Psion Prestige Class : Slayer
Only the naive dismiss the illithid threat. Or so say those who have dedicated their lives to the eradication of the "mind flayer infection." Psionic beings know the real dangers illithids pose better than nonpsionic individuals, but even so, most are unwilling to honor the code of the slayer.
A primary slayer credo is "Do or die," where "do" means "find and slay illithids." A faltering heart does not a slayer make (another of their credos - which, truth be told, number in the hundreds). It is a poorly kept secret that while slayers are best at hunting and slaying illithids, many of their abilities make them deadly to any psionic creature.
Any character with some psionic ability can become a slayer: All it takes is hating illithids enough. Dwarves who take this prestige class are known as caradhaker, which loosely means "mindstalker." In fact, it may be that the slayers first originated among the dwarves, though they say they received their lore from another, secret source.
NPC slayers sometimes travel in bands of two or three and enjoy identifying their group with a grisly name. Such groups are often hired as mercenaries by wealthy folk who travel in illithid-infested areas. But between commissions, they are just as likely to strike out on their own, attempting to uncover the location of another mind flayer outpost, or better yet, a sunless city. Stories also exist of rogue slayers bands who have branched out and hunt any and all psionic creatures, not just illithids.
Requirements
To qualify to become a Slayer, a character must fulfill all the following criteria:
- Base Attack Bonus: +3.
- Base Power Points/Day: 3+ (not including bonus power points).
Class Skills
The slayer's class skills are Bluff, Concentration, Knowledge (illithid lore), Listen, Psicraft, Sense Motive, Spot, and Survival.
Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier.
Class Features
All of the following are class features of the slayer prestige class.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Slayers are proficient with all weapons and armor.
Power Points: Slayers gain power points per day as shown below. These power points are added to the character's previous total. Slayers do nor gain bonus power points.
Powers Discovered: Slayers discover powers as shown below. The powers are added to the character's previous total powers known. Psionic attack and defense modes are discovered as though the character were a psychic warrior of the same level as the prestige class (characters do not forget previously discovered attack and defense modes).
Favored Enemy (Illithid): At 1st level, the slayer selects illithids (and illithidkin) as her favored enemy. Due to her extensive study of her foes and training with the proper techniques for combating them, the slayer gains a +1 bonus on Bluff, Listen, Sense Motive, Spot, and Survival checks when using these skills against illithids. Likewise, she gets the same bonus on weapon damage rolls against illithids, including ranged weapons against targets within 30 feet.
Illithid Sense: The slayer senses the presence of illithids within 60 feet of herself, even if hidden by darkness or walls, but not their exact location. This supernatural ability is active as long as the slayer's power point reserve is 3 or more.
Brain Nausea: At 2nd level, the slayer gains this constant defense, a supernatural ability somewhat similar to the aversion power. Any creature that attempts to eat the slayer's brain must succeed at a Will save (DC 17) or become disinclined to do so. Illithids in particular are free to take any action except extracting the slayer's brain (but do not realize they are being so affected). This ability is active as long as the slayer's power point reserve is 1 or more (even if she is unconscious, stunned, or otherwise helpless).
Bonus Feats: At 3rd, 5th, 7th, and 9th level, a slayer gains a bonus general, psionic, or metapsionic feat. Generally, slayers favor feats that augment their ability to dispatch illithids, although they are effective against any foe - illithid or otherwise.
Lucid Buffer: At 4th level, the slayer becomes especially skilled at resisting mental attacks. She receives a +4 competence bonus on saving throws against all compulsions and mind-affecting effects. She also receives a +2 competence bonus on saving throws against psionic attack modes, which stacks with any bonus granted by raising a psionic defense mode, if any. This supernatural ability is active as long as the slayer's power point reserve is 9 or more.
Cerebral Blind: On reaching 6th level, a slayer can "riposte" a psionic attack. Whenever she succeeds at a saving throw against a psionic power or attack mode, the attacker must immediately make a Will save, using the DC of the original attack. On a failure, the attacker stands dazed for 1 round from the psionic backlash. This spell-like ability is active as long as the slayer's power point reserve is 15 or more.
