Torm the True

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Alignment: Lawful Good
Domains: Good [Redemption], Healing, Law [Honor, Loyalty], Pride, Protection [Defense, Guardian], Strength.
Favored Weapon: Greatsword.

Torm the True, patron of paladins and unswerving enemy of corruption and evil, serves the people of Faerun by exemplifying the chivalric ideal. An ascended hero who lived his mortal life in service to a just sovereign, Torm eschews the pretense of his fellow deities, instead adopting a humble position that he exists to serve the common good and the rule of law as established by honorable mortal rulers. Though a true deity with awesome power at his disposal, the Loyal Fury is all too familiar with the failings of mortal men, having fallen victim to hubris, gullibility and ignorance when confined to a mortal shell during the Time of Troubles. During that seminal event, Torm allowed himself to be controlled by his own corrupt, oppressive clerics for a short time, an occurrence that gave him perspective on his own flaws and enhanced his sense of humility. Stern, righteous, and unyielding in the face of evil, Torm’s spirit lifts when dealing with his friends, the weak, the defenseless, and the young.

Dogma: Salvation may be found through service. Every failure of duty diminishes Torm and every success adds to his luster. Strive to maintain law and order. Obey your masters with alert judgment and anticipation. Stand ever alert against corruption. Strike quickly and forcefully against rot in the hearts of mortals. Bring painful, quick death to traitors. Question unjust laws by suggesting improvement or alternatives, not additional laws. Your fourfold duties are to faith, family, masters, and all good beings of Faerun.

For Deific Obedience

Obedience: Hold your primary weapon in front of you and hang a holy symbol of Torm from it, if the sword is not itself engraved with the symbol. Kneel while focusing on the holy symbol. Recite the penances of duty (for a paladin, this may be incorporated in the daily affirmation of their oath), and pray for strength and resolve from the Loyal Fury to act upon them. In your goings of each day, offer healing to the first soul you see in need; if you do not possess prayers for healing, then offer escort to someone who does. Ask nothing in return for this deed except an offer of praises to Torm the True. Gain a +2 sacred bonus on Will saves against charm and compulsion affects as Torm bolsters your resolve to be loyal.

Boons
1: Courageous Blessings (Sp) remove fear 3/day, blessing of courage and lifeAPG 2/day, or heroism 1/day
2: Demon-Feared Caster (Ex) You are used to fighting the forces of evil. You gain a sacred bonus equal to 1 + 1 for every 4 Hit Dice you possess (maximum +6) on caster level checks to overcome the spell resistance of outsiders with the chaotic or evil subtypes. These bonuses stack against outsiders who are both chaotic and evil (maximum +12) . If you don’t have the ability to cast spells, you instead gain the ability to use protection from chaos/evil as a spell-like ability three times per day.
3. Choose one of the following boons; once the choice is made it cannot be changed:

  • Wrath of the Loyal Fury (Su) Three times per day, you can call upon Torm during the casting of a spell to increase its potency. When you use this ability, with the added chant of ‘for the Fury,’ you can cast any spell that deals hit point damage and has a casting time of 1 standard action as a full-round action instead. Doing so changes half the damage dealt to divine power, similar to a flame strike spell. For example, a wizard 5/evangelist 9 casts a lightning bolt as a full-round action. The spell deals 10d6 points of damage, half of which is electricity damage and the other half of which is divine energy and not subject to electricity resistance. If you can’t cast spells that deal hit point damage, you instead gain the ability to imbue your weapon with holy power. Three times per day as a free action, you can grant your weapon the holy weapon special ability for 1 minute.
  • Just Ally (Sp) Once per day as a standard action, you can summon a leonal. The leonal follows your commands perfectly for 1 minute for every Hit Die you possess before vanishing back to its home in Heaven. The leonal doesn’t follow commands that would violate its alignment, however, and particularly egregious commands could cause it to attack you.

