Warpath Follower

Note: This class template uses rules available in Path of War by Dreamscarred Press.

The followers of a Warpath can be found among the servants of any and all gods, although they are certainly more common among the followers of warlike gods. Those who follow a warpath give up some of their spellcasting proficiency in order fight for the causes of their god with greater effectiveness.

Converting Your Character to a Warpath Follower

The warpath follower is a class template suitable for use with the inquisitor and warpriest classes. When converting a character to a warpath follower, the character loses or changes the following class features:

Inquisitor

Warpriest

  • The warpriest gives up the focus weapon, sacred weapon, sacred armor, and aspect of war class features.
  • The warpriest prepares one fewer spell per day of each spell level he can cast. If this would reduce his spells prepared to 0, he may only prepare bonus spells that he received of that level due to a high Wisdom score.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency

A warpath follower gains proficiency with his deity’s favored weapon (if any) or a single martial weapon of his choice in addition to his standard weapon proficiencies. This weapon is his favored weapon for the purpose of his warpath follower class features.

Maneuvers

Table: Warpath Maneuver Progression
Level Maximum Maneuver Level Maneuvers Known Maneuvers Readied Stances Known
1st 1 3 3 (1) 1
2nd 1 4 3 (1) 1
3rd 1 5 3 (1) 1
4th 2 6 4 (2) 2
5th 2 6 4 (2) 2
6th 2 6 4 (2) 2
7th 3 7 4 (2) 3
8th 3 7 4 (2) 3
9th 4 8 4 (2) 3
10th 4 8 5 (3) 3
11th 5 9 5 (3) 4
12th 5 9 5 (3) 4
13th 6 10 5 (3) 5
14th 6 11 5 (3) 5
15th 6 11 6 (4) 5
16th 6 12 6 (4) 5
17th 6 13 6 (4) 5
18th 6 14 6 (4) 5
19th 6 14 6 (4) 5
20th 6 15 7 (5) 5

A warpath follower begins his career with knowledge of three martial maneuvers. When he takes his first warpath follower level, he selects three of disciplines for which his favored weapon is a discipline weapon to gain access to. If the warpath follower does not have these disciplines’ associated skills as class skills, he gains them as class skills.

Once the warpath follower knows a maneuver, he must ready it before he can use it (see Maneuvers Readied, below). A maneuver usable by warpath followers is considered an extraordinary ability unless otherwise noted in it or its discipline’s description. A warpath follower’s maneuvers are not affected by spell resistance, and he does not provoke attacks of opportunity when he initiates one.

The warpath follower learns additional maneuvers at higher levels, as indicated on Table: Warpath Maneuver Progression. The maximum level of maneuvers gained through warpath follower levels is limited by those listed in that table as well, although this restriction does not apply to maneuvers added to his maneuvers known through other methods, such as prestige classes or the Advanced Study feat. A polymath must meet a maneuver’s prerequisite to learn it. See Systems and Use for more details on how maneuvers are used.

Upon reaching 4th level, and at every even numbered initiator level thereafter (6th, 8th, 10th, and so on), the warpath follower can choose to learn a new maneuver in place of one he already knows. In effect, he loses the old maneuver in exchange for the new one. He can choose a new maneuver of any level he likes, as long as he observes the restriction on the highest-level maneuvers he knows; the warpath follower need not replace the old maneuver with a maneuver of the same level. He can swap only a single maneuver at any given level. A warpath follower’s initiation modifier is Wisdom, and each warpath follower level is counted as a full initiator level.

Maneuvers Readied

Granted Maneuvers and Alternate Recovery Methods

If a warpath follower uses the Lightning Recovery or Victorious Recovery feats (or a similar method) to recover a maneuver, it is immediately added to his currently granted maneuvers.

A warpath follower can ready all three of his maneuvers known at 1st level, and as he advances in level and learns more maneuvers, he is able to ready more, but must still choose which maneuvers to ready. A warpath follower must always ready his maximum number of maneuvers readied. He readies his maneuvers by meditating or praying to his deity for ten minutes. The maneuvers he chooses remain readied until he decides to practice again and change them. The warpath follower does not need to sleep or rest for any long period of time in order to ready his maneuvers; any time he spends ten minutes practicing, he can change his readied maneuvers.

