Masquerador (3.5e Race)
Masqueradors
Excerpt: This is a racial template that can be applied to a once holy Celestial, or to a new character. The following requirements are in place for either situation.
If from a Celestial, the Celestial has to have committed a grave sin against their god, and has fallen from grace. They lose the stat bonuses of being a Celestial, and instead gain the stat bonuses of this race. They lose any resistances and immunities they had previously, and gain the immunities of this race. Their wings retract into their body, and become leathery instead of soft downy. They begin to grow long fangs and a feral look.
If from a new character, they must possess an intelligence of at least 10, and a wisdom of at least 14. The character must be of a chaotic alignment.
History: Since time immemorial, Celestials worked as the messengers and combatants of the Gods. Things always worked like they should, until the rogue element would eventually surface. Celestials would get tempted away with one thing or another, and then fall from grace.
Enter the Masquerador, a Fallen Celestial, now a Demon. They are hearty, and durable beings. They are resilient and tough against most forms of punishment, but lose virtually all of their once divine power. After years of remaining in a form of purgatory state, they have risen from the ashes to become Undertakers. They find those whose time is running out, and kill them. Criminals are given worse punishment than innocents. Most criminals are killed and their soul harvested to be put to work doing various deeds for the Masquerador. Innocents are usually delivered to a divine being for reincarnation.
Almost any being that is aware of what it is that stands before them will realize they are in danger if a Masquerador appears before them. It usually means the fire that is their life is nearing its end naturally, or they are about to be killed.
Personality
Masqueradors have a rather eccentric personality. They behave differently based on where they are, in order to hide their true nature. They are every bit the hunter the Vampire is feared for, and oft need a malleable personality in order to truly blend in. They are otherwise normal, in that they do maintain jobs and may even have families.
Physical Description
An average male Masquerador may be as tall as 6'0, and as short as 4'6, and weigh as much as 200 pounds. Their sizes are based on their heritage, and where they are trying to hide at.
Females weigh a little less, and are generally a little shorter, but like males, hide where their size suits them most.
Regardless of gender, both sport shiny silver hair, and often crimson red eyes. Heritage could influence the eye color, but hair color will always change to silver at or around age 16. They are all generally pale, some a little more than others. They are otherwise normal.
Relations
A Masquerador will get along with virtually any race, as they often time will try to masquerade as said race. They don't take well to those that they deem are disruptive to the flow of life and time, and this is normally exclusive to Necromancers, but they also hunt Demons, and Undead.
Alignment
Due to the mentality and judgment of this group, they are almost exclusively Chaotic Neutral. Occasionally you can find a Chaotic Good, or Neutral Good one floating around somewhere.
Lands
Masqueradors are capable of living almost anywhere that is hospitable by default.
Religion
A Masquerador will generally offer worship to any God of the Dead, Afterlife, or Death. They would serve under said God as a Grim Reaper.
Language
Masqueradors begin play with knowing Common, Celestial, Infernal, and Abyssal.
Names
Their naming system is the same as most mundane races for the purpose of blending in. Refer to the respective race for the kind of names to expect.
Racial Traits
- Ability Score Bonuses: +2 Dexterity, +4 Constitution, +4 Wisdom, +4 Charisma. Masqueradors are a durable race of Demons, and their appearances are that of the Celestials in terms of Charisma. A Masquerador is very wise, one would be careful in attempting to lie to one.
- Native Outsider, Subtypes are Demon, and Chaotic. A Masquerador is weak to Cold Iron, and takes 50% more damage from any source of Cold Iron.
- Medium size, or the same size as the original creature. A Masquerador is not penalized or granted a bonus because of their size, unless the base creature is penalized or granted a bonus.
- Masqueradors have a base land speed of 30, and later gain a fly speed of 45.
- Grants a Racial bonus to the following skills: Bluff at +6, Sense Motive at +8 and it is always considered a class skill, Spot at +3, Intimidate at +6, and Listen at +6. A Masquerador may always "listen" to a soul, as though they were listening to the body. This is subject to DM discretion.
- Grants immunity to any form of mind control, compulsion, or charm. Grants immunity to domination, and to sleep. Allows a +5 to the fortitude saving throw against petrification, and any form of poison or disease.
- A Masquerador cannot sleep, instead they enter a deep meditative state, much akin to the Elves. They only need to meditate for 2 hours to gain the full benefit of a full night of sleep.
- Darkvision out to 90 ft, from their time spent in purgatory.
- Any natural weapons, including their fangs, or weapons they wield are treated as Chaotic weapons for the purpose of bypassing damage reduction. A Masquerador may use their fangs to bite living targets to consume their blood to heal themselves for 1d6+str mod in damage, and recovers equal amount of damage dealt in hp.
- Special Abilties- All the following abilities are subject to DM discretion.
