Occult Slayer

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The occult slayer was last modified 29 July 2006.

OCCULT SLAYER
	The occult slayer is a single-minded warrior, driven to rid the world of both arcane and divine spellcasters. This prestige class is ideal for individuals who have been victimized by spellcasters or were close to somebody who was killed by one. Occult slayers believe that mortals are too irresponsible to wield magic, and that those who do so recklessly must be slain. Spellcasters who become occult slayers are considered to have "seen the error of their ways". They may still cast spells, but primarily rely on melee or ranged combat tactics and their ability to resist magical effects. The occult slayer comes into their own through exhaustive training. Every regimen performed by this prestige class is an exercise that refines their wrath against spellcasters into martial skill. To focus their anger, each occult slayer forms a preternatural bond with a masterwork weapon of choice. This masterwork weapon becomes the conduit of their mind over magic and vanquish magic spell-like abilities, in addition to dealing extra damage against spellcasters. Warriors are the most widespread occult slayers, although berserkers and rangers often take this path as well. Monks and rogues have been known to embrace this calling, but bards find the preoccupation with spellcasters stifling. Clerics, druids, sorcerers and wizards—the primary targets of occult slayers—tend not to adopt this prestige class, although such turnarounds are not without precedent. NPC occult slayers seldom form organizations, because they have discovered that congregating in one place attracts the ire of preemptive spellcasters. Instead, occult discreetly meet from time to time and exchange information about spellcasting opponents they have dispatched or targeted. Otherwise, occult slayers will operate alone, occasionally hiring themselves out as mercenaries or even joining parties of adventurers. Due to the inherent discretion of occult slayers, a candidate for this prestige must be chosen and trained by another occult slayer who is willing to share their secrets. Hit Die: d10.
Requirements
	To qualify to become an occult slayer, a character must fulfill all the following criteria. Base Attack Bonus: +5. Skills: Knowledge (arcana) 4 ranks, Spellcraft 3 ranks. Feats: Improved Initiative, Weapon Focus. Special: The candidate must have been reduced to negative hit points, or a close friend, love-interest, or cherished relative must have been slain, by a spell-based attack.
Class Skills
	The occult slayer's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Bluff (Cha), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Gather Information (Cha), Knowledge (arcana) (Int), Profession (Wis), Sense Motive (Wis), and Spellcraft (Int). See Chapter 4: Skills in the Player's Handbook for skill descriptions. Skill Points at Each Level: 2 + Int modifier.

THE OCCULT SLAYER

Level

Base
Attack Bonus

Fort
Save

Ref
Save

Will
Save

Special

1st

Mind over magic 1/day, weapon bond +1d6

2nd

+1 save vs. magic, auravision

3rd

Vicious strike

4th

+2 save vs. magic

5th

Mind over magic 2/day, weapon bond +2d6

6th

+3 save vs. magic, nondetection cloak

7th

Blank thoughts

8th

+4 save vs. magic

9th

Mind over magic 3/day, weapon bond +3d6

10th

+10

+5 save vs. magic, vanquish magic

Class Features

All of the following are class features of the occult slayer prestige class.
  Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Occult slayers are proficient with all simple and martial weapons, with all types of armor (heavy, medium, and light), and with shields (except tower shields).
  Mind over Magic (Su): An occult slayer can cause spells and spell-like effects targeted against their person to turn back upon the original caster as an immediate action. This ability otherwise functions as the spell turning spell for 10 minutes per occult slayer level. See the spell description on page 282 of the Player’s Handbook. This ability only functions when the occult slayer is wielding the particular weapon that focuses their anger (see Weapon Bond, below). At 5th level, and again at 9th level, the occult slayer can turn back spells and spell-like effects one additional time per day.
  Weapon Bond (Su): An occult slayer must choose a particular weapon of at least masterwork quality as the focus of their anger. A supernatural bond is immediately formed with this weapon that imbues it with the force of their hatred for spellcasters. Thereafter, any successful attack the occult slayer makes with that weapon against a spellcaster or a creature with spell-like abilities deals an extra 1d6 points of damage. If this particular weapon is lost or destroyed, an occult slayer loses the ability to deal extra damage until a replacement masterwork weapon of the same kind is acquired. The occult slayer must spend one day per occult slayer character level practicing with the replacement weapon (and doing very little else—no adventuring) to create a new weapon bond. At 6th level, and again at 9th level, the extra weapon bond damage increases by +1d6.
  Saving Bonus against Magic: Occult slayers train to counter magic of all types and slowly grow more and more resistant to their effects. This is reflected by a natural saving throw bonus to all spells or spell-like abilities gained at 2nd level that increases by +1 for every two additional levels the occult slayer gains (+1 at 2nd level, +2 at 4th level, +3 at 6th level, +4 at 8th level, and +5 at 10th level).
  Auravision (Su): At 2nd level, an occult slayer gains the ability to detect magical auras, as the detect magic spell at will. See the spell description on page 219 of the Player's Handbook.
  Vicious Strike (Ex): At 3rd level, an occult slayer who uses the special initiative ready action to distract a spellcaster with a melee or ranged attack (see Distracting Spellcasters, page 160 of the Player’s Handbook) and causes the spellcaster to lose their spell, can immediately get another melee or ranged attack against that opponent as if the character hadn’t used their attack for the ready action attempt.
  Nondetection Cloak (Su): At 6th level, an occult slayer (and any gear worn or carried) becomes difficult to locate by divination spells such as clairaudience/clairvoyance, locate object, and detect spells, as the spell nondetection, but with no duration. See the spell description on page 257 of the Player’s Handbook. If a divination is attempted against the occult slayer, the caster of the divination must succeed on a caster level check against a DC of 15 + the level of the occult slayer.
  Blank Thoughts (Ex): At 7th level, an occult slayer can induce within their mind a state of mental absence, thereby becoming immune to all mind-affecting effects (charms, compulsions, phantasms, patterns, and morale effects), but cannot selectively choose to be affected by some of these effects and not others.
  Vanquish Magic (Su): At 10th level, an occult slayer can mentally suppress any spell or magical effect used within, brought into, or cast into a 10-foot-radius emanation centered on their person, as the antimagic field spell, for up to 100 minutes. See the spell description on page 200 of the Player's Handbook. This ability only functions when the occult slayer is wielding the particular weapon that focuses their anger (see Weapon Bond, above) and can be expended gradually, using up a minimum of 10 minutes at a time.

Copyright © Kolja Raven Liquette 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008.
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