The Forbiddance of the Divine
"You shall not pass!!"
Jenar spurred his horse to the end of the bridge, screaming his challenge to the leaders of the army that yet advanced toward the city. A tall man wearing demonic-looking black armor sat astride a huge black charger. Flanking him were two dark-robed figures. Jenar could easily see the huge pectoral collars they wore, decorated with the chaotic, snearing face of Erythnul.
He snarled at them, and pulled his horse parallel to the halted army. The armored man chuckled cruelly at him. He had seen Jenar up on the city walls all day, healing wounded soldiers. His priests had told him he had no divine blessings left, not after the effort he had been putting forth on the wall. The fool didn't even carry a weapon, only some massive gold icon from his temple. The priests said that it wasn't even magic, so he strode forward in confidence, intending to behead Jenar before finally shattering the gates of the inner city.
As the warlord advanced, Jenar held aloft the huge golden lightning bolt, taken from the High Altar of Heironeous, in both hands, and turned his face to the heavens.
"Invincible one, aid thy servent," he whispered, then his voice rose to a shout.
"Begone! Agents of evil, defilers of holy ground, eaters of the dead, and bringers of chaos, begone! The light of Heironeous shall strike you, cleanse you from this world in righteous holy fire! Light of Valor, come forth, come forth, come forth!!!"
In a scream of tortured air, a lightning bolt split the sky, striking the risen holy symbol, and struck out at the warlord and dark priests. In a flash of light, they were turned into ash, and the front line of the army began to flee. Jenar collapsed over his horse's neck, and the remaining army stood, confused and frightened. Jenar looked at them once, and began to raise the golden lightning bolt again.
The entire army turned and ran, screaming.
A Forbidder of the Divine is one who focuses on channelling the divine might of his god to turn away or rebuke his enemies. Often a zealot, a Forbidder learns to not only strengthen his faith to drive away the heathens, but eventually is able to drive away all enemies of his god. Few enemies can withstand the sheer fanatical belief and power in his upraised holy symbol and thundering words. The power flows through him often, but harshly. Channelling so much power of the divine often burns out frail Forbidders.
Clerics are the most typical Forbidders, with paladins and druids occasionally in the ranks.
Hit Die: d8
Requirements
To qualify as a Forbiddance of the Divine, a character must fill the following criteria.
Feats: Extra Turning and Highten Turning or Empower Turning*
*If unable to take these feat due to lack of cleric/paladin levels or ability to turn/rebuke undead, use these alternate feat prerequisites - Animal Control or Plant Control.
Special: Ability to turn or rebuke any type of creature.
Spells: Must be able to cast 3rd level divine spells.
Class Skills
The Forbidder's class skills (and key ability for each skill) are Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Knowledge (nature), Knowledge (religion), Listen (Wis), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), Spellcraft (Int), Spot (Wis). See Chapter 4 of the Player's Handbook for skill descriptions.
Skill Points at Each Level: 2 + Int modifier.
Class Features
The following are class features of the Forbiddance of the Divine prestige class.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Forbidders gain no new weapon or armor proficiencies.
Spells per Day/Spells Known: At each Forbidder level, the character gains new spells per day (and spells known, if applicable) as if had also gained a level in a spellcasting class to which he belonged before adding the prestige class. He does not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained (additional wild shape options, metamagic or item creation feats, or the like). If the character had more than one spellcasting class before becoming a Forbidder, the player must decide to which class to add each Forbidder level for determining spells er day and spells known.
Note, all Forbiddance of the Divine levels count toward divine caster levels to determine the most powerful creature affected and turning damage. For an example, a 6th level cleric/4th level Forbiddance of the Divine turns undead as a 10th level cleric.
Forbiddance: The Forbidder adds this bonus to all turning checks and turning damage rolls.
Channelling the Power of One: The Forbidder may take any feat that has the ability to turn or rebuke undead as a prerequisite as long as they have access to an ability (domain power, feat, or other) that allows them to turn or rebuke some other creature type. Also, if they currently have an feats with that prerequisite, and they have a second group of creatures they are capable of turning or rebuking (such as a cleric with the air domain), they may apply those feats to those turning attempts as well. Ex. If a cleric with the air domain has Heighten Turning, he can use that on his attempts to turn/destroy earth creatures.
