Does my Imperial Justicar Prestige Class seem balanced?

[Errant]

I'm running and alt.greyhawk campaign where the former lands of the Great Kingdom (at its peak) are now united as the Empire of Aerdy, ruled by an Imperial Senate, where Prestige Classed characters tend to belong to Large, prestigous and influential organisations.

Like a cross between the marshals of the american wild west and Judges of Judge Dredd fame, Imperial Jusicars roam the Empire enforcing the law and preserving the peace.

I'd be grateful for any opinions/suggestions on the prestige class I've created based upon the Church Inquisitor from DotF:-

Imperial Justicar Prestige Class

Requirements
Alignment: Lawful Neutral or Lawful Good
Base Attack Bonus: +5
Skills: Knowledge (Nobility) or Knowledge (Local) 5 ranks, & Sense Motive 5 Ranks
Feats: Alertness & Skill Focus (Sense Motive)
Spells: Ability to cast Divination spells of at least 2nd level.

Hit Die
d8

Class Skills
Concentration (Con), Diplomacy (Cha), Gather Information (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (Local), Knowledge (Nobility), Search (Int), Spot (Wis), Sense Motive (Wis), & Spellcraft (Int).

Skill Points
Each level: 2 + Int modifier

Imperial Justicar
Bonuses (BAB/Fort/Ref/Will) and abilities by level:
L1: +0/+2/+0/+2, Law of the Land, Presence.
L2: +1/+3/+0/+3, Command, Spell Casting +1 Level of existing class.
L3: +2/+3/+1/+3, Piercing Gaze.
L4: +3/+4/+1/+4, Mark of Justice, Spell Casting +1 Level of existing class.
L5: +3/+4/+1/+4, Immune to charms.
L6: +4/+5/+2/+5, Discern Lies, Spell Casting +1 Level of existing class.
L7: +5/+5/+2/+5, No new special abilities.
L8: +6/+6/+2/+6, Learn the Truth, Spell Casting +1 Level of existing class.
L9: +6/+6/+3/+6, Immune to compulsions.
L10: +7/+7/+3/+7, Zone of Truth, Spell Casting +1 Level of existing class.

Class Features
- Weapon & Armor Proficiency: Imperial Justicars are proficient in all simple weapons, with all types of armor, and with shields.
- Law of the Land (Ex): Imperial Justicars are appointed to judge offenders and enforce the law throughout the Empire and they may demand assistance from local rulers as required to further this cause (although rulers are not magically compelled to comply). They may only be overruled by a assembly of three senior Justicars, or five Justicars of any level.
- Presence (Su): As the embodiment of justice and the law within the empire, Imperial Justicars have an uncanny effect on others when they act in the name of the empire or law. Three times per day (+1/day per Cha modifier), the Justicar add their level to any Diplomacy or Intimidate check made while acting to enforce imperial law.
- Command (Sp): An Imperial Justicar can cast Command once per day per class level, as a spell-like ability that duplicates the effect of the Command spell cast at his character level.
- Immune to Charms (Su): Imperial Justicars of 2nd level or higher are immune to all Charm spells and effects.
- Piercing Gaze (Ex): Imperial Justicars are skilled at detecting falsehoods and deception, gaining +2 to Sense Motive checks and saves vs. Illusions of all kinds.
- Mark of Justice (Sp): An Imperial Justicar may cast Mark of Justice at will, as a spell-like ability that duplicates the effect of the Mark of Justice spell.
- Immune to Compulsions: Imperial Justicars of 5th level or higher are immune to all compulsion spells and effects.
- Discern Lies (Sp): An Imperial Justicar of 6th level or higher can use Discern Lies as a spell-like ability once per day per two class levels.
- Learn the Truth: By touching a creature that has lied to him, an Imperial Justicar of 8th level or higher may force the creature to speak the truth. The creature may make a Will save (DC 10 + Imperial Justicar’s level + the Imperial Justicar’s Charisma bonus) to resist this mind affecting, compulsion effect. If the saving throw fails, the creature must speak the true version of the lie it uttered. The Imperial Justicar can use this ability at will, but only immediately after using the Discern Lies spell-like ability on the creature in question.
- Zone of Truth (Sp): At the peak of their abilities, Imperial Justicars may cast Zone of Truth at will. The DC to save against this effect is 20 plus the Justicars Cha modifier.

*Edits:
(1) added Hit Die & Skill Point progression;
(2) moved spell casting progression to every even level
(3) added Presence & Zone of Truth, reallocated Immunities to Charm & Compulsion *

 

[EOL]

A couple of things strike me about this PrC first that there's no special ability at lvl 10, this is particulary important because you then are faced with the immediate question of why take the 10th level of this PrC rather than returning to your previous class?

Secondly and this is related to the first comment, the class seems very front loaded. It's not unbalanced, but it would be better if you could spread the abilities out more.

Overall it's a pretty good PrC.

 

[Errant]

L10 was a problem

EOL, thanks for the input.

I agree its pretty heavy upfront, which is the main reason I dropped the "+1 level of existing class" spell casting from every level (a/p Church Inquisitor) to every other level.

I would like to come up with a nice L10 ability, but I haven't thought of anything suitable. What I will to though is change spell progression to every even level, instead of every odd level...

So, L10 gives +1 Command/day & +1 Discern Lies/day, +1 level of existing class spell casting, plus the skill points/selection of course.

If anyone can think of a better suggestion I'm all ears.

 

[Epametheus]

Actually, there's no real reason to take the class past 8th level.

So, some suggestions..

1) Shift the "total immunity to charm effects" to the 5th level ability.

2) Shift "total immunity to Compulsion" to the 9th level ability -- those two abilities put together pretty much nullify the entire Enchantment school of spells, so they shouldn't come easily.

3) Hmm.. A 10th level ability.. Zone of Truth at will, but with the save DC set to 20 (10 + Justicar level) + Wisdom modifier? That's some authoritah, I think. But considering that the character in question will be around 17th level, and has basically given up having 9th level spells to get this stuff, it should be pretty damn good. I'm sure you can come up with something better.

 

[Errant]

The work progresses

Thanks Epametheus, more good suggestions.

Immunities moved as suggested, Zone of Truth added as L10 special ability (pending a better idea).

It also occured to me that, as the embodiment of law enforcement, Justicar's could use a boost to their influence when actually enforcing the law. Presence ability added accordingly.