Godslayer Apostate [PrC]

[Maerok]

Godslayer Apostate

On a greater scale than the gods themselves, Destiny itself brokers power to god and mortal alike. When the time comes a Godslayer Apostate is chosen from the mortal populace to do what no other mortal can accomplish. They are tasked with seeking out and destroying a divine power. The Apostates, few in number, serve both the true natural Order that extends beyond divine dominion and the intangible Chaos of fate's winding folds. Because the power is only granted against a single deity, other divine powers are not obliged to feel threatened and often welcome the loss of competition should the Apostate succeed. On the other hand, a deity who discovers their hunter will not be pleased.

Sometimes a deity will discover this fact and strike down an unwitting Apostate in a seemingly random act of malice. Fledgling deities targeted, not even aware of their own power, are slain before they truly understand their nature.

Spoiler

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"In the Beginning, Destiny decreed their rise. In me did it decree their fall. I'll admit, I have a very specialized selection of skills."

Hitdice
d8

Prerequisites:
BAB +7
Knowledge (religion): 13 ranks
Feats: Endurance, Diehard
Special: Mortal, no Divine Ranks and not a Hero Deity

Skills:
Points: 2 + Int modifier
Skills: Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Knowledge (religion) (Int), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), and Sense Motive (Wis).

Godslayer Apostate
{table=head]Level|BAB|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special

1st|

+1

|

+2

|

+0

|

+2

|Divine Void I, Nemesis, Fate's Fortune

2nd|

+2

|

+3

|

+0

|

+3

|Seek Out Fate

3rd|

+3

|

+3

|

+1

|

+3

|Blackout

4th|

+4

|

+4

|

+1

|

+4

|Divine Void II

5th|

+5

|

+4

|

+1

|

+4

|Favored Enemy (Nemesis)

6th|

+6

|

+5

|

+2

|

+5

|Greater Blackout

7th|

+7

|

+5

|

+2

|

+5

|Divine Void III

8th|

+8

|

+6

|

+2

|

+6

|Greater Favored Enemy (Nemesis)

9th|

+9

|

+6

|

+3

|

+6

|Foretold Moment

10th|

+10

|

+7

|

+3

|

+7

|Divine Void IV
[/table]

Class Restriction: Once a level in this class has been taken, the Godslayer cannot take a level in another class until the Nemesis is slain.

Divine Void I - IV: As Godslayer attune themselves to their destiny, their spiritual link is severed.
At level 1 (I), the Godslayer no longer benefits from divine bonuses.
At level 4 (II), the Godslayer is not affected by divine bonuses or penalties.
At level 7 (III), the Godslayer no longer benefits from divine spells. This includes healing and other effects that do not grant a numerical bonus.
At level 10 (IV), the Godslayer gains SR 10 + HD against any divine spell targeting them. This also applies towards spells cast by creatures with divine ranks.

If the Nemesis of a Godslayer is disposed of, the Godslayer loses all class levels, gaining an equivalent amount of XP plus double the normal XP for slaying the deity. They also maintain their Divine Void ability as far as it has progressed.

The Godslayer cannot gain divine ranks as a Godslayer and does not gain them from slaying their Nemesis. Those divine ranks are subsumed by Destiny.

Nemesis: At level 1, the Godslayer realizes their path toward the destruction of one divine being. The Godslayer may choose a particular god or a random god of a category of their choice. If the Nemesis's power is extended to divine proxies, the collective set of divine ranks that make up the deity's power are treated as a single entity. If ranks are transferred to another deity then the Godslayer has the option of destroying the Nemesis's divine ranks whenever they have the opportunity to destroy that divine being instead.

Fate's Fortune: At each level, the Godslayer gains immunity to a salient divine power of their Nemesis. The Godslayer may also choose one of the following:
-The Nemesis cannot automatically roll 20 against the character.
-The Nemesis does not adds its divine rank to saving throws prompted by the Godslayer.
-The Nemesis does not add its divine rank to skill checks opposing the character.
-The character automatically overcomes the divine damage reduction of the Nemesis.
-The character negates the divine AC of the Nemesis when attacking, etc..

Seek Out Fate: Once per week, the Godslayer may roll d20 + character level against 10 + divine rank of Nemesis to determine the current plane and general location of their Nemesis.

Blackout: For up to 12 hours per day, the Godslayer may choose to become immune to all magical and divine attempts of their Nemesis to discern their location. The Nemesis can still stand on a hill as spot them from across a field with their 'natural' senses.

Greater Blackout: At level 6, Blackout extends to all allies traveling with the Godslayer within 1/4 mile.

Favored Enemy (Nemesis): The Godslayer gains the benefits of Favored Enemy against the Nemesis, its spawn, its clerics, and its followers.

Greater Favored Enemy (Nemesis): The Godslayer gains the benefits of Favored Enemy a second time.

Foretold Moment: Once per encounter with the Nemesis, as an immediate action the Apostate may choose to take a turn before the Nemesis. This grants the Apostate two turns in that round. No action the Apostate performs in those turns can grant them more free turns in that round.

