SLOT none CL 10th WEIGHT 2 lbs.
AURA moderate abjuration
This elegant mithral sword bears a blooming rose on the crossguard, with vines winding around the hilt. Filarina Grantsliem discovered the rose knight’s
blade during her brief adventuring career, when she earned the blade as a reward after freeing a trapped azata from an ancient magical prison. Scarlet Rose agents have since been successful in creating new rose knight’s blades, and the weapons are increasingly seeing use among these Gray Maidens and their affiliates.
A rose knight’s blade is a +1 benevolentUE mithral longsword. Along
with its benevolence special ability, this
sword can also provide aid by metaphorically cutting through certain debilitating effects. Three times per day, the wielder of a rose knight’s blade can attempt a new saving throw against one of the following conditions affecting her: dazed, frightened, nauseated, panicked, paralyzed, shaken, staggered, or stunned— but only if the condition was caused by a mind-affecting effect. Alternatively, the wielder can expend one daily use and touch the blade to an adjacent creature as a standard action to remove one of these mind-affecting conditions from the ally.
CONSTRUCTION REQUIREMENTS COST 15,015 GP
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Hellknights
T
he fearsome Hellknights are among the most notorious mercenary orders of the Inner Sea. While they originate in Cheliax, the grim, heavily armored knights travel to the corners of the world to pursue their targets in the name of order. To the Hellknights, mercy and kindness are luxuries that a world under siege cannot afford. Their enemies—which include all bringers of disorder, be they anarchists, bandits, or freedom fighters—can expect precious little of either.Numerous misconceptions surround the Hellknights. Despite what many believe, they are neither servants nor allies of Hell; indeed, the Hellknight name and ethos predate the rise of diabolism in Cheliax with the ascension of the wicked House Thrune. Instead, the Hellknights seek to wield Hell’s intimidating reputation as a realm of both torment and peerless order. Each Hellknight is tempered by battle with the denizens of Hell—an infernal crucible that forges them into unbreakable and implacable enforcers of order.
While they are paragons of lawfulness, Hellknights are not stringent enforcers of local laws; the law they prioritize is their own, untainted by corrupt officials or
HELLKNIGHTS
Merciless Enforcers of the Law
Scope regional (Avistan)
Alignment varies by order (typically LN) Headquarters varies by order
Values enforcement of Hellknight law; order-specific values (the Order of the Chain imprisons fugitives and criminals; the Order of the Gate seeks to prevent disorder through arcane means; the Order of the Godclaw values religious obedience; the Order of the Nail pushes civilization over barbarism; the Order of the Pyre hunts heretics and pagans; the Order of the Rack destroys dangerous lore; the Order of the Scourge fights corruption and crime)
Goals crush chaos and lawlessness, spread their ideals Allies Abadarans; Asmodeans; followers of other lawful
faiths; lawful governments
Enemies lawbreakers and rebels; varies by order Rivals varies by order
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Hellknights
democratic compromises. On occasion, governments beset by chaos contact a Hellknight order with an offer of mercenary employment, simultaneously filling the grim knights’ coffers and permitting them to enforce their law unchallenged. In cases where a Hellknight’s mission draws her into conflict with local authority, she works within the law to the extent she can, but accepts no compromises in pursuit of her mission.
In addition to these universal aspects of Hellknight philosophy, each Hellknight order has its own ideals and a specific form of disorder it seeks to combat. The major orders and their areas of concern are as follows.
Order of the Chain: These bounty-hunting knights seek escaped convicts and other fugitives from the law, and they often serve as jailers of politically inconvenient prisoners.
Order of the Gate: With three spellcasting Hellknight signifers (see page 92) to every Hellknight (see page 90), this
order wields infernal magic to learn of catastrophic crimes before they occur.
Order of the Godclaw: Driven by faith, this order believes in a pantheon of lawful deities including Abadar, Asmodeus, Iomedae, Irori, and Torag.
Order of the Nail: Headquartered in Varisia, Hellknights of the Nail crusade against “uncivilized” peoples, from Belkzen orcs to native Shoanti and Varisians.
Order of the Pyre: This order zealously hunts shamans, witches, occult practitioners, and disciples of less- established faiths.
Order of the Rack: Destroyers of dangerous knowledge and revolutionary philosophies, Hellknights of the Rack eagerly crush rebel activity across Cheliax.
Order of the Scourge: The Hellknights of the Scourge oppose criminal activities both minor and organized, in addition to watching authorities for signs of corruption.
