Blasphemer

At 1st level, a blasphemer chooses two domains from among those belonging to its master (usually an archfiend but occasionally an evil deity); however, it cannot select the Good or Sun domains or any domain based on positive energy, goodness, or holiness, regardless of the master’s alignment or domains. A blasphemer can select an alignment domain (Chaos, Evil, or Law) only if his alignment matches that domain.

Each domain gives the blasphemer access to a domain spell at each spell level it can cast, from 1st on up, as well as a granted power. The blasphemer gets the granted powers of both the domains selected.

To prepare or cast a spell, a blasphemer must have a Wisdom score equal to at least 10 + the spell level. The Difficulty Class for a saving throw against a blasphemer’s spell is 10 + the spell level + the blasphemer’s Wisdom modifier.

A blasphemer can cast only a certain number of spells of each spell level per day. Its base daily spell allotment is given on Table: The Blasphemer. In addition, it receives bonus spells per day if it has a high Wisdom score. In addition, it receives bonus spells per day if it has a high Wisdom score.

A blasphemer’s caster level is equal to twice his class level.

A blasphemer must choose a time at which it must spend 1 hour each day in quiet meditation to regain its daily allotment of spells. Time spent resting has no effect on whether a blasphemer can prepare spells.

Spell Access

A blasphemer has access to all spells on the blasphemer spell list and can prepare any of them, provided that it can cast spells of that level.

Chaotic, Evil, Good, and Lawful Spells

A blasphemer can’t access, prepare, or cast spells of an alignment opposed to its own or its master’s. Spells associated with particular alignments are indicated by the chaos, evil, good, and law descriptors in their spell descriptions.

Domains and Domain Spells

With access to two domain spells at a given spell level, a blasphemer prepares one or the other each day in its domain spell slot. If a domain spell is not on the blasphemer spell list, a blasphemer can prepare it only in its domain spell slot.

A blasphemer learns to create ritual sites capable of harnessing and directing the faith of its cultists. Preparing a ritual site requires 8 hours of work, during which the blasphemer must focus on aligning the spiritual energies of the space to its desires.

A ritual site can be located anywhere with sufficient space to hold the blasphemer and the cultists, including any tools or paraphernalia the blasphemer deems crucial to site. Ritual sites have no set appearance and can range from secret back rooms covered with magical circles and dark altars to a ring of standing stones in woods to the center of worship in a grand temple built for that purpose, as determined by the blasphemer when the ritual site is created. Blasphemers often enjoy desecrating and perverting abandoned sites left behind by other faiths and religions.

Once prepared, a ritual site is permanent unless intentionally damaged or destroyed. The entire space radiates with faint auras of Abjuration and Conjuration, but no specific spells can be determined. It is protected by a constant nondetection effect, using the blasphemer’s caster level.

A blasphemer can maintain a number of ritual sites equal to its Charisma bonus (minimum 1), with any new site created beyond this maximum causing a previous site to lose its spiritual alignment, losing all benefits.

A blasphemer can perform a ritual in which cultists swear a binding oath, tying themselves to the cult and the blasphemer with spiritual bonds. This specifics of this ritual can take any form the blasphemer chooses, but it often appears as a twisted mockery of the rites of prominent Good-aligned religions in the local area. At the conclusion of this ritual, a magical bond forms between the mortal cultists and the blasphemer. (A mortal is any creature with Intelligence 3 or higher that is not a construct, elemental, outsider, or undead).

An oath ritual must take place in a ritual site prepared by the blasphemer. The ritual takes 1 hour to complete plus an additional 10 minutes per mortal taking the oath. If the ritual is interrupted, the process is ruined, and the blasphemer must begin the ritual again.

When the blasphemer begins the oath ritual, mortal creatures in the room are subject to the effects of an enthrall spell (DC 10 + the blasphemer’s class level + blasphemer’s Charisma modifier). Willing participants automatically fail their save. This effect lasts for the duration of the ritual.

After the first hour of the ritual, the blasphemer will approach each mortal initiate and spend 10 minutes forging the bond with that initiate. An initiate who wishes to resist the bond may attempt to do so with a successful Will save (DC 10 + the blasphemer’s class level + the blasphemer’s Charisma modifier + 4 if enthralled). Participants may willingly fail their save.

