Project Heretica - not just a Paladin retooling

[Cieyrin]

Nope, nope and nope.

I mentioned a few clues, which were pretty vague. I'll expand on them and clarify others.

• The first clue is being a PrC from Complete Warrior. That's pretty easy.
• The second needs to be clarified quite a bit. The PrC itself isn't a combination of two classes; the retooling ends up being a combination of two PrCs, though.
• Third, that the clue was on my username. That's the most vague of them all, but it's also a topic on the Gaming forum...actually a topic AND a Let's Play.

It was odd to see Knight Protector, because the Fighter's player would probably go Frenzied Berserker rather than Knight Protector (no, it's not Frenzied Berserker by the way...) The PrC he chose was to improve his combat skills furthermore while allowing him to diversify a bit.

That third clue suddenly crystalized for me, as I'm following that LP, which leads me to posit that it's Knight of the Chalice.

[T.G. Oskar]

That third clue suddenly crystalized for me, as I'm following that LP, which leads me to posit that it's Knight of the Chalice.

You're on the right track, but how exactly did you end up with Knight of the Chalice? I dunno how that relates with Orland(ea)u, after all.

[Cieyrin]

You're on the right track, but how exactly did you end up with Knight of the Chalice? I dunno how that relates with Orland(ea)u, after all.

I thought FFT and my thoughts immediately descended onto your rewrite of Hexblade. Since you said new class, I thought of the opposite of Hexblade, making me think of Agrias and thus Knight of the Chalice. Though, since you gave me a specific name, I now see I should have stuck with my initial instinct of Kensai.

[TravelLog]

Kensai hmm? Looking forward to seeing it. I recently did my own take on the Kensei, based on Musashi's Go Rin No Sho, so I'm interested to see where you take it!

[T.G. Oskar]

The good thing is that I'll have a chance to test how it works, specifically how it works in high-level play. The Fighter player loves doing absurd amounts of damage per hit, but felt like missing some versatility so his rebuild quest made him take a few levels in Warblade in order to get the necessary maneuvers and the recovery rate.

The Sword Saint (which is the literal translation of "kensei", hence the clue being in my name as the class Orland[ea]u belongs to is actually Sword Saint and he was also the inspiration for the class) blends Kensei with...Master of Nine. Thus, it was turned into a proper ToB class, with the fluff of being a consummate master in all sword schools (including homebrewed disciplines), but at the same time a specialist with a specific weapon. While they no longer can enchant their weapon to their own needs (they get a pseudo-enhancement), they still are extremely powerful with their signature weapon (perhaps a bit too powerful: competence bonus on attack and damage rolls, shifting weapon special qualities based on the stance you assume, and eventually the ability to turn any weapon you wield into a likeness of your signature weapon), they progress maneuvers like a Swordsage, gain Dual Boost AND Dual Stance (but with the requirement of wielding a specific weapon), has Withstand, Instill and Power Surge turned into maneuver-consuming class features (counter, stance and boost respectively), and much more. It's the realization of what Reshar would be if he was given levels, since he's meant to be a master of all nine schools and while he reunited all Nine Swords, he seems to always use the same weapon; given what the kensei is meant to represent, it makes sense he literally becomes a "sword saint".

Of course, that degree of playtesting will allow me to see if it needs a few nerfs or if it works as intended, although it IS a very potent class IMO. I have no regrets to know the Half-Giant Fighter will choose Fullblades as his signature weapons (though only HIS weapon will be Large-sized...), and given his actual damage output, he'll just go insane with sheer damage. That he can do that mostly unbuffed (he does has the Bard's songs and the Paladin's auras affecting him, plus the Warmage's Haste spell which will no longer apply as I'm gonna retire the character in favor of playtesting another class) means the class is really a brutal upgrade to his fighting abilities, though his choice of powers will make him a bit more of a team player (he has Leading the Attack, after all, and with Instill he'll grant the Bard better BAB and perhaps better Fort saves), so he'll do fine.

That, and he's just drooling for Weapon Supremacy. For a good reason, tho: the feat got boosted real good, going all over the top.

[Cieyrin]

My only question about the Kensei (which was different than I was expecting, certainly, as I think we were all thinking of combining base classes, not taking the original prestige class and absorbing another prestige class) is how one consumes a stance for Instill? Stances are never expended by any stretch of the term. Did you mean Boosts?

[NineThePuma]

All I can think of is something along the lines of "Karen? Is that you?" but yeah.

Dare I ask what you're playtesting?

[T.G. Oskar]

My only question about the Kensei (which was different than I was expecting, certainly, as I think we were all thinking of combining base classes, not taking the original prestige class and absorbing another prestige class) is how one consumes a stance for Instill? Stances are never expended by any stretch of the term. Did you mean Boosts?

It's not really "expending" the stance more than "foregoing its normal benefit". It works exactly as Mountain Fortress Stance or Eye of the Storm, which work as if you had gained new stances but build upon existing ones. Instill works based off any stance (it's like if you had gained a new stance overall, but builds upon the general idea of a stance; if I had to give it a restriction, it'd definitely be White Raven tho). It doesn't work as the Kensai's Instill ability either, because you get a "fixed" penalty (more like a penalty based on your class level) but everyone gains the benefit as if you had expended all of your BAB and saves. Thus, a Sword Saint can make all allies superb fighting machines, especially if they wield the Saint's signature weapon.

All I can think of is something along the lines of "Karen? Is that you?" but yeah.

Dare I ask what you're playtesting?

Many things. For starters, some feats that I've been working with (going with the idea of stacking feats, but instead of BAB or self-stacking I go for effective Fighter levels, to make taking Fighter more effective AND the reason why I add up all of those "effective Fighter levels" notations). And...their new companion is a Shugenja. Specifically, a Lawful Evil Water-specialized Hobgoblin Shugenja, built up as a PC in terms of stats but as an NPC for everything else. Water Shugenja aren't so bad, though, as they get all cold attack spells aside from healing, and their spell list is MUCH larger. Not to mention all other stuff (how orders work, the addition of ki, their fetish with scrolls and whatnot). Oh, and the Avenger weapons; the Paladin is using one now, as I mentioned, which automatically grants him a +2 Holy Metalline Battleaxe with a Magic Circle against Evil effect, which will become a +3 weapon at 12th level. Then there's Alchemical Grenades, which take the alchemical weapons and make them much better.

Really, I'm playtesting a lot of stuff, and that's not even the tip of the iceberg. I'm gonna see if I can make some tests with another group of NPCs: an Archivist/Wizard with retooled Mystic Theurge, retooled Warlock/retooled Sorcerer with Eldritch Theurge, and a Changeling Factotum going into Chameleon with levels in Rogue and that dabbles in Incarnum, binding, truenaming and maneuvers, or her Factotum/Binder twin brother that does almost exactly the same thing except he's evil and serves The Mockery. Still not enough stuff.

[NineThePuma]

Heh... Hobgoblins. :3

I look forward to seeing more from the Ki-tools. Honestly, most of your work isnimpressive, and I guess I'll sit back and wait to see the next batch of material.

[Elfstone]

That's awesome. Although that's not the Kensai I was expecting I look forward to it. When should we expect it on the boards?

Having tested the theurge I have found it to be very nice and I recommend it to everyone. (Admittedly I play it as a level 12 gestalt caster using the retooled warmage//wizard/cleric/retooled theurge, leaving me with a huge number of spells and tremendous boosts to almost all of my spells. using The Tome by frank and k adds some awesome spell casting feats as well. In general it's one of my favorite pc's. He should be getting some combat testing soon.)

Anyway, I would love to see the spellthief get some love in the retooling department. Have you ever considered it?

[T.G. Oskar]

That's awesome. Although that's not the Kensai I was expecting I look forward to it. When should we expect it on the boards?

Not entirely sure when, since the last presentation was a group of prestige classes and before that was a class (alongside a companion PrC), and I have a lot of stuff to present. I'm itching for a base class this month, inclining towards the retooled Soulborn or the retooled Dragon Shaman (and the latter I promised I'd show already to someone through PMs), so it'll take some time and also some playtesting.

Fortunately, that's what my group and I did today, so here's the results:

For starters, I think I deserve an achievement, even if minor: I managed to finish a session (and the end of a long campaign arc) while having remnants of the flu and some indigestion. Took somewhere between 6-8 hours of play, so it was quite a good session.

We only had one fight, and it was sort of an introduction: the group made a three-month trip from the Lhazaar Principalities into Trolanport, where they'd meet with their patron, deliver the "goods", and basically turn rich (their patron promised around 50% of the earnings of the items they procured for him, divided equally between all members). It'll take a game year for that to happen (or earlier!), but firearms will finally reach Khorvaire!

The battle was meant to introduce the Hobgoblin Shugenja, which has also been retooled and which I wanted to playtest. This also meant the last participation of the female Gray Elf Warmage, which departed the group in pursuit of her mission. The Shugenja was pursued by four Spectres (fluffed as hobgoblin spirits), and the group decided to help her. The group spent about half a minute buffing: imbuing the Bard's sithak with Greater Magic Weapon, applying Mass Fire Shield, the Paladin applying Shield of Faith to himself and the Fighter...I mean, the Sword Saint, and finally having the Warmage use Teleport to move the party 100 ft. into the coast from the boat.

The battle started with the Fighter/Sword Saint charging through one of the Specters and using White Raven Tactics to give the Paladin the next turn; his charge failed because of incorporealness (except for the Psychokinetic Burst die, which being force damage bypassed etherealness, so he did some minor damage). The Paladin then decided to use TURN UNDEAD!!!!! on two of the specters, failing miserably (low turning check, alas). The Specters went next, whiffing most of the group except for the Sword Saint and the Shugenja, the latter suffering negative levels (the Fighter/Sword Saint should have also suffered negative levels, but he would have ignored them BY CROM!!! by the sheer power of his newfound badassery). The Warmage went next, using Arc of Lightning with her Warmage Edge to essentially finish two of the specters on her own (by failing their Reflex saves AND their miss chances). The Shugenja went dead last, casting Ice Storm to attempt to damage the Specters, but both passed their checks, sadly, so no damage for them.

Next turn, the Fighter/Sword Saint went again, this time going with Burning Brand and a full attack; once again, he whiffed on both, but Psychokinetic Burst still delivered. The Paladin went with his attacks on the Specter that hit the Shugenja, and missed the first one...but luckily, and realizing I had chosen that feat for 10th level, decided to pull off a Smite. I only added 2 points to Power Attack, but that was enough to enable Awesome Smite, and thus use Seeking Smite. The Specter went from over its HP limit to less than 1/3rd that amount in a single blow! The Warmage finished the battle in no time with a divided Magic Missile Barrage, which with her Warmage Edge meant she didn't have to roll for anything (the damage alone took both to 0 HP, so they got destroyed. Big time).

So, despite being a short battle that lasted nearly nothing, what can we learn from this?

• Awesome Smite is...well, awesome! Although the Paladin didn't use full Power Attack, the fact that he could deal a solid hit AND threaten to daze the Specter (because of how Stunning Smite is currently written) was a big boon.
• The Warmage stopped being just decent and entered into frickin' ridiculous status. Hence, after this battle, she "retired" from adventuring. Really, she basically finished the battle by herself.
• Displacement against Specters are a lifesaver. Even if they have Blind-Fight (these ones didn't, mostly because I didn't want for them to suddenly drain the party into nothingness), a 50% chance even for a minute is definitely not something to laugh at.
• Turn Undead, as usual, sucks. It's too bad I'm hesitating on Divine Might, because adding three times Charisma to attack (when smiting and wielding a shield) and twice to damage (when wielding a shield) seems a tad ridiculous.
• With three uses of Smite per encounter, now it's the time to see the Paladin use more smites. The 5+Paladin level damage increase is also a very decent move, if only because it allowed the Paladin to deal decent damage without going overboard, and the rider effect compensates for the lack of damage.
• The Devotion Aura really shone over here. A +4 to AC that applies to touch attacks can be a lifesaver, especially with the low rolls and the low to-hit.
• The retooling for the Holy Avenger is pretty helpful as well. A +2 weapon with holy was a heaven-sent weapon.

