Wik
First Post
Okay. Take two. I looked over this today, and thought "what was I thinking?". In my defence, it had been a long day at work.
The prime goals for this prestige class are:
1) To allow a paladin to fill a support role effectively.
2) To broaden the abilities of the paladin a little bit.
3) To give Galwynn a prestige class to shoot for... although the Annointed Hunter looks pretty cool, too.
4) To give a paladin something to use his Turn Undead uses on (this is a big change I made to the PrC)
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HOLY GUARDIAN
Holy Guardians are paladins and, less often, clerics dedicated to one of the good deities of the land. Typically following gods such as Hyrag, Azwan, or Halina, they are exemplars of their deities virtues.
Holy Guardians radiate an aura of the divine about them, which they can use to aid their companions in the pursuit of their deity's goals on the material plane.
Hit Die: d8
Requirements
Alignment: Lawful Good
Skills: Knowledge (Religion) 8 ranks, Concentration 5 ranks
Feat: Extra Turning
Special: Lay on Hands
Class Skills
The Holy Guardian's Class skills are Concentration, Craft, Diplomacy, Handle Animal, Heal, Knowledge (nobility and royalty), Knowledge (the planes), Knowledge (religion), Ride, Sense Motive, and Spellcraft.
Skill Points: 2 + Int modifier
Weapon and Armour Proficiencies: If the character is not already proficient, he receives proficiency in his deity's favoured weapon.
Spells: The character gains spells as a paladin. Paladin levels and Holy Guardian levels stack when determing caster level, spells learned each level, etc.
Lay on HandsHoly Guardian levels stack with paladins when determining the amount of hit points healed by the lay on hands ability.
Extra Domain: At 2nd level, the Holy Guardian can select one domain granted by his deity. He gains one additional spell slot for each spell level he has access to; this spell must be taken from this extra domain. Thus, a 5th level Paladin/2nd Level Holy Guardian with the Healing Domain could cast Cure Light Wounds as a bonus Domain spell.
In addition, the character gains the listed Domain ability.
If the character already has domain spells (such as if he were a cleric), this bonus stacks with the Cleric's existing domains.
Fearless Aura: By spending one of his daily turn undead attempts for the day as a standard action, the Holy Guardian projects an aura that calms his allies. For a number of rounds equal to his Holy Guardian level plus his charisma modifier, all allies that remain within 20 feet of the Holy Guardian are immune to all fear effects.
Morale Aura: By spending one of his daily turn undead attempts for the day as a standard action, the Holy Guardian projects an aura that envigors his allies. All allies that remain within 30 feet of the Holy Guardian receive a +1 morale bonus on melee attack rolls and damage rolls. This ability lasts for a number of rounds equal to the character's Holy Guardian level plus his charisma modifier.
Holy Smite: By spending one of his daily turn undead attempts, the Holy Guardian can make a single Smite attack. He spends the Turn undead attempt as part of making a standard attack. The attack has a +4 bonus to hit, and deals extra damage equal to the Holy Guardian's class level.
Healing Aura: At 5th level, the Holy Guardian is able to heal nearby allies. By spending one of his daily turn undead attempts as a free action, the Holy Guardian can use his Lay on Hands ability on any ally within 20 feet of him. He can use as much of his lay on hands ability as he likes; he can even split the healing among multiple targets, provided both targets are allies of the Holy Guardian and within 20 feet.
Note: A character that takes levels in Holy Guardian is still able to take levels in the Paladin character class.
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Alright. So, with this new version, I think it's a bit more balanced.
While there's still the "Spend turn undead to power auras" gimmick (I like it too much), there's definately a power tradeoff - Turn undead no longer improves with the class. Plus, with extra turning as a feat requirement, the character loses one of his precious feats (and Paladins suffer from lack of feats more than any other class, in my opinion).
While the character gains a few limited abilities (the auras are alright, but I can't see any of 'em being game-breaking) and an expanded spell selection, he loses out on:
Special Mount (not a big deal)
Remove Disease (again, not a big deal)
d10 hit die
Turn Undead
Smite Evil (he does get a smite attack, but it's a lot weaker)
Anyways, I think it may be a bit weak, now. Some things I was thinking of adding:
1) Extra damage (+1d6, +2d6?) on Holy Smite attacks against evil creatures.
2) The ability to use Turn Undead attempts to power metamagic effects on spells.
3) The ability to add a few cleric spells to the paladin's spell list.
The prime goals for this prestige class are:
1) To allow a paladin to fill a support role effectively.
2) To broaden the abilities of the paladin a little bit.
