Souldrinker (Apath)

Unofficial rules compendium

Souldrinkers learn the worst of daemonic magic while gaining the ability to bind and devour souls. With every soul they consume, these casters tithe a fraction to their patrons. They are the proxies of death, serving the architects of the apocalypse until eventually their own souls are drawn into their masters’ waiting maws.

Class Information

This is a prestige archetype, a spellcaster devolving himself into a demon lord.

Prestige Class: Souldrinker from Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Horsemen of the Apocalypse: Book of the Damned, Vol. 3.

Build Classes: Arcanist, cleric, oracle, psychic, sacerdote, sorcerer, witch, or wizard.

Role: A souldrinker seeks to collect souls for personal power, and as bribes to their daemonic masters.

Alignment: Neutral evil. A souldrinker must worship one of the four horsemen. See the appendix.

Hit Dice: d6.

Class Skills

The souldrinker’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Bluff (Cha), Diplomacy (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (arcana) (Int), Knowledge (planes) (Int), Knowledge (religion) (Int), Sense Motive (Wis), and Spellcraft (Int).

Skills Points at Each Level: 2 + Int modifier.

Class Features

These are all the class features of the souldrinker. The prestige archetype is open to many classes, with slight modifications. It replaces all of the class features of whatever class it is taken with, except as noted below under weapon and armor proficiency, build class, build numbers, and spells.

Table: Souldrinker

Level	Special
1st	Demonic aura, spontaneous summoning
2nd	Demonic mark
3rd	Demonic favor
4th	Obedience
5th
6th	Damned
7th	Demonic favor
8th	Demonic boon 1
9th
10th	Energumen +2
11th	Demonic favor
12th	Demonic boon 2
13th
14th	Energumen +4 (resistances)
15th	Demonic favor
16th	Demonic boon 3
17th
18th	Energumen +6 (immunities)
19th	Demonic favor
20th	Demonic identity

Weapon and Armor Proficiency

Souldrinkers gain the proficiencies of their build class. In addition, they gain proficiency with the favored weapon of their daemonic patron, but with no other weapon or armor.

Spells

The souldrinker learns and casts spells exactly like the build class, including type of magic (acrane, divine, or psychic), the effect of ability scores on spellcasting, and cantrips, knacks or orisons. Since the number of spells per day, spell slots, and known spells depend on the build class, these numbers are not given in Table: Souldrinker.

Aura

The souldrinker has an alignment aura as if he was a cleric of a neutral evil deity. See detect evil for details.

Bonus Language

A souldrinker can pick Infernal or Abyssal in addition to the languages available to the character because of his race.

Build Class

The souldrinker inherits a few class features from the build class, as follows.

Arcanist An arcanist gains an arcane reservoir with a number of points equal to his Charisma modifier (minimum 1). He can spend a demonic favor to learn an arcanist exploit, and gains an additional point to his arcane reservoir each time he does so. He gains the greater exploits class feature at level 11.

Cleric A souldrinker keeps the chaotic evil good and lawful spells and domains abilities. A souldrinker selects two domains, selected from among those offered by his patron. Demon lords never grant access to the Good or Law domains, and only rarely grant access to the Glory domain. If you use subdomains, clerics of demon lords gain access to all subdomain options available to them from their demon lord’s domains, with the exception of the following subdomains (which are never granted by demon lords): Agathion, Archon, Azata, Daemon, Devil, Heroism, Inevitable, Honor, Love, Protean, and Purity.

Oracle The souldrinker oracle gains a mystery, including mystery skills and spells. He gains both an oracle's curse and a revelation at level 1, but no further revelations.

Psychic The souldrinker psychic gains the psychic's phrenic pool class feature with a number of points equal to 1/4 his level + his Charisma bonus (minimum +1), and gains a phrenic amplification at level 5, 9, 13, and 17. The psychic souldrinker cannot select major phrenic amplifications. He can pick an additional phrenic amplification as a demonic favor. He gains the major amplifications class feature at level 11.

Sacerdote The souldrinker sacerdote keeps the advanced spellcasting, bonus languages, chaotic evil good and lawful spells, divine focus, divine wrath, and manifestation class features. This class is from Legendary Classes: Sacerdote.

Sorcerer A souldrinker sorcerer has a bloodline, but gains only bloodline arcana, bloodline skill, and bloodline spells from that bloodline.

Witch A souldrinker witch keeps the witch's familiar. The familiar is always of chaotic evil alignment.

Wizard A wizard souldrinker can spend a demonic favor to gain a wizard bonus feat.

Build Numbers

The souldrinker's base attack bonus, base save bonuses, and type of hit die is the same as that of his build class. Since these numbers vary depending on the build class, they are not given in Table: Souldrinker.

Cacodaemon Familiar (Ex)

At 1st level, the souldrinker gains a cacodaemon familiar, as if she had the Improved Familiar feat. If the souldrinker already has a familiar, the cacodaemon devours it (which does not penalize the souldrinker). The souldrinker counts as an evil outsider for the purpose of utilizing cacodaemon soul gems.

Daemonic Patron (Ex)

At 1st level, a souldrinker must choose one of the Four Horsemen to serve as her patron. Once made, this choice cannot be changed.

