General Prestige Class : Faith Scion
A faith scion wields his legendary blade in the name of his deity - or, in the case of a druid, in the service of nature. A legendary weapon usually comes into the hands of a faith scion either as a gift from his religious order or as a blessing from his deity. Because of the divine nature of these weapons, clerics, druids and paladins are ideally suited for this prestige class, though other classes can also qualify.
A divinely influenced legendary weapon should be rare and unique. Certainly no deity would create multiple copies of one weapon as a matter of course, and few religious orders can afford to do so. Thus, each weapon should grant different abilities, except in special cases. For example, duplicate weapons might be created especially to combat the enemies of a church, or perhaps to destroy (or create) undead. A divine legendary sword of an order devoted to healing might even be less a weapon than an instrument for easing the suffering of others.
A faith scion usually has high status within his religious order. His possession of a legendary weapon implies that he has the favor of his deity, or that he is more in tune with nature than others of his order, in the case of a druid. Depending on the alignment of his deity, though, his ownership of the weapon could be construed as an invitation to try to take it from him.
Requirements
To qualify to become a faith scion, a character must fulfill the criteria given in his particular weapon's entry. (For an example, see Hammer of All Souls, below.)
Class Skills
The faith scion's class skills are Concentration, Craft, Diplomacy, Heal, Knowledge (arcana), Knowledge (nature), Knowledge (religion), Profession, Ride, Spellcraft, and Survival.
Domains and Class Skills: A cleric who gains additional class skills from his domain can treat those skills as class skills for the faith scion class.
Skill Points at Each Level: 2 + Int modifier.
Class Features
The following are class features of the faith scion prestige class.
A legendary weapon associated with the class provides a unique set of additional special abilities, which are detailed in the weapon's description. (For an example, see the Hammer of All Souls, below.) These abilities accrue in addition to those already noted below. However, because those abilities are functions of the weapon rather than the wielder, they are lost if the legendary weapon that granted them is lost. The features mentioned below are retained even if the weapon is lost.
Spells per Day/Spells Known: At each faith scion level, a character gains new spells per day (and spells known, if applicable) as if he had also gained a level in a spellcasting class to which he belonged before adding the prestige class level. If the character had more than one spellcasting class before becoming a faith scion, the player must decide to which class to add each faith scion level for the purpose of determining spells per day and spells known.
Special Abilities: Faith scion levels stack with other class levels for determining the effectiveness of the following abilities: animal companions, lay on hands, special mount, turn or rebuke undead, wild shape (including additional daily uses or increased range of sizes or creature types), and wild empathy. For instance, a 5th-level druid/6th-level faith scion could assume wild shape four times per day (including Tiny creatures), and would add 11 (plus Cha modifier) to his wild empathy checks. His animal companion would be treated as that of an 11th-level druid.
| Faith Scion | Hit Die: d8 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CL | BAB | Fort | Ref | Will | Spells |
| 1st | +0 | +2 | +0 | +2 | +1 level of existing divine spellcasting class |
| 2nd | +1 | +3 | +0 | +3 | +1 level of existing divine spellcasting class |
| 3rd | +2 | +3 | +1 | +3 | +1 level of existing divine spellcasting class |
| 4th | +3 | +4 | +1 | +4 | +1 level of existing divine spellcasting class |
| 5th | +3 | +4 | +1 | +4 | +1 level of existing divine spellcasting class |
| 6th | +4 | +5 | +2 | +5 | +1 level of existing divine spellcasting class |
| 7th | +5 | +5 | +2 | +5 | +1 level of existing divine spellcasting class |
| 8th | +6 | +6 | +2 | +6 | +1 level of existing divine spellcasting class |
| 9th | +6 | +6 | +3 | +6 | +1 level of existing divine spellcasting class |
| 10th | +7 | +7 | +3 | +7 | +1 level of existing divine spellcasting class |
Hammer of All Souls
The Hammer of All Souls is said to have been crafted by Moradin Dwarffather himself in the image of his own weapon, Soulhammer. It symbolizes the glory of the dwarven race.
