LordotheMorning
2013-11-27, 12:16 PM
PREFACE: First off I want to say that this concept was not my idea. It came from a player in my current campaign. I wasn't so enthusiastic about allowing a totally homebrewed base class into my campaign, but the idea was an interesting one and it had a truly unique mechanic. I helped him polish it up as well as balance it, and now we've got something that I think we can be proud of. I'm hoping for the class to land comfortably somewhere in tier 3 or 4.
The Maw of Famine: Hunger Given Form
(still searching for a suitable picture...)
"Hunger can force a man to do extreme things. My hunger simply allows me to."
Description: “Maw of Famine” is a title reserved only for cursed individuals. It began as a powerful magical disease engineered by a vengeful Changeling prince, designed to take all the racial boons of the Changeling race and turn them against the body of the host. However, like the Changelings themselves, the disease proved ultimately too versatile, and it wasn’t long before a strain developed that could affect other humanoid races. After the initial outbreak, the disease mostly died out from civilized areas due to the fact that it quickly destroys its victims and that it is transmitted only by blood and only a small portion of non-Changelings are susceptible to it. This baneful affliction, known as the Mark of Famine, accelerates a creature’s natural processes to such an extent that their body must use a tremendous amount of energy just to sustain itself. Most victims of the Mark of Famine die of starvation shortly after they contract it, as they simply cannot keep up with their own metabolism. Most surviving Maws of Famine are outcast from society because they are known to become violent when the hunger becomes too great for them to bear. Some rare few manage to keep themselves alive by hunting in areas of dense wildlife. Some will even resort to cannibalism in an effort to feed themselves, which accounts for much of the sinister reputation of the Maws. Despite its dire effects, there are a rare few that purposefully seek to catch this disease, for doing so is a fast road to power, providing that one survives. Those that do survive find that their bodies take on seemingly impossible adaptations. They evolve. They regenerate. They grow into perfect predators. For that is the only purpose of a Maw of Famine: To consume.
A Maw of Famine is not necessarily easy to recognize. They look more or less like regular people, with two important exceptions: First, the Maw of Famine's teeth have extended into fine, razor-sharp points, and second, the Maw of Famine's body is riddled with strange and subtle mutations. It has muscles that connect joints that a normal person shouldn't have. It's skin is thick, and will sometimes twitch or move independently when it makes contact with foreign objects. These differences are subtler, and will go unnoticed unless a person makes close contact with them. In some cases, a curse mark will manifest on the abdomen of the victim. Why it appears in some cases but not all remains a mystery.
Role: The Maw of Famine excels at both taking damage and dealing damage. They have a lot of versatility in combat due to abilities like Reactive Stimulants and Purity of Form. They can adjust easily to suit the needs of the battle before them. They are excellent survivalists, but only so long as they can get enough food! The Maw of Famine thrives in scenarios where combat is frequent, and against enemies that the rest of the party don't mind if he eats. He is weak against enemies that are capable of adapting to the Maw's style of combat, and against enemies that are difficult to hit. Constitution is the most important ability for a Maw of Famine, because it affects the rate at which they recover Satiety, which is crucial for both survival and combat effectiveness. Strength and Dexterity are also important. The Maw of Famine must rely on both to make full use of his abilities.
Maw of Famine
{table=head]Level|BAB|Fort|Ref|Will|Special |
Bite Damage|
Reactive Stimulants|
Primal Instinct|
Bone Spear Damage
1st|+0|+0|+0|+0|Primal Instinct, Reactive Stimulants, Ravenous Bite, Satiety Dependence, Hunger|
1d4|
+2|
+1|
-
2nd|+1|+0|+0|+0|Bone Spears|
1d4|
+2|
+1|
1d4
3rd|+2|+1|+1|+1|Hunger Strike, Poison Resistance +4|
1d4|
+2|
+1|
1d4
4th|+3|+1|+1|+1||
1d6|
+2|
+1|
1d4
5th|+3|+1|+1|+1|Adrenaline's Fury 1/Day|
1d6|
+3|
+2|
2d4
6th|+4|+2|+2|+2|Gore Plate|
1d6|
+3|
+2|
2d4
7th|+5|+2|+2|+2||
1d6|
+3|
+2|
2d4
8th|+6/+1|+2|+2|+2|Gluttony's Fervor|
1d8|
+3|
+2|
3d4
9th|+6/+1|+3|+3|+3||
1d8|
+4|
+3|
3d4
10th|+7/+2|+3|+3|+3|Metabolic Maneuvers|
1d8|
+4|
+3|
3d4
11th|+8/+3|+3|+3|+3|Predator's Grasp|
1d8|
+4|
+3|
4d4
12th|+9/+4|+4|+4|+4|Adrenaline's Fury 2/Day|
1d10|
+4|
+3|
4d4
13th|+9/+4|+4|+4|+4|Acclimation|
1d10|
+5|
+4|
4d4
14th|+10/+5|+4|+4|+4|Purity of Form|
1d10|
+5|
+4|
5d4
15th|+11/+6/+1|+5|+5|+5|Poison Resistance +8|
1d10|
+5|
+4|
5d4
16th|+12/+7/+2|+5|+5|+5||
1d12|
+5|
+4|
5d4
17th|+12/+7/+2|+5|+5|+5|Feast or Famine|
1d12|
+6|
+5|
6d4
18th|+13/+8/+3|+6|+6|+6||
1d12|
+6|
+5|
6d4
19th|+14/+9/+4|+6|+6|+6|Adrenaline's Fury 3/Day|
1d12|
+6|
+5|
6d4
20th|+15/+10/+5|+6|+6|+6|Resilience of the Beast|
2d6|
+6|
+5|
7d4
[/table]
Alignment: Any
Hit Die: 1d8
Class Skills: Balance, Climb, Concentration, Disguise, Escape Artist, Heal, Hide, Intimidate, Spot, Listen, Move Silently, Survival, Swim, Sense Motive, Tumble, Jump, Knowledge (Arcana), Knowledge (Nature), Search
Skill Points at 1st Level: (4 + Int modifier) × 4
Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 4 + Int modifier
Special: When an individual takes a level in this class, he is infected by the Mark of Famine, a curse which permanently alters his destiny. The whereabouts and accessibility of the disease is up to DM discretion.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A Maw of Famine is proficient with simple and martial weapons, as well as light armor. He is not proficient with shields.
