Child of Bast

They are the most loyal, noble, and fearsome servants of the goddess. Their numbers may be few, but their influence has been great, if not well known. They are the children of the Bast. Most of them are female but there are more than a few males among their ranks. Females are generally referred to as daughters of Bast, while males are usually known as sons of Bast.

The children of the Bast have existed for as long as recorded history. They are a relatively small organization with only a handful of temples and shrines around the world, but they are shown great respect by all that worship the Bast (and by many who do not). Only those chosen by the Bast herself are allowed to become members.

The children have few rituals and rules and have only two standing orders: confront evil, wherever they find it, and serve Bast faithfully. Indeed it is said that where a child of Bast goes, so goes the goddess herself. Most children of Bast are usually friendly and outgoing, and more than happy to help those in need, provided their goals are just. A few, though, are dour and taciturn thanks to the evil they have seen and confronted throughout their careers.

The aspect to which a child of Bast is bound can be identified by the color of her temple garments. In addition, many children incorporate the same color into their other wardrobes as well, signaling other faithful of their presence.

Those bound to Bast’s vengeance aspect identify themselves with crimson — the color of shed blood. Those who follow her protector aspect wear sky blue to soothe and calm the fears of those for whom they intervene. Those who care for mothers wear saffron yellow — the color of the fields at harvest time. Last, those who dedicate themselves to rooting out evil dress themselves in black, always with a touch of purest white — a sleeve, a stripe, etc — to remind themselves of the dangers they seek to eliminate and of Bast’s light.

For all children, their status is identifiable in their temple clothing by the amount of color present.

All children come to Bast as they come to the world — nude — and are quickly given white garments to wear. As their training progresses, the color rises up the garment from the bottom until a fully trained child is wearing a garment of a solid color.

Role: A child of Bast can fill an interesting niche for a party, serving as part scout and part divine spellcaster. Children of Bast also serve well as leaders, especially of parties or groups who seek out wrongs to be righted and justice to be served.

Alignment: A child of Bast must be chaotic good, chaotic neutral or neutral good. Children of Bast are far less concerned with law and legalities than they are with seeing that justice is handed down. However, meting out justice does not equal cold-blooded murder. A child of Bast is still usually a good person.

Hit Dice: d8.

Requirements

To qualify to become a child of Bast, a character must fulfill all the following criteria.

Skills: Acrobatics 2 ranks, Knowledge (religion) 5 ranks, Stealth 2 ranks

Special: Must have Bast as a patron deity.

Spells: Able to cast 2nd level arcane or divine spells.

Class Skills

The child of Bast class skills are: Acrobatics (Dex), Climb (Str), Escape Artist (Dex), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (religion) (Int), Perception (Wis), Stealth Dex), Survival (Wis).

Skill Ranks per Level: 6 + Int modifier

Table: Child of Bast
Level Base Attack Bonus Fort Save Ref Save Will Save Special Spells per Day
1st +1 +0 +1 +1 Domain, Exotic Weapon Proficiency (claw bracer) +1 level of existing divine spellcasting class
2nd +2 +1 +1 +1 Cat empathy +1 level of existing divine spellcasting class
3rd +3 +1 +2 +2 Bonus feat +1 level of existing divine spellcasting class
4th +4 +1 +2 +2 Skill bonuses +1 level of existing divine spellcasting class
5th +5 +2 +3 +3 Darkvision +1 level of existing divine spellcasting class
6th +6 +2 +3 +3 Bonus feat +1 level of existing divine spellcasting class
7th +7 +2 +4 +4 Scent +1 level of existing divine spellcasting class
8th +8 +3 +4 +4 Skill bonuses +1 level of existing divine spellcasting class
9th +9 +3 +5 +5 Bonus feat +1 level of existing divine spellcasting class
10th +10 +3 +5 +5 Feline apotheosis +1 level of existing divine spellcasting class

Class Features

All the following are class features of the child of Bast prestige class.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency

A child of Bast gains Exotic Weapon Proficiency (claw bracer).

Domain

At 1st level, a child of Bast chooses one of the following cleric domains: Charm, Good, Liberation, Protection, Retribution. If the child was a cleric of Bast before entering the prestige class, this gives her a third domain.

