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View Full Version : Sworn Defender (3.5 D&D PrC) (PEACH welcome)



Derjuin
2012-05-08, 12:33 PM
SWORN DEFENDER


http://fc03.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2011/273/3/c/3c2a1c1262a82045c8a0b70c0c22e5d3-d4bffwg.jpg


You shall not advance.

The Sworn Defender is a warrior pledged to protect her charge from danger. Typically they are fighters, paladins or knights given promotion by royalty or nobility to their position of Sworn Defender; others may be sellswords with a noble heart.

BECOMING A SWORN DEFENDER
Sworn Defenders are usually promoted from within an exceptional squad of soldiers, or devote themselves to less regal individuals. There are few that teach the kind of skills a Sworn Defender possesses; even the best can only give advice.

ENTRY REQUIREMENTS
Base Attack Bonus: +5
Skills: Diplomacy 8 ranks
Armor Proficiency: Must be proficient with Medium armor or Heavy armor.
Feats: Skill Focus (Diplomacy)
Special: The character must have sworn allegiance to, and vowed to defend, a charge.
Note: A character for whom Diplomacy is not a class skill needs only to invest 2 ranks into Diplomacy and have Skill Focus (Diplomacy) instead of 8 ranks.

Class Skills
The Sworn Defender's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Climb (Str), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Gather Information (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Knowledge (history) (Int), Knowledge (royalty and nobility) (Int), Listen (Wis), Sense Motive (Wis), Spot (Wis) and Swim (Str).
Skills Points at Each Level: 4 + int

Hit Dice: d8

{table=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special

1st|
+1|
+2|
+0|
+2|Vow of Protection, Vigilant Defender

2nd|
+2|
+3|
+0|
+3|Fearless

3rd|
+3|
+3|
+1|
+3|Words of Command, Halt

4th|
+4|
+4|
+1|
+4|Tenacious Defender, Oathsworn Bond

5th|
+5|
+4|
+1|
+4|Intervene

6th|
+6|
+5|
+2|
+5|Indomitable, Regale

7th|
+7|
+5|
+2|
+5|Stymie their Advance

8th|
+8|
+6|
+2|
+6|Greater Oathsworn Bond

9th|
+9|
+6|
+3|
+6|Voice of Command, Stand Firm

10th|
+10|
+7|
+3|
+7|Always There, Undying Defender[/table]

Weapon Proficiencies: A Sworn Defender that is not already proficient in martial weapons gains proficiency with them. She does not gain any other proficiencies.

Vow of Protection: The oath a Sworn Defender makes with her charge is one of protection. She vows to defend her charge from any and all threats to the best of her ability. Intentionally placing her charge in harm's way causes her to break her vow; she cannot gain the benefits of any abilities that stem from having a charge for one month, and only afterwards may make a vow to protect a different individual. Unintentionally placing her charge in harm's way or failing to protect her charge (such as from overwhelming circumstances) causes the Sworn Defender's oath to end; however, she may make another oath as soon as she finds another individual to defend. At any time in which she does not have a charge to defend, she loses the benefit of abilities that require a living charge. She also loses all benefits associated with her charge if it is no longer a creature (such as if its mental scores are sufficiently drained for the charge to be considered an object).

Vigilant Defender (Ex): A Sworn Defender is always aware of the chance of danger, lurking even in the courts of nobles and the keeps of monarchs. She gains an insight bonus to all Spot, Listen and Initiative checks equal to her Sworn Defender levels. In addition, once per round she may make a single Spot and Listen check as a free action.

Fearless (Ex): While a Sworn Defender's charge is alive, no fear, magical or otherwise, may penetrate her mind to cloud her duty. At 2nd level, she becomes immune to all fear effects as long as the individual she has sworn to defend is alive (Sworn Defenders with undead charges still gain this ability as long as their charge is not destroyed).

Words of Command (Su): Sworn Defenders are individuals in charge, and as such issue commands with weight behind them. At 3rd level, she becomes able to magically empower her commands once per day per Sworn Defender level. This empowerment may take two forms: specialized commands (Halt, Regale and Stand Firm), or may be used as a general command as per the spell Command (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/command.htm). The save DC for this use of Words of Command is 10 + the Sworn Defender's level + her Charisma bonus. Using Words of Command in this way is a standard action.

Halt (Su): Beginning at 3rd level, a Sworn Defender can issue a stern command that disrupts a single creature's thoughts. The Sworn Defender chooses a single creature within 60 feet of her that she can see and sternly catches the creature's attention with a word. The victim must make a Will save (DC 10 + the Sworn Defender's level + her Charisma bonus) or be stunned. If the victim is immune to stunning, it is dazed instead. The creature and the Sworn Defender do not need to share languages, but the victim must be able to hear the Sworn Defender.

Tenacious Defender (Ex): A Sworn Defender of 4th level or higher is a ferocious foe in combat. Her natural reach with all weapons extends by 5 feet and she gains 2 extra attacks of opportunity per turn. These extra attacks of opportunity stack with those provided by other sources of bonus attacks of opportunity (such as from Combat Reflexes). In addition, all squares which the Sworn Defender threatens is considered rough terrain for her foes.

Oathsworn Bond (Su): Some say that a Sworn Defender achieves a magical sixth sense when around her charge, able to detect danger before it happens - and when she is not there, can tell when her charge is in danger. Beginning at 4th level, the Sworn Defender automatically knows the health and wellbeing of her charge as long as the two are on the same plane of existence, as the Status (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/status.htm) spell. In addition, whenever the Sworn Defender is within 30 feet of her charge, both she and her charge are able to act during surprise rounds.

