[Eurus]

Scarred Vessel



"Does it hurt? What kind of a question is that? Of course it hurts."

All Harrowed, no matter how powerful and experienced, must constantly battle their monster. Some delude themselves into thinking that they have nothing to fear through pacts and bargains, but these efforts last only for as long as they continue to amuse the beast -- and even the most placated beast will eventually grow bored.

Some harrowed, knowing this fact, take an alternate strategy. No compromise, no surrender; they view the beast as an enemy, and resist it with every ounce of their strength. By carving symbols of protection and binding into their own flesh, they strengthen the bonds that keep the beast restrained, and act as channels to direct small amounts of its power with less risk. This control comes at a great price, for the beast's rage wears at body and mind as more and more outlets are denied to it. If it ever manages to claw its way free, its deferred wrath is truly spectacular, and many vessels do not survive their first serious lapse of control.

BECOMING A SCARRED VESSEL

A Harrowed is born, not made, but scarred vessels are rare even among their numbers. Often, a young vessel is traumatized by the actions of their beast as it first starts to fight for control; many a monster has destroyed its captor's family in a fit of pique. Desperately trying to cope, many lapse into self-harm and find that the act helps provide a psychological focus for their efforts, distracting them from the beast's howls. Over time they begin to incorporate religious and arcane imagery into their scarification, creating more permanent seals.

ENTRY REQUIREMENTS

Skills: Knowledge: Arcana 8 ranks
Feats: Cannot have the Dark Deal feat
Special: Bestial Armor harrowing, Tenebrous Touch 3d6



Class Skills

The Class Name's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are....
Skills Points at Each Level: x + int

Hit Dice: d8

Level	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Special
1st	+0	+2	+0	+2	Runes of Hindering, Guarded Mind
2nd	+1	+3	+0	+3	Scar
3rd	+2	+3	+1	+3	Runes of Limiting
4th	+3	+4	+1	+4	Scar
5th	+3	+4	+1	+4	Runes of Directing
6th	+4	+5	+2	+5	Scar
7th	+5	+5	+2	+5	Runes of Binding
8th	+6	+6	+2	+6	Scar
9th	+6	+6	+3	+6	Runes of Sealing
10th	+7	+7	+3	+7	Scar, Devil in Chains

Weapon Proficiencies: A Scarred Vessel gains no additional weapon or armor proficiencies.

Runes of Hindering: A young vessel's first ventures into self-scarring tend to be clumsy and unrefined, but that does not make them ineffective. When the beast asserts itself, they serve as reminders, giving the vessel something to focus his will on and oppose the monster even in its brief triumph.

When the beast takes control, it finds itself limited to 1 move or standard action per round as pain from the scars wracks the feeble mortal frame it is shackled to. This distraction also inflicts a -6 penalty to strength and dexterity. The beast is likely to be severely irked by this, possibly lashing out at any unfortunate enough to be within reach, but not enough to attempt self-harm (the years between reincarnations and the delay before its new body develops enough to be a suitable host are disincentive enough).

Guarded Mind (Ex): A Vessel must be ever-vigilant, for the beast will take advantage of any vulnerability. This training allows them to resist other assaults on their mind as well. If a Vessel fails their save against any mind-affecting spell or ability, they may reroll the save one round later.

Scar: Every Vessel's pattern of scars is unique. Often, each one has a unique emotional significance to them. In the same way, each Vessel develops a set of unique powers as they learn to use these symbols to store and release controllable amounts of energy from their beast. This also stops them from gaining additional Harrowings from their levels in this class, as the wild energy that could alter their bodies is instead focused and contained.

At every even level, a Vessel selects one power from the following list:

Spoiler

Tenebrous Seal: A Vessel with this scar gains a number of similar or identical symbols across their body, typically at least one on each arm and possibly more on his chest, back, or head. Each of these symbols smolders faintly with the energy type of his Tenebrous Touch, storing up power over time to enhance it on command.

A Tenebrous Seal gains charges equal to your charisma modifier each round, and can hold up to one charge per class level. A Vessel may expend one or more charges whenever he uses a Tenebrous Touch, whether ranged or melee, to add an equal number of dice to the damage dealt. This also increases the DC of the will save you must make (see The Monster Within) by the number of dice added.

Runes of Limiting (Ex):

Runes of Directing (Ex): Fluff. As a move action a Vessel can empower the variable numeric effects any of her next supernatural ability that requires a save against the Beast Within by 50%, if it's used before the end of the turn. This raises the will save required against the Beast by 4, plus an additional 4 points for every time this ability has been used previously in the encounter.

Runes of Binding (Ex): Fluff fluff fluff. A Vessel gains a bonus to saves against her Beast Within equal to her charisma bonus. This save decreases by 1 point each time she makes such a save (and may even become a penalty) but can be reset to full as a standard action. She may even choose to apply this bonus to a save against any other spell or supernatural effect, but doing so reduces the bonus by 2 instead.

Runes of Sealing (Ex):

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Name

alignment/Gender/Race/Levels

Init +0, Senses: Listen +, Spot +,
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AC , touch , flat-footed ()
hp ( HD)
Fort +, Ref +, Will +
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Speed ft. ( squares)
Melee
Base Atk +, Grp +
Atk Options
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Supernatural Abilities
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Abilities Str , Dex , Con , Int , Wis , Cha
SQ
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