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Alabenson
2014-02-20, 05:26 PM
The Templar

Adventures: Templars typically adventure in order to seek out enemies of their church, both actual enemies and those they perceive as such. While they will also go on adventures to hone their skills, they are constantly on the lookout for targets that need to be eliminated.

Characteristics: Templars possess a wide variety of skills, particularly those involving stealth and deception. Like rogues, templars are able to deal immense amounts of damage to opponents that they can catch off guard. However, while rogues employ a combination of precision and anatomical knowledge to inflict damage, templars employ the power of their faith to strike down their enemies. Finally, templars can call upon a limited amount of divine magic to aid them and their allies.

Alignment: Like clerics, templars can be of any alignment, as churches of every alignment find they have enemies that they wish to see destroyed.

Religion: Virtually every church has at least some templars serving it, although some churches, particularly those devoted to more martial or lawful deities, prefer not to acknowledge their templars existence. As a result, the templars of these churches act as secret societies, hunting the enemies of their churches both within and without.

Background: How an individual becomes a templar generally depends on how their church views its templars. In churches where templars are accepted, promising candidates are often pulled from those studying to become clerics. These individuals are then taken to special monasteries, where they receive training which more closely resembles the drills of a thieves guild than the studies of a cleric’s seminary.
Among churches where templars aren’t openly acknowledged, new recruits are typically trained one on one by older templars.

Races: Humans, with their massively varied moral and ethical ideals, represent the majority of templars. Among nonhumans, halflings and gnomes are particularly likely to become templars due to their culture’s ingrained respect for stealth over brute force.

Other Classes: Templars usually work well with classes that appreciate the value of stealth, such as rogues, beguilers or swordsages. That said, they also understand that accomplishing their goals often requires a varied number of skills, and thus they are willing to work with virtually anyone. However, even lawful good templars often find it difficult to work with paladins, who view the templar’s methods as dishonorable.

Role: With their impressive skill selection, templars are well suited to acting as scouts and skirmishers, sneaking ahead of their teams and eliminating threats before the battle even begins. Furthermore, depending on their spell and skill selection templars can also potentially provide potent healing for their comrades.

GAME RULE INFORMATION
Templars have the following game statistics
Abilities: Charisma is exceedingly important to templars, as it determines the power of their spellcasting as well as several of their special abilities. Dexterity is also useful as templars wear light armor, and Constitution provides much needed hitpoints.
Alignment: Any. Like clerics, a templar who worships a deity must have an alignment within one step of their deity’s.
Hit Die: D6
Starting Age: As a bard
Starting Gold: As cleric

Class Skills:
Balance, Bluff, Climb, Concentration, Craft, Decipher Script, Diplomacy, Disable Device, Disguise, Escape Artist, Forgery, Gather Information, Heal, Hide, Intimidate, Jump, Knowledge (local), Knowledge (religion), Listen, Move Silently, Open Lock, Profession, Search, Sense Motive, Sleight of Hand, Spellcraft, Spot, Swim, Tumble, Use Rope
Skill Points at 1st level: (6 + Intelligence Modifier) x4
Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 6 + Intelligence Modifier



LevelBABFortRefWillSpecial0th 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th



