[3.5 PrC] Sometimes the third option is "all of the above"

[Flickerdart]

Disciple of the Crossroads
"A man who walks along a single path is a fool, for he has turned away away from every other."

Master Parak, disciple of the crossroads

The world is full of secrets - martial techniques, supernatural insights and exotic styles that, however briefly, allow their users to rise above and beyond their normal capabilities. While to a casual observer, they may be multitudinous in variation, their fundamental similarities allow one with the right mindset to move beyond their superficial differences and achieve a power that is far greater.

Disciplines
This prestige class deals with abilities such as Rage or Bardic Music. There are many abilities such as these, and they will be referred to with the blanket term Disciplines. In order to qualify as a Discipline, an ability must possess the following qualities:

Gained as a class feature at level 1 of a base character class
Usable a limited number of times per day, with more uses gained as the character gains more levels
Must improve (in terms of the bonus it gives, or extra abilities it confers) simply by taking more levels in the character class
Is not a spell slot, power point reserve or similar ability, nor does it exclusively modify spells, powers or similar abilities

For instance, Turn Undead is not a Discipline, because it does not gain additional uses from more levels in cleric, Stunning Fist and Killoren Smite are not Disciplines because they are not class features, and Wild Shape is not a Discipline because it is not gained at first level. Rage is a Discipline (since it can be acquired by a 1st level barbarian and gets more uses with more gains barbarian levels) even if it's gained from another class such as half-orc paragon.

Thus, the following abilities qualify as Disciplines (if I am forgetting any, let me know):

Rage
Bardic Music
Knight's Challenge
Smite Evil/Good/Chaos/Law/Opposition
Hexblade's Curse
Totem Shape
Resistance to Energy


Hit Die: d8

Entry Requirements
Skills: 8 ranks in any Wisdom based skill, 2 ranks Concentration
Base Attack Bonus: +3
Class Features: Ability to use any two Disciplines at least twice a day each

{table=head] Level | BAB |Fort | Ref | Will | Special

1st | +1 | +0 | +0 | +2 | Walker of many paths, harmonious warrior

2nd | +2 | +0 | +0 | +3 | One as many, indiscriminate warrior

3rd | +3 | +1 | +1 | +3 | Many as one, bonus feat

4th | +4 | +1 | +1 | +4 | Momentum cascade

5th | +5 | +1 | +1 | +4 | Pierce the veil[/table]

The disciple of the crossroads' class skills (4+Int modifier per level) are the skills that were already class skills for the character prior to taking the first level of this class.

Class Features
Weapon and Armor Proficiencies: Disciples of the crossroads do not gain proficiency with any armour or weapons.

Walker of Many Paths: Even a novice disciple of the crossroads has learned many techniques, and he continues to develop them. A disciple of the crossroads gains a bonus use of each of his Disciplines per level in this class, and disciple levels count when determining the effects of his Disciplines and for the purposes of gaining more advanced versions of the Discipline. Additionally, the disciple may continue to advance in the classes that granted him his Disciplines, and does not suffer any consequences to his Disciplines for being an ex-class member.

Harmonious Warrior: A disciple of the crossroads has learned to move smoothly from one discipline to another. He may use a Disciplines even if another Discipline's ongoing effect would prevent him from doing so (but not if he unable to use it for any other reason).

One as Many: As the disciple of the crossroads continues to contemplate his powers, he begins to erase the artificial boundaries between them. A 2nd level or higher disciple may use a daily use of a Discipline as though it was the daily use of another Discipline.

Indiscriminate Warrior: The disciple of the crossroads has gone beyond the tenets of his original training. At 2nd level, he gains the ability to use a Discipline on a target that could not normally be affected by it, so long as it could be affected by another of his Disciplines.

Many as One (Ex): At 3rd level, the disciple of the crossroads has grown more familiar with using his abilities, and has begun combining them into new fighting styles. As part of the same action used to activate one of his Disciplines, he may activate another. The total amount of Disciplines he may activate in this way is equal to his class level. When used this way, the benefits of the Disciplines stack.

Bonus Feat: At 3rd level, the disciple of the crossroads has learned to find equilibrium between his abilities. He may select any feat that has access to a Discipline as a prerequisite (such as Extra Rage) provided that he meets all the prerequisites for the feat.

