Ascetic Prestige Class

An ascetic strives for unity with the divine through all his life. The life of a normal cleric is not enough for him; asceticism and meditation open up new vistas of divine power to his yearning soul. Due to this mystical bent he fails to develop his physical abilities, but develops his mystical abilities to an even greater degree than a normal cleric or druid. Ascetics devote themselves to mystical exercises that leave them emasculated and weak, but full of spiritual energy.

Ascetics will be of many sorts, ranging from the secluded priest living as a recluse in a monastery, to wandering holy-men, and wilderness hermits. So, ascetics are often founts of learning and skilled in many tasks that enable survival and meditation in solitude. The archetypal ascetic is kind and good, but some hermits have been driven mad by solitude, and some monastics are crazed with lust and dreams of power, having been put behind walls for just this reason, so there is usually no way to be sure.

Ascetics usually abhor any display of wealth. They prefer the divine over the mundane. This is not to say that they will not amass wealth and use it to further the cause, but they will not show it off in worldly ways. Their dress ranges from ragged to elegantly somber.

Only divine spellcasters can become ascetics. Paladins and rangers are rarely unworldly enough to choose this class, so it is usually reserved for clerics and druids. But if a paladin chooses this prestige class, he may return to pala-din afterwards, ignoring the usual multi-class restrictions. If a monk multiclasses as an arcane spellcaster and then becomes an ascetic, he can freely return to the monk class, as well.

Hit Die: d4

Requirements

To qualify as a Ascetic, the character must fulfill all the following criteria.

Skills:
Concentration: 8 ranks
Kniwledge (religion): 2 ranks

Spells:
Ability to cast first level divine spells.

Class Skills

Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Heal (Wis), Knowledge (religion) (Int), Listen (Wis), Profession (Wis), Scry (Int, restricted skill), Spellcraft (Int), Wilderness lore (Wis).

Skill points at each level: 2 + Int modifier.

Class Features

All of the following are class features of the ascetic prestige class.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: The ascetic gains no new ability to use weapons and armor. His ability to use armor is also limited by the fact that he suffers from arcane spell failure when using the Mystic Wisdom class ability.

Class Progression: The ascetic continues to advance in all the special abilities of one previous divine spellcaster class, including spell ability, turning undead, wild shape and all other class abilities. He uses and learns these abilities as a character of his combined levels as a Ascetic and his previous class.

Aura of Serenity: If the ascetic is inoffensive in his manner and actions, he is protected at all times as if by the sanctuary spell. The DC for the Will save is DC of 10 + class level + wisdom bonus. This supernatural ability can be dispelled, but the ascetic can reactivate it as a free action. When broken by a successful save or offensive action by the ascetic, it cannot be restored for one minute. This does not work if the ascetic carries obviously lethal weapons or more than light armor.

Mystic Wisdom: Can substitute any divine spell for any other divine spell of a level strictly lower than his level as a ascetic (excluding domain spells), not just for healing spells. The ascetic suffers from arcane spell failure for armor when doing so. Also note that if you apply metamagical feats to such a spell, they take a full-round action to cast (see Player's handbook, page 78).

Bonus Feats: Every three levels, the ascetic may learn one extra divine or metamagical feat. Divine feats are described in the Defenders of the Faith supplement. If you do not have this supplement, just let the ascetic choose extra metamagic feats.

Level Base Attack Bonus Fortitude Save Reflex Save Will Save Special Abilities 1 +0 +0 +0 +2 Class progression, aura of serenity, mystic wisdom (level 0) 2 +1 +0 +0 +3 Mystic wisdom (1 st level) 3 +1 +1 +1 +3 Mystic wisdom (2 nd level), bonus feat 4 +2 +1 +1 +4 Mystic wisdom (3 rd level) 5 +2 +1 +1 +4 Mystic wisdom (4 th level) 6 +3 +2 +2 +5 Mystic wisdom (5 th level), bonus feat 7 +3 +2 +2 +5 Mystic wisdom (6 th level) 8 +4 +2 +2 +6 Mystic wisdom (7 th level) 9 +4 +3 +3 +6 Mystic wisdom (8 th level), bonus feat 10 +5 +3 +3 +7 Mystic wisdom (9 th level)