Tormentor (3.5e Prestige Class)

Author: Leziad (talk) Date Created: August 15, 2012 Status: Finished Editing: Clarity edits only please

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A gorgoneion tormentor with her torment engine in hand.

Tormentor

“	Pain is power, pain can be tapped into. There is more to it than mere sadism to be satisfied by the sound of torn sinew and broken bones. Pain is to be researched and used for the greater good. Of course, the greater good is my own good.	”
—Methu'sael, gorgoneion tormentor

Tormentors are mages and dark clerics who found that pain can be used as an energy source, but need the proper tools to tap into it. The terrible torment engine, a weird insect-like gauntlet and a twisted device invented by one forgotten perverted mind of the lower planes, allows one to not only tap into pain, but to use it to empower oneself and even weaponize it.

Becoming a Tormentor

Entry Requirements

Alignment:	Must be Evil.
Base Attack Bonus:	+1.
Skills:	6 Ranks in Intimidate, 4 Ranks in craft (alchemy).
Feats:	Bringer of Agony and another vile feat.
Spellcasting:	Must be able to cast a 1st-level spell.
Spellcasting:	Clerics must have the pain domain.
Special:	Must be tutored by another tormentor or build a torment engine yourself.

Table: The Tormentor

Hit Die: d6

Level	Base Attack Bonus	Saving Throws			Special	Spellcasting	Maximum Pain Points
		Fort	Ref	Will
1st	+1	+2	+0	+2	Agony Caress, Pain Conversion, Torment Engine	—	3
2nd	+2	+3	+0	+3	Dark Tolerance, Pain Beam, Torment Engine Upgrades (Basic Upgrades)	+1 Spellcasting	5
3rd	+3	+3	+0	+3	Pain Oversurge, Vile Tutoring	+1 Spellcasting	7
4th	+3	+4	+1	+4	Art of Torture, False Swipe	+1 Spellcasting	9
5th	+4	+4	+1	+4	Revitalize, Torment Engine Upgrades (Pain Talons)	+1 Spellcasting	11
6th	+5	+5	+1	+5	Dirge of Suffering	+1 Spellcasting	13
7th	+6/+1	+5	+2	+5	Siphon Pain, Torment Engine Upgrades (Soul Core)	+1 Spellcasting	15
8th	+6/+1	+6	+2	+6	Abyssal Covenant	+1 Spellcasting	17
9th	+7/+2	+6	+2	+6	Black Ichor, Torment Engine Upgrades (Wracking Coils)	+1 Spellcasting	19
10th	+8/+3	+7	+3	+7	Pain Infusion	+1 Spellcasting	21
11th	+9/+4	+7	+3	+7	Abyssal Covenant (2 Torturer), Torment Engine Upgrades (Utility Claw)	+1 Spellcasting	23
12th	+9/+4	+8	+3	+8	Demented Phantasm, Doloromancer	+1 Spellcasting	25
13th	+10/+5	+8	+4	+8	Agony Unbound, Torment Engine Upgrades (Black Coils and Soul Geyser)	+1 Spellcasting	27
14th	+11/+6/+1	+9	+4	+9	Secrets Revealed	+1 Spellcasting	29
15th	+12/+7/+2	+9	+4	+9	Draining Torture	+1 Spellcasting	31
16th	+12/+7/+2	+10	+5	+10	Boiling Pain	+1 Spellcasting	33
17th	+13/+8/+3	+10	+5	+10	Black Nirvana	+1 Spellcasting	35
Class Skills (2 + Int modifier per level). Appraise (Int), Bluff (Cha), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Decipher Script (Int), Disguise (Cha), Forgery (Int), Heal (Wis), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (Int), Listen (Wis), Profession (Wis), Speak Language (None), Spellcraft (Int), Spot (Wis).

Class Features

The save DC of all tormentor abilities is 10 + ½ her character levels + her relevant ability score. Her relevant ability is score is either intelligence, wisdom, or charisma, whichever is highest. The caster level for any supernatural or spell-like ability she possesses is equal to her character level.

