Races with Class: The Medusa
Welcome to another From the Workshop. Today’s fare? A medusa character class, for those of you who’ve always wanted snakes growing out of your head, but were worried they’d be a nightmare to comb.
Medusa
Medusas can pass as humans or elves if not closely scrutinized, but are in fact a strange and mysterious race of their own. Their hair is composed of a mass of living, writhing snakes, and their gaze is widely known to cause petrification to those who look upon them. All known medusas are female, and any male offspring of a medusa takes the race of its father. Medusas are typically cunning, selfish creatures with a vain streak, but history has several examples of medusas who rose to become great heroes, rather than villains.
Role: Medusas may be tougher than they look, but they prefer to fight from a range, as they typically have little to protect them from the attacks of their enemies. They often take up the bow, using their gaze attack and poisonous bite only as a last resort. Other, more daring, medusas deliberately wade into battle, using their gaze offensively to reduce their foes to little more than monuments to their own battle prowess.
Hit Die: d10
Starting Gold: 2d6 x 10 gp
Class Skills:
The medusa’s class skills are Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Fly (Dex), Intimidate (Cha), Perception (Wis), Ride (Dex), Stealth (Dex), Survival (Wis), Swim (Str).
Skill Ranks Per Level: 4 + Int Modifier.
Class Features:
All of the following are class features of the medusa.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Medusas are proficient with all simple weapons and with longbows and shortbows. They are not proficient with armor or shields of any kind.
All-Around Vision (Ex): A medusa’s snake-hair allows her to see in all directions. Medusas gain a +4 racial bonus to Perception checks and cannot be flanked.
Darkvision (Ex): Medusas have darkvision to a range of 60 ft.
Stunning Gaze (Su): The gaze of even the most inexperienced medusa is capable of stunning those who look upon her. Any creature within 30 feet who looks at the medusa must succeed on a Fortitude save (DC 10 + ½ the medusa’s hit dice + the medusa’s Charisma modifier) or be stunned for 1d4 rounds. Creatures hit with this ability multiple times use the longer of the two durations: they do not stack (for example, a creature stunned for 2 rounds on round 1 and for 4 rounds on round 2 would be stunned for 4 rounds, not 5).
As with other gaze attacks, creatures can avoid this effect by averting their eyes or blindfolding themselves (see the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook for more details on gaze attacks).
At 5th level, this ability is replaced with paralyzing gaze.
Ability Score Bonuses: Beginning at 1st level, medusas gain a number of racial bonuses to their ability scores, as marked on Table: the Medusa. By 9th level, a medusa will have total racial bonuses equal to +2 Dexterity, +4 Constitution, +2 Wisdom, and +2 Charisma.
Snake Bite (Ex): Beginning at 2nd level, a medusa’s snake-hair is able to attack her enemies, delivering a vicious bite. Treat this bite as a natural attack that deals 1d4 points of damage (plus her Strength modifier, if any).
Natural Armor: As she grows in experience, a medusa’s skin takes on a more scaly texture. Depending on the medusa, this can take the form of visible patches of large, scaly hide, or can be a more subtle, sleek effect, with myriad fine scales giving her skin a glossy, shiny appearance. A medusa’s natural armor bonus increases by 1 point for every 3 class levels, as indicated in Table: the Medusa.
Poison (Ex): At 4th level, the medusa’s hair-snakes develop a poison, which they can deliver with each successful bite attack. This poison has a frequency of 1/round for 3 rounds, and deals 1 point of Strength damage with each failed saving throw. A single successful save by the victim cures him or her of the poison. The DC to resist the poison is equal to 10 + ½ the medusa’s hit dice + the medusa’s Constitution modifier.
At 7th level, this poison increases in virulence. It now lasts for 6 rounds, and deals 1d3 points of Strength damage with each failed saving throw. Additionally, it now takes two consecutive successful saves in order to end the poison’s effects.
At 13th level, the poison increases further, dealing 1d6 Strength damage with each failed save.
Paralyzing Gaze (Su): At 5th level, a medusa’s gaze attack becomes more potent, paralyzing those who look upon her. This ability replaces her stunning gaze, and functions identically to that ability, except that those affected are paralyzed for 1d6 rounds, instead of being stunned for 1d4 rounds.
At 8th level, this ability is replaced by petrifying gaze.
Petrifying Gaze (Su): At 8th level, a medusa’s gaze attack becomes still more potent, petrifying those who look upon her. This ability replaces her paralyzing gaze, and functions identically to that ability, except that those affected are permanently petrified, instead of being paralyzed for 1d6 rounds.
Medusa Ascension: Once a medusa reaches 9th level, she has unlocked enough of her inner potential to be able to pursue other interests, if she so chooses. A 9th-level medusa may freely multi-class into other classes, and can return to the medusa class later without penalty. Characters with more than 9 levels in medusa represent paragons of the medusa race, who, whether through hard work or an accident of birth, possess abilities in excess of most of their kind.