If the save is successful, the bond does not form, and the blasphemer is immediately aware of this fact; however, it will often ignore failed bonds until the end of the ritual to ensure that the ritual is not interrupted and to give a mortal the false hope that it has tricked the blasphemer.

A blasphemer’s alignment is permanently concealed from all forms of divination, much like the undetectable alignment spell.

The oath ritual gives a blasphemer a magical and spiritual bond to its sworn cultists that transcends any distance. A blasphemer can use locate creature at will as a supernatural ability to locate any cultist who has sworn an oath to it. This ability works as the spell but has no maximum distance and is not blocked by simple means such as lead or running water. It is, however, limited to only finding those who have sworn an oath. If the cultist is located on a different plane, the blasphemer becomes aware on which plane the cultist can be found but not the cultist’s location on that plane.

Beginning at 2nd level, a blasphemer can bestow one of its esoteric abilities on one of its cultists as a sort of “divine boon.” A blasphemer can transfer multiple esoteric abilities to the same cultist or split up multiple uses of the same ability to multiple cultists, however it chooses. A blasphemer can grant a cultist as many of its spells, spell-like abilities, powers, or other esoteric abilities as it chooses with each use of this ability.

A cultist retains the esoteric ability for as long as the blasphemer wills it, but the blasphemer can revoke a granted esoteric ability at any time it chooses as a free action.

The cultist’s caster level for the transferred ability is equal to the minimum required to cast the spell or the cultist’s cleric caster level, whichever is higher. The save DC of the transferred ability is based on the cultist’s Wisdom.

The cultist cannot use the transferred ability for meeting prerequisites, nor can a transferred spell slot be used to prepare any spell other than the one transferred. Otherwise, the transferred ability can be used as if it were the cultist’s own ability.

Transferred Spells

A blasphemer can transfer any spell it knows and has prepared, up to a maximum spell level equal to its class level. When transferred, the blasphemer expends the spell slot with the spell to be transferred as if it had cast the spell. The transferred spell slot cannot be recovered until the blasphemer revokes this ability.

The cultist immediately gains the transferred spell as a spell-like ability which can be cast once per day. The cultist retains spell-like ability until the blasphemer revokes it.

When the blasphemer revokes the spell, it returns in its current state. If the cultist not cast the spell-like ability that day, then the blasphemer immediately gains it a prepared spell. If the spell-like ability has been cast, the blasphemer gains only an expended spell slot, which it regains and can prepare the next day as normal.

Transferred Psionic Powers

Transferring a power works much like transferring a spell. The blasphemer loses a number of power points equal to the minimum required to manifest the transferred power, which cannot be regained until the power is revoked. The cultist gains the power as a psi-like ability usable once per day.

When the blasphemer revokes the power, it regains power points if the cultist has not yet manifested the psi-like ability that day.

Transferred Spell-Like and Psi-Like Abilities

When a blasphemer transfers a spell-like ability (or psi-like ability) to a cultist, it loses the same number of daily uses of that ability. An ability that the blasphemer can use at will counts as only being usable 5 times per day for the purposes of transferring it. So, if the blasphemer transfers two uses of an at will ability, it can only use that ability 3 times per day.

A cultist regains daily uses of a transferred ability whenever he would normally prepare his cleric spells (even if the cultist isn’t a cleric).

When the blasphemer revokes the spell-like ability, it immediately gains the daily uses the cultist just lost. If the cultist has already used the ability, it counts as if the blasphemer already used it for the day after the blasphemer revokes it.

Transferred Invocations and Hexes

A blasphemer treat invocations and hexes as spell-like abilities when it transfers them to a cultist. This drastically limits the number of times per day that a blasphemer can use these abilities, so it is rarely willing to grant them to its cultists.

Askashic Magic and Supernatural Abilities

The effects of supernatural abilities cannot be transferred with this ability, nor can the benefits of veils and other akashic magic abilities, even those veils which grant spell-like abilities.

At 2nd level, a blasphemer begins to benefit for the worship of its cultists, immediately gaining 5 Faith Points and the ability to select faith feats whenever it gains a feat.

