from it. Whenever you witness an act of evil committed by anyone of lawful evil or neutral evil alignment, you use them as a portal to Hell by which you draw pure soul energy. You gain a bonus point of essentia for as long as you have line of sight of the evil creature or as many rounds as equal to your Wis score, whichever is shorter. Additionally, when you witness them commit the act you see directly into their afterlife in the Nine Hells, and if using that in an act of intimidation, it grants you a bonus to the check equal to half your meldshaper level.
At 5th level, the bonus essentia granted by this class feature grows to 2, and again at 9th level to 3.

Bend Alignment (Ex): As a taker of the damned, your leniencies are that of the Nine Hells or a similar lawful evil extraplanar location. You are no longer required to have a neutral evil alignment if your class leashes you down to only one alignment(such as the Incarnate), and you are not penalized for having a lawful evil alignment. If your alignment becomes anything other than lawful evil or neutral evil, you face all the same penalties.

Crown of the Damned (Su): At 2nd level, you gain a unique soulmeld that lets you make yourself out to be a false infernal duke of sorts. The statistic for this soulmeld are as follows;


Crown of the Damned
Descriptors: Lawful, Evil
Classes: Taker of the Damned
Chakra: Crown
Saving Throw: None

A crown of red and black iron shapes itself about your head, made of steel spikes and thorns that draw none of your blood. When it finishes shaping, your overall features become more imposing and diabolical.

This soulmeld grants you false infernal power, allowing you to become like unto those who dwell in the depths of Hell. While this soulmeld is bound to you, you gain the fiendish template and all of it's benefits and gain a +4 bonus to Bluff, Disguise and Intimidate checks.
Essentia: By investing 3 points of essentia into this soulmeld, your form becomes more devilish and evil and you instead take the half-fiend template instead of the fiendish template. The bonus to Bluff, Disguise and Intimidate checks increases to +6.

Impure Legions (Ex): You gain a small amount of command over the damned legions. This class feature resembles the Leadership feat with two differences. The first is that your effective leadership score is equal to your meldshaper level plus an amount of essentia invested into this class feature at the beginning of the day. The second is that each of your underlings is a tormented soul of Hell brought unto you by sheer power alone. These creatures are just like the normal legions granted by the Leadership feat except they have the Lawful, Evil and Extraplanar subtypes. Additionally, your cohort must be a lawful evil outsider of some sort, anything from a tiefling to a true devil.

Harvest the Impure (Su): You gain a powerful ability to harvest the very soul energy from the cracks in souls left by their own evil. At 5th level and beyond, If you witness a lawful evil or neutral evil character die, you may as an immediate action harvest their soul. When you do, a small glowing red orb(emitting the light of a candle) appears in your hand. This orb contains an amount of essentia equal to the creature's HD plus it's Con modifier. Once this essentia is used for any reason, it is forever expended, that portion of their soul being transported to Hell. You can only have an amount of these orbs equal to one quarter of your meldshaper level plus your Wis modifier. Any more simply dissipate into a red mist.
Additionally, you may take a swift action to harvest on of the souls granted to you by the impure legions class feature. The essentia ball grants the same essentia as any other creature would, based on it's HD and Con modifier.

Infernal Talons (Su): At 6th level, you gain another unique soulmeld that allows you to burn their very souls with hellfire. The statistics for this soulmeld are as follows;


Infernal Talons
Descriptors: Lawful, Evil
Classes: Taker of the Damned
Chakra: Hands
Saving Throw: None

You focus soul energy into black-red iron gauntlets around your hands that look like the terrible claws of a devil. You hold your hands up and fire white hot hellfire at your foe, whose very spirit is wasted away.

These gauntlets allow you to use scorching ray as a standard action, with a caster level equal to your meldshaper level. The damage dealt by this spell is half fire and half pure profane energy(nameless damage). For every ray that hits an opponent, the target suffers 1 Cha damage.
Essentia: For every point of essentia you invest in this soulmeld, you gain a +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls for the rays.

Moral Discourse(Sp): You are a creature of evil, and you are capable of bending the situation to your own will. You may use morality undone as a spell-like ability once per round as a standard action. Once used, it cannot be used again for another 1d6 minutes.

