Talon of Spite – Orcus Prestige Class

Spellcasting Advancement

At every Talon level except 1st, choose one spellcasting class you possessed before becoming a Talon. You gain the spell-slot, prepared-spell, spells-known or Pact Magic progression you would have gained from one additional level in that class.

You gain no other class, subclass, invocation or similar features from the advanced class.

Channel Negative Energy

At 1st level, you can release necromantic power in a 30-foot Emanation as a Magic action.

Living creatures of your choice in the Emanation make a Constitution saving throw against your Contempt save DC. On a failure, a creature takes 2d8 Necrotic damage. On a success, it takes half as much.

Undead under your control that you choose instead regain Hit Points equal to the amount rolled. The dice become 3d8 at 5th Talon level and 4d8 at 9th Talon level.

Once used, this feature cannot be used again until you finish a Short or Long Rest unless another feature specifically restores it.

Contempt

At 2nd level, and again at 4th, 6th, 8th and 10th level, choose one Contempt ability below.

You have a number of Contempt uses equal to your Proficiency Bonus and regain all expended uses after a Long Rest. Unless stated otherwise, activating a Contempt expends one use.

You cannot select the same Contempt more than once.

Harangue

Contempt Auditory Mind-Affecting

As an action, unleash supernatural invective at creatures within 30 feet that can hear and understand you. Choose a number of creatures up to your Proficiency Bonus.

Each target makes a Wisdom saving throw. On a failure, it takes a 1d4 penalty to attack rolls and ability checks for 1 minute. It repeats the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success.

A creature that succeeds on its initial saving throw cannot be affected by your Harangue again for 24 hours.

Infuriating Touch

Contempt Curse

As a Magic action, touch one living creature. It must make a Wisdom saving throw. On a success, it is immune to your Infuriating Touch for 24 hours.

On a failure, you may cause the rage to begin immediately or delay its onset by up to a number of minutes equal to your Talon level.

Once active, the rage lasts for 1 minute. On each of its turns, the victim must move toward the nearest creature it regards as an enemy and use its action to attack that creature if able. If several qualifying creatures are equally close, determine the target randomly.

The victim repeats the saving throw at the end of each turn, ending the rage on a success.

Life’s Blood Leaking

Contempt

As a Bonus Action, empower your next damaging attack before the end of the current turn.

If it deals damage, then at the start of your next turn the victim takes additional Necrotic damage equal to half the Hit Point damage dealt by the triggering attack, rounded down.

This delayed damage cannot exceed five times your Talon level and cannot trigger another effect that requires you to make an attack.

Maim

Contempt Curse

When you learn this Contempt, choose Strength, Dexterity, Constitution or Charisma.

Once per turn when you damage a creature with an attack, you can expend a Contempt use. The victim makes a Constitution saving throw.

On a failure, until it finishes a Long Rest it has disadvantage on ability checks and saving throws using the selected ability. A creature can suffer only one Maim from you at a time.

Necrotic Wound

Contempt Curse

As a Bonus Action, empower your next damaging attack before the end of your turn. If the attack damages a creature, that creature makes a Constitution saving throw.

On a failure, it is cursed for 24 hours and regains only half the normal Hit Points from healing.

At the end of the 24 hours it repeats the saving throw. Success ends the curse; failure makes the wound permanent until removed by Remove Curse, Greater Restoration, Wish or comparable campaign-level magic.

Vent Hatred

Contempt Negative Energy

When you use Channel Negative Energy, you can expend one Contempt use as part of the same action.

Increase the number of damage or healing dice rolled by one-half, rounded down. For example, 4d8 becomes 6d8.

Wrath of the Vengeful Dead

Contempt Undead

As a Magic action, target a suitable corpse within 30 feet and expend one Contempt use. It rises as an undead creature appropriate to your Talon level.

Use an edition-appropriate version of the listed undead. The creature understands your commands and remains under your control.

You can control only one creature created specifically by this Contempt at a time. Creating another releases the previous one from this supernatural control.

