[3.5 Base Class] The Faithful (PEACH)

[Quellian-dyrae]

Faithful

"You believe, therefore I am." -A god to its Faithful.

Supernatural power can come from many places. From ancient tomes of arcane lore to one's own ancestry. From pacts and partnerships with magical or extraplanar creatures. From deep within one's own mind and soul.

Or it can come from the gods, and a person's own faith in them. The Faithful can come from any number of backgrounds - devoted priests, questing paladins, zealous crusaders, and scholarly monks are all classical examples. But the barbarian who pays homage to the spirit world, the samurai who receives the blessing of his ancestors, even the mages who revere gods of magic and rogues who pay tithes to deities of darkness and cunning can all be counted among the Faithful. Whatever their backgrounds and goals, they live and work and fight in the service of something greater than themselves, and through their sincere belief and devotion to their gods or ideals, are gifted with Faith Magic, allowing them to bless their allies, curse their foes, and hallow the ground they walk.

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Adventures: The Faithful are, above all, unshakable idealists. Although not all serve the brightest of ideals, every Faithful has something, some cause, that it dedicates itself to above all else. Most Faithful adventure in support of that cause; to spread it, to defend it, to bring it about. Naturally, many Faithful follow the cause of a deity, and work in their travels to fulfill their god's aims and goals.

Characteristics: The Faithful class is meant to be broad and customizable. One Faithful could be a mighty barbarian shaman, a powerful warrior capable of augmenting its fighting and turning the land against its foes, while another might be a scholar who summons allies from other planes and receives oracular visions. The choice of Backgrounds, Talents, and Rites will vastly differentiate two Faithful. As a whole, the class tends slightly towards supportive powers over raw offense or sheer utility, but even this is only a general tendency.

Alignment: Faithful can be any alignment, but whatever alignment they choose, it tends to be a serious part of who they are. True neutrality, however, is comparatively rare, as there are some Faith powers that involve alignments and opposing alignments; true neutral does not have an "opposite" alignment for this purpose, and thus gets less or no benefit from such effects (although there are plenty of alignment-independent powers that the class offers).

Religion: The Faithful are the devotees of all manner of deities and religions. The choice of religion is one of the most important aspects of any Faithful's personality.

Background: The Faithful can come from any background (and in fact, the character's background is a significant influence on the features of the class). While many Faithful have a classical religious background, one need not be a priest to be one of the Faithful; a warrior who devotes itself to a deity of battles is every bit as qualified to take the class as a cleric who was brought up in a temple of the same.

Races: Any race that understands worship can be a member of the Faithful.

Other Classes: How a given Faithful responds to other classes will largely depend on its own deity and background. Naturally, a war-priest or fighting monk is going to have much more in common with the party's fighter or barbarian than with its rogue or wizard, while a devoted scholar to a god of magic is likely to get along well with mages. Faithful and other divine casters of the same or allied faiths tend to afford one another friendship and respect, although clerics, favored souls, and similar full divine spellcasters do tend to see themselves as wielding a greater portion of the power and responsibility of their deities.

Role: While the role of a Faithful can vary, it will usually be in at least some ways supportive. Just about every Faithful has at least one Rite that can be used to augment, support, or protect its allies. Of course, that need not be its primary job; it is perfectly possible for a Faithful to be a powerful combatant or magical damage dealer, or even to provide a fair amount of utility magic, though usually not to the degree of a dedicated spellcaster.

Adaptation: Just on its face, the Faithful class is highly customizable. It's possible, though, to strip out the divine connection and treat the class's powers as simple magic, Ki powers, or similar generic supernatural effects.

GAME RULE INFORMATION
Faithful have the following game statistics.
Abilities: All Faithful select an ability score that governs most of their powers, which is always their most important ability score. What other scores are valuable to a given Faithful will vary widely.
Alignment: Any.
Hit Die: Varies.
Starting Age: As cleric.
Starting Gold: As cleric.

Class Skills
The Failful's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are...
Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Heal (Wis), Knowledge (Religion) (Int), Perform (Cha), Profession (Wis), Spellcraft (Int), and Use Magic Device (Cha). Faithful also select four additional class skills of their choice.

