Chapter Two: Love's Chosen
The opening illustration shows four topless women (presumably Sisters of Rapture) sitting around a dinner table in an inn, which looks medieval for the most part except for modern-looking overhead lights. They're all chatting happily, but a barmaid is looking nervously over to a tiefling-looking fellow in the shadows eyeing the Sisters with an angry stare. A suspicious bearded man in a dark cloak is at the other end of the picture, also looking angry at them.
I get the feeling that the Sisters are being incredibly obnoxious and pissing everyone off in the inn.
So this chapter is also short, and details 4 prestige classes and 3 class archetypes (Pathfinder equivalent to alternate class features). They all require Sister of Rapture levels in the case of PrCs, or are based off of the class in terms of archetypes. Let’s start with the Prestige Classes.
The
Inamorare is basically a muse who inspires others to greatness with their presence. They have the Sisterhood class feature and had a 1 month long sexual relationship with an equal to or higher level character (why so specific?), and some easy to meet skill requirements. The class itself is 5 levels long (as are the other 3), d8 hit die, medium BAB, 6 + Int skill points per level, poor Fort and Ref and average Will saves, and gains +1 to spells per day in the Sister of Rapture core class at 1st, 3rd, and 5th levels.
The major class feature Inamorare have is
Inspire Greatness. It bears no resemblance to the Bard ability of the same name; it’s an Extraordinary ability, activated with a full-round action and a kiss on the target to be affected, and grants a competence bonus on rolls to certain things equal to levels in the PrC. 1st level it can be applied to skills, 2nd level saving throws, 3rd level attack rolls, 4th level Armor Class, and 5th level it increases a spellcaster’s caster level by two! This ability has an unlimited amount of uses per day and lasts two rounds per level. Allies can only benefit from one kind of bonus at once.
Also, the Inamorare herself is inspired by this act, and receives a bonus on Charisma-based rolls and skill checks equal to the number of people currently affected by this class feature, maximum +20. But if the maximum duration is 10, and it takes a full-round action to bestow, isn’t this bonus impossible to achieve without some serious action economy abuse?
The only other class features include
Gift of Beauty at 2nd level, granting a +4 permanent increase to your Charisma score (!!!), and
Gift of Grace at 4th level which does the same for Dexterity.
The artwork's nothing special; the first one's a woman with dark-skinned complexion dressed in a see-through Greek robe gazing upon a handheld statue. The other's a woman kissing a man on the cheek while walking on a forest trail.
The verdict: This PrC is really powerful. Losing 2 effective caster levels is balanced out by +4 Charisma and an unlimited-use buff for your allies. The other spellcasters in the party will love your 5th-level ability.
Next up we have the
Patron Mother, who are basically the senior mentors responsible for training new initiates. The concept of motherhood is very important, but most Sisters do not have the inclination to raise children while performing their duties. Thus came about the Patron Mother, who is just as much an adoptive mother to the initiate as they are their teacher. Once the initiate is confirmed to be entering of her own free will, the Sisterhood enacts a ceremony to create a spiritual and mental bond between the two. The Patron Mother is considered the initiate’s true mother from then on, even at the expense of her actual biological mother.
Wow, that’s pretty harsh. A metaphorical motherhood is fine on its own, making it literal and excluding the actual mother will just create more unnecessary problems and heartbreak. The text also mentions that Patron Mothers are forbidden from engaging in romantic and sexual relationships with their initiates, and must keep a maternal distance when instructing the initiate about love and sex. The penalty? The Sacred Council nullifies their bond and separates them. No imprisonment or exile from the Sisters, just a goddamn slap on the wrist.
First 13-year-old Sisters, now they’re tolerating sex abuse scandals. This is literally the furthest thing from sexy I can think of, TCatt, please just stop it.
Pre-requisites involve the Motherhood class feature, cannot have any living natural offspring or cohorts from Leadership, undergo the Rite of Sacred Motherhood, and 7 ranks each in Knowledge (Carnal), Knowledge (Religion), and Sense Motive.
The class itself is 5 levels, same skill lists as the core class and 2 + Int per level, Medium BAB, poor Fort and Ref and average Will saves, and +1 spells per day for Sister of Rapture levels per level gained in the PrC.
1st level you gain an apprentice who is treated as a cohort. She’s 1st level in the Sister class, and is a “willing female of the appropriate age (see Chapter One) and may be of any humanoid race.” Per RAW, I could get a Bugbear Sister. Given the vast level difference, this isn’t really appropriate for typical adventuring parties.