All of the following are class features of the Tormentor.

Spellcasting: At each level except at 1st level, you gain new spells per day and an increase in caster level (and spells known, if applicable) as if you had also gained a level in a spellcasting class to which you belonged before adding the prestige class level. You do not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained. If you had more than one spellcasting class before becoming a tormentor, you must decide to which class to add each level for the purpose of determining spells per day, caster level, and spells known.

Agony Caress (Ex): A 1st-level tormentor gains Agony Caress as a bonus feat, even if she does not meet the prerequisites. She can deliver her agony caress with any attack she makes with her Torment Engine. Anytime a creature fails its save against her agony caress, she gains one pain point, although she may only gain pain points for a particular creature using agony caress once per 24 hours. The save DC for agony caress is based on the tormentor's relevant ability.

Pain Conversion (Su): A 1st-level tormentor is able to turn pain into power with great efficiency. She may only use her pain points if she is equipped with her torment engine. She has a maximum number of pain points in her pool based on her class level (as seen on the Tormentor table). She also gains +1 maximum pain point for every non-tormentor HD and class levels she has −3.

She never recovers her pain points naturally; she needs to extract them with her Torment Engine. If she tortures a sentient creature capable of feeling pain for at least 4 hours, she recovers one-half (rounded up) of her maximum pain points. She may not gain pain points from that creature for 24 hours. She may also gain 2 pain points by fueling her torment engine with liquid pain as a full-round action.

She may convert an amount of pain points for the following uses as a swift action.

• 1 Pain Point: She gains the effect of deathwatch for 1 minute per level.
• 1+ Pain Point(s): Gain 2 temporary hit points for each pain point spent. These hit points last for 1 minute and do not stack.
• 1+ Pain Point(s): Deal three times the amount of pain points spent as a bonus to damage on all attacks with her torment engine this round.
• 2 Pain Points: Add her relevant ability score modifier to one of her saving throws until the end of the round (can be used as an immediate action).
• 2 Pain Points: Gain a +1 profane bonus to attack.
• 3 Pain Points: Gain concealment for 2 rounds.

She may convert an amount of pain points for the following uses as a standard action.

• 1+ Pain Point(s): Gain 4 temporary hit points for each pain point spent. These hit points last for 1 minute and do not stack.
• 2 Pain Points: Add her relevant ability score modifier to her saving throws until the end of the encounter (does not stack with itself).
• 3 Pain Points: Add her relevant ability score modifier to her damage roll when attacking with her torment engine until the end of the encounter (does not stack with itself).

She may convert an amount of pain points for the following uses as a full-round action.

• 1+ Pain Point(s): Grant 4 temporary hit points for each pain point spent to target adjacent creature. These hit points last for 1 minute and do not stack.
• 3 Pain Points: The tormentor creates one dose of liquid pain.

Torment Engine (Ex): A tormentor possesses a strange black gauntlet called a Torment Engine. A torment engine is an exotic weapon with the same profile as a spiked gauntlet, except it deals 1d8 damage (medium, deals slashing damage instead of piercing, and has a critical hit multiplier of ×4.) She The torment engine has a minimum enhancement bonus to attack and damage equal to her level divided by three (minimum of 1). A Torment Engine can be used as a one-handed or light weapon whenever doing so would be advantageous.

If the Torment Engine is broken, she may make another by paying 1000 gp. This takes 24 hours of work. A torment engine counts as a masterwork tool for intimidate, except it grants a +3 bonus instead of +2 when making a torture check with "Bringer of Agony".

Dark Tolerance (Su): A 2nd level tormentor has tapped into pain so much that she has become immune to it and emotionally desensitized. She becomes immune to fear and effects that rely on pain. Additionally, when she is Staggered she may lose her swift action instead of her move or standard action.

