"I almost felt pity for Urthrad's orcs as they charged our defensive line. Almost."

-Orros the Bloodyhanded, sentinel of the Northern Reach

The Stone Dragon discipline traces its roots back to an ancient order of dwarves that used the power of the earth to enhance their combat style. A deepstone sentinel immerses himself in these ancient teachings to link himself to the power of stone. Most deepstone sentinels use this power in the defense of their fellow dwarves, though some take a more active approach battling the enemies of their people. In combat, a deepstone sentinel is a living mountain, a stony redoubt that provides shelter to his allies while crashing like an avalanche upon his enemies. The ground shifts and churns under his feet. One moment he stands atop a small, earthen mound that blocks his enemies - the next he summons an earthquake to knock his foes to the ground.

BECOMING A DEEPSTONE SENTINEL

Most dwarves who follow the tradition of the deepstone sentinel begin as crusaders or warblades. Fighters, paladins, and other martial-oriented characters might also find the class to their liking; typically, such characters multiclass (often as rogues or scouts) to meet the skill requirement. On rare occasions, dwarf monks take up the mantle of deepstone sentinel, often moving on to crusader, swordsage, or warblade upon completing progression in the class.

PLAYING A DEEPSTONE SENTINEL

A deepstone sentinel embodies many classic dwarf traits. As a sentinel, you are quiet, slow to anger, taciturn, and blunt. You prefer to let your enemies come to you, rather than charge forward and expose your position. A steady, reliable advance works much better than a wild, risky gambit. Like the earth beneath your feet, you are reliable, steady, and enduring. Other warriors might rely on flashy gambits and fluid tactics, but you have little use for such stratagems. You are the rock that endures, the impenetrable wall of defense that withstands the enemy's assault. When it is time to attack, you unleash your fury in an avalanche of steel. Until then, you let your foes waste their efforts against your sturdy armor and thick shield.

Combat

A deepstone sentinel is, in essence, a mobile defensive position. Once you enter mountain fortress stance, you form a useful barrier against enemies who seek to skirt around you and attack your allies. Once you gain the indomitable redoubt ability, you can combine mountain fortress stance with a stance from the Stone Dragon discipline, such as roots of the mountain, making you nearly impossible to circumvent or overcome in battle.

Generally speaking, as a deepstone sentinel you should focus on staying in front of your companions. In most cases, slower monsters such as giants, and other melee combatants should have to fight through you before they can attack your allies. Your ability to stop a foe dead in his tracks with stone curse, particularly if you wield a reach weapon, makes any attempt to slip around you a risky gamble at best. You excel at controlling the battlefield. Look to create chokepoints that force an enemy to enter and remain in the area of your abilities.

Advancement

Joining the deepstone sentinels is a difficult task, since a prospective candidate must not only display great skill at arms but also master difficult mystic secrets of the earth itself. The sentinels tend to resist training adventurers and other lone wolves. In battle, the sentinels are expected to form a mighty defensive bulwark against more numerous enemies of the dwarves, such as orcs, goblins, and ogres. A sentinel intent on learning the secrets of this order, then striking out on his own, is a poor investment in the order's eyes. An adventuring dwarf who becomes a sentinel must prove himself in battle, usually by rendering a great service to a dwarf clan home, or by showing that his adventures directly aid the dwarf people.

Once you become a sentinel, you can expect most dwarves to treat you with respect and admiration. Yet, these accolades come with expectations that you will always fight hard and true for the dwarf people. The sentinels have never broken and run from a battle until their allies have all safely withdrawn. Legend has it that the first sentinel to break this tradition will be struck dead by Moradin himself. Whether this tale is true or not, the implication is plain as day. A sentinel would die before abandoning his allies.

As you gain levels in this prestige class, look for feats and abilities that increase your reach, make it easier for you to handle crowds of opponents, and boost your AC. You can expect your enemies to target you for destruction quickly, since as long as you remain standing, you prevent them from harming your friends.

Resources

You can expect a place to sleep and more than enough food and drink from any dwarf clan home. The sentinels maintain outposts in most major dwarf cities and citadels built near orc, goblin, and giant hordes. As an adventurer, your fellow sentinels are likely eager for news of the outside world and of the rest of the order when you visit these bastions of dwarven strength. If the dwarves face a threat of any sort, you will be expected to contribute to a solution. Although this can be a burden, your position as a respected figure also makes it easy for you to sway dwarf leaders and organize your people in the face of a threat. If you advise the dwarf king to send a raiding party to slip into an orc stronghold and slay the red dragon that leads the tribes, you can expect smiths to forge sturdy armor and deadly weapons for the raiding party, while clerics of Moradin and dwarf mages craft scrolls and potions that the group might need.

