The newly-made priest joyfully called the faithful to worship, raising his arms and voice. His glowing, circular holy symbol bathed his eager face with yellow light, glinting off of his diadem. He made the sacred gestures, drawing the worshipers close, then bowed low on his knees, his forehead touching the floor. The congregation followed his lead, bowing in abject humility before their god.
Above the congregation, in the brand-new temple, hung a huge orb of brilliant yellow light like a miniature sun. Many months before this miracle had appeared here, at the edge of the city in the shrine of a half-forgotten god of the dawn. The single young priest, a jaded noble's sun sent into the priesthood as a show of his family's piety, had been awed at this manifestation of the Dawnlord, for it showed that the gods actually did exist. The god began to speak, causing Elarem to begin writing down his words, practically re-writing the holy books. For the Dawnlord was the lord of beginnings, and the god declared that since His own influence had begun to wane, it was time for the god Himself to begin anew. Gone were the chaotic, passive tenets of the Old Order. In place were more strict, aggressive ones designed to bolster the numbers of worshipers and spread the names and works of the god.
As a token of the god's new power, He granted Elarem one boon of his own choosing. Elarem asked that he become the heir to his family's fortune, something that was denied to him as a priest. The god demanded that his father come to the temple. When the old noble arrived, he scarcely had time to gape at the god before he dropped dead. The god declared in ponderous tones that his lack of faith had killed him, and that Elarem was a far more fit steward of his family's fortune. The officials of the city were stunned at such happenings, but Elarem could not have done anything to make his father die in such a fashion, and the great glowing flaming sphere could hardly be anything but a god. Frightened, they let Elarem have his way.
The Dawnlord was able to determine the faithful and the faithless at a glance, and deal with the faithless in a straightforward, if brutal, fashion. Those brought into the presence of the god could be brought to his light and understanding immediately, or slain where they stood. The dawn, the god would say, seeks out the true hearts in people, and those that cannot stand the dawn's light, are killed by their own weakness. Elarem became the High Priest of his faith, and of a new congregation of worshippers desperate for the power that the Dawnlord had been shown to possess. Each brought rich gifts and abject servility and worship in hopes of gaining the intervention of the Dawnlord into their lives. With each passing day that they showered the temple with gifts, and sang of the glory of the Dawnlord on their knees, was one day closer to the day when their own enemies would be slain by the dawn's light.
Within his form of fire and power, Kalernax the beholder smiled hugely as the swelled prayers of the bowed congregation poured into him, filling him with immense power, just as his coffers swelled with the riches of a dozen noble families. Let his misshapen kin spend their energies on their organizations of crime. He had bigger ambitions than any of them. He would become like a god, and none would stop him.
Beholder Star
Each beholders holds himself to be the most pure, perfect image of the species, and all others are but misshapen abominations. Thus each beholder is at odds with every other, and have no allies among their own species. They are an arrogant, spiteful, greedy species, who see all other non-beholders merely as cattle, fit for slaves or food, but not much else. Many beholders use networks of slaves and charmed agents to bring them the power and treasure, though this can be dangerous. As most beholders sit like spiders in their webs, receiving information only through their webs of agents, they can be vulnerable when their strongholds are discovered. Agents who are unaware of their true employer often react badly if they discover their superior is one of the dreaded eye-tyrants.
The Beholder Star seeks something greater than the power mere organizations, and more treasure than can be had by thievery and simple manipulation. By strange rituals, use of forgotten magic, or even contact with the lingering power of a dead god, the Beholder Star infuses himself with divine energy. Doorways are opened, and pathways to power are paved in the prayers of the faithful. By presenting themselves as minor gods, a Beholder Star uses their natural magical power to prove their divinity. By removing obstacles from the paths of ambitious priests and faithful, they gather a following as a god that can actually get things done for their worshippers.
By proscribing lengthy rituals of worship and demanding sacrifices of treasure, the Beholder Star slowly, insidiously, raises the price of their "help." With each ritual and with each follower, the Beholder Star swells with power, increasing his own abilities far beyond that of one typical of his type. By carefully doling out their "blessings" to their worshipper, the Beholder Star can have a small army of devout followers that would willingly die to serve their "god," and practically none of them even have to be charmed. Also, with the power of a tame clergy behind him an a king's ransom in treasure, the Beholder Star can have a wide variety of magic items made for him.
Hit Dice: d6
Requirements
To qualify to become a Beholder Star, a creature must fulfill all the following criteria.
Race: Beholder.
