Class Features

You became a Twisted Lord by partaking of twistroot in a ceremony supervised by your peers at the Black Tower. The first power you learn is the ability to twist your form, turning yourself into a misshapen, fearsome figure. Over time, you master the capabilities of your warped body, and you then tap into the powers of your distorted mind. All the following are class features of the twisted lord prestige class.

Twisted Form (Ex): When you enter this class, you gain the ability to adopt a twisted form by taking a move action to do so. Your face takes on a sinister, misshapen cast. Your limbs lengthen and bend, and your spine stoops. The symmetry of your body becomes a thing of the past.
While in your twisted form, you gain a +4 bonus on Bluff checks to feint in combat, a +4 bonus on Intimidate checks to demoralize an opponent, and a +4 bonus on Escape Artist checks. You take a - 4 penalty on Diplomacy checks and other attempts to influence an NPC's attitude.
You can remain in your twisted form as long as you like. Many twisted lords find it more comfort able than the form they had before they partook of twistroot.

 

Sneak Attack: Beginning at 2nd level, you deal extra damage when you are flanking an opponent or at any time when the target would be denied its Dexterity bonus. This extra damage only applies to ranged attacks if the target is within 30 feet. See the rogue class featu re (PH 50). Your sneak attack damage improves at 5th and 8th level. This extra damage stacks with sneak attack damage from other sources (such as levels in the rogue class ).

Improved Feint: At 3rd level, you gain Improved Feint as a bonus feat.

Peripheral Invisibility (Su): Starting at 4th level, you can briefly become invisible if no one's staring right at you. Doing so takes only a swift action, but you can't use Peripheral Invisibility if anyone succeeded on a Spot check against you or attacked you in the previous round. Peripheral Invisibility lasts for 1 round. Once you've used it, you must wait 1 minute before using it again.

Improved Demoralize: When you reach 6th level, your misshapen features are particularly unnerving to your enemies. You can attempt to demoralize an opponent (see Intimidate, PH page 76) as a move action rather than a standard action.

Twist Target (Su): At 7th level, you develop a rudimentary ability to worm your way into an opponent's mind . If you are adjacent to a shaken foe, you can try to momentarily confuse that enemy by taking a standard action to project the force of your personality. Your target must make a Will save (DC 10 + your Twisted Lord leve l + your Cha modifier). If the save fails, that foe must make a melee attack at his highest bonus against any adjacent ally at the beginning of his next turn. After that attack, your enemy is no longer shaken. This is a mind-affecting fear effect.

Twist Perceptions (Su ): At 9th level and higher , you can take a standard action to project the distortions in your body into the perceptions of an adjacent creature that is shaken. Your target must make a Will save (DC 10 + your Twisted Lord level + your Cha modifier). If the save Fails, your opponent is stunned. After the save attempt, successful or not, your foe is no longer shaken. At the end of each of your target's turns, he can attempt another Will save to shake 0ff the stunned condition. He remains stunned until he succeeds.

Twist Mind (Su): At 10th level, you master the ability of twisting others' minds with visions that both repulse and fascinate. If you are adjacent to a shaken foe, by taking a standard action, you can assume control of your enemy. Your target must make a Will save (DC to +your Twisted Lord level + your Cha modifier). If the save fails, you can control your enemy's actions on subsequent rounds , taking a standard action each round to do so. At the end of each of your enemy's turns, he can attempt another Will save to shake off control. He remains under your command until he succeeds on the Will save or until you choose not to spend a standard action controlling him.

 

Playing a Twisted Lord

You've lived through a horrifying nightmare - the initial exposure to twistroot in the ceremony that allowed you to become a Twisted Lord. You're comfortable in a form that others find repulsive, and you wouldn't have it any other way. You can prey on the weaknesses of others' sensibilities, taking advantage of how they instantly recoil when they see you.
You see many of your peers in the Ebon Cabal shudder when you pass, but you're more comfortable within the Black Tower's walls, where a ruthless meritocracy doesn't have room for distaste over someone's looks. Besides, you can assume your natural form whenever you need to.

 

Combat: How you fight as a Twisted Lord depends a lot on your experience. At low levels, you fight like a rogue, moving into position to use your sneak attack. ln time, Peripheral Invisibility and Improved Feint give you new ways to deal sneak attack damage even when you aren't flanking your enemy. As you attain more levels, you face an interesting tactical choice between using Peripheral Invisibility and Improved Feint to set up sneak attacks or using Improved Demoralize to set up your supernatural mind twists. The answer is situational. It depends on
the nature of your foe and whether you're confident in your ability to demoralize him.

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Advancement: Anyone who has earned the rank of Ebon Master and has shown the ability to manipulate people by guile and coercion is eligible to consume twistroot from the Slaughterscar. If done in ritual fashion, twistroot ingestion turns you into a Twisted Lord. The process is not only painful, it's accompanied by horrifying nightmares that a few would-be Twisted Lords find fatally frightening. The twistroot nightmares leave persistent scars on your psyche that you eventually learn to use as weapons.
As a Twisted Lord, you're probably in great demand as a spy and assassin. Your colleagues in the Ebon Cabal are eager to send you off on all sorts of missions involving stealth and skulduggery, and maybe even a few knives in the dark.