Favoured Soul
Description
The favoured soul follows the path of the cleric but is able to channel divine power with surprising ease. She is able to perform the same tasks as her fellow divine spellcasters but with virtually no study; to her, it comes naturally. Scholars wonder if favoured souls have traces of outsider blood from unions, holy or unholy, centuries ago and generations removed. Others suggest that divine training of the proper type awakens the ability, or that favoured souls are simply imbued with their gifts by their gods when they begin the cleric's path. In any case, favoured souls cast their spells naturally, as much through force of personality as through study. Though this gives them extraordinary divine abilities no normal person could ever match, they see their gift as a call to action, and so in some ways may lag behind their more studious colleagues.
Adventures: Favoured souls are often loners, wandering the land serving their deities. They are welcomed by their churches but treated as unusual and are sometimes misunderstood. They are emissaries of their deities and outside the church's command structure – respected mystics not requiring the support normally crucial to a priest's success. This makes them sometimes revered and sometimes envied by their cleric cousins. While favoured souls are occasionally disrespected for their perceived lack of discipline, devout worshipers know that they are a powerful message from, and indeed a living manifestation of, their deities.
Characteristics: Favoured souls cast divine spells by means of an innate connection rather than through laborious training and prayer, so their divine connection is natural rather than learned. These divine spellcasters know fewer spells and acquire powerful spells more slowly than clerics, but favoured souls can cast spells more often, and they have no need to select and prepare them ahead of time.
Alignment: Divine magic is intuitive to a favoured soul, not a matter of careful prayer. This intuitive nature leads to a freer interpretation of faith and doctrine, and so favored souls tend slightly toward chaos over law. A favoured soul is often of the same alignment as her deity, though some are one step away. For example, a favoured soul could serve a lawful good deity and be neutral good herself. A favoured soul may not be neutral unless her deity is neutral.
Religion: A favoured soul can be of any religion. The most common deity worshiped by human favoured souls in civilized lands is Pelor, god of the sun. Among non-human races, favoured souls most commonly worship the chief deity of their racial pantheon.
Unlike clerics, favoured souls are not able to devote themselves to a cause or a source of divine power instead of a deity.
Background: Favoured souls learn of their connection with the divine at a young age. Eventually, a young favoured soul understands the power that she has been wielding unintentionally. Favoured souls, as naturally inclined divine channelers, are also born loners. Unlike clerics in a temple, they gain little by sharing their knowledge and have no strong incentive to work together.
Races: The innate talent of spontaneously channeling divine power is unpredictable, and it can show up in any of the common races.
Divine spellcasters from savage lands or from among brutal humanoid tribes (such as orcs or half-orcs) are more often favoured souls than clerics.
Other Classes: Favoured souls have the most in common with members of other self-taught classes, especially sorcerers, but also druids and rogues. They sometimes find themselves at odds with members of the more disciplined classes, specifically clerics, whom they sometimes view as too wrapped up in doctrine and rigidly defined attitudes.
Role: The favoured soul serves as a group's backup healer and defensive magic specialist. She can hold her own in a fight, especially if she chooses to focus on powers that aid her in combat.
Game Rule Information
Favoured souls have the following game statistics.
Abilities: Charisma determines how many spells the favoured soul can cast per day. Wisdom determines how hard the favoured soul's spells are to resist (see Spells, below). In addition to using Charisma and Wisdom for spellcasting, a favoured soul also benefits from high Dexterity, Strength, and Constitution scores.
Alignment: Any.
Hit Die: d8.
Class Skills: The favoured soul's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Concentration (Con), Diplomacy (Cha), Heal (Wis), Jump (Str), Knowledge (Arcana) (Int), Profession (Int/Wis), Sense Motive (Wis), and Spellcraft (Int).
Skill Points at 1st Level: (2 + Int modifier) × 4.
Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 2 + Int modifier.
Class Features
All of the following are class features of the favoured soul.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Favoured souls are proficient with all simple weapons, with light and medium armor, and with shields (except tower shields). A favoured soul is also proficient with her deity's favored weapon. Although a favoured soul is not proficient with heavy armor, wearing it does not interfere with her spellcasting.
Spells: A favoured soul casts divine spells (the same type of spells available to clerics), which are drawn from the cleric spell list. She can cast any spell she knows without preparing it ahead of time the way a cleric must.
To cast a spell, a favoured soul must have a Charisma score of 10 + the spell's level (Cha 10 for 0-level spells, Cha 11 for 1st-level spells, and so forth). The Difficulty Class for a saving throw against a favoured soul's spell is 10 + the spell's level + the favored soul's Wisdom modifier.
Like other spellcasters, a favoured soul can cast only a certain number of spells of each spell level per day. Her base daily spell allotment is given on the accompanying table. In addition, she receives bonus spells for a high Charisma.
Unlike a cleric, a favoured soul's selection of spells is limited. A favoured soul begins play knowing four 0-level spells and three 1st-level spells of your choice. At each new favoured soul level, she gains one or more new spells, as indicated on the accompanying table (unlike spells per day, her Charisma score does not affect the number of spells a favoured soul knows; the numbers on the table are fixed).
Upon reaching 4th level, and at every even-numbered favoured soul level after that (6th, 8th, and so on), a favoured soul can choose to learn a new spell in place of one she already knows. In effect, the favoured soul "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 two levels lower than the highest-level favoured soul spell the favoured soul can cast. A favoured soul 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 she gains new spells known for the level.
Unlike a cleric, a favoured soul need not prepare her spells in advance. She can cast any spell she knows at any time, assuming she has not yet used up her spells per day for that spell level.
