The Mortis Element
Occult Adventures has been out for a while now, and we’ve provided some new toys for each class in the book except for one: the kineticist. The only non-spellcaster in the book, kineticists manipulate energy directly through powerful blasts. Until now, they’ve been limited to air, earth, fire, water, and, of course, the mysterious telepathy-based aether. But today, we unveil a new energy focus, which has an appropriately necromantic bent: mortis.
New Kineticist Elemental Focus
Mortis
Kineticists who focus on the element of negative energy, which governs death and the undead, are known as mortikineticists. Mortikineticists manipulate negative energy in a variety of ways, leaving their foes rotting and decaying. Though they are often said to lack subtlety in their art, few can argue with the raw power of a well-placed blast of negative energy.
Class Skills: A mortikineticist adds Heal and Knowledge (religion) to her list of class skills.
Wild Talents: 1st—Corpse Dance, Infuse Illness, Restore the Dead, Sap Energy, Shroud from the Dead, Touch of Death; 6th—Animate Corpse, Deathsight, Vampiric Infusion; 10th—Channel, Greater Animate Corpse; 16th—Spectral Form, Undead Flesh
Simple Blasts
A mortikineticist has access to the following simple blast wild talent.
NEGATIVE ENERGY BLAST
Element mortis; Type simple blast (sp); Level —; Burn 0
Blast Type energy; Damage negative energy
You release a pin-point beam of black energy to strike a single foe. Creatures that are not harmed by negative energy (such as most constructs and undead creatures) are immune to this effect.
Composite Blasts
The following composite blasts include the mortis element.
NECROTIC BLAST
Element mortis; Type composite blast; Level —; Burn 2
Prerequisites: primary element is mortis, expanded element (mortis)
Spell Resistance yes
You unleash a concentrated blast of deadly energy in the form of a ray that is blacker than the darkest night, and emits an unsettling pulsing sound. This takes the form of a ranged touch attack made against a single target. If the attack hits, the target suffers an amount of damage equal to 2d6 + 1/2 your Constitution modifier. Creatures that are not harmed by negative energy (such as most constructs and undead creatures) are immune to this effect. This damage increases by 2d6 for every 2 kineticist levels you possess beyond 1st.
TAINT OF DEATH
Element mortis; Type composite blast; Level —; Burn 2
Prerequisites expanded element (mortis)
Spell Resistance yes
Choose any simple blast. You infuse that blast with negative energy. If the blast deals energy damage (such as electricity, force, or fire), half of that damage becomes pure negative energy, and is no longer subject to any elemental resistances or immunities the target might possess (however, this damage has no effect on creatures such as constructs or undead, which are not harmed by negative energy). If the blast deals bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing damage, it deals 1 additional point of damage for each damage dice of that type. This additional damage is negative energy, and has no effect on creatures that are not harmed by negative energy. At 15th level, you can also choose a composite blast to infuse with negative energy. To infuse a composite blast in this way, you must accept 1 additional point of burn.
Defense Wild Talents
A mortikineticist has access to the following defense wild talent.
ENTROPIC REACTION
Element mortis; Type defense (Su); Level —; Burn 0
As an immediate action, your flesh becomes pallid and waxen, and your body begins to drain energy from those that touch you. Whenever a creature hits you with a natural attack or unarmed strike, that creature must succeed on a Fortitude save (DC 10 + 1/2 your kineticist level + your Constitution modifier) or suffer 2 points of Strength damage. This increases to 4 points of Strength damage at 12th level. This Strength damage stacks with itself, to a maximum of 4 times. This Strength damage is temporary, and fades after 1 minute. You can dismiss this effect as an immediate action, but otherwise it continues until you dismiss it.
Infusions
The following infusions are available to mortikineticists.
CHANNEL
Element mortis; Type form infusion; Level 6; Burn 3
Prerequisites kineticist level 10th
Associated Blasts necrotic, negative energy
Saving Throw Fortitude half
Instead of focusing on a single target, you release your blast in a dome that explodes outwards from you in all directions. All creatures and objects in a 30-foot-radius burst centered on you suffer half your blast damage (a successful saving throw halves this amount).
INFUSE ILLNESS
Element mortis; Type substance infusion; Level 1; Burn 1
Prerequisites kineticist level 1st
Associated Blasts necrotic, negative energy
Saving Throw Fortitude negates
In addition to harming the target’s life force directly, you make him feel ill. Whenever a blast with this infusion deals damage to a foe, that foe becomes sickened for 1 minute. If the blast scores a critical hit, the target becomes nauseated, instead.
SAP ENERGY
Element mortis; Type substance infusion; Level 1; Burn 1
Prerequisites kineticist level 1st
Associated Blasts necrotic, negative energy
Saving Throw Fortitude negates
In addition to harming the target’s life force directly, your blast weakens his body. Whenever a blast with this infusion deals damage to a foe, that foe becomes fatigued. At 10th level, if the target fails his saving throw, you can accept 1 point of burn in order to make him become exhausted, instead (this additional point of burn cannot be reduced with the infusion specialization class feature).
TOUCH OF DEATH
Element mortis; Type form infusion; Level 1; Burn 0
Prerequisites kineticist level 1st
Associated Blasts necrotic, negative energy
Saving Throw none
By making physical contact with the target of your blast, you can create a much more powerful connection, allowing you to infuse even greater amounts of negative energy into your target. The blast’s range changes to touch, and must be delivered with a melee touch attack, but it deals 2 additional points of damage per damage die.
