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View Full Version : D&D 3.x Other Shrine Maiden (Cleric archetype/class variant/divine domain)



Giegue
2017-10-13, 02:54 PM
So Pathfinder has a lot of "Japanese" themed options for martial characters such as samurai, ninja etc.. but is quite lacking when it comes to divine caster options with an oriental theme. While there is a solid 3rd party onmyoji wizard archetype and the sacred fist warpriest does the whole spellcasting Buddhist monk thing well, the classic robe-wearing, ofuda-slinging Shinto priest or Shrine Maiden is next to impossible to do without creating a gimpy/sub-optimal character.

So to rectify this I decided to create a proper shrine maiden archetype for clerics. It's meant to trade armor, weapon variety and domain variety for a stronger casting focus, a slightly larger skill pool and powers that specifically help them deal with haunts, malignant spirits and Kami. This is the rough result. I have no idea how balanced it is though, so any and all help on that front is welcome!

EDIT: I added in a 3.5e version of this archetype as a cleric variant. Again, no idea how balanced it is. Help is most welcome.




Shrine Maiden

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Ofuda Caster

A Shrine Maiden's divine magic comes not from a direct connection to a deity but instead her ability to interact with and petition the Kami through spiritual rituals. However, these simple rituals involve not only incantations and gestures, but special paper talismans called ofuda. Shrine Maidens use Charisma instead of Wisdom as their spellcasting ability. This means they use Charisma, not wisdom, to determine the level of spells they can cast and how many bonus spells/day they receive for having a high spellcasting ability. Additionally, a Shrine Maiden uses her Charisma modifier, not her Wisdom modifier, when calculating spell save DCs. If a Cleric spell speficily uses the caster's wisdom modifier or wisdom score for any purpose, it instead uses the Shrine Maiden's charisma modifier or charisma score.

Additionally, the spells cast by Shrine Maidens differ from those of other divine spellcasters in several ways. The first is that they require complex hand signs, meaning Shrine Maidens suffer spell failure as an arcane spellcaster while wearing armor or carrying a shield. The second is that Shrine Maidens cast all their spells through their ofuda. Each of her spells gain an ofuda as it's inexpensive material component(s) in place of any inexpensive material components it would have normally. (inexpensive material components are those that cost 1 gp or less.) A Shrine Maidens also uses oufda in place of divine foci for any spells that would require a divine focus, and in place of a holy symbol for her Channel Energy feature, any feats tied to it and any cleric spell that would require one.

This ability alters the cleric’s spellcasting.

Miko Training

Unlike more traditional clerics you focus more on scholarship than martial training, learning a wider variety of skills but only mastering a small handful of weapons as a result. You reduce your cleric hit die to a d6 and lose proficiency with light armor, medium armor, shields and all simple weapons. However, you gain proficiency with daggers, fighting fans, quarterstaffs, wakizashis, katanas, shurikins, blowguns, shortbows and longbows. Additionally, you add Knowledge (Nature) and Perform (Dance) to your list of cleric class skills, and receive 2 additional skill points at each cleric level.

This alters the hit dice, proficiencies and skills of the cleric class.

Yurei Hunter (Ex)

As a Shrine Maiden you are trained to deal with malignant spirits and haunts. Starting at 1st level, you can always act in the suprise round against a haunt, and gain a competence bonus to all Knowledge checks made in relation to haunts, spirits and kami equal 1/2 your cleric level (minimum 1).

Spiritual Authority

As a Shrine Maiden you possess divine authority over spirits as well as the undead. You reduce the amount of times you can channel energy per-day to 1 + your charisma modifier. However, you can also effect spirits with your channeled energy. If you channel positive energy, you can harm spirits in the same way you can harm undead and heal good and neutral aligned non-living spirits in the same way you heal living creatures. If you channel negative energy, you can harm non-living spirits in the same way you can harm living creatures and can heal evil-aligned spirits in the same way you can heal undead. For this feature's effects "spirits" includes all elementals, fey, haunts, incorporeal undead and kami. (You can still harm or heal undead as normal.)

