Monster Prestige Class : Dragon - Sacred Warder Of Bahamut
Among dragon clerics of Bahamut, some are moved primarily by compassion for those who suffer from the depredations of evil dragons. These clerics adopt the sacred warder of Bahamut prestige class, shaping their identities around the idea of protecting those who cannot hope to protect themselves from the awesome power of Tiamat's brood.
Sacred warders of Bahamut are usually gold or silver dragons with some levels in the cleric class. Good half-dragons are surprisingly common among the ranks of the sacred warders, and they find more acceptance there than in most other dragon groups and organizations. Sacred warders often possess some levels of paladin as well as cleric; other classes are rare.
Sacred warders can be found anywhere evil dragons threaten other creatures. Their usually lawful alignment inclines them to cooperate with other creatures. They sometimes operate in pairs, but more often work with groups of humanoids or other creatures drawn from the communities they try to protect.
Requirements
To qualify to become a Sacred Warder of Bahamut, a character must fulfill all the following criteria:
- Race: Any dragon.
- Gender: Lawful good or neutral good.
- Feats: Endure Blows, Power Attack,
- Base Attack Bonus: +15.
- Spells: Able to cast divine spells.
Domain: Protection. - Special: Damage reduction 5/magic.
Class Skills
The sacred warder's class skills are Concentration, Diplomacy, Heal, Knowledge (religion), and Sense Motive.
Skill Points at Each Level: 2 + Int modifier.
Class Features
The following are Class Features of the sacred warder Bahamut prestige class.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A sacred warder gains no proficiency with any weapons, armor, or shields.
Divine Conversion: At 1st level, a sacred warder loses any effective sorcerer level it had previously gained by virtue of its age and draconic variety. Its effective divine spellcasting level increases by the number of sorcerer levels it sacrificed, allowing the dragon to cast cleric spells much more effectively. These effective levels apply only to the dragon's spellcasting, not to other class abilities (such as turning undead or wild shape).
For example, a very old gold dragon/1st-level cleric adopts the sacred warder of Bahamut prestige class. Its sorcerer caster level of 13th converts into thirteen effective cleric levels, giving the dragon the spellcasting ability of a 14th-level cleric.
Smite Evil Dragons (Su): Once per day, a sacred warder of Bahamut of at least 2nd level may attempt to smite an evil dragon with one normal melee attack. It adds its Charisma bonus to its attack roll and deals 1 extra point of damage per class level. If the sacred warder accidentally smites a dragon that is not evil, or a creature that is not a dragon, the smite has no effect but it is still used up for that day. A sacred warder can smite any creature of the dragon type that has an evil alignment.
At 6th level, a sacred warder may smite evil dragons twice per day and at 10th level it can do so three times per day.
Spellcasting: From 2nd level on, when a new sacred warder level is gained, the dragon gains new spells per day as if it had also gained a level in a divine spellcasting class it belonged to before it added the prestige class. It does not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained (an improved chance of turning or rebuking undead, wild shape, and so on). This essentially means that the dragon adds the level of sacred warder to the level of whatever divine spellcasting class the dragon has, then determines spells per day and caster level accordingly. If the dragon had more than one divine spellcasting class before becoming a sacred warder, the dragon must decide to which class it adds each level of sacred warder for the purpose of determining spells per day
A very old gold dragon/1st-level cleric/2nd-level sacred warder has the spellcasting ability of a 15th-level cleric: 13 in divine conversion of its sorcerer spellcasting levels, 1 in its single cleric level, and 1 from its two levels in the prestige class.
If a dragon advances an age category after taking levels in this class, the added levels of spellcasting ability are added to its effective divine spellcasting level. If the very old gold dragon in the example above lives to be ancient, its spellcasting level would increase by 2, so it would cast spells as a 17th-level cleric.
Aura of Courage (Ex): At 3rd level, a sacred warder becomes immune to fear effects. In addition, the dragon's frightful presence ability alters so that it inspires allies as well as striking terror into enemies. Allies within the radius of the dragon's aura (30 feet x its age category) are unaffected by the dragon's frightful presence and receive a morale bonus on their saving throws against fear equal to the dragon's class level + its Cha modifier. Allies within the aura cannot be panicked by an evil dragon's frightful presence, regardless of their Hit Dice.
Enemies within the aura are affected normally by the dragon's frightful presence.
Sacred Shield (Su): At 7th level, a sacred warder gains the ability to surround itself with a protective aura that lasts 10 minutes and protects the dragon's body and equipment from attacks. The shield absorbs 10 points of damage per class level. Once the shield absorbs that much damage, it collapses. The damage can be from any source - weapons, spells, any energy type and so on. Damage the dragon would not take anyway (fire damage against a gold dragon, for example, or weapon damage blocked by the dragon's damage reduction) does not count against the damage absorbed by the shield. The dragon can use this ability three times per day.
Area Sacred Shield (Su): At 12th level, a sacred warder of Bahamut can extend its sacred shield to protect an area with a radius of 30 feet. The dragon can place the barrier anywhere within its line of sight, and can choose to make it mobile with respect to an unattended object or willing creature (including the dragon itself). The shield blocks incoming attacks, but creatures inside the shield can still attack out through the shield.
| Sacred Warder Of Bahamut | Hit Die: d10 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CL | BAB | Fort | Ref | Will | Special | Spellcasting |
| 1st | +1 | +2 | +0 | +2 | Divine conversion | - |
| 2nd | +2 | +3 | +0 | +3 | Smite evil dragons 1/day | +1 level of existing class |
| 3rd | +3 | +3 | +1 | +3 | Aura of courage | +1 level of existing class |
| 4th | +4 | +4 | +1 | +4 | - | +1 level of existing class |
| 5th | +5 | +4 | +1 | +4 | - | +1 level of existing class |
| 6th | +6 | +5 | +2 | +5 | Smite evil dragons 2/day | +1 level of existing class |
| 7th | +7 | +5 | +2 | +5 | Sacred shield | +1 level of existing class |
| 8th | +8 | +6 | +2 | +6 | - | +1 level of existing class |
| 9th | +9 | +6 | +3 | +6 | - | +1 level of existing class |
| 10th | +10 | +7 | +3 | +7 | Smite evil dragons 3/day | +1 level of existing class |
| 11th | +11 | +7 | +3 | +7 | - | +1 level of existing class |
| 12th | +12 | +8 | +4 | +8 | Area sacred shield | +1 level of existing class |
Source: Draconomicon