Vermin Lord (3.5e Class)

Vermin Lords are the masters of the tiny and the filthy.

Abilities: Dexterity and Constitution to live longer, and Charisma for more vermin followers.

Races: Although the skittering atrocities that Vermin Lords control are mindless and terrible, they are still beings of nature. As such, races normally inclined to be Druids are also attracted to this class. These include Elves, Gnomes, Humans, and Half-Elves.

Alignment: Any non-Good.

Starting Gold: 2d6 X10

Starting Age: Complex.

All of the following are class features of the Vermin Lord.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Vermin lords are proficient with the following weapons: bola, club, dagger, muspelrule, net, punching dagger, quarterstaff, and sickle. They are proficient with light armor, but not with shields.

Vermin Empathy (Ex): A vermin lord can use body language and demeanor to improve the attitude of vermin. This ability functions like a Diplomacy check made to improve the attitude of a person. The vermin lord rolls 1d20 and adds her vermin lord level and Charisma modifier to the check. The typical mindless vermin has a starting attitude of indifferent.

To use vermin empathy, the vermin lord and the vermin must be able to study each other, which means that they must be within 30 feet of one another under normal conditions. Generally, influencing a vermin in this way takes 1 minute but, as with influencing people, it might take more or less time.

Choose Vermin: A vermin lord picks from a variety of vermin to serve his dark and evil desires. He is able to choose between rats, bats, spiders, or scorpions. Once they have chosen, the Vermin Lord slowly begins to look more and more like their chosen vermin in appearance. As of reaching level 10, he looks almost nothing like his original race. Upon choosing, the Vermin Lord gains abilities similar to those of the vermin he chose. Choosing rats provides a +5 bonus to Hide, Listen, Spot, and Move Silently checks. Choosing spiders grants the ability to climb on walls, sense the heat patterns of nearby creatures, and create simple poisons. Bats provide 60 feet of dark vision and a +10 bonus on Listen checks. Scorpions provide a +3 armor bonus and the ability to spray acid from his mouth, which does (2d8 + level) damage, which a ref save can negate. This ability can be used twice a day.

Chitin (Ex): At level 2, the Vermin Lord begins to develop chitinous plates under his or her skin, increasing their natural armor bonus by +1. As the chitinous plates get thicker and more extensive, the Vermin Lord gains an addition +1 armor bonus for every three levels, starting at level 2.

Vermin Form (Sp): A level 2 Vermin Lord can become the vermin he has chosen at will. He appears larger than a normal member of that vermin's species. Other animals avoid the Vermin Lord's animal form, and sentient creatures can easily detect the odd intelligence in their eyes.

Vermin Followers (Su): At level 4, the Vermin Lord starts to attract vermin of the type he chose. Vermin honor and respect him, and the Vermin Lord is able to have a total number of vermin equal to (level + charisma) to serve him. A vermin's HD can be no higher then 1/3 of the Vermin Lord's level.

Vermin Commander (Su): Beginning at level 7, a Vermin Lord is granted a Vermin whose HD is equal to his own minus 3. This vermin is larger, smarter, and stronger than the others and is not considered one of the followers so is not in the same pool of HD. A Vermin Commander leads the Vermin Lord's armies and can speak to him telepathically.

Disease of the Vermin (Su): A Vermin Lord of level 11 or higher gains the ability to infect his or her swarm with any infectious disease within the Vermin Lord's level category, such as Filth Fever or Mummy Rot. These diseases do not harm the vermin swarm, who act as carriers. In addition, the Vermin Lord is now immune to communicable disease.

Tremor Sense (Ex): At level 14, Vermin Lords becomes sensitive to vibrations in the ground and can pinpoint the location of any moving creatures within range, so long as both the Vermin Lord and other creature are on the ground. As long as the creatures are taking physical actions, including casting spells with somatic components, they’re considered moving; they don’t have to move from place to place for a Vermin Lord to detect them. At level 19 Tremor Sense's range increases to 40 feet.

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+ Int modifier skill points per level.

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Bonus Feats: The epic gains a bonus feat (selected from the list of epic bonus feats) every levels after 20th.

Epic Bonus Feat List: .

Weapons: .

Skill Selection: Pick a number of skills equal to 4 + Int modifier.

Feat: .

Bonus Feats: Scent and Track.

Gear: .

Gold: 2d6 x 10

Other Classes: Multiclassing with Vermin Lord and Rogue is a good choice, due to a Rogue's stealth and backstabbing abilities.

Combat: Vermin Lords tend to play support roles in combat, using their horde of minions to locate and take down enemies, create diversions, or scout enemy bases while the Vermin Lord himself creeps around the back to attack foes from behind. Vermin Lords also work well as tacticians because they are well-positioned to gather information.

Vermin Lords tend to live among the dregs of society, often in slums or sewers where they and their hordes can live in relative anonymity.

Daily Life: .

Notables: .

Organizations: Vermin Lords almost aways live alone—or as alone as they can be, surrounded by a colony of hundreds. Occasionally a small number of Vermin Lords will band together, but such groups are rare.

NPC Reactions: The vast majority of NPCs will view Vermin Lords with disgust and distrust, and will want to avoid them for fear of vermin, filth, and disease. At higher levels, Vermin Lords begin to resemble their vermin more and more, and as such will have greater difficulty in interacting with most beings.

Characters with ranks in Gather Information can research Vermin Lords to learn more about them. When a character makes a skill check, read or paraphrase the following, including information from lower DCs.

Adaptation: .

Sample Encounter: .

EL whatever: .

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