This is my shot at a different kind of Cleric, one that doesn't need a god for spells.
Any and all critique is welcome but be gentle, I'm fragile.
Ur-Priest (Variant Base class)
Ur-priests despise gods. However, a small number of them have learned to tap into divine power and use it for their own needs without praying to or worshipping a deity. Instead, each day they go into a trance and mentally steal the power that gods normally channel to devout clerics. The fluff continues in Complete Divine
.
Hit Die: d8
Alignment: Any Evil (Though this can be changed of course depending on the campaign)
Class Skills: The Ur-Priests class skills are Bluff, Concentration, Craft, Knowledge (Arcana, the Planes and Religion), Profession and Spellcraft.
Skill Points at First Level: 4*(2+int mod)
Skill Points at Each Level: 2+int mod
Class Base Fort Ref Will
Level Attack Bonus Save Save Save Special
1st +0 +0 +0 +2 Aura of Evil, Chosen Domain
2nd +1 +0 +0 +3
3rd +2 +1 +1 +3 Rebuke Undead
4th +3 +1 +1 +4
5th +3 +1 +1 +4
6th +4 +2 +2 +5 Second Chosen Domain
7th +5 +2 +2 +5
8th +6/+1 +2 +2 +6
9th +6/+1 +3 +3 +6
10th +7/+2 +3 +3 +7 Siphon Spell Power
11th +8/+3 +3 +3 +7
12th +9/+4 +4 +4 +8
13th +9/+4 +4 +4 +8
14th +10/+5 +4 +4 +9
15th +11/+6/+1 +5 +5 +9 Steal Spell-Like Ability
16th +12/+7/+2 +5 +5 +10
17th +12/+7/+2 +5 +5 +10
18th +13/+8/+3 +6 +6 +11
19th +14/+9/+4 +6 +6 +11
20th +15/+10/+5 +6 +6 +12
Spell Per Day
Class
Level 0th 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th
1st 3 0+1
2nd 4 1+1
3rd 4 2+1 0+1
4th 5 2+1 1+1
5th 5 3+1 2+1 0+1
6th 5 3+1 2+1 1+1
7th 6 3+1 3+1 2+1 0+1
8th 6 4+1 3+1 2+1 1+1
9th 6 4+1 3+1 3+1 2+1 0+1
10th 6 4+1 4+1 3+1 2+1 1+1
11th 6 4+1 4+1 3+1 3+1 2+1 0+1
12th 6 5+1 4+1 4+1 3+1 2+1 1+1
13th 6 5+1 4+1 4+1 3+1 3+1 2+1 0+1
14th 6 5+1 5+1 4+1 4+1 3+1 2+1 1+1
15th 6 5+1 5+1 4+1 4+1 3+1 3+1 2+1 0+1
16th 6 5+1 5+1 5+1 4+1 4+1 3+1 2+1 1+1
17th 6 5+1 5+1 5+1 4+1 4+1 3+1 3+1 2+1 0+1
18th 6 5+1 5+1 5+1 5+1 4+1 4+1 3+1 2+1 1+1
19th 6 5+1 5+1 5+1 5+1 4+1 4+1 3+1 3+1 2+1
20th 6 5+1 5+1 5+1 5+1 5+1 4+1 4+1 4+1 3+1
Class Features
Weapon and Armor Profiency: Ur-Priests are proficient with simple weapons and with light armor and light shields.
Aura (Ex): An ur-priest has a particularly powerful evil aura.
Spell per day: An ur-priest has the ability to cast a number of divine spells. To cast a spell, and ur-priest must havea Wisdom score of at least 10 + the spell's level, so am ir-priest with a Wisdom of 10 or lower cannot cast these spells. Ur-priest bonus spells are based on Wisdom, and saving throws against these spells havea DC of 10 + spell level + Wisdom modifier. Whenever an ur-priest gains 0 spells of a given level he only gains the bonus spells he would be entitled to because of a high Wisdom score.