DEEPSTONE SENTINELS IN THE WORLD

"When the sentinels came through the east gate, we halted our efforts to reinforce the northern walls. Our fortifications had arrived."

-General Rurik Axethrower, IX Rockhome Legion

Deepstone sentinels tend to remain within the dwarf holds they have sworn to defend. Typically, only a great threat to the dwarf people, a quest important to their continuing prosperity, or a threat from a distant land can cause one to become an adventurer. A PC dwarf might strive to join the order to prove himself to his people, or the righteous nature of his quest might compel the sentinels to offer him training in their mystic fighting style.

Organization

The deepstone sentinels practice their fighting art in vaults hidden far beneath dwarfstrongholds. Beneath the deepest mines, below the winding passages that lead to distant strongholds and subterranean caverns, the sentinels have small, austere academies where they train the next generation of sentinels, practice their fighting styles, and bury their dead. Tradition holds that many of a citadel's most important treasures are stored here, both to keep them hidden from the outside world and to place them under the trustworthy protection of the sentinels.

A deepstone sentinel is a member of an elite fighting unit, one that serves as both the first and last line of defense for the dwarves. In battle, they are the dauntless core that the dwarves rally around. When orcs and giants threaten a dwarf stronghold, the sentinels must stand resolute to protect key passages, tunnels, and other entrances. If the sentinels fall, the stronghold is often lost.

NPC Reactions

Dwarves have a natural inclination to respect and admire deepstone sentinels, since they are seen as embodiments of three dwarven virtues - courage, loyalty, and wisdom in the lore of earth and stone. Nondwarves tend to know little of the sentinels, because they rarely trumpet their talents or show off their abilities outside combat. Orcs and giants hate sentinels, but they are forced to respect a sentinel's fighting ability.

DEEPSTONE SENTINEL LORE

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (history) can research deepstone sentinels to learn more about them. When a character makes a skill check, read or paraphrase the following, including the information from lower DCs.

DC 10: Deepstone sentinels are dwarf warriors who are renowned for breaking enemy charges and forming a dauntless line in battle.

DC 15: The sentinels have the ability to control the earth. At their command, they cause the ground to become broken and sloped, making a charge against them almost impossible.

DC 20: Sentinels practice a strange form of martial magic by tapping into the power of the earth. They cause the ground to shake and disruptive terrain to form. When you fight a sentinel, you fight the earth itself.

Any PC who has friendly relations with a local dwarf stronghold can likely gain an audience with a sentinel's commander. Sentinels tend to avoid contact with outsiders, for fear of mingling with spies and others who seek to learn their weaknesses or plot against them.

DEEPSTONE SENTINELS IN THE GAME

Deepstone sentinels are relatively easy to add into the game world, given that they are secretive, few in number, and confined to dwarf strongholds. A dwarf PC might never have heard of this order simply because the citadel where he grew up lacked such an elite fighting unit. The sentinels could also be a relatively new development in your world, particularly if the abilities outlined in this book are a new form of martial art. Dwarf characters who rely on heavy armor are a good match for this class. The armor helps turn a dwarf into a tremendous obstacle for enemies without penalizing his speed.

Adaptation

The key concept of the deepstone sentinel is manipulation of the terrain on which the character is fighting. This class provides the mechanics for an interesting opponent, since it gives melee-oriented characters access to abilities that would normally be reserved for spellcasters. An order of evil stone giants or fire giants with access to these abilities would make a daunting opponent. You could also change this class into a druidic warrior or wild elf forest sentinel who creates an entangle effect when he enters the basic stance of the class in an area of natural vegetation, and redesign the remaining class abilities in accordance with this new concept.

Sample Encounter

The PCs are likely to meet deepstone sentinels as allies, particularly if they fight against giants and orcs. Should the PCs undertake a quest for the dwarves, a sentinel might accompany them to aid them in their task. In any major battle involving dwarves, a unit of sentinels could be present.

EL 13: Karthak the Indomitable (LN male dwarf fighter 10/deepstone sentinel 3) is a rare deepstone sentinel who wanders the land as an adventurer. His home was destroyed by a rampaging dragon that now lairs within the halls of his former home. A sentinel's training hall, located far beneath the dwarf citadel, contains a number of powerful magic items that the dragon seeks. Karthak needs adventurers willing to help him venture into the ruins to slay the dragon, along with its demonic and draconic allies, and recover the artifacts before the dragon gets its claws on them.