Inaccurate?

Tainted Sorcerer

(Unearthed Arcana variant, p. 191)

Tainted sorcerers find an easy path to tremendous magical power.

Requirements

Alignment: Any nongood.

Base Will Save: +4.
Spells: Ability to cast 1st-level spells.
Taint: Character's taint score must be 4 or more.
Special: Must have learned the basics of taint magic from a tainted sorcerer of at least 4th level, or must have summoned a demon or devil to gain instruction.


Hit die

d8

Skill points

2 + Int

Class Features

All information about the taint can be found on page 189 of Unearthed Arcana.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Tainted sorcerers are proficient with all simple weapons. They are not proficient with any type of armor or shield. Armor of any type interferes with a tainted sorcerer's arcane gestures, which can cause her spells to fail (if those spells have somatic components).

Spells per Day/ Spells Known: When a new tainted sorcerer level is gained, the character gains new spells known and spells per day as if she had also gained a level in a spellcasting class she belonged to before she added the prestige class. She does not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained. This essentially means that she adds the level of tainted sorcerer to the level of whatever other spellcasting class she has, then determines spells known, spells per day, and caster level accordingly.

Blood Component: A tainted sorcerer must use blood in place of any spell's material component (if the spell has no material component, ignore this cost). She has two choices for a source of blood: herself or someone else. If she uses her own blood, the minor knife cut to draw the requisite blood is a free action that becomes a normal part of casting the spell. Using this ability deals 1 point of damage to the tainted sorcerer, but the character does not need to make a Concentration check to successfully cast the spell, despite the wound. Substituting blood for a costly material component requires drawing a greater amount of blood. A tainted sorcerer deals more damage to herself when drawing a large amount of blood, as shown on the table below. Also, when using blood to replace a costly component in this way, the tainted sorcerer must make a Concentration check (DC 10 + damage taken + spell level) to successfully cast the spell.

Component Cost Damage Dealt
50 gp or less 5
51gp-300gp 11
301 gp-750 gp 17
751 gp or more 23

If the tainted sorcerer draws someone else's blood to use as a material component, the rules given above generally apply. If the source of blood is willing (or helpless) and is adjacent to the tainted sorcerer, she can make a minor knife cut to obtain a small amount of blood as a free action during the casting of the spell. (if the source is not willing or helpless and no adjacent, how long it takes to draw blood depends entirely on the circumstances.) No single source of blood can be used to replace a costly material component unless the character or creature's current hit point total is high enough to absorb all the dam-age without falling below —10. For example, the blood of an orc with 6 hit points remaining is not sufficient to replace a component that costs 301 gp or more, because the orc cannot take the necessary 17 points of damage before it is dead.

Taint Suppression: While a tainted sorcerer is likely to accumulate a high taint score over the course of her life, this taint is not immediately obvious to onlookers. A tainted sorcerer's taint manifests in mental effects—insanity, rage, and nightmares—and in internal physical effects. If a tainted sorcerer is split open, the character's internal corruption is obvious: Her body is full of bloody pus and strange growths, even internal limbs. If a tainted sorcerer enters a tainted area, her corruption immediately manifests externally as well. Barring these two conditions, it is impossible to detect a tainted sorcerer based on appearance. A tainted sorcerer no longer applies her taint score as a penalty to her Constitution, and only applies one-half her taint score as a penalty to her Wisdom.

Tainted Metamagic: A tainted sorcerer who learns metamagic feats can apply them by paying an additional cost in blood. By draining blood, a tainted sorcerer can enhance her spells without using a higher-level spell slot. The cost is a number of points of Constitution damage equal to the spell slot adjustment of the metamagic feat. Thus, casting an empowered vampiric touch spell costs a tainted sorcerer 2 points of Constitution damage, because an empowered spell uses up a spell slot two levels higher than normal. A tainted sorcerer cannot enhance a spell to a level higher than she can cast by this means. For example, a tainted sorcerer must be at least a 9th-level caster to cast an empowered vampiric touch spell (or at least 10th level, if the character is casting as a sorcerer), since the empowered spell requires a 5th-level spell slot. A tainted sorcerer without a Constitution score cannot use this ability.

Tainted Spellcasting (Su): Rather than using a key ability score for spellcasting, a tainted sorcerer uses her taint score. To cast a spell, a tainted sorcerer must have a taint score at least equal to the spell's level. Tainted sorcerer bonus spells are based on a number equal to the character's taint score + 10, and saving throws against tainted sorcerer spells have a DC of 10 + spell level + the tainted sorcerer's taint score. A tainted sorcerer accumulates taint for casting her spells. All spells a tainted sorcerer casts are evil spells. She must make a Fortitude save (DC 10 + spell level) or increase her taint score by 1.

Level Advancement: The power of taint is seductive. Once a character has tasted its attractions, it is hard to resist. Whenever a tainted sorcerer gains a new level and wishes to advance a level in some other class, she must succeed on a Will saving throw (DC 10 + taint score). If she fails the saving throw, she must advance her tainted sorcerer level. If she succeeds on this saving throw, she can advance a level in some other class.

Advancement

Level Base Attack Bonus Fort Ref Will Spells per Day/Spells Known
1st +0 +2 +0 +0 +1 Level of existing spellcasting class
2nd +1 +3 +0 +0 +1 Level of existing spellcasting class
3rd +2 +3 +1 +1 +1 Level of existing spellcasting class
4th +3 +4 +1 +1 +1 Level of existing spellcasting class
5th +3 +4 +1 +1 +1 Level of existing spellcasting class
6th +4 +5 +2 +2 +1 Level of existing spellcasting class
7th +5 +5 +2 +2 +1 Level of existing spellcasting class
8th +6 +6 +2 +2 +1 Level of existing spellcasting class
9th +6 +6 +3 +3 +1 Level of existing spellcasting class
10th +7 +7 +3 +3 +1 Level of existing spellcasting class

Class skills

Skill name Key ability Trained only Armor check penalty
Bluff CHA no no
Concentration CON no no
Disguise CHA no no
Hide DEX no yes
Knowledge (arcana) INT yes no
Knowledge (the planes) INT yes no
Spellcraft INT yes no

Spells for Tainted Sorcerer

Comments on this single page only