Skill Points at First Level: Varies
Skill Points at Each Additional Level: Varies

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

1st|

+*

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+*

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+*

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+*

|Aura, Background, Faith Magic, Talent.

2nd|

+*

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+*

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+*

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+*

|Grace.

3rd|

+*

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+*

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+*

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+*

|Talent.

4th|

+*

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+*

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+*

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+*

|Bonus Feat.

5th|

+*

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+*

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+*

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+*

|Extra Gifts.

6th|

+*

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+*

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+*

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+*

|Conviction 1.

7th|

+*

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+*

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+*

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+*

|Grace.

8th|

+*

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+*

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+*

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+*

|Talent.

9th|

+*

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+*

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+*

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+*

|Bonus Feat.

10th|

+*

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+*

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+*

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+*

|Miracle.

11th|

+*

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+*

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+*

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+*

|Conviction 2.

12th|

+*

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+*

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+*

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+*

|Grace.

13th|

+*

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+*

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+*

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+*

|Talent.

14th|

+*

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+*

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+*

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+*

|Bonus Feat.

15th|

+*

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+*

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+*

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+*

|Extra Gifts.

16th|

+*

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+*

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+*

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+*

|Conviction 3.

17th|

+*

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+*

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+*

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+*

|Grace.

18th|

+*

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+*

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+*

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+*

|Talent.

19th|

+*

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+*

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+*

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|Bonus Feat.

20th|

+*

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+*

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+*

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+*

|Miracle.[/table]

Class Features
All of the following are class features of the Faithful.

Weapon and Armor Proficiencies: At a minimum, Faithful are proficient with simple weapons, but not with armor and shields. Depending on their Background, they may have other proficiencies.

Aura (Su): The Faithful are exemplars of their alignment. They have an Aura as a cleric of a deity of their alignment, with an effective cleric level equal to their Faithful class level. Additionally, at will, the Faithful can manifest its aura in a visual display, shedding bright light out to a radius of 5' per class level + 5' per point of Faith Modifier, and providing shadowy illumination an equal distance beyond that. The Aura suppresses any effect that creates darkness or shadow within its fully illuminated area with a spell level of equal to or less than half the Faithful's class level. Such effects of higher level block the aura. The Aura does not dispel such effects, and nor do they cancel each other out; whichever is dominant simply maintains its normal effect on illumination in the overlapping area, while the other does nothing.

Background: Faith can come to anyone. Devoted clerics are not the only ones who dedicate their lives to the will of the gods. Many faiths have paladins and crusaders to champion their causes, evangelists to spread their word, and scholars to record their texts. Even beyond that, many are the warriors who beseech gods of battle for strength, mages who ask the deities of magic for knowledge, and rogues who offer some of their ill-gotten gains to gods of deception and stealth. Regardless of their exact background and deity, all of these people are numbered among the Faithful.

At a minimum, Faithful receive a d6 HD, 4 skill points per level, a Poor BAB, and a single good save of its choice, and a Devotion rating of 2. From this baseline, they receive seven Background Points, which may be spent as follows:

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Faith Ability: The connection a Faithful has to its deity can vary widely. Some study the texts and ethos of their gods in exhaustive detail and learn their powers from dedicated study. Others have a more intuitive understanding of the magic they wield. Still more simply tap into the deep strength of their spirits to power the magic drawn from their faith.

All Faithful choose a Faith Ability as the primary ability score that they draw their powers from. Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma are all possible choices. However, choosing Constitution costs one Background Point, while choosing Charisma awards one additional Background Point.

The save DCs for a Faithful's abilities is 10 + 1/2 class level + Faith Modifier.

Bonus Type: Many Faithful abilities provide a Sacred or Profane bonus. Good Faithful always provide a Sacred bonus, evil Faithful a Profane bonus. Neutral Faithful may choose which they provide on character creation (they always provide the same type of bonus for all abilities).

