Knight of the Broken Halo (3.5e Prestige Class)

Knight of the Broken Halo
"I think I liked him better when he wore white."

Not all paladins make it. Some will fail to achieve their goals or fall and lose their faith in what it means to champion law and good. Yet in falling, not all paladins immediately switch sides to become blackguards, and some, those unsuited to champion lawful goodness, use the knowledge they've gained from their paladin levels to champion good and law in different ways, drawing strength from their convictions and desire to make the world a better place, even if they themselves are tarnished. They come to grips that they are sinful, but believe they still have the power to improve themselves and others through hard work, dedication, and hotblooded fervor. Certain in this new path, they continue to fight.

Class Features
All of the following are class features of the knight of the broken halo.



 : A knight of the broken halo generates an aura of either law or good (based on her choice with her Broken Halo Mark). The power of a knight of the broken halo's aura is equal to his knight of the broken halo plus any ex-paladin or ex-cleric levels.

They still wish to fight for law and good, and while unable to call the powers of heaven they find sympathy in the minds of other outsiders of law or good. Thus they form a new pact, one of the sanity and loyalty of law or one of the comfort and protection of good. When this pact is made a knight of the broken halo chooses to follow law (if he is LG or LN) or good (if he is LG or NG) and his class features are altered. For knights of the broken halo who follow law, they cannot use any [Good] aligned spells from their paladin or cleric levels and instead replace them with the lawful equals (such as protection from evil becoming protection from chaos. For knights of the broken halo who follow good, they lose any [Law] aligned spells and replace them with good equals (which by and large, does not change the good-dominated spell list by much).  Their smite ability changes accordingly as well, as well as any other paladin or cleric class abilities relating to alignment such as the nature of their aura.

In addition, they recieve an invisible mark somewhere on their bodies which defines them as a knight of the broken halo. The mark is visible by any form of Detect spell (such as detect magic or detect evil) and cannot be concealed, shining through armor and clothing. This mark is a promise between the character and his sponsor, and a mark of shame for others. To paladins, knights of the broken halos are a disgrace who are worse than merely falling but rather representing a willingness to give up ideals and switching sides, even if they are closely related sides. To blackguards knights of the broken halos are cowards unable to embrace their inner darkness and clinging to foolish ideals of law and good. Loved by none, knights of the broken halo suffer accordingly as they are treated as valid targets of the opposing alignment for the smites, spells, and spell-like abilities of any alignment-restricted class such as paladins and blackguards, and aligned outsiders if they are aware of the mark (either by seeing it, or word of mouth). For example, smite evil and smite good work equally as well against a NG knight of the broken halo.

In addition, you tack a -4 penalty on Charisma based social skill checks against paladins and clerics.

To cast a particular spell, you must have an Wisdom score of at least 10 + the spell's level. Your bonus spells are based on your Charisma. Saves to avoid the effects of your spells have a DC of 10 + the spell's level + your Wis bonus (if any).

You cast spells as a cleric does. An epic knight of the broken halo’s number of spells per day does not increase after 10th level. You add your ex-paladin or ex-cleric level to your caster level.

' :' A knight of the broken halo gains either detect evil or detect chaos'' (based on your Broken Halo Mark choice) at will.

 : A knight of the broken halo is certain that the path he has chosen is the right one, and resists any attempts to sway him from it. If subject to an intimidate attempt (even if he is immune to it) or any compulsion effect, the knight of the broken halo makes the saving throw adding his class level as a sacred bonus. If the compulsion effect has no saving throw, it gains one but the knight of the broken halo does not gain his class level as a bonus. If successful, the effect is resisted and the opponent which instigated the effect is afflicted as below:

 : A knight of the broken halo adds his knight of the broken halo level to turn undead attempts.

 : At 2nd level, a knight of the broken halo gains a bonus equal to his Charisma bonus (if any) on all saving throws.

 : At 2nd level, a knight of the broken halo gains either Smite Evil or Smite Chaos (based on your Broken Halo Mark choice) 1/encounter. If you previously had smite attempts by day, they become by encounter instead. It functions just like a paladin's Smite Evil, and uses your knight of the broken halo plus any ex-paladin or ex-cleric levels.