Defile Victim

Beginning at 2nd level, when a living corporeal creature dies after taking damage from one of your attacks or spells during the previous minute, you may use your Reaction to defile it.

At the beginning of your next turn it rises as an undead servant. For an ordinary humanoid corpse, use an edition-appropriate zombie as the default form unless the campaign uses a specific corpse creature template.

You can maintain a number of Defiled Victims equal to your Proficiency Bonus. If creating another would exceed that number, you choose one previous Defiled Victim to release.

Greater Defiling

At 5th level, the first time each turn that a creature damages one of your Defiled Victims with a melee attack, that attacker must make a Wisdom saving throw against your Contempt save DC.

On a failure, it has disadvantage on the next saving throw it makes against one of your Necromancy spells or Contempt abilities before the end of your next turn.

Halo of Blood

10th-Level Capstone Orcus Curse

At 10th level, once per Long Rest as an action, choose one creature you can see within 60 feet and swear before Orcus to destroy it. A blood-red spectral crown of ram’s horns appears above your head.

The chosen creature becomes your Hated One. The Halo lasts for 1 minute.

While the Halo persists:

• Your attacks and those of undead under your direct control count as magical against the Hated One.
• Those attacks ignore resistance to nonmagical Bludgeoning, Piercing and Slashing damage.
• The Hated One cannot regain Hit Points.
• The Hated One has disadvantage on saving throws against your Necromancy spells and Contempt abilities.
• When one of your Necromancy spells damages the Hated One, you may reroll a number of its damage dice up to your Proficiency Bonus and use either result.

On each of your turns, you must damage the Hated One, target it with a hostile spell or Contempt, or directly order one of your controlled undead to attack it. Willingly abandoning the vendetta ends the Halo.

If you or one of your directly commanded undead reduces the Hated One to 0 Hit Points during the Halo, you gain a +1 bonus to spell attack rolls and the saving throw DC of your Necromancy spells until your next Long Rest. This reward does not stack.

If you fail the oath, you cannot regain Hit Points by magical means and gain one level of Exhaustion at each dawn. Slaying the original Hated One ends the curse.

If the Hated One becomes permanently impossible to slay, only direct intervention by Orcus or equivalent campaign-level power can release you from the failed oath.

Spellcasting

At each Talon level after 1st, the character gains new spells per day and spells known, if applicable, as if she had also gained one level in an existing spellcasting class.

She gains no other class features from that class.

Channel Negative Energy (Su)

A Talon channels negative energy only.

If she already channels negative energy, her Talon levels stack with one existing class that grants channel negative energy for determining effective cleric level, channel dice and saving throw DC.

Talon levels do not grant a second pool of daily uses and do not independently add more uses per day.

If she did not previously possess channel energy, she gains channel negative energy as an evil cleric of a level equal to her Talon level and may use it 3 + her Charisma modifier times per day.

Contempt (Su)

At 2nd level and every two levels thereafter (4th, 6th, 8th and 10th), the Talon selects one form of Contempt.

She may invoke Contempt abilities a total number of times per day equal to her Talon class level.

Unless an individual ability states otherwise, the saving throw DC is:

10 + 1/2 the Talon’s total character level + her primary spellcasting ability modifier.

If more than one spellcasting class could qualify, choose the primary class when entering Talon of Spite.

Harangue (Sp)

As a full-round action, the Talon unleashes supernatural invective. Every enemy within 30 feet that can hear her must make a Will save.

On a failed save, a creature takes a –4 penalty on attack rolls, skill checks and ability checks for 1d10 rounds.

A creature that succeeds on the save cannot be affected by that Talon’s Harangue again for 24 hours.

Harangue is a sonic, language-dependent, mind-affecting effect and functions as a 5th-level spell effect.

Infuriating Touch (Su)

As a standard action, the Talon makes a melee touch attack against a living creature.

On a hit, the target makes a Will save. A successful save makes that creature immune to this Talon’s Infuriating Touch for 24 hours.

On a failure, the Talon may have the effect begin immediately or delay its onset by up to a number of minutes equal to her Talon level.

