General Prestige Class : Jerren Flesheater
by Monte Cook, Dragon #300
The Jerren are halflings, although they despise that name. About two hundred years ago, the Jerren were a normal, extended nomadic tribe of halflings that inhabited a dark forest. Every spring, they were beset by goblins and bugbears from the nearby hills. These raids cost the Jerren dearly in lives and food - they threatened to wipe out the halflings entirely. The leaders of the various Jerren factions gathered one winter and made a harsh decision. They called upon all the spellcasters among the Jerren and gave them access to corrupt magic that they had hidden away and forbidden. They armed each warrior with terrible poisons and weapons designed to spread disease and plague among the goblinoids.
The next spring, the ensuing war between the Jerren and their enemies threatened to wipe out both sides. Blood stained the woods. Even with their new tactics, the Jerren would have lost, except that their previous acts seemed to have opened a door to malevolence - soon the halflings committed atrocities against their enemies that repulsed even the goblins and bugbears, and when they retreated into the hills, the Jerren followed them. Soon all that were left of the goblinoids were heads upon spikes positioned throughout the hills and grisly scenes that suggested bloody sacrifices made to evil gods like Karaan and Erythnul.
Today, the forest is haunted by terrible bands of vicious halflings who prey upon any living creature that crosses their path. They seek blood and sacrifices for the unquenchable hunger of the insatiable deities to which they have sworn allegiance. No leader can manage to control more than a small band of these chaotic and evil halflings, and those who show even the slightest hint of weakness or mercy are quickly cut down and devoured by the others. Like other halflings, the Jerren live a nomadic lifestyle. They prey upon others for their food and most of their goods. The only things that the Jerren produce themselves are vile instruments of war or torture - or the poisons for which they are now infamous.
The Jerren flesheaters are the vilest of this vile race. They delight in slaughter, pain, and blood. They are experts with poison and delight in ambushing and tearing apart living things that they then devour. To prepare to become a flesheater, a Jerren most often takes levels of rogue. Occasionally Jerren fighters and barbarians become flesheaters, and the very rare Jerren ex-monk is a likely candidate as well. Since Jerren are usually chaotic, very few ever become monks. Jerren who try to study as monks often end up abandoning their contemplative training to become flesheaters. (Note that in this case, monk unarmed attack damage and Jerren flesheater tooth and claw damage do not stack in any way - simply use the better of the two.)
Requirements
To qualify to become a Flesheater, a character must fulfill all the following criteria:
- Race: Halfling
- Alignment: Chaotic evil
- Skills: Move Silently 8 ranks, Hide 8 ranks
- Feats: Evil Brand, Willing Deformity, Improved Unarmed Strike,
Class Skills
The flesheater's class skills are Balance, Bluff, Climb, Craft, Escape Artist, Hide, Jump, Listen, Move Silently, Search, Spot, Survival, Swim, Tumble, and Use Rope.
Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier.
Class Features
All of the following are class features of the flesheater prestige class.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Flesheaters are proficient with all simple and martial weapons, and with light armor, but no shields.
Sneak Attack (Ex): If a flesheater can catch an opponent when she is unable to defend herself effectively from his attack, he can strike a vital spot for extra damage. Basically, any time the flesheater's target would be denied her Dexterity bonus to AC (whether she actually has a Dexterity bonus or not) or when the flesheater flanks the target, the flesheater's attack deals extra damage. This ability functions exactly like the rogue's sneak attack ability.
Tooth and Claw (Ex): A flesheater is trained to use his nails in unarmed strikes that inflict 1d6 points of damage. At 5th level, this damage increases to 1d8 damage. At 10th level, the damage becomes 1d10.
Flesh Grip (Ex): If a 2nd-level flesheater makes a successful unarmed attack against a living foe, he can immediately make a grapple attack as a free action without provoking an attack of opportunity. (See Grapple). No initial touch attack is required. In addition, the flesheater never suffers a size penalty when making grapple checks.
Poison Use (Ex): At 3rd level, the flesheater learns how to use poison and never risks poisoning himself when applying poison.
Flesh Rend (Ex): At 4th level, if a flesheater makes a full attack and succeeds in hitting a single living foe with two unarmed attacks, he can immediately make another unarmed attack at his full attack bonus against that foe.
Scent (Ex): So highly trained and attuned are the senses of the flesheater that at 8th level, he can utilize the scent ability. This ability allows the flesheater to detect approaching enemies, sniff out hidden foes, and track by sense of smell. He can identify familiar odors just as others do familiar sights. See the Monster Manual for more details about the scent ability.
Pounce (Ex): A 6th level, if the flesheater charges during the first round of combat, he can make a full attack so long as he uses only unarmed attacks.
Dark Transformation (Su): In an unholy ritual, the 6th-level flesheater dedicates himself completely to his foul, dark gods, and in return, his body undergoes a change. The flesheaters nails now secrete poison when he makes unarmed attacks. This poison inflicts 1d2 points of Constitution damage at the time of the attack and 1 minute later. The Fortitude saving throw to resist the poison is DC 10 + the flesheater's class level.
Swarm (Ex): If at least three flesheaters attack a single victim, and one of them is at least 8th level, all unarmed melee attacks made by flesheaters against that foe are treated as sneak attacks (whether they are flanking or not). Further, in this situation, each flesheater gains a +1 bonus to attack rolls for every flesheater who is attacking that foe.
Vile Damage (Su): At 9th level, the damage inflicted by the tooth and claw ability of the flesheater (not including bonuses from strength, magic, sneak attacks, and so on) is considered vile damage and thus does not heal naturally. Vile damage can only be healed magically in an area under the effect of a consecrate or hallow spell.
| Flesheater | Hit Die: d8 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CL | BAB | Fort | Ref | Will | Special |
| 1 | +1 | +0 | +2 | +0 | Sneak attack +1d6, tooth and claw (1d4) |
| 2 | +2 | +0 | +3 | +0 | Flesh grip |
| 3 | +3 | +1 | +3 | +1 | Sneak attack +2d6, poison use |
| 4 | +4 | +1 | +4 | +1 | Flesh rend |
| 5 | +5 | +1 | +4 | +1 | Sneak attack +3d6, tooth and claw (1d6) |
| 6 | +6 | +2 | +5 | +2 | Pounce, dark transformation |
| 7 | +7 | +2 | +5 | +2 | Sneak attack +4d6 |
| 8 | +8 | +2 | +6 | +2 | Swarm, scent |
| 9 | +9 | +3 | +6 | +3 | Sneak attack +5d6 |
| 10 | +10 | +3 | +7 | +3 | Tooth and claw (1d8) |
Source: Dragon #300