Divine Ascendant (3.5e Prestige Class)

= Divine Ascendant =

"You shall be as gods..."

The path to godhood is a secret well guarded but even men of unusual strength and power can rise to the ranks of the divine. Quasi-deityhood, divine rank 0, is granted at the end of this class. The class requires a ritual, which gives the chance to be creative and to go upon many quests and plot hooks.

It is not required, but if the PC can gain Outsider status, they reap the full benefit of the class.

Prerequisites
Base Attack Bonus OR Caster Level: Either a BAB of 21 or Caster Level of 21 will qualify.

Feats: Great Fortitude, Lightning Reflexes, Iron Will, At least 1 epic feat

Skills: Either Knowledge (The Planes) 24 ranks, Knowledge (Religion) 24 ranks, or Knowledge (Arcana) 24 ranks.

Special: There are three requirements.


 * 1) Must have traveled to the outer planes at some point.
 * 2) The trapped soul of an epic outsider you defeated solo.
 * 3) Over the course of 12 levels you will perform a ritual which begins with using the trapped soul to channel energy into your body to begin the process (or if you feel evil, to devour the soul and steal its energy).  Whatever the means of the ritual, it costs a minimum of 1,000,000g to complete.

The Divine Ascendant
Hit Die: d8.

Class Skills (4 + Int modifier per level) The divine ascendant chooses 10 skills to be class skills.

Table: The Divine Ascendant

Class Features
All the following are class features of the divine ascendant:

Timeless Body : At 1st level, a divine ascendant no longer takes penalties to her ability scores for aging and cannot be magically aged. Any such penalties that she has already taken, however, remain in place. Bonuses still accrue, and the divine ascendant still dies of old age when her time is up.

Fire Resistance : At 2nd level a divine ascendant gains resistance to fire 5. This resistance stacks with other inherent resistances granted by race or class.

Transmutation Immunity : At 3rd level, a divine ascendant gains immunity to polymorphing, petrification, and any other attack that would alter his form. Disintegrate no longer reduces the divine ascendant to dust, though the damage may still kill you. Any shape-altering spells or powers a divine ascendant has work normally on themselves.

Divine Appearance: At levels 4, 8, and 12 the divine ascendant gains some minor physical trait to show his approaching godhood. Golden hair, bright eyes, and a proud air about oneself is common in good aligned divine ascendant, while other alignments may take on other traits such as small horns for evil, or chiseled stone-like appearance for law.

The changes are purely cosmetic.

Spell Resistance : At level 6, the divine ascendant gains spell resistance 16. It rises to spell resistance 32 at level 12.

Damage Reduction :  At 6th level a divine ascendant gains damage reduction 5/epic. It rises to damage reduction 10/epic at level 12.

Lifewarding : At 6th level, a divine ascendant becomes immune to attacks which cause ability drain, ability damage, and energy drain.

Divine Speed : At level 7, a divine ascendant become swift. Small character gain 25 ft. to their speed, while medium characters gain 30 ft to their speed.

At level 11, it gains its full speed. Small characters now move 50 ft. faster, and medium characters by 60 ft.

Iron Mind : At 9th level, a divine ascendant becomes immune to mind-affecting effects (such as charms, compulsions, phantasms, patterns, and morale effects).

Divine Ascension : At 12th level, a divine ascendant ascends to divine rank 0 and becomes a quasi-deity and is thus immortal. At that point they can no longer die from natural causes. They do not need to eat, sleep, or breathe. They can still be slain in combat just as anyone else.

Alignment Subtype : A divine ascendant gains their alignment as a subtype. The natural attacks of divine ascendants, as well as any weapons they wield, are considered aligned the same as the divine ascendant for the purposes of bypassing damage reduction.

Outsider Extra Benefits : If you are an outsider at 1st level, you gain additional natural armor. It starts out at +2, and every level you gain +1 to your natural armor, up to a maximum of +13 at level 12.

In addition at level 12, you gain a special deflection bonus to AC. You may now use your Charisma modifier to your deflection AC, if any.

If you somehow gain Outsider status at a later time, the changes are retroactive.

Code of Conduct
A divine ascendant must remain true to the principles of its alignment, whatever they may be. As they grow they develop traits according to said alignment, and gain a stronger connection to it. A divine ascendant loses its class features, except for immortality and immunities, if it ever willingly grossly violates the principles of its alignment. It cannot gain more levels as a divine ascendant. She regains her abilities and advancement potential if she atones for her violations (see the atonement spell description), as appropriate.