Divine Scion
Many are the mortals who serve the gods, in small ways and large. Some give offerings to many divinities in hopes of appeasing them all, while others serve one faithfully and exclusively, even zealously. A few, however, are instead chosen by their deities to fulfill sacred missions. Some are merely graced with the anointing spirit of divinity, while a few are the literal scions of their divine patrons, by-blows of a dalliance with mortals. Whatever the source, these are the few who can, with the proper training, become divine scions. The spark of divinity animates their every deed, and voices whisper secrets and commands that were never meant for the ears of others. Divine scions may frustrate the orthodox hierarchy of their faith, as they represent an end-run around the ecclesiastical structures of the church. Their calling comes directly from their deity, and their orders supersede any earthly authority. Of course, many more claim such direct visitation and commission than actually have been touched by the divine, but it is risky to defy or deny any who claim it.
Hit Die: d8.
Requirements
To qualify to become a divine scion, a character must fulfill all the following criteria.
Feats: Iron Will, Weapon Focus (deity’s favored weapon)
Skills: Knowledge (planes) 5 ranks, Knowledge (religion) 5 ranks, Spellcraft 5 ranks
Spells: Able to cast divine spells.
Deity: Must have a patron deity.
Alignment: Must be identical to patron deity’s.
Class Skills
The divine scion’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Diplomacy (Cha), Fly (Dex), Knowledge (planes) (Int), Knowledge (religion) (Int), Perception (Wis), Perform (Cha), Profession (Wis), and Spellcraft (Int).
Skill Ranks at Each Level: 2 + Int modifier.
Class Features
The following are class features of the divine scion prestige class.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A divine scion gains no additional weapon or armor proficiencies. She can select Greater Weapon Focus, Weapon Specialization, and Greater Weapon Specialization as feats once she qualifies for them normally (although she does not have to fulfill the prerequisite of having fighter levels in order to select these feats).
Spells: When a divine scion gains a level, she gains new spells per day as if she had also gained a level in a divine spellcasting class she belonged to before she added the prestige class. She does not, however, gain any other benef its a character of that class would have gained. This essentially means that she adds the level of divine scion to the level of whatever other divine spellcasting class she has.
If the character had more than one divine spellcasting class before she became a divine scion, she must choose which class she adds each divine scion level to for the purposes of determining spells per day.
Opposition Alignment (Ex): A divine scion must pick one of the following alignment subtypes as her opposition alignment: chaotic, evil, good, or law. The opposition alignment she chooses must be one that she does not possess as part of her own alignment. She gains a +1 bonus on caster level checks made to overcome spell resistance of creatures with that alignment subtype.
Domain Specialization (Su): At 3rd level, a divine scion selects a domain granted by her deity—this domain becomes the divine scion’s chosen specialization in representing her deity. Although most divine scions pick domains that they’ve gained from other classes (such as cleric), they don’t have to do so. Every time a divine scion casts a domain spell from her specialized domain, she heals damage equal to twice the spell’s level.
In addition, each domain specialization grants a spell-like ability (which functions at a caster level equal to the divine scion’s total character level) and a permanent sacred bonus (or profane, if the divine scion is evil) on a single type of d20 roll. The specific spell-like abilities and bonuses granted are listed below. Spells marked with an asterisk (*) are detailed in the Advanced Player’s Guide, while spells marked with two asterisks (**) are detailed in Ultimate Magic.
Air: f ly 1/day; +4 on Fly checks
Animal: beast shape I 1/day; +4 on Handle Animal checks
Artifice: crafter’s fortune* 3/day; +4 on Craft checks
Chaos: detect law constant ; +2 on Will saves
Charm: beguiling gift* 3/day; +4 on Diplomacy checks
Community: tongues 1/day; +4 on Diplomacy checks
Darkness: shadow weapon** 3/day; +4 on Perception checks
Death: murderous command** 3/day; +2 on Fortitude saves
Destruction: break* 3/day; +4 on Intimidate checks
Earth: stone fist* 3/day; +4 on Survival checks
Evil: detect good constant; +2 on Will saves
Fire: f lame arrow 1/day; +4 on Acrobatics checks
Glory: archon’s aura** 1/day; +4 on Intimidate checks
Good: detect evil constant; +2 on Will saves
Healing: symbol of healing** 1/day; +4 on Heal checks
Knowledge: identify 3/day; +4 on Knowledge checks (choose one)
Law: detect chaos constant; +2 on Will saves
Liberation: remove sickness** 3/day; +4 on Escape Artist checks
Luck: divine favor 3/day; +2 on Ref lex saves
Madness: fumbletongue** 3/day; +4 on Bluff checks
Magic: detect magic constant; +4 on Spellcraft checks
Nobility: command 1/day; +4 on Diplomacy checks
Plant: speak with plants 1/day; +2 on Fortitude saves
Protection: wrathful mantle* 1/day; +1 to Armor Class
Repose: sanctify corpse 3/day; +2 on Fortitude saves
Rune: comprehend languages 3/day; +4 on Linguistics checks
Scalykind: summon nature’s ally III (reptilian creatures only), 1/day; +2 on Ref lex saves
Strength: burst bonds* 3/day; +4 on combat maneuver checks
Sun: daylight 1/day; +4 on Perception checks
Travel: expeditious retreat 3/day; +4 on Acrobatics checks
Trickery: glibness 1/day; +4 on Stealth checks
Void: deeper darkness 1/day; +4 on concentration checks
War: true strike 3/day; +1 on weapon damage rolls
Water: water walk 1/day; +4 on Swim checks
Weather: cloak of winds* 1/day; +4 on Survival checks
Divine Wrath (Su): At 4th level, a divine scion’s damaging spells deal +1 point of damage per die against creatures with an alignment subtype that matches the divine scion’s opposition alignment.
Deific Defense (Su): At 7th level, a divine scion gains DR 2, bypassed by attacks with the alignment subtype of her opposition alignment (so a divine scion with “evil” as her opposition alignment gains DR 2/evil).
Divine Awe (Su): At 8th level, a divine scion’s spells can stagger creatures that match the alignment subtypes of the divine scion’s opposition alignment. When such a creature is affected by a divine scion’s spell, it is staggered for 1 round if it fails its save against that spell. If the creature makes its save (or if the spell doesn’t allow a saving throw), this ability has no effect.
True Scion: At 10th level, a divine scion becomes a true scion of her deity. The amount of healing she gains from her domain specialization doubles. Her divine wrath ability now deals +2 points of damage per die against creatures of the appropriate alignment. The damage reduction granted by her deific defense increases to 5. Finally, she permanently increases her Wisdom or Charisma score (her choice) by +1.