Once activated, the victim attacks the nearest creature toward which its attitude is unfriendly or worse, using its strongest reasonably available attacks. The effect lasts 1 round per Talon level.

Life’s Blood Leaking (Ex)

As a swift action, the Talon empowers her next damaging attack before the end of her turn.

If that attack deals damage, then at the beginning of the Talon’s next turn the victim takes additional damage equal to one-half the hit point damage actually dealt by the triggering attack, rounded down.

The delayed damage is not multiplied again by a critical hit and cannot itself trigger an ability requiring a successful attack.

Maim (Ex)

When the Talon learns Maim, choose one of the following: Strength, Dexterity, Constitution or Charisma.

Once per round when she damages an opponent with an attack, she may expend one use of Contempt. The target makes a Fortitude save.

On a failure, it takes 2 points of ability damage to the selected ability score.

Ability damage caused by Maim heals normally at the rate of 1 point per day for each damaged ability.

Necrotic Wound (Su)

As a swift action, the Talon may cause all damaging attacks she makes until the beginning of her next turn to inflict necrotic wounds.

Each creature damaged by such an attack makes a Fortitude save. On a failure, all magical and mundane healing it receives is reduced to one-half the normal amount, minimum 1 hit point.

The curse lasts for 24 hours and may be removed before then by an effect that breaks curses, such as remove curse.

If still afflicted after 24 hours, the victim makes another Fortitude save at the original DC. Success ends the curse. Failure makes the wound permanent.

Once permanent, only wish, miracle or equivalent campaign-level magic ends the necrotic wound.

Vent Hatred (Su)

When the Talon uses Channel Negative Energy, she may expend one use of Contempt as part of the same action.

Increase the final amount of negative-energy damage, or negative-energy healing delivered to undead, by one-half. Round fractions down.

Wrath of the Vengeful Dead (Sp)

As a standard action, the Talon targets a suitable corpse within 30 feet and expends one use of Contempt.

She may create the strongest form permitted by her Talon level:

The corpse must be physically suitable for the chosen form. Unlike create undead and similar effects, an undead created by Wrath of the Vengeful Dead is automatically under the Talon’s command.

It still counts against the total Hit Dice of undead the Talon can control. Unless commanded otherwise, it attacks the nearest living creature.

Wrath of the Vengeful Dead functions as a 6th-level necromancy effect.

Defile Victim (Su)

At 2nd level, any living corporeal being slain by one of the Talon’s physical attacks or spells may rise as a corpse creature under her control if she wills it.

If the campaign does not use a corpse-creature template, use an appropriate zombie template as the fallback rather than changing the source ability into a different class feature.

A Defiled Victim counts toward the Talon’s normal undead-control Hit Dice limit.

If the newly created Defiled Victim would exceed the limit, the new creature remains controlled and the Talon chooses which previously controlled undead become uncontrolled.

If the Defiled Victim’s own Hit Dice exceed the maximum the Talon can command, it rises as free-willed undead.

Greater Defiling (Su)

At 5th level, whenever an opponent strikes one of the Talon’s Defiled Victims with a melee weapon or natural attack, that attacker must make a Will save.

On a failure, it takes a penalty of –1 per two Talon levels, to a maximum of –5, on saving throws against the Talon’s Necromancy spells and spell-like effects.

The penalty lasts for 1 round per Talon level. Repeated applications do not stack; they refresh the duration.

The save DC is: 10 + 1/2 total character level + primary spellcasting ability modifier.

Halo of Blood (Su)

At 10th level, once per day as a standard action, the Talon selects a visible opponent within 30 feet, speaks its name and swears before Orcus to kill it.

A blood-red radiance surrounds the Talon as a ghostly crown of ram’s horns appears above her head.

The Halo persists while the Talon continues attacking the named target to the exclusion of other foes, to a maximum of 1 round per Talon level.

Foregoing a viable attack against the target or attacking another opponent causes the Halo to end.

While the Halo persists:

• Successful melee attacks made by the Talon or undead she controls against the named target bypass its damage reduction.
• Those attacks bypass the target’s regeneration for purposes of the original ability.
• Necromancy spells and spell-like effects used by the Talon against the target automatically receive the benefits of Empower Spell, Extend Spell and Widen Spell wherever those metamagic effects can legally modify the spell.
• These automatic metamagic benefits do not increase spell level or casting time.

