Fear Itself: The Dread

The Dread is a psionic class, coming from Dreamscarred Press. It is dedicated to fear in all its
forms. For them it is both sword and shield, and no foe is truly immune to their presence. They
are capable in multiple areas of expertise, possibly at the same time, though they will never be a
grand master of any one realm.

Now that the introductions are over, here’s how to read the guide. I will, like everyone else, be
using a color-based system to rate various aspects, features, feats, veils, etc. I’m a bit
colorblind, though, so Treantmonk’s original doesn’t work so well for me. Here is what I’ll be
using in this guide:

RED​ is a terrible option, and should be avoided in nearly every build. If it’s a class feature,
expect to not use it.

ORANGE​ is generally bad, but might be useful to some builds.

YELLOW​ is medium-range. Something to take if you don’t have anything else to do. If it’s a
class feature, then you will likely be using it whenever your main deal is offline for whatever
reason.

BLUE​ is good, something most builds will want to take a look at and/or use frequently.

SKY BLUE​ ​is pure excellence, and/or should be taken by nearly everyone at first opportunity

The Dread Class:

The Dread is a bit of an odd duck when it comes to party role. He is mediocre at damage, but
anywhere from decent to awesome at nearly everything else. He can tank using his defensive
powers and abilities, skill monkey on both the physical and social sides (though he leans more
social), and has great potential to debuff the entire enemy force on the battlefield. Up close,
even zombies can feel fear and cower before him. On the Tier list, the Dread clocks in at a
medium 3 due primarily to this vast versatility.

Chassis​:

HD: ​d8 ​ is not the best out there, but it is not the worst either. This is enough to take a hit or two
in case their numerous other defenses don’t quite do the trick, but not something to be relied
upon.
Skills: ​6+Int​ per level is going to make you very versatile out of combat, and will also support a
good deal of what you can do inside of it. The ​class skills​ are likewise full of gems, ranging
from Acrobatics and Stealth to Intimidate and Bluff to Knowledge (Psionics) and Spellcraft plus
the mighty Autohypnosis. You are only a trait away from having a full skill set in any given
realm, and you have the raw numbers to support more than one of these mission sets at a time.

Proficiencies: ​Simple and Martial Weapons​ ​will be a constant help through your career,
allowing you to use nearly anything you lay hands on. ​Light Armor​, however, can become
problematic given the amount of attention you tend to draw. You will be heavily reliant on more
proactive and reactive means of defense, rather than passive.

BAB: ​Medium Base Attack​ ​can hurt this class depending on your chosen role. Just remember
that if you are using your BAB as a primary offense, you will be a hair behind those more
dedicated to it than you. Thankfully, you deliver several of your main attacks on the Touch
instead.

Saves: ​Good Reflex and Will​ with Poor Fortitude. Your body is much more fragile than your
mind, beware poisons and other such effects that will target this save.

Stat Priorities​:

As usual, this will change heavily depending on build. Strength is good to have if you are going
to be up in people’s faces regularly, but can be avoided on Finesse and primary-manifester
builds. Dex is almost always going to be good to have, due to light armor and a frequent desire
to make ranged attack rolls (not to mention boosting initiative). Con is much the same way,
supporting your relatively weak HP and Fortitude. Int needs to be at least decent, since your
skills make up a good deal of what you can do. Wisdom is good to have but not critical. Finally
comes Charisma, which is one stat you will almost always want to have high. It supports your
main skills along with being your Manifesting stat, meaning a 16 here is probably a minimum for
you if you can arrange it.

In general, your priorities are going to be CHA>DEX=CON>INT>WIS>STR. You are slightly

MAD, but thankfully most of these are ok in the 10-14 range. Only Strength is really dumpable,
and only in builds that are either Finesse or Ranged.

Class Features​:

Manifesting​: You get a small amount of PP and 6-level Powers Known, but your list is full to the
brim with utility and defenses. There are good options at every level, which I will cover in brief in
another section. Charisma is your manifesting stat, which meshes well with your other abilities
and skills.
Fearsome Insight​: Insight bonus to Intimidate may not sound like much, and it isn’t… in a
vacuum. However, this bonus fuels (and stacks with!) many of your other abilities. Even with just
good Charisma and skill ranks, you can get your Intimidate over 40 without too much effort. This
is more than enough, even at its most basic use, to put a long-duration Shaken on just about
anything (and, with proper feats, dips, and/or Terrors, send enemies into Frightened or
Panicked without bothering to allow a save).

Devastating Touch​: It really isn’t much on its own, but it’s at-will. Eventually, you get the ability
to channel your Terrors through it. Combined with some abilities you can learn (Mindlock
springs to mind…), this makes it a VERY efficient delivery method.

Terrors​: This is your big thing, and your selections here will greatly define how you go about
your business. They tend to follow a few set themes, and you should generally focus on making
one of these themes as strong and focused as possible. I will over over the full list in depth in
the next section. You get quite a few uses per day as long as your Charisma is kept up, but
remember that they are still limited.

Aura of Fear​: It is rare that I say “pity it comes online so late” for something that pops up at
level 3. This aura is very short-ranged, but it cuts out more than 75% of the individual
immunities to your effects out there and cuts a good chunk out of their saves to boot. The only
exception now is complete immunity to Mind-Affecting.

Channel Terror​: If you are delivering your Terrors in melee or if you mix it up in melee
frequently, this is going to greatly assist you with both damage and action economy. In
particular, Mindlock builds love this ability for granting ranged capability with the Terrors.

Bonus Feat​: The list here is very limited and specialized, supporting your Dread class abilities
and nothing else. That said, there are good choices on the list for anyone, and two of the
options can be taken as often as you want if Terror combat is your thing.

Immersed in Fear​: Any immunity is good to have, though this comes online a bit late it
thankfully is in plenty of time to save you from, say, a dragon’s frightful presence ability.

Shadow Twin​: Although at first the range is very close, your Shadow Twin is an invaluable
resource both in combat and exploring. Send him around corners to deliver your Intimidates,
blanket the field in your threatened zones, use him to flank or drive away Panicked opponents,
and otherwise wreak havoc. Just remember that you share all resources including HP and PP.

Twin Fear​: This bends the action economy over its knee and spanks it. If no enemy within 30
feet is suffering from a Fear condition, you aren’t trying hard enough. Remember that you still
share resources, but once your actions are doubled up you can go nova with the best of them.
The level-15 rider is almost incidental here, but Form of Doom is a serious buff to have for
nearly free on your Twin.

Fear Incarnate​: Nightmare Form builds love being able to use it for free, and at-will Ethereal is
easy to miss but terrifyingly (ba-dum-tish) powerful. Outsider type and the DR usually won’t
come into play at this point.

Notes: The Dread is a class whose abilities come online just a hair late for true power, but if
focused on one or two tasks can almost always accomplish them. In combat, you take about
two rounds to truly set up in full… but once there you can rip apart nearly anything (and in most
builds, the setup will include some nasty debuffs on enemies). The Dread falls into T3 range,
capable of doing great things in a broad variety of tasks. Your one real weakness is your action
economy, since you will frequently have actions competing for your Standard and Swift.

Dread Terrors:

Your choice of Terrors form a significant portion of your playstyle. From the start of your
character’s career, you need to pick a definite theme to how you do things and then stick to the
theme with your choices. Do you want to focus on Nightmare Form and all its associated buffs?
Mindlock into Devastating Touch with Terror riders? Go roguelike with your skills? Mix it up in
melee against the odds? Whatever you pick, stick with the theme. Only grab Terrors outside of
your chosen domain if you have the spare slots open. The books have these in alphabetical
order, but this makes it difficult to really plan out the order you will take them. I will list them here
by the level which they become available (alphabetical within the level)

2-​Chase Terror​: This is a great way to ensure that you stay up in someone’s face when they try
to do the 5-foot step routine. Prevents you from activating a Terror on the following turn, but
remember that when you get a Twin they can use Chase as well.
2-​Incite​ ​Fear​: This one is in an odd spot. If you are just using it for Shaken, you have better
ways to do it and should not waste your time. If you have tons of ways to stack that fear up to
Frightened or Panicked (or even Cowering), this can make a good way to get things started.
2-​Invigorating Fear​: Requires you to kill someone, and at most it’ll net you 20 HP. You can do
MUCH better with your swift actions.
2-​Overwhelming Fear​: This can deny tons of actions, and is a critical take for most team-based
builds. The only thing keeping this from true greatness is the fact that it targets Fortitude, which
is the traditionally strongest enemy save.
2-​Terrified Escape​: Properly positioning yourself before hitting this will give your allies tons of
free Attacks of Opportunity, and getting people 120+ feet away by using up their own actions is
exceedingly dangerous, more so than the 1-round duration may suggest.
2-​Weakening Fear​: Fatigue is a solid status to inflict, but you have two better options already
(stun and fleeing). If you know you’ll be facing Raging opponents (or others who are shut down
by this condition), it becomes better.
4-​Horrible Strike​: This can put out a good bit of damage if you’re willing to burn the PP, and if
activated as part of a Full Attack it’ll trigger on the first attack to connect instead of dissipating
harmlessly if you miss your opener.
4-​Maddening Fear​: On the one hand, this targets the stat that they use to resist most of what
you do. On the other, it’s a penalty that can’t stack with itself (although it will with true stat
damage).
4-​Mind Rend​: If you are doing a rogue imitation and don't care about using Terrors in combat
otherwise, this is your Sneak Attack. Caps at 6d10 if you blow over half of your Terrors, which is
about 33 damage per hit and somewhat respectable. Doesn't work on Flank, though, so make it
count
4-​Mindlock​: If you intend to focus heavily on the use of offensive terrors, then this gem is what
will get you there. Once established, you need not stay in melee (or even roll anything other
than damage) to rip them to shreds over time.