Paladin Code

The paladins of Torm are just and strong, crusaders for that which is good and pure. Their mission is to right wrongs, heal wounds caued in the wake of destruction, and to root out corruption and tyranny in all forms. They serve as examples to others, and their code demands they protect the weak and innocent by eliminating sources of oppression, rather than merely the symptoms. They may back down or withdraw from a fight if they are overmatched, but if their lives will buy time for others to escape, they must hold their ground until none other are in peril.

The code of the Paladin of Torm includes the Penance of Duty, which is a tenet that all devoted Tormish must adhere to:

  • To repay the persecution of other religions, I will never turn my eye from a goodly soul in need without offering to aid how I might. (Debt of Persecution)
  • To atone for the abdication of duty to guard against corruption, I shall never suffer a traitor to live, but if there is any doubt, I may compel their surrender to judgement; I will root out corruption wherever I find it, and if a system is fundamentally flawed, I will work to aid citizens by reforming or replacing it. (Debt of Dereliction)
  • To amend the destruction of Mystra and her Weave, I shall note, and duly record any and all abberant magical disturbances in my goings; and I shall aid to remedy these to the best of my ability. (Debt of Destruction)
  • I am the first into battle, and the last to leave it; I will never abandon a companion, though I will honor sacrifice freely given.
  • I will learn the weight of my sword. Without my heart to guide it, it is worthless — my strength is not in my sword, but in the truth of my heart. If I lose my sword, I have lost a tool. If I betray my heart, I have died.

For Followers of Torm

Archetypes and Alternate Class Features: Dandy (Ranger), Crusader (Cleric), Faith Hunter (Inquisitor)*, Knight of the Golden Lion† (Paladin, Warpriest), Shining Knight (Paladin), Sword of Valor† (Paladin), Urban Infiltrator (Inquisitor)
*Faith Hunter Inquisitor’s Sworn Enemy ability works against members of faiths opposed to Torm — including Bane, Cyric, and Shar, as well as agents of the Zhentarim.

Specialty Priest: Paragon (Warpriest) War Saint from Multiclass Archetypes.

Divine Fighting Technique: Torm’s Inspiring Sword

Feats: Beacon of Hope, Bestow Hope, Disciple of the Sword†*, Hands of Valor, Intrepid Rescuer, Merciless Rush, Protective Channel,
*Applies to any sword rather than longsword.

Class Feature Substitutions

  • A paladin of Torm may replace her smite evil ability with the Faith Hunter’s Sworn Enemy feature against faiths opposed to Torm and agents of the Zhentarim, however using the paladin’s smite evil progression for number of uses per day.

Magic Items

* Reflavor as follows: This sleeveless tabard, worn over armor or other clothing, prominently bears the crest of a golden lion’s head and can be used as a divine focus by members of the Order of the Golden Lion who are followers of Torm. Once per day, the wearer of a lesser glorious tabard can activate the tabard to gain a +2 sacred bonus to her AC and on saving throws for 10 minutes. Both bonuses apply only against attacks made or effects created by outsiders with the evil subtype or creatures with an evil aura.

A greater glorious tabard bears the crest of a golden lion’s head. It has all the powers of a lesser glorious tabard but can be used twice per day. In addition, whenever a greater glorious tabard is activated, all swords within 20 feet shed light as per a torch and ignore the DR of evil creatures (except DR/epic) for 3 rounds. When a greater glorious tabard is used as a divine focus to cast a spell, the wearer does not need any material components that cost less than 1,000 gp.

A glorious tabard functions only for wearers who are both members of the Golden Lions and followers of Torm.

**Reflavor as follows: Duty’s Gauntlet; This metal gauntlet is typically the sort appropriate for wearing with metal armor and engraved with the Debt of Dereliction, though versions suited for leather, embroidered thusly, exist. Affixed to the wrist is a golden cloth with the open hand gauntlet embroidered in gray thread. Once per day, the wearer can speak a command word to give a weapon the wearer holds in that hand (or the gauntlet itself) a +1 bonus on attack and damage rolls for 1 minute. This bonus stacks with any existing enhancement bonus of the weapon. A Duty’s Gauntlet gauntlet uses up the wearer’s entire hands slot; the wearer can not use another item (even another Duty’s gauntlet) that also uses the hands slot, though a matching nonmagical gauntlet is often worn on the other hand.

