In a primal sense, the ultimate display of power and domination is the act of devouring. A corrupt official feeds off the work of farmers. The warlord plunders the lands of the official. And the mighty dragon devours them both. Some men see this cycle, and see the power as it passes from one man to the next in a steady progression of consumption. These men seek to harness the primal power of consumption to gain strength and authority. Other men seek security in power, having faced famine and starvation. Among the savage races, it is commonly accepted that eating the fallen provides a warrior greater strength. All these ideas flow into the same train of thought; there is power in that primal hunger, and those men known as ungermaws become paragons of primal, hungry power.
The decision to become an ungermaw is often, but not always, a clear and conscious choice. Many potential ungermaws display such excessive gluttony that their physical form becomes corrupted by their darkening soul. Pulling from the dark realms in the outer planes, the ungermaw subconsciously draws gluttonous energies into himself, pushing his body to adapt to his expanding hunger. Other men turn to the demons themselves to gain gluttonous power, bartering dark pacts in exchange for all-consuming might. Demons are normally happy to oblige, knowing the ungermaw dooms himself to the pit, and will likely spread misery in his barren wake before he passes on. Finally, a rare ungermaw may arise when hunger overcomes revulsion in regards to food. What effects could a dead gibbering mouther or a piece of a mimic have on a starving man? Often times consuming such dire foodstuff quells the hunger for a time, only to have it return in force, driving men to eat more and more as the unnatural food changes the man into a beast of hunger.
Role: The ungermaw is a martial character that excels in a close fight, lashing out with a devastating bite and devouring foes whole. Against foes that flee or refuse to hold still, the ungermaw can pull them in with a powerful suction breath ability. Strength is important to an ungermaw, as it will determine his ability to deal damage, while Constitution can keep him alive when he tangles with foes that seek to devour him in turn. Since bite attacks count as light weapons, Dexterity can make for a nimble ungermaw that flits back and forth, harassing his foes.
Alignment: any non-good
Ungermaws by their very nature are greedy souls, unlikely to aid others out of kindness. Generally speaking, even the most altruistic of ungermaws has a callous attitude instead of an outright greedy one.
Hit Dice: d10
Starting Wealth: 3d6 × 10 gp (average 105 gp.). In addition, each character begins play with an outfit worth 10 gp or less.
Class Skills: The ungermaw’s class skills are Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (nature) (Int), Perception (Wis), Profession (chef) (Wis), Ride (Dex), Spellcraft (Int), Survival (Wis), and Swim (Str).
Skill Ranks Per Level: 4 + Int modifier
Class Features[]
| Level | Base Attack Bonus | Fort Save | Ref Save | Will Save | Special |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | +1 | +2 | +0 | +0 | Draw breath, hungry maw, unending hunger |
| 2nd | +2 | +3 | +0 | +0 | Appetite |
| 3rd | +3 | +3 | +1 | +1 | Exhale |
| 4th | +4 | +4 | +1 | +1 | Appetite, mastication |
| 5th | +5 | +4 | +1 | +1 | Gnashing maw (+1) |
| 6th | +6/+1 | +5 | +2 | +2 | Appetite, snapping jaw |
| 7th | +7/+2 | +5 | +2 | +2 | Devour magic |
| 8th | +8/+3 | +6 | +2 | +2 | Appetite |
| 9th | +9/+4 | +6 | +3 | +3 | Devouring maw, gnashing maw (+2) |
| 10th | +10/+5 | +7 | +3 | +3 | Appetite |
| 11th | +11/+6/+1 | +7 | +3 | +3 | Consume sorcery |
| 12th | +12/+7/+2 | +8 | +4 | +4 | Appetite, devouring maw (size +1) |
| 13th | +13/+8/+3 | +8 | +4 | +4 | Gnashing maw (+3) |
| 14th | +14/+9/+4 | +9 | +4 | +4 | Appetite |
| 15th | +15/+10/+5 | +9 | +5 | +5 | Devouring maw (size +2), dweomer eater |
| 16th | +16/+11/+6/+1 | +10 | +5 | +5 | Appetite |
| 17th | +17/+12/+7/+2 | +10 | +5 | +5 | Gnashing maw (+4) |
| 18th | +18/+13/+8/+3 | +11 | +6 | +6 | Appetite, devouring maw (size +3) |
| 19th | +19/+14/+9/+4 | +11 | +6 | +6 | Jotunjaw |
| 20th | +20/+15/+10/+5 | +12 | +6 | +6 | Appetite, Consumption |
The following are the class features of the ungermaw.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency[]
The ungermaw is proficient with all simple and martial weapons and with light and medium armor and shields (but not tower shields).
