Choco-Priest (3.5e Class)

Choco-Priests
As true protectors of nature, that which they revere, choco-priests are divine heralds of the land. They use their abilities to protect the lands which they claim as their own from adulteration and defilement.

Making a Choco-Priest
Choco-Priests are often the healer and buffers of a group. Their ample list of spells drawn from parts of the druid and cleric spell lists provide them with a huge range of customization.

Please see the discussion for an explanation of the following

Abilities: Wisdom is Important for spellcasting, while Charisma affects other class abilties. Intelligence can be important for skills.

Alignment: Usually neutral, like a normal chocobo, but with a tendency towards good. Any alignment.

Starting Gold: 3d4&times;10 gp (75 gp).

Starting Age: Complex.

Class Features
The choco-priest's abilities focus on nature and the powers of positive and negative energy that nature creates. All of the following are class features of the choco-priest.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: <-description of class weapon & armor proficiencies->.

Aura (Ex): A choco-priest of a chaotic, evil, good, or lawful deity has a particularly powerful aura corresponding to the deity’s alignment (see the detect evil spell for details). Choco-Priests who don’t worship a specific deity but choose the Chaotic, Evil, Good, or Lawful domain have a similarly powerful aura of the corresponding alignment.

Her alignment may restrict her from casting certain spells opposed to her moral or ethical beliefs; see Chaotic, Evil, Good, and Lawful Spells, below. A choco-priest must choose and prepare her spells in advance (see below).

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

Like other spellcasters, a choco-priest can cast only a certain number of spells of each spell level per day. Her base daily spell allotment is given on Table: The Choco-Priest. In addition, she receives bonus spells per day if she has a high Wisdom score. A choco-priest also gets one domain spell of each spell level he can cast, starting at 1st level. When a choco-priest prepares a spell in a domain spell slot, it must come from one of his two domains (see Deity, Domains, and Domain Spells, below).

A choco-priest prepares and casts spells the way a cleric does. A choco-priest may prepare and cast any spell on the druid or cleric spell lists, provided that she can cast spells of that level, but she must choose which spells to prepare during her daily meditation.

A choco-priest chooses two domains from among those belonging to his deity. A choco-priest can select an alignment domain (Chaos, Evil, Good, or Law) only if his alignment matches that domain.

If a choco-priest is not devoted to a particular deity, he still selects two domains to represent his spiritual inclinations and abilities. The restriction on alignment domains still applies.

Each domain gives the choco-priest access to a domain spell at each spell level he can cast, from 1st on up, as well as a granted power. The choco-priest gets the granted powers of both the domains selected.

With access to two domain spells at a given spell level, a choco-priest prepares one or the other each day in his domain spell slot. If a domain spell is not on the choco-priest spell list, a choco-priest can prepare it only in his domain spell slot.

Spontaneous Casting: A choco-priest can channel stored spell energy into summoning spells that she hasn’t prepared ahead of time. She can “lose” a prepared spell in order to cast any summon nature’s ally spell of the same level or lower.

A good choco-priest (or a neutral choco-priest of a good deity) can channel stored spell energy into healing spells that the choco-priest did not prepare ahead of time. The choco-priest can “lose” any prepared spell that is not a domain spell in order to cast any cure spell of the same spell level or lower (a cure spell is any spell with “cure” in its name).

An evil choco-priest (or a neutral choco-priest of an evil deity), can’t convert prepared spells to cure spells but can convert them to inflict spells (an inflict spell is one with “inflict” in its name).

A choco-priest who is neither good nor evil and whose deity is neither good nor evil can convert spells to either cure spells or inflict spells (player’s choice). Once the player makes this choice, it cannot be reversed. This choice also determines whether the choco-priest turns or commands undead (see below).

Chaotic, Evil, Good, and Lawful Spells: A choco-priest can’t cast spells of an alignment opposed to her own or her deity’s (if she has one). Spells associated with particular alignments are indicated by the chaos, evil, good, and law descriptors in their spell descriptions.

Bonus Languages: A choco-priest’s bonus language options include Sylvan, the language of woodland creatures. This choice is in addition to the bonus languages available to the character because of her race.

A choco-priest also knows Heiro-wark, a secret language known only to choco-priests, which she learns upon becoming a 1st-level choco-priest. Heiro-wark is a free language for a choco-priest; that is, she knows it in addition to her regular allotment of languages and it doesn’t take up a language slot. Choco-Priests are forbidden to teach this language to nonchoco-priests.

Heiro-wark has its own alphabet.

 (Su): Any choco-priest, regardless of alignment, has the power to affect wounds and undead creatures by channeling the power of her faith through her holy (or unholy) symbol (see Turn or Rebuke Undead).

A good choco-priest (or a neutral choco-priest who worships a good deity) can heal wounds and harm undead creatures. An evil choco-priest (or a neutral choco-priest who worships an evil deity) instead heals such creatures and harms the living. A neutral choco-priest of a neutral deity must choose whether her turning ability functions as that of a good choco-priest or an evil choco-priest. Once this choice is made, it cannot be reversed. This decision also determines whether the cleric can turn or destroy undead creatures (Good) or rebuke or command them (see below).

A choco-priest with a Charisma score of 12 or higher can heal wounds (her own or those of others) by touch. Each day she can heal a total number of hit points of damage equal to her choco-priest level &times; her Charisma bonus. A choco-priest may choose to divide her healing among multiple recipients, and she doesn’t have to use it all at once. Using lay on wings is a standard action.

Alternatively, a choco-priest can use any or all of this healing power to deal damage to undead creatures. Using lay on hands in this way requires a successful melee touch attack and doesn’t provoke an attack of opportunity. The choco-priest decides how many of her daily allotment of points to use as damage after successfully touching an undead creature.

