Embracing chthonic energy to the degree of becoming a chthonic master changes the way you interact with akasha on a basic level; however, you never stray far from your original veilweaving techniques. Chthonic master embraces an unorthodox philosophy in how akashic magic should be utilized, but that philosophy can be applied to any method of veilweaving.
Whereas most veilweavers focus on developing their inner essence, slowly strengthening themselves to better harness the akasha, the chthonic master embraces the all-consuming powers of death to harvest the essence of other creatures. Though almost universally hated for their propensity to damage and consume souls, the chthonic master’s lust for power drives him down this dark path without care for the opinions of others. Some even convinced themselves that they are doing something good, drawing upon an energy that would otherwise be wasted, conserving the powers of the world when possible.
Entry Requirements
Alignment: Any Evil.
Skills: Arcane Lore 7 ranks , Theology 5 ranks.
Feat: Chthonic Akasha Acolyte.
Veilweaving: Ability to weave veils, ability to bind veils to the Hands, Feet, and Head chakras.
| Base Attack Bonus | Fort Save | Ref Save | Will Save | Special | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Veils | ||||||
| 1st | +0 | +0 | +0 | +1 | Harvest soul, stolen essence | – |
| 2nd | +1 | +0 | +0 | +1 | Chakra bind (Wrists) | – |
| 3rd | +2 | +1 | +1 | +2 | Consume soul fragment, Improved chthonic essence capacity +1 | 1 |
| 4th | +3 | +1 | +1 | +2 | Chakra bind (Shoulders) | 1 |
| 5th | +3 | +1 | +1 | +3 | Soultrap aura | 1 |
| 6th | +4 | +2 | +2 | +3 | Chakra bind (Headband), chthonic initiate | 2 |
| 7th | +5 | +2 | +2 | +4 | Greater soultheft | 2 |
| 8th | +6 | +2 | +2 | +4 | Chakra bind (Neck) | 2 |
| 9th | +6 | +3 | +3 | +5 | Improved chthonic essence capacity +2 | 3 |
| 10th | +7 | +3 | +3 | +5 | Chakra bind (Belt) | 3 |
| 11th | +8 | +3 | +3 | +6 | Harvest soul (full-round action) | 3 |
| 12th | +9 | +4 | +4 | +6 | Chakra bind (Chest) | 4 |
| 13th | +9 | +4 | +4 | +7 | Chakra bind (Body), chthonic mastery | 4 |
Class Skills (2 + Int modifier per level): Arcane Lore, Deception, Intimidate, Profession, and Theology.
Class Features
Weapon and Armor Proficiency
A Chthonic Master gains no proficiency with any type of weapon, armor, or shield.
Chthonic Veilweaving
Your veilweaving modifier is unchanged. At each level of chthonic master, your veilweaver level increases by 1.
You increase the number of veils you can weave, as given on Table: The Chthonic Master. You do not learn any new veils but may continue to weave any veils you already know.
Chthonic master levels do not increase your personal essence pool.
At 2nd level and every 2 levels thereafter, you unlock chakra binds in the following order: Wrist, Shoulders, Headband, Neck, Belt, and Chest. At 13th level, you unlock the Body chakra bind.
Stolen Essence
When harvesting the souls of the dead, a chthonic master captures and holds fragments of that creature’s soul. You gain the ability to use stolen essence and a stolen essence pool.
Harvest Soul
Chthonic masters follow a different path to power than most veilweavers. Their focus shifts from improving their own limited essence to harnessing the plentiful soul energy of others.
At 1st level, you learn a ritual to capture the remnants of essence from the recently deceased. This ritual requires 1 minute of uninterrupted concentration plus the corpse of a living creature that has been dead for no longer than 1 hour per chthonic master level you possess.
At the end of the ritual, you gain stolen essence equal to one-half your chthonic master level (rounded up) to a max of the creature’s Hit Dice. A corpse cannot be harvested more than once.