The introduction to the Shugenja ended with a sour note (the Bard first handled her ritual dagger which nearly gets him killed, then handled her ofudas, and finally her spell component pouch), so the Bard has a future enemy whom is supposed to be their next "ally". Not to mention how I'm leading my Bard player into going (sorta shoehorned him into the Gatekeepers, whereas the Hobgoblin Shugenja is an aberration huntress) and how the group will meet paths with her again. Oh, and I cheated the Bard player of his bear once again. Not intended, tho.

After reaching Zilargo, the party made official their bonds by creating their own guild (sponsored by their patron, of course), called the "Alliance for Future Endeavors", whose mission is to "congregate the different adventurers for the pursuit of a common good" (shorthand for having more DMPCs for me to playtest stuff and alternate characters played by them running around the campaign). The Bard player will finish his initiation as a Druid before turning into a Fochlucan (Druidic?) Lyrist, and will probably meet the Shugenja once again. Meanwhile, the party has already three missions: one to get a MacGuffin from an old fortification in the border between Breland and Darguun, another to seek over the maiden voyage of an ultra-fast airship (aka, Voyage of the Golden Dragon for 10th level characters), or a trip to Xen'drik. Their rewards if they succeed with flying honors? A stronghold, an airship of their own, and...I dunno, but the last thing should be awesome as well.

So: questions? Comments? Knight of the Chalice should be the next PrC to be presented, then the new Avengers and Armor Suits of Virtue, and the last appendix. I'll also miss the Warmage, but I've noticed she IS pretty powerful by the level they're playing at (something quite odd, actually).

[NineThePuma]

You're not gonna nerf the warmage just cause it's awesome, are you?

(Also: YAY, Dragon shaman!)

[Elfstone]

When you said Avengers it took me a minute to realize you weren't going to make a Thor/Norse warrior class.

Also, Dragon shaman first! No one give it any love. The soulborn has had some attention, but not alot. Save for Frank and K's Soulborn, I haven't seen anything really good for it.

[T.G. Oskar]

Alright, so it seems the Dragon Shaman will be the next class to be presented! It IS an odd class to play with (it breaks in a way with the concept of "a class should provide way for lots of archetypes"), but it should play pretty nicely. It has some basis on the Retooled Marshal, and by the end you should have some time playing as a dragon. Or pretty much that trait. So, expect the Wyrmlord soon enough.

(That said; this thread seems to be my extra-official blog for current retools. Should I get a blog where all my retools are available?)

However, the question I want to ask to you is this.

With the Paladin working pretty well (at the moment; I need some further testing from earlier levels using different builds and how do the new tweaks work around), the Zealot (aka the retooled Soulborn) looming on the horizon and the Crusader keeping its traditional feel, it's time to work on the fourth member of the Quartet of Champions: the Divine Mind!

Except, I'm at a bit of a conundrum. You see: when I decided to work on the Swashbuckler, the idea of the Daring Outlaw was so potent, I had to scratch making the class its own, and rather work with a different idea. Now, I'm not a fan of Pathfinder, but between their archetypes and the variants from Unearthed Arcana, I found a decent way to take some classes and make them a bit more useful. That doesn't mean I will suddenly reconsider the Paladin as a PrC OR as a Cleric archetype/variant (in fact, the Cleric needs a reverse retooling, probably aimed at Cloistered Cleric, BUT that won't be any time soon. Sorry guys), but it does fit well with other classes: namely, the Swashbuckler, the Scout, and the Soulknife.

Thus, since I figured that adapting the Divine Mind into a divine champion chassis would require only minimal changes, I aimed at making a variant of the Project Heretica Paladin that could use psionic powers. The variant would have a very flavorful and somewhat ironic name (the Kshatrya, as per the warrior caste of the Hindi), and would do for psionics what the Paladin did for divine magic (hence, the irony).

Then, I started with the very first thing: working with the smites. Then I realized: just by the smites alone, the concept COULD work as a variant of its own. Since I already made a prospective Soulknife class and I found that a variant could be better, I got into thinking...

...hence, the question. Would you like to see the Kshatrya as a variant/archetype for the Divine Champion (aka, the Paladin, the Blackguard, the Anarch, the Justiciar, and the chassis all four classes share), or as a class standing on its own? There would be some differences (namely on the amount of powers the Kshatrya would manifest), but the amount of changes between the Paladin and the Kshatrya would fulfill both roles quite well. If you choose to make the Kshatrya a Paladin variant/archetype, it would be presented on this thread with its own link (separate from the alternate class features, which I personally prefer a bit more than variants, but I've started to see the worth of the latter). If the Kshatrya would become its own class, it would also have its own thread, but it would have a lot of similarities with the chassis of the Divine Champion, which is also shared to an extent by the Bez-Kismet and the Zealot (which is yet unreleased).

So: class, or variant/archetype? I'll expect a few answers before I post the Knight of the Chalice PrC, or at most before I post the Avengers.

[TravelLog]

Personally, I'd like to see it as a class on its own, as the flavor and feel is different enough that it might feel forced as an archetype.

[Elfstone]

Yes. Yes you need a blog with all your classes.

Yay Dragon Shaman!

I like that archtype. It needs its own class. You could make it a varient, but I'd suggest just going for it all on its own.

[T.G. Oskar]

So I finished both the variant/archetype version and the full class version of the Kshatrya, and I feel inclined to go for the class. The end result was pretty distinctive, much unlike the Scout or the Swashbuckler if only because I needed to replace many divine-granted abilities with equal flavor psionic variants. Flavor could use a revision, though, since I'm basically pulling off what history and fantasy has done with the Paladin (making the Paladin a holy warrior instead of the palace guard), but trying to keep some of the traits of the actual Kshatrya.

As it stands, the Kshatrya as a variant/archetype is slightly stronger than the class version as it has more powers known, and it retains a great deal of the class abilities of divine champions. On the other hand, the class version of the Kshatrya draws not only from the Divine Mind, but from Dreamscarred Press' Halo Knight, and it has far more creative uses of power points and psionic focus than the actual class. I'll take some of the abilities of the class and switch them over to the variant to equate each other, but I'm still expecting for more responses, particularly with the idea of how can I make a class that allows for different builds instead of a build disguised as a class (a reason why I'm turning the Scout and the Swashbuckler into archetypes, and why the Soulknife may end up not as a class but as an archetype as well). I'll expect to have a definite response right at the moment I post the Knight of the Chalice.

Since I'd feel bad just to have a "heads-up" with no material related to the Project, here's an example of the forecoming Avenger weapons. Particularly, this is the Avenger weapon that the Paladin DMPC in my Eberron campaign is using:

DIVINE AVENGER
Price (Item Level): 57,910 gp
Body Slot: -- (held)
Caster Level: 15th
Aura: strong (DC 22); abjuration [chaotic, evil, good or lawful]
Activation: -
Weight: 6 lbs.

This axe, designed for battle, has two arrowhead-shaped protrusions parallel to each other and pointing at opposite directions, with the symbol of the Silver Flame etched in each arrowhead. The tip of the axe head has a smaller version of the Flame's holy symbol. The blade of the axe shifts in color and texture with each moment, and the entire head of the axe glows with silvery flame-like wisps.

When wielded by a paladin, the divine avenger is treated as a holy metalline battleaxe of an enhancement bonus equal to 1 for every four class levels (rounded up, currently +3), emitting a magic circle against evil effect.

Prerequisites: Craft Magic Arms and Armor, magic circle against chaos/evil/good/law; creator must be an outsider with the chaotic, evil, good or lawful descriptor.
Cost to Create: 28,800 + 310 gp + 2304 XP

Spoiler

Show

As you can see, it's not extremely powerful, but it's extremely useful. Don't worry much about the cost; it's not meant to be built, but it has an equivalent cost just in case you need to build one...IF you're an outsider with the aforementioned descriptors. The Paladin gained it by defeating his dark side (the "evil" version of him wielding a Greataxe version if this same weapon, except being a +3 unholy metalline greataxe emitting a magic circle against good effect).

The actual version of the Divine Avenger is a bit more mutable (it can be used with a great deal of weapons, and it applies to all four divine champions equally). Ideally, there should be a version for the Kshatrya and the Zealot, but that'll be unique for them. Note, though, that this ISN'T the only version of the Holy Avenger (and hence not the only Avenger weapon); the others are returns from 2nd Edition which are actually more powerful.

Oh, and it's quite a headache to determine the cost of the weapon. Pretty painful, if you ask me, so some changes are in order.

[Elfstone]

You know, I was literally checking this thread to ask you for the stats. Swordsaged I suppose. However this is faster. Thanks for the stats. I was just getting ready to use one of the evil version for a BBEG.

The Kshyahtrya won't have an ToB right? For some reason I kept thinking it would.

[T.G. Oskar]

You know, I was literally checking this thread to ask you for the stats. Swordsaged I suppose. However this is faster. Thanks for the stats. I was just getting ready to use one of the evil version for a BBEG.

The evil version should be an Unholy Metalline [weapon] with an enhancement bonus equal to 1 for every 4 class levels and emitting a Magic Circle against Good effect. Now, not ALL weapons are fit to be Avenger weapons, so you should keep it best towards melee martial weapons.

The Kshyahtrya won't have an ToB right? For some reason I kept thinking it would.

Nope. A Kshatrya with maneuvers would basically be a Crusader with Hidden Talent. Much as the Paladin is meant to exist as the partial caster form of the Divine Champion, the Crusader is meant to be the martial form of the Divine Champion, the Zealot be the incarnum form of the Divine Champion, and the Kshatrya would be the psionic form of the Divine Champion. The Paladin, the Blackguard, the Anarch, the Justiciar, the Zealot and the Kshatrya all share the same chassis, whereas the Crusader has its own chassis (no need to change it, actually).

--

That said, I'll post the Wyrmlord (the retooled version of the Dragon Shaman) before this week ends (hopefully), but I got something to discuss with you guys.

One of the things I always wanted to do was to recollect all Paladin spells from all possible sources into a single list, as a sort of cheat sheet which would have indicators of which spells you shouldn't take, which to take occasionally, which to keep as a scroll or through a wand, and which spells actually should be on the spell slots (or known spells, in the case of the Project Heretica version). I did most of the work for the Core Paladin, taking from many sources, which should be helpful for when I play in a game that only allows the core Paladin. I decided the Project Heretica version should have something similar as well.

I'm nowhere near finished with the Project Heretica version, but one thing is for certain: I had to make some changes to spells. Some are definitely needed, some are nifty gifts. For example:

• I originally set Dispel Magic as a 1st level Paladin spell, because they got spells at 4th level. With the changes in the level in which Paladins get 1st level spells, I figured that Dispel Magic at 3rd level was a tad TOO powerful, even if only once per day, if only because a high enough Charisma score allowed it to become two, or even three, times per round. Thus, it's now a 2nd level spell, which means you can gain access from it right from 7th level (because 2nd level spells are also acquired earlier). Greater Dispel Magic will remain as a 3rd level spell, though, because by that level you NEED it.
• On the other hand, Shield Other is a spell that needed a reduction. Thus, the Paladin will get Shield Other as a 1st level spell. This is crucial, since you can start protecting allies right from 3rd level, even if only once per day, by redistributing damage. Shield Other can be combined pretty well with the Devotion aura, which is basically a large-scale version. I have my doubts over whether Glory of the Martyr should remain as a 4th level spell, given that Paladins are the ONLY people that use that magnificent spell.

