Madspawn Broodling [PrC]

[The Demented One]

Madspawn Broodling

"As a child you were riddled with ringworm,
So your father cut them out of your skin.
Then you felt so alone and remorseful
You tracked each little worm down and put them back in."

Symbionts are strange creatures created by the Daelkyr of Xoriat, living beings that fuse to other creatures, both bolstering them and feeding on them. Madspawn Broodlings are warriors who have contacted and bonded with these symbionts, and have learned to use them in battle. Some are Daelkyr Half-Bloods, magically created aberrations that are born with a symbiont twin, while others are normal creatures who have somehow come across a Daelkyr creation. Through symbiosis with these alien creatures, Madspawn can learn unspeakable techniques that tap into the power of Xoriat, allowing them to transform themselves and spread madness throughout the world. Madspawn are a rarity in the extreme, and are feared and reviled when they are exposed.

Hit Dice
d10

Requirements
To qualify to become a Madspawn Broodling, you must fulfill all the following criteria.
BAB: +8
Feats: Symbiont Mastery
Skills: Knowledge (The Planes) 5 ranks
Maneuvers: Must be capable of using 4th-level martial maneuvers.
Special: Must have bonded with a symbiont at least once.

Class Skills
The Madspawn Broodling’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Balance (Dex), Climb (Str), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Knowledge (Dungeoneering) (Int), Knowledge (Local) (Int), Knowledge (The Planes) (Int), Martial Lore (Int), Swim (Str), and Tumble (Dex).

Skill Points per 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

|

+0

|Bolster Symbiont, Brood Lord|0|0|1

2nd|

+2

|

+3

|

+0

|

+0

|Talons of Xoriat +1|1|0|1

3rd|

+3

|

+3

|

+1

|

+1

|Talons of Xoriat +1d6, Tap Symbiont|1|1|1

4th|

+4

|

+4

|

+1

|

+1

|Parasitic Vigor Stance, Talons of Xoriat +2|2|1|1

5th|

+5

|

+4

|

+1

|

+1

|Dementia Blade|2|1|2

6th|

+6

|

+5

|

+2

|

+2

|Talons of Xoriat +3/+2d6|3|1|2

7th|

+7

|

+5

|

+2

|

+2

|Form of the Brood|3|2|2

8th|

+8

|

+6

|

+2

|

+2

|Talons of Xoriat +4|4|2|2

9th|

+9

|

+6

|

+3

|

+3

|Talons of Xoriat +3d6|4|2|2

10th|

+10

|

+7

|

+3

|

+3

|Majesty of Xoriat, Talons of Xoriat +5|5|2|2[/table]

Class Features
All the following are class features of the Madspawn Broodling prestige class.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency
You gain no additional weapon or armor proficiencies.

Maneuvers
At each even-numbered level, you gain one new maneuver known from the Far Realm, Iron Heart, or Tiger Claw disciplines. You must meet a maneuver’s prerequisites to learn it. You add your full Madspawn Broodling 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 Madspawn Broodling levels stack with your levels in that class for determining when you may exchange maneuvers. At 3rd and 7th 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 Far Realm, Iron Heart, or Tiger Claw disciplines. You must meet a stance’s prerequisites to learn it.

Bolster Symbiont (Ex)
At 1st level, your symbionts tap your own strength to supplant their own. You may substitute your initiator level in the place of each of your symbionts' HD when determining the DC of their special abilities.

Brood Lord (Ex)
At 1st level, you are able to spawn a Daelkyr symbiont from your own flesh. By spending 8 hours in meditation, you are able to create a tumor-like growth within yourself which, 24 hours later, hatches, birthing a breed leech, crawling gauntlet, shadow sibling, spellwurm, stormstalk, tentacle wip, throwing scarab, or winter cyst. Being born from your own flesh, the symbiont will bond only with you; no one else can use it as long as you are alive, and even if you are dead, anyone else trying to bond with it must succeed on a personality conflict with it each day until the symbiont wins, at which point it detaches. If your symbiont dies, you can simply birth another one, but you can only have one symbiont from this class feature at a time. You can have symbionts from other sources.

Talons of Xoriat (Ex)
At 2nd level, you and your symbionts are more attuned with each other, allowing you to use them in battle to greater effect. You gain a +1 bonus on attack rolls made with a symbiont as part of a martial strike. This bonus increases by one at each subsequent even level. In addition, at 3rd level, any attack you make with a symbiont as part of a martial strike deals an additional 1d6 damage. The additional damage increases to 2d6 at 6th level, and to 3d6 at 9th level.