BAB: Two Background Points raises BAB by one step, to a maximum of Full. Additionally, a Faithful who has a Medium BAB gains proficiency with a single martial weapon, light armor, and shields (except tower shields). An Faithful who has a Full BAB also gains proficiency in all martial weapons, medium armor, and heavy armor.

HD: One Background Point raises HD by one step, to a maximum of d12.

Skill Points: One Background Point raises skill points per level by 2, to a maximum of 8. In addition, each such Background Point spent allows the Faithful to select four more class skills of its choice.

Saves: One Background Point purchases a second good save. For another two Background Points (three total), the Faithful receives all good saves.

Devotion: Each additional point of Devotion costs three Background Points (Devotion represents your focus on Faith Magic; a higher Devotion gives you access to more supernatural powers from this class).

Faith Magic (Sp): The Faithful draw upon their belief in the gods - or sometimes, belief in a certain ideal, cause, or even themselves - to work amazing powers. Where exactly the power of the Faithful comes from is often debated. The gods usually take credit for their own Faithful, and sometimes for the Faithful of causes and ideals within their portfolio, but some Faithful do seem to be able to tap into their power without divine intervention.

Faith and Piety

The power of the Faithful is not about stamina, or magical energy, or any sort of reserve of strength. It is purely a matter of Faith. Faith is the resource used to power many of a Faithful's more potent abilities.

Unlike many characters, the Faithful do not have a "maximum" Faith. Rather, they have a Piety rating, which is the starting point of their Faith and where it naturally falls to at rest. Piety, and thus starting Faith, is equal to the Faithful's Devotion plus half its Faith Modifier.

Faith is generally spent to add Gifts to Rites, augmenting their effect in various ways. Certain other feats and class features may also require an expenditure of Faith. Each hour, your Faith moves one point closer to your Piety. Additionally, with a full night's rest, your Faith resets to equal your Piety, regardless of whether or not it was higher or lower. Finally, upon succeeding a challenging encounter, your Faith increases to equal your Piety if it is currently lower; whatever else the Faithful believe in, they must all possess a strong faith in themselves.

Piety can also be spent, and often is to perform Miracles. Piety recovers slowly; for each point of Piety you are below your maximum, it takes a full week to recover a single point of Piety. Spending a point of Piety resets and recalculates this time period.

In addition to all other effects, a Faithful can spend one point of Faith to add its Faith Modifier on any d20 roll, or to its AC against all attacks by a single opponent for a single round. It may halve the bonus to do so after seeing the results of the original roll. It may spend one point of Piety to immediately increase its Faith by its Piety (after the expenditure), to treat a single d20 roll as a natural 20 (after seeing the results of the original roll), or to stabilize at -1 hit points if it would otherwise be killed. Additionally, the Faithful can spend one point of Piety, rather than losing a level or point of Constitution, upon being raised from the dead.

You cannot spend enough Piety to lower it below 1; falling to 0 Piety can only occur through severe infractions of Oaths.

Oaths

In addition to the mundane ways of recovering Faith and Piety, the Faithful may swear up to two Oaths. An Oath creates a set of circumstances that allow you to recover Faith and Piety, but also circumstances that cause you to lose them. Some Oaths are mutually exclusive. Each Oath can affect you in six ways; gaining Faith, refreshing Faith, gaining Piety, losing Faith, degrading Faith, and losing Piety.

A situation that causes you to gain Faith increases your Faith by one. This can only happen once per round (but see the Conviction class feature). A situation that causes you to refresh Faith sets your Faith equal to your Piety, if currently lower, or increases your Faith by two otherwise. This can only happen once per encounter (and even that is somewhat rare), but if you wish, you can "hold" a refresh for up to a number of rounds equal to your Faith Modifier before gaining the benefit. A situation that causes you to gain Piety increases your Piety by one, up to its normal maximum. This can only happen once per day (and even that would be extremely rare).

A situation that causes you to lose Faith lowers your Faith by one. This can only happen once per round. A situation that causes you to degrade Faith sets your Faith equal to your Piety, if currently higher, or halves your Faith otherwise. This can only happen once per encounter. A situation that causes you to lose Piety lowers your Piety by one, to a minimum of zero. This can only happen once per day.

