White Guard (3.5e Class)

White Guard
Balance Point: Fighter Tier, 2 of 4

A Paladin Variant.

A master of defense. A White Guardian is a seeker of lost treasures, epic battles, and high adventure. They turn adversity into opportunity by finding new ways to apply their skills, discovering new techniques to solve problems, and challenging the status-quo by constantly seeking out ventures they have not yet mastered. They seldom pass up a chance to indulge in a new experience, and a new challenge is much more likely to excite them than a normal lifestyle.

They make the battlefield their home as they constantly fight to improve their skills and protect the ones they love. They are born heroes blessed with exceptional abilities far above the standard of their native peers. When asked who would be best for a dangerous task, a White Guardian always steps forward — not out of overconfidence or egotism, but because he has learned through success after success that when backed into a corner, he'll almost always find a way out.

Making a White Guard
Abilities: Strength, Intelligence.

Race: Any.

Alignment: Any.

Starting Gold: 135gp.

Class Features
All of the following are class features of the White Guard.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Proficient with Simple and Martial Weapons. With Light Armor, Medium Armor, Heavy Armor and Shields (except Tower Shields).

 (Ex): 1st level. You can replace your Dexterity modifier to armor class with your Strength modifier. Armor penalties still apply.

 (Ex): 2nd level. Whenever you make a Shield Bash attempt against your opponent, your attack penalty is reduced from -10 to -4. If you use your shield as a weapon, you still lose its AC bonus until your next action. This bonus does not stack with the Two Weapon Fighting feat.

 (Ex): 3rd level. Whenever you deal damage to an opponent with an Oppurtunity Attack, that opponent's move action is immediately canceled. They may still make another move action for that round but only at half speed.

 (Ex): 4th level. You become immune to fear and fear effects.

 (Ex): 5th level. Choose a Good or Evil aligned strike. This choice is permanent. All your attacks deal 1d6 extra damage against opponents of this alignment, including damage from a Shield Bash attempt. This damage increases at 10th, 15th, and 20th level. This damage is not multiplied with a critical hit.

You can provoke an opponent to attack you as a standard action. The target creature must succeed a Will save, dc 10 + half level + your Intelligence modifier, or become provoked for 1 round. A provoked opponent will spend their next turn attempting to harm only you. Your opponent must be able to see or hear you in order to become provoked.

 (Ex): 7th level. You can produce magical weapons and equipment as if you have a Caster Level equal to your ranks in Craft.

 (Su): 8th level. Once an encounter as a swift action you can heal yourself without using a spell. You can heal, (25% of your total health + your Strength modifier), in hit points. This can also be used outside of combat anytime you take an extended rest.

You can enter a Guard's Stance as a move action.

While holding a Guard's Stance you gain a +2 deflection bonus to armor class and can increase your reach by 5 feet. However, you suffer a -4 to all attacks and can only move in 5 foot steps. You can no longer be flanked while holding this stance. But, you can still be sneak attacked by a rogue of four levels higher than yourself.

While holding a Guard's Stance you are considered readied against any movements made by opponents within 10 feet. There is no limit to the number of attacks you can make against moving opponents. This can be combined with Halt to create a lock-down component.

This stance can be maintained indefinitely but does require a move action to dismiss.

 (Ex): 11th level. Whenever you use the Guard's Stance ability you can also select one ally to gain a +4 Dodge Bonus to Armor Class. This bonus lasts for the duration of your stance. At 16th level you may select two allies to protect. At 19th level you may select three allies to protect.

 (Ex): 12th level. You also gain damage reduction 3/- while holding a Guard's Stance. At 17th level you increase your damage reduction to 6/- whenever you use a Guard's Stance.

 (Ex): 13th level. You gain Spell Resistance equal to 12 + your class level.

 (Su: 14th level. While holding a Guard's Stance you now summon the effects of the Good Hope spell upon yourself and any allies within 60 feet.  Each affected creature gains a +2 morale bonus on saving throws, attack rolls, ability checks, skill checks, and weapon damage rolls.  This effect lasts for the duration of your stance.  Allies must remain within 60 feet to benefit from this enchantment.  This bonus increases to +3 at 18th level.

Spells: Beginning at 4th level, a guard gains the ability to cast a small number of divine spells, which are drawn from the guard spell list found below. A guard must choose and prepare his spells in advance (see below).

