Death is the ultimate in equalizers, eventually anything and everything fades away into decay or entropy, but for those who ingest fragments of the Life-Gem this eventuality becomes rather skewed. These strange fighters eat the fragments and let their bodies digest them to gain a form of pseudo-immortality. As part of the conditions to becoming a goremaster once the Life-Gem has been infused to their body on a large scale they are put into a trance like sleep before having their limbs severed in several methods, including the Head, upper arm, forearm, hand, thigh, calf, and foot. Each section is infused further with life-gem shards attuned to the first, allowing untold precision over every part of the Goremasters body through manipulations, even allowing them to extend, or separate and control any of their limbs, and this as well as  the copious amounts of blood they produce faster than they often lose it mixed with their regenerative powers are what give the Goremaster it’s name. At first one might think these beings twisted and dark, but strangely enough the ‘order’ that creates them selects people with potent personalities and light hearts, for no matter how bloody their craft a lifeless heart can’t take in the power of endless life.

HD: d10

Requirements.

Class Skills: Acrobatics, Bluff, Climb,  Diplomacy, Disguise, Escape Artist,  Intimidate, Knowledge(local), Perception, Sense Motive, Sleight of hand, Stealth.

Skill-points per level: 4+Int modifier

Level         BAB         Fort         Ref         Will         Special

1st        +1        +2        +2        +0        Fast Healing 1, Life Infused, Copious Splatter, Dismember, Pressurized Strikes

2nd        +2        +3        +3        +0        Manipulation, Enduring Flesh

3rd        +3        +3        +3        +1        Wandering Organs, Bonus Feat

4th        +4        +4        +4        +1        Manipulation

5th        +5        +4        +4        +1        Fast Healing 2, 5th of Dismember!

6th        +6        +5        +5        +2        Manipulation

7th        +7        +5        +5        +2        Dead Walking, Bonus Feat

8th        +8        +6        +6        +2        Manipulation, 5th Reunion

9th        +9        +6        +6        +3        Fast Healing 3, Improved Wandering Organs

10th        +10        +7        +7        +3        Manipulation, Limbs aplenty

11th        +11        +7        +7        +3        Undying, Bonus feat

12th        +12        +8        +8        +4        Manipulation, 5th inning

13th        +13        +8        +8        +4        Fast Healing 4

14th        +14        +9        +9        +4        Manipulation

15th        +15        +9        +9        +5        Greatly Wandering Organs, Bonus Feat

16th        +16        +10        +10        +5        Manipulation, Revenge of the 5th!

17th        +17        +10        +10        +5        Fast Healing 5

18th        +18        +11        +11        +6        Manipulation

19th        +19        +11        +11        +6        Regeneration, Bonus Feat

20th        +20        +12        +12        +6        Manipulation, For the 5th and final time!

Weapon and armor proficiencies: Life-Gem Goremaster’s  gain proficiency with Simple Weapons, Light armor, and with shields (but not tower shields)

Fast Healing(Ex): Beginning at first level the the Life-gem Goremaster’s power from the infused Life-gem helps them heal from wounds much more rapidly than others while in combat. As long as they adhere to the restrictions of Life Infused and Dismembered, they heal at a rate of 1 hp a round and an equal amount of nonlethal damage while in combat. This healing increases by one point every 4 levels after 1st, to a maximum of 5 at 17th level.

Life Infused(Ex): The abilities of the Life-Gem are great but difficult to maintain, and require a strict regimen of special herbs and flecks of other life-gems to maintain. Those who remain loyal to order that created them (be they good or evil) will supply them with more, usually a weeks worth,  in any city they operate in (nearly all). This regimen has a downfall however in that it’s extremely important to let the body finish it to the end, meaning that once a level in Goremaster is taken you must continue to take levels in Goremaster unless a class specifically mentions otherwise.

Copious Splatter(Ex): At 1st level the Goremaster is never subject to bleed damage, and gains a +2 bonus on intimidate rolls after suffering from a Critical hit or attack that deals 10 or more damage from how their blood spurts in a horrific fashion.

Dismembered(Ex): As part of the conditions to becoming a goremaster once the Life-Gem has been infused to their body on a large scale they are put into a trance like sleep before having their limbs severed in several methods, including the Head, upper arm, forearm, hand, thigh, calf, and foot. Each section is infused further with life-gem shards attuned to the first, allowing untold precision over every part of the goremasters body through manipulations, even allowing them to extend, or separate and control any of their limbs. Normally to begin a Goremaster can separate their Hands and Head to begin with, the hands moving at a rate of 5ft per round and able to hold an object as per a Mage Hand spells weight limit with a caster level equal to your Goremaster level, before using small spurts of pressured blood to return to the body in 1 standard action if it’s within 10ft. Seperated limbs move independently of the goremaster and don't use up move actions, however they still must use standard actions to attack.

