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Judge

Contents

Maneuvers
Ki Pool (Su)
Judgment (Su)
Domain
Judge Arts
Truthseeker (Sp)
Divine Abolishment (Su)

Some stalkers find themselves in the service of religious institutions, working side by side with inquisitors and clerics to root out heresy and combat those that oppose their benefactors or orders and do so in the most subtle of ways. By becoming a judge of their religious flock, the stalker takes on some attributes of the inquisitors he works beside.

Maneuvers

Instead of adding either Riven Hourglass or Tempest Gale to his list of available disciplines, a judge adds Shatterd Mirror. If he does not have a discipline’s associated skill as a class skill, he gains it as a class skill.

This alters a stalker’s maneuvers.

Ki Pool (Su)

At 1st level, a judge gains a pool of ki points, supernatural energy he can use to accomplish amazing feats. The number of points in the judge’s ki pool is equal to 1/2 his stalker level + his stalker initiation modifier (minimum of 1). Unless listed here, a judge’s ki pool abilities are the same as a normal stalker.

At 1st level, the judge’s ki attunes him to the vibrations of falsehood and truths that are uttered by those around him, gaining a +4 insight bonus to Bluff or Sense Motive checks.

At 5th level, the judge may spend 1 point of ki and attune himself to morality of those around him, gaining the benefits of the see alignment spell for one round per two class levels.

At 7th level, the judge may spend 1 point from his ki pool to gain a +4 insight bonus on a saving throw as an immediate action.

At 9th level, the judge can delve into his subconscious in battle and remember key lessons from his training. The judge envisions potential scenarios where martial abilities he has not readied come into play and gains a momentary burst of martial insight. A number of times per day equal to his stalker initiation modifier, the character spends one ki point as a swift action to trade an unexpended readied maneuver for a maneuver known of the same level or lower and have it immediately readied and accessible for his use. The character may initiate this maneuver and recover it as if he had prepared at the beginning of the day (or whenever the stalker readied his maneuvers last).

This alters the stalker ki pool class feature.

Judgment (Su)

Starting at 1st level, a judge can pronounce judgment upon his foes as a swift action. Starting when the judgment is made, the judge receives a bonus or special ability based on the type of judgment made.

At 1st level, a judge can use this ability once per day. At 5th level and every four levels thereafter, the judge can use this ability one additional time per day. Once activated, this ability lasts until the combat ends, at which point all of the bonuses immediately end. The judge must participate in the combat to gain these bonuses. If he is frightened, panicked, paralyzed, stunned, unconscious, or otherwise prevented from participating in the combat, the ability does not end, but the bonuses do not resume until he can participate in the combat again.

When the judge uses this ability, he must select one type of judgment to make. As a swift action, he can change this judgment to another type.

Avenging: This judgment spurs the judge to seek justice, granting a +1 insight bonus on all attack rolls. This bonus increases by +1 for every five judge levels he possesses. At 10th level, this bonus is doubled on all attack rolls made to confirm critical hits.

Bloody: The judge inflicts horrible, bleeding wounds that gush with his deity’s rage. After a successful attack upon the target who has been targeted by this judgment, the target suffers 1d6 points of bleed damage on its turn for a number of rounds equal to 1 + the judge’s stalker initiation modifier (minimum of 1 rounds). Bleed damage can be stopped by a DC 15 Heal skill check or through any magical healing.

Destructive: The judge is filled with divine wrath, gaining a +1 insight bonus on all weapon damage rolls. This bonus increases by +1 for every four judge levels he possesses.

Enduring: This judgment makes the judge resistant to harm, granting DR 1/magic. This DR increases by 1 for every five levels he possesses. At 10th level, this DR changes from magic to an alignment (chaotic, evil, good, or lawful) that is opposite the judge’s. If he is neutral, the judge does not receive this increase.

Guarded: The judge’s senses protect him from the vile taint of his foes, granting a +1 insight bonus on all saving throws. This bonus increases by +1 for every five judge levels he possesses. At 10th level, the bonus is doubled against curses, diseases, and poisons.

Unbreakable: The judge is shielded by a dark haze, gaining 2 points of energy resistance against one energy type (acid, cold, electricity, fire, or sonic) chosen when the judgment is declared. The protection increases by 2 for every four judge levels he possesses.

