The Zealot (3.5 E6 base class, PEACH)

[Gnorman]

The Zealot

HD: d10
Class Skills: Climb, Concentration, Craft, Diplomacy, Heal, Intimidate, Jump, Knowledge (local), Knowledge (nobility and royalty), Knowledge (religion), Listen, Profession, Ride, Sense Motive, Spot, Swim
Skill Points: 4 + Int per level (4x at 1st)

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

1st|+1|+2|+0|+2|Archetype, Conviction

2nd|+2|+3|+0|+3|Lesser Archetype Power

3rd|+3|+3|+0|+3|Benediction

4th|+4|+4|+1|+4|Moderate Archetype Power

5th|+5|+4|+1|+4|Retribution

6th|+6/+1|+5|+1|+5|Greater Archetype Power, Dedication[/table]

Proficiencies: The zealot is proficient with light, medium, and heavy armor as well as shields. He is also proficient with simple and martial weapons.

Archetype: At 1st level, the zealot chooses an archetype from the list below. He gains the advantages and abilities of the archetype at the appropriate levels, as indicated in the list. Once made, this choice is final.

Conviction: At 1st level, the zealot becomes immune to fear, charm, compulsion, and possession. Allies within 30 feet gain +4 to saves against those same effects.

Lesser Archetype Power: At 2nd level, the zealot gains the appropriate power for his archetype.

Benediction: At 3rd level, the zealot may add his Charisma modifier as a bonus to all his saves. Allies within 30 feet may add half of this bonus to their saves.

Moderate Archetype Power: At 4th level, the zealot gains the appropriate power for his archetype.

Retribution: At 5th level, a zealot may align his attacks with one alignment component he possesses, allowing him to give any mundane melee weapon he wields the Holy, Unholy, Axiomatic, or Anarchic property. If the zealot is True Neutral, he may select either the Wounding or the Flaming Burst property. If the zealot possesses more than one alignment component (or none), he may switch between them as a swift action.

Greater Archetype Power: At 6th level, the zealot gains the appropriate power for his archetype.

Dedication: Three times per day, the zealot may remove all negative status effects from himself or any ally within 30 feet as a swift action.

Archetypes:

Avenger

Lesser Archetype Power: An avenger may prepare and initiate maneuvers as if he were a crusader of his level. His maneuver progression (both known and readied) as well as his recovery mechanics are identical to that of the crusader. The disciplines available to him are Devoted Spirit, White Raven, and one of the following: Dread Crown, Golden Saint, Quicksilver Aegis, Kaleidoscopic Dream, or Stone Dragon.
Moderate Archetype Power: An avenger gains a bonus on attack and damage rolls in proportion to how close to death he is - if he is below 75% hit points, he gains a +1 bonus; if he is below 50%, he gains a +2 bonus; and if he is below 25%, he gains a +3 bonus. These bonuses are not cumulative and only the highest one applies.
Greater Archetype Power: An avenger is not disabled below 0 hit points, and does not die immediately upon reaching -10 hit points - he may act normally for a number of rounds equal to his Constitution modifier. If his hit points remain at -10 or lower after that time has passed, he dies as normal.

Cavalier

Lesser Archetype Power: A cavalier may take ten on Ride checks even when distracted or endangered and never risks falling out of the saddle. He also gains Mounted Combat as a bonus feat.
Moderate Archetype Power: A cavalier gains the services of a special mount as a paladin of fifth-level. He also gains Ride-By Attack as a bonus feat.
Greater Archetype Power: A cavalier may apply either the celestial or fiendish templates to his mount. He also gains Spirited Charge as a bonus feat.

Initiate

Lesser Archetype Power: An initiate gains two cleric domains of his choice. He may access the domain powers of both (if a domain power refers to cleric level, use the initiate's class level instead), and may cast the 1st-level spell of each domain as an SLA once per day. The DC of the spell, if applicable, is equal to 10 + 1/2 the initiate's HD + the initiate's Charisma modifier. The caster level is equal to his hit dice
Moderate Archetype Power: An initiate gains the ability to turn (if good or neutral) or rebuke (if evil) undead as a cleric of his level, a number of times per day equal to 3 + his Charisma modifier. He may now cast his domains' 2nd-level spells as SLAs, each one 1/day.
Greater Archetype Power: Once per encounter, an initiate may make a smite attack against a foe as part of a melee attack. If the attack connects, does extra divine damage equal to five times his Charisma modifier. He may now cast his domains' 3rd-level spells as SLAs, each one 1/day.