Tap Symbiont (Ex)
At 3rd level, you can draw strength from your symbiotes. This is treated just as a normal martial maneuver: you must ready it and expend it normally. It is an 6th level boost, and does not belong to any discipline. You may initiate it as a swift action. When you initiate it, you must choose one of the symbionts bonded to you. This maneuver drains that symbiont’s life force, causing it to become dormant for the rest of the encounter, and causing you to lose access to its host benefit. However, in turn, you gain a +4 aberrant bonus to Strength and Constitution and damage reduction 5/byeshk for 5 rounds.

Parasitic Vigor Stance (Ex)
At 4th level, you learn the parasitic vigor stance, allowing you to draw on your symbionts' life force to replenish your own. While you are in a martial stance, you may, as a swift action, forgo its normal benefit to gain the effects of the parasitic vigor stance. You can also end the parasitic vigor stance and resume the normal benefit of the stance you were in as a swift action. While in the parasitic vigor stance, you gain fast healing, the amount of which is equal to the number of symbionts you have, though this cannot exceed half your class level. This fast healing only applies to damage you took in the same encounter you initiated this stance in.

Dementia Blade (Su)
At 5th level, you learn a maneuver unique to Madspawn Broodlings, the dementia blade. By tapping into the racial memories of your symbionts, you can call up maddening visions of Xoriat, and force them into the minds of your foes. This is treated just as a normal martial maneuver: you must ready it and expend it normally. It is a 7th level strike, and does not belong to any discipline. You may initiate it as a standard action. As part of the Dementia Blade maneuver, you make a single melee attack. The attack deals an additional 6d6 damage. If successful, the creature struck by it must make a Will save, DC 17 plus your Intelligence modifier, or be confused for 1d8 rounds.

Form of the Brood (Su)
At 7th level, you learn another unique maneuver, the form of the brood. By drawing the essence of your symbionts into yourself, you can extend tentacles from your flesh to attack your foes. This is treated just as a normal martial maneuver: you must ready it and expend it normally. It is an 8th level boost, and does not belong to any discipline. You may initiate it as a swift action. When you use it, you grow a single tentacle for each symbiont bonded to you. The tentacles have a reach of 10 ft., and deal 1d4 damage. Attacks made with them count as attacks made with a symbiont for purposes of the talons of xoriat ability. You may attack with both a weapon and with tentacles, but if you do so, you take a -5 penalty on the tentacle attacks, as normal for a secondary natural weapon. The tentacles last for 5 rounds.

Majesty of Xoriat (Su)
At 10th level, you have learned to tap the pure planar essence of Xoriat itself, transforming yourself into something not quite mortal, not quite daelkyr. This is treated just as a normal martial maneuver: you must ready it and expend it normally. It is an 9th level boost, and does not belong to any discipline. You may initiate it as a swift action. When you initiate it, you are transformed into a monstrous creature, your body being transformed in alien and unpredictable ways.

Any creature within 60 ft. of you that witnesses you attack a creature while using the majesty of Xoriat must make a Will save, DC 19 plus your Intelligence modifier, or be panicked for as long as it remains within 60 ft. of you and the maneuver remains active. Once a creature successfully saves against this aspect of the maneuver, it is immune to the fear effect for 24 hours.

While the majesty of Xoriat is active, you are immune to spells and effects that cause confusion or cause damage or drain to any of your mental ability scores. Any creature attempting to read your thoughts must make a Will save, DC 19 plus your Intelligence modifier, or be confused for 1d6 rounds.

In addition, any creature you hit with a melee attack while using the majesty of Xoriat must make a Will save, DC 19 plus your Intelligence modifier, or take 1d6 Wisdom damage.

The majesty of Xoriat lasts for 5 rounds. Once its duration ends, you are exhausted.

[Neftren]

Well, this thread looks quite forlorn. Sort of what my usual homebrew threads look like. So I guess I'll comment.

You haven't really elaborated much on the symbionts. How exactly do you kill one? Aren't symbionts typically existing within the body? Perhaps you can provide a source where these symbiont things come from?

[The Demented One]

Well, this thread looks quite forlorn. Sort of what my usual homebrew threads look like. So I guess I'll comment.

The issue I think is the sheer amount of disparate material I'm drawing on. The class uses stuff from Magic of Eberron, Tome of Battle, and a homebrew discipline from the forums. Seeing as the class was specifically made for someone, not too much a problem.

You haven't really elaborated much on the symbionts. How exactly do you kill one? Aren't symbionts typically existing within the body? Perhaps you can provide a source where these symbiont things come from?

Check Magic of Eberron for symbionts.

[Reptilius]

Your fluff is good, but I have one infinitesimal nitpick: Ringworm is a fungus, not a worm.

[The Demented One]

Your fluff is good, but I have one infinitesimal nitpick: Ringworm is a fungus, not a worm.

Eh, it's song lyrics. If scientists can't pick an accurate name for dermatophytosis, then so it goes.