Requirements: Any character can wield the Hammer of All Souls as a +2 adamantine warhammer and also gain the benefit of he Craft bonus and lore of souls special ability described below. A faith scion who wields the Hammer of All Souls gains additional special abilities if the character fulfills the following criteria.
Race: Dwarf.
Alignment: Lawful good.
Base Attack Bonus: +7.
Skills: Craft (armorsmithing) or Craft (weaponsmithing) 10 ranks.
Feats: Armor Proficiency (heavy), Great Fortitude, Power Attack, Weapon Focus (warhammer).
Spells: Ability to cast protection from evil as a divine spell.
Restrictions: Should the wielder of the Hammer of All Souls become an alignment other than lawful good, or attack a lawful good, lawful neutral, or neutral good-aligned dwarf, he loses all special abilities granted by the faith scion prestige class. To regain these abilities, the scion must receive an atonement spell from a dwarf cleric of Moradin.
Maintenance: A wielder of the Hammer of All Souls must strike the hammer against an anvil at least once every seven days. Failure to perform this task reduces the hammer's enhancement bonus by 1. Multiple failures are not cumulative (that is, if the hammer goes two weeks without striking an anvil, the reduction does not increase to 2).
Attributes: The Hammer of All Souls has the following attributes.
Hardness/Hit Points: 30/76.
Caster Level: 15th.
Value: To any character other than a faith scion who meets the above requirements, the Hammer of All Souls appears to be worth as much as a Medium +2 adamantine warhammer that grants the Craft bonus and lore of all souls special ability (market price 21,812 gp).
Special Abilities: The Hammer of All Souls provides a number of special abilities to its wielder, depending on the character's class level in the faith scion prestige class (see the table below).
Initial Abilities: When first acquired, the Hammer of All Souls functions as a +2 adamantine warhammer. Anyone who wields it, whether a faith scion or not, also benefits from the Craft bonus and lore of souls ability (see below).
Abilities Granted by The Hammer Of All Souls
Faith Scion Level Ability Gained - Craft bonus - Lore of souls 1st Smite evil 1/day 2nd Fortitude of souls +2 3rd Throw and return 4th Enhancement bonus +3 5th Smite evil 2/day 6th Fortitude of souls +4 7th Enhancement bonus +4 8th Fortitude of souls +6 9th Smite evil 3/day 10th Enhancement bonus +5 Craft Bonus (Ex): The owner of the Hammer of All Souls gains a +5 insight bonus on all Craft checks related to stone or metal. This bonus increases by an additional +1 for every faith scion class level gained, including 1st level.
Lore of Souls (Su): Three times per day, the owner of the Hammer of All Souls can use a full-round action to consult the knowledge of his dwarven ancestors. This gives the character a bonus on any one Knowledge check (made as part of the action) equal to his faith scion level (if any) his Wisdom bonus if any). (At the DM's discretion, if the Knowledge check is directly related to dwarvenkind, the bonus granted by the character's faith scion level is doubled.) The check is treated as a trained skill check, even if the character has no ranks in that Knowledge skill.
Smite Evil (Su): Once per day, a faith scion wielding the Hammer of All Souls may smite evil with an attack. The attack may be a melee attack or a ranged attack, but must be delivered by the Hammer of All Souls. The wielder adds 4 to his attack roll and deals 2 extra points of damage per faith scion level. If the wielder accidentally smites a creature that is not evil, the smite has no effect, but the ability is still used up for that day.
A wielder may use this ability twice per day at 5th level and three times per day at 9th level.
Fortitude of Souls (Su): A faith scion of 2nd level or higher wielding the Hammer of All Souls derives endurance from the support of his ancestors, gaining a +2 enhancement bonus to Constitution. Ar 6th level, the bonus increases to +4, and at 5th level to +6.
Throw and Return (Su): Three times per day, a faith scion of 3rd level or higher wielding the Hammer of All Souls can treat the weapon as a throwing returning weapon. Activating this ability is a free action, and it lasts for 1 round.
Source: Unearthed Arcana