Legion Belt (Su): You gain a third and final unique soulmeld of this class, the legion belt. This belt allows you to move your unholy armies at your own will with a thought. The statistics for this soulmeld are as follows;


Legion Belt
Descriptors: Lawful, Evil
Classes: Taker of the Damned
Chakra: Waist
Saving Throw: None

A black and red chain forms tightly around your waist and lower stomach and spikes grow from it, but do not pierce your skin or bleed you. With a thought your entire unholy legion stands before you, ready for battle.

As a full-round action, while wearing this soulmeld you are able to summon the entirety of the legions of your impure legions class feature, including your cohort. This spell otherwise works just as the greater teleport spell, but works only on your legions, and only allows them to teleport to your location. If you wish to teleport them into a space they cannot all fit within, you summon as many as can fit in the designated location.
Essentia: By investing 2 essentia into this soulmeld, you may use it as a standard action instead of a full-round action, and if you invest 3 essentia you may use it as a move action.

Open the Maw of Hell(Sp): You gain the last step of power over the damned that stand in your way. As a standard action, you may rip open a small vacuum attached right to the heart of the Nine Hells surrounding a person or creature of lawful evil or neutral evil alignment. They may make a Fort save(DC 10+1/2 your meldshaper level+invested essentia) to resist the effect, but if they fail they are trapped in one of the many torture rooms of the Nine Hells for one minute, before appearing again before them.
When they return they are considered shaken and are forced to take 10d8 points of fire damage, plus another 1d8 damage equal to the amount of essentia invested in this power. This ability does not work on lawful evil or neutral evil outsiders.


PLAYING A TAKER OF THE DAMNED
Takers of the damned are hard to pinpoint into one single specialty, like most meldshapers, but they do have a knack for leading their own hellish armies into battle and undoing those who are hellbound. The class works particularly well in evil campaigns where the party faces many lawful or neutral evil enemies.
Combat: As mentioned before, takers of the damned are hard to fit into one category, but they do well with their armies. With their infernal talons soulmeld, they become rather good at dealing damage to foes from afar, and degrading their social and some arcane powers(depending on who they might be). They may not have a very high HD, but meldshapers of all sorts tend to have high Con scores, so being in melee combat isn't completely out of the question, though once this class attains impure legions, they should be perfectly comfortable standing at the back of their unholy masses.
Advancement: This class does well picking up soulmelds and magic items that boost allies or lower the saves and abilities of enemies instead of strait damage. Wish high enough boosts for their armies, they can let a swath of destruction happen while barely raising a finger.
Resources: This class draws primarily of the new mechanic of Incarnum as found in the book Magic of Incarnum. Other options characters of this class might do well to look into would be books such as The Fiendish Codex II: Tyrants of the Nine Hells and the Book of Vile Darkness, both of which holds many options for characters associated with devils and their ilk.

TAKERS OF THE DAMNED IN THE WORLD
"It just isn't natural, they spot you doing something like embezzlin' or even just takin' an old ladies' purse an' they... they burn the spirit right out o' ya..." -Tavrin Callas, a somewhat shaken thief

There are two types of takers of the damned in the world, the first of which lends themselves purely to the shadows, hiding behind disguises and pretending to be noblemen or priests or any average city patron. The second type, and the type most infamous and well known are the dark generals. These dark generals sit atop thrones of black iron and bone, commanding their legions and destroying all those who would get in their way with their vast armies of tortured, hellish souls. Many who challenge these warmasters are rarely ever seen again.
Daily Life: The daily life of a taker of the damned are from incredibly average to utterly profane, but rarely anything in between. The lives of the takers are usually either that of a hidden noble, acting out his role as a worthless leg of a million legged creature known as the nobility. The others stand as nobles aswell, but instead of a tubby bureaucrat, they are the dark kings and warlords over armies of damned souls and unholy minions.
Notables: It is said that the original user of this twisted incarnum was a devil-worshiping incarnate named Lazarus Sorkid. Sorkid lived as the leader of a small town of incarnates, in the disguise of a benevolent leader, but by night making sacrifices to his diabolical master. At one point he searched the darkness of Hell and brought forth into his soul a crown. This black iron crown was his key to his mastery of the new life as a Taker of the Damned.
He had no choice but to thank the Pit itself for his gift and did an act that will forever be a stain on the history of mankind. He summoned all the townspeople to a gathering in the middle of town's square, where he had stealthily placed a large pentagram, which they had all unwittingly gathered in the center of. Standing hidden in plain sight beside him was a Pit Fiend in polymorphed shape, and once Sorkid had the attention of the crowd he uttered a single phrase in Infernal, not any whom this day even know, and the pit-fiend slaughtered the lot of them without prejudice.
Organizations: There are little to no organizations that have takers of the damned as exclusive members. Most takers become part of devil cults, or churches of lawful evil gods, most notably Hextor and a rare few flocking to Nerull or Vecna for infernal soul magic.

