FACE OF THE BEAST

this is a Homebrew from NeoClassic, so its not mine. Enjoy :)
From
EE



Those who become Faces of the Beast are surprisingly diverse. Some are simple pyromaniacs, others religious zealots obsessed with the ever-approaching end of this world. A few use fire as a way to seek vengeance on those who have wronged them, and rarer still are those who merely want civilization to end solely for the sake of destruction.

A note on inspiration: I was particularly struck by the mask on the man in the picture, as well as his perilously swinging lamp. The notion of scarred by fire, but having no fear of it and in fact choosing it as a weapon of destruction & revenge, struck me. I admit that it was at this point I remembered "Some men just want to see the world burn" from "The Dark Knight," so that has influenced me some as well, specifically giving this class a more twisted, insane edge.

BECOMING A FACE OF THE BEAST
How you would normally become a member of this prestige class.

ENTRY REQUIREMENTS
Race: Any humanoid
Base Attack Bonus: +7
Base Fortitude Save: +7
Alignment: Any nongood and nonlawful
Special: Must have at least part of one's face, torso, arms, or legs covered in scarring from second or third degree burns

Class Skills
The Face of the Beast's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Balance (Dex), Bluff (Cha), Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Ride (Dex), Survival (Wis), and Swim (Str).
Skills Points at Each Level: 2 + Int modifier

Hit Dice: d8

Level	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Special
1st	+0	+2	+2	+0	These Scars, Double-Sided Flesh (fire resistance 5)
2nd	+1	+3	+3	+0	Fueling the Flames, Double-Sided Flesh (fire resistance 10)
3rd	+2	+3	+3	+1	Furious Defense, Double-Sided Flesh (fire resistance 15)
4th	+3	+4	+4	+1	Iron Lungs, Pyrotechnics, Double-Sided Flesh (fire resistance 20)
5th	+3	+4	+4	+1	Not One of Us, Touch of Armageddon, Double-Sided Flesh (immunity to fire)

Weapon Proficiencies: A face of the beast gains no new weapon or armor proficiencies.
These Scars: The burns of a face of the beast are an integral part of his identity. They become oddly immune to most healing magic; only a miracle spell or similar can remove them. If the burns are such removed, a face of the beast loses all other class abilities and may no longer gain levels in this class until he gains new, notable, second or third degree burns.
Double-Sided Flesh (Ex): Whenever a face of the beast takes fire damage, he appears to be injured by it as any normal creature would; his flesh turns red, blisters, and bubbles. However, he only feels mild discomfort and takes less damage than normal creatures despite this appearance. At first level, he gains fire resistance five, which increases by five each subsequent level. At fifth level, a face of the beast becomes immune to fire.
Unlike most individuals, when a face of the beast receives magical healing, his flesh does not appear fully healed. Scars from combat wounds are generally light and nearly unnoticeable, but any burns from fire or acid leave a distinct scar upon his flesh, no matter how strong the healing magic.
Should a face of the beast be under the influence of shapechange, polymorph, or alter self, he loses this inexplicable property of his own skin and hence does not gain this fire resistance or immunity.
Fueling the Flames (Su): At second level, a face of the beast's connection with fire allows him to double the rate of expansion of (but not damage done by each section of) any nonmagical fires within one hundred feet. This can be anything from causing candles to burn down to the wick more quickly to speeding up forest fires. This ability has no effect upon magical fires of any sort.
Furious Defense: Once per day, after an opponent has rolled a successful attack against a face of the beast, the face may choose to use this ability. He adds his Strength bonus to his armor class. If the attack is still successful, he takes damage as usual. If it is not, he takes half of what the damage of a successful attack would've been. Immediately after, however, the face of the beast gets an immediate grapple check against his opponent at a +4 circumstance modifier.
Iron Lungs (Ex): At fourth level, a face of the beast's internal chemistry has grown hardier. He is now able to breathe in smoke or similarly contaminated air without penalty, though he can still suffocate by drowning or in a vacuum. Furthermore, he gains an immunity to inhaled poisons.
Pyrotechnics (Sp): Beginning at fourth level a face of the beast can cast pyrotechnics as a spell-like ability once per day.
Not One of Us: At fifth level, a face of the beast's creature type changes from humanoid to monstrous humanoid. From now on, he is not affected by spells or abilities which affect humanoids only. However, this is disconcerting to most humanoids, so he receives a -2 Diplomacy penalty to all such checks dealing with humanoids. He is granted a +2 profane bonus to Intimidate checks thanks to this change as well. This creature type change, and hence skill penalty & bonus, cannot be reversed unless the face of the beast loses his scars (see These Scars)
Touch of Armageddon (Su): Upon reaching fifth level, a face of the beast channels a connection to supernatural fiery and destructive energies. When casting a spell or using a weapon that does at least 1d6 of fire damage, he automatically adds another 1d6 fire damage. For chaotic weapons or spells that deal at least 1d6 variable damage, he instead adds 1d4 fire damage. These two effects can stack with each other but not upon themselves (a fiery weapon only get +1d6 fire damage, no matter how many magical fire properties it has, but a chaotic flaming weapon would deal 1d6+d4 additional fire damage).

PLAYING A FACE OF THE BEAST
Despite the fairly uniform reaction that societies tend to display towards faces of the beast (see below), these individuals tend to vary greatly in motivation, means, and philosophy.
Combat: Due to their class abilities and affinity with fire, it's rare to find a Face of the Beast who doesn't use a flaming or flaming burst weapon, though the particular weapon tends to be a matter of personal preference. Most members of this class are fearless, and tend to favor very direct, offensive combat. However, those who practiced a different combat style previous to entering the class may still retain that, so some Faces of the Beast do use ranged combat or stealthy/hit-and-run tactics. When possible, many choose to fight near or even inside of buildings or wilderness that's on fire, with their Iron Lungs allowing them to ignore any penalties from smoke and intimidating opponents with carefully timed Fueling the Flames.