 : At 3rd level, becomes immune to fear (magical or otherwise). Each ally within 10 feet of him gains a +4 morale bonus on saving throws against fear effects. This ability only functions while the knight of the broken halo is conscious, not if he is unconscious or dead.

 : At 3rd level a knight of the broken halo can summon up a minor spirit from his associated alignment's plane by drawing a runic circle, typically a low-level guardinals or inevitables. The spirit manifests only partially, visible but unable to act or interact with the world, only see and hear it. It speaks to the knight of the broken halo in a language it understands and serves as a guide and constant reminder of his pact, providing advice on how to proceed. Drawing a circle with any material (chalk, sand, carving it out in the dirt) takes a standard action and the spirit remains for as long as you concentrate, or until you break line of sight. In addition, the spirit's presence is always partly there, and it will alert you if you ever take an action which would effect for alignment much like the effect of a phylactery of faithfulness.

Through his meditations he can meditate on the path of his alignment, what he was and what he is becoming. Through this spiritual awakening, he gains special bonuses through the day. Meditating takes 1 hour and is typically performed when the knight of the broken halo awakens and prepares for the day. Select from any of the meditations below:

 " ": For 24 hours, the knight of the broken halo considers any successful save which triggers his Iron Confidence to have saves 2 points higher than it was.

 " ": For 24 hours, the knight of the broken halo envelops himself in the energy of his chosen alignment. It absorbs 2 points of damage from its opposed alignment each round, be it damage from an [Evil] or [Chaotic] spell, or damage from an evil or chaotic aligned weapon (as appropriate). This meditation may be taken multiple times, each time absorbing 2 more points of damage each round. Apply this effect after applying energy resistances or damage reduction.

 " ": For 24 hours, the knight of the broken halo's weapons and and natural attacks are considered aligned as appropriate to their alignment (either lawful or good damage) as if using align weapon. If the align weapon spell is cast on a weapon of a knight of the broken halo with this ability, the weapon gains either the Axiomatic or Holy weapon enhancements as appropriate for the duration.

 " ": For 24 hours, the knight of the broken halo's smite damage is either fire, cold, electric, or acid damage. You may select sonic damage, but deal half of your usual smite damage. This meditation may be taken multiple times, each time selecting a new element. If you have more than one elemental smite meditation, you may switch between which elemental damage you deal each round.

 "": For 24 hours, the knight of the broken halo recieves a +2 sacred bonus to concentration checks, diplomacy, handle animal, heal, intimidate, knowledge nobility, knowledge religion, ride, sense motive, or spellcraft checks. He may used these skills untrained. This meditation may be taken multiple times, each time gaining +1 to skill checks.

 "": For 24 hours, the knight of the broken halo gains one additional bonus spell slot one level lower than the highest level spell he can cast. An epic knight of the broken halo can apply this to the highest level spell he can cast. This meditation may be taken multiple times, each time gaining 1 additional spell slot.

 "": For 24 hours, the knight of the broken halo recieves a +1 sacred bonus to saving throws.

 "": For 24 hours, the knight of the broken halo treats his level as +1 higher for any knight of the broken halo class abilities which rely on level (such as smite alignment or turn undead). This does not let him count as a higher HD for spells and abilities which rely on it. This meditation may be taken multiple times, each time increasing your effective level by 1.

 "": For 24 hours, the knight of the broken halo recieves a +1 sacred bonus to attack rolls.

 "": For 24 hours, the knight of the broken halo recieves a +1 sacred bonus to AC.

' :''' Upon reaching 5th level, a knight of the broken halo forms a divine bond with her patron. This bond can take one of two forms. Once the form is chosen, it cannot be changed.

