Battle Scion

The battle scion possesses a unique mixture of courtly grace alongside martial and magical prowess. She is a warrior-poet, as skilled with her words as she is with blades. Battle scions sometimes rule as queens over courts of brave knights who scour the world championing bold quests.

Courtly Presence (Ex)

At 1st level, a battle scion’s bearing radiates command and presence, allowing her to tower over her opponents in social situations. The battle scion adds 1/2 her character level to Intimidate checks, and she starts any verbal duel with an extra edge that she can use for the presence tactic so long as she is not at a significant or extreme disadvantage in the duel. However, her bardic knowledge ability applies to only Knowledge (geography), Knowledge (history), Knowledge (local), and Knowledge (nobility).

This ability alters bardic knowledge.

Battle Prowess (Ex)

Whenever a battle scion would gain a rage power from the skald’s rage power ability (at 3rd level and every 3 skald levels thereafter), she can instead choose to gain a combat feat or teamwork feat for which she meets the prerequisites.

Like rage powers she selects in this way, the battle scion can grant this feat to allies under the effect of inspired rage, as long as those allies also meet the prerequisites, but she must expend 2 rounds of raging song for each round in which she grants a combat feat or teamwork feat.

If the battle scion gains multiple feats from battle prowess, allies can use these feats to meet the prerequisites for other feats while they’re affected by battle prowess (for example, a battle scion with Power Attack and Cleave from battle prowess could grant both, allowing allies with a +1 base attack bonus and a Strength score of 13 to gain both, since they can use Power Attack to qualify for Cleave).

This alters the rage power ability.

Raging Song (Su)

A battle scion gains the following raging song.

Song of Questing (Su): At 10th level, the battle scion can spend 4 rounds of raging song to draw upon a target’s honor, ambition, and sense of self in order to bind the target to an agreed-upon task, often a noble quest. This works like geas/quest, except it applies only if the target is truly willing (not magically compelled or tricked), and the target automatically understands the full terms of the agreement before deciding whether he is willing.

The battle scion can offer a reward for the completion of the noble quest, but if she does so and fails to live up to her agreement, she becomes an ex-battle scion and loses all benefits gained from the archetype (she does not gain the abilities they replaced, either). At 14th level, she can offer the same quest to up to one willing creature per skald level. If she does so, the effect ends for all creatures as soon as anyone completes the quest, though only the creature who completes it earns any offered reward.

This ability replaces dirge of doom and song of the fallen.

Once and Future Scion (Su)

At 20th level, a battle scion becomes extremely difficult to kill. Whenever she is slain, as long as her body isn’t destroyed, she enters a deathlike sleep for 3 days, after which she returns to life as per raise dead, except that it can restore her even if she was slain by a death effect. Spells that would restore her to life function as if she were dead during this time, allowing her to recover sooner.

This ability replaces master skald.

Section 15: Copyright Notice

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Ultimate Intrigue © 2016, Paizo Inc.; Authors: Jesse Benner, John Bennett, Logan Bonner, Robert Brookes, Jason Bulmahn, Ross Byers, Robert N. Emerson, Amanda Hamon Kunz, Steven Helt, Thurston Hillman, Tim Hitchcock, Mikko Kallio, Rob McCreary, Jason Nelson, Tom Phillips, Stephen Radney-MacFarland, Thomas M. Reid, Alexander Riggs, David N. Ross, David Schwartz, Mark Seifter, Linda Zayas-Palmer.

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