FACE OF THE BEAST IN THE WORLD
There was no reason to it. One madman in the night, and the whole town of petrified trees, that little gem nestled away in the heart of the elven queendom, now lies charred and dead. - Anonymous traveler and witness of the destruction of Ille Nievere

Civilization has always appreciated fire but likewise realized its destructive capacity must be kept in check. At most, fire is to be used against one's opponents in war; otherwise it belongs solely in the hearth or the midsummer bonfire.
A face of the beast who is recognized as such is usually seen with prominent burns- yet holding a torch or other flaming item. As such, the association between this class and dangerously careless use of fire became widespread, leading to a great deal of distrust and outright hatred of faces of the beast in civilized and frontier regions alike.
Daily Life: It is rare for a face of the beast to choose a sedentary life. They are best suited to wandering, more often alone than not. Their skills at combat allow them to hunt for their own food and fend for thesmselves just fine.
Notables: Allegra (see below) is a good example of how an individual from a fairly ordinary life might end up as a Face of the Beast, but her power is petty in comparison with many who've walked the earth. The Trickster (Rogue 11 / Fighter 4 / Face of the Beast 5) has burned entire cities to the ground with just a bit of patience and the right knowledge of flammable substances. Mielle, a fallen paladin, recognized after her prolongued and near-fatal submersion in acid that she'd been vain, and dedicated herself to destroying the distraction of beauty in all its forms.
Organizations: There are no particular organizations dedicated to Faces of the Beast, since many (if not most) prefer to work alone. However, fire-centric or destruction-based faiths may have one or more Faces of the Beast active in their ranks.

NPC Reaction
NPCs, particularly authorities or those who live in flammable buildings, are likely to react in an unfriendly, if not hostile, manner towards faces of the beast. At best, a face of the beast might be viewed as a useful tool for a dangerous mission which the NPC doesn't want to have to do themself. At worst, they may be attacked upon sight, particularly if there have been any local arsons lately- regardless of whether this particular face of the beast (or any members of their class) were actually involved.

FACE OF THE BEAST IN THE GAME
Face of the Beast is a uniquely flavored but highly adaptable class, with a potential niche or role in nearly any campaign setting.
Adaptation: In your setting, you might decide that Faces of the Beast are in fact members of an evil, fire-centric cult, seeking to make everyone fear and respect the power of flame and its destruction. Alternatively, it might be useful for an odd villian or chaotic neutral pyromaniac, giving some unique powers to an individual with an unusual past shaped, at least in part, by their burns.
For a spellcasting version of this class, only a few adjustments are needed. Drop the HD to d6, change the good save to Will, and move the BAB to that of a Sorcerer. Remove Furious Defense. Add +1 spellcasting level for each level other than the first, and you now have a Face of the Beast variant perfect for a fire mage or destruction-focused divine caster!
Encounters: The PCs might discover a Face of the Beast at the heart of an apocalyptic cult, or perhaps as the high priest's henchmen, stirring up worry or even paranoia in common folk and nobles alike. Alternatively, one might be found as a stand-alone prophet of doom, prone to fits of destruction but at other times remarkably lucid and speaking eloquently of the civilization's inevitable fall through fire. Against an evil empire, either an icy northern one or a flammable agrarian one, PCs may instead find themselves wary but awed by a Face of the Beast fighting for freedom, or at least change.

Sample Encounter
Not all Faces of the Beast are malicious, dangerous folks; some could as easily be allies against a common threat as they could be enemies. It's up to the DM's decision of how to design the NPC's encounter with the PCs as well as the PCs' choice of how to interact with the particular Face of the Beast.
EL 11: Allegra was a tough-as-nails bodyguard for most of her life. Someone carelessly (or maliciously) dumped a cauldron of hot oil on her client as he walked through a narrow street. While she was able to push his out of the way in time, so that he only received minor burns, Allegra was severely injured, cosmetically and otherwise.

Previously, Allegra had never cared too much about her appearance, but her new scars were severe enough that she couldn't help but obssess over them. Resigning from her position, she sought to adventure independently, currently heading to a southern volcanic region, and warn others of the dangers - and power - of fire along the way.

Allegra
Female human barbarian 10 / face of the beast 1
TN medium humanoid (human)
Init +8, Senses: Listen +14, Spot +1
Languages Common
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AC 18, touch 18, flat-footed 18 (14 if immobilized)
hp 75 (11 HD)
Fort +12, Ref +9, Will +4
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Speed 40 ft. (8 squares)
Melee +1 flaming greatsword +14/+9 (2d6+3 plus 1d6 fire, 19-20/x2)
Base Atk +10/+5, Grp +12
Atk Options Rage 3/day
Combat Gear necklace of fireballs (type II), potion of cure moderate wounds
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Abilities Str 17 (15), Dex 18 (16), Con 16, Int 8, Wis 13, Cha 11
SQ Double-Sided Flesh (fire resistance 5), literate, Uncanny Dodge, Improved Uncanny Dodge, Trap Sense +3, Damage Reduction 2, These Scars
Feats Improved Initiative, Blind Fight, Combat Reflexes, Weapon Focus (Greatsword), Power Attack
Skills Intimidate +14, Jump +13, Listen +14, Survival +15
Possessions combat gear plus +1 flaming greatsword, +1 studded leather armor, boots of dexterity +2, gauntlets of ogre power, everburning torch, 23 gp