#desert blight

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Prestige Class Spotlight 10: Devoted Muse

 Art is something worthy of being preserved. That is the doctrine of many faithful of Shelyn and other deities of art and creation. However, while in most cases art is a pacifistic force, the preservation of art sometimes means defending yourself and the works you value from despoilers.

When Aroden died, the Age of Lost Omens began, and with it, on the other side of the world, the ancient empire of Lung Wa in Tian Xia fell. Suddenly, centuries of art and culture were at risk of being wiped out by marauders and squabbling warlords alike who lack the capacity to recognize the value of that which they destroy or consign to the depths of history.

Thus, the Muses of Five Flowers, devoted as they are to Shelyn and the arts, trained warrior-poets to recover, preserve, and propagate the wonders and art forms that are constantly being threatened with extinction.

Even outside of this setting and context, this archetype screams an artistic battler that fights with incredible grace.

This prestige class only requires a goodly disposition, devotion to Shelyn or another god of arts, and mastery of a few common feats used by masters of light weaponry and feinting tactics.

The result, as we’ll see, is a feinting combat master that excels in buffing themselves and debuffing foes in more varied ways than just getting the enemy to drop their guard.

 Blurring the line between dancer and warrior, these swordsmasters use their dancing skill to make themselves harder to hit.

Additionally, they benefit from the same panache and special daring deeds of a swashbuckler, though at a slower pace, though they are able to combine the two should they be both swashbuckler and muse.

When feinting foes, rather than leave the foe open to attack, these muses can use various graceful techniques to befuddle them in other ways. These include movements that make it hard to pin down foes other than the muse, confusing movements that provoke reactionary actions that might harm themselves or allies instead of the muse, unbalancing strikes that leave the foe unable to act easily for a few seconds, and minor stunning tricks.

Additionally, once they have their foe befuddled, they can add all sorts of graceful tricks to their follow-up strikes with a little expenditure of their daring. These include moving around the target with ease while they grapple with their debilitation, striking precisely for greater damage, inspiring allies with the enemy’s embarrassment, or begin befuddling another separate foe in one smooth motion.

Naturally focused on feinting, these tricky foes learn many extra techniques to improve or take advantage of their deceptive skills.

Finally, they also have a greater panache reserve than others, and even slowly recover it with time.

A fun archetype for a patron of the arts that is also a master of the feint and strike style of combat. Naturally, swashbuckler has the best synergy with it due to the stacking panache pools and deeds, but any feinting melee build can benefit from the prestige class if you feel it suits them.

 Even if not motivated by a desire to preserve the arts, this prestige class does a lot to try and turn combat into an art form. The suggestion that their fighting style blends ancient and extinct fighting styles seems to me like a way to introduce homebrew feats that emulate some of the abilities this class grants, though perhaps in different form.

  Though she remains a loyal soldier of her people, Voshakk of the sahuagin became a champion by studying the carvings of the fighting styles of seen in many sunken ruins, mastering the rapier work of both elves and humans. Some among her kind call her a blasphemer for her reliance on surface techniques, but there is no denying her skill. Were her favor to diminish, however, she would quickly find herself exiled or on the end of a trident.

 Calligraphy requires a steady, yet flexible hand, just like swordplay, and in the nation of Buuraku, the allegory has been taken to its logical extreme with artist-swordspersons that master every graceful fighting art and dance, as well as others. Many are bards or geisha skilled in the art of calligraphy and magic.

 Touched by a desert blight that leaves the region barren and sweltering, the remains of the lost city of Polshad no doubt boast hundreds of works of art lost to time. As such, the devoted muse Harvati wishes to hire powerful adventurers who could stand against the ooze, cleansing the region of it’s corruption and paving the way for an archaeological renaissance of sorts.

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Scaled Fist (Monk Archetype)

With dragons being symbols of divinity and power, it would only make sense that some monks would seek to emulate them. Certainly many eastern ascetic monasteries and religious sites use dragon iconography, and pop culture has plenty of dragon-imbued martial artist characters out there.

