Psion Prestige Class : Thrallherd

Thrallherds manipulate the minds of others as if they were clay in the hands of a sculptor. Some creatures are more susceptible than others to the thrallherd's unconscious, but continual, call to service. And so they come, eager to be led, happy to follow, and completely under the thrallherd's control. In this way, thrallherds keep a minor menagerie of enthralled servants that are anxious to do their will.

This class doesn't offer much for those who enjoy doing things themselves. Because thrallherds delegate most tasks, including their own physical defense, psions (especially telepaths) are most apt to follow this path.

NPC thrallherds are perfect villains or valuable lieutenants because of each one's ability to hold the minds of several underlings simultaneously, and without needing to actively recruit new believers to replace those that perish while executing their assigned duties.

Requirements

To qualify to become a Thrallherd, a character must fulfill all the following criteria:

Class Skills

The thrallherd's class skills are Autohypnosis, Bluff, Concentration, Craft (any), Diplomacy, Knowledge (psionics), Psicraft, and Sense Motive.

Skill Points at Each Level: 2 + Int modifier.

Class Features

All the following are class features of the thrallherd prestige class.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Thrallherds gain no proficiency with any weapon or armor.

Powers Known: At every level from 2nd through 9th, a thrallherd gains additional power points per day and access to new powers as if she had also gained a level in whatever manifesting class she belonged to before she added the prestige class. She does not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained (bonus feats, metapsionic or item creation feats, psicrystal special abilities, and so on). This essentially means that she adds the level of thrallherd to the level of whatever manifesting class the character has, then determines power points per day, powers known, and manifester level accordingly. If a character had more than one manifesting class before she became a thrallherd, she must decide to which class she adds the new level of thrallherd for the purpose of determining power points per day, powers known, and manifester level.

Thrallherd (Ex): A thrallherd who has just entered the class sends out a subtle psychic call for servants, and that call is answered. Essentially, the character gains something akin to the leadership feat, but with some important differences.

Those who answer a thrallherd's call are not referred to as cohorts and followers, but rather as thralls and believers, respectively. They do not appear because they admire the character and want to serve her, but because a hidden psychic resonance connects the thrallherd and her servants.

As with the leadership feat, a thrallherd has a Leadership score that determines the highest-level thrall and believers she can attract. A thrallherd's Leadership score is equal to her character level + her Cha modifier + her thrallherd level. (Note that her thrallherd level is counted twice.) This score is not affected by any of the modifiers mentioned in Leadership.

As with the leadership feat, the called thrall's level is limited, even if the character's leadership score would indicate a higher-level thrall. Unlike with the leadership feat, the level limit of a thrall is equal to the character's total level minus 1 (not level minus 2, as is true for cohorts).

A thrallherd cannot take the leadership feat; if the character already has it, the feat is lost and replaced by this ability; those who were previously cohorts and followers go their separate ways, and those who are more mentally pliable show up later to take up roles as thralls and believers. A thrallherd's first thrall and believers arrive within 24 hours of her entry into this class; likewise, lost thralls and believers are replaced within 24 hours.

Use the following table instead of the one in the Dungeon Master's Guide to determine the level of a thrallherd's thrall and the number of believers of various levels a thrallherd can attract.

Leadership ScrThrall LevelNumber of Believers by Level
 1st2nd3rd4th5th6th
1 or lower-------
21st------
32nd------
43rd------
53rd------
64th------
75th------
85th------
96th------
107th5-----
117th6-----
128th8-----
139th101----
1410th151----
1510th2021---
1611th2521---
1712th30311--
1812th35311--
1913th404211-
2014th505321-
2115th6063211
2215th7574221
2316th9095321
2417th110116321
25 or higher17th135137422

Psionic Charm (Ex): At 3rd level, a thrallherd adds psionic charm to her powers known (if she doesn't already know it). Once per day, she can manifest psionic charm at a reduced power point cost. The cost of psionic charm is reduced by the thrallherd's level, to a minimum of 1 power point. The effect of this power is still restricted by the thrallherd's manifester level.

For example, a 5th-level psion/3rd-level thrallherd can manifest a psionic charm normally costing 7 points by spending only 4 points, but cannot manifest a psionic charm normally costing 10 points, since the effect of the power would he greater than her manifester level of 7th.

Psionic Dominate (Ex): At 5th level, a thrallherd adds psionic dominate to her powers known (if she doesn't already know it) Once per day, she can manifest psionic dominate at a reduced power point cost. The cost of psionic dominate is reduced by the thrallherd's level, to a minimum of 1 power point. The effect of this power is still restricted by the thrallherd's manifester level.

Greater Dominate (Ex): At 7th level and higher, a thrallherd does not have to pay 2 additional power points when she augments psionic dominate to affect animals, fey, giants, magical beasts, and monstrous humanoids. This reduced point cost does not increase the save DC of the power as if she had spent the additional power points.

Superior Dominate (Ex): At 9th level, a thrallherd does not have to pay 4 additional power points when she augments psionic dominate to affect aberrations, dragons, elementals, and outsiders (in addition to the creature types mentioned in the greater dominate ability). This reduced point cost does not increase the save DC of the power as if she had spent the additional power points.

Twofold Master (Ex): At 10th level, a thrallherd can add a second thrall to her herd. This second thrall's maximum level is equal to the thrallherd's level minus 2, even if her Leadership score would indicate a higher-level thrall.

ThrallherdHit Die: d4
CLBABFortRefWillSpecialPowers Known
1st+0+0+0+2Thrallherd-
2nd+1+0+0+3-+1 level of existing manifesting class
3rd+1+1+1+3Psionic charm+1 level of existing manifesting class
4th+2+1++1+4-+1 level of existing manifesting class
5th+2+1+1+4Psionic dominate+1 level of existing manifesting class
6th+3+2+2+5-+1 level of existing manifesting class
7th+3+2+2+5Greater dominate+1 level of existing manifesting class
8th+4+2+2+6-+1 level of existing manifesting class
9th+4+3+3+6Superior dominate+1 level of existing manifesting class
10th+5+3+3+7Twofold master-

Source: Expanded Psionics Handbook

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Psion Prestige Classes