Draw Breath (Su)[]
One of the ungermaw’s most notable talents is his ability to inhale with such force that it draws those nearby closer to his gnashing maw. At 1st level, the ungermaw can draw in a vast amount of air as a move action, creating a suction vortex. All creatures within a 15 foot cone must make a Fortitude save (DC 10 + 1/2 ungermaw level + Constitution modifier) or be dragged 5 feet per ungermaw level towards the ungermaw. If the creatures is moved into an occupied square, it falls prone into an adjacent square. The cone increases by 5 feet at 3rd level, and every odd level thereafter, to a maximum of a 60 foot cone at 17th level. An ungermaw can use draw breath a number of time equal to 1 + his Constitution modifier, plus an additional time per day per level of ungermaw after 1st. Creatures with the stability trait receive their bonus on this save. If the ungermaw uses draw breath underwater, he begins to drown unless he can breath underwater. Draw breath does not function in a vacuum, or if the ungermaw’s mouth is obstructed.
Hungry Maw (Ex)[]
Foremost in the ungermaw’s arsenal is their powerful bite. At 1st level, the ungermaw gains a bite attack appropriate to their size (1d6 for a medium creature, 1d4 for a small creature). This is a primary natural attack, or a secondary attack if he attacks with a manufactured weapon. If he already has a bite attack, either from his race or from a previous class, the damage from his bite increases by one size.
Unending Hunger (Pn*)[]
A ungermaw must eat twice the normal amount for his race to avoid starvation. Any effects that suppress the ungermaw’s need to eat fail to function. The ungermaw could eat an entire heroes feast and still be hungry.
*This stands for "penalty". See Alternate Paths: Martial Characters for more information on penalties.
Appetite[]
All ungermaws share in a never-ending hunger that drives them. By channeling this ravenous need, an ungermaw grows in power. At 2nd level, and every even level thereafter, the ungermaw chooses from one of the appetites below. Unless otherwise noted, an appetite can only be taken once. Appetites marked with an * add effects to the draw breath or devour magic abilities. Only one such appetite can be used per use of draw breath.
(Ungermaw Appetites can be found here)
Exhale (Ex)[]
At 3rd level, after using his draw breath ability, the ungermaw can exhale a powerful blast of wind as a standard action. The ungermaw must take this action within a number of rounds equal to his Constitution modifier of using his draw breath ability. Doing so creates a cone of powerful wind equal in size to the cone created by draw breath that pushes creatures away from the ungermaw. Creatures in the cone take slashing damage equal to the ungermaw’s Strength modifier + 1/4 the ungermaw’s class level (minimum 1), and must make a Fortitude save (DC 10 + 1/2 ungermaw level + Constitution modifier) or be pushed 5 feet per 2 ungermaw levels directly away from the ungermaw. If a creature would be moved into an occupied square, it moves to the nearest available space and falls prone. If a creature is pushed into a solid object, they take damage as if they had fallen a distance equal to the distance they were pushed.
Mastication (Ex)[]
At 4th level, the ungermaw’s bite attack ignore an amount of hardness equal to 1/2 the ungermaw’s class level. In addition, his bite attack ignores 1 point of damage reduction for every 4 levels of ungermaw, to a maximum of bypassing 5 points of damage reduction at 20th level. Finally, the ungermaw may digest and draw sustenance from normally inedible materials. The ungermaw may eat anything whose hardness this abilities bypasses. Thus, an 8th level ungermaw can eat anything with a hardness 4 or less. Every 1lb of non-foodstuff acts as a single trail ration for the ungermaw.
