Prestige Classes

PROPHET OF ERATHAOL

The prophet of Erathaol is a seer and visionary, a medium of the heavenly will, pronouncing judgment on corruption and evil in the world, speaking words of comfort to the oppressed and downtrodden, and announcing the work of the archons in the world. She channels celestial spirits and allows them to use her body for their purposes on the Material Plane. Insofar as these celestials have knowledge of future events, the prophet may speak authoritatively about events to come, but her primary focus is on changing the present world into a better world for the future, a place where law and good might reign supreme. Most prophets of Erathaol are clerics, either servants of a lawful good deity such as Heironeous or Moradin or proponents of lawful good ideals without particular attention to a specific deity. However, the gift of prophecy is notoriously indiscriminate, and members of all spellcasting classes occasionally find themselves speaking on behalf of the heavens. Prophets of Erathaol are not the oracles that people consult when they want to know whether to launch a business enterprise, start a war, or win someone’s favor—too often prophets give answers that people don’t really want to hear. Lawful good kings do sometimes take on prophets as advisors, but even the most well-intentioned ruler has a hard time following a true prophet’s advice all the time. Most prophets, with no one seeking out their words, make themselves a nuisance in palaces, in marketplaces, or on city streets, proclaiming celestial judgment to whoever listens.

Hit Die: d6.

Requirements

To qualify to become a prophet of Erathaol, a character must fulfill all of the following criteria.

Alignment: Lawful good.

Skills: Knowledge (arcana) 5 ranks, Spellcraft 10 ranks.

Feats: Sacred Vow, Servant of the Heavens, Spell Focus (Divination), Vow of Chastity.

Spells: Able to cast 4th-level arcane or divine spells.

Class Skills

The prophet of Erathaol's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Heal (Wis), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (arcana, the planes, religion) (Int), Profession (Wis), and Spellcraft (Int).

Skill Points at Each Level: 2 + Int modifier.

Table: The Prophet of Erathaol

Class Features

All of the following are class features of the prophet of Erathaol prestige class.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Prophets of Erathaol gain no proficiency with any weapon or armor.

Ecstasy (Su): Once per day per class level, a prophet of Erathaol can enter an ecstatic state, allowing a celestial to seize control of her mind and speech. This is sort of a lesser version of channeling celestials (as described in Chapter 2), in which the prophet simply becomes helpless for 1 round while a celestial speaks through her. What the celestial says (and who it is) is entirely up to the DM, though it is always at least tangentially relevant to whatever matter is at hand. As a rule of thumb, this ability can have one of the following effects:

• any Knowledge check (with a bonus equal to the prophet's character level +5)

• a bardic knowledge check (with a bonus equal to the prophet's character level +5)

• a divination spell

• a detect evil spell

• an enthrall spell (the prophet can continue speaking on her own after the 1 round of ecstasy, continuing the effect)

• a good hope spell

• an atonement spell

• like a phylactery of faithfulness, allowing the prophet to identify evil creatures and avoid evil acts

• if the prophet sacrifices 500 XP, a commune spell

Unfortunately, at the instant a prophet of Erathaol cedes control of her mind and invites a celestial to take it, she is vulnerable to possession by less beneficent spirits. If a fiend or ghost capable of possession is in ethereal form, within 30 feet of the prophet, and not flat-footed when a prophet enters her ecstasy, the creature can attempt to possess her immediately. The prophet takes a –2 penalty on her Will save to resist the possession, and if she fails she is not aware of the creature’s presence in her body. The creature prevents a celestial from entering, and might pretend to be the celestial, speaking as the prophet’s companions expect. If the creature chooses not to make its presence known in this way, it seems as though the ecstasy simply fails.

Spells per Day/Spells Known: At 2nd level, and at each level thereafter, a prophet of Erathaol gains new spells per day (and spells known, if applicable) as if she had also gained a level in a spellcasting class she belonged to before adding the prestige class. She does not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained (improved chance of turning or destroying undead, metamagic or item creation feats, and so on), except for an increased effective level of spellcasting. If a character had more than one spellcasting class before becoming a prophet of Erathaol, she must decide to which class she adds each prophet level for the purpose of determining spells per day.