Also at 1st level is
Mental Bond, which acts as a permanent Rary’s Telepathic Bond and a one-way Status spell from Patron Mother to Initiate. And
Inspire Confidence, which works differently than the Bard’s in that it last 10 minutes for each round the Mother spent inspiring (to 5 hours max) and requires a DC 10 + 1 per 5 allies Diplomacy check to activate. It can only be used once per day, and the bonus rises by +1 at 3rd and 5th levels.
At 2nd level they gain a Love’s Blessing, like the class feature of the same name of the core class.
3rd level’s a
Physical bond which allows a Mother to transfer hit point damage from her apprentice to herself (up to apprentice’s hit point total + her Consitution score). It can work even if the Mother does not know her location, and it cannot save an apprentice if the damage she just took would kill her.
4th level is a
Spiritual Bond, which also works in transferring ability damage and drain, negative status conditions, negative levels, and the results of failed saving throws. Except the apprentice must be within line of sight for it to work.
5th level grants
Mother’s Sacrifice, which allows the Patron Mother to cast True Resurrection with 10 minutes of her apprentice’s death, at the cost of the Mother’s own level in the PrC. However, if she chooses not to resurrect the apprentice when given the opportunity, she cannot make use of this class feature again (although the apprentice can still be resurrected normally).
One of the two pieces of artwork for this PrC depicts a Patron Mother, naked, watching her also naked apprentice (who is obviously in her 20s, as are all the other Sisters depicted in this book, thank God!) caress the leg of a third naked women lying back on a bed. “A Patron Mother instructs her Apprentice in the ways of love.”
No, Tcatt, you’re still not getting it!
The verdict: I can’t see this being of use in a normal D&D game. It revolves around protecting an apprentice too low-level to be going on adventures with you, anyway. And a 1st-level Sister PC effectively has a 15+ level patron watching over them and indirectly protecting them.
Third class is the
Spellswinger, the mystic theurge of Sisters and metamagic specialist. They fuel their magic with sexual energy.
These Sisters of Rapture combine natural arcane magic and divine magic, fueling them with sexual energy. The most promiscuous of all Sisters of Rapture, the Spellswingers have a reputation as wanton sluts who’re willing to bed anyone or anything that can give them the energy they need. Some Spellswingers deserve this reputation, but most are as careful in the selection of their partners as any other SoR is. (They simply make said selection more often than the others do.)
Spellswingers are rare among the Rapturous, but their promiscuity and outrageously extroverted personalities attract more attention on average. They are overtly sexual and unabashedly forward in their presentation of themselves to others. That’s not to say they are rude, crass or uncouth, but local sexual mores (or repressive laws) do not greatly concern them. They are confident, forceful, sensual, straightforward and hedonistic. To them, life is one long celebration of love, magic and sensual pleasure.
Can we please stop it with this whole “promiscuous women have no self-respect and will bed anybody” thing? Although it’s an in-game perception, having the text say that “some women deserve this” flies against the face of the book’s emphasis on spreading free love and feminine empowerment. It also ties into the whole real-world societal double-standard of saying that promiscuous women are devaluing themselves, but men who do so are viewed with admiration and envy (he’s a ‘playa,’ he’s got Game, etc).
The Prc is 5 levels, and in terms of pre-requisites requires CG/CN alignment, the first Love’s Blessing (4th level in SoR core class), able to spontaneously cast 2nd-level arcane spells, any metamagic feat, and 3 ranks each in Perform (sexual techniques) and Knowledge (Carnal).
The class has a d6 hit die, 2 + Int skill points per level, poor BAB, good Fort and Will saves, and +1 to divine and arcane spells per day per level taken in this class.
1st level nets you
Sexual Channeling, where you gain a pool of Sexual Energy Points every time you engage in some form of sexual activity (which doesn’t necessarily require another partner), gaining one point every uninterrupted 15 minutes. She can’t gain more than twice her class levels in Points per day, and can be stored for 16 hours after which she must sleep for 8 hours. Unspent Points bleed off for 1 every 2 hours, and they cannot be restored until she sleeps for 8 hours and performs a new sexual activity.
Sexual Energy Points can be used to buy off level increases for metamagic feats, until the spell is equal to its original level. Spending 3 points on a maximized fireball treats it as a 3rd-level spell.
At 3rd and 5th level the Spellswinger gains a bonus metamagic feat.
