Heart of Oak (Apath)

Unofficial rules compendium

Not all cavaliers find honor in battle on land - some take to the sea and fight with honor and courage atop the waves of the deep.

Class Information

This is a cavalier archetype.

Hit Die: d10.

Class Skills

The heart of oak’s class skills are Acrobatics (Dex), Bluff (Cha), Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (Geography) (Int), Perception (Wis), Profession (Wis), Sense Motive (Wis), and Swim (Str).

Skill Ranks per Level: 4 + Int modifier.

Class Features

The heart of oak has all standard cavalier class features, except as follows.

Ship Bond (Ex)

The heart of oak enjoys a special link with ships in general and his own ship in particular. He gains several advantages at sea.

• He ignores difficult ground
• He does not lose his Dexterity bonus to Armor Class when using the Acrobatics or Climb skills.
• He is not flat-footed the round after boarding a vessel.
• Any cavalier class ability (including order abilities) that requires him to be mounted instead work at sea.

The on heart of oak's own ship (a ship on which he has been stationed for one week or more) he also enjoys the following advantages. A large ship with several hearts of oak on board might assign one to use this ability on a jetty or pinnacle instead of on the main ship.

• Heart of the Ship: Whenever the ship fails a saving throw with the heart of oak on board, it can immediately make another one as a free action, using the heart of oak's save modifier. If this second saving throw succeeds, the ship is considered to have made its saving throw. Multiple hearts of can use this ability on the same ship; the best saving throw result among them is used.
• Spit and Polish: When the heart of oak's ship undergoes maintenance under his supervision, a process that takes at least one hour and needs 1/4 of the crew, it gains temporary hit points to it hull and propulsion equal to the heart of oak's hit points. These temporary hit points last ten days, and it is normal practice to renew this once a week and after each battle. Temporary hit points from different sources, including several heart of oaks using this ability, do not stack.

Being "at sea" for this and other heart of oak powers includes being on any kind of water vessel, as well as in a coastal, sea, or lake environment, regardless of what mode of movement is employed. Being more than a mile inland always cancels this ability. If the heat of oak is stationed on an aerial vessel the area within 100 ft. of the vessel is considered to be "at sea", even if the hip is flying leagues from the nearest body of water. This ability replaces Mount.

Oaken Charge (Ex)

At 3rd level, a heart of oak learns to make more accurate charge attacks at sea. The heart of oak receives a +4 bonus on melee attack rolls on a charge at sea (instead of the normal +2). In addition, the heart of oak does not suffer any penalty to his AC after making a charge attack at sea. This replaces Cavalier’s Charge.

Oak’s Steadiness (Ex)

At 4th level, the heart of oak can take 10 on Acrobatics, Climb, and Profession (Sailor) checks at sea, even in stressful situations. A heart of oak also learns to be more maneuverable while wearing armor. Whenever he is wearing armor (not just at sea), he reduces the armor check penalty by 1 for every 4 levels. This replaces Expert Trainer.

Mighty Oak Charge (Ex)

At 11th level, a heart of oak learns to make devastating charge attacks at sea. Double the threat range of any weapons wielded during a charge at sea. This increase does not stack with other effects that increase the threat range of the weapon. In addition, the heart of oak can make a free bull rush, disarm, sunder, or trip combat maneuver if his charge attack is successful. This free combat maneuver does not provoke an attack of opportunity. This is a modification of mighty charge.

Supreme Oak Charge (Ex)

At 20th level, whenever the heart of oak makes a charge attack at sea, he deals double the normal amount of damage. In addition, if the heart of oak confirms a critical hit on a charge attack at sea, the target is stunned for 1d4 rounds. A Will save reduces this to staggered for 1d4 rounds. The DC is equal to 10 + the heart of oak’s base attack bonus. This is a modification of supreme charge.

Table: Heart of Oak

Level	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Special
1st	+1	+2	+0	+0	Challenge 1/day, order, ship bond, tactician
2nd	+2	+3	+0	+0	Order ability
3rd	+3	+3	+1	+1	Oaken charge
4th	+4	+4	+1	+1	Challenge 2/day, oak's steadiness
5th	+5	+4	+1	+1	Banner
6th	+6/+1	+5	+2	+2	Bonus feat
7th	+7/+2	+5	+2	+2	Challenge 3/day
8th	+8/+3	+6	+2	+2	Order ability
9th	+9/+4	+6	+3	+3	Greater tactician
10th	+10/+5	+7	+3	+3	Challenge 4/day
11th	+11/+6/+1	+7	+3	+3	Mighty oak charge
12th	+12/+7/+2	+8	+4	+4	Bonus feat, demanding challenge
13th	+13/+8/+3	+8	+4	+4	Challenge 5/day
14th	+14/+9/+4	+9	+4	+4	Greater banner
15th	+15/+10/+5	+9	+5	+5	Order ability
16th	+16/+11/+6/+1	+10	+5	+5	Challenge 6/day
17th	+17/+12/+7/+2	+10	+5	+5	Master tactician
18th	+18/+13/+8/+3	+11	+6	+6	Bonus feat
19th	+19/+14/+9/+4	+11	+6	+6	Challenge 7/day
20th	+20/+15/+10/+5	+12	+6	+6	Supreme oak charge

Summary of Changed Class Features

These features are lost or modified in this archetype:

• Class Skills
• Mount
• Cavalier's Charge
• Expert Trainer
• Mighty Charge
• Supreme Charge

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