False Priest (Apath)

Unofficial rules compendium

False priests are experts at disguising their arcane magic as god-given divine magic, and in the use of divine scrolls, staves, and wands. They roam the lands spreading word of the power of their false god, and using that power to convince the unfaithful of their misplaced loyalties in other gods and governments.

Class Information

This is a prestige archetype. The false priest is a sorcerer that fakes divine magic.

Prestige Class: Razmiran priest from Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Paths of Prestige, along with the false priest sorcerer archetype and False Casting from Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Inner Sea Magic.

Build Classes: Sorcerer.

Role: The false priest judges all he sees, meting out harsh justice in the name of his deity.

Alignment: Lawful evil only. A devotee who wishes to become a false priest must undergo a ritual, blessing the priest and judging his purity. Those who are found worthy emerge from this process as absolute believers, while those deemed inadequate are never seen again. A new False Priest finds himself on a quick path to power, prestige, and wealth, as the hierarchy of the church treats most priests as superiors. Indeed, many False Priests find themselves quickly rising in rank to become possessors of even greater power in short order.

Hit Die: d6.

Class Skills

The false priest's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Bluff (Cha), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (arcana) (Int), Knowledge (religion) (Int), Perform (Cha), Profession (Wis), Sense Motive (Wis), Spellcraft (Int), and Use Magic Device (Cha).

Skill Ranks at Each Level: 2 + Int modifier.

Class Features

These are all the class features of the false priest.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency

False priests are proficient with all simple weapons. They are not proficient with any type of armor or shield. Armor interferes with a false priest's gestures, which can cause his spells with somatic components to fail (see Arcane Spells and Armor).

Table: False Priest Spells Known

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

Spells

A false priest casts arcane spells drawn primarily from the sorcerer/wizard spell list. He can cast any spell he knows without preparing it ahead of time. To learn or cast a spell, a false priest must have a Charisma score equal to at least 10 + the spell level. The Difficulty Class for a saving throw against a false priest's spell is 10 + the spell level + the false priest's Charisma modifier.

Like other spellcasters, a false priest can cast only a certain number of spells of each spell level per day. His base daily spell allotment is given on Table: False Priest. In addition, he receives bonus spells per day if he has a high Charisma score (see Table: Ability Modifiers and Bonus Spells).

A false priest's selection of spells is extremely limited. A false priest begins play knowing four 0-level spells and two 1st-level spells of his choice. At each new false priest level, he gains one or more new spells, as indicated on Table: False Priest Spells Known. (Unlike spells per day, the number of spells a false priest knows is not affected by his Charisma score; the numbers on Table: False priest Spells Known are fixed.) These new spells can be common spells chosen from the false priest/wizard spell list, or they can be unusual spells that the false priest has gained some understanding of through study.

Upon reaching 4th level, and at every even-numbered false priest level after that (6th, 8th, and so on), a false priest can choose to learn a new spell in place of one he already knows. In effect, the false priest 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 false priest may swap only a single spell at any given level, and must choose whether or not to swap the spell at the same time that he gains new spells known for the level.

Unlike a wizard or a cleric a false priest need not prepare his spells in advance. He can cast any spell he knows at any time, assuming he has not yet used up his spells per day for that spell level.

Cantrips

False priests learn a number of cantrips, or 0-level spells, as noted on Table: False priest Spells Known under “Spells Known.” These spells are cast like any other spell, but they do not consume any slots and may be used again.

Domain

A False Priest may select one of the following domains: Charm, Evil, Law, or Trickery. A False Priest gains the granted powers of that domain, using his arcane spellcaster level as his cleric level and his Charisma modifier in place of his Wisdom modifier. He does not gain any domain spells from this domain.

At 10th level, a False Priest may select a second domain from those listed above and may use the granted powers of that domain as well.

False Casting

A false priest gains False Casting as a bonus feat, ignoring the prerequisites.

When a false priest uses a magic item or a spell-like ability to create a magical effect, she may add additional magic-seeming words and hand gestures to trick onlookers into believing she cast the spell herself. If using an item that is recognizable as a magical implement (such as a wand or ring), she can trick viewers into thinking she is just using the item as a focus component. Onlookers who have no ranks in Spellcraft have no knowledge of what is genuine spellcasting, and automatically believe the false priest is casting a spell. If an onlooker attempts a Spellcraft check to identify the “casting,” his check is opposed by the false priest's Bluff check. If he succeeds, he realizes the deception. If he fails, he believes the false priest cast the spell. Regardless of the result of that opposed check, he uses the result of that Spellcraft check to identify the “spell” cast, except the DC is 20 + the spell’s level instead of 15 + the spell’s level.

Master of Lies (Ex)

At 2nd level, a False Priest adds half his class level to any Bluff check made as part of a lie or deception. In addition, whenever he is subject to a spell or special ability that can discern whether or not he is telling the truth, he is automatically aware of such magic. He is not immune to such spells or abilities, but he can choose to remain silent or avoid answering questions.