To prepare or cast a spell, a guard must have a Intelligence score equal to at least 10 + the spell level. The Difficulty Class for a saving throw against a guard’s spell is 10 + the spell level + the guard’s Intelligence modifier.

Like other spellcasters, a guard can cast only a certain number of spells of each spell level per day. His base daily spell allotment is given on Table: The Grey Guardian. In addition, he receives bonus spells per day if he has a high Intelligence score. When Table: The White Guard indicates that the guard gets 0 spells per day of a given spell level, he gains only the bonus spells he would be entitled to based on his Intelligence score for that spell level. The guard does not have access to any domain spells or granted powers, as a cleric does.

A guard prepares and casts spells the way a cleric does, though he cannot lose a prepared spell to cast a cure spell in its place. A guard may prepare and cast any spell on the guard spell list, provided that he can cast spells of that level, but he must choose which spells to prepare during his daily meditation.

A guard's caster level is one-half his guardian level.

Guard Spell List:

1st&mdash; Alarm, Bless, Cure Light Wounds, Detect Good, Detect Evil, Detect Magic, Endure Elements, Identify, Magic Weapon, Protection from Good, Protection from Evil, Read Magic, Lesser Restoration.

2nd&mdash; Aid, Align Weapon, Bears Endurance, Bulls Strength, Cure Moderate Wounds, Delay Poison, Find Traps, Foxs Cunning, Resist Energy, Shield Other, Status.

3rd&mdash; Cure Serious Wounds, Daylight, Dispel Magic, Freedom of Movement, Magic Circle against Good, Magic Circle against Evil, Magic Vestment, Protection from Energy, Remove Disease, See Invisibility, Slow.

4th&mdash; Break Enchantment, Cure Critical Wounds, Death Ward, Dismissal, Neutralize Poison, Restoration, Tongues.

Ex-White Guard
A Grey Guardian who multi-classes trades the Might Ability for the Dodge Feat. They retain all other benefits of the class.

Epic White Guard
Epic Bastion  At 22nd level, Guard's Stance now grants you and your three choosen allies a +4 Deflection Bonus to Armor Class while you are maintaining the stance. You also gain damage reduction 9/- while maintaining this stance. This bonus increases to 12/- at 25th level and 15/- at 28th level.



Playing a White Guard
Religion: Any.

Other Classes: Empathy with all Classes.

Combat Role: Defender. Defends the party from attack using the Taunt, Halt, and Stance abilities.

Combat Pattern: Repeat the use of your main abilities to achieve a combo of success and maximize your potential.

Advancement: Multi-classing can add breadth.

White Guard's in the World
"I remember the boy well. He was nothing special to look at really. Just a blond kid in a grey tunic with an old sword and shield.  But when he took to the training grounds... Wow!  He amazed us all.  That kid was able to hold his ground against four other boys and none of them found a way to retreat from his beating.  Haha.  I'd watch it again in a heatbeat.  Lander was a symbol of knighthood, even as a boy."

Daily Life: Irregular Soldiering, Scouting, or Guild Adventurer.

Notables: Sir Malcolm Lander. Youngest of three, husband to Lady Kira Van'Horst Lander. He was an esteemed warrior of the Western Mosaic Front. Raised to knighthood as a child, he possessed a remarkable and unique approach to combat even as a boy. He would plant his feet and stand against any attack made against him. His opponents often found that once engaged with Lander they were unable to pull away from his relentless attacks. Lander died leading a raiding party against a band of Orcish Soldiers who, unknown to Lander at the time, were holding a large red dragon captive. Sir Malcolm Lander freed the dragon in an act of goodwill but was attacked by it shortly thereafter. His sword remains to this day in his Families Hall of Honor.

Organizations: Fighters Guilds, Local Militias, or Regional Military.

NPC Reactions: Regarded as a skilled fighter, wandering adventurer, or elite soldier.

White Guard Lore
Characters with ranks in Knowledge (local) can research White Guard's to learn more about them. When a character makes a skill check, read or paraphrase the following, including information from lower DCs.

White Guards in the Game
Description: Hev Shamark. Youngest of four and first son of Kilik Shamark. A native of the Midland's and hero to the Midlandian People. Hev joined the Midlandian Alliance Guild when he turned eighteen. Upon his third assignment Hev single-handedly defeated a Crystal Mountain's Troll, saving a gypsy caravan from certain doom. Ever since Hev's heroic deeds have made him a famous commander of the idealistic Midlandian Alliance Guild. SMW::off

SMW::on