Leech (Apath)

Unofficial rules compendium

The leech or barber-surgeon is a practitioner of the art of health. They use their knives to cut away unsightly hair, blemishes, to drain pustules, amputate limbs, and otherwise bring forth health and beauty through selective destruction. They use leeches to remove harmful substances, curses, and even spell effects. Naturally, all this requires a practical knowledge of anatomy, which can also make leeches dangerous in combat when they get a good opening to use their skills for destruction.

But leeches are more than just cosmeticians and surgeons, they also provide a social outlet. In a civilized city everyone who can afford to visits a leech at least once a week, and their stalls are both health parlors and centers of news and gossip. Some leeches also have scientific ambitions, and become quite knowledgeable on a variety of subjects. Unlike true scholars, leeches always look at the practical application of knowledge and are not above experimentation.

Perhaps because of their diverse talents, leeches are not highly respected. Where a cleric, wizard, physician, or scholar is respected, the leech remains a man on the street, always in contact with events as they happen. Some are actually persecuted or accused of witchcraft. Leeches thrive in cities and markets. Some travel from market to market, but most prefer to settle in a larger town and practice their profession where there are plenty of wealthy customers. Some leeches use their abilities in various get-rich schemes, which contributes to the leech's generally poor reputation. Most are content with a life as a part of the social circuit of their towns, keeping track of gossip and subtly helping their favorites on the social scene, gaining influence through friends and favors rather than through wealth and power.

The leech archetypes represents a non-supernatural healing tradition. Because supernatural healing is the norm in Pathfinder, and natural healing is also rather quick and simple, the efficiency of the leech's healing abilities have to be rather cinematic to be at all competitive.

Class Abilities

A leech has all class abilities of the normal rogue, except as follows.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency

Leeches are proficient with the dagger, club, dart, sap, sword (short), and kukri and with light armor. Note that the standard armor check penalties to skills apply. Leeches do not gain proficiency with shields.

Healing Knife (Ex)

A leech can add either her Dexterity or Intelligence bonus to Heal skill checks instead of her Wisdom modifier. A leech can apply a poison to a blade with no chance of poisoning herself. This replaces the trap sense bonus from level 3.

Medical Background

Each leech gets to choose a medical background. This is an indication of how she learned and will develop her medical skills. Choose one of the following. This replaces trapfinding.

Doctor (Ex): A doctor has a proper education and knows a great deal of specific subjects of study. Add all Knowledge skills to the doctor's list of class skills. The doctor gains a bonus equal to half her class level (minimum +1) on all Heal checks.

Feldscher (Ex): It is said that there are two ways to learn medicine - to study at a university, or to follow an army on campaign. The fledscher choose to follow and army and study madicine hands-on. At first level, a feldscher gain s a bonus on Intimidate and Heal checks equal to half her leech level (minimum +1).

Quack (Ex): A quack is a skilled healer and knows a little bit about everything, but lacks a proper education. Her medicine is home-made and includes quite a bit of folk remedies. At first level, a quack gains a bonus on Diplomacy checks to gather information and on unskilled Knowledge checks equal to half her leech level (minimum +1), and can perform all Know checks as if skilled. The leech also gains the same bonus on all Heal checks.

Death's Companion

At 2nd level, a leech has been exposed to enough disease and horror that few such things faze her. If she makes a successful Fortitude or Will saving throw against an attack that normally deals half damage or otherwise has a reduced effect on a successful save, she instead takes no damage. This replaces Evasion.

Leech Specialities

At second level a leech gains a specialty, and he learns another at every even-numbered level. Leeches as a group are generalists, but each leech picks up some tricks and specialties. These work pretty much as rogue tricks, with some specialties having prerequisites. At level 10, a leech gains the advanced specialties ability and can now choose specialties that have advanced specialties as a prerequisite.

Leech specialties that inflict Constitution damage only works on creatures that have a Constitution score; a leech cannot use them on most constructs, undead, or creatures lacking a Constitution score.

This replaces rogue talents. A leech can select a rogue trick she fulfils the prerequisites for instead of a leech specialty at any time, but can never select advanced rogue talents.