Hands have Ac equal to 10+ the goremasters dex + ¼ her natural armor + 4 size mod and have ¼ the goremaster’s hp.

Removing the head allows the Goremaster to roll/place/toss their head, seeing and hearing anything they can normally do so through their head as well as talk and perform bite attacks if they have it. Similar to the hands their head can move at a rate of 5ft per round by using pressurized blood. A goremaster's head has Ac equal to 10+ ½ her dex mod + her natural armor + 4 size mod and has ¼ the goremaster's hp.

When a limb is damaged the damage doesn't transfer to the goremaster, but if it's destroyed that limb turns to a puddle of blood and reforms on the goremaster, who then takes 1 damage per HD she possesses.

Dismembered limbs can make unarmed strikes but don't add bonuses from strength. Furthermore this means that a Life-Gem Goremaster is immune to the Sever Limb maneuver, and the Vorpal quality.

Pressurized Strike(Ex): The pressured blood in their limbs improves the unarmed strikes or natural weapons of a Goremaster to 1d6 damage base (Increasing as Improved natural attack if their size is above medium).

Enduring Flesh: At 2nd level the Goremaster’s body quickly reacts to danger and builds natural defenses against harm to it’s exposed areas. As long as the Goremaster wears armor they are proficient with, has a Max Dex of at least 5, and has no Check Penalty, they get a Natural Armor bonus equal to half their Con mod. In addition the Goremaster gains the Toughness feat.

Manipulation: The Goremaster further attunes their abilities by learning more advanced control over their bodies, growing more and more adept with time. At every even numbered level the Life-Gem Goremaster gains one of the below Manipulations.

• Put the I in Team(Su): Explaining its reasoning aside since most people wouldn’t want to know, but the Goremaster can now see and hear from their hands in addition to their head if their detached. Usually if asked the goremaster can only reply with a shrug and is just as confused on how it works.

• Heads will Roll(Ex): By using the holes of the nose and mouth to grip and remove the head, the goremaster hurls it along the ground like a bowling ball. This is a thrown weapon attack dealing 1d6 +str with a 20ft range increment that can only be used on enemies touching the ground, but is disorienting and gives the goremaster's head (and only their head) the Dazed condition for 1 round.

• Redundant Organs(Su): Going a step farther into their bizarre anatomy the goremaster’s life-gem takes over other functions as well, making them even more efficient. A Life-gem goremaster with this ability no longer needs to eat, and gets a +2 bonus on saves against poison and disease.

• Red Carpet(Ex): After making a charge while their Copious Splatter is in effect the goremaster leaves a trail of blood behind them. For 3 rounds any squares they charged through are treat as under a grease spell with a caster level equal to their goremaster level.

• Lend a hand(Su):  Helping allies is often second nature to someone who can help from rooms away. The goremaster can detach their hand and have it follow or be on an ally in some manner, and if that ally uses a skill using their hands this extra limb grants a +2 on that skill. This also allows that ally to hold an extra object. You must have the Put the I in Team ability to use this one, as you must perceive the tasks.

• Hack and Slash(Ex): Focusing on utility and always being armed, the goremaster gains claws on their hands and feet (2 claw attacks) and one Bite attack all dealing unarmed damage. These natural weapons are ‘manufactured’ by their bodies and so so need to be sharpened, allowing them to be enchanted but also allowing them to be sundered. If they are ‘destroyed’, they regrow with all enhancements after 6 hours.

• Me Armstrong(Ex): The elasticity of their muscles increases greatly, allowing the goremaster to use a single attack action to strike an additional 5ft away. Feats or actions that function as a single attack action such as Vital Strike and tripping, can be done with this attack. Additionally this elasticity allows you to treat yourself as one size larger or smaller for the purposes of small passages and being swallowed whole.

• Remember, Remember…(Ex): You must have the 5th of Dismember! class ability to choose this one. After an enemy has been dealt damage by or seen one of it’s allies be damaged by the 5th of Dismember! and is within 20ft of the goremaster,  you can make an immediate intimidate action against that enemy or enemies with a +2 bonus in addition to your Copious Splatter bonus.

