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...You Lost Me
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### The Blighter, Revamped

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Post by ...You Lost Me » Sun May 08, 2011 4:51 am

NOTE: This PrC was made with the intent of not being much stronger than the Druid already. You can't take any wildshaping feats, because you're no longer using wildshape, and your spell list is weaker, but there are some added goodies (mostly for flavor or homage to the old class), and you do a fair bit more with dead things. Please provide your strongest criticisms!
The Blighter
Complete Divine p.23-26
"Fire does not cleanse. It chars."~Id Udrex, blighter and ex-druid
Anatomy of Failed Design:
So the Blighter is a bad class. On a system of Prestige Class tiers (yeah, JaronK's system is totally bad, I know. But works fine for a guideline, and has more support, and therefore more resources), it was rated as low as possible: That is, it brought a class down by 2 tiers or more. But why is it so bad?
Well, the blighter is based off of the Druid. In fact, the requirements for the Blighter read:

> Complete Divine p.23 wrote: Alignment: Any nongood.
> Base Attack Bonus: +4
> Special: The character must be an ex-druid previously capable of casting 3rd-level druid spells.

To fulfill this requirement, a character must be a Druid of 5th level or greater (I guess you could be a Spirit Shaman 5/Druid 1 too...). Being nongood is pretty easy for a character, and after you've obtained the PrC, there's nothing in the fluff that doesn't allow you to switch back. However, the +4 BAB requirement doesn't work well with the Druid's (or Spirit Shaman's) medium BAB progression. If you're taking level in a medium BAB class, you hit +4 at level six. So even though casters can qualify for the Special requirement by level 5, they're literally saddled with a BAB that keeps them a fraction (1/4) away from taking this class.
So you've got to be level 6, which means that you're level 7 upon taking your first level of blighter.
All right, time to look at losses. When a Druid becomes a blighter, he or she will already have been an ex-druid. What does becoming an ex-druid entail? Well, the SRD reads as such:

> d20srd wrote:A druid who ceases to revere nature, changes to a prohibited alignment, or teaches the Druidic language to a nondruid loses all spells and druid abilities (including her animal companion, but not including weapon, armor, and shield proficiencies). She cannot thereafter gain levels as a druid until she atones (see the atonement spell description).