Satiety Dependence (Ex): The Maw's available actions in combat are determined by the level of its Satiety. A Maw of Famine can have up to 10 points of Satiety. Every round the Maw acts in combat, his Satiety degenerates at a rate of 1 per round at the end of the Maw's turn. If his Satiety drops to 0, the Maw begins to starve and its body starts to metabolize itself. It enters a a starvation frenzy, desperately doing anything it can to find sustenance. While in this frenzy, the Maw gains a +4 Morale bonus to attack rolls, but may only use it's Ravenous Bite attack. The Maw may not use any attacks other than his Ravenous Bite, nor can he use abilities that would cost Satiety while in this state. The Maw's Satiety degeneration stops, but his Adrenaline's Fury ability immediately ends if it was active. Each round, the Maw takes damage equal to one half it's total character level (rounded down). This damage cannot be healed until the Maw once ends the starvation frenzy. Once the Maw has restored his Satiety to 10 by way of his Ravenous Bite, the Maw's frenzy ends and he stops taking damage, but he suffers 1d6 Strength and Dexterity Damage, as the episode has left a serious toll on its body. He may once against act normally, but this return to normalcy requires 5 Satiety, meaning he is left with five remaining after the starvation frenzy ends.
The Maw of Famine relies on his Ravenous Bite ability to recover Satiety. If his Satiety falls to zero and the Maw is unable to use Ravenous Bite in order to increase its Satiety, the Maw may make a Constitution check DC 17. If he succeeds, he may choose to enter a vegetative state in order to recover Satiety. This check may be made each round the Maw takes Constitution damage from starvation and is unable to use Ravenous Bite, and the DC decreases by 1 each time. While unconscious, the Maw regains a number of Satiety equal to its Constitution modifier every hour. Once the Maw has reached 10 Satiety, it regains consciousness. In this state, the Maw is considered helpless, but will reawaken if it takes damage, even if it has not reached 10 Satiety. If awoken before it reaches 10 Satiety, the Maw reenters the frenzied starvation state and does not stop until gaining 10 Satiety or falling unconscious again. This ability does not trigger if the Maw simply misses its Ravenous Bite, but only when circumstances render it unable to use Ravenous Bite or without a target for its Ravenous Bite.
Ravenous Bite (Su):A Maw of Famine may make a bite attack once each round. This bite attack is made as a part of the Maw's iterative attacks as opposed to being distinct from them. Generally, the first attack the Maw of Famine makes in a round, either as a standard action or as part of his full attack, the Maw uses its Ravenous Bite. For example, a Maw of Famine with 6 BAB would make two attacks as part of his full attack, the first of which would be his Ravenous Bite. His Ravenous Bite does not grant him an extra attack; it simply replaces one of his attacks. Whenever the Maw of Famine deals damage to a target with Ravenous Bite, the Maw gains Satiety equal to its Constitution modifier. This attack is considered an unarmed strike made with the Improved Unarmed Strike feat, although it deals piercing damage instead of bludgeoning, and he may never deal nonlethal damage with it. The Maw is considered to have the Improved Unarmed Strike feat for the purposes of meeting prerequisites. When the Maw is under the influence of Adrenaline's Fury, Ravenous Bite is usable as a swift action, though the Maw may still only make one Ravenous Bite attack per round. The Maw does not gain Satiety from biting inorganic foes. The Maw can consume flesh, plant, bone, and even the undead, but not dead wood, metal, stone, or glass. The Maw does not gain any benefit by dealing damage to constructs made of such material though he still does damage as normal. If the Maw elects to feed on creatures that are poisonous or toxic, he may do so, but he must make any relevant saves that must be made on exposure with that creature's ability or suffer their effects. For example, if the Maw chooses to use Ravenous Bite on a poisonous reptile, he must make a save against its poison or suffer the effects of the poison.
At level 7, the Maw’s Ravenous Bite is considered magical for the purposes of overcoming damage reduction and gains a +1 enhancement bonus to attack rolls, as though it were a masterwork weapon.
Hunger (Ex):The Maw of Famine requires much more sustenance than the average member of his species. He must eat roughly 7 times the amount of food than a normal character of his race. This means that for any item that provides a day's worth of food for a normal character, the Maw of Famine must consume 7 in order to be fed for the day. A Maw of Famine who eats less than this amount begins to starve. Every time the Maw would normally be forced to make a Constitution check against starvation, he instead loses three points of Satiety. In essence, he loses three Satiety per day of not eating his required amount. If the Maw of Famine consumes twice the amount of food he is required to eat in a day (for example, 14 trail rations), he recovers one point of Satiety in addition to feeding himself for the day. He may similarly recover two points of Satiety by consuming triple the amount, and so on.
Though a Maw of Famine is much easier sated when feeding upon live prey, he may also recover Satiety by consuming flesh that is already dead. The Maw of Famine may eat the corpse of any medium-size, once-living creature (this includes Undead creatures). Doing so provides him with enough food to sustain for one day. The Maw of Famine must spend one hour to consume a corpse and must do nothing else in that time. This time is considered restful for the purposes of recovering hit points or regaining spells. Creatures of a size other than medium provide twice the amount of sustenance and take twice as long to eat per size category larger than Medium, and 1/2 the amount per size category smaller.
A Maw may also scrounge enough food for the day to sustain itself with a survival check DC 22. This check functions as the "get along in the wilderness" use of survival mentioned in the Player's Handbook.
