Siege Herald (Paladin Archetype)

*A Siege Herald is a master of massive siege weaponry, designed to assault the walls of heretical encampments from an incredible range to spread the word of their faith, and wash away corruption with zealotry.*

### **Siege Smite (Ex)**

At 1st level, when using a siege engine (Direct or indirect fire), the siege gunner can spend their swift action to focus the brunt of the blast on a single evil creature within the target area. The target creature takes 1 additional point of damage for each level the siege gunner possesses. This is untyped damage and is multiplied on a critical hit. A Siege Smite bypasses all damage resistance. At 4th level and for every 3 levels the siege gunner possesses beyond that, she can select an additional evil creature to target with this bonus damage. Targets must be selected before any attack rolls or saving throws are made. In addition to evil creatures, Siege Smite can be used to inflict extra damage to buildings or unattended objects.

*This Ability replaces Smite Evil.*

### **Defender of the City (Su)**

At 2nd level; as a move-equivalent action the Paladin may instantly summon a loaded Siege Engine of their choosing that persists for up to an hour per 2 paladin levels the Siege Herald possesses. Attacks made with this siege engine are considered good-aligned for the purposes of overcoming DR. This siege engine can be up to a large engine at 2nd level, and can become huge at 6th, and up to gigantic at 12th level. Only one siege engine may be summoned in this manner at once at 2nd level, and one additional siege engine may be summoned at 6th level, and another at 12th, to a maximum of three active at once.

At 4th level and beyond; this ability can also be used to swap out the Paladin's mounted siege weapon instantly for another applicable type of siege engine; which becomes mounted instantly upon being summoned. Mounted weapons summoned in this manner persist permanently as a gift from the Paladin's Deity, but only one may be in existence at any given time.

*This ability replaces Divine Grace*

### **Siege Engineer (Ex)**

At 4th level; the Siege Herald gains Siege Engineer and Master Siege Engineer as Bonus Feats

In addition, the Siege herald gains a passive sacred bonus equal to ½ their Paladin level on all Kn (Engineering) checks.

*This ability replaces Spellcasting*

### **Mounted Siege Weapon (Ex)**

At 4th level, the Paladin gains the ability to form a bond with a specialized, shoulder mounted ranged siege engine. They gain a specialized ranged siege engine of their choice at level four; normally gifted to them from their holy order in a ceremonious fashion. The siege engine they choose must emulate the weapon statistics of a siege engine of large size or smaller. It retains all statistics of a ranged siege engine; Including setup and load times, but the siege engine can move with the Paladin while deployed instead of remaining stationary; as if it were mounted to a vehicle. It also becomes a more manageable size, becoming no larger than the paladin themselves instead of remaining large sized. This change in size does not directly cause a change in the damage die of the engine due to unique design; and instead simply emulates the stats of the chosen siege engine, plus the changes listed below. At 8th level the Paladin can emulate a huge siege engine with their mounted weapon. At 16th they can Emulate a gargantuan engine.

Unlike a normal ranged siege engine, it is considered an attended object, and cannot be targeted directly in the same manner as a siege engine, though a mounted and unmounted siege engine still share the same hardness and hit points. Mounted siege engines require both hands to load and operate. Mounted siege weapons are still considered ranged siege engines; and do not qualify as “regular” weapons for the purposes of other class abilities; even though they are actively wielded.

The damage die of any siege weapon used in this manner is reduced by one step due to the reduced size; and the Paladin receives a -10ft penalty to their movement speed while their siege weapon is deployed. Mounting and unmounting the siege engine takes the same amount of time it would take to reassemble and disassemble one normally.

Because of the reduced size of these siege engines, and their mobility, they all require one turn less than their normal counterparts to aim and load.

If a Paladin every has their Engine destroyed or stolen it can be replaced with a summoning ritual that takes 8 hours and costs a total of 100gp per Paladin level; but it requires a Knowledge (Engineering) check with a DC = to 10 + Paladin Level or the ritual is wasted with no effect.

*This Ability replaces Channel Positive Energy*

### **Siege Bond (Su)**

At 5th level, a Siege Herald can bond with a single siege engine within 30 feet and line of sight as a standard action. He can utilize the power of this link to aim, reload, and fire the siege engine remotely (as long as he’s within 30 feet) alone. It still takes the normal required amount of time and actions to control a siege engine in this manner; but requires no additional crew.

*This ability replaces Divine Bond*