Warrior Poet (Apath)

Unofficial rules compendium

A warrior poet is halfway between a warrior and a bard, mixing poetry and oratory with deft sword strikes.

Class Information

This is a hybrid class, a combination of bard and ranger.

Publisher: Trailseeker.

Alignment: Any.

Hit Dice: d10.

Starting Wealth: 5d6 × 10 gp (average 175 gp.) In addition, each character begins play with an outfit worth 10 gp or less.

Class Skills

The class skills of the warrior poet are Acrobatics (Dex), Appraise (Int), Bluff (Cha), Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Disguise (Cha), Escape Artist (Dex), Handle Animal (Cha), Heal (Wis), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (all) (Int), Linguistics (Int), Perception (Wis), Perform (Cha), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), Sense Motive (Wis), Sleight of Hand (Dex), Spellcraft (Int), and Swim (Str).

Skill Ranks Per Level: 6 + Int modifier.

Class Abilities

This archetype has all normal ranger class abilities, except as noted.

Bardic Knowledge (Ex)

A warrior poet adds half his class level (minimum 1) to all Knowledge skill checks and may make all Knowledge skill checks untrained.

Bardic Performance

A warrior poet has the bardic performance ability of a bard of his level. In order to qualify for a performance ability, the warrior poet needs Perform ranks equal to the level requirement of the ability, but the efficacy of known abilities are based solely on class level and not on skill ranks.

The warrior poet gains the following bardic performances when his perform skill ranks makes him qualify: countersong (1 rank), fascinate (1 rank), inspire courage (1 rank), dirge of doom (8 ranks), inspire greatness (9 ranks), frightening tune (14 ranks), inspire heroics (15 ranks), deadly performance (20 ranks).

This replaces wild empathy, favored enemy, hunter's bond, woodland stride, swift tracker, evasion, camouflage, improved evasion, hide in plain sight, and master hunter abilities.

Spells

Table: Warrior Poet Spells Known

Level	Spells Known
	Zero	1st	2nd	3rd	4th
1st	3	—	—	—	—
2nd	4	—	—	—	—
3rd	5	—	—	—	—
4th	5	2	—	—	—
5th	5	3	—	—	—
6th	6	4	—	—	—
7th	6	4	2	—	—
8th	6	4	3	—	—
9th	6	5	4	—	—
10th	6	5	4	2	—
11th	6	5	4	3	—
12th	6	6	5	4	—
13th	6	6	5	4	2
14th	6	6	5	4	3
15th	6	6	6	5	4
16th	6	6	6	5	4
17th	6	6	6	5	4
18th	6	6	6	6	5
19th	6	6	6	6	5
20th	6	6	6	6	5

A warrior poet gains the ability to cast a small number of arcane spells, which are drawn from the bard spell list. A warrior poet can only cast bard spells of level up to four and has no access to bard spells of level 5 or higher—these are not on his spell list.

A warrior poet can cast bard spells gained from the warrior poet archetype while wearing light or medium armor and using a shield without incurring the normal arcane spell failure chance. Like any other arcane spellcaster, a warrior poet wearing heavy armor incurs a chance of arcane spell failure if the spell in question has a somatic component, but a warrior poet can ignore the normal arcane spell failure chance of bard spells when wearing light or medium armor. A multiclass warrior poet still incurs the normal arcane spell failure chance for arcane spells received from other classes.

To prepare or cast a spell, a warrior poet must have a Charisma score equal to at least 10 + the spell level. The Difficulty Class for a saving throw against a warrior poet's spell is 10 + the spell level + the warrior poet's Charisma modifier. He can cast any spell he knows without preparing it ahead of time, assuming he has not yet used up his allotment of spells per day for the spell’s level.

Like other spellcasters, a warrior poet can cast only a certain number of spells of each spell level per day. His base daily spell allotment is given on Table: The Ranger. In addition, he receives bonus spells per day if he has a high Charisma score (see Table: Ability Modifiers and Bonus Spells). When Table: Ranger indicates that the warrior poet gets 0 spells per day of a given spell level, he gains only the bonus spells he would be entitled to based on his Charisma score for that spell level.

A warrior poet’s selection of spells is extremely limited. A first level warrior poet knows three cantrips (level zero spells). As the warrior poet advances in level, the number of spells of each level know is given on Table: Warrior Poet Spells Known. Unlike spells per day, the number of spells a warrior poet knows is not affected by his Charisma score. The numbers on Table: Warrior Poet Spells Known are fixed.

