Venomous Soul

A Venemous Soul is a type of specialist Hex Mage whose talents skew towards the production and manipulation of poisons. Whether their power emanates from an overarching hatred for other living things, an interest in alchemy as it applies to warfare, or a fascination with the venomous plants and creatures of nature, Venemous Souls are widely feared for the particularly devious and dangerous nature of their toxic powers.

Career

Qualifications

All Venemous Souls begin as members of the Hex Mage profession who have some experience as alchemists, apothecaries, herbalists, or handlers of venomous animals. Beekeepers are particularly notable in the field, both because of their practical experience with the eponymous insects and because they can often associate the awakening of their arcane powers with the experience of being stung.

Career Progression

More than most Hex Mages, Venomous Souls are prone to making their way in the world through acts of magically-enhanced violence. Savvy leaders with flexible moral frameworks will often employ Venomous Souls as magical weapons of mass destruction, placing them near the front lines or secreting them into the enemy ranks as spies, assassins, and saboteurs. Less commonly, a Venomous Soul will use their extensive knowledge of chemical physiology for more beneficent purposes, such as providing anaesthesia, dusting crop fields, or researching antidotes to the poisons they are so familiar with. In any case, the prowess of a Venomous Soul is measured in the masses of dead or, more charitably, incapacitated living things they leave in their wake.

Payment & Reimbursement

Venomous Souls are not commonly reimbursed on an ongoing basis for services rendered; the nature of their craft is such that it generally entails one-off arrangements rather than ongoing contracts. Those who do find regular employments typically enjoy an advantage in wage negotiations because, whether deserved or not, the nature of their powers make them the sort of person that should not be trifled with over petty matters of coin.

Perception

Social Status

Between the poisonous nature of their powers and the visible miasma of toxic gas that can emanate from the most powerful practitioners, Venomous Souls are even less popular with the general public than most Hex Mages. Still, a Venomous Soul who demonstrates good intentions - or, at least, strong discipline - will still recieve more approval from their community than overtly malicious hex specialists like Imperious Agents, and those who choose to work alongside Bearer of Burdens may even expect a modicum of respect from those who recognize the practical uses for their talents.

Demographics

Humans and elves are somewhat less likely than other species to be Venomous Souls due to the fact that they have nothing in the way of natural resistances to poisons - or, at the very least, attrition rates amongst human and elf practitioners of the Venomous Soul's specialization are rather high. Hengeyokai based on naturally venomous creatures, such as snakes, are much more likely to become Venomous Souls. Mothfolk often take on the specialization because, aside from hailing from environments where venomous creatures are more common, they enjoy the thematic parallel between themselves and spiders, wasps, or bees. Across species, Venomous Souls are more likely to be female because the specialization gives them a way to 'even the odds' against more physically powerful males who might underestimate the danger a Venomous Soul represents.

Mothfolk may be named for fragile and fluffy insects, but one should not make the mistake of assuming they lack for a sting all their own.

Type

Arcane

Other Associated professions

• Hex Mage

Venomous Souls in New Generica

Rare even in comparison to other specializations of Hex Mages, Venomous Souls were primarily found in the warm swamps and deserts of the world where venomous creatures roamed in abundance. A few Venomous Souls have been encountered in the past near the Great Lookout Mountains, where their powers were found to synergize well with toxic spores collected from the burrows and hides of cone badgers. Mothfolk communities are known to sometimes employ Venomous Souls as settlement guards alongside giant scorpions and wasps trained to serve as mounts.

Game Statistics

Venomous Souls In D&D 3.5

The Venomous Soul is a Hex Mage specialized in mundane item creation and debuffing opponents. He is, in many ways, the natural foil to the Bearer of Burdens. Though no more effective in melee combat than his peers, the Venomous Soul gains larger hit dice and immunity to poisons to make him more durable in front-line combat where he will be best able to make use of his various class abilities. Poisons are generally considered sub-optimal in D&D 3.5, so the Venomous Soul is an attempt to improve on them.
The strength of this prestige class hinges at least somewhat on which splat books your roleplaying group has access to. For example, if you have access to the Book of Vile Darkness or Book of Exalted Deeds, you could adapt Venomous Soul to be vile (e.g. using drugs to provide party buffs) or exalted (e.g. using ravages and curing the afflicted) respectively. Books like Complete Scoundrel contain expanded lists of poisons to be used in conjunction with the Venomous Soul's unique abilities.
Prerequisites:
Alignment: Any non-good
Class Features: Hexed Weaponry
Feats: Great Fortitude
Skills: Craft (alchemy) 4, Craft (poison) 8 ranks, Knowledge (nature) 4 ranks

Class Features:
Base Attack Bonus: 3/4 HD
Saves: Fort
Class Skills: Bluff, Concentration, Craft, Disable Device, Disguise, Knowledge (dungeoneering), Knowledge (nature), Profession (herbalist), Search, Sense Motive, Sleight of Hand
Skill Points per Level: 4 + int mod
Hit Dice: d10