To determine the level at which a child of Bast receives a domain ability with a level requirement, add her divine spellcasting class levels to her child of Bast class levels.

Spells per Day

At the indicated levels, a child of Bast gains new spells per day as if she had also gained a level in a divine spellcasting class she belonged to before adding the prestige class.

If the child of Bast did not have levels in a divine spellcasting class before taking the prestige class, then she only receives her bonus domain spells for the domain she chose and can cast each domain spell a number of times per day equal to her Wisdom bonus.

Cat Empathy (Ex)

Beginning at 2nd level, a child of Bast gains the ability to communicate with domestic and wild cats (including feline magical beasts) and gains +4 divine bonus on Charisma-based checks concerning felines.

Bonus Feats

At 3rd, 6th and 9th levels, a child of Bast can choose one of the following feats as a bonus feat: Acrobatic, Agile Maneuvers, Alertness, Athletic, Improved Lightning Reflexes, Lightning Reflexes, Run, or Stealthy.

Skill Bonuses

At 4th level, a child of Bast gains a +2 divine bonus to the following skills: Acrobatics, Climb, and Stealth. At 8th level, the bonus increases to +4.

Darkvision, 60 ft. (Ex)

At 5th level, a child of Bast’s eyesight improves, allowing her to see in complete darkness to a distance of 60 feet. If the child of Bast already had darkvision, the range increases by half.

Scent (Ex)

At 7th level, a child of Bast’s sense of smell improves, allowing her to detect opponents within 30 feet by sense of smell alone. If the opponent is upwind the distance increases to 60 feet; if downwind, it decreases to 15 feet. Strong scents, such as smoke or rotting garbage, can be detected at twice the listed distances. Overpowering scents, such as a skunk, musk or troglodyte stench can be detected at triple normal range.

When a child of Bast detects a scent, the exact location of the source is not revealed-only its presence somewhere within range. She can take a move action to note the direction of the scent. Whenever she comes within 5 feet of the source, she pinpoints the source’s location.

A child of Bast with the Survival skill can follow tracks by smell, making a Survival skill check to find or follow a track. The typical DC for a fresh trail is 10 (no matter what kind of surface holds the scent). This DC increased or decreases depending on how strong the quarry’s odor is, the number of creatures and the age of the trail. For each hour that the trail is cold the DC increases by 2. The ability otherwise follows the rules for tracking using the Survival skill.

Tracking by the scent ignore the effects of surface conditions and poor visibility.

Feline Apotheosis

At 10th level, a child of Bast is transformed. She gains physical features and characteristics that mark her as a child of Bast and remake her in her goddess’ image. No two children of Bast look exactly the same after the transformation. They may have a tail, cat-like eyes, claw-like nails, small fangs, skin with spots like a cheetah or leopard, hair like a lion’s mane, or any other cat-like characteristics. The child’s type and subtype (if it has one) do not change.

As part of the apotheosis, the child of Bast gains a +2 bonus to her Dexterity and her Charisma; she becomes light on her feet and develops a bit of animal magnetism. If she does not already have low-light vision, she develops that trait. Like a cat, the child of Bast develops a tendency to land on her feet. For falls of 15 feet or less, she takes no damage and for falls of more than 15 feet but less than 50 feet she takes only half damage (the child suffers full damage for falls over 50 feet).

Finally, her hardened, claw-like nails can be used to make two claw attacks per round, dealing 1d6 points of damage (1d4 for small-sized children of Bast). Her claws are considered magic weapons for the purposes of overcoming damage reduction.

Ex-children of Bast

Any child whose alignment changes to an incompatible one is expelled from the order. She immediately loses her domain access, plus her cat empathy, darkvision, and scent abilities (if any), and also loses the felid template (if she has it). All skill bonuses and bonus feats remain.


Section 15: Copyright Notice – Paths of Power

Paths of Power. Copyright 2009, 4 Winds Fantasy Gaming; Authors Sean O’Connor and Patricia Willenborg, with Connie J. Thomson and Robert W. Thomson.

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