HOLY STRATEGIST
Holy Strategists are the elite commanders of the Red Fellowship, masters of combat strategy and the art of leadership. The Holy Strategist commands a view of the entire battlefield, exploiting weaknesses in the enemy’s position, improvising tactics according to the flow of the battle, and directing his troops to victory. So impressive is their reputation that armies outnumbering their foes three to one have been known to surrender upon learning that a Holy Strategist leads the opposing force.
Hit Die: d8.
REQUIREMENTS
To qualify to become a Holy Strategist (HoS), a character must fulfull all the following criteria.
Alignment: Any lawful.
Base Attack Bonus: +5
Skills: Diplomacy or Intimidate 5 ranks, Knowledge (architecture and
engineering) 5 ranks, Knowledge (history) 5 ranks.
Feats: Leadership, Widen Spell.
Spells: Ability to cast 4th level divine spells. Clerics seeking to become Holy Strategists must have access to the War domain.
Patron: Red Knight.
Special: Must have commanded a victorious unit in a large-scale battle.
CLASS SKILLS
The Holy Strategist’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Gather Information (Cha), Handle Animal (Cha), Heal (Wis), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (all) (Int), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), Sense Motive (Wis), Spellcraft (Int).
Skill Points at Each Level: 2 + Int modifier.
HOLY STRATEGIST
Base Attack: As cleric
Saves: As cleric
Special:
1st Hard to Fool
2nd Aura of Courage 20 ft.
3rd Improved Leadership
4th Hard to Fool +4
5th Call Mount, Aura of Courage 30 ft.
6th Improved Leadership +4
7th Hard to Fool +6
8th Aura of Courage 40 ft.
9th Improved Leadership +6
10th Spontaneous Divine
CLASS FEATURES
All the following are class features of the Holy Strategist prestige class.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Holy Strategists are proficient in all simple and martial weapons, heavy armor, shields, and tower shields.
Spells per Day: To a Holy Strategist, planning is the essence of victory, and the tools of a successful strategy begin with accurate intelligence. Holy Strategists may cast arcane spells from the divination school as cleric spells of the same level. They gain access to one arcane level per class level.
Holy Strategists may read arcane scrolls from the divination school as wizards.
Hard to Fool (Ex): Holy Strategists are adept at sizing up a situation in an instant and exploiting weaknesses. This makes him especially resistant to illusions cast by enemy spellcasters. At first level Holy Strategists gain the Hard to Fool feat (Dragon #317, +2 on Will saves vs. illusions, +2 to Sense Motive) as a bonus feat. The bonus granted by this feat increases to +4 at 5th level and +6 at 8th level.
Aura of Courage (Su): This ability works exactly like the Paladin ability of the same name. The radius of this aura increases at 4th and 7th level.
Improved Leadership (Ex): Beginning at 3rd level, the Holy Strategist gains the Improved Leadership feat (Dragon #317, +2 to Leadership score) as a bonus feat. This bonus increases to +4 at 6th level and +6 at 9th level. (He still cannot attract a cohort greater than his character level -2.)
Call Mount (Sp): This ability functions exactly like the Paladin ability of the same name. Use the overall character level to determine the abilities of the mount.
Spontaneous Divine: At 10th level the Holy Strategist becomes so attuned to the power of divination magics that he gains the ability to spontaneously cast spells from the divination school by “losing” a prepared spell. He may still spontaneously cast
cure or
inflict spells in the same manner.
[Edit: fixed formatting]
