Dread Lords are the chosen servants of Gaspar. They seek to rule Migdalia absolutely (next to, of course, Gaspar himself), preferably through terror and domination. They install the fear of Gaspar in all, but especially in those who do not believe him to be supreme among all gods.Dread Lords tend to accumulate followers and build organizations – like churches or societies, or political bodies such as kingdoms, nations, or city states – over which they can rule with an iron fist. They want to know everything that is going on, overseeing every detail with what they see as ruthless precision, and what others perceive as an obsessive need to control. They love to accumulate items that enhance their personal presence to better cow others, their physical strength to better beat the weak into submission, and their wisdom or mental facilities to better plot the doom of their enemies. Dread Lords always have many enemies, both real and imagined.
Clerics and Despots are the most common dread lords, though a few fanatical rangers also adopt this class.
Hit Dice: d8
Requirements
In order to qualify to become a Dread Lord, a character must meet the following criteria.
Alignment: Lawful EvilPatron Deity: Gaspar
Base Attack Bonus: +4
Skills: Intimidate 4 ranks, Knowledge (religion) 4 ranks
Feats: God Touched, Skill Focus (Intimidate)
Spellcasting: Ability to cast 2nd level divine spells. Clerics who wish to become dread lords must have access to the Tyranny domain.
Class Skills
The Dread Lord’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Bluff (Cha), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Gather Information (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (local) (Int), Knowledge (nobility and royalty), Knowledge (religion) (Int), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), Sense Motive (Wis), and Spellcraft (Int). See Chapter 4 of the Player’s Handbook for skill descriptions.
Skill Points at Each Level: 2 + Int modifier.
Class Level Base Attack Bonus Fort Save Ref Save Will Save Special Spellcasting 1 +0 +2 +0 +2 Tyranny Spells, Insidious Insight - 2 +1 +3 +0 +3 Intimidating Aura 20 ft. +1 caster level 3 +2 +3 +1 +3 Intensify Fears I - 4 +3 +4 +1 +4 Favored Enemy, Intimidating Aura 30 ft. +1 caster level 5 +3 +4 +1 +4 Intensify Fears II - 6 +4 +5 +2 +5 Leadership +2, Intimidating Aura 40 ft. +1 caster level 7 +5 +5 +2 +5 Intensify Fears III - 8 +6 +6 +2 +6 Leadership +4, Intimidating Aura 50 ft. +1 caster level 9 +6 +6 +3 +6 Fanatical Loyalty, Special Cohort - 10 +7 +7 +3 +7 Leadership +6, Intimidating Aura 60 ft. +1 caster level
Class Features
All of the following are class features of the Dread Lord prestige class.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Dread lords are proficient with all simple weapons, the Scimitar, all types of armor, and with shields. Dread lords prefer to use their deity’s favored weapon, a scimitar.
Spellcasting: A dread lord continues training with magic. Thus, at 2nd level and every other level thereafter, the character gains new spells per day and spells known as if he had also gained a level in whatever divine spellcasting class he belonged to prior to adding this prestige class. He does not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that level would have gained (improved chance of controlling or rebuking undead, metamagic or item creation feats, etc).
Tyranny Spells: A dread lord can pray for and receive any Tyranny domain spell as if it were on his divine spell list. The spell uses a spell slot of a level equal to its level in the Tyranny domain list.
Insidious Insight (Ex): A dread lord has a knack for ferreting out what others are up to so that he can more effectively keep control. The dread lord gains a bonus on his Gather Information and Sense Motive checks equal to his class level.
Intimidating Aura (Su): A dread lord of 2nd level or greater is immune to fear effects (magical or otherwise). Enemies within 20 feet of the dread lord suffer a -4 morale penalty on saving throws against fear effects. The radius of this aura increases at 4th, 6th, 8th, and 10th level.
Intensify Fears I (Su): Beginning at 3rd level, the dread lord gains the ability to intensify the fears of another, regardless of whether the dread lord is the cause of those fears. As a free action, the dread lord can change the condition of any shaken creature within range of his intimidating aura to frightened. The creature remains frightened for the duration of the fear effect. This does not extend a fear effect’s duration. A target of this ability may make a successful Will save (DC 10 + the dread lord’s class level + character’s Charisma modifier) to avoid becoming frightened, but still remains shaken.
Favored Enemy (Ex): At 4th level, the dread lord selects an organization or type of creature as a favored enemy. This ability otherwise functions as the ranger ability of the same name.
Intensify Fears II (Su): At 5th level, the dread lord gains the ability to change the condition of any frightened creature within range of his intimidating aura to panicked as a free action. The creature remains panicked for the duration of the fear effect. This does not extend a fear effect’s duration. The condition of a creature can only be elevated once per round (thus, to change a creature’s condition from shaken to panicked requires two rounds). A target of this ability may make a successful Will save (DC 10 + the dread lord’s class level + character’s Charisma modifier) to avoid becoming panicked, but still remains frightened.
Leadership (Ex): At 6th level, the dread lord gains the Leadership feat if he did not already possess it. In addition, he receives a +2 bonus to his Leadership score. This bonus increases to +4 at 8th level and +6 at 10th level (he still cannot attract a cohort of greater than his character level). At 6th level, a dread lord does not suffer the -2 cumulative penalty to his leadership score for causing the death of a cohort for one cohort per dread lord level above 5th. Dread lords of 10th level do not suffer the -2 penalty for cruelty.
Intensify Fears III (Su): At 5th level, the dread lord gains the ability to change the condition of any panicked creature within range of his intimidating aura to paralyzed as a free action. The creature remains paralyzed for the duration of the fear effect. This does not extend a fear effect’s duration. The condition of a creature can only be elevated once per round (thus, to change a creature’s condition from shaken to paralyzed requires three rounds). A target of this ability may make a successful Will save (DC 10 + the dread lord’s class level + character’s Charisma modifier) to avoid becoming paralyzed, but still remains panicked.
Fanatical Loyalty (Su): Upon reaching 9th level, the followers and cohorts of the dread lord become fanatically loyal to the dread lord; only Gaspar himself can inspire greater loyalty in them. They will not balk at life-threatening actions or actions that would normally lie outside their moral compunctions and normal behavior if the dread lord asks them to perform such actions. Spells that the dread lord has cast upon his cohorts that normally grant a saving throw or saving throw bonus if the subject is asked to take a life-threatening action or actions contrary to their nature no longer do so if the subject is fanatically loyal to the dread lord.
Special Cohort (Ex): At 9th level, the dread lord attracts a special cohort in addition to any cohort already gained. If the dread lord loses this cohort, he can generally replace it, according to his current Leadership score. It takes time (1d4 months) to recruit a replacement. Because of the lawful nature of Gaspar, cohorts who are mutually inimical by type, alignment, or nature will not both be attracted to the same dread lord.
Ex-Dread Lords
A dread lord who willingly changes alignment or who ceases the worship of Gaspar immediately loses all benefits of this class. Additionally, his cohorts and followers, as well as the entire church of Gaspar, will now seek to end his life. He regains his abilities and advancement potential if he atones for his actions (see the atonement spell on page 201 of the Player’s Handbook).
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