Each day that at least one cultist meditates, prays, or performs some other religious ceremony within a prepared ritual site, the blasphemer gains additional faith points. It gains a number of faith points each day equal to its class level or the highest level cultist that participates in worship, whichever is lower.

A blasphemer can have a maximum number of faith points equal to 5 + its class level. It cannot gain faith points through any other means (except inherent racial abilities). This means a blasphemer doesn’t gain additional faith points even when gaining a faith feat.

A 3rd-level blasphemer can grant spellcasting ability to a cleric (or other divine spellcaster that gains power from a deity), much like a deity can.

If the blasphemer serves a more powerful fiend or deity, then it simply acts as an intermediary and channels the divine magic to its cleric. In this case, the cleric can choose from any cleric domain offered by the blasphemer’s master.

If the blasphemer simply takes spells without a patron of its own, then its cleric can only choose from domains that the blasphemer itself possesses.

Regardless, a blasphemer can only sponsor a cleric whose level is no higher than twice the blasphemer’s class level. This limit applies only to cleric levels and cleric spellcasting, not overall character level. For example, a 4th level blasphemer can sponsor clerics of up to 8th level. That 8th-level cleric might have levels in other classes, but she cannot gain additional cleric levels or levels in prestige classes that advance her cleric spellcasting beyond 8th level.

Beginning at 3rd level, when a sworn cultist prays, the blasphemer is immediately aware of the prayer and which cultist is praying. By expending a faith point, the blasphemer can hear the offered prayer and respond as if the cultist had cast a commune spell. The blasphemer can offer a simple, one-word response, usually a yes or no. Unlike a commune spell, these prayers have no material component or cost on the part of the cultist.

The blasphemer gains no ability to solicit a prayer or otherwise communicate at range with its cultists using this ability and must rely on the cultist to initiate prayer.

A blasphemer can use this ability on a cultist who prays within a prepared ritual site without expending a faith point, but only once per day per cultist. Additional uses of this ability with the same cultist requires spending faith points as normal.

A blasphemer who attains 4th level gains the insidious ability to compel obedience in its cultists through inflicting pain and suffering. A blasphemer can target any one of its cultists, regardless of distance, by expending a faith point.

A cultist targeted by divine chastisement suffers excruciating physical and spiritual pain, taking 1d4 nonlethal damage per class level of the blasphemer and suffering a -2 penalty to attack rolls, skill checks, ability checks, and saving throws for 1 minute. A blasphemer may use this ability multiple times on the same cultist; the penalty stacks (to a max of -10), and each use adds 1 minute to the duration.

A successful Fortitude save (DC 10 + the blasphemer’s class level + the blasphemer’s Charisma modifier) halves the nonlethal damage and negates the penalty.

A blasphemer can use this ability on a cultist within a prepared ritual site without expending a faith point.

At 4th level, a blasphemer can expend a faith point to cast scrying on one of its cultists as a supernatural ability. This ability can only target cultists who have sworn an oath to the blasphemer, but while this ability is active, the blasphemer can use a standard action to transfer the the scrying sensor to any of its other sworn cultists without spending additional faith points. A cultist on the same plane as the blasphemer automatically fails its Will save against this effect and is unaware of the scrying, even if the cultist has a spell or ability active that would inform him of being scryed upon.

A blasphemer can also use this ability to scry on a prepared ritual site (whether or not a cultist is present).

At 5th level, the blasphemer becomes immune to any effect that would read its thoughts, divine its truthfulness, or magically discern its alignment, such as detect thoughts, discern lies, or detect evil. The Insight skill and other non-magical means still function normally, but the blasphemer gains a bonus on any such opposed checks equal to its class level.

At 5th level, a blasphemer can expend a prepared blasphemer spell with no effect to gain a number of faith points equal to half that spell’s level, rounded down. A blasphemer can only use this ability while within a prepared ritual site. Converting a spell slot into faith points takes 1 minute and provokes attacks of opportunity.