False Channel (Su)

Starting at 3rd level, a False Priest can channel positive energy to heal living creatures like a cleric, healing 1d6 points of damage, plus 1d6 points of damage for every four False Priest levels after 3rd. He can use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + his Charisma modifier. The hit points healed by this ability are treated as temporary hit points, and last for 10 minutes per False Priest level. These hit points do not stack with themselves (although they do stack with those from cure spells cast using the first, second, and third ritual class feature). False channel cannot give more temporary hit points than the target has lost. This ability does not count for the purposes of meeting any prerequisites that call for the ability to channel energy. This ability cannot be used to harm undead creatures.

First Ritual (Su)

At 4th level, a False Priest adds aid, bless and cure light wounds to his spell list and known spells as 2nd-level spells. Whenever he casts cure light wounds using this ability, the hit points healed are instead treated as temporary hit points that last 10 minutes per class level, although the subject of the spell does not notice this difference. Temporary hit points do not stack and the target cannot gain more temporary hit points this way than he has taken damage.

In addition, whenever a False Priest uses False Casting to cast a 0- or 1st-level spell on the cleric spell list, he receives a +10 circumstance bonus on any opposed Bluff check made when casting the spell.

Second Ritual (Su)

At 6th level, a False Priest adds cure moderate wounds, remove disease and spiritual weapon to his spell list and known spells as 3rd-level spells. As with the first ritual, any hit points gained from cure moderate wounds are temporary hit points. Finally, whenever a False Priest uses False Casting to cast a 2nd- or 3rd-level spell on the cleric spell list, he receives a +10 circumstance bonus on any opposed Bluff check made when casting the spell.

Third Ritual (Su)

At 8th level, a False Priest adds cure serious wounds and prayer to his spell list and known spells as 4th-level spells. As with the first ritual, any hit points gained from cure serious wounds are temporary hit points. Finally, whenever a False Priest uses False Casting to cast a 4th- or 5th-level spell on the cleric spell list, he receives a +10 circumstance bonus on any opposed Bluff check made when casting the spell.

Replacement Channel (Su)

At 9th level, the false priest can use his own magic to power spell completion and spell trigger items that uses divine spells. He expends a false priest spell slot that is at least 1 level higher than the level of the spell he’s trying to activate, then makes a Use Magic Device check. If he succeeds, the item’s spell occurs and the item or charge is not expended. If he fails, nothing happens. Whether he succeeds or fails, his spell slot is expended.

Conversion (Su)

At 14th level, whenever a False Priest heals himself using false channel, the effect heals damage instead of granting temporary hit points. This has no effect on others in the area of effect.

True Pretender (Su)

At 20th level, a False Priest attains true power. Whenever he uses false channel, he can spend two uses of that ability to heal damage to all living creatures in the area, instead of granting temporary hit points. In addition, when determining what spell trigger and spell completion magic items he can use, he acts as though all cleric spells were on his spell list. This makes it so that he does not need to make a Use Magic Device skill check when using such items, but he must still make Bluff skill checks when using False Casting with such spells.

Table: False Priest

Level	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Special	Spells per Day
						1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th
1st	+0	+0	+0	+2	Cantrips, domain, False Casting	3	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2nd	+1	+0	+0	+3	Master of lies	4	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
3rd	+1	+1	+1	+3	False channel 1d6,	5	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
4th	+2	+1	+1	+4	First ritual	6	3	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
5th	+2	+1	+1	+4		6	4	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
6th	+3	+2	+2	+5	Second ritual	6	5	3	—	—	—	—	—	—
7th	+3	+2	+2	+5	False channel 2d6,	6	6	4	—	—	—	—	—	—
8th	+4	+2	+2	+6	Third ritual	6	6	5	3	—	—	—	—	—
9th	+4	+3	+3	+6	Replacement channel	6	6	6	4	—	—	—	—	—
10th	+5	+3	+3	+7	False Domain (second)	6	6	6	5	3	—	—	—	—
11th	+5	+3	+3	+7	False channel 3d6	6	6	6	6	4	—	—	—	—
12th	+6/+1	+4	+4	+8		6	6	6	6	5	3	—	—	—
13th	+6/+1	+4	+4	+8		6	6	6	6	6	4	—	—	—
14th	+7/+2	+4	+4	+9	Conversion	6	6	6	6	6	5	3	—	—
15th	+7/+2	+5	+5	+9	False channel 4d6	6	6	6	6	6	6	4	—	—
16th	+8/+3	+5	+5	+10		6	6	6	6	6	6	5	3	—
17th	+8/+3	+5	+5	+10		6	6	6	6	6	6	6	4	—
18th	+9/+4	+6	+6	+11		6	6	6	6	6	6	6	5	3
19th	+9/+4	+6	+6	+11	False channel 5d6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	4
20th	+10/+5	+6	+6	+12	True pretender	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6