Fiddler of the Damned

And he pulled the bow across the strings,
And it made an evil hiss,
And then a band of demons joined in,
And it sounded somethin' like this.

—Charlie Daniels, "The Devil Went Down to Georgia"

C-clang.

Delogren parried frantically as Luvatire, his adversary, swung her longsword at his neck in a whistling two-handed blow. Blood trickled down his left leg and across his ribs from a pair of long, shallow cuts, inflicted moments ago by the Harper. Through his breathless fatigue, the Zhentarim agent reflected that a chain shirt would be a good investment, if he survived the encounter. His once-fine silks were proving to be all too thin a shield between his flesh and Luvatire's blade . . . and if he made a mistake, between his soul and the fiend.

Panting, the dark bard fumbled under his cloak, and closed his fingers around a twist of paper. With a despairing snarl, Delogren flung a handful of phantomdust at his adversary, and had the relief of hearing her scream in sudden pain as the alchemical concoction burned the Harper woman's eyes. His own longsword clattered to the floor as he dove for his discarded fiddle and bow, and Luvatire tripped over the fallen body of one of her companions.

Rolling to one knee, Delogren favored the blinded Harper woman with a feral grin, and sawed maniacally at the strings of his fiddle. Luvatire's companions began to stir, fitfully at first, and then with more vigor as the force of the Zhentarim bard's sullen art infused their dead forms. One of them stood, his chilly fingers closing around the haft of the same battleaxe that he had wielded in life.

Retching, her eyes still reddened from the effects of the phantomdust, Luvatire looked up into the vacant eyes of her late friend, Derven, as he raised his glittering axe.

Folklore and legend speak often of love affairs between bards and wild nature spirits, of musicians whose virtuoso performances seemed touched by the finger of a god. And, too, they detail darker stories—tales of midnight contests in which legendary bards matched soul, song, and skill against demons and devils, tempting fate in search of everlasting fame.

The darkest tales of all enumerate the harrowing biographies of those rare individuals to whom music is more valuable than their own souls. Fireside whispers recall the prodigious talent and tormented eyes of those who bargained their souls away in trade for infernal tutelage. They, the fiddlers of the damned, begin in obscurity, sizzle through life with the brilliance of a flaming arrow, and end in torment, the eternal victims of their own folly. Most of these tormented souls begin their stories as bards, but a few sorcerers and rogues are also drawn to the dark power of the class.

Hit Die: d6

Requirements:
Alignment: Any non-good.
Skills: Knowledge (arcana) 4 ranks, Knowledge (the planes) 4 ranks, Perform (strings) 8 ranks
Feats: Skill Focus (Perform (strings)), Spell Focus (Conjuration).
Spells: Able to cast 2nd-level arcane spells, including a spell from the Conjuration school with the (summoning) descriptor.
Special: The character must make peaceful contact with an evil outsider, and sign a contract in his own blood trading his soul for command of the pinnacle of mortal achievement in the performance of music.
Special: Must own a masterwork fiddle.

Class Skills:
The fiddler of the damned's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Appraise (Int), Bluff (Cha), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Decipher Script (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Disguise (Cha), Gather Information (Cha), Hide (Dex), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (all skills, taken individually) (Int), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Perform (Cha), Sense Motive (Wis), Sleight of Hand (Dex), Speak Language (n/a), Spellcraft (Int), Tumble (Dex), and Use Magic Device (Cha). See Chapter 4 in the Player's Handbook for skill descriptions.

Skill Points at Each Level: 6 + Int modifier.

Level	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Reflex Save	Will Save	Special	Spells
1	+0	+0	+2	+2	Bardic music, devilish speed, infernal bargain	+1 level of existing spellcasting class
2	+1	+0	+3	+3	Augment Summoning	+1 level of existing spellcasting class
3	+2	+0	+3	+3	Infernal harmonics	+1 level of existing spellcasting class
4	+3	+1	+4	+4	Flashing eyes, floating hair	+1 level of existing spellcasting class
5	+3	+1	+4	+4	Bend the soul	+1 level of existing spellcasting class
6	+4	+1	+5	+5	--	+1 level of existing spellcasting class
7	+5	+2	+5	+5	Death’s fiddle	+1 level of existing spellcasting class
8	+6/+1	+2	+6	+6	--	+1 level of existing spellcasting class
9	+6/+1	+2	+6	+6	Song of the pit	+1 level of existing spellcasting class
10	+7/+2	+3	+7	+7	Devilish youth	+1 level of existing spellcasting class

Class Features:
All the following are class features of the fiddler of the damned prestige class.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Fiddlers of the damned gain no new weapon or armor proficiencies.

Spells per Day/Spells Known: Each level, the fiddler of the damned gains new spells per day as if he had also gained a level in a spellcasting class he belonged to before adding the prestige class. He does not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained (improved chance of controlling or rebuking undead, metamagic or item creation feats, hit points beyond those he receives from the prestige class, etc.) besides an increased effective level of spellcasting. If a character belonged to more than one spellcasting class before becoming a fiddler of the damned, he must decide to which class he adds each new level.

Bardic Music: A fiddler of the damned’s levels provide daily uses of the bardic music ability as if he had gained a level as a bard, but they do not grant access to new bardic music effects. If the fiddler of the damned did not already possess levels as a bard, the character can use this class feature only to activate the abilities provided by this class, and does not gain access to any of the bardic music abilities listed in Chapter Three of the Player’s Handbook.

