Medusa
HD:d8
Level Bab Fort Ref Will Feature
1 +1 +0 +2 +2 Medusa Body, Stone Glimpse, +1 Cha
2 +2 +0 +3 +3 Blood Snakes, +1 Cha, +1 Dex
3 +3 +1 +3 +3 Poison dip, Strenght in Beauty, +1 Dex
4 +4 +1 +4 +4 Sudden Bite, Distant Gaze
5 +5 +1 +4 +4 Stone glare, Overwhelming beauty, +1 Cha
6 +6 +2 +5 +5 Snake Crown, Vitriolic Poison, Focused Gaze, +1 Dex
7 +7 +2 +5 +5 Mind Eye, Stone Gaze, +1 Dex, +1 Cha
Skills: 6+int modifier, quadruple at 1st level. The medusa’s class skills (and the key ability for each skills) are Balance (Dex), Bluff (Cha), Craft (Int), Climb (Str), Diplomacy(Cha), Disguise (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Hide(Dex), Listen(Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Profession (Wis), Sense Motive, Spot (Wis) and Swim (Str).
Proficiencies:simple and martial weapons, and her own snakes
FeaturesMedusa body:At 1st level a medusa loses all racial bonus she had and gains monstrous humanoid traits (basically dark vision 60 feet). She's a medium monstrous humanoid with base speed 30.
A medusa's hair transforms into living snakes, which may be used as a natural weapon dealing 1d4 +Str modifier damage. All the snakes count as a single natural weapon. The snake heads produce a poison dealing strength damage. The Fort DC is 10+1/2 medusa's HD+medusa's con modifier.
At 1st level the strength damage is 1d4, but for every 2 extra HD the strength damage increases 1 size category(1d6 at 3HD, 1d8 at 5HD, 2d6 at 7 HD, and so on)
A medusa gains a bonus to Nat Armor equal to her Cha modifier.
As long as the medusa covers her snake-hair and eyes, she can pass as an human without need of disguise checks, unless she's observed by an adjacent creature, at which point she can still pass as an human with a sucessful disguise check.
Stone glimpse:The medusa eyes have the divine ability to petrify her opponents. She can't yet turn a creature into stone in one go, but can still slow them down significantly.
As a standard action, a medusa can "stone glimpse" a creature within 10 feets(+5 feet for each HD beyond the first 3). This has all the limitations of a gaze attack, and it only affects one creature. The Fort DC is 10+Half the Medusa's HD+Medusa's Cha modifier. If the target fails the save, it takes 1d4 penalty to its Dexterity and a 10 feet penalty to all its movement speeds as their bodies partially petrify. The Dex penalty increases by an extra 1d4 and the speed penalty an extra 10 feet penalty for every 3 extra HD of the medusa. This attack doesn't affect creatures immune to petrification. The penalties last for 1 hour per HD.
The medusa may use stone glimpse a number of times per day equal to her HDxCha modifier.
Ability increase:A Medusa gains +1 to
Cha at levels 1, 2, 5, 7
Dex at levels 2, 3, 6, 7
For a total of +4 Dex and +4 Cha at level 7.
Poison Dip:At 2nd level, as a move action, a medusa may poison a weapon she's holding. The medusa doesn't risk poisoning herself, but such poison only remains "fresh" for 1 hour per HD or until the weapon strikes, after which it dries out and becomes useless. It has no commercial value. Thus medusas prefer bows as they can poison several arrows in advance.
Blood Snakes-At 2nd level the medusa's spilled blood turns into snakes. Every time she takes at least 5 damage from a slashing or piercing weapon, a tiny viper is produced adjacent to the medusa, which acts on her next initiative count. The medusa can command her spawned snakes for 1 round per HD, after which they slither away and disappear. For each two extra HD from here, the medusa can spawn vipers or snakes of the next size category (small at 4 HD, medium at 6 HD both viper and constrictor, large at 8 HD, huge at 10 HD, both viper and constrictor). The medusa may stab herself to create snakes.
