Religious Leader

Dynasties and Demagogues
Author Chris Aylott
Series Campaign Style Series
Publisher Atlas Games
Publish date 2003

Spare the rod and spoil the state. Most clerics, druid, and paladins make faith a personal pursuit. They tend their flocks, explore their relationships with the gods, and occasionally save the world. That’s all well and good, but sometimes you have to look at the bigger picture.

If ordinary religious characters tend the faith of individuals, religious leaders tend the faith of nations. They build the power of their religious organizations and set the moral tone of their land. They can be a check on the power of a king obsessed with the material world, or they can be a terrible scourge if left unchecked themselves.

Becoming a religious leader requires a deep commitment to order and faith. It’s not a path for the faint of heart. Those clerics and druid who can live up to the responsibility enjoy the pride of being their gods’ most powerful mortal servants.

Hit Die: d6

Requirements

To qualify for the religious leader prestige class, the character must fulfill the following criteria.
Alignment: The religious leader must have the same alignment as the god he follows.
Base Attack Bonus: +6
Skills: Knowledge (religion) 10 ranks
Feats: Leadership
Spellcasting: Ability to cast 3rd-level divine spells

Class Skills

The religious leader’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Concentration (Constitution), Craft (Intelligence), Diplomacy (Charisma), Heal (Wisdom), Knowledge (religion) (Intelligence), Perform (oratory) (Charisma), and Sense Motive (Wisdom).
Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Intelligence modifier

Level	BAB	FS	RS	WS	Special	Spellcasting
1	+0	+2	+0	+2	Followers	+1 level of existing class
2	+1	+3	+0	+3	Enthralling Speech	+1 level of existing class
3	+2	+3	+1	+3	Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God	+1 level of existing class
4	+3	+4	+1	+4	Moral Authority	+1 level of existing class
5	+3	+4	+1	+4	Divine Experience	+1 level of existing class
6	+4	+5	+2	+5	Gift of tongues	+1 level of existing class
7	+5	+5	+2	+5	Seniority	+1 level of existing class
8	+6	+6	+2	+6	Divine Power	+1 level of existing class
9	+6	+6	+3	+6	Divine Armor	+1 level of existing class
10	+7	+7	+3	+7	Aura of the Divine	+1 level of existing class

Class Features

All the following are class features for the religious leader prestige class. The DCs for required skill checks are included where appropriate.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: The religious leader is proficient in simple weapons.

Spells: When a new religious leader level is gained, the character gains new spells and a caster level as if he had also gained a level in a 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. If the character had more than one spellcasting class before he became a religious leader, he must decide to which class he adds each level of religious leader for purposes of determining spells when he adds the new level.

Dedicated to the Cause: A religious leader who changes alignment, leaves the organization he is a part of (whether voluntarily or involuntarily), or gains a level in any other class (except cleric) loses all of the religious leader’s class abilities. He may not regain them or gain additional levels as a religious leader until he returns to the fold and atones as per the Atonement spell.

Followers: A religious leader receives a +4 modifier to his Leadership score for recruiting cohorts and followers.

Enthralling Speech (Sp): A religious leader can hold an audience spellbound with a fiery sermon. This ability is identical to the demagogue’s 2nd-level special ability. If the religious leader already has Enthralling Speech from the demagogue class, he gains a +2 bonus to his Concentration and Perform (oratory) checks while using this ability.

Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God (Sp): At 3rd level, the religious leader may make a terrifying speech about the powers of his god. As a full round action, he may make a Perform (oratory) check. Any creature that can see the religious leader and hear the speech must make a Will save against the result of that check. If the creature fails, it suffers the effects of the cause fear spell as if the religious leader had successfully cast the spell upon it. The religious leader may use this ability once per day.

This is a mind-affecting spell-like ability.

Moral Authority: At 4th level, the religious leader gains a +4 competence bonus to Diplomacy and Perform (oratory) checks when he argues in favor of an official position of his religion.

Divine Experience (Su): At 5th level, the religious leader undergoes a divine experience. He gains a +2 inherent bonus to either his Wisdom or Charisma score.

Gift of tongues (Su): At 6th level, the religious leader may cast the tongues spell on himself at will as a free action.

Seniority: At 7th level, the religious leader gains the benefit of seniority over his fellow believers. He receives a +2 reaction bonus to Bluff, Diplomacy, and Intimidate checks when dealing with a worshiper of the same god who has fewer levels in the religious leader prestige class than he has.

Divine Power (Su): At 8th level, the religious leader gains the metamagic feat Maximize Spell if he does not have it already. Once per day, the religious leader may spontaneously use the Maximize Spell feat on a divine spell, ignoring the requirement to prepare the spell as if it were three levels higher. The spell is cast using its normal spell slot.

Divine Armor (Su): At 9th level, the religious leader gains the ability to manifest supernatural armor around himself. Once per session, he may gain a +10 sacred or profane bonus to AC for a number of hours equal to his Charisma bonus, to a minimum of one hour. Determine whether the bonus is sacred or profane based on the alignment of the character’s god; the GM decides which bonus best applies to neutral gods.

Aura of the Divine (Su): At 10th level, the religious leader may designate any die roll —even that of another character — as a “natural 20.” He may do this once per play session for every 5 total character levels he has. He must make the declaration before the GM reveals the result of that roll (whether the attack or skill check or saving throw succeeded or failed).