Frostheart

A frostheart, as the name suggests, is an arcane spellcaster who has replaced his own heart with a frozen replica. Doing so requires precise adherence to an exacting magical procedure known as the Ritual of Sanguine Frost. This rare and esoteric rite allows a suitably skilled spellcaster to remove her own beating heart, replacing it with a frozen replica formed of magical ice. Though the process is extremely painful and incredibly risky, many spellcasters continue to seek out the Ritual in hopes of gaining the mastery over cold and ice which such a transplant provides.

The Ritual of Sanguine Frost is believed to have been perfected by an unnamed Azil-Vur acolyte of Quendelain during the last hours of the Arcane War, though all legends concerning the acolyte agree that he died while attempting to complete the Ritual. A small band of Tael-Mohrd Rune Knights happened upon the sorcerer’s frozen lair decades later, and seized the seemingly worthless winter wolf skins upon which the sorcerer had penned his life’s work. These skins, and the Ritual itself, traveled with the knights for some time before they were slaughtered in the night by goblin assassins. Noticing the writing on the skins, the goblins fled with their prize into the Underdark, where they presented the skins to their warlord, an Ogre Magi named Ecelin-wo. Ecelin-wo immediately set about studying the unique glyphs on the skins, going so far as to halt his previously relentless assault against the bowels of Druskeden. Exactly one year after he first received the skins, The Ogre retreated to his chambers, where he took up his weapon and carved the heart from his breast. The ancient magics of the Ritual of Sanguine Frost kept the Ogre Magi alive where a weak human had failed, allowing the newly empowered warlord to place a chunk of frozen ice within the gaping wound in his chest.

The dwarves of Druskeden began whispering stories of a mysterious enemy that same year, a creature said to be able to bend ice to his very will. Hundreds of dwarves perished in their tunnels, encased in statues of glistening ice, before Ecelin-wo’s frigid heart was at last wrenched from his chest by a brave dwarven warrior. The skins containing the ritual, as well as Ecelin-wo’s magical devices and weapons, were promptly stolen by fleeing goblins, and thus made their way across all of Migdalia. However, more than one of these skins seems to have found its way into the hands of sages and wizards, and bound copies of the Ritual are sometimes found among tomes recovered from the coffers of Quendelain priests. It is unknown how many of these supposed copies as real, and every year at least one aspiring mage is found dead, his heart resting in his own bloody hand while dead eyes stare unbelievingly at the ritual that was supposed to have protected them.

Hit Dice: d4

Requirements

In order to qualify to become a Frostheart, a character must meet the following criteria.

Skills: Knowledge (arcana ) 8 ranks, Spellcraft 8 ranks

Feats: Energy Substitution (cold), Great Fortitude

Spellcasting: Ability to cast resist energy

Special: Must perform the Ritual of Sanguine Frost. The ritual requires the character to deal damage to herself equal to three quarters of his maximum hit point total. This damage must be done with a slashing weapon, and any form of magical healing the character receives during this time ruins the process. Once the character has carved a large enough hole in her chest, she must then physically remove her heart and quickly replace it with an equal-sized chunk of ice (dealing an additional 5d4 points of damage to the character). Once the character’s heart has been replaced by its frozen simulacrum, the character gains her first level in this class, and may once again receive magical healing as normal. The character may do with her previous fleshy heart as she wishes without adverse consequences.

Class Skills

The Frostheart’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Balance (Dex), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Knowledge (arcana) (Int), Profession (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	+0	+0	+2	Cold Subtype, Ice Armor (+4)	-
2	+1	+0	+0	+3	Frost Weapon (+1)	+1 caster level
3	+2	+1	+1	+3	Frost Walker, Cold Arcana	-
4	+3	+1	+1	+4	Hypothermic Touch, Frost Weapon (+2, frost)	+1 caster level
5	+3	+1	+1	+4	Ice Armor (+6)	-
6	+4	+2	+2	+5	Frost Weapon (+3)	+1 caster level
7	+5	+2	+2	+5	Blood of Ice	-
8	+6	+2	+2	+6	Arctic Breath, Frost Weapon (+4, keen)	+1 caster level
9	+6	+3	+3	+6	Ice Armor (+8)	-
10	+7	+3	+3	+7	Frozen Transcendence, Frost Weapon (+5)	+1 caster level

Class Features:

All of the following are class features of the Frostheart prestige class.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A frostheart gains no new weapon or armor proficiency.

