VOICE OF GRUUMSH "I am Gruumsh's Voice. To disobey me is to disobey our Lord." The Voices of Gruumsh are evangelical Orcs, driving their fellows into combat, pushing them to ever higher extremes in order to secure victories for their race and their religion. They are also nearly psychotic madmen, eternally haunted by the voice of their God commanding them to commit more acts of bloodshed. Some burn out spectacularly, and it is often said of the Voices that more of them die by their own hand than by their enemies.
BECOMING A VOICE Every so often Gruumsh seems to randomly select a Cleric he finds appropriate to be his voice. Their abilities seem eerily similar, so perhaps there are criteria to meet to be chosen. Many are not happy to be a Voice though...
ENTRY REQUIREMENTS Race: Any Orcish
Class Abilities: Turn Undead
Patron: Gruumsh
Domains: Orc, War
Feats: God's Voice (See below), Spontaneous Domains
Skills: Diplomacy 8 ranks, Knowledge (Religion) 8 ranks
Class SkillsSkills Points at Each Level : 4 + int
Hit Dice: d8
BAB Fort Ref Will Abilities
1. +0 +0 +0 +2 Spontaneous Command, +1 level of Divine spellcasting class
2. +1 +0 +0 +3 Spell Focus (Enchantment), +1 level of Divine spellcasting class
3. +1 +1 +1 +3 , +1 level of Divine spellcasting class
4. +2 +1 +1 +4 Spontaneous Smiting, +1 level of Divine spellcasting class
5. +2 +1 +1 +4 Greater Spell Focus (Enchantment), +1 level of Divine spellcasting class
6. +3 +2 +2 +5 , +1 level of Divine spellcasting class
7. +3 +2 +2 +5 Spontaneous Presence, +1 level of Divine spellcasting class
8. +4 +2 +2 +6 Unsettling Enchantment, +1 level of Divine spellcasting class
9. +4 +3 +3 +6 , +1 level of Divine spellcasting class
10.+5 +3 +3 +7 Divinity, +1 level of Divine spellcasting class
Weapon Proficiencies: A Voice of Gruumsh gains no new weapon or armor proficiencies.
Spontaneous Casting (Su): The Voice of Gruumsh begins to be able to spontaneously cast more than Inflict spells. At level 1 he can spontaneously cast any spell with the Compulsion or Mind-Affecting descriptors.
At 4th level he can "lose" a prepared spell to spontaneously cast any Cleric spell from the necromancy school.
At 7th level he can "lose" a prepared spell to spontaneously cast an Cleric spell with the words Deific, Deity, Divine, or Divinity in the title he meets he alignment requirements for.
Bonus Feats: At 2nd level the Voice gains Spell Focus (Enchantment) as a Bonus Feat. At 5th level he gains Greater Spell Focus (Enchantment), and at 8th level he gains Unsettling Enchantment.
Divinity (Su): At 10th level the Voice no longer needs to prepare spells at the beginning of the day, and may now spontaneously cast any spell on the cleric spell list.
PLAYING A VOICE You labored long and hard hoping to become a Voice of Gruumsh. You did everything, sacrificed everything for what you believed would be the ultimate honor. And here you are. Stuck with a God peering out at the world from inside your head. He knows everything you do, and can read your mind anytime he wishes. You know no rest or comfort. But old One Eye cannot control your body directly yet. Just use it as a spying glass on the world. The knife in your hand looks more tempting by the day. A few quick cuts across the wrists and it would be over. But then you'd be in the afterlife fleeing from him. You must find a way.
Combat: You try to avoid combat if you can, as you are no longer as suited to it as you once were. Hopefully you can convince a few tough Orcs to be bodyguards.
Advancement: You pretty much are bound to do whatever Gruumsh tells you to do. This includes what you study or what career you choose to embark upon.
Resources: The church considers Voices to be holy men, but are incredibly jealous of their power. The military as well. Since they pretty much comprise the two segments of the Orc population in any position of authority you'll have to rely on your oratory to get any real help. After all if you die Gruumsh can simply choose another.