1st+0+0+2+2 Judgment +1d6, Trapfinding3 -- -- -- -- -- --



2nd+1+0+3+3 Detect Opposing Alignment, Evasion 4 1 -- -- -- -- --



3rd+2+1+3+3 Judgment +2d6 4 2 -- -- -- -- --



4th+3+1+4+4 Sacred Blades 4 3 1 -- -- -- --



5th+3+1+4+4 Judgment +3d6 4 4 2 -- -- -- --



6th+4+2+5+5 Rapid Stealth, Uncanny Dodge 4 4 3 -- -- -- --



7th+5+2+5+5 Judgment +4d6 4 4 3 1 -- -- --



8th+6+2+6+6 Know Alignment 4 4 4 2 -- -- --



9th+6 +3+6 +6 Judgment +5d6 4 4 4 3 -- -- --



10th+7+3+7+7 Improved Evasion 4 4 4 3 1 -- --



11th+8+3+7+7 Judgment +6d6 4 4 4 4 2 -- --



12th+9+4+8+8 Hide in Plain Sight, Improved Uncanny Dodge
4 4 4 4 3 -- --



13th+9+4+8+8 Judgment +7d6 4 4 4 4 3 1 --



14th+10+4+9+9 Slippery Mind 5 4 4 4 4 2 --



15th+11+5+9+9 Judgment +8d6 5 5 4 4 4 3 --



16th+12+5+10+10 Lifeward 5 5 5 4 4 3 1



17th+12+5+10+10 Judgment +9d6 5 5 5 5 4 4 2



18th+13+6+11+11 One With the Shadows 5 5 5 5 5 4 3



19th+14+6+11+11 Judgment +10d6 5 5 5 5 5 5 4



20th+15+6+12+12 Final Judgment 5 5 5 5 5 5 5



Weapon and Armor Proficiencies: Templars are proficient with all simple weapons. A templar is proficient with light armor, but not shields.

Spells: A templar casts divine spells, which are drawn from the templar spell list (see below). A templar can cast any spell he knows without preparing it ahead of time.
To learn or cast a spell, a templar must have a Charisma score equal to at least 10 + the spell level. The Difficulty Class for a saving throw against a templar’s spell is 10 + the spell level + the templar’s Cha modifier.
A templar can cast only a certain number of spells of each spell level per day. The templar’s base daily spell allotment is given on the Table. In addition, a templar receives bonus spells per day if he has a high Charisma score.
Upon reaching 5th level, and at every third templar level after that, a templar can choose to learn a new spell in place of one he already knows. In effect, the templar “loses” the old spell in exchange for the new one. The new spell’s level must be the same as that of the spell being exchanged, and it must be at least two levels lower than the highest-level templar spell the templar can cast. A templar may only swap a single spell at any given level, and must choose whether or not to swap the spell at the same time that he gains new spells known for the level.