• The 5th is Strong in this One(Ex): You must have the 5th of Dismember! class ability to choose this one. Your explosion of blood and body parts is particularly powerful and deals an additional amount of damage equal to 1d4 per HD.

• Blow me Away!(Ex: You must have the 5th of Dismember! class ability to choose this one. Whenever you take sonic or fire damage of at least 20 damage and your body is intact, you may use your 5th of Dismember! ability, however it does half damage and the bonus on the bullrush is only +2.

• Nailgun(Ex): You must have the Hack and Slash manipulation to take this one. You gain the ability to launch your claws using the pressurized blood in your fingers. You can fire them up to 15ft away, each attack dealing 1d4 points of damage + ½ your strength mod. This is treated as throwing daggers for any effects that might work with them.

• Truly Redundant organs(Su): You must have the Redundant Organs manipulation and be at least 8th level to take this one. Having a font of pure life energy housed in your bloodstream sure has it’s perks, such as now no longer needing to breathe or sleep, and being immune to mundane poisons and diseases.

• My liver heard that(Su): You must have the Put the I in Team manipulation and the Redundant organs manipulation to take this one. The goremaster can remove an organ they don’t need that is then just as capable as being a sensory organ as their head, so long as it’s at least the size of a hand or similar. Much like with Put the I in Team, asking the goremaster how this works will hardly yield many answers, as contemplating how they hear and see though something like a liver or kidney is baffling to the point of headaches, though they know they can only have up to two such removed organs laying around at any time.

• Pull yourself together man!(Su): In the event that your body parts become lost, like needing to run before they can make it back to you, being put in a sack, or having left it somewhere to scout for example, the goremaster can take 1 minute of concentration to disintegrate the old body part regardless of distance, and regrow a new one in it’s place, leaving the original as a small pile of greenish ash.

• Circulatory Bottle-rocket(Ex): You must be at least 6th level to take this manipulation. Increasing the blood pressure in their legs to insane levels for a short moment and mixing their near limitless blood flow, the goremaster can launch themselves rapidly in a chosen direction. As a move action the goremaster can ‘fly’ at a speed of half their land speed. If you have the Red Carpet manipulation it treats your flight as a charge for any surface you pass within 5ft of. Yes, it is as gross looking as it sounds.

• Happy Birthday!(Ex): You must have the 5th of Dismember! class ability to take this one. When your flanked by two or more enemies and succeed on at least 2 attacks on one of them, you can perform the 5th of Dismember!, but it deals half damage.

• Z-Punch(Ex): You must have the Me Armstrong manipulation to take this one. You crouch down low, before stretching your legs muscles and tendons into a springing rising attack, shouting out the chosen name of this attack is optional, but highly entertaining. Using a single attack action with the same properties as Me Armstrong, your rising attack can be aimed at anything adjacent to you, and up to 20ft above you. If this attack connects with a flying or otherwise airborne foe, that creature must make a Fortitude save (DC 10 + ½ HD + con mod) or fall to the ground. If the goremaster has the Circulatory Bottle-rocket manipulation, they can use this attack 20ft + their fly speed above them instead. If asked about the name of this brand of manipulation, the goremaster can call it whatever they please, and while they know the original conception called the maneuver “Z-punch”, they have no records of why.

• Putting your foot down(Ex): You must be at least 6th level to take this manipulation. You can lift your knee up high, before bursting pressurized blood up to drive your foot into the ground in a thunderous stomp. The stomp takes a standard action, and mimics the Ground Breaker power of the barbarian, but is usable instead once per encounter. You can take this ability gain, and each time increases the range by 5th (max 15ft).

• Bloody Mary Gambit(Su): This move is a trick, used to gain the upper hand over an opponent by making them think your energy alignment is the opposite of it’s actual nature. You cover yourself in blood, remove a limb possibly, and very accurately mimic the look and sounds of an undead like a zombie or  similar, making clerics, paladins, and other beings with powers of positive energy falsely believe it to harm you. Make a Bluff check opposed by the creatures you're trying to fools Sense motive, if you have the higher check (and they aren’t using a spell like Detect Undead), they falsely believe you to be undead and susceptible to positive energy and will likely attempt to use it on you, if they do so they gain another sense motive against your same bluff check in order to catch your ‘pained’ reactions being a lie as you gain health from the attack.

