Tiamat's Chosen (3.5e Prestige Class)

Summary::A madman who represents the horrifying power of Kalus. Minimum Level:: Class Ability::Prepared Arcane Spellcasting Class Ability::Spontaneous Arcane Spellcasting Class Ability Progression::Other

Tiamat's Chosen
Being one of the Chosen of Tiamat means one thing above all in Avalestra, and that one thing is seeking the terrible power of evil dragons! Whether to enslave them or learn from them, Tiamat's Chosen care not, as long as the goals lead to an acquisition of more Kalus power. Kalus is the very power that grants evil dragons their extraordinary supernatural and magical abilities, and Tiamat is the Queen of the power of Kalus. She hardly ever chooses a non-dragon to receive the power of Kalus within themselves, but when she does, it is because they serve her with unswerving loyalty and undying faith. They will do whatever it takes to obtain the Kalus power they so crave, even if it means they serve the every whim of the fickle 5-headed dragon Tiamat!

Becoming Tiamat's Chosen
Some religious service to Tiamat is usually required to have been noticed as faithful enough to become one of the Queen's Chosen. But in some rare cases, there have been other examples of individuals of noble birth, second-born or third-born to a line that are given to the Temples of Tiamat in hopes of becoming one of the Chosen. It is held as a High Honor in circles of nobility in Agharest to have sent a son or daughter to serve the temple. The Temple has become exceptionally choosy about who they will bother to groom into a Chosen, also, so these rare selections are at a premium in their familial glory. But aside from this lot, spellcasters in many dire circles are the most likely to become one of Tiamat's Chosen, as they have divined a desire for the extraordinary power of Kalus, and they feel a burning need to do naught but seek this horrifying power. They who are persistent in their pursuits have wound up discovering the path to the very doorway of the Dragon Queen's realm. From there, they wait for the Queen's commands, and receive terrible power in exchange for their efforts...

Class Features
All of the following are class features of the Tiamat's Chosen.

You do not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained. If you had more than one Arcane spellcasting class before becoming a Tiamat's Chosen, you must decide to which class to add each level for the purpose of determining spells per day, caster level, and spells known.

' :''' The most prominent feature of those who bear the hints of the power of Kalus is their ability to stay alive in extraordinary situations. They can bear the heat close to volcano mouths, and traverse icy mesas in subzero high winds. These are things that must be done to be near dragonkind, and since they likely spend a great deal of time pursuing the power of evil dragons, they must survive to be near those foul patrons. This extraordinary resistance grants a bonus the Tiamat's Chosen receives to all saves equal to their CHA modifier. Should a Tiamat's Chosen be forced to save against the spell effects or fear aura of an Evil Dragon, this bonus increases to twice their CHA modifier.

This feat can be any one Metamagic Feat or any one Draconic Feat. Furthermore, taking this class at it's first level grants you an immunity to the requirements of certain Draconic feats to only be acquired at Level 1 of character creation. You may choose to gain the benefits of these feats by infusing your body with Kalus, the very essence of Evil Dragons, at will.

' :''' At 5th level in this prestige class, you have begun to physically change in a grotesque draconic way. This is as a result of being so deeply infused with the power of Kalus. As a result of this, you take on one Kalus Defect, but gain Spell Resistance equal to 5 + your Tiamat's Chosen levels. At 8th level in this prestige class, the power of Kalus has further tainted you, and you now suffer a permanent -2 penalty to all rolls involving your physical appearance except Intimidate. The list of Kalus Defects are: Fiery Burning Eyes, Static-Electrified Skin, Draconian Skin Scaling, Beak, Stub Tail, Blackening of the flesh, Extrusion of Pus, Foul Stench, Gargoyled Face, "Clammy and Pale".

' :''' At 10th level of Tiamat's Chosen you gain the Spell-like ability to summon any number of the heads of Tiamat in a sheer display of Kalus power, as a standard spellcasting action. This power is not the summoning of an actual dragon's head, not to mention any of the actual heads of the Queen Herself... oh no, this is a display of energy and madness, roaring in illusionary hatred of all that is. Nonetheless, this marvelous display has monstrous results, and that is to produce the dragon breath weapon of any one of the five draconic types! The breath weapon of an adult red, green, blue, white, and black dragon become usable to the character once each per day, with a save DC equal to your character level. The Tiamat's Chosen may conjure up this dragon head anima in any unoccupied, adjacent square, which will become the origin point for the chosen breath weapon. Multiple heads may be summoned at once, but to the limit of one of each of the types per day.

Ex-Tiamat's Chosen
A Tiamat's Chosen that becomes Chaotic-aligned or Good-aligned loses any benefits of this class except for progression in arcane spellcaster levels.

Campaign Information
The pursuit of Kalus, the sheer Evil Force the exists within Dragonkind, is a system used in the Avalestra Campaign Setting. (More coming soon!)