This feature alters the Channel Energy feature of the cleric class.

Servant of the Kami

Shrine Maidens, due to their patrons being the Kami rather than a deity, recieve less domains than other clerics. You gain 1 domain instead of 2 at 1st level. However, all domain features of your chosen domain that use your wisdom score or wisdom modifier instead use your charisma score or charisma modifier. Additionally, since you don't worship one deity but many, your Aura corresponds to your own alignment instead of that of your deity.

This alters the Cleric's Domain and Aura features.

Kami's Protection (Su)

Since you do not train with armor, the Kami provide you with their protective blessings to shield you from harm. You gain a sacred (if you channel positive energy) or profane (if you channel negative energy) bonus to your AC equal to your Charisma modifier (if any) while unarmored and not carrying a shield. (If you have Versatile Channeling, you choose whether this bonus is Sacred or Profane at 1st level, and once the choice is made it cannot be changed.) At 4th level, this bonus increases by +1, and it also increases by an additional +1 for every four levels you gain thereafter (to a maximum of your Cha mod+5 at 20th level).

Kamigakari (Su)

At 1st level, you gain the ability to let a kami temporarily possess you and grant you some of its otherworldly knowledge. When you prepare your spells each day, you can let the Kami that you are communing with for your spells to possess you for the duration of your spell preparation period. When you do this, you choose one spell of each level to which you have access from the lists of the Air, Animal, Earth, Fire, Plant, Water, or Weather Domains; you may prepare and cast those spells as if they where domain spells for you.

Exorcism (Su)

Starting at 8th level you can, as a full-round action, force a possessing creature or spirit out of the body it inhabits. To exorcise a possessing creature, you make a caster level check (also adding your Charisma modifier, if any), against a DC of 10 + the possessing creature's HD + its Charisma modifier (if any). If your result equals or exceeds the DC, you succeed in forcing the possessor from the body, with the normal results based on its method of possession. A spirit so exorcised cannot attempt to possess the same victim for 24 hours. To perform an exorcism on a creature it must be within 30ft and in your line of sight. You can use this feature a number of times per-day equal to 1 + Your Charisma modifier.

Seal (Su)

Starting at 10th level, you can cast a special version of the Magic Circle spells. To cast a Magic Circle in this way you must prepare it with a +2 spell level adjustment. (This does not count as a metamagic effect.) When cast you throw 5 talismans in a circle around a target location. Once the talismans land, they create a Magic Circle against Evil (or whichever version of the spell the You chose to cast), focused both inward and outward, and the spell duration is set to 1 round per cleric level.

Any enemies within the radius may make a reflex save (DC 10 + 1/2 Cleric level + Cha modifier), if they succeed, they may expend an immediate action to move to a square just outside the seals radius, and they skip their move action on their next turn. For the duration of the spell, any creatures of the appropriate alignment within the radius cannot exit, or if outside the area cannot enter, unless their spell resistance can overcome the spell. No attacks can enter or leave the spell radius, and anyone who passes through the barrier reduces the remaining duration by one round (the remaining duration will only be reduced in this way up to twice per round).

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Hit Dice: The Shrine Maiden uses a d6 for her hit die.

Class Skills: The Shrine Maiden's class skill list includes Knowledge (Nature) and Perform (Dance), and she gains skill points equal to 4 + her intelligence modifier. (and has this number ×4 at 1st level).

Class Features

The Shrine Maiden has all the standard cleric class features, except as noted below:

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Shrine Maidens are proficient with daggers, fighting fans, quarterstaffs, wakizashis, katanas, shurikins, blowguns, shortbows and longbows. They are not proficient with any kind of armor or shields and all simple weapons.

