Dauntless Shield

Dauntless shields are the most stereotypical bodyguards among the Order of Vigilance. They are combat oriented and focus their efforts on putting themselves bodily between their charge and any known danger. They combine the martial prowess of a fighter with quick reactions and the ability to absorb an overwhelming amount of damage. They could very well have been the first to use the phrase “Over my dead body!” as a defiant response to the threat of impending violence.

Role: Most dauntless shields were formally fighters, although rangers, monks, rogues, and sorcerers also sometimes choose this path. Dauntless shields are expert warriors that arrange themselves on the battlefield so as to protect their charge and provide cover for their teammates. As they advance in level, they require less rest than normal and so can spend more time standing guard.

Alignment: Dauntless shields can be of any non-evil alignment, although most tend to be lawful.

Hit Die: d10

Requirements

To qualify to become a dauntless shield, a character must fulfill all of the following criteria:

Alignment: Any non-evil.

Base Attack Bonus: +6.

Skills: Perception 5 ranks, Sense Motive 5 ranks.

Feats: Blind-Fight, Endurance, Iron Will, Improved Initiative, Weapon Focus (any).

Special: The dauntless shield needs an instructor who is a member of the Order of Vigilance in order to take the first level of this class. After that, he may gain levels normally, even if there is no instructor to teach him.

Class Skills

The dauntless shield’s class skills (and the key ability for each) are Acrobatics (Dex), Climb (Str), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (religion) (Int), Perception (Wis), Sense Motive (Wis), Stealth (Dex).

Skill Points at Each Level: 2 + Int modifier.

Table: Dauntless Shield
Level Base Attack Bonus Fort Save Ref Save Will Save Special
1st +1 +1 +0 +1 Harm’s way (1/day), scrapper +1
2nd +2 +1 +1 +1 Damage reduction 1/–, less sleep (4 hours/day), defense bonus +1
3rd +3 +2 +1 +2 Scrapper +2, protective circle (adjacent)
4th +4 +2 +1 +2 Damage reduction 2/–, sudden action, defense bonus +2
5th +5 +3 +2 +3 Scrapper +3, harm’s way (additional charge)
6th +6 +3 +2 +3 Harm’s way (2/day), less sleep (1 hour/day)
7th +7 +4 +2 +4 Scrapper +4, protective circle (10’ radius), defense bonus +3
8th +8 +4 +3 +4 Damage reduction 4/–
9th +9 +5 +3 +5 Scrapper +5, harm’s way (additional charge)
10th +10 +5 +3 +5 Damage reduction 6/–, protective circle (30’ radius), defense bonus +4

Class Features

The following are class features of the dauntless shield prestige class.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Dauntless shields are proficient with all simple, martial, and exotic weapons and with all armor (heavy, light, and medium) and shields, including tower shields.

Harm’s Way (Ex)

As a free action, a dauntless shield may select a target ally to be the charge that he is particularly attempting to protect. Once this decision is made, the dauntless shield cannot change his charge until there is no obvious threat to that charge (normally after a combat encounter ends), or an hour has passed (if the charge has the misfortune to suffer obvious threats for more than an hour). Any other character that has levels in an Order of Vigilance prestige class is also considered a charge of the dauntless shield.

Once per round as an immediate action, if the dauntless shield is adjacent to a charge that is targeted by a direct melee or ranged attack (but not an area effect), the dauntless shield can subject himself to the attack in the charge’s stead. The dauntless shield must declare his intention to place himself in harm’s way before the attack roll is made.

If the attack hits the dauntless shield, he takes damage normally. If it misses, it also misses the charge. A dauntless shield can designate up to two charges at once at 5th level, and three charges at once at 10th level. These additional charges are always in addition to characters with levels in an Order of Vigilance prestige class.

Scrapper (Ex)

Starting at 1st level, a dauntless shield gains a +1 insight bonus to all melee attacks and damage. This bonus increases by +1 every other level thereafter, so at 3rd level the bonus is +2, at 5th level it is +3, and so on.

Damage Reduction (Su)

At 2nd level the dauntless shield gains DR 1/–. At 4th level this increases to DR 2/–, at 8th level to DR 4/–, and at 10th level it reaches its maximum of DR 6/–.

Defense Bonus

Beginning at 2nd level, dauntless shields gain a luck bonus to their AC (as listed on Table: Dauntless Shield).

Less Sleep (Su)

At 2nd level a dauntless shield needs only 4 hours of sleep per day in order to rest and recuperate normally. At 4th level this decreases to needing only 1 hour of rest per day, and at 6th level the dauntless shield no longer needs sleep at all. A dauntless shield able to cast spells must take an hour to meditate before regaining spell slots, and can still only regain spell slots once per day.

Protective Circle (Ex)

Beginning at 3rd level, as a full-round action a dauntless shield can issue orders and directions to a number of charges equal to his dauntless shield level. Doing so provides these charges with an insight bonus to AC equal to the dauntless shield’s class level. This bonus lasts for 3 rounds.

At 3rd level, the charges must be adjacent to the dauntless shield at the time the orders and directions are given in order to receive this benefit. At 6th level, the charges may be up to 10 feet away from the dauntless shield. At 10th level, the charges may be up to 30 feet away.

Sudden Action (Ex)

At 4th level, once per day a dauntless shield can change his place in the initiative order, moving higher in the count by a number less than or equal to his class level. The dauntless shield can declare the use of this ability at the start of any round, before any other character takes an action.

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The Genius Guide To: The Order of Vigilance. Copyright 2010, Super Genius Games. Authors: Stan! and R. Hyrum Savage
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