Ghostwalk Prestige Class : Deathwarden Chanter

Requirements

To qualify to become a Deathwarden Chanter, a character must fulfill all the following criteria:

Class Skills

The Deathwarden chanter's class skills are Concentration, Craft, Diplomacy, Heal, Knowledge (ghost lore), Knowledge (religion), Knowledge (the planes), and Profession.

Skill Points at Each Level: 2 + Int modifier.

The Deathwarden chanters are the most prestigious, respected, and mysterious members of the dwarven Deathwarden clan. They lead the rituals to prepare bodies for their journey into the afterlife (the Hallowing), and they direct the actions of other dwarves when the physical remains of their charges or the Veil of the Souls itself is threatened.

Most chanters are clerics or fighter/clerics. Sometimes a dwarf bard takes up the mantle of the Deathwarden chanter, and even less common are the paladins or rangers that become chanters. Members of other classes are either too undisciplined, too focused on the world of the living, or have incompatible philosophies with the Deathwardens. The chanters, like the Deathwardens as a whole, are an enigma to most people of Manifest. The common folk know that the dwarves protect the bodies of the fallen and guard the Veil of Souls, but none know their methods or why guarding the gate against the living is so important. As the leaders of the clan, the chanters are more aloof and reserved toward outsiders than all others and go about their strange business without feeling the need to explain themselves to those outside the clan.

Class Features

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Deathwarden chanters gain no proficiency with any weapons, armor, or shields.

Spellcasting: A Deathwarden chanter continues training in divine magic. Thus, when a new Deathwarden chanter level is gained, the character gains new spells per day as if he had also gained a level in a divine spellcasting class he belonged to before he added the prestige class. He does not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained (additional use of wild shape, metamagic or item creation feats, and so on). This essentially means that he adds the level of Deathwarden chanter to the level of some other spellcasting class the character has, then determines spells per day and caster level accordingly.

Smite Undead (Su): With this ability, a chanter can attempt to smite undead with a normal melee attack. He adds his Charisma modifier (if positive) to his attack roll and deals 1 extra point of damage per class level. This extra damage is from positive energy and is not affected by damage reduction. If the chanter accidentally smites a creature that is not undead, the smite has no effect but is still used up. If the chanter has a smite ability from another class (such as paladin), he may use that smite ability separately or combine them into a single strike if the target meets all criteria for all smites (such as evil and undead for a paladin/chanter).

Undead's Foe: A chanter's class level stacks with his cleric and paladin levels for the purpose of turning undead.

Iron Soul (Ex): Upon attaining 2nd level, a Deathwarden chanter gets a +4 bonus on saving throws against death effects and on saving throws to remove a negative level.

Great Rune (Sp): Deathwarden chanters come to understand how to create powerful runes, which they can inscribe on items and locations. At 3rd, 6th, and 9th level, the chanter chooses one rune. His level + Wisdom modifier determines how many runes he can choose from at any given time. He can't choose the same rune twice.

A rune must be drawn, painted, or engraved on a solid surface or object. Some are active runes, which begin functioning as soon as they are completed, while others are passive runes, triggered by certain conditions set at the time of the rune's creation. Passive runes are given triggering conditions similar to a glyph of warding and protect an area up to 5 square feet per caster level. This area may be a flat surface, an object, a doorway, or a section of corridor.

Some runes require a sacrifice by the chanter. For example, a rune that functions like a spell glyph from a glyph of warding requires the chanter to use on of his spell slots to power that rune. Until the rune is triggered or negated, the chanter cannot use that spell slot. Once the rune is triggered or negated, the chanter can once again prepare spells with that slot after his next period of rest and time of prayer.

Drawing a rune takes 10 minutes and requires concentration, just as if the chanter were casting a spell. A chanter can finish all but the last symbol of a rune, allowing him to finish it later as a single standard action (a chanter can complete another chanter's rune only if he knows that rune and succeeds on a Spellcraft check against DC 20). However, an incomplete rune is vulnerable to outside interference - any creature waling upon or disturbing the incomplete rune negates it entirely, just as if it were a spell that had been interrupted during casting.

A completed rune is anywhere from 1 to 5 feet in diameter, depending on the desires of the chanter who created it. Once completed, a rune is no more difficult to notice than an ordinary drawing. Safely removing a rune requires the use of dispel magic or a similar spell (the dispel check is made against the caster level of the chanter who created it) or a Disable Device check (DC 25 + chanter's class level + chanter's Wis modifier).

For runes that have saving throws, the DC of the save is equal to 10 + chanter's class level + chanter's Wis modifier.

A chanter can dissipate one of his own runes by touching it and spending a standard action concentrating on it. If the dissipated rune requires a sacrifice to create it (such as a spell slot), the sacrificed ability cannot be used until the rune is discharged or dissipated, after which it returns at the normal rate for its type (such as after 8 hours of rest, when other spells are prepared). All runes have a duration of "permanent until discharged" unless otherwise stated.

Level + Wis ModifierRune
1Spell rune
2Ward rune
3Turning rune
4Armor rune
5Thunder rune
6Law rune
7Clan rune
8Veil rune
9Song rune
10Ancestor rune

Ancestor rune (Active): This powerful rune calls one of the chanter's dead ancestors back form beyond the Veil to fight on his behalf. The rune acts as a planar ally spell, but always summons a dwarf cleric or fighter with the celestial or fiendish template and with a class level no greater than the chanter's caster level. Completing this rune is very draining, and for an entire week after its completion, the chanter gains two negative levels. These negative levels never result in actual level loss and cannot be removed in any way (including by restoration spells) before the week is over. During the creation of this rune, the chanter sacrifices 100 gp worth of treasure or magic items per level of the ancestor called. The ancestor remains for no more than 6 hours. A chanter can use this rune no more than once per week.

