Occasionally things go south in a magus's relationship with his black blade. Such events rarely resolve in a happy manner, and the magus is haunted ever after by the spirit of his sword.

Role: The bladebereft magus is only truly in his element when he gives in to the insistence of his blade's spirit and obeys it, bringing out its true power. At these times he is a front-line combatant and a mid-ranked spellcaster. At all other times, however, he is a deranged loner, tired from the voice in his head and unable to act with prudence.

Alignment: any.

Hit Dice: d8.

Requirements

To qualify to become a bladebereft magus, a character must fulfill all the following criteria.

Base Attack Bonus: +5.

Special: Black blade class feature. The character must have lost his black blade and not replaced it.

Alignment: Different from black blade's.

Class Skills

The bladebereft magus's class skills are Intimidate (Cha) and Survival (Wis).

Skill Ranks per Level: 2 + Int modifier.

Table 1-1: Bladebereft Magus

Level BAB Fort Ref Will Special Spells per Day
1st +0 +1 +0 +0 Arcane pool, haunting, recreate blade, selfish spirit +15 +1 level of existing class
2nd +1 +1 +1 +1 Dread swordsman, magus arcana, selfish spirit +20 +1 level of existing class
3rd +2 +2 +1 +1 Insanity, selfish spirit +25 +1 level of existing class

Class Features

All of the following are class features of the bladebereft magus prestige class.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Bladebereft magi gain no proficiency with any weapon or armor.

Spells per Day/Spells Known: At the indicated levels, a bladebereft magus gains new spells per day, new spells known, and an increase in caster level as though he had advanced in a caster class to which he belonged before adding the prestige class. He does not, however, gain any other benefits a character of that class would have gained.

Arcane pool: Bladebereft magus levels stack with levels in other classes which grant an arcane pool for the purposes of determining the number of points in the bladebereft magus's arcane pool and the effects of pool-dependent effects.

Haunting (Su): The bladebereft magus is haunted by the spirit of his lost black blade. It keeps him up at night, every night. At 1st level, the bladebereft magus can no longer sleep a full night. This does not prevent him from benefitting from his natural healing, but it does prevent him from preparing spells. He still has (empty) prepared spell slots. His arcane pool replenishes as normal every morning. In addition, the bladebereft magus is permanently fatigued (cannot run or charge, -2 penalty to Str and Dex), but, after adjusting to his lack of sleep, he is immune to the exhausted condition.

Recreate Blade (Sp): A bladebereft magus can sacrifice an empty, unused magus spell slot of 1st level or higher as a swift action to create a shimmering replica of his blackblade in his main hand. The blade lasts for 1 minute or until dismissed (a Will save against the black blade's Ego). It has all the abilities and stats the black blade had prior to its demise, with an additional +1 enhancement bonus per level of the sacrificed spell slot (maximum +5). Its personality is unchanged, and it can use all methods of perception and communication it previously had. The blade is a force effect.

While the bladebereft magus wields his recreated black blade, he is no longer fatigued. In addition, he may spontaneously cast any magus spell he knows using one of his unused magus slots of an appropriate level.

Finally, upon recreating the blade, the bladebereft magus is treated as having willingly allowed his black blade dominion over his actions. He cannot disobey his blade, and his alignment changes to match the black blade's for the duration. Spells or effects that detect alignment do not see through this; his alignment actually changes. The bladebereft magus receives a -10 penalty on Perception and Sense Motive skill checks while wielding his black blade, effectively relying on the blade spirit for advice and guidance.

Selfish Spirit (Su): If the bladebereft magus attempts to draw or wield a weapon other than his recreated black blade, or if he attempts to cast a spell spontaneously from a list other than the magus list, he must make a Will save against his black blade's Ego. If he succeeds, his action proceeds as planned. If he fails, he instead immediately recreates his blade as a swift action (see above) and is dominated by it. He does not lose any spell he was about to cast. In addition, the bladebereft's black blade holds special sway over him; its ego score is increased by 15, plus an additional 5 at 2nd and 3rd level.

Dread Swordsman (Su): At 2nd level, the bladebereft magus is immune to fear effects while wielding his recreated blade. In addition, he adds the blade's enhancement bonus as a morale bonus on Intimidate skill checks and damage rolls when charging.

Magus Arcana: Add the bladebereft magus's class level to his levels in magus for the purposes of determining the effects of his magus arcana and which magus arcana are available. At 2nd level, the bladebereft magus may select an additional magus arcana.

Insanity (Su): At 3rd level, the bladebereft magus gives in to the haunting and becomes crazy, as the insanity spell. The confusion effect is suppressed while he is wielding his black blade, which he can now recreate as a free action before rolling for confusion. Anyone attempting to cast a spell to remove a bladebereft magus's insanity must succeed on a caster level check (DC = the bladebereft magus's black blade's ego). If the insanity is dispelled, it returns in 1d4 days. While insane, the bladebereft magus adds his selfish spirit ego bonus to the DC of any creature's Sense Motive skill check attempting to decipher his behavior. He detects as his black blade, as though he had cast misdirection on it, except that this effect affords detectors no Will save. Finally, enemies are denied their Dexterity bonus to AC against the bladebereft magus's attacks with his recreated black blade if he started his turn confused.

As a full-round action which the bladebereft magus can take even while confused, he may commune with the spirit of his black blade for guidance. He does not sacrifice a spell slot, nor actually form the force blade, but in all other ways he is treated as having used his recreate blade ability.