Battle Templar

Battle templars serve the role of both divine agent and warrior in times when the state of their religion or church is in danger. Humble priests lay down their peaceful ways and take up the arms and armor of the warrior to defend their flock with sword, shield, and faith.

Battle templars come from many religions, but they always come from religions in which the virtues of living a good life are taught, and they rise up to protect their people in times of crisis. Some churches actively recruit members of their faith to serve as protectors and heroes, showing these former priests and priestesses to be pinnacles of their faith and providing something for the youngest to admire and aspire to.

Entry Requirements

Skills: Arms Lore 3 ranks, Theology 5 ranks.
Feats: Discipline Focus (Golden Lion or Iron Tortoise), Martial Power.
Spellcasting: Must be able to cast 2nd-level divine spells.
Martial Arts: Must be able to initiate techniques from the Golden Lion or Iron Tortoise discipline, including at least one strike and one stance.

Table: The Battle Templar

 Base Attack
Bonus
Fort
Save
Ref
Save
Will
Save
SpecialDivine SpellcastingMartial Arts
KnownReadiedStances
1st+0+1+0+0Ordained knight
2nd+1+1+0+0Reach of the divine+1 level of existing class1
3rd+2+2+1+1Martial healing+1 level of existing class1
4th+3+2+1+1Divine recovery+1 level of existing class11
5th+3+3+1+1Guardian of the faith+1 level of existing class
6th+4+3+2+2Shepherd the flock+1 level of existing class111
7th+5+4+2+2Wrath of the faithful+1 level of existing class
8th+6+4+2+2Divine inspiration+1 level of existing class1
9th+6+5+3+3Bolstering channel+1 level of existing class1
10th+7+5+3+3Battlefield invocation11
Hit Die: d8
Class Skills (4 + Int modifier per level): Arms Lore, Heal, Intimidate, Persuasion, Profession, and Theology.

Class Features

Weapon and Armor Proficiency

A Battle Templar gains no proficiency with any type of weapon, armor, or shield.

Martial Arts

You add your full battler templar class level to your initiator level, using your total initiator level to determine the highest level martial arts techniques you can use.

At 1st level, you gain access to either the Black Seraph (if you are evil aligned) or the Silver Crane (if you are good-aligned) martial discipline in addition to any you already possess and may select techniques from them when you learn a new technique.

Maneuvers

At every even-number level, you gain a new maneuver known from any discipline you have access to. You must meet a maneuver’s prerequisites to learn it.

At 3rd, 6th, and 9th levels, you gain one additional maneuver readied per day.

Stances

At 4th, 6th, and 10th level, you learn a new stance from any of the disciplines available to you. You must meet the stance’s prerequisites to learn it.

Divine Spellcasting

At each level except 1st and 10th, you progress a divine spellcasting class you already possess. If you possess more than one divine spellcasting class, you must decide to which class you add each new level of progression.

Ordained Knight

As a battle templar, you fulfill a role special to your religion, and  may act as both a courageous warrior and as a pious priest. You receive a circumstance bonus on Persuasion checks equal to your class level when dealing with members of your faith.

If you possessed a unique divine ability from a previous class (the class features channel divinity, a cleric’s domains, a paladin’s lay on hands, or a cultist’s sacrificial casting), you may add your levels in battle templar to that class to determine their effectiveness.

Additionally, should you possess the aegis class feature (see the warder class), you may add your class level to your warder level to determine the bonus of your aegis class feature.

Reach of the Divine

At 2nd level, you are capable of aiding an ally with every strike of your weapon or bash of your shield through the use of your divine magic. Whenever you initiate a martial strike, you may cast a divine spell (with a level equal to or less than the level of the strike initiated) on yourself or an ally within touch range as a move action. Casting this spell provokes attacks of opportunity as normal, though you may choose to cast it defensively.

Martial Healing

The power of your faith so thoroughly infuses your martial talents that when you initiate a martial maneuver, it bolsters your allies. When you initiate a martial strike, you may use a swift action to heal yourself or an ally within close range (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 initiator levels) fora number of hit points equal to your class level + 1d4 per level of the maneuver initiated.

Divine Recovery

Beginning at 4th level, you may channel divine power to recharge your martial maneuvers. As a swift action, you can recover an expended maneuver by sacrificing a spell with a level equal to or greater than the maneuver’s. If the spell’s level is higher than the maneuver’s level, then additional level “overage” heals you for 1d8 hit points of damage per excess spell level.

Guardian of the Faith

At 5th level, you learn a signature stance of your calling, with which you can better protect yourself and those you consider allies. This is a 5th level stance of no particular discipline. To enter this stance, you must use a swift action to abandon a martial stance you are currently using. The benefits of this ability end if you assume a martial stance.

Once within this stance, you gain damage reduction 10/adamantine (this is a bonus from esoterica), and allies within 20 ft. (excluding yourself) gain a +4 sacred bonus (if you are good-aligned) or profane bonus (if you are evil aligned) to AC, CMD, and saving throws.

Shepherd the Flock

Those under your care must be protected; a credo of the battle templar. At 6th level, your spells take on a defensive nature as you cast them to protect yourself and your allies. Whenever you cast a spell through your Reach of the Divine class feature, the target also gains a +4 sacred or profane (alignment dependent) bonus to their AC for one minute (multiple uses of this ability do not stack; use only the longest duration).

Wrath of the Faithful

At 7th level, the power of your faith fuses with the martial temper that brews within, and your mighty divine spells inspire you toward victorious combat. When you cast a divine spell, the next martial strike you initiates within one minute of casting that spell gains a morale bonus to damage rolls equal to the level of the spell cast.

Divine Inspiration

At 8th level, you become capable of utilizing the guidance of your divine magic to enlighten others and restore their martial talents should they be depleted. As an immediate action, you select an ally within close range (25 ft. + 5 ft. / 2 initiator levels) and expend a divine spell to allow the ally to recover a maneuver as if the ally had used your divine recovery class feature.

Bolstering Channel

At 9th level, you may channel the energy of your god while recovering your martial strength. As a standard action, you may recover a single maneuver and channel divinity as part of that action.

Battlefield Invocation

At 10th level, you reach a pinnacle of divine power and martial prowess that few ever attain and become capable of amazing feats of skill and prowess. You may expend a 4th-level or higher spell slot as a free action and initiate a martial strike as normal. Allies within 60 ft. (excluding yourself) who witness this are invigorated by your power, healing for 10 hit points per level of the spell sacrificed to power this ability and a +4 morale bonus to attack and damage rolls for one round. This ability does not combine with the Reach of the Divine or the Shepherd the Flock class features.