Holy Liberator – Paladin Archetype

Through a select, worthy few shines the power of the divine. Some of those holy warriors place themselves forcefully before those who would oppress or dominate others. These are the holy liberators, holy liberators of those who need them the most. The holy liberator is a variant of the paladin; much as the Antipaladin/Blackguard is a variant dedicated to evil, the liberator is chaotic good in alignment, dedicated to personal freedom and liberty as the ultimate good. The tenet of “as much as you harm none, do as you will” is the maxim of a holy liberator

Holy Liberators in the Realms: Chaotic powers of good may sponsor holy liberators to their causes, and may make up the military arm of their faith the same as many goodly powers employ paladins for this purpose. Selune and Sune are two powers that sponsor both — with the liberators acting as the evangelistic arm of the church in places where tyranny reins over the common folk. Faiths including those of Tymora and Lliira also sponsor liberators to their cause.

Archetypes and Feats: Many of the archetypes and feats available to the Paladin will also be available to the Holy Liberator, as an alternate class to the Paladin. If there is any question as to whether something can apply to your character, discuss it with DMs.

Alignment: Chaotic good. This modifies the paladin’s alignment.

Code of Conduct: Holy liberators always seek to uphold the tenets of liberty and goodness wherever they travel. They resist tyranny and oppression, lead others in fighting unjust rulership, and ignore laws which limit the free and fair choices of intelligent beings. A holy liberator adheres to the philosophy of “That which is knowingly consented to by all involved, is just.” Most leaders, good or otherwise, consider holy liberators anarchists to be sought out and either kept away from others by way of imprisonment, or in more evil societies, simply destroyed as soon as they are discovered. In most organized societies holy liberators must operate quietly as to not arouse the attention of the most powerful around them.

A holy liberator who fails to uphold these tenets, or who causes, by actions or inaction, sentient creatures to lose their liberty or freedom, or who willfully commits evil acts, loses access to all supernatural and spell-like class features, as well as the spell casting ability. Further, she may not gain further levels as a Holy Liberator. She regains her abilities and advancement potential if she properly atones for her violations as determined by the GM. This alters the paladin’s code of conduct.

Class Skills: The holy liberator’s class skills are Bluff, Craft, Diplomacy, Handle Animal, Heal, Knowledge (Nobility), Knowledge (Religion), Profession, Ride , Sense Motive, and Spellcraft. This alters the paladin’s class skills.

Detect Coercion (Sp): At will, a holy liberator can use detect charm, as the spell. She also gains a bonus to Sense Motive equal to half of her holy liberator level to sense if someone is under any sort of magical or mundane compulsion in their words or actions. This replaces the paladin’s Detect Evil.

Liberating Smite (Su): The holy liberator’s smite ability can be used against evil as well as lawful (but not evil) targets. This alters Smite Evil.

Liberating Touch (Su): At 2nd level, a holy liberator can alternately heal wounds (her own or those of others) or help others cast off their bonds with a touch. Each day she can use this ability a number of times equal to 1/2 her holy liberator level plus her Charisma modifier. With one use of this ability, a holy liberator (or the creature touched) heals 1d6 hit points of damage for every two holy liberator levels she possesses.

Alternately, with one use of this ability, a holy liberator (or the creature touched) immediately may roll a new saving throw against a spell or spell-like ability of the enchantment (charm) or enchantment (compulsion) subschools that it previously failed a saving throw vs. and which it is still under the effects of. In addition, targets receive a sacred bonus equal to the Holy Liberator’s number of healing dice on such saving throws as well as on CMB checks to escape a grapple. These bonuses last for a number of rounds equal to 1/2 her holy liberator level (minimum 1), although the saving throw reroll only applies when the creature is touched.

Using either of the above abilities is a standard action, unless the holy liberator targets herself, in which case it is a swift action. Despite the name of this ability, a holy liberator only needs one free hand to use this ability. This modifies the paladin’s Lay Hands ability; any feat, effect or ability that modifies a paladin’s Lay Hands ability also modifies this ability.

Divine Tenacity (Ex): At 3rd level, a holy liberator can use mental resiliency to avoid certain effects. Once per day, she may reroll a failed Will saving throw. Every six levels thereafter she may use this benefit an additional time per day to a total of three times at 15th level. A helpless liberator does not gain the benefit of this ability. This replaces Divine Health

Channel Energy (Su): At 4th level, the holy liberator gains the Freedom variant channeling ability, which she can choose to use in lieu of a standard channel. When she uses this ability, affected creatures gain only half the normal amount of healing but also gain a sacred bonus of +2 on Escape Artist checks, CMB checks made to escape a grapple, and saving throws to resist the entangled, paralyzed, or slowed conditions equal to the number of dice of healing until the end of their next turn. If one of the affected creatures is already under the one of these affects, they may, as an immediate action, make another saving throw, Escape Artist check, or compare their CMB with the added bonus in attempt to escape the effect. This bonus increases by +1 at 10th level, and every 5 levels thereafter. This alters the paladin’s channel energy and replaces the paladin’s 3rd-level Mercy.

Spell Casting: The holy liberator has the following alterations to the paladin’s spellcasting.

• Remove the following spells from the paladin’s spell list: death ward, discern lies, dispel chaos, magic circle against chaos, protection from chaos, and any other spell with the [Law] descriptor.
• Add the following to the holy liberator’s spell list: 1st—protection from law,  2nd—glibness, 3rd—magic circle against law, 4th—dispel law, freedom of movement, and if there is an opposing spell of any of the above removed spells with the [Chaos] descriptor, these are added to the holy liberator’s spell list at the commensurate level.

Divine Bond (Sp): If the holy liberator chooses a weapon bond as her divine bond, whenever the celestial spirit bonds with her weapon, the weapon sheds a multi-colored light (as a torch). The spirit may opt not to cause the weapon to shed light. Additionally, while the spirit occupies the weapon, attacks against non-magical bonds of any kind (manacles, ropes, chains, etc.) ignore the hardness of the bonds. At 5th level, when the spirit can enhance the weapon with magical properties the list is altered to the following: anarchic, brilliant energy, defending, dispelling, disruption, flaming, flaming burst, holy, keen, merciful, and speed.

Celestial Squire: Instead of a bond with her weapon, the holy liberator may call upon the sponsor of her faith to grant her a celestial ally in times of need. This functions exactly as the Summon Monster ability of the Unchained Summoner, except that it may only summon celestial outsiders and/or creatures with the Celestial Simple template. This replaces the paladin’s bond with a mount.