Sensate of Sharess Cleric Archetype

Source: Celebrant of Sharess, from Book of Exalted Deeds, and Dancer of Sharess, from Dragon #290.

Sharess is a paradoxical deity. Originally, she was a war goddess of the Mulhorandi pantheon — a champion in the war against Set and his forces of evil. Now, however, she is held up as a goddess of passion and decadence who is more often referred to as the Festhall Madam than as the Foe of Set. Most of her priests forget her glorious past and spend their time running brothels and celebrating the Endless Revel of Life, a nearly constant parade of festivals in their goddess’s honor.

But the Sensates, Sharess’ specialty priests, are different. They do not neglect Sharess in her present aspect as the goddess of pleasure and lust, but neither do they forget the ancient Foe of Set, who was Anhur’s lieutenant. Sensates of Sharess are seducers and warriors, hedonists and pious champions of good. While many of the goddess’s followers are chaotic neutral and some even lean toward evil, the Sensates are an ever-present reminder that evil is the enemy, and that pleasure is to be enjoyed and shared with all as an act of good. In many ways they represent a truer embodiment of their deity’s nature than many of her rank and file clerics do. Sensates comprise about half of Sharess’ clergy, and that number is growing the more years draw on from Sharess’ seduction by Shar.

Alignment: A Sensate must be of Neutral Good or Chaotic Good alignment.

Skills: A Sensate adds the following skills as class skills: Acrobatics, Bluff, and Perform (dance), and must be trained in the Perform skill. The Sensate’s skill points per level increases to 4 + her Intelligence modifier.

Proficiencies: A Sensate of Sharess is taught to dress provocatively in all situations, and is encouraged to retain mobility for her performance ability. She does not gain proficiency in medium armor or in shields. She is granted proficiency simple weapons as is any cleric, and in Sharess’ favored weapon, the claw bracer. Further, she is granted the benefits of the Two-weapon Fighting feat when she wears a pair of claw bracers.

Claw Bracer
Exotic melee weapon, Cost 30gp, dmg (sm) 1d4 (med) 1d6, crit 19-20/x2, damage type slashingx

The claw bracer is a semi-rigid leather or metal bracer that fits around the wrist, sometimes with an extension that covers the back of the hand as well. Attached to the back of the bracer are three narrow steel blades, extending about 4 inches beyond the tip of the wearer’s extended fingers and curved at the tips. The wearer can cast spells normally while wearing the bracer, and it cannot be disarmed. The claw bracer is a light weapon and may be used with finesse.

She gains the Two-weapon Fighting benefit only when she is using these claws; she may qualify for further two-weapon fighting feats as if she possessed the feat, but likewise, they will only apply to the pair of claw bracers unless she also takes the Two-weapon fighting feat. This alters the cleric’s proficiencies.

Channel Energy: The Sensate cannot channel energy.

Diminished Spellcasting: A Sensate does not gain bonus spell slots for her domain spells.

Domains: A Sensate only chooses one domain from her deity’s granted domains. This alters domains.

Zandilar’s Rhythm (Su): A Celebrant of Sharess can use dance to substitute for the verbal component of a spell of the Enchantment school. The Celebrant of Sharess must succeed at a Perform (dance) check (DC 15 + spell level); if she does, the spell is cast as if she had prepared it with the Silent Spell feat, with no alteration in the effective spell level of the spell cast; further, those who are watching the Celebrant perform must make a Sense Motive check against the Celebrant’s Perform roll in order to discern that the Celebrant is casting a spell, as if she had the Disguise Spell feat. If the Perform check fails, the spell fails and is ruined. This replaces spontaneous casting.

Dance of the Goddess (Su): A Sensate gains the ability to deliver a select number of supernatural and spell-like performances through the force and power of her connection to the Dancing Lady. This ability is similar in all respects to bardic performance as a bard of the same level (and treated as such for rounds per day, feats, features and prerequisites), using Perform (dance) as the Sensate’s performance skill. However, an Sensate gains only the following types of bardic performance: countersong, fascinate, and inspire courage at 1st level; inspire greatness at 9th level; and inspire heroics at 15th level.

