Monster Prestige Class : Scaled Horror
Scaled horrors are elite amphibious soldiers. They specialize in guarding the watery borders of lizardfolk domains. Striking abruptly from the water's edge, they leave fear and destruction in their wake. Many an unwary intruder is last seen as a trail of bubbles in the marsh waters, taken below by scaled horrors.
Lizardfolk are the most common scaled horrors, but locathahs, merfolk, and sahuagin sometimes have similar guardians. Occasionally kuo-toas train as scaled horrors as well.
As NPCs, scaled horrors work in squads of 2-5 members along the edges of their people's domains. They sometimes serve other races as mercenaries, but always in situations where they can fight from the water. They rarely work alone, but even a solitary scaled horror is a skilled guerrilla.
Requirements
To qualify to become a Scaled Horror, a character must fulfill all the following criteria:
- Race: Character must have either the aquatic or the reptile subtype.
- Skills: Hide 5 ranks, Move Silently 5 ranks, plus either Swim 5 ranks or a +8 racial bonus on Swim checks.
- Base Attack Bonus: +5.
Class Skills
The scaled horror's class skills are Climb, Concentration, Hide, Jump, Listen, Move Silently, Search, Spot, Survival, and Swim.
Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier.
Class Features
All of the following are Class Features of the scaled horror prestige class.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Scaled horrors are proficient with all simple and martial weapons, shields, and light armor. Otherwise they neither gain nor lose weapon, armor, or shield proficiency by taking levels in this class.
Improved Grab (Ex): If a scaled horror hits with its natural weapons or unarmed attack, it deals normal damage and attempts to start a grapple as a free action without provoking an attack of opportunity. The ability works only against opponents of the same size or smaller. The scaled horror has the option to conduct the grapple normally, or simply use its natural weapons or unarmed attack to hold the opponent. Each successful grapple check it makes during successive rounds automatically deals damage given for the attack that established the hold.
Keen Scent (Ex): A scaled horror can notice creatures by scent in a 180-foot radius, provided both the scaled horror and the creature are in the same body of water, and can detect blood in the water at a range of up to 1 mile.
Spells: Beginning at 1st level, a scaled horror gains the ability to cast divine spells from the ranger spell list (see Ranger). To cast a spell, the scaled horror must have a Wisdom score of at least 10 + the spell's level, so a scaled horror with a Wisdom of 10 or lower cannot cast these spells. Scaled horror bonus spells are based on Wisdom, and saving throws against these spells have a DC of 10 + spell level + the scaled horror's Wisdom bonus. When the scaled horror gets 0 spells of a given level, such as 0 1st-level spells at 1st level, the scaled horror gets only bonus spells. A scaled horror without a bonus spell for that level cannot yet cast a spell of that level. A scaled horror prepares and casts spells just as a ranger does (though the scaled horror's caster level is the same as its class level).
Freedom of Movement (Ex): Beginning at 2nd level, a scaled horror moves and fights underwater as if subject to the spell freedom of movement.
Damage Reduction (Ex): Starting at 4th level, a scaled horror gains the ability to shrug off some amount of injury from each blow or attack. Subtract 2 from the damage the scaled horror takes each time he is dealt damage. At 10th level, this damage reduction rises to 4/-. Damage reduction cannot reduce damage to less than 0.
Spring Attack (Ex): At 5th level, a scaled horror gains Spring Attack as a bonus feat.
Silent Spell: At 7th level, a scaled horror gains Silent Spell as a bonus feat.
Still Spell: At 8th level, a scaled horror gains Still Spell as a bonus feat.
| Scaled Horror | Hit Dice: d10 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CL | BAB | Fort | Ref | Will | Special | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th |
| 1st | +0 | +2 | +0 | +0 | Improved grab, keen scent | 0 | - | - | - |
| 2nd | +1 | +3 | +0 | +0 | Freedom of movement | 1 | - | - | - |
| 3rd | +2 | +3 | +1 | +1 | - | 1 | 0 | - | - |
| 4th | +3 | +4 | +1 | +1 | Damage reduction 2/- | 1 | 1 | - | - |
| 5th | +3 | +4 | +1 | +1 | Spring Attack | 1 | 1 | 0 | - |
| 6th | +4 | +5 | +2 | +2 | - | 1 | 1 | 1 | - |
| 7th | +5 | +5 | +2 | +2 | Silent Spell | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 8th | +6 | +6 | +2 | +2 | Still Spell | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 9th | +6 | +6 | +3 | +3 | - | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| 10th | +7 | +7 | +3 | +3 | Damage reduction 4/- | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
Source: Savage Species