Spellcasting: A frostheart continues training with magic. Thus, at every even-numbered frostheart level, the character gains new spells per day and spells known as if she had also gained a level in whatever arcane spellcasting class she belonged to prior to adding this prestige class. She does not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that level would have gained (improved familiar abilities, metamagic or item creation feats, etc).

Cold Subtype (Ex): The frostheart’s new heart changes his body in a startling way, granting her the “Cold” subtype. The frostheart is rendered forever immune to all forms of cold damage, though she now suffers half again as much (+50%) damage from fire damage. In addition, the frostheart’s skin pales and cools noticeably, and the air around her becomes cold enough to cause others shivers. The frostheart’s breath condenses in the air, and most non-magical drinks she carries on his person for more than a day freeze solid.

Icy Armor (Su): Beginning at 1st level, the frostheart gains the ability to wrap her body in magical ice, protecting her as if it were armor. This carapace requires a full-round to create, and provides the frost heart with an armor bonus of +4. This armor gives her 5 points of fire resistance for every point of armor bonus it provides. Every full 5 points of fire damage the armor prevents, however, reduces the armor bonus by 1 (and, thus, reduces the armor’s fire resistance against subsequent attacks), though she may repair it as a move action, assuming it has not been completely destroyed.

At 5th level, this armor bonus increases to +6, and at 9th level, this bonus increases to +8.

Frost Weapon (Su): At 2nd level, the frost heart gains the ability to create weapons of magical ice, which last for one minute per frostheart level before shattering harmlessly. These weapons are treated as +1 weapons, and require a move action to create. These weapons gain an additional +1 bonus for every two additional levels the frostheart gains.

At 4th level, these weapons also gain the frost property, dealing an additional 1d6 cold damage with each successful hit. At 8th level, these weapons become keen, granting them an increased threat range.

Frost Walker (Su): Beginning at 3rd level, the frostheart grows more attuned to snow and ice. She gains the ability to travel across snow at her normal speed, leaving no tracks. Additionally, she may travel her normal speed across the most slippery ice (horizontal surfaces only, not vertical or sharply slanted ones) without falling or slipping.

Cold Arcana (Su): At 3rd level, the frostheart’s mastery over cold increases, and spells she casts that deal cold damage become more difficult to resist. The saving throw DC of any spell the frostheart casts with the “Cold” descriptor increases by +1.

Hypothermic Touch (Su): At 4th level, the frostheart’s connection with her frozen heart strengthens, allowing her to channel its icy touch. The frostheart can now deal 2d6 points of nonlethal cold damage as a touch attack at will. Any creature suffering nonlethal cold damage is beset by hypothermia (treat as fatigued) until this nonlethal damage is recovered. This damage is also added to each of the frostheart’s unarmed attacks.

Blood of Ice (Su): Upon reaching 7th level, the frostheart’s blood changes to icewater. She gains immunity to any spell or effect that specifically targets her blood (such as the blood drain ability of a vampire), and she no longer loses hit points when reduced to -1 hit points or below. Due to her body’s nearly preserved status, the frostheart does not die until her hit point total reaches -30, and she remains able to act normally up to this point, regardless of her current hit points. In addition, she gains Fast Healing of 5 while in temperatures below freezing.

Arctic Breath (Sp): By exhaling a blast of supernaturally cold air, the frostheart is able to produce a cone of cold spell three times per day. This ability functions as if cast by a 15th level sorcerer.

Frozen Transcendence (Sp): Upon reaching 10th level, the frostheart’s body completely adapts to the frozen heart in her chest. Her bodily processes, slowed as they are, halt completely, changing her type to “Elemental”. The frostheart gains darkvision to a range of 60 feet, as well as immunity to poison, paralysis, stunning, and sleep effects. She is no longer subject to critical hits or flanking, and longer needs to eat, sleep, or breathe. In addition, the damage from her hypothermic touch increases to 4d6.

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