By level 6 you will have accumulated the following: 1) nature sense, 2) wild empathy, 3) woodland stride, 4) trackless step, 5) resist nature's lure, and 6) wild shape (2/day)* as well as 7) an animal companion* and 8) all of your spells. These are all gone once you step into the shoes of a Blighter, and you'll never be able to atone for your misgivings if you want to regenerate your daily share of blighter spells. Now, with the loss of 6 levels worth of spells and a bunch of great class abilities, one would think that their first level of blighter would be good.
But it's really not. As a blighter, your BAB and saves progression are no different from the Druid, and your first level is purely your spellcasting (level 1 spells max) and your daily method of getting spellcasting back. This is instead of gaining wild shape 3/day (or mobility in your flight form, if using the PHBII wildshape variant) and level 4 spell access. You are now 5 nifty class features down, 3 spell levels down, one animal companion short, and completely devoid of the Druid's wild shape shenanigans.
Over the course of the class, Blighters give access to a spell level (though you can only cast spells of that level if you have a high enough Wisdom score to warrant bonus spells) at every level of the class, and class features sort of pick up over time. Once you hit your third Blighter level (Druid 6/Blighter 3: Minimum level 9), you can cast level 3 spells and gain your greatest class feature: Undead wilshape. It's your standard wildshape, except you turn into a skeleton. That means no Con score, immunity to Fort saves, immunity to mind-affecting effects, poison sleep, paralysis, stunning, disease, and death effects, precision damage, nonlethal damage, energy drain, ability drain, fatigue, exhaustion, cold, and you don't need sustenance, you gain DR 5/bludgeoning, a bonus to NatArmor, and +2 Dex. That's super awesome... but it kicks in while you're still 2 spell levels behind, you can only transform once per day, and RAW mandates a 6-hour maximum if you're not using the PHBII Druid variant. That's in comparison to the Druid who is casting level 5 spells and using wild shapes that are probably still better than yours, because you don't get access to wildshape (Large) until level 5. Oh, and they're also immune to poison all the time.
The Blighter keeps getting better over time, and eventually, when you hit Druid 6/Blighter 8 (minimum level 14), you go one spell level ahead of the Druid. Yes, that's right, just before you enter crazy-town, you are now ahead of the Druid by a spell level. While they're casting level 7 spells, you can use spells of a totally higher tier. BOOM, take that! You're top dog forever... right?
Wrong. While this does last for another two levels (you get 9th level spells at Blighter 9, and then increase your spell numbers at Blighter 10 while Druids are still at 8th level spells), you no longer have a spellcasting progression after finishing the class. The PrC is out, and you've got nowhere to go. In the meantime, Druids catch up with 9th-level casting at Druid 17, and they can go another 3 levels for even better crazy magic... while you're totally at a loss.
So the Blighter is "King" at levels 14-16, but only to a limited degree. Which brings us to the third reason: Your spell list.
The concept behind a Druid is that they have some nice SoD spells, but also that they can run around with the strength of a triceratops and full buffs on. Becoming a Blighter prevents you from being able to do that, because they lose almost all the buffs and SoD's that classic Druids have.
All in all, it's a poorly made class. But But the idea of going Ex-Druid and using that to become a forest-eradicating psycho is just too awesome to pass up.
*If you use the PHBII wildshape variant, which I prefer, you'll never have had an animal companion, but you'll lose she special wildshape instead.
Hit Die: d8
Requirements:
To qualify as a blighter, a character must fulfill the following criteria:
Alignment: Any nongood (honestly I ignore all alignment criteria, but this should stay to keep with tradition)
Feat: Corrupt Spell (CoDi)
Special: The character must be an ex-druid previously capable of casting 3rd-level druid spells.
Table: The Blighter

Class Level | Base Attack Bonus | Fort Save | Ref Save | Will Save | Special | Spells per Day
1 | +0 | +2 | +0 | +2 | Blightshape (2/day), deforestation, everlasting corruption, nature sense | +1 level of druid class
2 | +1 | +3 | +0 | +3 | Blightfire, blightshape (3/day), forest fear | +1 level of druid class
3 | +2 | +3 | +1 | +3 | Blightshape (Large), speak with dead animal | +1 level of druid class
4 | +3 | +4 | +1 | +4 | Desolate Tracks, contagious touch | +1 level of druid class
5 | +3 | +4 | +1 | +4 | Blightshape (4/day), rage of the lost | +1 level of druid class
6 | +4 | +5 | +2 | +5 | Blightshape (Tiny) | +1 level of druid class
7 | +5 | +5 | +2 | +5 | Blightshape (vermin), sustenance | +1 level of druid class
8 | +6 | +6 | +2 | +6 | X | +1 level of druid class
9 | +6 | +6 | +3 | +6 | Blightshape (5/day), animate dead animal | +1 level of druid class
10 | +7 | +7 | +3 | +7 | Blightshape (Huge), unbond | +1 level of druid class
11 | +8 | +7 | +3 | +7 | Blightshape (ghost 1/day) | +1 level of druid class
12 | +9 | +8 | +4 | +8 | X | +1 level of druid class
13 | +9 | +8 | +4 | +8 | Blightshape (6/day, ghost 2/day) | +1 level of druid class
14 | +10 | +9 | +4 | +9 | Meditation of Death | +1 level of druid class
15 | +11 | +9 | +5 | +9 | Blightshape (ghost 3/day) Final Transformation | +1 level of druid class