Armor Rune (Active): When completed, the rune emanates a magic vestment spell to a radius of 5 feet, affecting all allies of the chanter within this emanation. The power of the rune lasts 12 hours. A chanter can have only one of these runes in effect at any time; creating a second one causes the first one to dissipate.

Clan Rune (Active): All dwarves within 30 feet of this rune gain a +2 luck bonus on attack rolls, weapon damage rolls, saves, and skill checks. This effect begins once the rune is inscribed and lasts 24 hours. A chanter can only have one of these runes in effect at any time; creating a second one causes the first one to dissipate.

Law Rune (Active): This rune affects creatures within 60 feet of it, providing all lawful beings a +2 competence bonus on saving throws and increasing the DC of all law spells cast from within this area by 2. A chanter can have only one of these runes in effect at any time; creating a second one causes the first one to dissipate.

Song Rune (Active): This rune constantly emits a low chant in the language of the Deathwardens. All allies of the chanter within 60 feet of the rune gain three benefits. First, they are immune to fear effects. Second, they stabilize automatically when their hit points drop to -1 or lower (as if wearing a periapt of wound closure). Third, they gain a +2 bonus on saves against sonic effects. The rune lasts 1 minute per class level. A chanter can have only one of these runes in effect at any time; creating a second one causes the first one to dissipate.

Spell Rune (Passive): This rune functions like the spell glyph of a glyph of warding. The chanter sacrifices a cleric spell slot of the stored spell's level to power the rune, so a rune of hold person would use one of the chanter's 2nd level cleric spell slots. The target's save DC is based on the chanter's rune save DC and not the save DC of the spell.

Thunder Rune (Active): When this rune is completed, a loud peal of thunder erupts from it. All enemies within 60 feet of the rune are dazed for 1 round and must make Fortitude saves or be deafened. This is a sonic effect. The deafness is similar to that caused by a thunderstone (permanent, but cannot be negated with dispel magic or similar spells, although remove deafness works). A chanter can draw this rune once per day.

Turning Rune (Passive): A chanter must sacrifice one use of his turn undead ability to create this rune. When triggered, the rune activates as if the chanter himself were using his turn undead ability at that location. This rune is often used to protect sites that suffer frequent attacks by undead that otherwise would not have a cleric protecting them.

Veil Rune (Active): This rune draws upon the power of the Veil itself. Living creatures within 60 feet of the rune are fatigued as the power of the Veil saps their life energy (leaving the area negates the fatigue). Ghosts within 60 feet of the rune must make a Will saving throw (DC 10 + 1/2 chanter's class level + chanter's Cha modifier) every round or succumb to the Calling. Up to 20 creatures can be excluded from this effect; the names of these creatures are written into the rune during its creation. A chanter can draw this rune once per day.

Ward Rune (Passive): A chanter must have the deep chant ability to learn this rune. The ward rune is a powerful alarm with two effects. First, the creature that triggers the rune must make a Fortitude save or be stunned for 1d6 rounds. Second, the rune acts as the first from the deep chant ability (see below), transmitting a short message to all Deathwarden dwarves within 1 mile. A chanter can have only one of these runes in effect at any time; creating a second one causes the first one to dissipate.

Deep Chant (Su): This ability, gained by a chanter at 5th level, has two different functions, both of which require a full round action and only one of which can be used per day. First, it can be used to send a telepathic message to all Deathwarden dwarves within a 1 mile radius of the chanter's location. This message can be no more than ten words long.

Second, a deep chant can act as a boosted turn undead attempt, as if the chanter had the Divine Energy Focus feat. This does not count toward his normal number of turning attempts per day and does not stack with the Divine Energy Focus feat.

Shepherd Soul (Su): Once per day, a chanter of 7th level or higher can force a ghost within 50 feet to depart the Material Plane and enter the True Afterlife, as if using a dismissal spell. The chanter uses his caster level, not his chanter level, to determine the modifier to the effect's save DC. This ability works even if the ghost is within the Manifest Ward.

Deathwarden ChanterHit Die: d8
CLBABFortRefWillSpecialSpells
1+0+0+0+2Smite undead 1/day, undead's foe+1 level of existing divine spellcasting class
2+1+0+0+3Iron soul+1 level of existing divine spellcasting class
3+2+1+1+3Great rune+1 level of existing divine spellcasting class
4+3+1+1+4Smite undead 2/day+1 level of existing divine spellcasting class
5+3+1+1+4Deep chant 1/day+1 level of existing divine spellcasting class
6+4+2+2+5Great rune+1 level of existing divine spellcasting class
7+5+2+2+5Shepherd soul+1 level of existing divine spellcasting class
8+6+2+2+6Smite undead 3/day+1 level of existing divine spellcasting class
9+6+3+3+6Great rune+1 level of existing divine spellcasting class
10+7+3+3+7Deep chant 2/day+1 level of existing divine spellcasting class

Source: Ghostwalk

Older Prestige class adapted to 3.5

[Back]
Other Exclusive Prestige Classes