Similar to how a bard requires an audible component in all of their spells, the Sensate must have a somatic component to all of her spells — thus the Sensate’s prayers cannot be modified with the Still Spell metamagic feat, and she can maintain a performance while casting her cleric spells.

Dance of the goddess replaces the channel energy dice 1st, 9th, and 15th level.

Felid Grace (Ex): The Sensate is as agile and slink as a cat when she does her dance. At 2nd level, so long as she’s performing her Dance of the Goddess, and wearing light or no armor and not using a shield, she gains +1 as a dodge bonus to her AC. This bonus increases by +1 at 6th level, and every 4 levels thereafter to a maximum of +5 at 18th level. If she fights defensively or uses the total defese action, this bonus is doubled. This replaces the cleric’s armor and shield proficiencies.

Feline Familiar (Su): At 3rd level, the Sensate gains a familiar, which must be a feline creature. In all respects the familiar progresses the same as a wizard of the Sensate’s level -2. If she later takes the Improved Familiar feat, the improved familiar must still be some sort of feline creature. This replaces the lesser domain power of the cleric’s second domain and her domain spell slots.

Foe of Set (Ex): At 5th level, the Sensate gains a favored enemy — as the ranger ability — against divine minions or mortal servants of Set, as well as snakes, nagas, hydrae, yuan-ti, histachii, ophidians, and other evil natured snakelike or serpentine living beings. She gains a +2 bonus on Bluff, Knowledge, Perception, Sense Motive, and Survival checks against these creatures, as well as a +2 bonus on weapon attack and damage rolls against them. She may make Knowledge skill checks untrained when attempting to identify these creatures. This bonus increases by +2 at 11th level and again at 17th level. This replaces channel energy dice at 5th, 11th and 17th level.

Swiftness of the Tigress (Ex): At 6th level, so long as she’s performing her Dance of the Goddess, the Sensate can expend an additional round of her performance to gain an additional attack at her full attack bonus, as if she were affected by the Haste spell, as well as an enhancement bonus of 10′ to her land speed, f0r one round. This effect is not cumulative with the Haste spell or other similar effect. Her land speed further increases by 5′ every fourth level after the 6th. She may maintain this effect with her performance, even if she changes her performance effect, so long as she continues to expend the extra round of performance for each additional round of her performance.

This replaces the cleric’s greater domain power of her second domain.

Battle Cat (Sp): At 7th level, the Celebrant’s cat familiar can, as a standard action, shapechange into a cheetah, leopard, lion or tiger. This ability functions as the beast shape III spell were cast by the Celebrant, with a duration of 10 minutes per level of the Celebrant. These minutes to not have to be used consecutively, but must be spent in 10-minute increments. This replaces the channel energy dice at 7th level.

Memory Wrack (Sp): At 13th level, the Sensate can cast Modify Memory as a spell like ablity once per day with a caster level equal to her Sensate level using her Charisma modifier. She may use the ability twice per day at level 19. This replaces the channel energy dice at 13th and 19th level.

Inspire Desire (Su): At 20th level, the Sensate can inspire love or desire in a creature she has already fascinated with her performance. Using this ability does not break the celebrant’s concentration on the fascinate effect, but she must maintain the performance for the duration of the attempt to awaken the subject’s desires. A Will saving throw (DC 10 + 1/2 the Sensate’s level + her Cha modifier) negates the effect. This ability affects only a single creature at a time and is an enchantment (compulsion), mind-affecting ability. The effects persist even after the performance ceases, unless and until a break enchantment or similar spell removes the effect with Sensate’s class level as her caster level.

• The love effect of this ability causes the target to fall in love with a specified creature, which must either be within sight of the target creature at the time the effect is used, or else be specified only as “the next creature you see.” The subject takes any opportunity to be near the object of its affection and makes every effort to win that creature’s love.
• The desire effect is similar to the love effect, except that the target seeks any opportunity to become physically intimate with the specified creature, short of causing it physical harm.

Inspire desire may be used a number of times per day equal to the Sensate’s Charisma modifier (minimum 1). This is a capstone ability, and may not be replaced by an alternate capstone ability.