Class Skills
The blighter's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Concentration (Con), Craft (any) (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Handle Animal (Cha), Heal (Wis), Knowledge (nature) (Int), Listen (Wis), Profession (herbalist) (Wis), Spellcraft (Int), Spot (Wis), Survival (Wis), and Swim (Str).
Skill points at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier
Class Features
The following are class features of the blighter prestige class.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Blighters gain no weapon or armor proficiencies.
Spells per Day: Normally, ex-druids lose all of their spellcasting abilities. Blighters, however, combine their older powers with the new energies of corruption that they have discovered. As a result, blighters regain the Spells per Day of their Druid class, but have a different spell list. The blighter spell list is in Complete Divine, but recommended spells to be added to the blighter list are below. A blighter's caster level is equal to his blighter level plus his druid level.
To cast a blighter spell, a blighter must have a Wisdom score of at least 10 + the spell's level, so a blighter with a Wisdom of 10 or lower cannot cast these spells. Blighter bonus spells are based on Wisdom and saving throws against these spells have a DC of 10 + spell level + the blighter's Wisdom modifier. The blighter's spell list appears below. A blighter has access to any spell on the list, and can freely choose with to prepare, just as a druid. a blighter prepares and casts spells just as a druid does (though a blighter cannot spontaneously cast summon spells).
The blighter gains access to her daily spells by resting for 8 hours in a place where little to no vegetation grows.
Spontaneous Casting: A blighter can channel stored spell energy into summoning spells that he hasn’t prepared ahead of time. He can "lose" a prepared spell in order to cast any summon undead spell of the same level or lower.
Blightshape (Su): A blighter's wild shaping capabilities from when he was a druid manifest themselves again, but come back corrupted. This functions as the druid's wild shape ability, except that the blighter adds the skeleton template to the animal form he chooses to transform into. The blighter's animal form is altered as follows:

- Type changes to undead
- Natural armor bonus of +0 (Tiny animal), +1 (Small), +2 (medium or Large), +3 (huge), +6 (gargantuan), +10 (colossal)
- +2 Dexterity, no Constitution score
- Immunity to cold
- Damage reduction 5/bludgeoning
- Cannot be turned or rebuked

A blighter can use this ability more times per day at 2nd, 5th, 9th, and 13th level, as noted on Table: The Blighter. In addition, he gains the ability to take the shape of a Large skeletal animal at 3rd level, a Tiny skeletal animal at 6th level, and a Huge skeletal animal at 10th level.
The new form’s Hit Dice can’t exceed the character’s blighter level plus his druid level.
At 7th level, a blighter becomes able to use blightshape to change into a skeletal vermin creature with the same size restrictions as for animal forms. A vermin with the skeletal template applied is a very strong and mobile exoskeleton.
At 11th level, a blighter becomes able to use blightshape to add the ghost template to herself, instead of the skeletal template. The blighter cannot choose a huge creature for this, and his anmal form is altered as follows:

- Type changes to undead
- Loses natural armor bonus, gains a deflection bonus equal to Cha modifier or +1, whichever is higher
- Becomes incorporeal, and cannot use Manifestation to move into the ethereal world like a normal ghost
- All natural weapons have the ghost touch special quality, and uses strength to determine melee attack and damage rolls
- If destroyed while in ghost form, the blighter reforms in 2d4 days at the location of its destruction in non-ghost form, retaining all of its uses of blightshape and spells that it had before dying
- +4 Charisma, no Constitution score
- Cannot be turned or rebuked