Artwork shows a sample woman in a see-through dress, the other an Egyptian princess-style woman masturbating to a statue of a goddess while making an "o" face. "A Spellswinger performs her daily ritual." Yeaahh, this is kind of over the top, don't you think?
The verdict: Spontaneous metamagic spells still take at least a full round to cast. It’s much like the original Mystic Theurge, albeit slightly more powerful.
The final PrC here is the
Stormsister. They’re a feminist organization dedicated to fighting for women’s equality in society; they target oppressive and sexist traditions, individuals, and institutions which hurt and abuse women and children. In areas where the law is not on their side, they enact a style of vigilante justice, and often clash with the authorities of more patriarchal cultures.
Although it’s implied that they’re a separate organization than the Sisters of Rapture, you have to have levels in the core class to enter this PrC. Pre-requisites include the Kiss of Curses ability (seriously, that shitty power?!), 5 ranks in Knowledge (local) and Diplomacy, 7 ranks in Sense Motive, and must have been the victim of (or witnessed) sexual, physical, or emotional abuse at some point in her life. Combat does not count as “abuse” for these purposes.
I have a problem with this last pre-requisite: you do not need to have personally experienced suffering to fight for peoples’ rights. It’s impractical for the Stormsisters to limit their options in such a way.
The class itself is 5 levels, has a d10 hit die, +1 to spells per day at 1st, 3rd, and 5th level, good BAB, good Fort and Ref saves, and 4 + Int mod skill points per level.
1st level grants
Judge the Soul, which is kind of like Ghostrider’s
“Look into my Eyes” thing in that it allows you to learn facts about the target’s past injustices. You look into a target’s eyes for up to 3 rounds and learn things about them: 1st round their alignment, 2nd round if they’ve been involved in an abusive incident within the last month; 3rd round their role in the incident of abuse, or if they’ve been involved in one within the last year. The ability grants an objective view of the situation as imparted by the patron deity. “Abuse” for this purpose counts as non-consensual sex, torture (physical and non-physical), and non-consensual violent contact (but full-blown combat doesn’t count). This class feature does not give off any obvious supernatural aura or signs, nor does it require verbal or somatic components. It can be used an unlimited number of times per day, although a successful Will Save prevents the target from being affected again for 24 hours.
1st level also grants
Insightful Understanding, providing a +8 insight bonus on all Sense Motive checks.
2nd level grants Favored Enemy: Abusers, like the Ranger’s class feature, but it can only be used on targets the Stormsister determined to be an abuser (circumstantial evidence doesn’t count, only via witnessing it or Judge the Soul). It stacks if the Stormsister has a Ranger’s Favored Enemey and it also applies.
At 3rd level the Stormsister gains
Defend the Innocent, where at the start of combat they can declare a target to be their charge and switch places with them whenever they’re within 5 feet and subject to an attack. The attack hits the Stormsister instead.
5th level grants the
Lying Eyes Love’s Blessing of the Sister class feature of the same name. It grants a +6 competence bonus to Bluff and Sense Motive checks, and if the Stormsister already has the Blessing the bonuses stack.
So a Stormsister can potentially gain up to a +20 Sense Motive bonus!
The Stormsister’s artwork is admittedly the best one I’ve seen so far in this book. It portrays a woman wielding a shield and hammer standing in front of an injured woman in an alleyway. In front of the Stormsister is a pirate lying in a pool of his own blood, and two of his buddies are advancing upon her while their leader angrily points and shouts at her. The Stormsister looks resolute and has her hammer raised, ready to knock some more heads in.
This picture illustrates clearly exactly what the Stormsisters are all about. Despite being clad in a fur bikini exposing her breasts, the woman in this picture comes off as badass and heroic, and not just a piece of eye candy just there to pose for viewer’s enjoyment. It’s clear that she’s about to
do something rather than just stand around like she’s in a supermodel shoot.
The verdict: Despite not being rather underpowered, the flavor text alone makes it my favorite of them all. If you removed their connection to the Sisters of Rapture and the Kiss of Curses ability and found an appropriate setting for them to matter in (ie one with a villainous, oppressive patriarchal society), then they could really have potential.
We’ve got the PrCs out of the way, let’s do the Class Archetypes now!
Class archetypes are alternate class features which replace existing ones. While the ones made by Paizo allow you to pick and choose to an extent, the ones in Sisters of Rapture are an all-or-nothing deal. You must accept all the features in the package in order to benefit.
