The Crusader Prestige Class
Converted from 2nd Edition to 3rd Edition D&D by Peter K. Campbell, p.campbell@bigfoot.com
Last Updated: 10th November 2000
Summary of Conversion:  Performed as had Crusader in party.  In the spirit of 3E have made the Crusader a prestige class vs a standard class, hence a few changes were made to make it more in fitting with a Prestige class.  This includes the incorporation of several special powers (see Divine Aura and Voice of Power below) which were based on powers from the High Level Campaigns 2E reference book.  The class was discussed with the group and updated a few times to ensure it was a suitable prestige class and not too over or under powered; this is about the 3rd revision.  I would have sent it in 3 months ago, but hoped to get it published in Polyhedron – it took them 3 months to get back to me & say they wouldn’t publish it as the Crusader will be an official (prestige) class in a forthcoming reference book.

Class Level				Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Special	Spells per day & Turn/Rebuke Undead ability	
1st	+1	+1	+0	+1	Extra Domain, (Spontaneous Casting), (Turn/Rebuke Undead)	+1 level of clerical ability	
2nd	+2	+2	+1	+2	Divine Aura, 1/day	+1 level of clerical ability	
3rd	+3	+2	+1	+2	Voice of Power, 1/day	+1 level of clerical ability	
4th	+4	+3	+1	+3	Divine Aura, 2/day	+1 level of clerical ability	
5th	+5	+3	+2	+3	Voice of Power, 2/day	+1 level of clerical ability	
6th	+6	+4	+2	+4	Divine Aura, 3/day	+1 level of clerical ability	
7th	+7	+4	+2	+4	Voice of Power, 3/day (and hence Voice of Fear)	+1 level of clerical ability	
8th	+8	+5	+3	+5	Divine Aura, 4/day	+1 level of clerical ability	
9th	+9	+5	+3	+5	Voice of Power, 4/day	+1 level of clerical ability	
10th	+10	+6	+3	+6	Divine Aura, 5/day (and hence Divine Aura of Fear)	+1 level of clerical ability	

The Crusader
Crusaders are devout priests of war, combat or conflict who stand at the forefront of the fight for their faith.  Crusaders are the leaders of their faith’s forces into battle, the first into the woods upon hearing of a monster terrorising the peasants, and the beings most likely to be standing on a hill in enemy territory orating to the masses about the benefits of changing to the One True Faith.

While Crusaders are nearly always associated with deities who have the War domain, they may also represent deities of leadership or strong alignment that are in conflict with opposing forces.  Crusaders often organise themselves into a military hierarchy and view their temples as fortifications as well as places of worship.  In some cases the power of the Crusader orders can rival the strength of the kingdom that hosts them, although this can often provoke popular resentment or suspicion.  However, no one questions the ability or resolve of Crusaders in times of war.

In an adventuring party, the Crusader is a natural leader whose place is in the front lines of any battle.  When possible, the Crusader will take steps to prepare his comrades for battle through the use of bless, prayer, aid and similar spells.  They will then quickly join the fight alongside the more traditional warriors.

Clerics and paladins of combat-oriented deities often become Crusaders to prove their commitment to the faith and to help spread the word of their deity to uncivilised lands.  Fighters may “see the light” and become Crusaders after some clerical training.  Rangers may become Crusaders to help prevent the encroachment of civilisation into natural areas.  Other classes rarely have the commitment to a deity necessary to become a Crusader.
Hit Die: d10

Requirements
To qualify to become a Crusader one must show that they have not only an established divine connection, but also that they are able to fight for their cause and be able to persuade others to do so.  Furthermore, the prospective Crusader must be set in their convictions, and hence have a firm degree of law or chaos in their alignment.  This requires a Crusader to meet the following criteria:
Abilities: As with a cleric, Wisdom is the most important ability.  To cast a spell, the Crusader must have a Wisdom score of 10 + the spell’s level.  A Crusader gets bonus spells based on Wisdom.  The Difficulty Class of a saving throw against a Crusader’s spell is 10 + the spell’s level + the cleric’s Wisdom modifier.  A high Charisma improves the Crusader’s ability to Turn Undead.  As a Crusader is expected to be on the forefront of battles against enemies of their faith, Strength and Constitution are much more important for the Crusader than a cleric, although physically weak clerics may become Crusaders if their faith is sufficiently strong.  Many people often consider a good Intelligence score to be a hindrance to the average Crusader; as with a soldier the Crusader is expected to follow the orders of their faith without question (or even thinking about questioning).
Alignment: Any except neutral good, true neutral or neutral evil
Base Attack Bonus: +4
Feats: Weapon Focus in a favoured weapon of the Crusader’s deity
Spellcasting:  Ability to cast 2nd level Divine spells
Skills: 4 ranks of Diplomacy, 4 ranks of Knowledge-Religion