At 11th level, you can perform this ritual as a full-round action that provokes attacks of opportunity.
Consume Soul Fragment
As a full-round action beginning at 3rd level, you may completely consume a fragment of stolen soul energy to gain a temporary boost to yourself. To use this ability, you willingly deal 1 or more damage to your stolen essence pool, which cannot be reduced or prevented.
For each point of stolen essence willingly sacrificed, you immediately heal 5 hit points per class level and heal 1 point of either ability damage or essence damage to your personal essence pool. Additionally, you gain a profane bonus on attack rolls, saves, and skill checks equal to the number of stolen essence consumed. This bonus lasts for 1 round per class level.
Improved Cthonic Essence Capacity
When you attain 9th level, the essence capacity of all your chthonic essence receptacles increases by one. This applies to any veil, akashic feat, ability, or item with the chthonic descriptor or chthonic in the name. This stacks with other effects that increase your essence capacity.
Soultrap Aura
Starting at 5th level, you possess an aura capable of capturing soul energy as it leaves the body. This aura extends out to 100 feet.
When a creature dies within your aura, you may spend an immediate action to gain stolen essence equal to one-half your chthonic master level (rounded up) to a max of the creature’s Hit Dice, which you can immediately invest in any essence receptacle as part of this action.
You must have line of sight and line of effect to the target to use this ability and must be aware of the creature’s death.
Chthonic Initiate
A chthonic master is particularly proficient in the use of chthonic energy, granting you the following abilities at 6th level which improve or change your chthonic veils.
Bloody Shroud
When you deal piercing or slashing damage to a creature within your aura, you deal 1 additional damage for each point of essence invested in this veil.
Dark Lord’s Ring of Essence-Binding
The created chthonic zombie gains 1 Hit Die for every two points of essence invested in this veil.
Deathchannel Ring
You are healed by this veil as if you were undead.
Heart of the Wight
The saving throw bonus also applies to mind-affecting effects and bleed effects. In addition, you gain damage reduction against nonlethal damage equal to your cthonic master level + the essence invested in this veil.
Plaguebringer Gauntlets
You gain access to a second cruelty when you weave and bind this veil. You may apply both cruelties with a single attack, but this consumes two daily uses of this veil against the target creature.
Robe of the Forgotten Deity
As a standard action, you can create an aura of darkness around yourself, as per the darkness spell, with a radius of 5 feet per point of essence invested in this veil. You can see through this darkness effect without penalty.
Greater Soultheft
At 7th level, you gain an additional stolen essence pool. This allows you to steal essence from two different creatures at the same time. Each stolen essence pool is tracked separately for all purposes and follows all other rules for stolen essence. This benefit stacks with the Improved Soultheft feat.
Chthonic Mastery
You truly master chthonic energy at 13th level, gaining the following abilities with your chthonic veils.
Bloody Shroud
When a creature suffers damage from a bleed effect while within this veil’s aura, you heal a number of hit points equal to the damage dealt by the bleed effect.
Dark Lord’s Ring of Essence-Binding
You are able to animate and control two chthonic zombies at one time with this veil, though you must use a separate action to animate each one.
Deathchannel Ring
While bound to your ring chakra, you can expend uses of this ability to rebuke and command undead. Your effective cleric level for this ability is equal to your chthonic master level + the amount of essence invested in this veil. If you can channel divinity from another source, this ability does not stack. This is an exception to the normal rules for channeling divinity.
Heart of the Wight
While bound to your chest chakra, this veil grants you resistance to positive energy equal to your chthonic master level + the amount of essence invested in this veil.
Plaguebringer Gauntlets
The number of times per day a creature can be affected by this veil is doubled.
Robe of the Forgotten Deity
The darkness ability functions as the deeper darkness spell, with a radius of 10 feet per point of essence invested in this veil. Every two points of essence invested in this veil increases the effective spell level of the deeper darkness ability by 1, making it harder for light spells to overcome it. You can see through this deeper darkness effect without penalty.