Hell Knight Visionary (Apath)

Unofficial rules compendium

Hell knights are rigid in the extreme, but they are also inspired. There is room in the order for those who embellish upon the vision of infernal order the hell knights espouse. But a visionary must take great care, lest he be branded a heretic.

Class Information

This is a prestige archetype, an oracle reined in by infernal discipline.

Prestige Class: Hellknight signifer from Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Paths of Prestige.

Build Classes: Oracle.

Role: Hell knight visionaries lead hell knights as they reluctantly adopt to a changing world. In a tactical sense, each of them has a different support role depending on their exact vision.

Alignment: Lawful neutral or lawful evil only. Hell knights are not all evil, in fact these orders strive very hard to protect society and be of service to all who obey its rules. But their inspiration comes from the rigid hierarchies of hell, and many find evil methods most effective.

Hit Die: d8.

Class Features

A hell knight visionary has all features of the oracle, except as noted.

Class Skills

The hell knight visionary's class skills are Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Heal (Wis), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (history) (Int), Knowledge (planes) (Int), Knowledge (religion) (Int), Profession (Wis), Sense Motive (Wis), and Spellcraft (Int).

Skill Ranks per Level: 4 + Int modifier.

Aura of Law (Ex)

The power of a hell knight visionary's aura of law (see detect law) is equal to his total character level.

Order

A hell knight visionary chooses a hell knight order to join. The most common hell knight orders (and their favored weapon or weapons) are:

• The Order of the Chain - flail
• The Order of the Gate - dagger
• The Order of the GodClaw - morningstar
• The Order of the Nail - lance or halberd
• The Order of the Pyre - glaive
• The Order of the Rack - longsword or whip
• The Order of the Scourge - heavy mace or whip

The hell knight visionary gains proficiency in one of the favored weapons of his order.

The hell knight serves the order, must follow order policy, and must obey orders from superiors within the order. Player character hell knights often serve semi-independently, acting as agents of the order in the world or on some special task or quest, but must still follow the rules. Failure to do so results in becoming wanted by the order and put on trial. If found wanting, the hell knight notary is on probation, and put under the direct supervision of other hell knights, which usually spells the end for a hell knight's adventuring career or makes him a fugitive, hunted by all hell knights worldwide.

Hell Mask (Su)

Upon attaining second level, a hell knight visionary receives a mask, often devoid of eyeholes or other personal features. This mask doesn't obscure the enforcer's vision, and while wearing it he gains a +2 competence bonus on Sense Motive checks and on saving throws against spells and abilities that rely on visual effects.

Armor Training

A hell knight visionary undergoes gruelling armor training. At 5th level, he receives proficency in heavy armor. Any revelations normally restricted to light and medium armor now work in heavy armor as well. At 10th level, while a hell knight visionary wears armor, he reduces the armor check penalty by 1 (to a minimum of 0). At 15th level, he reduces his armor check penalty by an additional 1. Additionally, at 15th level, when a hell knight visionary's speed is reduced by wearing medium or heavy armor, his unique training offsets the speed reduction by 5 feet. This replaces the revelation normally gained at 15th level

Assiduous Gaze

At 7th level and again at 13th level, a hell knight visionary gains an assiduous gaze ability chosen from the list below. A hell knight visionary can use each assiduous gaze ability he possesses for a number of rounds per day equal to 1/2 his class level. These rounds need not be consecutive. A hell knight visionary can activate an assiduous gaze ability as a swift action to examine a single creature, object, or 5-foot square within 30 feet. A hell knight visionary must be wearing his enforcer mask to use these abilities, and his caster level while using them is equal to his character level. This replaces the revelation gained at level 7.

Elucidation (Su): Discern each active spell on the target, including the spell's effect and caster level.

Morality (Sp): Determine whether the target is chaotic, evil, good, or lawful, as well as the strength of its aura as if having studied it for 3 rounds using detect chaos, detect evil, detect good, and detect law.

Scrutiny (Su): Discern whether the target has spell-like abilities and spellcasting abilities, whether the spellcasting ability is arcane or divine, and the strength (see detect magic) of the most powerful spell or spell-like ability the target currently has available.

Veracity (Sp): Observe the target as if using true seeing. A hell knight visionary must be 13th level to select this ability.

Vigilance (Su): See through up to 5 feet of stone, wood, or similar barriers as if they didn't exist. This effect cannot penetrate metal of any kind.

Discern Lies (Sp)

At 9th level, a hell knight visionary learns discern lies and adds it to his list of spells known.

Infernal Resilience (Ex)

At 17th level, a hell knight visionary gains DR 5/chaotic and becomes immune to poison.

Diabolic Harbinger (Su)

At 20th level, as long as the hell knight visionary wears his mask, he gains telepathy with a range of 100 feet, and can see perfectly in both magical and mundane darkness. While wearing his enforcer mask, he is immune to blindness and dazzling effects and gains a +2 bonus on all Charisma-based checks when interacting with lawful creatures. This bonus increases to +4 if the creature is also an outsider. This replaces final revelation.

Table: Hell Knight Visionary

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	Mystery, oracle’s curse, order, orisons, Revelation	3	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2nd	+1	+0	+0	+3	Hell mask, mystery spell	4	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
3rd	+2	+1	+1	+3	Revelation	5	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
4th	+3	+1	+1	+4	Mystery spell	6	3	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
5th	+3	+1	+1	+4	Armor training (heavy)	6	4	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
6th	+4	+2	+2	+5	Mystery spell	6	5	3	—	—	—	—	—	—
7th	+5	+2	+2	+5	Assiduous gaze	6	6	4	—	—	—	—	—	—
8th	+6/+1	+2	+2	+6	Mystery spell	6	6	5	3	—	—	—	—	—
9th	+6/+1	+3	+3	+6	Discern lies	6	6	6	4	—	—	—	—	—
10th	+7/+2	+3	+3	+7	Mystery spell, armor training	6	6	6	5	3	—	—	—	—
11th	+8/+3	+3	+3	+7	Revelation	6	6	6	6	4	—	—	—	—
12th	+9/+4	+4	+4	+8	Mystery spell	6	6	6	6	5	3	—	—	—
13th	+9/+4	+4	+4	+8	Assiduous gaze	6	6	6	6	6	4	—	—	—
14th	+10/+5	+4	+4	+9	Mystery spell	6	6	6	6	6	5	3	—	—
15th	+11/+6/+1	+5	+5	+9	Armor training	6	6	6	6	6	6	4	—	—
16th	+12/+7/+2	+5	+5	+10	Mystery spell	6	6	6	6	6	6	5	3	—
17th	+12/+7/+2	+5	+5	+10	Infernal resilience	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	4	—
18th	+13/+8/+3	+6	+6	+11	Mystery spell	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	5	3
19th	+14/+9/+4	+6	+6	+11	Revelation	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	4
20th	+15/+10/+5	+6	+6	+12	Diabolic harbinger	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6

Summary of Changed Class Abilities

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

• Class Skills
• Revelation (level 7 and 15)
• Final Revelation