There'll be a few other changes that might happen as part of the recompilation of spells from all possible sources (given that the Cleric has a LOT of spells, and the Paladin has access to them up to 4th level, with a few exceptions), which might not be present now, but I feel that the small list of spells from the 3rd post might need a bit of revision. This is important, because one of the things I'll plan for the Appendix is providing patches to the core Paladin for those of you who don't want to use ALL of Project Heretica (hopefully giving even more love to Paladin homebrewing!), and one of the things I plan to do is to revamp the spell list, so I need to get that set before I reach the Appendix (which should be pretty soon, actually).

Thus, I ask of you: which spells from the Cleric or Paladin list could merit a spell level increase or decrease? Also, which spells might be added to the Paladin to reinforce its themes? For example, one of the stuff I figured would support the Paladin immensely was to give it the Heroics spell (from Spell Compendium): after all, the Paladin is the epitome of Heroism, so it makes little sense not to have a spell like that. The bonus of having a floating feat based off your spell slots screams of cleverness. As well, I'll plan to add War Cry (from Spell Compendium as well) to the list, because a swift action morale bonus when charging just screams as something a Paladin would do (and the fear effect is rather nice as well). These are examples of spells that the Paladin could definitely use, which don't exist on their spell list nor on the Cleric spell list (one is from Bard, the other from the Sorcerer/Wizard list!); spells that evoke the Paladin feel.

Currently I'm working the list as a personal pet project, and I might not provide a link to its use because of the contents. I might make a few changes and then link it to Google Docs if you guys want to see it, but you'll have to wait until I finish. However, I could use your help on hammering the few chinks on the Paladin spell list. Adding the list of spells the Cleric has as a primary patch is formidable: for example, Shield of Faith was a definitely needed spell to reinforce AC; Air Walk deals pretty well with the lack of innate flight capabilities of the Paladin lacking a flying mount; Inhibit and Command play VERY WELL with battlefield control, to an extent, allowing the Paladin to manage the brutes while taking advantage of his defenses and potential for AoO, etc. However, there are a few spells that really don't make much sense for the Paladin to have, even if they're nice: Foundation of Stone is alright because it grants AC and bonuses against bull rush and trip; on the other hand, you get stuff like Moon Lust and Cold Fire which are odd even for the Cleric to have, and stuff like Updraft, Snowshoes or Wings of the Sea (all from Spell Compendium) working excellently for the Paladin but somewhat odd for them to cast. Creating an extensive spell list would be a nightmare, hence the idea of using the Cleric spell list as a base, and then directly patching that (it is infinitely easier to pull off, and it takes advantage of many more books), but now's the time for some refinements.

And of course, that's where you come in.

[Dust]

My group's starting up a 3.5 game where I'll be playing Oskar's paladin. I'm quite excited to say the least, and I'll let you know how it goes.

(Fifty bucks says I'll be wishing I had wings by the end of the second game session. )

[Elfstone]

Thats a daunting task... So you want our help with what exactly? Choosing spells that work? How would we know what you had already seen or chosen? Perhaps I read wrong, but im slightly confused as to what you need help with, you say the list would be private but you need help refining it? I understand the concept(its an impressive one) just not the execution.

[T.G. Oskar]

My group's starting up a 3.5 game where I'll be playing Oskar's paladin. I'm quite excited to say the least, and I'll let you know how it goes.

(Fifty bucks says I'll be wishing I had wings by the end of the second game session. )

Remember that Paladins get access to Air Walk at the same time Clerics do, and they can also get a flying mount (and Phantom Steed later on if they don't want the mount), so you might not need the wings. Perhaps some extra speed, though.

Thats a daunting task... So you want our help with what exactly? Choosing spells that work? How would we know what you had already seen or chosen? Perhaps I read wrong, but im slightly confused as to what you need help with, you say the list would be private but you need help refining it? I understand the concept(its an impressive one) just not the execution.

I guess I was a bit vague, ironically. What I need is some brainstorming in order to refine the Paladin spell list a bit. You don't need to make an exhaustive description of why X spell from the sorcerer/wizard spell list should be on the Paladin spell list, but if, after a once-over read, you figure "hey, this could be a Paladin spell list", then you could suggest that. Or, watching a spell on the Cleric spell list, you figure "hey, the Paladin could cast this at a lower level!", you can suggest that. It doesn't have, once again, to be well thought: all I need is some suggestions, which I could consider.

Another thing you can help on brainstorming is what kinds of spells you think don't fit the Paladin. For example, since I see the Paladin as a divine warrior and not an ordained priest, I figure Consecrate should be off-limits to them (because that's the thing you expect a priest to do, not a Paladin). Stuff like Stone Shape or Repel Vermin are akin to miracles, which you'd expect from people with a stronger divine connection, not from the strong arm of the faith. Just suggestions of "this looks fine, this doesn't" are enough; I don't expect you to figure out what I've done already.

[T.G. Oskar]

So: trying to keep up with stuff that I might have left a bit abandoned...let's spice things up with Knight of the Chalice, shall we?

The Knight of the Chalice, much like the Hunter of the Dead, is a PrC following a very specific archetype. Whereas the Hunter of the Dead goes for...well, the undead, the Knight of the Chalice is a demon hunter first and foremost. However, one of the things I love about the Knight of the Chalice is the fluff behind it, particularly the twist about what is the Chalice, as presented in the Player's Handbook II.

However, unlike the Hunter of the Dead, the Knight of the Chalice was mechanically useful. Although limited in terms of spellcasting, one of the key points the class had is Fiendslaying, which if you fought evil outsiders is definitely a brutal mechanic. Adding 4d6 points of damage per hit is quite nice, particularly if you have a way to pounce on your enemies. Censure Demons is pretty weak, I must admit, but it's not so bad against fodder fiends (imps, lemures, quasits, nupperibo and others). Speaking about the spellcasting: the class has some definite gems, holding a spell list with spells that could really power up the Paladin (stuff like Sound Burst at 2nd level and Searing Light at 3rd might not be that brutal, but SM I/II/III at 1st/2nd/3rd level, Magic Vestment at 3rd, Holy Smite and Lesser Planar Ally at 4th do make for interesting additions). The capstone wasn't so bad either, granting a 1/day limited use of an 8th level cleric spell (Holy Aura).

However, this is an example of a PrC that, while good, becomes weak when you compare it to the might of Project Heretica (or the nice things that the retoolings add, if you still consider the Paladin needs a bit more muscle). To do so, I went with the revisions of Hunter of the Dead, blended them with the chassis of the original PrC (as I usually do), and here's the result.

Thus, without further ado, I introduce to you the new and improved...

KNIGHT OF THE CHALICE

Knight of the Reliquary, by Michael Komarck. Art for the Magic: the Gathering TCG, Conflux expansion. Copyright 2008 Wizards of the Coast

"Farewell, all. I will not return here, but in two conditions. I shall return victorious, or I shall return in mortuary shrouds, but I shall not return in shame..." - Words of the departing Knights of the Chalice as they seek to fulfill their final missions in the Lower Planes.

Requirements
To qualify to become a knight of the chalice, a character must fulfill all the following criteria.
Alignment: Any good
Base Attack Bonus: +8
Skills: Knowledge (the planes) 5 ranks, Knowledge (religion) 10 ranks
Special: Must have an aura of good of a 5th level cleric
Special: Has evil outsiders as a favored enemy, or has slain an evil outsider of Challenge Rating 8 or higher.

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As you can see, the prerequisites make only the most pure of heart enter the class. However, technically you're not limited to clerics or paladins, since if you have at least one Exalted feat, you get the aura of good as if you were a cleric of your character level.

However, the prerequisites are intentionally harsh. A pure Cleric could enter only if it had one or two levels in Fighter, whereas a Paladin could enter right after 9th level. Rangers have it harder, but Education comes to the rescue. Other classes will have it pretty difficult, given the need for two rare skills and the unusual prerequisites.

These, of course, are essentially the original prerequisites of the PrC, but with one difference: no need to cast spells. The reason is pretty obvious: the class grants spellcasting of its own, and if you're gonna drop some of your spells for KotC spells, then you might as well drop the requirement in any case. However, to influence the three main classes that could enter (Clerics, Rangers and Paladins), the two other requisites are enabled.

Class Skills
The knight of the chalice class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Listen (Wis), Knowledge (religion) (Int), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), Sense Motive (Wis) and Spot (Wis)
Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier.

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The class skill list is intentionally small, but it adds Listen and Spot so you can have a very solid set of perception skills (or reinforce those you already have). Knowledge (religion) is also added, because it makes little sense to require it as a prerequisite but not have it as part of your skill list.

Hit Dice: d10
{TABLE=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special|Spells per Day
1st|+1|

+2

|

+0

|

+2

|Fiendslaying +1/+1d6, protection from evil|-
2nd|+2|

+3

|

+0

|

+3

|Censure fiends, smite evil outsider|+1 of existing divine spellcasting class/see text
3rd|+3|

+3

|

+1

|

+3

|Courage of the heavens (fear)|+1 of existing divine spellcasting class/see text
4th|+4|

+4

|

+1

|

+4

|Consecrated casting +2, fiendslaying +2/+2d6|+1 of existing divine spellcasting class/see text
5th|+5|

+4

|

+1

|

+4

|Magic circle against evil|-
6th|+6|

+5

|

+2

|

+5

|Courage of the heavens (enchantments), improved smite evil outsider|+1 of existing divine spellcasting class/see text
7th|+7|

+5

|

+2

|

+5

|Fiendslaying +3/+3d6|+1 of existing divine spellcasting class/see text
8th|+8|

+6

|

+2

|

+6

|Consecrated casting +4|+1 of existing divine spellcasting class/see text
9th|+9|

+6

|

+3

|

+6

|Courage of the heavens (radius)|+1 of existing divine spellcasting class/see text
10th|+10|

+7

|

+3

|

+7

|Fiendslaying +4/+4d6, holy aura, wrack evil outsider|-[/TABLE]

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A pretty solid chassis, 7/10ths spellcasting so as to limit spellcasting a bit, but the exchanges you give (basically a permanent protective aura) are more than worth it.

D10 means paladins lose on a bit of their meaty hit points, but Clerics and Rangers get a solid boost in that area.

Class Features
The following are class features of the knight of the chalice
Fiendslaying (Ex): The training endured by knights of the Chalice to face evil outsiders manifests in this peculiar ability. Starting from 1st level, a knight of the Chalice gains a +1 competence bonus on attack rolls against evil outsiders, and deals an extra 1d6 points of damage on a successful hit. Furthermore, she also has a +1 competence bonus on all Bluff, Intimidate, Listen, Knowledge (the planes), Sense Motive, Spot and Survival skill checks, a +1 competence bonus on all saving throws against attacks by evil outsiders, and a +1 competence bonus on all opposed ability checks made against evil outsiders. Every three levels after the first (4th, 7th, 10th), the competence bonus on attack rolls, specified skill checks, saving throws and opposed ability checks increases by 1, and the damage increases by 1d6.

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Take note: the ability has received a superb improvement from the original. While the bonus to attack and damage rolls remains the same, the knight gains more skills to apply the bonus at, and adds the bonus to ALL of his saving throws (not just Will), making the class the ultimate fiend hunter. The main difference is that the ability was spread out a bit, to follow a nifty mathematical pattern: every three levels after the first one, which makes the last part of Fiendslaying accessible at the final level.

Protection against Evil (Su): A knight of the Chalice is permanently protected by an aura that duplicates the protection from evil spell, as cast by a cleric of the knight’s class level (plus the level of the knight of the Chalice’s aura of good, up to the knight’s character level). The bonuses granted by the ability deal only with evil outsiders, however.

