Abolisher

“Tentacles writhe in the darkness. I will be there to ensure they wriggle no more.”

A deep hatred exists between ancient aberrations and the Zif. The origin of this enmity is unimportant to the abolisher. Known as the abolisher of aberrations, the abolisher of aboleths, or simply and most commonly the abolisher, this prestige class focuses on the destruction of these creatures. They hunt them in their lairs, they stalk them in the dark bowels of the underworld, and they eradicate them wherever they go. An abolisher believes that aberrations must die, their plots must be overthrown, and their minions exterminated if the world is to survive.

All of the abolisher’s abilities are designed to better match the aberrant foe. Their defenses protect them from attacks common to aberrations. They are well-suited to hunting and killing them in their underground lairs. An abolisher can strike fear into creatures that are used to dealing the same to others.

Role: Abolishers most often get their start in wizardry and then move to more martial endeavors. A rare few begin as rangers and supplement their physical prowess with arcane enhancements. Whatever the background, the abolisher becomes an accomplished skirmisher who backs up his blade with cleverly executed spells.

Hit Die: d8

Requirements

To qualify to become an abolisher, a character must fulfill all of the following criteria:

Alignment: Abolishers cannot be of chaotic alignment. Most are of lawful good alignment, but this is not a requirement.

Base Attack Bonus: +5.

Race: Zif.

Skills: Knowledge (dungeoneering) 7 ranks.

Spells: Ability to cast the protection from aberrations spell

Class Skills

The abolisher’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Heal (Wis), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (dungeoneering) (Int), Perception (Wis), Sense Motive (Wis), Spellcraft (Int) and Survival (Wis).

Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier.

Table: Abolisher
Level Base Attack Bonus Fort Save Ref Save Will Save Special Spells per Day
1st +1 +1 +0 +1 Favored enemy (aberrations) +2, see the darkness (low-light vision)
2nd +2 +1 +1 +1 Protection from aberrations +1 level of existing arcane spellcasting class
3rd +3 +2 +1 +2 Mind shell
4th +4 +2 +1 +2 See the darkness (darkvision 60 feet) +1 level of existing arcane spellcasting class
5th +5 +3 +2 +3 Favored enemy (aberrations) +4
6th +6 +3 +2 +3 Mind cracker (1/day) +1 level of existing arcane spellcasting class
7th +7 +4 +2 +4 See the darkness (blindsense 15 feet)
8th +8 +4 +3 +4 Gaze of elders, mind cracker (2/day) +1 level of existing arcane spellcasting class
9th +9 +5 +3 +5 Favored enemy (aberrations) +6
10th +10 +5 +3 +5 See the darkness (blindsight 25 feet), mind cracker (3/day) +1 level of existing arcane spellcasting class

Class Features

The following are class features of the abolisher prestige class.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency

Abolishers gain no proficiency with any weapons or armor.

Spells Per Day

Every other level after 1st level, an abolisher gains new spells per day as if he had also gained a level in an arcane spellcasting class he belonged to before adding the prestige class. He does not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained. If a character had more than one arcane spellcasting class before becoming an abolisher, he must decide to which class he adds the new level for purposes of determining spells per day.

Favored Enemy (Ex)

The abolisher gains aberrations as a favored enemy, much like the ranger class feature of the same name. These bonuses stack with other classes that have a favored enemy class feature. At 6th level, this bonus increases to +4, and increase again to +6 at 9th level.

See the Darkness (Ex)

An abolisher has to continually train his eyes and other senses to conditions of near total darkness. At 1st level, he gains low-light vision. At 4th level he gains darkvision up to 60 feet. At 7th level, he gains blindsense out to 15 feet. Finally, at 10th level, he gains blindsight out to 25 feet.

Protection from Aberrations (Sp)

At 2nd level, the protection from aberrations spell takes up a spell slot one level lower (1st level).

Mind Shell (Ex)

At 3rd level, the abolisher gains defense against mental attacks. Against all mind-affecting spells and spell-like abilities the abolisher gains Spell Resistance equal to his abolisher level +10. While withdrawn into his shell, he gains Spell Resistance versus mind affecting spells equal to his character level +10.

Mind Cracker (Su)

At 6th level, as a standard action once per day, an abolisher can attempt to crack the mind of a single creature within 60 feet. The target must make a Will save (DC 15 + the abolisher class level) or be unable to use any innate mind-affecting abilities for 24 hours. While this does not affect mind-affecting spells cast by the target, it does affect spell-like abilities. Mind cracking, itself, is a mind-affecting effect. The abolisher gain another use of this ability at 8th level, and again at 10th level.

Gaze of Elders (Su)

At 8th level, once per day, an abolisher can cast his gaze of elders upon any single creature within 30 feet. The target must succeed on a Will save (DC 15 + the class level of the abolisher) or gain the frightened condition for one round per character level of the abolisher. Creatures affected are filled with a sense of instinctual dread and primordial terror.

Section 15: Copyright Notice

Remarkable Races: Compendium of Unusual PC Races, Pathway to Adventure Edition. Copyright 2009, Alluria Publishing; Author: J. Matthew Kubisz

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