Special: Must have undergone a ritual to pave the way to acquiring divine-like power. This can involve using spells forgotten to all but a handful of people or even forgotten altogether and only recorded in ancient tomes or tombs, petitioning the Great Mother (the beholder deity), or even absorbing the power of a dead god (if you have Requiem for a God from Malhavoc Press, consider this contact with an energy well, divinity spark, consumption of godsblood, or a ritual involving godsflesh). Either way, this ritual requires the sacrifice of a single eyestalk, determined randomly.
Class Skills
The Beholder Star's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Appraise (Int), Bluff (Cha), Concentration (Con), Diplomacy (Cha), Disguise (Int), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (all skills bought separately) (Int), Listen (Wis), Perform (Cha), and Sense Motive (Wis).
Skill Points per Level: 2 + Int mod per level
Lvl....BAB...Fort...Ref...Will...Special
1......+0.....+0.....+0....+2.....Godform (10/+1, SR 20), Empower, Priestly Domains, Priest and Congragation, Divination Immunity (3rd lvl and below), Projected Alignment
2......+1.....+0.....+0....+3
3......+1.....+1.....+1....+3
4......+2.....+1.....+1....+4.....Godform (20/+2, SR 25), Divination Immunity (5th lvl and below)
5......+2.....+1.....+1....+4
6......+3.....+2.....+2....+5
7......+3.....+2.....+3....+5.....Godform (30/+3, SR 30), Divination Immunity (7th lvl and below)
8......+4.....+2.....+3....+6
9......+4.....+3.....+3....+6
10....+5.....+3.....+3....+7.....Godform (40/+4, SR 35), Divination Immunity (9th lvl and below)
Class Features
All of the following are class features of the Beholder Star prestige class.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: The Beholder Star gains no additional weapon or armor proficiencies.
Godform: A Beholder Star's greatest power is to conceal his own form behind that that many take for a god. In Godform, the Beholder Star appears as a miniature sun, shedding light as a daylight spell up to 100 ft. His appearance as a beholder is entirely concealed, and he appears only as a featureless ball of flame. Alternately, the Beholder Star can change the color of the flame at will, as well as the amount of light projected. Some Beholder Stars that infiltrate the temples dedicated to evil deities appear as a ball of black fire that sheds no light. While in Godform, the Beholder Star enjoys the listed damage reduction and spell resistance.
There are drawbacks to this form however. The Beholder Star can still levitate, but his movement is reduced to 5. He can still use his eyestalks, however, he can only use a single one once per round. His antimagic cone functions as normal, though most Beholder Stars keep their antimagic eye closed in the temple to avoid depriving their priests of their power. While in Godform, the Beholder Star does not need to eat or sleep.
Once a Beholder Star appears, typically in a minor temple or a similar holy place, he pretends to speak as the god. Beholder Stars usually do research of their chosen place, trying to determine if the priest has ambition enough to be swayed by the Star's words. They also make certain that there are enough potential worshippers close by to make their stay worthwhile. A Beholder Star will generally use their power to both give a demonstration of their "godly" abilities, and as a taste of what they can do for their priests and worshippers.
Typical acts include charming people that have made difficulties for the priests or worshippers, or even killing them and blaming their deaths on divine intervention. With honeyed words, a Beholder Star can make himself the judge, jury, and executioner of an entire community.
A Beholder Star can remain in Godform as long as he desires, and usually does. Though virtually immobile and lacking a bare tenth of their usual combat ability, the Beholder Star's damage reduction and typical place in the inner sanctum of a temple makes most feel safe in remaining in that state. The rare instances when a Star has been forced to drop Godform for superior combat ability usually results in the Star having to abandon their temple. Once having seen the true form of their "god" and realizing they have been duped can cause a terrible reaction from the priests and worshippers.
To compensate for their lack of combat abilities while in Godform, many Beholder Stars will require sacrifices of magic items that are cast directly "into the god."
Divination Immunity: In addition, in Godform a Beholder Star is immune to certain levels of divination spells at certain levels. At 1st level, he is immune all 3rd level or lower divination spells. At 4rd, 5th level and lower. 7th, 7th level and lower, and at 10th, 9th level and lower. There is a single exception, however; see Project Alignment for further on this.
Project Alignment: The Beholder Star has a single divination spell that works on him... after a fashion. Should someone try to detect his alignment, it registers as the living embodiment of whatever alignment the Beholder Star desires.
