Publication:Unearthed Arcana/Faith Scion

The Faith Scion
A faith scion wields his legendary blade in the name of his deity—or, in the case of a druid, in the service of nature. A legendary weapon usually comes into the hands of a faith scion either as a gift from his religious order or as a blessing from his deity. Because of the divine nature of these weapons, clerics, druids and paladins are ideally suited for this prestige class, though other classes can also qualify.

A divinely influenced legendary weapon should be rare and unique. Certainly no deity would create multiple copies of one weapon as a matter of course, and few religious orders can afford to do so. Thus, each weapon should grant different abilities, except in special cases. For example, duplicate weapons might be created especially to combat the enemies of a church, or perhaps to destroy (or create) undead. A divine legendary sword of an order devoted to healing might even be less a weapon than an instrument for easing the suffering of others.

A faith scion usually has high status within his religious order. His possession of a legendary weapon implies that he has the favor of his deity, or that he is more in tune with nature than others of his order, in the case of a druid. Depending on the alignment of his deity, though, his ownership of the weapon could be construed as an invitation to try to take it from him.

Hit Die: d8.

Requirements
To qualify to become a faith scion, a character must fulfill the criteria given in his particular weapon’s entry. (For an example, see Hammer of All Souls)

Class Skills
The faith scion’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Heal (Wis), Knowledge (arcana) (Int), Knowledge (nature) (Int), Knowledge (religion) (Int), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), Spellcraft (Int), and Survival (Wis).

Domains and Class Skills: A cleric who gains additional class skills from his domain can treat those skills as class skills for the faith scion class. See Deity, Domains, and Domain Spells for more information.

Skill Points at Each Level: 2 + Int modifier.

Class Features
The following are class features of the faith scion prestige class. A legendary weapon associated with the class provides a unique set of additional special abilities, which are detailed in the weapon’s description. (For an example, see the Hammer of All Souls) These abilities accrue in addition to those already noted on Table: The Faith Scion. However, because those abilities are functions of the weapon rather than the wielder, they are lost if the legendary weapon that granted them is lost. The features mentioned on Table: The Faith Scion are retained even if the weapon is lost.

Spells per Day/Spells Known: At each faith scion level, a character gains new spells per day (and spells known, if applicable) as if he had also gained a level in a spellcasting class to which he belonged before adding the prestige class level. If the character had more than one spellcasting class before becoming a faith scion, the player must decide to which class to add each faith scion level for the purpose of determining spells per day and spells known.

Special Abilities: Faith scion levels stack with other class levels for determining the effectiveness of the following abilities: animal companions, lay on hands, Special Mount|special mount, turn or rebuke undead, wild shape (including additional daily uses or increased range of sizes or creature types), and wild empathy. For instance, a 5th-level druid/6th-level faith scion could assume wild shape four times per day (including Tiny creatures), and would add 11 (plus Cha modifier) to his wild empathy checks. His animal companion would be treated as that of an 11th-level druid.