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This, however, is pretty new. Right from 1st level, the knight of the Chalice is immune to possessions, summoned creatures, and gains a decent bonus to AC and saves, which technically can't be dispelled. If it somehow can be dispelled, the CL is pretty decent (those who enter via Exalted feats use their character level as their CL). It works only on evil outsiders, but you ARE specializing in those enemies, no?

Spells per Day: Beginning at 2nd level, every level (except 5th and 10th level) a knight of the Chalice gains new spells per day as if he had also gained a level in a divine spellcasting class he belonged to before adding the prestige class. He does not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained. If the knight of the Chalice had more than one divine spellcasting class before becoming one, he must decide to which class he adds the new level for purposes of determining spells per day. If the knight of the Chalice has levels in paladin or ranger, the caster level for those spells is equal to his knight of the Chalice class levels plus half his paladin or ranger levels (including 1st, 5th and 10th level, unlike other divine spellcasters).
If the knight of the Chalice has no levels in a divine spellcasting class, he is treated as having the spellcasting ability of a 4th level paladin. The caster level for spells casted by the hunter of the dead by means of the class is equal to his class level.

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As with the hunter of the dead, if you're using the Project Heretica paladin, their CL progresses based on their class level so their progression is the same as any cleric. This also applies to users of the Retooled Ranger, as well as any Paladin/Ranger revision that grants full CL (which means those who use the Pathfinder Paladin add all their KotC levels). This is just a small addendum.

Unlike the Hunter of the Dead, which has a small list of spells you could add, the Knight of the Chalice works well with the vanilla Paladin list...which, of course, should be based on the Project Heretica list. If you're using the core Paladin or the Pathfinder Paladin, make sure you consider raiding the original KotC spell list and add those spells that are missing. Actually, raid the list for the Rangers that decide to enter as well.

Otherwise, this is mostly the same trick I used with the Hunter of the Dead; since both classes are strongly themed for Paladins (and Rangers, actually), their spell list could be served better by granting them an existing progression, much like what the Lyric Thaumaturge did with the Bard or the Stalker of Kharash did with the Ranger. You'll be capable of casting 4th level spells at the final level, with a few limitations, but the class skills will definitely carry you up.

Censure Fiends (Su): A potent weapon given to knights of the Chalice is the ability to censure evil outsiders in the same way a cleric or paladin can turn undead creatures. The knight of the Chalice does not manipulate positive energy for this purpose, but rather the very essence of the planes of Good; however, the ability to censure fiends manifests in a very similar way, to the extent that warriors of good who channel such powers become adept at channeling divine essence to censure fiends in almost equal regard to the ability to turn undead (or a similar ability).
Whenever a knight of the Chalice uses this ability, treat as if using turn undead, but except as follows: a knight of the Chalice does not need to roll turning damage to affect evil outsiders, instead forcing all affected evil outsiders to succeed on a Will saving throw (DC equal to 10 + the knight of the Chalice class level + the knight of the Chalice Charisma modifier) or be stunned for a number of rounds equal to half the knight’s class level. If the evil outsider has fewer Hit Dice than twice the knight of the Chalice’s effective cleric level, the creature is banished (instead of stunned) on a failed Will save, and stunned on a success. A knight of the Chalice may use this ability a number of rounds equal to 3 + the knight’s Charisma modifier. Censure fiends is treated as if it were turn undead for purposes of qualifying for feats and prestige classes that require this ability.
If a knight of the Chalice has levels in a class that grants turn undead, censure outsiders or a similar ability, levels in that class stack for purposes of determining the knight’s effective cleric level for this ability. A knight of the Chalice that has levels in a class that grants turn undead, censure outsiders or a similar ability does not gain uses of censure fiends, but it gains three extra daily uses of its turn undead ability, and may expend a daily use of its turn undead ability to censure fiends instead.

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The original PrC's Censure Fiends ability was pretty poor, even if most evil outsiders had low HD for their CR. Limited to a +10 bonus to their "turning" checks, and being somewhat different from Turn Undead while existing in the same book that brought over Divine feats, this ability had to be improved vastly. Now, it's basically a different application of energy channeling, which affects fiends instead of undead (or as well as undead, if you have turn undead). As well, since it mentions it is considered as turn undead, you can use Divine feats with it (and qualify for them), which makes this resource even more useful when you're not facing evil outsiders. Paladins still get a weaker level than Clerics would, but they're best suited with their own brand of damage.

Smite Evil Outsider (Su): Once per encounter as part of an attack action, a knight of the Chalice may attempt to smite an evil outsider with one normal melee attack. The knight of the Chalice adds his Charisma modifier to the attack roll; if successful, the knight of the Chalice deals extra damage and causes a special effect. Unlike other forms of smite, the enhancements to smite evil outsider are fixed and they may not be changed. If the knight of the Chalice makes a smite as part of a full attack, he may only use it once per round. At 6th level and again at 10th level, a knight of the Chalice gains an extra use of smite evil outsider per encounter.
Unless stated otherwise, a knight of the Chalice deals an amount of extra damage equal to his class level, plus levels in another class that grants a smiting ability (such as the paladin’s smite evil ability). As well, all saving throw DCs are equal to 10 + the knight of the Chalice’s class level + the knight of the Chalice’s Charisma modifier. Furthermore, when smiting an evil outsider, the attack is treated as if the weapon was good-aligned. If the knight of the Chalice accidentally smites any other creature besides evil outsiders, smite evil outsider has no effect but the ability is not used for the day.
If the knight of the Chalice has levels in paladin and chose stunning for his smite evil’s special effect (or justiciar and chose the incapacitating verdict), levels in knight of the Chalice stack with levels in paladin (or justiciar) in order to determine the damage of the smite. Uses of smite evil outsider stack with uses of other smite abilities (such as smite evil, verdict or entropic strike) to determine encounter uses (thus, a 8th level paladin/2nd level knight of the Chalice has three daily uses of either smite evil or smite evil outsider per encounter).

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Of course, if you're a Paladin, you're more eager to use your smite than your Turn Undead, so they also get an improvement. This improvement is different from that of the Hunter of the Dead, which is gained right from 1st level, because you have to factor the extra damage from Fiendslaying. You'll notice that Smite Evil Outsider has its own tier of rider-effect progressions, much like the Project Heretica Paladin, which replace those you'd get from staying in the Paladin class.

As you can see, what I did with Smite in order to make the original class relevant was to make the rider effects exclusive to class progression, but with the ability to get new and unique progressions if you entered different classes. In the case of Hunter of the Dead, they got undead-specific smites, while Knights of the Chalice gain fiend-specific smites and Gray Guards unlock their smite potential to differing alignments. Pious Templar, of course, has its domain-based smites. This makes the Smite ability far more dynamic than the original version, one which I least expect other people to draw inspiration upon, as I find it the best way to make the ability respectable without having to resort to maneuvers.

Courage of the Heavens (Su): A 3rd level knight of the Chalice is immune to any and all fear effects cast or created by evil outsiders. If the knight of the Chalice is already immune to fear, this ability has no effect; however, if the knight of the Chalice grants a bonus to saves vs. fear effects by means of an aura (such as the paladin’s divine aura of courage, the aura of courage granted by the Courage domain, or the marshal’s auras), the bonus granted increases by 4 when facing evil outsiders.
At 6th level, the knight of the Chalice is immune to any and all enchantment spells and effects cast by evil outsiders, including charms, compulsions and other non-illusory mind-affecting effects. If the knight of the Chalice is already immune to enchantments or mind-affecting effects, this ability has no effect; however, if the knight of the Chalice grants a bonus to saves vs. enchantments or mind-affecting spells or effects, the bonus granted increases by 4 when facing evil outsiders.
At 9th level, these immunities extend to all allies within 30 ft. of the knight of the Chalice. Allies must be capable of seeing and hearing the knight of the Chalice to gain the benefit of this ability.

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This ability is delayed one level, but the effects are improved. So as to provide allies with a degree of resolve against fear and enchantments of fiends, existing auras are greatly improved.

The original Knight of the Chalice provided his allies with immunities at 8th level, but the range was a tad too small (20 ft.) With the delay, it was justifiable to extend the range of that "aura" to 30 ft., which while still pretty small, it allows for better positioning.

Consecrated Casting (Ex): At 4th level, a knight of the Chalice pours his grim conviction in the battle against evil outsiders that spells cast by them are more difficult to resist by fiends. When casting any spell (including spell-like abilities), the knight of the Chalice gains a +2 on the caster level check to bypass the spell resistance of evil outsiders and the spell’s saving throw DC increases by 2 against the same enemies. At 8th level, these bonuses increase by 2, for a total of 4.

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As you can see, this is yet another ability taken from the PrC and improved as needed. You may be noticing right now that I didn't have to take a lot of effort retooling this PrC, as the class itself is VERY good on a fiendslaying campaign, with all of the abilities being extremely useful. The main benefit is that, with an empty 8th level, the chance presented to double the bonus of this ability. This means even a noble paladin can wrack havoc with its spellcasting: stuff like Holy Smite gets a +4 to the save DC, which means the enemy WILL get blinded pretty easily, or Dispel Evil will definitely banish the evil outsider.

Magic Circle against Evil (Su): At 5th level, the radius of the protective aura of the knight of the Chalice increases in size. The knight of the Chalice is treated as if under the permanent effect of a magic circle against evil spell cast by a cleric of the knight’s class level (plus the level of the knight of the Chalice’s aura of good, up to the knight’s character level). The bonuses granted by the ability deal only with evil outsiders, however.

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While the Knight of the Chalice is a formidable opponent on his own, it's pretty obvious that allies are a potent resource to have in the fight against evil. Thus, their protective aura improves, and now nearby allies have nothing to fear from summoned monsters or possession as long as they're near the knight. This is particularly powerful against Fiends of Possession, which can be a deadly temptation.

Improved Smite Evil Outsider (Su): At 6th level, a knight of the Chalice delivers greater divine power through his smites when facing evil outsiders. The smite deals double damage against evil outsiders, and if the evil outsider fails a Fortitude saving throw against the smite attack, it becomes stunned for 1d4 rounds. The saving throw DC for the stunning attempt includes the competence bonus granted by the fiendslaying class ability.

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Notice why I made the stacking effect of Smite Evil/Evil Outsider apply only to the Smite (or Verdict) related to stunning? The stunning ability of the knight of the Chalice is slightly more powerful, as being stunned for up to 4 rounds can be easily devastating. Note, of course, that the stunning effect is a variable effect, so you can qualify for Empower Supernatural Ability and make the deadliest fiend you find during the day a meek if the fool fails its save. The bonus of Fiendslaying certainly will help on this one.

Holy Aura (Su): At 10th level, the knight of the Chalice becomes purified by the forces of good, improving his defensive abilities against these creatures. The knight of the Chalice is treated as if under the effect of a holy aura spell cast by a cleric of the knight’s class level (plus the level of the knight of the Chalice’s aura of good, up to the knight’s character level), with the following exceptions: only the knight of the Chalice gains the benefit of holy aura, the benefits affect only evil outsiders (the +4 deflection bonus to AC and the +4 resistance bonus to saves protects only against evil outsiders, and only evil outsiders may be blinded by this ability). The spell resistance against the spells of evil outsiders is equal to 10 + the knight of the Chalice’s character level, and the saving throw against the blinding effect is equal to 10 + the knight of the Chalice’s class level + the knight of the Chalice’s Charisma modifier.

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Sure, having Holy Aura 1/day was pretty amazing for a capstone...when compared to the capstones of other PrCs when Complete Warrior was released. After seeing the PrCs in other places, this kind of capstone started to seem bad.

However, from 1/day to "always active" is a HUGE jump. Note, of course, that the ability has enough limitations to make it justifiable. For starters, it only applies against evil outsiders, which is just one (reasonably large) part of the chain of evil creatures. Second, it only affects you, so you're not granting all allies loads of bonuses just by standing around you (they still get the bonuses from Magic Circle against Evil, tho). Third, if you're a cleric or divine spellcaster that has reached 8th level, chances are you HAVE Holy Aura and are willing to use it. Thus, it's no biggie to extend the duration to "as long as you really please".

