Thrallherd

Thrallherds send out a resonating psychic call, a call that urges those who may be actively or subconsciously seeking someone to guide them, control them, or lead them to come to the thrallherd. These followers of the thrallherd are completely loyal fanatics who will follow the thrallherd’s instructions completely. As a result, thrallherds tend to have large retinues that can either stay close to the thrallherd, go out and perform varied tasks, or even stay behind and manage the thrallherd’s residence.

Due to the nature of the thrallherds, telepaths are the most common characters to enter this class. Other manifesters can also become thrallherds, but typically have to pay a higher cost in character options.

Role: The thrallherd focuses on utilizing mind control and getting others to do her bidding. She acts more as a director, letting her thrall and her believers perform the activities, while she stays back and monitors.

Alignment: Any.

Hit Die: d6.

Requirements

To qualify to become a thrallherd, a character must fulfill all the following criteria.

Skills: Diplomacy 4 ranks, Knowledge (psionics) 5 ranks.

Feat: Inquisitor or Skill Focus (Diplomacy).

Psionics: Manifester level 5th and must be able to link minds together, whether via mindlink, mind control, or a collective.

Class Skills

The thrallherd’s class skills are Autohypnosis (Wis), Bluff (Cha), Diplomacy (Cha), Knowledge (psionics), Sense Motive (Wis), and Spellcraft (Int).

Skill Ranks at Each Level: 2 + Int modifier.

Table: Thrallherd
Level Base Attack Bonus Fort Save Ref Save Will Save Special Powers Known
1st +0 +0 +0 +1 Thrallherd
2nd +1 +1 +1 +1 Alluring voice +1 level of existing class
3rd +1 +1 +1 +2 Empathic connection +1 level of existing class
4th +2 +1 +1 +2 Alluring voice +1 level of existing class
5th +2 +2 +2 +3 Mind control +1 level of existing class
6th +3 +2 +2 +3 Alluring voice +1 level of existing class
7th +3 +2 +2 +4 Greater mind control +1 level of existing class
8th +4 +3 +3 +4 Alluring voice +1 level of existing class
9th +4 +3 +3 +5 Superior mind control +1 level of existing class
10th +5 +3 +3 +5 Alluring voice, expanded call, twofold master

Class Features

The following are class features of the thrallherd prestige class.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency

Thrallherds gain no proficiency with any weapon or armor.

Powers Known

At every level from 2nd through 9th, a thrallherd gains additional power points per day and access to new powers as if she had also gained a level in whatever manifesting class she belonged to before she added the prestige class. She does not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained (bonus feats, metapsionic or item creation feats, and so on). This essentially means that she adds the level of thrallherd to the level of whatever manifesting class the character has, then determines power points per day, powers known, and manifester level accordingly.

If a character had more than one manifesting class before she became a thrallherd, she must decide to which class she adds the new level of thrallherd for the purpose of determining power points per day, powers known, and manifester level.

Thrallherd (Ex)

Thrallherd Leadership and Believers by Level
Leadership Score Thrall Level Number of Believers by Level
1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th
1 or lower
2 1st
3 2nd
4 3rd
5 3rd
6 4th
7 5th
8 5th
9 6th
10 7th 5
11 7th 6
12 8th 8
13 9th 10 1
14 10th 15 1
15 10th 20 2 1
16 11th 25 2 1
17 12th 30 3 1 1
18 12th 35 3 1 1
19 13th 40 4 2 1 1
20 14th 50 5 3 2 1
21 15th 60 6 3 2 1 1
22 15th 75 7 4 2 2 1
23 16th 90 9 5 3 2 1
24 17th 110 11 6 3 2 1
25 or higher 17th 135 13 7 4 2 2

A thrallherd who has just entered the class sends out a subtle psychic call for servants, and that call is answered. Essentially, the character gains something akin to the Leadership feat, but with some important differences.

Those who answer a thrallherd’s call are not referred to as cohorts and followers, but rather as thralls and believers, respectively. They do not appear because they admire the character and want to serve her, but because a hidden psychic resonance connects the thrallherd and her servants.

As with the Leadership feat, a thrallherd has a Leadership score that determines the highest-level thrall and believers she can attract. A thrallherd’s Leadership score is equal to her character level + her Charisma modifier + her thrallherd level. (Note that her thrallherd level is counted twice.) This score is not affected by any of the modifiers mentioned in the Leadership feat.

