Nightmare Reaver
Since the founding of the Temple of the Nine Swords, martial adepts have strove to master both mind and body, seeking the perfect balance and clarity that would allow them to tap the full potential of their martial prowess. The Nightmare Reavers claim to have found this balance. They originated, not as martial adepts, but as soulknives, psionic warriors that shaped their mental energies into blades of light and thought. One soulknife, the first Nightmare Reaver, learned the secrets of the Temple of the Nine Swords, long after it had fallen. He mastered the discipline of the Diamond Mind, learning to unleash his full potential through perfect focus. He discovered that the mental clarity he reached when using the maneuvers of the Diamond Mind was one in the same with the wellspring of mental energy he used to create his mind blade. He learned to weave the two arts together, sculpting his mind into a perfect weapon. The arts and techniques he discovered still survive today, passed down from one warrior to another. Nightmare Reavers are feared even by the mightiest of warriors, and rightly: their blades can cut through any blade, any armor–even the minds of their foes.
d10 HD
Requirements
To qualify to become a Nightmare Reaver, you must fulfill all the following criteria.
BAB: +5
Feats: Psionic Meditation, Unnerving Calm
Maneuvers: Must know at least one Diamond Mind maneuver.
Skills: Concentration 9 ranks, Knowledge (Psionics) 4 ranks, Martial Lore 4 ranks
Special: Mind Blade class feature, Psychic Strike class feature
Class Skills
The Nightmare Reaver’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Autohypnosis (Wis), Balance (Dex), Climb (Str), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Hide (Dex), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Knowledge (Local) (Int), Knowledge (Psionics) (Int), Listen (Wis), Martial Lore (Int), Move Silently (Dex), Profession (Wis), Spot (Wis), and Tumble (Dex).
Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier.
{table=head]Level|Base Attack[br]Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special|Maneuvers[br]Known|Maneuvers[br]Readied|Stances[br]Known
1st|+1|+2|+0|+2|Martial Mind Blade, +1 Mind Blade|1|0|1
2nd|+2|+3|+0|+3|Focused Strike|1|0|1
3rd|+3|+3|+1|+3|Psychic Boost|2|0|1
4th|+4|+4|+1|+4|Psychic Strike +1d8, Soul’s Clarity|2|1|1
5th|+5|+4|+1|+4|Nightmare Strike, +2 Mind Blade|3|1|2
6th|+6|+5|+2|+5|Diamond Meditation|3|1|2
7th|+7|+5|+2|+5|Nightmare Edge|4|1|2
8th|+8|+6|+2|+6|Cloak of Dreams, Psychic Strike +2d8|4|2|2
9th|+9|+6|+3|+6|Diamond Razor, +3 Mind Blade|5|2|2
10th|+10|+7|+3|+7|Whirling Nightmare Phantasm|5|2|2[/table]
Class Features
All the following are class features of the Nightmare Reaver prestige class.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency
You gain no additional weapon or armor proficiencies.
Maneuvers
At each odd-numbered level, you gain one new maneuver known from the Diamond Mind or Iron Heart disciplines. You must meet a maneuver’s prerequisites to learn it. You add your full Nightmare Reaver level to your initiator level to determine your total initiator level and the highest level of maneuver you can learn. If you have levels in an initiator class that allows you to exchange out maneuvers at certain levels, your Nightmare Reaver levels stack with your levels in that class for determining when you may exchange maneuvers. At 4th and 8th level, you gain an additional maneuver readied each day.
Stances
At 1st level, and again at 5th level, you gain a new martial stance known from the Diamond Mind or Iron Heart disciplines. You must meet a stance’s prerequisites to learn it.
Martial Mind Blade (Su)
At 1st level, you gain the ability to shape your mind blade into the form of a bastard sword, rapier, shortspear, or trident, as the Soulknife’s shape mind blade class feature. If you shape it into a rapier, then you may split it into two mind blades–one in rapier form, one in shortsword form.
Mind Blade Enhancement Bonus (Su)
At 1st level, your mind blade gains a +1 enhancement bonus, if it does not already have one. If it does, then the amount of the bonus increases by one. In addition, the bonus increases by one at 5th level, and again at 9th level. However, its enhancement bonus can never exceed +5.
Focused Strike (Su)
At 2nd level, you may charge your soulknife with a psychic strike as a swift action by expending your psionic focus.
Psionic Boost (Su)
At 3rd level, you may, as a swift action, initiate a readied boost maneuver and expend your psionic focus to charge your mind blade for a psychic strike.
Psychic Strike (Su)
At 4th level, and then again at 8th level, the damage dealt by your psychic strike increases by 1d8.
Soul's Clarity (Ex)
At 4th level, whenever an enemy provokes an attack of opportunity, you may choose to make a Concentration check to gain psionic focus instead of making the attack. Doing so counts as your attack of opportunity for that round.
Nightmare Strike (Su)
At 5th level, whenever you make a psychic strike against an enemy that has damage reduction, you may make a Concentration check. You subtract the result of that check, divided by 5, from that enemy's damage reduction.
Diamond Meditation (Ex)
At 6th level, whenever you make a Concentration check as part of a maneuver, or when participating in a duel of wills, if the result of that check is greater than or equal to 20, you may take a swift action to gain psionic focus.
Nightmare Edge (Su)
At 7th level, whenever you make a psychic strike, the critical threat range of your mind blade is doubled for that attack. If you threaten a critical hit, you may make a Concentration check, with a DC equal to the attacked enemy's AC, instead of the normal attack roll to confirm the critical.
Cloak of Dreams (Su)
At 8th level, you gain the ability to assume the evasive, graceful cloak of dreams stance. While you are in a martial stance of the Diamond Mind discipline, you may, as a swift action, forgo its normal benefit to gain the effects of the cloak of dreams stance. You can also end the cloak of dreams stance and resume the normal benefit of the stance you were in as a swift action. While in the cloak of dreams stance, you gain a +3 insight bonus to AC and on Reflex saves. In addition, whenever you make a Concentration check as part of a maneuver, or when participating in a duel of wills, the bonuses increase by an amount equal to the result of the check divided by ten until the beginning of your next round. In addition, you gain a miss chance, equal to the result of the check rounded down to the nearest five, until the beginning of your next round.
Diamond Razor (Su)
At 9th level, whenever you make a psychic strike, you may make a Concentration check, in place of rolling damage normally, to determine how much extra damage the strike deals.
Whirling Nightmare Phantasm (Su)
At 10th level, you learn the art of the whirling nightmare phantasm, a powerful technique that relies on martial prowess and psionic power. Once per day, as a full-round action, you may expend your psionic focus and make a Concentration check to use the whirling nightmare phantasm. For every enemy within 30 ft. of you, you create a floating mind blade that seeks out that foe, striking it automatically, and dealing damage as your own mind blade. The attack is treated as a psychic strike. In addition, each enemy struck by the whirling nightmare phantasm must make a Concentration check, opposed by your own. Those that succeed on the check take no damage from it, but those that fail take an additional 2d4 points of Wisdom damage, and are shaken for the rest of the encounter.