Severe infractions of Oaths can lower Piety, and repeat infractions can even reduce it to 0. In this circumstance, you lose all supernatural and spell-like class features from this class until you recover at least one point of Piety. An Atonement spell raises your Piety to 1, if it is currently 0. An Atonement spell cast within twenty-four hours of losing Piety due to an Oath infraction removes that Piety loss.

The Oaths are given below, although the DM may allow you to create your own Oaths.

In addition to the explicitly listed options, spending a full role playing scene clearly exemplifying the spirit of the Oath can, at DM discretion, set your current Faith to equal your Piety, if it is currently lower.

Many Oaths refer to "challenging" opponents or encounters. A challenging opponent is one with a CR no lower than your character level - 2, or a group of opponents with a combined EL at least that high. A challenging encounter is one with an EL no lower than your average party level (this assumes a party of four and average campaign power level; in higher or lower power campaigns, it should be modified up or down appropriately). In any case, an encounter that ends in fewer than three rounds is never considered challenging for this purpose.

Finally, each Oath provides a special ability used by activating your Aura. You activate your Aura for one minute by spending a point of Faith as a swift action. While active, your Aura provides illumination as explained previously. Additionally, any darkness effects that your Aura is suppressing at the moment you activate it are fully dispelled within the overlapping area.

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Oath of the Protector: You are a defender of your faith and your allies. When they are threatened, your powers rise quickly to their defense, and few things bring you more joy than seeing them come out of a difficult battle unharmed. However, if you bring them harm, even accidentally, the guilt can be crushing. This Oath is mutually exclusive with the Oath of the Avenger.

While your Aura is active, any opponent within its radius who takes an offensive action on its turn, and who does not target or affect you with an offensive action on its turn, provokes attacks of opportunity from all foes threatening it at the end of its turn.

• Gain Faith: If an opponent you threaten, or who you targeted with an offensive action on your last turn, targets an ally with an offensive action on its turn. This triggers a maximum of once per enemy turn, regardless of how many attacks it makes or how many allies it attacks.
• Refresh Faith: If an ally you can see is brought below 0 hit points.
• Gain Piety: If you win a challenging battle and none of your allies began a turn below their maximum hit points or under the effects of negative conditions (you must have at least one ally actively participating in the battle to qualify). You also gain Piety if the DM deems that you have accomplished something that has saved numerous lives.
• Lose Faith: If you cause damage or negative effects to an ally, intentionally or accidentally.
• Degrade Faith: If you incapacitate an ally, intentionally or accidentally.
• Lose Piety: If you kill a character you considered an ally at any point in the past day, intentionally or accidentally. You also lose Piety if the DM deems you have brought great harm upon your allies, loved ones, or faith.

Oath of the Avenger: You are the sword that redresses the wrongs done to your faith. While you do not seek conflict, those who wish to bring harm to the followers of your deity will have you to deal with. You take pride in meting out justice, but cannot let a wrong go unavenged. This Oath is mutually exclusive with the Oath of the Protector.

While your Aura is active, each time an opponent within its radius deals damage, that opponent receives damage equal to your Faith Modifier.

• Gain Faith: If you take a successful offensive action against the opponent who dealt the most damage to you and your allies since the end of your last turn (if no enemies have dealt damage since the end of your last turn, this cannot activate).
• Refresh Faith: If you incapacitate an opponent who incapacitated an ally previously in the encounter.
• Gain Piety: If you kill an enemy who you have witnessed killing an ally, loved one, or member of your faith. You also gain Piety if the DM deems that you have avenged a great wrong.
• Lose Faith: In any round that you or your allies are harmed or hindered by opponents, and you do not take an offensive action against at least one of the responsible opponents.
• Degrade Faith: If you accept surrender, unless the opponent agrees to redress any harm it has caused, or has not caused any harm to you, your allies, your loved ones, or a member of your faith.
• Lose Piety: If an opponent you have shown mercy to attacks you, your allies, your loved ones, or your faith within a week of the mercy being shown. You also lose Piety if your DM deems you have not made a reasonable effort to redress a grievous wrong done to you.