VOICES IN THE WORLD "Has Barka seemed a little stressed out to you lately?" Voices generally react to the world by screaming at it to submit or be killed. or rather, they do what the voice in their head tells them. After all it's Gruumsh's voice right? And he has the Orcs best interests at heart right? You'd like to believe that anyway...
Daily Life: Your daily life consists of whatever Gruumsh would like you to do. Seriously. He's a 24 hour presence in your head, and knows everything you do. There's a reason the suicide rate is high.
Notables: Barka (CE Male Orc Cleric 6/Voice of Gruumsh 6) walks a tightrope. His own people want him dead, the outsiders want him dead, and his own God considers him an easily expendable chess piece...
Organizations: The Voices aren't an organization, and generally operate outside the official church.
NPC Reaction People who don't worship the Orc pantheon or have reason to dislike it's Gods tend to hate Voices with a passion. Orcs tend to view them as holy men, and hold them in awe. There really isn't much middle ground.
VOICES IN THE GAME DM's should avoid picking on players with this PrC (or seeming like they are). His God may be interfering with his life quite heavily, and make sure the PC knows this up front.
Adaptation: This is best for a darker style campaign given the problems facing the Voice. You may wish to restrict it to NPC's.
Encounters: Voices tend to be encountered everywhere in Orc settlements. Outside they are generally only seen in war parties.
Sample Encounter EL 12: The PC's are at the temple of Heironeous praying when an Orc walks in, and tells the priest he has a little problem he needs fixing. You can tell immediately there's something wrong with him. Normal Orcs don't come here, and this one looks like he's one moment away from losing his mind.
BarkaCE Male Orc Cleric 6/Voice of Gruumsh 6
Init +0,
Senses: Listen +3, Spot +3, Dark Vision 60'
Languages Orc Common
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AC 23, touch 10, flat-footed 23 (+13 Armor)
hp 66 (12 HD)
Fort +8,
Ref +4,
Will +13
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Speed 30 ft. (6 squares)
Melee +1 Longspear +9/+4 (1d8+2, 19-20, x3)
Ranged +1 Longspear +8 (1d8+2, 19-20, x3)
Base Atk +7,
Grp +8
Atk Options Turn Undead 4/day
Combat GearSpells Per Day 0: 6 (DC 13)
1st: 6 (DC 14)
2nd: 5 (DC 15)
3rd: 5 (DC 16)
4th: 3 (DC 17)
5th: 3 (DC 18)
6th: 2 (DC 19)
Caster Level 12
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Abilities Str 12, Dex 10, Con 13, Int 10, Wis 16, Cha 12
SQ Light Blindness, Domains (Orc, War)
Feats Divine Metamagic, Divine Spell Power, God's Voice, Holy Potency, Orc Devotion, Spontaneous Domains,
Skills Bluff +9, Concentration +9, Diplomacy +9, Knowledge (Religion) +8, Intimidate +9, Sense Motive +5
Possessions Retributive Amulet, 2 Gauntlets of Gruumsh, +1 Keen Throwing Returning Longspear, +5 Full Plate, Corsair's Eyepatch, 441 GP
EPIC VOICE OF GRUUMSH Hit Die: d8
Skills Points at Each Level : 4 + int
Spells Caster level continues to increase with Epic levels, but you do not gain extra spells per day.
Bonus Feats: The Epic Voice gains a Bonus Feat every 3 levels higher than 20th
God's VoiceYou can speak with the voice of your deity.
Prerequisites: Turn/Rebuke Undead, must be taken at 1st level, must be same alignment as Deity
Benefits: You can "lose" 1 Turn/Rebuke undead attempt when casting a spell from the Enchantment school. Your opponent only gets 1d20 plus his Base Willpower Save for the Saving Throw for that spell.
Orc DevotionYou can empower your brother Orcs to fight harder.
Prerequisites: Access to the Orc Domain
Benefits: Once per day as a Swift action you may "lose" 1 spell slot (or 1 spell you have memorized) to grant a Profane Bonus equal to the spells level to all Orcs within 60' that are Allies for 3 rounds plus one round per point of Wisdom modifier. When you use this ability choose whether the Bonus is applied to damage rolls, attack rolls, or Fortitude Saving Throw rolls.