Infernal Bargain: The fiddler of the damned is bound by a contract with an evil outsider. His soul is no longer his own, and upon its departure from his body as a result of death, it passes directly into the custody of the holder of his contract. As a result, the fiddler of the damned is no longer eligible to be the recipient of the raise dead, resurrection, or true resurrection spells. A wish or miracle can still restore him to life, but such an act would be certain to attract the attention of the outsider with whom the fiddler made his bargain, possibly drawing retribution from the creature.

Additionally, a handful of fiddlers manage to cheat their demonic or devilish masters through other means—by forestalling death with a transition to undeath, for instance. Fiddlers who beat their dark masters at their own game in this fashion often find themselves forced to a life of stealth and flight to avoid demonic and mundane assassins dispatched in an attempt to collect on their employer's investment, however, and generally die a final death at their hands after a greater or lesser period of time.

Devilish Speed (Ex): The fiddler of the damned's unholy bargain with dark powers bears its first fruits in a preternatural sharpening of the musician's reflexes as they pertain to the performance with the fiddle. The fiddler of the damned may apply his Dexterity modifier in addition to his Charisma modifier to Perform (strings) checks, and to the DC for saves versus bardic music effects produced by performances with a stringed instrument.

Augment Summoning: At 2nd level, the fiddler of the damned’s association with planes beyond the Prime Material grants him improved facility with summoning allies from the fiendish realms. In effect, he gains the Augment Summoning feat.

Infernal Harmonics (Sp): At 3rd level, continued tutelage from his otherworldly allies develops the fiddler of the damned's musical prowess so that his music can reach across the planes of existence. By making a Perform (strings) check against a DC of 16, he can cause an effect identical to the summon monster IV spell from the Player's Handbook as cast by a sorcerer of his character level, except that he can only call on creatures of a non-good alignment. This ability expends one daily use of his bardic music class ability.

Flashing Eyes, Floating Hair (Ex): Continued delving though secrets not meant for mortal eyes begins to take its toll on the character, slightly unhinging his mind. His Wisdom score is reduced by 2 points. In return, the fiddler of the damned gains a +2 profane bonus to Perform (strings) checks and a +1 profane bonus to Will saves. Furthermore, the fiddler of the damned's intense aura of otherworldliness can unhinge members of his audience. While engaged in a performance with the fiddle, the character gains a +2 profane bonus to Intimidate checks. At level 6, this bonus increases to +4, and at level 8 it grows to +6.

Bend the Soul (Sp): At 5th level, the fiddler of the damned has learned music that mortal ears were never meant to hear. He is capable of wrenching such screeching, dissonant wails from his fiddle that all listeners within range must make a Will save with a DC equal to 14 plus 1 for every 5 points by which the fiddler of the damned's Perform (fiddle) check exceeds 15, or suffer as if under the effect of confusion for as long as the music is audible to them. There is no upper limit to the number of rounds that the fiddler of the damned can sustain his demonic performance, save one: for every round that he continues his performance past the third, he must succeed on a Fortitude save versus the same DC or suffer 2d6 points of nonlethal damage as his mortal body fails to stand up under the preternatural demands of such musicianship. This is a sonic, mind-affecting, enchantment (compulsion) effect, and its caster level is equal to the fiddler of the damned’s character level. Activating this ability expends three daily uses of bardic music.

Death's Fiddle (Su): Through his sullen art, the fiddler of the damned learns to subvert the chain of causation itself. Once per day, he can cause the recently dead to rise again and fight on his behalf. This ability affects a number of corpses equal to half the fiddler of the damned's class level, rounded down, and only works on corpses that have been dead for up to 1 minute per fiddler of the damned level. The raised corpses are alive (not undead) for the duration of the effect, and can be healed as normal; they possess all of the abilities they had in life. They have half of their normal hit points, and any ability damage they suffered prior to their deaths is healed. Corpses within a 15ft. radius spread from the fiddler of the damned are affected. The corpses of unwilling creatures are allowed a Will save against a DC of 10 + half the fiddler of the damned’s character level + the fiddler of the damned's Charisma modifier to negate the effect. Activity of this sort is intensely draining; the fiddler of the damned suffers 1 point of temporary Constitution damage for every round that he continues to perform after the first three. While most fiddlers of the damned prefer to use a fiddle performance as the vehicle for this ability, it is possible for them to create this effect with vocals, another instrument, or any other performance technique. When the effect ends, raised corpses fall inert regardless of how many hit points they have left.

Song of the Pit (Sp): As the fiddler of the damned approaches the nadir of his descent into the grasp of the infernal powers from which he draws his dark gifts, he acquires near-perfect communion with the dark hearts of his masters. Once per day as a full-round action, he can invoke a blasphemy effect, as a cleric of his character level. A fiddler of the damned is not obliged to perform with a musical instrument in order to invoke this effect, but as with death’s fiddle, most feel more comfortable doing so.

Devilish Youth (Ex): At the pinnacle of his skill, the fiddler of the damned draws a species of dark vitality from his music. He ceases to accrue penalties from natural aging, and becomes immune to magical aging and the temporal stasis spell. Note that he does not actually gain the ability to stave off the coming of death when the allotted span of his life is measured out; extreme old age still results in death.