Faerûnian Prestige Class : Arcane Devotee
Every major faith numbers sorcerers and wizards among its fervent followers. While some wizards ally themselves with churches close to their own beliefs out of caution and convenience, others are devout representatives of their faith and willingly subordinate their own causes to those of their patron deity, becoming arcane devotees.
Arcane devotees complement the divine magic of a church's clerical leaders and are among the most important and respected members of a deity's following. They provide much of the magical firepower of their faith and collaborate with the church's clerics in the creation of magic items requiring both arcane and divine spells. Arcane devotees provide support for the church's armies in time of war, divine the intentions of the enemies of the faith, and often take the front line to decimate enemy troops or destroy spellcasters of rival faiths.
Naturally, arcane devotees are always arcane spellcasters. Sorcerers and wizards are the most common type, but some music-oriented deities tend to have more bard devotees, and a rare few of the more evil deities have been known to have assassin devotees that focus on cruel and terrible forms of death magic.
Requirements
To qualify to become an Arcane Devotee, a character must fulfill all the following criteria:
- Skills: Knowledge (religion) 5 ranks
- Feats: Enlarge Spell.
- Spellcasting: Ability to cast 4th-level arcane spells.
- Patron: An arcane devotee must have a patron deity, and it must be the deity of which she is a devotee.
Class Skills
The arcane devotee's class skills are Concentration, Craft, Decipher Script, Knowledge (all skills taken individually), Profession, and Spellcraft.
Skill Points at Each Level: 2 + Int modifier.
Class Features
All the following are class features of the arcane devotee prestige class.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Arcane devotees gain no proficiency in any weapon or armor.
Spells per Day: An arcane devotee's training focuses on arcane spells. Thus, when a new arcane devotee level is gained, the character gains new spells per day as if he had also gained a level in whatever arcane 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 (bonus metamagic or item creation feats, bard or assassin abilities, and so on). This essentially means that he adds the level of arcane devotee to the level of whatever other arcane spellcasting class the character has, then determines spells per day and caster level accordingly.
If a character had more than one arcane spellcasting class before he became an arcane devotee, he must decide to which class he adds each level of arcane devotee for the purpose of determining spells per day.
Reach of the Holy (Ex): At 1st level, the arcane devotee may apply the effects of the Enlarge Spell feat to any spell he casts. He does not need to prepare it as an enlarged spell in advance, and the use of this ability does not increase the casting time or use a higher-level spell slot. The arcane devotee may use this ability a number of times per day equal to 1 + his Cha modifier (minimum once per day).
Sacred Defense (Ex): Beginning at 2nd level, the arcane devotee gains a +1 bonus on saving throws against divine spells, as well as the spell-like and supernatural abilities of outsiders. When he reaches 4th level, the bonus increases to +2.
Divine Synergy (Ex): At 3rd level, the arcane devotee learns to harmonize his magic with that of his deity's worshipers. Any time he is the target of a harmless spell cast by a divine spellcaster of his patron deity, the spell functions as if affected by the Empower Spell feat, if applicable. The spell must be cast by another character - even if the arcane devotee has levels in a divine spellcasting class, he does not gain this benefit for divine spells he casts on himself. A spell that cannot be affected by the Empower Spell feat gains no further benefit from this ability.
Divine Shroud (Sp): Once per day, a 5th-level arcane devotee may surround himself with a shroud of glowing divine power that protects him against hostile spells. This ability functions like the spell resistance spell (caster level equals arcane devotee level), except that the divine shroud is of a color appropriate to the arcane devotee's patron. An arcane devotee of Tyr, for example, is surrounded by a steady, rose-purple glow, while an arcane devotee of Cyric is wrapped in a pulsating cloud of purple and black.
| Arcane Devotee | Hit Dice: d4 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CL | BAB | Fort | Ref | Will | Special | Spells per Day |
| 1 | +0 | +0 | +0 | +2 | Reach of the Holy | +1 level of existing arcane spellcasting class |
| 2 | +1 | +0 | +0 | +3 | Sacred defense +1 | +1 level of existing arcane spellcasting class |
| 3 | +1 | +1 | +1 | +3 | Divine Energy | +1 level of existing arcane spellcasting class |
| 4 | +2 | +1 | +1 | +4 | Sacred defense +2 | +1 level of existing arcane spellcasting class |
| 5 | +2 | +1 | +1 | +4 | Divine shroud | +1 level of existing arcane spellcasting class |
Source: Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting
Player's Guide to Faerûn