Beginning at 6th level, a blasphemer can appoint deacons within its cult. Any cultist that has sworn an oath to the blasphemer can be appointed as a deacon, regardless of class or level. A cultist must be within a prepared ritual site to be appointed as a deacon. If the blasphemer is not present for the appointment, the offer appears to the potential deacon as a divine vision. A cultist must willingly accept the appointment to become a deacon.

Deacons gain the ability to perform the oath ritual without the blasphemer’s direct involvement, allowing the blasphemer to spread its blasphemous cult farther than it can alone. When a deacon performs the oath ritual, the associated save DCs are equal to 10 + 6 (the blasphemer’s class level) + the deacon’s Charisma modifier.

A blasphemer is always aware of an oath ritual being performed in its name and can choose to reject the bond with any initiate. The deacon is immediately aware of any rejected bonds and of bonds failed due to a successful Will save.

A blasphemer may respond to a deacon’s prayers once per day without expending a faith point, even if the deacon is not within a prepared ritual site (see Prayers of the Faithful above). Deacons are otherwise treated as normal cultists, though they are rightfully seen as leaders within the cult. A blasphemer may have a number of deacons equal to its Charisma bonus, minimum 1.

In addition, a deacon who has been ordained as a cleric in the blasphemer’s cult (see Ordain Cleric above) can have a cleric level up to three time the blasphemer’s class level. This means a 6th-level blasphemer can sponsor a cleric of up to 18th level, as long as that cleric is also appointed as a deacon.

A blasphemer gains the ultimate tool of ensuring obedience at 6th level, the ability to render divine judgment on a cultist, ending that cultist’s life with but a thought. At will as a full-round action, a blasphemer can expend a faith point to will a sworn cultist to die. There is no maximum range on this ability, and it even functions across planes. However, if the blasphemer and cultist are not on the same plane, using this ability costs three faith points.

When the blasphemer wills for a cultist to die, the cultist must immediately make a Fortitude save or die (DC 10 + the blasphemer’s class level + the blasphemer’s Charisma modifier + 4 if the cultist is on a different plane). On a successful save, the cultist doesn’t instantly die but still takes 6d6 points of damage. This is a death effect.

A blasphemer can use this ability on a cultist within a prepared ritual site without expending a faith point (or for two faith points if on a different plane).

When a blasphemer reaches 6th level, it gains enough power to claim the souls of its cultists upon their death. Whenever a blasphemer’s cultist dies, it immediately becomes aware of this fact and may expend 2 faith points to capture the soul as though casting soul bind, except that the soul gem is formed as part of using this ability at no additional cost to the blasphemer and is not needed as a spell focus. This is a free action, but it must be completed within 1 minute of the cultist’s death.

There is no maximum range on this ability, but if the blasphemer and cultist are not on the same plane, using this ability costs the blasphemer an additional faith point.

In addition to the normal uses for soul gems, a blasphemer gains the following uses for souls.

Eternal Worship

A soul gem containing a cultist’s soul can be placed in any of a blasphemer’s prepared ritual sites as a focus for that site. The gem must be placed in a visible location (often as part of an altar) and used during worship. While the soul gem remains in place, the trapped soul is considered to take part in any worship that at least one other cultist participates in, potentially generating additional faith points for the blasphemer if the soul’s level is high enough. Only the trapped souls of the blasphemer’s cultists can take part in Eternal Worship.

Ghostly Defender

While a soul gem is within a prepared ritual location, the blasphemer can expend a faith point as a full-round action to summon the trapped soul as a ghost under its command. The summoned ghostly defender persists for 10 minutes before returning to the soul gem. The soul also returns to the soul gem if the ghostly defender is destroyed or moves more than 100 feet from the ritual site that houses its soul gem.

A blasphemer can use this ability on a soul gem in any of its ritual locations, allowing it to summon a ghostly defender even while not present. However, the blasphemer is not able to issue commands from a distance. Without specific commands, a ghostly defender will defend a ritual location to the best of its abilities and will not willingly damage its own soul gem, but it will otherwise act according to its own desires.

If an appointed deacon is present in a ritual site where a ghostly defender is summoned, the blasphemer may spend one additional faith point to grant the deacon the ability to issue orders to the ghost.

A blasphemer can use Ghostly Defender on any soul gem it possesses, even if it gained that gem through means other than its Soul Usurpation.