NPC Reaction
Most NPC's look upon this class as a blight upon them, and will usually either stand against them or flee in fear, depending on how powerful they feel in comparison to the taker. Devils and worshipers of evil gods(with the exception of demon-worshipers) will most usually smile upon the soul-taking villain as one of their own and if it is to their benefit, will likely grant them favors.

TAKERS OF THE DAMNED IN THE GAME
Members of this profane class do best as commanders or generalists in parties, depending on the variables of incarnum to work out what their specialties will be. If the party members are a part of a full-scale battle, a taker may be a blessing, as their army of the damned will obey him almost without complaint(with the exception of moaning in agony almost constantly).
Adaptation: This class can be fitted to be of all evil alignments, sending the or receiving the damned of Gehenna, the Abyss or any other evil-aligned plane, where lawful might be replaced by chaos or in the case of neutral evil, both chaos and lawful.
Encounters: Takers of the Damned make excellent BBEG's, perhaps sitting on a twisted throne of black iron at the top of an infernal tower waiting for a group of adventurers to fall into his trap and be destroyed, or just hiding under their nose, pretending to be a wealthy merchant paying the PC's to do tasks for him, little to their knowledge that these things will lead to their own utter ruin at the benfit of the taker.

Sample Encounter
EL 15: Serrik Daark has been tampering with the infernal aspects of incarnum for many years. At a young age his parents allowed him to witness as they sacrificed a paladin to their dark god Hextor. He found sick pleasure watching the paladin scream and grew to follow in his parent's footsteps as a worshiper of the god of tyranny. At the age of 19 he wandered through his neighborhood finding each member of the infernal church and slit their throats one by one, as an utterly profane act in the name of Hextor. These damned souls now serve as his moaning, agonized legions, whom he enjoys lording over so greatly.


More to come.

The Demented One
2008-07-05, 05:31 PM
Heir of a Thousand

“Oh, you misunderstand–I’m not outnumbered. My allies are always with me. Let me show you.”
–Shira, Heir of a Thousand

http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/moi_gallery/91222.jpg
An Heir of a Thousand prepares to use his legion of a thousand ability.

Heirs of a Thousand are warriors who have discovered the secrets of incarnum, teaching themselves to shape the soulstuff into soulmelds. The Heirs are able to draw on the incarnum of their ancestors, forming them into arms and armaments. An Heir relies on his ancestors more than any companion–they are at once ally, armament, and armor to him. No union or guild unites the Heirs of a Thousand, and in fact, most put little trust in other people, save their ancestral guardians. Only those who prove themselves in worth and battle to an Heir of a Thousand might earn they same respect he gives his ancestors.

d10 HD

Prerequisites
BAB: +5
Feats: Cobalt Power
Skills: Concentration 4 ranks, Knowledge (History) 4 ranks
Meldshaping: Must be able to shape soulmelds.

Skills
The Heir of a Thousand’s class skills are Climb (Str), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Heal (Wis), Jump (Str), Knowledge (Arcana) (Int), Knowledge (History) (Int), Knowledge (The Planes) (Int), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), Spellcraft (Int), Swim (Str)

Skill Points per Level: 2 + Int modifier.

