The Hive Master
"A figure stood behind Yan. Her costume was barely recognizable—she wore a short cape of tattered black cloth over her body armor, a skintight black suit beneath that, and there were folds of black cloth draped around her legs like a dress or a robe. The entire fabric seemed to ripple and move. It took Sierra a second to realize it was crawling with a carpet of insects.
The disconcerting part was the girl's face, or lack thereof. Her expression was masked behind a shifting mass of bugs that moved in and out of her hairline. Sierra couldn't even tell where the bugs ended and the scalp began, as the small black bodies crawled into and onto the black curls. There was a hint of something like glass where Skitter's eyes were, but the bugs ventured far enough over her eyelids and around the frames that nothing was visible in the way of goggles, glasses, or skin."-Worm, Interlude 14. Entry Requirements:Skills: Knowledge(Nature) 13 ranks, Survival 8 ranks, Diplomacy 4 ranks
Spellcasting/Manifesting/Other: Must have a spell, power or other ability able to create or control a swarm of Vermin, such as the Druid spell Insect Plague or using the Improved Familiar feat to have a Swarm of Spiders as a familiar.
Class SkillsThe Hive Master's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are
Skills Points at Each Level: 4 + int
Hit Dice: d6
| Level | BAB | Fort | Ref | Will | Special | Swarm HD |
| 1 | +0 | +0 | +0 | +2 | Ten Thousand Sparks of Life | 3; 6 |
| 2 | +1 | +0 | +0 | +3 | Ten Thousand Points of Sight | 5; 12 |
| 3 | +1 | +1 | +1 | +3 | Ten Thousand Motes of Power | 8; 18 |
| 4 | +2 | +1 | +1 | +4 | Ten Thousand Touches of Thought | 11; 24 |
| 5 | +2 | +1 | +1 | +4 | Ten Thousand Fragments of Talent | 13; 30 |
A Hive Master gains Light Armor Proficiency if they did not already have it, as well as proficiency with the quarterstaff and club if they do not already have it.
Class Features: The following are all class features of the Hive Master:
Ten Thousand Sparks of Life (Su): At first level, a Hive Master gains the ability to control a number of Vermin, defined by the total HD of the Swarm formed by them. They may control two and two-thirds Hit Dice worth of Vermin Swarm per Hive Master level without penalty. However, for every Hit Die beyond this, they take a -1 Insight penalty to their Will and Reflex saves and a -2 Insight penalty to Intelligence and Wisdom based skill checks. If the penalty to Will saves is larger than their base Will save bonus granted by class levels and other Hit Dice, or their penalty to Intelligence skills is larger than their ranks in Knowledge(Nature) plus their Intelligence modifier, they are overwhelmed by the psychic feedback and are rendered Unconscious for 1d4 hours. Even with this increased strain, they may not exceed six Hit Dice of controlled Vermin Swarms per Hive Master level.
Gaining control of a swarm of Vermin that already exists will require the swarm to fail a Will save with a DC of 10+Hive Master level+Charisma modifier. This control effect may be applied to spells, powers and other abilities that create Vermin swarms temporarily to double the duration, even if an effect like the
Extend Spell feat has already been applied.
Ten Thousand Points of Sight (Su): At second level, a Hive Master grows more familiar with the feedback of their telepathic control, beginning to understand the senses of the diminutive creatures they command. As a result, they may use the combined Spot and Listen check bonuses of their Swarms instead of their own, so long as all the swarms used in this way can see and/or hear what the check attempts to notice. Additionally, the line of sight of their swarms counts as their own.
Ten Thousand Motes of Power (Su): At third level, a Hive Master begins to develop powers from their swarm itself, cultivating powers from the many minute specks the creatures they command have to generate useful energies to shape. For every four HD of Swarm they control, the Hive Master may select one option from the following list:
Distributed Neuro-kinetics: A Hive Master who selects this option focuses the telepathic network of their Swarm into a source of Psionic power, gaining the ability to manifest psionic powers as a Wilder with a level equal to the number of times they have selected this option, or adding that effective Wilder level to their level in an existing Psionic manifesting class for the purposes of Power Points per Day, Powers Known and Maximum Power Level Known. Additionally, they can use Psionic powers and feats from the position of their swarms, as well as have detrimental effects, such as the damage from Overchannel or the ability damage from Body Fuel, apply to their swarms instead of themselves.
Shards of Divinity: A Hive Master who selects this option uses the hardly-there spirits of the swarms they control to call out to outsiders to their plane of existence, gaining the ability to cast Divine spells as a Favored Soul with a level equal to the number of times they have selected this option, or add that effective Favored Soul level to their levels in Cleric, Paladin or Favored Soul for spellcasting purposes, such as spells known and spells per day. Additionally, they can use Divine spells and feats from the position of their Swarms, including applying Personal range spells to one of their Swarms instead of themselves and applying the effects of [Divine] feats to a Swarm instead of themselves.
Force of Nature: A Hive Master who selects this option has the innate connection to nature all but the most bizarre and twisted creatures have to draw on the supernatural forces of the natural world, gaining the ability to cast Divine Spells as a Spirit Shaman with a level equal to the number of times they have selected this option, or add that effective Spirit Shaman level to their levels in Druid, Ranger or Favored Soul for spellcasting purposes, such as spells known and spells per day. Additionally, they may have any Vermin, including a Swarm, as an animal companion, with an effective Druid level equal to the number of times they have selected this option plus their levels in Hive Master and other sources of effective Druid level for Animal Companions, minus the Challenge Rating of the Vermin. The bonus hit dice from Animal Companion count as controlled Vermin hit dice for the Hive Master's control limit, as well as for all other Hive Master class features.
These options must be selected at the start of each day to the maximum of what the Hive Master can control, and may not make their effective level for any given parameter exceed their character level.
Ten Thousand Touches of Thought (Su): Starting at 4th level, a Hive Master's connection with their swarms grows to such an extent they can think through their Swarm, gaining a +1 Insight bonus to Intelligence and Wisdom per two HD of Swarm they control. Additionally, the penalty to Reflex saves and skill checks from Ten Thousand Sparks of Life is reduced by one for every two HD of Swarm controlled that would normally bring penalties for control.
Ten Thousand Fragments of Skill (Su): Starting at 5th level, a Hive Master learns to house complex skills in their telepathic network, allowing their Swarms to perform actions normally taking extensive training and immense talent to do. They may select a feat they qualify for for every 3 HD of Swarms they control. The benefits of these feats are applied to all of the Swarms they control, rather than themselves, and the feats selected may be changed at the start of each day.