Also, the power of a Forbidder's turning is much more powerful than a normal turning. The power of the divine flows much more strongly, often robbing a Forbidder of their strength. After using three turning attempts in one day, a Forbidder must make a Fort save against DC 15 or be fatigued. After the third attempt, he must make the same save every two attempts thereafter. If he fails a second save, he is considered exhausted.
Enemies of God: The Forbidder chooses a group of creatures each time this ability is gained (at 2nd, 4th, 6th, and 8th level). He can use his turning attempts to turn/destroy (not rebuke/command) these creatures. The choice must be fairly specific (lycanthropes, spiders, oozes, reptilian creatures and snakes, ghosts, etc). The DM has the final approval on what creatures can be chosen. These creatures must be enemies of your god (traditional enemies, or those known to cause great harm to the deity's ideals). If you have more than one pool of turning attempts, you must select only one pool to draw your Enemy of God turning attempts from. Ex. If a cleric with the air domain chooses orcs, oozes, constructs, and dragons as his Enemies of God, he must choose if he will draw his turning attempts against these creatures from his undead turning pool or his air domain granted power pool. All turning attempts for Enemies of God must be drawn from the same pool, and once the pool is decided, it cannot be switched.
If a Forbidder acquires a magic item that increases the level at which he can turn undead (like an amulet of undead turning), he may only use it for his Enemies of God ability if he has chosen to pull those turning attempts from his undead turning pool.
Wrath of the Divine: (Su) The Forbidder can, by expending five turning attempts, force all those who do not follow his god flee before him. If he has multiple pools of turning attempts, he may combine turning attempts from both to get the five turning attempts. For this ability only, the Forbidder can turn/destroy (not rebuke/command) any creature that is neither a priest of his god or has his god as a patron (if your campaign uses patron dieties). After this ability is used, the Forbidder must make a Fortitude save against a DC of 20 or be exhausted.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I've written this slightly generically, though generally Forbidders are found in only the most zealous of churches; specifically those that can spend the time and money to wage crusades of eradication on enemies of their church. Very frequently they are the religion of the kingdom or state in which they reside. The Forbidders could fill that role in whichever religion that suits in your campaign.
The Forbidders
Description: Forbidders are those members of a particular religion that have both extremely strong faith in their god, and the will to become a channel for their god's power. Most Forbidders feel a calling to join this elite rank in their church, above and beyond that to become a priest or a holy warrior of their god.
Forbidders are holy crusaders, used as powerful weapons in wars against the infidels. They have been used both as the opening volley of a war, or the secret weapon, held in reserve to save the day. Either way, they are carefully protected when not being used to fight, due to their propensity of becoming nigh fatally fatigued after channelling their divine power. They spend most of their time in seclusion and prayer. Very often they are blessed further with gifts from their god for their devotion (i.e. some mulitclass as Contemplatives or Divine Oracles).
Organization: Forbidders are typically organized within the heirarchy of their church. Because once one has experienced the call of a Forbidder, they are removed from their usual church duties, they have their own organization, outside that of the church. Those that held the highest rank outside the Forbidders retain some of that rank, but typically those with the highest rank in the Forbiddance of the Divine prestige class have the highest rank within the Forbidders. Those who have levels in Contemplative or Divine Oracle also hold high rank.
However, the ranking within the Forbidders is mostly academic to those not inside the organization. Forbidders are looked upon as god-touched miracles, brought to the church to help them fight their holy wars. No Forbidder is looked upon from the outside an higher in rank than any other, though within the organization, the Forbidders have their own ways of going about things.
Membership: All Forbidders have at least one level in the Forbiddance of the Divine prestige class. As one must be able to cast divine spells before hearing the call to be a Forbidder, Forbidders come from within the ranks of the priesthood. Most are clerics, but occasionally a particularly devout paladin will hear the call as well.
