Cultist

At 1st level, you choose a domain or subdomain from among those belonging to your deity or those supported by your cult. Each domain gives you access to a domain spell at each spell level you can cast, from 1st through 6th, as well as a granted power. You gain the granted powers of the domain selected, treating your cultist level as your cleric level.

A cultist casts divine spells, which are drawn from the cleric spell list. Unlike a cleric, your alignment does not restrict you from casting certain spells. A cultist must choose and prepare spells in advance.

To prepare or cast a spell, you must have a Charisma score equal to at least 10 + the spell level. The Difficulty Class for a saving throw against your cultist spells is 10 + the spell level + your Charisma modifier.

A cultist can cast only a certain number of spells of each spell level per day. Your base daily spell allotment is given on Table: The Cultist. In addition, you receive bonus spells per day if you have a high Charisma score.

Cultists meditate or pray for their spells. You must choose a time at which you must spend 1 hour each day in quiet contemplation or supplication to regain your daily allotment of spells. Time spent resting has no effect on whether a cultist can prepare spells.

Spell Access

A cultist’s access to divine spells is limited. You begin play with access to four 0-level spells and two 1st-level spells of your choice in addition to any 1st-level spell granted by your domain. At each new cultist level, you gain one or more new spells, as indicated on the Table: Cultist Spell Access. When preparing spells for the day, you may choose to prepare any spell to which you have access.

Once per week, you may conduct a ritual during your daily meditation to replace one of your accessed spells with a new cleric spell. In effect, you “lose” the old spell in exchange for the new one. The new spell’s level must be the same as that of the spell being exchanged. You may swap only a single spell in any given week and must wait a full week between rituals to change spell access. You may not exchange the spells granted by your domains.

Orisons

You must access 0-level cleric spells, called orisons, just like any other spell before you can cast it. However, casting an orison does not consume a spell slot, allowing you to use them repeatedly throughout the day.

Domains and Domain Spells

Unlike a cleric, you do not have any domain slots. You cast domain spells spontaneously (see below).

You can channel stored spell energy into a domain spell that you did not prepare ahead of time. This means you can “lose” any prepared spell that is not an orison in order to cast any of your domain spells of the same spell level or lower.

You add half your cultist level (minimum 1) to Deception checks made to hide your faith as well as on Insight checks made to determine when others doubt your deceptions about your faith.

In addition, you can use coded words and phrases to communicate with other members of your cult. You add half your cultist level to Deception checks made to Deliver a Secret Message when speaking to other members of your cult.

Once per day, usually when preparing spells, you may make a sacrificial offering. This can be a tithe or blood sacrifice and must be made within a prepared ritual site.

A tithe requires the sacrifice of coin, goods, or other valuables equal to 25 gp × half your cultist level. Sacrificed items are destroyed. A blood sacrifice must be a helpless creature with a minimum number of Hit Dice equal to the highest level cultist spell you can cast that is killed as part of the sacrifice.

After making an offering, you gain one Faith Point from your display of faith. These faith points remain until you use them, but you cannot have more points through this ability than half your cultist level (minimum 1).

Starting at 5th level, you instead gain 2 faith points when you make a sacrificial offering. You gain one additional faith point every 4 levels thereafter to a maximum of 5 faith points at 17th level.

Rhai’Selog may gain faith points using this ability, but this counts as the once daily use of their Faithful ability.

Beginning at 2nd level, you learn the secrets of disguising even your spellcasting from the uninitiated, presenting it as another kind of magic. When you gain this ability choose one class from the following list: bard, magus, sorcerer, witch, or wizard. You can attempt to cast your spells in a way that appears you are casting spells as the chosen class.

Whenever you cast a cultist spell, you can make an Arcane Lore skill check (DC 10 + twice the spell’s level) to disguise the spell as being arcane in nature. If successful, the spell becomes harder to identify with Theology and easier with Arcane Lore, just as if it were an arcane spell. Even if it’s successfully identified, the spell appears in all ways as an arcane spell of the chosen class unless the observer beats the DC by 10 or more.

For example, a cultist pretending to be a bard can cast cure light wounds, making it appear to be a bard spell with a successful DC 12 Arcane Lore check. An observer could identify the spell with a DC 17 Arcane Lore check or DC 27 Theology check but doesn’t realize that your “arcane” spell is nothing of the sort unless their check result is 27 or higher (37 or higher with Theology).

When you use this ability, you must still provide any divine focus components, though you need not openly present it and may hide your holy symbol within a larger picture or object. For example, you could include a representation of your holy symbol within a complex tattoo, stitched into the fabric of your clothing, or scratched into the face of a coin. Regardless of the form or location of your holy symbol, you must be able to touch is as part of casting the spell.

Any time you successfully use false esoterica, you can apply the Silent Spell and Still Spell metamagic feats to the divine spell, further hiding the spell’s origin. This does not increase the spell level of the spell or increase the casting time, but you must possess these feats to add their effects in this way.

Many cultists mimic arcane gestures and mumble arcane phrases when casting, this ability doesn’t actually make the spell arcane, add somatic or verbal components to spells, or make them subject to arcane spell failure. Any such actions are taken only as part of the deception and have no effect on spellcasting. Although using this ability does not add any verbal, somatic, material, or other such components to your spells, not acting as if you are using these components might be suspicious to those observing you.

Upon reaching 2nd level, your cult’s patron can grant you a seemingly random spell (selected by the GM) as a spell-like ability. The spell can be from any class list, including arcane spells, but the granted ability’s spell level is never higher than half your cultist level. The spell also may not have an expensive material component or focus or an experience cost.