{table=head]Level|BAB|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special|Soulmelds

1st|
+1|
+2|
+0|
+0|Ancestor’s Crest|+1 level of existing meldshaping class

2nd|
+2|
+3|
+0|
+0|Ancestral Blade|+1 level of existing meldshaping class

3rd|
+3|
+3|
+1|
+1|
–|+1 level of existing meldshaping class

4th|
+4|
+4|
+1|
+1|Azure Aegis|+1 level of existing meldshaping class

5th|
+5|
+4|
+1|
+1|Shape Ancestral Blade|+1 level of existing meldshaping class

6th|
+6|
+5|
+2|
+2|
–|+1 level of existing meldshaping class

7th|
+7|
+5|
+2|
+2|Ancestral Guidance|+1 level of existing meldshaping class

8th|
+8|
+6|
+2|
+2|Living Weapons|+1 level of existing meldshaping class

9th|
+9|
+6|
+3|
+3|Greater Shape Ancestral Blade|+1 level of existing meldshaping class

10th|
+10|
+7|
+3|
+3|Legion of a Thousand|+1 level of existing meldshaping class [/table]

Class Features
All the following are class features of the Heir of a Thousand prestige class.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency
You gain no additional weapon or armor proficiencies.

Meldshaping
At each level, an Heir of a Thousand increases their meldshaper level, the number of soulmelds they can shape, the number and kinds of chakra binds they can create, and their essentia pool as if they had gained a level in the meldshaping class to which they belonged to prior to gaining the taker of the damned level. They do not, however gain any other abilities of that class.

Ancestor’s Crest (Su)
At 1st level, you are able to channel the souls of your ancestors into a unique soulmeld that aids you in battle, the ancestor’s crest. The statistic for this soulmeld are as follows:



Ancestor’s Crest
Classes: Heir of a Thousand
Chakra: Brow, Crown

A wisp of incarnum takes form above you head, lazily orbiting around you. Though no one else can hear its voice, it speaks to you with the voice of your ancestors, guiding you through battle.

The ancestor’s crest serves as your companion, advising you in battle and enabling you to use many of your Heir of a Thousand class features. You gain a +1 insight bonus on damage rolls.

Essentia
For every point of essentia you invest, the bonus on damage rolls increases by one.

Chakra Bind (Brow)
Your ancestor’s crest takes the form of a mask overlaid on your face. As it fuses to your face, you feel the presence of your ancestors within you, guiding your body as you fight.

When you bind your ancestor’s crest to your brow chakra, you choose one feat, plus an additional feat for every point of essentia invested in the soulmeld, from the Fighter bonus feat list. You gain those feats as bonus feats for as long as the soulmeld remains bound. You must meet all of the feats’ prerequisites. If you take a point of essentia from the soulmeld, you must choose a feat to give up. If you invest an additional point of essentia into the soulmeld, you may gain an additional feat.

Chakra Bind (Crown)
Your ancestor’s crest takes on the shape of a helm, molding tightly to your head. You can hear the voices of your ancestors warning you.

You gain the mettle class feature.


Ancestral Blade (Su)
At 2nd level, you can transform your soulmelds into weapons. As a swift action, you may transform a single soulmeld into an ancestral blade. While you still retain all the benefits of the soulmeld, it takes material form as a light or one-handed weapon of your choice that floats beside you, connected to your body by a tether of incarnum. The ancestral blade has an enhancement bonus equal to the amount of essentia invested in the soulmeld. You can make a single attack with an ancestral blade, or attack with both it and any weapon you wield as part of a full attack, but you cannot make iterative attacks with an ancestral blade. You take a -5 penalty on all attacks you make with an ancestral blade. This penalty is reduced to -4 at 4th level, to -3 at 6th level, to -2 at 8th level, and to -1 at 10th level. An ancestral blade cannot be disarmed or sundered. You must have the ancestor’s crest soulmeld shaped to use this ability.

Azure Aegis (Su)
At 4th level, you can transform your soulmelds into armor that fuses with your own, creating a powerful defense. As a swift action, you may transform a single soulmeld into an azure aegis. Any armor you are wearing gains an enhancement bonus equal to the amount of essentia invested in the soulmeld, and you gain an armor bonus equal to 4 + the amount of essentia invested if you are not wearing any armor. You also gain damage reduction/adamantine equal to the amount of essentia invested. You cannot shape a single soulmeld into both an ancestral blade and an azure aegis. You must have the ancestor’s crest soulmeld shaped to use this ability.