Oath of the Survivor: You've sworn to serve your deity to the best of your ability - and being dead rather impairs that. This is not to say you are a coward; while avoiding danger is well and good, it's facing and surviving it that reinforces your self-confidence. However, you also don't seek danger out, as that would go against the entire point. This Oath is mutually exclusive with the Oath of the Martyr.

While your Aura is active, opponents find it more difficult to move towards you. Opponents whose movements bring them closer to you than they began (regardless of whether or not they are actually intending to approach you) treat all squares in your Aura as difficult terrain and provoke attacks of opportunity from either leaving or entering threatened squares (both cases are still considered attacks of opportunity for "movement", so an enemy who leaves a threatened square to enter another won't provoke twice, nor will it provoke multiple times for entering multiple threatened squares). Opponents must make a Will save to enter the area of your Aura; a failure immediately ends their movement for the current turn (opponents already in the aura do not need to save unless they leave and subsequently reenter).

• Gain Faith: Any time a challenging opponent targets or affects you with an offensive action on its turn while you are below half your normal maximum hit points (this only triggers once per opponent, regardless of how many attacks it makes).
• Refresh Faith: If you stabilize while dying, start a turn at exactly one hit point, or roll a natural 20 on a saving throw against an effect that would otherwise instantly kill you.
• Gain Piety: If you win a challenging battle and did not end any turn below your maximum hit points or suffering from a negative effect; however, you must actively contribute to the battle (you can't simply flee, hide, or otherwise avoid the combat). You also gain Piety if the DM deems you have managed to survive a situation that should have killed you.
• Lose Faith: If you provoke an attack of opportunity or readied attack.
• Degrade Faith: If you actively initiate a challenging combat or other dangerous encounter (fighting back once attacked or joining in once your allies attack is okay, but you cannot be the one to start hostilities).
• Lose Piety: If you directly harm yourself. You also lose Piety if your DM deems you have intentionally put yourself in serious danger.

Oath of the Martyr: Your life is not important, all that matters is your faith. While you do not seek death, you face it with perfect calm, knowing you will only be taken to your deity's side. What you cannot abide is seeing others suffer in your stead. This Oath is mutually exclusive with the Oath of the Survivor.

While your Aura is active, you may take on any or all damage or negative effects received by any allies within the Aura. You do not receive any normal defenses, resistances, or immunities against such effects, and you cannot mitigate or prevent them, although you can recover from them normally. If multiple allies are affected by the same attack, you may protect them all and only receive the effects of the attack once (although you might receive it again if you are also being affected yourself).

• Gain Faith: In any round that you lose at least 10% of your maximum hit points, use a beneficial action on one or more allies, and do not affect yourself with any beneficial actions.
• Refresh Faith: If you are rendered helpless, and recover from the condition during the same encounter (this includes falling below 0 hit points and being healed).
• Gain Piety: Upon being brought back from the dead. You also gain Piety if the DM deems you have made a tremendous personal sacrifice.
• Lose Faith: If you use a restorative or protective action on yourself while an ally you can see is below half its maximum hit points (unless the action also affects at least one such ally).
• Degrade Faith: If an ally is incapacitated within one round of you using a restorative or protective action on yourself.
• Lose Piety: If an ally is killed within one round of you using a restorative or protective action on yourself. You also lose Piety if the DM deems you have willingly allowed an ally or loved one to undergo serious suffering in your stead.

Oath of the Warrior: You are the sword of your church, the fist of your god. You have sworn to vanquish the enemies of your faith and accept all challenges. Victory in battle is what drives you, and you would sooner be a corpse than a coward. This Oath is mutually exclusive with the Oath of the Pacifist.

While your Aura is active, enemies treat squares within its radius as difficult terrain while moving away from you. Enemies within your Aura also take a penalty equal to your class level on any checks to avoid attacks of opportunity, and lose the benefit of any abilities that allow them to avoid certain types of attacks of opportunity. Opponents must make a Will save to leave the area of your Aura; a failure immediately ends their movement for the current turn.

