Exalted Prestige Class : Vassal of Bahamut

Most of Bahamut's emissaries and champions are dutiful and mighty metallic dragons. Occasionally, however, Bahamut finds a non-draconic champion whose reverence of good dragons is unshakable, and whose hatred of evil dragons rivals that of the purest gold dragons - a force of good so strong that Bahamut feels moved to offer this champion a place in his court.

A vassal of Bahamut is a devout, non-draconic champion in the service of the Dragon King. Vassals of Bahamut are most often paladins, although fighters, rangers, and barbarians can become vassals as well. The road to becoming a Vassal of Bahamut often begins with the character undertaking a quest for a good-aligned dragon, and then assisting good dragons over a period of time. If the champion worships Bahamut and proves himself worthy by defeating a red dragon in combat, Bahamut sends his avatar or some other emissary to offer her the opportunity to become a vassal. If the character declines, Bahamut takes no offense, allowing plenty of time for the character to reconsider.

Vassals of Bahamut often work with other exalted characters, particularly groups who frequently oppose evil dragons and other servants of Tiamat, the evil dragon queen. A vassal of Bahamut even deigns to cooperate with neutral characters on missions against evil dragons, although he might belittle them for their lack of convictions. The only time a vassal of Bahamut works with evil characters is if he is infiltrating their group and trying to bring down an evil dragon or one of Tiamat's agents.

Because vassals of Bahamut are few in number and wide-spread, it is highly unlikely that two vassals of Bahamut ever meet face-to-face.

Requirements

To qualify to become a Vassal of Bahamut, a character must fulfill all the following criteria:

Class Skills

The vassal of Bahamut's class skills are Bluff, Concentration, Craft (armorsmithing), Craft (weaponsmithing), Diplomacy, Heal, Intimidate, Knowledge (nobility and royalty), Knowledge (religion), Ride, and Sense Motive.

Skill Points at Each Level: 2 + Int modifier.

Class Features

All of the following are class features of the vassal of Bahamut prestige class

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A champion of Bahamut is proficient with all simple and martial weapons, all types of armor, and shields (except tower shields).

Imperious Aura (Ex): Good dragons are naturally well-disposed toward a vassal of Bahamut, while evil dragons are cowed by his presence. The vassal of Bahamut gains a bonus equal to his class level on all Charisma-based skill checks made against dragons and dragon-type creatures (such as wyverns).

Platinum Armor: A vassal of Bahamut is granted the ability to create platinum scale mail. The vassal starts with scales from a slain juvenile (or older) red dragon and works them for 2 days per character level. During this time, the vassal must not engage in any other activities other than eating and sleeping. At the end of this period, the red dragon scales transform into glistening platinum scales. The finished masterwork suit of armor weighs 25 pounds and confers a +8 armor bonus. Its other properties are as a masterwork chain shirt (+4 max Dex bonus, -1 armor check penalty, 20% arcane spell failure chance, no speed reduction).

Only the vassal of Bahamut may wear the platinum armor, which instantly corrodes and turns to powder if donned by another feature. The vassal can replace a lost suit using scales from a slain juvenile (or older) red dragon, as noted above, but can craft no more than one such suit at a time. The vassal's platinum armor may enhanced using standard item creation feats.

Dragon Senses (Ex): Starting at 2nd level, a vassal of Bahamut can see four times as well as a human in low-light conditions and twice as well as a human in normal light. He also gains darkvision out to 120 feet.

Shared Trove: At 2nd, 5th, and 8th level, a vassal of Bahamut receives a modest lump sum reward for his loyal service. The ward magically appears before the vassal - a mound of platinum coins delivered straight from Bahamut's celestial treasure vault.

The number of platinum pieces equals 100 x the vassal of Bahamut's character level. The vassal may spend the money more or less as he sees fit, provided the expenditure serves a good or righteous cause. If the money is spent frivolously or unwisely, Bahamut sends a loyal representative (usually a gold dragon in an alternate form) to demand repayment. Spending the money to improve one's personal equipment is neither frivolous nor unwise.

Spells: Beginning at 2nd level, a vassal of Bahamut gains the ability to cast a small number of divine spells. To cast a spell, the vassal must have a Wisdom score of at least 10 + the spell's level, a vassal with a Wisdom of 10 or lower cannot cast these spells. Vassal of Bahamut bonus spells are based on Wisdom, and saving throws against these spells have a DC of 10 + spell level + the vassal's Wisdom bonus. When the vassal gets 0 spells of a given level (for instance, 1st-level spells for a 2nd-level vassal of Bahamut), he gets only the bonus spells he would be entitled to based on his Wisdom score for that spell.

The vassal of Bahamut's spell list appears below. A vassal of Bahamut prepares and casts spells just as a cleric does (though a vassal cannot spontaneously cast cure spells).

Bonus Feat: At 3rd level, and again at 6th and 9th level, a vassal of Bahamut gains a bonus feat. This feat must be drawn from the following list, and the vassal must meet all the prerequisites for the feat: Blind-Fight, Cleave, Combat Reflexes, Exalted Smite, Gift of Faith, Gift of Grace, Great Cleave, Great Fortitude, Hands of a Healer, Holy Radiance, Improved Bull Rush, Improved Overrun, Improved Sunder, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, Negotiator, Nemesis, Nimbus of Light, Persuasive, Power Attack, Righteous Wrath, Sanctify Weapon, Weapon Focus.

Dragonwrack (Su): Evil dragons that strike a vassal of Bahamut or are struck by him suffer grievous wounds. At 4th level, a vassal of Bahamut deals +2d6 points of damage with each successful melee attack made against an evil creature of the dragon type. Furthermore, any such creature that strikes the vassal with a natural weapon or melee weapon takes 1d6 points of damage. In both cases, half of the extra damage is permanent hit point drain. A dragon that survives a battle against a vassal of Bahamut often bears terrible scars from the permanent drain of hit points. Only a wish or miracle spell can restore hit points drained permanently by a vassal's dragonwrack ability.

At 7th level, the vassal deals +3d6 points of damage to evil dragons, and a dragon that strikes the vassal takes 1d6 points of damage. Again, in both cases, half of this damage is permanent drain. At 10th level, the damage increases to +4d6 points and 2d6 points, respectively.

Vassal of Bahamut Spell List

Vassals of Bahamut choose their spells from the following list:

Vassal of BahamutHit Die: d10
Spells per Day
CLBABFortRefWillSpecial1st2nd3rd4th
1st+1+2+0+0Imperious aura, platinum armor0---
2nd+2+3+0+0Dragon senses, shared trove1---
3rd+3+3+1+1Bonus feat10--
4th+4+4+1+1Dragonwrack (+2d6/1d6)11--
5th+5+4+1+1Shared trove110-
6th+6+5+2+2Bonus feat111-
7th+7+5+2+2Dragonwrack (+3d6/1d6)2110
8th+7+6+2+2Shared trove2111
9th+9+6+3+3Bonus feat2211
10th+10+7+3+3Dragonwrack (+4d6/2d6)2221

Source: Book of Exalted Deeds

[Back]
Exalted Prestige Classes