Sentinel (3.5e Prestige Class)

Sentinel
"We are the line that must be held."

A sentinel is the ultimate defender. Once he assumes a spot on the front of battle, it takes a siege to displace him. He is the first and last line of defense of those who command him, his shield a wall that none may pass. A sentinel's skill lends both to his own defense and that of those next to him, making a line of heavily trained sentinels as formidable a defense as a city wall. Sentinels are persistent and enduring and will never show their backs to their enemy.

Becoming a Sentinel
Sentinels focus solely on defensive skills and techniques, mostly relying on being stationary rather than controlling the battlefield with mobility. They do not need to be nimble or dextrous, for their power is greatest when they are standing still. Sentinels usually have military backgrounds and often start as fighters, paladins, crusadersToB or warbladesToB. Other martial classes that rely more on agility and quick, precise strikes, like barbarians, rogues and rangers rarely take this prestige class, as a sentinel's diametrically opposed combat philosophy blunts their prowess.

The most important abilities for a sentinel are Constitution and Strength, granting him his great stability and resilience to damage.

Class Features
All of the following are class features of the sentinel.

As a standard action, he can assume a bulwark stance in which he maximizes his defensive capabilities. While in this stance, he adds his sentinel level to his tower shield's shield bonus to AC, opposed grapple checks, and Strength checks and saves made against effects that would move him (like bull rush, trip or a telekinesis spell). The bulwark stance requires the sentinel to be on solid ground. Difficult terrain or low-gravity environments halve the bonuses of the bulwark stance. The bulwark stance cannot be used in places without gravity.

The bulwark stance requires a tower shield to use. The shield must be held personally by the sentinel for the stance to be effective. While the stance is active, the sentinel cannot move more than 5 feet each round. If a sentinel moves more than 5 feet in a round, either willfully or by outside influence, his bulwark stance is dropped. For this purpose, teleportation spells or effects do not count as movement as long as the sentinel ends up on the ground in a place that allows him to use his bulwark stance.

The sentinel gets a +10 bonus to any checks and rolls defending against sunder attempts on his shield.

As a free action taken during his turn, he may designate up to two allies occupying squares adjacent to him. Any such designated allies cannot be flanked and gain half the sentinel's bulwark bonus as a dodge bonus to AC, rounded down. This ability remains active for as long as the sentinel is in bulwark stance and the ally remains in an adjacent square.

 (Ex): A 3rd level sentinel can increase an enemy's hostility towards him, forcing that enemy to attack him. The enemy must be within 60 feet of the sentinel and there must be line of sight between them. As a swift action, the sentinel forces a Will save against a DC of 10 + the sentinel's class level + the sentinel's Strength modifier. If the save fails, the enemy foregoes his current target and focuses all his efforts on the sentinel for one round. In this state, an enemy cannot make attacks of opportunity against any creature other than the sentinel. If the sentinel wants to persist this effect, he will have to spend a new swift action during his next turn, provoking another Will save. Mindless creatures are immune to this ability.



At the start of every turn, he gains a defense pool that contains a total number of points equal to five times his sentinel level. The sentinel can use his defense pool to negate or deflect any attack against himself or any ally currently designated by his hold the line class feature. The damage of such an attack is taken from the defense pool. Any damage exceeding the number of points remaining in the defense pool is dealt to the recipient of the attack.

When in bulwark mode, he gains a spell resistance of 10 + his shield bonus to AC. If using his shield to create total cover, it now also deflects targeted spells.

Every square that the sentinel threatens acts as difficult terrain to any enemy.

 (Ex): At 7th level, the sentinel's defense can be made so solid that adjacent foes cannot attack properly. By expending a move-equivalent action, the sentinel can stonewall a single enemy within reach, causing that enemy to act as if affected by a slow effect. This ability allows no save ans can only be used while bulwark is active.





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Epic <-class name-> Bonus Feat List: <-list of bonus epic feats->

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