Intervene (Ex): Beginning at 5th level, a Sworn Defender is able to run at high speeds to save her charge from an attacker. As a free action once per encounter, the Sworn Defender may run up to three times her speed to intercept an attack made by a foe. This ability must be used in response to an enemy attacking her charge. The Sworn Defender need not have line of sight to her charge, but must be able to run the distance between her and her charge. She may choose to bull rush the threatening enemy at the end of her run. As soon as the Sworn Defender arrives (before initiating the bull rush if she chooses to make one), she becomes the target of all attacks initiated against her charge that round (all attacks that would be made against her charge are instead redirected to her - they roll against her AC and deal damage to her instead). This ability doesn't work against spells that don't require a touch attack to complete.

Indomitable (Ex): While a Sworn Defender's charge is alive, no compulsion, magical or otherwise, may penetrate her mind to cloud her duty. At 6th level, she becomes immune to all compulsion, charm and domination effects as long as the individual she has sworn to defend is alive (Sworn Defenders with undead charges still gain this ability as long as their charge is not destroyed). In addition, she gains an insight bonus to all Sense Motive checks equal to her Sworn Defender level.

Regale (Su): Beginning at 6th level, a Sworn Defender may captivate those she speaks with by way of recounting tales or engaging them in typical political talk. She may expend a use of her Words of Command ability to affect a group of creatures as if by the Enthrall (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/enthrall.htm) spell. Unlike the spell, however, using Regale requires only a standard action, creatures are considered to have an attitude of Friendly regardless of HD or Wisdom score, and creatures that do not succeed on any saving throws the ability may offer them (such as by witnessing an action the creature opposes) are considered Friendly toward you for 24 hours afterwards.

Stymie their Advance (Ex): Beginning at 7th level, a single Sworn Defender can halt the advance of an entire army if determined enough. Whenever she makes a successful attack of opportunity against an enemy that is moving inside her threatened area, the Sworn Defender can force the enemy back to the 5-foot space it was in before it provoked the attack of opportunity. After the attack of opportunity resolves, make an opposed Strength check against the enemy. The Sworn Defender gains a +4 bonus for each size category she is larger than the enemy, and an additional +1 bonus for every level of Sworn Defender she has. If the Sworn Defender wins this opposed check, the enemy is pushed back 5 feet into the space it just left. An enemy pushed by the Sworn Defender cannot move any farther in this round.

Greater Oathsworn Bond (Su): Beginning at 8th level, the bond between a Sworn Defender and her charge strengthens even further. Whenever the Sworn Defender and her charge are within 100 feet of each other, they can a special telepathic link that allows them to share thoughts and communicate with each other. In addition, when within this distance, the Sworn Defender's charge is affected as if by a Shield Other (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/shieldOther.htm) spell and the Sworn Defender takes 20 fewer points of damage from all sources.

Voice of Command (Su): Beginning at 9th level, a Sworn Defender's unwavering voice carries a more potent magic within it. She may use either Command (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/command.htm) or Suggestion (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/suggestion.htm) as a standard action at will.

Stand Firm (Su): The ultimate empowering command a Sworn Defender can give is to Stand Firm. Using Stand Firm is a standard action and removes a single condition (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/conditionSummary.htm) from each ally that can hear the Sworn Defender and is within 30 feet of her, or automatically dispel a single ongoing spell that is affecting that ally as if by Dispel Magic, Greater (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/dispelMagicGreater.htm). Conditions this ability can remove include: 1 point of Ability Damage, 1 point of Ability Drain, Blinded (as long as the ally has not been blinded for more than 1 round), Confused, Cowering, Dazed, Dazzled, Deafened, 1 level of Energy Drain or Permanent Level Drain, Entangled, Exhausted, Fascinated, Fatigued, Flat-Footed, Frightened, Nauseated, Panicked, Paralyzed, Petrified, Shaken, Sickened, Stunned or Turned. The Sworn Defender's caster level on the dispel check to end an ongoing spell is 20.

Always There (Su): The charge of a Sworn Defender need never fear for their lives, for if a master Sworn Defender has vowed to protect them, protected they shall be, as long as the two are on the same plane. At 10th level, a Sworn Defender may give her charge a keyword (typically her name, or a short phrase). At any time afterwards until the Sworn Defender ends the effect (a swift action), the Sworn Defender's charge may utter the keyword as a swift action. If he or she successfuly does, the Sworn Defender may appear at her charge's location as if taken there by a Word of Recall (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/wordOfRecall.htm) spell. The Sworn Defender knows the condition her charge is in instantly and the situation in which she is being summoned, and may choose to refuse the summons.

Undying Defender (Ex): A Sworn Defender is nearly impossible to permanently defeat while her charge is still alive. She gains immunity to all death effects and negative energy effects, and any effect or attack that would kill her instead does not (if it is an effect such as Implosion (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/implosion.htm), she is considered to have succeeded on her save). For two rounds afterwards, the Sworn Defender cannot die from hit point damage or spells that instantly slay; after two roudns, however, she suffers the effects of any hit point damage or ongoing effects she may have suffered that would kill her. This effect can occur once per minute.

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Looking for PEACH, especially on wording. Wrote this down while quite tired so some things may be missing or worded weirdly. Also ways to minimize abuse, such as making your charge a familiar who is also an object and is shrunk and placed in your pocket or something bizarre like that.