Wrack Evil Outsider (Su): At 10th level, the ability of the knight of the Chalice to smite evil outsiders disrupts the evil essence that comprises them, potentially annihilating them instantly. If the evil outsider fails its Fortitude saving throw against the smite, it is immediately destroyed; the knight of the Chalice adds the competence bonus of his fiendslaying ability to the saving throw DC. If the save fails, the creature is instead stunned for 1d4 rounds.

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However, when coupled with a second capstone like this one...no wonder I had to ditch the last spellcasting ability.

Wrack Evil Outsider is essentially the third tier of the Smite Evil Outsider ability, and there's no more fitting capstone than the ability to potentially annihilate your worst enemies. This isn't "go to Nine Hells/Abyss and reform", this is "bye bye sucker!" levels of destruction. Every time you succeed on wracking an evil outsider, the creature is irredemably dead, which makes you the ultimate warrior against the forces of evil in the Lower Planes. A well-prepared group of Knights of the Chalice will, in no short time, end the Blood War so as long as they survive.

And if you somehow fail that buffed save? Well, having the enemy be stunned for 1d4 rounds will make sure the fiend will regret meeting you again. Now, don't tell me this is too powerful for an 18th level character; this is just dandy for them, particularly for Paladins which can use this ability more times per encounter than they can handle.

ALTERNATE CLASS FEATURE: Knights of Dispater
The Chalice holds a great secret; their stalwart opposition against evil outsiders is a secret mission to rescue the Chalice, the name given to the daughter of the Archpaladin, Heironeous. Well aware of what might happen, a similar order has appeared, serving a very nefarious purpose; to slay all good outsiders, but specifically to halt the advance of the knights of the Chalice. Supported by the fiendish forces of the archdevil Dispater and the fell church of Hextor, the knights of Dispater are a blight upon the Upper Planes
Level: 1st
Replaces: None (exchanges all abilities)
Prerequisite: Lawful evil, must have an aura of evil as a 5th level cleric (or the Disciple of Darkness feat), must have good outsiders as a favored enemy or must have slain a good outsider with a Challenge Rating of 8 or higher.
Benefit: Abilities that affect evil outsiders now affect good outsiders instead, and abilities that protect against the attacks of evil outsiders now protect against good outsiders instead.. Thus, “angelslaying” grants a competence bonus against good outsiders, “censure celestials” affects good outsiders, the knight gains protection from good and similar abilities, and so forth. Courage of the Nine Hells protects against the fear and mind-affecting spells and effects of good outsiders, as well.

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Remember I mentioned I loved the fluff given in the PHB II about the Chalice organization? A demigoddess being trapped in the city of Dis, guarded by the ruler of the Second Hell, Dispater, and held there by none other than Heironeous' half-brother Hextor... This SCREAMS for epic adventuring.

However, it's very clear that the Knight of the Chalice was built as a generic "fiend-hunter" PrC, albeit a very good one. Thus, it's no biggie to change the priorities of some abilities and create the equally deadly Knights of Dispater, which are devoted to stop any good outsider from rescuing the demigoddess (or else, there would be no need for mortal knights to risk their mortal lives against a brutal enemy such as the Lord of the Second, no?)

While good outsiders are rare, the existence of this ACF is more than enough to justify why it's so dangerous for good outsiders to fall in; a mortal that can easily slay them even in their own turf (erasing them from existence if necessary) is a powerful tool for these celestials to recruit mortal men. The climactic battles between knights of the Chalice and knights of Dispater should make for a spicy fiendslaying campaign, particularly if one of them is a traitor to the order (or if a former Knight of Dispater has been "touched" by the goddess and decides to turn a new leaf).

What, you thought I was just a min-max junkie? Of course not; I love fluff. I just...can't have it (nor crunch) for a good while, at least during the time I wrote this...

So, as usual: questions? Comments? Epic fiendslayers, or just short of imp-beaters? I plan to work one more Paladin-related PrC, but I'll probably do it out of order. Next stop: Avengers and Armor Suits of Virtue!

[NineThePuma]

In the spellcasting section, your copy pasta is undercooked. You refer to the Hunter of the Dead.

If the knight of the Chalice has no levels in a divine spellcasting class, he is treated as having the spellcasting ability of a 4th level paladin. The caster level for spells casted by the hunter of the dead by means of the class is equal to his class level.

I'll add more little things as I come across them.

EDIT: also, the Aura of Good special requirement is really really weird. It practically DEMANDS a dip into Cleric or Paladin, and the class offers basically nothing to Rangers. The original didn't offer anything to Rangers either, and didn't require the class.

[Cieyrin]

EDIT: also, the Aura of Good special requirement is really really weird. It practically DEMANDS a dip into Cleric or Paladin, and the class offers basically nothing to Rangers. The original didn't offer anything to Rangers either, and didn't require the class.

...or you take an Exalted feat, like Nemesis, which fits perfectly for a Ranger/Knight of the Chalice. Oskar pointed out Exalted feats in his notes section for the prereqs.

Also, Oskar, your table code lost a | between BAB and Fort, which screwed up your distribution of abilities.

[NineThePuma]

...or you take an Exalted feat, like Nemesis, which fits perfectly for a Ranger/Knight of the Chalice. Oskar pointed out Exalted feats in his notes section for the prereqs.

... *head desk* Not everyone USES book of exalted deeds, for one. I know a lot of DMs who are open to home brew that refuse to use it.

For two, not everyone is necessarily familiar with every single type of feat and what their effects are. ^^;;;

[Cieyrin]

... *head desk* Not everyone USES book of exalted deeds, for one. I know a lot of DMs who are open to home brew that refuse to use it.

For two, not everyone is necessarily familiar with every single type of feat and what their effects are. ^^;;;

I'm just saying its an alternative that works and Oskar explicitly mentions it in the notes about it, so I don't think it's that big a deal.

Also, kudos, Oskar, for a class that finally advances Censure Spirits, Spirit Shamans don't get enough love.

[Cieyrin]

What does this line of Smite Evil Outsider mean? "Unlike similar evil outsiders are fixed and they may not be changed."

[T.G. Oskar]

What does this line of Smite Evil Outsider mean? "Unlike similar evil outsiders are fixed and they may not be changed."

What I meant was that, unlike the Paladin's (and Blackguard's) smiting method, you can't change your choices; they are fixed in that regard. Thus, while a Paladin can choose to make a stunning, resounding, or blinding smite, the knight of the Chalice is limited to smite evil outsiders only (with the enhancements as given).

It should be fixed now.

Speaking of which: I'll attempt to make a swift DL and UL to Google Docs in order to see if I can copy the info from the Avenger and Armor Suits document. My computer is almost about to kick the bucket and it's barely functioning, but it doesn't allow me to check on Word, which really sucks. Google Docs, on the other hand, works like a charm, so I might post that in the following days.

[T.G. Oskar]

THE AVENGERS
Quite definitely not named for a group of powerful heroes of differing traits, the following weapons are unique and exclusive to Paladins (whether the original version or those from Project Heretica), and some are made exclusively for Blackguards (both original version and Project Heretica version), Justiciars or Anarchs. All weapons share the following traits:

• The weapon can be of any type, although the following are the traditional forms of the weapons: longsword, battleaxe, warhammer, bastard sword, greatsword, greataxe, maul, longspear, lance, ranseur, guisarme, glaive, heavy flail, heavy mace, dwarven waraxe, dwarven urgrosh, halberd. Other weapons that qualify are the executioner's mace, warmace, lucerne hammer, mercurial longsword, gyrspike, dwarven warpike, duom, goliath greathammer, longaxe, heavy poleaxe and ramhammer. In rare occasions, a paladin may receive a ranged avenger weapon, typically a longbow, composite longbow, light crossbow, heavy crossbow or great crossbow. All weapons are described as if using a longsword; replace it for the desired weapon (including the material composition, if desired) when granting the weapon to a player.
• The weapon has a magical enhancement bonus of +1 regardless of the user. Only a paladin (or a blackguard, a justiciar or an anarch) may unleash the full power of the weapon, generally improving it to its maximum capability. A character may attempt to emulate the paladin status, but to do so it must succeed on a DC 25 Use Magic Device check, and the effective Divine Champion level for the character is equal to its Use Magic Device check minus 25.
• Although indicated on the weapon description, the weapon's enhancement bonus increases based on the class level of the user. As a general rule, the weapon gains an enhancement bonus as if a greater magic weapon spell had been cast by a cleric of the character's class level (thus, an 8th level paladin wielding a divine avenger treats the weapon as a +2 weapon, while a 13th level paladin treats it as a +3 weapon). Unlike the greater magic weapon spell, the enhancement bonus of the weapon keeps increasing after 20th level (thus, a 24th level paladin treats the weapon as a +6 weapon and hence an epic weapon).
• If a weapon is meant for a character of a specific alignment, the weapon grants a negative level to its wielder. An avenger weapon meant for all divine champions has no such penalty.
• Although the weapon is given a price, item level and construction method, an avenger is never built; instead, it is always given as a gift for a deserving divine champion by a powerful representative of its alignment (for example, a paladin could receive a divine avenger through a sword archon or a planetar). In rare occasions, the weapon may be found as part of a treasure, likely an avenger used by a slain champion; in that case, the weapon does not grant the divine champion its abilities until it proves its worth. In vastly rarer occasions, the weapon may be already part of the divine champion, but it does not show its power until a critical moment. In the latter two cases, it is better to use the rules for an item of legacy (see the Weapons of Legacy supplement for more details).
• Although not mentioned, each weapon has a degree of intellect, but are not intelligent weapons. In rare occasions (1% if rolling randomly) the weapon has full intellect (likely a found avenger that houses the soul of a powerful slain divine champion whom decided to remain upon the weapon to prevent his fate from befalling others). The limited sapience of the avenger weapon allows it to restrain its abilities if a divine champion has not been found worthy of using it, and when the champion has regained worthiness. An avenger with full intellect usually has a restricted alignment and the usual purpose of advancing the cause of his alignment (unless the wielder had a specific goal in mind).
• All avengers, unless otherwise indicated, emit a magic circle of the same alignment as the wielder, as if cast by a cleric of a caster level equal to the character's level (not class level).

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As mentioned almost a week ago, this is the reinterpretation of the Holy Avenger weapon of the Paladin, plus a few gems from older editions (kudos if you can identify where I drew those weapons from; rest assured, I will give them in time).

As you can see, the concept of the "avenger" weapon is to grant the Paladin player a weapon pretty much tailor-made to their needs. While the original Holy Avenger is pretty cool (cold iron, +5 Holy, MCaE plus a targeted Greater Dispel Magic at will effect), I find it hauntingly limited. I mean, it's only a longsword, so it's a bit frustrating if you have a character that, say, wields an axe (because it's a dwarf) or a spear (because it wants to make a tripper build). Thus, the "Avenger" is not a sword per se, but a weapon built to meet the traditional "knightly" weapons. The sole exception is the rare (and I MEAN it, rare!) ranged Avengers in case you're using an Elf, because not all Paladins will focus on melee weapons.

Another concept I wanted to introduce was how the weapon grew with the user. One of the core troubles with many weapons is that they don't remain for long in the hands of the characters, because you'll eventually find a better weapon. Sure, Sharprazor may be a weapon forged in the times of the Hundred-Year War, the personal weapon of the fabled commander Hendrik the Haverdasher, and that slew the fearsome orc warlord Ghraz'hak the Bloodthirster, but all the thing a player will see is "it's a +2 sword", so the history is lost whenever a +3 sword is found, even if it was forged ten days ago by the party wizard and has no history whatsoever.