As with the Leadership feat, the called thrall’s level is limited, even if the character’s Leadership score would indicate a higher-level thrall. Unlike with the Leadership feat, the level limit of a thrall is equal to the character’s total level minus 1 (not level minus 2, as is true for cohorts).

A thrallherd cannot take the Leadership feat; if the character already has it, the feat is lost and replaced by this ability; those who were previously cohorts and followers go their separate ways, and those who are more mentally pliable show up later to take up roles as thralls and believers. A thrallherd’s thrall and believers arrive within 24 hours. Lost thralls are replaced within 24 hours. Believers arrive and are replaced at a rate of the thrallherd’s leadership score per day, with the lowest level believers arriving first. If the thrallherd is in a location where thralls and believers cannot reach, none arrive until she moves to a location where she can be reached. A thrallherd establishes a resonance with his thrall and suffers if the thrall is killed. For 48 hours following the loss of a thrall, a thrallherd suffers one negative level. This negative level may not be healed by any means until 48 hours have passed since the thrall’s death, at which point it fades naturally. Should the thrallherd’s new thrall die while the thrallherd is still suffering a negative level, he acquires an additional negative level, and the duration of any negative levels gained through losing a thrall resets to 48 hours from the time the most recent thrall was lost.

Use the above table instead of the one with the Leadership feat to determine the level of a thrallherd’s thrall and the number of believers of various levels a thrallherd can attract.

Alluring Voice (Ex)

At 2nd level, the thrallherd gains a +2 bonus to her choice of Bluff, Diplomacy, Intimidate or Sense Motive skill checks. At every 2 levels thereafter, she gains an additional +2 bonus that can either be applied to the same skill, or to another skill on the list. For example, a 6th level thrallherd could have a +6 bonus to just Diplomacy, or a +2 bonus to Bluff, Diplomacy, and Intimidate, or a +2 bonus to Bluff and a +4 bonus to Diplomacy. Once this choice is made, it cannot be changed.

Empathic Connection (Ex)

At 3rd level, a thrallherd adds empathic connection to her powers known. If she already knows empathic connection she can instead add a Telepathy power available to her powers known. Once per day, she can manifest empathic connection at a reduced power point cost. The cost of empathic connection is reduced by the thrallherd’s level, to a minimum of 1 power point. The effect of this power is still restricted by the thrallherd’s manifester level.

Mind Control (Ex)

At 5th level, a thrallherd adds mind control to her powers known. If she already knows mind control she can instead add a Telepathy power available to her powers known. Once per day, she can manifest mind control at a reduced power point cost. The cost of mind control is reduced by the thrallherd’s level, to a minimum of 1 power point. The effect of this power is still restricted by the thrallherd’s manifester level.

Greater Mind Control (Ex)

At 7th level and higher, a thrallherd does not have to pay 2 additional power points when she augments mind control to affect animals, fey, giants, magical beasts, and monstrous humanoids. This reduced point cost does not increase the save DC of the power as if she had spent the additional power points.

Superior Mind Control (Ex)

At 9th level, a thrallherd does not have to pay 4 additional power points when she augments mind control to affect aberrations, dragons, elementals, and outsiders (in addition to the creature types mentioned in the greater mind control ability). This reduced point cost does not increase the save DC of the power as if she had spent the additional power points.

Expanded Call

At 10th level, the thrallherd’s ability to bring forth servants improves as indicated on Table: Expanded Call Servants.

Table: Expanded Call Servants
Leadership Score Thrall Level # of Believers by Level
1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th
25 17th 135 13 7 4 2 2
26 18th 160 16 8 4 2 2
27 18th 190 19 10 5 3 2
28 19th 220 22 11 6 3 2
29 19th 260 26 13 7 4 2
30 19th 300 30 15 8 4 2

Twofold Master (Ex)

At 10th level, a thrallherd adds a second thrall to her herd. This second thrall’s maximum level is equal to the thrallherd’s level minus 2, even if her Leadership score would indicate a higher-level thrall. The thrallherd suffers a negative level penalty for 48 hours if her second thrall dies, just like the penalty if her first thrall dies. These negative levels stack if both thralls die.

Section 15: Copyright Notice

Psionics Unleashed. Copyright 2010, Dreamscarred Press.

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