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DIVINE SCION

Many are the mortals who serve the gods, in small ways and large. Some give offerings to many divinities in hopes of appeasing them all, while others serve one faithfully and exclusively, even zealously. A few, however, are instead chosen by their deities to fulfill sacred missions. Some are merely graced with the anointing spirit of divinity, while a few are the literal scions of their divine patrons, by-blows of a dalliance with mortals. Whatever the source, these are the few who can, with the proper training, become divine scions. The spark of divinity animates their every deed, and voices whisper secrets and commands that were never meant for the ears of others. Divine scions may frustrate the orthodox hierarchy of their faith, as they represent an end-run around the ecclesiastical structures of the church. Their calling comes directly from their deity, and their orders supersede any earthly authority.

Requirements

To qualify to become a divine scion, a character must fulfill all the following criteria:

Alignment: Must be identical to patron deity's

Skills: Knowledge (divine) 7 ranks, Knowledge (planes) 7 ranks

Feats: Iron Will, Weapon Focus (deity's favored weapon)

Spells: Able to cast divine spells or a divine-themed casting tradition

Hit Die: d8

Class Skills: The divine scion’s class skills are Fly (Dex), Influence (Cha), Knowledge (divine) (Int), Knowledge (planes) (Int), Perform (Cha), Profession (Wis), and Spellcraft (Int).

Skill Ranks per Level: 4 + Int modifier

Table: The Divine Scion

CLASS FEATURES

The following are the class features of the divine scion:

 

Magic:

When a divine scion gains a level, she gains new spells per day as if she had also gained a level in a divine spellcasting class she belonged to before she added the prestige class. She does not, however, gain any other benefits a character of that class would have gained. This essentially means that she adds the level of divine scion to the level of whatever other divine spellcasting class she has.

If the divine scion is a spherecaster, she instead gains new magic talents and spell points as if she was a High-caster.

Domain Specialization (Su)

A divine scion selects a domain granted by her deity — this domain becomes the divine scion’s chosen specialization in representing her deity. Although most divine scions pick domains that they’ve gained from other classes, they don’t have to do so. If the divine scion picks a domain she already has access to from another class, she adds her divine scion levels when determining the domain powers and domain spells. Every time a divine scion casts a domain spell from her specialized domain, she heals damage equal to twice the spell’s level.

 

In addition, each domain specialization grants a spell-like ability (which functions at a caster level equal to the divine scion’s total character level) and a permanent sacred bonus (or profane, if the divine scion is evil) on a single type of d20 roll.

Air: fly 1/day; +4 on Fly checks

Animal: beast shape I 1/day; +4 on Handle Animal checks

Artifice: crafter's fortune 3/day; +4 on Craft checks

Chaos: detect law constant; +2 on Will saves

Charm: beguiling gift 3/day; +4 on Influence checks

Community: tongues 1/day; +4 on Influence checks

Darkness: shadow weapon 3/day; +4 on Perception checks

Death: murderous command 3/day; +2 on Fortitude saves

Destruction: break 3/day; +4 on demoralize checks

Earth: stone fist 3/day; +4 on Survival checks

Evil: detect good constant; +2 on Will saves

Fire: flame arrow 1/day; +4 on Acrobatics checks

Glory: archon's aura 1/day; +4 on Influence checks

Good: detect evil constant; +2 on Will saves

Healing: symbol of healing 1/day; +4 on Heal checks

Knowledge: identify 3/day; +4 on Knowledge checks (choose one)

Law: detect chaos constant; +2 on Will saves

Liberation: remove sickness 3/day; +4 on Escape Artist checks

Luck: divine favor 3/day; +2 on Reflex saves

Madness: fumbletongue 3/day; +4 on feint checks

Nobility: command 1/day; +4 on Influence checks

Plant: speak with plants 1/day; +2 on Fortitude saves

Protection: wrathful mantle 1/day; +1 to AC

Repose: sanctify corpse 3/day; +2 on Fortitude saves

Rune: comprehend languages 3/day; +4 on Linguistics checks

Strength: burst bonds 3/day; +4 on CMB checks

Sun: daylight 1/day; +4 on Perception checks

Travel: expeditious retreat 3/day; +4 on Athletics checks

Trickery: glibness 1/day; +4 on Stealth checks

War: true strike 3/day; +1 to weapon damage

Water: water walk 1/day; +4 on Athletics checks

Weather: cloak of winds 1/day; +4 on Survival checks

Opposition Alignment (Ex)

A divine scion must pick one of the following alignment subtypes as her opposition alignment: chaotic, evil, good, or law. The opposition alignment she chooses must be one that she does not possess as part of her own alignment. She gains a +1 bonus on caster level checks made to overcome spell resistance of creatures with that alignment subtype.

 

Divine Wrath (Su)

At 2nd level, a divine scion’s damaging spells deal +1 point of damage per die against creatures with an alignment subtype that matches the divine scion’s opposition alignment. In addition, attacks made with her deity’s favored weapon against such creatures bypass any alignment-based DR. If the divine scion has the sacred weapon class feature, she adds her divine scion levels when determining her sacred weapon's base damage.

 

Deific Defense (Su)

At 3rd level, a divine scion gains DR 2, bypassed by attacks with the alignment subtype of her opposition alignment (so a divine scion with “evil” as her opposition alignment gains DR 2/evil).

 

Divine Awe (Su)

At 4th level, a divine scion’s spells can stagger creatures that match the alignment subtypes of the divine scion’s opposition alignment. When such a creature is affected by a divine scion’s spell, it is staggered for 1 round if it fails its save against that spell. If the creature makes its save (or if the spell doesn’t allow a saving throw), this ability has no effect.

 

True Scion

At 5th level, a divine scion becomes a true scion of her deity. The amount of healing she gains from her domain specialization doubles. Her divine wrath ability now deals +2 points of damage per die against creatures of the appropriate alignment. The damage reduction granted by her deific defense increases to 5. Finally, she permanently increases her Wisdom or Charisma score (her choice) by +1.

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