Primal Instinct (Ex):
Bonus: Lvl 1-4: +1, Lvl 5-8: +2, Lvl 9-12: +3, Lvl 13-16: +4, Lvl 17-20: +5
The need to feed drives the Maw to push its body to its limits. Whenever the Maw's Satiety drops to 4 or below, the Maw receives a Perfection bonus to attack and damage according to its class level. While under the influence of Adrenaline's Fury, Primal Instinct is considered always active. When the Maw's Satiety drops to 4 or below when Adrenaline's Fury is active, the bonus granted from Primal Instinct is doubled. At level 5, when Primal Instinct is active, the Maw of Famine gains the Scent (Ex) ability.
Reactive Stimulants (Ex):
Bonus: Level 1-4: +2, Level 5-8: +3, Level 9-12: +4, Level 13-16: +5, Level 17-20: +6
The Maw of Famine focuses his body on a single defensive aspect of his choosing at the cost of Satiety. As an Immediate action, the Maw can choose to spend 1 Satiety counter to improve his Fortitude, Reflex, or Will save by a bonus +2. This bonus lasts until the Maw chooses to change his bonus to affect a different save. This bonus improves by 1 every four class levels, to a maximum of +6 at level 17. When this ability is used more than once within the same minute, the satiety cost increases to 2.
Bone Spears (Su):
Damage: Lvl 2-3:1D6+Str Lvl 4-6: 2D6+Str Lvl 7-9: 3D6+Str Lvl 10-12: 4D6+Str Lvl 13-15: 5D6+Str Lvl 16-18: 6D6+Str Lvl 19-20: 7D6+Str
One of the most unnerving mutations of the Maw of Famine is the ability to rapidly generate bone material within its body for the purposes of protection, regeneration. This ability ironically finds its best use as a weapon. As a standard action, the Maw spews sharp bone that travels in a straight line and impales creatures in its path, dealing piercing damage to units in each square. This attack is resolved as a ranged attack made against every target within a 10 ft. line. If the attacks hit, the targets take damage according to the level of the Maw of Famine (see above chart). This ability costs 1 point of Satiety to use, and the cost increases by 1 for every round in which it is used consecutively. The Maw can reset the cost by not using Bone Spear for a round. The Maw can spend Satiety to increase the range of this ability at a rate of 10 ft. per Satiety spent. The Maw may also choose to double the damage dice of effect by paying one additional Satiety per square affected (starting at 2 for 10 feet). Although this ability is a ranged attack, it does not provoke attacks of opportunity.
While under the influence of Adrenaline's Fury, this ability no longer travels in a line. The Maw instead launches a hail of bone shards that hit all targets within a 5 foot radius of a targeted square. The Maw may target any square within 15 feet of it. This range can be increased by 15 ft. per 1 Satiety spent. Doubling the damage dice of while in Adrenaline's Fury has a cost of 3 Satiety that does not increase with range. The Maw of Famine makes a ranged attack roll against every creature within the area of the bone hail's effect, dealing bone spear damage to each one that is hit. Unlike the previous form of attack, this ability does provoke attacks of opportunity. If a Maw critically hits after spending satiety to double the dice of either Bone Spears or Bone Hail, the critical hit only modifies the base damage dice of the attack. For example, a Maw of Famine with Bone Spears that deal 4d4+Strength in damage opts to spend satiety to double the dice rolled for 8d4+Str in damage. If the attack critically hits, he doubles the base 4d4 plus strength, resulting in a total of 12d4+Strength x 2.
The Maw can also shape bone for use in melee combat. As a Standard Action, the Maw may create any simple piercing weapon that appears in the Player's Handbook out of bone (he may also create a club). Light and One-handed weapons costs 1 Satiety to create, and two-handed weapons costs 2. These weapons last for 24 hours, after which they become too brittle for practical use in combat. A DC 15 appraise check reveals to the person inspecting such a weapon their short lifespan, as well as the fact that they are made from bone of the Maw of Famine's creature race. At level 7, the Maw of Famine's bones are considered magical for the purposes of overcoming damage reduction and gain a +1 to attack rolls as though they were masterwork weapons.
Poison Resistance (Ex): The Maw of Famine develops a defense against poisons which would otherwise cause him great harm due to his ultra-high metabolism. He gains a +4 Perfection bonus on saves against poison. This bonus increases to +8 at level 15.
Hunger Strike (Su): As a standard action, the Maw expends 3 Satiety and makes a Ravenous Bite attack. If the attack is successful, he heals for an amount of damage equal to the damage dealt by the Ravenous Bite. While under the influence of Adrenaline's Fury, the Maw may use Hunger Strike as a swift action. This attack counts as the Maw of Famine's Ravenous Bite attack for that round. A Maw of Famine may recover Satiety as normal when using Ravenous bite in conjunction with this attack.
Adrenaline's Fury (Ex): Once per day the Maw can choose to enter a state of extreme energy and strength at the beginning of its turn as a free action. Abilities gain additional components, the Satiety costs for all abilities are divided by four (rounded up) unless otherwise noted, and the Maw's Ravenous Bite is usable as a swift action. For each round spent in this state, the Maw loses three Satiety at the end of its turn. Adrenaline's Fury can be deactivated at any time on the Maw's turn as a free action. After a number of rounds equal to 1 + half the Maw's class level, it becomes increasingly difficult to stay in this state. The Satiety degeneration of Adrenaline's Fury increases by 1 per round each round. For example, A level 6 Maw of Famine would suffer Satiety degeneration of 3 for 4 rounds. On the fifth round, the degeneration would increase to 4, then 5 and the sixth round, and so on. This ability can be used twice per day at 12th Level and three times at 18th. When halving Satiety costs, do not divide costs as they are added, but rather add up the total Satiety to be spent for the round before dividing. If the Maw makes use of abilities whose costs are not reduced by Adrenaline's Fury, such as Predator's Grasp or Metabolic Maneuvers, add their costs separately.
Gore Plating (Ex): A Maw of Famine's blood clots extremely quickly when mortally wounded, and the clotting is so thick that it works as protective armor. The Maw of Famine is immune to bleeding effects. Additionally, when the Maw of Famine falls below one half of its total hit points, he gains DR/- and a Natural armor bonus equal to the value of the bonus he gets from Primal Instinct for a number of rounds equal to its Constitution Modifier (Minimum 1). These bonuses are not doubled by Adrenaline's Fury. Gore Plate only functions once per round. If the Maw of Famine begins an encounter with already less than half of his total hitpoints remaining, the ability activates the next time he receives any amount of hit point damage.
