#achaekek

And then Grandmother Spider is all pretty with pink bows and the like. Maybe wears cat ears. Listens to death metal. Once poisoned a cops coffee, and plans to do so again. Roughly half of what she says can't be repeatedd in polite society. Everyone's pretty sure she called in a bomb threat, but has yet to prove it.

Every. Freaking. Time.

Sacred Blood-Splatter Analyst -- Pathfinder Investigator Feat

There are all-too-few true believers these days.

A shame, surely.

Of your own sins? Though they may be many, none might count “lack of faith” amongst them.

Within those neon-lit alleyways, glittering shadows and black-shining boardrooms which compose the twisted battlefield of your so-called Great Witch War, the dread figure called He Who Walks in Blood has far more subtle agents than just His red reapers and swift executioners, His obedient pawns and crimson shepherds, His grey gun-knights and His gleaming-dark pillars, His iron-bound super-soldiers or shape-shifting, flesh-devouring monsters.

When things need to be kept nice & quiet, when things need to be found -- or to be kept well-hidden -- He also has you.

Brought to you absolutely free to play, to test & to share, as always, by the fine folks of my Patreon.

image from here

Prerequisite: Lawful Evil alignment; Sleuth; worshiper of Achaekek; see Special, below

Benefit: You gain access to the following spell-like abilities, which are activated by the expenditure of the listed number of points of luck. Your character level is the caster level for these spell-like abilities, and you use Charisma to determine your concentration check bonus. The saving throw against these spell-like abilities (if any) is equal to 10 + ½ your level + your Charisma bonus.

alter self, darkness, obscuring mist, spider climb, true strike – 1 point

At 5th level, you additionally gain access to following effects:

clairaudience/clairvoyance, deeper darkness, invisibility – 2 points

At 10th level, you additionally gain access to the following effects:

dimension door, greater invisibility, hold person, kiss of unrequited love, quickened true strike, summon monster IV (giant mantis only) — 3 points

At 15th level, you additionally gain access to the following effects:

mass invisibility, modify memory, summon monster VIII (deadly mantis only) – 4 points

Special: This ability may be selected in place of any Investigator Talent, although must still otherwise meet the prerequisites. If you possess this ability, you may additionally select the Above the Law and Exultation of Horrors feats in place of Investigator Talents.

Campaign Notes: Obviously, most characters with this ability are loyal to the Cult of the Red Mantis, although a fair number also maintain some membership in other circles ... the better to watch for any who would violate the ironclad Law of the Arcanotheign. As might be expected, the Cult of the Starsong is the only affiliation to have resisted compromise by any members of this secretive group.

This ability is often gained by those with the Hard-Boiled, Two-Fisted Private-Eye archetype.

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NOTE:

Red Reaper of Achaekek -- Combat Feat

In the ancient days before Earthfall – more than one hundred centuries past, during the unknowable Height of Azlant – your great god was known as the patron force of monsters, terror and death by natural disaster far more than he was known as a mere lord of assassins.

Once, members of your cult strode the streets of plague-wracked and storm-tossed cities openly as angels of mercy and judgement, working darkest miracles and brightest vengeance as they saw fit, guided only by the iron words of holy death-dealers blessed and moved by the Red Mantis himself. 

Those days, whisper some of your nameless masters, have begun once again.

When that wine-dark age truly dawns, and the signs come right, you shall be ready.

As a swift and loyal soldier indoctrinated in the eldest ways, you may regain panache in great torrents by slicing open willing or helpless flesh ... cut, weeping, to reveal that crimson ocean which cascades beneath and unites all life-in-ending, all for the glory of He Who Walks in Blood.

original image from here

Prerequisite: Scythe-Waltzing Reaper archetype; Blessed Pawn of He Who Walks in Blood feat

Benefit: You obtain the use of a supernatural blood pool with the following limits, benefits and restrictions:

Your blood pool begins each day at zero, but you may hold a maximum number of blood points in this pool equal to your Charisma modifier or to your Wisdom modifier (your choice).

To add points to your blood pool, you must shed either your own blood or the blood of a willing or helpless living creature. As a full-round action, you may deal a number of hit points of damage equal to twice your character level to yourself -- or to a single willing or helpless living adjacent creature -- and thus gain a single blood point.

As a move action, you may exchange a single point from your blood pool for a point of panache, or vice versa.

In this way, you may exchange up to two points each round by using a pair of move actions.

In addition, if you possess the Exotic Weapon Proficiency (sawtooth sabre) feat, you may use that weapon in all of the same ways that you may use a scythe: thus, you additionally regain panache when you make a killing blow or confirm a critical hit with a sawtooth sabre. You also gain all benefits of the Weapon Finesse, Improved Trip and Slashing Grace feats when wielding a sawtooth sabre, and such a weapon is treated as a “light melee piercing weapon” for purposes of all feats and Deeds. You also gain the attack roll, damage roll and critical bonuses of the Waltzing Blade-Devotion and Waltzing Blade-Mastery class features when using a sawtooth saber, just as with a scythe.

If you ever gain spell-casting abilities of any kind, such as from the Singer of Praise class, you may immediately retrain the Blessed Pawn of He Who Walks in Blood feat to Spell Focus (any school) and retrain this feat to Bloodmage Initiate, fulfilling the first steps necessary to become a true Bloodmage.

Designer’s Note: For more on blood magic, see Ultimate Evil.

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