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Souleaters learn the worst of daemonic magic while gaining the ability to bind and devour souls. With every soul they consume, these casters tithe a fraction to their patrons. They are the proxies of death, serving the architects of the apocalypse until eventually their own souls are drawn into their masters’ waiting maws. Class DetailsHit Dice: d6. RequirementsTo qualify to become a souleater, a character must fulfill all of the following criteria.
Class SkillsThe souleater’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Bluff (Cha), Diplomacy (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (arcana) (Int), Knowledge (planes) (Int), Knowledge (religion) (Int), Sense Motive (Wis), and Spellcraft (Int). Skills Points at Each Level: 2 + Int modifier. Table: Souleater
Class FeaturesUsing Souls
In addition to consuming them for the sheer joy of destruction, daemons use souls to empower themselves, conduct strange experiments, construct their hideous domains, and more—and mortal spellcasters have followed their lead. Of these varied uses, the most common is the creation or recharging of magic items, using the life force contained in soul gems and other such vessels—or drawn out of the victim directly at the moment of casting—to empower the magic being worked. In these cases, souls should be assigned values based on the categories presented here and then treated as material components, reducing the gold expenditure necessary to cast the spell according to the souls’ value. (Thus a spell that requires 400 gp to cast might instead cost 300 gp and a basic-level soul.) Souls used in this manner are consumed and destroyed utterly. Souls are especially useful in the creation of intelligent items. In these cases, usually only one soul crystallizes as the intelligence embedded into the item, though other souls may be cannibalized in the item’s creation. Item alignment, item ability scores, and languages spoken by the item mirror those of the soul used to provide the item’s intelligence. Scholars have long debated whether the intelligence in such an item is the soul used, or if the soul is destroyed and the intelligence is only patterned on it—the implication being that recovered intelligent objects (especially of daemonic origin) might be destroyed in order to liberate the souls used in their construction. As instances of both have been reported over the centuries, the question remains open, though few adventurers are willing to destroy their prized weapons based on conjecture. Beyond the means described above, daemons have myriad additional means of trapping, keeping, and subsequently using souls for constructing permanent objects and effects, such as a liquid form of soul-stuff mixing multiple souls, a crystalline dust formed from soul gems, and even ink created from souls and used to write down the names of the doomed, imprisoning them in elaborate poems penned on the daemons’ own flesh. Something intrinsic in daemonic nature allows for this flexibility, as some of the same methods they routinely use fail spectacularly when attempted by non-daemons, including such creatures as night hags, devourers, liches, and followers of some fiendish lords, who themselves possess a vested interest in exploiting some or all of these methods. See The Soul Trade for further information. The following are features of the souleater prestige class. Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Souleaters gain proficiency with the favored weapon of their daemonic patron, but with no other weapon or armor. Spells per Day: At the indicated levels, a souleater gains new spells per day as if she had also gained a level in a spellcasting class she belonged to before adding the prestige class. She does not, however, gain other benefits a character of that class would have gained, except for additional spells per day, spells known (if she is a spontaneous spellcaster), and an increased effective level of spellcasting. If a character had more than one spellcasting class before becoming an souleater, she must decide to which class she adds the new level for the purposes of determining spells per day. Cacodaemon Familiar (Ex)At 1st level, the souleater gains a cacodaemon familiar, as if she had the Improved Familiar feat. If the souleater already has a familiar, the cacodaemon devours it (which does not penalize the souleater). The souleater counts as an evil outsider for the purpose of utilizing cacodaemon soul gems. Daemonic Patron (Ex)At 1st level, a souleater must choose one of the Four Horsemen to serve as her patron. Once made, this choice cannot be changed. Damned (Ex)Starting at 1st level, when a souleater dies, her patron instantly claims her soul. In time, the soul is consumed for its power or transformed into a daemon