At 13th level, a blighterbecomes able to assume ghost form twice per day, and at 15th level she can do so three times per day. At 15th level, a blighter may use choose to become a huge animal with this ability.
Deforestation (Sp): A blighter can kill all nonsentient plant life within a radius of 20' as a full-round action once per hour. If a potentially affected plant is under the control of another (such as a druid's liveoak or a dryad's home tree), the controller can make a Fortitude save (DC 10 + 1/2 blighters' HD + blighter's Wis modifier) to keep it alive. At the blighter's choice, all affected plants may immediately cease methods of sustenance, looking healthy for a few hours, but turning brown and withering in a day, OR immediately dying and turning to ash. Either way, deforestation creates a place of desolation for a blighter to rest before regaining her spells. Except for plants selected by a controller, nothing can grow in a deforested area until it has a hallow spell cast upon it and it is reseeded (and even controlled plants must make a save once per hour or suffer the same effects).
Everlasting Corruption (Ex): When a blighter prepares his spells, he may choose to apply the Corrupt Spell feat to any spell he prepares without adjusting the spell level. He may only apply this to spells lower than the highest level he can cast.
At level 19, a blighter may choose to apply Corrupt Spell to even the highest-level spells that he can cast.
Nature sense (Ex): A blighter gains a +2 bonus on Knowledge (nature) and Survival checks.
Blightfire (Su): Starting at 2nd level, as a standard action, a blighter can unleash a scorching blast of fi re. This effect deals 5d6 points of fire damage to all creatures within 10 feet (Refl ex half; save DC is 10 + blighter’s class level + blighter’s Wis modifier) and ignites flammable objects it touches. Blighters delight in starting wildfires and often use this ability to do so.
Forest Fear (Su): Starting at 2nd level, the destructive force that the blighter has accepted into himself begins to portray itself in other ways. As a blighter moves, plants bend to avoid him. He may move through any sort of undergrowth (such as natural thorns, briars, overgrown areas, and similar terrain) at his normal speed and without taking damage or suffering any other impairment. However, thorns, briars, and overgrown areas that have been magically manipulated to impede motion still affect her. In addition, plant creatures take a -4 morale penalty to attack the blighter.
Speak with dead animal (Sp): Starting at 3rd level, a blighter can converse with dead animals. This ability functions like a speak with dead spell cast by a cleric of a level equal to the total of the character’s druid and blighter levels, except that it affects only corpses of animal creatures. It is usable once per day.
Desolate Tracks (Ex): Starting at 4th level, a blighter begins to destroy the environment around themselves without even noticing. They wither plants and leave scorch marks in the earth (yes, extraordinary scorch marks). The survival DC for any attempts to track them is takes a -6 modifier.
If they wish, a blighter may move at half speed and increase their destruction, leaving a charred line with a width equal to their body width along the ground, called a charnel path. If a blighter makes a closed shape with a charnel path, and repeats the path once per day for a week, and then uses deforestation in the enclosed area, the whole area is subject to the deforestation effect.
Contagious Touch (Su): Starting at 4th level, a blighter may spend a move action to activate this ability. The next time the blighter takes damage from a natural melee weapon, or successfully deals damage with a natural melee weapon, the creature that attacked him or that he attacked is subject to a contagion spell (the DC of this effect is 10 + 1/2 the blighter's HD + the blighter's Wis modifier). When a blighter spends his move action, he must also choose which disease to inflict.
Rage of the Lost (Ex): Starting at 5th level, a blighter's hate for the forces that excommunicated him from the druids begins to show. When a blighter is affected by a spell, maneuver, or supernatural ability used by a creature that he recognizes a druid, spirit shaman, shugenja, or sentient animal or plant life, he may blightshape as an immediate action.
In addition, a blighter may spend an immediate action to give himself a +4 morale bonus to melee attacks, and a +2/HD morale bonus to melee damage for 1 turn. At the end of this turn, the blighter is fatigued. A blighter cannot use this ability while he is exhausted.
Sustenance (Ex): At 7th level and higher, a blighter no longer needs food or water to survive.
Animate dead animal (Sp): Starting at level 9, a blighter can use an ability like an animate dead spell, except that it affects only corpses of animal creatures and requires no material component. It is usable a number of times per day equal to the number of 7th-level spells that a blighter can cast per day, not including bonus spells.
