Tome of Radiance: Mastering the Power of Love and Justice

[Selinia]

Valkyrie

"I can think of about a dozen ways to crush you right now - since I'm such a nice gal, I'm gonna let you pick."
-Olivia, a Valkyrie

When the Temple of Nine Swords fell to the hordes of darkness on that fateful night so long ago, many would claim that the golden age of the Sublime Way had come to an end, the secrets of the swords lost in the chaos and confusion. To some extent, this was undoubtedly true, and none since have managed to unify the disciplines in the same manner as the wise and mighty Reshar. Yet, in the scattered nooks and crannies of the world, masters and students still train in the old ways, and more warriors study the secrets of perfection than ever before.

With this newfound ubiquity, it was inevitable that one of the many dojos of the Sublime Way would eventually find a student blessed with the inner radiance of a magical girl. None can say who, precisely, was the first to walk the path of the valkyrie, turning the same techniques used to achieve mastery of the Way upon her own inner radiance - all that is known is that, with time, their teachings spread to all corners of the world. Through patience, discipline, and a peerless understanding of the nuances of their power, a valkyrie wields the light as a weapon to match any of the Nine Swords.

Requirements
To become a valkyrie, you must fulfill the following criteria.
Base Attack Bonus: +5
Skills: Concentration 8 ranks, Martial Lore 5 ranks
Feats: Weapon Focus (Device)
Illuminations: Must know at least one illumination with a mote cost of at least 2m
Martial Maneuvers: Must know at least two martial maneuvers, including one strike, one of which must be of at least 2nd level

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Valkyrie is a theurge class - which translates into relatively strict prerequisites. The easiest entry by far lies in a build of Champion 2/Crusader 2, and a 5th level in any class with full BAB and concentration as a class skill. That said, if you are willing to enter at a slightly later level, it is still fully possible to take the full 10 levels in this PrC with any combination of ToR and ToB classes - a Swordsage/Empath offers peerless martial versitility, while a Warblade/Stargazer presents a strong option for magical girl warriors focusing on intelligence.

While feat-intensive, it is even possible to enter the class without taking any proper ToB class levels at all - the alternative recharge method offered by Illuminant Adept does much to mitigate the usual weakness of such builds.

Class Skill List: Balance (Dex), Climb (Str), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Handle Animal (Cha), Intimidate, Jump, Knowledge [History] (Int), Knowledge [Local] (Int), Knowledge [Religion] (Int), Martial Lore (Int), Perform (Cha), Sense Motive (Wis), Swim (Str), Tumble (Dex), Use Magical Device (Cha)
Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier.

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A melding of the Champion and Crusader skill lists, simple enough. The path of a valkyrie is a rigorous one, and leaves its students with training in a much broader field than its component parts alone could offer.

Valkyrie
Hit Dice: d10

Level	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Special	Illuminations
1st	+1	+2	+0	+2	Illuminant Adept	---
2nd	+2	+3	+0	+3		+1 level of existing class
3rd	+3	+3	+1	+3	Martial Evoker	+1 level of existing class
4th	+4	+4	+1	+4		+1 level of existing class
5th	+5	+4	+1	+4	Extra Imbuement	---
6th	+6	+5	+2	+5		+1 level of existing class
7th	+7	+5	+2	+5	Warrior of Light	+1 level of existing class
8th	+8	+6	+2	+6		+1 level of existing class
9th	+9	+6	+3	+6	Faultless Zenith Stance	---
10th	+10	+7	+3	+7	Eternal Blaze	+1 level of existing class

Level	Maneuvers Known	Maneuvers Readied	Stances Known
1st	1	0	0
2nd	0	0	0
3rd	1	1	0
4th	0	0	0
5th	1	0	1
6th	0	1	0
7th	1	0	0
8th	0	0	0
9th	1	1	0
10th	0	0	0

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A valkyrie is proficient with all simple and martial weapons and with all armor (heavy, medium, and light) and shields (but not tower shields).

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A powerful chassis offers full BAB, d10 HD, and two good saves, along with 7/10 Illumination progression and standard Initiator PrC progression. Like most theurge classes, the dual progression is the key feature of the class, and while a valkyrie will never match her single-progression counterparts in luminosity or martial prowess, she is fully capable of holding her own in either.

And while most valkyries will likely already posses full proficiencies upon class entry, the champion proficiency line will serve as a small treat for those that managed to go without.

Illuminations: At each indicated level, a valkyrie gains an increase in evoker level, illuminations known, illuminations readied, innate illuminations, and personas known as if they had gained a level in an illumination-using class to which they belonged before adding the prestige class level. She does not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained. If she had more than one illumination-using class before becoming a valkyrie, she must decide to which class to add each level for the aforementioned purposes.

Radiant Armaments: At 5th level, the valkyrie increases her Imbuement limit by one.

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All the core elements of an evoker class are present, though at slightly less than full force. Ultimately, an evoker loses three evoker levels in taking the PrC to completion, and Empaths and Champions lose a single costume element as well.

Maneuvers: At 1st level, the valkyrie selects three martial disciplines to form the core of her fighting style. Once made, this decision can never be altered.