Table: Leech

Level	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Special
1st	+0	+2	+2	+2	Healing knife, sneak attack +1d6, quack
2nd	+1	+3	+3	+3	Death's companion, leech specialty
3rd	+2	+3	+3	+3	Sneak attack +2d6
4th	+3	+4	+4	+4	Leech specialty, uncanny dodge
5th	+3	+4	+4	+4	Sneak attack +3d6
6th	+4	+5	+5	+5	Leech specialty
7th	+5	+5	+5	+5	Sneak attack +4d6
8th	+6/+1	+6	+6	+6	Improved uncanny dodge, leech specialty
9th	+6/+1	+6	+6	+6	Sneak attack +5d6
10th	+7/+2	+7	+7	+7	Advanced talents, leech specialty
11th	+8/+3	+7	+7	+7	Sneak attack +6d6
12th	+9/+4	+8	+8	+8	Leech specialty
13th	+9/+4	+8	+8	+8	Sneak attack +7d6
14th	+10/+5	+9	+9	+9	Leech specialty
15th	+11/+6/+1	+9	+9	+9	Sneak attack +8d6
16th	+12/+7/+2	+10	+10	+10	Leech specialty
17th	+12/+7/+2	+10	+10	+10	Sneak attack +9d6
18th	+13/+8/+3	+11	+11	+11	Leech specialty
19th	+14/+9/+4	+11	+11	+11	Sneak attack +10d6
20th	+15/+10/+5	+12	+12	+12	Master strike, leech specialty

Summary of Changed Class Abilities

These abilities of the original class are lost or modified in this archetype:

• Class Skills
• Weapon and Armor Proficiency
• Trapfinding
• Evasion
• Rogue Talents
• Trap Sense

Leech Specialties

Apothecary (Ex)

Benefit: You can create, medicines, drugs and poisons with astounding speed. This uses Craft (Alchemy). It takes you one-third the normal amount of time to create such items, and you can apply poison to a weapon as a swift action.

Bleed (Ex)

Benefit: By applying live leeches (part of a healer's kit) or precise surgery, a leech can remove harmful effects on the target. This removes the effects of exceptional abilities, poison, disease, spells, and spell-like abilities. Hit point and attribute damage cannot be healed in this way.

Make a Heal check against 20 + the caster level of the effect or hit dice of the creator, or against the Saving throw DC of a poison or disease. Success removes the condition. It takes a minute to initiate or end bleeding. Bleeding takes ten minutes, but only occupies the patient. If actual leeches are used, the patient can be active during this time; using surgery the patient must remain at rest or the effect is disrupted. Bleeding, successful or not, inflicts one point of Constitution damage.

Grooming (Ex)

Benefit: By spending fifteen minutes and making a Heal skill roll with a difficulty equal to the target's Charisma score, the leech gives that person an enhancement bonus to Charisma. For every ten points of margin on the skill roll, the recipient gains a +1 circumstance bonus to Charisma. A margin of less than ten improves appearance, but not enough to increase effective Charisma. This lasts until the recipient next rest period (never more than 24 hours).

Example: Huzzat the young leech (Heal skill bonus +9) tries to do some grooming on Azrat the dwarf (Charisma 8). A Heal result of 8 indicates successful grooming, but no beneficial effect. A roll of 18 indicates a circumstance bonus to charisma of +1, a roll of 28 gives a bonus of +2 (the maximum possible in this case).

A leech is not constantly busy while grooming, and can converse, gather information, and use other leech class abilities meanwhile. However, he cannot engage in combat or other strenuous activity without spoiling the grooming attempt.

Enthrall (Ex)

Benefit: By speaking continuously, the leech can enthrall his audience. This is an extraordinary ability, and works just like the spell. The Will Saving throw DC is 10 + half the leech's class level + the leeches Charisma modifier. The leech can use this ability as often as he likes, but a target that passes the Saving throw is immune to further enthrall or suggestion attempts from him for 24 hours.

If you are currently grooming or operating on the target, the save DC is at +4, and they can't get out of the enthrallment automatically in case of danger, after all, they have your razor at their throat. They do get a chance to save each round while in danger.

First Aid (Ex)

Benefit: You can try to patch up damage. This is a full round action that provokes an attack of opportunity during which both the patient and leech are flat-footed. Any attack or movement in the meantime ruins the effect. On the leech's turn in the next round, this restores a number of hit points equal to the leech's Heal skill modifier (no roll allowed). Each use of this ability inflicts one point of Constitution damage on the target, even if it is interrupted.

Makeup Artist (Ex)

Benefit: If the leech helps someone put on a disguise (including himself), there is a +4 circumstance modifier to all disguise rolls.

Suggestion (Ex)

Prerequisite: Enthrall

Benefit: By clever wording and verbal trickery, the leech can make almost any proposition seem reasonable. In this way, the leech can use suggestion on anyone he has first enthralled. The Will Saving throw DC is 10 + half the leech's character level + the leech's Charisma modifier. The leech can use this ability as often as he likes, but a target that passes the Saving throw is immune to further enthrall or suggestion attempts for 24 hours.