• Gain Faith: Whenever you drop a challenging opponent.
• Refresh Faith: Whenever you get a challenging opponent to surrender or flee from you.
• Gain Piety: Whenever you win what would normally be considered a challenging encounter in fewer than three rounds. You also gain Piety if the DM deems you have overcome a vastly superior foe.
• Lose Faith: If your movement for the round takes you further away from all allies and all enemies active in the current battle.
• Degrade Faith: If you surrender or flee a fight, or refuse a legitimate and reasonable challenge (a challenge is never considered reasonable for this purpose if it puts you at a handicap - true warriors are not afraid to face their enemies at full strength!)
• Lose Piety: If you are taken prisoner. You also lose Piety if the DM deems you have been defeated by a vastly inferior opponent.

Oath of the Pacifist: You provide healing, blessings, advice, and support. If faced with violence, you prefer to simply wait for your opponents to cease fighting, although you may also neutralize them nonviolently if forced to it. You are secure in the knowledge that your deity will keep you from harm when attacked, as long as you do not cause harm yourself. This Oath is mutually exclusive with the Oath of the Warrior.

While your Aura is active, enemies must make a Will save to target any offensive action at one of your allies who is within the Aura (including you), or to make an area attack that overlaps the Aura. Any ally who takes an offensive action loses the protection against targeted effects for itself, and voids the protection against area effects for everyone, for the remainder of the activation. If you take an offensive action, the Aura deactivates and cannot be activated again for one minute.

• Gain Faith: Whenever an opponent targets or affects you with an offensive action, unless you took an offensive action on your last turn.
• Refresh Faith: In any round that opponents take offensive actions, but none of your allies do.
• Gain Piety: If you complete an entire mission (including at least three encounters that have the potential for violence) without targeting or affecting a single opponent with an action. You also gain Piety if your DM deems you have managed to avert or end a violent conflict through nonviolent means.
• Lose Faith: By dealing hit point damage or ability damage to a sapient being.
• Degrade Faith: If an opponent you have neutralized nonviolently is killed.
• Lose Piety: By killing a sapient being. You also lose Piety if your DM deems you have undertaken a particularly egregious act of violence.

Oath of the Champion: You are the face of your church in the world, and are expected to live up to the highest ideals of honor. Your word is your bond, you have no need for trickery or foul play. When enemies try to use dishonorable tactics against you, you remain secure in the superiority of your ideals.

While your Aura is active, allies within its area get a bonus equal to half your class level on Spot checks, Listen checks, and saving throws against poison. None of your allies in the aura are considered surprised, flat-footed, or flanked unless all of them are. Further, all allies in the Aura are treated as having Blindsight with regards to any enemy within the Aura who has taken an offensive action since the end of your last turn.

• Gain Faith: Any time an enemy misses you while you would normally be flanked or denied your Dexterity bonus to AC (even if, due to special abilities, you ignore the penalties for such), any time you succeed a saving throw against poison, or any time you are targeted or affected by an enemy action when you have no way of targeting or affecting that enemy.
• Refresh Faith: Any time you are unable to act during a surprise round, and your enemies are not.
• Gain Piety: If you defeat a challenging opponent who either betrayed or feigned an alliance with you in the past week. You also gain Piety if the DM deems you won a challenging encounter despite a substantial external handicap.
• Lose Faith: Any time you attack an enemy who is flanked or denied its Dexterity bonus to AC, or attack with a poisoned weapon.
• Degrade Faith: Any time you act in a surprise round that your opponents may not act in.
• Lose Piety: Any time you break your word or betray a friend or ally. You also lose Piety if the DM deems you have dishonored your faith or a lord you have sworn fealty to.

Oath of the Zealot: Your faith is the true faith, your god the true god. Allied gods may or may not have your respect, but competitor deities are false idols to be cast down. You devote yourself to destroying the works of heretics and blasphemers, but must always adhere to the strictest tenets of your alignment and faith.