Reaver

Lesser Archetype Power: A reaver exudes an aura that reduces the saves of all foes within 10 feet by 2. There is no save and the penalty persists until the foe has moved out of range of the aura. This ability does not stack with similar abilities, such as that of other reavers or hexer black mages. In addition, a reaver may demoralize an opponent as a swift action.
Moderate Archetype Power: If a reaver successfully deals a killing blow to a foe, he gains a +2 morale bonus to attack rolls, damage rolls, and armor class for the next three rounds.
Greater Archetype Power: Any foe hit by a reaver's melee attacks must make a Fortitude save (with the DC being 10 + 1/2 the reaver's HD + the reaver's Charisma modifier) or become fatigued for one round. If a reaver hits a foe who is already fatigued with this ability, the foe becomes exhausted for one round instead.

Templar

Lesser Archetype Power: A templar gains spell resistance equal to 10 + his HD against hostile spells. He also gains Spellcraft as a class skill, and gains a +4 bonus to identify hostile spells.
Moderate Archetype Power: If an enemy capable of casting spells or SLAs is successfully hit and damaged by a templar's melee attack, that enemy's next spellcasting attempt or SLA use automatically fails unless it makes a Will save, with the DC equal to 10 + half the templar's HD + the templar's Charisma modifier.
Greater Archetype Power: A templar may cast a targeted version of Greater Dispel Magic as an SLA three times per day, with a caster level equal to twice his level.

[nonsi]

You should add a requirement that a zealot's alignment cannot have neutral component (i.e. LG/CG/LE/CE).
After all, he's a zealot. Zealots have no doubts and they always see the world in black & white.

[Gnorman]

You should add a requirement that a zealot's alignment cannot have neutral component (i.e. LG/CG/LE/CE).
After all, he's a zealot. Zealots have no doubts and they always see the world in black & white.

As a rule, I don't like alignment restrictions on classes, and I think it is perfectly easy to imagine a lawful neutral zealot or a neutral evil zealot. The class features ever so slightly encourage being at one of the four corners of the grid, but don't necessitate it - I'd like to keep it that way.

[Dryad]

Hmm...
The Zealot looks far more potent than the other two martial characters. I can't say much about the Cavalier, mainly because I haven't seen the capstone, but both the reaver and templar capstones are quite potent, indeed, and in my opinion, the only martial option that really looks great is the templar because it is an anti-magic battery.
The ability to hit hard in melee and nullify magic as well (SR, forced will save and even Greater Dispel) make this class all-rounded and useful in any situation, be they magical or mundane.

All in all, I do really like these! Honestly; I do. I was worrying that martial characters would be leaps and bounds behind casters again, and while I still have that worry, at least the Templar mitigates it somewhat.

I can also understand the main problem with balancing these: You've got only six levels to cram all class features in, and can't spread power over much larger intervals as you could with a 20-lvl game. So don't think I don't appreciate what you're doing.

My first instinct would be to grant martials as many class features as casters, by giving them ToB manoeuvres and such. But that would nullify the justification for martial characters to have higher hit dice, more armour and a higher base attack bonus. The disparity would grow, and casters would find themselves at a severe disadvantage. So that's out of the question. At least; granting full manoeuvre-progression is out of the question. But maybe, you could allow your martial characters to learn a few manoeuvres/stances, and maybe enable them to use one stance and one manoeuvre each combat. You know; to grant them a few additional class features in limited pseudo-casting.

[Gnorman]

My first instinct would be to grant martials as many class features as casters, by giving them ToB manoeuvres and such. But that would nullify the justification for martial characters to have higher hit dice, more armour and a higher base attack bonus. The disparity would grow, and casters would find themselves at a severe disadvantage. So that's out of the question. At least; granting full manoeuvre-progression is out of the question. But maybe, you could allow your martial characters to learn a few manoeuvres/stances, and maybe enable them to use one stance and one manoeuvre each combat. You know; to grant them a few additional class features in limited pseudo-casting.

As much as I personally like ToB, I don't have any plans to incorporate maneuvers into these classes (I've also tried to avoid incorporating psionics, much as I love them), simply because I'd like to try and hew this to core fairly closely, for efficiency's sake. It's an easy fix though if you want to make your own archetype, just add some maneuver progression, maybe a couple of thematic abilities, and voila!

[Ziegander]

I agree that the Zealot seems a lot more powerful than either the Sentinel or the Vanguard (even more pronouncedly so compared with the Vanguard). I mean... this is just about overwhelmingly powerful...

