Prestige Classes

GISH MINDSLAYER

The githyanki have no greater enemy than the mind flayers who enslaved them for centuries when the race was born. Their entire culture, their very identity as a race, is built upon their hatred of the illithids, and among their greatest heroes are those who have distinguished themselves as illithid slayers. The gish mindslayer is dedicated to that mission, bringing both martial training and arcane mastery to the task of slaughtering mind flayers. Gish mindslayers train in both a gith warrior class (often ranger, but sometimes fighter or even barbarian) and a warlock class (either wizard or sorcerer, almost never bard). Some also take rogue levels in order to benefit from a wide selection of skills and the ability to sneak attack. Gish mindslayers often work alone or lead small groups to hunt and slay illithids. They have a strongly individualistic (they would say "self-reliant") streak, and do not excel in larger military operations. The gish mindslayer is a nonpsionic version of the illithid slayer prestige class.

Hit Die: d8.

Requirements

To qualify to become a gish mindslayer, a character must fulfill all of the following criteria.

Race: Githyanki.

Base Attack Bonus: +4.

Skills: Knowledge (dungeoneering) 4 ranks.

Feats: Track.

Spellcasting: Able to cast 1st-level arcane spells.

Special: Must have killed an illithid, either individually or as part of a group of no more than six.

Class Skills

The gish mindslayer's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Bluff (Cha), Concentration (Con), Knowledge (dungeoneering) (Int), Listen (Wis), Sense Motive (Wis), Spellcraft (Int), Spot (Wis), and Survival (Wis).

Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier.

Table: The Gish Mindslayer

Class Features

All of the following are class features of the gish mindslayer prestige class.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Gish mindslayers are proficient with all simple and martial weapons and with all types of armor.

Spellcasting: Beginning at 2nd level, a gish mindslayer gains new spells per day and spells known as if he had also gained a level in an arcane spellcasting class to which he belonged before adding the prestige class level. He does not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained, though he does retain the ability to exchange spells known with every even-numbered equivalent sorcerer or bard level. If the character had more than one arcane spellcasting class before becoming a gish mindslayer, the player must decide to which class to add each gish mindslayer level for the purpose of determining spells per day and spells known.

Favored Enemy (Illithid) (Ex): When he enters the class, a gish mindslayer formally declares illithids and illithid kin (such as neothelids) as the enemy he detests above all others. Due to his extensive study of his foes and training in the proper techniques for combating them, he gains a +2 bonus on Bluff, Listen, Sense Motive, Spot, and Survival checks when using these skills against illithids. Likewise, he gets a +2 bonus on weapon damage rolls against creatures of this kind.

At 4th level the bonuses increase to +4, at 7th level to +6, and at 10th level to +8.

Illithid Sense (Su): A gish mindslayer can sense the presence of illithids within 60 feet of himself, even if they are hidden by darkness or walls, but he cannot discern their exact location.

Brain Nausea (Su): At 2nd level, a gish mindslayer gains a constant supernatural defense against an illithid's most grisly attack. Any creature that attempts to eat the gish mindslayer's brain must succeed on a Will save (DC 15 + gish mindslayer's class level) or become disinclined to do so for 24 hours thereafter. A creature that fails this save may take any action it desires except extracting the gish mindslayer's brain (but does not realize it is being so affected). This ability is active even if the gish mindslayer is unconscious, stunned, or otherwise helpless.

Lucid Buffer (Ex): At 3rd level, a gish mindslayer becomes especially skilled at resisting mental attacks. He gains a +4 competence bonus on saving throws against all compulsions and mind-affecting effects. This ability is active even if the gish mindslayer is unconscious, stunned, or otherwise helpless.

Cerebral Blind (Su): After reaching 6th level, a gish mindslayer is protected from all devices, powers, and spells that reveal location. This ability protects against information gathering by divination spells, clairsentience powers, or effects that reveal location. The ability even foils bend reality, limited wish, miracle, reality revision, and wish when they are used to gain information about the gish mindslayer's location (however, metafaculty can pierce this protective barrier). In the case of remote viewing or scrying that scans an area a gish mindslayer is in, the effect works, but the gish mindslayer simply isn't detected. Remote viewing or scrying attempts that are targeted specifically at a gish mindslayer do not work.

Breach Spell Resistance (Su): A gish mindslayer of 8th level or higher can enhance any weapon he wields so that it erodes the spell resistance of any creature it strikes. Each successful melee attack (or ranged attack if the target is within 30 feet) he makes with his weapon against a creature with spell resistance temporarily reduces its spell resistance by 1. Unless the creature is slain, its lost spell resistance returns all at once 12 hours later.

Cerebral Immunity (Su): On reaching 9th level, a gish mindslayer gains protection from all devices, powers, and spells that influence the mind. This ability shields him against almost all mind-affecting powers and effects (though the gish mindslayer can selectively allow powers or spells to affect him). The ability even foils bend reality, limited wish, miracle, reality revision, and wish when they are used to mentally influence a gish mindslayer.

Blast Feedback (Su): At 10th level, a gish mindslayer becomes able to turn an illithid's favorite attack against itself. If a gish mindslayer makes his saving throw when attacked with mind blast, the mind blast rebounds upon the attacker! Only the original attacker is targeted in the rebound effect. If the original attacker fails a Will saving throw (DC equal to that of the original attack), the attacker is affected normally by the mind blast.