Monster Prestige Class : Master of Flies
Ravings from fevered explorers describe an unstoppable horror, a swarming mass that creeps under doors and through window frames to drain the life from its hapless prey. Such stories are usually dismissed, but they do contain a kernel of truth. The master of flies is an intelligent swarm that can form a massive being at need, or a single creature that can dissolve into a cloud of vermin.
A master of flies may be a creature having an affinity with vermin, such as a drider or an aranea. Sometimes she is a being who has an innate ability to summon creatures, such as a vampire. The master of flies is a favorite prestige class of demons, who revel in the horrific. Sometimes even a druid may follow this path.
Becoming a master of flies usually appeals to a depraved personality intent on horror and destruction. Such beings shun all contact with others except to insinuate themselves into a group of potential prey.
Requirements
To qualify to become a Master of Flies, a character must fulfill all the following criteria:
- Alignment: Any non-good
- Skills: Escape Artist 5 ranks, Knowledge (nature) 8 ranks.
- Feats: Quick Change.
- Special: Must possess the ability to change form, such as from an alternate form ability, the shapechanger subtype, or a wild shape ability.
Class Skills
The master of flies' class skills are Balance, Climb, Control Shape, Disguise, Escape Artist, Handle Animal, Hide, Jump, Knowledge (nature), Move Silently, Survival, and Swim.
Skill Points at Each Level: 6 + Int modifier.
Class Features
All of the following are Class Features of the master of flies prestige class.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A master of flies neither gains nor loses proficiency with any weapons, armor, or shields by gaining levels of this class.
Summon Swarm (Sp): A master of flies can use summon swarm as a sorcerer of her character level. She can use this ability once per day per level she has attained in this prestige class. The creatures summoned must be vermin; roll 1d20 on the following table.
| d20 | Swarm Type |
| 1-6 | Spiders (vermin, poisonous) |
| 7-13 | Centipedes (vermin, poisonous) |
| 14-20 | Flying beetles (vermin) |
Swarm Shape (Su): Beginning at 2nd level, a master of flies can take the form of a swarm of vicious little vermin and return to her own form. This effect is similar to that of a summon swarm spell, except that the swarm is of the same size category as the caster (and it has the same face statistics as the caster). The master of flies can choose the type of vermin from the table above. In swarm shape, she can move at a speed of 15 feet, or up to 45 feet if the swarm flies (poor maneuverability).
The swarm has the same number of hit points as the original creature and can be damaged by fire and area-effect spells and abilities. If the swarm is dispersed (by gust of wind, for example), the master of flies must return to her own shape. To do so, the dispersed creatures must first coalesce (at the swarm's speed); the master of flies must take a standard action on the following round to transform.
A master of flies can use this ability once per day at 2nd level and more times per day at 3rd, 4th, 6th, 7th, and 9th level, as shown on the table below.
At 5th level, a master of flies is able to take the shape of a swarm identical to that produced by an insect plague spell except that the swarm can be no more than one size larger than the master of flies (you can choose the face if more than one is available). This swarm can move at half the master of flies' normal speed and can fly at the same speed (clumsy maneuverability).
At 8th level, a master of flies is able to take the shape swarm identical to that produced by a creeping doom spell except that the swarm can be no more than two size categories larger than the master of flies (you can choose the face statistic if more than one is possible). This mass of vermin can only move at 10 feet per round and cannot fly.
In all other respects, the swarm shape ability is identical to the druid's wild shape ability (see Druid).
Pied Piper (Su): At 3rd level, a master of flies is able to influence vermin to a limited extent. She can use this ability once per day per level in this prestige class to charm a number of Hit Dice of vermin equal to or less than her character level, starting with the lowest Hit Dice vermin within range and moving up in Hit Dice until the limit is reached. The range of this effect is 10 feet x the master of flies' level. The vermin are allowed Will saves against this effect (DC 14 + Cha modifier), and any that make their save cannot be affected again by the pied piper ability of that master of flies for one day. Charmed vermin move toward the master of flies at their land speed, taking the most direct path available. If the path leads into a dangerous area, the creatures get another saving throw. Charmed vermin can take no actions other than to defend themselves. If the master of flies moves, the charmed vermin follow. This effect lasts for as long as the master of flies concentrates. Once concentration is broken, those vermin cannot be affected again by the pied piper ability of that master of flies for one day.
Insect Plague (Sp): Beginning at 5th level, a master of lies can use the spell-like ability insect plague as a sorcerer of her class level. She can use this ability once per day per level in this prestige class.
Flyblown (Su): At 7th level, a master of flies can shift to a swarm shape and back as a free action.
Creeping Doom (Sp): Beginning at 8th level, a master of flies can use the spell-like ability creeping doom as a sorcerer of her class level. She can use this ability once per day per level in this prestige class.
Awaken Vermin (Sp): At 9th level, a master of flies gains the ability to awaken human-like sentience in a vermin. She can use this ability once per week. This ability is identical to the 5th-level druid spell awaken, except that only vermin can be affected and there is no XP cost.
Swarm leap (Su): At 10th level, a master of flies becomes completely attuned to the throb and hum of vermin swarms, gaining the supernatural ability to instantaneously transport herself over great distances through that medium. Once per day as a standard action, she can enter any swarm of mundane vermin whose size equals or exceeds her own and travel to another such swarm in a single round, regardless of distance.
The master of flies merely designates a distance and direction ("a swarm 50 miles south of here"), and the swarm leap ability transports her to a destination swarm as close as possible to the desired location. She can attempt to name a specific swarm ("a beehive in an apiary just outside the city of Greyhawk"), but if no such target exists, the ability fails and the master of flies is ejected from the entry swarm.
Both the entry swarm and the destination swarm must be alive, but they can be either naturally occurring or summoned. A master of flies in swarm shape cannot use herself as the entry point, but she could enter through an insect plague she created in a previous round. She could even use another master of flies in swarm shape as the entry or destination swarm. When exiting a swarm, the master of flies must choose an adjacent 5-foot-by-5-foot space in which to appear (or a correspondingly larger space if it is larger than Medium-size).
Except as noted here, this ability functions like the 6th-level druid spell transport via plants.
| Master of Flies | Hit Dice: d8 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CL | BAB | Fort | Ref | Will | Special |
| 1st | +0 | +0 | +0 | +2 | Summon swarm |
| 2nd | +1 | +0 | +0 | +3 | Swarm shape 1/day |
| 3rd | +2 | +1 | +1 | +3 | Swarm shape 2/day, pied piper |
| 4th | +3 | +1 | +1 | +4 | Swarm shape 3/day |
| 5th | +3 | +1 | +1 | +4 | Swarm shape (plague), insect plague |
| 6th | +4 | +2 | +2 | +5 | Swarm shape 4/day |
| 7th | +5 | +2 | +2 | +5 | Swarm shape 5/day, flyblown |
| 8th | +6 | +2 | +2 | +6 | Swarm shape (doom), creeping doom |
| 9th | +6 | +3 | +3 | +6 | Swarm shape 6/day, awaken vermin |
| 10th | +7 | +4 | +3 | +7 | Swarm leap |
Source: Savage Species