PRPG Menu: HOME CLASS DOMAIN FEAT PRESTIGE RACE SPELL

Expatriate Knight

The Expatriate Knight is a Paladin who has exiled himself from the hierarchy of his own order, not by failing in his duties or faith, but quite the opposite -- by being true to them, despite the failings of the order. He has become aware of the corruption and decadence of his own holy order and, in faithful devotion to his deity, chosen to oppose these failings.

Expatriate Knights have had the wool lifted away from their eyes. They are suspicious of religious hierarchy by default, and have a clarity of vision (some might say cynicism) that allows them to more easily recognize flaws in the purity of ecclesiastical authority. Whether they work outside the official hierarchy to reform it, or simply seek to carry on their deity's work without the encumbrance of religious bureaucracy, theirs is a higher calling than to a religious order; they are called to be disciples directly of their deity itself.

Such an individual may take one of two roads as regards his identification with his deity. On one hand, his pride in the deity may gain new fervor as he seeks to exemplify its teachings and embody its divine will, and he may therefore declare his devotion to that deity openly -- more so, perhaps, than he did even as a member of his order before expatriating himself. On the other hand, his disappointment with the order and a desire to reform it may induce him to disguise his former affiliation, or even seek out new affiliations with religion-nonspecific orders devoted to causes that match their deity's purpose, faithfully doing the deity's work behind a veil of dissociation. After all, it is the work that matters -- not the credit for it.

While an outsider may not be able to discern the difference (at least at first) between an Expatriate Knight and a more typical Knight Errant, the motivations of the two are quite distinct and the attitudes of the former are likely to be much more critical of church authority and other mortal representations of divine will. Expatriates tend to take a more objective -- or even unfavorable -- view of religious bureaucracy than other Paladins, and their class features reflect this cautious suspicion.

REQUIREMENTS

To qualify to become an Expatriate Knight, a character must fulfill all the following criteria.

Alignment:

Lawful Good

Base Saves:

+3 Will

Skills:

Diplomacy, 4 ranks; Knowledge (Religion), 4 ranks; Sense Motive, 4 ranks

Spells:

Able to cast second level Divine spells.

Religious Order:

Must be a former member of a martial religious order, having broken with the official hierarchy for reasons related to the failures of the order's devout duties rather than failures of the Paladin himself. This separation may or may not have been openly declared.

CLASS SKILLS

The Expatriate Knight's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Bluff [CHA], Decipher Script [INT], Gather Information [CHA], Intimidate [CHA], Knowledge (Arcana) [INT], Knowledge (Local) [INT], Knowledge (Planes) [INT], Search [INT], Spellcraft [INT], and Spot [WIS]. These are in addition to the class skills normally enjoyed by the Paladin class, before adopting this prestige class.

CLASS FEATURES

All the following are class features of the Expatriate Knight prestige class.

Removed Paladin Class Features:

Levels of advancement in Expatriate Knight do not advance the Paladin class features of Lay On Hands, Remove Disease, Smite Evil, or Turn Undead.

Base Attack and Saves:

An Expatriate Knight's base attack bonus increases three out of every four levels. Base Attack and Save bonuses improve as shown in the following table:

      LV     BA     FS     RS     WS
       1     +0     +0     +0     +2
       2     +1     +0     +0     +3
       3     +2     +1     +1     +3
       4     +3     +1     +1     +4
       5     +3     +1     +1     +4
       6     +4     +2     +2     +5
       7     +5     +2     +2     +5
       8     +6     +2     +2     +6
       9     +6     +3     +3     +6
      10     +7     +3     +3     +7

Detect Evil:

At first level, and for every two levels of advancement thereafter as an Expatriate Knight, the Paladin's Detect Evil range increases by five feet.

Spells:

At every level of advancement as an Expatriate Knight, the character advances +1 level of Paladin spellcasting.

Dispel:

An Expatriate gains a +4 bonus on all Dispel checks.

Immunity:

Expatriate Knights gain immunity to Enchantment/Charm spells and spell-like effects at second level. Upon reaching fifth level, the Expatriate also gains immunity to all compulsion spells and effects. At eighth level, the Expatriate Knight gains immunity to possession spells and effects such as Magic Jar, Soul Bind, Trap the Soul, and a ghost's Malevolence ability.

Pierce Illusion:

Expatriate Knights gain the ability to Pierce Illusions at third level, by getting an automatic and immediate Will save upon encountering an illusion without having to actively disbelieve it.

Pierce Disguise:

In addition to Pierce Illusions, an Expatriate Knight gains a +4 Competence bonus on Spot checks vs. Disguise at fourth level.

Force Shapechange:

Expatriate Knights gain the ability to force a shapechanged creature to resume its natural form at sixth level. Upon a successful touch attack, a Dispel Magic effect can be employed against shapechanging abilities, forcing the target to return to its natural form and preventing it from shapechanging again for another 1D6 rounds.

Discern Lies:

The Expatriate Knight gains a Discern Lies spell-like ability three times per day at ninth level.

Discern Truth:

Expatriate Knights gain the ability to force a creature to tell the truth by touch upon reaching tenth level, three times per day. The target gets a Will save, DC 10 + Expatriate level + Paladin level + CHA mod to resist the effects of this ability. If the target fails its save, it must then tell the complete truth about any lies it has just told.