6-​Mind Drain​: Best used against enemies who are right at that level breakpoint when they gain
access to new spells and powers, really ruins their day to have the shiny trump card wiped from
their mind before getting to cast it. Not quite as effective against full-manifesters, although it’ll
take some of the nova out of them.
6-​Sickening Fea​r​: Only the random nature of the duration keeps this from greatness, if you pay
max PP and roll high it's game over.
6-​Steal Essence​: You have MUCH better things to be doing with your time

8-​Haunting Steps​: Do you intend to fight? If yes, then this Terror is mandatory. Long-duration
Slow is an SOS of the highest order, and it targets Will.
8-​Nightmare​ ​Form​: If you are going to focus in on the Nightmare Form tactic then this is the start
of all the Terror chains. If not, it’s still decent for sneaking. Just be careful of the loss of attack
forms and your armor to AC.
8-​Steal​ Essence​: Ok, if you aren’t really focused on using your Terrors or else have them to
burn, this is a decent way to keep yourself healthy by using them. If your Terrors are your
primary means of battle, you have better things to be doing. Note that if you’re critically injured
and have a healthy ally, you can use this to syphon health off of them

10-​Lingering Fear​: Useful if you face enemy spellcasters or others dependent on a night's rest,
who also usually have good escape plans. Useless otherwise, which will be most of the time. I
recommend just killing them, or keeping them from running via Stun or other effects.
10-​Nightmare Step​: This is a decent way to move around the battlefield since it's a Swift, and
you probably started things off by making ALL enemies shaken
10-​Nightmare Touch​: This gives you access to some additional attack forms while in Form,
which can become important.
10-​Ranged Mindlock​: If you are using Mindlock regularly and don’t take this immediately on
hitting level 10, you are wrong. Not needing to get up into the face of the various horrors you
face will save your hide at least once or twice.
10-​Shroud of Fears​: If you intend to use Nightmare Form in combat, this will become important.
It makes up for the lost Armor bonuses, and given how high you like to keep your Charisma it
can amount to some very nice defense.

12-​Fear Incarnate​: Really don’t care WHAT you’re facing, if it can be affected by Fear you now
have enough Intimidate to put them into Shaken for a VERY long time. This will often be
excessive, but when you need to make that one check this will guarantee you make it.
12-​Soul-chilling Fear​: The ability to drop upwards of 7 negative levels simultaneously on a
single failed save is nuts, and these can add up to an opponent that rapidly becomes useless,
then dead.

14-​Concealed Nightmare​: Losing your Armor hurts Nightmare Form, but this helps get you back
on a good defensive track by adding a straight miss chance. Comes online late, unfortunately.
14-​Improved Concealed Nightmare​: Same level as one of its prerequisites, which makes it a
good candidate for busting a feat to grab via Extra Terror. 50% miss chance is a godsend
against anything, but waiting to 14th level for it is harsh.
14-​Paranoia​: Forcing the enemy to treat their allies as enemies has all kinds of implications, as
long as your DM can separate personal from character knowledge. Diverting their attacks,
removing flanking, generating Attacks of Opportunity, and causing their effects to no longer
avoid former allies are all awesome effects.

16-​Consuming Nightmare​: Spammable SoD targeting Will is awesome… but comes with the
Death and Mind-Affecting types, making it much harder to utilize.

18-​Persistent Nightmare​: This is niche and VERY late, but will let you perform bypasses that
your enemy was not expecting and maintain your Form bonuses if that's your game

Dread Powers:

You get a good variety of powers, and in sufficient numbers to ensure that you are prepared for
most situations when combined with your other abilities. Remember the theme you picked out
for your Terrors, and make sure your powers both support it and cover the gaps.

0th (Talents):​ Note that you get a grand total of two of these. Their intent is not in raw power or
combat effect, you pick these in order to fill minor utility gaps.

Conceal Thoughts​: Much better than it looks. Just about all Bluff checks are opposed, and this
is usually by Sense Motive. Assuming you use the skill with any frequency, this is a +10 in an
uncommon bonus type to it. Rating goes up if you regularly face telepaths and the like, as well
Create Sound​: A useful little trick, and it will help you set up effective bluffs or intimidates (or just
distract guards to slip on by)
Detect Psionics​: The Detect spells are all good to have, and this one can be self-augmented
into an Identify effect. If you have full transparency with magic (which is the default), this is
probably the strongest Talent you can pick.
Distract​: The save is going to be very weak due to being 0-level. -4 penalty to two major skills
can be clutch, so it isn’t worthless, but remember that you will often be able to set up
circumstance penalties with other abilities.
Empathy​: One of the more often-used scouting powers, especially if you use the second
Augment and set it up where enemies won’t be alerted by the display.
Fortify, Lesser​: Resistance bonus to saves is the most common way to get them, so this won’t
stack with things like a Cloak of Resistance.
Missive​: A decent scouting power, lets you get word back to your buddies as long as they’re
close. The range hurts, though, as does the fact that it’s one-way.
My Light​: You should be seeing in the dark, not getting rid of it in a way that points directly at
you.
Telekinetic Punch​: I cannot imagine a situation where 1 damage that allows a will save would be
useful. Skip this, and don’t be fooled by the Force descriptor.
Telepathic Lash​: Long-duration Daze is evil, and this power has a scaling DC with further power
point investment. Can upgrade to a Stun as well. Note: PFSRD lists this as level one, it is a
Talent in UP
Unearthly Terror​: Really, is there any more Dread power than this? It will literally stay relevant
from 1 to 20, has a scaling DC, and once augmented still causes Shaken on a save.
Vim​: One temporary HP is going to be useful for about the first 35 seconds of your adventuring
career. Pass.

1st:​ These are the basics. Choose effects that will kickstart your abilities, and especially look for
powers with scaling effects and DCs. This will lead to the powers remaining useful throughout
your career. I will not list ones that are already reviewed under Talents.

Biofeedback​: At early levels, DR/- is a very powerful bonus. This unfortunately ages poorly,
even with the Augment, since most things either stop using physical damage or else do it in
quantities that make 5-8 points of DR pointless eventually.
Demoralize​: This is Dazzling Display: the Power. Ages poorly, again, but rated much higher due
to its value early on. Swap it out later, but it will probably be an early pick.
Lingering Touch​: Your Devastating Touch doesn’t do enough damage to make this worthwhile,
usually, and it doesn’t allow Terrors through the repeat hit.
Mind Thrust​: This will end up doing significant amounts of damage, the only issue is that the
save negates (thankfully Will, not Fort). This is about the only direct-damage power you ever
get, as well, so consider it for the ability to snipe runners.
Mindlink​: Useful for scouting and passing secret information. If your DM allows it, the offensive
use can be good for creeping people out with voices in the back of their head, but this is not
meant for combat use.
Precognition, Defensive​: Insight bonuses to saves and AC are not common, and this ages very
well with both its duration and augments (the 6-point to get it going as a Swift is notable, in case
you don’t have it ready when you get ambushed, but this is a harsh drain on your limited PP).
Precognition, Offensive​: Bonuses to attack rolls will help you land effects, and greatly assists in
making up for your 3/4 BAB if you are taking a more combat-oriented role.
Prescience, Offensive​: These damage bonuses rack up very slowly, but it’s a rare bonus type if
you are going in for raw damage.
Slumber​: Powerful debuff and an immediate fight-ender, this puts enemies out with a VERY
long duration and can be augmented to affect nearly anything you face. The problem is that the
DC does not have a scaling clause, which means it will fall off rapidly. Eventually, it becomes
half-decent for putting down mooks, but nothing else.
Untouchable Aura​: I have almost nothing bad to say about this power, other than its unfortunate
duration. Halts attacks cold, base action is Move, tons of good Augment options (including
busting Focus to bring it up as an Immediate!), and is assisted by your Aura. Just doesn’t help
against non-targeting attacks and things that are save-based.

2nd:​ Still in the basic effect. When picking these out, remember to compare them to earlier
powers with a couple of augmentation points.