New Member Requirements: Typically to prove that one has heard the call to be a Forbidder, one must be seen displaying the abilities of a Forbidder in a battlefield situation. It is typically other Forbidders that notice there is another to add to their ranks. A typical display is turning a creature more powerful than one it typically able to do, or turning a creature that normal priests can't turn.
Annual Dues: None, though most Forbidders gives tithes above and beyond normal priests, or even take vows of poverty to better focus on their spiritual development.
Benefits: Forbidders wield great power, so they are very well cared for. When traveling with an army, they are surrounded by their own attachment of guards. They are given the safest of positions, until their talents are needed.
If traveling alone (though this would be rare, perhaps if another temple needed a Forbidder), they would be traveling with guards. All Forbidders are typically outfitted with the finest equipment possible, and are usually given several magic items to help protect them (amulets of natual armor, defending weapons, dancing shields, etc.)
Drawbacks: Forbidders are extremely valuable to their churches. There is no such thing as a rogue Forbidder. All Forbidders are cloistered, protected individuals, used as weapons in holy wars. They are not allowed to go out alone, and the rooms where they live are often better protected than vaults.
Continuing Requirements: The only continuing requirement for a Forbidder in simply to continue in their faith. If they fall away from their faith, however, it is seen as a victory of the enemy. If attempts to bring them back to the fold fail, the fallen Forbidder is typically executed as a heretic.
Rules of the Forbidders: The rules of the Forbidders are simply the vows of their faith, followed very strictly and rigidly.
(For Druidic or Ranger Forbidders:
They are typically lone individuals with extremely strong faith, and a hefty desire to drive away those that would harm nature. Nature Forbidders have no organization, and it is rare that one would meet more than one Nature Forbidder in a lifetime. There are truly no benefits or drawbacks, as there is really nor organization to draw from. However, after hearing tales of a Nature Forbidder turning a group of maurading orcs into dust for despoiling her forest has given them a reputation for being bloodthirsty.)
"You shall not pass!!"
Jenar spurred his horse to the end of the bridge, screaming his challenge to the leaders of the army that yet advanced toward the city. A tall man wearing demonic-looking black armor sat astride a huge black charger. Flanking him were two dark-robed figures. Jenar could easily see the huge pectoral collars they wore, decorated with the chaotic, snearing face of Erythnul.
He snarled at them, and pulled his horse parallel to the halted army. The armored man chuckled cruelly at him. He had seen Jenar up on the city walls all day, healing wounded soldiers. His priests had told him he had no divine blessings left, not after the effort he had been putting forth on the wall. The fool didn't even carry a weapon, only some massive gold icon from his temple. The priests said that it wasn't even magic, so he strode forward in confidence, intending to behead Jenar before finally shattering the gates of the inner city.
As the warlord advanced, Jenar held aloft the huge golden lightning bolt, taken from the High Altar of Heironeous, in both hands, and turned his face to the heavens.
"Invincible one, aid thy servent," he whispered, then his voice rose to a shout.
"Begone! Agents of evil, defilers of holy ground, eaters of the dead, and bringers of chaos, begone! The light of Heironeous shall strike you, cleanse you from this world in righteous holy fire! Light of Valor, come forth, come forth, come forth!!!"
In a scream of tortured air, a lightning bolt split the sky, striking the risen holy symbol, and struck out at the warlord and dark priests. In a flash of light, they were turned into ash, and the front line of the army began to flee. Jenar collapsed over his horse's neck, and the remaining army stood, confused and frightened. Jenar looked at them once, and began to raise the golden lightning bolt again.
The entire army turned and ran, screaming.
A Forbidder of the Divine is one who focuses on channelling the divine might of his god to turn away or rebuke his enemies. Often a zealot, a Forbidder learns to not only strengthen his faith to drive away the heathens, but eventually is able to drive away all enemies of his god. Few enemies can withstand the sheer fanatical belief and power in his upraised holy symbol and thundering words. The power flows through him often, but harshly. Channelling so much power of the divine often burns out frail Forbidders.