Empower: During a ritual of worship of at least one hour in duration, the Beholder Star can absorb the power of his worshipper's prayers. This results in a +2 to the DCs of the saves of all of the Beholder Star's eyestalk powers for 1 hour/level. Assuming he can convince his followers to worship him for more than one hour, for each additional hour of worship increases the DC by another +2.
By using this power the DC of a Beholder Star's eyestalk powers cannot increase more than +6. Additional worship after that has no game effect; it merely enhances the Beholder Star's ego. A Beholder Star much have at least twenty worshippers lead by a priest who worships him for this ability to be effective.
Priestly Domains: The Beholder Star is not actually a divine being, but he can imitate many of the effects. Any cleric that turns to worshipping the Beholder Star actually is worshipping the Great Mother. The domains he chooses from are Evil, Hatred, Law, Strength, and Tyranny, replacing any previous domains (the Hatred and Tyranny domains can be found in the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting).
Priest and Congregation: The Beholder Star gains the Leadership feat for the purpose of determining the level of cleric and number of devout worshippers he can attract.
Note: A Beholder Star typically chooses a priest that has great ambition and a touch of ruthlessness, along with perhaps a bit of weakness in his faith as his mark. To cement the loyalty of the priest, the Star will use some of his power to remove some obstacle or smooth some road as a "divine gift." Once this "freebie" has been used, the Beholder Star's actions must be earned through devout prayer, conversion, and concrete sacrifices. But the Star does keep his word, and once his demands have been met, is willing to use his power to do what is asked of him. Insidiously the demands will gradually creep upward. But by the time the disaffected worshipers notice (if at all), most could not maintain their current lifestyle if it were not for the intervention of the Star.
Many Star worshippers have charmed their way into public office, or out of tangles with the law. Several have had rivals removed courtesy of finger of death or disintegrate. To keep these things secrets, length worship services and many gifts are required.
But many become enamored of the Star, for it is rare that a god takes such personal interest in his worshippers. Since a Beholder Star tends to attract ambitious, ruthless, cruel worshippers, they tend to adore the dogma presented by the Beholder Star's priest.
The philosophy of the Star's church is one of increasing one's own power and wealth, getting rid of those in your way. It is also one of loyalty, particularly to the priests of the Star. Thus the Beholder Star maintains a loyal stable of nobles, priests, rich merchants, and courtiers along with their attendant households and guards. A careful and clever Beholder Star can have virtually all the important people in a town within their grasp.
Above the congregation, in the brand-new temple, hung a huge orb of brilliant yellow light like a miniature sun. Many months before this miracle had appeared here, at the edge of the city in the shrine of a half-forgotten god of the dawn. The single young priest, a jaded noble's sun sent into the priesthood as a show of his family's piety, had been awed at this manifestation of the Dawnlord, for it showed that the gods actually did exist. The god began to speak, causing Elarem to begin writing down his words, practically re-writing the holy books. For the Dawnlord was the lord of beginnings, and the god declared that since His own influence had begun to wane, it was time for the god Himself to begin anew. Gone were the chaotic, passive tenets of the Old Order. In place were more strict, aggressive ones designed to bolster the numbers of worshipers and spread the names and works of the god.
As a token of the god's new power, He granted Elarem one boon of his own choosing. Elarem asked that he become the heir to his family's fortune, something that was denied to him as a priest. The god demanded that his father come to the temple. When the old noble arrived, he scarcely had time to gape at the god before he dropped dead. The god declared in ponderous tones that his lack of faith had killed him, and that Elarem was a far more fit steward of his family's fortune. The officials of the city were stunned at such happenings, but Elarem could not have done anything to make his father die in such a fashion, and the great glowing flaming sphere could hardly be anything but a god. Frightened, they let Elarem have his way.
The Dawnlord was able to determine the faithful and the faithless at a glance, and deal with the faithless in a straightforward, if brutal, fashion. Those brought into the presence of the god could be brought to his light and understanding immediately, or slain where they stood. The dawn, the god would say, seeks out the true hearts in people, and those that cannot stand the dawn's light, are killed by their own weakness. Elarem became the High Priest of his faith, and of a new congregation of worshippers desperate for the power that the Dawnlord had been shown to possess. Each brought rich gifts and abject servility and worship in hopes of gaining the intervention of the Dawnlord into their lives. With each passing day that they showered the temple with gifts, and sang of the glory of the Dawnlord on their knees, was one day closer to the day when their own enemies would be slain by the dawn's light.