Concealing Amorpha​: You already have raw AC/Saves and a save-or-miss, this gives you a
third kind of defense in pure miss chance. Also assists allies next to you if augmented, which
they will thank you for.
Deflect​: You have a LOT of defensive options, and although this one is Immediate it suffers from
too many limitations (has to be from a manufactured weapon and doesn’t work on oversized
projectiles). Also has no augments, so what you see is all you get.
Epidermal Fissure​: This power gives bonuses in all the right places if you like to mix it up in
melee, and ages VERY well. Team it up with an augmented Caustic Retribution for all KINDS of
fun times
Feat ​Leech​: In a typical campaign, this is rarely going to be useful. In one that is psionics-heavy,
though, this will turn off many enemy tactics and give you a temporary power boost as well. You
can use it on allies if you need to borrow something they have, as well.
Id Insinuation​: Duration of Concentration can hurt, but dropping a Confuse on the entire enemy
team can hurt more (especially if they’re ranged heavy, since they’ll end up shooting allies a lot).
Mental Disruption​: Good effect, but it suffers from several problems. Short range, short effect
duration, and the DC doesn’t automatically scale with the other augments. You have better
options
Myra’s ​Occultation​: This is much more likely to be a GM weapon against Knowledge-spamming
players, but if your opponents are played as smart this will be a REAL gem when they think the
best way to fight you is the thing you’re actually awesome against
Sidestep​: Melee version of Deflect, but this has the benefit of working on natural weapons and
not having a size limit, useful if you’re getting smashed by a dinosaur.
Strength of my Enemy​: The damage keeps stacking up even if you aren’t getting bonuses
anymore. This is best on someone getting tons of attacks (TWF and/or Shadow Clone assaults).
Subconscious Banishment​: Strong effect (especially once you are able to spend the 4 extra PP
for nauseated), plus potentially-unlimited duration are awesome. The problem is that it allows a
Will to take effect, then Fortitude (ugh…) every turn to shake it off. Great for sniping
spellcasters, if you can boost your DCs high enough.
Susten​ance​: If you are in a game where food and water can be hard to find, and also aren’t
playing something with Repletion for some reason, this Power is pure gold. Otherwise, it likely
isn’t going to be used often. Not shareable and no augment is unfortunate, as well.
Thought ​Shield​: Again, highly niche. If you are in a campaign where mind-affecting is common
(telepath-hunting, for example), this becomes VERY good.
True Terror​: Starts off solid as a Fear-based Stun, and has FIVE good Augment options,
including multiple targets, extended range and duration, and a burst option. Save DC scales
automatically as well. You read that right, extended duration on a Stun. Solid no matter what
your role, and practically required if you’re a good team player

3rd:​ This level is full of utility options and situational uses, generally just cool stuff. Not so much
in the must-take category, just things that may be nice to have on occasion

Caustic Retribution​: I’m normally not a fan of retributive effects, but once you get the 4-point
augment rider a retributive Blind is going to give your enemies a really bad day. 3d6 damage is
solid as well.
Caustic Transfusion​: Bad part, it targets Fort. Good part, it deals a decent chunk of
hard-to-resist damage with a couple of good rider effects (nauseated on the augment is
particularly nasty) and auto-scales the DC. Low on Blue, but still a very solid pick
Dispatch​: If you are game for trip and disarm, this one has your name all over it. If you also use
a weapon with enhanced crit on top of it (like, say, a Keen Scythe or Scimitar), the first Augment
is made of pure evil.
Ectoplasmic Form​: The spell is good, but I rated it orange for one reason. If you are going to be
using this with any real frequency, you REALLY would rather be using the Nightmare Form
terror and its associated chains.
Guarded Sleep​: You won’t benefit yourself, but any Arcane or Psionic allies will LOVE you for
this particular buff.
Mental Barrier​: Deflection bonuses are very nice to have and apply to basically everything, but
the extremely short duration is a bit of a killer.
Mindhunter​: No save. No PR. No maximum range. Just straight gaining knowledge about one
target’s whereabouts overnight.
Sanguine Displacement​: Sure, it’s Fortitude… but it’s Fort Half on CON damage, and you can
be rolling upwards of 4d4 on this with room to add metapsionics. This power gets UGLY, and
only gets uglier as you face foes with more and more Hit Dice.

4th:​ Top half of things, now. Making the effort to use one of these is going to be a golden
moment in combat or set you well ahead outside of it, if you are using one that is appropriate to
your victim(s).
Aura Sight​: You might as well read the name as “Detect: name it”. It functions just like the
Detect spells, but can reveal dozens of different little details about your targets.
Deadly Fear​: This is a good news/bad news kind of spell. The good, it’s the first true save-or-die
you have, with good range, and a couple of good augments. The bad is that it allows TWO
saves (one of which is a Fortitude), and if your enemy is telepathic they can turn it back on you
(though you should be immune by now).
Fear Cascade​: SOL on the target (LOVE Cowering status), and no-save Shaken on anything
near him (plus ignores allies). DC scales, and the Shaken can be extended by augmenting.
Mindwipe​: Allows a Fortitude save, but if you are using Soul-Chilling Fear as a go-to offensive
Terror this can be the finisher when they try to run. DC does not auto-scale, but can be
augmented
Moment of Terror​: Right on the edge of Blue here. Prone and Helpless is a bad place to be, and
-2 against mind-affecting all day sets up some horrible things for later. The problems are more a
matter of scale, the Helpless condition can’t be extended and a straight -2 isn’t much of a debuff
by the time you get here.
Personality ​Parasite​: Facing psionics or other opponents with significant mental-only actions
available? This is a terrifically powerful debuff that’ll rip the enemy apart with their own
resources. If not, this is completely useless. No in-betweens.
Power Leech​: Only works on psionic enemies, and sucks even against them. 1d6 PP drain per
round is not enough to really hurt anything unless they are somehow kept from doing anything
back… and that way isn’t going to be you, since concentrating on this takes full-round actions.
Sensory Cascade​: Blinded and denied all actions on 3 out of every four rounds, regardless of
your sensory modes? Yes please. In a decent sized burst, with a duration that can be extended
to PERMANENT? This is a sadistic power, only drawback is that the save DC won’t scale, and
the victim gets one round of clarity when you strike them.

5th:​ You really start getting into the nastier effects at this point. Manifesting a 5th-level or higher
power should be seen as a chance for a potential fight-ender, or else an immediate solution to a
problem. Just about all of these are highly powerful and desirable effects, these will not be easy
choices.

Dream Message​: One-way messages at this point are cheap, even if it can go to anyone in the
plane. No need to waste a precious power known on this unless situations are a bit stranger
than even I’m used to (and trust me, that’s STRANGE)
Induce Nightmare​: This is Lingering Fear: the Power. DC won’t scale, but instead you can use
the situational modifiers to give up to -15 to your enemy’s Will saves (!) against it. Wickedly
strong if you know you are about to face someone, or if the enemy got away and you need to
make sure he can’t bug you for a while.
Kyria’s Vascular Disruption​: First off, this can easily augment into an unholy amount of damage
and plays well with many Metapsionic feats. The Entangle AoE rider is also good if your target is
likely to fail the save.
Mental Contagion​: Most of your effects are mind-affecting, including several of your terrors. if
you make ONE enemy Sickened via Sickening Fear, you can spread it to up to six of his
buddies on the next round. A particular favorite of mine is Paranoia, for an instant brawl among
enemies (think of the church scene from Kingsmen if you’ve seen it).
Mind Trap​: This is a power that depends strictly on what you’re up against. Do your opponents
use mind-affecting frequently? If yes, this lets you crush the action economy under your thumb.
If not, it’s wasting PP.
Pierce the Veils​: It’s a true-seeing effect. Why does this need to be discussed, again?
Planar Travel​: By the time you get this, you can just about fully augment it. Great (even
necessary) if you’re doing this a lot, not so much if your campaign stays on one plane. Doubles
as a nice teleport if you manifest it twice, though.
Psychic Crush​: SoD, with a solid damage rider (if fully augmented) and scaling DC. Enemy gets
a +4 to save against it, but considering the effect that’s understandable.
Schism​: Action economy? Whazzat? The second mind can do all kinds of things while your
main one is busy, and only the most obvious one is manifesting. Things like making observation
or knowledge-based skill checks are also on the list. Conveniently also allows you to do Terrors
and Manifesting in the same round

6th:​ These are your top effects, the best you have to offer. Every effect you have here is its own
brand of game-changer, choose well.

Barred Mind, Personal​: This just stops so much, keeping it up will probably be a priority for you
(doubly true for sneaky types). Thankfully, has a one day duration, meaning that doing so will
only cost you 11 PP each day (which is really negligible for this kind of benefit).
Dream Travel​: You will take this power if and only if Planar Travel isn’t an option, or else if you
have to do a lot in the Dreamscape. Ignore otherwise.
Form of Doom​: Strength, land speed, natural armor, frightful presence, and four natural attacks
make this a good power for combat and a mandatory pick if you mix it up in melee frequently.
Temporal Acceleration​: There are very, very few situations where manifesting this power is not a
good way to help get your way. Between having free time to move and act (even if you can’t
affect others, dropping two rounds of pre-buffing in the blink of an eye is a good deal), plus
being undetectable for the short duration… only really limited by your creativity.

Archetypes​:

This section is not going to be very in-depth until I have a ton of time on my hands, but will
rather cover general changes and new priorities. The ratings reflect a comparison to the base
Dread while operating in their specialty, the base version is nearly always going to be a better
all-around deal.

Fear in Flesh​: This is for the Dreads who really just want to drop the subtlety and get up into
people’s faces. You give up your Devastating Touch, but instead gain the ability to manifest a
trio of natural weapons and use your Terrors with them. The other fun part is getting boosts to
physical ability scores and natural armor as a Swift if anyone nearby is suffering from a Fear
condition (which, as I’ve said, is VERY easy to arrange for). This archetype is going to be much
more focused on physical ability scores instead of Charisma (16 Cha is enough to manifest
anything you need to). Look for a race with natural attacks other than claw or bite (such as an
Alqarn, an Akashic race).