Templar Spells Known



Level 0th 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th



1st 4 -- -- -- -- -- --



2nd 5 2 -- -- -- -- --



3rd 6 3 -- -- -- -- --



4th 6 3 2 -- -- -- --



5th 6 4 3 -- -- -- --



6th 6 4 3 -- -- -- --



7th 6 4 4 2 -- -- --



8th 6 4 4 3 -- -- --



9th 6 4 4 3 -- -- --



10th 6 4 4 4 2 -- --



11th 6 4 4 4 3 -- --



12th 6 4 4 4 3 -- --



13th 6 4 4 4 4 2 --



14th 6 4 4 4 4 3 --



15th 6 4 4 4 4 3 --



16th 6 5 4 4 4 4 2



17th 6 5 5 4 4 4 3



18th 6 5 5 5 4 4 3



19th 6 5 5 5 5 4 4



20th 6 5 5 5 5 5 4




Judgement (Su): Every templar serves a specific alignment, which allows them to charge their weapons with holy or unholy energy and inflict grievous wounds on opponents who can’t defend themselves effectively. At 1st level, a templar selects an alignment to champion, either chaos, evil, good, or law, which must match the templar’s own alignment. Templars who are True Neutral instead deal extra damage to opponents who are of an extreme alignment (LG, CG, LE, or CE).The templar then gains the ability to deal additional damage to creatures of the opposing alignment if they are denied their Dexterity bonus to AC or when they are flanked by the templar.
A templar can deal judgment damage with a ranged attack from any distance. However, a templar can not make a judgment attack with a weapon that deals nonlethal damage, even if they take the -4 penalty to deal lethal damage.
Because a templar's judgement works by channeling divine energy rather than dealing precision damage, a judgment attack can deal damage to creatures that lack discernible anatomies or are otherwise immune to critical hits. However, a templar must still be able to clearly see their opponent in order to properly perform the attack, thus a templay cannot use their judgement attack when striking a creature with concealment.
Chaos: The templar deals regular judgment damage to lawful creatures. Against lawful outsiders, the damage dice of the templar’s judgment increase to d8 instead of d6. Against creatures that are neither lawful or chaotic, the damage dice of the templar’s judgment decrease to d4 instead of d6. Creatures that are chaotic take no damage from the templar’s judgment.
Evil: The templar deals regular judgment damage to good creatures. Against good outsiders, the damage dice of the templar’s judgment increase to d8 instead of d6. Against creatures that are neither good or evil, the damage dice of the templar’s judgment decrease to d4 instead of d6. Creatures that are evil take no damage from the templar’s judgment.
Good: The templar deals regular judgment damage to evil creatures. Against evil outsiders, the damage dice of the templar’s judgment increase to d8 instead of d6. Against creatures that are neither good or evil, the damage dice of the templar’s judgment decrease to d4 instead of d6. Creatures that are good take no damage from the templar’s judgment.
Law: The templar deals regular judgment damage to chaotic creatures. Against chaotic outsiders, the damage dice of the templar’s judgment increase to d8 instead of d6. Against creatures that are neither lawful or chaotic, the damage dice of the templar’s judgment decrease to d4 instead of d6. Creatures that are lawful take no damage from the templar’s judgment.
Neutral: The templar deals regular judgment damage to LG, CG, LE, or CE creatures. Against LG, CG, LE, or CE outsiders, the damage dice of the templar’s judgment increase to d8 instead of d6. Against creatures that are either NG, LN, CN, or NE, the damage dice of the templar’s judgment decrease to d4 instead of d6. Creatures that are N take no damage from the templar’s judgement.

Trapfinding (Ex): A templar can use the Search skill to locate traps with a DC higher than 20, and he can use Disable Device to bypass a trap or disarm magic traps.

Detect Opposing Alignment (Sp): At 2nd level, a templar gains the ability to detect the alignment in opposition to the one they serve at will. A true neutral templar must choose to detect any one alignment and once made this choice may not be changed.

Evasion (Ex): At 2nd level and higher, a templar can avoid even magical and unusual attacks with great agility. If he makes a successful Reflex saving throw against an attack that normally deals half damage on a successful save, he instead takes no damage. Evasion can only be used if the templar is wearing light or no armor. A helpless templar (such as one who is unconscious or paralyzed) does not gain the benefit of evasion.

Sacred Blades (Su): Beginning at 4th level a templar develops the ability to combine their combat training with the power of their faith. Whenever a templar of 4th level or higher wields a light melee weapon, they receive a sacred bonus to their attack and damage rolls equal to their Charisma modifier (if positive).

Rapid Stealth (Ex): A templar of 6th level or higher no longer takes penalties to Hide and Move Silently when moving at greater than one-half full speed, and only takes a -10 penalty to Hide and Move Silently when running.

Uncanny Dodge (Ex): Starting at 6th level, a templar can react to danger before his senses would normally allow him to do so. He retains his Dexterity bonus to AC (if any) even if he is caught flat-footed or struck by an invisible attacker. However, he still loses his Dexterity bonus to AC if immobilized.
If a templar already had uncanny dodge from a different class (a templar with at least two levels of barbarian, for example), he automatically gains improved uncanny dodge (see below) instead.

Know Alignment (Sp): At 8th level, a templar gains the ability to determine the alignment of any creature within 60 feet as a swift action.

Improved Evasion (Ex): At 10th level, a templar’s evasion ability improves. He still takes no damage on a successful Reflex saving throw against attacks such as a dragon’s breath weapon or a fireball, but henceforth he takes only half damage on a failed save. A helpless templar (such as one who is unconscious or paralyzed) does not gain the benefit of improved evasion.

Hide in Plain Sight (Ex): Starting at 12th level, a templar is able to use the Hide skill even in cases where they normally would be unable to (such as if they lack cover or concealment or are being directly observed).

Improved Uncanny Dodge (Ex): A templar of 12th level or higher can no longer be flanked; he can react to opponents on opposite sides of him as easily as he can react to a single attacker. This defense denies an opponent the ability to sneak attack the character by flanking him, unless the attacker has at least four more sneak attack granting levels than the target has templar levels.
If a character already has uncanny dodge (see above) from a second class, the character automatically gains improved uncanny dodge instead, and the levels from the classes.

