THE SKULL TAKERS "You must take the heads of your enemies to honor Hruggek. This is the only proper way to show him respect outside of battle." The Skull Takers are the clergy of the Bugbear deity Hruggek, and are proficient headhunters. Known for taking the heads of their victims they use the skulls as helms, drinking cups, and decorations of all kind. Predominantly they are stealthy killers who weaken other humanoid communities through acts of terror and murder. Nothing convinces people to move away from Bugbear hiding places like one of them losing their head every night, without anyone realizing what happened.
BECOMING A SKULL TAKER All Skull Takers must be Clerics who worship Hruggek.
ENTRY REQUIREMENTS Race: Bugbear
Patron: Hruggek
Domains: Evil, Trickery
Alignment: Chaotic Evil
Skills: Knowledge (Religion, War) 4 ranks, Hide 4 ranks, Move Silently 4 ranks
Feats: Advantageous Avoidance, Sly Fortune (See Complete Scoundrel)
Class Skills The Skull Taker's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Climb (Str), Concentration (Con), Hide (Dex), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (Local, Religion)(Int), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Spot (Wis), and Survival (Wis).
Skills Points at Each Level : 2 + int
Hit Dice: d8
BAB Fort Ref Will Abilities
1. +0 +2 +2 +0 Headhunter
2. +1 +3 +3 +0 The Art of Sabotage, +1 level of Divine casting class
3. +2 +3 +3 +1 Fear and Intimidation, +1 level of Divine casting
4. +3 +4 +4 +1 Headhunter, +1 level of Divine casting
5. +3 +4 +4 +1 The Art of Sabotage, +1 level of Divine casting
6. +4 +5 +5 +2 Fear and Intimidation, +1 level of Divine casting
7. +5 +5 +5 +2 Headhunter, +1 level of Divine casting
8. +6 +6 +6 +2 The Art of Sabotage, +1 level of Divine casting
9. +6 +6 +6 +3 Fear and Intimidation, +1 level of Divine casting
10.+7 +7 +7 +3 Master Headhunter
Weapon Proficiencies: Skull Takers gain no new weapon or armor proficiencies.
Headhunter (Ex): You train extensively in hitting opponents for maximum effect. At 1st level the Critical Threat Range of your attacks increases by 1 (i.e from a 20 to 19-20 if it would normally critical on a 20). This does not stack with other effects increasing critical threat range.
At 4th level the Critical Threat Range of your attacks increases by 2 (i.e from a 20 to 18-20 if it would normally critical on a 20). This does not stack with other effects increasing critical threat range.
At 7th level you automatically kill an opponent if you succeed in rolling a 20 and then confirming a critical hit similar to the Vorpal Weapon ability.
The Art of Sabotage (Su): You train extensively in sneaking into and out of the cities of other races to hit targets. At 2nd level you may "lose" any spell you have prepared for the day, and gain a Bonus to Hide and Move Silently Checks equal to your Hit Dice divided by 5 for 24 hours.
At 5th level you may "lose" any spell you have prepared for the day to spontaneously cast Word of Recall (The designated place is always your temple of worship. If that has been destroyed you must designate a destination at the beginning of each day until you find/build a new temple).
At 8th level you may "lose" any spell you have prepared for the day to spontaneously cast Phase Door.
Fear and Intimidation (Su): At 3rd level you may expend one of your daily uses of Rebuke Undead to gain a +4 Profane Bonus to Intimidate Checks for the duration of the encounter.
At 6th level you may expend on of your daily uses of Rebuke Undead when making an attack. If the attack successfully hits your opponent is Shaken for the duration of the encounter (Save DC is 10 plus half Hit Dice plus Charisma Modifier). If he succeeds he is only shaken for 1 round.
At 9th level you may expend one of your daily uses of Rebuke Undead to spontaneously cast Evil Glare (see Spell Compendium).
Master Headhunter (Su): At 10th level, if you kill a victim by taking his head (i.e. killing him instantly with your Headhunter ability), you may perform an hour long ritual over his skull. For the next 24 hours you gain a Profane Bonus to all rolls equal to your opponents level or hit dice divided by 5.
PLAYING A SKULL TAKER Bugbears are always the low man on the totem pole it seems, even among other Goblinoids. Quite frankly this ticks you off. So the clergy of Hruggek has been tasked with fixing this situation, and you can't wait. You've been training hard at magical assassination techniques, and you hope to be taking the heads of many heathen races soon. With luck you will have your entire house decorated in skulls in the manner of your teacher soon.
Combat: Skull Takers are not meant to be toe to toe combatants. They prefer to sneak up on opponents, and kill them in their sleep. They're assassins, not warriors. This doesn't mean they can't fight (they are pretty strong after all), but they prefer to be more pragmatic and kill targets who aren't fighting back. Less risk for them, and more potential to create victims, and spread fear of their race.