It’s a bit surprising then, to know it took so long for an archetype like this to get published, but it came eventually. As you might imagine, this archetype, which is usable by both vanilla and unchained monks, grants a variety of dragon-themed abilities as they learn to use their ki to replicate them.

As you could probably imagine, the vast majority of dragons that monastaries revere would be lawful or at least orderly-minded neutral dragons, like the sky, underworld, and sovereign dragons of the imperial dragons. Outside of oriental dragons, planar dragons like paradise, infernal, and crypt dragons, as well as blue, brine, bronze, gold green, silver, solar, vortex, and all manner of other lawful dragons might all be viable candidates for a monastery to revere, if they even focus on one dragon species.

 Emulating the raw self-confidence of dragons, they use that for the mental focus for their various mystical abilities.

Additionally, the nature of this ascetic path involves the dragon style, as well as combat techniques involving instilling fear with their demeanor and physical prowess.

Through their techniques, these monks also gain a natural resilience to many things that dragons are immune to (which only compounds if they begin to master dragon style).

Additionally, emulating a specific species of dragon, they learn to channel their ki to imbue their strikes with one specific type of elemental energy for a short while. (Which compounds further if they also have elemental fist)

Later on, these monks learn to channel their ki to unleash a breath based on their draconic element, though it is expensive to perform.

With the additional damage, both from the class features and from style and elemental fist feats, this archetype is set up to do a lot of extra damage with unarmed strikes. Furthermore, their intimidation feats give them a way to debuff and control the battlefield as well. Though situation, their bonuses vs certain conditions is also useful as well. I recommend a high-strength heavy-hitting build with a focus on intimidation as well.

 While some may merely be content to emulate dragons conceptually, I can imagine that in some rare places, an actual dragon may be the master of such a monastery or temple, or perhaps a half-dragon or dragon disciple. Furthermore, the exact dragons they venerate can heavily change their philosophy. For example, one devoted to infernal dragons would be very different than its bronze dragon counterpart.

 Though their body plans may be strange, the cecaelia of the Bone Reef sport a large population of ascetics devoted to emulating the bronze dragons that also make their home in the region, honoring them for their role in protecting their communities from pirates, poachers, and the occasional sea serpents.

 Cut off from the stars by a wing injury, Vorganix the solar dragon founded a school of martial arts to pass the time, and when healed, he decided to stay and continue teaching. Rumor has it his students can use ki in interesting ways, unleashing waves of light and heat.

 The Monastery of the Sapphire Tyrant lays hidden in a mountain surrounded by corrupted deserts full of blight oozes and the like. The monks that live there devote themselves to emulating the now-deceased blue dragon that once ruled these lands, citing that it was his presence that kept the region stable for so long. They violently silence those that suggest that the subsequent corruption of the desert was a parting act of spite on the great wyrm’s part.

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Leshy Warden (Druid Archetype)

Among Druidic circles, it is well known that there are a myriad of bodiless natural spirits dwelling in the wild places of the world, and while some are called to serve shamans, others are sought out by druids, who learn to cultivate special plant bodies via secret magical methods to serve as the body for these otherwise powerless spirits, creating steadfast (and adorable) friends and allies.

The secret of leshy creation was supposedly taught by the Green Men, the so-called Leshy Kings, (Which helps bridge the gap between pathfinder’s interpretation of leshies and the real world legends) However, they remain difficult to create due to the painstaking process needed to grow the body for each one.

However, some druids, whether by special talent or blessing from the Green Men or nature itself, have a knack for growing leshies and tending to various plants, both sessile and ambulatory. These leshy wardens not only cultivate and protect plant creatures, but also serve as a voice for the various spirits that remain bodiless.

 The most common leshy these druids create are leaf leshies, and generally they keep on as a familiar. As long as they have this planty friend with them, their bond allows the warden to utilize the divine domain of plants, or its subdomain of growth. If the leaf leshy dies, they can easily cultivate a new body for it, calling the same spirit to inhabit it.

As allies to growing things, these druids are masters of communicating with and influencing plant creatures as other druids might with animals.

So in tune with the plant and spirit aspects of their craft that they can create leshies as powerful plant creatures would, faster, cheaper, and with no chance of error. However, even if they have no time to create one, these mystics have learned to briefly summon common types of leshy with their magic.

