Black Flame Zealot

Trained in unholy rites, the black flame zealots use stealth, divine magic, and the zeal of fanaticism to destroy those who have given offense to their god.

#### Requirements

**Alignment:** Any nongood

**Skills:** Stealth 5 ranks , Knowledge (religion) 5 ranks

**Feats:** Exotic Weapon Proficiency (kukri) , Iron Will

**Special:** Able to cast 2nd-level divine spells, Sneak attack damage +1d6, The character must worship the deity to whom the order is dedicated, and the character must slay an enemy of the faith for no other reason than to join the Order of the Black Flame.

#### Class Features

**Weapon and Armor Proficiency:** Black flame zealots gain no proficiency in any weapon or armor.

**Spells per Day/Spells Known:** At each even-numbered black flame zealot level, the character gains new spells per day (and spells known, if applicable) as if he had also gained a level in a divine spellcasting class to which he belonged before adding the prestige class level. He 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). If the character had more than one divine spellcasting class before becoming a black flame zealot, the player must decide to which class to add each black flame zealot level for the purpose of determining spells per day and spells known.

**Death Attack (Ex):** As the assassin ability described on page 180 of the *Dungeon Master's Guide*, except that black flame zealots do not have the option of paralyzing their targets. If a black flame zealot has this class feature from another class (such as assassin), he may add black flame zealot class levels together with the class levels of such other classes to calculate the save DC of his death attack.

**Zealous Heart (Su):** A black flame zealot is immune to fear, magical or otherwise. Unlike a paladin's aura of courage, this confers no special benefits on his companions.

**Poison Use (Ex):** At 2nd level, a black flame zealot gains the ability to use poison safely, as the assassin ability.

**Sneak Attack (Ex):** When he reaches 3rd, 6th, and 9th level, a black flame zealot deals additional sneak attack damage, as the rogue ability. Since the black flame zealot gets a sneak attack bonus from another source (such as rogue levels), the bonuses to damage stack.

**Fateful Stride (Sp):** Once per day at 5th level and higher, a black flame zealot can take a single step and pass through obstacles or distance as the spell *dimension door*. The zealot's caster level is equal to half his character level.

**Sacred Flame (Su):** Beginning at 6th level, at will, a black flame zealot can command a single melee weapon in his possession to burn with a black, deadly fire. The weapon gains the flaming ability, dealing 1d6 points of fire damage per successful attack in addition to its normal weapon damage. Once per day, as a free action the black flame zealot can instead bestow the flaming burst property on a weapon in his possession for 1 minute.

**Unholy Immolation (Su):** When a black flame zealot reaches 10th level, any creature killed by his death attack or sneak attack is immediately and utterly consumed by unholy fire. The only way to restore life to a being slain in this manner is to use *true resurrection*, or a carefully worded *wish* spell followed by *resurrection*, or *miracle*.