I made this for a campaign we are doing. I always loved this prestige class from The Book of Vile Darkness. I have updated the mechanics to follow the Pathfinder mission statement and the 3.5 conversion guide. I made a nice pdf version but I can't seem to figure out how to post a file so if someone can tell me how I will upload it.
If I violated any copy write laws I apologize in advance it was unintentional.
VERMIN LORD
The skittering of multiple legs across the floor, the droning of wings—these phenomena mark the passing of a vermin lord. This unthinkable entity prefers the caress of the crawling legs of an insect or the fluttering wings of a fly more than the touch of another person. The vermin lord offers itself as a host for all manner of parasitic organisms and insects that feed on it body. It not only allows the infestation, it revels in it.
Clerics and druids comprise the majority of the vermin lord ranks; some cleric/rogues are present as well. Many monstrous vermin lords, such as drider clerics, exist. Humanoid vermin lords work with monsters such as driders, phase spiders, and other creatures associated with vermin. Otherwise, they operate alone, for most other humanoids will have nothing to do with them.
Hit Die: d6.
REQUIREMENTS
To qualify to become a vermin lord, a character must fulfill all the following criteria.
Alignment: Any evil.
Skills: Knowledge (nature) 5 ranks, Stealth 5 ranks.
Special: Animal Companion Class Feature* or Vermin Heart.
Special: Must be able to cast the giant vermin spell.
Special: The vermin lord must be ordained by an intelligent evil creature with a physical resemblance to vermin— a drider, chasme, gelugon, aranea, bebilith, phase spider, evil formian, or similar creature. The ordaining creature must be intelligent enough to communicate with the vermin lord-to-be. Of course, such a creature will demand service or payment in return.
* An oracle of nature’s bonded mount ability counts as an animal companion class ability for the purpose of this prestige class.
CLASS SKILLS
The vermin lord’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Bluff (Cha), Climb (Str), Knowledge (nature) (Int), Perception (Wis), Sleight of Hand (Dex), Spellcraft (Int), Stealth (Dex).
Skill Ranks at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier.
Level Base Attack Bonus Fort Save Reflex Save Will Save Special Spells Per Day
1st +0 +0 +0 +1 Chitin +1, Vermin Servant 1 HD +1 level of existing class
2nd +1 +1 +1 +1 Blood Drain —
3rd +1 +1 +1 +2 Spider Hand 1/day +1 level of existing class
4th +2 +1 +1 +2 Chitin +2, Swarm Armor —
5th +2 +2 +2 +3 Wings of the Vermin, Vermin Servant 4 HD +1 level of existing class
6th +3 +2 +2 +3 Spider legs, Spider Hand 2/day —
7th +3 +2 +2 +4 Chitin +3, Spew Vermin +1 level of existing class
8th +4 +3 +3 +4 Poison —
9th +4 +3 +3 +5 Vermin Servant 16 HD, Spider Hand 3/day +1 level of existing class
10th +5 +3 +3 +5 Chitin +4, Hivemind +1 level of existing class
CLASS FEATURES
All the following are class features of the vermin lord prestige class.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A vermin lords gain no proficiency with any weapon or armor.
Spells: When a vermin lord attains 1st level and every two levels after that (plus 10th level), the character gains new spells per day as if he had also gained a level in a spellcasting class he belonged to before adding the prestige class. He does not, however, gain other benefits a character of that class would have gained, except for additional spells per day, spells known (if he is a spontaneous spellcaster), and an increased effective level of spellcasting. If a character had more than one spellcasting class before becoming an vermin lord, he must decide to which class he adds the new level for pur-poses of determining spells per day.
Chitin (Ex): A vermin lord gains a +1 natural armor bonus to Armor Class from the chitinous plates that begin to grow on his flesh. Every three levels beyond 1st, this bonus increases by +1.
Vermin Servant: A vermin lord gains a servant in the form of a vermin of up to 1 HD. This servant is treated as a familiar; its intelligence increases, and it is considered a magical beast (see the Familiars section in Chapter
3 of the Player’s Handbook). The vermin servant is in addition to any familiar the character may already have. A vermin lord gains additional vermin servants at higher levels. At 5th level, the vermin servant gained can be of up to 4 HD. At 9th level, the vermin servant may be of up to 16 HD.
Blood Drain (Su): A 2ndlevel vermin lord can grow insectoid mandibles at will. He can use these mandibles to make a bite attack that deals 1 point of damage. Furthermore, the vermin lord can attempt to start a grapple, provoking no attack of opportunity. If successful, the mandibles automatically deal 2d6 points of damage each round as they suck blood from the victim. The blood drain ability only works on living creatures.
Spider Hand (Sp): Once per day, a 3rd-level vermin lord can detaches his hand, which transforms into a Giant Crab Spider (see Bestiary page 258) that he controls for up to 1 minute per vermin lord level. The vermin lord can see through its eyes, and it can travel up to 40 feet per vermin lord level away from him. If the spider is killed or prevented from returning to the vermin lord, his hand is restored when the spell ends, but he takes 1d6 points of damage. If the vermin lord directs the spider to return to his arm (a move equivalent action), then lets the effect end, he takes no damage.
