Prestige Classes

KNIGHT OF THE CHALICE

A knight of the Chalice is a member of an elite knightly organization devoted to fighting demons and other evil outsiders. Motivated by a pious hatred of these creatures that embody the principles of evil and routinely invade the Material Plane, knights of the Chalice learn tactics and gain special abilities to help them in their crusade. A character who qualifies for entrance into the Order of the Chalice is typically a paladin/ranger or a cleric/ranger. Characters with minimal levels as a ranger/cleric or ranger/paladin can qualify even if they have more levels in other classes— rogue, fighter, and even wizard or sorcerer. Wizards and sorcerers are rarely drawn to the order’s crusade, and cannot qualify as knights until reaching high levels. Few monks or bards have enough dedication to exterminating demons to take up this class. Knights of the Chalice are often lone crusaders, maintaining only loose connections to their order. NPC knights sometimes gather adventuring bands around themselves for combat support. A knight of the Chalice could become a temporary ally of a group of adventurers while the party is engaged in a campaign against a demon.

Hit Die: d10.

Requirements

To qualify to become a knight of the Chalice, a character must fulfill all of the following criteria.

Alignment: Lawful good.

Base Attack Bonus: +8.

Skills: Knowledge (the planes) 5 ranks, Knowledge (religion) 10 ranks.

Spells: Able to cast divine spells, including protection from evil.

Class Skills

The knight of the Chalice's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (the planes) (Int), Knowledge (religion) (Int), Profession (Wis), and Sense Motive (Wis).

Skill Points at Each Level: 2 + Int modifier.

Table: The Knight of the Chalice

Class Features

All of the following are class features of the knight of the Chalice prestige class.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Knights of the Chalice gain no proficiency with any weapon or armor.

Spells: Beginning at 1st level, a knight of the Chalice gains the ability to cast a number of divine spells. To cast a spell, a knight of the Chalice must have a Wisdom score of at least 10 + the spell’s level, so a knight with a Wisdom of 10 or lower can not cast these spells. Knight of the Chalice bonus spells are based on Wisdom, and saving throws against these spells have a DC of 10 + spell level + the knight’s Wisdom modifier. When the knight gets 0 spells per day of a given spell level (for instance, 1st-level spells for a 1st-level knight), she gains only the bonus spells she would be entitled to based on her Wisdom score for that spell level.

The knight of the Chalice’s spell list appears below; he has access to any spell on the list and can freely choose which to prepare. A knight of the Chalice prepares and casts spells just as a cleric does (though a knight cannot lose a spell to cast a cure spell in its place).

Fiendslaying (Ex): Knights of the Chalice gain a number of special benefits in combat with evil outsiders. A 1st-level knight of the Chalice gets a +1 competence bonus on attack rolls against evil outsiders. On a successful attack, she deals an extra 1d6 points of damage due to her expertise in combating these creatures. These bonuses increase as the knight advances in level, as shown on Table 2–19.

A 1st-level knight of the Chalice’s +1 competence bonus also applies to Intimidate, Listen, Sense Motive, and Spot checks when she uses these skills against evil outsiders. She gets the same bonus on Will saving throws against attacks from evil outsiders, and on opposed ability checks she makes against evil outsiders.

These bonuses all stack with the knight’s favored enemy bonus (if any).

Censure Demons (Su): Knights of the Chalice can censure demons, much as clerics turn undead. Rather than channeling positive energy, a knight of the Chalice channels energy from the celestial planes of lawful good.

When a knight of the Chalice uses this ability, any demon within 30 feet must succeed on a Will save (DC 10 + the knight of the Chalice’s class level + the knight of the Chalice’s Cha modifier) or be censured.

A censured demon whose Hit Dice are equal to or greater than twice the knight’s class level is stunned by the knight’s holy power for 1 round.

If a censured demon has fewer Hit Dice than twice the knight’s class level, it is stunned and must succeed on a second Will save (same DC) or be sent back to its home plane as if it had been the subject of a dismissal spell. Only one demon may dismissed in this way by any single censure demons attempt; if more than one demon is required to make this second Will save, check for the demon with the lowest HD first.

A knight may attempt to censure demons once per day for every two class levels she possesses.

Courage of Heaven (Su): A knight of the Chalice of 2nd level or higher is immune to fear effects cast or created by evil outsiders. At 5th level and higher, a knight of the Chalice is also immune to enchantment spells and effects cast or created by evil outsiders, including charms and suggestions. At 8th level and higher, these immunities extend to all allies within 20 feet of the knight of the Chalice.

Consecrated Casting (Ex): When a knight reaches 4th level, spells cast by the character on evil outsiders become more difficult to resist. When the knight casts a spell that targets an evil outsider, add +2 to the knight’s caster level check to overcome the target’s spell resistance and +2 to the DC of any saving throw the spell allows.

Holy Aura (Su): A 10th-level knight of the Chalice has the ability to create a holy aura once per day that affects herself only. The aura’s effect is as the spell cast by a 10th-level cleric, but it wards the knight against the attacks, spells, and mental influence of evil outsiders only, and only evil outsiders can be blinded if they strike the knight.

Multiclass Note: A paladin who becomes a knight of the Chalice may continue advancing as a paladin.

Knight of the Chalice Spell List

Knights of the Chalice choose their spells from the following list:

1st Level: bless water, bless weapon, detect chaos, detect evil, divine favor, doom, endure elements, magic weapon, protection from evil, remove fear, summon monster I.

2nd Level: aid, align weapon, bull’s strength, consecrate, endurance, resist elements, sound burst, spiritual weapon, summon monster II, undetectable alignment.

3rd Level: dispel magic, invisibility purge, magic circle against evil, magic vestment, prayer, protection from elements, searing light, shout, summon monster III.

4th Level: dimensional anchor, discern lies, dismissal, dispel evil, holy smite, greater magic weapon, lesser aspect of the deity, lesser planar ally.