General Prestige Class : Fiend Slayer
by Monte Cook, Dragon #287
The fiend slayer is a shadowy character who has a hatred for evil outsiders. He has learned their ways and dedicated himself to ridding the world of them. However, he's no holy champion. He's consorted with evil to learn its weaknesses, and he has taken on fiendish aspects to better confront his foes.
Multiclass rangers make the best fiend slayers, although paladins who have become corrupted by the evil they fight against also become fiend slayers. These men and women usually work alone. Even though some have similar goals, their methods and outlooks are very different.
Requirements
To qualify to become a Fiend Slayer, a character must fulfill all the following criteria:
- Alignment: Any non-evil, non-good.
- Skills: Knowledge (arcana) 5 ranks, Knowledge (the planes) 2 ranks.
- Base Attack: +4
- Favored Enemy: Any evil outsider type (devil, demon, and so on.)
- Special: Must be able to cast protection from evil.
- Special: Ex-paladins can forgo the favored enemy and the protection from evil requirement if they are willing to instantly lose one level of ex-paladin. For example, a 6th-level ex-paladin who has the right number of skill ranks in Knowledge (arcana) and Knowledge (the planes) can take a level of fiend slayer but he will be a 5th-level ex-paladin/1st level fiend slayer. An ex-paladin who decides to make the switch need not gain a new level to facilitate the change, once the decision to take the level of fiend slayer is made, it happens.
Class Skills
The fiend slayer's class skills are Bluff, Climb, Concentration, Heal, Hide, Jump, Knowledge (arcana), Knowledge (religion), Move Silently, Profession, Search, Sense Motive, Spot, and Survival.
Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier.
Class Features
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Fiend slayers are proficient with all simple and martial weapons, with all types of armor, and with shields.
Spells: Beginning at 1st level, a fiend slayer gains the ability to cast a small number of arcane spells. To cast a spell, the fiend slayer must have a Charisma score of at least 10 + the spell's level, so a fiend slayer with a Charisma of 10 or lower cannot cast these spells. Fiend slayer bonus spells are based on Charisma, and saving throws against these spells have a DC of 10 + spell level + Charisma modifier. When the fiend slayer gets "0" spells of a given level, such as 0 1st-level spells at 1st level, the fiend slayer gets only bonus spells. A fiend slayer without a bonus spell for that level cannot yet cast a spell of that level. The fiend slayer's spell list appears below; a fiend slayer has access to any spell on the list and need not prepare those spells ahead of time. A fiend slayer casts spells just as a sorcerer does.
Fiend Hunting: At 1st level, a fiend slayer gains a bonus against evil outsiders due to his extensive study and training in the proper techniques for combating them. The fiend slayer gains a +1 bonus to Bluff, Listen, Sense Motive, Spot, and Survival checks when using these skills against evil outsiders. Likewise, he gets the same bonus to weapon damage rolls against evil outsiders. A fiend slayer also gets the damage bonus with ranged weapons, but only against targets within 30 feet (the fiend slayer cannot strike with deadly accuracy beyond that range). The bonus doesn't apply to damage against creatures that are immune to critical hits. Every three levels (at 3rd, 6th, and 9th), the fiend hunting bonus increases by +1. The bonus from this extraordinary ability stacks with a ranger's favored enemy bonus.
Fiend Skin: By magically grafting bits of fiendish flesh to his own body, the 1st-level fiend slayer gives himself a +1 natural armor bonus. At every three levels beyond 1st (4th, 7th, and 10th) this bonus increases by +1. This is an extraordinary ability.
Detect Fiends: At will, a 2nd-level fiend slayer can detect evil outsiders as a supernatural ability. This ability duplicates the effects of the spell detect undead cast by a sorcerer of the fiend slayer's class level, except that evil outsiders are detected.
See in Darkness: At will, a 2nd-level fiend slayer can see in magical and non-magical darkness as a supernatural ability, up to a range of 30 feet.
Smite Fiends: Once a day, a fiend slayer of 4th level or higher can attempt to smite evil outsiders with one normal melee attack. He adds his Wisdom bonus to his attack roll and inflicts 2 extra points of damage per class level; for example, an 8th-level fiend slayer armed with a longsword would inflict 1d8+16 points of damage, plus 3 points of damage for fiend hunting, plus any additional bonuses for high Strength or magical effects that normally apply. If the fiend slayer accidentally smites a creature that is not an evil outsider, the smite has no effect but it is still used up for that day. Smite fiends is a supernatural ability.
Spurn Fiend's Touch: A 5th-level fiend slayer applies his Wisdom bonus as an additional bonus to all saving throws against effects and spells used by evil outsiders. Thus, a fiend slayer adds double his Wisdom bonus to Will saving throws. This is a supernatural ability.
Clutches of Vengeance: Once per day, a 7th-level fiend slayer can negate a single evil outsider's SR and damage reduction for 1 round per level with a successful melee touch attack against the target. This is a supernatural ability.
Fiendbane Shout: The 8th-level fiend slayer can, once per day as a supernatural ability, loose a shout that stuns all evil outsiders within 50 feet for 1 round (Fort save DC 10 + fiend slayer's Charisma bonus + fiend slayer class levels) as a move-equivalent action.
Neutralize Evil: Upon reaching 10th level, a fiend slayer can use the following spell-like ability once per day. After a successful melee touch attack, the fiend slayer can prevent an evil outsider from using any supernatural or spell-like abilities, spells, or magic items for 24 hours. The decision to use neutralize evil must be made before the touch attack is made. If the fiend slayer accidentally uses the ability on a creature that is not an evil outsider or misses the touch attack, neutralize evil has no effect but is still used up for that day. There is no save against this ability, and spell resistance does not apply.
| Fiend Slayer | Hit Die: d8 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CL | BAB | Fort | Ref | Will | Special | Spells per Day | |||
| 1st | +1 | +2 | +0 | +0 | Fiend hunting +1, Fiend skin +1 | 0 | - | - | - |
| 2nd | +2 | +3 | +0 | +0 | Detect fiends, see in darkness | 1 | - | - | - |
| 3rd | +3 | +3 | +1 | +1 | Fiend hunting +2 | 1 | 0 | - | - |
| 4th | +4 | +4 | +1 | +1 | Smite fiends, fiend skin +2 | 1 | 1 | - | - |
| 5th | +5 | +4 | +1 | +1 | Spurn fiend's touch | 1 | 1 | 0 | - |
| 6th | +6 | +5 | +2 | +2 | Fiend hunting +3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | - |
| 7th | +7 | +5 | +2 | +2 | Clutches of vengeance, fiend skin +3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | - |
| 8th | +8 | +6 | +2 | +2 | Fiendbane shout | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 9th | +9 | +6 | +3 | +3 | Fiend hunting +4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 10th | +10 | +7 | +3 | +3 | Neutralize evil, Fiend skin +4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
Source: Dragon #287