Since those snakes are spawned from her own blood, they come with a copy of every magic buff the medusa benefited from, including those provided by items, which last while the medusa controls them.
In addition, a medusa of 12 HD or more has her spawned vipers automatically advanced to an amount of HD equal to her own.
Strength in Beauty:Medusas are regarded as some the most beautiful women in existence, but they always found themselves forced to fight for their lives. At 3rd level the medusa may add her Cha mod to all attack rolls and combat maneuvers such as grapple, disarm, trip and bullrush.
Sudden bite: The medusa's hair snakes develop a will of their own and thus become able to attack without need of the medusa's commands. At 4th level the Medusa may user her hair-snake attack as a swift action.
Distant Gaze:At 4th level, the Medusa can, as a move action, double the reach of her gaze for 1 round.
At 12 HD she can double the reach of her gaze as a swift action. If she spends a move and swift action, it quadruples instead for 1 round.
Stone glare:At 5th level, the medusa can now instantly petrify a creature if their eyes directly meet, but it demands they both look at each other for some seconds. Same range and DC as stone glimpse, but the target it's instantly turned to stone as a flesh to stone spell if it fails the save. A stone glare costs two uses of stone glimpse.
Overwhelming Beauty: At 5th level, the medusa can add her Cha modifier to melee and ranged damage rolls.
Snake Crown:At 6th level, whenever the medusa uses her snake-hair natural attack, she may either perform one attack against every adjacent opponent, or attacks against a single oponent twice (this obviously doesn't stack with itself).
Vitriolic poison:At 6th level, the medusa's poison develops powerful acid properties. It can now affect creatures immune to poison and ability damage, but it deals only half Str damage to those. This bonus applies to her spawned vipers as well.
Focused gaze: At 6th level, opponents take a cumulative -2 penalty on saves against the medusa's gaze attack for each consecutive turn they have been affected by it.
Mind Eye:At 7th level, those trying to look upon the medusa trough special means find themselves staring directly at her divine eyes. Anyone using blindsight, mindsight, lifesight, scrying or a similar ability to detect the Medusa are automatically affected by Stone Glare (saves allowed as normal), regardless of range. This doesn't take any action on the part of the Medusa, and doesn't cost her any charges. The medusa may stop this from happening by wearing a veil or some sort of physical seal upon her own eyes if she wishes to don't get attention.
Stone Gaze:At 7th level the medusa can now temporarily fill her eyes with stoning power, affecting all who look at her.
Activating the stone gaze is a standard action which costs four uses of the medusa's stone glimpse ability, and then one extra use for each turn she sustains the effect. She may end the gaze at any moment as a free action.
Same range and effect as stone glare , but now all creatures within range are automatically affected.
A medusa of 10 HD or more may activate any of her eye attacks as a swift action. A medusa of 15 HD or more may activate her eye attacks as an immediate action. This bonus applies even if not all medusa levels were taken, but only for the obtained eye attacks.
Finally, if all levels of this class were taken, at 9 HD a Medusa's eye attacks can affect opponents immune to petrification, but they gain a +5 bonus on their saves.
Comments
The medusa is one of those really old legends that has a lot of different versions depending on who you ask.
In this version I decided to focus on the "Cursed beatiful women with snakes on the hair". She has poison, can spawn snake minions, set a powerful trap, Cha to Combat and of course the typical stone gaze, divided in three levels of power. +4 Dex and +4 Cha allows to make up for the MAD. 6 skill points per level, two good saves and Full Bab don't hurt either.
Blood snakes is from one version of the legend where her dripped blood turned into vipers.
Eye mind is a "screw you" to things with extra sights that will close their normal eyes to you.
So in the end we get kinda of a skirmisher/controller, hitting hard , wearing down opponent with poison and petrification while leaving behind snakes to slow down its opponents as it gets hurt.