Shape Ancestral Blade (Su)
At 5th level, you can shape your ancestral blade into a two-handed weapon. In addition, you can transform up to two soulmelds into ancestral blades, though both must be shaped as light weapons if you do so.

Ancestral Guidance (Su)
At 7th level, you can tap into the knowledge of your ancestors. You can make a check with any Knowledge skill as if you were trained in it, with a modifier equal to your Intelligence modifier plus your class level plus any ranks you have in the skill. You must have the ancestor’s crest soulmeld shaped to use this ability.

Living Weapons (Su)
At 8th level, your ancestral blades can act independently of you, guided by the souls of your ancestors. As a move action, you may move one of your ancestral blades out of your square and up to 30 ft. You can then either make a single attack with or, or attack an enemy with it as part of a full attack. At the end of your turn, the ancestral blade returns to your square.

Greater Shape Ancestral Blade (Su)
At 9th level, you can shape your ancestral blade, you can transform two soulmelds into ancestral blades while shaping them into light or one-handed weapons. You may transform three soulmelds into ancestral blades if all of them are shaped into light weapons.

Legion of a Thousand (Su)
At 10th level, you can call your ancestors to your aid, razing your enemies in a storm of incarnum blades. As a full round action, you can choose one of your ancestral weapons. You then create and fire multiple replicas of that ancestral weapon, attacking each creature within 30 ft. of you with one. Each ancestral weapon makes a full attack against its target, though it makes one less iterative attack than it normally would. Afterwards, the duplicate ancestral weapons fade away.
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Playing an Heir of a Thousand

Heirs of a Thousand are melee specialists. Their class features allow them to make numerous attacks, and strengthen there defenses, allowing them to soak up damage and deal it out in return.

Combat
An Heir of a Thousand’s place in combat is in melee. An Heir of a Thousand’s ancestral blade class feature allows him to make additional attacks during combat. As there are no penalties to shaping an ancestral blade, there is almost never any reason not to use it. As an Heir of a Thousand gains class levels, he can shape multiple ancestral blades, and even use them to attack enemies far away, allowing him to engage in melee while still handling remoter threats.

Advancement
An Heir of a Thousand is all about melee, and he should take options that improve his combat ability as he advances. Offensive feats and soulmelds are all of advantage to an Heir.

Resources
Heirs of a Thousand have no formal organization uniting them, and thus rarely have any additional resources as a result of their status. Higher level Heirs do, however, gain access to the knowledge of their ancestors, which is always a useful resource.
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Heirs of a Thousand in the World

“One minute he’s just sittin’ there, drinkin’ his ale quiet as anything, and then some orc says somethin’ or another bout his grandaddy, and he’s surrounded with all these floating swords!”
–Twofingers Edric, Kobold Bard, about an Heir of a Thousand

Daily Life
Heirs of a Thousand tend either towards a life of adventure or warfare. A sedentary lifestyle is simply unbearable to those who can feel the warrior spirits of all their ancestors speaking within them, so most go out into the world to prove their mettle. Heirs of a Thousand are rarely given over to social life, most preferring only the company of their ancestors and perhaps a few worthy friends.

Notables
Prince Shira was once the heir to the throne of a noble kingdom, but his evil uncle assassinated his father and drove Shira from the kingdom. Shira has learned to channel the soul of his father and ancestors, and has begun a one-man vendetta against the corrupt king.

Cassius Alsatius Praefectus is the ruthless head of the Laughing Sovereigns mercenary army. A powerful Heir of a Thousand, he is cruel and relentless in battle, using his ancestral blades to rend and tear his foes asunder. His services can be had to anyone for a fee, but he prefers serving under masters as cruel as he is.

