[3.5 PrC] Offspring of Bel; the Atrocities of the Blood War Given Flesh

[Xefas]

Atrocity of War

Bel, Archduke of Avernus, the First Hell, is feared and respected throughout even the most vile and terrible pits of the Lower Planes. Physically, he appears as nothing more than another Pit Fiend, and in strength alone he does not surpass one too greatly. And yet, among the most treacherous of cutthroats in the multiverse, alone his position is protected. This is because that no being that is alive or has ever lived can match his mastery of military strategy and tactics. He coordinates a force, outnumbered and outgunned, across five infinite planes of existence simultaneously, and has done so without losing for innumerably eons.

His children carry this legacy. Great leaders, all, these ruthless creatures shape the world around them, for good or evil, if given even the slightest opportunity. There is nothing more natural to a child of Bel than the dieing cries of battle, the measuring of the worth of soldiers' lives, and all the atrocities that war brings.

Requirements
Base Attack Bonus +4
Skills Diplomacy 4 ranks, Knowledge (Military Strategy) 4 ranks
Maneuvers Must be able to use at least one 2nd level maneuver of the White Raven discipline
Invocations Must be able to cast the Beguiling Influence and Devil's Sight invocations

Hit Die d8
Skill Points 4 + intelligence modifier
Class Skills Balance, Bluff, Concentration, Craft, Diplomacy, Disguise, Intimidate, Jump, Knowledge (Arcana), Knowledge (History), Knowledge (Military Strategy), Knowledge (The Planes), Knowledge (Religion), Martial Lore, Profession, Ride, Sense Motive, Spellcraft

Atrocity of War
{table=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special

1st|

+0

|

+2

|

+0

|

+2

|Voice of the Blood War, Infernal Commander

2nd|

+1

|

+3

|

+0

|

+3

|Eldritch Aura

3rd|

+2

|

+3

|

+1

|

+3

|Legion of the Damned

4th|

+3

|

+4

|

+1

|

+4

|Legion of the Damned II

5th|

+3

|

+4

|

+1

|

+4

|Slay the Demon

6th|

+4

|

+5

|

+2

|

+5

|Legion of the Damned III

7th|

+5

|

+5

|

+2

|

+5

|Stance of the Bronze Citadel

8th|

+6/+1

|

+6

|

+2

|

+6

|Legion of the Damned IV

9th|

+6/+1

|

+6

|

+3

|

+6

|Eldritch Aura II

10th|

+7/+2

|

+7

|

+3

|

+7

|Legion of the Damned V[/table]

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Atrocities of War do not gain proficiency in any weapons or armor.

Martial and Invoking Progression At every level, an Atrocity of War gains new Invocations known and increased Eldritch Blast damage, as well as new Maneuvers Known, Maneuvers Readied, and Stances Known as if he'd gained a level in an Invocation using class and a Martial Initiator class he'd belonged to before taking a level in this prestige class. At every level, he also adds 1 to his Initiator level and his Caster Level for the purposes of his invocations.

Voice of the Blood War (Su): Atrocities of War are gifted with the voice of a devil, which comes in handy when giving orders on a noisy battlefield. They have telepathy out to 100 feet, which allows them to fulfill the conditions of having to be seen and heard by allies for any maneuvers or abilities.

Infernal Commander: An Atrocity of War gains the Clarion Commander feat at 1st level, even if they do not meet the prerequisites.

Eldritch Aura (Su): The blood of an Atrocity of War seethes with the magic of a conflict older than time itself. In the heat of battle, this magic awakens, giving otherworldly inspiration and power to all around it.

As a swift action, an Atrocity of War can activate or deactivate their Eldritch Aura. While active, the Atrocity cannot make use of their Eldritch Blast, but all allies within 60 feet gain a morale bonus on all attack and damage rolls equal to the number of dice in the Atrocity's Eldritch Blast.

At 9th level, the size of the Atrocity's Eldritch Aura increases to 100 feet, and by maintaining concentration (1 standard action each round), the Atrocity can obtain perfect sensory information and communicate telepathically with anyone currently under the effect of his Legion of the Damned ability, no matter what distance or planar barriers separate them.

Legion of the Damned (Ex): Being in close proximity to the taint carried by an Atrocity's blood can alter soldiers under their command. At 2nd level, creatures who spend at least 1 hour within the Atrocity's Eldritch Aura stop requiring food or water to survive, and can survive in harsh conditions between -50 and 140 degrees Fahrenheit without experiencing discomfort.

Benefits from the Atrocity's Eldritch Aura dissipate after a creature has gone 6 hours outside the Aura for every hour spent within.

At 4th level, tainted creatures no longer require sleep, are immune to fatigue and exhaustion, and are unaffected by morale penalties.