Metabolic Maneuvers (Ex): As a swift action, the Maw of Famine may spend any number of Satiety and add 10 ft. movespeed bonus to its speed per Satiety spent up to a maximum of 30 ft. This ability's cost is not affected by Adrenaline's Fury, however while under the effects of Adrenaline's fury, there is no maximum limit to the movespeed bonus granted by this ability.
Gluttony's Fervor (Ex): You must declare that you are using this ability before you make an attack. Activating Gluttony's Fervor is a standard action allows the Maw of Famine to initiate a full-attack, spending 1 point of Satiety for each attack he makes. Should any of the attacks miss, the cost of any consequent attacks increases by 1 (this penalty stacks). A Maw of Famine may use his Ravenous Bite as part of this attack, so long as he does not Ravenous Bite more than once per round. A Maw of Famine may opt to end this attack if the Satiety cost becomes too great. While under the effects of Adrenaline's Fury, the Maw may choose to forsake the reduced Satiety cost he would normally benefit from to instead gain a +2 bonus to his attack roll. A Maw of Famine may use this ability as part of a charge attack, however the +2 bonus from charging counts only on the first attack.
Regeneration (Ex): Similar to its ability to rapidly grow bone, a Maw of Famine of sufficient experience and strength can replace lost limbs. By spending 5 Satiety, the Maw may replace any missing or damaged body parts as per the Regenerate spell. This process requires 2d10 rounds of concentration in which the Maw does nothing else, and does not confer any healing (unlike the spell). While under the influence of Adrenaline's Fury, the Maw of Famine may use this ability as a full round action. Adrenaline's Fury reduces the cost of this ability by 2 instead of halving it like normal.
Predator's Grasp (Ex): The Maw of Famine augments its own anatomy mid-combat, developing longer limbs with which to catch his prey. As a swift action, he may spend 1 Satiety point and increase his natural reach by 5 ft. This increased reach lasts until the beginning of his next turn. Increasing his reach in this way does not increase the range of the Maw's Ravenous Bite attack. He must still be in his normal melee range in order to use Ravenous Bite. The Satiety cost of this ability is not reduced by Adrenaline's Fury; however, under the influence of Adrenaline's Fury, the Maw of Famine may spend up to 3 satiety points and gain an increase on its natural reach equal to five ft. per Satiety spent.
Acclimation (Su): Whenever the Maw takes Fire, Acid, Electricity, Cold, or Sonic damage equal to or more than 1/10th its total hit points, its body quickly acclimates to the energy type, granting it Resistance equal to half the damage taken for the rest of the encounter. Multiple of instances of this ability for the same energy type do not stack, although if the Maw takes a greater amount of energy damage (before applying energy resistance), the amount of energy resist improves to half of the incoming damage. For example, if a Maw of famine with 100 hit points takes 10 fire damage, it develops energy resist 5. If it later takes 20 points of fire damage (before applying energy resistance), it would gain fire resist 10 instead. If the Maw takes enough damage from another energy type to activate this ability, its resistance changes to that energy type and it loses its previous resistance. This ability functions automatically regardless of the Maw’s will.
Purity of Form (Ex): The Maw of Famine's Body gains the ability to reshape its body to suit its needs. At the start of each day, the Maw may reallocate his physical ability scores. He may subtract points from any physical stat and add them to another. This process requires eight hours of rest, and the reallocation occurs once the time is finished. A Maw may not lower his ability scores below 10 with this ability. Any feats that require a certain ability score stop working if the Maw lowers itself below that number until the Maw once again regains the requisite ability score.
Feast or Famine (Su): The Maw of Famine learns to unleash the raw power of its eternal hunger and completely consume a creature in one fell swoop. In order to use this ability, a Maw of Famine targets a creature of its size or smaller within range of its Ravenous Bite attack. The target must have only a quarter or less of its maximum health remaining or else this ability does not work and the Maw wastes his action. As a full round action, the Maw forces the target to make a fortitude save with a DC of 10 + 1/2 The Maw of Famine's Level + The Maw of Famine's Strength modifier. If the target fails its save, its body is completely destroyed (but not any equipment it was wearing), and the Maw of Famine's Satiety is restored to 10. He also gains special bonus Satiety, which may increase his Satiety beyond its usual maximum of 10, equal to one half of the target's hit dice. If the target of this ability succeeds on his fort save, he is unharmed and the Maw instead loses 2 Satiety. While the Maw of Famine is under the influence of Adrenaline's Fury, the target makes this save at a -4 penalty.
Resilience of the Beast (Su): The Maw of Famine becomes immune to Ability Damage and Ability Drain from sources other than his own class abilities. In addition, whenever the Maw spends a point of Satiety, he heals for an amount of damage equal to his Constitution Modifier. Satiety points lost to degeneration are not considered "spent" for the purposes of this effect.
Changes:
12/1/13
-Added Evolution Feats
-Shifted the scaling on Bone Spears to make it more consistent
-Changed the damage dice on Bone Spears to d4's
-Modified Bone Spear interaction with critical hits
-Finally got a respectable class table.
12/10/13
-Drastically slowed the rate of Satiety Degeneration out of combat, made it work more clearly with pre-established eating rules, and also nerfed out-of-combat Satiety recovery mechanisms to compensate. Hunger (Ex) adds some clarification on out of combat Satiety mechanics.
-Removed Multiclass restriction.
-Feast or Famine is now usable at will, with a few other improvements as well.
-Adrenaline's Fury now reduces the satiety cost to 1/4th instead of 1/2. Still playing with math on this one.
-Hunger Strike text clarified in how it interacts with Ravenous Bite. Can recover Satiety while using Hunger Strike.
-Gore Plating activates at half total hp instead of one fourth.