Unbond (Sp): Starting at 10th level, a blighter can temporarily separate a bonded animal or magical beast (such as an animal companion, familiar, or mount) from its master once per day. The target creature must be within 40 feet of the blighter. If the master fails a Will save (DC 10 + 1/2 the blighter's HD + blighter's Wis modifier), the bond terminates as if the servitor had died, though this does not cause experience loss as in the case of a familiar. The creature's attitude becomes as though it were encountered by itself in the wild. Normally hostile creatures attack their masters. The bond returns after 1 minute per blighter level, restoring all benefits. Alternatively, the master can regain the servitor through the normal methods of acquisition.
Meditation of Death (Su): Starting at 14th level, a blighter can choose to spend a move action in order to obtain a devastating safeguard. The next time the blighter takes damage from a natural melee weapon, or successfully deals damage with a natural melee weapon, the creature that attacked him or that he attacked is subject to a slay living spell (the DC of this effect is 10 + 1/2 the blighter's HD + the blighter's Wis modifier). When a blighter spends his move action, he can also choose to accompany Contagious Touch with this ability. In that case, the target would be subject to contagion if it succeeded on its save against slay living. He may not use this again until he has gone three consecutive turns without suffering damage, attacking, casting a spell, or being attacked.
Final Transformation: At 20th level, a blighter has reached the highest level of power possibly achievable, and may choose one of the options below:
Visage of the Wasteland: A blighter may use disguise self at will, and may use Blightshape as many times per day as he wishes, with an infinite duration. In addition, he may use Blightshape as a move action. These benefits do not apply while he is in ghost form.
Epidemic: By meditating for an hour, a blighter may cause the effect of Contagious Touch in a one mile radius, centered around him, and may designate one target/level within the area to be unaffected by the effect.
Speed of Destruction: A blighter may use deforestation as a swift or move action. In addition, all bonded animals and magical beasts in the area of her deforestationare subject to unbond, regardless of where their master is. The radius of deforestation is now equal to 75'.
Blighter Spell List
Blighters choose their spells from the the list in Complete Divine, with extra spells added here.
0 Light
1 Babau Slime (SpC), BLood Wind (SpC), Magic Fang, Produce Flame, Raging Flame (SpC), Rot of Ages (DrMagic) Silver Claws (BoED), Summon Undead I (SpC), Wall of Smoke (SpC)
2 Align Fang (SpC), Countermoon (SpC), Creeping Cold (CoDi, SpC), Dessicate (Sand), Drifts of the Shalm (ash only) (PHBII), Halo of Sand (Sand), Heartfire (SpC), Summon Undead II (SpC)
3 Arctic Forst (Forst), Crumble (SpC), Blinding Spittle (SpC), Dehydrate (SpC), Haboob (Sand), Heatstroke (SpC), Hypothermia (SpC), Infestation of Maggots (CoDi, SpC), Greater Magic Fang, Junglerazer (SpC), Summon Undead III (SpC), Venomfire (Serp)
4 Blast of Sand (Sand), Bleakness (PHBII), Bright Worms (PHBII), Contingent Energy Resistance (SpC), Greater Creeping Cold (SpC), Giant Vermin, Miasma of Entropy (SpC), Pyroburst (PHBII), Starvation (SpC), Superior Magic Fang (SpC), Summon Undead IV (SpC), Unholy Beast (CoR), Wood Rot (SpC)
5 Choking Sands (Sand), Cold Snap (SpC), Death Ward, Inferno (SpC), Mass Contagion (SpC), Summon Undead V (SpC), Toxic Weapon (PHBII), Wall of Sand (Sand, SpC)
6 Cometfall (SpC), Energy Immunity (SpC), Enveloping Cocoon (SpC), Chasing Perfection (PHBII), Fleshiver (SpC), Miasma (SpC), Summon Undead VI (SpC), Veil of Undeath (SpC)
7 Plague (PHBII), Pulse of Hate (PHBII), Slime Wave (SpC), Summon Undead VII (SpC), Swamp Lumg (SpC), Wrack Earth (PHBII)
8 Bodak's Glare (SpC), Deadfall (SpC), Frostfell (Frost), Heat Drain (SpC), Mass Death Ward (SpC), Red Tide (SpC), Summon Undead VIII (SpC), Wall of Greater Dispel Magic
9 Cast in Stone (SpC), Detonate (PHBII), Enervating Breath (SpC), Plague of Undead (SpC), Summon Undead IX (SpC), Transmute Rock to Lava (SpC)
*This spell does not deserve to exist at 2nd level, the way it normally is, so I bumped it up a level... tell me if it should still be moved.
Adaptation
Alternative Wildshaping
You might play with the PHBII Druid wildshaping adaptation, where combat forms with different bonuses are granted. That's totally cool. If you do so, treat every level you take of blighter as the related druid level + 5, and apply the skeletal template to all of your transformations.
Forest Avenger Form: The name for this form is changed to Dire Vermin Form. The only change in the listed abilities is that you look like some time of Vermin instead of a plant, and may choose upon accessing the ability to either give yourself 30' land speed and 30' flight or 45' land speed and 45' burrow speed. You also lose the DR.
Elemental Fury Form: You lose this form and instead gain the benefits of ghost blightshape, applicable to your transformations. You do not gain the deflection bonus to AC or the Charisma bonus. At level 13, you can use ghost blightshape on your huge forms.
Spirit Shaman
Honestly, I don't know what to do here... It would be nice to allow this class to help Spirit Shamans, but you'd totally be gaining a new shtick... you could end up being a better druid/blighter than the druid/blighter itself with that feat that makes all casting Wisdom or Charisma or whatever... I dunno. Suggestions here?
Last edited by ...You Lost Me on Sun May 08, 2011 5:09 am, edited 3 times in total.

