Dread

Most creatures must learn to deal with fear in some fashion. For some, it is confronting and overcoming their fears. For others, it is always running away. For the dread, it is using her fear as a weapon, it is understanding how fear works and manipulating the fears of others in unusual and devastating ways. The dread is the master of fear and terror.
Role: A dread is an opponent on the battlefield who can turn the bravest of enemies into a sniveling coward with but a touch. Combining moderate manifesting ability with destructive melee attacks, the dread is a dangerous opponent to ignore. Out of combat, the dread uses fear and intimidation to manipulate or bully others into the path she deems best.
Alignment: Any.
Hit Die: d8.
Starting Wealth: 3d6 × 10 (average 105 gp). In addition, each character begins play with an outfit worth 10 gp or less.
Starting Age: Intuitive.

Class Skills

The dread’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Acrobatics (Dex), Autohypnosis (Wis), Bluff (Cha), Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Escape Artist (Dex), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (psionics) (Int), Perception (Wis), Stealth (Dex), Profession (Wis), Spellcraft (Int), Sense Motive (Wis), and Swim (Str)
Skill Ranks per Level: 6 + Int modifier.

Table: Dread

Level	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Special	Power Points/Day	Powers Known	Maximum Design Level Known
1st	+0	+0	+2	+2	Fearsome insight, devastating touch, talents	1	1	1st
2nd	+1	+0	+3	+3	Terror	2	2	1st
3rd	+2	+1	+3	+3	Aura of fear, channel terror	4	3	1st
4th	+3	+1	+4	+4	Terror	6	4	2nd
5th	+3	+1	+4	+4	Bonus feat	8	5	2nd
6th	+4	+2	+5	+5	Terror	12	6	2nd
7th	+5	+2	+5	+5	Immersed in fear	16	7	3rd
8th	+6/+1	+2	+6	+6	Terror	20	8	3rd
9th	+6/+1	+3	+6	+6	Bonus feat	24	9	3rd
10th	+7/+2	+3	+7	+7	Terror	28	10	4th
11th	+8/+3	+3	+7	+7	Shadow twin, twin fear	36	11	4th
12th	+9/+4	+4	+8	+8	Terror	44	12	4th
13th	+9/+4	+4	+8	+8	Bonus feat	52	13	5th
14th	+10/+5	+4	+9	+9	Terror	60	14	5th
15th	+11/+6/+1	+5	+9	+9	Shadow twin (100 ft.), twin fear (form of doom)	68	15	5th
16th	+12/+7/+2	+5	+10	+10	Terror	80	16	6th
17th	+12/+7/+2	+5	+10	+10	Bonus feat	92	17	6th
18th	+13/+8/+3	+6	+11	+11	Terror	104	18	6th
19th	+14/+9/+4	+6	+11	+11	Shadow twin (400 ft.)	116	19	6th
20th	+15/+10/+5	+6	+12	+12	Fear incarnate, terror	128	20	6th

Class Features

All the following are class features of the dread.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency

Dreads are proficient with all simple and martial weapons, with light armor but not with shields.

Powers Points/Day

A dread’s ability to manifest powers is limited by the power points she has available. Her base daily allotment of power points is given on Table: The Dread. In addition, she receives bonus power points per day if she has a high Charisma score. Her race may also provide bonus power points per day, as may certain feats and items.

Powers Known

A dread begins play knowing one dread power of your choice. At every class level after 1st, she unlocks the knowledge of a new power.
Choose the powers known from the dread power list. (Exception: The feat Expanded Knowledge does allow a dread to learn powers from the lists of other classes.) A dread can manifest any power that has a power point cost equal to or lower than her manifester level.
The total number of powers a dread can manifest in a day is limited only by her daily power points.
A dread simply knows her powers; they are ingrained in her mind. She does not need to prepare them (in the way that some spellcasters prepare their spells), though she must get a good night’s sleep each day to regain all her spent power points.
The Difficulty Class for saving throws against dread powers is 10 + the power’s level + the dread’s Charisma modifier.

Maximum Power Level Known

A dread begins play with the ability to learn 1st-level powers. As she attains higher levels, she may gain the ability to master more complex powers.
To learn or manifest a power, a dread must have a Charisma score of at least 10 + the power’s level.

Fearsome Insight

The dread’s connection to the fears and the subconscious grows and she gains a greater understanding of the mental faculties which regulate fear. This translates into an insight bonus to Intimidate equal to half her class level (minimum +1).

Devastating Touch (Su)

A dread is able to channel psionic energy from fear and nightmares into a touch that causes pain. To use this ability, a dread must make a melee touch attack on a living target. If the attack hits, it deals 1d6 points of damage plus 1 point per class level.