Within his form of fire and power, Kalernax the beholder smiled hugely as the swelled prayers of the bowed congregation poured into him, filling him with immense power, just as his coffers swelled with the riches of a dozen noble families. Let his misshapen kin spend their energies on their organizations of crime. He had bigger ambitions than any of them. He would become like a god, and none would stop him.
Beholder Star
Each beholders holds himself to be the most pure, perfect image of the species, and all others are but misshapen abominations. Thus each beholder is at odds with every other, and have no allies among their own species. They are an arrogant, spiteful, greedy species, who see all other non-beholders merely as cattle, fit for slaves or food, but not much else. Many beholders use networks of slaves and charmed agents to bring them the power and treasure, though this can be dangerous. As most beholders sit like spiders in their webs, receiving information only through their webs of agents, they can be vulnerable when their strongholds are discovered. Agents who are unaware of their true employer often react badly if they discover their superior is one of the dreaded eye-tyrants.
The Beholder Star seeks something greater than the power mere organizations, and more treasure than can be had by thievery and simple manipulation. By strange rituals, use of forgotten magic, or even contact with the lingering power of a dead god, the Beholder Star infuses himself with divine energy. Doorways are opened, and pathways to power are paved in the prayers of the faithful. By presenting themselves as minor gods, a Beholder Star uses their natural magical power to prove their divinity. By removing obstacles from the paths of ambitious priests and faithful, they gather a following as a god that can actually get things done for their worshippers.
By proscribing lengthy rituals of worship and demanding sacrifices of treasure, the Beholder Star slowly, insidiously, raises the price of their "help." With each ritual and with each follower, the Beholder Star swells with power, increasing his own abilities far beyond that of one typical of his type. By carefully doling out their "blessings" to their worshipper, the Beholder Star can have a small army of devout followers that would willingly die to serve their "god," and practically none of them even have to be charmed. Also, with the power of a tame clergy behind him an a king's ransom in treasure, the Beholder Star can have a wide variety of magic items made for him.
Hit Dice: d6
Requirements
To qualify to become a Beholder Star, a creature must fulfill all the following criteria.
Race: Beholder.
Special: Must have undergone a ritual to pave the way to acquiring divine-like power. This can involve using spells forgotten to all but a handful of people or even forgotten altogether and only recorded in ancient tomes or tombs, petitioning the Great Mother (the beholder deity), or even absorbing the power of a dead god (if you have Requiem for a God from Malhavoc Press, consider this contact with an energy well, divinity spark, consumption of godsblood, or a ritual involving godsflesh). Either way, this ritual requires the sacrifice of a single eyestalk, determined randomly.
Class Skills
The Beholder Star's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Appraise (Int), Bluff (Cha), Concentration (Con), Diplomacy (Cha), Disguise (Int), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (all skills bought separately) (Int), Listen (Wis), Perform (Cha), and Sense Motive (Wis).
Skill Points per Level: 2 + Int mod per level
Lvl....BAB...Fort...Ref...Will...Special
1......+0.....+0.....+0....+2.....Godform (10/+1, SR 20), Empower, Priestly Domains, Priest and Congragation, Divination Immunity (3rd lvl and below), Projected Alignment
2......+1.....+0.....+0....+3
3......+1.....+1.....+1....+3
4......+2.....+1.....+1....+4.....Godform (20/+2, SR 25), Divination Immunity (5th lvl and below)
5......+2.....+1.....+1....+4
6......+3.....+2.....+2....+5
7......+3.....+2.....+3....+5.....Godform (30/+3, SR 30), Divination Immunity (7th lvl and below)
8......+4.....+2.....+3....+6
9......+4.....+3.....+3....+6
10....+5.....+3.....+3....+7.....Godform (40/+4, SR 35), Divination Immunity (9th lvl and below)
Class Features
All of the following are class features of the Beholder Star prestige class.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: The Beholder Star gains no additional weapon or armor proficiencies.
Godform: A Beholder Star's greatest power is to conceal his own form behind that that many take for a god. In Godform, the Beholder Star appears as a miniature sun, shedding light as a daylight spell up to 100 ft. His appearance as a beholder is entirely concealed, and he appears only as a featureless ball of flame. Alternately, the Beholder Star can change the color of the flame at will, as well as the amount of light projected. Some Beholder Stars that infiltrate the temples dedicated to evil deities appear as a ball of black fire that sheds no light. While in Godform, the Beholder Star enjoys the listed damage reduction and spell resistance.