As their leshy familiar grows in power, these druids can opt to progressively transform and transfer their companion to better and more powerful types of leshy bodies. Alternately, if they’ve grown attached to a current form, or have greater use for its abilities, they can instead opt to further develop their physical form, making them all the stronger and hearty.

Their focus on plants, like that of tree singers and other plant-focused druids, means they only learn to transform into plant creatures, though leshy wardens learn to do so a bit later than others.

More powerful leshy wardens are able to directly speak with plants, as well as commune with the spirits that animate them to learn of their surroundings, all without casting a spell.

If you love leshies (and who doesn’t?) and want a druid that can make them cheaply and quickly, as well as have a progressively growing leshy familiar, this archetype is certainly a great way to do that. Their ability to summon leshies to their aid also makes them rarely ever without allies. Consider looking into where other leshy types would fit into the summon nature’s ally lists, and the grow plant creature feat for more homegrown planty creations. For build, I would consider a support build that teams up with leshies to control the battlefield, or else perhaps a melee build with the leshies as support.

 With such a strong connection to leshies, one can certainly guess that these druids might also have a similar connection to the Green Men, either worshipping them as deities, or simply revering them as quasi-divine beings. Meeting one in person might be the most key defining moment of such a character’s life, whether it is part of their backstory, or something that happens in the future.

  Brother Himbu is something of a hermit, even among other vanara, and keeps company only with the many leshies he grows. The eccentric old man feels he is on the verge of a new type of leshy based off of creeper vines, and will pay handsomely for the sap of plant creatures, particularly assassin and viper vines.

 Surprising everyone, a taciturn cactus leshy approaches the party, seeking their aid, for its master has fallen victim to a foul corruption of nature, a desert blight. It needs their help to slay the deadly ooze and recover their master’s body. However, its dislike of non-druidic mortals makes it blunt and rude with the group.

 The Green Woman of Epirhan has a problem that vexes even her incredible might. The town of Epriseed, long friendly to nature and druidic tradition, has grown silent, and some strange magic prevents her from entering to discover the truth. Therein, strange blasphemous druidic rituals are occurring, evil leshy wardens creating leshies not from nature spirits, but from mortal souls, and other unnatural acts.

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14. Desert Blight - Pathfinder

You know the deal with Blights at this point. This is our lovely little ancient slimes that can call upon the enormity of their domain to assist them as well as the secrets of the Serpentfolk that created them.

What makes the Desert Blight one of our highest rated Blights? For one, the desert is simply an iconic terrain of D&D, giving the creature access to a variety of potential cultural elements, environmental advantages, and creatures unique to that realm. Now granted, our last blight had swamps as it's domain, and that is my personal favorite domain for D&D. But I acknowledge it isn't that for most.

On the other hand, I think most would be hardpressed to find a DM who doesn't at least have some interest in desert storylines, whether that be because of an inclination toward Egyptian, Western, or Arabian tales (which are all of course much more diverse ecologically than just desert terrain but it's a lot of people's first thought) or a desire to see a more general survival and/or ruin hunting adventure.

It helps also that the desert seems one of the more overtly hostile of terrains that a blight can embody and it wastes none of this in its abilities, which prioritize furthering a creatures heat exhaustion and thirst. In addition, they prioritize taking control of necromancers, which gives easy lieutenants for their armies.

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Exciter (Spiritualist Archetype)

(art by sunstone78 on DeviantArt)

 A while back, 5 years ago, in fact, we talked about the Id Rager archetype, a bloodrager archetype which combined the rage of the bloodrager with the various emotional foci abilities of a spiritualist’s phantom.

It was a neat idea, but one that suffered from poor wording choices which would leave certain abilities unclear and in need of GM interpretation, such as what to do with those phantom abilities that granted an extra effect to slam attacks that the bloodrager does not have, and so on.

At the time, I also mentioned today’s subject, the exciter, which tackles the same concept, but from the other angle. Instead of granting phantom abilities to a bloodrager, this one grants bloodrager abilities to a spiritualist, and with much more clear and concise wording for how they work.