3) To give Galwynn a prestige class to shoot for... although the Annointed Hunter looks pretty cool, too.
4) To give a paladin something to use his Turn Undead uses on (this is a big change I made to the PrC)
********
HOLY GUARDIAN
Holy Guardians are paladins and, less often, clerics dedicated to one of the good deities of the land. Typically following gods such as Hyrag, Azwan, or Halina, they are exemplars of their deities virtues.
Holy Guardians radiate an aura of the divine about them, which they can use to aid their companions in the pursuit of their deity's goals on the material plane.
Hit Die: d8
Requirements
Alignment: Lawful Good
Skills: Knowledge (Religion) 8 ranks, Concentration 5 ranks
Feat: Extra Turning
Special: Lay on Hands
Class Skills
The Holy Guardian's Class skills are Concentration, Craft, Diplomacy, Handle Animal, Heal, Knowledge (nobility and royalty), Knowledge (the planes), Knowledge (religion), Ride, Sense Motive, and Spellcraft.
Skill Points: 2 + Int modifier
Code:
Table: Holy Guardian
Level BAB Fort Ref Will Special
1 +1 +2 +0 +0 Paladin Spells, Lay On Hands, Fearless Aura
2 +2 +3 +0 +0 Extra Domain
3 +3 +3 +1 +1 Morale Aura
4 +4 +4 +1 +1 Holy Smite
5 +5 +4 +1 +1 Aura
Weapon and Armour Proficiencies: If the character is not already proficient, he receives proficiency in his deity's favoured weapon.
Spells: The character gains spells as a paladin. Paladin levels and Holy Guardian levels stack when determing caster level, spells learned each level, etc.
Lay on HandsHoly Guardian levels stack with paladins when determining the amount of hit points healed by the lay on hands ability.
Extra Domain: At 2nd level, the Holy Guardian can select one domain granted by his deity. He gains one additional spell slot for each spell level he has access to; this spell must be taken from this extra domain. Thus, a 5th level Paladin/2nd Level Holy Guardian with the Healing Domain could cast Cure Light Wounds as a bonus Domain spell.
In addition, the character gains the listed Domain ability.
If the character already has domain spells (such as if he were a cleric), this bonus stacks with the Cleric's existing domains.
Fearless Aura: By spending one of his daily turn undead attempts for the day as a standard action, the Holy Guardian projects an aura that calms his allies. For a number of rounds equal to his Holy Guardian level plus his charisma modifier, all allies that remain within 20 feet of the Holy Guardian are immune to all fear effects.
Morale Aura: By spending one of his daily turn undead attempts for the day as a standard action, the Holy Guardian projects an aura that envigors his allies. All allies that remain within 30 feet of the Holy Guardian receive a +1 morale bonus on melee attack rolls and damage rolls. This ability lasts for a number of rounds equal to the character's Holy Guardian level plus his charisma modifier.
Holy Smite: By spending one of his daily turn undead attempts, the Holy Guardian can make a single Smite attack. He spends the Turn undead attempt as part of making a standard attack. The attack has a +4 bonus to hit, and deals extra damage equal to the Holy Guardian's class level.
Healing Aura: At 5th level, the Holy Guardian is able to heal nearby allies. By spending one of his daily turn undead attempts as a free action, the Holy Guardian can use his Lay on Hands ability on any ally within 20 feet of him. He can use as much of his lay on hands ability as he likes; he can even split the healing among multiple targets, provided both targets are allies of the Holy Guardian and within 20 feet.
Note: A character that takes levels in Holy Guardian is still able to take levels in the Paladin character class.
*********************
Alright. So, with this new version, I think it's a bit more balanced.
While there's still the "Spend turn undead to power auras" gimmick (I like it too much), there's definately a power tradeoff - Turn undead no longer improves with the class. Plus, with extra turning as a feat requirement, the character loses one of his precious feats (and Paladins suffer from lack of feats more than any other class, in my opinion).
While the character gains a few limited abilities (the auras are alright, but I can't see any of 'em being game-breaking) and an expanded spell selection, he loses out on:
Special Mount (not a big deal)
Remove Disease (again, not a big deal)
d10 hit die
Turn Undead
Smite Evil (he does get a smite attack, but it's a lot weaker)
Anyways, I think it may be a bit weak, now. Some things I was thinking of adding:
1) Extra damage (+1d6, +2d6?) on Holy Smite attacks against evil creatures.
2) The ability to use Turn Undead attempts to power metamagic effects on spells.
3) The ability to add a few cleric spells to the paladin's spell list.
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