Soul Well (Ex): A Masquerador is capable of harnessing the souls of the recently deceased. Each soul comes in one of three types: Gray, Bright, and Black. A Gray Soul is a soul of a normal person, with normal powers, it is generally weak and doesn't amount to much. A Bright Soul is that of a hero, and must be diplomized to draw it in. Usually other player characters constitute Bright Souls, and are generally manifested very differently from a Gray Soul. Black Souls are that of powerful Demons and other entities. Like Bright Souls, Black Souls must be diplomized to gain their power, and should you attempt to take one by force it will almost guaranteed become violent, or even try to take over the Masquerador.
The upper limit of how many souls a Masquerador can have in their control at any given time is equal to their Wisdom modifier. This ability also allows them to speak to their fallen foes, and any souls they possess as if they were casting Legend Lore. However, the souls do not always know anything about any problems in the world, and may not even know why they attacked in the first place.
Soul Shot (Ex): Once a Masquerador has at least one soul in their possession, they may utilize this soul in a myriad of ways. Gray Souls usually manifest in a form of energy damage, or special effect based on the entity it is from. This grants bonus damage to any of the Masquerador's unarmed or ranged attacks equal to a base value of 1d6+wis mod. Bright Souls are a fair bit more powerful, and usually manifest as a apparition of the creature it is from, or a special attack of that creature. A player character whose soul has been harnessed by a Masquerador can determine how their soul manifests if they wish, within DM discretion. The base damage usually starts around 2d6+wis mod, for any damaging attacks. Black Souls manifest much like a Bright Soul, except the soul is usually not controlled, anyone is in danger by it. Base damage for a Black Soul is up to DM discretion, there is no way to keep control over one, so once it is released it may do nothing.
Fell Wings (Su): At 10th character level, a Masquerador has regained enough combat experience to be able to create their wings again. Once a holy being, a Celestial, a Masquerador is now a Fallen Angel of sorts in that their wings have now become coarse and tainted black. Creating the wings harms them, but can stay out as long as desired. A Masquerador that wishes to put out their wings will take 10% of their max hp, and will gain a fly speed of 45 with good maneuverability. Creating and putting them away are both free actions.
Soul Fire (Ex): At 20th character level, the Masquerador has regained all the combat experience they once had, and is able to use their souls to heal themselves or others. By effectively "burning" a soul, they use it to spark the natural regeneration process of any living creature. This does still burn the creature, but heals for triple the base value of a soul plus wisdom mod in damage. The burn damage is 1d4 per round for 1d4 rounds. Fire energy resistance or immunity does NOT confer resistance to this.
- Automatic Languages: Common, Celestial, Infernal, and Abyssal.
- Bonus Languages: A Masquerador can learn any language, even secret languages due to their nature of hiding among a crowd. Consult the DM on whether or not it is okay to learn a secret language.
- Favored Class: For a multi-classing character, the first ranged class a Masquerador possesses does not count toward their effective character level for determining EXP penalty.
- Level Adjustment: +3
Vital Statistics
| Adulthood | Simple | Moderate | Complex |
|---|---|---|---|
| 16 years | +2d6 | +5d8 | +10d10 |
As a Celestial like creature, a Masquerador doesn't age physically after adulthood. However this doesn't mean they can't be magically aged, it just won't have any effect unless the creature loses its racial template temporarily.
|}
| Gender | Base Height | Height Modifier | Base Weight | Weight Modifier |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Male | 4'9" | +2d6 | 60 lb. | × (1d4) lb. |
| Female | 4'7" | +2d6 | 50 lb. | × (1d4-1) lb. |
NPC encounter (for DMs)
Raspberyl Keeryu, Red Gunner 8. CR 6. Hit Dice: 8d8+32 (80) BAB/Grapple: +8/+11 Str 16, Dex 22, Con 18, Int 16, Wis 20, Cha 18 AC 20 (4 armor, 5 dex, 1 natural) Greatsword +11 2d6+4 Revolver +15 1d8 Revolver +15 1d8 Rifle +14 1d12 Knows 19 total spells, 4 of which are Cleric spells.
Strategy: Opening Round: Casts Improved Mage Armor on herself, raising her AC to 22. 2nd Round: Charge revolver with Scorching Ray, and move to a safe distance. 3rd Round: Charge other revolver with Scorching Ray, and maintain distance. 4th Round: Cast Haste on self to increase accuracy and AC to 23. 5th Round: Attack two targets with revolvers, and strike them with Scorching Ray. 6th Round: If previous attacks were successful, Quickshot the weakest of the two targets to finish them off. If previous attack was unsuccessful, cast Expeditious Retreat to maintain distance from targets. Any slain foes will have their souls harvested, and then later used on any remaining targets.
If Scorching Ray is not available, Lightning Bolt will suffice.
This process will repeat until either she runs out of 2nd and 3rd level spells, or until she dies. If she feels she can disable a party without too much trouble, she will cast Color Spray using her bonus save DC to ensure victory.
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