Pain Beam (Ex): As a standard action, a 2nd-level tormentor may fire a beam of pure pain at her enemy within short range. She must make a ranged touch attack. If the target is hit, it takes 2d8 damage plus the tormentor's casting ability score modifier and must make a save as if it was affected by Agony Caress (with the possible pain points gained if the target fails its save). Damage dealt by this ability counts as being done by the torment engine for the purpose of class abilities.

Torment Engine Upgrades (Ex): As the tormentor progresses in levels, she may upgrade her torment engine with diabolical upgrades. These upgrades must be developed for the torment engine with 2 hours' worth of adjustments and must be applied to the torment engine with a full-round action, and only up to three upgrades can be active on the torment engine at the same time. A tormentor starts with 3 basic upgrades she can apply and gains more with levels.

Obsidian Drill (Ex): A 2nd-level tormentor may construct a terrible drill in her torment engine. The drill is made of hardened runic obsidian and is internal until called. Its exit point is usually placed in the palm of the torment engine. A torment engine equipped with an obsidian drill can do piercing damage instead of slashing damage, and as long as it deals piercing damage, the torment engine counts as being made of rune obsidian.

Additionally, an obsidian drill can be used for precise lobotomy; when the tormentor is torturing a living creature, she may have her subject be affected by an effect duplicating modify memory, although the effect can only be used to make the creature forget memories.

Nightblades (Ex): A 2nd-level tormentor may outfit her torment engine with terrible nightblades. Nightblades are made of shadow stuff and appear at the end of the torment engine's fingers after each attack. A torment engine outfitted with nightblades deals +1d6 force damage. Additionally, once per round as a standard action, she may call on their power to duplicate the effect of night caress^SpC at the cost of 3 pain points.

Venom Injector (Ex): A 2nd-level tormentor can outfit her torment engine with a devious device taking the form of a biological-artificial hybrid poison sac in the claws of the torment engine. This upgrade allows the tormentor to inject deadly poisons and toxins into the bloodstreams of her foes. The tormentor can store up to three poisons in her torment engine (up to three doses of each). As a free action when making a melee attack with her torment engine, she can coat the weapon in the poison of her choice that is loaded in the venom injector. You may only use the venom injector once per attack. A tormentor never risks poisoning herself when using the venom injector.

The DC for an injected poison is its listed DC or DC 10 + ½ character level + her relevant ability score, whichever is higher. Additionally, a tormentor may expend 1 pain point to increase the DC of the poison by +2, but she may only do this once per round.

Pain Talon (Ex): A 5th-level tormentor may apply pain talons on her torment engine. The pain talons are sharp claw-like blades placed on the fingers of the torment engine. The blades react intensely to pain. Whenever a tormentor successfully gains a pain point with her agony caress, she may make an extra rending attack dealing 2d8+1/2 her relevant ability score modifier with her highest attack bonus.

Soul Core (Ex): A 7th-level tormentor may apply the diabolical soul core to her torment engine. The soul core is a thinaun sphere, about 2 inches wide, placed within the torment engine. Whenever a creature is killed by the tormentor, she may have its soul forced inside the Torment Engine. The creature is allowed a will save post-mortem; if it succeeds, its soul escapes. Her torment engine may only hold one soul at a time. Once per hour, she may torment the soul inside, allowing her to gain one pain point. Some abilities may free or destroy the soul inside the soul core, forcing the tormentor to refill it. She may extract or release the soul within the soul core as a move action. The tormentor may also extract a soul from any receptacle (like a thinaun weapon) to her soul core as a move action.

Wracking Coils (Su): A 9th-level tormentor is capable of building wracking coils for her torment engine. Wracking coils are placed inside the torment engine and can be used to channel pain and intensify it thousandfold. Once per round, after she hits a creature with either her agony caress or a melee attack with her torment engine, she may expend 6 pain points. If she does, that creature is affected by wrack^CD, as the spell (although it may affect creatures of any type, not just humanoid). If a creature succeeds on its save against the effect of a wracking coil, it cannot be affected by it for 24 hours.