The first type of bond allows the knight of the broken halo to enhance his weapon as a standard action by calling upon the aid of a celestial or axiomatic spirit for 1 minute per knight of the broken halo level. When called, the spirit causes the weapon to shed light as a torch. This spirit grants the weapon a enhancement bonus based on your HD. For every four HD you possess the weapon gains another +1 enhancement bonus, to a maximum of +6 at 20 HD. These bonuses can be added to the weapon, stacking with existing weapon bonuses to a maximum of +5, or they can be used to add any of the following weapon properties: axiomatic (if you chose lawful), brilliant energy, defending, disruption, flaming, flaming burst, holy (if you chose good), keen, merciful, and speed. Adding these properties consumes an amount of bonus equal to the property's cost. These bonuses are added to any properties the weapon already has, but duplicate abilities do not stack. If the weapon is not magical, at least a +1 enhancement bonus must be added before any other properties can be added. The bonus and properties granted by the spirit are determined when the spirit is called and cannot be changed until the spirit is called again. The spirit imparts no bonuses if the weapon is held by anyone other than the knight of the broken halo but resumes giving bonuses if returned to the knight of the broken halo. These bonuses apply to only one end of a double weapon. A knight of the broken halo can use this ability once per day, and may use it an additional time per day by when he reaches 10 HD, and every 5 levels beyond (3/day at 15 HD, 4/day at 20 HD, and so forth).

If a weapon bonded with a spirit is destroyed, the knight of the broken halo loses the use of this ability for 30 days, or until he gains a level, whichever comes first. During this 30-day period, the knight of the broken halo takes a –1 penalty on attack and weapon damage rolls.

The second type of bond allows a knight of the broken halo to gain the service of an unusually intelligent, strong, and loyal steed to serve her in her crusade against evil and chaos. This mount is usually a heavy horse (for a Medium knight of the broken halo) or a pony (for a Small knight of the broken halo), although more exotic mounts, such as a boar, camel, or dog are also suitable. This mount functions as a paladin's special mount, using the knight of the broken halo's level as her effective paladin level. Bonded mounts have an Intelligence of at least 6.

Once per day, as a full-round action, a knight of the broken halo may magically call her mount to her side. This ability is the equivalent of a spell of a level equal to half the knight of the broken halo's level. The mount immediately appears adjacent to the knight of the broken halo. A knight of the broken halo can use this ability once per day, and may use it an additional time per day by when he reaches 10 HD, and every 5 levels beyond (3/day at 15 HD, 4/day at 20 HD, and so forth).

If you have 11 HD, the mount gains the celestial or axiomatic creature template and becomes a magical beast for the purposes of determining which spells affect it.

If you have 15 HD, a knight of the broken halo's mount gains spell resistance equal to the knight of the broken halo's HD + 11.

Should the knight of the broken halo's mount die, he may not summon another mount for 30 days or until she gains a level, whichever comes first. During this 30-day period, the knight of the broken halo takes a –1 penalty on attack and weapon damage rolls.

 : At 7th level, a knight of the broken halo is determined to see it to the end. Once per encounter as a standard action, a knight of the broken halo can choose to immediate end one of the following effects: blinded, confused, cowering, dazed, dazzled, deafened, energy drained, entangled, exhausted, fascinated, fatigued, flat-footed, frightened, grappled, nauseated, panicked, paralyzed, petrified, pinned, shaken, sickened, staggered, or stunned. The knight of the broken halo may fall back under the effects of the condition if the situation he is in is not solved, such as remaining in the area of entanglement at the end of his turn, only to be entangled yet again. The effect is only ended for him, and no one else. He may use this ability even if the condition would otherwise prevent actions (such as paralysis). Contrary to popular belief, knight of the broken halos cannot use this to end the effects of the sun shining, or the condition of existing, as funny as it is.

 : At 9th level, a knight of the broken halo can channel his hotblood fury into a powerful attack as a full-attack action. The knight of the broken halo strikes the air and a burning sword blasts from the skies or the ground, dealing 2d6 points of damage per HD to all targets in a cylinder 10 ft radius wide, and 60 ft tall anywhere in 60 ft. The damage is half fire and half divine energy, with a Reflex save DC 10 + 1/2 HD + your Cha modifier. Targets which would be affected by your smite alignment ability take all divine damage. Using hotblood smite consumes one of your smite attempts.

At 10th level, a knight of the broken halo loses the penalties associated with his broken halo mark. It becomes a proud halo mark, and while he is never one of his former kind he is respected for showing paladin-level dedication to his new alignment. He once again counts as his normal alignment, and loses the penalty to social skill checks. Finally he gains a +4 bonus on Charisma based social skill checks with outsiders of his chosen alignment, and never gains the extraplanar subtype when on one of his associated planes (either lawful or good aligned). He gains a +4 bonus on intimidate checks against outsiders of his opposing alignment. 1/month he may call on the services of his patron, who will pull some strings and get things done, ultimately duplicating the power of a miracle spell. As is normal for the spell, the action requested must be in the best interests of their patron. Using this ability is a standard action, and it leaves the knight of the broken halo fatigued.