Which isn’t to say that the id rager is totally useless, but it has that caveat of needing work from the GM and player.

In any case, these so-called exciters have nearly completely merged with their phantoms, and are unable to separate. Whether they have melded into a single consciousness, both control the body equally, or the phantom is a passenger in the body likely varies between individuals. However, the power that these warrior manifest cannot be denied, drawing upon the very emotion that suffuses the phantom to enhance themselves in battle.

Exactly how they got this way is also likely a question with no one answer. Some may have immediately become like this upon merging due to some quirk of the spiritualist’s receptive mind, or perhaps some great trauma during their earliest days required them to become one in a deeper way than your average spiritualist. In any case, they surge with ectoplasm and emotion the color of the phantom, even manifesting those otherworldly limbs in combat.

 As mentioned above, these spiritualists and their phantoms are a single being, unable to separate. However, they can still manifest their bonded manifestations when needed. They also cannot normally use most of their emotional foci abilities aside from their aura, which projects from the spiritualist themselves.

They also gain the enhanced running speed associated with bloodragers as well, the emotions within quickening their pace.

They can, however, enter a state of extreme emotion based the nature of their phantom, similar to a barbarian’s rage, though it need not be anger, instead being whatever their phantom’s core emotion is, such as rapturous joy, crushing grief, and so on. Additionally, while they can go for the simple strength and vitality route with this state of being, they might instead enhance their agility and charm, or more evenly enhance all physical abilities and their charm as well for a weaker benefit.

By expending twice as much of their emotional state, these warriors can enter an ever greater state of emotional vigor, manifesting two of their emotional focus powers their phantom would normally get, applying those that would bolster their slams to the ectoplasmic limbs. When they grow in power that they would have access to more powerful abilities, they can choose those as well.

They also gain a small selection of rage powers that manifest during their state of emotional rapture as well.

Like a bloodrager, they also eventually gain the ability to cast their psychic spells during this state, albeit only those that have an emotional component, as well as make related skill checks.

By expending even more power, they can grant some of their vigor to nearby allies as well.

Eventually, the power granted by their rapture improves, and they can even instantly manifest a bolstering spell each time they enter that state, similar to what powerful bloodragers can do.

Interested in a barbarian/bloodrager fusion with spiritualist, but would prefer better spellcasting over pure combat acumen (and less GM fiat with the abilities)? This archetype may be for you. I would suggest extra rage as a feat to take repeatedly for this archetype, but unfortunately the rapture ability specifically does not count as rage for the purposes of feats. As such, I would build with the thought that the rapture ability being only one tool in the character’s arsenal, rather than the sole focus. As such, I recommend an array of buffing and control spells with the assumption that your spiritualist is going to primarily be focused on close quarters combat, with coverage in other areas as well.

 This archetype has some fun ideas, but another thing that makes it different from the id rager is that there is an actual phantom involved, which means as a player you have to decide what that means for the character. Does it mean they have another voice in their head? Does the character’s personality change when they enter their rapture state? If not, do their memories blend with that of the phantom?

  For decades, the Mashalan Desert has been plagued by a desert blight, the corrupted ooze turning the already hostile terrain into something actively malignant. While most locals go around, many are still lost to it each year, and many more arise as undead or as phantoms of desperation, eager to latch onto mortals and imbue them with the power that can aid them in their darkest moments. Assuming they can master the emotions, of course.

 Most look upon Korus and see a hotheaded young man who got perhaps a bit too much of the fire in his elemental heritage, but in truth it is more than fire that fuels this young ifrit’s fury. Indeed, for he is haunted by the phantom of his deceased sister, a firebrand in her own right who even now rages against her killer. However, until he gains mastery, the two of them are both too incoherent to properly get revenge or use their abilities.

 Sometimes opposites attract in the most bizarre ways. In this case, phantom of whimsy chose to bind to the dour and serious duergar guard Ingonog, who has had a hard time explaining the sudden bouts of mischief that he sometimes undergoes. For his part, Ingonog would love to be rid of the spirit, and yet, he never seems to muster the desire to do so.