Utility Claw (Ex): A 11th-level tormentor can remove one of the attack claws of her torment engine in order to add an utility claw, freeing up more spaces for further upgrades. Her torment engine deals damage like it was one size category smaller, and she may only add half of her relevant ability score modifier to damage instead of adding it fully. However, she gains two more slots for upgrades (one is taken by the utility claw itself).

Black Coils (Su): A 13th-level tormentor may upgrade her torment engine with the most malicious Black Coils. Her torment engine must be upgraded with wracking coils, as the black coils require them to work. The black coils are placed side by side with the wracking coil, and the energy field projected when active shrouds the torment engine in shadow. A torment engine equipped with black coils is shrouded in impenetrable darkness and jumps in and off the plane of shadow; with each melee attack, there is a 20% chance that the target is unable to defend properly against it and is considered flat-footed. Additionally, when a creature is lowered to 0 hp or below by a melee attack with a torment engine equipped with black coils, the tormentor may spend 5 pain points. If she does, the target is immediately affected by eternity of torture with no save allowed.

Wracking coils may never be replaced or removed as long as black coils are used, as the black coils need them to function.

Soul Geyser (Ex): A 13th-level tormentor is capable of linking the Soul Core to a new energy projector called a soul geyser. When she uses revitalize with a soul geyser equipped on her torment engine, she may decide to destroy the soul held in the soul core. If she does, she may affect a number of other creatures equal to half the CR of the creature captured within the soul core within long range.

Pain Oversurge (Su): As a swift action, a 3rd-level tormentor may expend one pain point to create a large amount of electricity in her torment engine for one round, but she may spend one pain point each round to extend its duration by one round. As long as the pain oversuge is active, she may make a ranged touch attack against a target within medium range as an attack action. If the attack hits, the target takes 3d6 electricity damage. As long as pain oversurge is active, she may spend a pain point for each attack she makes, and each of those attacks deals a number of extra d6s of damage equal to her character levels minus 3.

By spending 5 pain points, the tormentor may use pain oversurge to duplicate the effect of revivify. This requires a full-round action.

Vile Tutoring (Ex): A 3rd-level tormentor gains a vile feat she meets the prerequisites of.

Art of Torture (Ex): A 4th-level tormentor's abilities ignore immunity to pain. However, creatures with such abilities gain a +4 bonus to saves against the tormentor's abilities.

False Swipe (Ex): A 4th-level tormentor gains false swipe as a bonus feat, even if she does not meet the prerequisites.

Revitalize (Su): A 5th-level tormentor is able to aid herself and her allies by using the power of pain. She gains the following abilities usable as a standard action, the range for this ability is touch:

• By spending 3 pain point, she may duplicate the effect of cure moderate wounds.
• By spending 5 pain points, she may duplicate the effect of lesser restoration.
• By spending 9 pain points, she may duplicate the effect of restoration.
• By spending 12 pain points, she may duplicate the effect of raise dead.
• By spending 12 pain points, she may duplicate the effect of regenerate.
• By spending 20 pain points, she may replicate the effect of resurrection.

Dirge of Suffering (Su): A 6th-level tormentor is able to use pain to create a most delicious symphony. She may expend 5 pain points in order to duplicate the effect of song of discord or widened crushing despair (except it gains the [sonic] descriptor).

Siphon Pain (Su): A 7th-level tormentor may now use her pain beam as a full-round action; doing so will allow her to use it as a 60 ft. cone-shaped burst. All creatures within the burst are affected by the usual effect of pain beam (allowing the tormentor to collect many pain points).

Abyssal Covenant (Su): A 8th-level tormentor has a pact with torturers and may call upon them as a full-round action. She may spend 11 pain points to summon one torturer. The torturer is friendly toward the tormentor, but must be given one pain point per minute or return to her plane of origin. The torturer, while loyal, is not a slave, and will not tolerate being attacked or put uselessly in harm's way.