Swarm Armor (Su): Each day, a 4th-level vermin lord automatically summons a swarm of insects, spiders, or scor-pions that cover his flesh when he regains his spells. These insects absorb up to 10 points of damage from any damaging
attack (weapons or spells). The insects die off when they absorb such attacks, and a total of up to 5 points per vermin
lord level can be absorbed per day. Thus, a 7th-level vermin lord’s swarm armor can absorb up to 35 points of damage, although no more than 10 points from any one attack. If a vermin lord is already wearing armor, the swarm armor has no effect.
Wings of the Vermin (Su): A vermin lord of 5th level or higher can sprout massive, buzzing insectoid wings from
his back at will. With these wings, he can fly at his normal land speed with average maneuverability. The vermin lord can carry his normal carrying capacity, and greater burdens affect his speed as they would affect his land speed. It is impossible to stealth with these wings.
Spider Legs (Sp): A 6th-level vermin lord can grow four long spider legs from the sides of his torso for 10 minutes per vermin lord level. He can use these legs to move at a speed of 30 feet, no matter what the caster’s normal speed is, as long as he carries less than his maximum load. The vermin lord can also use the extra legs to climb on vertical surfaces or even traverse ceilings as well as a spider does, with his hands completely free. The vermin lord has a climb speed of 15 feet. This duration does not need to be consecutive, but it must be used in 10 minute increments. A creature with a Strength score of at least 20 +1 per vermin lord level can pull the vermin lord off a wall or ceiling.
Spew Vermin (Sp): Once per day, a 7th-level vermin lord is able to spray out a swarm of vermin from his mouth, as a breath weapon in a 30-foot cone. Anyone in this area takes 1d6 points of damage per vermin lord level, with a successful Reflex save reducing the damage by half (DC 10 + vermin lord’s class level + vermin lord’s Con bonus). The vermin then remain as if a vomit swarm spell had been cast at the vermin lord’s caster level.
Poison (Ex): In a vermin lord of 8th level or higher, the mandibles gained from the blood drain ability now carry a natural venom that deals 1 point of Strength damage frequency 1/round for 1 round. The Fortitude save DC to resist the poison is 10 + vermin lord’s class level + vermin lord’s Con modifier.
Hivemind (Su): A 10th-level vermin lord can form the impetus to create a hivemind. The hivemind must include the vermin lord, although he counts as only a single individual and his Intelligence and Charisma scores are unaffected. However, he controls the hivemind, gains the insight bonuses, and can take advantage of the spellcasting abilities of the hivemind if enough individuals are present. The vermin lord’s vermin servant can also join the hivemind if the vermin lord wishes.
HIVEMIND
As a side effect of some evil spiritual presence or dark blessing, vermin and certain animals can take on a sort of evil consciousness shared among a large group, though each individual member retains little or no intellect. When a hive-mind forms, each individual creature becomes just a tiny part of a much larger, much greater intelligence. But even the most craven sages do not understand how or why hiveminds develop.
If at least 50 vermin or animals of the same species are arranged so that no one individual is more than 10 feet from another individual, the hivemind may come into effect. All the creatures operate with an Intelligence of 5, even if they previously had no Intelligence score (as with vermin). The creatures’ Intelligence score increases by +1 for every additional 20 individuals (beyond the first 50) in the hivemind, up to an Intelligence of 10 for a hivemind of 150 creatures. Beyond the 150-creature threshold, Intelligence increases by +1 for every 50 additional individuals. Thus, a swarm of 500 rats would have a hivemind Intelligence of 17. For every point of Intelligence bonus possessed by the hivemind, award each individual creature one feat and 1 skill point per Hit Die. Intelligence-based skill bonuses increase accordingly. So the 500 rats in the swarm (Int 17, +3 bonus) would each have 3 extra skill points and three feats. In this case, they gain a +3 bonus on Hide checks and the feats Alertness, Skill Focus (Move Silently), and Weapon Focus (bite). The increase to Intelligence gained for every creature in the hivemind over 50 also applies to Charisma. So, a hivemind of 500 rats (normal Charisma score 2) has a Charisma score of 14.
If the hivemind attains a Charisma score of 18 or higher, it gains the ability to cast spells as a sorcerer. For every point of Charisma over 17, the hivemind has one level of sorcerer. A hivemind of 1,000 rats has a Charisma of 22, so it would cast spells as a 5th-level sorcerer, for example. The hivemind has six cantrips, eight 1st-level spells, and six 2nd-level spells each day. Any single creature can cast one of the hivemind’s spells, but those spell slots are then lost to other crea-tures in the hivemind. Creatures in a hivemind have no need for somatic or material components, and their squeaks, screeches, or clicks serve as verbal components. When creatures in a hivemind attack, they all gain a +1 insight bonus on their attack rolls and a +1 insight bonus to their Armor Class. Each creature knows the actions of every other member of the hivemind. The entire hivemind is aware of what every individual is experiencing.
When running a hivemind encounter, play the hivemind as a single creature as much as possible. It can be tedious to fight numerous creatures, so assume that weapon blows affect the hivemind as a whole. For example, if a fighter hits a swarm of hivemind rats for 9 points of damage, and each rat has 1 hp, assume that he killed nine rats. If he was fighting a swarm of Small vipers with 4 hp each, he killed two of them.
A hivemind’s Challenge Rating is greater than the Challenge Rating of one of the individual creatures. If the CR of an individual creature is less than 1/2, the CR of the hivemind is 1/2. If the creature has a CR of 1/2, the hivemind’s CR is 1. If the creature has a CR of 1 or higher, the hivemind’s CR is 1 greater than that of the creature.