Successful oath: if the Talon slays the target while fulfilling the oath, she gains a +1 bonus to caster level when casting Necromancy spells. The bonus lasts for 1 hour per Hit Die of the slain creature.

Successful Halo rewards may overlap, but the Talon can never accumulate more than a +6 caster-level bonus from Halo of Blood.

Failed oath: if the Talon fails to slay the target before the Halo ends, or causes the Halo to end prematurely, Orcus curses her. She cannot be healed by any means, including spells, magic items, fast healing or similar effects.

At each dawn thereafter she suffers a cumulative –2 penalty to every ability score.

The curse ends only when she slays the target of the original oath. If she eventually fulfils the failed oath, healing and ability scores return to normal, but she does not receive the +1 caster-level reward.

If the original target becomes permanently impossible to slay, only direct intervention from Orcus or comparable campaign-level divine or cosmic intervention can settle the failed oath.

Spellcasting

At every Talon level except 1st, the character gains new spells per day, spells known where applicable, and increased caster level as if she had gained one level in an existing spellcasting class.

She gains no other class features from that class.

Rebuke/Command Undead (Su)

At 1st level, a Talon gains the ability to rebuke and command undead as an evil cleric.

If she already possesses the ability to rebuke undead, her Talon levels stack with one class that grants rebuking for determining effective cleric level.

If she does not already rebuke undead, she rebukes as a cleric of a level equal to her Talon class level and gains 3 + Charisma modifier rebuke attempts per day.

If she already has a daily pool of turning or rebuking attempts, this feature advances the existing ability and does not create a second independent pool unless another rule specifically says otherwise.

Contempt (Su)

At 2nd level and every two levels thereafter (4th, 6th, 8th and 10th), the Talon learns one form of Contempt.

She may invoke Contempt abilities a total number of times per day equal to her Talon class level.

Unless an ability says otherwise, the saving throw DC is:

10 + 1/2 total character level + primary spellcasting ability modifier.

Harangue (Sp)

As a full-round action, every enemy within 30 feet that can hear the Talon must make a Will save.

On a failed save, a creature takes a –4 penalty on attack rolls, skill checks and ability checks for 1d10 rounds.

A creature that succeeds cannot be affected by that Talon’s Harangue for 24 hours.

Harangue functions as a 5th-level sonic, language-dependent, mind-affecting effect.

Infuriating Touch (Su)

As a standard action, the Talon makes a melee touch attack against a living creature.

The victim makes a Will save. Success makes it immune to that Talon’s Infuriating Touch for 24 hours.

On a failed save, the Talon may cause the rage to begin immediately or delay it by up to a number of minutes equal to her Talon level.

Once active, the victim attacks the nearest creature toward which its attitude is unfriendly or worse, using its abilities to the best of its capacity. The effect lasts 1 round per Talon level.

Life’s Blood Leaking (Ex)

As a swift action, the Talon empowers her next damaging attack before the end of her turn.

If that attack succeeds, the victim takes additional damage equal to half the original hit point damage at the beginning of the Talon’s next turn.

Round fractions down. The delayed damage is not multiplied again on a critical hit.

Maim (Ex)

When Maim is selected, choose Strength, Dexterity, Constitution or Charisma.

Once per round when the Talon damages a creature with an attack, she may expend one use of Contempt.

The victim makes a Fortitude save. On a failure, it takes 2 points of ability damage to the chosen score.

This ability damage heals normally at the rate of 1 point per day for each damaged ability.

Necrotic Wound (Su)

As a swift action, the Talon may cause all damaging attacks she makes until the beginning of her next turn to inflict necrotic wounds.

Each damaged creature must make a Fortitude save. On a failure, all magical and mundane healing restores only half the normal hit points, minimum 1 hit point.

The curse persists for 24 hours unless removed by an effect that breaks curses, such as remove curse.