-Removed hourly Satiety degeneration with the exception of bonus Satiety earned from Feast or Famine.
-Ravenous Bite can't deal nonlethal damage.
-A Maw of Famine can distinguish friend from foe even in a starvation frenzy.
The Maw of Famine: Hunger Given Form
(still searching for a suitable picture...)
"Hunger can force a man to do extreme things. My hunger simply allows me to."
Description: “Maw of Famine” is a title reserved only for cursed individuals. It began as a powerful magical disease engineered by a vengeful Changeling prince, designed to take all the racial boons of the Changeling race and turn them against the body of the host. However, like the Changelings themselves, the disease proved ultimately too versatile, and it wasn’t long before a strain developed that could affect other humanoid races. After the initial outbreak, the disease mostly died out from civilized areas due to the fact that it quickly destroys its victims and that it is transmitted only by blood and only a small portion of non-Changelings are susceptible to it. This baneful affliction, known as the Mark of Famine, accelerates a creature’s natural processes to such an extent that their body must use a tremendous amount of energy just to sustain itself. Most victims of the Mark of Famine die of starvation shortly after they contract it, as they simply cannot keep up with their own metabolism. Most surviving Maws of Famine are outcast from society because they are known to become violent when the hunger becomes too great for them to bear. Some rare few manage to keep themselves alive by hunting in areas of dense wildlife. Some will even resort to cannibalism in an effort to feed themselves, which accounts for much of the sinister reputation of the Maws. Despite its dire effects, there are a rare few that purposefully seek to catch this disease, for doing so is a fast road to power, providing that one survives. Those that do survive find that their bodies take on seemingly impossible adaptations. They evolve. They regenerate. They grow into perfect predators. For that is the only purpose of a Maw of Famine: To consume.
A Maw of Famine is not necessarily easy to recognize. They look more or less like regular people, with two important exceptions: First, the Maw of Famine's teeth have extended into fine, razor-sharp points, and second, the Maw of Famine's body is riddled with strange and subtle mutations. It has muscles that connect joints that a normal person shouldn't have. It's skin is thick, and will sometimes twitch or move independently when it makes contact with foreign objects. These differences are subtler, and will go unnoticed unless a person makes close contact with them. In some cases, a curse mark will manifest on the abdomen of the victim. Why it appears in some cases but not all remains a mystery.
Role: The Maw of Famine excels at both taking damage and dealing damage. They have a lot of versatility in combat due to abilities like Reactive Stimulants and Purity of Form. They can adjust easily to suit the needs of the battle before them. They are excellent survivalists, but only so long as they can get enough food! The Maw of Famine thrives in scenarios where combat is frequent, and against enemies that the rest of the party don't mind if he eats. He is weak against enemies that are capable of adapting to the Maw's style of combat, and against enemies that are difficult to hit. Constitution is the most important ability for a Maw of Famine, because it affects the rate at which they recover Satiety, which is crucial for both survival and combat effectiveness. Strength and Dexterity are also important. The Maw of Famine must rely on both to make full use of his abilities.
Maw of Famine
{table=head]Level|BAB|Fort|Ref|Will|Special |
Bite Damage|
Reactive Stimulants|
Primal Instinct|
Bone Spear Damage
1st|+0|+0|+0|+0|Primal Instinct, Reactive Stimulants, Ravenous Bite, Satiety Dependence, Hunger|
1d4|
+2|
+1|
-
2nd|+1|+0|+0|+0|Bone Spears|
1d4|
+2|
+1|
1d4
3rd|+2|+1|+1|+1|Hunger Strike, Poison Resistance +4|
1d4|
+2|
+1|
1d4
4th|+3|+1|+1|+1||
1d6|
+2|
+1|
1d4
5th|+3|+1|+1|+1|Adrenaline's Fury 1/Day|
1d6|
+3|
+2|
2d4
6th|+4|+2|+2|+2|Gore Plate|
1d6|
+3|
+2|
2d4
7th|+5|+2|+2|+2||
1d6|
+3|
+2|
2d4
8th|+6/+1|+2|+2|+2|Gluttony's Fervor|
1d8|
+3|
+2|
3d4
9th|+6/+1|+3|+3|+3||
1d8|
+4|
+3|
3d4
10th|+7/+2|+3|+3|+3|Metabolic Maneuvers|
1d8|
+4|
+3|
3d4
11th|+8/+3|+3|+3|+3|Predator's Grasp|
1d8|
+4|
+3|
4d4
12th|+9/+4|+4|+4|+4|Adrenaline's Fury 2/Day|
1d10|
+4|
+3|
4d4
13th|+9/+4|+4|+4|+4|Acclimation|
1d10|
+5|
+4|
4d4
14th|+10/+5|+4|+4|+4|Purity of Form|
1d10|
+5|
+4|
5d4
15th|+11/+6/+1|+5|+5|+5|Poison Resistance +8|
1d10|
+5|
+4|
5d4
16th|+12/+7/+2|+5|+5|+5||
1d12|
+5|
+4|
5d4
17th|+12/+7/+2|+5|+5|+5|Feast or Famine|
1d12|
+6|
+5|
6d4
18th|+13/+8/+3|+6|+6|+6||
1d12|
+6|
+5|
6d4
19th|+14/+9/+4|+6|+6|+6|Adrenaline's Fury 3/Day|
1d12|
+6|
+5|
6d4
20th|+15/+10/+5|+6|+6|+6|Resilience of the Beast|
2d6|
+6|
+5|
7d4
[/table]
Alignment: Any
Hit Die: 1d8
Class Skills: Balance, Climb, Concentration, Disguise, Escape Artist, Heal, Hide, Intimidate, Spot, Listen, Move Silently, Survival, Swim, Sense Motive, Tumble, Jump, Knowledge (Arcana), Knowledge (Nature), Search
Skill Points at 1st Level: (4 + Int modifier) × 4
Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 4 + Int modifier
Special: When an individual takes a level in this class, he is infected by the Mark of Famine, a curse which permanently alters his destiny. The whereabouts and accessibility of the disease is up to DM discretion.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A Maw of Famine is proficient with simple and martial weapons, as well as light armor. He is not proficient with shields.