> DSMatticus wrote:Again, look at this fucking map you moron. Take your finger and trace each country's coast, then trace its claim line. Even you - and I say that as someone who could not think less of your intelligence - should be able to tell that one of these things is not like the other.

> Kaelik wrote:I invented saying mean things about Tussock.

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...You Lost Me
  Duke
  Posts: 1854
  Joined: Mon Jan 10, 2011 5:21 am

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Post by ...You Lost Me » Thu May 12, 2011 4:11 am

-*ahem*-
.... bump.

> DSMatticus wrote:Again, look at this fucking map you moron. Take your finger and trace each country's coast, then trace its claim line. Even you - and I say that as someone who could not think less of your intelligence - should be able to tell that one of these things is not like the other.

> Kaelik wrote:I invented saying mean things about Tussock.

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echoVanguard
  Knight-Baron
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  Joined: Fri Apr 01, 2011 6:35 pm

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Post by echoVanguard » Thu May 12, 2011 4:46 pm

You probably need to reword some of the abilities, as they make reference to levels higher than the chart displays. If they refer to total character level, they should be reworded to specify only levels in the PrC, per standard practices.
You should also specify number of uses for several of the abilities, especially Meditation of Death, Contagious Touch, and Blightfire. If the abilities have no limit on number of times they can be used, you should specify that.
On an artistic note, I like how you've reworked some druid abilities to better reflect the nature of the blighter, especially Forest Fear. I also question whether the Everlasting Corruption ability is really necessary for the class - from a thematic standpoint it seems like they have enough similar abilities, and given the range and breadth of the class's other damage-dealing powers and spells, the mechanical benefits don't really seem needed either.
echo
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echoVanguard
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  Joined: Fri Apr 01, 2011 6:35 pm

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Post by echoVanguard » Thu May 12, 2011 4:56 pm

Additionally, it is quite inappropriate for Spirit Shamans to be allowed to access this PrC for a sizable list of reasons. Spirit Shamans do not have a code of conduct, are not prohibited from any of the druid's forbidden practices (they can freely wear metal armor and desecrate trees as much as they want) and they have no analogue to wild shape or spontaneous summoning.
echo
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