Now, that means each and every one of the weapons could easily be a weapon of legacy, and by all means, I support heartily that idea, but if you don't have that supplement or feel that the losses won't overcome the strengths, then you should have a choice. Dropping that marvelous silver longsword gifted by an avatar of the divine champion's deity because a +6 Holy Power Longsword of Evil Outsider Dread was found in the next treasure chest leaves a lot to be desired, particularly since one weapon was produced randomly and the other was effectively a gift from your frickin' god, darn it!!

However, you will also notice that the weapons cater to the over degrees of power. They are no joke; they ARE powerful. Most of these weapons would effectively be a +6~+9 weapon with no less and no more than a +5 enhancement bonus, and each of the abilities are catering to a specific purpose. The divine avenger is the simplest of them all, but it's by all means an all-purpose evil-smiting weapon (metalline plus holy means you effectively bypass all damage reduction). Other weapons are the bane of all undead, or formidable against spellcasters: this is intentional.

Also important to know is that the requirements to make one are very strict. For all means, a DM is welcome to expressively forbid the forging of such weapons unless the story itself requires it. The guidelines above are meant for the DM to have control of these weapons, because just the simplest iteration of them in the hands of a Paladin becomes a potent tool to break the game of any DM (save a sadistic one, whom won't allow them in the game in any case). This should be the weapon that EVERY Paladin should strive for, one that exists as the reward for the most epic quest you could ever imagine, the weapon that will write that Paladin's name in legend. Of course, it can also be the foul weapon that begins the reign of darkness of any epic Blackguard, or the weapon that founds the legacy of a legendary Justiciar. By all means, it's not mere loot for a weapon: it is a plot device, and as a plot device, the DM is the final arbiter of this decision.

Oh, and you'll see they're "cheap", so to speak. You wouldn't believe how I ended up with those costs...

As a final note, the format I use is that of the Magic Item Compendium, mostly because I like the format and because it's oddly easy to read and interpret. Much easier to the eyes than the original, or the DMGII formats.

DIVINE AVENGER
Price (Item Level): 57,600 + weapon cost
Body Slot: -- (weapon)
Caster Level: 15th
Aura: strong (DC 22); abjuration [chaotic, evil, good or lawful]
Activation: -
Weight: as weapon
This sword is beautifully decorated with a cross-guard pommel holding a thick cross and four rubies set in a square formation. The blade is blessed and shines upon wielding. When wielded by other hands, the weapon shifts into a black blade with fell spiritual flames, an iron-like blade with a ruby red light, or a blade with a shimmering rainbow aura.

When wielded by a paladin, a blackguard, a justiciar or an anarch, a divine avenger is treated as a metalline longsword of an enhancement bonus equal to 1 for every four class levels, having the axiomatic (if a justiciar), anarchic (if an anarch), holy (if a paladin) or unholy (if a blackguard) weapon property and emitting a magic circle effect of the same alignment as the weapon property (thus, an 8th level paladin wielding a divine avenger treats the weapon as a +2 holy metalline longsword).
Prerequisites: Craft Magic Arms and Armor, magic circle against chaos/evil/good/law; creator must be an outsider with the chaotic, evil, good or lawful descriptor.
Cost to Create: 28,800 + weapon cost + 2304 XP

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As you'll notice, the divine avenger is your generic holy (or unholy) weapon, suitable for many purposes. While the mention of the Magic Circle effect is redundant, this weapon will see a lot of use given that it functions against a great deal of enemies.

You'll also notice that it's nerfed compared to the true Holy Avenger, because it loses the Greater Dispel Magic effect. This is because such an item is best left with the spellcaster-bane specific weapon, which you'll see below.

DIVINE PURIFIER
Price (Item Level): 127,500 + weapon cost
Body Slot: -- (weapon)
Caster Level: 15th
Aura: strong (DC 22); evocation and transmutation
Activation: --
Weight: as weapon
The sword has a pommel with a simple disk design, which changes into that of the wielder's deity's holy symbol. The sword's blade flickers in and out of existence, as if existing on two places at the same time, and glows brightly with white light.

A divine purifier can only be wielded by a paladin. When a character of that class wields it, a divine purifier is treated as a sacred ghost touch longsword of undead bane of an enhancement bonus equal to 1 for every four class levels, and emits a magic circle against evil effect, except it applies only to undead. A paladin wielding this weapon may use it as its holy symbol for purposes of turn undead and divine focus, and may turn undead (if it has the feature) as a cleric of his class level (instead of his class level -3). If the wielder were to deal a critical hit by means of a natural 20 on the attack roll (and confirms said roll) against an undead creature, the target must succeed on a Will saving throw (equal to 10 + the paladin's effective level for turning undead + the paladin's Charisma modifier) or be destroyed instantly; else, it takes critical damage (even if it otherwise wouldn't; this is an exception to the rule, and such effect does not allow the paladin to deal precision damage, such as sneak attack damage).
Prerequisites: Craft Magic Arms and Armor, ability to turn undead, disrupting weapon, hallow; creator must be a cleric of a deity with the Sun or Glory domain, or a good outsider following such deity.
Cost to Create: 63,750 + weapon cost + 5100 xp

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The Divine Purifier is the undead-bane specific weapon, and it shows. Sacred is basically like Holy, except it works only against undead and evil creatures (and you don't get Holy Burst, sadly), Ghost Touch for those pesky incorporeal undead, and Undead Bane just to hammer that down. Because Paladins are bad at turning undead, the weapon grants a mild bonus when using this ability, which may stack with other such traits in order to make you a superior undead hunter.

The key ability, of course, is the ability to destroy any undead on a critical hit, based on a brutally high saving throw (this is intentional, in case an undead hunter takes levels in a class that doesn't advance turning), targetting a saving throw that undead typically are strong at (typically; regular zombies and skeletons lack said willpower). This is roughly the same effect as a vorpal weapon, except more limited but potentially devastating nonetheless (since it also allows critical hits, but not sneak attack damage). Any DM is welcome to arbitrarily turn off this property if it feels a BBEG is threatened because of it, or you may consider this a positive energy effect and thus blocked by spells and effects that protect from positive energy.

DIVINE PROTECTOR
Price (Item Level): 64,260 + weapon cost
Body Slot: -- (weapon)
Caster Level: 15th
Aura: strong (DC 22); abjuration, divination and evocation
Activation: -- and full round (command)
Weight: as weapon
The sword is furnished with powerful protective runes on its hilt and blade. The blade is slightly hollowed, and when swung, a slight noise as that of a blaring siren echoes.

When wielded by a paladin, blackguard, anarch or justiciar, a divine protector is treated as a defending stunning longsword of warning of an enhancement bonus equal to 1 for every four class levels, and emits a magic circle effect based on the wielder's class (thus, a paladin emits a magic circle against evil effect). The weapon constantly scours the area with the effect of a detect evil spell, except on a 60 ft. radius; the wielder can hear a soft hum whenever a creature is nearby, and by pointing the weapon at a creature it may determine if it's of the opposite alignment (for example, a paladin may determine if the creature pointed is evil or not).

If a creature attempts to ambush the wielder (or his allies, if within the magic circle radius), or surprise the party while asleep, the weapon emits a loud alarm that only the paladin can listen; as a free action, he may choose to allow all allies within the radius of the magic circle to listen to the same hum as well. In the case of an ambush or a surprise attack, the paladin may act on the surprise round (and any allies alerted by the alarm effect) and gains the bonus on initiative checks from the weapon even if it's not drawn.

As well, as a full-round action, the wielder may elect to swing his weapon over his head. If he does so, all creatures within 60 ft. of him of an alignment opposing his hear a blaring siren, taking 1d8 points of sonic damage and becoming stunned for 1 round unless they succeed on a Will saving throw (DC 12 + the wielder's Charisma modifier); the creatures are also deafened for 1d4 rounds as the siren echoes. The wielder may remain using this ability every turn, each time dealing the sonic damage, forcing a new Will save versus the stunning effect, and increasing the amount of rounds a creature is deafened by 1 round.
Prerequisites: Cast Magic Arms and Armor, alarm, detect chaos/evil/good/law, magic circle against chaos/evil/good/law, sound burst; creator must be a cleric of a deity with the Protection domain or an outsider with the chaotic, evil, good or lawful descriptor that follows such a deity.
Cost to Create: 31,130 gp + weapon cost + 2570 xp

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Oddly underpriced for what it does; you're welcome to check the price for it, but I based it on having the caster level for each individual effect to be added as their minimal, instead of basing all effects at the caster level of the weapon. You may chastise me on that one, but recall that this weapon is not built or bought, but given or found.

This weapon is the tank-friendly and sentinel-friendly avenger weapon, and it shows. Warning pretty much makes sure you go first, while defending increases your defense and stunning makes every critical be a threat. The Detect Evil effect is permanent but also passive, and properly identifying WHO is evil requires making an action that most people would consider a threat to their lives. So be careful where you point that sword, sir knight...

Now, the main effect of the weapon is that you can make a Sound Burst effect at will as a full-round action by swinging your sword, dealing exactly as much damage as a Sound Burst would, but with the added effect of deafening the opponents (and also twice the area of effect). The main benefit is the ability to stun opponents each round (so as long as they fail their Will saves and you keep swinging that weapon), which serves as a very potent crowd-controlling tool.

INVIGORATOR
Price (Item Level): 61,200 gp + weapon cost
Body Slot: -- (as weapon)
Caster Level: 15th
Aura: strong (DC 22); conjuration
Activation: --
Weight: as weapon
The hilt of the weapon is comprised of two hand effigies wrapping the ricasso of the blade, a jade gem incrusted on the center of the hilt, a cruciform guard comprised of two wings, and a grip comprised of two twirled serpents whose heads always point to the right. The blade is entrusted with runes that strengthen healing magic.

An invigorator can only be wielded by a paladin, a good-aligned justiciar or a good-aligned anarch. When a character of this class wields it, an invigorator is treated as if a merciful longsword of an enhancement bonus equal to 1 for every four class levels. When striking an undead creature, all of the weapon's damage is instead lethal damage (including the 1d6 points of damage from the merciful property). If the wielder has the lay on hands, submission or luck of the draw class features and uses it to heal a creature, it heals 50% extra hit points with it; in the case of lay on hands and submission (when used to heal), the wielder heals 3 points for every two points expended.
Prerequisites: Craft Magic Arms and Armor, heal; creator must be a cleric of a deity with the Healing domain or a good outsider that follows such deity.
Cost to Create: 30, 600 + weapon cost + 2448 XP

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A very simple, yet useful weapon, the Invigorator is meant for those characters that want to boost their healing. It is, with the Divine Avenger, a very user-friendly weapon for both players and DMs, since the only two traits that it gets are the merciful property and the empowered LoH/healing submission/healing luck of the draw. This is a very nice weapon for the aspiring Knight Hospitaller, or the Paladin that wants to improve their healing.

As an addendum: believe it or not, it's almost taken straight from its original incarnation.

HALLOWED REDEEMER
Price (Item Level): 78,900 + weapon cost
Body Slot: -- (weapon)
Caster Level: 15th
Aura: strong (DC 22); abjuration
Activation: --
Weight: as weapon
The sword's blade is adorned with powerful runes of holiness and strength. The weapon itself is fearsome, a combination of dull black and glistening silver, with a simple yet menacing look.

