Ahrianna's Child PrC

[B4cchus]

Let's extend the comparison to what is gained after 10 levels.

Over 10 levels the acolyte gains:
5 caster levels
+2 dex
+2 con
+1 na
darkvision 120'
poison 1/day
a gaze attack (low DC, only shaken)
fire and cold resistance 10
2 rays per day, dealin 8d6 damage
summon babau 1/day
Dr 10/good

Over 10 levels the adept gains:
5 caster levels
+6 str
-2 dex
+6 na
DR 10/adamantine
Natural attack
immume vs poison, sleep, exhaustion, fatigue, etc
darkvision 60', lowlight vision
construct type (which also has several downsides!)
-immume to extra damage (eg critical hits, sneak attack, energy drain, etc)
-immume to effects that require a fort save
-no massive damage
-no aging
-NO con to hp but size bonus
-NO immunity to mind effects
-NO more healing magic but use repair damage spells (but heal 1 hp/hour)

So what have we recieved in 10 levels?
A bonus domain
5 caster levels.
2 feats
+12 to ability scores
-6 to ability scores
+2 in 4 skills
+3 in 2 skills
4 special qualities
A natural attack
+4 natural armor
The ability to created overpowered offsrping.

The biggest problems in my eyes are
-the bonus feats (0on top of the caster increases)
-the huge ability rise (+12!)
-some of the secial qualiies and reborn powers (size increase really leads the pack)
-the skill bonusees (did you notice that these are effectively bonus feats?, albeit slightly less powerfull)
-The vast number of goodies gained at every level (a 'dead' level is one where she 'only' get's a feat AND a caster level increase).

-edit
Don't forget the GSA's starmetal dependency. Apart from costing a good amount of gp's, the availability of the stuff can restrict your advancement quite badly.

 

[Bront]

Notes:
As a follower of Ahrianna, you have to be CN, CE, or NE I believe, right? That might be a good requirement for the Class, or perhaps even just CN or CE, given the chaotic, mind breaking nature of the ritual. It would still allow druids to take it, though I don't think it's something that synergizes well with them (particularly if you rule that some of their aberation changes don't go with them when they wildshape). Paladins of any persuasion allowed won't ever get into this PRC due to alignment restrictions of the diety.

I would rule on how any of the physical changes flow with wildshape, or other shapechanging magics/abilities. It can make a difference between a deadly synergy, and something that is sane and doesn't stack.

Perhaps 2nd level divine spell access at least? Make them get to third level cleric (or 8th level ranger? (guessing of the top of my head) at least, to prevent single class dipping of 1 level of cleric, 4 levels of fighter/barbarian/whatever as a possable incarnation of this class.

I would suggest requiring 5 ranks of KN: Religion as well, to know the ritual, how to perform it, and what such divotion entails. You could drop it down to 4 ranks to let druids in at 6th level if they wanted to, or leave it at 5 to force non-cleric to find a way to get it (multi-class, feat, etc) if they want in at 6th level (otherwise, they couldn't get in till 8th level, which isn't nessessarily a bad thing).

For the Madness power, you should specify how it works if the class does not have a domain already (Ranger/Druids who qualify). If you eliminate the ability of any other class to take this PrC other than a cleric (not nessessarily a bad idea), then you need not do this. I also think you might simply state that the madness power increases every level you take from now on, regardless of what class you take. From this point on, your character will decend further into madness always, no matter what you do. Prevents dipping to a point.

Some other Level 1 disadvantage or other tie in might not be a bad idea.

I actualy don't think that if you deal with some of the stuff as noted above, the first level isn't particularly overpowered in and of itself, though I could see possibly spreading out the form bonuses over 2 levels. Though I think if you expand on the madness just a bit, it might work a bit better (See notes above)

However, after level 2, yes, much of it grows beyond control. You are giving up up to 5 caster levels for this, and going mad, as well as one good save if you're a cleric, but that's no reason to let this class turn into some kind of monster.