Advancement: Skull Takers are murderous fiends who delight in killing defenseless opponents (or even live ones for that matter). They concentrate on abilities that increase their stealth, and give them more options for killing, whether it's spells or multiclassing (many also become Rogues), or for intimidating opponents into submission.
Resources: Skull Takers are heavily respected in their community, and enjoy many advantages because of it. Other Skull Takers will always lend them a hand, as well as the common people. The nobility (if Bugbear rulers can be called such) tend to be more wary considering the clergies abilities, but tehy need them to remain in power so sometimes they can be cowed through intimidation.
SKULL TAKERS IN THE WORLD "That's the seventh man dead in a week. All of them killed with no witnesses, some of them with their spouse laying in the bed next to them unawares. This won't end good." You spend your time as a virtual celebrity among your own people, and stress filled nights slipping into the communities of nearby races hoping not to be caught while committing atrocities. As long as you can keep up your success, you will find ever greater fame and fortune among your own. But you know in your mind that if you ever get caught, a quick death is the best you can hope for. With all the people you've murdered you'll probably be drawn and quartered at the very least...
Daily Life: Much of your day is spent resting in preparation for the nights events. If you live through that, there is much celebrating to do. On nights you aren't participating you train in both your clerical duties and skills at murder. If a situation arises where the lair is being assaulted you participate in the defense, usually by means of ambush.
Notables: Hamit (CE Male Bugbear Cleric 6/Skull Taker 2) had always been a particularly scrawny Bugbear, but his fanatic devotion to Hruggek has paid off as he has recently been recruited by the Skull Takers. His lack of Strength is not seen as an impediment as most of his opponents will be unconscious.
Organizations: The Skull Takers are an organization amongst the clergy of Hruggek dedicated to driving away other humanoid races (even other goblinoids) by whatever means are necessary (i.e. murder). Once they are driven out the Bugbears can expand their territory, slowly expanding due to your efforts.
NPC Reaction NPC's are terrified of the Skull Takers. They murder seemingly at will, without being seen or heard, and slip away again into the night. Bugbears hold them in awe, but the common Bugbear knows little of what the Skull Takers do besides killing racial opponents. They have no idea that they also sometimes participate quite brutally in local politics, murdering whoever the clergy opposes.
SKULL TAKERS IN THE GAME Since the Skull Takers are heavily nationalistic, they will likely be found in Bugbear or Goblinoid only parties. At a stretch they could be found in an evil multiracial party so long as it's goals do not conflict with his races needs.
Adaptation: The Skull Takers are meant more for a dark, gritty campaign than anything else. Murder and cutting up the dead are acts that may squick players too, so be sure they can handle this.
Encounters: PC's will probably be hired to end the Skull Takers reign of terror if it's in the beginning, or to protect the caravan of fleeing people if it's towards the end of things. If they assault a Bugbear lair they can expect that if it has any serious clerical presence that they will face at least one Skull Taker.
Sample Encounter EL 12: The PC's have been asked to stop a series of brutal recent murders, and while on watch one night they see a group of Bugbears fleeing over the city walls in silence. It's quite probable they're responsible for the killings, but for what reason? And do they follow them since doing so will prevent them from telling anyone whats happened if they ant to catch them.
HamitCE Male Bugbear Cleric 6/Skull Taker 2
Init +2,
Senses: Listen +7, Spot +6, Dark Vision 60'
Languages Common, Goblin, Gnoll
------------------------------------------------
AC 26, touch 12, flat-footed 23 (+2 Dex, +3 Natural, +11 Armor)
hp 71 (11 HD)
Fort +10,
Ref +11,
Will +8
------------------------------------------------
Speed 30 ft. (6 squares)
Melee +2 Morningstar +10/+5 (1d8+3/19-20)
Ranged +2 Morningstar +12 (1d8+3/19-20)
Base Atk +7,
Grp +8
Atk Options Rebuke Dead 6/day, Headhunter
Combat GearSpells Per Day 0: 6 (DC 13)
1: 5 (DC 14)
2: 4 (DC 15)
3: 3 (DC 16)
4: 1 (DC 17)
Caster Level 7
-----------------------------------------------
Abilities Str 12, Dex 16, Con 14, Int 14, Wis 16, Cha 8
SQ Domains (Evil, Trickery), The Art of Sabotage
Feats Advantageous Avoidance, Extra Turning, Sly Fortune, Stealthy
Skills Climb +4, Concentration +6, Hide +8, Intimidate +3, Knowledge (Religion, War)+6, Listen +7, Move Silently +12, Spot +6, Survival +5
Possessions +3 Improved Shadow Improved Silent Moves Full Plate, +2 Doomburst Morningstar, Vanisher Cloak, Ring of Avoidance, Gauntlets of Throwing, 542 GP
EPIC SKULL TAKER Hit Die: d8
Skills Points at Each Level : 2 + int
Class Ability Epic levels continue to increase your caster level, but you not gain extra spells per day.
Bonus Feats: The Epic Skull Taker gains a Bonus Feat every 3 levels higher than 20th