Spells: A Shrine Maiden's divine magic comes not from a direct connection to a deity but instead her ability to interact with and petition the Kami through spiritual rituals. However, these simple rituals involve not only incantations and gestures, but special paper talismans called ofuda. Shrine Maidens use Charisma instead of Wisdom as their spellcasting ability. This means they use Charisma, not wisdom, to determine the level of spells they can cast and how many bonus spells/day they receive for having a high spellcasting ability. Additionally, a Shrine Maiden uses her Charisma modifier, not her Wisdom modifier, when calculating spell save DCs. If a Cleric spell speficily uses the caster's wisdom modifier or wisdom score for any purpose, it instead uses the Shrine Maiden's charisma modifier or charisma score.

Additionally, the spells cast by Shrine Maidens differ from those of other divine spellcasters in several ways. The first is that they require complex hand signs, meaning Shrine Maidens suffer spell failure as an arcane spellcaster while wearing armor or carrying a shield. The second is that Shrine Maidens cast all their spells through their ofuda. Each of her spells gain an ofuda as it's inexpensive material component(s) in place of any inexpensive material components it would have normally. (inexpensive material components are those that cost 1 gp or less.) A Shrine Maidens also uses oufda in place of divine foci for any spells that would require a divine focus, and in place of a holy symbol for her Turn/Rebuke Undead feature, any feats tied to it and any cleric spell that would require one.

Deity, Domains and Domain Spells: A Shrine Maiden does not serve one god but many. As a result, her Aura is keyed to her own alignment instead of that of her deity. A Shrine Maidens can choose any cleric domain that is not at odds with their alignment, instead of one granted by her deity. (so a good-aligned Shrine Maiden could not choose the Evil domain, for example) However, she can only select 1 domain at 1st level. Any Domain powers that use her wisdom modifier or wisdom score instead use her charisma modifier or charisma score.

Turn/Rebuke Undead: A Shrine Maiden reduces the number of times she can turn or rebuke undead to 1 + her Cha mod/day. However, she may also turn or rebuke spirits as-if they where undead. For this purpose, "spirits" includes all elementals, fey, and kami. (You can still turn or rebuke and destroy or control undead as normal)

Kami's Protection (Su)

Since they do not train with armor, the Kami provide Shrine Maidens with protective blessings to shield them from harm. Starting at 1st level, a Shrine Maiden gains a sacred (if she turns undead) or profane (if she rebukes undead) bonus to her AC equal to her Charisma modifier (if any) while unarmored and not carrying a shield At 4th level, this bonus increases by +1, and it also increases by an additional +1 for every four levels thereafter (to a maximum of her Cha mod+5 at 20th level).

Kamigakari (Su)

At 1st level, a Shrine Maiden gains the ability to let a kami temporarily possess them and grant them some of it's otherworldly knowledge. When a Shrine Maiden prepares her cleric spells each day, she can allow the Kami that she is communing with for spells to possess her for the duration of her spell preparation period. When she does this, she chooses 1 spell of each level to which she has access from the lists of the Air, Animal, Earth, Fire, Plant, Water, or Weather Domains; she can prepare those spells as if they where domain spells for her.

Yurei Hunter (Ex)

Shrine Maidens are trained to deal with malignant spirits and haunts. Starting at 1st level, a Shrine Maiden can always act in the surprise round against a haunt, and gains a competence bonus to all Knowledge checks made in relation to haunts, spirits and kami equal 1/2 her Cleric level (minimum 1).

Exorcism (Su)

Starting at 8th level a Shrine Maiden can, as a full-round action, force a possessing creature or spirit out of the body it inhabits. To exorcise a possessing creature, she makes a caster level check (also adding her Charisma modifier, if any), against a DC of 10 + the possessing creature's HD + its Charisma modifier (if any). If her result equals or exceeds the DC, she succeeds in forcing the possessor from the body, with the normal results based on its method of possession. A spirit so exorcised cannot attempt to possess the same victim for 24 hours. To perform an exorcism on a creature it must be within 30ft and in the Shrine Maiden's line of sight. A Shrine Maiden use this feature a number of times per-day equal to her Charisma modifier.