Lictor Darcyne Wrens (LN female human sorcerer 10/Hellknight† 1): Darcyne Wrens’s recent
promotion to the position of lictor of the Order of the Rack has been met with some quiet disapproval from others in the order, as it is unusual for a spellcaster to assume such a role. While Darcyne has worked zealously to quell any question of her worthiness, her disdain for spellcasters who lack inborn talents for magic is obvious, and her lack of respect for wizards and other so-called “arcane thieves” hasn’t bolstered her popularity. Regardless of dissent, Wrens has committed herself and her order to their cause with new zeal. Smoke from the burning of “dangerous” writings now constantly rises over the towers of the order’s headquarters, Citadel Rivad.
Lictor Severs “Boneclaw” DiViri (LE male human fighter 4/rogue 2/Hellknight† 4): Intense
and utterly committed to the Hellknight cause, DiViri’s inborn knack for tactics and warfare are complemented by his legendary talent for negotiation. While he never speaks openly about his personal feelings, he disdains the frontier nation of Varisia, where the Order of the Nail has been located for decades. DiViri has made an art of taking out his frustration in numerous devastating raids and massacres against the Shoanti tribes of the Cinderlands. These attacks go beyond defending the Chelish settlers of Southern Varisia. Instead, each is a small vengeance, retribution for the Shoanti curse that left the lictor’s hand a skeletal claw.
Lictor Toulon Vidoc (LN male human fighter 4/rogue 2/Hellknight† 10): Charming and urbane,
the lictor of the Order of the Scourge treads the perilous halls of Cheliax’s royal court. While he despises politics, the lictor frequents the court to defend and advocate for Hellknights—those of all orders, not merely his own. Lictor Vidoc fiercely protects Hellknight independence, artfully resisting the poisonous promises of courtiers and crown alike. The lictor has recently received distressing intelligence pointing to a resurgence of the Council of Thieves. Too busy to follow up on such rumors, Lictor Vidoc has put out a discreet call for independent agents to investigate further, so that he can maintain his presence at the heart of Cheliax’s government.
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HELLKNIGHT (PRESTIGE CLASS)
Not all who start as novice armigers have what it takes to become a full-fledged Hellknight, but those who do receive a wide array of abilities as they grow more powerful. While the individual powers and focus of a particular Hellknight vary according to his order, all Hellknights are universally feared and respected in regions where they maintain a presence. Most Hellknights are lawful neutral and proudly avoid being “tainted” by distractions such as good or evil, but some who rise in power shift toward tyrannical and cruel natures.
Hit Die: d10.
Requirements
To qualify to become a Hellknight, a character must fulfill the following criteria.
Alignment: Any lawful.
Armor Proficiency: Must be proficient with heavy armor. Base Attack Bonus: +5.
Skills: Intimidate 5 ranks, Knowledge (planes) 2 ranks. Special: The character must slay a devil with Hit Dice greater than his character level. This victory must be witnessed by a Hellknight.
Class Skills
The Hellknight’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (local) (Int), Perception (Wis), Ride (Dex), and Sense Motive (Wis).
Skill Ranks at Each Level: 2 + Int modifier.
Class Features
The following are class features of the Hellknight.
Aura of Law (Ex): A Hellknight’s lawful aura (see the detect law spell) functions as that of a cleric whose level is equal to the Hellknight’s character level.
Detect Chaos (Sp): This ability functions like the paladin’s detect evil class feature, save that it grants the use of detect chaos instead.
Order: A character must choose one Hellknight order to join at 1st level (see page 89 for a list of orders). The choice of order determines which disciplines the character later gains access to.
Smite Chaos (Su): This ability functions as the paladin’s smite evil class feature but against chaotic-aligned creatures. This ability is twice as effective against outsiders with the chaotic subtype, chaotic-aligned aberrations, and fey.
Discern Lies (Sp): At 2nd level, a Hellknight can use discern lies as a spell-like ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + his Charisma modifier with a caster level equal to his character level.
Hellknight Armor (Ex): At 2nd level, a Hellknight earns the right to wear Hellknight plate (see page 97), which does not reduce his speed. While wearing this armor, the Hellknight reduces its armor check penalty by 1 and increases the
maximum Dexterity bonus allowed by 1. At 5th level, these adjustments increase to 2. At 8th level, these adjustments increase to 3.
Disciplines: At 3rd level, a Hellknight gains access to his first discipline, choosing one associated with his specific order. At 6th level, the Hellknight gains a second discipline, choosing from any listed as being available to “any order.” At 9th level, the Hellknight gains his third discipline, choosing this one from any of the disciplines listed below, even those from another order, with the exception of pentamic faith. When applicable, the save DC to resist a discipline’s effect is equal to 10 + the Hellknight’s level + his Charisma modifier. The Hellknight can use any one discipline a number of times per day equal to the total number of disciplines he has access to, so at 3rd level he can use his discipline once per day. At 6th level, he can use both disciplines twice per day each. At 9th level, he can use all three of his disciplines three times per day.
Brand (Sp; Order of the Pyre): The Hellknight can use mark of justice as a spell-like ability.