 (Ex): A choco-priest gains a +2 bonus on Knowledge (nature) and Survival checks.

 (Ex): A choco-priest can improve the attitude of an animal. This ability functions just like a Diplomacy check made to improve the attitude of a person. The choco-priest rolls 1d20 and adds her choco-priest level and her Charisma modifier to determine the wild empathy check result.

The typical domestic animal has a starting attitude of indifferent, while wild animals are usually unfriendly.

To use wild empathy, the choco-priest and the animal must be able to study each other, which means that they must be within 30 feet of one another under normal conditions. Generally, influencing an animal in this way takes 1 minute but, as with influencing people, it might take more or less time.

A choco-priest can also use this ability to influence a magical beast with an Intelligence score of 1 or 2, but she takes a –4 penalty on the check.

 (Ex): Starting at 3rd level, a choco-priest gains a +4 bonus on saving throws against the spell-like abilities of fey.

 (EX): At fourth level, a choco-priest gains resistance to the energy type of its choice. This choice also restricts the color choice it gains at later HD due to its race, making its color choices only those which can gain energy resistance of that type.

Colors: Black, Green

Energy Resistance 5 versus acid

Colors: Black, Light Blue

Energy Resistance 5 versus cold

Colors: Gold

Energy Resistance 5 versus electricity

Colors: Gold

Energy Resistance 5 versus fire

Colors: White, Yellow

Energy Resistance 5 versus sonic

At 12th level, the choco-priest's energy resistance improves to 15 against the appropriate type of energy. Gold and Black chocobos can forfeit the increase in their existing resistance to instead gain a resistance of 10 against the kind of energy they do not already have.

At 20th level, the choco-priest's energy resistance becomes energy immunity to the appropriate type of energy. Gold and Black chocobos gain energy immunity to both types of energy available to them: acid and cold for black, electricity and fire for gold.

 (Su): When a choco-priest reaches 5th level, she gains the supernatural ability to turn undead.

A good choco-priest (or a neutral choco-priest who worships a good deity) can turn or destroy undead creatures. An evil choco-priest (or a neutral choco-priest who worships an evil deity) instead rebukes or commands such creatures. A neutral choco-priest of a neutral deity must choose whether his turning ability functions as that of a good choco-priest or an evil choco-priest. Once this choice is made, it cannot be reversed. This decision also determines whether the choco-priest can use lay on wings to heal the living and harm undead, or to harm the living and heal undead (see above).

A choco-priest may attempt to turn undead a number of times per day equal to 3 + her Charisma modifier. A choco-priest with 5 or more ranks in Knowledge (religion) gets a +2 bonus on turning checks against undead.

 (Su): At 7th level, the choco-priest is capable of calling upon the blessings of nature and divinity to enhance herself and her allies. All allies within 5 feet per two levels at the time the choco-priest uses this ability gains a +2 on attack and damage rolls and a +4 on saves for 1d4+5 rounds. Using this ability is a full round action that provoke attacks of opportunity.

 (Ex): At 10th level, a choco-priest gains immunity to all poisons.

 (Ex): At 13th levels, a choco-priest can bless a chocobo grove so that all chocobos and choco-friends are infused with the healing powers of nature within it. All chocobos in the area gain Fast Healing 3 while the remain in the area and have the effect of a lesser restoration effect cast upon them once every day. Choco-friends gain only the effects of Fast Healing 1.

Anyone who intends to harm a chocobo or choco-friend that is in the area of a chocobo grove that has been choco-hallowed feels uncomfortable and is effectively shaken while in the area.

 (Su): At 15th level, a choco-priest gains the ability to change her appearance at will, as if using the disguise self spell, but only while in her normal form. This affects the choco-priest’s body but not her possessions. It is not an illusory effect, but a minor physical alteration of the choco-priest’s appearance, within the limits described for the spell.

 (Ex): After attaining 17th level, a choco-priest no longer takes ability score penalties for aging and cannot be magically aged. Any penalties she may have already incurred, however, remain in place.

Bonuses still accrue, and the choco-priest still dies of old age when her time is up.

Ex-Choco-Priests
A choco-priest who ceases to revere nature or teaches the Heiro-wark language to a nonchoco-priest loses all spells and choco-priest abilities (not including weapon, armor, and shield proficiencies). She cannot thereafter gain levels as a choco-priest until she atones (see the atonement spell description).

Epic Choco-Priests
Spells: The choco-priest’s caster level is equal to his or her class level. The choco-priest’s number of spells per day does not increase after 20th level.

Turn or Rebuke Undead: Use the choco-priest’s class level to determine the most powerful undead affected by a turn or rebuke check and the turning damage, just as normal.



Epic Choco-Priest Bonus Feat List: Automatic Quicken Spell, Automatic Silent Spell, Automatic Still Spell, Bonus Domain, Energy Resistance, Enhance Spell, Epic Spell Focus, Epic Spell Penetration, Epic Spellcasting, Fast Healing, Ignore Material Components, Improved Alignment-Based Casting, Improved Combat Casting, Improved Heighten Spell, Improved Metamagic, Improved Spell Capacity, Intensify Spell, Multispell, Negative Energy Burst, Perfect Health, Permanent Emanation, Planar Turning, Positive Energy Aura, Spectral Strike, Spell Stowaway, Spell Opportunity, Spontaneous Domain Access, Spontaneous Spell, Tenacious Magic, Undead Mastery, Zone of Animation.

Chocobo Choco-Priest Starting Package
Weapons: Wooden Claws.

Skill Selection: Pick a number of skills equal to 4 + Int modifier.

Domains: Healing and Weather

Feat: Still Spell.

Gear: Choco-leather, Spell Component Pouch, feed, water sack.

Gold: 3 gp.