There are drawbacks to this form however. The Beholder Star can still levitate, but his movement is reduced to 5. He can still use his eyestalks, however, he can only use a single one once per round. His antimagic cone functions as normal, though most Beholder Stars keep their antimagic eye closed in the temple to avoid depriving their priests of their power. While in Godform, the Beholder Star does not need to eat or sleep.
Once a Beholder Star appears, typically in a minor temple or a similar holy place, he pretends to speak as the god. Beholder Stars usually do research of their chosen place, trying to determine if the priest has ambition enough to be swayed by the Star's words. They also make certain that there are enough potential worshippers close by to make their stay worthwhile. A Beholder Star will generally use their power to both give a demonstration of their "godly" abilities, and as a taste of what they can do for their priests and worshippers.
Typical acts include charming people that have made difficulties for the priests or worshippers, or even killing them and blaming their deaths on divine intervention. With honeyed words, a Beholder Star can make himself the judge, jury, and executioner of an entire community.
A Beholder Star can remain in Godform as long as he desires, and usually does. Though virtually immobile and lacking a bare tenth of their usual combat ability, the Beholder Star's damage reduction and typical place in the inner sanctum of a temple makes most feel safe in remaining in that state. The rare instances when a Star has been forced to drop Godform for superior combat ability usually results in the Star having to abandon their temple. Once having seen the true form of their "god" and realizing they have been duped can cause a terrible reaction from the priests and worshippers.
To compensate for their lack of combat abilities while in Godform, many Beholder Stars will require sacrifices of magic items that are cast directly "into the god."
Divination Immunity: In addition, in Godform a Beholder Star is immune to certain levels of divination spells at certain levels. At 1st level, he is immune all 3rd level or lower divination spells. At 4rd, 5th level and lower. 7th, 7th level and lower, and at 10th, 9th level and lower. There is a single exception, however; see Project Alignment for further on this.
Project Alignment: The Beholder Star has a single divination spell that works on him... after a fashion. Should someone try to detect his alignment, it registers as the living embodiment of whatever alignment the Beholder Star desires.
Empower: During a ritual of worship of at least one hour in duration, the Beholder Star can absorb the power of his worshipper's prayers. This results in a +2 to the DCs of the saves of all of the Beholder Star's eyestalk powers for 1 hour/level. Assuming he can convince his followers to worship him for more than one hour, for each additional hour of worship increases the DC by another +2.
By using this power the DC of a Beholder Star's eyestalk powers cannot increase more than +6. Additional worship after that has no game effect; it merely enhances the Beholder Star's ego. A Beholder Star much have at least twenty worshippers lead by a priest who worships him for this ability to be effective.
Priestly Domains: The Beholder Star is not actually a divine being, but he can imitate many of the effects. Any cleric that turns to worshipping the Beholder Star actually is worshipping the Great Mother. The domains he chooses from are Evil, Hatred, Law, Strength, and Tyranny, replacing any previous domains (the Hatred and Tyranny domains can be found in the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting).
Priest and Congregation: The Beholder Star gains the Leadership feat for the purpose of determining the level of cleric and number of devout worshippers he can attract.
Note: A Beholder Star typically chooses a priest that has great ambition and a touch of ruthlessness, along with perhaps a bit of weakness in his faith as his mark. To cement the loyalty of the priest, the Star will use some of his power to remove some obstacle or smooth some road as a "divine gift." Once this "freebie" has been used, the Beholder Star's actions must be earned through devout prayer, conversion, and concrete sacrifices. But the Star does keep his word, and once his demands have been met, is willing to use his power to do what is asked of him. Insidiously the demands will gradually creep upward. But by the time the disaffected worshipers notice (if at all), most could not maintain their current lifestyle if it were not for the intervention of the Star.
Many Star worshippers have charmed their way into public office, or out of tangles with the law. Several have had rivals removed courtesy of finger of death or disintegrate. To keep these things secrets, length worship services and many gifts are required.
But many become enamored of the Star, for it is rare that a god takes such personal interest in his worshippers. Since a Beholder Star tends to attract ambitious, ruthless, cruel worshippers, they tend to adore the dogma presented by the Beholder Star's priest.
The philosophy of the Star's church is one of increasing one's own power and wealth, getting rid of those in your way. It is also one of loyalty, particularly to the priests of the Star. Thus the Beholder Star maintains a loyal stable of nobles, priests, rich merchants, and courtiers along with their attendant households and guards. A careful and clever Beholder Star can have virtually all the important people in a town within their grasp.
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