Prestige Class Spotlight 17: Inheritor’s Crusader
(art by Palelilacgray on DeviantArt)
By sheer coincidence and a bit of alphabetical proximity, we’re covering two different Iomedae-related prestige classes in the same week!
Unlike a lot of prestige classes tied to specific religions, however, this one is not from Paths of the Righteous or even Paths of Prestige. Instead, this one comes from the back matter of one of the volumes of the Council of Thieves AP, the very first Adventure Path that was published for the Pathfinder RPG system instead of for D&D 3.5.
Also interesting is that this prestige class have only three levels, making it one of the most unobtrusive character options out there. But enough of that, let’s get into it!
While plenty of heroes believe in truth, justice, and honor, few walk the walk and talk the talk like the true Crusaders of the Inheritor. Contrary to their name, these warriors are not necessarily part of any specific active holy war, though they do offer their support to one if the cause and methods are righteous. Instead, theirs is a more personal crusade, one to protect humanity and the other goodly peoples from all evil and inspire others by example, living a truly righteous life.
In exchange, these divine warriors are gifted powers to protect the freedom of mortals and promote truth and justice wherever they go.
Would-be heroes that wish to walk the path of the crusader must be devoted Iomedae worshippers, have a strong will, skill with a longsword, and the ability to channel energy. This pretty much limits them paladins and clerics, though if you can get channel energy on other classes thanks to ability choices or archetypes, go for it.
All three levels of the class include magic training in the previously held class, so you won’t miss out on any higher-level magic. However, the wording does limit it to paladin and cleric casting, so you may have to homebrew it if you’re playing a life oracle or such.
Even the clerics that take the mantle as the Inheritor’s warriors must adhere to a code as a paladin would.
Like true paladins, these warriors radiate an aura of unflappable courage, and those that already had such an aura extend its reach.
The energy channeled by these divine practitioners steels the mind, potentially breaking the hold that charms and compulsions have on the recipients in addition to healing them. They can even use the ability on themselves, either directly or inadvertedly to try and break such effects, making domination effects on these crusaders a risky venture indeed for a villain.
As paragons of justice, Iomedae’s will and adherence to the truth literally guide their blades. This gives them the ability to perform a test of truth on others. By invoking the goddess’ judgment, the warrior may swing their sword at someone accused of wrongdoing. If the accused is guilty, the blade swings true and carves their flesh. But if they are innocent, Iomedae’s hand stops the blade, exonerating them in what is arguably the most traumatic way possible. It even has protections against magical deception and divination wards, bouncing off with a hiss that makes it clear that true judgment cannot be rendered in the current circumstances. They can use this ability easily once per day, but doing it more times tires them.
With only three levels to work with, this prestige class is exceedingly simple, but it does offer some nice benefits, such as a buffed aura of courage, charm and compulsion dispelling, and a perfect way to find out who can be trusted in a mystery, all without sacrificing any spellcasting. You will be missing out on your capstone of course, but you may find this prestige class still worth it regardless in high level play.
An interesting detail of this class is that apparently the ability for their blades to not cut the innocent is actually quite famed, to the point where some people wrongly accused of a heinous crime will actually ask for a crusader of the Inheritor to test them and exonerate them. I can honestly imagine that having the daring to ask for such a risky and final judgement is strong evidence of their innocence long before the will of the goddess seals the deal. Of course, some truly deluded folk might try it believing they are innocent of any wrongdoing, only to be punished for their delusion.
Accused of dragging citizens into the water and drowning them, the locathah Doboio invokes the blade judgement of a crusader… and is found innocent. Despite this, however, the fishman is still mistrusted by the port city, and will likely remain so while the true serial killer remains at large.
After having followed rumors of a mobogo cult, Sir Alvan found only boggards worshipping an otherwise ordinary frog father. However, an evil power still hung over the high priest that fled at his approach, and so the paladin and crusader asks for the party’s aid in tracking the priest down.
Up until this point, the holy warriors of the Shining One have remained neutral in the war, citing that their goddess does not condone the meaningless slaying of mortal blood. However, when the Rathbani began pillaging villages and taking civilians as slaves and worse, they finally were motivated to action, bringing with them their holy blessings and merciless might.