• Truly Lend a Hand(Su): You must have the Lend a Hand and Pull yourself Together man! manipulations to take this one. Regrowing your own limbs isn’t a difficult task now, but your allies don’t have such luxury, at least until you put in a donation. You can remove your own limbs and attach them to an allie that’s lost a limb other than their head as part of a minute long action that reshapes your limb into theirs and regrows your own. If you can perform this action NO MORE than 1 round after an allie’s been decapitated, you can replace their head provided they aren’t disturbed for the entire minute, and are being medically tended to for the entire minute (being treated with successful heals checks, and or magical healing).

Wandering Organs(Su): At 3rd level the goremasters body becomes even more resilient and able to possibly even shrug off targeted strikes by making organs move out of the attacks way, making their AC considered 2 higher than normal when attempting to confirm a critical hit. This improves at 9th level to 4 higher, and again at 15th level to 8 higher.

5th of Dismember!(Ex): Reaching 5th level the Goremaster gains access to one of it’s most signature abilities, a maneuver catapulting their limbs outward through pressurized blood to assault every nearby being. As a full round action a number of times per day equal their con mod the gote master roll a single attack roll at her highest bonus, dealing one case of Unarmed strike or natural attack damage per major limb (2 Arms, 2 legs, Head)  to all enemies within 10ft, or weapon damage to one enemy per held weapon + her con mod, followed by a bullrush attempt in which she gets a +4 bonus to and doesn't need to move with the enemy. Afterward the limbs fall into a random spot within that 10ft area, though your head always remains in the same place you started.

Dead Walking(Su): At 7th level it’s incredibly hard to actually tell if you're alive or not when dismembered, and most people merely are disturbed by the grisly sight and move on or otherwise react accordingly. You gain a +10 bonus on disguise and stealth checks to appear as a dead body or similar, even able to temporarily stop your heart for up to a minute in order to fool people. While your heart is stopped you can make a Disguise or Stealth against a caster’s level check + their casting modifier if they are using magical means to detect your status of life, success means you register as Dead for those magical effects, but true seeing shows you to be living. Additionally, you can use this ability to attempt to fool undead, as long as they don’t possess the lifesense ability you can make a Disguise check opposed by the undeads Level Check + their charisma. If you beat the check, mindless undead believe you to be one of them until attacked.

5th Reunion(Ex): 8th level brings another dimension to the goremaster signature move, allowing them to reform as part of the same full round action as the initial attack, their limbs flying back together in another strike in itself. Choosing to reform instead of scatter deals half the damage of original attack again, but you don’t get to make a bullrush attempt if you choose to do so.

Limbs Aplenty (Ex): Reaching 10th level the goremaster loses no hp when a limb is destroyed.

Undying(Ex): By 11th level the boundaries of life itself are in question when a goremaster in concerned. Their bizarre quasi-immortality now makes them act similar to undead and living creatures at the same time, still being healed by positive energy, but healing 1 point per 2 points of damage they would otherwise receive from negative energy. Additionally, they now gain their full con mod in natural armor.

5th inning(Ex): At 12th level their 5th of Dismember! ability is much more versatile in application. It’s still a full round action to perform, but they can first throw a smaller body part before initiating it. Treat the limb as a thrown weapon with a 15ft range targeting a creature or square, if it hits a creature it deals 1d4 +strength mod in damage. After tossing the limb, you initiate the normal 5th of Dismember!, but then you may pull yourself back together instead at the point of your thrown limb. Doing so allows you to choose the bullrush bonus and attempt, or the extra damage of 5th Reunion. Additionally while dismembered, you can use your 5th of Dismember!, to instead pull all limbs back to your head, dealing the same damage as normal to any creature adjacent to it, but not giving either the bullrush attempt or 5th Reunions extra damage.

Revenge of the 5th!(Ex): 16th level opens up even more applications for their trademark ability, giving the goremaster the option to halve the damage of the 5th of Dismember! to use it as a move action, or to initiate the ability immediately in response to a critical hit (even if the critical damage is negated by their Fortification), or any single attack that deals 1/4th of their health total or more in damage.

Regeneration(Ex): From 19th level onward all Fast Healing the goremaster has becomes an equal amount of Regeneration/-. This means nothing deals normal damage to a goremaster, and that the only way to properly kill them is to reduce them to -10 hp, and use a Limited Wish, Wish, or Miracle spell to strike them down for good.

For the 5th and Final Time!(Ex): A 20th level goremaster is a true artist when it comes to exploding in a fountain of blood and body parts. Their 5th of Dismember! abilities range is tripled to a 30ft burst, and is now always able to be used as a move action with no reduction in damage. Additionally the eruption created is so violent that it creates the effects of the Red Carpet and Putting your Foot Down manipulations.