Organizations
No formal organizations or guilds exist that unite the Heirs of a Thousand, but many can be found among armies or mercenary groups, such as Cassius Praefectus’s Laughing Sovereigns.
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NPC Reaction
Few NPCs will be able to tell the difference between an ordinary fighter and an Heir of a Thousand–until they see the Heir in battle. The Heirs are not well-known, and thus most will assume their powers are some kind of magic, reacting as they typically would towards a wizard or similar.
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Heirs of a Thousand in the Game

Adaptation
The Heir of a Thousand prestige class can easily be adapted by changing their source of power. For example, they could be changed to a group of holy warriors who all channel the soul of a single saintly warrior, gaining martial power from their shared bond. Or they could be merciless assassins who channel the souls of their victims into weapons of incarnum, or similar.

Encounters
Heirs of a Thousand make good encounters for PC’s. An Heir can be of any alignment, and has no overarching group it belongs to, allowing an Heir of a Thousand encounter to be added in to any campaign with little work on the DM’s part.

Kellus
2008-07-05, 11:49 PM
The Sanguine Souldrinker

“You ever tasted a soul? Nothing like it. ‘Cept maybe chicken.”
– Vlad Redfang, sanguine souldrinker

http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/libris_gallery/84752.jpg
A sanguine souldrinker fills his veins with the blood of the wraith as he hunts for his next meal.

The sanguine souldrinker is an incarnum acolyte who has strayed far from the beaten path. He has forgone more traditional studies of incarnum and even necrocarnum to appease his dark desires and achieve transcenence to the become the perfect hunter of the night: the vampire. This dark individual drinks the blood of his victims to extract essentia from their souls, which he then uses to assume traits of various monstrosities from beyond the grave.

Game Rule Information

Prerequisites: In order to become a sanguine souldrinker, a character must fulfill all of the following criteria:

Alignment: Any nongood.
Feats: Necrocarnum Acolyte, Tomb-Tainted Soul.
Meldshaping: Ability to shape soulmelds.
Skills: Knowledge (religion) 8 ranks.
Special: Cannot have the Undead type.
Special: Must have drunk fresh, innocent blood from a human they killed.

Hit Die: d8.
Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 2 + Int modifier.

Table: The Sanguine Souldrinker
{table="head"]Level|BAB|Fort|Ref|Will|Special

1st|+0|+2|+0|+2|Blood chakra bind, blood of the mohrg, drink soul

2nd|+1|+3|+0|+3|Dark metamorphosis (untiring soul)

3rd|+2|+3|+1|+3|Blood of the ghoul

4th|+3|+4|+1|+4|Dark metamorphosis (armour of night)

5th|+3|+4|+1|+4|Blood of the mummy

6th|+4|+5|+2|+5|Dark metamorphosis (redundant metabolism)

7th|+5|+5|+2|+5|Blood of the wraith

8th|+6|+6|+2|+6|Dark metamorphosis (soul of vapour)

9th|+6|+6|+3|+6|Blood of the lich

10th|+7|+7|+3|+7|Dark metamorphosis (hunter of the night)

[/table]

Class Skills: The sanguine souldrinker’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Heal (Wis), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (arcana), Knowledge (religion) (Int), and Spellcraft (Int).

All of the following are class features of the sanguine souldrinker prestige class.

Weapon and Armour Proficiencies: The sanguine souldrinker gains no additional weapon or armour proficiencies.

Blood Chakra Bind (Su): The sanguine souldrinker has access to the blood chakra, a special chakra used to bind the souls of undead creatures into the lifegiving fluid of the body. A soulmeld shaped in your blood chakra does not count towards your total number of chakra binds, although it does count towards your total number of soulmelds.

Blood of the Mohrg (Su): At 1st level you gain a unique soulmeld that allows you to gain the powers of the murderous mohrg. This soulmeld only has an effect if it is bound in your blood chakra. The effects of this soulmeld are as follows:


Blood of the Mohrg
Descriptors: Death, Evil, Necrocarnum
Classes: Sanguine Souldrinker
Chakra: Blood
Saving Throw: None

Your blood thunders through your veins as it fills with an unspeakable rage. Violence wells up inside you, demanding to be released.

Mohrgs are the undying remains of murderers and killers. While the blood of the mohrg runs through your veins, you gain the ability to grab hold of your foe, and to fly into a murderous rage. You gain a +2 bonus to grapple checks, and can rage (as a barabarian of 1st level) once per day.