The
Abbess are Sisters of Rapture who emphasize personal love of their deity, and maintain a closer divine tie to them. They gain
Domain Focus, where they trade Carnal Spells to gain access to one domain of their patron deity, gain proficiency with the deity’s favored weapon, and can wear armor and concentrate for 1 round to have the Glamered property apply to it. The armor appears as a skimpy, revealing piece of clothing, allowing it to stack with Distracting Beauty.
A pretty good bargain overall.
The
Divine Virgin forsakes sexual love in favor of other forms of love. They cannot have sex, which is defined in this entry as any action which can result in pregnancy. Uhh… I think this leaves open a pretty big loophole.
They trade Carnal Spells for
Bodily Denial, which grants a deflection bonus equal to half her class level (minimum +1) against melee touch attacks, natural weapons, and unarmed strikes. If she ever haves sex, she loses this bonus until she atones.
At 14th level, they trade in Motherhood for
Mystic Purity, where once per day she can impose a penalty on a target, which applies to the next roll made to resist one of her spells of her Kiss of Power. The penalty is equal to ½ the Sister’s class level, to a maximum of the number of different people the target has ever had sex with. The penalty applies to Armor Class (if it requires an attack roll) or a save (if it requires a saving throw). It doesn’t work against creatures which do not engage in sex, or virgins (as defined by those who didn’t engage in sex which can cause pregnancy).
I don’t think it’s worth the trade-off for bonus spells and Leadership. Mystic Purity can be a big debuffer, but it’s highly situational.
The
Sacred Prostitute is the last archetype. I will say that the illustration accompanying it (the archetype with the only one) has the most appropriate form of artwork, in that the nudity and sex fits the scene. A naked elf is beckoning to the viewer, while an unclad half-orc (who merely looks like a voluptuous human woman with some small canines and light green skin) lounges behind her. The nudity fits and doesn't jar with the scene, in comparison to the see-through clothes and bare breasted warrior maidens.
The class features, however, are another matter. Anything I can say about them are better illustrated through direct quotes instead.
Carnal Communion (Sp): A sacred prostitute may engage in ritualistic sex with a willing character to use a special effect on them. She may do this once per day per person, and it requires a Perform (sexual techniques) check to determine the amount of time it requires. No saving throw is allowed, as the person engaging in carnal communion is willing.
The person seeking carnal communion with a sacred prostitute must choose before having sex with her if they want succor or guidance. Once the character and the sacred
prostitute finish their sexual encounter, the character is affected by a spell of the conjuration (healing) school if they were seeking succor, or of the divination school if they were seeking guidance. This spell is always of a spell level equal to one-half the sacred prostitute’s class level (minimum spell level 1) and has a caster level equal to her class level. The sacred prostitute does not know what spell effect will be used ahead of time – her goddess is the one using the spell, with the sacred prostitute merely serving as a vessel (the GM picks the spell that is used, which may be from any class spell list).
This power effectively grants additional spells per day, even ones which may not be on the Cleric list. However, they’re limited in that the specific spell is determined by the DM, and require a hefty price for payment. A PC Sacred Prostitute of even middling level can actually make a lot of gold, provided she finds a demand for her services.
Divine Judgment (Sp): At 14th level, once per day a sacred prostitute is able to use sex to bring someone before her goddess for judgment, even if the person is unwilling. When using this ability, the sacred prostitute must have sex with someone and make a Perform (sexual techniques) check as normal. When the sex ends, the person is judged either favorably or unfavorably by the sacred prostitute’s deity (GM’s discretion).
Those judged favorably are affected either by an atonement or imbue with spell ability with a spell from the cleric spell list or one of the deity’s domains. Those judged unfavorably are affected with a necromancy or transmutation spell of one-half the sacred prostitute’s class level with a caster level equal to her class level; this is always a spell harmful to the subject. The sacred prostitute does not know how a target will be judged beforehand, and does not know what spell will be used on the target; it is determined by her deity (the GM picks the spell). The target gains a saving throw as normal for the spell selected. A sacred prostitute may use this ability on characters that are helpless or pinned. This ability replaces the motherhood class ability.
Sacred Prostitutes dedicated to Aphrodite are known as
“Porné.”
You read that right; they explicitly pointed out that this class feature can be used while raping someone.
And Chapter Two ends on a rather creepy note.
Thoughts so far: Things went downhill fast. By this rate of progression, Chapter Six will look like FATAL.
However, I think that the Stormsister is worth saving. I might redesign it from a fluff and crunch standpoint sometime later.
Next chapter, Love’s Method! New skills, feats, traits, spells, and magic items!