Slippery Mind (Ex): If a templar of 14th level or higher is affected by an enchantment spell or effect and fails his saving throw, he can attempt it again 1 round later at the same DC. He gets only this one extra chance to succeed on his saving throw.

Lifeward (Ex): At 16th level and beyond, a templar’s lifeforce becomes warded against magical attacks. The templar becomes immune to death spells and effects, energy drain and negative energy effects.

One With the Shadows (Ex): A templar of 18th level or higher has perfected their mastery of stealth to such a degree that they become nearly impossible to see or hear. Unless the templar wants to be seen or heard, they are always considered to be taking 10 on both Move Silently and Hide.

Final Judgment (Su): At 20th level, a templar’s mastery of their judgment ability reaches its pinnacle. Once per round as a swift action, a templar may force an opponent damaged by their judgment ability to make a Fortitude saving throw with a DC equal to 10 + 1/2 the templar's class level (rounded + the templar’s Charisma modifier. On a failed save, the target is slain (undead and constructs are instead destroyed). On a successful save, the target takes twice the normal judgment damage and takes additional penalties for a number of rounds equal to the templar’s Charisma modifier (minimum 1). A templar may use this ability a number of times per day equal to their Charisma modifier.
Chaos: The target receives a -6 penalty to AC. Lawful outsiders receive a -4 circumstance penalty to their saving throw. Creatures that are neither lawful or chaotic receive a +4 circumstance bonus to their saving throw.
Evil: The target receives a -6 penalty to Fortitude saves. Good outsiders receive a -4 circumstance penalty to their saving throw. Creatures that are neither good or evil receive a +4 circumstance bonus to their saving throw.
Good: The target receives a -6 penalty to all attack rolls. Evil outsiders receive a -4 circumstance penalty to their saving throw. Creatures that are neither good or evil receive a +4 circumstance bonus to their saving throw.
Law: The target receives a -6 penalty to Will saves. Chaotic outsiders receive a -4 circumstance penalty to their saving throw. Creatures that are neither lawful or chaotic receive a +4 circumstance bonus to their saving throw.
Neutral: The target receives a -6 penalty to Reflex saves. LG, CG, LE, or CE outsiders receive a -4 circumstance penalty to their saving throw. NG, LN, CN, or NE creatures receive a +4 circumstance bonus to their saving throw.

Templar Spell List
0: create water, cure minor wounds, dancing lights, detect magic, detect poison, ghost sound, guidance, inflict minor wounds, light, mage hand, mending, message, open/close, purify food and drink, read magic, resistance

1: alarm, animate rope, bane, bless, cause fear, command, comprehend languages, cure light wounds, detect secret doors, disguise self, divine favor, doom, entropic shield, erase, feather fall, hide from undead, inflict light wounds, lesser confusion, magic weapon, obscuring mist, protection from chaos/evil/good/law, remove fear, shield of faith, silent image, undetectable alignment, ventriloquism

2: aid, align weapon, alter self, augury, blur, calm emotions, cat’s grace, cure moderate wounds, darkness, death knell, delay poison, detect thoughts, eagle’s splendor, find traps, fox’s cunning, gentle repose, hold person, hypnotic pattern, inflict moderate wounds, invisibility, locate object, make whole, minor image, mirror image, misdirection, remove paralysis, resist energy, restoration, lesser, scare, shatter, silence, spiritual weapon, status, tongues, whispering winds, zone of truth

3: bestow cruse, blink, clairaudience/clairvoyance, continual flame, create food and water, cure serious wounds, daylight, deeper darkness, dispel magic, displacement, fear, gaseous form, glibness, haste, helping hand, illusory script, inflict serious wounds, invisibility purge, invisibility sphere, magic circle against chaos/evil/good/law, magic vestment, major image, prayer, protection from energy, remove blindness/deafness, remove curse, remove disease, sculpt sound, secret page, see invisibility, speak with dead, water breathing, water walk, wind wall

4: air walk, break enchantment, cure critical wounds, death ward, dimensional anchor, dimension door, discern lies, dismissal, divination, divine power, freedom of movement, hallucinatory terrain, invisibility, greater, inflict critical wounds, locate creature, magic weapon, greater, modify memory, neutralize poison, rainbow pattern, restoration, sending, zone of silence