Gnashing Maw (Ex)[]
As he grows in strength, the ungermaw’s already impressive bite becomes stronger. At 5th level, the ungermaw gets a +1 bonus on attack and damage rolls made using his bite attack. This bonus increases by +1 and an additional +1 every 4 levels, to a maximum of +4 at 17th level.
Snapping Jaw (Ex)[]
As his hunger drives him forward, the ungermaw learns to quickly lash out between his blows to bite his foes. At 6th level, the ungermaw’s bite attack is always considered a primary natural attack, even if he attacks with a manufactured weapon. He always adds 1.5 times his Strength modifier to his damage rolls with his bite attack.
Devour Magic (Sp)[]
At a certain point, the ungermaw is no longer fully sated by normal foodstuff. At this point they become driven to devour more energetic materials, and are drawn to consume magic itself. At 7th level, the ungermaw can spend a use of draw breath to cast dispel magic as a spell-like ability to dispel an effect within range of his draw breath ability, using his ungermaw level as his caster level. A ungermaw can ready an action to counter a spell using this ability.
Devouring Maw (Su)[]
At 9th level, the ungermaw gains the ability to swallow whole creatures and objects grappled by his bite attack as per the swallow whole monster ability. The ungermaw may also swallow a creature or object drawn into his square by his draw breath ability as an immediate action. At 9th level, the ungermaw can only swallow a single creature his size. Every 3 levels after 9th, the ungermaw can swallow a creature one size larger than himself, to a maximum of a creature 3 sizes larger than himself at 18th level.
While swallowed by the ungermaw, the creature is dumped into a small fleshy pocket dimension, resembling a massive stomach in all regards. While trapped in the stomach dimension a creature or object takes 1d6 points of damage per 4 ungermaw levels every round, to a maximum of 5d6 every round at 20th level. The damage is half acid damage and half bludgeoning damage.
A creature can escape the ungermaw’s stomach dimension by dealing the ungermaw’s level + Constitution modifier in damage to the ungermaw’s stomach dimension with a light or natural weapon. Damage dealt to the ungermaw’s stomach dimension does not affect the ungermaw. Should a creature deal sufficient damage to the ungermaw’s stomach dimension, the ungermaw becomes violently ill for a moment and regurgitates any creatures and objects he has swallowed into an adjacent square.
Consume Sorcery (Sp)[]
At 11th level, the ungermaw can now spend a use of draw breath to cast greater dispel magic as a spell-like ability, using his ungermaw level as his caster level. Only effects within the range of the ungermaw’s draw breath ability are subject to being dispelled.
Dweomer Eater (Sp)[]
At 15th level, the ungermaw can attempt to devour the magical energies within an area or item. By spending 3 uses of draw breath, the ungermaw can cast mage’s disjunction as a spell-like ability, using his ungermaw level as his caster level. Only effects within the range of the ungermaw’s draw breath ability are subject to being dispelled.
Jotunjaw (Su)[]
At 19th level, any time the ungermaw uses his draw breath ability or hits a creature with his bite attack, he can spend a use of draw breath to cast either dispel magic or greater dispel magic as a free action. If he uses this in response to hitting a creature with his bite attack, he can only target the creature he struck.
Consumption (Su)[]
At 20th level, the ungermaw can attempt to consume a creature they have swallowed whole or are presently grappling with their bite attack as a standard action. The creature must make a Fortitude save (DC 10 + 1/2 ungermaw level + Constitution modifier) or be destroyed. Constructs and undead are not immune to this effect.
Favored Class Options[]
- Dhampir: +1/2 to Survival checks to track bleeding creatures
- Dwarf: Reduce the hardness of any object made of clay, stone, or metal by 1 when struck by the ungermaw’s bite attack (minimum hardness of 0).
- Grippili: Improve the range of draw breath by +1 foot. Please note that Pathfinder only recognizes range in 5 foot increments. The range of a 16 foot cone is the same as a 15 foot cone.
- Half-orc: +1/3 on critical hit confirmation rolls with a bite attack (maximum bonus of +5). This bonus doesn’t stack with the feat Critical focus or similar effects.
- Human: Gain 1/6 of a new appetite
- Tarrasqueling: Mastication ignores an additional +1/2 point of hardness.
- Wug: Gain 1/4 additional use of draw breath