Circle Warden

Not all witches bring despair and misfortune upon their enemies. The circle warden unites fellow creatures inside a ring of abjuration and protects them from threats and bad omens with talismans made from eldritch patterns.

Token of Fellowship

A circle warden witch does not form a bond with a familiar; instead, she creates a special link with a fellowship. Symbolizing this fellowship is an object of great personal value, a fetish made with components bearing great significance to the fellowship, or the representation of an association.

The circle warden witch must commune with her token to prepare her spells. During the communion, the circle witch may link her fetish’s spiritual energies to any number of willing, sentient creatures that she wishes to take upon her protection, including herself. A witch may attune additional creatures during the day by taking one hour to meditate, and draw talismans on the creatures she wishes to ward. A token of fellowship otherwise works as a familiar.

Spells: A circle warden replaces some of her patron’s spell list with the following: shield of faith (2nd), aid circle warden (4th), blessing of fervor (8th), break enchantment (10th), repulsion (14th).

White Hexes: A circle warden witch’s hexes are made to protect and ward. She cannot target unwilling targets with her hexes.

Hex: The circle warden adds the following Hexes to the list of hexes she may choose from:

Channel (Su): A witch can channel positive energy like a cleric, using her witch level as her effective cleric level when determining the amount of damage healed and the effects of her channeling. Whether or not the creature makes a successful save, a creature cannot be the target of this hex again for 1 day.

Major Hex: The circle warden adds the following Major Hexes to the list of hexes she may choose from:

Payback (Su): A witch can place a payback hex on a creature within 60 feet, causing terrible wounds to open across the flesh of any creature dealing damage to it in melee. Immediately after the hexed creature suffers damage in melee, the attacker takes half that damage (round down). This damage bypasses any resistances, immunities, or damage reduction the creature possesses. This effect lasts for a number of rounds equal to the witch’s Intelligence modifier. A Will save from the opponent attacking the hexed creature negates this effect.

Good Luck Talisman (Su): By spending one hour to write a mystic charm on a creature, the witch can ward a creature, as per the Ward hex. A witch can have a number of active good luck talismans at the same time equal to her Intelligence modifier.

Wreath of Community (Su)

At 1st level, the circle warden emits a 20-foot aura of abjuration. Once per round whenever an ally attuned to the circle warden’s fellowship is standing within the wreath of community’s area, he may create a shield other effect in relation to any other attuned ally within the wreath of communitiy’s area as a free action spell-like ability. The spell’s caster level is equal to your Witch class level (though the person activating the ability is consider the caster for all other purposes). At 3rd level and every 2 levels thereafter, the radius of the aura increases by 5 feet, to a maximum of 70 feet at 20th level.

This ability replaces the witch’s 1st-level hex.

Gyre of the Eldritch (Su)

At 3rd level, the circle warden may use a hex on two attuned creatures as a standard action, as per the Split Hex feat. This hex lasts one less round than usual (minimum 1) and may target two creatures anywhere on the circle warden’s wreath of community. A witch with the Split Hex feat may target up to three different attuned creatures with it; this hex lasts one less round than usual.

A number of times per day equal to her Intelligence modifier, the circle warden may also cast any spell with a range of touch on any attuned creature within the aura of her wreath of community, as if the spell was prepared with the Reach Spell metamagic feat.

Aegis of Protection (Su)

At 4th level, the circle warden may protect allies within the area of her wreath of community. As a move action, the circle warden may draw eldritch patterns that provide to all attuned allies within her wreath of community the properties of a protection from evil (alignment chosen during the move action) spell. The circle warden may instead provide them with a resist energy value equal to her level (energy chosen during the move action).

By spending a full-round action instead, the circle warden creates a powerful sanctuary for any living being she wishes to protect inside her wreath of community; this ability works as normal, except that instead of protection from evil it reproduces the effects of a magic circle against evil (alignment chosen during the full-round action), and a creature needs not to be attuned to her fellowship to benefit from her protection. These effects last until the beginning of her next turn. This ability can only provide each creature with one attempt per day to suppress effects that are controlling them.

This ability replaces the witch’s 4th-level hex.

Astral Union (Su)

At 8th level, the circle warden can leave her body as a standard action to bind her soul to one of her allies within the area of her wreath of community. This works as per the magic jar spell, except that the circle warden does not need a gem and her soul does not trap the ally’s soul, nor overtakes his body. While mindless, her body is not lifeless, and it can do a move action each round. The physical and the astral body still share their actions on each round.

While bound to an ally, the circle warden may cast spells on him that are normally restricted to a range of touch or personal and use hexes that normally affect her to affect him instead. Thanks to the insight the circle warden can provide to him, the bound ally also gains the benefits of the shield of faith spell (caster level equal to the witch’s level), plus the effects of a continuous Fortune hex.

If her body is slain or the ally leaves her wreath of community, her soul stays with her bound ally for one day per witch level after which she dies; or until the ally returns into the area of her wreath of community or her body is brought back to life, at which point she goes back into her body. During this time, her ally still gains the benefits of the astral union but her senses are limited to what her bound ally can perceive; she may also not cast spells onto any other creature than the bonded ally, nor use her wreath of community without a body.

This ability replaces the witch’s 8th-level hex.

Circle of Perseverance (Su)

At 12th level, the circle warden can target an attuned creature within the range of her wreath of community with a hex a second time during the day.

In addition, a number of times per day equal to her Intelligence modifier, the circle warden may grant an ally a second saving throw against an on-going effect.

As a standard action, the circle warden grant a second saving throw to an attuned ally within range of her wreath of community afflicted with an ongoing spell effect. She may not use this ability to grant more than one save to an ally against a specific ongoing spell effect.

This ability replaces the witch’s 12th-level hex.

Gyre of the Foremost Eldritch (Su)

At 16th level, as a full-round action, the circle warden may provide to each attuned ally within the aura of her wreath of community the effects of one hex, using half her witch level as her effective witch level for the purposes of this hex.

This ability replaces the witch’s 16th-level hex.

Section 15: Copyright Notice

The Secrets of Tactical Archetypes © 2012 Steven D. Russell; Authors: Will McCardell and Benjamin Rombeaut

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