Satiety Dependence (Ex): The Maw's available actions in combat are determined by the level of its Satiety. A Maw of Famine can have up to 10 points of Satiety. Every round the Maw acts in combat, his Satiety degenerates at a rate of 1 per round at the end of the Maw's turn. If his Satiety drops to 0, the Maw begins to starve and its body starts to metabolize itself. It enters a a starvation frenzy, desperately doing anything it can to find sustenance. While in this frenzy, the Maw gains a +4 Morale bonus to attack rolls, but may only use it's Ravenous Bite attack. The Maw may not use any attacks other than his Ravenous Bite, nor can he use abilities that would cost Satiety while in this state. The Maw's Satiety degeneration stops, but his Adrenaline's Fury ability immediately ends if it was active. Each round, the Maw takes damage equal to one half it's total character level (rounded down). This damage cannot be healed until the Maw once ends the starvation frenzy. Once the Maw has restored his Satiety to 10 by way of his Ravenous Bite, the Maw's frenzy ends and he stops taking damage, but he suffers 1d6 Strength and Dexterity Damage, as the episode has left a serious toll on its body. He may once against act normally, but this return to normalcy requires 5 Satiety, meaning he is left with five remaining after the starvation frenzy ends.
The Maw of Famine relies on his Ravenous Bite ability to recover Satiety. If his Satiety falls to zero and the Maw is unable to use Ravenous Bite in order to increase its Satiety, the Maw may make a Constitution check DC 17. If he succeeds, he may choose to enter a vegetative state in order to recover Satiety. This check may be made each round the Maw takes Constitution damage from starvation and is unable to use Ravenous Bite, and the DC decreases by 1 each time. While unconscious, the Maw regains a number of Satiety equal to its Constitution modifier every hour. Once the Maw has reached 10 Satiety, it regains consciousness. In this state, the Maw is considered helpless, but will reawaken if it takes damage, even if it has not reached 10 Satiety. If awoken before it reaches 10 Satiety, the Maw reenters the frenzied starvation state and does not stop until gaining 10 Satiety or falling unconscious again. This ability does not trigger if the Maw simply misses its Ravenous Bite, but only when circumstances render it unable to use Ravenous Bite or without a target for its Ravenous Bite.
Ravenous Bite (Su):A Maw of Famine may make a bite attack once each round. This bite attack is made as a part of the Maw's iterative attacks as opposed to being distinct from them. Generally, the first attack the Maw of Famine makes in a round, either as a standard action or as part of his full attack, the Maw uses its Ravenous Bite. For example, a Maw of Famine with 6 BAB would make two attacks as part of his full attack, the first of which would be his Ravenous Bite. His Ravenous Bite does not grant him an extra attack; it simply replaces one of his attacks. Whenever the Maw of Famine deals damage to a target with Ravenous Bite, the Maw gains Satiety equal to its Constitution modifier. This attack is considered an unarmed strike made with the Improved Unarmed Strike feat, although it deals piercing damage instead of bludgeoning, and he may never deal nonlethal damage with it. The Maw is considered to have the Improved Unarmed Strike feat for the purposes of meeting prerequisites. When the Maw is under the influence of Adrenaline's Fury, Ravenous Bite is usable as a swift action, though the Maw may still only make one Ravenous Bite attack per round. The Maw does not gain Satiety from biting inorganic foes. The Maw can consume flesh, plant, bone, and even the undead, but not dead wood, metal, stone, or glass. The Maw does not gain any benefit by dealing damage to constructs made of such material though he still does damage as normal. If the Maw elects to feed on creatures that are poisonous or toxic, he may do so, but he must make any relevant saves that must be made on exposure with that creature's ability or suffer their effects. For example, if the Maw chooses to use Ravenous Bite on a poisonous reptile, he must make a save against its poison or suffer the effects of the poison.
At level 7, the Maw’s Ravenous Bite is considered magical for the purposes of overcoming damage reduction and gains a +1 enhancement bonus to attack rolls, as though it were a masterwork weapon.
Hunger (Ex):The Maw of Famine requires much more sustenance than the average member of his species. He must eat roughly 7 times the amount of food than a normal character of his race. This means that for any item that provides a day's worth of food for a normal character, the Maw of Famine must consume 7 in order to be fed for the day. A Maw of Famine who eats less than this amount begins to starve. Every time the Maw would normally be forced to make a Constitution check against starvation, he instead loses three points of Satiety. In essence, he loses three Satiety per day of not eating his required amount. If the Maw of Famine consumes twice the amount of food he is required to eat in a day (for example, 14 trail rations), he recovers one point of Satiety in addition to feeding himself for the day. He may similarly recover two points of Satiety by consuming triple the amount, and so on.
Though a Maw of Famine is much easier sated when feeding upon live prey, he may also recover Satiety by consuming flesh that is already dead. The Maw of Famine may eat the corpse of any medium-size, once-living creature (this includes Undead creatures). Doing so provides him with enough food to sustain for one day. The Maw of Famine must spend one hour to consume a corpse and must do nothing else in that time. This time is considered restful for the purposes of recovering hit points or regaining spells. Creatures of a size other than medium provide twice the amount of sustenance and take twice as long to eat per size category larger than Medium, and 1/2 the amount per size category smaller.
A Maw may also scrounge enough food for the day to sustain itself with a survival check DC 22. This check functions as the "get along in the wilderness" use of survival mentioned in the Player's Handbook.
Primal Instinct (Ex):
Bonus: Lvl 1-4: +1, Lvl 5-8: +2, Lvl 9-12: +3, Lvl 13-16: +4, Lvl 17-20: +5
The need to feed drives the Maw to push its body to its limits. Whenever the Maw's Satiety drops to 4 or below, the Maw receives a Perfection bonus to attack and damage according to its class level. While under the influence of Adrenaline's Fury, Primal Instinct is considered always active. When the Maw's Satiety drops to 4 or below when Adrenaline's Fury is active, the bonus granted from Primal Instinct is doubled. At level 5, when Primal Instinct is active, the Maw of Famine gains the Scent (Ex) ability.