If Torm is the wearer’s patron, the gauntlet lets the wearer use any sword he holds in that hand as a holy symbol. Once per day, the wearer can speak a command word and give any sword he holds the powers of an evil outsider-bane weapon for 1 minute; this effect ends if the wearer drops the sword or removes the gauntlet. If the wearer uses a finger to draw Torm’s symbol on any solid surface, the symbol glows as brightly as a candle for 1 hour or until the wearer draws the symbol elsewhere (whichever comes first).

Prestige Classes: Arcane Devotee, Divine Champion, Divine Disciple, Divine Scion (Unchained), Inheritor’s Crusader†

Spells: Inheritor’s Smite, Weapons Against Evil

Traits: A Shining Beacon, Battlefield Surgeon, Envoy of Healing, Honeyed Words, Lover of the Law, Loyal Bond†, Mighty Protector, Protective Faith, Purity of Faith, Relentless Duty†, Scarred by War, Split-Second Defense, Strength’s Fanfare, Strong Willed, The Flexing Arm.

Unique Spell Rules

  • Bless Weapon can be prepared as a 1st-level Cleric or Inquisitor spell
  • Good Hope can be prepared as a 4th-level Cleric spell or 3rd-level Paladin spell
  • Greater Shout can be prepared as a 8th level Cleric spell, 6th-level Inquisitor spell or 4th-level Paladin spell (called the Lion’s Roar by Torm’s faithful)
  • Holy Sword can be prepared as a 8th-level Cleric spell or 6th-level Inquisitor spell

Unique Summons

  • Summon Monster IV: Celestial Lion – LG
  • Summon Monster VI: Celestial Griffon – NG

Clergy and Temples

Clerics of Torm pray for their spells at dawn. On the 13th of Eleasis, they celebrate a somber ceremony known as the Divine Death to commemorate Torm’s sacrificial destruction of Bane. The 15th of Marpenoth sees a more jovial ritual in the form of the True Resurrection, which celebrates the anniversary of Torm’s return to Toril at the behest of Ao. Shieldmeet, traditionally a time when Faerunians enter new agreements and compacts, is a time of great religious significance to followers of the deity of duty who take their oaths very, very seriously. In addition to the daily morning prayer, clerics are expected to give thanks and honor to Torm through quiet prayers at noon, dusk, and midnight.

Clerics and paladins of Torm swear themselves to the Penance of Duty, a guide of responsibilities and obligations outlined by the Loyal Fury himself after discovering the rife corruption within the church during the Time of Troubles. To repay their persecution of other goodly religions, the clergy must aid the establishment of other good faiths as part of the Debt of Persecution. The Debt of Dereliction states that Torm’s agents must expend every resource possible to eliminate cults of Cyric and Bane, and to work against the insidious Zhentarim. The Debt of Destruction stipulates that the clergy record the locations of dead and wild magic areas and do what they can to heal these wounds to the Weave. Additionally, clerics and paladins of Torm stand vigilant against corruption within goodly organizations, knowing that what could infect their stalwart order is doubly likely to writhe into the affairs of less watchful bodies. Many travel the world righting wrongs and spreading the good works of Torm.

High Cleric Barriltar Bhandraddon serves as Torm’s pontiff in Faerun, ruling from the impressive Temple of Torm’s Coming in Tantras. Bhandraddon’s reach extends far, and in the last decade he has sponsored several continent wide knightly orders, including the prestigious Order of the Golden Lion, members of which guard temples and wander Faerun in service to the Penance of Duty. Temples of Torm frequently double as citadels. Often constructed high on mountains to offer their residents a clear view of the surrounding area, such structures feature drilling grounds, high towers, austere quarters for resident and visiting knights, and plainly adorned, simple worship halls. White granite walls and statues of lions and armored figures predominate, with badges of knights who fell in duty lining the high-ceilinged hallways.