General Prestige Class : Divine Oracle
Some people call them mad, and certainly some divine oracles are driven mad by the visions they see. Some people doubt their words; indeed, some divine oracles are cursed never to be believed. Wherever the deities are known to speak to mortals, some mortals hear their voices with a unique clarity and gain insight into the past, the present, and the future by virtue of their unusual status. Divine oracles are such mortals, blessed - or cursed - by visions from their deities.
All divine oracles are spellcasters, and most were clerics or druids before adopting the divine oracle prestige class. Whatever their other classes, all divine oracles share a particular devotion to the Divination school of magic, having mastered all available means to catch glimpses of the future.
NPC divine oracles often live in out-of-the-way places, though usually close enough to civilization that people with pressing questions about the future can seek them out to have their questions answered. They frequently inhabit sacred shrines or ancient temples and rarely take an active part in world affairs.
Requirements
To qualify to become a Divine Oracle, a character must fulfill all the following criteria:
- Skills: Knowledge (religion) 8 ranks
- Feats: Skill Focus (Knowledge [Religion]).
- Spells: Able to cast 2nd-level divine spells.
Class Skills
The divine oracle's class skills are Concentration, Craft, Heal, Intimidate, Knowledge (religion), Profession, and Spellcraft.
Skill Points at Each Level: 2 + Int modifier.
Class Features
All of the following are class features of the divine oracle prestige class.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Divine oracles are proficient with all simple weapons. They are not proficient with any type of armor or with shields, but usually carry these proficiencies from their previous class.
Spells per Day: A divine oracle continues advancing in spellcasting ability as well as gaining the abilities of her new class. Thus, when a new divine oracle level is gained, the character gains new spells per day as if she had also gained a level in whatever spellcasting class she belonged to before she added the prestige class. She does not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained (improved chance of controlling or rebuking undead, wild shape ability, and so on). This essentially means that she adds the level of divine oracle to the level of whatever other spellcasting class the character has, then determines spells per day accordingly. For example, if Cassandra, a 10th-level cleric, gains a level as a divine oracle, she gains new spells as if she had risen to 11th level as a cleric, but uses the other divine oracle aspects of level progression such as base attack bonus and save bonuses. If she next gains a level as a cleric, making her an 11th-level cleric/1st-level divine oracle, she gains spells as if she had risen to 12th level as a cleric.
If a character had more than one spellcasting class before she became a divine oracle, the player must decide which class to assign each level of divine oracle for the purpose of determining spells per day.
Prestige Domain: Upon adopting the divine oracle class, the character gains access to the Divination domain. The character gains the granted power associated with the domain (+2 caster level for divination spells), and can choose the spells in that domain as her daily domain spells.
Scry Bonus (Su): A divine oracle has a +2 sacred bonus on all Scry checks.
Prescient Sense (Ex): Beginning at 2nd level, if a divine oracle makes a successful Reflex saving throw against an attack that normally inflicts half damage on a successful save (such as a red dragon's fiery breath or a fireball spell), she instead suffers no damage, since her prescience allowed her to get out of the way faster. This form of evasion works no matter what armor the divine oracle wears, unlike the monk's and rogue's evasion ability.
Divination Enhancement (Ex): Beginning at 3rd level, a divine oracle adds her divine oracle level to her percentage chance of success when using divination spells such as augury or divination. If an 11th-level cleric/4th-level divine oracle casts divination, her chance of success would be 70% (base) + 15% (1% per caster level) + 4% (her divine oracle level), or 89%.
Uncanny Dodge (Ex): Starting at 4th level, a divine oracle gains the ability to react to danger before her senses would normally allow her to do so. The divine oracle retains her Dexterity bonus to AC (if any) regardless of being caught flat footed or struck by an invisible attacker. (She still loses her Dexterity bonus to AC if immobilized.)
At 6th level, the divine oracle can no longer be flanked, since she can react to opponents on opposite sides of her as easily as she can react to a single attacker. This defense denies rogues the ability to use flank attacks to sneak attack the divine oracle. The exception to this defense is that a rogue at least four levels higher than the divine oracle can flank her (and thus sneak attack her). At 8th level, the divine oracle gains an intuitive sense that alerts her to danger from traps, giving her a +1 bonus on Reflex saves made to avoid traps and a +1 dodge bonus to AC against attacks by traps.
Immune to Surprise (Ex): At 10th level, the divine oracle's sensitivity to danger is so great that she is never surprised. She can always take a partial action during a surprise round, unless she is physically restrained from doing so.
| Divine Oracle | Hit Die: d6 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CL | BAB | Fort | Ref | Will | Special | Spells per Day |
| 1st | +0 | +0 | +0 | +2 | Prestige domain: Divination, scry bonus | +1 level of existing class |
| 2nd | +1 | +0 | +0 | +3 | Prescient sense | +1 level of existing class |
| 3rd | +1 | +1 | +1 | +3 | Divination enhancement | +1 level of existing class |
| 4th | +2 | +1 | +1 | +4 | Uncanny dodge (Dex bonus to AC) | +1 level of existing class |
| 5th | +2 | +1 | +1 | +4 | - | +1 level of existing class |
| 6th | +3 | +2 | +2 | +5 | Uncanny dodge (can't be flanked) | +1 level of existing class |
| 7th | +3 | +2 | +2 | +5 | - | +1 level of existing class |
| 8th | +4 | +2 | +2 | +6 | Uncanny dodge (+1 against traps) | +1 level of existing class |
| 9th | +4 | +3 | +3 | +6 | - | +1 level of existing class |
| 10th | +5 | +3 | +3 | +7 | Immune to surprise | +1 level of existing class |
Source: Complete Divine
Defenders of the Faith