"I will break him..." [PrC]

Been a little while. Made this while watching The Return of the King.
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Doom Lord

http://www.johnlanning.com/MoD/Media..._04/Wikigw.jpg
The Witch King of Angmar, doom lord of Sauron

Most masters of the White Raven discipline are warriors with specialty in aiding their allies in combat. Doom lords are vicious commanders who not only aid their allies to slaughter and skewer their foes, but to destroy the very body and soul of their enemies with mere presence. Doom lords will often sit on high positions, shrieking their unholy commands and intimidating curses upon the battlefield, many of which will ride on the backs of flying mounts, such as dragons or fiendish griffons. The highest level doom lords are the most infamous commanders known to time, speaking words of the deepest darkness unto those who oppose them and killing them with not more than their voice.
All doom lords are warriors devoted to a dark god, and through their profane energy they are granted these powers of command and death. It is said that each word of darkness uttered from these warriors mouthes are the true voices of the dark gods used through them.

HD: d10

Requirements
Alignment: Any evil
BAB: +4
Skills: Diplomacy 8 ranks, Intimidate 4 ranks, Knowledge (religion) 2 ranks, Martial Lore 2 ranks
Feats: Blade Mediation and either Devoted Bulwark or White Raven Defense
Divine Spellcasting: Ability to use 2nd level spells, including the spells of a domain granted by an evil god.
Maneuvers: Ability to use 2nd level maneuvers of the White Raven discipline, including one strike and one stance.

Class Skills: Balance, Bluff, Concentration, Craft, Diplomacy, Hide, Intimidate, Jump, Knowledge (religion), Martial Lore, Move Silently, Ride, Sense Motive and Spellcraft
Skill-points per level: 4+Int modifier

{table="head"]Level|BAB|Fort|Ref|Will|Special|Spellcasting
1st|+1|+0|+0|+2|Dark speech|--
2nd|+2|+0|+0|+3|Clarion commander|+1 level of divine spellcasting class
3rd|+3|+1|+1|+3|--|+1 level of divine spellcasting class
4th|+4|+1|+1|+4|Inspire terror|+1 level of divine spellcasting class
5th|+5|+1|+1|+4|Stance of the tyrant king|+1 level of divine spellcasting class
6th|+6|+2|+2|+5|Leadership|--
7th|+7|+2|+2|+5|Inspire doom|+1 level of divine spellcasting class
8th|+8|+2|+2|+6|--|+1 level of divine spellcasting class
9th|+9|+3|+3|+6|Blackened heart stance|+1 level of divine spellcasting class
10th|+10|+3|+3|+7|Inspire death|+1 level of divine spellcasting class
[/table]

{table="head"]Level|Man. Known|Man. Readied|Stances Known
1st|1|0|1
2nd|0|0|0
3rd|1|0|0
4th|0|0|0
5th|1|1|0
6th|0|0|1
7th|1|0|0
8th|0|0|0
9th|1|1|0
10th|0|0|0
[/table]

Weapon and Armor proficiencies: Doom lords gain no additional weapon or armor proficiencies.

Maneuvers: At 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th and 9th levels, a doom lord gains new maneuvers known from the Devoted Spirit, Dread Crown, Shadow Hand or White Raven disciplines. You must meet a maneuver's prerequisite to learn it. You add your full doom lord levels to your initiator level to determine your total initiator level and your highest-level maneuvers known.
At 5th and 9th levels, you gain additional maneuvers readied(and granted, if applicable) per day.

Stances Known: At 1st and 6th level, you learn a new martial stance from the Devoted Spirit, Dread Crown, Shadow Hand or White Raven disciplines. You must meet the stances prerequisites to learn it.

Spellcasting: At each level except 1st and 6th, you gain new spells per day and an increase in caster level(and spells known, if applicable) as if you had also gained a level in a divine spellcasting class to which you belonged before adding the prestige class level. You do not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained. If you had more than one divine spellcasting class before becoming a doom lord, you must decide to which class to add each level for the purpose of determining spells per day, caster level, and spells known(if applicable).

Dark Speech: At 1st level, your lips and throat are those of darkness and profanity. You gain the Dark Speech feat, whether or not you meet the prerequisites for it. When using the dark speech, a doom lord's voice is booming and loud, and can be heard at triple the distance of his normal voice.

Clarion Commander: At 2nd level your use of the White Raven discipline is a bit sturdier. You gain the Clarion Commander as a bonus feat, whether or not you meet the prerequisites.

Inspire Terror (Su): Your words are like that of the screaming souls of the pit. By using this ability, you must utter a string of words of the Dark Speech as a standard action, which in turn deals 1d4 Wis damage to you. All enemies with HD less than or equal to yours that can hear you and are within 30 feet of you must make a Will save (DC 10+half your initiator level+Cha modifier) or become shaken for the duration of the encounter.
At 7th level, those who fail their save become frightened instead of shaken, and at 10th level they become panicked instead of frightened. This is a mind-affecting, necromantic fear effect that requires a sense of hearing to affect.