The epic knight of the broken halo gains a bonus feat (selected from the list of epic knight of the broken halo feats) every 3 levels after 13th.

Epic Knight of the Broken Halo Bonus Feat List: <-list of bonus epic feats->

Fallen Paladins
Knights of the Broken Halo who have levels in the paladin class (and are now ex-paladins) can trade their paladin levels out for knight of the broken halo levels on a 1 by 1 basis, but must always retain at least 1 paladin level. They gain additional bonuses based on how many paladin levels they trade out.

In addition, they add any spell slots from their paladin or cleric class to their knight of the broken halo spell slots. For example an 8th level paladin gets one 1st level spell and zero 2nd level spells, so the knight of the broken halo recieves one additional 1st level spell slot. Clerics may trade in their levels, as well, gaining the bonuses as above.

Ex-Knights of the Broken Halo
Simply because they may be ex-paladins or ex-clerics does not mean they can ignore responsibility, and knights of the broken halo do have to follow a code of conduct. However, it is one on their terms, and must be made with the spirit summoned to make a pact with. Typically it involves the obvious, staying within your chosen alignment, and 2 minor restrictions which are followed even though they are not necessarily evil or chaotic, such as never using poison, never lying directly, or never running from battle if you can still fight. When a knight of the broken halo chooses his alignment, he must retain his chosen alignment by one step that is non-evil and non-chaotic (so a lawful knight of the broken halo may be LN or LG, but nothing else, or he will become an ex-knight of the broken halo).

A knight of the broken halo who ceases to be in his alignment restrictions or who violates the code of conduct loses all knight of the broken halo spells and class features (including the service of the knight of the broken halo's mount and weapon enhancing ability, but not weapon, armor, and shield proficiencies). He may not progress any further in levels as a knight of the broken halo. He regains his abilities and advancement potential if he atones for her violations (see atonement), as appropriate.

Knight of the Broken Halo levels count as paladin levels in the event that they become ex-knights of the broken halo, descending further into madness and becoming blackguards. In this case, knight of the broken halo serves as a effective transition between good and evil.

Playing a Knight of the Broken Halo
Combat: The knight of the broken halo is still a paladin or cleric, if a different breed, but still one at heart. Nothing changes from his former self, though more options are available to him.

Advancement: A knight of the broken halo qualifies for paladin prestige classes, replacing any alignment pre-requisites with his own alignment chosen.

Resources: While paladins shun knights of the broken halo, some have gathered together for support and to do what they can in the world. By nature they try not to draw much attention to their fallen status, and happily continue to operate under the name of paladin if they can, covering up their more shady and un-paladin like transgressions as they can. It is dishonorable, but it is for a good cause and harms no one while protecting themselves.

Knights of the Broken Halo in the World
"What is more noble than following pure good, no matter how you manage it?"

NPC Reactions: If a NPC realizes that the knight of the broken halo is a fallen paladin, they may react with horror or sympathy. Not everyone can be shining paragons of noble law and good, and yet they still try. The reactions are varied and often opinionated as any political discourse. Paladins and clerics, of course, disapprove.

Knight of the Broken Halo Lore
Characters with ranks in Knowledge Religion can research knights of the broken halo to learn more about them. When a character makes a skill check, read or paraphrase the following, including information from lower DCs.

Knights of the Broken Halo in the Game
Adaptation: Pathfinder players can use the Knight of the Broken Halo with the following changes. Alter save progression to the save progression of pathfinder prestige classes. Remove the Concentration and have the Concentration bonus from Focused Mind grant a bonus to caster level checks made to concentrate on a spell. urn Undead (and the pre-requisite) become Channel Energy. The spellcasting becomes Charisma based.

It may also be used for variant-alignment who have "gone soft", changing the alignment and flavor as needed, flipping to chaos or evil.

Sample Encounter: The PCs are sent to deal with a "heretic", but the heretic turns out to be less sinister than painted. However, as good as his intentions are, is his idea really the best idea?

EL 10: PENDING.