Reactive Stimulants (Ex):
Bonus: Level 1-4: +2, Level 5-8: +3, Level 9-12: +4, Level 13-16: +5, Level 17-20: +6
The Maw of Famine focuses his body on a single defensive aspect of his choosing at the cost of Satiety. As an Immediate action, the Maw can choose to spend 1 Satiety counter to improve his Fortitude, Reflex, or Will save by a bonus +2. This bonus lasts until the Maw chooses to change his bonus to affect a different save. This bonus improves by 1 every four class levels, to a maximum of +6 at level 17. When this ability is used more than once within the same minute, the satiety cost increases to 2.
Bone Spears (Su):
Damage: Lvl 2-3:1D6+Str Lvl 4-6: 2D6+Str Lvl 7-9: 3D6+Str Lvl 10-12: 4D6+Str Lvl 13-15: 5D6+Str Lvl 16-18: 6D6+Str Lvl 19-20: 7D6+Str
One of the most unnerving mutations of the Maw of Famine is the ability to rapidly generate bone material within its body for the purposes of protection, regeneration. This ability ironically finds its best use as a weapon. As a standard action, the Maw spews sharp bone that travels in a straight line and impales creatures in its path, dealing piercing damage to units in each square. This attack is resolved as a ranged attack made against every target within a 10 ft. line. If the attacks hit, the targets take damage according to the level of the Maw of Famine (see above chart). This ability costs 1 point of Satiety to use, and the cost increases by 1 for every round in which it is used consecutively. The Maw can reset the cost by not using Bone Spear for a round. The Maw can spend Satiety to increase the range of this ability at a rate of 10 ft. per Satiety spent. The Maw may also choose to double the damage dice of effect by paying one additional Satiety per square affected (starting at 2 for 10 feet). Although this ability is a ranged attack, it does not provoke attacks of opportunity.
While under the influence of Adrenaline's Fury, this ability no longer travels in a line. The Maw instead launches a hail of bone shards that hit all targets within a 5 foot radius of a targeted square. The Maw may target any square within 15 feet of it. This range can be increased by 15 ft. per 1 Satiety spent. Doubling the damage dice of while in Adrenaline's Fury has a cost of 3 Satiety that does not increase with range. The Maw of Famine makes a ranged attack roll against every creature within the area of the bone hail's effect, dealing bone spear damage to each one that is hit. Unlike the previous form of attack, this ability does provoke attacks of opportunity. If a Maw critically hits after spending satiety to double the dice of either Bone Spears or Bone Hail, the critical hit only modifies the base damage dice of the attack. For example, a Maw of Famine with Bone Spears that deal 4d4+Strength in damage opts to spend satiety to double the dice rolled for 8d4+Str in damage. If the attack critically hits, he doubles the base 4d4 plus strength, resulting in a total of 12d4+Strength x 2.
The Maw can also shape bone for use in melee combat. As a Standard Action, the Maw may create any simple piercing weapon that appears in the Player's Handbook out of bone (he may also create a club). Light and One-handed weapons costs 1 Satiety to create, and two-handed weapons costs 2. These weapons last for 24 hours, after which they become too brittle for practical use in combat. A DC 15 appraise check reveals to the person inspecting such a weapon their short lifespan, as well as the fact that they are made from bone of the Maw of Famine's creature race. At level 7, the Maw of Famine's bones are considered magical for the purposes of overcoming damage reduction and gain a +1 to attack rolls as though they were masterwork weapons.
Poison Resistance (Ex): The Maw of Famine develops a defense against poisons which would otherwise cause him great harm due to his ultra-high metabolism. He gains a +4 Perfection bonus on saves against poison. This bonus increases to +8 at level 15.
Hunger Strike (Su): As a standard action, the Maw expends 3 Satiety and makes a Ravenous Bite attack. If the attack is successful, he heals for an amount of damage equal to the damage dealt by the Ravenous Bite. While under the influence of Adrenaline's Fury, the Maw may use Hunger Strike as a swift action. This attack counts as the Maw of Famine's Ravenous Bite attack for that round. A Maw of Famine may recover Satiety as normal when using Ravenous bite in conjunction with this attack.
Adrenaline's Fury (Ex): Once per day the Maw can choose to enter a state of extreme energy and strength at the beginning of its turn as a free action. Abilities gain additional components, the Satiety costs for all abilities are divided by four (rounded up) unless otherwise noted, and the Maw's Ravenous Bite is usable as a swift action. For each round spent in this state, the Maw loses three Satiety at the end of its turn. Adrenaline's Fury can be deactivated at any time on the Maw's turn as a free action. After a number of rounds equal to 1 + half the Maw's class level, it becomes increasingly difficult to stay in this state. The Satiety degeneration of Adrenaline's Fury increases by 1 per round each round. For example, A level 6 Maw of Famine would suffer Satiety degeneration of 3 for 4 rounds. On the fifth round, the degeneration would increase to 4, then 5 and the sixth round, and so on. This ability can be used twice per day at 12th Level and three times at 18th. When halving Satiety costs, do not divide costs as they are added, but rather add up the total Satiety to be spent for the round before dividing. If the Maw makes use of abilities whose costs are not reduced by Adrenaline's Fury, such as Predator's Grasp or Metabolic Maneuvers, add their costs separately.
Gore Plating (Ex): A Maw of Famine's blood clots extremely quickly when mortally wounded, and the clotting is so thick that it works as protective armor. The Maw of Famine is immune to bleeding effects. Additionally, when the Maw of Famine falls below one half of its total hit points, he gains DR/- and a Natural armor bonus equal to the value of the bonus he gets from Primal Instinct for a number of rounds equal to its Constitution Modifier (Minimum 1). These bonuses are not doubled by Adrenaline's Fury. Gore Plate only functions once per round. If the Maw of Famine begins an encounter with already less than half of his total hitpoints remaining, the ability activates the next time he receives any amount of hit point damage.
