Voice of the Dead
The Voices are one half of the bifurcated clergy of the Corps. This all-male sect is responsible for all interactions with the ancestors, with the souls of the departed, and with the incorruptible saints. They are bearers of history, genealogy, and traditional knowledge, and hold the unique power of communing with the dead and the art raising the dead to life.
| Level | BAB | BDB | BMB | Fort Save | Ref Save | Will Save | Special |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | +0 | +0 | +1 | +2 | +2 | +2 | Hallow,. Investigate Haunt, Speak with Dead |
| 2 | +1 | +0 | +2 | +2 | +2 | +2 | Gentle repose |
| 3 | +1 | +0 | +3 | +3 | +3 | +3 | Consecrate corpse |
| 4 | +2 | +1 | +3 | +3 | +3 | +3 | Hallowed shield |
| 5 | +3 | +1 | +4 | +4 | +4 | +4 | Communicate with haunt |
| 6 | +3 | +1 | +5 | +4 | +4 | +4 | Ancestral cry |
| 7 | +4 | +1 | +6 | +5 | +5 | +5 | Remove curse, Death dialogue |
| 8 | +5 | +2 | +6 | +5 | +5 | +5 | Chant |
| 9 | +5 | +2 | +7 | +6 | +6 | +6 | Resurrection |
| 10 | +6 | +2 | +8 | +6 | +6 | +6 | Ancestral tongues |
| 11 | +7 | +2 | +9 | +7 | +7 | +7 | Hallow building |
| 12 | +7 | +3 | +9 | +7 | +7 | +7 | Ancestral word |
| 13 | +8 | +3 | +10 | +8 | +8 | +8 | Commune with Ancestors |
| 14 | +9 | +3 | +11 | +8 | +8 | +8 | |
| 15 | +9 | +3 | +12 | +9 | +9 | +9 | Storm of souls |
| 16 | +10 | +4 | +12 | +9 | +9 | +9 | |
| 17 | +11 | +4 | +13 | +10 | +10 | +10 |
Hit Die: d8
Ability requirement: Wisdom 16
Class Skills: Appraise, Craft, Diplomacy, Heal, Knowledge (all), Linguistics, Perception, Perform, Profession, Sense Motive
Skill points: 6 + Int
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: All simple weapons, light armor and shields
Powers
1st level: Hallow: Voices can call upon their holy power to benefit themselves and their allies. A Voice may use his hallow power twice per day plus half his Voice level (rounding down) as a standard action that does not provoke an attack of opportunity. The Voice must be able to speak in order to use this power. There are three distinct basic functions of this power:
- As a standard action, a Voice may expend a hallow power to grant himself and all allies within 30 feet a +1 morale bonus to all saving throws for a number of rounds equal to two plus his Wisdom modifier. This bonus increases to +2 at 4th level, +3 at 8th level, +4 at 12th level, and +5 at 16th level.
- As a standard action, a Voice may expend a hallow power to grant himself (but not anyone else) a +1 competence bonus to any one ability check or skill roll. This bonus increases to +2 at 4th level, +3 at 8th level, +4 at 12th level, and +5 at 16th level.
- As a standard action, a Voice may expend a hallow power to channel positive energy to neutralize a haunt within 30 feet. This causes 1d6 points of damage plus 1d6 points of damage for every two levels beyond 1st (2d6 at 3rd, 3d6 at 5th, and so on), with a Will save for half damage (DC: 10 + ½ level + Wisdom modifier).
1st level: Investigate Haunt: The Voice may identify disembodied spirits in the vicinity. He may make a Perception check to detect spirits within sight range, even if they are incorporeal or invisible.
1st level: Speak with Dead: The Voice may speak with the spirit of a deceased human whose body is immediately present. The individual may have been dead for any length of time but the body must be mostly intact. The Voice may ask the deceased one question, and may use this power once per day at 1st level (twice at 5th, three times at 9th, four times at 13th). Any one corpse may only be questioned once per week unless consecrated (see below). The deceased has all the knowledge it had in life but its answers may be hazy or brief.
2nd level: Gentle repose: The Voice may perform a ritual on a recently-deceased corpse to prevent it from decay for 1 day per level, extending the period during which it can be resurrected as a revenant. This ritual may only be performed once on a given body.
