Evil / Undead Class : Lifedrinker

Amid the ranks of the undead, the vampires are some of the most feared creatures that stalk the night. Yet even those cursed with vampirism have those that they respect and fear. One such secretive group has many names, but most often they are called lifedrinkers.

Lifedrinkers are vampires who have been undead for a very long time, honing their evil abilities to the fullest. They focus on their inherent ability to feed upon the living. Vampire wizards, sorcerers, and clerics make the best lifedrinkers, for the primary ability of the lifedrinker is to turn life energy and blood stolen from another into magical power.

Like most vampires, lifedrinkers are likely to have a host of charmed guardians, vampire spawn, and other servants. They often keep a small number of living beings to feed upon, referring to the captives as their "cattle."

Requirements

To qualify to become a Lifedrinker, a character must fulfill all the following criteria:

Class Skills

The lifedrinker's class skills are Bluff, Hide, Knowledge (arcana), Listen, Move Silently, Profession (any), Search, Sense Motive, Spellcraft, and Spot.

Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier.

Class Features

All of the following are Class Features of the lifedrinker prestige class.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A lifedrinker is proficient with no weapons, armor, or shields.

Lifewell (Ex): A lifedrinker stores the life energy that it steals in a reservoir within itself called a lifewell. From this lifewell, the lifedrinker draws the power needed to use its abilities. A lifedrinker gains lifewell points by bestowing negative levels and by dealing Constitution drain. Each negative level bestowed by the vampire's energy drain ability grants 2 lifewell points. Each point of Constitution drained grants 1 lifewell point. The lifewell of a lifedrinker can hold a maximum of 3 points per lifedrinker level. Lifewell points gained when the lifewell is already full are wasted.

A lifedrinker with 0 lifewell points must succeed at a Will saving throw (DC 20) or go temporarily insane, attacking any living creature within sight until the lifewell has at least 1 point per lifedrinker level. A successful saving throw means that the lifedrinker need not make a saving throw against this temporary insanity until one week has passed and even then only if the lifewell has remained at 0 points throughout the week.

Invigorate (Ex): A lifedrinker can spend 1 lifewell point to gain 1d6 temporary hit points. These hit points last 24 hours, and while they do not stack with those granted by other sources of temporary hit points, they do stack with more hit points gained from the invigorate ability, so a lifedrinker may spend multiple lifewell points to gain more temporary hit points. No more lifewell points maybe spent on this ability in any given day than the lifedrinker has levels.

Spell Boost (Empower) (Ex): If a lifedrinker of 2nd level or higher casts spells, it may spend 4 lifewell points to empower a spell as if using the Empower Spell fear. The spell slot and level of the spell do nor change.

Spell Boost (Heighten) (Ex): If a lifedrinker of 3rd level or higher casts spells, it may spend a variable number of lifewell points to heighten a spell as if using the Heighten Spell feat. For every 2 lifewell points devoted to the spell boost, the spell's effective level is treated as one higher for purposes of save DC and other effects. For example, if a lifedrinker spends 4 lifewell points to boost a fireball spell, the spell is treated as a 5th-level spell when calculating the Reflex save DC, and the boosted fireball can penetrate a minor globe of invulnerability, which a 3rd-level fireball cannot. The spell slot and level of the spell do not change.

Special Attack Boost (Empower) (Ex): A 4th-level lifedrinker can spend 4 lifewell points to empower a special attack, increasing its variable, numeric effects by a factor of 1.5. The special attack is empowered for one use only. For example, a lifedrinker empowering its blood drain ability would drain 1d3 points of Constitution, multiplied by 1.5. A lifedrinker could also use this ability to summon more creatures using the children of the night ability it gains as a vampire. Some lifedrinkers might have other special abilities that they can use with this ability; a sea hag vampire lifedrinker, for example, could use this to empower her horrific appearance.

Blood Servant (Ex): By spending 10 lifewell points, a 5th-level lifedrinker can call forth a lesser planar ally (evil only), as per the spell of the same name. The ally automatically serves the lifedrinker for 24 hours.

Boost Defenses (Ex): At 5th level, a lifedrinker can spend 8 lifewell points to add +2 to its natural armor bonus and turn resistance, add +10 to its cold resistance and electricity resistance, and increase its damage reduction to 20/+2. The effects last for 24 hours.

Spell Boost (Maximize) (Ex): If a lifedrinker of 6th level or higher casts spells, it can spend 6 lifewell points to maximize a spell as if using the Maximize Spell feat. The spell slot and level of the spell do not change.

Greater Blood Drain (Ex): At 7th level, a lifedrinker's blood drain ability now deals 1d6 points of Constitution drain.

Special Attack Boost (Maximize) (Ex): A lifedrinker of 7th level or higher can spend 6 lifewell points to maximize all variable, numeric effects of a special attack. The special attack is maximized for one use only A lifedrinker using this ability to maximize its greater blood drain ability for example, would deal 6 points of Constitution drain. A lifedrinker could also use this ability to summon the maximum number of creatures using the children of the night ability it gains as a vampire. Some lifedrinkers might have other special abilities that they can boost in a similar fashion.

Spell Boost (Quicken) (Ex): If a lifedrinker of 8th level or higher casts spells, it can spend 8 lifewell points to quicken one of its spells, as if using the Quicken Spell feat. The spell slot and level of the spell do not change.

Greater Invigorate (Ex): Whenever a 9th-level lifedrinker uses its invigorate ability, it gains a +1 enhancement bonus to Strength for each lifewell point spent. If multiple lifewell points are spent at the same time, the bonus is correspondingly larger. A lifedrinker that spends 10 lifewell points all at once on invigorate gains 10d6 temporary hit points and a +10 enhancement bonus to Strength. But if the lifedrinker spends 5 lifewell points in one round and 5 more points in the next, it has 10d6 temporary hit points but only a +5 enhancement bonus to Strength. The bonus to Strength lasts for 24 hours.

Blood Revel (Ex): Once a 10th-level lifedrinker drains any blood from a victim, it can choose to enter a state called a blood revel as a free action at the beginning of its next turn and remain in that state for 10 rounds. In this stare, the lifedrinker gains a +4 profane bonus to Strength, its damage reduction increases to 25/+3, its fast healing increases to it points per round, and it may ignore its weakness toward garlic, mirrors, holy symbols, and running water, as well as its vulnerability to sunlight.

However, during the blood revel, the lifedrinker cannot flee from a living foe, and must attack physically every round. A hasted lifedrinker in a blood revel could use its extra partial action to cast a spell as long as it also made melee attack that round. A blood revel ends when the lifedrinker chooses it to end, when 10 rounds are over, or when no living foes can be reached by a full attack a move and an attack, or a charge. When the blood revel ends, the lifedrinker must reach its coffin home within 2 hours or be utterly destroyed, as if it were reduced to 0 hit points. It must remain in its coffin for as long as it was in its revel, plus the amount of time it took to reach its coffin.

LifedrinkerHit Die: d12
CLBABFortRefWillSpecial
1st+0+2+2+2Lifewell, invigorate
2nd+1+3+3+3Spell boost (empower)
3rd+2+3+3+3Spell boost (heighten), special attack boost (empower)
4th+3+4+4+4Special attack boost (heighten)
5th+3+4+4+4Blood servant, boost defenses
6th+4+5+5+5Spell boost (maximize)
7th+5+5+5+5Greater blood drain, special attack boost (maximize)
8th+6+6+6+6Spell boost (quicken)
9th+6+6+6+6Greater invigorate
10th+7+7+7+7Blood revel

Source: Book of Vile Darkness

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Evil & Undead Classes