Wait, wait, ignore all that. I see you've nerfed just about every feature. It looks pretty great now. My only suggestion for the time being is to change the Reaver's "capstone" to only trigger if you hit the enemy twice on your turn. Chance to fatigue or even exhaust on every hit is a bit strong.

Otherwise, this one is shaping up to be my favorite. Very, very well done.

[Dryad]

I have an idea:
All the caster classes get, in addition to their Archetype Capstone, an Archtype Capstone SLA.
Would it be an idea to incorporate something of equal magnitude in Martial characters, and, of course, Skilled Characters?

[gkathellar]

I have an idea:
All the caster classes get, in addition to their Archetype Capstone, an Archtype Capstone SLA.
Would it be an idea to incorporate something of equal magnitude in Martial characters, and, of course, Skilled Characters?

Seconded. A special move would be super-cool.

[Gnorman]

Seconded. A special move would be super-cool.

I suppose you could toss in a maneuver there as a capstone and get away with it. It'd be a once per encounter thing, I think, owing to the fact that spells are generally much better.

Quick ideas for this class:
Cavalier: White Raven Strike or Divine Surge
Reaver: Fountain of Blood or Bonesplitting Strike
Templar: Mind Strike or Ruby Nightmare Blade

I could also just make a capstone ability, though, to even the balance.

[Eldest]

I have an idea:
All the caster classes get, in addition to their Archetype Capstone, an Archtype Capstone SLA.
Would it be an idea to incorporate something of equal magnitude in Martial characters, and, of course, Skilled Characters?

Three votes yea!

Not sure where the phrasing came from, but DO IT!

[Gnorman]

I have now included the Dedication ability as the capstone, basically giving the zealot three daily uses of a targetable Iron Heart Surge.

My only issues with ToB in this circumstance are: 1. Spells for magic classes, maneuvers for combat classes... what for skilled classes? and 2. The aforementioned try-to-hew-relatively-close-to-core thing, as I don't want to have to force people trying to use my system to go out and buy too many splatbooks. I've already included class features from Complete Mage, Complete Warrior and the Player's Handbook II, though, so perhaps one more isn't the worst thing in the world.

[Dryad]

Oh, I did not specifically mean ToB abilities.. Just something of roughly equal ability as the caster capstone SLA.

I understand the reluctance of using ToB material, even though much of it can be solved through simply adding the specifics of the mechanic to your class ability list. Still; you do indeed run the risk of tipping the scales the other way (also because manoeuvres/stances can normally be used every encounter, rather than on a daily basis).

I have great confidence in Gnorman's creative skills, though. ^_^

Dedication looks like just what the doctor (or, in this case: I) ordered. :)

[Gnorman]

For combat classes, I've been giving capstone abilities that are usable 3/day, which I think is a fairly reasonable limit - it's slightly less than once per encounter, given a standard adventuring day, and more than the 1/day SLAs of the casting classes.

At this point, if no one else has any other input, I will go ahead and finalize the Zealot.

[Eldest]

For the skilled classes add awesome versions of skill tricks?
The zealot looks good.

[Ajadea]

I'd switch Benediction and Conviction personally, citing T.G. Oskar: You want the best defense Charisma can buy, you don't dip 1 or two levels for it. Putting it at level 3 ensures that anyone who wants that awesome defense must be at least 50% Zealot, and therefore relatively dedicated to this path.

[Ziegander]

I'd switch Benediction and Conviction personally, citing T.G. Oskar: You want the best defense Charisma can buy, you don't dip 1 or two levels for it. Putting it at level 3 ensures that anyone who wants that awesome defense must be at least 50% Zealot, and therefore relatively dedicated to this path.

I could agree with that. Conviction would still be a pretty awesome 1 level dip, but it's not as awesome as Cha to saves.

[gkathellar]

I'd switch Benediction and Conviction personally, citing T.G. Oskar: You want the best defense Charisma can buy, you don't dip 1 or two levels for it. Putting it at level 3 ensures that anyone who wants that awesome defense must be at least 50% Zealot, and therefore relatively dedicated to this path.

That's probably the right call. As it stands, a Red Mage (Sandshaper) 5/Zealot 1 gets Charisma to Attack, Damage, AC, Saves and 3rd-level spells. Pushing Benediction two levels further in prevents the dip from becoming imperative.

[Gnorman]

That's probably the right call. As it stands, a Red Mage (Sandshaper) 5/Zealot 1 gets Charisma to Attack, Damage, AC, Saves and 3rd-level spells. Pushing Benediction two levels further in prevents the dip from becoming imperative.

Dang yeah that's a fairly sick circumstance right there...