Author Topic: The Apostle of Justice and Exalted Vows that don't suck  (Read 4933 times)

Offline Garryl

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The Apostle of Justice and Exalted Vows that don't suck
« on: December 15, 2011, 11:23:48 PM »
The Apostle of Justice
A 10-level, 9th level casting, good-aligned counterpart to the Ur-Priest and replacement for the Apostle of Peace.


Requirements

To qualify to become an apostle of justice, a character must fulfill all the following criteria.

   Alignment: Any good.
   Base Save Bonuses: Fort +3, Will +3.
   Skills: Concentration 8 ranks, Diplomacy 8 ranks, Knowledge (religion) 4 ranks.
   Feats: Honorable Vow, Vow of Justice.



Table: The Apostle of Justice       Hit Die: d8
       Base                                           ------------------Spellcasting------------------
       Attack  Fort  Ref   Will                       Spells per Day
Level  Bonus   Save  Save  Save  Special              0    1st  2nd  3rd  4th  5th  6th  7th  8th  9th
1st    +0      +2    +0    +2    Smite                4    2    --   --   --   --   --   --   --   --
2nd    +1      +3    +0    +3    Turn undead          5    3    0    --   --   --   --   --   --   --
3rd    +2      +3    +1    +3                         5    3    1    0    --   --   --   --   --   --
4th    +3      +4    +1    +4    Blindsense           6    3    2    1    0    --   --   --   --   --
5th    +3      +4    +1    +4                         6    3    3    2    1    0    --   --   --   --
6th    +4      +5    +2    +5                         6    3    3    3    2    1    0    --   --   --
7th    +5      +5    +2    +5    Smiting Spell        6    4    3    3    3    2    1    0    --   --
8th    +6      +6    +2    +6                         6    4    4    3    3    3    2    1    0    --
9th    +6      +6    +3    +6                         6    5    4    4    4    4    3    2    1    0
10th   +7      +7    +3    +7    Blindsight           6    5    5    4    4    4    4    3    2    1


Class skills (4 + Int modifier per level): Bluff, Concentration, Craft, Diplomacy, Escape Artist, Gather Information, Handle Animal, Heal, Knowledge (all skills, taken individually), Listen, Perform, Profession, Ride, Search, Sense Motive, Speak Language, Spellcraft, and Spot.

Class Features
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Offline Garryl

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Re: The Apostle of Justice and Exalted Vows that don't suck
« Reply #1 on: December 15, 2011, 11:23:59 PM »
I was reading a discussion on GitP about PrCs that suck (or otherwise don't work well). One of the things that was brought up was the Apostle of Peace and the idea that it should have been the goodly anti-Ur-Priest, but instead it kinds floundered due to rough prerequisites (Vow of Peace, Vow of Poverty, etc.) and a mediocre spell list. So how could this be fixed?

Keeping with the original idea of a divine caster working off of the power granted by being Exalted and following his vows, how about an Apostle of Justice? Rather than being all about non-violence and healing, how about kicking butt and taking names for goodness (just like D&D is normally played, but with justification). The basic Cleric spell list could probably fit nicely into this without any modifications. Add on a few class features, drop the feat prerequisites to Sacred Vow and Vow of Justice (which would be a Vow of Peace-esque feat that doesn't force your whole party to follow your mindset), and there you go. I don't think that it quite fits as an Exalted class with those concepts behind it, and that's fine by me. As long as it gets to be a good-aligned counterpart to the Ur-Priest, I'm happy.




Replacement BoED Vows:


Honorable Vow [Exalted]
You have a code of honor that you follow willingly. In exchange for holding yourself to your highest ideals, your deity or the pure power of good grants you extra strength to keep to your ideals.
Prerequisites: Diplomacy 2 ranks.
Benefit: You gain a +2 perfection bonus on Diplomacy checks. In addition, the blessings of your deity or the power of your ideals protects you, granting you a +1 perfection bonus to AC against the attacks of evil creatures and a +1 perfection bonus to saves against the effects created or used by evil creatures.
Special: This feat can be used in place of Sacred Vow to qualify for a feat, prestige class, or other option. If you would gain Sacred Vow as a bonus feat, you can choose to gain this feat instead.