Once per round as a swift action, you can spend a faith point to call upon your cult’s patron, immediately gaining a spell-like ability granted by your patron. You know what spell-like ability you’ve been granted and may make any decisions for the spell as normal. The spell-like ability uses your cultist level as the caster level, the save DC is based on your Charisma, and any other variable factors are determined as if it were a cultist spell. You may also apply your false esoterica ability to this spell-like ability to disguise its origin.

If you do not cast this spell-like ability within one minute of obtaining it, it fades from your memory and is lost. If you spend another faith point on this ability while you have an uncast spell-like ability, you immediately lose the existing granted ability and gain a new one in its place. Allowing an granted spell-like ability to fade away or replacing it does not count as a use of this ability for the day. You only expend a use of this ability when you actually cast the granted spell-like ability, which also immediately causes it to immediately fade from your memory.

At 2nd level, you can cast one spell-like ability per day using sacrificial casting. You can cast one additional spell-like ability at 6th level and every 4 levels thereafter (10th, 14th, and 18th).

When you use sacrificial casting to call upon your patron, you can spend one additional faith point as a full-round action in an attempt to direct the granted spell-like ability to a spell of your choice. This requires a successful skill check with a DC equal to 20 + desired level of the spell + 2 for each time you’ve made this attempt today, whether or not the attempt was successful. When making this check, use Arcane Lore for arcane spells and Theology for divine spells. The requested spell must follow all the normal restrictions of spells gained through sacrificial casting, or the check automatically fails.

On a successful check, you are granted the requested spell as a spell-like ability. Otherwise, the granted spell-like ability reverts to the whims of the powers that be.

If you fail the check to direct the spell by 5 or more, you have overexerted your faith and cannot make another attempt to direct the granted spell-like ability until after you complete a Long Rest; however, you can still gain the seemingly random spell-like abilities as normal.

By 3rd level, you have learned to hide your presence behind the facade of an ordinary, bland personality, easily convincing others that you are an insignificant threat of no concern.

As a standard action, you can target one creature within 30 feet that has an Intelligence of 3 or more and can see, hear, and understand you. Make a Deception check opposed by the opponent’s Insight. If you win, the target dismisses you as harmless, worthless, or otherwise unworthy of any regard and completely ignores you until the end of your next turn. The target is unaware of any actions you take while it ignores you. This effect ends immediately if you make an attack.

You can maintain this ability as a move action each round, making a Deception check each round. Each successful check adds 1 round to the duration, but a single failed check ends this ability immediately.

At 4th level, you can spend a faith point as a full-round action while preaching of the benefits of your cult and denouncing other religions and deities. Creatures who can hear you and understand your language must make a Will save (DC 10 + half your cultist level + your Charisma modifier). On a successful save, the creature is shaken for 1 round.

On a failed save, the creature is charmed (as per charm person), for 1 round per class level. While so charmed, a creature suffers from confusion and their alignment is treated as being the same as yours, which may affect its access to some spells and abilities.

Whether the save succeeds or fails, a creature can only be affected by one seeds of doubt effect each day.

At 7th level, your seeds of doubt ability works as charm monster rather than charm person.

This is a mind-affecting ability.

Starting at 8th level, if you spend a faith point as a full-round action, you can then spend one minute to attempt to convert a creature affected by your seeds of doubt ability. The creature must make a Will save against the same DC as your seeds of doubt. If it fails the save, the charm effect, confusion, and change in alignment last for 24 hours.

At any point while this ability is active, the charmed creature may choose to accept conversion and be treated as if you had cast an atonement spell on it, permanently changing its alignment and religion.

Alternatively, the creature may spend 10 minutes in quiet reflection to end this effect but must begin this process again if interrupted.

At 16th level, the duration of this effect becomes 1 day per level.

At 11th level, you can weave deception into your spellcasting. When casting a spell, you may spend 2 faith points to cast a cultist spell you have prepared as a swift action (similar to a quickened spell). This cultist spell must be of the enchantment school and can only target a single creature within 10 feet of the first spell’s target or area.

The casting of this second spell goes unnoticed, unless a character makes a successful Perception check versus your Deception check. (You can add your Charisma modifier in place of Dexterity for this check).

At 20th level, your devotion to your faith makes you immune to mind-affecting effects.

At 20th level, you have discovered the secret of manifesting your faith’s glorious presence for a short instance. When you do, those who don’t share your religion are filled with a mix of primal panic and spiritual awe. You gain one of the following abilities of your choice.

Aspect of Faith

Once per day, you may spend two faith points as a full-round action to transform into an aspect of you faith for an instant, forcing all enemies within 30 feet that can see you to make a Will save (DC 20 + your Charisma modifier) or become overwhelmed and fall unconscious for 2d6 rounds. Those that awaken unharmed from this ability are sent into a state of confusion, questioning their faiths or beliefs. They automatically fall under the effect of your seeds of doubt ability.

Sleeper Agent

You may set the seeds of fanaticism within the mind of a potential convert. When using coerce conversion, if the target fails its Will save, you may spend 2 faith points and choose to not alter the target’s alignment and put a trigger on it instead. At any point longer than 24 hours but shorter than one year of the initial use of coerce conversion, you may activate the trigger, which alters the target’s alignment and casts haste, dominate monster, and eagle’s splendor on the target. The commands set for the dominate monster effect are sent telepathically between the agent and yourself while you are both on the same plane.

After the spell effects wear off, the target falls unconscious for 24 hours from the strain on its body and mind. You may only have one trigger in existence at one time.