Faerûnian Prestige Class : Black Flame Zealot
A secret society of holy slayers devoted to the worship of Kossuth, the Order of the Black Flame is the hidden blade of the Firelord's faith in Thay. Trained in the rites of Kossuth's temple, the Black Flame zealots use stealth, divine magic, and the zeal of fanaticism to destroy those who have given offense to the Lord of Flames. Even the mighty zulkirs are not above Kossuth's wrath, since the order is a sanctioned and respected means for wealthy and powerful Thayans to pursue vendettas.
Clerics of Kossuth, monks, and particularly devout rogues or fighters most often become Black Flame zealots. A small number of the order's members are high-ranking clerics of the Firelord who keep an eye open for fellow devotees who seem like suitable candidates. Barbarians and bards tend to lack the spiritual devotion necessary for the class, druids and rangers are simply scarce in Thay, and sorcerers and wizards more often pursue arcane paths to power in service to Kossuth, such as arcane devotee. Paladins are simply incompatible with the Order of the Black Flame.
Requirements
To qualify to become a Black Flame Zealot, a character must fulfill all the following criteria:
- Alignment: Any non-good
- Skills: Hide 8 ranks, Knowledge (religion) 8 ranks, Move Silently 8 ranks
- Feats: Exotic Weapon Proficiency (kukri), Iron Will,
- Spellcasting: Able to cast 2nd-level divine spells.
- Special: Sneak attack damage +1d6.
- Special: Kossuth must be the character's patron deity, and the character must slay an enemy of the faith for no other reason than to join the Order of the Black Flame.
Class Skills
The Black Flame zealot's class skills are Balance, Climb, Concentration, Craft, Escape Artist, Hide, Jump, Knowledge (religion), Listen, Move Silently, Open Lock, Profession, Search, Sleight of Hand, Spellcraft, Spot, Swim, Tumble, and Use Rope.
Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier.
Class Features
All the following are class features of the Black Flame zealot prestige class.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Black Flame zealots gain no proficiency in any weapon or armor.
Spells per Day: At every other Black Flame zealot level beginning with 2nd, the character gains new spells per day as if he had also gained a level in a divine spellcasting class to which he belonged before adding the prestige class level. He does not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained (improved chance of turning or destroying undead, metamagic or item creation feats, and so on). This essentially means that he adds half the level of Black Flame zealot to the level of whatever divine spellcasting class the character has, then determines spells per day and caster level accordingly.
If the character had more than one divine spellcasting class before becoming a Black Flame zealot, the player must decide to which class to add each Black Flame zealot level for the purpose of determining spells per day.
Death Attack (Ex): As the assassin ability, except that Black Flame zealots do not have the option of paralyzing their targets. If a Black Flame zealot has levels in the assassin prestige class, he may add his assassin and Black Flame zealot class levels together to calculate the save DC of his death attack.
Zealous Heart (Su): A Black Flame zealot is immune to fear, magical or otherwise. Unlike a paladin's aura of courage, this confers no special benefits on his companions.
Poison Use (Ex): At 2nd level, a Black Flame zealot gains the ability to use poison safely, as the assassin ability.
Sneak Attack (Ex): At 3rd, 6th, and 9th level, a Black Flame zealot deals additional sneak attack damage as the rogue ability. Since the Black Flame zealot gets a sneak attack bonus from another source (such as rogue levels), the bonuses to damage stack.
Fateful Stride (Sp): Once per day at 5.th level and above, a Black Flame zealot can take a single step and pass through obstacles or distance as the spell dimension door. The zealot's caster level is equal to half his character level.
Sacred Flame (Su): Beginning at 6th level, at will, a Black Flame zealot can command a single melee weapon in his possession to burn with a black, deadly fire. The weapon gains the flaming special ability, dealing 1d6 points of fire damage per successful attack in addition to its normal weapon damage. Once per day, the Black Flame zealot can bestow the flaming burst special ability on a weapon in his possession for 1 minute.
Unholy Immolation (Su): When a Black Flame zealot reaches 10th level, any creature killed by his death attack or sneak attack is immediately consumed utterly by unholy fire. The only way to restore life to a being slain in this manner is to use true resurrection, a carefully worded wish spell followed by resurrection, or miracle.
| Black Flame Zealot | Hit Die: d6 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CL | BAB | Fort | Ref | Will | Special | Spells per Day |
| 1st | +0 | +0 | +2 | +2 | Death attack, zealous heart | - |
| 2nd | +1 | +0 | +3 | +3 | Poison use | +1 level of existing divine spellcasting class |
| 3rd | +2 | +1 | +3 | +3 | Sneak attack +1d6 | - |
| 4th | +3 | +1 | +4 | +4 | - | +1 level of existing divine spellcasting class |
| 5th | +3 | +1 | +4 | +4 | Fateful stride | - |
| 6th | +4 | +2 | +5 | +5 | Sneak attack +2d6 | +1 level of existing divine spellcasting class |
| 7th | +5 | +2 | +5 | +5 | Sacred flame | - |
| 8th | +6 | +2 | +6 | +6 | - | +1 level of existing divine spellcasting class |
| 9th | +6 | +3 | +6 | +6 | Sneak attack +3d6 | - |
| 10th | +7 | +3 | +7 | +7 | Unholy immolation | +1 level of existing. divine spellcasting class |
Source: Unapproachable East
Complete Divine