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.

Most battle templar hail from the cleric class, as
it has a strong focus in matters of faith. Some are
multiclass warder/clerics or single class clerics and
paladins.

**Hit Die:** d8

### **Requirements**

To qualify to become a battle templar, a character must fulfill all the following criteria.

* **Skills**: Knowledge (martial) 2 ranks, Knowledge (religion) 2 ranks, Spellcraft 5 ranks
* **Feats**: Discipline Focus (Golden Lion or Iron Tortoise), Martial Power
* **Spells**: Ability to cast 2nd level divine spells.
* **Maneuvers**: Ability to use maneuvers from the Golden Lion or Iron Tortoise discipline, including at least one strike and one stance.

**Class Skills:** The battle templar’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Heal (Wis), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (martial) (Int), Knowledge (religion) (Int), and Spellcraft (Int).

**Skill Points per Level:** 4 + Intelligence modifier

### **CLASS FEATURES**

All of the following are class features of the battle
templar.

### **Weapon and Armor proficiencies**

The battle
templar gains no new weapon proficiencies, and
gains proficiency in heavy armor and with shields
(except tower shields).

### **Maneuvers**

A battle templar adds Black Seraph (if he is evil-aligned) or Silver Crane (if he is good-aligned) to his list of available disciplines. If the battle templar is neither good nor evil, he chooses between the two disciplines. If he does not have that discipline’s associated skill as a class skill, he gains it as a class skill.

At each even level, a battle templar
gains new maneuvers known from his chosen discipline, the Golden Lion discipline and two disciplines of his choosing that he
previously had access to (either from a martial disciple class or through the Martial Training feat). The battle templar must meet a maneuver’s prerequisite to learn
it. The character adds his full battle templar levels to
his initiator level to determine his total initiator level
and his highest-level maneuvers known.

At 3rd, 6th, and 9th levels, the battle templar gains
additional maneuvers readied per day.

### **Stances Known**

At 4th level and again at
6th level and 10th level, a battle templar learns a new
stance from any of the disciplines available to him as a
battle templar. The character
must meet the stance’s prerequisites to learn it.

### **Spells**

At each level except the 1st and 10th
levels, when a new battle templar level is gained,
the character gains new spells per day as if he had
also gained a level in a divine spellcasting class he
belonged to before adding the prestige class. He does
not, however, gain any other benefit a character of
that class would have gained, except for an increased
effective level of spellcasting. If a character had more
than one divine spellcasting class before becoming a
battle templar, he must decide to which class he adds
the new level for purposes of determining spells per
day.

### **Ordained Knight (Ex)**

A battle templar fulfills
a role special to his religion, and as such, may act
both as courageous warriors and as pious priest. He
receives a circumstance bonus on Diplomacy checks
equal to his class level when dealing with members
of his faith. If the character possessed a unique
divine ability from a previous class (the class features
channel energy, a cleric’s domains, a paladin’s lay
on hands, an inquisitor’s bane or inquisitions, or
an oracle’s curse), he may add his levels in battle
templar to that class to determine their effectiveness.
Additionally, should the battle templar possess the
aegis class feature (see warder class), the battle
templar may add his class level to his warder level to determine the bonus of his aegis class feature.

### **Reach of the Divine (Su)**

At 2nd level, the battle
templar is capable of aiding an ally with every strike
of his weapon or bash of his shield through the use
of his divine magic. Whenever the battle templar
initiates a martial strike, he may cast a divine spell
(with a level equal to or less than the level of the strike
initiated) on himself or an ally within touch range as
a move action. He must cast this defensively if he is
casting within a threatened area to avoid provoking
attacks of opportunity.

### **Martial Healing (Su)**

The battle templar’s divine
power is so firmly blended with his martial talents
that when he utilizes a martial maneuver, the power
of his faith infuses it and aids him and his allies.
When the battle templar initiates a martial strike, as
a swift action he can heal himself or an ally within
close range (25 ft. plus 5 ft. per two initiator levels) for
1d4/maneuver level + the battle templar’s class level
in hit points.
**Divine Recovery (Su)**: Beginning at 4th level,
a battle templar may channel divine power to
recharge his martial maneuvers. As a swift action,
the character 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”
restores 1d8 hit points of damage to the battle templar
per excess spell level.

### **Guardian of the Faith**

At 5th level, the battle
templar learns a signature stance of his calling, and
with it he can better protect himself and those he
considers his allies. This is a 5th level stance of no
particular discipline. To enter this stance, as a swift
action the battle templar abandons a martial stance
he is currently using. The benefits of this ability end
if the battle templar assumes a martial stance. Once
within this stance, the battle templar gains damage
reduction 10/adamantine, and allies within 20 ft of
his position (excluding himself) gain a +4 sacred or
profane (alignment dependent) bonus to AC, CMD,
and to saving throws.

### **Shepherd the Flock (Su)**

Those under his care
must be protected; a credo of the battle templar. At 6th
level, the battle templar’s spells take on a defensive
nature as he casts them to protect himself and his
allies. Whenever he casts a spell through his 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 increase the duration or the protection of this
ability).

### **Wrath of the Faithful (Ex)**

At 7th level, the power
of his faith fuses with the martial temper that brews
within the battle templar, and when he casts his
mighty divine spells, they inspire him to battle. When
the battle templar casts a divine spell, the next martial
strike he initiates within one minute of casting gains
a morale bonus to damage rolls equal to the level of
the spell cast.

### **Divine Inspiration (Su)**

At 8th level, the battle
templar is capable of utilizing the guidance of his
divine magic to enlighten others and restore their
martial talents should they be depleted. As an
immediate action, the battle templar selects an ally
within close range (25 ft. plus an additional 5 ft. per
two initiator levels) and expends his divine spell
energy to allow the ally to recover a maneuver as if
the ally had used the battle templar’s divine recovery
class feature.

### **Bolstering Channel (Su)**

At 9th level, the battle
templar may channel the energy of his god while
recovering his martial strength. As a standard action,
the battle templar recovers a single maneuver and
may channel energy as part of that action.

### **Battlefield Invocation (Su)**

At 10th level, the
battle templar has reached a pinnacle of divine
power and martial prowess that few ever do, and as
such, is capable of amazing feats of skill. The battle
templar expends a 4th level or higher spell slot as a
free action and initiates a martial strike as normal.
Allies (excluding the battle templar) within 60 ft. of
his position witnessing this are invigorated by his
power, and regain 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.