Damned (Ex)

Starting at 1st level, when a souldrinker dies, her patron instantly claims her soul. In time, the soul is consumed for its power or transformed into a daemon appropriate to the patron’s needs and interests. Any character attempting to resurrect a slain souldrinker must succeed at a caster level check equal to 10 + the souldrinker’s level or the spell fails. That character cannot attempt to resurrect the souldrinker again until the following day, though other characters can attempt to do so if they please.

Soulbound Familiar

The diabolist gains a familiar identical to that of a wizard's arcane bond feature. A diabolist may not bond with an object, and the familiar is always neutral evil in alignment and monochromatic, lacking all color.

Energy Drain (Su)

At 2nd level, a souldrinker gains the energy drain ability. By making a touch attack as a standard action, she bestows one negative level on the target (two levels on a critical hit). The souldrinker gains 5 temporary hit points for each negative level she bestows on an opponent. These temporary hit points last for a maximum of 1 hour. The DC to remove this negative level is 10 + the souldrinker’s class level + her spellcaster ability modifier. At 6th level, this touch attack bestows two negative levels (four on a critical hit).

Soul Pool (Su)

At 2nd level, a souldrinker gains a pool of soul points, stolen life energy she can use to accomplish unnatural feats. The number of soul points in the pool begins at 0 and only increases when the souldrinker uses her energy drain ability on a suitable target. A souldrinker gains 1 soul point for each negative level bestowed by her energy drain, but only if the target’s soul qualifies as at least an “animal spirit” with Hit Dice equal to or greater than the souldrinker’s class level, a “basic soul,” or something more powerful/notable (see The Soul Trade). The maximum number of soul points a souldrinker can have in her pool is equal to 1/2 her class level plus her spellcasting ability modifier; any points above this are wasted. Note that soul points are fragments of souls and do not prevent a slain creature from being raised.

A souldrinker can use soul points for the following:

Item Creation: 'A souldrinker can use soul points as part of crafting magic items, as described in the Using Souls sidebar. Each counts as a basic soul toward this purpose.

Recharge staff: This works like recharging a staff in the normal manner, but instead of spell slots, the souldrinker expends soul points equal to the spell level needed.

Recover Spell Slot: As a full-round action, a souldrinker can expend soul points equal to twice the spell level of a cast spell or used spell slot in order to regain that spell or slot as if it had not been cast (similar to using a pearl of power, except it also works for spontaneous casters).

Replace Familiar: A souldrinker can replace her slain familiar at any time by spending 1 hour and soul points equal to half her class level in a specialized ritual.

Summon Cacodaemon (Sp)

At 3rd level, once per day, a souldrinker can summon 1d3 cacodaemons, which serve her for 1 minute per souldrinker class level. This ability otherwise counts as greater summon cacodaemon.

Lesser Oblivion (Su)

At 4th level, a souldrinker’s patron invests her with a specific ability, described under daemon patrons, below.

Oblivion (Sp)

At 7th level, the souldrinker is granted more power by her patron, gaining a spell-like ability usable at will, but costing 1 soul point for each use.

Summon Ceustodaemon (Sp)

At 8th level, once per day, a souldrinker can summon 1d2 ceustodaemons, which serve her for 1 minute per souldrinker class level. This ability otherwise counts as summon ceustodaemon (see spell or Summoning Daemons for more details).

Greater Oblivion (Sp)

At 10th level, the souldrinker gains further power from her patron. The spell-like abilities listed here are usable at will, but cost 3 soul points for each use.

Ex-Souldrinkers

A souldrinker whose alignment becomes anything other than neutral evil or who blatantly goes against the will of her daemonic patron loses access to all class features except for Damned. She cannot thereafter gain levels as a souldrinker until she atones for her deeds.

Appendix: Using Souls

In addition to consuming them for the sheer joy of destruction, daemons use souls to empower themselves, conduct strange experiments, construct their hideous domains, and more—and mortal spellcasters have followed their lead. Of these varied uses, the most common is the creation or recharging of magic items, using the life force contained in soul gems and other such vessels—or drawn out of the victim directly at the moment of casting—to empower the magic being worked. In these cases, souls should be assigned values based on the categories presented here and then treated as material components, reducing the gold expenditure necessary to cast the spell according to the souls’ value. (Thus a spell that requires 400 gp to cast might instead cost 300 gp and a basic-level soul.) Souls used in this manner are consumed and destroyed utterly.

Souls are especially useful in the creation of intelligent items. In these cases, usually only one soul crystallizes as the intelligence embedded into the item, though other souls may be cannibalized in the item’s creation. Item alignment, item ability scores, and languages spoken by the item mirror those of the soul used to provide the item’s intelligence. Scholars have long debated whether the intelligence in such an item is the soul used, or if the soul is destroyed and the intelligence is only patterned on it—the implication being that recovered intelligent objects (especially of daemonic origin) might be destroyed in order to liberate the souls used in their construction. As instances of both have been reported over the centuries, the question remains open, though few adventurers are willing to destroy their prized weapons based on conjecture.