At 6th level, tainted creatures no longer feel fear or remorse, becoming immune to fear effects, effects dependent on emotional distress, and spell effects determined by alignment.

At 8th level, tainted creatures gain the Outsider type with the [Evil, Lawful, and Extraplanar] subtypes, with their home plane becoming Avernus, the first of the Nine Hells. They have the ability to see in normal and magical darkness, and immunity to poison.

At 10th level, tainted creatures gain immunity to fire, resistance to cold and acid 10, and telepathy out to 100 feet. They are considered Devils, and effects that specifically effect Devils have full effect against them.

Slay the Demon (Su): An Atrocity of War can whip one of his allies into a fighting frenzy, filling them with all the infernal bloodlust of a Devil in the Blood War. By expending a readied maneuver while in a White Raven stance, the Atrocity gives an ally other than himself within his Eldritch Aura the ability to bypass all spell resistance and damage reduction for 1 round per two levels of the maneuver expended.

Stance of the Bronze Citadel (Su): As a swift action, an Atrocity of War can forgo the effects of a White Raven stance they are currently in to enter the Stance of the Bronze Citadel. While in this stance, they channel power drawn from the heart of Hell's war effort. As a move action, the Atrocity can activate a morale bonus to a particular attribute or change to which attribute the morale bonus applied. The choices are Armor Class, Fortitude Saving Throws, Reflex Saving Throws, Will Saving Throws, any single Strength, Constitution, or Dexterity skill, or movement speed (in which case, each +1 is equal to 5 feet).

The bonus granted is equal to the number of dice in the Atrocity's Eldritch Blast, and applies to all allies within the Atrocity's Eldritch Aura. The Stance of the Bronze Citadel is considered a White Raven stance.

[Stycotl]

very cool prc. i especially like that even though some of its abilities require you to temporarily sacrifice the eldritch blast, the benefits more than make up for any losses.

balance-wise, i think that some aspects need to be toned down (the morale bonus from the aura to attacks and damage is very high, and the slay the demon power seems like it should either allow a save, or have a 1-round duration or something else shorter), but my mind is not adamantly set on that.

[The Mentalist]

A lot of these names would make fun Templates.

[LunarWolfPrime]

Team this up with your other Sublime Warlock PRC's and you got one hellish army.

I am wondering if you gonna make 6 more or not.

[Zaydos]

First off: I love the class, it looks awesome.
I like the fluff, and have a war god in one of my campaigns (who I use in others) who is quite closely tied to the baatezu and this is an excellent prestige class for his followers. I think it would make an awesome bad-guy at some point.

Mechanically I love the fact that you give them something worthwhile to trade their eldritch blast for, which lets them focus on buffing allies and using maneuvers.

That said I do find that I don't like the Level 6 ability, for a reason as much flavor as mechanic. It grants immunity to alignment based effects, but traditionally anti-lawful spells (such as Chaos Hammer) were made because they were not only useful against the forces of Baator but especially effective because its taint left you reeking of evil and law.

That said I think it's a great class and want to use it sometime.

[deuxhero]

It looks like a warlock/martial gish, but it has med BAB?

[Godskook]

Love the fluff, and love how you've shown that in the crunch, however, this:

Martial and Invoking Progression At every level, an Atrocity of War gains new Invocations known and increased Eldritch Blast damage, as well as new Maneuvers Known, Maneuvers Readied, and Stances Known as if he'd gained a level in an Invocation using class and a Martial Initiator class he'd belonged to before taking a level in this prestige class. At every level, he also adds 1 to his Initiator level and his Caster Level for the purposes of his invocations.

really needs to be toned down(unless you're aiming for something explicitly better than a Jade Pheonix Mage). No other initiator prestige class advances a base class's maneuver's known/readied or stances known. They'll progress initiator level, and give their own progression of maneuvers.

[deuxhero]

1.JPM is progression of full caster, not warlock.
2.JPM LTIC has full BAB, this doesn't.

[Mongoose87]

Love the fluff, and love how you've shown that in the crunch, however, this:



really needs to be toned down(unless you're aiming for something explicitly better than a Jade Pheonix Mage). No other initiator prestige class advances a base class's maneuver's known/readied or stances known. They'll progress initiator level, and give their own progression of maneuvers.

And, even then, Jade Phoenix Mage and The Ruby Knight Windicator both have non-CL advancing levels.

[Godskook]

1.JPM is progression of full caster, not warlock.
2.JPM LTIC has full BAB, this doesn't.

JPM also has 8/10 casting(And you just posted about this needing full BAB!).

Besides, there's the bigger issue that this class can be entered without multiclassing by warlock(2 feats). What's the maneuver progression then?

[waterpenguin43]

Oooh, shiny.
Really awesome and creative prestige class. Well fits Bel.