Divine Disciple, Unchained

Source: Player’s Guide to Faerun, based on conversion from Giant in the Playground.

The most zealous, devout, and pious divine casters possess the ability to serve their deity as intermediaries between the deity’s mortal and divine servants. They interpret the divine will of their patron, act as teachers and guides to other members of the clergy, and arm the lay followers of their deity with the power of their patron. Eventually they transcend their mortal nature and embody the divine on the face of Toril.

Divine disciples can come from any sort of divine spellcaster. Clerics and druids are the most common candidates for becoming divine disciples, but paladins and rangers have been known to become divine disciples, and evil deities such as Bane have been known to elevate blackguards as divine disciples in the ranks of their dark faiths.

Requirements

To become a divine disciple, the character must meet the following requirements:

  • Feats: Deific Obedience
  • Skills: Diplomacy 5 ranks , Knowledge (religion) or Knowledge (nature) 5 ranks
  • Spellcasting: Ability to cast 3rd-level divine spells.
  • Patron: A divine disciple must have a patron deity, and it must be the deity of which she is a disciple.
  • Alignment: The Divine Disciple’s alignment must match that of her patron deity.

Hit die: d8

Class Skills: The divine disciple’s class skills are Craft, Diplomacy, Heal, Knowledge (Arcan, History, Nature, Religion, or Planes) Profession, Spellcraft, and Survival.

Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier.

Advancement

Level BAB Fort Ref Will Special Spells per Day
1st +0 +1 +1 +1 Divine Mark, Domain Exemplar, divine emissary
2nd +1 +1 +1 +1 Divine Secret, Sacred defense +1 +1 level of existing divine spellcasting class
3rd +2 +2 +2 +2 Deific Boons, Divine Secret +1 level of existing divine spellcasting class
4th +3 +2 +2 +2 Divine Secret, Sacred Defense +2 +1 level of existing divine spellcasting class
5th +3 +3 +3 +3 Transcendence +1 level of existing divine spellcasting class

Class Features

All the following are class features of the divine disciple prestige class.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Divine disciples gain no proficiency in any weapon or armor.

Spellcasting: When a new divine disciple level is gained, the character gains new spells per day as if she had also gained a level in a divine spellcasting class she belonged to before adding the prestige class. She does not, however, gain other benefits a character of that class would have gained (energy channel, wild shape, mysteries etc.), except for additional spells per day, spells known, bonus spells known, and an increased effective level of spellcasting. If a character had more than one spellcasting class before becoming a Harper agent, she must decide to which class she adds the new level for purposes of determining spells per day. If a character had more than one divine spellcasting class before she became a divine disciple, she must decide to which class she adds each level of divine disciple.

Divine Mark (Su): At 1st level, a mark appears somewhere on the divine disciple’s body. The mark’s location varies by individual and by faith, but the mark clearly represents the exalted’s chosen deity. The divine mark generally appears in a location easy to display, such as on the hand, forearm, chest, or face. An uncovered divine mark functions as a silver holy (or unholy) symbol. If the divine mark is forcibly removed, it reappears 24 hours later.

Domain Exemplar: The divine disciple may choose a domain from her deity’s available domains. For a cleric, this means she gains a third domain; for a divine caster with Nature’s Bond or a similar ability this means they have this domain in addition to the choice they made in their prior class. For a warpriest, she chooses a third blessing accessible to the deity. The divine disciple receives the domain’s granted powers and may choose the domain’s spells as domain spells added to her divine casting class. If she does not have domain spell slots, may cast them spontaneously as a cleric can spontaneously cast cure or inflict spells, or she may add them as bonus spells known if she casts spontaneously. Her levels from divine disciple stack with her divine spellcasting class to determine her cleric level for the purpose of granted domain powers’ effects and when she acquires them.

Divine Emissary: Divine disciples can telepathically communicate with any outsider within 60 feet, as long as that outsider serves the disciple’s deity or has the same alignment as the disciple. At 3rd level, this telepathy extends to other divine casters of your chosen deity. At 5th level, the range of the telepathy increases to 120 feet.

Sacred Defense: the divine disciple may add her charisma bonus (minimum +1) to a maximum of her divine disciple level, to her saving throws; at 4th level, the minimum bonus increases to +2. This saving throw bonus does not stack with the bonus from a paladin’s divine grace, or any similar ability.