After 24 hours, an afflicted creature makes another Fortitude save at the original DC. Success ends the wound. Failure makes it permanent.

A permanent necrotic wound can be undone only by wish, miracle or comparable magic.

Vent Hatred (Su)

When the Talon makes a rebuke-undead attempt, she may expend one use of Contempt as part of the same action.

She gains a +4 profane bonus on both the rebuking check and the turning-damage roll for that attempt.

If the Talon possesses another class feature, feat or supernatural ability that directly deals negative-energy damage, she may instead expend Vent Hatred when using that ability to increase the negative-energy damage by 50%, rounded down.

Wrath of the Vengeful Dead (Sp)

As a standard action, the Talon targets a suitable corpse within 30 feet and expends one Contempt use.

Unlike create undead, a creature raised through Wrath of the Vengeful Dead is automatically under the Talon’s command, although it counts against her normal controlled-undead Hit Dice limit.

Unless commanded otherwise, it attacks the nearest living creature.

The ability functions as a 6th-level Necromancy effect.

Defile Victim (Su)

Beginning at 2nd level, any living corporeal creature slain by one of the Talon’s physical attacks or spells may arise as a corpse creature under her command if she wills it.

If the campaign does not use the original corpse-creature template, apply an appropriate zombie template as the fallback.

The Defiled Victim counts against the Talon’s normal maximum Hit Dice of commanded undead.

If its creation pushes the Talon over her limit, the newly created creature remains controlled and the Talon chooses which older controlled undead are released.

If the new creature’s own Hit Dice exceed the Talon’s command capacity, it rises free-willed.

Greater Defiling (Su)

At 5th level, whenever an opponent strikes one of the Talon’s Defiled Victims with a melee weapon or natural attack, the attacker makes a Will save.

Failure imposes a penalty of –1 per two Talon levels, maximum –5, on saving throws against the Talon’s Necromancy spells and spell-like effects.

The penalty lasts for 1 round per Talon level. Repeated applications do not stack.

The save DC is: 10 + 1/2 total character level + primary spellcasting ability modifier.

Halo of Blood (Su)

At 10th level, once per day as a standard action, the Talon names a visible opponent within 30 feet and swears before Orcus to kill it.

A blood-red radiance and spectral crown of ram’s horns manifest around her.

The Halo lasts while she attacks that creature to the exclusion of all other foes, for a maximum of 1 round per Talon level.

Foregoing a viable attack against the chosen foe or attacking another opponent causes the Halo to disappear.

During the Halo:

• Melee attacks by the Talon and undead under her command bypass the target’s damage reduction.
• Those attacks bypass the target’s regeneration as provided by the original ability.
• Her Necromancy spells and spell-like effects against the target automatically receive Empower Spell, Extend Spell and Widen Spell wherever each effect legally applies.
• These benefits do not increase spell level or casting time.

Successful oath: killing the target while satisfying the oath grants a +1 bonus to caster level for Necromancy spells for 1 hour per Hit Die of the slain target.

Bonuses from successful Halos may overlap, to a maximum accumulated bonus of +6 caster levels.

Failed oath: if the target survives the Halo or the Talon causes the Halo to end prematurely, she becomes unable to regain hit points by any means.

At each dawn she suffers a cumulative –2 penalty to every ability score.

The curse ends only when she slays the creature named in the original oath. Fulfilling an oath after previously failing it restores healing and removes the ability penalties, but grants no +1 caster-level reward.

If the original victim becomes permanently unavailable, release requires direct intervention by Orcus or comparable campaign-level cosmic authority.

Epic Spellcasting Progression

At every Talon level above 10th, the character’s caster level increases by 1 in the spellcasting class chosen for advancement. She continues gaining spells per day and spells known where applicable, up to that class’s normal maximum.

Bonus Epic Choice

At 14th level and every four Talon levels thereafter (18th, 22nd, 26th and so on), choose one of the following:

• one feat from the Talon of Spite Epic Bonus Feat list for which the character meets the prerequisites;
• one nonepic feat that augments, creates, commands or manipulates undead; or
• one additional form of Contempt.