 

[ethandrul]

Requirements
To qualify to become Ahrianna’s Child, a character must fulfill all the following criteria:
Race: any Animal, Dragon, Fey, Giant, Humanoid, Magical Beast, Monstrous Humanoid, or Plant.
Skills: Knowledge(religion) 8 ranks, Knowledge(dungeoneering) 8 ranks, Survival 4 ranks
Feats: Endurance, Self-Sufficient
Spellcasting: Ability to cast divine spells.
Special: The character must worship Ahrianna, contact her, and offer himself or herself completely to her service through a secret, maddening ritual that breaks the character’s mind, in order to accept Ahrianna’s indwelling.

Would that be more along the lines of what you'd be looking for?

So exactly how would an animal get this prestige class?
I am not aware of any animals that can cast divine spells or that have ranks in knowledge religion.

 

[Bront]

So exactly how would an animal get this prestige class?
I am not aware of any animals that can cast divine spells or that have ranks in knowledge religion.

An awakened animal, but those are Magical Beasts at that point.

 

[SlagMortar]

So exactly how would an animal get this prestige class?
I am not aware of any animals that can cast divine spells or that have ranks in knowledge religion.

A wildshaped druid, or did the latest errata make it so druids do not gain the type they wildshape into?

In any case, a shapechanged druid into an animal form would definitely have animal type. You wouldn't want to lose all the benefits of the presitge class due to losing a prerequisite.

 

[Bront]

Why bother specifying though? Just drop it, unless there's something you specificly want to NOT take the PRC.

 

[InVinoVeritas]

Consider the extra feats dropped.

As for the race requirement, the argument I got originally was that "any non-aberration" should still stop the transformation from affecting outsiders. I'm reasonably satisfied with just "any non-aberration" myself.

I'll work with these suggestions and recast the PrC.

 

[InVinoVeritas]

Here's a new updated PrC; I'd like to expand on the Special Qualities list some, but hopefully, it's a step in the right direction.

Ahrianna’s Child

Ahrianna is the deity of monsters, madness, and enlightenment. There are few who would willingly seek her out, most considering them insane or fools. They usually are. Yet for some, the allure of power that comes from denying one’s mind and body for Ahrianna’s secrets is so great, that they willingly accept her terrible embrace.

Ahrianna’s Children are those few who accept full devotion to Ahrianna, at the expense of their own sense of self. Their minds and bodies warp, fragment, and are reforged anew in horrible, unseemly ways. Most of Ahrianna’s Children shun civilization, as civilization could never allow such an abomination to be in their midst. It suits them just fine. Most of Ahrianna’s Children are clerics of Ahrianna. An occasional wizard or bard may be drawn to study the unnatural, and join Ahrianna out of mere curiosity. Deep-delving rangers may also find the call of a new form too powerful to resist.

Hit Die: d8

Requirements
To qualify to become Ahrianna’s Child, a character must fulfill all the following criteria:
Race: any non-Aberration.
Skills: Knowledge(religion) 5 ranks, Knowledge(dungeoneering) 5 ranks, Survival 4 ranks
Feats: Endurance, Self-Sufficient
Spellcasting: Ability to cast divine spells.
Alignment: CN or CE.
Special: The character must worship Ahrianna, contact her, and offer himself or herself completely to her service through a secret, maddening ritual that breaks the character’s mind, in order to accept Ahrianna’s indwelling.

Class Skills:
The class skills for Ahrianna’s Child are Balance, Climb, Concentration, Craft, Jump, Hide, Intimidate, Knowledge(dungeoneering), Knowledge(religion), Listen, Move Silently, Profession, Spellcraft, Spot, Survival, and Swim.
Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Int Modifier.

