Walker In the Waste

Requirements

Feats: Heat Endurance

Alignment: Any nongood.

Spells: Ability to cast at least three spells of the Sand or Thirst domain as divine spells.

Summary

"The waste is a monument filled with eternal reminders.”

A walker in the waste embodies the harsh, unforgiving nature of the desert. The waste’s dryness can perfectly preserve a royal city, a wondrous creature, or a towering forest—caught at the very moment of death, before age and decay can spoil it. Maybe you want to protect your chosen environment and warn away those who would intrude. For you, most living things are nothing more than potential exhibits, and your soul is as parched as the sands that surround you.

Role: Spell DPS

Characteristics: Apotheosis in the desert! Spread disease and thirst through the wastes!

Source: Sandstorm

Game Rule Information

The Walker In the Waste has the following game statistics.

Abilities: Wisdom for your divine casting ability, Dexterity for dodging do-gooders, and Constitution for keeping yourself alive

Alignment: Any Nongood

Hit Die: d6

Starting Gold: N/A

Class Skills

The Walker In the Waste's class skills are Alchemy (Int), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Decipher Script (Int), Heal (Wis), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (arcana) (Int), Knowledge (geography) (Int), Knowledge (nature) (Int), Listen (Wis), Profession (Wis), Search (Int), Spellcraft (Int), Spot (Wis), and Wilderness Lore (Wis)

Skill Points at 1st Level: (2 + Int modifier) × 4

Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 2 + Int modifier

Class Features

All of the following are class features of the Walker In the Waste.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A Walker In the Waste is proficient with whatever they were already proficient with prior to taking levels in this class.

Spellcasting: At each level except 1st and 10th, you gain new spells per day and an increase in caster level (and spells known, if applicable) as if you had also gained a level in a spellcasting class to which you belonged before adding the prestige class level. You do not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained. If you had more than one spellcasting class before becoming a walker in the waste, you must decide to which class to add each level for the purpose of determining spells per day, caster level, and spells known.

Improved Heat Endurance: You gain Improved Heat Endurance as a bonus feat. If you already have the Improved Heat Endurance feat, you can choose another feat.

Desiccating Touch Su: As a touch attack, you can drain moisture from a living creature. At 1st level, this ability deals 1d6 points of dessication damage, or 1d8 points to plant creatures or elementals with the water subtype. At every odd-numbered level thereafter, the dessication damage increases by 1d6 (or 1d8), to a maximum of 5d6 (or 5d8) at 9th level. The touched creature can make Fortitude save (DC 10 + walker in the waste level + your Wis modifier) for half damage.

The Wasting Su: On reaching 2nd level, you can transform a handful of dust or sand into a terrible disease. Once per day, you can blow sand into the face of a living opponent within 20 feet. Using this ability is a standard action that provokes attacks of opportunity. You can pick up dust from the ground as a move action or take it from a pouch as a free action. The opponent is entitled to a Reflex save (DC 10 + walker in the waste level + your Wis modifier) to avoid inhaling the dust. On a success, the dust has no effect and drifts harmlessly to the ground. An opponent who fails this save contracts the wasting, a supernatural affliction that gradually mummifies its victims.

Local Drought Su: Beginning at 3rd level, you can produce desert conditions in a 20-foot-radius emanation with you at the center. The temperature band in that area rises by one step or to hot, whichever produces the hotter result. You can suppress this effect for 1 round as a free action, but it renews automatically on your next turn unless you consciously suppress it again.

Withered Toughness Ex: When you attain 4th level, your body becomes inured to the arid conditions in which you thrive. Your flesh grows leathery and tough, and your natural armor bonus improves by 2. In addition, you gain immunity to the effects of dehydration (although not the effects of magical desiccation damage) and heat dangers (such as heat exhaustion and sunstroke), sun glare, and sunburn, although fire damage affects you normally.

Pillar of Salt Sp: At 5th level and higher, you can use flesh to salt once per day, duplicating the effect of the spell. Your caster level for this ability is equal to your class level.

Create Sand Golem Ex: At 6th level, you learn the secret of creating a sand golem. You do not need the manual to create a sand golem, as you normally would, but you cannot use this ability to create any other type of golem.

Create Salt Mummy Su: At 8th level, you learn a specialized form of the ancient art of mummification. Invested with the dark power of the waste, you are able to preserve and animate a corpse. You also add to it the essence of dehydration to produce a horrid salt mummy.

Greater Drought Su: Beginning at 9th level, you can produce extreme desert conditions in a 100-foot radius emanation with you at the center. The temperature band in that area rises by two steps or to severe heat, whichever produces the hotter result. See Heat Dangers and the effects of natural dehydration in Chapter 1. You can suppress this effect for 1 round as a free action, but it renews automatically on your next turn unless you consciously suppress it again. This effect supersedes that of the local drought ability.

Dry Lich: On reaching 10th level, you learn to apply the secrets of waste preservation to your own body, becoming a dry lich. You must undergo the Sere Rite, overseen by another dry lich, which includes preserving your flesh, removing your organs and storing them in special canopic jars, and imbuing your body with foul magic to make it undying.

As a dry lich, you cannot be permanently killed unless the canopic jars containing your life essence are destroyed.

Table 1-1: Walker In the Waste Progression

Level	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Special	Spellcasting
1st	+0	+0	+0	+2	Desiccating touch 1d6, Improved Heat Endurance	—
2nd	+1	+0	+0	+3	The wasting	+1 level of existing spellcasting class
3rd	+1	+1	+1	+3	Desiccating touch 2d6, local drought	+1 level of existing spellcasting class
4th	+2	+1	+1	+4	Withered toughness	+1 level of existing spellcasting class
5th	+2	+1	+1	+4	Desiccating touch 3d6, pillar of salt	+1 level of existing spellcasting class
6th	+3	+2	+2	+5	Create sand golem	+1 level of existing spellcasting class
7th	+3	+2	+2	+5	Desiccating touch 4d6	+1 level of existing spellcasting class
8th	+4	+2	+2	+6	Create salt mummy	+1 level of existing spellcasting class
9th	+4	+3	+3	+6	Desiccating touch 5d6, greater drought	+1 level of existing spellcasting class
10th	+5	+3	+3	+7	Dry lich	—

Adaptation

If the idea of a solitary walker in the waste is not appealing as a prestige class choice, you can modify the concept. Instead of heartlessly spreading the desert, the walker is instead an environmental champion, a militant druid dedicated to protecting the waste against the encroachment of civilization or holding off the advance of hostile beings. Such a concept omits the nongood alignment requirement for the class. Such a walker might lead or hire an expedition to defend her homeland or come to the aid of desert folk who are under attack.