Clerics are the most typical Forbidders, with paladins and druids occasionally in the ranks.
Hit Die: d8
Requirements
To qualify as a Forbiddance of the Divine, a character must fill the following criteria.
Feats: Extra Turning and Highten Turning or Empower Turning*
*If unable to take these feat due to lack of cleric/paladin levels or ability to turn/rebuke undead, use these alternate feat prerequisites - Animal Control or Plant Control.
Special: Ability to turn or rebuke any type of creature.
Spells: Must be able to cast 3rd level divine spells.
Class Skills
The Forbidder's class skills (and key ability for each skill) are Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Knowledge (nature), Knowledge (religion), Listen (Wis), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), Spellcraft (Int), Spot (Wis). See Chapter 4 of the Player's Handbook for skill descriptions.
Skill Points at Each Level: 2 + Int modifier.
Class Features
The following are class features of the Forbiddance of the Divine prestige class.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Forbidders gain no new weapon or armor proficiencies.
Spells per Day/Spells Known: At each Forbidder level, the character gains new spells per day (and spells known, if applicable) as if had also gained a level in a spellcasting class to which he belonged before adding the prestige class. He does not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained (additional wild shape options, metamagic or item creation feats, or the like). If the character had more than one spellcasting class before becoming a Forbidder, the player must decide to which class to add each Forbidder level for determining spells er day and spells known.
Note, all Forbiddance of the Divine levels count toward divine caster levels to determine the most powerful creature affected and turning damage. For an example, a 6th level cleric/4th level Forbiddance of the Divine turns undead as a 10th level cleric.
Forbiddance: The Forbidder adds this bonus to all turning checks and turning damage rolls.
Channelling the Power of One: The Forbidder may take any feat that has the ability to turn or rebuke undead as a prerequisite as long as they have access to an ability (domain power, feat, or other) that allows them to turn or rebuke some other creature type. Also, if they currently have an feats with that prerequisite, and they have a second group of creatures they are capable of turning or rebuking (such as a cleric with the air domain), they may apply those feats to those turning attempts as well. Ex. If a cleric with the air domain has Heighten Turning, he can use that on his attempts to turn/destroy earth creatures.
Also, the power of a Forbidder's turning is much more powerful than a normal turning. The power of the divine flows much more strongly, often robbing a Forbidder of their strength. After using three turning attempts in one day, a Forbidder must make a Fort save against DC 15 or be fatigued. After the third attempt, he must make the same save every two attempts thereafter. If he fails a second save, he is considered exhausted.
Enemies of God: The Forbidder chooses a group of creatures each time this ability is gained (at 2nd, 4th, 6th, and 8th level). He can use his turning attempts to turn/destroy (not rebuke/command) these creatures. The choice must be fairly specific (lycanthropes, spiders, oozes, reptilian creatures and snakes, ghosts, etc). The DM has the final approval on what creatures can be chosen. These creatures must be enemies of your god (traditional enemies, or those known to cause great harm to the deity's ideals). If you have more than one pool of turning attempts, you must select only one pool to draw your Enemy of God turning attempts from. Ex. If a cleric with the air domain chooses orcs, oozes, constructs, and dragons as his Enemies of God, he must choose if he will draw his turning attempts against these creatures from his undead turning pool or his air domain granted power pool. All turning attempts for Enemies of God must be drawn from the same pool, and once the pool is decided, it cannot be switched.
If a Forbidder acquires a magic item that increases the level at which he can turn undead (like an amulet of undead turning), he may only use it for his Enemies of God ability if he has chosen to pull those turning attempts from his undead turning pool.
Wrath of the Divine: (Su) The Forbidder can, by expending five turning attempts, force all those who do not follow his god flee before him. If he has multiple pools of turning attempts, he may combine turning attempts from both to get the five turning attempts. For this ability only, the Forbidder can turn/destroy (not rebuke/command) any creature that is neither a priest of his god or has his god as a patron (if your campaign uses patron dieties). After this ability is used, the Forbidder must make a Fortitude save against a DC of 20 or be exhausted.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I've written this slightly generically, though generally Forbidders are found in only the most zealous of churches; specifically those that can spend the time and money to wage crusades of eradication on enemies of their church. Very frequently they are the religion of the kingdom or state in which they reside. The Forbidders could fill that role in whichever religion that suits in your campaign.