Surgery, Minor (Ex)

Benefit: The surgeon can use the Heal skill to perform surgery. Surgery takes five minutes, during which both the patient and leech are flat-footed. This ability can be used any number of times in a day (time and Constitution permitting).

Creatures of intelligence 3 or more and non-evil alignment are queasy about a surgeon's work and will not wish to interfere while he is performing surgery; this takes the form of a sanctuary effect on you and your patient. The Will Saving Throw DC against this effect is 10 + your class level.

If surgery is aborted to do anything else (such as defending from an attack), the patient takes an immediate 1d6 Constitution damage. After completed surgery, the patient is exhausted and takes 1d6 points of Constitution damage, but also gains considerable benefits, depending on the type of surgery performed. Each level of surgery includes the benefits of al previous levels; a great surgery carries the benefits of a minor, major, and great surgery.

With minor surgery the surgeon can make a Heal skill check and the patient recovers this many hit points. Minor surgery will also cure the following conditions if the Heal roll is 20 or more: bleed, dazed, dazzled, entangled, sickened, fascinated. In general only long-lasting conditions are worth removing by surgery. Poisons in the patients body are negated as are any sleep effects he might be suffering from (even permanent ones).

A newly dead creature can be resuscitated, but this requires a Heal check with a DC equal to the negative hit points the creature currently suffers from or the time in minutes since it died, whichever is greater.

Surgery, Major (Ex)

Prerequisite: Minor Surgery

Benefit: You can use surgery (as detailed under Minor Surgery above) to heal attribute damage to attributes other than Constitution. Make a Heal check and divide the result by five, this is the number of attribute damage points that are restored. Major surgery will also cure the following conditions if the Heal roll is 30 or more: frightened, blinded, deafened, nauseated, shaken, staggered, stunned. Any negative levels or drugs in the patients system are negated. Damaged limbs are restored. Resuscitation DCs are half of those of minor surgery

Advanced Specialties

These abilities are available to a leech with the advanced specialties ability.

Bleed, Greater (Ex)

Prerequisite: Advanced Specialties, Bleed

Benefit: The leech can now use the Bleed ability to remove curses, supernatural abilities, petrification, and polymorph effects.

Conditioning (Ex)

Prerequisite: Advanced Specialties, Enthrall, Suggestion

Benefit: You can create a lasting suggestion that changes how the target behaves in situations you specify. This works like suggestion, but has an unlimited duration and can be triggered multiple times. Each time it is triggered, the victim gains a new saving throw to negate the ability, but each saving throw suffers a cumulative -1 penalty as long as conditions remain reasonably the same; when the saving throw requires a roll of 25 to succeed, the conditioning has become permanent an no mare saving throws are allowed. Note that a natural roll of 20 succeeds as long as any roll is allowed.

Cosmetic Surgery (Ex)

Prerequisite: Advanced Specialties, Makeup Artist, Minor Surgery

Benefit: You can create a lasting disguise by performing surgery on the target. The target gets a permanent +20 bonus on Disguise checks to impersonate the creature you surgically altered it to look like. The target cannot change size and retains their original creature type. If the target tries to adopt a different disguise, calculate disguise modifiers from the target's surgical form, but without the +20 bonus.

Death's Handmaid (Ex)

Prerequisite: Advanced Specialties, Death's Companion

Benefit: When the leech fails a Fortitude or Will saving throw against an effect that has a reduced effect on a successful saving throw, the leech is considered to have succeeded at the saving throw and suffers the lesser effect. This does not help against effects completely negated by a successful save.

Final Touch (Ex)

Prerequisite: Advanced Specialties, Grooming

Benefit: At this level of ability, your grooming skills have become legendary. Even if one of your assistants does the actual grooming, you get to make the skill roll and decide what the final bonus is, as long as you spend at least minute making final touch-ups. Final touch potentially allows you to enhance the Charisma of a lot of people, but suffers a -10 penalty to the Heal check.

Surgery, Great (Ex)

Prerequisite: Advanced Specialties, Major Surgery

Benefit: You can use surgery to heal attribute drain. Make a Heal roll and divide the result by ten, this is the number of points of ability drain restored. Great surgery will also cure the following conditions if the Heal result was 40 or more: cowering, confused, panicked, paralyzed, petrified. If the target is polymorphed, or under a feeblemind effect or suffering from disease, that is cured as well. Severed limbs can be reattached and will function normally again.

A recently dead creature can be resuscitated, but this requires a Heal check with a DC equal to half the negative hit points the creature currently suffers from or the time in hours since it died, whichever is greater.