At each odd-numbered level, the valkyrie gains a new maneuver known from one of her chosen disciplines. She must meet a maneuver’s prerequisites to learn it. A valkyrie may add her full class level to her initiator level to determine her total initiator level and her highest-level maneuvers known.

At 3rd, 6th, and 9th level, a valkyrie gains an additional readied maneuver.

Stances Known: At 5th level, the valkyrie learns a new stance from one of her chosen disciplines. She must meet a stance’s prerequisites to learn it.

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Fitting with the high level of customization available to magical girls, a valkyrie may select any three disciplines from which to draw her powers. A champion aiming to lead and protect from the front might focus on the Devoted Spirit and White Raven disciplines, while one preferring a more nuanced approach might seek mastery of Diamond Mind or Shadow Hand.

Illuminant Adept (Su): As a student of both her inner light and the splendor of the Sublime Way, a valkyrie can do battle with a grace and precision few mundane warriors could ever hope to match. With practice, her maneuvers come to flow through her with the same ease as the illuminations that infuse her soul. As a free action, no more than once per round, the valkyrie may recover a single martial maneuver by expending motes equal to twice the level of that maneuver. She may only use this technique to recover maneuvers of a level is no greater than her class level. This ability does not allow the valkyrie to ready new maneuvers – merely to recover expended ones.

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Of all the valkyrie's abilities, this is arguably the most important in cementing their role as a powerful and flexible melee combatant. In essence, your maneuvers now function much like illuminations, ensuring you're never caught with your most vital tools expended and useless. Though a swordsage valkyrie has a bumpy road to class entry, the advantage offered by their expansive Maneuvers Known and Readied selection still arguably places them among the best candidates for the job!

Martial Evoker (Su): A true warrior must learn proficiency with all the weapons at their disposal. While there is a time and a place for elegant mysticism, a valkyrie is a warrior first and foremost. Beginning at 3rd level, whenever the valkyrie uses a Blast illumination, she may treat it as if it possessed either the Imbue blast shape or the Assault blast shape. This replaces any effects the blast’s previous shape might have imparted, but does not alter the illumination’s final cost in any way.

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No magical girl ever has quite enough Readied slots to prepare all the illuminations she'd like to bring to a fight, and with a reduced EL, that issue is only exacerbated. Martial Evoker eases things significantly by eliminating the demand for multiple permutations of the Imbue and Assault illuminations that make up a valkyrie's bread and butter, freeing up those precious slots for more interesting fare.

Warrior of Light (Su): Many magical girls would hold to the claim that light is their weapon, but for a valkyrie, this statement is true in a very literal sense. Eschewing the crude physical constructs most evokers require to channel their power, a valkyrie of 7th level or higher is capable of manifesting arms and armor of pure radiant energy. A costume manifested from radiant energy allows the valkyrie to add its armor bonus to her Touch AC, as well as her normal AC. A device manifested from radiant energy deals untyped energy damage, rather than physical damage. Any additional damage imparted by martial maneuvers executed while wielding a radiant device may likewise be converted to untyped energy damage. A valkyrie chooses whether to deploy her armaments in their physical or radiant form each time she manifests them.

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Touch attacks are the bane of many armored characters, and a defense against them in any capacity is always welcome. The boost to weapons is arguably less vital, but the ability to bite through DR on a whim is quite useful... and a justification to make lightsaber noises at the rest of the table is something that can't be priced.

Faultless Zenith Stance (Su): At 9th level, a valkyrie masters one of the most difficult and fundamental links between the paths of initiator and evoker, mastering their personal flow of light as an extension of their own body. As a swift action, the valkyrie may exit any stance she is currently occupying to enter the Faultless Zenith stance. As part of this action, the valkyrie selects a single surge illumination she knows (though it does not need to be readied). So long as she remains in the Faultless Zenith stance, the valkyrie gains the full effect of the chosen surge, and her mote pool is reduced by a value equal to the mote cost of the chosen surge. The valkyrie may end this stance at any time as a swift action, or she may simply switch to a different stance – either way, upon exiting the Faultless Zenith stance, her reduced mote pool will refresh to its normal value at the beginning of her next turn.

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In effect, every surge you know is now a stance. While the price to maintain such a powerful stance is undoubtedly steep, being able to 'lock in' your favorite surges gives an enormous edge in the action economy, freeing up your precious Swift actions for boosts, counters, and management of costume imbuements.

Eternal Blaze (Su): At 10th level, a valkyrie’s melding of blade and brilliance is, at long last, truly seamless. A barrage of light is no greater a challenge than a graceful dance of blows, and she gives no more thought to her simple illuminations than a veteran soldier gives to the practiced strokes of their weapon. Once per round, the valkyrie may evoke a blast illumination with the Imbue shape component as a free action.

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Never again watch an Imbued attack fizzle and fade - the class capstone offers peerless reliability to your martial blasting, allowing you to apply the blast you need when and where you need it, without ever having to worry about wasting the charge on a miss or expending an action.

Sample Valkyrie
Olivia the Indominable: Crusader 3/Champion 2/Valkyrie 7
CR 12 Humanoid (Halfling), Chaotic Good