Stance of the Tyrant King (Ex): At 5th level, your mastery over the battlefield causes your allies and subordinates to grow with sadistic resolve in combat. You take a swift action to lose the benefits of any White Raven stance you're in to gain the benefits granted by this stance. All allies within earshot of you (through use of the Dark Speech or not) gain a +4 profane bonus to their Strength score and an amount of temporary hit-points equal to half your initiator level. Your allies must be capable of hearing you to be affected by this ability.

Leadership: At 6th level, your greatness in battle and fear you bring upon the masses makes them your darkling subordinates. You gain the benefits of the Leadership feat.

Inspire Doom (Su): At 7th level, your words are even more putrid and vile, which is reflected upon the battlefield. To use this ability you must make use of the Dark Speech feat as a standard action, which in turn deals 1d6 Wis damage to you. All enemies with HD less than or equal to yours that can hear you and are within 30 feet of you must make a Will save (DC 10+half your initiator level+Cha modifier) or take 2d4 Con or Wis damage(doom lord's choice) and become fatigued for the duration of the encounter. At 10th level, a failed save makes the enemy exhausted instead of fatigued. This is a mind-affecting, necromantic ability that requires a sense of hearing to affect.

Blackened Heart Stance (Su): At 9th level, your very presence can degrade the very will of all those around you who might oppose you. You take a swift action to lose the benefits of any White Raven stance you're in to gain the benefits granted by this stance. When in this stance, all enemies with HD less than or equal to yours within 30 feet of you suffer a -8 penalty to their Con and Wis scores, but can make a save each round to resist the effects (DC 20+Cha modifier) having to make a save each round. This penalty cannot lower a person's score below 1. Additionally, all enemies within range of this ability and who fail their save become listless and sorrowful. This is a mind-effecting ability.

Inspire Death (Su): At 10th level, you are a lord and master of not only the battlefield, but death itself. To use this ability you must make use of the Dark Speech feat as a standard action, which in turn deals 1d6 Con damage to you(if you are immune or resistant to Con damage, you instead take an equal amount of Wis damage) and renders you stunned for one round. All enemies with HD less than or equal to yours that can hear you and are within 30 feet of you must make a Fort save (DC 10+half your initiator level+Cha modifier) or fall dead. Unlike the two other, similar class features, you may only bring death to a number of creatures with as much total HD as your initiator level per use and the closest targets are selected first until no more targets within range can be affected. This is a necromantic death effect, but unlike the similar abilities, does not require the enemy to be able to hear, merely having to be within range of your voice.

Seems to look pretty good. Not sure what else to say.

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Originally Posted by Agrippa

Seems to look pretty good. Not sure what else to say.

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Your firstborn will suffice.

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Originally Posted by Krimm_Blackleaf

Your firstborn will suffice.

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Don't make me sic one of these guys on you!

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Originally Posted by Agrippa

Don't make me sic one of these guys on you!

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I counter with one of these!

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Originally Posted by Krimm_Blackleaf

I counter with one of these!

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Ah yes. When I finish working Fredrickson, I'll post him up in the Hombrew forums. Then we can fight!

cool.

is there a reason the dark speech alternatives do con/wis damage instead of cha?

also, the penalty to wis and con from blackened heart stance is very high. is there a save? and what are the mechanics for listless and sorrowful--is that in a spell description somewhere?

i really like the flavor; anything decently modeled after the witch king and his cronies is pretty cool stuff, and there are many people that will pounce on this in order to be able to play their favorite super villains.

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Originally Posted by Stycotl

cool.

is there a reason the dark speech alternatives do con/wis damage instead of cha?

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Two reasons, one because Wis and Con are probably more vital stats, where Cha was simply useful and also conversely, because Cha is the core stat behind how intimidating and imposing this class is.

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Originally Posted by Stycotl

also, the penalty to wis and con from blackened heart stance is very high. is there a save? and what are the mechanics for listless and sorrowful--is that in a spell description somewhere?

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I'll lower it some, maybe put a save too. And there are no mechanics for listless or sorrowful, that was raw flavor.

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Originally Posted by Stycotl

i really like the flavor; anything decently modeled after the witch king and his cronies is pretty cool stuff, and there are many people that will pounce on this in order to be able to play their favorite super villains.

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Indeed, I've been wanting to play the witch king for some time.

very cool.

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Originally Posted by Stycotl

very cool.

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Thanks.:smallbiggrin:

I just saw this today and really enjoyed it.

Can you illuminate your choice of martial learning progression? It seems slightly low to me.

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Originally Posted by Jaerc

I just saw this today and really enjoyed it.

Can you illuminate your choice of martial learning progression? It seems slightly low to me.

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I don't think it's that low, it's average actually. That being said, it is indeed a bit below the progress of the Crusader, but I thought it would be alright since it also progresses as a cleric.

It has the same maneuver/stance progression as most of the PrCs in Book of 9 Swords, doesn't it? The PrCs cut back on progression since they let you do other cool stuff.

By the way Krimm - nice PrC. I don't really play evil dudes, but if I did, one of these with lots of Dread Crown maneuvers would be right up there with D1's Evil Overlord as my first pick.