Lord Protector

The Quintessential Paladin

Author Alejandro Melchor

Series Quintessential Series

Publisher Mongoose Publishing

Publish date 2002

Noble families sire many children with the younger children not really expecting to become heirs to either land nor title. Some of these children become warriors for their older siblings, while others join the priesthood. A third group does both. Granted a title for their efforts but not land, a lord protector is the appointed guardian of the people of his family’s land, although some lord protectors join the service of other nobles or even the king. A lord protector is expected to know what is happening throughout the realm, assisting his liege in keeping the land safe for his subjects. He is a cross between a seneschal, a champion and a sheriff and takes his vows to both his liege and the safety of the people very seriously. When a noble begins losing his way, the lord protector is there to remind him where it lies.

Even if they represent the law, lord protectors tend to be well liked by the people thanks to their priestly training and their talent to care for the people, not only to boss them around. fighters seldom follow this road as it requires them to learn additional skills, while clerics and paladins are better suited for this task. Many lord protectors hail from the ranks of paladins who wish to retire from active adventuring or campaigning, and call upon their family or their fame for a position where they do not risk their life as often, but where they can still do some good.

Hit Die: d8.

Requirements

Alignment: Lawful good.
Skills: Gather Information 5 ranks, Diplomacy 5 ranks and Knowledge (nobility and royalty) 5 ranks.
Feat: Leadership.
Special: Access to bless or aura of courage and to detect evil whether by spell or ability.

Class Skills

The lord protector’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Concentration (Constitution), Craft (Intelligence), Diplomacy (Charisma), Gather
Information (Charisma), Handle Animal (Charisma), Heal (Wisdom), Knowledge (nobility and royalty, religion) (Intelligence), Profession (Wisdom), Ride (Dexterity) and Sense Motive (Wisdom).

Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Intelligence modifier.

The Lord Protector
Level	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Special
1	+1	+2	+0	+0	Sense of the Land
2	+2	+3	+0	+0	Summon Vassal
3	+3	+3	+1	+1	Ultimate Alarm
4	+4	+4	+1	+1	Sword of Justice
5	+5	+4	+1	+1	Mass Protection

Class Features

Armour and Weapon Proficiency: Lord protectors are proficient with all simple and martial weapons. They are proficient with light armour but not with shields. Note that armour check penalties for armour heavier than leather apply to the skills Balance, Climb, Escape Artist, Hide, Jump, Move Silently, Pick Pocket and Tumble. Also, Swim checks suffer a –1 penalty for every 5 pounds of armour, equipment, or loot carried.

Sense of the Land (Sp): A lord protector is bound to his realm. He must pray for an entire night after his appointment in order to channel his devotion to duty into a supernatural bond with his liege’s holdings. The character becomes one with the land within the fief’s border. Once per day, he can concentrate to attain knowledge of the surrounding territory for one mile per character level. The character instantly gains knowledge of up to three facts from among the following subjects: the ground or terrain, plants, minerals, bodies of water, people, general animal population, presence of woodland creatures, presence of powerful unnatural creatures, or even the general state of the natural setting.

Unlike its druidic counterpart commune with nature, this ability does allow the lord protector to gain information about constructions and settlements. He cannot use this ability outside his lord’s holdings.

Summon Vassal (Su): Once per day per Charisma modifier, the lord protector may issue a summons to any vassal of the realm he knows by name. The subject will believe that a messenger arrived with the summons and must succeed at a Will save (DC 15 + character’s Charisma) or make preparations to leave as soon as possible and travel as fast as he can. Even if the target succeeds, he knows it is a bad idea to ignore the lord protector’s call. The target must be a vassal of his liege of lesser station than himself. He can summon soldiers, farmers, officers, realm officials, courtiers, etc., but not his liege, his family or any visitor who has not sworn allegiance to his liege.

Ultimate Alarm (Sp): After his appointment, the lord protector may travel around the realm’s borders in order to become attuned to the limits of his Domain. Whenever a creature crosses his border intent on harming the realm or the lord protector, he is alerted, wherever he is. The lord knows the degree of threat that triggered the alarm – as in how potent the threat is – but not its exact nature, so he must dispatch agents or seek other means of determining what it is that entered his protectorate. He must renew the alarm every six months in the same manner that he set it up.

Sword of Justice (Su): The lord protector’s sword cuts through all deception and injustice. When he acts as a judge or arbiter, he draws his blade or any other slashing weapon and casts detect evil on it. He then asks a direct and honest question to each of the litigating parties or someone accused and hands them the sword, with one of the following results:

• The target is innocent, and believes in his innocence: The sword becomes light as a feather.†
• The target is innocent but he was made to believe he is guilty: The sword is light and points in the direction of the person or creature that deceived the target.
• The target is guilty, and believes in his innocence: The sword becomes extremely heave, but the target
  may still wield it.
• The target is guilty and knows it, but lies about it: The sword deals 1d4 points of subdual damage to the target and becomes heavy as a rock, requiring a Strength check (DC 20) to keep a hold on it.

Mass Protection (Su): With the same range as the Sense of the Land ability, the lord protector may cast bless or extend his aura of courage to encompass as much territory as he can cover. He can maintain this effect on all the loyal vassals of his liege within range by concentrating, but it dissipates when he takes any other action besides walking slowly and holding a simple conversation.

Multiclass Note: paladins can gain levels in the lord protector class and still be able to advance as paladins.