appropriate to the patron’s needs and interests. Any character attempting to resurrect a slain souleater must succeed at a caster level check equal to 10 + the souleater’s level or the spell fails. That character cannot attempt to resurrect the souleater again until the following day, though other characters can attempt to do so if they please. Energy Drain (Su)At 2nd level, a souleater gains the energy drain ability. By making a touch attack as a standard action, she bestows one negative level on the target (two levels on a critical hit). The souleater gains 5 temporary hit points for each negative level she bestows on an opponent. These temporary hit points last for a maximum of 1 hour. The DC to remove this negative level is 10 + the souleater’s class level + her spellcaster ability modifier. At 6th level, this touch attack bestows two negative levels (four on a critical hit). Soul Pool (Su)At 2nd level, a souleater gains a pool of soul points, stolen life energy she can use to accomplish unnatural feats. The number of soul points in the pool begins at 0 and only increases when the souleater uses her energy drain ability on a suitable target. A souleater gains 1 soul point for each negative level bestowed by her energy drain, but only if the target’s soul qualifies as at least an “animal spirit” with Hit Dice equal to or greater than the souleater’s class level, a “basic soul,” or something more powerful/notable (see The Soul Trade). The maximum number of soul points a souleater can have in her pool is equal to 1/2 her class level plus her spellcasting ability modifier; any points above this are wasted. Note that soul points are fragments of souls and do not prevent a slain creature from being raised. A souleater can use soul points for the following: Item Creation: A souleater can use soul points as part of crafting magic items, as described in the Using Souls sidebar. Each counts as a basic soul toward this purpose. Recharge staff: This works like recharging a staff in the normal manner, but instead of spell slots, the souleater expends soul points equal to the spell level needed. Recover Spell Slot: As a full-round action, a souleater can expend soul points equal to twice the spell level of a cast spell or used spell slot in order to regain that spell or slot as if it had not been cast (similar to using a pearl of power, except it also works for spontaneous casters). Replace Familiar: A souleater can replace her slain cacodaemon familiar at any time by spending 1 hour and 10 soul points in a specialized ritual. Summon Cacodaemon (Sp)At 3rd level, once per day, a souleater can summon 1d3 cacodaemons, which serve her for 1 minute per souleater class level. This ability otherwise counts as greater summon cacodaemon. Lesser Oblivion (Su)At 4th level, a souleater’s patron invests her with a specific ability. Patron A—Immunity to diseases, including supernatural and magical diseases. Patron B—Immunity to aging effects and effects that give penalties to Strength and Constitution. Patron C—Immunity to bleed effects and effects that give penalties to Strength. Patron D—Immunity to ingested and inhaled poisons, and the subject no longer needs to eat or drink. Oblivion (Sp)At 7th level, the souleater is granted more power by her patron, gaining a spell-like ability usable at will, but costing 1 soul point for each use. Patron A—contagion (DC 10 + the souleater’s class level + her spellcasting ability score modifier). Patron B—vampiric touch. Patron C—rage. Patron D—bestow curse (DC 10 + the souleater’s class level + her spellcasting ability score modifier). Summon Ceustodaemon (Sp)At 8th level, once per day, a souleater can summon 1d2 ceustodaemons, which serve her for 1 minute per souleater class level. This ability otherwise counts as summon ceustodaemon (see spell or Summoning Daemons for more details). Greater Oblivion (Sp)At 10th level, the souleater gains further power from her patron. The spell-like abilities listed here are usable at will, but cost 3 soul points for each use. Patron A—creeping doom (DC 10 + the souleater’s class level + her spellcasting ability score modifier). Patron B—Gain fast healing 10 for 10 rounds. This counts as a 6th-level spell. Patron C—Greater magic weapon (+4 enhancement bonus). Like a paladin with a weapon divine bond, the souleater can use the enhancement bonuses to add any of the following weapon properties: mighty cleaving, unholy, vicious, wounding. Patron D—horrid wilting (DC 10 + the souleater’s class level + her spellcasting ability score modifier). Ex-SouleatersA souleater whose alignment becomes anything other than neutral evil or who blatantly goes against the will of her daemonic patron loses access to all class features except for Damned. She cannot thereafter gain levels as a souleater until she atones for her deeds. |