Furthermore, a high-ranking leader of their faith must initiate the potential Crusader after confirming their resolve.  This may involve as little as an oral test and some sparring, or as much as a full Quest to be undertaken, depending upon the faith.  A typical Quest would be the removal of a dangerous monster preying upon members of the faith, or perhaps the destruction of a rival church, depending upon the power of the applicant and how keen the leader is to gain another Crusader in the ranks of the church.
Class Skills
The Crusader’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Climb (Str), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Heal (Wis), Jump (Str), Knowledge-Religion (Int), Ride (Dex), Scry (Int) and Spellcraft (Int).  See Chapter 4: Skills in the Player’s Handbook for skill descriptions.

Skill Points at Each Level: 2 + Int modifier.
Class Features
All of the following are class features of the Crusader prestige class.

Weapon and Armour Proficiency: Although characters may be proficient with many weapons, upon becoming a Crusader they choose to use only weapons commonly favoured by their Deity.  Furthermore, before even becoming a Crusader they must have become proficient in (via the Martial Weapon Proficiency feat if necessary) and chosen the Weapon Focus feat for one favoured weapon.  Note that clerics with War as one of their domains receive these feats for free, as outlined on pages 31 and 165 of the PHB.  Although some deities have two or three favoured weapons, many have only one.  For example, a Crusader of Hextor would use a flail and St Cuthbert the mace.  A Crusader may later (not at 1st level) choose the Weapon Specialisation Feat in one (and only one) favoured weapon that they have chosen Weapon Focus for, just as a Fighter would.

A Crusader may still throw grenade-like weapons such as Holy Water and Alchemist’s Fire, but will not use any non-favoured traditional melee or missile weapon unless many lives depend upon it.  Even then the Crusader will suffer, not being able to regain divine spells until they have had Atonement cast upon them by another member of their faith.  In this case the 500 XP penalty will apply to the Crusader, not the caster of the Atonement, although it may not apply at all if their deity is sufficiently convinced of the need.

Crusaders are proficient with all types of armour (light, medium and heavy) and with shields.  Note that armour check penalties for armour heavier than leather apply to the skills Balance, Climb, Escape Artist, Hide, Jump, Move Silently, Pick Pocket and Tumble.  Also, Swim checks suffer a –1 penalty for every 5 pounds of armour and equipment carried.

Spells: Crusaders gain divine spellcasting ability just as a cleric would, receiving an extra level of spellcasting ability for each level. Crusaders also gain a new domain at 1st level.  This is usually either Law or Chaos, depending upon the alignment of the character.  If the character already has this domain, choose one of the other domains listed for their Deity, with preference given first to War and then to Protection.  It is very unlikely that a church would have Crusaders unless their deity’s favoured domains included at least one of Law/Chaos and War.

As an example of how many spells a character has, consider Horan who is an 14th level cleric of Heironeous and 1st level Crusader.  He would have exactly the same number of spells as a 15th level cleric.  Renata the 10th level Ranger and 1st level Wizard would gain three 0 level spells and two 1st level spells upon becoming a 1st level Crusader, for a total of three 0 level spells, three 1st level spells (of which one is her domain spell) and one 2nd level spell.

Due to their increased training in the Art of War and following of the ways of their Deity, Crusaders are unable to concentrate on as broad a range of spells as a cleric would.  As such, they are unable to gain spells unless they are in the Crusader’s domain, or of one of the following schools of magic:
Abjuration, Conjuration (Creation and Healing), Divination (minor access, levels1-4), Enchantment (Compulsion), Evocation, Necromancy and Transmutation (minor access, levels 1-4).
That is, unless a spell is in a Domain accessible to the Crusader, they are unable to cast spells from the schools of Conjuration (Calling and Summoning), Divination (level 5+), Enchantment (Charm), Illusion and Transmutation (level 5+).
Note that this restriction applies to all divine spells the Crusader has access to, including those from other classes – the spells are all gifts of the Crusader’s deity, who will make sure of this restriction.  This does not apply to any arcane spells the character might possess from another class, as these are not gained from the Crusader’s deity.  So Renata above would still be able to cast Silent Image, but Horan would no longer be able to Animate Objects.