Fearmonger​: This archetype does two main things. First, it swaps you over to Wisdom instead
of Charisma, which enables a large variety of multiclass options (along with different focuses on
races, skills, etc). Second, it is much, much more tanky than the base Dread, racking up tons of
temporary HP and gaining the ability to add half of your Wis to all saves and your AC. Make
sure to grab a Guided weapon for this build if your GM allows.

Nightmare​: Another one that is up close and personal, this one hails from Path of War:
Expanded and is an initiating archetype. If you’re willing to sink feats into it, all three of its base
disciplines (Sleeping Goddess, Veiled Moon, and BLACK SERAPH) are well worth keeping up
and can be capped out. Take a good hard look at picking up the Style feats for Black Seraph
and/or Sleeping Goddess, as well, since they’ll save your bacon very regularly. You give up the
power of Twin Fear, but maintain your manifesting (minus a couple of powers) and gain a
boatload of synergy with your initiating side. Make sure to pick stances that fit a wide variety of
situations, thanks to Master of Fear free-swapping. Very late in the game, right when it’s most
clutch, you get an expanded Aura of Fear plus a way to cut out immunity to mind-affecting.
Good times, and my favorite archetype for the class.

Nightmare Constructor​: For those of you who either love the Summoner or else just couldn’t
wait for Shadow Twin to come online at 11. You basically split off most of your offensive
potential onto the Horror, letting him do the fighting while you hang back spamming Powers and
various debuffs.

Shadow Hunter​: Sneaky is the word, here. This Archetype is made for teamwork and
infiltration. Generating Flanks is a nice touch, since it doesn’t have to be you flanking (your
Rogue/Ninja/Investigator/Vivisectionist buddies will love you), but the shadow grapple actually
has a very low DC to break out of.

Swarm Master​: You give up a lot to get into this, specifically your Manifesting ability and your
mighty Shadow Twin. You get a ton back, though, with the ability to weave Vizier Veils (starting
with the Pestilence Cloak, which has dramatic benefits for you). The Swarm might allow multiple
saves against effects, but can spread Devastating Touch damage EVERYWHERE and deliver
Terrors plus having a Distraction effect, making it an awe-inspiring mook-sweeper. Depending
on your Veil choices, this can also be a superior skillmonkey or solid combatant as well. Try to
be an Akashic race if you can (Nameer are good for this), since it will help you out a lot to have
the bonus essence. Failing that, you’ll have a ton of PP with nowhere to spend it, so Elan will
give you tons of tricks.
Races​:

Quite a few here to hit, but unlike Feats below the number is merely in the dozens. I will start off
with the Core and Psionic races, and add to them as I find time. These ratings are very likely to
change as new races acquire their Favored Class Bonuses . Places of frequent special
emphasis are going to be stat placement, alternate perception and movement modes, and
applicable special abilities or alternate racial traits. Stat priority is generally going to always
include Charisma, due to just how many of your abilities key off of it. Other stats will of course
depend heavily on build choices.

Core​:

Human​: They’re good at everything, and that still holds true here. The bonus feat goes into
getting your style started up

Dwarf​: Slow speed and a hit to Charisma really hurt for a Dread. Con and Wis bonuses are
nice, and so is Darkvision (given the kinds of environments that you like operating in).

Elf​: Particularly for sneakier Dreads, this choice can work out. The Con penalty hurts if you
expect to face much direct opposition.

Gnome​: Stats are very well placed, and small size really doesn’t hurt you. Darkvision plus the
magic tricks are big assists as well. If you are going to be staying in one general area (dark
vigilante theme is one the Dread does well), then Bond to the Land is a solid alternate.

Half-Elf​: Not a BAD choice, but almost anything they can do is done better by either Elf or
Human. The one exception to this is multiclassing, if that’s what you’re after then being able to
get both Favored is invaluable.

Half-Orc​: Floating stat bonus, darkvision, and Ferocity is good. Unfortunately, any good
alternate trait usually replaces Ferocity. A half-decent choice.

Halfling​: Just as a general rule, your damage isn’t size-based. Small size with a Dex and Cha
bonus (while dropping your dump stat in that style of build) is very nice to have. Add the save
bonus plus Perception and it makes a very strong contender. They have some notable alternate
traits as well, in particular Adaptive Luck and Fleet of Foot are good.

Psionic​: You’re playing a Psionic class, so I know these guys will be on the table. There are a
couple of serious edges here, among which is some free PP and the ability to get more from
favored class bonuses. This is important to any serious manifester, since your pool is very
limited otherwise. Several have Psi-Like Abilities, as well, and where they do the save is
conveniently based on your Charisma modifier.

Blue​: Your primary damage sources are not size-based in most builds, and one feat fixes the
accuracy loss by losing Strength. Pariah hurts your Intimidates, but that’s a minor penalty
overall. Stat mix is decent, but bonuses to Perception and Stealth are excellent. Makes for a
great skill-focused Dread.

Dromite​: Perfect stat mix for just about anything other than Strength builds, Scent, natural
armor, and a Perception bonus make these guys good candidates for Dreads. The Energy Ray
ability won’t come up often, but when it does you’ll be happy to have it.

Duergar​: Better than Dwarf, but not by all that much. Expansion and Cloud Mind are good
powers to have access to, but you are still taking a hit to Charisma and putting up with slow
speed and light sensitivity for relatively little return.

Elan​: You use your Swift most rounds in terror-based builds. If you are more Power-based than
Terror, Elan are walking around with permanent Immediate-action counters and go Sky-Blue.
Floating stats and Aberrant Blood are icing on the cake (the latter mostly for Bloodforge feats)

Forgeborn​: -4 Cha is a deal-breaker, you need that stat no matter WHAT you want to do with
this class. Slow and Steady is nearly useless to you, and the half-construct bonuses are
nowhere near worth what you’re losing. Look elsewhere.

Half-Giant​: As long as you aren’t the subtle type, this can work well. Powerful Build plus a
strength bonus can let you put a significantly larger wallop on the enemy.

Maenad​: A bit of an odd case. Floating stat and Outburst are good, but you have little interest in
sailing, flails, or being a Barbarian. Sonic Ray can help a bit as well. Generally, nothing BAD,
but nothing that really stands out.

Noral​: Wis/Con is not a bad stat mix for you, though it isn’t great (unless you’re making a
Fearmonger). Losing Dex can hurt, but not as badly as you may think in some builds. The free
daily Hero Point and save bonuses are nice to have as well.

Ophiduan​: Again, Charisma loss. Dex/Wis is decent, so is the natural armor and Bite attack
(and Darkvision is always nice to have).

Xeph​: Basic, but good. Excellent stats, Burst, darkvision, and save bonuses are all good to
have.

Akashic​: Three have been released with two sub-races each for a total of nine. The defining
reason to go into these races is that each gives you a point of Essence, granting easier access
to and use of the Akashic feats I will discuss later. Also worth taking a close look at if you are
playing a Swarmlord, the Akashic archetype.

Gamla​: Bonuses to Con is nice, and the other stats are pretty much a wash (though great on a
Fearmonger). The Spit can be useful, but the kicker is Large size. Specifically, reach. Well, that,
and the upped die type if you go for Fear in Flesh
-​Feelkha​: The stat mix is a bit off for you (though not terrible), but of note is that increased Int
usually comes with an increased reliance on Charisma (no mod) or Dex (loses 2).

-​Alqarn​: Large size increasing your natural weapon damage and reach, with the addition of
Strength and Con, make these guys a natural choice for frontline beatdown builds. The horn is a
decent secondary attack since you’re there anyway.

Sobek​: Grants Cha and Str, loses from a low-priority stat, and comes with alternate movement,
a backup weapon, and flank prevention. Can’t complain.

-​Nameer​: Start with a Sobek, and drop swimming and Strength for speed and Dex, and you
can’t really go wrong. Splitting the Bite into a pair of claws will work out better for you in most
cases, other than Fear in Flesh builds.

-​Solhofaat​: Dreads can build into pretty good debuff-oriented tanks, and if played right will be
attracting a lot of attention. Enter the guy with a massive shell and +4 Con. Make sure your
Strength is decent, since they have a Dex penalty.

Suqur​: Stats are decent for you, though not great (losing Con always hurts). The wings are
VERY nice for you, and so are the racial skill bonuses

-​Hibkha​: While you can build around this kind of arrangement, it is an odd one. Usually going to
just prefer Human for them

-​Nisir​: Losing Charisma just hurts, although everything else about them would have been great
for you.

Bloodforge​: The Bloodforge book, also by DSP, presents a large number of additional races to
use. The power levels here tend to be high, so make sure to clear it with your DM first. I’ll
present five good picks here, but there are lots more possibilities in the book itself.

Grendle​: Generally good for this purpose, but especially for the ability to cover rooms with your
Intimidates via Imperious Bearing. You get so many bonuses that it really doesn’t matter that
you get a -4 on the attempt. Darkvision and natural armor help out a lot as well, as does rapid
recovery.

