King’s Justice

The Quintessential Paladin II

Author Gareth Hanrahan

Series Quintessential Series

Publisher Mongoose Publishing

A paladin is synonymous with justice and incorruptibility and therefore it is common for respected paladins to be appointed as inquisitors and magistrates. The king’s justice is the highest of these, a paladin who investigates the most sensitive or heinous crimes. The king’s justice must be equally adept at dealing with the highest levels of the nobility as well as slogging through sewers and dungeons to root out heretic cults. The justice learns to channel his holy power into his legal authority; he is granted the power of divine judgement and can damn or save a soul.

Hit Die: d10.

Requirements

To qualify to become a king’s justice, a character must fulfil all the following criteria:
Skills: Bluff 3 ranks, Diplomacy 12 ranks, Forgery 3 ranks, Knowledge (nobility & royalty) 6 ranks, Search 6 ranks, Sense Motive 12 ranks.
Feats: Investigator.
Special: The character must be able to cast or use the following spells: detect evil, zone of truth, discern lies.

The King’s Justice
Class Level	Base Attack	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Special
1st	+1	+0	+0	+2	Symbol of authority
2nd	+2	+0	+0	+3	Variant detection I
3rd	+3	+1	+1	+3	Long experience
4th	+4	+1	+1	+4	Aura of justice 1/day
5th	+5	+1	+1	+4	Variant detection II
6th	+6	+2	+2	+5	Pronounce sentence 1/day
7th	+7	+2	+2	+5	Aura of justice 2/day
8th	+8	+2	+2	+6	Variant detection II, Divine Insight
9th	+9	+3	+3	+6	Pronounce sentence 2/day
10th	+10	+3	+3	+7	Aura of justice 3/day, divine judgement

Class Skills

The king’s justice class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Bluff (Charisma), Concentration (Constitution), Diplomacy (Charisma), Intimidate (Charisma), Knowledge (any) (Intelligence), Move Silently (Dexterity), Listen (Wisdom), Search (Intelligence), Spellcraft (Wisdom), Spot (Wisdom) and Sense Motive (Wisdom).

Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Intelligence modifier.

Class Features

Armour and Weapon Proficiency: King’s justices gain no additional armour or weapon proficiencies.

Symbol of Authority (Ex): The king’s justice gains a +2 morale bonus to Diplomacy, Knowledge (nobility & royalty) and Intimidate checks.

Variant Detection (Su): At 2nd level, and every three levels thereafter, the king’s justice may choose one of the following traits. He may now detect that trait, just like he detects evil. The traits are animals, chaos, good, law, magic, poison, scrying and undead.

Aura of Justice (Sp): Once per day, the king’s justice may invoke an aura of justice. This works just like a zone of truth, as if cast by a cleric of level equal to the king’s justice’s character level. The character gains additional uses of the aura of justice as he progresses.

Long Experience (Ex): Time spent observing the guilty has taught the character to Spot things that are out of place. He may add his Intelligence modifier to Sense Motive and Spot checks.

Pronounce Sentence (Sp): The king’s justice may cast mark of justice once per day. This variant of the spell has a range of Medium (100 feet plus 10 feet per level) and a casting time of one round, but if the target is not restrained, then the spell has a Reflex save to negate it. The spell is cast as if by a cleric of a level equal to the king’s justice’s character level.

Divine Insight (Su): Once per day, the king’s justice may gain a sacred bonus to Intelligence, Wisdom or Charisma equal to his class level. Invoking this bonus is a free action and the bonus lasts for one round per class level.

Divine Judgement (Sp): The king’s justice may channel divine authority through his sentences. He may use Atonement or damnation once per day when judging a criminal. Using damnation ensures that the criminal is condemned to the hellish regions and cannot be raised by anything short of a wish or miracle.

Epic King’s Justice

Hit Die: d10.
Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 4 + Intelligence modifier.
Bonus Feats: The epic king’s justice gains a bonus feat every four levels higher than 20th.