Essentia: For every point of essentia you invest in your blood of the mohrg, the bonus to grapple checks increases by +2.

Drink Soul (Su): The most basic ability of the sanguine souldrinker to extract part of a victim’s soul through its blood. As a full-round action, a sanguine souldrinker may drink a helpless or pinned victim’s blood. This grants the sanguine souldrinker 1 extra point of essentia per class level. These additional essentia points last until the sanguine souldrinker uses this ability again, at which point any previous bonus points disappear. He may expend any or all of these bonus essentia points as a swift action to gain 5 temporary hit points per essentia point burned. These temporary hit points last for up to 1 hour.

A target hit by this attack must make a Will saving throw (DC 10 + class level + Cha modifier) or lose the ability to meldshape for 1 hour. Regardless of this check, they also take 5 damage per class level of the sanguine souldrinker.

Dark Metamorphosis (Su): A sanguine souldrinker slowly grows to resemble the dreaded vampire. As he advances, a sanguine souldrinker progressively gains benefits and drawbacks associated with the vampire lord.

Untiring Soul: At 2nd level, a sanguine souldrinker no longer needs to sleep, eat, or breathe. However, at this point the souldrinker must select a coffin as his resting place. A souldrinker who fails to spend at least 4 hours of the waking day in his coffin loses all supernatural class features from this class. He may atone by spending a full day inside of his coffin. If the coffin is destroyed, the sanguine souldrinker gains a negative level which cannot be removed by any means, except by choosing a new coffin and resting for a full day inside of it.

Armour of Night: Beginning at 4th level, a sanguine souldrinker gains a +2 bonus to AC and damage reduction 3/silver and magic. However, at this point the souldrinker cannot come within 5ft. of any being holding garlic, a mirror, or a strongly presented holy symbol. A souldrinker who eats garlic must make a DC 20 Fortitude save or die. The souldrinker no longer casts a reflection. Finally, the souldrinker loses all divine spellcasting abilities as he becomes an unholy blight. Holding a souldrinker at bay with one of these objects is a standard action.

Redundant Metabolism: Beginning at 6th level, a sanguine souldrinker has 50% immunity (as moderate fortification) against critical hits, sneak attacks, and other precision damage. However, at this point the souldrinker is unable to cross running water under his own power.

Soul of Vapour: Beginning at 8th level, a sanguine souldrinker may use a standard action to assume gaseous form as the spell at a caster level of 5. However, at this point the souldrinker may not enter a home or other building unless invited in by someone with the authority to do so. He may freely enter public places, since these are by definition open to all.

Hunter of the Night: At 10th level the sanguine souldrinker’s transformation is complete. His type changes to undead, and he gains all traits associated with that type. His Hit Dice retroactively change to d12s, he loses his Constitution score, and he gains immunity to a variety of effects, as described in the Monster Manual. In addition, the souldrinker gains humanoids (humans) as a favoured enemy. They gain a +2 bonus on Bluff, Listen, Sense Motive, Spot, and Survival checks made against humans. Similarly, they receive a +2 bonus on weapon damage rolls against them.

At this point, however, the sanguine souldrinker cannot bear the sun. Every round he spends in daylight, the souldrinker receives 3 points of damage which can only be healed by drinking the fresh blood of the innocent. Finally, the souldrinker is now also succeptible to a stake through the heart. Any souldrinker stuck with a wooden stake through his heart must make a Fortitude save (DC 10 + 1/2 the staker’s character level + the staker’s Strength modifier) or be forever destroyed.

Blood of the Ghoul (Su): At 3rd level you gain a unique soulmeld that allows you to gain the powers of the rotting ghoul. This soulmeld only has an effect if it is bound in your blood chakra. The effects of this soulmeld are as follows:


Blood of the Ghoul
Descriptors: Death, Evil, Necrocarnum
Classes: Sanguine Souldrinker
Chakra: Blood
Saving Throw: See text

Your blood runs ice cold as you begin to give off a stench of earth and dust. Your skin becomes drawn and tight, and you seem to taint the air with the smell of the grave.

