Darkfire Adept (Apath)

Unofficial rules compendium

The darkfire adept works for the ultimate goal; the annihilation of reality and a return to primal nothingness. Not popular even at the best of times, believers in the end times are usually shunned or shut away as madmen. But a few of these fanatics manage to reach out to the power of darkfire, the cleansing flame they believe will ultimately undo all creation. They do this by undermining the very structure of the universe, breaking the boundaries between the planes and setting planar fiends free to wreak havoc.

Darkfire adepts seek to further the end of all things, or at least the dissolution of any semblance of meaning in their surroundings. Some show their allegiance openly and go preaching, others hide behind a veneer of civilized behavior and seek to unravel society from within.

Class Information

This is a prestige archetype working towards the end of the world.

Prestige Class: Blackfire adept from Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Paths of Prestige.

Build Class Options: The darkfire adept is built on the wizard, but the following optional build classes are described below: Oracle, Witch , Cleric, Sacerdote, Sorcerer, Arcanist, and Psychic.

Role: The blackfire adept is a consummate summoner of evil creatures.

Alignment: Any non-good. Not all darkfire adepts are evil, but they are all surrounded by an aura of evil. They seek patrons among the lords of evil, well knowing that even such mighty lords will be undone in the end. They need not do evil in their everyday life; their dedication to ending the world marks their souls even if they live fairly ordinary lives. No non-evil power will ever grant divine spells to a darkfire adept. A darkfire adept that changes to a good alignment immediately loses that alignment when she uses any of the spell-like or supernatural abilities of the class.

Hit Die: See the build numbers ability, below.

Class Skills

The darkfire adept's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Appraise (Int), Bluff (Cha), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Heal (Wis), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (all) (Int), Linguistics (Int), Profession (Wis), Sense Motive (Wis), and Spellcraft (Int).

Skill Ranks at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier.

Class Features

These are all the class features of the darkfire adept. 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.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency

Darkfire adepts are proficient with the club, dagger, heavy crossbow, light crossbow, and quarterstaff, but not with any type of armor or shield. Armor interferes with a darkfire adept's movements, which can cause his spells with somatic components to fail.

Spells

The bloodmage learns and casts spells exactly like a wizard, including using arcane magic, the effect of Intelligence on spellcasting, spellbooks, automatically learned spells, and cantrips.

Aura

A darkfire adept has a particularly powerful evil aura, as if she was a cleric of a neutral evil deity. See detect evil for details. She is affected by spells and effects as if she was evil, regardless of her actual alignment. A lawful or chaotic darkfire adept also has a corresponding alignment aura of normal strength.

Spontaneous Summoning (Ex)

A darkfire adept can channel stored spell energy into summoning spells that she hasn't prepared ahead of time. She can “lose” a prepared spell in order to cast any summon monster spell of the same level or lower.

Sacred Summons (Ex)

A darkfire adept gains Sacred Summons^UM as a bonus feat at 2nd level.

Darkfire Pact (Su)

At 3rd level, a Darkfire Adept may choose one evil outsider subtype from among the following: asura, daemon, demodand, demon, devil, div, kyton, manasaputra, oni, qlippoth, or rakshasa. Against outsiders with that subtype, she gains a +1 profane bonus on saving throws, caster level checks, Charisma checks, and Charisma-based skill checks. When using the planar ally or planar binding spells, she can call 2 additional Hit Dice of outsiders with the chosen subtype, and those creatures gain temporary hit points equal to her class level, a +1 profane bonus on saving throws, and a +1 profane bonus to the caster level DC for effects that would banish, dismiss, or dispel them. Each of these bonuses last until used once or the creature leaves the plane it was called into.

At 7th level and every 4 levels after level 7, the Darkfire Adept may select an additional evil outsider subtype for her darkfire pact. In addition, the bonus against any one of her selected subtypes (including the one just selected, if so desired) increases by +1.

Augment Summoning (Ex)

A darkfire adept gains Augment Summoning as a bonus feat at 4th level. She counts as having Spell Focus (conjuration), but only for the purpose of feat requirements.

Darkfire Taint (Su)

At 6th level, as a standard action, a Darkfire Adept can corrupt the planar substrate into strands of darkfire that create a destructive resonance between herself and a target within 30 feet. She gains a +1 profane bonus on attack rolls and caster level checks against the target, and the target takes a –1 penalty on saving throws against the adept's attacks. The taint lasts a number of rounds equal to her class level, though a successful Will save (DC 10 + ½ the darkfire adept's class level + the darkfire adept's Charisma modifier) reduces this to 1 round. The effect immediately ends if the target moves more than 30 feet away from the darkfire adept.

The profane bonus and penalty become +2 and –2 at 12th level. They become +3 and –3 at 18th level.

Darkfire Summons

At 5th level, when using a summon monster spell to summon creatures she has a darkfire pact with, the darkfire adept may cast the spell as a standard action instead of with a casting time of 1 round.