Censor (Su; Order of the Rack): When the Hellknight uses smite chaos on a creature, he can strike the creature mute for 1d4 rounds unless it succeeds at a Will save. A mute creature cannot speak, cast spells with verbal components, or use language-dependent effects.
Fearsomeness (Ex; any order): A Hellknight who successfully uses the Intimidate skill to cause a creature within 10 feet to become shaken can instead cause that creature to become frightened.
Onslaught (Su; Order of the Nail): As a free action, a Hellknight increases his base speed by 10 feet and gains a +4 bonus to his Strength for 1 round. If the Hellknight is mounted, these bonuses also apply to his mount.
Pentamic Faith (Ex; Order of the Godclaw only): This ability allows the Hellknight to select one of the following domains: Artifice, Glory, Knowledge, Law, Magic, Nobility, Protection, Rune, Strength, Travel, or War. The Hellknight gains the granted powers (but not domain spells) of that domain, treating his Hellknight levels as cleric levels to determine what domain abilities he has access to.
Shackle (Su; Order of the Chain): When the Hellknight uses smite chaos on a creature, he can impede its mobility. The creature can negate this effect with a successful Will save; otherwise, it is affected as if by slow for 1d4 rounds.
Summon Devil (Sp; Order of the Gate): The Hellknight can use summon monster V as a spell-like ability to summon 1 bearded devil. At 6th level, this spell-like ability is replaced by summon monster VI, allowing him to summon 1d3 bearded devils or 1 erinyes. At 9th level, this spell-like ability is replaced by summon monster VII, allowing him to summon 1d4+1 bearded devils, 1d3 erinyes, or 1 bone devil.
Tracker (Sp; any order): The Hellknight can summon a creature to aid him, either in battle or to track an enemy,
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Hellknights
as if using a summon monster spell, save that the summoned creature lingers for 1 hour before vanishing. A 6th-level Hellknight can summon either an eagle, a riding dog, a wolf, or a leopard. A 9th-level Hellknight can instead opt to summon a dire wolf or a hell hound.
Vigilance (Su; Order of the Scourge): The Hellknight gains low-light vision (this effect is constant). In addition, as a full- round action, he can see through up to 5 feet of stone, wood, or similar barriers as if they didn’t exist. Metal and denser barriers block this effect. Each use of this ability to see through solid objects lasts as long as the Hellknight concentrates, up to a number of rounds equal to the Hellknight’s level.
Wrack (Su; any order): The Hellknight can make a touch attack as a standard action to cause a creature to suffer incredible pain. The creature touched takes damage equal to 1d6 + the Hellknight’s Charisma modifier, and must succeed at a Will save or become staggered for 1d4 rounds.
Force of Will (Ex): At 3rd level, a Hellknight gains a +2 bonus on Will saves against spells with any one of the following subschools or descriptors: charm, compulsion, glamer, fear, figment, pattern, or phantasm. At 6th level, the Hellknight chooses another subschool or descriptor from the list and gains a +2 bonus on his Will saves against spells of that type, and the bonus provided by his first selection increases to +4. At 9th level, he chooses from the list again, and both previous selections increase by 2, so that he has a +6, a +4, and a +2 bonus, respectively, against spells of three different groups.
Lawbringer (Ex): At 7th level, a Hellknight’s attacks are treated as being lawful for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.
Infernal Armor (Su): As long as he wears Hellknight armor, a 9th-level Hellknight gains a +2 bonus on all Charisma- related checks made while interacting with lawful, nongood creatures. In addition, while wearing the armor, he gains the ability to see perfectly in darkness of any kind, resistance to fire 30, resistance to acid 10, and resistance to cold 10.
Hell’s Knight (Su): At 10th level, a Hellknight can grant a weapon he wields or touches the axiomatic, flaming burst, or unholy weapon special ability. This weapon has this
special ability as long as the Hellknight remains within 100 feet of the weapon, but a Hellknight can maintain only a single weapon’s granted special ability at a time. The Hellknight also becomes immune to fire while wearing Hellknight plate.
Hellknight
Level Base Atk Fort Save Ref Save Will Save Special
1st +1 +1 +0 +0 Aura of law, detect chaos, order, smite chaos 1/day
2nd +2 +1 +1 +1 Discern lies, Hellknight armor 1
3rd +3 +2 +1 +1 1st discipline, force of will 1
4th +4 +2 +1 +1 Smite chaos 2/day
5th +5 +3 +2 +2 Hellknight armor 2
6th +6 +3 +2 +2 2nd discipline, force of will 2
7th +7 +4 +2 +2 Lawbringer, smite chaos 3/day
8th +8 +4 +3 +3 Hellknight armor 3
9th +9 +5 +3 +3 3rd discipline, force of will 3, infernal armor