Half-Bugbear​: Charisma bonus, low-light vision, and SCARE TACTICS. You use a LOT of
fear-based effects (or you wouldn’t be playing this class), so it should come as no surprise at all
that this is ridiculously good. The alternate racial is mediocre, though, even if you use
Devastating Touch a lot you’ll usually be better served by HP or skill points.
Kestrel​: About the only thing hurting these guys is their slow land speed. Great stats, a boost to
all Charisma-based skill checks (like, say, Intimidate), Skill and AC bonuses (or to Saves if you
prefer), ​shatter​, plus a bardic music imitation makes these guys very solid.

Piper​: Good stats, quick speed, Pipes of Panic, and the ability to swap out a useless ability for
good skill bonuses make the Pipers solid picks.

Thrallspawn​: Bonus PP (including via AFCB for being a Psionic race) adds up very quickly for
manifesters., Half-decent stats, Iron Will, and darkvision are good. If you plan on focusing on
Terrors, importantly, the alternate class feature is going to add up fast.

Other​: There are very many racial choices out there, I’ll try to hit some of the highlights.

Aasimar​: The main version is good, as are several of the alternate racials. However, if you look
to the variant Heritage, there are several that are all kinds of win for you. My personal favorite is
Azata-Blooded (because Glitterdust as a SLA is clutch and dex/cha is perfect for you), but they
are by far not the only way to go. Random traits on them also work well, you have about a 30%
chance of hitting a solid benefit for you. One last detail that’s VERY easy to miss, but you can
choose to be Small on character creation, which works out extremely well for Terror or Caster
builds.

Dhampir​: While losing Con on the base form hurts, you get a long list of excellent benefits and
can trade away a minor one to get rid of your daylight weakness. The alternate heritages hold
the Moroi, but beware that the Con penalty is worse on one who expects to mix it up in melee
more often. The race also gets access to the Natural Charmer feat, which allows you to take-20
on several Charisma-based skills.

Tiefling​: As usual, there is a Tiefling for everyone. Although the base form has bad stats for
you, most of the Alternate Heritage arrangements are good. Take a close look at Demon, Div, or
Rakshasa-spawn, depending on what you want to do. Random tables are full of good things, as
well. Like the Aasimar, you can choose to be Small on character creation if that suits your game
plan.

Feats:

Let’s face it, there is a LOT to go through here. Though I may eventually do something more
comprehensive, the only section that I’m going to cover 100% is the Psionic section. Anything
else, I’m only going to cover if it’ll be useful to a primary build, on request, or if it is a notable one
to avoid. I’ll be leaving a few off that you can’t really qualify for, plus the item crafting feats
(since those very dramatically in value game by game).

One more note. Dreads are very feat-hungry, they don’t get that great a variety of bonus feats to
support fighting styles in most cases. Added to this, you will typically have anywhere from 3-5
eaten up just covering necessary bases. Thus, just like Powers and Terrors above, you need to
keep a VERY close eye on your theme and select your Feats carefully.

Finally, depending on how you run, please remember that feats can be Retrained if the DM
allows it (verify before planning your build). Things like Deadly Agility can be retrained into the
Human bonus feat slot despite not being able to take it at the time.

Psionic Feats​: It should come as no surprise to anybody that this section is coming first.
Although there are a lot of things here that just aren’t all that suitable for you, there is no way to
really avoid taking at least 1-2 of these (even if not counting your bonus feats), since they are
designed for the subsystem your character is lurking in. This is a long section, since there are a
ton of these feats.

Access Psionic Talent​: 0-level effects really aren’t much to write home about, no debates
there. However, this gives you FIVE of them, which can really flesh out your low-end flexibility
and minor utility effects

Additional Terror​: Accessible via your bonus feats, this usually won’t be a high-priority choice
but can help close out a series or get another tactic online at need.

Aligned ​Attack​: Can be good, if you’re facing alignment DR frequently and it’s of the type you
can pierce. Not so great otherwise.

Autonomous​: It’s a standard +2/+2 feat, but notably this one includes the mighty Autohypnosis.

Body Fuel​: You have to be pretty darned desperate to be willing to take three points of ability
burn in order to gain a meagre 2 PP. That’s not enough to be worth your while, especially since
it ticks both Con and Dex.

Broken Dreams ​Style​: On the one hand, this doesn’t amount to much damage individually.
Literally maxes out at 1d6+33 at level 20, which isn’t really bothering anyone. The trick is in
taking dips and feat chains to rack up tons of attacks, which will make the piddly individual
touches rack up very, very quickly. If you dip Monk, Deadly Fist, Unarmed PsyWar, or other
Unarmed Striker, this one goes from mediocre to must-take. It also has some nice follow-up
feats.

-​Shattered Dreams Strike​: Any time you see the phrase “free Intimidate”, without using up
actions, it’s a good thing. This feat will save you a lot of precious time in combat if you are a
Broken Dreams practitioner

-​Nightmare​ ​Veil​: Concealment and treating opponents as flat-footed near-constantly is

awesome. Upgrades to Sky Blue if you’re using Mind Rend, since it will let you keep using it in
combat. Remember that higher forms of fear (like Frightened and Panicked) also count as
Shaken
Cloak Dance​: Low side of Blue, but it’s there. This lets you do something effective with your
Move action if you aren’t using it to actually move, and since that’s your least-occupied action
anything keying off of it gets major bonus points. Getting Concealment has all kinds of other
implications as well, which make this one worth taking a look at.

Combat Manifestation (and Greater)​: Really, it’s a mediocre choice, but if you plan on being
up in people’s faces a lot and still want to be manifesting then it’s important to take this. Just not
going to be a common tactic.

Crippling Assault​: It’s a trap! A Paralyze sounds powerful, but getting it to go off requires very
specific and time-consuming setup, requires them to fail a Fortitude save (ugh), and then ends
just before you could actually take advantage of it

Deadly Throw​: Thrown weapons are not typically your thing, but if they are then this will be
critical to reduce dependence on Strength.

Deep Impact​: Resolving one critical attack as a Touch is a very, very solid effect to have if
you’re a fighting type. Also means that one weapon attack is more-or-less guaranteed to get
through almost any defense, which can deliver several fun effects from you.

Disciple of ​Fear​: Big disparity in situations. If you are multiclassing more than a level or two
(such as the Broken Dreams Style build), this is important to ensure your scaling effects keep
up. If not, then it is a waste of a feat slot. No shades of gray to be found

Endowed Mind​: Many of your best effects auto-scale, but a few don’t. This will allow those few
to remain useful as you go, since much of what you do has no effect on a successful save

Empowered Shot​: ​Sniping isn’t your deal by any means, but if by some random chance you
are getting into that then this feat is a good way to go about it.

Expanded Knowledge​: Although your list is solid, there are many other excellent powers out
there. Notably, ones which aren’t Fear and Mind-Affecting. My favorite is Astral Construct, but
the sky’s the limit.

Extra Power Known​: You typically have enough powers known to get all the good ones, but
this might be a decent pick in the crowded level-5 power range.

Extra Terrors​: The typical default on your bonus feats, three additional Terrors per day typically
won’t be much, but it can really save your hide at the end of a long day

Fear Mastery​: If you have two open feats, this is mandatory. It’s only Blue because Psionic
Endowment is mediocre for you overall, and you frequently don’t have feats to spare

Fear’s ​Reach​: If you don’t regularly abuse Devastating Touch, this still gives you a decent
infinite-ammo ranged weapon on the touch. If you do, well, this lets you stay out of that painful
place known as “your enemy’s reach”
Fell Shot​: Typically, if you are making ranged attack rolls, they are going to be touch attacks
anyway. Might be useful in weapon-based ranged builds

Focused Sunder​: Awesome for what it does… I just can’t imagine many Dreads going the way
of the Sunder.

Ghost ​Attack​: All depends on the game. If you face a lot of incorporeal, this is a great feat. If
not, then don’t waste the slot.

Hawkeye​: Just like Focused Sunder, this is awesome at what it does, but you don’t do much
with Precision damage.

Inquis​itor​: Typically not going to be worth the slot, unless you’re REALLY focused on the social
role. If that is the case, though, being able to drop a +20 on a Sense Motive randomly will make
it a breeze.

Insightful Terror​: Effect ends just before you have a chance to take horrible advantage of it… if
you’re alone. A Shadow Twin or buddy with a Scythe turns this into a no-save-just-die on
anything that isn’t crit-immune

Intimidating Shot​: It’ll save you some time if you’re doing the ranged-attack thing. Interestingly
not limited to physical weapons, you can do it through a Fear’s Reach attack.

Intuitive Fighting​: Not needing Strength? Cool. Swapping to a different low-priority stat? Not so
cool, other than one archetype who will love it.

Intuitive Shot (and Greater)​: Again, Wisdom really isn’t your normal thing, and neither are
physical ranged weapons (usually). If they both are, then these become good takes.

Knight​mare​: In the unusual off-chance that you splash a couple of levels of Cavalier, this is
critical. That’s an odd combo, though.

Knockdown Shot​: Saying it again, Wisdom usually isn’t your thing. Decent effect to use, other
than the fact that Prone makes your opponent harder to hit for ranged attacks

Mental ​Leap​: As the Inquisitor feat, above, eventually being able to activate random +20s to the
Jumps will usually mean an auto-succeed when you need it. Unlike Inquisitor, this can be
MUCH more easily replicated by any item, power, or other that grants Flight.

