Priest: new base class [3.S] [WIP, PEACH]

[ShneekeyTheLost]

PRIEST

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Sometimes, you need a divine caster who isn't either breaking the game, or is itself just plain broken. When creating my new campaign setting, I found myself in need of one. Specifically, one which was modular enough that it seemed like a uniquely different class using the same mechanics depending on the deity they worship. I also didn't want the ClericZilla's problem of 'I can do everything, and that too'.

Now, I really like the Mysteries mechanics of the Shadowcaster from ToM, but it is underpowered because the abilities really aren't all that powerful, they have such a limited usage, and they really can't do anything once they run out of Mysteries.

The Priest class uses a similar system, but has supplemental abilities in addition to their Devotionals, and have access to some more powerful effects.

Table 1-1: The Priest
Hit Die: D4
{table=head]Level|BAB|Fort|Ref|Will|Special

1st|+0|+0|+0|+2| Deity Patron, Novitiate Devotionals, Fundamentals of Faith, Least Domain Bonus

2nd|+1|+0|+0|+3| bonus feats

3rd|+1|+1|+1|+3| Purity of Faith

4th|+2|+1|+1|+4| Bonus Fundamental

5th|+2|+1|+1|+4| Lesser Domain Bonus

6th|+3|+2|+2|+5| Divine Blessing

7th|+3|+2|+2|+5|Novitiate Devotionals (Sp), Initiate Devotionals

8th|+4|+2|+2|+6| Bonus Fundamental

9th|+4|+3|+3|+6| Shining Bastion of Faith

10th|+5|+3|+3|+7| Greater Domain Bonus

11th|+5|+3|+3|+7| Positive/Negative Energy Resistance 10

12th|+6/+1|+4|+4|+8| Bonus Fundamental

13th|+6/+1|+4|+4|+8| Novitiate Devotionals (Su), Initiate Devotionals (Sp), Deacon Devotionals

14th|+7/+2|+4|+4|+9| Greater Divine Blessing

15th|+7/+2|+5|+5|+9| High Domain Bonus

16th|+8/+3|+5|+5|+10| Bonus Fundamental

17th|+8/+3|+5|+5|+10| Positive/Negative Energy Resistance 20

18th|+9/+4|+6|+6|+11|

19th|+9/+4|+6|+6|+11|

20th|+10/+5|+6|+6|+12|Bonus Fundamental, Divine Domain Bonus[/table]Class Skills (4+Int mod): Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Heal (Wis), Knowledge (religion) (Int), Profession (Wis), Sense Motive (Wis), Spot (Wis), and Spellcraft (Int)

Table 1-2: Uses per Devotional per day
{table=head]Level | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9
1st | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
2nd | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
3rd | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
4th | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
5th | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
6th | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
7th | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - |
8th | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - |
9th | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - |
10th | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - |
11th | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - |
12th | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - |
13th | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | - |
14th | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | - |
15th | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | - |
16th | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | - |
17th | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
18th | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
19th | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
20th | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
[/table]

Orison List

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Stabilize: Automatically stabilizes target (1 per round/CL) and brings target to precisely 0 hit points, if in the negatives.
Detect Poison
Purify Food/Drink
Light
Detect Magic
Detect [alignment opposite of deity]
Guidance

CLASS FEATURES

Weapon and Armor Proficiency Priests are normally only proficient with simple weapons and no armor. Some domain bonuses may affect this.

Deity Patron: A Priest *MUST* choose a deity to worship. Once that deity is chosen, it cannot be changed without an extreme amount of effort. To switch deities, you must first seek out a priest of that deity, then explain to them why you wish to switch faiths, then deal with any repercussions your current deity patron may decide to inflict on you, then be Atoned by the cleric of a new deity. Then you must wipe your Devotionals list, and start all over. However, you still must start out with six Novitiate devotionals, even if you are over level 7, and if you are over level 13, you must also have at least six Initiate devotionals. You may not suddenly switch deities, then race up a couple of Domains. Sorry, it does not work that way.

Fundamentals of Faith. At 1st level, a Priest is initiated to the very fundamentals of their faith. He may take a number of Orisons from the Cleric's spell list equal to his Wisdom modifier. These are considered to be Spell-Like Abilities usable an unlimited number of times per day. At level 7, they become Supernatural abilities. He also receives bonus fundamentals as he progresses.

Devotionals: Priests do not cast spells, per se, as in the vanican casting system. Instead, they gain Devotionals, which they use. They start off with one 1st level Devotional, and gain one additional Devotional per level. Up to level 6, they may only choose a Novitiate Devotional. At 7th level, they gain access to Initiate devotionals, and at 13th, they get access to Deacon Devotionals. Priests may choose from any domain spell list which their deity offers.

