Pact Magic Exclusive Prestige Class : Tenebrous Apostate
"Rise again, Lord of the Outer Dark. Stand astride the barriers of life and death, of Heaven and Hell, and take up thy mantle as slayer - and king - of gods." -Suvas J'hond, former priest of Vecna, now a Tenebrous apostate
No other vestige is quite like Tenebrous. The remnant of the divinity once possessed by Orcus, Tenebrous is perhaps the only vestige still worshiped in some places as a god, and so tightly bound to a living - if not mortal - being. This unique status grants Tenebrous the ability to manipulate the world in ways that other vestiges cannot.
Some Tenebrous apostates revere Orcus, seeing Tenebrous as part of their sundered god and the seed from which he will one day sprout anew. Others see the corpulent fiend as the embodiment of Tenebrous's downfall. These followers believe that Tenebrous is a separate deity who attempted to manifest through Orcus, only to be laid low when the demon proved unworthy.
If you have sufficient mental fortitude and lack of scruples to devote yourself to a former demon god, you might qualify to join the ranks of Tenebrous's disciples. The vast majority of Tenebrous apostates are multiclass binder/clerics, though a rare few are binder/blackguards. Charisma is the key ability for a Tenebrous apostate, since it influences many class abilities. Wisdom and Constitution are also important because they affect divine spells and hit points, respectively.
Requirements
To qualify to become a Tenebrous Apostate, a character must fulfill all the following criteria:
- Alignment: Any non-good
- Skills: Knowledge (religion) 5 ranks, Knowledge (the planes) 8 ranks
- Special: Ability to bind Tenebrous
Special: Ability to turn or rebuke undead
Special: Must worship Tenebrous as a god
Class Skills
The Tenebrous apostate's class skills are Bluff, Concentration, Craft, Diplomacy, Gather Information, Intimidate, Knowledge (arcana), Knowledge (history), Knowledge (religion), Knowledge (the planes), Profession, and Sense Motive.
Skill Points at Each Level: 2 + Int modifier.
Class Features
As a servant of Tenebrous, you gain power over darkness and undeath.
Spellcasting: At each level beyond 1st, you gain new spells per day and an increase in caster level (and spells known, if applicable) as if you had also gained a level in a divine spellcasting class to which you belonged before adding the prestige class level. You do not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained. If you had more than one divine spellcasting class before becoming a Tenebrous apostate, you must decide to which class to add each level for the purpose of determining spells per day, caster level, and spells known.
Soul Binding: At each Tenebrous apostate level beyond 1st, your soul binding ability improves as if you had also gained a level in the binder class. Your Tenebrous apostate levels and binder levels stack for the purpose of determining your bonus on binding checks, the effectiveness of your vestige-gained abilities, your ability to bind higher-level vestiges and the number of vestiges you can bind. You do not, however, gain any other benefit a binder would have gained.
Eternal Bondage (Ex): You no longer need to summon Tenebrous every day; you are bound to him constantly. You cannot choose to bind a different vestige in his place. However, you can still attempt a binding check each day to negate his influence.
Tenebrous's Rebuke (Su): When you use the turn or rebuke undead ability granted by Tenebrous, your connection to your dark master allows you to channel the energy in a unique way. You can use a turn attempt to deal 1d6 points of damage per` effective turning level you possess to every undead creature within 30 feet. Each affected undead can attempt a Will save (DC 10 + your effective turning level + your Cha modifier) for half damage.
If you use a rebuke attempt, each undead within 30 feet is instead cured of 1d6 points of damage per effective turning level. This effect occurs instead of the normal result of a turn or rebuke attempt. You can still use these turn attempts in conjunction with divine feats, as normal.
Visage of the Dead (Su): When you attain 2nd level, your body begins to resemble that of an undead creature. Your skin darkens, appearing dusky and shadowy in dim illumination and corpse-gray in bright light, and you lose roughly half your body weight. Because of these changes, you gain a +1 dodge bonus to Armor Class and a +1 circumstance bonus on Escape Artist and Intimidate checks. Furthermore, mindless undead believe you to be one of them and do not attack you except in self-defense, or when ordered to do so by their creator.
Destroy/Empower Undead (Su): At 3rd level, you gain additional power over mindless undead. You can use two turn or rebuke attempts as a single standard action, each dealing (or healing) damage as per the Tenebrous's rebuke ability (see above), except that the damage applies only to mindless undead.
Umbral Body (Su): Beginning at 4th level, you can transform yourself into pure darkness once per day. This ability functions like the umbral body shadow magic mystery (see page 152, Tome of Magic). You can remain in this form for a number of rounds equal to twice your Tenebrous apostate level or return to your normal form early as a swift action. Once you return to your physical form, you cannot use this ability again for 5 rounds.
Blast of the Void (Su): When you attain 5th level, you can use a turn or rebuke attempt to deal 1d8 points of damage per effective turning level to every living creature within a 30-foot cone. This ability is usable once per day.
| Tenebrous Apostate | Hit Die: d8 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CL | BAB | Fort | Ref | Will | Special | Spells |
| 1st | +0 | +2 | +0 | +2 | Eternal bondage, Tenebrous's rebuke | - |
| 2nd | +1 | +3 | +0 | +3 | Soul binding +1, visage of the dead | +1 level of existing divine spellcasting class |
| 3rd | +2 | +3 | +1 | +3 | Destroy/empower undead, soul binding +2 | +1 level of existing divine spellcasting class |
| 4th | +3 | +4 | +1 | +4 | Soul binding +3, umbral body | +1 level of existing divine spellcasting class |
Ex-tenebrous Apostates
If you ever cease to revere Tenebrous as a god, you lose your Tenebrous apostate class features as well as most of your cleric class features, if any (see Clerics).
Tenebrous as a God
Although Tenebrous exists only as a vestige, clerics who worship him receive spells from somewhere. Perhaps the remnants of his divinity are sufficient that he can still grant spells, or perhaps the spells come from some other source (much as the spells "granted" by demon lords do). His clerics have access to the Chaos, Death, Evil, and Trickery domains. As a deity, consider Tenebrous to be neutral evil.
Source: Tome of Magic