Mind ​Over ​Body​: Yeah, this one covers a range. Mediocre if you’re just taking it to take it, this
improves dramatically if you regularly face ability damage or utilize ability burn. Nearly
mandatory if you’re in a game where enemies use the effects frequently (or if you have Body
Fuel for some reason), as it will dramatically cut down on your recovery times.

Mixed Combat​: The feat itself is awesome at what it does… you just don’t often do it.
Open ​Door​: If you have a recurring enemy, this will make follow-up visits MUCH more painful
than previously. If you don’t… well, this feat won’t be useful. A decent bonus feat pick if you fit
the circumstances

-​Multiple Connections​: If the recurring enemy is a party, this does hilarious things. Skip
otherwise.

Open Minded​: Simple and powerful. This will be important if you’re leaning on your skills, since
it nearly brings you up to the Rogue standard.

Overchannel​: If you are highly caster-focused, the damage you take will be more than worth it
to squeeze in some spare power.

-​Talented​: Given that you have a ton of powerful effects in the 1-3 range, this is an important
pick if you’re grabbing Overchannel anyway.

Penetrating Fear​: Let me be perfectly clear. Unless you aren’t using your fear-based Terrors,
this isn’t a feat. It is a class feature that replaces the feat you would normally gain at 11th level.
Punching out Mind-Affecting is your single biggest nightmare, and this lets you do it.

Persistent Focus​: You will normally prefer to just keep a second Psionic Focus around via
Psicrystal Containment or Deep Focus.

Piranha Strike​: Most Dreads who go into melee will want two-handers, but if you go finesse
with light weapons or TWF this may come in handy.

Power Channeler​: If your attacks are really accurate, this will save you some action economy.
However, you don’t have many touch-range powers and you VASTLY prefer making touch
attacks for effect and waiting on the damage

Power Penetration (and Greater)​: I prefer this slightly to Piercing Power, if only because it
doesn’t demand you expend focus and works on your psi-like abilities and supernaturals.

Power Perfection​: On a heavy manifester, this is potentially a late-game powerhouse. The

requirements are harsh for you, though, and your main offense is usually terrors

Power Specialization ​(and Greater)​: Really, just wasted feats. Two damage is almost nothing,
and having Weapon Focus as a prereq is harsh to begin with

Psicrystal Affinity​: This feat give many benefits, including effectively two other feats (skill focus
and Alertness). An expendable scout, telepathically connected to you, that can deliver your
powers and eventually let you remote view it at will? Yes, please.

-​Psicrystal Containment​: This is one of the few ways to be able to carry around an extra
Psionic Focus, and it’s a game-changer.
Psionic Body​: I’ve seen builds get nearly 30 extra HP out of this, since there are a lot of good
Psionic options (and your bonus feats are all there as well). Not the BEST option out there, but
not half bad if you’re taking attacks regularly.

-​Deep Focus​: One of the two big ways to get a second Psionic Focus, grabbing one of the two
is normally near-mandatory. Only drawback is the mediocre lead-in feat

Psionic <Combat Maneuver>​: If you focus at a given combat maneuver, these are fairly
decent, adding damage and status effects to what you do. Thing is, you don’t make all that
many CMB checks except for niche builds (Trip builds revolving around Dispatch, for example)

Psionic Charge​: This is going to be niche to the point of near-uselessness. Charges are very,
very easy to set up in most cases.

Psionic Critical​: Going to be a minor benefit that pops up only rarely.

Psionic Dodge​: Standing effect is not going to be worth the feat, but the ability to hit Focus in
order to jump your AC at a critical moment (and it applies to Touch) can be good

Psionic Endowment​: Mediocre on its own (though +1 DC isn’t a bad effect), but this is a
gateway feat to a few other good ones.

Psionic Fist/Shot/Weapon (and Greater)​: Rarely going to be of benefit to your build, and even
the Focus effect on the Greater is only going to be worth about 14 damage. Usually going to be
a pass.

Psionic Meditation​: If you use your Focus often (and most will), this is the main way to speed
up reacquiring it. Lets you still act on the same round, since most of what you like to do is on
Swift or Standard

Psionic Precise Shot​: This isn’t limited to weapon attacks, so it can let something like a Fear’s
Reach attack skip barricades

Psionic Shield Bash​: ​You have better ways to cause Shaken, and typically won’t be using a
shield either. This is a waste of a feat slot for you

Psionic Talent​: Decent if you lean heavy on the manifesting side, goes double if you get an
instance or two for free from somewhere (such as race)

Psionic Unarmed Strike​: Rarely going to be applicable, unless your build is pretty darned
niche and your opponents like using these kinds of effects.

Rapid Metabolism​: Sounds better than it is. If you are in a game where magical healing is very
hard to find (which, given that the Vitalist is in the same book as this guy, is not going to be
often), it improves a bit. Even then, though, you have powers and terrors that can make it work.
Ready Response​: Assuming your DM is running Surprise rules right, this feat works out better
than you might think. The ability to act when otherwise you wouldn’t (not to mention the ability to
potentially leave Flat Footed status early) is important.

Rebounding ​Throw​: If you are dedicated to Throwing weapons, you have a lot of feats to sink
into it first. If you do and still have a couple open, then this improves slightly. Usually not going
to be a priority pick, though.

Reckless Offense​: This is one of those feats that almost inevitably makes it onto my max-sims.
You have mid BAB and Strength is not a typical priority for you. Combined with the various
abilities you have for active defenses, and your AC isn’t a very serious penalty.

Return ​Shot​: All depends on the GM and campaign. If these attacks are rare, then the feat
won’t be worth the slot. If they are common, it not only completely stops incoming damage but
turns it into extra output on those who tried to shoot you.

Returning ​Throw​: Wide range of magnitudes here. Not great as a standard pick, but if you are
a throwing build without access to a Greater Blinkback Belt (especially if you have a weapon
with one of the designated abilities), this is mandatory.

Ricochet​: One more for the Throwing builds, but not a priority. Your Wis is not a priority stat, but
if you like extra chances at redeeming failed attacks (and who doesn’t?) this can be good.

Sidestep Charge​: Great idea, but it has two issues. First is the relatively undesirable Dodge in
its prereqs. Second is that you are most likely to be charged when you are Flat Footed, meaning
that the ability won’t apply almost half of the time.

Speed of Thought​: Not going to be your first pick, but it is one that you can make use of
frequently. Ten feet of land speed is nice to have,

Staggering Shot​: Good effect, and the setup is trivial for you… but targets Fortitude and eats
your Standard action.

Terror Mastery​: Good news, this will allow you to double your action economy and nova
potential on any build which activates Terrors (which should be, you know, ALL of them). The
problem is that it is heavily gated, requiring 8 terrors known, which will normally restrict it to level
17+ (earlier if you’re using feats or favored class bonuses to learn more terrors).

Touch of Terror​: This will usually be adding 5-10 points to each of your Devastating Touch
attacks. Not much in most cases, but gets noticeably better when combined with Broken
Dreams style.

Twin Throw​: More stuff for Throwing styles, if that’s your game then this is mandatory.

Unavoidable Strike​: If you are making unarmed attacks against full AC anyway, this is useful.
Not a common thing.
Up the Walls​: More “cool” than “useful”, but being able to do a Prince of Persia impression in
tight spaces and get height advantage any time you’re next to a wall frequently will have some
use.

Urban ​Tracking​: This entirely depends on the style of campaign, but if you are running these
kinds of tasks then just take this first.

Wounding Attack​: If you aren’t using your Focus for much else, then this is great. Notably does
not require a weapon attack, so feel free to make your Devastating Touch take a point of Con
with it.

Metapsionic Feats​: Originally, this was folded into the Psionic Feats above, but there are
enough of them that they are worth splitting off for their own review.

Burning Power​: I am mentioning a couple of these as notable traps for you, starting here. Your
real tricks have nearly nothing to do with direct damage, and adding at most 12 damage to an
attack delayed by a round is pretty much never going to be worth it. Plus fire damage.

Burrowing Power​: Corner cases will like this, but very often the ones wanting to use it won’t
need it. Take it to counter specific enemies, it usually won’t be a worthwhile pick on its own
merits

Chain Power​: Again, direct damage isn’t your thing unless you’re going WAY out of your way
for it.

Concussive Power​: You have no native sonic damage powers. If you learn one somehow, this
is a decent pick for stacking up some extra penalties on top of the many that you are already
dishing out.

Dazing Power​: Daze, while not the mightiest of conditions to inflict, is potentially quite serious
and denies enemies actions. This adds an SOS rider to mind-affecting tricks that you use a lot
of.

Delay Power​: Unfortunately doesn’t work too well with most of your powers, the main use is if
you see the conflict coming 30 seconds out and set up a buff so that it doesn’t eat an action in
combat.

Echoing ​Power​: For Dreads who like using their powers to support other tasks, this is a nice
trick. For the ones who use their powers as a primary means of getting things done, it nearly
doubles your longevity with minimal forethought and planning.

