Heroes of Casmaron
From the cold, plague-ravaged lands of northern Casmaron to the psychic colleges of ancient Vudra in the far south, the people of Casmaron and their heroes are closely linked to the unique needs of their land. These heroes set aside their own glory and take on duties that their communities cannot shoulder, despite the risks involved.
PLAGUE EATER (SPIRITUALIST ARCHETYPE)
Iobaria has been ravaged by plague for centuries, and many of its dead do not rest. These ghosts often flock around specialized spiritualists called plague eaters. Such a spiritualist bears the weight of many souls within her consciousness, spirits that remember the devastation of disease and seek to protect their host from infections, cleanse others of plague, and use disease itself as a weapon.
Plague Ward: A plague eater does not bond with a single spirit, but rather a group of spirits gathered around her psychic presence. The spiritualist can meditate on an emotional focus during her 8-hour rest and bond with a spirit from her community with a matching focus. A spirit associated with the chosen emotion links with the spiritualist and acts as her phantom until the plague eater changes her emotional focus with another 8-hour rest. The changing roster of spirits dilutes the bond between the plague eater and her community, and the manifesting phantom has a level 1 lower than the spiritualist’s level (minimum level 1).
While a phantom is confined in a plague eater’s consciousness (but not while it’s fully manifested or banished to the Ethereal Plane), it grants a +4 bonus on saving throws against disease. At 12th level, this bonus increases to +8. In addition, the phantom grants the plague eater the Skill Focus feat in one of the skills determined by the phantom’s emotional focus. This skill is chosen by the plague eater the first time she confines the phantom tied to that particular emotional focus. Once this choice is made for a given emotional focus, it cannot be changed.
This alters phantom and shared consciousness.
Spiritual Inoculation (Su): At 4th level, whenever a plague eater is within reach of her ectoplasmic manifested phantom, she gains a +4 circumstance bonus on saving throws against disease.
This alters spiritual interference.
Remove Sickness (Sp): At 5th level, a plague eater’s understanding of disease grows to the point where she can cast remove sicknessUM at will as a spell-like ability with a caster level equal to her spiritualist level.
This replaces detect undead.
Disfiguring Touch (Sp): At 7th level, a plague eater can inflict upon others the superficial disfigurement associated with plague by casting disfiguring touchUM as a spell-like ability once per day. At 11th level and every 4 levels thereafter, the spiritualist can use this ability an additional time per day (to a maximum of four times per day at 19th level).
This replaces calm spirit.
Remove Disease (Sp): At 9th level, a plague eater gains the ability to purge disease from herself and others. She gains the ability to cast remove disease as a spell-like ability three times per day.
This ability replaces see invisibility
Fused Well-Being (Su): At 10th level, a plague eater always gains the benefits of bonded senses when her phantom is manifested. She also gains the skill ranks and bonus to resist disease granted by the spirit’s emotional focus, even when her phantom is manifested.
This replaces fused consciousness.
Greater Spiritual Inoculation (Su): At 12th level, the plague eater becomes immune to disease, including supernatural and magical diseases. In addition, whenever a manifested phantom is in ectoplasmic form, each of the plague eater’s allies within the phantom’s reach gains a +4 circumstance bonus on saving throws against disease.
This ability alters greater spiritual interference.
Withdraw Affliction (Sp): At 16th level, a plague eater can reach into a body, remove an affliction directly from the flesh, and use the diseased matter as a weapon. She can cast withdraw afflictionOA once per day as a spell-like ability with a caster level equal to her spiritualist level.
This replaces call spirit.
NEW SHIFTER ASPECT
Many Vudrani shifters add the vibrant peafowl to their repertoire of different forms.
Peafowl
Peafowl are popular ornamental birds due to their spectacular colors, and they are often symbols of royalty or the divine. A shifter using the alternate natural attacks rules on page 8 of Pathfinder Player Companion: Wilderness Origins can select a bite (B, P, S) or tail slap (
attack.
Minor Form: You gain a +2 enhancement bonus to your Charisma score. At 8th level the bonus increases to +4, and at 15th level it increases to +6.
Major Form: Your shape changes to that of a Small peafowl. While in this form you gain low-light vision, a fly speed of 40 feet (clumsy), two talon attacks (1d3 damage), and a +4 racial bonus on Stealth checks. A peafowl can’t use its fly speed to hover and must end any flying move action by landing or perching on a solid surface. A peafowl can perform a captivating dance targeting all creatures within a 15-foot cone. Each creature in the cone that can see your dance must succeed at a Will save (DC = 10 + half your shifter level + your Charisma modifier) or be stunned for 1 round. At 8th level, the stunned effect lasts for 2 rounds, and at 15th level the duration increases to 4 rounds. Whether or not it succeeds at the initial save, a creature cannot be affected by this ability again for 24 hours.
VUDRANI PHRENIC AMPLIFICATIONS
Countless Vudrani temples and ashrams teach students physical and mental discipline as a path toward self-perfection. But some schools reserve the most exacting methods of self-improvement for psychics.
Mind’s Eye (Su): Some psychics train their visual and psychic senses, binding them together into a unified focus to better guide their ranged spells and place them with uncanny precision. While casting a spell that requires a ranged attack roll, the psychic can spend 2 points from her phrenic pool and gain a +4 insight bonus on the attack roll. The psychic can spend 1 additional point to ignore penalties from cover (but not total cover).
Perfect Body (Ex): Some practitioners of psychic techniques extend their training to improve their bodies as well as their minds. When the psychic casts a linked transmutation spell, she can spend 1 point from her phrenic pool to gain a +2 bonus on her next Reflex or Fortitude save.
Psychic Defense (Su): Reading small, invisible cues allows the psychic to take advantage of social circumstances and subtly influence her target. Casting a linked spell during a social encounter and spending 1 point from her phrenic pool allows the psychic to add a +4 bonus on her next Bluff, Diplomacy, Intimidate, or Sense Motive check.
Whisper of Ancients (Ex): The psychic can send her consciousness into the Astral Plane for a glimpse of synchronous information. While casting a linked divination spell, the psychic can spend 1 point from her phrenic pool to gain a +2 bonus on any associated skill check. She can spend 2 points from her phrenic pool to instead gain a +4 bonus.