Crusaders retain (or gain) the Spontaneous Casting ability to convert prepared spell energy into either cure or inflict spells, subject to the caster level reduction mentioned above.  This only applies to divine spells, but does include divine spells gained from other classes, such as Paladin and Ranger.

Crusaders retain (or gain) the supernatural ability to Turn or Rebuke Undead and continue to improve, receiving an extra level of skill for each Crusader level.  Horan Turns Undead as if he was a 15th level cleric, Renata as a 1st level cleric.  Crusaders may also choose the Extra Turning feat one or more times as a cleric would.

Divine Aura: At 2nd level and higher Crusaders may activate an aura that reflects the divine power of their deity.  Upon doing so the Crusader radiates a soft light that fills nearby comrades with confidence.  For a period of one minute per Crusader level all allies within 20’ of the Crusader gain a +2 morale bonus on saving throws.  This bonus is lost if the ally moves further away from the Crusader than 20’, but is regained as soon as they move closer if the aura is still active.

The light radiated is the favoured colour of their deity.  If not specified this is black for evil Crusaders, otherwise white.  If lawful the Crusader’s Aura will be of a constant strength, if chaotic it will pulse.  Regardless of the colour or strength, the Aura lights up the surrounding area as if it was a torch (20’ radius).  Magical darkness will stop this (although the morale effects of the aura will still operate).  Divine Aura is a supernatural ability.

Voice of Power: At 3rd level and higher Crusaders may use the Voice of Power.  Divine energy fills the Crusader’s lungs (or other breathing organs) and allows them to speak to every creature within 200’ who isn’t magically deafened.  The Voice of Power penetrates Silence spells and up to 10’ of solid rock or 3” of lead and similar metals, although not Antimagic Field, Prismatic Sphere or Cubes of Force.  The Crusader may use the Voice even if underwater, gagged, Held or similarly restricted.  The Voice of Power is normally used to orate to large numbers of beings at once, or give directions during a pitched battle, in which case it lasts for up to ten minutes per Crusader level (during this time the Crusader can speak normally, or with the Voice, as they desire).

In dire situations the Voice can be used to call upon the full power of the Crusader’s deity, in which case it is often called the Voice of Fear.  All enemies of the Crusader who hear the Voice of Fear (which has the same area of effect as the Voice of Power) must make a Will saving throw (versus a DC of 11 + Crusader Wisdom Bonus).  Beings who fail become affected as if by a Cause Fear spell for 1 round per Crusader level.  This aspect of the Voice takes a lot out of the Crusader, however.  It consumes 3 “uses” of the Voice of Power (and so cannot be used until the Crusader reaches 7th level, and even then only if they have not used the Voice that day).  It also reduces the Constitution of the Crusader by 4 points for a period of one hour (and hence their hit points as well, generally by –2 for each overall character level).  If this would reduce the Crusader’s current Constitution to 0 or below the Crusader falls unconscious for an hour.  Any further loss of Constitution, temporary or not, kills them.  Similarly if the Constitution loss causes the hit points of the Crusader to fall to 0 or below they will become staggered, fall unconscious or die.  Voice of Power and Voice of Fear are both supernatural abilities.

Once a Crusader has reached 10th level they can call upon the Divine Aura of Fear.  This consumes 5 “uses” of the Divine Aura power, and 3 “uses” of the Voice of Power and hence cannot be used unless the Crusader has that many “uses” left for the day.  Upon activating the Divine Aura of Fear the Crusader is surrounded by an aura that appear to be a Divine Aura, only twice as bright (light radius 40’).  This aura gives allies a +2 morale saving throw effect just as a Divine Aura but to 40’ radius, and also gives enemies in this region a –2 morale penalty on attack rolls, weapon damage rolls and saving throws, similar to a Cause Fear spell.  However unlike this spell, enemies get no saving throws against this effect, although spell resistance is still checked.  Furthermore, any being hit by the Crusader’s favoured weapon must succeed at a Will saving throw (versus a DC of 14 + Crusader Wisdom Bonus) or else immediately become panicked as per the Fear spell (see PHB page 203 or DMG page 85).  Unlike the Voice of Fear, Divine Aura of Fear does not weaken the Crusader.  Divine Aura of Fear is a supernatural ability.