When wielded by a paladin, blackguard, anarch or justiciar, the hallowed redeemer (the typical name, although other names may be given; for example, blackguards call these weapons unhallowed despoilers, justiciars call them lawgivers and anarchs call them chaosbringers) is a longsword of outsider bane of an enhancement bonus equal to 1 for every four class levels. In the hands of a paladin, the weapon gains the sacred burst weapon property, the weapon is the bane of evil outsiders, and projects a magic circle against evil effect; on a blackguard, it gains the profane burst weapon property (except it causes no Constitution damage to the blackguard), becomes the bane of good outsiders, and projects a magic circle against good effect. In the hands of a justiciar, the weapon is treated as if it had the authoritative burst property (see below for the description), becomes the bane of chaotic outsiders, and projects a magic circle against chaos effect; on an anarch, the weapon is treated as if it had the entropic burst property (see below for the description), becomes the bane of lawful outsiders, and projects a magic circle against law effect. When an outsider of a subtype opposing that of the weapon (such as an evil outsider opposing a paladin wielding this weapon) enters the magic circle area of effect, it must succeed on a saving throw (DC equal to 10 + 1/2 the wielder's class level + the wielder's Charisma modifier) or become panicked, as if suffering the effects of a fear spell; a successful save still causes the outsider to become shaken.
Prerequisites: Craft Magic Arms and Armor, dispel chaos/evil/good/law, magic circle against chaos/evil/good/law, creator must be an outsider with the chaotic, evil, good or lawful subtype.
Cost to Create: 39,450 + weapon cost + 3156 XP

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This is the outsider-bane specific weapon, and it shows. Sacred Burst and Profane Burst are easy to justify, but when I went for the lawful and chaotic versions, I had to make a slight translation. These are gifts to you guys; see right around the end of this post.

While the 4d6 (and possibly more) points of damage can be a real threat in the hands of the right individual, the true potential of the weapon is how the Magic Circle effect causes a brutal condition such as panic. Since the effect scales with your class level, multiclassing hurts like nobody's business, but if you remain pure-classed, you'll eventually see outsiders fleeing and cowering as you step, making this weapon a handy tool when attempting to travel through the Upper or Lower Planes (or Mechanus, Limbo, and similar places).

OCCULTSLAYER
Price (Item Level): 146,850 + weapon cost
Body Slot: -- (weapon)
Caster Level: 18th
Aura: strong (DC 24); abjuration
Activation: -- and standard (command)
Weight: as weapon
This weapon has a blade intricately etched with a passage detailing a trial against a wielder of occult magic. It is adorned with powerful protective runes.

In the hands of a paladin, blackguard, anarch or justiciar, the occultslayer (also known as the mage-eater) is a magebane longsword of impedance with an enhancement bonus equal to 1 for every four class levels. The weapon grants spell resistance equal to 10 plus the wielder's character level (including racial Hit Dice) against the spells of creatures of an alignment opposing the wielder's; if the wielder already has spell resistance, the wielder emits an aura that disrupts the spells of casters of the opposite alignment. Treat this aura as the effect of a globe of invulnerability, except that the spellcaster may not cast spells while within the area of effect of the aura unless it succeeds on a caster level check (against a DC equal to 10 plus the wielder's character level, including racial Hit Dice). A spellcaster is aware of this effect once it enters the aura emitted by the weapon. This also affects psychic powers, spell-like abilities, psi-like abilities, invocations, and mysteries, but not supernatural abilities (with one exception: a creature binding a vestige loses access to such powers for as long as it remains within the aura's range). Finally, the wielder may use greater dispel magic at will, as follows; the wielder of this weapon may use the targeted version of the spell (as a spellcaster of its character level, including racial Hit Dice), or ready an action to counterspell, but if using the area version of the spell, the spell resistance (or the aura of spell disruption) becomes inactive for 1d4 rounds.
Prerequisites: Craft Magic Arms and Armor, antimagic field, dispel chaos/evil/good/law; creator must be a cleric of a deity with the Magic domain or an outsider with the chaotic, good, evil or lawful descriptor that follows such deity.
Cost to Create: 73,425 + weapon cost +5874 XP

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Hoo boy, now THIS is a weapon! Excuses for all fans of full spellcasters, but I have my issues with Wizards rewriting reality and thus I built this baby for them.

As you can see, while Divine Purifier is pretty potent, this one is blatantly broken, even to my standards. It is the spellcaster-bane specific weapon, and it's meant to make spellcasters of the opposite alignment cream their pants.

But, if I were to tell you this is based on an older version of the Holy Avenger, would you believe me? Believe it or not, the Globe of Invulnerability effect was part of the very first iteration of the Holy Avenger, right at 1st Edition. I kid you not: the Holy Avenger originally was a cold iron, +5 holy longsword with the spell resistance and globe of invulnerability effects. I just added the recent version's Greater Dispel Magic effect at will just for shucks, and also made it work against psionics, invocations, mysteries and to an extent vestiges. Only Truenaming and Maneuvers can pass through, but one is broken in the unworkable way (sorry, Zaq!) and the other is fair enough (I can't believe it's not Magic!). Aside from that, yes, I want those evil viziers to squirm when I draw Occultslayer, because of the years of utter frustration at treating me like a wuss!!

Oh, and as you may have noticed, the spell resistance and spell-disruption effects are based on character level, not class level. There's a huge difference...

SUNBLADE
Price (Item Level): 62,335 gp (18th)
Body Slot: - (weapon)
Caster Level: 15th
Aura: strong (DC 22) evocation
Activation: - and standard (command)
Weight: as short sword (or handaxe)
The blade is forged of alchemically treated silver, but glistens as if made of blown glass. The intricate hilt and guard resembling the emblem of the sun god are made of fine mithral. The blade emits a soothing white light, as if a shard of sunlight was stored inside, and despite its size, it feels unusually light.

The sunblade is a bastard sword which feels in the hands of a good-aligned wielder as a short sword, but in rare occasions is a dwarven waraxe that has the feel and weight of a handaxe. The sunblade, thus, is a +1 silvered bastard sword in the hands of any creature (but can be wielded by anyone proficient with a short sword), although good-aligned creatures treat it as a +2 silvered bastard sword of undead bane with the feel and weight of a short sword. Regardless of its wielder, it emits bright light in a 20 ft. radius and dim light 20 ft. beyond. Because of its special properties, a sunblade can be treated as either a bastard sword or a short sword (in the hands of a good creature) for purposes of feats and abilities that require it; as well, Weapon Focus and Weapon Specialization applies to the sunblade if applying to short swords or bastard swords.

In the hands of a paladin, the weapon is treated as a holy silvered bastard sword of undead bane with an enhancement bonus equal to 1 for every four class levels of the paladin, to a minimum of +2. When attacking a creature of the Negative Energy Plane or an undead creature, the weapon deals double damage (except for the holy and undead bane extra damage dice), which triples in the case of a critical hit. This weapon allows dealing critical hits (and sneak attacks, if applicable) to undead creatures as if they were living.

Regardless of the class, a good creature may swing the weapon once per encounter while uttering a command word. The sunblade then emits a bright yellow radiance that acts as if full daylight (thus affecting creatures with sensitivity to light, and potentially destroying vampires and other creatures annihilated by sunlight). The range begins at 10 ft., and extends each round the wielder swings the weapon (by expending a standard action) until it reaches a maximum radius of 60 ft. Once the wielder stops swinging the blade, the radiance becomes a dim glow that persists for one minute before fading out.

Lore: The sunblade is based on an ancient weapon forged by clerics of Pelor to take the battle against the undead. The original Sunsword is now lost, though some people speak that it is trapped on a plane, awaiting for someone to bond with it and wield it to vanquish the dread ruler of a forgotten land.
Prerequisites: Craft Magic Arms and Armor, daylight; creator must be good.
Cost to Create: 31,335 gp, 2480 xp

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Thought I'd forget about the Sun Blade, right? Well, I haven't, and here it is in all its avenging glory!

Essentially, the Sun Blade is another undead-bane specific weapon, but this one is a bit more specific, since it affects most evil creatures rather than just undead (or creatures of the Negative Energy Plane, which tend to be evil). However, the Sun Blade now exists in an axe form, for those rare warriors who want to dual-wield dwarven waraxes as if they were handaxes; this effect may "bleed" into other weapons that have the kind of "versatility" that bastard swords and dwarven waraxes have. Aside from those main changes, the weapon retains most of its nice traits, such as the reduced weight and the swinging effect, which has been upgraded from a 1/day to a 1/encounter effect.

BLOODFEAST
Price (Item Level): 87,300 + weapon cost
Body Slot: -- (weapon)
Caster Level: 15th
Aura: strong (DC 22); necromancy
Activation: -- and free (command)
Weight: as weapon
The sword is made of rusted iron, with a blood red color. The hilt is decorated with a single ruby and small hematites surrounding it, and the blade has wicked barbs and grooves that lead directly to the weapon.

A bloodfeast may only be wielded by a blackguard. When a character of that class wields it, it is treated as a vampiric bloodfeeding bloodstone longsword with an effective enhancement bonus equal to 1 for every four class levels. If a vampiric touch spell (or spell-like ability, in the case of the blackguard) is stored on the weapon and the weapon has at least 3 blood points, the wielder may choose to expend all points in order to maximize the damage of the spell (as per the Maximize Spell feat) instead of empowering it. If the weapon has stored at least 8 blood points, the spell is first maximized, then empowered. When using blood points in this way, the weapon does not deal the extra damage from the bloodfeeding property.
Prerequisites: Craft Magic Arms and Armor, Empower Spell, Maximize Spell, vampiric touch; creator must be a vampire that follows a deity with the Death domain or an evil outsider that follows said deity.
Cost to Create: 43,650 + weapon cost + 3492 XP

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A weapon tailor-made for blackguards, Bloodfeast has a definite theme behind it: a blood-sucking blade that uses the devoured fluid to empower itself in a variety of ways. Against living creatures, this weapon can be a definite powerhouse, because of the "blood points" and the ability to empower, maximize, and even intensify Vampiric Touch spells, allowing the blackguard a healthy amount of temporary hit points whenever needed, just by placing one of the blackguard's vampiric touches in the weapon.

WRAITHBLADE
Price (Item Level): 97,740 + weapon cost
Body Slot: -- (weapon)
Caster Level: 17th
Aura: strong (15th); necromancy
Activation: -- and standard (command)
Weight: as weapon
The sword is surrounded with an aura of shadows that distort its form, but a distinctive red glow on the center of its hilt, likely a gem, hints to its unholy power.

A wraithblade may only be wielded by a blackguard. When a character of that class wields it, it is treated as a souldrinking longsword of ghost touch with an effective enhancement bonus of 1 for every four class levels. A blackguard wielding this weapon may use it as its unholy symbol for purposes of rebuke undead and divine focus, and may rebuke undead (if it has the feature) as a cleric of its class level (instead of its class level -3). By speaking the command word, the wielder may become incorporeal for 1 round; by spending daily uses of rebuke undead while activating this feature, the wielder may extend the incorporeal state by 2 rounds per expended use. While incorporeal, the wielder appears as if a wraith.
Prerequisites: Craft Magic Arms and Armor, ability to rebuke undead, energy drain, ethereal jaunt; creator must be a wraith that follows a deity with the Death or Necromancy domain, or an outsider necromancer with the evil descriptor.
Cost to Create: 48,870 + weapon cost + 3910 xp

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Another blackguard-specific weapon, this one is a spirit blade that causes negative levels with each critical hit, and grants the user the ability to become incorporeal. Much like Bloodfeast is the dark counterpart to Invigorator, Wraithblade is the counterpart to Divine Purifier, granting the ability to manipulate the undead in the same way a cleric of any deity would, making this weapon twice as more useful than the norm.

However, in case that you feel those daily uses of rebuke undead could be used for something else, you can become incorporeal for a few rounds by burning these uses, and since the weapon has the ghost touch enhancement, you can make attacks with it without problem, with all the benefits (including the negative levels!!). Land a lot of critical hits, and you may end up with a loyal shadow or wraith under your control...

JUDGEMENT BLADE
Price (Item Level): 124,800 + weapon cost
Body Slot: -- (held)
Caster Level: 18th
Aura: strong (DC 24);
Activation: -- and standard (command)
Weight: as weapon
The weapon is a dull gray color, regardless of the material forged. The hilt has the symbol of the wielder's deity on a disk, or the judicial symbol of its country.