Vow of Conviction [Exalted]
You vow to remain true to your ideals. Nothing can sway you from you beliefs.
Prerequisites: Sacred Vow or Honorable Vow
Benefit You gain a +4 perfection bonus on all saves against charm and compulsion effects. If your effective character level is at least 15, you also gain immunity to all charm and compulsion effects to which you are not willing.
   You also gain a +4 perfection bonus on Sense Motive checks. If your effective character level is at least 10, you automatically detect if a creature is trying to influence your actions in a manner opposed to your ideals.
   Additionally, you always know if a course of action runs a significant risk of changing your alignment or is otherwise opposed to your ideals and beliefs.
Special: To fulfill your vow, you must not willingly change your alignment. If your alignment is changed unwillingly, such as the result of a magical compulsion, you must attempt to return to your original alignment as soon as possible, otherwise you lose the benefits of this feat until you perform penance and receive an atonement spell. If you intentionally break your vow, you immediately and irrevocably lose the benefit of this feat. You may not take another feat to replace it.
   This feat can be used in place of Vow of Obedience to qualify for a feat, prestige class, or other option. If you would gain Vow of Obedience as a bonus feat, you can choose to gain this feat instead.


Vow of Determination [Exalted]
You have vowed never to give up and never to surrender. Once you start a task, you should see it through to its end as best you can.
Prerequisites: Vow of Conviction, one of Sacred Vow or Honorable Vow
Benefit You gain a +4 perfection bonus on all saves against mind-affecting effects and fear effects. If your effective character level is at least 15, you also gain immunity to all mind-affecting effects and fear effects to which you are not willing.
   You also gain a +4 perfection bonus on all saves against effects that would be prevented by the freedom of movement spell, on all grapple checks made to resist or escape a grapple, and on all Escape Artist checks. If your effective character level is at least 10, you gain the benefits of the freedom of movement spell at all times. You can suppress or resume the freedom of movement effect as a free action.
Special: To fulfill your vow, you must attempt to complete all tasks that you willingly start, within reason. Significantly more important tasks that come up may take priority over a prior task that you have set yourself, but you must attempt to complete it when the greater issues have been resolved. You may not surrender except against overwhelming odds or to protect others, and you must seek to escape your captors if you do. If you are unwillingly forced to surrender or abandon a task that you have set yourself, such as from the result of a magical compulsion, you must attempt to escape captivity or complete the task as soon as possible, otherwise you lose the benefits of this feat until you perform penance and receive an atonement spell. If you intentionally break your vow, you immediately and irrevocably lose the benefit of this feat. You may not take another feat to replace it.
   If the circumstances surrounding a task you have set yourself (or your knowledge thereof) change sufficiently to act against your goals, ideals, or vows, you may change or abandon the task as necessary and without risking the loss of this feat.


Vow of Justice [Exalted]
You vow to bring justice to those who have wronged others. You must remember that you are here only to ensure that justice is carried out, not to determine it. You are law enforcement, but never judge, jury, and executioner.
Prerequisites: Sacred Vow or Honorable Vow
Benefit You never suffer any penalties for attempting to deal nonlethal damage, and you may choose to have any damage that you deal be considered nonlethal damage (including damage that cannot normally be made nonlethal, such as damage from spells). Creatures that are damaged in this way suffer nonlethal damage equal to the amount of lethal damage that they would otherwise have suffered, even if they are normally immune or resistant to nonlethal damage.
   In addition, the saving throw DC of any abilities you use against unjust creatures is increased by 4. This benefit only applies if the effect does not deal lethal damage, deal Constitution damage, deal ability drain, bestow negative levels, or function primarily by causing pain. The benefit of this feat does not stack with Spell Focus, Greater Spell Focus, Ability Focus, or similar feats.
Special: For the purposes of this feat, unjust creatures are creatures with an Intelligence of at least 6 that have wronged others intentionally or are planning to do so. Natural predation (including hunting and farming of domesticated animals), self-defense (including the protection of others), and similar actions are not considered wrongdoings. A creature that has atoned for its wrongdoings (whether through an atonement spell or by making restitution to the victim, as appropriate according to the wrongdoing and the societal laws and values) is not considered unjust for those wrongdoings, although other wrongdoings may still cause it to be considered unjust.
   To fulfill your vow, you must not willingly and intentionally harm an innocent creature, kill an unjust creature, or become unjust yourself. If an unjust creature surrenders peacefully, you may not harm it or allow it to come to harm. If it breaks the terms of surrender by willingly and intentionally attacking you, your allies, or others, you may deal with it as you see fit without breaking your vows. If you are forced to act contrary to the above, such as the result of a magical compulsion, you lose the benefits of this feat until you perform penance and receive an atonement spell. If you intentionally break your vow, you immediately and irrevocably lose the benefit of this feat. You may not take another feat to replace it.
   This feat can be used in place of Vow of Nonviolence to qualify for a feat, prestige class, or other option. If you would gain Vow of Nonviolence as a bonus feat, you can choose to gain this feat instead.


