Bloodline Knight (Apath)

Unofficial rules compendium

This is a work in progress.

The bloodline knight is a warrior of strange talents, a natural at both warcraft and spellcraft. Feeling elevated above other warriors because of his magical heritage, he calls himself a knight, but usually ignores all of a knight's codes and restrictions. Much less theoretical than the spellsword, the bloodline knight gains distinction mainly through his bloodline abilities.

Class Features

The bloodline knight has all the standard spellsword class features, except as noted below.

Spells

A bloodline knight casts arcane spells drawn from the magus spell list, but only up to the 4th level of spells. A spellsword has no access to magus spells of level 5 or higher, such spells are not considered to be on his spell list for any purpose, precluding him from using spell trigger and spell completion items based on those spells. The bloodline knight only begins with the ability to cast cantrips, but is a spellcaster from level 1 and has a caster level equal to his bloodline knight level. 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.

To learn or cast a spell, a bloodline knight must have a Charisma score equal to at least 10 + the spell level. The Difficulty Class for a saving throw against a bloodline knight’s spell is 10 + the spell level + the bloodline knight’s Charisma modifier.

A bloodline knight can cast only a certain number of spells of each spell level each day. His base daily spell allotment is given on Table: Spellsword. In addition, he receives bonus spells per day if he has a high Charisma score (see Table: Ability Modifiers and Bonus Spells).

A bloodline knight’s selection of spells is extremely limited. A bloodline knight at level four knows only a single spell from his bloodline. As the bloodline knight advances in level, the number of spells of each level know is equal to the number of spells per day of that level from on Table: Spellsword (Unlike spells per day, the number of spells a bloodline knight knows is not affected by his Charisma score. The numbers on on Table: Spellsword are fixed.) At some levels this number is zero, which means the bloodline knight knows only the spell granted by his bloodline (see below).

Upon reaching 7th level, and at every third bloodline knight level thereafter (10th, 13th, and so on), a bloodline knight can choose to learn a new spell in place of one he already knows. In effect, the bloodline knight “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, and it must be at least one level lower than the highest-level bloodline knight spell he can cast. At level 16 and higher, a spell of any level can be swapped out. A bloodline knight may swap out 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.

A bloodline knight learns and casts cantrips just as a normal spellsword does, except that saving throw DCs are Charisma-based.

Eschew Materials

A bloodline knight gains Eschew Materials as a bonus feat at 1st level. This replaces Scribe Scroll.

Knight's Bloodline

A bloodline knight has a bloodline similar to that of a sorcerer. Each bloodline knight has a source of magic somewhere in his heritage that grants his spells, bonus feats, additional class skills, and other special abilities. This source can represent a blood relation or an extreme event involving a creature somewhere in the family's past. For example, a bloodline knight might have a dragon as a distant relative or his grandfather might have signed a terrible contract with a devil. Regardless of the source, this influence manifests in a number of ways as the bloodline knight gains levels. A bloodline knight must pick one bloodline upon taking his first level of bloodline knight. Once made, this choice cannot be changed.

A bloodline knight gains class skills, arcana, and powers from his bloodline as a sorcerer of his bloodline knight level. If the skill granted by the bloodline is already a class skill, there is no benefit.

At 3rd level, and every three levels thereafter, a bloodline knight gains a bonus feat in addition to those gained from normal advancement. These bonus feats must be selected from those listed as combat feats or in the bloodline's list of bonus feats. He must meet the prerequisites for these feats as normal.

At 4th level, and every three levels thereafter until level 13, a bloodline knight learns an additional spell, derived from his bloodline. These spells are added to the bloodline knight's spell list at their sorcerer spell and also added to his list of known spells and are in addition to the number of spells given on Table: Spellsword. He can cast these spells weapon somatics just as he can with magus spells. These spells cannot be exchanged for different spells at higher levels. Note that the rate of progression is different from that given in the bloodline description (which applies to sorcerers). Spells are gained at this rate:

Level of Spell	Level for Sorcerers	Level for Bloodline Knights
1	3	4
2	5	7
3	7	10
4	9	13
5+	11+	Never

• Pazio Bloodlines
• Apath Bloodlines

This replaces the spellbook mastery, bonus feats (lvl 3, 6, 9,12,15,18), and true magus (lvl 20) abilities.

Power Recall (Su)

At 6th level, the bloodline knight learns to use his arcane pool to power spells. When out of spell slots of a certain level, the bloodline knight can still cast such a spell by expending a number of points from his arcane pool equal to the spell’s level (minimum 1). This replaces the spell recall ability normally gained at level 4.

Spontaneous Power (Su)

At 9th level, as a free action, a battle sorcerer can spend 1 point from his arcane pool to be able to cast any spell from the magus spell list as a known spell for one minute. This replaces the arcane theorist ability normally gained at level 9.

Improved Power Recall (Su)

At 15th level, the bloodline knight’s ability to recall power using his arcane pool becomes more efficient. Whenever he casts a spell with power recall, he expends a number of points from his arcane pool equal to 1/2 the spell’s level (minimum 1).

Summary of Changed Class Abilities

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

• Spells
• Scribe Scroll (level 2)
• Spellbook Mastery (level 3)
• Bonus Feats (lvl 3, 6, 9,12,15,18),
• Spell Recall (lvl 6)
• Improved Spell Recall (lvl 15)
• True Magus (lvl 20)