VAMPIRIC INFUSION
Element mortis; Type substance infusion; Level 4; Burn 2
Prerequisites kineticist level 6th
Associated Blasts necrotic, negative energy
Saving Throw none
Your blast channels stolen life energy from the target back to you, and this energy arcs visibly through the air as a trail of glowing red energy. You heal a number of hit points equal to 1/2 the amount of damage inflicted by the blast (rounded down). Damage in excess of the target’s hit points is not counted for this effect (so if you hit a creature with 3 hit points with a blast that dealt 15 points of damage, you would still heal only 1 hit point).
Utility Wild Talents
The following wild talents are available to mortikineticists.
ANIMATE CORPSE
Element mortis; Type Sp; Level 4; Burn 3; see text
Prerequisites kineticist level 6th, corpse dance
You fill one or more corpses with negative energy, causing them to rise as skeletons or zombies under your control. This functions as animate dead. Additionally, you can accept burn in order to maintain control over more Hit Dice worth of undead than you would normally be able to. When you use this wild talent, if it would cause the total Hit Dice of undead you are controlling with this wild talent and similar abilities to exceed 4 HD per caster level you possess, you can accept 1 or more points of burn. For each point of burn you accept in this way, the number of HD of undead that you can control increases by an amount equal to your Hit Dice until the next time you recover burn. Each day, when you recover burn, you can accept 1 or more points of burn in order to maintain this expanded Hit Dice limit for another day. Because this additional burn is not part of the cost associated with this wild talent, it cannot be reduced by the infusion specialization class feature.
ANIMATE CORPSE, GREATER
Element mortis; Type Sp; Level 6; Burn 5; see text
Prerequisites kineticist level 10th, animate corpse
This functions as the animate corpse wild talent, except that you can also create more powerful undead. You can cause the affected creatures to become any type of undead, from among those listed in the spell create undead. You must meet the caster level requirement of the type of undead creature chosen, and you use your kineticist level as your caster level for this purpose, as well as any additional requirements for undead creatures of that type. You cannot create incorporeal undead with this ability, and any spawn created by an undead creature you create in this way are not under the control of you or any undead that you control. Undead creatures created in this way count against the number of HD of undead you can control with the animate corpse wild talent, and similar abilities, and you cannot create an undead creature whose Hit Dice would exceed your kineticist level.
CORPSE DANCE
Element mortis; Type Sp; Level 1; Burn 1
Prerequisites kineticist level 1st
You infuse a single corpse with negative energy, causing it to rise temporarily as an undead creature. The target gains the zombie template (or the skeleton template, if it is mostly lacking flesh). It takes 1 full round for the creature to fully animate, and it acts immediately after your turn on the next round. The undead creature obeys your mental commands, and each round on your turn, you must spend a move action to guide the undead creature or it collapses in a pile of broken body parts, ending the duration early. It remains animated for 1 round per caster level, or until destroyed. Corpses of creatures whose Hit Dice exceed your kineticist level are immune to this effect. Once a corpse has been affected by this ability, it suffers extensive structural damage that makes it unsuitable for future animation with this ability, as well as with similar abilities, such as animate dead.
DEATHSIGHT
Element mortis; Type Sp; Level 4; Burn 0
Prerequisites kineticist level 6th
You are able to sense the negative energy that sustains and powers undead creatures. This functions as blindsight with a range of 60 feet, except that you can only use it to detect the presence of undead creatures. At the GM’s discretion, certain other creatures or objects that are heavily infused with negative energy may also be visible in this way. Because positive and negative energy are closely linked, you can also use this ability to detect the presence of living creatures (but never things that are neither living nor undead, such as inanimate objects or constructs). Doing so requires accepting 1 point of burn, and the benefits last for 1 hour per kineticist level.
RESTORE THE DEAD
Element mortis; Type Sp; Level 1; Burn 1; see text
Prerequisites kineticist level 1st
Saving Throw none; Spell Resistance yes
You are able to harness negative energy to heal undead creatures. This functions as the kinetic healer wild talent, except that it only functions on undead creatures. Additionally, if you choose to have the recipient take 1 point of burn, then it suffers lethal damage, instead of nonlethal damage, and this damage occurs after the healing granted by the ability. Any damage inflicted to an undead creature in this way is healed after 24 hours, regardless of whether or not the undead creature has rested during that time.
SHROUD FROM THE DEAD
Element mortis; Type Sp; Level 1; Burn 1; see text
Prerequisites kineticist level 1st
Saving Throw Will negates (harmless); Spell Resistance yes (harmless)
You use faint amounts of negative energy to shield your essence from the view of undead creatures, making it difficult for them to detect you. This functions as the spell hide from undead. Instead of paying the burn cost, you can cause the recipient to take 1 point of burn. If you choose to do so, the recipient suffers 1 point of nonlethal damage per Hit Die he possesses that cannot be recovered by any means until he takes a full night’s rest.
SPECTRAL FORM
Element mortis; Type Sp; Level 9; Burn 4
Prerequisites kineticist level 16th
Your flesh fades away, becoming composed of pure negative energy. You become incorporeal, gaining the incorporeal subtype and incorporeal universal monster ability. These effects last for up to 1 minute per kineticist level. While incorporeal, your blasts deal half damage (rounded down) to corporeal creatures.
UNDEAD FLESH
Element mortis; Type Su; Level 9; Burn 3
Prerequisites kineticist level 16th
You suffuse your own flesh with negative energy, allowing it to function even if critically injured. You gain immunity to critical hits and precision-based damage, as well as to bleed damage. These effects last for 1 minute.