3rd level: Consecrate corpse: The Voice can perform a rite, which must take place in a hallowed temple and takes one hour, to consecrate a corpse for longer-term care and communication as one of the ancestors. A consecrated ancestor may be asked three questions with the speak with dead power instead of one, and may be questioned once per day, and the condition of the body is no longer relevant - it can decay to bone in a vault and still be spoken with. An ancestor can no longer be resurrected or turned into a bubun.
4th level: Hallowed shield: As a standard action, you can use your hallow power to grant yourself and your allies within 30 feet a morale bonus to AC appropriate to your level in addition to ordinary bonus to saving throws, for a number of rounds equal to 2 plus your Wisdom modifier.
5th level: Communicate with Haunt: The Voice may communicate with spirits in the vicinity. He may make a Linguistics check to communicate basic information with a spirit, identify the circumstances under which the spirit came to exist and under which it can be safely sent to rest.
6th level: Ancestral Cry: Once per day as a standard action, the Voice may emit a great cry that has the effects of a shout spell. An affected creature is allowed a Fortitude save to reduce the damage by half, and a creature holding fragile objects can negate damage to them with a successful Reflex save (DC 10 + ½ your level + Wisdom modifier). At 14th level, the effect is as the greater shout spell.
7th level: At this level, the Voice may use his hallow power to remove curse.
7th level: Death Dialogue: The Voice can use the Speak with Dead power to facilitate a conversation lasting up to ten minutes between a single targeted human (including himself) and a consecrated Ancestor in the vicinity. The Voice becomes a conduit through which the Ancestor speaks directly with the human present, rather than hearing answers in his head which he then translates in his own words. The Ancestor does not acquire the ability to acquire new knowledge or sense the environment but can retain information from question to question, until the end of the conversation. The Voice cannot control what the Ancestor says but does retain consciousness and remembers what was said after the end of the dialogue.
8th level: Chant: The Voice may use his Hallow power in the same round as one or more other Voices to create a cumulative modifier to saving throws, to a maximum of +/-8. Add the modifiers together for all the Voices using Hallow in the same way that round, with the duration being the longest among the Voices using the power.
9th level: Resurrection: Once per day, the Voice may attempt to resurrect a deceased human, restoring it to life and health. The ritual is complex and requires several hours of preparation, and has only around a two-thirds chance of success, so it is never done lightly. Those who are restored to life are forever imprinted with their experiences of having been dead.
10th Level: Ancestral tongues: The Voice may speak to any Ancestor regardless of whether they have a shared native language between them, as if using a tongues spell. This does not affect interactions with the living.
11th level: At this level, the Voice may use his hallow power to sanctify a building or natural area as per the hallow spell.
12th level: Ancestral word: Once per day, as a standard action, the Voice may speak a single powerful word to channel the power of life and death, releasing a blast of deadly energy in a 40-foot radius around him, with dire effects (Will save, DC 10+½ Voice level + Wisdom modifier):
- Those with equal or higher hit dice/levels as the Voice are deafened for 1d4 rounds (save = unaffected).
- Those with 1 to 4 fewer hit dice/levels than the Voice are blinded and deafened for 2d4 rounds (save = blinded for 1d4 rounds).
- Those with 5 to 8 fewer hit dice/levels than the Voice are blinded, deafened and paralyzed for 1d10 minutes (save = paralyzed for 1d4 rounds).
- Those with 9+ fewer hit dice/levels than the Voice are killed instantly (save = 3d6 + 1/level damage).
13th level: Commune with Ancestors: Once per day, the Voice may ask a question directed at all the ancestors of humanity – to learn a piece of knowledge known by any Ancestor who has ever lived. The question asked must be a ‘yes/no’ question although the answer may, at the GM’s discretion, be given as a short phrase. If no Ancestor ever knew the answer to the question, the Voice receives the response ‘unknown’.
15th level: Storm of Souls: Once per day, you can summon the spirits of the ancestors to attack in a ghostly barrage—their fury creates physical wounds on enemies in the area. The storm has a range of 100 feet and is a 20-foot-radius burst. Enemies in the area take 1d8 hit points of damage for every level you possess. A successful Fortitude save (DC 10 + ½ your level + your Wisdom modifier) reduces the damage by half.
