Occult slayers seek to train and hone their bodies to resist supernatural effects in order to hunt down and slay the most dangerous of foes – dangerous spellcasters, unworldly aberrations, unholy demons, rotting undead, and more. The path of an occult slayer is ideal for individuals who have been victimized by supernatural means and seek acceptable ways to oppose them, if not for outright vengeance.
Most occult slayers begin their careers as fighters, although barbarians and rangers often take this path as well. Monks and rogues have also been known to embrace this calling, but bards and paladins find the occult slayer's preoccupation with spellcasters stifling. Clerics, druids, sorcerers, and wizards - one of the potential targets of occult slayers - tend not to adopt this prestige class, although such turnarounds are not without precedent.
Requirements
Base Attack Bonus: +5
Skills: Lore (arcana) 4 ranks , Spellcraft 3 ranks
Feats: Improved Initiative , Weapon Focus (any weapon)
Hit die
d8
Skill points
2 + Int
Class Features
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Occult slayers gains no new weapon or armor proficiencies.
Magical Defense (Ex): An occult slayer's constant training in countering magic of all types manifests itself as a bonus on saving throws against spells or spell-like abilities. This bonus is +1 at 3rd level, and it increases to +2 at 6th level and to +3 at 9th level.
Blank Thoughts (Ex): At 5th level, an occult slayer can induce within herself a state of mental absence, thereby becoming immune to mind-affecting effects (charms, compulsions, patterns, phantasms, and morale effects).
Spell Resistant: At 10th level, on occult slayer gains spell resistance of 11 + character level.
Class Skills
Bluff, Craft Alchemy, Craft Armor, Craft Weapons, Lore (Arcana), Sense Motive, Spellcraft, Survival
Advancement
Currently the server does not have a single PRC that would grant a non-caster characters means to defend themselves against magic.
In fact, the only option that is currently available is to invest in UMD, and recently that was made less useful. I am not against the dispel fix, but the fact is, it made UMD less useful. Thereofre, I believe this PRC would provide an interesting option for characters to combat foes they could not before. Additionally it could provide role-playing possibilities as a hunter of vampires akin to one 'Van Helsing', or any any beast that heavily relies on spells or spell like abilities.
As for server balance, although this class comes with High BAB and saves, it cannot be said to offer much beyond defenses against spells and spell like abilities. Therefore, any fighter-rogue-barbarian-swashbuckler-monk that multiclasses into it, will be gaining magical defenses at the cost of their damage output.
For example, we could look at the bread and butter Fighter/Frenzied Berserker/Weapon Master/Rogue build - with Occult Slayer, a comparable build would be: Fighter 12/Rogue 3/Occult Slayer 10/Frenzied Berserker 5 or Fighter 10/Weapon Master 7/Occult Slayer 10/Rogue 3. In both cases, your potential damage output has been decreased. The first doesn't have as high critical hit damage output, and the second is held behind in the base damage department.
Then as for sneaking rogue builds, although you gain high BAB progression, you will be ten levels behind with your potential sneak attack progression. What are the builds we would be looking at? Most likely: Rogue 10/Assassin 10/Occult Slayer 10 or Rogue 17/Occult Slayer 10/Shadowndacer 3. (And when you look at that, ten levels of fighter would have granted your character 6 fighter bonus feats to spend on whatever.)
Thus, the sacrifice of damage output to gain defenses against spells and spell like abilities should be a fair and balanced trade. After all, defenses against spells and spell like abilities is only useful when you are facing them.
But sadly, there is that elephant in the room. Namely 'Casters and PvP.'
In fact, I expect them to be against the idea of a non-casting characters having access to Spell Resistance of '41' and proceed to lambast it as an unfair advantage and state that the server doesn't balance for PvP.
So let us start by reminding everyone how Spell Resistance works:
In other words, our level 30 Occult Slayer would have the above spell resistance of 41. Thus against a level 30 caster, our caster's spells will overcome the spell resistance 50% of time.Caster: 1d20 + Caster Level + Feats + Bonus for Assay Resistance
Defender: Spell Resistance amount + penalties to spell resistance
If the caster meets, or beats defender's spell resistance, the spell goes through.
Now, if our caster casts Assay Resistance ('Cleric: 4, Sorcerer/Wizard: 4') - they will overcome the defender's spell resistance 100% of time.
Then spells like Mordekaine's Disjunction, Greater Spell Breach, Lesser Spell Breach impose a spell resistance penalties of -10, -6, and -3 respectively for 60 seconds. (These stack with each other by the way.) Therefore, a single Mordekaine's Disjunction means that a level 30 caster can negate the entire spell resistance of our Occult Slayer.
Additionally, we have the Spell Penetration feats that grant a bonus of +6 to beating spell resistance and caster prestige classes that provide additional caster levels. For example, a Bloodmagus/Archmage can have caster level of 36, hence they just need to spend two feats on Greater Spell Penetration to defeat our defender's spell resistance of '41' by default.
As for the potential combinations of Diamond Body (Monk 13) and Occult Slayer 10, it is true that such a build could reach Spell Resistance of '51' by spending all five epic feats on 'Epic Spell Resistance'. However, a combination of Mordekaine's Disjuntion and Assay Resistance makes sure that any level 30 caster can overcome that spell resistance.
Thus to sum it up, arcanists could still win everyone by just pressing a few buttons, and Divine casters could still bludgeon everything to death just as before.
As for the claim of this server not balancing for PvP...
Well, for once, the server would not be balancing for PvP.- The drow were banished into underdark because surface casters thought spell resistance provided 'an unfair advantage.' (PvP without buffs, surface caster would still have to start with a Mord/Assay or rely on luck.)
- The Shadowdancer PRC got a dexterity requirement because casters thought avoiding their 'instant win' spells with HiPS was 'an unfair advantage.'
- A multitude of caster PRCs have been added, most which increases caster levels and provide instant cast level nine spells. Because it is 'not an unfair advantage.'
- Usage of UMD is now easily dispelled. Because it is 'not an unfair advantage.'
It would grant melee characters a reasonable possibility to resist spells and spell like abilities in PvE - without first having to create and level up three crafter characters, and then mule over gold to fuel up the UMD spewing machine.
Anyhow, I am still happy as a Battlerager. Just thought that this would be a fun addition. Feel free to comment, suggest, discuss, and what not.
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