5: cure light wounds, mass, dispel chaos/evil/good/law, dispel magic, greater, dream, false vision, inflict light wounds, mass, mirage arcana, mislead, persistent image, plane shift, righteous might, scrying, seeming, shadow walk, slay living, true seeing

6: analyze dweomer, animate objects, banishment, cat’s grace, mass, cure moderate wounds, mass, eagle’s splendor, mass, find the path, fox’s cunning, mass, harm, heal, inflict moderate wounds, mass, permanent image, programmed image, project image, scrying, greater, veil, wind walk, word of recall

Grod_The_Giant
2014-02-22, 11:20 AM
A divine rogue, eh? I might change the name, as "templar" usually conjures up images of heavily-armored warriors.


Weapon and Armor Proficiencies: Templars are proficient with all simple weapons. A templar is proficient with light armor, but not shields.
You might want to add in the rest of the rogue's weapon proficiencies.


Spells: A templar casts divine spells, which are drawn from the templar spell list (see below). A templar can cast any spell he knows without preparing it ahead of time.
Alright, looks good to me.


Judgement (Su): Every templar serves a specific alignment, which allows them to charge their weapons with holy or unholy energy and inflict grievous wounds on opponents who can’t defend themselves effectively. At 1st level, a templar selects an alignment to champion, either chaos, evil, good, or law, which must match the templar’s own alignment. Templars who are True Neutral instead deal extra damage to opponents who are of an extreme alignment (LG, CG, LE, or CE).The templar then gains the ability to deal additional damage to creatures of the opposing alignment if they are denied their Dexterity bonus to AC or when they are flanked by the templar.
A templar can deal judgment damage with a ranged attack from any distance. However, a templar can make a judgment attack with a weapon that deals nonlethal damage, even if they take the -4 penalty to deal lethal damage.
Alignment-linked sneak attack? Interesting. Good call on not having it vanish entirely when the alignments don't match up.


Detect Opposing Alignment (Sp):
Guess you want to know when your Judgement will work, I guess, but it seems a bit odd to see it on a non-paladin. Or at least a non-"ALIGNMENT IS ALL" class.


Sacred Blades (Su): Beginning at 4th level a templar develops the ability to combine their combat training with the power of their faith. Whenever a templar of 4th level or higher wields a light melee weapon, they receive a sacred bonus to their attack and damage rolls equal to their Charisma modifier (if positive).
Snazzy, and does a lot to make up for the medium BAB.


Know Alignment (Sp): At 8th level, a templar gains the ability to determine the alignment of any creature within 60 feet as a standard action.
I'd kick this down to a swift action. It's already good in an out-of-combat situation where time doesn't matter so much; it'd be nice to be able to use it to pick Judgement targets.


Lifeward (Ex): At 16th level and beyond, a templar’s lifeforce becomes warded against magical attacks. The templar becomes immune to death spells and effects, energy drain and negative energy effects.
Useful, I guess, though I'm not sure how well it fits with the rest of the class.


One With the Shadows (Ex): A templar of 18th level or higher has perfected their mastery of stealth to such a degree that they become nearly impossible to see or hear. Unless the templar wants to be seen or heard, they are always considered to be taking 10 on both Move Silently and Hide. Furthermore, the templar is able to use the Hide skill even in cases where they normally would be unable to (such as if they lack cover or concealment or are being directly observed).
I'd try to lead up to this more with some lower-level stealth abilities. Maybe grant Darkstalker as a bonus feat at 6th, and move the Hide in Plain Sight part down to 12th?


Final Judgment (Su): At 20th level, a templar’s mastery of their judgment ability reaches its pinnacle. A templar gains the ability to force an opponent damaged by their judgment ability to make a Fortitude saving throw with a DC of 19 + the templar’s Charisma modifier. On a failed save, the target is slain (undead and constructs are instead destroyed). On a successful save, the target takes twice the normal judgment damage and takes additional penalties for a number of rounds equal to the templar’s Charisma modifier (minimum 1).
A solid capstone. Maybe too solid-- Save and Suck or Die, at will, is a little worrying. Let's look at how much you suck...

