Contemplative - General Prestige Class
This is a general Prestige class that may be applicable to the Forgotten Realms Campaign
For any servant of a deity, no joy is greater than at those rare moments when the presence of her patron deity is a real, tangible force, sending shivers of power through her body and sending her soul soaring. For some, the taste for this experience is such a powerful attraction that they begin devoting their lives to cultivating it, hoping to attain greater closeness to their deity through a life of contemplation. Spending hours in prayer and meditation, these devoted followers purify their souls, fitting them for closer contact with the divine. While some contemplatives withdraw from the world into private retreats, others remain active, even adventuring, finding that true nearness to their deity comes from living out the deity's will in the world. In return, they find their minds, bodies, and souls purified, perfected, and finally brought close to union with their deity
Some contemplatives, rather than devoting their lives to a deity, strive to conform themselves to an some other abstract principle such as an alignment. Their mission is no less divine than that of contemplatives devoted to a deity, and their methods substantially the same. Many such contemplatives live as itinerant philosophers, teaching their doctrines in schools or in the marketplace as they travel from city to city, hoping to enlighten the masses.
Most contemplatives are clerics, though paladins are also often drawn to the mystic's journey. Members of other classes rarely have sufficient devotion to a deity or philosophy to choose this course.
An NPC contemplative might be a reclusive hermit, a church leader, or a passionate champion of her deity. Such a character might have something a group of player characters needs - a holy relic, a bit of sacred lore, or simply a higher-level spell than the clerics in town can cast.
Hit Die: d6
To qualify to become a Contemplative, a character must fulfill all the following criteria:
- Skills: Knowledge (religion) 13 ranks.
- Spellcasting: Able to cast 1st-level divine spells.
- Special: Must have had direct contact with one's patron deity or a direct servant of that deity, or with an enlightened being embodying the highest principles of an alignment (a solar, for example).
From:
Complete Divine
Defenders of the Faith
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