Momentum Cascade (Ex): At 4th level, the disciple of the crossroads learns to push the advantage, unleashing a torrent of successively more powerful techniques. Whenever he uses a Discipline, any subsequent use of the Discipline in the encounter has its numeric effects and duration increased by 1, after all other modifiers. This increase is cumulative up to your class level, but uses of the same Discipline do not stack when used this way. For instance, a paladin making his second Smite attempt of the encounter will gain an extra +1 to attack and damage, and also gain the Smite's bonus to attack and damage (including the bonuses from Momentum Cascade) on his next attack. Should he choose to make his next attack a Smite as well, he would not benefit from the attack and damage bonuses of the previous Smite, but his bonuses from Momentum Cascade would increase to +2.

Pierce the Veil (Su): A 5th level disciple of the crossroads has passed beyond the distinctions made between different styles. By spending two uses of Disciplines, he may activate a Discipline ability that he does not possess. His effective level for this ability is equal to his character level minus five. He does not actually possess the ability, however, and can neither use it as a prerequisite nor benefit from One as Many, Many as One or Walker of Many Paths in conjunction with it.

[Answerer]

This is awesome, I like this a lot. One could make an argument that Soul Binding qualifies as a Discipline, which would be broken, but I doubt many DMs would allow that anyway (and you really have to want that to work to read it that way).

The one critique I have is that I haven't the foggiest idea how Momentum Cascade works. Which is a shame, because it sounds awesome.

[Flickerdart]

Yeah, that's kind of why I put the example there.

Basically, it's supposed to reward people who have a billionty uses of a Discipline with a long duration, and make things easier on people with a Discipline that has a short duration at the same time. Someone using a Knight's Challenge as a 1st level Knight with 10 Charisma gets +1 to attack, +1 to damage and +1 to Will saves for 5 rounds. If he uses Knight's Challenge again within the encounter, he now gets +2 to attack, +2 to damage and +2 to Will saves for 6 rounds. If he uses it a third time, it's now +3, +3 and +3 for 7 rounds, and so on. But at no point does he benefit from the +2 and +3 instances of Knight's Challenge simultaneously (and not just because they're the same type), nor can he pump his bonus beyond his Disciple of the Crossroads level.

Incidentally, anyone notice how many of the Discipline using classes like CHA? Bard, Paladin, Knight, Hexblade...even Barbarians like some CHA occasionally for the intimidating.

[LordErebus12]

:smallwink:
2nd - The Evershifting Path:
Sometimes the only way to master the real paths through the world are through becoming one with the world around yourself. Those who practice the old magics, shaping themselves into beasts or other primal forms lead you into realms not meant to be traveled by those who are unprepared. Add Druidic Wild Shaping to the list of Disciplines. Treating the Disciple class level as -1 for any level based effects. This ability replaces the indiscriminate warrior ability.


"Why and how did that Barbarian11/Disciple5 just become a raging fire elemental? Am I missing something..."

[Flickerdart]

Wildshape isn't included in the criteria for Disciplines on purpose. It interacts in a nasty way with Many as One (immediate action Wildshape combined with Ferocity) and Pierce the Veil (suddenly everyone who's taking this to 5th level becomes able to Wildshape loads of times per day and it's too good a class not to take).

[Answerer]

Suggested rewording of Momentum Cascade:

Momentum Cascade (Ex): Each of the Disciplines known by a 4th-level Disciple of the Crossroads gains a counter associated with it. This counter starts at zero at the beginning of every combat.

Each time the Disciple uses a Discipline, he adds the counter's value to that Discipline's bonuses and duration, and then increases that counter by 1.

For example, a Disciple of the Crossroads who uses Smite Evil begins an encounter with his Smite Evil counter at 0. Thus, when he first uses it, it behaves as normal (he adds 0 to its bonuses and duration), and the counter goes to 1. The next time he uses it, he adds the value of the counter (1) to the Smite's bonus to attack (i.e. Cha+1), its bonus to damage (i.e. Level+1), and also to its duration (i.e. it applies to his next two attacks instead of just the next one). The counter then progresses to 2 for the next time.

If the same Disciple of the Crossroads then uses Hex, the Hex does not benefit from the Smite Evil counter; instead it has its own counter.