Vow of Redistribution [Exalted]
You vow to keep only the material possessions you need to continue your good deeds, giving the remainder to those in greater need.
Prerequisites: Character level 3rd, Sacred Vow or Honorable Vow
Benefit You gain a number of benefits according to your level and the amount of wealth you redistribute. The benefits are indicated below and are summarized in Table: Vow of Redistribution Benefits. If you have not yet redistributed the indicated amount of wealth when you gain a level, you do not gain the indicated abilities until you have done so.
Special To fulfill your vow, you must redistribute at least one half of all wealth that you acquire (by market value), giving it to others who can use it for worthy causes.
***I can't think of good wording, but you know what this is supposed to be. You can't benefit from it yourself, nor can ventures you undertake directly benefit from it, but you should be able to be reasonable with it. DM's discretion and all that, but be reasonable. Any such wealth that you do benefit from doesn't count as being redistributed, but as long as you stay above 50% you're still fine.
   You can give away more than this minimum fraction of your wealth if you so choose. In order to gain the full benefits of this feat, you will likely have to.
   This feat can be used in place of Vow of Poverty to qualify for a feat, prestige class, or other option. If you would gain Vow of Poverty as a bonus feat, you can choose to gain this feat instead.

(click to show/hide)




Vow of Vigilance
- detect evil, detect magic, arcane sight, blindsense, etc. as you gain levels
- bonus to Spot/Listen/Initiative
- need less sleep


Vow of Protection
- requires honorable vow, vow of justice
- in place of vow of Peace
- aura grants Sanctuary spell effect to non-opponents nearby while you are conscious (attacker must make Will save DC 10 + 1/2 level + Cha to attack them); doesn't affect you; bonuses to save DC from VoJ may apply based on attacker
- gain fast healing based on level, eventually regeneration as well?




Typos:
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« Last Edit: January 17, 2012, 11:04:49 PM by Garryl »

Offline Bozwevial

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Re: The Apostle of Justice and Exalted Vows that don't suck
« Reply #2 on: December 16, 2011, 12:32:22 AM »
So these are the Batman vows, then? Very nice.

How did you determine the money values for Vow of Redistribution? They might be based on actual item pricing but I am far too tired to check those right now.
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Offline Garryl

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Re: The Apostle of Justice and Exalted Vows that don't suck
« Reply #3 on: December 16, 2011, 12:54:29 AM »
So these are the Batman vows, then? Very nice.

How did you determine the money values for Vow of Redistribution? They might be based on actual item pricing but I am far too tired to check those right now.
Hah! Batman vows, nice.

The benefits approximately are by pricing, actually. Not hard and fast (it's all approximations, and I valued enhancement bonuses and energy resistance significantly less than they normally cost in and of themselves, plus you're spending a feat for this), but you can see the approximate valuation in the spoiler underneath the table. I went for about 2/3 of WBL for what gets donated, although you only need to donate 1/2 to keep the vow (in case of higher wealth games).

Offline veekie

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Re: The Apostle of Justice and Exalted Vows that don't suck
« Reply #4 on: December 16, 2011, 03:00:12 AM »
Theres probably a couple of other valid approaches than Justice, as long as they are active ones. Passive ones like Peace just cut off concepts(since your job is to not do X), things like Purification, Honor, Compassion, etc, that motivate actions probably have some role.
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