New Prestege Class: Witchlight Warlocks

Hey everyone,

        had a neat idea for a new prestege class for orcs.  So here's the
Witchlight Warlock, a nasty cultist who is blamed for the Witchlight
Marauders and other evil beasties...:)  It was partically inspired by
Witchlight, the sphere by Noah Bonebrake.  They're pretty powerful, but
have some pretty nasty drawbacks as well, though.  This is the rough
draft; comments welcomed! :)

Orc Witchlight Warlock
Prestige Class

        One of the most feared abominations to arise from the Unhuman Wars was
the Witchlight Marauders, creatures so foul they could destroy whole
worlds.  Much legend about such creatures is circulated about ports
across wildspace.  Even more foul, but only whispered about, are the orc
warlocks that created the Witchlight Marauders.  The elves believe that
they slaughtered all of these wretched beings, but some whisper that the
warlocks are merely in hiding, brewing new and foul Aberrations to
unleash on the spacelanes.
        A Witchlight Warlock are orcish necromancers who uses demonic forces to
twist and corrupt life.  Despoiling virgin forests, reducing kingdoms to
wastelands, and even devastating whole continents or worlds dance in the
dreams of these orcish warlocks.  Their goal is to corrupt worlds into
barren wastelands where orcs will thrive while other races will wither
and perish.

Hit Dice: d4

Requirements
        To quality as a witchlight warlock, an orc must meet all of the
following criteria:
Race: Orc
Spellcasting: Ability to cast at least 4th level Necromancy (Arcane or
Divine) spells.
Alchemy: 10 ranks
Knowledge (Nature): 10 ranks
Feats: Spell Focus (Necromancy), Spell Penetration

Special
        As part of the initiation into the cult, a warlock uses forbidden
rituals to summon a powerful fiend to the prime.  The fiend, a powerful
demon or devil, judges the orc initiate as worth or not.  If the orc is
deemed unacceptable, the fiend brutally slays the orc, tearing his soul
from him and devouring it.  If the orc is deemed acceptable, the fiend
initiates the orc into the ranks of the witchlight warlocks and sponsors
the career of the new warlock.  If the warlock proves to be a failure,
the fiend will withdraw his sponsorship and leave the warlock on his
own.

Class Skills
        The class skills of the witchlight warlock (and key ability) are
Alchemy (Int), Concentration (Wis), Knowledge (Int), Scry (Int),
Spellcraft (Int), and Wildspace Lore (Wis).

Class Features
        All of the following are class features of the witchlight warlock.
Fiendish Benefactor: Witchfire warlocks find their friends in low
places, and none are lower than fiends.  A potential warlock deemed
acceptable by the fiend summoned at his initiation will be sponsored by
that fiend for the rest of his life.  The fiend will provide aid to the
warlock in the form of secrets, agents, and sometimes magical items.
However, a warlock must constantly prove his ability; if he becomes a
failure, his benefactor will abandon him and retract his aid agents.  A
warlock must suffer several major setbacks before sponsorship is
withdrawn, not just a single failure.

Chant, Witchlight: The Witchlight Warlock knows many unholy chants that
can sedate aberrations and keep them placid.  The Warlocks are able to
combine their efforts for greater effect to keep larger aberrations
sedated.  To make use of this power, the aberration must be able to hear
the warlock's chants.  If the aberration fails its Will save (DC 10 +
character level of the warlock + warlock's cha bonus), it falls into a
slumber.  For every additional warlock chanting, a +1 is added to the DC
of the Will save.  Once the aberration is sedated, it takes a number of
warlocks whose total character levels equals or exceeds the HD of the
aberration.  An aberration can be sedated indefinitely, not requiring
food or water, so long as the warlocks chant.

Witchlight Whispers: The ramblings of a witchlight warlock can cause
madness to those that listen to them.  The target must be willing to
listen to the warlock calmly (thus, not currently engaged in combat) or
held prisoner by the warlock.  After ten minutes of listening to the
warlock's whisperings, the target must make a will saving throw (DC 10 +
warlock's class level + warlock's intelligence bonus).  If the target
fails his will saving throw, he becomes insane (which can be cured by a
remove curse spell or a more powerful healing spell).  The DM decides
the exact nature of the insanity caused, which may range from
disorientation to phobias, paranoia, or even schizophrenia.  If he
succeeds his will saving throw, the target sees through the warlock's
whisperings as the ramblings of an insane man and will not believe
anything the warlock says again.  This is an extraordinary ability.