Upon reaching 4th level, and at every third warrior poet level after that (7th, 10th, 13th, and so on), a warrior poet can choose to learn a new spell in place of one he already knows. In effect, the warrior poet “loses” the old spell in exchange for the new one. The new spell’s level must be the same as that of the spell being exchanged. A warrior poet may swap only a single spell at any given level.

Cantrips A warrior poet learns cantrips, or 0-level spells, as noted on Table: Warrior Poet Spells Known. These spells are cast like any other spell, but they do not consume any slots and may be used again.

This replaces the ranger's favored terrain and spells abilities.

Combat Style Feats (Ex)

At 2nd level, a warrior poet must select one combat style to pursue. These combat styles are the same as the ranger combat styles, but gained at different levels.

The warrior poet's expertise manifests in the form of bonus feats at 2nd, 4th, 6th, 12th, and 18th level. He can choose feats from his selected combat style, even if he does not fulfill the prerequisites.

The benefits of the warrior poet's chosen style feats apply only when he wears light, medium, or no armor. He loses all benefits of his combat style feats when wearing heavy armor. Once a warrior poet selects a combat style, it cannot be changed.

Well-Versed

A 3rd level warrior poet gains the bard's well-versed ability. This replaces Endurance.

Lore Master (Ex)

At 7th level, the warrior poet becomes a master of lore and can take 10 on any Knowledge skill check that he has ranks in. A warrior poet can choose not to take 10 and can instead roll normally. In addition, once per day, the warrior poet can take 20 on any Knowledge skill check as a standard action. He can use this ability one additional time per day for every six levels he possesses beyond 7th, to a maximum of three times per day at 19th level.

Jack of All Trades

A 10th level warrior poet can emulate the heroes of his tales, and gains the jack of all trades ability. He can use any skill, even if the skill normally requires him to be trained. At 16th level, the warrior poet considers all skills to be class skills. At 19th level, the warrior poet can take 10 on any skill check, even if it is not normally allowed.

Table: Warrior Poet

Class Level	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Special	Spells per Day
						1	2	3	4
1st	+1	+2	+2	+0	Bardic knowledge, bardic performance, cantrip, countersong, fascinate, inspire courage +1	—	—	—	—
2nd	+2	+3	+3	+0	Combat style feat	—	—	—	—
3rd	+3	+3	+3	+1	Well-versed	—	—	—	—
4th	+4	+4	+4	+1	Combat style feat	0	—	—	—
5th	+5	+4	+4	+1	Inspire courage +2	1	—	—	—
6th	+6/+1	+5	+5	+2	Combat style feat	1	—	—	—
7th	+7/+2	+5	+5	+2	Lore master 1/day	1	0	—	—
8th	+8/+3	+6	+6	+2	Dirge of doom	1	1	—	—
9th	+9/+4	+6	+6	+3	Evasion, inspire greatness	2	1	—	—
10th	+10/+5	+7	+7	+3	Jack-of-all-trades	2	1	0	—
11th	+11/+6/+1	+7	+7	+3	Inspire courage +3	2	1	1	—
12th	+12/+7/+2	+8	+8	+4	Combat style feat	2	2	1	—
13th	+13/+8/+3	+8	+8	+4	Lore master 2/day	3	2	1	0
14th	+14/+9/+4	+9	+9	+4	Frightening tune	3	2	1	1
15th	+15/+10/+5	+9	+9	+5	Inspire heroics	3	2	2	1
16th	+16/+11/+6/+1	+10	+10	+5	Improved evasion, jack of all trades (all class skills)	3	3	2	1
17th	+17/+12/+7/+2	+10	+10	+5	Inspire courage +4	4	3	2	1
18th	+18/+13/+8/+3	+11	+11	+6	Combat style feat	4	3	2	2
19th	+19/+14/+9/+4	+11	+11	+6	Jack of all trades (take 10), lore master 3/day	4	3	3	2
20th	+20/+15/+10/+5	+12	+12	+6	Deadly performance	4	4	3	3

Summary of Changed Class Abilities

These abilities of the original class are lost or modified in this archetype:

• Class skills
• Track
• Combat Style
• Spells
• Wild Empathy
• Favored Enemy
• Endurance
• Favored Terrain
• Hunter's Bond
• Woodland Stride
• Swift Tracker
• Quarry
• Camouflage
• Hide in Plain Sight
• Improved Quarry
• Master Hunter

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