The Forbidders
Description: Forbidders are those members of a particular religion that have both extremely strong faith in their god, and the will to become a channel for their god's power. Most Forbidders feel a calling to join this elite rank in their church, above and beyond that to become a priest or a holy warrior of their god.
Forbidders are holy crusaders, used as powerful weapons in wars against the infidels. They have been used both as the opening volley of a war, or the secret weapon, held in reserve to save the day. Either way, they are carefully protected when not being used to fight, due to their propensity of becoming nigh fatally fatigued after channelling their divine power. They spend most of their time in seclusion and prayer. Very often they are blessed further with gifts from their god for their devotion (i.e. some mulitclass as Contemplatives or Divine Oracles).
Organization: Forbidders are typically organized within the heirarchy of their church. Because once one has experienced the call of a Forbidder, they are removed from their usual church duties, they have their own organization, outside that of the church. Those that held the highest rank outside the Forbidders retain some of that rank, but typically those with the highest rank in the Forbiddance of the Divine prestige class have the highest rank within the Forbidders. Those who have levels in Contemplative or Divine Oracle also hold high rank.
However, the ranking within the Forbidders is mostly academic to those not inside the organization. Forbidders are looked upon as god-touched miracles, brought to the church to help them fight their holy wars. No Forbidder is looked upon from the outside an higher in rank than any other, though within the organization, the Forbidders have their own ways of going about things.
Membership: All Forbidders have at least one level in the Forbiddance of the Divine prestige class. As one must be able to cast divine spells before hearing the call to be a Forbidder, Forbidders come from within the ranks of the priesthood. Most are clerics, but occasionally a particularly devout paladin will hear the call as well.
New Member Requirements: Typically to prove that one has heard the call to be a Forbidder, one must be seen displaying the abilities of a Forbidder in a battlefield situation. It is typically other Forbidders that notice there is another to add to their ranks. A typical display is turning a creature more powerful than one it typically able to do, or turning a creature that normal priests can't turn.
Annual Dues: None, though most Forbidders gives tithes above and beyond normal priests, or even take vows of poverty to better focus on their spiritual development.
Benefits: Forbidders wield great power, so they are very well cared for. When traveling with an army, they are surrounded by their own attachment of guards. They are given the safest of positions, until their talents are needed.
If traveling alone (though this would be rare, perhaps if another temple needed a Forbidder), they would be traveling with guards. All Forbidders are typically outfitted with the finest equipment possible, and are usually given several magic items to help protect them (amulets of natual armor, defending weapons, dancing shields, etc.)
Drawbacks: Forbidders are extremely valuable to their churches. There is no such thing as a rogue Forbidder. All Forbidders are cloistered, protected individuals, used as weapons in holy wars. They are not allowed to go out alone, and the rooms where they live are often better protected than vaults.
Continuing Requirements: The only continuing requirement for a Forbidder in simply to continue in their faith. If they fall away from their faith, however, it is seen as a victory of the enemy. If attempts to bring them back to the fold fail, the fallen Forbidder is typically executed as a heretic.
Rules of the Forbidders: The rules of the Forbidders are simply the vows of their faith, followed very strictly and rigidly.
(For Druidic or Ranger Forbidders:
They are typically lone individuals with extremely strong faith, and a hefty desire to drive away those that would harm nature. Nature Forbidders have no organization, and it is rare that one would meet more than one Nature Forbidder in a lifetime. There are truly no benefits or drawbacks, as there is really nor organization to draw from. However, after hearing tales of a Nature Forbidder turning a group of maurading orcs into dust for despoiling her forest has given them a reputation for being bloodthirsty.)
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I'll give this one last bump in hope of comments before I let this fall into obscurity. 
