Dragonmarks as Bloodlines

[T.G. Oskar]

Mark of Sentinel (House Deneith)

Race: Human
Heraldic Creature: Chimera
Allies: Darguun, nobility (+1)
Enemies: Criminals, house Tharashk, order of the Emerald Claw (-2)

House Deneith has been, for generations, the bodyguards of the Galifar empire, and the house that provides expertly-trained mercenaries and bodyguards. Emerging from Karrnath, Deneith kept its neutral position during the Last War, making it one of the few houses that could keep its military power as part of the Treaty of Thronehold. Shifting its focus from mercenary job to law enforcement, Deneith is capable of traversing all Five Nations freely in pursuit of dangerous criminals. The Last War, and particularly House Tharashk, have placed their once-favored position as the main source of well-trained warriors in jeopardy, as the Finders have made contacts with citizens of Droaam, selling monstrous mercenaries at the highest bidder. With internal conflicts pushing for a show of martial supremacy from the house, Deneith’s neutrality may be placed in jeopardy. Deneith Sentinels offers the best-trained human warriors, and contacts with various Darguun soldiers, to the highest bidder; furthermore, they serve as trained reinforcements for local law enforcement and as “international police”.

Level	Least Dragonmark	Lesser Dragonmark	Greater Dragonmark
1st	--	--	+2 on Sense Motive checks
2nd	--	+2 on Sense Motive checks	Least Dragonmark Power
3rd	--	--	Constitution +1
4th	+2 on Sense Motive checks	Least Dragonmark Power	Dodge
5th	--	--	House Affinity (Deneith) +2
6th	--	Constitution +1	Lesser Dragonmark Power
7th	--	--	+2 on Intimidate checks
8th	Least Dragonmark Power	Dodge	Bulwark of defense
9th	--	--	Strength +1
10th	--	House affinity (Deneith) +2	Combat IntuitionCAdv
11th	--	--	House affinity (Deneith) +4
12th	Constitution +1	Lesser Dragonmark Power	Greater Dragonmark Power
13th	--	--	+2 on Knowledge (nobility and royalty) checks
14th	--	+2 on Intimidate checks	Sentinel strike
15th	--	--	Charisma +1
16th	Dodge	Bulwark of defense	Damage reduction 10/-
17th	--	--	House affinity (Deneith) +6
18th	--	Strength +1	Dragonmark powers +1
19th	--	--	+2 on Concentration checks
20th	House Affinity (Deneith) +2	Combat IntuitionCAdv	Fight to the end

Dragonmark Powers (Sp): A character with the Mark of Sentinel may choose one of the following spell-like abilities at each moment it gains a new dragonmark power.
Least: barkskin 5/day or protection from arrows 5/day or shield of faith 5/day or shield other 3/day
Lesser: lesser globe of invulnerability 3/day or protection from energy 3/day or stoneskin 3/day
Greater: globe of invulnerability 1/day or spell resistance 1/day
Dragonmark Secondary Powers: A character with the Mark of Sentinel gains the following minor powers.
Bulwark of Defense (Ex): A character with the Mark of Sentinel causes all opponents beginning their turn within its area to treat all squares threatened by it as difficult terrain, as per the knight’s bulwark of defense class feature (see Player’s Handbook II for more details). If the character already has this class feature, the effective area that it threatens increases by 10 ft.; the squares are not considered threatened, but they count as difficult terrain nonetheless.
Sentinel Strike (Ex): A character with the Mark of Sentinel may, once per round, make a potent attack of opportunity. If the character makes multiple attacks of opportunity, it may choose to which attack it applies. The effect only applies if the character makes a melee attack, not if the character attempts to disarm, trip, or otherwise attempt any combat maneuver as part of its attack of opportunity, unless it occurs as an effect of the melee attack (for example, if the character gains the ability to trip an opponent as part of a successful melee attack). When using a sentinel strike, the character adds its Constitution modifier to the attack and deals an extra point of damage per character level. Sentinel strike is considered as a smite for purposes of feats and magic items that improve it, except that the character is always limited to one sentinel strike per round (even with Combat Reflexes)
Fight to the End (Ex): Once per day, a character with the Mark of Sentinel may remain fighting even if its hit points remain negative. As an immediate action, the character gains the benefit of the Diehard feat and may remain fighting even if its hit points reach below -10 until the end of the encounter. The effort done by the character, however, is extenuating; at the end of the encounter, if it survives, it takes 1d6 points of ability burn to its Constitution score and becomes exhausted for a number of minutes equal to the amount of ability burn taken. The exhaustion effect may be healed as normal, but the ability burn cannot be healed except by natural means (through resting, for example).

Spoiler: Comment

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Well, as I mentioned that Medani was my least favorite of the Dragonmarked Houses, you must be wondering: what's my favorite one? If you see a lot of love towards House Deneith, it's for one reason. Between my time playing Dungeons & Dragons Online with a Paladin having the Mark of Sentinel, and reading their fluff on the Dragonmarked supplement, I developed a lot of love for the House. The SLAs you gained through their mark, however, really made it click: some of the spells were must-have for any tank, and with Shield Other as one of the choices, you could make a pretty effective tank that used Damage Redirection (aka, to take damage from allies and/or reflect that to the enemy) with little effort. However, that wasn't really enough.

As you can see, this bloodline is perfect for Fighters, Paladins and Knights, which benefit the most (you can also add Crusaders to the list, because adding some protection buffs to an already powerful build, while delaying maneuver progression to get the right stances makes it golden). The ability score increases favor all but the Fighter (and even then, it makes Intimidate a bit nicer), the skill bonuses are really good (Intimidate for debuffing, Sense Motive as one of the best skills around, and Concentration for Paladins or Diamond Mind users), and while the feats aren't that great, it does mean you can get Dodge for free without having a Dexterity of 13 (not to mention Combat Intuition is both thematically fitting and actually quite good). Also, you get a VERY hefty amount of Damage Reduction (10 points by 16th level seems like a lot, but not really).

However, it's the secondary powers where you may cry foul, and I don't feel sorry for it. Bulwark of Defense is one of the best ways to provide Lockdown, as it disables Tumble and makes even 5-ft. steps difficult to execute, so you have strong chances of keeping people nearby. Sentinel Strike is, effectively, a Smite but as an Attack of Opportunity once per round, and extraordinary to boot; the fact that it counts as a Smite for a lot of stuff (Improved Smiting, Sapphire Smite damage bonus, Mighty Smiting damage bonus, and if you really want to push it, the benefits from Fist of Raziel (though they ONLY apply to Smite Evil, and Sentinel Strike is NOT Smite Evil). Finally, Fight to the End is an awesome way to remain in combat pretty much indefinitely, despite the ability burn and being usable once per day. As you can see, ALL secondary class features are incredibly good, perhaps better than those of others. However, they are as good as the whole package, and the package is pretty comparable to that of a Cannith or Vadalis dragonmarked scion.