Darkfire Eruption (Sp)

At 8th level, a Darkfire Adept can sacrifice a prepared spell or spell slot of 4th level or higher, calling forth a searing ebon vortex in the spell's stead. A darkfire eruption acts as unholy blight, but its maximum damage is increased by 1d8 points (2d6 against good outsiders) per level of the sacrificed spell above 4th. The saving throw DC is based on the level of the sacrificed spell. A darkfire eruption ignores the hardness of objects, as it unravels their fundamental reality. A creature slain or an object destroyed by a darkfire eruption is reduced to ash, as by the disintegrate spell. This is a conjuration [evil] effect.

Breaching (Su)

At 9th level, when a Darkfire Adept attempts to call or summon a creature from one of her darkfire pact subtypes into an area where summoning is blocked by a magical effect (such as magic circle against evil, forbiddance, or dimensional lock), or when a creature within 30 feet she has called or summoned from her darkfire pact would have its attacks against a creature blocked by such an effect, as a swift action she can sacrifice a prepared spell or spell slot of the same level as the warding effect. If her caster level is higher than the caster level of the warding effect, the warding effect is automatically negated. If it is the same or lower, a caster level check (DC 11 + the caster level of the warding) is required to negate the warding effect.

At 16th level, a Darkfire Adept's breaching can penetrate and destroy an antimagic field, a prismatic sphere, or an extradimensional shelter like a mage's magnificent mansion, though a caster level check is always required regardless of the Darkfire Adept's caster level. She can summon creatures into a naturally magic-dead with a successful DC 31 caster level check, but the magic-dead area is not negated.

Profane Summons

At 10th level, when using summon monster to summon creatures whose alignment subtype includes evil, the adept may cast the spell as a standard action instead of with a casting time of 1 round. Not that this applies to the actual creature subtype, not merely its alignment.

Breaching Legion (Su)

At 13th level, when a Darkfire Adept summons a creature from one of her darkfire pact subtypes, she can choose to allow that creature to use any innate summoning abilities it possesses. The creatures it summons are not under the Darkfire Adept's control. Once this decision is made, it cannot be reversed until the summoned creature is sent back to whence it came.

Accursed Sympathy (Su)

At 14th level, whenever a Darkfire Adept or her called or summoned creature deals hit point damage to a target affected by her darkfire taint, as a swift action she can increase the damage dealt by the attack by 1 hit point per class level. If the target dies, the Darkfire Adept gains temporary hit points equal to the target's total number of Hit Dice. These temporary hit points last 1 hour and do not stack.

Riftward Breaching (Su)

At 20th level, whenever one or more creatures appear via a conjuration effect (including calling, summoning, or teleportation effects) within 30 feet of a Darkfire Adept, she can as an immediate action spend a prepared spell to unleash a darkfire eruption that targets all such creatures within 30 feet (but does not affect other creatures). In addition to the normal effects of the darkfire eruption, creatures that fail their saving throws are immediately transported to a random location in an evil outer plane as though affected by a plane shift spell.

Ex-Darkfire Adepts

A darkfire adept who grossly violates the code of conduct espoused by his patron loses the favor of the patron and the granted domain, but keeps all other powers and can regain a domain either by atonement or by finding another patron. Even a darkfire adept that stops believing in and working towards the end times still keep their powers, and their destiny is such that they might still be key persons in determining the fate of the world. Only through the agency of a good deity and many trials can a darkfire adept get rid of the taint of darkfire.

Alternate Build Classes

The darkfire adept can be built on these alternate classes: arcanist, oracle, witch , cleric, sacerdote, sorcerer,and Psychic.

A darkfire adept has the same base attack bonus, base saving throws, hit dice, and armor and weapon proficiencies as the build class. She learns and casts spells exactly like the build class, including type of magic (arcane, divine, or psychic), the effect of ability scores on spellcasting and cantrips, knacks or orisons.

In addition, the darkfire adept inherits the following class features from the build class:

Arcanist None.

Cleric A darkfire cleric is a divine spellcaster and not subject to arcane spell failure while wearing armor. She keeps the chaotic evil good and lawful spells and domains abilities. She knows the Evil domain (this can be a subdomain if in use) but no additional domain.

Oracle A darkfire oracle is a divine spellcaster and not subject to arcane spell failure while wearing armor. She gains a mystery, including mystery skills and spells. She gains both an oracle's curse and a revelation at level 1, but no further revelations.

Psychic The darkfire psychic is a spychic caster and does not suffer arcane spell failure while wearing armor. She 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 1, 6, and every 6 levels thereafter. The darkfire psychic cannot select major phrenic amplifications.

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

Sorcerer A darkfire sorcerer has a bloodline, but gains only bloodline arcana, bloodline skill, and bloodline spells from that bloodline. Most darkfire sorcerers have the bloodline of some dark outsider, but not all.

Witch A darkfire witch keeps the witch's familiar.

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Section 15 Addendum

Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Paths of Prestige © 2012, Paizo Publishing, LLC; Authors: Benjamin Bruck, Jason Bulmahn, Matt Goodall, and Jason Nelson.