At 11th level, the tormentor may summon two torturers, but she must spend 2 pain points per minute instead of one.

Black Ichor (Ex): A 9th-level tormentor is capable of fermenting a horrible soul poison called Black Ichor. Black Ichor must be prepared by expending 500 gp in resources and 3 hours in work and requires a craft (alchemy) DC of 25. As soon as the poison is ready, it will turn bad within a minute if not loaded into the venom injector.

As soon as the black ichor is injected, it needs to activate, requiring the tormentor to spend 4 pain points. Then the injected creature must make a will save or be affected by its terrible effects (even if the creature is normally immune to poison). The black ichor will taint the creature's very essence. It loses any immunity to poison, critical hits, and pain energy, and also loses any and all damage resistance it has; these losses are permanent. Additionally, all damage dealt to the creature is treated as vile damage. The only way to cure black ichor is a remove curse spell or stronger effect cast by a caster with a caster level equal to or higher than the character level of the tormentor who injected the black ichor.

Pain Infusion (Ex): A 10th-level tormentor is able to infuse her attack with pure pain. Anytime she hits a creature with her torment engine, she may spend 2 pain points. If she does, that creature must make a Fortitude save or be staggered for 1 round.

Demented Phantasm (Su): A 12th-level tormentor is able to cast minor image at will as long as she has one or more pain points in her pool. Additionally, she may release the soul within her soul core (assuming she has it equipped) and duplicate the effect of phantasmal killer (the effect becomes necromancy instead of illusion (phantasm) and loses the [mind-affecting] descriptor), but creatures with a CR exceeding the CR of the captured soul by 4 or more are immune to this effect.

Doloromancer (Su): Whenever a 12th-level tormentor casts a spell listed on this list (even as a spelll-like ability), she may expend a number of pain points equal to twice its spell level. If she does, she may add the effect of one of the following metamagic feats without increasing the spell level or its casting time: Enlarge Spell, Extend Spell, Quicken Spell (must spend twice as much pain points), Maximize Spell, or Widen Spell.

Agony Unbound (Ex): A 13th-level tormentor may force any creatures affected by her agony caress to make a fortitude save or be stunned for 2 rounds instead of the usual effect. If the targeted creature was stunned this way, she regains 3 pain points.

Secrets Revealed (Ex): A 14th-level tormentor has found the secret of eternal youth in pain. As long as she has 5 or more pain points in her pool, she does not age physically.

Additionally, she may spend 20 pain points in an 8-hour ritual to rejuvenate herself back to young adult. This is a partial rejuvenation.

Draining Torture (Ex): Any creature dealt damage by one of a 15th-level tormentor's melee attacks with her torment engine must make a Fortitude save or take 1d4 ability damage to strength, dexterity, or constitution. A particular creature may only be affected by draining torture once per round.

Boiling Pain (Ex): A 16th-level tormentor is capable of literally making a creature boil with pain. She must spend a full-round action, target a creature within long range, and spend pain points equal to the creature's CR. The targeted creature must make a Fortitude save; if it succeeds, it takes 15d8 damage and is staggered for 1 round. If it fails, it bloats and explodes, dying immediately as the pain literally boils it from the inside.

Black Nirvana (Ex): A 17th-level Tormentor has transcended thanks to her understanding of pain and suffering. She is forevermore treated as an outsider rather than as a humanoid (or whatever the tormentor’s creature type was) for the purposes of spells and magical effects. Additionally, the tormentor gains damage reduction 10/magic and good. She also gains eternity of torture and mindrape^BoVD as spell-like abilities usable once per day each. Unlike other outsiders, the tormentor can still be brought back from the dead as if she were a member of her previous creature type.

Optional: Bag of Rats Fix

While not very in-theme with the class, a fix for the bag of rats trick exists. Should the issue arise in your game, you may want to apply the following rule to the tormentor:

A tormentor may not gain pain points from vermin and animals of CR 1 or less or that are created by a bag of tricks.

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