[B]Level	BAB	Fort	Ref	Will	Special					Spells[/B]
1st	+0	+0	+0	+2	Madness, Gifted, Warping		
2nd	+1	+0	+0	+3	Honing				+1 level of divine
3rd	+2	+1	+1	+3	Special Quality
4th	+3	+1	+1	+4					+1 level of divine
5th	+3	+1	+1	+4	Gifted
6th	+4	+2	+2	+5	Special Quality		+1 level of divine
7th	+5	+2	+2	+5	Grand Warping
8th	+6	+2	+2	+6					+1 level of divine
9th	+6	+3	+3	+6	Special Quality
10th	+7	+3	+3	+7	Rebirth				+1 level of divine

Class Features:

Weapon and Armor Proficiencies: Ahrianna’s Children gain no proficiency with any weapon or armor.

Spells per Day: On each even class level, Ahrianna’s Children gain spells as if they raised a level in a divine spellcasting class they have. If the character has more than one divine spellcasting class, one class must be chosen. The character gains no more benefits of the other class.

Madness: Ahrianna’s Children all gain the power of the Madness domain, if they do not already have it. Add the levels of Ahrianna’s Child and any future level advancement to any previous levels of a cleric with the Madness domain to determine the Madness score for the character. The character does not gain the power to cast the Madness domain spells (unless he can already do so from a previous class).

Gifted: The first changes take place once the path of Ahrianna’s Child is chosen. The character gains 60’ darkvision. Also, the Child gains +2 in one ability score. At fifth level, the character receives another +2 to one ability score.

Warping: With each level taken in Ahrianna’s Child, the character undergoes a minor physical change. These changes are increasingly disturbing, resulting in a cumulative -1 penalty per level for all socially based checks (Bluff, Diplomacy, Gather Information, and Handle Animal, but not Bluff used to feint in combat) when dealing with non-Aberrations or non-worshippers of Ahrianna. These penalties can be negated if the character disguises himself to hide the changes, but the Disguise check is at a penalty of -1 per level of Ahrianna’s Child (until the character undergoes a Grand Warping; see below). Magical methods of hiding the character’s form, or Hiding, can perhaps be used, depending on the spells used and the character’s form. The Gifted abilities and bonuses, as well as Honing, Special Qualities, and Grand Warping abilities, are dependent on the Warping, and are suppressed if the character changes form, such as through wildshaping or polymorph.

Honing: At 2nd level, Ahrianna’s Child gains a natural attack. This can be a claw, bite, slam, gore, tail slap, or tentacle attack. The attack does 1d6 damage for Medium characters and 1d4 damage for Small characters. The character’s form shifts further to allow for the attack to take place, granting an additional -2 to all Disguise checks.

Special Quality: At 3rd, 6th, and 9th level, Ahrianna’s Child chooses a power from the Special Qualities list. Each quality taken results in an additional -2 to Disguise checks.

[b]Special Qualities List
Quality				Powers[/b]
Increased Attack(Ex) 		+2 damage to one natural attack
Extra Legs(Ex)			Stability, +10’ Movement
Increased Metabolism(Ex) 	+2 Initiative, +10’ Movement
Reach(Ex)			+5’ reach for one natural attack
Burrowing(Ex)			Gain 20’ Burrowing speed
Swim(Ex)			Gain 30’ Swim speed
Scent(Ex)			Gains the Scent ability
Resistance(Su)			Gains Energy Resistance 5 to one type of energy

Grand Warping: At 7th level, Ahrianna’s Child no longer maintains a standard form, and armor can no longer be worn. The character’s skin hardens, however, and gains a +4 natural armor bonus to AC. For a medium character, they can be two 1d4 attacks, one 1d6 attack, or an increase in die size of one of the character’s existing natural attacks. The character’s changes can no longer be disguised, and the character can only be disguised by magic.

Rebirth: The full assumption of the character’s body, mind, and soul into Ahrianna’s Child is complete. The character’s type changes to aberration. The character adds a +2 bonus to one ability score. The character also gains one more Special Quality from the Special Qualities list above. In addition, the character may continue to mate with members of the Child’s former race (or any race that the character could previously produce offspring with), but any offspring that form from these unions are aberrations with the same racial bonuses, penalties, attack forms, and special qualities as the character.