While the blood of the ghoul runs through your veins, you can see in the dark and draw upon the ghoul’s powerful paralytic poison. You gain darkvision to 30ft. and any target you hit with a melee attack must make a Fortitude save or be paralyzed for 1 round.

Essentia: For every two points of essentia you invest in your blood of the ghoul, the paralytic effect lasts for 1 additional round.

Blood of the Mummy (Su): At 5th level you gain a unique soulmeld that allows you to gain the powers of the wrapped guardian, the mummy. This soulmeld only has an effect if it is bound in your blood chakra. The effects of this soulmeld are as follows:


Blood of the Mummy
Descriptors: Death, Evil, Necrocarnum
Classes: Sanguine Souldrinker
Chakra: Blood
Saving Throw: See text

Your emotions seem to dull as you become focused on one thing only: fulfilling your duty. The cloying stench of perfume and sacrificial incense sticks to you, as your skin begins to decay into the form of the eternal guardian.

While the blood of the mummy runs through your veins, you gain superb awareness of your surroundings, and you gain the ability to deliver the mummy’s supernatural disease, mummy rot. This disease eventually turns victims into nothing more than dust on the wind. You gain blindsight to 30ft., and your melee attacks force the target to make a Fortitude save or contract mummy rot. Mummy rot is a disease with an incubation period of 1 minute, and deals 1d6 Con and 1d6 Cha damage. Unlike normal diseases, mummy rot persists until the target reaches 0 Con and dies, or until it is cured. Mummy rot is difficult to cure; see the Mummy entry in the Monster Manual for more information on curing mummy rot.

Essentia: For every point of essentia you invest in your blood of the mummy, the blindsight improves by 5ft., and the DC for the caster level check to remove your mummy rot increases by 2.

Blood of the Wraith (Su): At 7th level you gain a unique soulmeld that allows you to gain the powers of the disembodied wraith. This soulmeld only has an effect if it is bound in your blood chakra. The effects of this soulmeld are as follows:


Blood of the Wraith
Descriptors: Death, Evil, Necrocarnum
Classes: Sanguine Souldrinker
Chakra: Blood
Saving Throw: None

Your body becomes insubstantial and shadowy, phasing in and out of existence like the wraith itself.

While the blood of the wraith runs through your veins, you gain the ability to become incorporeal temporarily. As a swift action, you can become incorporeal, gaining all associated traits as described in the Monster Manual. You may return to corporeality as another swift action. Once you have spent a total of 10 rounds incorporeal (including a round where you only change in or out of incorporeality), you must wait 1 hour before you can use this ability again. While this ability is recharging, you may not unshape this soulmeld. If you unshape this soulmeld before you have used all 10 rounds of incorporeality, you maintain the same number of rounds used the next time you shape it.

Essentia: For every point of essentia you invest in your blood of the wraith, you gain another 5 rounds of incorporeality before you must recharge this soulmeld.

Blood of the Lich (Su): At 9th level you gain a unique soulmeld that allows you to gain the powers of the preserved arcanist, the lich. This soulmeld only has an effect if it is bound in your blood chakra. The effects of this soulmeld are as follows:


Blood of the Wraith
Descriptors: Death, Evil, Necrocarnum
Classes: Sanguine Souldrinker
Chakra: Blood
Saving Throw: None

Your body becomes ice-cold as your blood changes to black bile. Your heart feels as if it is ripped in two as part of your soul is placed in a nearby phylactery.

While the blood of the lich runs through your veins, you are very difficult to kill. When you shape this soulmeld, you must select one object at least two size categories smaller than yourself. If you are killed while this soulmeld is still active, your body will reform from the makeshift phylactery in 1d10 days with no penalty or loss of level.

Essentia: This soulmeld cannot be improved by investing essentia.

Playing a Sanguine Souldrinker

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Sanguine Souldrinkers in the World

(to be written)

NPC Reaction

(to be written)

Sanguine Souldrinkers in the Game

(to be written)

dman11235
2008-07-29, 10:56 PM
Last day for touch ups and entries!

dman11235
2008-07-31, 09:14 AM
And this contest is closed!