A judgement blade may only be wielded by a justiciar. When a character of that class wields it, it is treated as an axiomatic longsword with an effective enhancement bonus of 1 for every four class levels. A justiciar wielding this weapon may use it as its holy symbol for purposes of his censure/rebuke outsider ability and divine focus; furthermore, he may add the weapon's enhancement bonus to any verdict done at a distance (instead of through a melee or ranged attack). A justiciar that chose the third tier of the deterrent verdict also adds the doom burst special quality, one that chose the third tier of the incapacitating verdict adds the paralyzing burst quality instead, and one that chose the third tier of the retributive verdict adds the implacable special quality.

Furthermore, by pointing the weapon upon a creature and concentrating as a standard action on a specific crime, the weapon shows the justiciar whether the creature is guilty or not. A justiciar may also expend a use of its verdict ability as a swift action while pointing the weapon upon the creature and loudly speaking the nature of its crime; if the creature was guilty of the crime, the weapon's enhancement bonus increases by 2 and deals an extra 2d6 points of damage against the specified creature. If the creature is not guilty of the aforementioned crime, the justiciar takes a -2 penalty to all attack rolls and damage rolls until the end of the encounter and for 1 minute afterward (if not in a combat encounter, one minute after leaving the creature's presence).
Prerequisites: Craft Magic Arms and Armor, detect chaos, order's wrath, hold person or scare or vampiric touch; creator must be an inevitable or lawful outsider that follows a deity with the Law or Inquisition domain.
Cost to Create: 62,400 + weapon cost + 4992 xp

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And for justiciars, here's a weapon tailor-made for their law enforcing needs. Judgment Blade not only serves as a counterpart to Divine Purifier, but it also has its own specific benefits, such as an extra effect based on the justiciar's choice of verdict, as well as a trait that grants a very specific kind of bane effect on a creature if it's guilty of a crime. Not only does it make the work of the justiciar far easier, it makes for a bounty hunter's ideal weapon, and the justiciar works phenomenally well in that line. Quite definitely an awesome weapon for an awesome class.

NEW WEAPON SPECIAL QUALITIES
AUTHORITATIVE
Price (Item Level): +1 bonus
Property: Weapon
Caster Level: 7th
Aura: moderate (DC 18); transmutation
Activation: standard (command)
This weapon is made of far too precise measurements, intricate to the last detail. A runic phrase describing a law of the land runs alongs its blade or haft.

By speaking the appropriate command word, you can sheathe an authoritative weapon in an energy aura of order. A fey that touches this weapon takes 1 point of Charisma for each round that it holds the weapon while the effect is activated, This effect lasts until you speak another command word to end it. A cold iron weapon enchanted with this trait does not need to pay the 2000 gp cost to enchant the weapon with this trait.
While activated, an authoritative weapon deals an extra 1d6 points of damage to any fey (or 2d6 points against a chaotic outsider) on a successful hit. Also, it is treated as lawful-aligned for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.
Prerequisites: Craft Magic Arms and Armor, axiomatic weapon (SpC 22)
Cost to Create: varies

AUTHORITATIVE BURST [SYNERGY]
Price (Item Level): +1 bonus
Property: Weapon
Caster Level: 12th
Aura: strong (DC 21); transmutation
Activation: standard (command) and --
Synergy Prerequisite: Authoritative
This weapon is made of perfect measurements, adorned with jewels fit for a king. Runic phrases describing the laws of the land run along its blade or haft and glow when its wielded.

An authoritative burst weapon functions as an authoritative weapon (see above).

In addition, the weapon explodes with lawful energy on a successful critical hit, dealing extra damage as set out on the table below. (This effect activates even if the target is not normally subject to extra damage from critical hits.) An authoritative burst weapon deals even more damage to chaotic outsiders on a successful critical hit. This burst does not harm you or any other creature other than the target; if you are a fey, though, you take 1d4 points of Charisma damage. This is a continuous effect and requires no activation. Even if the weapon has not been activated to deal extra damage because of the authoritative property, the weapon still deals its extra damage on a successful critical hit.

{TABLE=head]Critical Multiplier|Extra Damage|Chaotic Outsider Extra Damage
x2|1d10|2d10
x3|2d10|4d10
x4|3d10|6d10[/TABLE]

Projectile weapons bestow this property upon their ammunition.
Prerequisites: Craft Magic Arms and Armor, axiomatic storm (SpC 22)
Cost to Create: varies

ENTROPIC
Price (Item Level): +1 bonus
Property: Weapon
Caster Level: 7th
Aura: moderate (DC 18); transmutation
Activation: standard (command)
The weapon seems unusually frail, as it would break on any second, but is supernaturally resilient. A runic phrase detailing incomprehensible babble run alongside its blade or haft, but if understood, it details a daring act of violation of order.

By speaking the appropriate command word, you can sheathe an entropic weapon in an energy aura of chaos. A construct that touches this weapon takes 5 points of damage for each round that it holds the weapon while the effect is activated, This effect lasts until you speak another command word to end it.

While activated, an entropic weapon deals an extra 1d6 points of damage to any construct (or 2d6 points against a lawful outsider) on a successful hit. Also, it is treated as chaotic-aligned for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.
Prerequisites: Craft Magic Arms and Armor, inflict light damage
Cost to Create: varies

ENTROPIC BURST [SYNERGY]
Price (Item Level): +1 bonus
Property: Weapon
Caster Level: 12th
Aura: strong (DC 21); transmutation
Activation: standard (command) and --
Synergy Prerequisite: Entropic
The weapon not only seems frail and ready to break at any moment, but its form is unlike any other, as if the weapon was warped by mistreatment. Runic phrases detailing incomprehensible babble run alongside its blade or haft, but if understood, it would detail countless acts detailing violations of order.

An entropic burst weapon functions as an entropic weapon (see above).

In addition, the weapon explodes with chaotic energy on a successful critical hit, dealing extra damage as set out on the table below. (This effect activates even if the target is not normally subject to extra damage from critical hits.) An entropic burst weapon deals even more damage to lawful outsiders on a successful critical hit. This burst does not harm you or any other creature other than the target; if you are a construct, though, you take 10 points of damage and become stunned for 1 round. This is a continuous effect and requires no activation. Even if the weapon has not been activated to deal extra damage because of the entropic property, the weapon still deals its extra damage on a successful critical hit.

{TABLE=head]Critical Multiplier|Extra Damage|Lawful Outsider Extra Damage
x2|1d10|2d10
x3|2d10|4d10
x4|3d10|6d10[/TABLE]

Projectile weapons bestow this property upon their ammunition.
Prerequisites: Craft Magic Arms and Armor, inflict critical damage
Cost to Create: varies

Spoiler

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This is probably one of the easiest pieces of work I've done, because it's basically translating Sacred and Profane to Law and Chaos. So there's little else to say except how to tweak the little problems in translation.

Entropic was pretty easy, working with constructs (entropy involves everything going to a state of chaos and decay, including constructs) and since the effect had to resemble the Cure X and Inflict X Wounds spells, Inflict X Damage was chosen instead. Not much problems here.

Authoritative, on the other hand, was much tougher. First, the name had to represent something lawful without implying good; hence, the term "authority" works like a charm. Second was how to justify the effect while resembling the Cure/Inflict line of spells. It would have been fair to consider the Repair X line, but it made little sense, since you don't use that to harm fey. Hence, I went towards the little trick of purely lawful spells, which makes far more sense.

Ideally, these should be balanced towards the Sacred and Profane traits, so they shouldn't cause any trouble. Even if you don't want to use the new Avengers, consider using this. Any bit of my work can be used, it doesn't have to be used completely.

ARTIFACT: THE SUNSWORD
Price (Item Level): - (major artifact)
Body Slot: - (weapon)
Caster Level: 20th
Aura: overwhelming (DC 25) evocation
Activation: - and standard (command)
Weight: as short sword
This magnificent weapon is made of a rare, alchemically treated combination of silver and glassteel, making the weapon unusually light and resilient. The hilt is made of pure gold and has the effigy of the sun god, Pelor, while the hilt is made of the finest mithral and platinum man has ever seen. The sword shines with the brightness of daylight, and its blade has an ancient inscription, which reads "I shall vanquish all darkness".

The Sunsword is a +5 holy keen sacred burst bastard sword of evil bane, that deals damage as if wielding the weapon with two hands but can be wielded in one hand with the same finesse as a short sword. In the hands of an epic level character, the weapon's enhancement bonus increases by 1 for every four character levels after the 20th (+6 at 24th level, +7 at 28th level, and so forth). The Sunsword bypasses damage reduction of creatures as if it were a magic (or epic) silvered weapon, but the weapon takes no penalty to damage rolls. The Sunsword emits bright light to a distance of 40 ft., with dim light radiance 40 ft. beyond. An evil character attempting to wield the sword gains five negative levels, and any undead creature touching the hilt is immediately destroyed (no saving throw). Against undead creatures, or creatures from the Negative Energy Plane, the weapon deals double damage (including the extra damage from holy, sacred burst and evil bane) and allows to land critical hits regardless of immunity (but not fortification).

At will, the wielder of the sword may swing it around, while uttering the command word. The Sunsword then emits a bright yellow radiance that acts as if using the sunburst spell cast by a 20th level cleric, except the effect is not instantaneous and creatures take damage every round the weapon is swung. The range begins at 10 ft., and extends each round the wielder swings the weapon (by expending a standard action) until it reaches a maximum radius of 60 ft. Once the wielder stops swinging the blade, the radiance becomes a dim glow that persists for one minute before fading out.

Lore: The Sunsword was forged in the land of Barovia to become the weapon of Light against the darkness of the realm. The weapon was forged by the high priest of Pelor, assisted by none other than Pelor himself, to vanquish evil where it stood. Its last location was rumored to be the fabled castle Ravenloft, where the count Strahd von Zarovich attempted to destroy it. Only the brave efforts of the assistant of the wizard that sought to destroy it on Strahd's behalf, but only the blade has been found. With a duplicate hilt, the weapon acts as if a sun blade for the individual that performs the bonding, but if the original hilt is to be found, its powers would be awakened again.

Destroying the Sunsword requires separating the blade and the hilt, and then destroying both weapons at the same exact time. If the blade or the hilt is destroyed but the other remains intact, a replacement blade or hilt and the reassembling of the weapon would form a sun blade, which with time would reform the Sunsword again once more. However, this may only happen if the blade OR the hilt are destroyed; if both exist, this effect does not work.

It is said that, if the blade and the hilt are separated, exact duplicates of both are formed, and cross-reassembled at the Grand Cathedral of Pelor (the real hilt with the duplicate blade, and viceversa), the Sunsword could be duplicated, so as long as the weapons are kept in the same place for one year.

Special: Evil bane acts like any bane weapon, except it provides its effect against any creature of evil alignment, or with the evil subtype.

Paladins gain special properties while wielding the Sunsword. The weapon gains the metalline property, may be used as their holy symbol for purposes of spells and turn undead, and their effective cleric level for purposes of turn undead becomes equal to their class level, instead of their class level -3. Paladins that worship Pelor add the heavenly burst special quality to the weapon and may perform a greater turning once per day (as if they had the Sun domain) while wielding their weapon.

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And, as the piéce de resistance, a Sunsword that really makes it worthwhile to travel to Ravenloft to!!! While the Sun Blade is fine on its own, the SUNSWORD!!! should be more spectacular than it is. Unfortunately, if you've seen Expedition to Castle Ravenloft, you know that's not the case. This weapon should be a prized artifact, something that should feel you can break the game with. If Divine Purifier almost feels like cheating, this is pretty much so. Now, don't tell me "nerf the Sunsword!!", alright?