Seraph of Strife

Seraph of Strife “Seraph of Strife” is a template that can be added to any humanoid creature. A Seraph of Strife uses the character’s statistics and special abilities except as noted here. A Seraph of Strife only has their power at the will of Cyric; should the Prince of Lies decide to remove the Seraph’s status from the character, they revert to their normal abilities. A character of any class can be elevated to this status, but the most likely candidates are blackguards, clerics, or spur lords. There can only be one Seraph of Strife at any given time. Alignment: Chaotic Evil Immunities: A Seraph of Strife is immune to all aging (natural or accelerated), mind affecting, compulsion, and sleep based effects. The Seraph of Strife cannot be affected by the hostile divine spells of fellow Cyricists, and no longer enters into a state of total rest, meditating instead upon visions of past and future upheaval, of loves lost and bonds severed, much as an elf enters reverie. Bonus Spells (Sp): At Will- Detect Thoughts; Constant- Entropic Shield, Tongues; Three Times per day- Blindness/Deafness, Hideous Laughter, Suggestion, Touch of Idiocy; Once per day- Blade Barrier, Confusion, Dirge of Discord*, Mass Suggestion (*spell found here) Raving Threshold (Ex): Pity all who would brave the din of the Seraph’s mind, as perfect a mirror of their lord’s twisted anima as any mortal’s could ever could be… Any attempts at divination directed against the Seraph fill the caster’s mind with thousand-fold chorus of the Seraph’s inner voice, forcing them to make a Will save (DC: the Seraph’s Level + the Seraph’s wisdom modifier) to avoid insanity’s onslaught. Those who fail are only able to hear the disparate and obscene chants of the Seraph’s psyche, effectively becoming deafened in the process, and succumb to a madness of their own. The deafness is permanent barring magical recovery, and the latter state is identical to Confusion, lasting for a number of rounds equal to half the Seraph’s charisma modifier. Those who successfully resist are merely dazed and deafened for a single round, but the insights procured are treacherous, warping the divination itself. The particulars of this will vary, but any answer from a divination concerning the Seraph of Strife is only ever trustworthy enough to betray the caster in the end. Those who would be overwhelmed by the Seraph’s aura, such as in the case of Detect Evil or Detect Thoughts, suffer Insanity for their troubles. Bedlam’s Yoke (Su): The Seraph can feed the terror and hostility in a clouded mind, plying the mad with the dissonance of their own thoughts. The Seraph may rebuke or command the insane (those who have suffered enough temporary wisdom to be rendered unconscious, the Confused, and targets in a Rage) as a cleric of the same level commands the undead. Those under the Seraph’s control enter into such a rabid state of mind that they gain the bonuses and penalties of a barbarian’s Rage (if they don’t have them already) and ignore pain for the duration, fighting until they are dead and shrugging off all subdual damage until they return to their senses. Should the Seraph relinquish control over them or should the rebuking attempt otherwise come to an end, those under its sway must make a Fortitude save (DC: the Seraph’s level) or die instantly from the shock of their frenzy’s release. Visions of the Supreme Throne (Su): The Seraph’s presence alone evokes images of betrayal, murder, and conflagration, causing the minds of those within their aura’s range to buckle and fray. This ability functions as a perpetual mindfog, save that it lacks any visual indications and inflicts a -4 morale penalty to Armor Class and all Will saves upon all enemies within thirty feet of the Seraph. Allies and fellow Cyricists (if they aren’t enemies) within this range are bolstered as though under a continual Heroism effect. All attempts to pacify or charm creatures within this range must first overcome the Seraph’s hideous aura, forcing the caster to make a concentration check (DC: 10 + the Seraph’s Level) maintain the intended effect. Should they fail, then the aura distorts it, goading targets to lash out against the caster. In this case, treat the spell as though it were successfully cast, or reversed in the case of spells such as Calm Emotions, by the Seraph. Those who would be overwhelmed by the power of their auras (as in the case of Detect Evil) are affected by this ability as though they had fallen under the sway of the Song of Discord spell. This aura can be subdued as a free action. Black Sun’s Derision (Ex): Three times per day, the Seraph may reflect any effect that they are immune to or that they have successfully resisted back upon the caster, regardless of the distance involved. The targeted caster suffers a circumstance penalty on their save equal to the Seraph’s charisma modifier. Dance the Razor’s Edge (Sp): The Seraph is viscerally attuned to moments of great upheaval and decline. Indeed, they are able to taste discord’s potential in futures that have yet to draw breath. Any conflict or betrayal that threatens the very heart of a city or nation is known to the Seraph six days beforehand. This knowledge is no more specific than a Commune spell, although the Seraph will have an intuitive sense of those who are central to the brewing upheaval. The Seraph may immediately teleport to that general location, as by the Greater Teleport spell, with an hour’s concentration. In addition to sites of potential crisis, the Seraph may choose to use congregations of Cyricists as a focal point for this ability whenever a good or lawfully aligned creature or creatures of at least three fourths the Seraph’s total level/hit dice is to be sacrificed for the Dark Sun’s glory, or has been no more than a week past. Abilities: Dex +2, Int+4, Cha+6, Wis+2 Skills: Gather Information, Knowledge (Nobility), and Sense Motive become class skills for the Seraph, if they are not already. Feats: The character automatically gains the following feats and abilities, regardless of prerequisites. – Dark Blessing – Improved Initiative – Uncanny Dodge