Divine Secret: At 2nd level and again at 3rd and 4th level, the divine disciple may select a divine secret selected from the list below. Unless otherwise noted, a divine secret can only be selected once.

  • Augment Summoning: Any creature summoned or called by the Divine Disciple gains the benefit of the Augment Summoning feat; she does not need to meet the prerequisites of the feat, and this counts as the Augment Summoning feat for the purpose of qualifications and other feats that modify it.
  • Channel Energy (Su): The divine disciple gains the ability to channel energy as a cleric equal to her divine disciple level. If she already possesses levels in a class that possesses the channel energy ability, levels in this class stacks with the base class for determining the power of this ability.
  • Bonus Feat: The divine disciple may select a bonus feat from any metamagic feat, channel energy feat, or spell augmenting or enhancing feat for which she qualifies.
  • Divine Focus: The divine disciple’s levels stack with her divine casting class for the purpose of determining the strength of any divine bond, fiendish bond, nature’s bond, revelations, or archetype powers that substitute for these features previously gained in her prior class, but not for gaining new powers for these features, such as additional revelations.
  • Imbue With Spell Ability (Sp): As the spell, except a divine disciple does not need to sacrifice a 4th-level or higher spell slot to activate this ability. She may transfer currently prepared spells to her targets on a one-for-one basis, which the target can then cast once at any point up to 24-hours or until their next rest. The only limit to the number of spells the divine disciple can transfer is the disciple’s available 1st- and 2nd-level spells, any spell slot transferred to a recipient cannot be reprepared or refreshed by the disciple until the recipient either casts the spell or otherwise expires on the recipient.
  • Planar Ally (Sp): The divine disciple gains the ability to cast Lesser Planar Ally as a spell-like ability usable once per day with a caster level equal to her total hit dice. Unlike the spell, she need only pay half the normal offering and/or payment and gains a +2 to any charisma-based checks with the summoned creature. When her effective caster level in her aligned divine casting class reaches 12th level, this ability becomes the equivalent of Planar Ally; at at 16th, it becomes the equivalent of Greater Planar Ally.
  • Rejuvenate Summons (Su): The divine disciple can sacrifice a spell slot as an immediate action to heal a creature she summoned within short range (25ft + 5ft per two caster levels). The summoned creature recovers 1d8 hit points per spell level of the spell slot sacrificed + the disciple’s Charisma modifier. If she uses this ability as a full round action instead of an immediate action and sacrifices a fifth level spell or higher, the summoned creature also recovers from ability damage and the blinded, confused, dazed, dazzled, deafened, diseased, exhausted, fatigued, feebleminded, insanity, nauseated, poisoned, sickened, and stunned conditions, as per the heal spell.

Deific Boons: At 3rd level, the levels at which the divine disciple gains her deific boons is reduced by 2. If she is at, or past a level which she gains a boon, then she receives her boon(s) when she completes her first obedience. This ability cannot stack with another class ability that reduces the level gain of deific boons. Consult the On Deific Obedience article for details and house rules on divine boons. When a divine boon grants a spell-like ability, the divine disciple’s caster level for the spell-like ability equals her total character level. The divine disciple is still expected to perform the act of obedience every day needed to gain the benefits of the boon.

Transcendence: At 5th level, the divine disciple, through long association with her deity’s outsider servants and direct intervention by her deity, transcends to become a mortal petitioner to her patron. Her type changes to that of a native outsider, with an alignment subtype that matches her patron. Upon achieving transcendence, the divine disciple’s appearance usually undergoes a minor physical change appropriate to her alignment and deity. For example, the eyes of a disciple of Lathander, the Morninglord, might change to glowing gold. Anyone who shares the disciple’s patron, including outsider servants of her patron, immediately recognize her transcendent nature, and she gains a +2 bonus on all Charisma-based skill and ability checks in regard to these creatures.

As a spell-like ability, she can ward herself and allies with a magic circle against chaos/evil/good/law as appropriate for her alignment a number of times per day equal to 3 + her charisma bonus (minimum +1). While she is radiating this aura, she also receives the damage reduction of a petitioner of her patron according to the patron’s alignment:

  • Patron deity is good: DR 10/evil
  • Patron deity is evil: DR 10/good
  • Patron deity is lawful: DR 10/chaotic
  • Patron deity is chaotic: DR 10/lawful
  • Patron deity is neutral on either axis: DR 10/silver