Swarmkeeper (Pathfinder Second Edition Archetype)
(art by indra13 on DeviantArt)
Despite the aversion that many people have towards insects, arachnids, and other arthropods, humanity has been cultivating a relationship with such creatures for a very long time. Bees for honey, spiders and silkworms for silk, or in fantasy settings, especially big creepy crawlies as tireless mounts and beasts of burden.
The point being is that so-called vermin have a stronger bond with humanity than some would care to admit. And in a fantasy setting, this can take a deeper and more intimate bond.
Fair warning, the concept of this archetype definitely has elements of body horror, particularly with infestation, trypophobia, and the like. So if that proves to be an ick factor at your table, consider not using it or reimagining it as the character carrying a hive or nest with them instead.
With that in mind, some characters might learn to become fully symbiotic with their swarm of choice, hosting them at least partially in their own body, giving them protection and mobility in exchange for occasionally coming out to lash out and defend the keeper.
Not only do they play host, but they also carefully cultivate the swarm within, even changing it in some ways to adapt to different situations. This might be by selective breeding to bring out useful traits and morphs, or by finding ways to host multiple species at once within their bodies, even those that would normally be opposed to each other.
Naturally, such a power set is unnerving to many, so most swarmkeepers are hermits, and often don bulky beekeeper’s gear when they must venture into civilization to conceal the transformations required to make them possible. Despite this, they have a lot to offer both in terms of the power of their swarm, but also in their intimate knowledge of the crawling, flying creatures of the world.
The basic dedication of the archetype grants the swarmkeeper the titular swarm and define it’s abilities and how the keeper can summon it and how long they can keep it out. Technically they can fly, but they stay close to the ground, having a land and climb speed, mechanically.
Whether they incorporate Osirion aphet beetles or cultivate bioluminescence in their swarm, some can command their pets to unleash a dazzling flash on foes.
Like the pyre ant, some swarms prove especially poisonous, unleashing a burning painful venom into those they sting, weakening them.
Those with spiders as their base swarm, or those that incorporate them later, coat the area they travel in silk that slows and potentially traps foes.
Swarms are painful and distracting, and many keepers know how to take advantage of that, striking while their foe slaps and flails.
Many cultivate their swarm to be faster, crawling over land and obstacle and even swimming with greater speed and control.
Riding the wave of tiny bodies, some learn to let themselves be moved with the swarm to reposition.
Unleashing the horror on their foes, some keepers teach their swarm to target orifices, pouring down the throats of foes to sting from the inside as well as choking them.
The swarm can also become dense enough to block vision as well, with training.
The beat of wings fills the air as the swarm gains true flight, not only able to move vertically, but also deafen and unnerve foes with the sound of their passing.
Finally, some keepers train to store an even bigger swarm in their body (or in supplementary housing they carry), causing their swarm to be much larger when unleashed.
Swarms are a fun asset for any character, but normally they’re locked behind spellcasting. This archetype makes such things available to all classes, and even lets you customize them with abilities inspired by other swarms in the game. Now obviously druid is the simplest thematic fit, but any class can benefit, from combat classes that specialize in keeping their foes stuck inside the swarm, to spellcasters adding their own damage and debuffs to the already-harried victims of the teeming mass. Additionally, while you can choose to go in heavy on this archetype, it is perhaps better to take only the abilities you want to get the swarm you want and move on to other things, but again, it’s your build.
The exact nature of the swarm that these keepers have living in their bodies is left deliberately unspecified since it uses it’s own stats anyway rather than the specifics of swarms in the bestiaries/monster core books. So you can get creative with the sort of specially bred, mutant, or mixed swarm that your character plays host to.
Fascinated by how many types of crustaceans take on the crab form, Kolovos the athamaru alchemist has been cultivating many different species to study them, even letting them infest his body for protection while he tests mutagens that give him carapace armor and the like.
Marked as they are by death, one would think that the urdefhan would not be able to work with swarming vermin, but evil can corrupt many things, and the rangers of the Blinded Third Eye allow corrupted centipedes and spiders nest in them, the crawling horrors visible under their translucent skin.
Zealots of the Shambling Hive seek to emulate the Old One in any way they can, allowing all manner of insect nest in their bodies, to the horror of those that they kidnap to subject to their horrific rituals.
