When a druid turns away from the land, the land turns away from her. Some ex-druids make peace with this change; others seek to restore the bond. A few, however, actually embrace their disconnection from nature and become forces of destruction. These few, called blighters, bring desolation wherever they tread.A blighter draws uses defiling magic, stripping life from the land around her and using it to power her spells. A swath of desolation and ash typically mark a blighter’s path through the wilderness. The vast majority of blighters are nomadic loners constantly in search of green lands to destroy. Some are grim; others laugh at the destruction they wreck. Almost all, however, are friendless and mad.
Humans or orc ex-druids seem to be the most likely to take up the path of the blighter. Elves almost never become blighters; the thought of siphoning the life of the planet to fuel their spells is a concept which even the vilest elf has difficulty embracing.
Hit Dice: d8
Requirements
In order to qualify to become a Blighter, a character must meet the following criteria.
Alignment: Any Non-goodBase Attack Bonus: +4
Special: The character must be an ex-druid previously capable of casting 3rd level druid spells.
Class Skills
The Blighter’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Handle Animal (Cha), Heal (Wis), Knowledge (nature) (Int), Listen (Wis), Profession (Wis), Spellcraft (Int), Spot (Wis), Survival (Wis), and Swim (Str). See Chapter 4 of the Player’s Handbook for skill descriptions.
Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier.
Class Level Base Attack Bonus Fort Save Ref Save Will Save Special Spellcasting 1 +0 +0 +0 +2 Defiling Magic, Corrupted +1 caster level 2 +1 +0 +0 +3 Animate Dead Animal, Sustenance +1 caster level 3 +1 +1 +1 +3 Undead shape 1/day +1 caster level 4 +2 +1 +1 +4 Efficient Raze, Undead shape (Large) +1 caster level 5 +2 +1 +1 +4 Undead shape 2/day +1 caster level 6 +3 +2 +2 +5 Undead Animal Companion +1 caster level 7 +3 +2 +2 +5 Undead shape 1/day +1 caster level 8 +4 +2 +2 +6 Efficient Raze, Undead shape (Huge) +1 caster level 9 +4 +3 +3 +6 Undead shape 1/day +1 caster level 10 +5 +3 +3 +7 Unbound +1 caster level
Class Features
All of the following are class features of the Blighter prestige class.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A blighter gains no new weapon or armor proficiency.
Spellcasting: A blighter continues training with druidic magic, albeit in a corrupted fashion. The blighter adds her blighter level to any levels of ex-druid she possesses to determine her effective caster level. She may cast divine spells from the druid spell list as if she were a druid of her effective caster level She does not, however, gain any other benefit a druid of that level would have gained (animal companion, wild shape abilities, etc).
Defiling Magic: The blighter regains her druidic spellcasting abilities, but in a corrupted fashion; from now on, the character is considered to be a defiler. Defilers rip the life energy from surrounding plants and small animals, channeling it to fuel their spells. The process of defiling obliterates all plant life in a radius around the defiler, leaving behind only a fine black ash. This ash is completely devoid of life-giving elements – an area leeched of life by a defiler may require decades (or centuries) before it is able to support life again.The radius of the defilement is 5 feet per spell level; a 0-level spell defiles a single 5-ft. square occupied by the caster. Creatures other than the defiler caught within the defiling radius at the time of casting experience sharp pain and are sickened (–2 penalty on all attack rolls, weapon damage rolls, saving throws, skill checks, and ability checks) for one round. Creatures of the plant type are particularly harmed by defiling magic, and suffer an additional 2 points of damage per level of the spell slot expended to cast the spell. For this purpose a 0-level spell inflicts 1 point of damage.
Depending upon the amount of plant life in a defiled area, a defiler’s spells may be more or less effective. This is represented by either a bonus or penalty to spell save DCs and effective caster levels, as shown below.
Terrain Bonus Abundant plant life (Forests, Jungles) +2 Fertile terrains (Grasslands, Savannahs, Swamps) +1 Average terrains (Hills, Mountains, Oceans) - Infertile terrain (Rocky Badlands, Stony Barrens) -1 Barren terrains (Subterranean) -2 Area devoid of plant life (Deserts, Glaciers) Spellcasting impossible Continual use of defiling magic has a corrupting effect upon defilers, who are slowly driven insane by their magic. Any time a character casts a spell using defiling magic, she must attempt a Will save (DC 10 + spell level) or increase her depravity score by 1. See the Taint rules for more information on depravity.
Corrupted (Su): A blighter’s magic is corrupted by defiling magic, which manifests itself visibly in her spellcasting. Any wounds healed by the blighter leave ugly, jagged scars that are not smoothed by other healing effects. Elemental effects created by a blighter seem uncontrolled and disturbing; water effects are shot through with small streaks or pools of blood, earth effects display small bits of skeletal remains, fire effects flicker with tortured faces, and air effects whisper disturbingly or howl like a tortured creatures. Any animal summoned by a blighter is an undead creature (add the “Skeletal” template to the summoned creature).In addition, animals in a 1-mile radius of a blighter grow increasingly violent and feral; dogs and cats will become hostile and violent towards their owners, farm animals will trample and devour nearby humanoids, and travelers will be ripped apart by swarms of maddened squirrels. Any druids within this radius instantly learn that a blighter is in the area (but not her exact location).
