Dirge Singer

Dirgesingers voice melodies not of celebration and joy, but of sorrow and grief. They seekto spread this melancholy outlook far and wide, believing that only those who give in to their sadness can truly understand the world.

Dirgesingers hold high positions in death-obsessed cultures. Serving as members of a secret guild, or as part of a hierarchy of death priests, they are entrusted with the serious responsibility of compposing suitable laments for the dead. However, most Dirgesingers don't belong to any special order. Instead, they are rootless wanderers who travel from place to place, wrapped in inconsolable grief from some personal tragedy. These sad wanderers seek to express their grief through songs that teach the hearts of their listeners the meaning of true sorrow.

Requirements

Skills: Perform 8 ranks, Knowledge: Religion 8 ranks

Class: 5 levels of Bard

Hit Die: d6

Proficiencies: Dirge Singers gain no additional proficiencies

Skill Points: 6 + INT

Class Skills: Appraise, Bluff, Concentration, Craft (all), Decipher Script, Disguise, Escape Artist, Forgery, Heal, Hide, Knowledge (all), Listen, Lore, Move Silently, Parry, Perform, Persuade, Profession (all), Sense Motive, Spellcraft, Taunt, Tumble, Use Magic Device

Level	BAB	Fort	Ref	Will	Special
1st	+0	+0	+2	+2	Verse: Bonus Saves, Curse Song
2nd	+1	+0	+3	+3	Call to Death, Turn Undead
3rd	+2	+1	+3	+3	Verse: Spell Resistance
4th	+3	+1	+4	+4	The Somber Note (5x/day),
5th	+3	+1	+4	+4	The Culling Song (3x/day), Chorus: Regeneration
6th	+4	+2	+5	+5	Speaker of Names, Lingering Song
7th	+5	+2	+5	+5	The Culling Song (5x/day), Chorus: Sonic Damage
8th	+6/+1	+2	+6	+6	The Last Laugh
9th	+6/+1	+3	+6	+6	The Culling Song (8x/day)
10th	+7/+2	+3	+7	+7	The Culling Song II, Crescendo: Undead Immunities

Call to Death

The Dirge Singer turns (or rebukes, if evil) undead as a Cleric 2 levels lower than his combined levels of the Bard and Dirge Singer classes. (DM's discretion)

The Somber Note

When a party member dies, the Dirge Singer may use this ability on his corpse. When played, the Somber Note grants all allies in the area +15 HP as well as +3 to attack and damage. These effects are stackable and last 1 turn per dirge singer level.

Bard Song Lyrics

As the Dirge Singer levels, it is automatically granted the following lyrics for their bard songs.

Verse: Anarchy in the Spellbooks

Those affected by your bard song gain spell resistance equal to your level + 10.

Verse: Strength to Carry On

Those affected by your bard song gain bonuses to fortitude, will, and reflex equal to your charisma / 7 + 1

Chorus: Heartbeats on a Knife

During a chorus, those hearing your song gain regeneration equal to your charisma modifier.

Chorus: Thunder In the Skies

During a chorus, those hearing your song gain sonic damage equal to Charisma Modifier / 5 + 3;

Crescendo: Don't Fear the Reaper

During a crescendo you gain undead immunities.

Speaker of Names

At 6th level the Dirge Singer is able to study the remains of the deceased and determine it's name as long as it has been inscribed in the book of the dead.

The Last Laugh

The dirge singer is able to temporarily revive all nearby fallen comrades to full health for 5 rounds plus 1 round per class level so that they could go out in a heroic blaze. This ability is on a 10-minute cooldown.

The Culling Song I

The dirge singer calls his injured enemies to cross over into the afterlife. This is an area effect, centered around the dirge singer. A failed fortitude save results in death in a number of rounds equal to 30-DC of the roll. The DC is equal to dirge singer level, her charisma modifier, and the victim's status as shown on the chart below.

Uninjured 6+DC Barely Injured 10+DC Injured 14+DC Badly Wounded 20+DC Near Death 26+DC

The Culling Song II

The victims' death occurs immediately on a failed save.

Curse Song Effects

Bards are able to sing a song that can curse their enemies. Deafened creatures are not affected by the bard's singing. The song affects all enemies within 30 feet and lasts for 10 rounds, and has a cooldown of 10 rounds. The higher the bard's final perform skill and class level, the more powerful the curse song. This ability is a free action.

• Players can roll will against a DC of 14 + Dirge Singer Levels + Charisma Modifier to ignore the effects and take half of the damage of Curse Song.

Level	Attack	Damage	Will	Fort	Ref	Sonic Dmg	AC	Skills
1st	-1	-2	-1	-1	-1	0	0	-1
2nd	-2	-2	-1	-1	-1	8	0	-1
3rd	-2	-2	-1	-1	-1	8	-2	-2
4th	-2	-3	-1	-1	-1	Perform/3	-3	-2
5th	-2	-3	-2	-2	-2	Perform/3	-4	-3
6th	-2	-3	-3	-2	-2	Perform/3	-5	-4
7th	-2	-3	-3	-2	-2	Perform/2	-5	-5
8th	-2	-3	-3	-2	-2	Perform/2	-5	-6
9th	-2	-3	-3	-2	-2	Perform	-5	-7
10th	-3	-4	-4	-3	-3	Perform	-6	-8