Seal (Su)

Starting at 10th level, a Shrine Maiden can cast a special version of the Magic Circle spells. To cast a Magic Circle in this way she must prepare it with a +2 spell level adjustment. (This does not count as a metamagic effect.) When cast she throws 5 talismans in a circle around a target location. Once the talismans land, they create a Magic Circle against Evil (or whichever version of the spell the she chose to cast), focused both inward and outward, and the spell duration is set to 1 round per cleric level.

Any enemies within the radius may make a reflex save (DC 10 + 1/2 Cleric level + Cha modifier), if they succeed, they may expend an immediate action to move to a square just outside the seals radius, and they skip their move action on their next turn. For the duration of the spell, any creatures of the appropriate alignment within the radius cannot exit, or if outside the area cannot enter, unless their spell resistance can overcome the spell. No attacks can enter or leave the spell radius, and anyone who passes through the barrier reduces the remaining duration by one round (the remaining duration will only be reduced in this way up to twice per round).

Battle Maiden

Prerequisites: Must have at least one level in the Shrine Maiden Cleric class variant.

Benefits: the Shrine Maiden has learned to wield the traditional weapons of a her craft through agility and grace instead of brute force. She can use her Dexterity modifier in place of her Strength modifier on all attack rolls she makes with katanas and wakizashis.

Additionally, she has learned to harness the force of her conviction to strengthen her blows. The Shrine Maiden can use her Charisma modifier in place of her Strength modifier on all damage rolls she makes with katanas and wakizashis.

Craft Weapon Talisman

Prerequisites: At least 3 levels in the Shrine Maiden Cleric class variant.

Benefits:The Shrine Maiden may create a special ofuda to bind a spirit to enhance a weapon. When creating the talisman, the Shrine Maiden selects any number of weapon enhancing spells she knows, such as Magic Weapon or Greater Magic Weapon, as long as the sum of the spell levels of the chosen spells do not exceed the highest level of spell the Shrine Maiden can cast. Creating a Weapon Talisman requires special paper and inks costing 100g per spell level of the spells she wishes to add to it, and takes one day per spell level of meditation and careful penmanship. Once completed, the Shrine Maiden may use the talisman to cast all the spells attached to it as one action, using a spell slot of equal or higher level to the combined spell level of the spells.

A Shrine Maiden may only have one Weapon Talisman at any given time, though she may discard her talisman at any time to craft a new one. The Weapon Talisman can only enchant the Kannushi's traditional weapons: the shortbow, longbow, katana and wakizashi.

Note: Male Shrine Maidens

While shrine maidens are always female, this archetype/class vairant can be taken by male characters. However, if a male character takes this archetype it instead represents a shinto priest or exorcist, and should be re-named and re-flavored accordingly.

rferries
2017-10-13, 06:11 PM
+1 if for no other reason than the expanded turn undead (seriously, even western-themed religions believed priests could drive off things other than undead, it's long past time for the ability to be broadened).

Giegue
2017-10-13, 06:30 PM
Thanks! I always thought the more western-style clerics should be able to turn(if good) or rebuke(if evil) fiends as well as undead. I mean, we have plenty examples from western religion, including several in the bible, of those with divine power turning demons...so the fact the default crusader/western priest-inspired clerics can't do that always struck me as odd. Anyway, either way, any comments on the balance of these are appreciated, as well as general comments, of course.

rferries
2017-10-13, 06:41 PM
Balance-wise it seems fine, though I might restrict the spells she bargains for to being prepared only in her domain slots (if she can prepare them as many times as she likes there may eventually be unbalanced use of spells, once her Diplomacy gets high enough). You've done an excellent job of mixing in eastern/monk flavour (e.g. the AC) with your own spin - the bargaining will probably make for a lot of roleplay fun!