Talents

Dreads learn minor powers they can use at will to aid them in a variety of ways. The dread gains 2 talents from the dread talent list.

Terror (Su)

Beginning at 2nd level, a dread learns to harness the power of fear in a variety of ways called terrors. Using a terror is a swift action. Some terrors are channelled through her devastating touch class feature. These terrors charge a dread’s touch (and later her weapon) until her next successful attack that round.
Some terrors can be augmented by spending power points, similar to manifesting powers, to increase their effect. When augmenting her terrors with power points, the dread cannot spend more power points than her manifester level on any single use of a terror.
A dread can use her terrors a total number of times per day equal to her dread level + her Charisma modifier.
All terrors may only be chosen once unless otherwise specified.
Editor’s Note

A complete list of dread terrors can be found at Dread Terrors

Aura of Fear (Su)

At 3rd level, a dread radiates a palpably daunting aura that causes all enemies within 10 feet to take a –4 penalty on saving throws against fear effects. Creatures that are normally immune to fear lose that immunity while within 10 feet of a dread with this ability. This ability functions only while the dread remains conscious, not if she is unconscious or dead.

Channel Terror (Su)

At 3rd level, the dread learns how to channel her terrors through any melee weapon she is holding or through her devastating touch class feature, even if using devastating touch as a ranged attack (such as through the mindlock terror). If channeling a terror through a weapon, it does not gain the benefits of the devastating touch ability.

Bonus Feat

At 5th level, the dread gains a bonus feat from the following list. The dread must still meet all prerequisites for the bonus feat, including ability score and base attack bonus minimums as well as class requirements (like levels in another specific class).
These bonus feats are in addition to the feats that a character of any class gains every two levels. A dread is not limited to the list of feats below when choosing these other feats.
Additional Terror, Disciple of Fear, Extra Terrors, Fear Mastery, Multiple Connections, Open Door, Touch of Terror.
The dread gains an additional bonus feat from the same list every 4 levels thereafter (9th, 13th, and 17th).

Immersed in Fear (Su)

At 7th level, the dread gains immunity to fear (psionic or otherwise). This ability functions whether the dread is conscious or unconscious, but not when she is dead.

Shadow Twin (Su)

A dread of 11th level is able to draw forth a replica of herself formed from fears and nightmares. The shadow twin appears at a location chosen by the dread that is within 30 ft. and lasts for one round per class level. The dread and this shadow twin are, for all intents and purposes, one person – including only having one round’s worth of actions to use between the two, sharing attacks of opportunity, sharing a single pool of hit points and power points, and having access to all of the same abilities and daily uses of those abilities. If the shadow twin is damaged or healed, the dread takes the damage or healing, and vice versa. If both the dread and the shadow twin are affected by the same area of effect, damage is only counted once.
If the shadow twin attacks, it uses the dread’s attack values. The shadow twin can threaten squares and has all the same equipment as the dread, but charged items or items with limited uses per day have their uses shared between the two. Any permanent magic items are also active on the shadow twin.
The shadow twin can allow the dread to flank an enemy, make attacks of opportunity she wouldn’t normally be able to do, extend the range for a power or mindlock, or just scout ahead.
Effects, both beneficial and detrimental, that affect the dread also affect the shadow twin, and vice versa. The shadow twin must stay within 30 ft. of the dread or the effect immediately ends.
A dread can use shadow twin a number of times per day equal to his Charisma modifier.
At 15th level, the shadow twin must stay within 100 ft. of the dread before the effect ends.
At 19th level, the shadow twin must stay within 400 ft. of the dread before the effect ends.

Twin Fear (Su)

When a dread of at least 11th level has a shadow twin active, if any creature within 30 ft. of the dread or the shadow twin suffers from the shaken, frightened, or panicked condition at the start of the dread’s turn, the shadow twin uses a separate action pool instead of sharing the round’s actions with the dread for that round. This means that it and the dread could both make attacks in the same round.
At 15th level, if any creature within 30 ft. of the dread or shadow twin suffers from the frightened or panicked condition, the shadow twin is treated as if under the affect of the form of doom power. Unlike other effects, the dread is not also under this effect.

Fear Incarnate

At 20th level the dread no longer acts as a simple conduit between the realm of nightmares and the Material Plane, but becomes the embodiment of nightmares. The dread’s type changes to Outsider (native), she gains DR 10/psionic, and she gains the ability to turn ethereal at will. In addition, the dread can use the Nightmare Form terror at will, even if she does not already have it. Using Nightmare Form no longer consumes a use of her terrors for the day.
Psionics Expanded: Advanced Psionics Guide. Copyright 2011, Dreamscarred Press; Authors: Jeremy Smith and Andreas Rönnqvist.