Animate Dead Animal (Su): A 2nd level blighter is able to animate the corpses of dead creatures of the animal type, any number of times per day. This ability otherwise functions as an animate dead spell, cast as a cleric of the blighter’s class level. The blighter may control any number of undead animals, so long as their combined Hit Dice does not exceed twice her class level.
Sustenance (Ex): Beginning at 2nd level, a blighter no longer needs food or water to survive.
Undead Shape (Sp): At 3rd level, the blighter regains a version of her wild shape ability. Undead shape functions as a druid’s wild shape ability, except that the blighter adds the "skeletal" template to the animal form she chooses to transform into. The blighter’s animal form is altered as follows:– Type changes to Undead.The blighter is able to assume her undead shape once per day at 3rd level, plus an additional time per day at 5th, 7th, and 9th levels. In addition, she gains the ability to take the shape of a Large skeletal animal at 4th level, and a Huge skeletal animal at 8th level.– Natural armor bonus is +1 (Small), +2 (Medium or Large), or +3 (Huge).
– +2 Dexterity, no Constitution score.
– Immunity to cold, Damage reduction 5/bludgeoning.
Efficient Raze (Su): Beginning at 4th level, the blighter becomes able to draw more power from the plant life in the surrounding area. Whenever she uses defiling magic, she treats the surrounding area as if it were one type better than it actually is. If she is in an abundant terrain, she gains an additional +1 bonus to her spell save DCs and to her effective caster level. If there is no plant life in the area, though, she remains unable to cast spells.At 8th level, the blighter gains the ability to treat her current terrain as if it were two types better than it actually is. This grants her an additional +1 bonus to her spell save DCs and to her effective caster level in fertile terrains, or an additional +2 bonus in abundant terrains.
Undead Animal Companion (Su): At 6th level, the blighter gains an undead animal companion. The blighter chooses either an ape, bear (black), bison, boar, cheetah, crocodile, dire badger, dire bat, dire weasel, leopard, lizard (monitor), shark (large), snake (large constrictor or viper), or wolverine and applies the “Skeletal” template to the chosen animal. The blighter’s undead animal companion increases in power as she advances, as seen in the table below.
Blighter Level Bonus HD Natural Armor Adj. Str/Dex Adj. Bonus Tricks Special 5th-6th +2 +2 +0 1 Link, Share Spells 7th-8th +3 +3 +1 2 Evasion 9th-10th +4 +4 +2 3 Multiattack
Bonus HD: Extra twelve-sided (d12) Hit Dice, each of which gains a Constitution modifier as normal. Extra Hit Dice improve the undead companion’s base attack and base save bonuses. An undead companion’s base attack bonus is equal to half its Hit Dice, with good Will saves. The companion gains additional skill points and feats for bonus HD as normal for advancing a monster’s Hit Dice (see the Monstrous Manual).Natural Armor Adjustment: The number on the table is an improvement to the undead companion’s natural armor bonus. It represents the preternatural toughness of the blighter’s companion.
Str/Dex Adjustment: Add this figure to the undead companion’s Strength and Dexterity scores.
Bonus Tricks: The number given in this column is the total number of “bonus” tricks the companion knows in addition to any the blighter may choose to teach it. These bonus tricks do not require any time or Handle Animal checks, and they do not count against the normal limit of tricks known by the companion. The blighter selects these bonus tricks, and, once selected, they do not change. The blighter’s companion may perform these tricks as if it were a sentient animal.
Link (Ex): A blighter can handle her companion as a free action, or push it as a move action, even if she does not have ranks in the Handle Animal skill. The blighter gains a +4 bonus on all Handle Animal checks made regarding her undead companion. This ability allows the blighter to use Handle Animal on her companion, even though it is technically undead.
Share Spells (Ex): At the blighter’s option, she can choose to have any spell she casts on herself affect her companion as well, provided the companion is within 5 feet of her at the time of casting. If the spell effect has a duration other than instantaneous, it stops affecting the companion if it moves further than 5 feet away and will not affect the companion again, even if it returns to the blighter before the duration expires. Additionally, the blighter may cast a spell with a target of “You” on her companion as a touch spell instead of on herself. A blighter and her companion may share spells even if such spells would normally fail to affect a creature with the Undead type.
Evasion (Ex): When When subjected to an attack that normally allows a Reflex saving throw for half damage, an undead companion takes no damage on a successful save.
Multiattack (Ex): The undead companion gains multiattack as a bonus feat if it did not already possess it. If it does not have the requisite three natural attacks, it instead gains an additional attack with its primary natural weapon, at a -5 penalty to the attack roll.
Unbound (Su): At 10th level, the blighter is able to temporarily separate a bonded animal or magical beast (such as an animal companion, familiar, or mount) from its master once per day. The target creature must be within 40 feet of both its master and the blighter. If the master fails a Will save (DC 10 + the blighter’s class level + her Charisma modifier) the bond terminates as if the servitor had died, though this does not cause experience loss in the case of a familiar. Normally hostile creatures attack their masters but are otherwise unaffected. The bond returns after 1 minute per blighter level, restoring all benefits. Alternatively, the master can regain the servitor through the normal means of acquisition.
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