Giegue
2017-10-13, 06:46 PM
Yeah, I have it being prepareable in her normal slots because she goes down from a d8 to a d6, so to make up for being less martial, she becomes a slighty better "caster cleric" more or less.

rferries
2017-10-13, 06:51 PM
Fair enough! :)

Giegue
2017-10-14, 10:19 AM
A friend thought Kamigakari was too clunky/odd and should just let you select and get the spells with no check, so I made that edit. However, doing that may be to broken or it may not be, so any words on this change would be appreciated!

Westhart
2017-10-14, 03:19 PM
Kamigakari (Su)

At 1st level, a Shrine Maiden gains the ability to let a kami temporarily possess them and grant them some of it's otherworldly knowledge. When a Shrine Maiden prepares her cleric spells each day, she can allow the Kami that she is communing with for spells to possess her for the duration of her spell preparation period. When she does this, she chooses 1 spell of each level to which she has access from the list of any cleric domain(s); she can prepare those spells as if they where on the cleric spell list that day.

Hmm, I can see some abuse with anyspell (& greater, found in a FR book) but that is more a problem of the the spells themselves then the ability...


Battle Maiden

Prerequsites: Must have at least one level in the Shrine Maiden vairant class.

Benefits: You have learned to use the traditional weapons of a shrine maiden through agility and grace instead of brute force. You can use your Dextariry modifier in place of your Strength modifier on all attack rolls you make with daggers, katanas, quarterstaves, and wakizashis.

Additionally, you have learned to harness the force of your conviction to strengthen your blows. You can use your Charisma modifier in place of your Strength modifier on all damage rolls you make with daggers, katanas, quarterstaves and wakizashis.
variant has a small spelling error

I like this, not just "dex to attack and damage"... Still relieves MAD somewhat, (You no longer need str, and dex is still good for ref saves, AC, and initiative)

For another feat, maybe Grace of the Battle Madien requiring this one, and giving cha to AC and saves like the paladin ability... and then a third (Vitality of the battle maiden maybe ?) giving it to initiative and HP?

Sorry, went off on a tangent, I like SAD if you couldn't tell :smallcool: These are nice, although I don't go in for the whole anime thing :smalltongue:

Giegue
2017-10-14, 04:44 PM
I like those ideas, except for one part...the shrine maiden already gets cha-to-AC with their Kami's Protection feature. As a result, I think I could consolidate the two feats you had into one that provieds Cha-to-saves and Cha-to-initative. Thanks for giving me ideas.


Also, you do know that Anyspell only gets its effects when prepared in domain spell slots, right?

Westhart
2017-10-14, 05:02 PM
I like those ideas, except for one part...the shrine maiden already gets cha-to-AC with their Kami's Protection feature. As a result, I think I could consolidate the two feats you had into one that provieds Cha-to-saves and Cha-to-initative. Thanks for giving me ideas.


Also, you do know that Anyspell only gets its effects when prepared in domain spell slots, right?
Saw the cha to ac, don't know what I was thinking :smallbiggrin:
:smalleek:Only domain... huh:smalleek:
Got me, never noticed that. :smallbiggrin:

Giegue
2017-10-14, 05:11 PM
I did that as a balancing feature for the fact they can crib spells from any domain they like (note they do not all need to come from the same domain list, either...so you could like grab a 1st level spell from the time domain and a 2nd level spell from the deathbound domain, etc...), and prepare them in their normal slots. Granted, it's only one spell of each level, but you can change which spells these are daily meaning you effectively add the spells from all domains(and sub-domains if using PF rules) to the cleric spell list, and in 3.5e (and still in PF, too) thats a a significant amount of spells you have free access to that other clerics just don't. Thus, since you can freely nab any domain spell you want each day, and gain a bunch of other features, I felt losing one domain was appropriate. However, if you think this makes it too weak when next to the regular cleric please let me know, as I am not the best with balance.