Breach Power Resistance: In the hands of a slayer who has reached 8th level, a weapon is enhanced by her psionic might and desire. Each successful melee attack (or ranged attack within 30 feet) against a creature with power resistance temporarily reduces its power resistance by 1. Unless the creature is slain, lost power resistance returns at a rate of 1 point per 12 hours. This supernatural ability is active as long as the slayer's power point reserve is 17 or more.
Blast Feedback: Beware using mind blast against a slayer: At 10th level, she can turn an illithid's favored attack against itself. When she is attacked with mind blast, the slayer can forgo attempting a psionic defense and also forgo a saving throw. She suffers the temporary Charisma damage but automatically sets up a blast feedback attack (a supernatural ability). The attacker must simultaneously make a Will save against the original mind blast DC and can use no defense modes. On a failure, the attacker's power point reserve is instantly reduced to 0, and the attacker is stunned for 1 round.
| Slayer | Hit Die: d10 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CL | BAB | Fort | Ref | Will | Special | Power pts per day | Powers discovered | |||
| 1st | +1 | +0 | +0 | +2 | Favored enemy (illithid), illithid sense | +3 | - | - | - | - |
| 2nd | +2 | +0 | +0 | +3 | Brain nausea | +5 | - | - | - | - |
| 3rd | +3 | +1 | +1 | +3 | Bonus feat* | +5 | - | - | - | - |
| 4th | +4 | +1 | +1 | +4 | Lucid buffer | +5 | 1 | - | - | - |
| 5th | +5 | +1 | +1 | +4 | Bonus feat* | +7 | 2 | - | - | - |
| 6th | +6 | +2 | +2 | +5 | Cerebral blind | +7 | 2 | 1 | - | - |
| 7th | +7 | +2 | +2 | +5 | Bonus feat* | +7 | 2 | 2 | - | - |
| 8th | +8 | +2 | +2 | +6 | Breach power resistance | +9 | 2 | 2 | 1 | - |
| 9th | +9 | +3 | +3 | +6 | Bonus feat* | +9 | 2 | 2 | 2 | - |
| 10th | +10 | +3 | +3 | +7 | Blast feedback | +9 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
Epic Slayer
Seeking to rid the land of illithids forever, slayers embrace epic psionics. It is this continued pursuit of the illithids that makes them the nemesis of illithids everywhere.
Other Options: The epic slayer finds the Epic Prowess, Epic Weapon Focus, Epic Weapon Specialization, and Epic Skill Focus feats quite useful in their war on the illithids.
Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 4 + Int modifier.
Powers: The epic slayer does not discover any additional powers after 10th level unless she selects the Spell Knowledge feat. The epic slayer's manifester level increases by 1 per level of epic slayer gained above 10th. The epic slayer's number of power points per day does not increase after 10th level.
Bonus Feats: The epic slayer gains a bonus feat (selected from the list of epic slayer bonus feats) every 2 levels after 9th.
Epic Slayer Bonus Feat List: Armor Skin, Combat Archery, Damage Reduction, Devastating Critical, Dire Charge, Distant Shot, Epic Endurance, Epic Leadership, Epic Prowess, Epic Skill Focus, Epic Toughness, Epic Weapon Focus, Epic Weapon Specialization, Exceptional Deflection, Improved Combat Reflexes, Improved Manifestation, Improved Stunning Fist, Improved Whirlwind Attack, Infinite Deflection, Instant Reload, Legendary Commander, Legendary Rider, Legendary Wrestler, Overwhelming Critical, Penetrate Damage Reduction, Perfect Two-Weapon Fighting, Reflect Arrows, Spellcasting Harrier, Storm of Throws, Superior Initiative, Swarm of Arrows, Two-Weapon Rend, Uncanny Accuracy. In addition to the feats on this list, the slayer can select any fighter or psychic warrior bonus feat not listed here. As noted in the Epic Feats section of the Epic Level Handbook, epic slayers learn "psionically flavored" versions of feats, as appropriate.
| Epic Slayer | Hit Die: d10 |
|---|---|
| Level | Special |
| 11 | Bonus feat |
| 12 | -- |
| 13 | Bonus feat |
| 14 | -- |
| 15 | Bonus feat |
| 16 | -- |
| 17 | Bonus feat |
| 18 | -- |
| 19 | Bonus feat |
| 20 | -- |
Source: Expanded Psionics Handbook