A warpath follower begins an encounter with all his readied maneuvers unexpended, regardless of how many times he might have already used them since he chose them. When he initiates a maneuver, he expends it for the current encounter, so each of his readied maneuvers can be used once per encounter (unless he recovers them, as described below).

Unlike other martial disciples, warpath followers rely on flashes of divine inspiration to inform their strategy in combat. Because of this, they do not have full control over their readied maneuvers; when a warpath follower readies his maneuvers, he selects one of his readied maneuvers to be immediately granted to him for use at any time (when this maneuver is used outside of combat, it recovers on its own in the following round), with the rest of his initially randomized maneuvers waiting to be granted in combat. The remainder of his readied maneuvers are withheld and currently inaccessible until combat begins. If he is able to act in a surprise round when combat begins, he is granted his maneuvers then as normal, but if he is caught unaware, he must wait until his initiative before his maneuvers are granted (beyond the initial one). At the end of each of his combat turns, one previously withheld maneuver (randomly determined) is granted to him, and thus becomes accessible for his next turn and subsequent turns. He can freely choose to initiate any maneuver that is currently granted when his turn begins, but he cannot initiate a withheld maneuver. If the warpath follower chooses not to employ a maneuver in a given round, his currently granted maneuvers remain available, and a previously withheld maneuver is granted, as described above. In other words, it doesn’t matter if he uses his maneuvers or not—at the end of each of his turns, one withheld maneuver from his selection of readied maneuvers is granted to him. Over the course of a few rounds, all the warpath follower’s maneuvers will eventually be granted.

A warpath follower can change the readied maneuvers he has chosen to be immediately granted for use at any time by spending one minute in prayer.

If, at the end of the warpath follower’s turn, he cannot be granted a maneuver because he has no withheld maneuvers remaining, he recovers all expended maneuvers, and a new group of readied maneuvers is granted to him, replacing his previously granted maneuvers if any remain unspent. He selects one of his choice and gains the remainder of granted maneuvers as randomized selections, as noted below. At the end of his next turn, a withheld maneuver is granted to the warpath follower, and the process of inspiration begins again.

At 4th level and again at 10th, 15th, and 20th levels, the number of maneuvers granted to the warpath follower at the beginning of an encounter and when he recovers his maneuvers increases by one. Unlike the warpath follower’s initial granted maneuver, these additional maneuvers are randomly determined (for example, at the beginning of an encounter, a 4th level warpath follower would choose one maneuver to have access to, then randomly be granted one more).

Alternatively, a warpath follower can speak a brief prayer, recovering a single expended maneuver as a standard action. If the warpath follower cannot ready his full allotment of readied maneuvers, he loses the ability to automatically recover his expended maneuvers and can only recover maneuvers by spending a standard action

Stances Known

A warpath follower begins his career with knowledge of one stance from any discipline open to warpath followers. At 4th, 7th, 11th, and 13th levels, he can select an additional stance to learn. The maximum level of stances gained through warpath follower levels is limited by those listed in Table 2-4: Warpath Maneuver Progression. Unlike maneuvers, stances are not expended and the warpath follower does not have to ready them. All the stances he knows are available to him at all times, and he can change the stance he is currently maintaining as a swift action. A stance is an extraordinary ability unless otherwise stated in the stance or discipline description.

Unlike with maneuvers, a warpath follower cannot learn a new stance at higher levels in place of one he already knows.

Divine Focus Weapon (Ex)

At 1st level, a warpath follower is given insight into combat by his deity, granting him knowledge of how to use weapons more effectively. He gains Weapon Focus with his favored weapon, even if he does not meet the prerequisites. In addition, if the warpath follower can cast divine spells, he may use his favored weapon as a divine focus.

Controlled Insight (Ex)

Starting at 4th level, a warpath follower is better able to understand the needs and desires of his deity. When he readies his maneuvers, he selects two to be granted to him at all times, rather than one. In addition, when he recovers all his expended maneuvers as a result of having no withheld maneuvers left, he chooses two of the new granted maneuvers rather that one, then randomly determines any additional maneuvers granted as normal.

Section 15: Copyright Notice

Path of War – Expanded, © 2016, Dreamscarred Press.

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