Westhart
2017-10-14, 08:06 PM
I did that as a balancing feature for the fact they can crib spells from any domain they like (note they do not all need to come from the same domain list, either...so you could like grab a 1st level spell from the time domain and a 2nd level spell from the deathbound domain, etc...), and prepare them in their normal slots. Granted, it's only one spell of each level, but you can change which spells these are daily meaning you effectively add the spells from all domains(and sub-domains if using PF rules) to the cleric spell list, and in 3.5e (and still in PF, too) thats a a significant amount of spells you have free access to that other clerics just don't. Thus, since you can freely nab any domain spell you want each day, and gain a bunch of other features, I felt losing one domain was appropriate. However, if you think this makes it too weak when next to the regular cleric please let me know, as I am not the best with balance.

Nah, I think it is fine, just never noticed the line on anyspell "in your domain spot" part. Very neat class!

Giegue
2017-10-14, 09:33 PM
Alright, cool. I made a "grace of the shrine maiden" feat, BTW, and also added a 5e version as a fairly transformative cleric divine domain/cleric archetype. I have no clue if the 5e shrine maiden is balanced, though, so any words on this from 5e fans who happen to come into this thread would be appreciated!

rferries
2017-10-14, 11:47 PM
A friend thought Kamigakari was too clunky/odd and should just let you select and get the spells with no check, so I made that edit. However, doing that may be to broken or it may not be, so any words on this change would be appreciated!

It's probably no worse than Archivists being able to learn all spells.

Giegue
2017-10-15, 06:26 AM
Alright, cool. Did you check out the feats I added for Shrine Maidens, BTW?

rferries
2017-10-15, 06:44 AM
Alright, cool. Did you check out the feats I added for Shrine Maidens, BTW?

Battle Maiden - technically "super-Weapon Finesse", but I'd allow it.

Craft Weapon Talisman - cool! Did you intend it to have Battle Maiden as a prerequisites? The composite bow part is obviously useless without it, but it does have independent effects.

Grace of the Maiden - technically an "overpowered" feat (the save bonus is worth a feat well before adding the act-even-when-surprised) but it's still so flavourful that I can't say no :D And I say this as someone who doesn't particularly care for anime1

Giegue
2017-10-15, 07:01 AM
No. I meant for them to work together, but I wanted it to be available to shrine maidens who don't go down the battle maiden path in the off chance they have a katana-wielding ally. (Since it can technically be used to enchant other people's weapons as long as they are of one of the listed types.) As for Grace of the Shrine Maiden, do you think it needs to be broken up into two feats...one that gives cha-to-saves, and one that gives cha-to initiative + always act in a surprise round?

Also, the new nekomimi race that was posted up in this board makes me want to play a Nekomimi shrine maiden. God, I am such a weeb...

rferries
2017-10-15, 07:04 AM
No. I meant for them to work together, but I wanted it to be available to shrine maidens who don't go down the battle maiden path in the off chance they have a katana-wielding ally. (Since it can technically be used to enchant other people's weapons as long as they are of one of the listed types.) As for Grace of the Shrine Maiden, do you think it needs to be broken up into two feats...one that gives cha-to-saves, and one that gives cha-to initiative + always act in a surprise round?

That would be a great idea, yeah!

Giegue
2017-10-15, 08:29 AM
The changes have been made! Thanks for all the help.

rferries
2017-10-15, 08:47 AM
The changes have been made! Thanks for all the help.

Happy to oblige!

Aniikinis
2017-10-15, 09:23 AM
I'd love to play this as a character. Also a goddess I made is a huge weeb (plucked from our world and given godly power by an uncaring overdeity), who made a race of kitsune and has shinto shrines as temples so this sort of unintentionally fits in with that too. :smallbiggrin:

Giegue
2017-10-15, 10:19 AM
Cool! In that case feel free to use all of this for the clerics of her faith in your setting. Do note that male clerics can also take this archetype/variant class, except in that case it represents a Kanushi/Shinto priest...so the male clergy of your weeb goddess can take this archetype/variant class up too.