Unyielding: The judge is provided flashes of divine protective knowledge, granting a +1 insight bonus to Armor Class. This bonus increases by +1 for every five judge levels he possesses. At 10th level, this bonus is doubled against attack rolls made to confirm critical hits against the judge.

Wrathful: This judgment bathes the judge’s weapons in a divine sheen of deific rage. The judge’s weapons count as magic for the purposes of bypassing damage reduction. At 6th level, the judge’s weapons also count as one alignment type (chaotic, evil, good, or lawful) for the purpose of bypassing damage reduction. The type selected must match one of the judge’s alignments. If the judge is neutral, he does not receive this bonus. At 10th level, the judge’s weapons also count as adamantine for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction (but not for reducing hardness).

This ability replaces the stalker’s deadly strikes class feature. He may not select the deadly ambush, deadly insight, or deadly recovery stalker arts.

Domain

Like a cleric’s deity, a judge’s deity influences his alignment, what magic he can perform, and his values. Although not as tied to the tenets of the deity as a cleric, a judge must still hold such guidelines in high regard, despite that fact he can go against them if it serves the greater good of the faith. A judge can select one domain from among those belonging to his deity. He can select an alignment domain only if his alignment matches that domain. With the GM’s approval, a judge can be devoted to an ideal instead of a deity, selecting one domain to represent his personal inclination and abilities. The restriction on alignment domains still applies. Judges also have access to Inquisitions, which are similar to Domains but do not include Domain spells. If he so chooses, he may use an inquisition instead of a domain.

Each domain grants a number of domain powers, depending on the level of the judge. A judge does not gain the bonus spells listed for each domain, nor does he gain bonus spell slots. The judge uses his level as his effective cleric level when determining the power and effect of his domain powers. If the judge has access to domains as a cleric or inquisitor, at least one of his domain selections must be the same domain selected as a judge; if he has an inquisition instead of a domain, he may choose two domains as normal. Levels of cleric and judge stack for the purpose of determining domain powers and abilities, but not for bonus spells or for inquisitions unless the inquisition is taken in the place of a domain for the non martial disciple class.

This ability replaces the stalker art gained at 3rd level.

Judge Arts

As a judge gains experience, he learns a number of arts that aid him and confound his foes. Starting at 7th level, a judge gains one art; he gains an additional art for every four levels of judge attained after 7th level. A judge cannot select an individual art more than once (unless noted). Judges select their starting arts from the stalker arts list, or may select the following:

Final Judgment (Ex) A judge with this potent art can bring deadly judgment to foes that are unaware of their impending doom. To attempt to levy final judgment on a target, the judge must first study his target for three full rounds before making the final judgment. On the following round, if the judge initiates a maneuver against the target and the target is denied its Dexterity bonus to AC, the maneuver has the additional effect of possibly killing the target. This attempt automatically fails if the target recognizes the judge as an enemy. If the attack is successful and the target of this attack fails a Fortitude save, it dies. The DC of this save is equal to 10 + 1/2 the judge’s level + the judge’s stalker initiation modifier. If the save is successful, the target still suffers the effects of the maneuver as normal, but it is immune to that judge’s final judgment ability for 1 day. The character’s judge level must be 15th level or higher to select this art.

Truthseeker (Sp)

The judge must be able to make swift decisions in his line of work, and by using his ki to feel out disturbances caused by lies in a target’s soul. By spending a point of ki as a standard action and clearly viewing a subject within close range, the judge gains the effects of a discern lies spell for a number of rounds equal to his stalker initiation modifier. This ability works exactly as the spell in all other respects.

This ability replaces the blending class feature.

Divine Abolishment (Su)

The strengths of an enemy wither in the face of the judge’s divinely mandated execution of his deity’s will. When initiating a martial strike while using a judgment, the judge may expend a point of ki from his ki pool to strip away the magical protections of his foe. This functions as a targeted greater dispel magic using his initiator level as his caster level, and this targets spells or spell-like abilities functioning on a target (with a duration of one round or longer), and may target a number of ongoing effects equal to his stalker initiation modifier.

This ability replaces the improved blending class feature.

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