Chaos: The target receives a -6 penalty to AC. Lawful outsiders receive a -4 circumstance penalty to their saving throw. Creatures that are neither lawful or chaotic receive a +4 circumstance bonus to their saving throw.
The AC penalty isn't anything special, but is probably about right for a successful save. And OH GOD those save penalties aren't healthy. You should probably ditch those.

Evil: The target receives a -6 penalty to Fortitude saves. Good outsiders receive a -4 circumstance penalty to their saving throw. Creatures that are neither good or evil receive a +4 circumstance bonus to their saving throw.
So they either die when you hit 'em, or they die on the next initiative count when the wizard finger of death's them? I don't like it...

Good: The target receives a -6 penalty to all attack rolls. Evil outsiders receive a -4 circumstance penalty to their saving throw. Creatures that are neither good or evil receive a +4 circumstance bonus to their saving throw.
As my feedback on Chaos.

Law: The target receives a -6 penalty to Will saves. Chaotic outsiders receive a -4 circumstance penalty to their saving throw. Creatures that are neither lawful or chaotic receive a +4 circumstance bonus to their saving throw.
As my feedback on Evil.

Neutral: The target receives a -6 penalty to Reflex saves. LG, CG, LE, or CE outsiders receive a -4 circumstance penalty to their saving throw. NG, LN, CN, or NE creatures receive a +4 circumstance bonus to their saving throw.
Reflex saves aren't a huge deal, so this is OK.

tl;dr: It's a pretty solid class. Probably a strong T3-- rogue + 6th level spells + turn undead is mighty hard to argue with. The only real issue is the at-will "suck or die" capstone.

ngilop
2014-02-22, 12:14 PM
AWESOME CLASS!!! I am always up for more holy warrior type things :smile:

a couple of questions though.

1)one with the shadow bwu wha?? this totally come out of left field to me. from being a holy warrior type dedicated to an alignment to now he is a super assassin of holy-ness? you need to either drop this or go back earlier in the class and add in a handful of new abilities that are stealth oriented.

2) if this is supposed to be a more holy assassin class, I am not sure that Templar is the most apt of name maybe go for inquisitor, night/shadow-blade (since one of the abilities are one with the shadows)

Alabenson
2014-02-22, 12:25 PM
You might want to add in the rest of the rogue's weapon proficiencies.

I left those out on purpose, the fluff reason being that a templar would have the same weapons training as a cleric and thus lack proficiency with some of the weapons rogues use, and the crunch reason being that they really don't need the proficiencies with their other abilities.


I'd kick this down to a swift action. It's already good in an out-of-combat situation where time doesn't matter so much; it'd be nice to be able to use it to pick Judgement targets.

After giving it some thought, I think you're right about this.


I'd try to lead up to this more with some lower-level stealth abilities. Maybe grant Darkstalker as a bonus feat at 6th, and move the Hide in Plain Sight part down to 12th?

Taking your advice, I've added an additional stealth ability at level 6 and moved the Hide in Plain Sight aspect of One with the Shadows to level 12.


A solid capstone. Maybe too solid-- Save and Suck or Die, at will, is a little worrying. Let's look at how much you suck...

It would appear that I made a slight error when typing this ability up, as it was supposed to have a use per day limitation. I've added the needed wording.

Alabenson
2018-12-18, 07:00 PM
Adjusted the wording on Judgement to clarify that it cannot be used on creatures with concealment to help balance the ability.

Alabenson
2019-02-02, 11:53 AM
Made a few refinements to the Final Judgement ability:
- The ability can now be used once per round and requires a swift action to activate, which should counter some forms of potential abuse.
- Changed the DC to be more in line with how DCs for Supernatural abilities are determined. In practical terms, this means that the DC will increase by 1 initially and will scale better going into epic levels.

Alabenson
2022-06-27, 05:20 PM
After giving it a great deal of thought, I've finally decided to remove Turn Undead from the Templar's abilities. The Templar is still plenty strong without it, there wasn't a strong thematic reason to keep it, and most of the concerning cheese the class was capable of revolved around it.