While your Aura is active, characters in the Aura whose alignment is at least three steps different from your own, or who have a patron deity that is an enemy of your own, cannot receive the effects of any beneficial spells or supernatural or spell-like abilities that target or affect them (those that are already in place are not disrupted), unless the caster makes a successful level check against a DC of 11 + your class level. In addition, such characters must make such a check to use any divinely-granted spells or supernatural or spell-like abilities while within the Aura, although the DC in this case is only 6 + your class level. For this purpose, the spell-like abilities of Outsiders are always considered "divinely granted".

• Gain Faith: By incapacitating an opponent who worships a different patron deity than you.
• Refresh Faith: By executing a successful coup de grace against an opponent whose alignment is the exact opposite of your own.
• Gain Piety: By converting another person to your faith. You also gain Piety if the DM deems you have accomplished some grand feat that fits the portfolio of your deity.
• Lose Faith: By targeting or affecting a character whose alignment is at least three total steps different from yours (for example, a LG zealot would count CN, NE, and CE) or who worships a patron deity who is an enemy of your own, with a beneficial action.
• Degrade Faith: By assisting with a challenging encounter with the primary goal of directly benefitting a character who meets the above criteria and which does not directly benefit your faith.
• Lose Piety: By assisting in a task that is opposed to your deity's portfolio (such as a Faithful of a god of justice breaking a criminal out of jail, or a Faithful of a goddess of love trying to break up a romance). You also lose Piety if the DM deems you have seriously violated your alignment or your deity's ethos.

Rites

Faith Magic is divided into several different Rites. You have access to a number of Rites equal to your Devotion. The available Rites are Blessings, Curses, Imbues, Hallows, Shieldings, Summons, Visions, and Wardings.

Rites can be improved by spending Faith. You initially cannot spend more than one point of Faith on any given Rite, although the Conviction class feature extends this limit.

Many Rites use "Maintenance" to determine their duration. The Rite initially lasts for one round. However, if you wish, you may concentrate on the Rite to Maintain it in later rounds. You may only Maintain a Rite for a maximum of one minute per class level.

See the Rites and Gifts section for details on the effects of Rites.

Gifts

The most basic way to improve a Rite is to add Gifts to it. A Gift is a package of extra effects that you can add to your Rites. Each Rite has several options that you may use to create Gifts, which are each given a point value. You can add a number of points worth of options to any Gift equal to your class level or your Devotion, whichever is higher. You cannot add the same option more than once per class level (generally, this only matters for low-cost options at the lowest levels).

You begin with a number of Gifts equal to your Devotion for each Rite you know, but certain class features provide more. You may also rebuild any or all of your Gifts each time you gain a class level.

Adding a Gift to a Rite costs one point of Faith. If the Rite lasts for a duration or is maintained, the Gift remains active until it expires.

Talents: The Faithful come from all walks of life, and generally practice other skills along with their magical powers. At first level, third level, and every five levels thereafter, the Faithful may choose a Talent from the following list. The same Talent may be purchased multiple times.

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Bonus Feat (Ex): Each time you choose this Talent, you gain a bonus feat that you meet the prerequisites for, which must be drawn from the fighter list of bonus feats. The first time you select this talent, you also gain one of the following bonus feats: Exotic Weapon Proficiency, Exotic Armor Proficiency, or Tower Shield Proficiency.

Hunter (Ex): You gain a Favored Enemy, similar to that of a ranger, although you may also choose members of a certain religion as a favored enemy. You may change your favored enemy as a swift action once per day, after dealing damage to or receiving damage from a target of the new enemy type. For each purchase of this ability, you get a +1 bonus on attack rolls and save DCs, and a +2 bonus on damage rolls and opposed checks, against your favored enemy. For each even-numbered purchase of this Talent, you may have one additional favored enemy (all enemies use the same bonus, and you can change each individually once per day). Additionally, the first time you gain this Talent, you gain Track as a bonus feat.

Maneuvers (Ex or Su): Each time you select this Talent, you gain a single martial maneuver of a level no higher than one-third your character level, rounded up, and which you meet the prerequisites for. You do not ready and expend individual maneuvers; rather, you may initiate a single maneuver by spending a point of Faith. Additionally, the first time you gain this Talent, you gain Martial Stance as a bonus feat. You may change your maneuvers (including the stance) each time you gain a level.