Spell Known: The ur-priest selects an number of spells from the cleric list equal to twenty + wisdom modifier per spell level. The ur-priest can drop a spell known like a sorcerer at 5th level and every odd level after that. He can also learn a lower level instead of a higher level. He cannot, however, spontaneously cast inflict spells.
Domains, and Domain Spells: At 1st and 6th level an ur-priest selects a domain that best represent his spiritual inclinations and abilities. In the case of the War domain, the ur-priest may select a simple or martial weapon to be proficient with and to receive the Weapon-Focus feat for. The +1 on the spell per day table represents the domain spell.
Rebuke Undead: The ur-priest can rebuke undead as a cleric who is two levels lower.
Siphon Spell Power (Ex): Because they steal whatever power they can, ur-priests learn to manipulate their energy in ways that confound other casters. An ur-priest of 10th level or higher can temporarily sacrifice two (or more) lower-level spell slots and use those slots to prepare a higher level spell. The higher-level spell must be of a level the ur-priest can cast. Only one exhange of this sort can be made each day. The levels of the lower-level slots are totaled, then reduced to three-quarters (round down) to determine the level of the extra higher-level spell slot. For example, an ur-priest who sacrifices a 3rd-level spell and a 5th-level spell can use that spell slot to prepare and additional 6th-level spell.
Steal Spell-Like Ability (Su): The most powerful ur-priests can use the same techniques that siphon off the gods' spell power to steal the spell-like abilities of another creature. Once each day, when a creature with spell-like abilities is within 50 feet of a 15th level ur-priest, the ur-priest can choose one of the spell-like abilities of the creature to steal for himself. The ur-priest can use the spell-like ability as often as the creature can, or three times per day, whichever is less. The ur-priest uses the ability as the creature with regard to caster level and DC's. This ability only lasts 24 hours. The creature with the spell-like ability does not lose the ability when the ur-priest steals it. If an ur-priest tries to steal a spell-like ability that the creature doesn't have, or tries to steal an ability that is supernatural rather than spell-like, the attempt automatically fails. The ur-priest must provide a material component if costs more than 1gp and must pay any xp cost the spell would have.
I think that's about it.
Any and all critique is welcome but be gentle, I'm fragile.
Ur-Priest (Variant Base class)
Ur-priests despise gods. However, a small number of them have learned to tap into divine power and use it for their own needs without praying to or worshipping a deity. Instead, each day they go into a trance and mentally steal the power that gods normally channel to devout clerics. The fluff continues in Complete Divine
.Hit Die: d8
Alignment: Any Evil (Though this can be changed of course depending on the campaign)
Class Skills: The Ur-Priests class skills are Bluff, Concentration, Craft, Knowledge (Arcana, the Planes and Religion), Profession and Spellcraft.
Skill Points at First Level: 4*(2+int mod)
Skill Points at Each Level: 2+int mod
Class Base Fort Ref Will
Level Attack Bonus Save Save Save Special
1st +0 +0 +0 +2 Aura of Evil, Chosen Domain
2nd +1 +0 +0 +3
3rd +2 +1 +1 +3 Rebuke Undead
4th +3 +1 +1 +4
5th +3 +1 +1 +4
6th +4 +2 +2 +5 Second Chosen Domain
7th +5 +2 +2 +5
8th +6/+1 +2 +2 +6
9th +6/+1 +3 +3 +6
10th +7/+2 +3 +3 +7 Siphon Spell Power
11th +8/+3 +3 +3 +7
12th +9/+4 +4 +4 +8
13th +9/+4 +4 +4 +8
14th +10/+5 +4 +4 +9
15th +11/+6/+1 +5 +5 +9 Steal Spell-Like Ability
16th +12/+7/+2 +5 +5 +10
17th +12/+7/+2 +5 +5 +10
18th +13/+8/+3 +6 +6 +11
19th +14/+9/+4 +6 +6 +11
20th +15/+10/+5 +6 +6 +12
Spell Per Day
Class
