General Prestige Class : Purebreath Devotee

by Spencer Kornhaber, Dragon #314

Air surrounds us always, invisible yet vital. It is heavier than the tallest mountain, yet lighter than a feather. To the purebreath devotee, there is no purer substance than the air we breathe.

A purebreath devotee believes that the only way to become as pure as air is to consume nothing else. Members of this prestige class fast for long periods of time, living only off the air they breathe, until eventually, they no longer need to eat or drink. Eventually, the purity they gain by consuming only air grants them wondrous abilities.

Characters of any class can follow this path, although monks are the most common adherents. Constantly in search of self-perfection, many monks see the lifestyle of the purebreath devotee as the path to enlightenment. Some druids take up the class to grow closer to nature, and certain clerics view it as a path to spiritual purity. NPC purebreath devotees can be found in many places, from isolated caves where they live in hermitlike seclusion to large cities where they assume powerful spiritual leadership roles.

Requirements

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

• Skills: Knowledge (nature) 4 ranks.
• Feats: Endurance, Iron Will.
• Base Attack Bonus: +5.
• Special: The candidate must go three days without eating, drinking, or using magic items that prevent hunger or thirst. A character can go without fluids for 1 day plus a number of hours equal to her Constitution score. After this time, she must make a successful Constitution check each hour (DC 10, + for each previous check) or take 1d6 points of non-lethal damage. A character can go without food for 3 days with no consequences other than growing discomfort. Thereafter, she must make a Constitution check each day (DC 10, + for each previous check) or take 1d6 points of non-lethal damage. Characters who have taken non-lethal damage from lack of food or water are fatigued. Nonlethal damage from thirst or starvation cannot be recovered until the character gets food or water as needed not even magic that restores hit points (such as cure light wounds) heals this damage.

Class Skills

The purebreath devotee's class skills are Balance, Climb, Concentration, Craft (any), Heal, Jump, Knowledge (nature), Listen, Move Silently, Profession (any), Spot, Survival, Swim, and Tumble.

Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier.

Class Features

All the following are class features of the purebreath devotee prestige class.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Purebreath devotees gain no proficiency with any weapons or armor.

Spells: Beginning at 1st level, a purebreath devotee gains the ability to cast a number of divine spells. To cast a spell, she must have a Wisdom score of at least to + the spell's level, so a purebreath devotee with a Wisdom score of 10 or lower cannot cast these spells. Purebreath devotee bonus spells are based on Wisdom, and a saving throw against one of these spells has a DC of 10 + spell level + the purebreath devotee's Wisdom bonus (if any). When the purebreath devotee gets 0 spells per day of a given spell level (for instance, 1st-level spells for a 1st-level purebreath devotee), she gains only the bonus spells she would be entitled to based on her Wisdom score for that spell level. The purebreath devotee's spell list appears below. She casts her divine spells just as a sorcerer does; she knows all the spells on the purebreath devotee spell list and cannot add to this list.

Breatharian (Ex): At 1st level, the purebreath devotee does not need to eat or drink so long as she spends at least 8 hours a day in an environment with breathable oxygen.

Rebuke Air Creatures (Su): At 2nd level, the purebreath devotee can rebuke, command, or bolster air creatures as an evil cleric rebukes undead. For the purpose of this ability, she functions like a cleric of her total character level. This ability is usable a number of times per day equal to 3 + her Charisma modifier.

Mighty Lungs (Ex): At 3rd level, the purebreath devotee can hold her breath in an airless environment twice as long as she normally could before having to make a Constitution check. She can hold her breath three times as long as normal at 6th level and four times as long as normal at 9th level. This ability is usable at will.

Zone of Pure Air (Sp): Upon reaching 4th level, the purebreath devotee can fill a 15-foot-radius area centered on herself with pure, fresh air and purge it of all airborne pollutants. Activating this ability requires a standard action, and the effect lasts for 1 minute (10 rounds) per purebreath devotee level unless dismissed earlier (a free action). The duration of this effect need not be consecutive rounds.

This ability creates a bubble of breathable air that moves with the purebreath devotee, even in an airless environment (such as underwater]. Any portion of a gaseous magical effect (such as obscuring mist, fog cloud, solid fog stinking cloud, cloudkill, mind fog, acid fog or incendiary cloud) within the area is suppressed until the zone expires or is removed. Likewise, airborne diseases and poisons are rendered harmless as long as they are within the zone's area. Noxious stench (such as that of a ghast or troglodyte) and breath weapons that take the form of a gas do not affect the area within the air bubble. Any gaseous creature in the zone is pushed out to the nearest open space unless it makes a successful Will save (DC 10 + the purebreath devotee's level + the purebreath devotee's Charisma modifier). A new save is required each round that the creature remains within the zone, or when such a creature attempts to enter it. For this effect, the purebreath devotee counts as a caster equal to her purebreath devotee level.

Pure Body (Ex): When the purebreath devotee reaches 5th level, her constant intake of pure air renders her immune to all diseases and poisons, even magical diseases and poisons.

Light as a Feather (Su): At 7th level, the purebreath devotee gains the ability to fall slower than she normally would. She constantly functions as though affected by a feather fall spell unless she suppresses the effect. Suppressing the effect or renewing its use is a standard action.

Master Respiration (Ex): At 8th level, the purebreath devotee gains further mastery over her respiration and can regulate it to maximum efficiency. She gains a +2 bonus on any Constitution checks involving holding her breath or breathing. Furthermore, when in a sealed chamber, she takes damage every 30 minutes rather than every 15 minutes (see Suffocation).

Mass Heal (Sp): When the purebreath devotee reaches 10th level, her body, mind, and spirit are so untainted that she can extend the healing and cleansing powers of the air to those near her. Once per day, she can cast mass heal as a 10th-level caster.

Purebreath Devotee									Hit Die: d8
CL	BAB	Fort	Ref	Will	Special	Spells per day
1st	+0	+2	+2	+2	Breatharian	0	-	-	-
2nd	+1	+3	+3	+3	Rebuke air creatures	1	-	-	-
3rd	+2	+3	+3	+3	Mighty lungs x2	2	0	-	-
4th	+3	+4	+4	+4	Zone of pure air	3	1	-	-
5th	+3	+4	+4	+4	Pure body	3	1	-	-
6th	+4	+5	+5	+5	Mighty lungs x3	3	2	0	-
7th	+5	+5	+5	+5	Light as a feather	3	3	2	0
8th	+6	+6	+6	+6	Master respiration	3	3	3	1
9th	+6	+6	+6	+6	Mighty lungs x4	3	3	3	2
10th	+7	+7	+7	+7	Mass heal	3	3	3	3

Source: Dragon #314

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