Ectoplasmic Power​: Much of what you do really doesn’t care whether your opponent is
incorporeal or ethereal, if you can see it you can affect it.
Empower Power​: You again don’t really specialize in the kinds of abilities this is made to assist.
If you REALLY enjoy Mind Thrusting people to death (ok, that came out dirty…), this can be
worth the investment.

Enlarge Power​: You usually want to be close due to your aura, but this will let you soften up
foes as they come in or snipe them as they flee in terror

Explosive Power​: Once again, only works on damaging powers, but it interacts strangely with
powers that are fully negated on a successful save… strangely as in changing Will Negates to
Reflex Half by aiming at a mouse standing next to them.

Extend Power​: Assisting buffs and making sure your various debuffs put an opponent out of the
fight for good are both noble goals, and the augment cost is cheap.

Flaring Power​: Requires you to blow Focus on a power type you really don’t have for a
mediocre benefit. Pass, even if the effect is no-save.

Focused Power​: You have a few powers that affect areas (or can be made to do so), and being
able to make the save harder for one critical target can be clutch.

HUSTLE POWER​: Had to highlight this one. Hustling a power is in most cases actively better
than Quickening it, since your Move action is the one most often open rather than your Swift. If
you intend to manifest in combat, this feat is not optional.

Lingering Power​: ​Not a common power type for you, and very little benefit. Not worth the feat,
even if you had spares to burn (which you don’t)

Maximize Power​: Random numeric variables are not on many of your powers, and on most of
those you would really prefer to augment those four points.

Merciful Power​: Blow people’s minds up… mercifully! If you are in the kind of game where you
like bringing people in alive (perhaps to torture for information later with your incredible
Intimidate), this can come in handy.

Metapsionic​ Mastery​: If you are very caster-style, this can let you do all kinds of unpleasant
things with your Powers. Otherwise, skip it as the waste it is.

Opportunity Power​: One big problem: Touch-range powers only.

Persistent Power​: If you pick one Metapsionic feat, this is probably the one that best suits the
Dread. Many of your favorites are negated fully on a save, which means that forcing extra ones
is going to dramatically increase your chances of landing a critical power.

Piercing Power​: Not normally going to be worthwhile… but if you are heavily powers-based this
will let you knock out one line of resistance
Quicken Power​: Hard on the PP reserve, but the wording of this one is a bit odd. Unlike
Quicken Spell, this won’t eat your Swift action. It just lets you manifest it. Theoretically, you
could get three powers in a round off by using two Psionic Foci along with this and Hustle power
alongside your Standard, for some crazy nova potential (four or even five if you have Schism up
with a means to amplify your foci). Most DMs are going to treat it as a Swift, though, so be
prepared for that… or thrown books after you take ten minutes to resolve one turn of combat.

Redirect Power​: I’d personally rather by far use the focus on something that makes the power
better, instead of less bad. Make sense?

Rime Power​: Has to deal cold DAMAGE. In the event of you gaining common access to a
power with that description, this becomes a mid-duration Entangle with no save.

Selective Power​: You have a couple of area powers, and probably like to not have to dodge
thrown books. Makes this a decent pick for caster-style Dreads.

Shared Power​: A couple of your notables are self-only, powers such as Temporal Acceleration
and Form of Doom. This feat is worth considering.

Sickening Power​: Targets Fortitude, which is unfortunate. Sickened is a great way to take
opponents out of the fight.

Thundering Power​: Deafened is not a very good status effect. Pass.

Toppling Power​: Multiple points of failure, not even counting your lack of Force Damage
powers, makes this a waste of both your Focus and a feat slot.

Twin Power​: You have a couple of effects which cause levels of Fear, which will stack up on
multiple failed saves. Also incidentally causes nearly-doubled effects on several of your other
powers.

Unconditional Power​: You have very few effects which qualify, but for those that do the ability
to deny enemy crowd control is a major factor. The 8-point increase hurts, though.

Widen Power​: Useful in crowds, and you have a few powers which can greatly benefit (or else
be made to benefit).

Bloodforge Feats​: These feats offer quite a few benefits that you can’t really pick up normally via
feats. Quite a few of these will be of great benefit to you, and so are worth taking a look,

Mixed Blood​: Starting this a bit out of alphabetical order, since this will often be required to take
before going into any of the others. Several subtypes give very potent bonuses, such as Low
Light or Darkvision, Scent, and resistances. Some give skill bonuses and movement modes,
which can help. Others (such as the Alignment and Dwarf subtypes) should be avoided at all
costs unless they are absolutely required in order to acquire something you need later. I will be
factoring the value of your required Mixed Blood into the value of the feats that require them.
Vestigial/Aerial Wings​: While there are other ways to get this instead of sinking 2-3 feats into it
(most commonly Wings of Flying), Flight with good speed and Good maneuverability, plus Fly
as a class skill, is not to be discounted. The subtypes accessing this include several good ones,
so you aren’t wasting the Mixed Blood to get in

Altered Life/Unnatural Resistance​: For the most part, it is just quicker and easier to have a
decent Con score than to bust two feats replacing it with a mental stat. Flip side, especially on
caster builds, your Charisma is going to be sky-high.

Ancestor’s Breath​: A decent way to clear out the little distractions after taking the big one
temporarily out of the fight.

Blood Frenzy​: The bonus has no cap. Any big boss that decides to bring minions is going to
have a VERY bad day on his hands. This goes down in value considerable if your encounters
tend to be in ones and twos, but that is very campaign-dependent (and in that case, you can
usually lock them out of most actions anyway)

Champion’s Presence​: Very rough subtypes to enter with, and the benefit is restricted to those
who are sticking to your particular alignment. Broad but minor bonus as well, in a common
bonus type that will often be overwritten. Usually going to be a trap, may see some use if your
group is both devoted to a given alignment and also lacking a Bard or other similar buffer.

Feral Fighter​: Not going to be optimal for you most times. Your builds typically want to either be
using a 2-hander, or else already come with what weapons they need.

Sanguine Sorcery Line​: Lots of the spells here can prove useful. Charm Person, Haste,
Invisibility, and SHADOW CONJURATION are real winners

Spark of Divinity Line​: Base and Improved, you really can’t go wrong with any of the SLAs
present. If you get Greater and go into melee at all, take Divine Power for the juicy +6 to
everything you care about up to three times per day at 20 (+4 1/day when you are first able to
get it), plus free haste effect. Also have fun tricking people into thinking you’re a Paladin. A
really, really dark Paladin.

Hold Prey/Instinctive Grapple​: Can be half-decent, goes up in value for Fear in Flesh
archetype due to your weapons being much more usable there.

Mighty Frame​: If physical damage is your game and you don’t already have Powerful Build, you
have no reason whatsoever to pass this one up. Easy to get into the subtypes, and if you need
a feat to do it then several give good bonuses from Mixed Blood

Overflowing Life​: Never rely on this in-combat, but having the ability to start things off at full
health reliably throughout even the worst adventuring day is important for someone who will be
drawing as much incoming hatred as you. Less critical if you have a good source of
out-of-combat healing, or if you generally stick to short adventuring days (or if you are a
Grendle, since they recover quickly anyway).

Scrambler’s Gift​: Climb speed is generally not going to be worth it when you can just as easily
acquire Fly with Good or better maneuverability. Avoid this even if you come by the
prerequisites without having to go out of your way (and ranks beyond 1-2 in Climb are usually
out of your way in most campaigns)

Small Stature​: Decent if Stealthy is your goal, but being able to use downsized weapons
without penalty is rarely going to be a big benefit (other than, again, being easier to hide). It is
very rare for smaller to be better in this game, since this does not affect AC or attack rolls. Better
on a Shadow Hunter, since that’s more up your alley.

Woeful Stench​: VERY easy entry, and Sickened is a fight-ender… but this does not exclude
allies and targets the save that is traditionally highest on your opponents.

Akashic Mysteries Feats​: One of the defining reasons to be an Akashic race is in order to get
the extra point of Essence in order to utilize some of the feats from the Akashic Mysteries line.
I’m not going to hit them all, but quite a few are relevant to your interests. If you see sky-blue
here, it’s usually going to be worth picking even if it’s your only Akashic investment. One
drawback to these, though, is that reallocating Essence eats your Swift for the turn. You have a
lot going on there, so know what you’re getting into.

Access <Level> Chakra Slot​: If you aren’t a Swarm Master and grab a Veil for any reason, this
is likely to be a good investment. Notable is the Pestilence Cloak Veil, which you want anyway
and which grants a Fly speed when bound (doable at level 7). If you ARE a Swarm master,
there are a couple of slots you miss as you level which may be useful.

Akashic Augmentation​: Whether you are after efficiency or power, this is not to be denied.
Even just the point of essence it gives you will save a ton of PP over the course of a day, since
you can uninvest and the reinvest to pick a different power.

Body-Bound Mind​: This really isn’t half-bad. By itself, combined with an Akashic race, this will
grant 4 bonus PP. If you have a much larger reserve, such as a significant Akashic class dip,
this will help much more.

Chakra <save>​: Never a bad pick if you are invested into the system, you will probably want
Fortitude first in order to make up for your weak base save.

Chakra Power/​Targeting​: If you are conducting physical non-Touch attacks, and are invested
into Akasha, these are pretty much automatic. Targeting is notable for actually buffing your
attack rolls as well, compensating for the loss from Deadly Aim (and your mid-BAB).