Level 0th 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th
1st 3 0+1
2nd 4 1+1
3rd 4 2+1 0+1
4th 5 2+1 1+1
5th 5 3+1 2+1 0+1
6th 5 3+1 2+1 1+1
7th 6 3+1 3+1 2+1 0+1
8th 6 4+1 3+1 2+1 1+1
9th 6 4+1 3+1 3+1 2+1 0+1
10th 6 4+1 4+1 3+1 2+1 1+1
11th 6 4+1 4+1 3+1 3+1 2+1 0+1
12th 6 5+1 4+1 4+1 3+1 2+1 1+1
13th 6 5+1 4+1 4+1 3+1 3+1 2+1 0+1
14th 6 5+1 5+1 4+1 4+1 3+1 2+1 1+1
15th 6 5+1 5+1 4+1 4+1 3+1 3+1 2+1 0+1
16th 6 5+1 5+1 5+1 4+1 4+1 3+1 2+1 1+1
17th 6 5+1 5+1 5+1 4+1 4+1 3+1 3+1 2+1 0+1
18th 6 5+1 5+1 5+1 5+1 4+1 4+1 3+1 2+1 1+1
19th 6 5+1 5+1 5+1 5+1 4+1 4+1 3+1 3+1 2+1
20th 6 5+1 5+1 5+1 5+1 5+1 4+1 4+1 4+1 3+1
Class Features
Weapon and Armor Profiency: Ur-Priests are proficient with simple weapons and with light armor and light shields.
Aura (Ex): An ur-priest has a particularly powerful evil aura.
Spell per day: An ur-priest has the ability to cast a number of divine spells. To cast a spell, and ur-priest must havea Wisdom score of at least 10 + the spell's level, so am ir-priest with a Wisdom of 10 or lower cannot cast these spells. Ur-priest bonus spells are based on Wisdom, and saving throws against these spells havea DC of 10 + spell level + Wisdom modifier. Whenever an ur-priest gains 0 spells of a given level he only gains the bonus spells he would be entitled to because of a high Wisdom score.
Spell Known: The ur-priest selects an number of spells from the cleric list equal to twenty + wisdom modifier per spell level. The ur-priest can drop a spell known like a sorcerer at 5th level and every odd level after that. He can also learn a lower level instead of a higher level. He cannot, however, spontaneously cast inflict spells.
Domains, and Domain Spells: At 1st and 6th level an ur-priest selects a domain that best represent his spiritual inclinations and abilities. In the case of the War domain, the ur-priest may select a simple or martial weapon to be proficient with and to receive the Weapon-Focus feat for. The +1 on the spell per day table represents the domain spell.
Rebuke Undead: The ur-priest can rebuke undead as a cleric who is two levels lower.
Siphon Spell Power (Ex): Because they steal whatever power they can, ur-priests learn to manipulate their energy in ways that confound other casters. An ur-priest of 10th level or higher can temporarily sacrifice two (or more) lower-level spell slots and use those slots to prepare a higher level spell. The higher-level spell must be of a level the ur-priest can cast. Only one exhange of this sort can be made each day. The levels of the lower-level slots are totaled, then reduced to three-quarters (round down) to determine the level of the extra higher-level spell slot. For example, an ur-priest who sacrifices a 3rd-level spell and a 5th-level spell can use that spell slot to prepare and additional 6th-level spell.
Steal Spell-Like Ability (Su): The most powerful ur-priests can use the same techniques that siphon off the gods' spell power to steal the spell-like abilities of another creature. Once each day, when a creature with spell-like abilities is within 50 feet of a 15th level ur-priest, the ur-priest can choose one of the spell-like abilities of the creature to steal for himself. The ur-priest can use the spell-like ability as often as the creature can, or three times per day, whichever is less. The ur-priest uses the ability as the creature with regard to caster level and DC's. This ability only lasts 24 hours. The creature with the spell-like ability does not lose the ability when the ur-priest steals it. If an ur-priest tries to steal a spell-like ability that the creature doesn't have, or tries to steal an ability that is supernatural rather than spell-like, the attempt automatically fails. The ur-priest must provide a material component if costs more than 1gp and must pay any xp cost the spell would have.
I think that's about it.
