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LtPowers
2010-11-21, 08:32 PM
Divine Chorister

Some years after the Time of Troubles, the Deities of Faerûn began recognizing their most devout followers of all professions with special abilities. These abilities were reserved, of course, for only the most dedicated and most outstanding among the deity’s faithful. This recognition of followers outside of the deity’s clergy took many forms. Those skilled with blades and tactics took on the mantle of the Divine Champion. Those with skill in the Art were called Arcane Devotees. Those slippery types with ability in stealth and espionage were called to service as Divine Seekers. And even those already granted power by their patron could advance their service further by becoming Divine Disciples.

But there was one class of follower who never fit in very well with any of these categories. Although having a reputation for fickleness and opportunism, there were – and are – many who remain just as devoted to their deities as any Divine Champion or Seeker. They simply choose – by chance of birth or skill or just whim – to serve their patrons through song, dance, art, and the other skills of … the Bard.

True, Bards could, and have, become Arcane Devotees or Divine Seekers. Even Divine Champions would not be unheard of, for the most martial of Bards. But each of those three categories ignores multiple aspects of a Bard’s skill set. Bardic Arcane Devotees lack stealth and fighting ability, and their special powers are geared toward the wider spell selections of Sorcerers and Wizards. Bardic Divine Seekers give up some magical ability, and their special abilities benefit Rogues more than Bards. Bardic Divine Champions also give up magical ability in exchange for martial abilities most Bards get little chance to use.

Due to this, some of the Deities with many Bardic followers (particularly Oghma and the Elven powers Corellon Larethian and Hanali Celanil) began bestowing additional powers on their devoted Bards. These Bards call themselves Divine Choristers (Cho), charged with spreading the ministry of their churches across Faerûn as only Bards can do. They rarely serve as choristers in a physical church, except on a temporary basis, because few Bards are willing to stay in one place for long. But wherever they go, they serve as heralds and evangelists, fighting for their deities’ causes with faith and divine power.

Hit die: d6

REQUIREMENTS:

Alignment: Any nonlawful. In addition, the character’s alignment must follow the same rules as for Clerics (within one ‘step’ and cannot be neutral unless the deity is neutral). Divine Choristers of Oghma and Gond are excepted; they can have any non-lawful alignment. No lawful deities call Divine Choristers, with the significant exception of Moradin; a surprising number of Dwarven Bards venerate the Soul Forger.
Patron Deity: A Divine Chorister must have a patron deity, and it must be the deity of which she is a chorister. Only certain deities favor Bards enough to call them to service as Divine Choristers.
Skills:

Perform: 10 ranks
Knowledge (religion): 8 ranks
Diplomacy or Intimidate: 5 ranks

Feats: Any one of the following: Extra Music, Green Ear, Lingering Song, or Requiem
Spells: Ability to cast 3rd-level arcane spells.
Special: Holy symbol (silver or better) appropriate to the character’s faith.


{table=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special|Spells
1|+0|+0|+2|+2|Herald’s call|+1 level of bard
2|+1|+0|+3|+3|Sacred defense +1, Sacred lore|+1 level of bard
3|+2|+1|+3|+3|Domain ability|+1 level of bard
4|+3|+1|+4|+4|Sacred defense +2, Divine music|+1 level of bard
5|+3|+1|+4|+4|Bonus feat|+1 level of bard
[/table]

CLASS FEATURES:

Skills: A Divine Chorister gets (4 + Int modifier) skill points per level. Class skills for Divine Choristers (and their relevant abilities) are Balance (Dex), Bluff (Cha), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Decipher Script (Int,), Diplomacy (Cha), Gather Information (Wis), Heal (Wis), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (all) (Int), Listen (Wis), Perform (Cha), Profession (Wis), Scry (Int), Sense Motive (Wis), Speak Language (Int), Spellcraft (Int), Tumble (Dex), Use Magic Device (Cha).

Weapon and Armor proficiency: Divine Choristers gain no additional weapon or armor proficiencies. Like bards, they can use light armor without the chance of arcane spell failure, but only for bard spells.

Spells: Divine Choristers can add each level in Divine Chorister to their levels in bard for purposes of determining the character’s spell slots and caster level. Divine Choristers are restricted from casting spells in opposition to their or their deity’s alignment. For example, a Divine Chorister of Hanali Celanil could not cast Lawful or Evil spells. Any such spells already in the character’s repertoire can be swapped for a different spell of the same level (normally an appropriate-alignment version of the same spell, such as protection from evil instead of protection from good).

Herald’s call (Ex): Divine Choristers gain a +4 sacred (or profane) bonus on all checks (such as Bluff, Diplomacy, Intimidate, or Perform, or even a Charisma check) made to influence others to participate in an endeavor sponsored by the character's deity. For example, a Divine Chorister of Oghma would gain a +4 bonus to her Diplomacy check when trying to convince a band of adventurers to help her track down a book of ancient knowledge that her church needs. Good Divine Choristers or Divine Choristers of good deities cannot use Bluff or Intimidate in this way; such Divine Choristers must be open and honest with potential recruits.

Sacred defense (Su): Add this value (+1 at 2nd level, +2 at 4th level) to the Divine Chorister's saving throws against divine spells, as well as the spell-like and supernatural abilities of outsiders.

Sacred lore (Ex): Starting at second level, a Divine Chorister can add her Divine Chorister levels to any Bardic Knowledge or Harper Knowledge check she makes regarding some aspect of her faith. Important worshipers, sacred artifacts, holy sites, ancient rituals, and forgotten history are examples of subjects for which this ability can be used.

Domain Ability (Su): At third level, the Divine Chorister can select any one of her deity’s domains and gain the special ability for that domain. The following domains are ineligible for selection via this ability: Magic, Rune, and any Prestige domain.

Divine Music (Su): Starting at fourth level, a Divine Chorister can choose to draw his Bardic Music effects from his deity instead of from the Weave. A number of times per day equal to 1 plus the character’s Wisdom bonus (if any), the character can change the morale and competence bonuses from Inspire Courage, Inspire Confidence, and Inspire Greatness into divine bonuses. This will allow these effects to stack with other morale and competence bonuses. However, there is an exception: despite having different descriptors, bonuses from Divine Music do not stack with normal Bardic Music bonuses.

Bonus feat: At fifth level, the Divine Chorister can choose a bonus feat from the following choices: Disguise Spell, Extra Music, Green Ear, Lingering Song, Obscure Lore, Requiem, Spell Thematics, and Subsonics. Any prerequisites a feat requires must be met, as usual.

LtPowers
2010-11-23, 09:53 AM
Anyone? I'm particularly worried that the Sacred Lore ability is too weak, since it merely (partially) replaces something the bard would have gotten anyway if she hadn't taken the PrC. I'm open to alternate suggestions.


Powers &8^]

LtPowers
2010-11-24, 07:12 PM
Have I forgotten some key component of these posts? Is there something missing that is keeping people from commenting? I realize I'm certainly not entitled to a response, but usually folks here are pretty helpful, so I'm a bit confused.


Powers &8^]

Elfstone
2010-11-24, 07:25 PM
Looks kinda underpowered to me... Only gives boosts to a skill related to the deity. And the defense is ONLY for divine spells. Maybe make it all spells or affects?

LtPowers
2010-11-24, 10:31 PM
Looks kinda underpowered to me... Only gives boosts to a skill related to the deity. And the defense is ONLY for divine spells. Maybe make it all spells or affects?

Sacred Defense is copied verbatim from Divine Champion and Divine Seeker. =)


Powers &8^]

LtPowers
2010-11-28, 03:46 PM
Anyone else have any ideas?


Powers &8^]