Elder Evils

CHAPTER 1
EVIL DOES
NOT SLEEP
14
Murderous Intent [Vile]
Your favored enemies fear your savagery and inhumanity.
Prerequisites: Base attack bonus +9, favored enemy
(any one).
Benefit: Choose one creature of a type or subtype you
have selected as a favored enemy. As a full-round action,
you can make a single melee attack against the chosen
creature. If you deal at least 1 point of damage, that creature
must make a Will save (DC 10 + 1/2 your character level +
your Cha modifier). On a failure, it is overcome with dread
and can take only a move action or a standard action on
its next turn.
You automatically confirm any critical threats made against
a favored enemy.
Reflexive Psychosis [Vile, Deformity]
In the face of adversity, you withdraw into the haunted corridors
of your mind.
Prerequisite: Deformity (Madness).
Benefit: As an immediate action, you can gain damage
reduction 5/— for 1 round. After using this ability, you are
confused until the end of your next turn.
Slave to Evil [Vile]
You have pledged your soul to an elder evil. You gain
benefits that grow more powerful as your master’s sign
intensifies.
Prerequisite: Chosen of Evil.
Benefit: You gain an aura of evil as if you were an evil
outsider (see detect evil, PH 218). Whenever you are the target
of an evil spell, decrease all variable numeric effects of the
spell to their minimum possible values.
In addition, your abilities increase with the intensity of
your master’s sign. All effects are cumulative.
Faint: You gain a +2 profane bonus on saves against divine
spells.
Moderate: You gain a +1 insight bonus on attack rolls and
damage rolls against divine spellcasters.
Strong: You gain spell resistance equal to 11 + your character
level against divine spells. If you already have spell resistance,
it increases by 5 against divine magic.
Overwhelming: All divine spells cast within 30 feet of you
are impeded, meaning that a divine spellcaster must succeed
on a Spellcraft check (DC 20 + spell level) or lose the spell or
spell slot with no effect.
Thrall to Demon [Vile]
You formally become a supplicant to a demon lord. In return
for your obedience, you gain a small measure of that demon
lord’s power.
Prerequisite: Chaotic evil alignment.
Benefit: Once per day, while performing an evil act, you
can call upon your demonic patron and gain a +1 luck bonus
on any one attack roll, saving throw, ability check, skill check,
or level check.
Vile Ki Strike [Vile]
You can focus evil power into your unarmed strike.
Prerequisite: Cha 15, Improved Unarmed Strike.
Benefit: Each time you deal damage with your unarmed
strike, you deal an extra 1 point of vile damage.
Vile Martial Strike [Vile]
You can focus evil power into your weapon blows.
Prerequisite: Cha 15, Weapon Focus with the specified
weapon.
Benefit: Each time you deal damage with a specific kind
of weapon, you deal an extra 1 point of vile damage.
Special: You can take this feat more than once, selecting a
different weapon each time.
Vile Natural Attack [Vile]
You can focus evil power into your natural attacks.
Prerequisite: Natural attack that deals at least 1d8 points
of damage, base attack bonus +5.
Benefit: Each time you deal damage with your natural
attack, you deal an extra 1 point of vile damage.
MALEFIC PROPERTIES
Elder evils are capable of incredible destruction. They wield
devastating magic and possess an arsenal of potent attacks
to work their wickedness. But such power alone offers little
defense against the gods and their servants. Malefic properties
are their safeguard against divine interference.
A malefic property is a supernatural ability, intrinsic to the
very nature of an elder evil. An antimagic field can suppress its
effect within a small area, but doing so requires a successful
caster level check (1d20 + caster level) to overcome the elder
evil’s spell resistance. Dispel magic and greater dispel magic have
no effect against a malefic property.
A malefic property affects an enormous area and might
influence an entire world, depending on the power of the
elder evil as measured by its Hit Dice.
Hit Dice Radius of Influence
15 or fewer 10 miles
16–30 100 miles
31–50 1,000 miles
51+ Worldwide
All elder evils have anathematic secrecy (see below),
which shields them from divination spells by divine casters.
Each elder evil has one additional malefic property,
chosen from the list that follows, as appropriate to its
nature. The sample elder evils provided in this book can
guide you in deciding on a suitable malefic property for
one of your own design.
Malefic Properties
Property
Benefit
Anathematic secrecy Immune to all divine divination
spells and effects
Dark visiting Send nightmares that deal Wisdom
damage
Discord and woe Incite killing rage in living creatures
Divine enervation Prevent divine casters from
regaining spells
Divine scourge Burst of corrupt energy sickens and
deals vile damage to divine casters
and extraplanar creatures
Impervious to Immune to all divine magic
the divine
True death Dead creatures can never be raised