Deity's Weapon Focus: At 3rd level, a favoured soul gains the Weapon Focus feat with her deity's favoured weapon. If the character already has that feat, she can choose a different one.
Energy Resistance (Ex): At 5th level, a favoured soul chooses an energy type and gains resistance 10 against that type. At 10th level and 15th level, the character gains resistance 10 against another energy type of her choosing.
Deity's Weapon Specialization: At 12th level, a favoured soul gains the Weapon Specialization feat with her deity's favored weapon. If she already has that feat, she can choose a different one.
Wings (Ex): At 17th level, a favoured soul gains wings and can fly at a speed of 60 feet (good maneuverability). A good-aligned favoured soul grows feathered wings, and an evil-aligned favoured soul gains batlike wings. A favoured soul who is neither good nor evil may choose either type of wings.
Damage Reduction (Su): A 20th-level favoured soul gains damage reduction. If the character is lawful-aligned, the damage reduction is 10/silver. If the character is chaotic-aligned, the damage reduction is 10/cold iron. A favoured soul who is neither lawful nor chaotic may choose either type of damage reduction.
Level Progression
| Level | Base Attack | Fort Save | Ref Save | Will Save | Special |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | +0 | +2 | +2 | +2 | |
| 2 | +1 | +3 | +3 | +3 | |
| 3 | +2 | +3 | +3 | +3 | Deity's Weapon Focus |
| 4 | +3 | +4 | +4 | +4 | |
| 5 | +3 | +4 | +4 | +4 | Energy Resistance (1st type) |
| 6 | +4 | +5 | +5 | +5 | |
| 7 | +5 | +5 | +5 | +5 | |
| 8 | +6/+1 | +6 | +6 | +6 | |
| 9 | +6/+1 | +6 | +6 | +6 | |
| 10 | +7/+2 | +7 | +7 | +7 | Energy Resistance (2nd type) |
| 11 | +8/+3 | +7 | +7 | +7 | |
| 12 | +9/+4 | +8 | +8 | +8 | Deity's Weapon Specialisation |
| 13 | +9/+4 | +8 | +8 | +8 | |
| 14 | +10/+5 | +9 | +9 | +9 | |
| 15 | +11/+6/+1 | +9 | +9 | +9 | Energy Resistance (3rd type) |
| 16 | +12/+7/+2 | +10 | +10 | +10 | |
| 17 | +12/+7/+2 | +10 | +10 | +10 | Wings |
| 18 | +13/+8/+3 | +11 | +11 | +11 | |
| 19 | +14/+9/+4 | +11 | +11 | +11 | |
| 20 | +15/+10/+5 | +12 | +12 | +12 | Damage Reduction |
Spells Per Day
| Level | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | 3 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 2 | 6 | 4 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 3 | 6 | 5 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 4 | 6 | 6 | 3 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 5 | 6 | 6 | 4 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 3 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 4 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 8 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 3 | – | – | – | – | – |
| 9 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 4 | – | – | – | – | – |
| 10 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 3 | – | – | – | – |
| 11 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 4 | – | – | – | – |
| 12 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 3 | – | – | – |
| 13 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 4 | – | – | – |
| 14 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 3 | – | – |
| 15 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 4 | – | – |
| 16 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 3 | – |
| 17 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 4 | – |
| 18 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 3 |
| 19 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 4 |
| 20 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 |
Spells Known
| Level | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | 3 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 2 | 5 | 3 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 3 | 5 | 4 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 4 | 6 | 4 | 3 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 5 | 6 | 5 | 3 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 6 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 3 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 7 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 3 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 8 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | – | – | – | – | – |
| 9 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | – | – | – | – | – |
| 10 | 9 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | – | – | – | – |
| 11 | 9 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | – | – | – | – |
| 12 | 9 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | – | – | – |
| 13 | 9 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | – | – | – |
| 14 | 9 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | – | – |
| 15 | 9 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | – | – |
| 16 | 9 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | – |
| 17 | 9 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | – |
| 18 | 9 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 |
| 19 | 9 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 |
| 20 | 9 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 4 |
Starting Packages
Race: Human.
Armor: Scale mail (+4 AC, armor check penalty –4, speed 20 ft., 30 lb.).
Heavy wooden shield (+2 AC, armor check penalty –2, 10 lb.).
Weapons: Heavy mace (1d8, crit ×2, 8 lb., one-handed, bludgeoning).
Light crossbow (1d8, crit 19–20/×2, range inc. 80 ft., 4 lb., piercing).
Skill Selection: Pick a number of skills equal to 3 + Int modifier.
| Skill | Ranks | Ability | Armor Check Penalty |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spellcraft | 4 | Int | – |
| Concentration | 4 | Con | – |
| Diplomacy | 4 | Cha | – |
| Knowledge (arcana) | 4 | Int | – |
| Intimidate (cc) | 2 | Cha | – |
| Listen (cc) | 2 | Wis | – |
| Spot (cc) | 2 | Wis | – |
| Survival (cc) | 2 | Wis | – |
Feat: Combat Casting.
Bonus Feat: Toughness.
Deity: Pelor.
Spells Known: 0–detect magic, cure minor wounds, light, read magic; 1st–bless, command, cure light wounds.
Gear: Backpack with waterskin, one day's trail rations, bedroll, sack, and flint and steel. Case with 10 crossbow bolts. Wooden holy symbol (sun disc of Pelor). Hooded lantern, 5 pints of oil.
Gold: 2d4 gp.