Beyond the means described above, daemons have myriad additional means of trapping, keeping, and subsequently using souls for constructing permanent objects and effects, such as a liquid form of soul-stuff mixing multiple souls, a crystalline dust formed from soul gems, and even ink created from souls and used to write down the names of the doomed, imprisoning them in elaborate poems penned on the daemons’ own flesh. Something intrinsic in daemonic nature allows for this flexibility, as some of the same methods they routinely use fail spectacularly when attempted by non-daemons, including such creatures as night hags, devourers, liches, and followers of some fiendish lords, who themselves possess a vested interest in exploiting some or all of these methods.

See The Soul Trade for further information.

Appendix: Daemon Patrons

A souldrinker has mad a terrible pact with one of the four horsemen of the appocalypse. Each offers a different prefered weapon and different powers for the lesser oblivion, oblivion, and greater oblivion abilities.

Horseman of Pestilence

Unholy Symbol yellow scythe covered in polyps and diseased, fleshy tendrils
Domains Air, Darkness, Destruction, Evil
Favored Weapon scythe
Temple battlefields strewn with corpses, open mass graves, sewers, swamps
Deacons leukodaemons
Worshipers evil druids, lepers, plague carriers, sufferers of pandemics, urdefhans, wererats
Minions astradaemons, diseased undead, monstrous rats, nuckelavees, otyughs, piscodaemons, vermin
Lesser Oblivion (Su) Immunity to diseases, including supernatural and magical diseases.
Oblivion (Sp) contagion (DC 10 + the souleater’s class level + her spellcasting ability score modifier).
Greater Oblivion (Sp) creeping doom (DC 10 + the souleater’s class level + her spellcasting ability score modifier).

Horseman of Death

Unholy Symbol grinning skull, its eye sockets covered by two gold coins
Domains Death, Evil, Knowledge, Water
Favored Weapon quarterstaff
Temple graveyards, rivers, submerged ruins, underground catacombs
Deacons thanadaemons
Worshipers ferrymen, graverobbers, undertakers, undead, urdefhans, would-be immortals
Minions fiendish krakens, grim reapers, hags, hydrodaemons, river monsters, undead
Immunity to aging effects and effects that give penalties to Strength and Constitution.
Lesser Oblivion (Su)
Oblivion (Sp) vampiric touch.
Greater Oblivion (Sp) Gain fast healing 10 for 10 rounds. This counts as a 6th-level spell.

=== Horseman of War
Unholy Symbol pale hand holding a black sword
Domains Evil, Fire, Strength, War
Favored Weapon greatsword
Temple battlefields, military hospitals, razed cities, volcanoes, war memorials
Deacons purrodaemons
Worshipers arms dealers, looters, mercenaries, soldiers, urdefhans, warlords
Minions carrion eaters, constructs, obcisidaemons, spartoi, undead soldiers, war beasts, warsworns

Lesser Oblivion (Su) Immunity to bleed effects and effects that give penalties to Strength.
Oblivion (Sp) rage.
Greater Oblivion (Sp) Greater magic weapon (+4 enhancement bonus). Like a paladin with a weapon divine bond, the souleater can use the enhancement bonuses to add any of the following weapon properties: mighty cleaving, unholy, vicious, wounding.

=== Horseman of Famine
Unholy Symbol black jackal’s skull devouring an eclipsed sun
Domains Earth, Evil, Madness, Weather
Favored Weapon spiked gauntlet
Temple circles at the hearts of blighted fields, empty granaries, forests sterilized by volcanism, poisoned or eutrophic lakes, scarred and polluted regions, wastelands
Deacons meladaemons
Worshipers evil druids, gryphs, hungry ghosts, starvation victims, urdefhans
Minions astradaemons, derghodaemons, fiendish jackals and jackal monsters, ghouls, scavengers, vampires, vermin, wendigos

Lesser Oblivion (Su) Immunity to ingested and inhaled poisons, and the subject no longer needs to eat or drink.
Oblivion (Sp) bestow curse (DC 10 + the souleater’s class level + her spellcasting ability score modifier).
Greater Oblivion (Sp) horrid wilting (DC 10 + the souleater’s class level + her spellcasting ability score modifier).

Appendix: Feats

Summon Souleater Monster

Prerequisite Ability to cast summon monster I, neutral evil alignment.

Benefit: Add the following creatures to the list you can summon with summon monster.

Summon monster I:

Summon monster II:

Summon monster III: cacodemon ^B2.

Summon monster IV: ceustodaemon lacridaemon ^B2,

vulnadaemon

^B2.

Summon monster V: ceustodaemon ^B2,

genthodaemon

^B2,

venedaemon

^B2.

Summon monster VI: hydrodaemon ^B2,

sangudaemon

^B2,

suspiridaemon

^B2.

Summon monster VII: leukodaemon ^B2,

piscodaemon

^B2.

Summon monster VIII: erodaemon meladaemon ^B2.

Summon monster IX:

derghodaemon

^B2, thanadaemon ^B2, temerdaemon ^B2.

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Section 15 Addendum

Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Horsemen of the Apocalypse: Book of the Damned, Vol. 3 © 2011, Paizo Publishing, LLC; Author: Todd Stewart.