Sovereign King

The Quintessential Paladin
Author Alejandro Melchor
Series Quintessential Series
Publisher Mongoose Publishing
Publish date 2002

A king is lord of his land, but a true king is his land. Through ancient ritual and divine appointment, a sovereign king is all that legends tell about what a king is and should be. Absolute master of his realm, the sovereign king is aware of anything and everything that ails his subjects, simply because he and the land are one and therefore nothing escapes his notice. Sovereign kings may be the true and legitimate rulers of the land, or upstarts who overthrew a corrupt monarch and assumed the throne, the important thing is that they have the spirit of a true king that lets them experience first-hand the way his kingdom is faring. Devotion to the people is as strong as devotion to a deity and sovereign kings draw power from their connection to their subjects in a fair exchange of power and protection.

Clerics make for good sovereign kings, for they know what it means to dedicate one’s life totally in service of a greater being, but they often lack the skills that worldly concerns demand of a ruler. paladins are especially suited for this role, as they live and breathe the ideal of devotion to a greater cause and have the warfare training they need to defend their people against any kind of threat.

Hit Die: d10.

Requirements

Alignment: Lawful good.
Base Attack: +12 or higher.
Skills: Diplomacy 12 ranks.
Feats: Leadership.
Spellcasting: Ability to lay on hands.
Special: Must be crowned king of a territory.

Class Skills

The sovereign king’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Concentration (Constitution), Craft (Intelligence), Diplomacy (Charisma), Handle Animal (Charisma), Intuit Direction (Wisdom), Heal (Wisdom), Knowledge (nobility and royalty, religion, geography) (Intelligence), Profession (Wisdom), Ride (Dexterity), Sense Motive (Wisdom) and Wilderness Lore (Wisdom).

Skill Points at Each Level: 2 + Intelligence modifier.

The Sovereign King
Level	Base Attack	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Special	Spells per Day
1	+1	+2	+2	+2	One with the Land	+1 level existing class
2	+2	+3	+3	+3	One with the Fauna	+1 level existing class
3	+3	+3	+3	+3	One with the People	+1 level existing class
4	+4	+4	+4	+4	Hands of a True King	+1 level existing class
5	+5	+4	+4	+4	Boon of a True King, Pass the Mantle	+1 level existing class

Class Features

Armour and Weapon Proficiency: Sovereign kings are proficient with all simple and martial weapons. They are proficient with all types of armour and 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.

Spells per Day: The sovereign king continues to gain ability as a divine spellcaster. For each level gained as a sovereign king, the character gains new divine spells as if he had also gained a level in whatever divine spellcasting class he belonged to before becoming a sovereign king. The sovereign king does not, however, gain any other benefits of his former divine class, such as improved chance of turning or rebuking undead. In other words, to determine the number of spells that a sovereign king can cast per day, simply add his level of sovereign king to the level of his previous divine spellcasting class. Characters with more than one divine spellcasting class must decide which class to assign each level of sovereign king to for purposes of determining spells per day.

One With the Land (Su): The sovereign king has a supernatural awareness of the state of his land. At all times he knows if the land is healthy and if the harvest is on time. He knows exactly what weather is going to prevail with 1d4 + Wisdom days in advance and if there is a threat to the kingdom’s safety such as monsters or invaders. While within the borders of his kingdom, he never gets lost.

One With the Fauna (Su): As he bonds with the land, the sovereign king also bonds with the animals that tread on, swim in or fly over it. One day in a single week, he can choose to enter a trance and let the animals of the land be his eyes and ears. He can stay in trance for one hour per sovereign king level, during which he can move his perceptions around any specified location, provided there are animals there. For all purposes, this ability works like the clairaudience/clairvoyance spell, except that the animals are the effect’s sensors and cannot be detected with a Scry check nor Detect Magic. The animals that can be affected are those creatures with the animal type only. The character cannot project his senses in vermin and beasts, let alone magical beasts. If he succeeds at a Handle Animal check (DC 15 for domestic animals, DC 20 for wild animals) he can direct the actions of the animal whose senses he is occupying at the moment as if it was a trained animal following orders. If there is something in the land that scares a large number of animals, the king feels it without needing to enter the trance.

One With the People (Su): At third level, the sovereign king learns to move his senses from animals to people, using his subjects as magical sensors. Once per day, he can target a single person in his trance and remain with him for the duration of the trance (one hour per class level), seeing and hearing as if he was in that location instead of the target. The king is not privy to his subject’s thoughts, only to his perceptions. While looking through the person’s eyes, the king can make a Will save (DC 10 + target’s Wisdom score) in order to send a telepathic message. This message takes the form of a sudden flash of inspiration and, if delivered while the target sleeps, it takes the form of a dream. This ability may not be used on unwilling targets, essentially the
king’s subject must be a loyal and true subject with no reason to hide anything from their sovereign.

Hands of a True King (Su): The character has a legendary ability to heal his subjects. All cure spells cast by him use a d10 instead of a d8; he gains a +10 sacred bonus to all his Heal checks and a +4 sacred bonus to his caster checks in order to dispel curses, evil enchantments and magical diseases. A paladin’s’s Lay On Hands ability not only adds his sovereign king level to the paladin level in order to determine number of hit points cured, but also adds +1d8 points per sovereign king level.

Boon of a True King (Sp): Once per day, the sovereign king can bestow a boon upon a subject that works like the bless spell, except that it only works for one person and the bonuses remain in effect for one week per the king’s Wisdom modifier.

Pass the Mantle (Su): The sovereign king may abdicate in favour of an heir he has chosen. For a period of one month per the old king’s Wisdom modifier, the new king enjoys all the benefits of the sovereign king class and may gain his first level even if he does not comply with all the prerequisites. The old king retains his base attack and save bonuses, plus his spellcasting levels, but he loses access to the sovereign king’s class abilities the moment his heir takes the throne.

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