Witchfire: By sacrificing spells, the witchlight warlock can create a
ray of fire to hurl at his enemies.  The fire is a ranged touch attack,
and causes 1d8 points of damage per level of the spell the warlock
sacrificed.  The warlock can sacrifice spells of up to his class level,
and the witchfire acts as a spell equal to the level of sacrificed spell
for purposes of DC of saving throws.  The witchfire has a range of 100
feet  + 10 feet per class level.  The warlock can use this ability once
a day.  This is a supernatural ability.

Fiendish Servant: As witchfire warlocks advance in power, their fiendish
benefactor assigns agents to watch over the warlock's progress and
further guide him toward the path of evil and corruption.  The warlock
gains his first servant at 3rd class level in the form of an imp or
quasit familiar or spy, depending on the warlock's benefactor.  At 6th
class level, the warlock gains a fiendish animal of 5 HD that acts as
his bodyguard.  Finally, at 9th class level, the warlock warrants a
barbazu, vrock, or a half-fiend that acts as the warlock's consort or
lieutenant.  If the warlock is slain, these servants are immediately
banished back to their plane of origin for 1 year for every character
level of the warlock.

Witchlight Warlocks and Aberrations
        Witchlight warlocks are able to channel alien forces that allow them to
have power over aberrations, allowing them to rebuke (awe) or command
(control) aberrations as an evil cleric would undead.  A witchlight
warlock makes a turning check as per a cleric but against aberrations
instead of undead.  Aberrations that would be turned are rebuked instead
and those that would have been destroyed are commanded.

Rebuke Aberration: An aberration that is rebuked cowers in awe at the
sight of the witchlight warlock, and the warlock gains a +2 bonus to
attack rolls against the rebuked creatures.  The effect lasts one minute
(10 rounds).

Command Aberration: A commanded aberration is under the mental control
of the warlock.  To command the creature, the warlock must use a
standard action to give the creature a mental command.  The warlock can
control a number of aberrations whose HD is equal to or less than the
class level of the warlock.  Only aberrations that have an Intelligence
score less than the class level of the warlock can be commanded.

False Form: Once per day, the witchlight warlock can steal the form of
an animal that is within one size category of the warlock.  The animal
must be present for the warlock to steal its form, which is a full-round
action.  The warlock retains the animal's form for up to 10 minutes per
character level of the warlock.  The warlock retains all of his basic
attributes, attack bonuses, and saving throws, but gains the animal's
natural attacks and movement modes.  When in a false form, the warlock
cannot make use of spells or any possessed magical items.  The false
form ability acts much like a polymorph self spell, but with the
restrictions noted above.  This is a supernatural ability.

Witchlight Scream: Once per day, the warlock can make an inhuman scream
that can horrifying to those hearing it.  This ability acts as a shout
spell cast by a wizard of level equal to the class level of the
warlock.  Using the witchlight scream is a full-round action and a
supernatural ability.

Create Aberration: The most horrific ability of the witchfire warlock is
the ability to twist natural creatures into aberrations.  The process
can take months, during which time the warlock feeds the creature toxic
poisons and channels alien forces into its body.  For every month that
the captive creature is worked on by the warlock, it must make a
fortitude save (DC 20 + warlock's intelligence bonus) or be turned into
a random aberration.  After the creature has been turned into
aberration, the warlock must make a command check to see if he can
control the aberration.  An uncontrolled aberration will attempt to kill
the warlock at all costs.  It will not have memories of its former life,
though it may suffer occasional flashbacks.  Once a creature has been
turned into an aberration, only a wish or miracle spell can restore it
to its previous form.  A warlock can change any animal, beast, or
humanoid into an aberration, and can work on up to 2 creatures + 1
creature per point of the warlock's intelligence bonus.  This is a
supernatural ability.

The Price of Power
        Because of the alien forces that the witchlight warlock must deal with,
he suffers severe penalties that take their toll on his sanity and
flesh.  A warlock must constantly be on guard or be destroyed by the
very forces he seeks to harness.

Madness Checks: As the witchlight warlock advances in level, the alien
forces that he channels can become too great for him to handle, plunging
the warlock into insanity.  Upon achieving a new class level, the
warlock must make a will saving throw (DC 10 +2 per new level of
witchlight warlock).  If the warlock succeeds the check, he may continue
his advancement.  If he fails, the warlock becomes insane, as if he were
victim of a Witchlight Whisperings ability.  A warlock that falls into
madness is often abandoned by his fiendish benefactor and slain by his
fellow warlocks for his weakness.  A cure disease spell, heal, wish, or
miracle spell can restore the warlock, though he rarely lives long
enough to receives such treatment.

