Sons/Daughters of Silence [PEACH]

Sons/Daughters of Silence

Medium Humanoid (Augmented Incorporeal)
Hit Dice: 5d8 +10 (32 HP)
Initiative: +7
Speed: 40 ft.(8 squares), Fly speed 40 ft. (perfect)
Armor Class: 20 (10 +3 dexterity + 4 chain shirt +3 incorporeal deflection), 16 touch, 17 flat-footed
Base Attack/Grapple: +3/+10
Attack: Incorporeal touch attack +6 melee, 2d8+3 20x2 critical or by weapon
Full Attack: Incorporeal touch attack +6 melee, 2d8+3 untyped damage 20x2 critical or by weapon
Space/Reach: 5 ft. / 5 ft.
Special Attacks: Bestow Incorporeality, Traitor's Tongue, Steal Speech
Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 ft., Selective Incorporeality, Devour Sound, Sound Immunity, Total Silence
Saves: Fort +3, Ref +4, Will +4
Abilities: Str 16, Dex 16, Con 14 , Int 12, Wis 10, Cha 16
Skills: Hide +11, Listen +8, Perform (Sing) +11
Feats: Improved Initiative, Combat Reflexes, Improved Grapple (Bonus)
Environment: Any
Organization: Solitary or Gang (2-6)
Challenge Rating: 6
Treasure: Standard
Alignment: Usually chaotic neutral
Advancement: By class level (Favored class: rogue)
Level Adjustment: +2

A silent, phantasmal woman stands before you, smiling sadly. You open your mouth to ask her what is wrong and realize, to your horror, that you cannot speak.

The Sons and Daughters of Silence were, at one point, human monks who studied the idea of silence and sound as a path to enlightenment. Long ago, one of them made a pact with an otherworldly lord (some say Titania of the Seelie, others place the blame at the feet of Asmodeus himself) to understand the true nature of silence and sound, and the order became cursed with the inability to make sound. Like sound, however, they could float through walls, pass unseen, or even kill.

Now the Sons and Daughters of Silence wend their individual ways through the world, no longer bound by any common brotherhood or goal, stealing speech where they may get it and glorying in it with song.

Sons and Daughters of Silence, while ageless, still tend to think in human terms and will often help humanoids who strike their fancy if placated with offers of song or breath. Sons and Daughters of Silence hold a special love for bards and minstrels of all types, and attack those who would molest or destroy such people without mercy or remorse.

Combat

Special Attacks - Bestow Incorporeality (Su): Once a Son or Daughter of Silence has established a grapple on an opponent, they may, as a swift action, render their victim incorporeal as long as the grapple continues. As long as their victim is incorporeal, they have no Strength score and are weightless - a Son of Silence's typical use of this ability is to drop the victim into the earth or a wall, then release them, shunting them into the nearest open space and dealing them 1d6 points of damage per square moved in the interim.

Bestow Incorporeality affects the equipment of the Son/Daughter of Silence, as well as the equipment of creatures they choose to use the ability upon.

Traitor's Tongue (Su) - A Son or Daughter of Silence warps sound and speech around themselves. All spells with verbal components cast within 30 feet of them have a 75% chance to fail, and normal verbal communication is impossible; words become randomly replaced or simply refuse to leave the lips of their speakers. Sons and Daughters of Silence are immune to this ability and may suppress or resume it as a free action.

Steal Speech (Su) - As a standard action, a Son or Daughter of Silence may attempt to steal the speech from all beings within twenty feet. Those affected must succeed at a Will save (DC 10 + 1/2 of the Son/Daughter's hit dice + Son/Daughter's charisma modifier) or be rendered mute for 24 hours or until the Son or Daughter of Silence is slain. At the end of the 24 hour period, they make a second save; failure indicates that they are struck permanently mute unless healed by a restoration, greater restoration or wish spell. Once they have stolen speech this way, a Son or Daughter of Silence may speak for ten rounds,

Special Qualities - Selective Incorporeality (Su) - Sons or Daughters of Silence are treated as incorporeal only whenever it benefits them; they may affect the physical world whenever they choose to, have a Strength score whenever it is beneficial to do so, et cetera. They may choose to act as both corporeal and incorporeal at the same time; that is, they may choose to exercise their Strength score, wear equipment, use weapons, and grapple while still remaining immune to physical attacks and being able to pass through objects.

Devour Sound (Su) - A Son or Daughter of Silence is normally mute, but they can temporarily overcome this limitation. Whenever they are in the area of a spell that deals sonic damage, they may speak for one round per caster level of the spell. Additionally, if they slay a living creature that has a language, they may steal its breath as a free action and become capable of speech for a number of rounds equal to that creature's hit dice. A Son or Daughter of Silence typically spends its time singing when it has the ability to.

Sound Immunity (Ex): Sons and Daughters of Silence take no damage from sound-based attacks and are immune to deafness and language-dependant abilities (such as suggestion).

Total Silence (Su): Sons and Daughters of Silence cannot make sound directly or indirectly unless benefitting from their Steal Speech or Devour Sound abilities. Anything they do will make no sound whatsoever; shattered glass will fall to the ground in utter silence, stone will break with no noise whatsoever. This ability will not silence other beings near them, however; a human stabbed by a Daughter of Silence will still scream, for example, even if their body makes no noise when it hits the floor.

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Lore

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (Arcana) can learn more about Sons and Daughters of Silence. When the character makes a skill check, the following information is revealed, including that from lower DCs.

{table=head]DC
| Result
22 (Arcana) | This is a Son/Daughter of Silence, an incorporeal humanoid who can still affect the physical world. This reveals the traits of the incorporeal subtype.
27 (Arcana) | Sons and Daughters of Silence are cursed to never make sound unless they can steal it. This reveals the Steal Speech and Devour Sound abilities.
32 (Arcana) | Sons and Daughters of Silence can make their victims incorporeal and often do so to capture or kill their opponents. It's hard to say what you mean around them. This result reveals the Traitor's Tongue and Bestow Incorporeality abilities
37 (Arcana)| Sons and Daughters of Silence may breed with other humanoids or each other; the result is inevitably a Son or Daughter of Silence. This result reveals all other special abilities.
[/table]

The Auditioners - Three Daughters of Silence have petitioned to join a bardic academy, which is in an uproar. On the one hand, they have openly declared that they will accept any civilized being who petitions for membership, but on the other, many of their students fear sabatoge or having their music stolen from them. The board has reached a compromise; have a third party investigate these auditioners to see if their intentions are pure.