Enhanced Capacity​: Goes big for Swarm masters, but if you have a spare feat and a
decent-sized pool then this is a good choice.
Essence Focus​: This is the ENTIRE reason I looked this way. You have many ways to trigger
your Focus use, and not only does this give you the Meditation benefit, it also doubles the
effectiveness of most of your Foci by allowing them to double-up. Activating a Metapsionic feat
on a power while also taking-15 on the Concentration for manifesting defensively in melee is
going to be a common move, and Nova casters will love being able to double Metapsionic. This
doesn’t grant Essence on its own, but if you have a pool and multiple ways to bust Focus this is
mandatory.

Extra Essence​: If you have the ability to shape a Veil, you will take this feat ASAP. Don’t think
of it as 2 essence, think of it as +2 to Fear save DCs, or +2 Fortitude, or -2 PP to augment…
and it moves around as you need it.

Shape Veil​: This feat is good enough for even non-Fearmongers to contemplate a 14 Wis.
There are tons of solid Veils out there for you, which can provide exceptional bonuses
unavailable elsewhere. Eye of the Oracle, Hand Cannon, Heart of the Wight, Pestilence Cloak,
Stalker’s Tabi, Stare of the Ghaele, and many others are worth considering. Just remember that
you will only be able to shape one.

Shared Veil​: A bit of a niche pick, but Nightmare Constructors might want to take a look. Quite a
few that can be taken with Shape will greatly assist the Eidolon as well.

Other Feats:​ There are hundreds of feats out there, but most conventional wisdom stays true.
They don’t usually need to get reviewed one by one, you’ve probably seen it all by now. Some
highlights:

Power Attack, Piranha Strike, and Deadly Aim: Same thing for different weapons, but very nice
to have. If you expect to be able to use it, grab one.

Cornugon Smash: If you have Power Attack, then do yourself a favor and pick this up. It’ll save
you time.

Hurtful: A quirky one that was pointed out to me. You are good at Intimidates, so this will
generate quite a few free attacks. Won’t be out of your way if you’re in a Strength build, either,
so it’s worth a look.

Point Blank Shot (series): If you’re into ranged combat, take these and don’t look back. Get, at
the very least, PBS and Precise Shot. Shot on the Run can be fun, and actually meshes
decently with Fear’s Reach builds.

Improved Initiative: A classic standby, and still very nice to have. Acting first and dropping a
mass debuff or taking one guy out of the fight prematurely is a great way to skew the odds in
your favor
Innocent Blood: If you are playing an Evil character and your DM allows Story feats, then do
yourself a favor and pick this up. Gaining Completion means that enemies will be taking a -4 to
anything they do against you most of the time.

Kinslayer:​ ​If you know you are going to be fighting mostly humanoids, then this slaps them with
a penalty against all of your save DC’s, and gives you a bonus to hit and damage. What’s not to
like about that? Blue if you know you’re fighting Humanoids, Red otherwise

Scent of Fear: If you have Scent, are Evil, and your DM allows Monster feats (or you ARE the
DM making an enemy for the party to face), this one is solid. Tons of bonuses that add up
quickly, and al from things you like to do anyway.

Dazzling Display: It’ll save you PP spreading the initial Shaken around, but the real gem here is
in the follow-up feats

-Disheartening Display: Anything letting your fears stack up better is something worth
considering. A favorite opener of mine is a Quickened Fear Cascade into Dazzling Display to
make everything run for the hills.

-Shatter Defenses: Even if you never use Dazzling Display, this is solid. Goes double for
enemies who depend on high Dex and Dodge bonuses for defenses, or if you have access to
Sneak Attack or are in a Mind Rend build.

Intimidating Confidence: Usually going to be a bit out of your way, but not too shabby (especially
if you took the Dazzling Display line and are using a Scythe)

Extra Traits: Worth mentioning for skill builds, since this can result in multiple +4 bonuses to
skills.

Traits​: This section will be mercifully brief, but critical. If you plan on taking one of the
skill-based roles I outlined (and you probably should, at least in a secondary way), then you will
likely need to take a Trait in order to get something onto your skill list.

Social Skills: You will need Diplomacy. Honeyed Tongue, along with several Campaign traits,
will give this to you… but Devotee of a Dead God is just creepy and appropriate.

Physical Skills: You lack Disable Device (and the ability to use it on magical traps). If you can
get it, then Trap Finder fixes both. Use Magic Device is another notable one, especially given
your Charisma reliance.

Knowledge Skills: You can use Arcana, Dungeoneering, Nature, Planes, and Religion. Tons of
ways to grab these, and even if you don’t it’s usually worth dropping a skill point into each in
order to toss a d20 at something for a chance at an advantage.

Other: If your game will be ending in the level 3 range, or if your DM is stingy, then Rich Parents
will likely help. Reactionary for bonus Initiative is another classic standby. Otherwise, look for
ways to use your likely-high Charisma mod in other ways, such as Horrifying Mind, Irrepressible,
Memorable, or Saint’s Ward. Finally, Dangerously Curious is worth +4 to Use Magic Device for
you, which is an absurd bonus to a highly powerful skill. Finally, Omen is worth a good, hard
look. Although you waste part of its benefit, 1/day Swift Intimidate is going to be hideously
effective on you.

Equipment​: I am not even going to remotely try to go through every possible enchantment,
wondrous item, and other mystical gizmo that may or may not help you in your quest. That
would quite frankly be futile, since every character is different and every campaign even more
so. Instead, I am going to give some general guidelines and point out some major stand-outs to
save you some searching. If you know of any item that is undeniably awesome for the class that
I missed, please tell me and I’ll look it up for inclusion here.

Generic items: +stat for the ones you care about, +save items, plus movement and vision
modes you don’t have, are always going to be important.

Specific Items: Crystal Mask of Dread is notable to avoid in most cases, since it’ll usually be
entirely excessive. Exception is if you are going for an Initiator build, since deep into Black
Seraph there exists a Boost to add Intimidate to damage (ouch!). Look instead at things that do
what you normally can’t, such as Deliquescent Gloves or Mind Stones. Shortcutting feats will
help alleviate the burden on your limited slots, so a Wayfinder with an Opalescent White
Pyramid (for example) is nearly automatic for Dazzling Display builds. Finally, anything that
increases the save DCs of your Fear effects, such as the Dead Man’s Headband, are always
worth considering (even if you have to shell out extra for item stacking).

Armor Enhancements: Fortification of various degrees is a good fallback, but there aren’t any
spectacular priorities here (campaign dependent, of course). Silent Moves is good to have if
you’re trying to be sneaky, and Glamered if you’re more social.

Weapon Enhancements: If you are going for a Fearmonger, then Guided is absolutely
mandatory (assuming it is available). If you are running a Scythe, you want Keen. Conductive is
notable for adding free Devastating Touches every turn. Cruel is also very significant for
stacking up more and more penalties on top of Shaken. Dreads, with their mid-BAB, can always
use the raw enhancement bonuses as well.

Builds​: These are meant to just be general guidelines, ways to get yourself going. They also
aren’t really mutually exclusive, but work better if you focus on one and build towards the others
in spare slots or dead levels.

Melee: Strength is prioritized right next to Charisma (or Dex if you’re going Finesse and/or
TWF). This style focuses on making physical attacks backed by Powers and Terrors as buffs, so
pick things like Offensive Precognition, Epidermal Fissure, Caustic Retribution, and any solid
debuff Terror. If you can get a Paralyze or Cower off with a Scythe ready to take advantage,
then Coup de Grace, it’s usually an immediate game over.

Terrors: Straightforward use, here. Your intent is to tag someone with a good Terror each round.
This usually requires melee, until you hit Fear’s Reach or Ranged Mindlock. You will usually
have your Move open, so Hustle Power alternating with Psionic Meditation is often going to be a
good deal. Make sure to pick up both Penetrating Fear and Terror Mastery ASAP.

-Monastic Terrors: A subset of the above, dip Monk for two levels, use the Fearmonger
archetype, and go into Broken Dreams Style (Wisdom is obviously the stat of choice here).
Push it all the way through ASAP, and grab a Guided Amulet of Mighty Fists. Mind Rend is a
decent choice here, since you will be able to use it once per round very reliably.

Caster: Highest Nova potential out of all of them, You can either go for mass debuffs and/or
direct damage (usually via Caustic Transfusion or Mind Blast), and in either case you probably
want a good selection of Metapsionic feats to help you out, plus Overchannel and Talented.
Standouts include Persistent, Quickened, and Hustle Power. Focus almost pure Charisma on
stats, with some Dex to back it up. Learn Schism ASAP as well. Just be aware of your limited
PP reserves, even if you have a Cha in the high 30s this will burn through it quickly. You
definitely want to be a psionic race in order to get more via their extra favored class bonus. If
you have open feat slots, then you really can’t go wrong with a couple of extra instances of
Psionic Talent.

Skills: As I noted earlier, you are a Trait away from having a full skill suite for either Social or
Physical. Take the Trait, and spend your good number of points as you will. Open Minded and
Human racial will help flesh it out, as well. Given your ludicrous Charisma, you are actually very
well suited to the Social side of things (especially if you trait to Diplomacy and Use Magic
Device)