For purposes of a Priest, a Novitiate devotion is a 1st through 3rd level devotion, an Initiate devotion is a 4th through 6th, and a Deacon is 7th - 9th.

Devotionals progress in very specific stages. You need two devotionals of a previous level in order to gain a devotional of the next level. To gain a higher level Devotional, you also need to have all the lower level Devotionals in that domain. Thus, to pick up the Cure Wounds devotional from the Healing domain, you need two 1st level Devotionals, one of which must be Cure Light Wounds.

When you are capable of only casting Novitiate Devotionals, they are considered to be cast as Divine spells. As you level, your connection with your deity patron becomes stronger, and lesser devotionals increase in power as this happens. Six levels after you gain access to a Devotional level (regardless of if you actually got one at that level), that level of Devotional becomes a Spell-Like Ability, rather than a spell. Six levels after that, it goes from (Sp) to (Su).

You can, if you so choose, learn a Devotional more than once. Doing so grants you another set of uses per day of that Devotional.

You can use each devotional you know a certain number of times per day depending on whether it is cast as a spell (once), spell-like ability (twice), or a supernatural ability (three times). See Table 1-2 for exact numbers. However, if you don't have any devotionals of that level (for example, if you have no 4th level devotionals at level 7), then you cannot make use of those uses.

Unlike traditional vanican casters, you do not gain bonus devotionals for high ability score. Although you don't prepare spells, you must still rest for 8 hours and meditate for an hour each day to regain your use of Devotionals, just as a spontaneous caster must rest and meditate to regain use of spell slots.

In order to cast a Devotional, you must have a Wisdom score of at least 10+mystery's level. The save DC for your Devotionals is 10 + mystery level + Wis mod. Even though as a Priest you do not cast spells in the traditional sense, your levels in this class count for the purpose of determining your overall divine spellcaster level. Prestige classes which advance your divine spellcasting also advance your Devotionals and Fundamentals progression.

Domain bonus: Priests are more closely tied to their patron deities than Clerics are, and as such, they are more... focused. But within that focus, they become more powerful. A Priest gains a Least Domain bonus for each domain in which he has a 1st level Devotional in. At 5th level, he gains a Lesser Domain Bonus for every Domain he has a 2nd level Devotional in. At 10th level, he gains a Greater Domain Bonus for every domain he has a 4th level Devotion in, at 15th, he gains a High Domain Bonus for every Domain he has a 6th level Devotion in, and at 20th, he gains a Divine Domain Bonus for every Domain he has an 8th level Devotion in. If a priest qualifies for a domain bonus after he gains access to it (for example, if he gains a 4th level devotion in a domain at level 12), he also gains that domain bonus at that time.

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{table=head]

Domain

|

Least

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Lesser

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Greater

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High

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Divine

Healing | Lay on Hands | Healing Reach | Aura of Healing | Empower Healing | Purification
War | 3/4 BAB | Weapon Specialization | Inspire Courage | Haste | Castigate
Protection | HD increase | Divine Grace | Shared Divine Grace | Divine Protection | Mass Divine Protection[/table]

* Still a work in progress, need to come up with domain bonuses for all the domains I am using, but this gives you an idea.

Bonus Feats: Beginning at 2nd level, you gain bonus feats based on your breadth and depth of devotion to your deity. For every two different domains you have a Novitiate Devotional in, you gain a bonus feat. For every two different domains you have an Initiate devotional in, you gain a bonus feat. And for every two different domains you have a Deacon devotional in, you gain a bonus feat. You must still meet any prerequisites for the feat in order to select it. The list of feats includes any Devotional feat.

Purity of Faith: At 3rd level, a Priest's faith and devotion to his patron deity allows him to shrug off the effects of outside controlling forces. He gains his Charisma bonus to his Will saves to resist any mind-affecting effect. Also, if any mind-controlling effect attempts to force him to act in a manner inappropriate for a priest of his patron deity, the effect automatically fails and ends immediately.

Divine Blessing: At 6th level, a Priest becomes immune to an and all curses. This also allows him to remove a cursed item once it activates, as though a Remove Curse spell had been cast on the object. At 14th level, he also becomes immune to death effects and energy drain.

Shining Bastion of Faith: At 9th level, a Cleric becomes immune to detrimental mind-affecting abilities (he may allow an effect to affect him as a free action). In addition, he grants a divine bonus equal to his Charisma modifier on saving throws against mind-affecting abilities to all allies within 30' of him. A person may not benefit from more than one priest's Shining Bastion of Faith, no matter how many may be within 30' of him, only the highest bonus is granted.