Metabolic Maneuvers (Ex): As a swift action, the Maw of Famine may spend any number of Satiety and add 10 ft. movespeed bonus to its speed per Satiety spent up to a maximum of 30 ft. This ability's cost is not affected by Adrenaline's Fury, however while under the effects of Adrenaline's fury, there is no maximum limit to the movespeed bonus granted by this ability.
Gluttony's Fervor (Ex): You must declare that you are using this ability before you make an attack. Activating Gluttony's Fervor is a standard action allows the Maw of Famine to initiate a full-attack, spending 1 point of Satiety for each attack he makes. Should any of the attacks miss, the cost of any consequent attacks increases by 1 (this penalty stacks). A Maw of Famine may use his Ravenous Bite as part of this attack, so long as he does not Ravenous Bite more than once per round. A Maw of Famine may opt to end this attack if the Satiety cost becomes too great. While under the effects of Adrenaline's Fury, the Maw may choose to forsake the reduced Satiety cost he would normally benefit from to instead gain a +2 bonus to his attack roll. A Maw of Famine may use this ability as part of a charge attack, however the +2 bonus from charging counts only on the first attack.
Regeneration (Ex): Similar to its ability to rapidly grow bone, a Maw of Famine of sufficient experience and strength can replace lost limbs. By spending 5 Satiety, the Maw may replace any missing or damaged body parts as per the Regenerate spell. This process requires 2d10 rounds of concentration in which the Maw does nothing else, and does not confer any healing (unlike the spell). While under the influence of Adrenaline's Fury, the Maw of Famine may use this ability as a full round action. Adrenaline's Fury reduces the cost of this ability by 2 instead of halving it like normal.
Predator's Grasp (Ex): The Maw of Famine augments its own anatomy mid-combat, developing longer limbs with which to catch his prey. As a swift action, he may spend 1 Satiety point and increase his natural reach by 5 ft. This increased reach lasts until the beginning of his next turn. Increasing his reach in this way does not increase the range of the Maw's Ravenous Bite attack. He must still be in his normal melee range in order to use Ravenous Bite. The Satiety cost of this ability is not reduced by Adrenaline's Fury; however, under the influence of Adrenaline's Fury, the Maw of Famine may spend up to 3 satiety points and gain an increase on its natural reach equal to five ft. per Satiety spent.
Acclimation (Su): Whenever the Maw takes Fire, Acid, Electricity, Cold, or Sonic damage equal to or more than 1/10th its total hit points, its body quickly acclimates to the energy type, granting it Resistance equal to half the damage taken for the rest of the encounter. Multiple of instances of this ability for the same energy type do not stack, although if the Maw takes a greater amount of energy damage (before applying energy resistance), the amount of energy resist improves to half of the incoming damage. For example, if a Maw of famine with 100 hit points takes 10 fire damage, it develops energy resist 5. If it later takes 20 points of fire damage (before applying energy resistance), it would gain fire resist 10 instead. If the Maw takes enough damage from another energy type to activate this ability, its resistance changes to that energy type and it loses its previous resistance. This ability functions automatically regardless of the Maw’s will.
Purity of Form (Ex): The Maw of Famine's Body gains the ability to reshape its body to suit its needs. At the start of each day, the Maw may reallocate his physical ability scores. He may subtract points from any physical stat and add them to another. This process requires eight hours of rest, and the reallocation occurs once the time is finished. A Maw may not lower his ability scores below 10 with this ability. Any feats that require a certain ability score stop working if the Maw lowers itself below that number until the Maw once again regains the requisite ability score.
Feast or Famine (Su): The Maw of Famine learns to unleash the raw power of its eternal hunger and completely consume a creature in one fell swoop. In order to use this ability, a Maw of Famine targets a creature of its size or smaller within range of its Ravenous Bite attack. The target must have only a quarter or less of its maximum health remaining or else this ability does not work and the Maw wastes his action. As a full round action, the Maw forces the target to make a fortitude save with a DC of 10 + 1/2 The Maw of Famine's Level + The Maw of Famine's Strength modifier. If the target fails its save, its body is completely destroyed (but not any equipment it was wearing), and the Maw of Famine's Satiety is restored to 10. He also gains special bonus Satiety, which may increase his Satiety beyond its usual maximum of 10, equal to one half of the target's hit dice. If the target of this ability succeeds on his fort save, he is unharmed and the Maw instead loses 2 Satiety. While the Maw of Famine is under the influence of Adrenaline's Fury, the target makes this save at a -4 penalty.
Resilience of the Beast (Su): The Maw of Famine becomes immune to Ability Damage and Ability Drain from sources other than his own class abilities. In addition, whenever the Maw spends a point of Satiety, he heals for an amount of damage equal to his Constitution Modifier. Satiety points lost to degeneration are not considered "spent" for the purposes of this effect.
Changes:
12/1/13
-Added Evolution Feats
-Shifted the scaling on Bone Spears to make it more consistent
-Changed the damage dice on Bone Spears to d4's
-Modified Bone Spear interaction with critical hits
-Finally got a respectable class table.
12/10/13
-Drastically slowed the rate of Satiety Degeneration out of combat, made it work more clearly with pre-established eating rules, and also nerfed out-of-combat Satiety recovery mechanisms to compensate. Hunger (Ex) adds some clarification on out of combat Satiety mechanics.
-Removed Multiclass restriction.
-Feast or Famine is now usable at will, with a few other improvements as well.
-Adrenaline's Fury now reduces the satiety cost to 1/4th instead of 1/2. Still playing with math on this one.
-Hunger Strike text clarified in how it interacts with Ravenous Bite. Can recover Satiety while using Hunger Strike.
-Gore Plating activates at half total hp instead of one fourth.
-Removed hourly Satiety degeneration with the exception of bonus Satiety earned from Feast or Famine.
-Ravenous Bite can't deal nonlethal damage.
-A Maw of Famine can distinguish friend from foe even in a starvation frenzy.