Abominable Body: As a witchlight warlock delves further into the alien
secrets, their body begins to display signs of tampering with alien
forces no orc was meant to harness.  His body begins to degrade,
developing animalistic body parts.  Minor abominations are those that
can easily be hidden by the warlock or don't interfere with his daily
life, such as a clawed hand, snake scales instead of skin, or a third
eye in his forehead.  Major abominations cause major alterations to the
warlock's body, such as his skin being replaced by a carapace, an arm
replaced by a tentacle or gigantic claw, his lower body becomes
insect-like, or he grows an extra head.  These changes can be
beneficial, such as offering a bonus to natural armor class or natural
attacks, as the DM dictates.  However, the stress takes its toll on the
warlock's body.  For each minor abomination, he suffers a permanent -1
to his constitution score.  A major abomination causes a permanent -2 to
his constitution score.  These losses cannot be restored by anything
less than a wish or miracle spell, which removes the abomination and any
benefits it provided.

Class   Base    Fort    Ref     Will    Special
Level   Attack  Save    Save    Save
        Bonus
1st     +0      +2      +0      +2      Fiendish Benefactor, Witchlight Chant
2nd     +1      +3      +0      +3      Witchlight Whispers
3rd     +1      +3      +1      +3      Witchfire, Fiendish Servant (1st)
4th     +2      +4      +1      +4      Rebuke Aberration
5th     +2      +4      +1      +4      False Form
6th     +3      +5      +2      +5      Fiendish Servant (2nd)
7th     +3      +5      +2      +5      Witchlight Scream
8th     +4      +6      +2      +6      Command Aberration
9th     +4      +6      +3      +6      Fiendish Servant (3rd)
10th    +5      +7      +3      +7      Create Aberration


Class   Spells per                      Madness Check           Abominable Body
Level   Level                           DC
1st     +1 level of existing class              10
2nd                                     12
3rd     +1 level of existing class              14                      Minor abomination
4th                                     16
5th     +1 level of existing class              18
6th                                     20                      Minor abomination
7th     +1 level of existing class              22
8th                                     24
9th     +1 level of existing class              26                      Major abomination
10th                                    28

Creator's Notes
        The Witchlight Warlocks may seem quite powerful, but they are meant as
NPC villains.  Cults of these monsters drive orc and goblin hordes to
ruin whole worlds and spread their race over the bones of other races.
They are wholly evil and sometimes insane.  The minimal level that an
orc or goblin needs to be is 8th to begin down the road of witchlight
warlock, so they will be very powerful to begin with.  They were
partially inspired by Witchlight, a sphere and story written by Noah S
Bonebrake tevish@????.com.

In the Spheres
        These evil cultists were first reported sometime during the Unhuman
Wars, when they created a number of abominations to unleash upon the
elves.  The Chakchak, Witchlight Marauders, and other similar creatures
are blamed (credited?) on the witchlight warlocks.  Their power over the
goblin and orc wildspace navies was enough for them to gather them into
great hordes to attack and overthrow entire worlds.
        When the wars ended, a few were forced to settle on Armistice with
their Witchlight Marauder that only they could sedate.  Their cult
transcend tribal affiliations out of need to keep the beast from
destroying the world they dwell upon.  In the end, they were destroyed
by an agent of the Elven Fleet and the Marauder was loosed upon the
world.
        Other cults of witchlight warlocks are thought to survive on worlds
distant from Known Space, though their numbers are not great.  The scro
know legends of these dangerous cults, but consider them heretics to
their true god, Dukgash.  The warlocks' actions during the Second
Unhuman War are unknown, to the concern of all sane beings across the
Spheres.

In the Realms
        At the conclusion of the First Unhuman Wars, a small cult of witchlight
warlocks escaped to Toril aboard the scorpionship the Writhing Claw.
Their ship was soon destroyed, but the warlocks fled into the Spine of
the World Mountains.  The would die out within a generation, but left
behind enough tomes and rituals in orcish hands that the cult has been
resurrected at least three times since its fall.  At least one former
Beast Lord is suspected of being a witchlight warlock.  Currently, there
are two competing cults of witchlight warlocks, one ruled by Aarrzz the
Blacktongue (NE orc m W(N)9/WW5) and the other by Zarazz Elfskull (CE
orc m Sorc 10/WW3).  The cult ruled by Aarrzz has a lair somewhere near
Icewind Dale, where they raid caravans around the city of Luskan.  He
was driven to this region by the cult run by Zarazz who has gained
numerous followers with the Tanarukk.  Zarazz's cult is attempting to
push into the High Forest.  He wishes to push aberrations into the heart
of the High Forest, destroying the elves and treants there and turn it
into a twisted, gnarled forest that would be haven to his followers.
--
Adam Miller