Positive/Negative Energy Resistance: A Priest is used to working with divine forces, and develops a tolerance to it, and it also helps withstand the effects of the opposing flavor. He gains energy resistance 10 to Positive and Negative energy damage at level 11, and 20 at 17. This does not affect anything which heals the Priest, only those effects which cause damage.

Feats

Feats with the [Devotional] tag are considered to be Devotional feats, and can be picked up by the Priest with any bonus feats he might obtain. Most of them are 'metadevotional', much like metamagic feats which apply to the devotionals.

Metadevotional feats do not increase casting time. Applying Metamagic feats to a Devotional cast as a spell, however, still does as normal. You may also apply the various Empower/Maximize/etc.. SLA feats to those Devotionals which are SLA's, and the same with those feats which affect (Su) when applied to a Devotional used as a supernatural ability. Having said that, using the metadevotional feat is probably a better way to go, all things considered.

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Domain Focus [Devotional]
Choose a Domain you have at least one Devotional in. You function at +1 Caster Level (only for purposes of level-dependent variables in your Devotionals) when using Devotionals from this domain, and also gain a +1 DC to the saving throws of any devotionals in this domain.

You can gain this feat multiple times. Each additional time it is purchased, you may apply it to a new domain

Greater Domain Focus [Devotional]
Prerequisite: Domain Focus

As Domain Focus, but gains an additional +1 to effective caster level for purposes of level-dependent variables and DC of saving throws within the chosen domain.

You may only take this feat for a domain which you have already purchased Domain Focus in.

You may select this feat multiple times. Each additional time it is purchased, you may apply it to a new domain which you already have Domain Focus in.

Empower Devotional [Devotional] [Metadevotional]
Prerequisite: At least one Devotional known, any other Metashadow feat

When you chose this feat, select ONE devotional. That devotional may now be Empowered. This feat is not limited in uses, because the devotional's uses per day are inherently limited.

You may select this feat more than once. Each additional purchase of this feat allows you to apply it to a different Devotional you know.

Enlarge Devotional [Devotional] [Metadevotional]

When you chose this feat, select ONE devotional. The range on this devotional is doubled. This feat is not limited in uses, because the devotional's uses per day are inherently limited.

You may select this feat more than once. Each additional purchase of this feat allows you to apply it to a different Devotional you know.

This feat may only be applied to Devotionals with a range of Close, Medium, or Long

Extend Devotional [Devotional] [Metadevotional]

When you chose this feat, select ONE devotional. That devotional's duration is doubled. This feat is not limited in uses, because the devotional's uses per day are inherently limited.

You may select this feat more than once. Each additional purchase of this feat allows you to apply it to a different Devotional you know.

This metadevotional feat may only be applied to a Devotional with a Duration greater than Instantaneous. While it is possible to apply this to a devotional with a duration of Permanent, there is no further effect from it.

Favored Devotional [Devotional]
Prerequisite: At least one Devotional known

Select a Devotional you know. Your ability to use that particular devotional increases. If you could cast it as a spell, it is now used as a Spell-Like Ability. If you could use it as a Spell-Like Ability, you may now use it as a (Su) ability. If it is already a (Su) ability, then you gain one additional use from it. Increasing from Spell/Sp/Su increases number of uses per day as per normal. This feat 'grows' with the devotional, maintaining a constant one category higher until it would normally hit Su, then it provides the additional use per day.

This may only be selected for a given Devotional once. Purchasing this feat more than once allows you to apply it to different devotionals.

Maximize Devotional [Devotional] [Metadevotional]
Prerequisite: At least one devotional, and any two other Devotional feats

When you chose this feat, select ONE devotional. That devotional may now be Maximized. This feat is not limited in uses, because the devotional's uses per day are inherently limited.

You may select this feat more than once. Each additional purchase of this feat allows you to apply it to a different Devotional you know.

Quicken Devotional [Devotional] [Metadevotional]
Prerequisite: At least three devotional feats, Priest level 11 or higher

When you chose this feat, select ONE devotional. That devotional may now be Quickened. This feat is not limited in uses, because the devotional's uses per day are inherently limited.

You may select this feat more than once. Each additional purchase of this feat allows you to apply it to a different Devotional you know.

Reach Devotional [Devotional] [Metadevotional]

When you purchase this feat, you may chose ONE devotional with a range of Touch. You may now use that Devotional on targets out to 30'. You must succeed on a ranged touch attack to affect the target.

You may select this feat more than once. Each additional purchase of this feat allows you to apply it to a different Devotional with a range of Touch you know.