Living Weapon (Ex): You gain Improved Unarmed Strike as a bonus feat, and your unarmed strikes deal 1d6 points of damage per purchase of this Talent. For each odd-numbered purchase, your base threat range or critical multiplier with your unarmed strikes improves by one (you must increase the same one each time). For each purchase, your unarmed strikes receive a +1 Enhancement bonus to attack and damage rolls (overcoming DR/magic at +1, and DR/epic at +6), and gain the ability to overcome one type of DR of your choice, aside from DR/-. When wielding a weapon, you may replace its damage, critical entry, and/or enhancement bonus with those of your unarmed strike, if you wish, although only your actual unarmed strike gains the ability to overcome chosen types of DR. When using a Curse that deals damage, you may use your Living Weapon enhancement bonus and critical entry, and add your unarmed damage to the blast damage. Additionally, the first time you select this Talent, you gain the ability to add your Faith Modifier to AC, but it is capped by your armor's maximum Dexterity bonus. This does not stack with other abilities that add an ability modifier to AC.

Psionics (Ps): Each time you gain this Talent, you gain the ability to manifest a single psionic power as a psi-like ability three times per day. Manifesting one of these powers also costs one point of Faith. The level of the power cannot exceed one-third the class level at which you purchased this Talent, rounded up. You may not choose powers with XP costs. You may change your selected powers each time you gain a level. Additionally, when you first gain this Talent, you gain Wild Talent as a bonus feat. Each power gained from this Talent lowers your maximum hit points by twice its level.

Rage (Ex): You gain the ability to enter a rage, similar to that of a barbarian. You may rage once per encounter, and the rage lasts for a number of rounds equal to your Faith Modifier + your number of purchases of this Talent. At the end of the rage, you are fatigued for the remainder of the encounter. While in a rage, you receive a +2 Sacred or Profane bonus to your Strength score and your Faith Score per purchase of this Talent, and get a +1 bonus to any saves rated as Good for your Faithful class. While raging, you take a -2 penalty to AC and to any saves that are rated as Poor for your Faithful class, and your actions are limited following the same rules as a barbarian's rage. Note, however, that you can always use all of your Faithful class features while raging. Additionally, the first time you gain this Talent, you gain Improved Toughness as a bonus feat.

Skirmish (Ex): You gain the Skirmish ability, as a scout, dealing +1d6 damage per odd-numbered purchase of this Talent and getting +1 AC per even-numbered purchase. Additionally, the first time you gain this Talent, you gain a +10' bonus to your base land speed.

Smite (Su): Once per encounter per purchase of this Talent, you can turn a single attack (melee or ranged, including magical effects that require ranged or ranged touch attack rolls) into a Smite attack. A Smite gets a bonus on the attack roll equal to your Faith Modifier, and a bonus on the damage roll equal to your class level. Additionally, the first time you gain this Talent, you gain the ability to use Detect {Alignment} at will.

Sneak Attack (Ex): You gain the Sneak Attack ability, as a rogue, dealing +1d6 damage per purchase of this Talent. Additionally, the first time you gain this Talent, you gain Trapfinding.

Spells (Sp): Choose the wizard, cleric, or druid spell list. Each time you gain this Talent, you gain the ability to cast a single spell from the chosen list as a spell-like ability three times per day. Casting one of these spells also costs one point of Faith. The level of the spell cannot exceed one-third the class level at which you purchased this Talent, rounded up. You may change the selected spells each time you gain a level. If you wish, you can gain the ability to change your available spells with eight hours of work, by reducing the daily uses of each spell to one. You may not choose spells with expensive material components, expensive focuses, or XP costs. Additionally, when you first gain this Talent, you gain the ability to use a number of 0-level spells from that list equal to your Faith Modifier at will. Each spell gained from this Talent lowers your maximum hit points by twice its level.

Zeal (Su): Any time you spend at least one point of Faith improving a Rite, you can increase your effective class level for purposes of that Rite by twice the purchases of this Talent. This does not require an additional action. You may spend Faith purely to gain this bonus if you wish to.