Poison Resistance (Ex): Beginning at 10th level, a medusa becomes more resistant to poisons, as the poison in her own veins slowly immunizes her to other toxins. She gains a +4 racial bonus on Fortitude saves versus non-magical poisons.
Serpent Companion (Ex): At 10th level, the medusa gains a snake companion, who loyally aids her. The ability either functions as the animal companion option of the druid class feature nature bond, or as the familiar option of the wizard class feature arcane bond. In either case, the medusa may only choose a snake as the creature (either snake, constrictor or snake, viper for the nature bond option, and viper for the familiar option).
If she chooses to gain a viper familiar in this way, treat her wizard level as equal to her class level for the purposes of the familiar’s special benefits. If she chooses to gain an animal companion instead, treat her druid level as equal to her class level -4 for the purposes of her animal companion’s special benefits.
If her serpent companion is slain, the medusa must wait one week before attempting to summon a new one, at which time she may choose to gain a different kind of companion than before (for example, a medusa who had recently lost a viper familiar in combat might choose to summon a constrictor snake animal companion as a replacement).
Serpent’s Grace (Ex): Beginning at 11th level, a medusa becomes exceptionally graceful, moving with a hypnotic, undulating rhythm. She adds her Charisma modifier as a deflection bonus to AC and as a racial bonus to her Reflex saves. Additionally, she gains spell resistance equal to her class level + her Charisma modifier.
Medusa’s Blessing (Su): Beginning at 12th level, a medusa is able to grant limited immunity to her petrifying gaze, as well as similar effects, in the form of a mystic ritual. This ritual takes 10 minutes to perform, and requires that the medusa anoint those who are to be affected with special oils which her snake-hair can develop in their poison glands. Those affected by the ritual are immune to petrification for a number of hours equal to the medusa’s class level, and she can create enough oil each day to anoint one person per point of Constitution modifier she possesses. The oil loses its potency within an hour of making contact with the air, and so cannot typically be stored for later use.
Poison Immunity (Ex): By 13th level, a medusa is immune to all non-magical poisons.
Reaching Gaze (Ex): At 14th level, the medusa’s gaze ability becomes potent enough to affect creatures farther away, extending the range of her petrifying gaze to 60 ft.
Summon Serpents (Sp): At 15th level, the medusa gains the ability to summon snakes to aid her in battle. This ability functions like summon nature’s ally VIII, except that there are only three options for what is summoned: she can summon one 14 HD Huge constrictor snake, 1d4 7 HD Large venomous snakes, or a number of venomous and constrictor snakes (as presented in the Pathfinder Bestiary) equal to 3d6 + her Charisma modifier. Her caster level is equal to her class level for the purposes of this ability.
Spit Poison (Ex): At 16th level, a medusa’s snake-hair can create a concentrated venom which allows it to infect creatures by contact from up to 30 feet away. Treat this as a ranged touch attack with a maximum range of 30 feet. If the attack hits, the target is immediately affected by the medusa’s poison.
Concentrating her venom in this manner greatly drains the medusa’s snake-hair’s poison glands, however, and once this ability has been used she loses access to her poison, improved poison, greater poison, and deadly poison class features until she has replenished her venom supply, a process which takes a number of hours equal to 8 – her Constitution modifier (minimum 1).
Snakeform (Sp): At 17th level, a medusa gains the ability to magically transform into snakes and snake-like creatures. This ability functions identically to beast shape III, except that the medusa can only transform into snakes or similarly serpentine creatures. Her caster level is equal to her class level for the purposes of this ability.
Focused Gaze (Ex): At 18th level, a medusa gains the ability to focus her gaze on a single individual, making it more difficult for him to resist its effects. As a standard action, she may choose a single creature within range of her gaze attack which can see her, forcing him to make a saving throw against her petrifying gaze ability. When used in this fashion, the target takes a -4 penalty to his or her saving throw.
Deadly Poison (Ex): Beginning at 19th level, a medusa’s poison can become especially virulent. At her option, any time she delivers her poison (whether through her bite attack or by spitting it) she can have her poison deal Constitution damage rather than Strength damage. She can use this ability a number of times per day equal to her Constitution modifier.
Greater Snakeform (Sp): At 20th level, a medusa can transform into a more powerful serpent. This functions as beast shape IV, except as noted here. Her size increases to Gargantuan, and her type becomes magical beast. She gains darkvision to 120 ft., low-light vision, and tremorsense to a range of 60 ft. She gains a +12 size bonus to her Strength score, a -2 size penalty to her Dexterity score, and a +8 size bonus to her Constitution score, as well as a +10 natural armor bonus. Her new form has immunity to poison, a bite attack (4d8 + Strength modifier damage plus grab) and a tail slap (3d6 + ½ Strength modifier damage plus grab), and the special attacks grab, constrict (3d6 + 1.5x Strength modifier damage), and swallow whole (4d8 + 1.5x Strength modifier bludgeoning damage, AC 18, hp 18). In this form, her base land speed is 20 ft., and she has swim and climb speeds of 20 ft. as well. She cannot be tripped in this form. Finally, while in this form, she retains her greater poison class feature (but not her deadly poison or spit poison class features).