[Jack of Spades]

Class Restriction: Once a level in this class has been taken, the Godslayer cannot take a level in another class until the Nemesis is slain.

I could see this becoming a major impediment for characters looking at this class. Freezing your character until it can kill a god doesn't sound like a very attractive choice when compared to simply gaining god-killing power in your original class choice.

At level 7 (III), the Godslayer no longer benefits from divine spells. This includes healing and other effects that do not grant a numerical bonus.

If anything were to prompt a cleric to crush a friend's skull, I'd imagine it would be the fact that their foolish, probably expensive quest to kill a god just cut said friend off from healing.

If the Nemesis of a Godslayer is disposed of, the Godslayer loses all class levels, gaining an equivalent amount of XP plus double the normal XP for slaying the deity. They also maintain their Divine Void ability as far as it has progressed.

So you embarked on a quest to kill a god, forsaking any experience you may have put into your original class during said quest, and what is your reward? You get the experience you would have earned. Also, the gods hate you. And so does your cleric. Once again, this class doesn't look very attractive.

Blackout: For up to 12 hours per day, the Godslayer may choose to become immune to all magical and divine attempts of their Nemesis to discern their location. The Nemesis can still stand on a hill as spot them from across a field with their 'natural' senses.

If I were a god, I would just scry the entire world until I found the spot I couldn't track

At level 10 (IV), the Godslayer gains SR 10 + HD against any divine spell targeting them. This also applies towards spells cast by creatures with divine ranks.

......

Favored Enemy (Nemesis): The Godslayer gains the benefits of Favored Enemy against the Nemesis, its spawn, its clerics, and its followers.

Greater Favored Enemy (Nemesis): The Godslayer gains the benefits of Favored Enemy a second time.

Now, these could actually be useful. Too bad I wasted 5 levels waiting for some actual benefits to come from this class. Also, other than the SR, they won't last long at all.

----------

In my opinion, this class simply doesn't have enough perks to be attractive. It saddles you with a quest and keeps you from gaining skill in your own class until you've completed it. Add some tastier abilities and I think you'd be onto something.

[FishAreWet]

I say:

cheapen those perquisites. Or at least make them better feats.

consider giving out the Nemesis feat(BoED) against... your Nemesis and his follows.

But overall, the downsides to this class(ignoring divine, can't take other levels) far outweigh anything good it grants. Make it a lot more appealing to enter.

[Zexion]

Is Favored Enemy a feat? The only Favored Enemy ability I know is the Ranger ability, and that becomes more powerful with the Ranger's level. What do you mean?

[Maerok]

Ah, well I at least forgot to say it advanced spellcasting.

Yeah, Favored Enemy as the ranger ability.

[Zexion]

Blackout: For up to 12 hours per day, the Godslayer may choose to become immune to all magical and divine attempts of their Nemesis to discern their location. The Nemesis can still stand on a hill as spot them from across a field with their 'natural' senses.

Perhaps make this more... "technical" wording? It just seems like the Nemesis can only spot the Godslayer by standing on top of a hill.

[FishAreWet]

And define 'natural' senses. Maybe say, "for the purpose of locating the Godslayer, the Nemesis has an effective Divine Rank of -.

[Jack of Spades]

Perhaps make this more... "technical" wording? It just seems like the Nemesis can only spot the Godslayer by standing on top of a hill.

Possibly: "Note that this ability does not stop the Nemesis from locating the Godslayer through mundane means-- for example, if the Nemesis has a line of sight to the Godslayer, the Nemesis can still see him or her."

[Zexion]

Possibly: "Note that this ability does not stop the Nemesis from locating the Godslayer through mundane means-- for example, if the Nemesis has a line of sight to the Godslayer, the Nemesis can still see him or her."

MUCH better.

[Baron Corm]

Are you sure this isn't an epic class? I was kind of surprised when I saw that. Even if a god isn't rolling 20's against you and is devoid of salient powers, he can still wink you out pretty easily. He's got class levels, which aren't wasted on "humanslayer". Also pretty sure that a whole bunch of gods would kill any godslayer in existence, as a mutual protection type of thing, especially since the class abilities only function against the godslayer's nemesis.

At this point the class is also underpowered against non-gods. The immunity to divine spells doesn't even provide a great niche since most good divine spells are self-buffs. If the class was epic, you could add some powerful class features that fought gods and mortals alike. Redesigning it to be more broadly (and proactively) anti-divine would give it balance as well, but it still wouldn't be able to kill a god. And honestly, you shouldn't be able to, pre-epic.

I do like the idea, though, as well as the write-up. Sufficiently epic-feeling, nothing seems arbitrary, nice piece of work.

Ah, well I at least forgot to say it advanced spellcasting.

If it advances spellcasting and gives 1/1 BAB, people are going to take it just for the pure gish potential, and make a point to keep their nemesis alive so that they don't lose their class levels. I'm pretty sure that wasn't what you were going for? I'd suggest removing spellcasting progression from levels 1 and 9. Less cleanly, you could make a class feature which makes them choose between better BAB or better spellcasting. Or give the class its own spell list/SLAs.