Spellcasting Progression (Ex): A Venomous Soul continues to advance in the potency of his Hex Mage abilities. See the note on prestige classes under the hex mage class features for details on Hex Mage progression.
Poison Use (Ex): A Venomous Soul can use poisons without risking poisoning himself. See the Assassin class feature for details.
Detect Poison (Sp): A Venomous Soul may use the Detect Poison spell at will as a spell-like ability. Treat his caster level as his effective Hex Mage level for the purpose of this effect.
Hexing Strike (Acid Damage) (Sp): A Venomous Soul may choose to deal acid damage in lieu of the usual untyped damage when expending hex points against a target. This acid damage may be reduced by resistances, prevented by immunity, or interact with the regeneration ability of certain creatures as normal for acid damage.
Toxic Curse (Sp): Starting at 2nd level, whenever the Venomous Soul expends hex points to deal damage, he may choose to have a single dose of any poison currently on his person affect that target. Doing this uses up the poison, as though it had been applied to a weapon or otherwise administered to the target. Each dose can only be applied to a single target unless the damaging effect is the blast of a Hex Glyph, in which case all creatures immediately damaged by the blast are also exposed to the poison. For every 2 additional hex points expended by the hex mage against a target, increase the save DC of any poison applied via the Toxic Curse ability by 1; these extra hex points have no additional effect (i.e. damage) other than to apply this bonus.
Poison Immunity (Ex): Starting at 3rd level, the Venomous Soul's familiarity with, and long-term exposure to, poisons grants him immunity to all poisons.
Cloud of Corruption (Sp): Starting at 4th level, a Venomous Soul can cause his curse energies to manifest as a cloud of toxic miasma emanating from his body. This cloud extends 5' beyond the body of the Venemous Soul and increases in radius by 5ft for evey five levels of Venomous Soul level thereafter (10' at 9th level, and so forth). Creatures who enter this cloud or who start their turn within it gain hex points as though they were struck once by the Venemous Soul's Hexing Strike ability. Creatures who do not breathe or who hold their breath within the cloud are not affected, as though the hexing strike was applied in the manner of an inhaled poison.
The Venomous Soul can supress or resume his Cloud of Corruption as a swift action. The cloud follows the Venomous Soul as an aura and continuously emanates for up to one round per class level. Unlike most Hex Mage abilities, a Cloud of Corruption is visible and has a pungent, acrid smell. Creatures with the scent special quality can detect the Venemous Soul at twice the usual distance when he is using this ability. Strong winds can snuff out a Cloud of Corruption prematurely and prevent the activation of this ability until the Venomous Soul leaves the area of effect of said winds.
Strong Batch (Ex): The Venomous Soul's specialization lies in poisons of all sorts. Starting at 5th level, whenever the Venemous Soul crafts a poison or another item that generates a poison effect (i.e. a Potion of Poison), the save DC to resist the poison effect, as well as any hit point or ability damage dealt by the poison, are increased by 1. These bonuses increase by one per every five class levels the Venomous Soul possesses (+2 at 10th, and so forth).
Hexed Metabolism (Sp): A Venomous Soul of at least 6th level may cause a creature who is currently under the effect of a poison to immediately make another save against that poison by expending at least 2 hex points on that creature. For every 2 additional hex points expended as part of this ability, the Venomous soul may either increase the save DC of the poison by one or, alternatively, provide an equivalent bonus to the affected creature's save versus that poison. If the creature is an enemy and fails the save, then the poison's initial effect occurs again and the duration of the poison effect is reset, as though the poison were reapplied. If the creature is an ally and succeeds on the save, then the poison's duration immediately ends and any effects stemming therefrom (ability damage, unconsciousness, etc.) are immediately cured. In each case, if the creature is under the effect of multiple poisons, then the Venomous Soul must decide which poison to affect with each use of Hexed Metabolism.
Concentrated Batch (Ex): Whenever a Venomous Soul of at least 7th level choses to craft a mundane poison, he produces three doses of that poison rather than a single dose. Each dose has only one-third the weight and volume due to being highly concentrated. Anyone other than a Venomous Soul attempting to use these concentrated poisons rolls twice to determine whether they poison themselves and takes the worse result; even a non-Venomous Soul with the Poison Use class feature must still roll once to determine whether they poison themselves. Because of their dangerous nature and the fact that the amount of materials used does not change, each individual dose of poison sells for only one-third the original price despite its improved nature.
Envenomed Attack (Ex): Starting at 7th level, the Venomous Soul is so adroit with the handling of poisons that applying them to his natural weapons, manufactured weapons, or unarmed strikes is a free action that does not provoke attacks of opportunity. Other alchemical agents that may be applied to weapons, such as holy water, may also be applied in this manner, though they may also affect the Venomous Soul if applied to his natural weapons or unarmed strikes. Furthermore, if applied as a free action, an alchemical item has a 5% chance to affect the Venomous Soul as though it were a poison being applied without access to the Poison Use class feature.