Snake Handler Priest (3.5e Class)

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Author: Nolanf (talk) Date Created: Oct. 15, 2013 Status: In Progress Editing: Clarity edits only please

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This is like a cleric with relatively low spellcasting ability, but relatively high ability to summon and fight alongside snakes! 20 1 Moderate Good Poor Good

"Prepared Divine Spellcasting [[Class Ability Progression::Other" is not in the list (Prepared Arcane Spellcasting, Spontaneous Arcane Spellcasting, Prepared Divine Spellcasting, Spontaneous Divine Spellcasting, Arcane Spellcasting, Divine Spellcasting, Prepared Spellcasting, Spontaneous Spellcasting, Alternate Magic, Psionics, ...) of allowed values for the "Class Ability" property.

Snake Handler Priest

Snake Handler Priests are religious zealots who live in small towns in the hills, on the edge of the wilderness, and the fringe of society. Though snake handling is frowned upon in most cultures, the priests of this faith defend their practice staunchly. They avidly proclaim that their faith gives them power over the crawling things of the earth and they wield this power with the grace of the divine.

Making a Snake Handler Priest

Although strength, dexterity, and fortitude may serve well in a fight, a snake handler needs only the Wisdom of the Lord and the Charisma of his own spirit. Amen.

Abilities: All prepared spells are Wisdom-based, but a high Charisma score is often needed for controlling the snakes. Intelligence will be useful when increasing Knowledge and other Skills. In the beginning levels, some combat ability may be necessary, so a little bit of Strength and Dexterity are not bad to have.

Races: People of all races who do not fear the serpent's bite may enter the fold of the snake handler priest.

Alignment: Any non-chaotic.

Starting Gold: 3d8×10 gp.

Starting Age: Complex

Table: The Snake Handler Priest

Hit Die: d8

Level	Base Attack Bonus	Saving Throws			Special	Spells per Day
		Fort	Ref	Will		0	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th
1st	+0	+2	+0	+2	Serpent Empathy, Serpent Companion	2	0+1	—	—	—	—	—	—
2nd	+1	+3	+0	+3	Summon Serpent I	2	1+1	—	—	—	—	—	—
3rd	+2	+3	+1	+3	Faith Against Poison	3	1+1	—	—	—	—	—	—
4th	+3	+4	+1	+4	Summon Serpent II	3	2+1	0+1	—	—	—	—	—
5th	+3	+4	+1	+4	-	4	2+1	1+1	—	—	—	—	—
6th	+4	+5	+2	+5	Summon Serpent III	4	3+1	1+1	—	—	—	—	—
7th	+5	+5	+2	+5	Sepia Snake Sigil	5	3+1	2+1	0+1	—	—	—	—
8th	+6/+1	+6	+2	+6	Summon Serpent IV	5	4+1	2+1	1+1	—	—	—	—
9th	+6/+1	+6	+3	+6	-	6	4+1	3+1	1+1	—	—	—	—
10th	+7/+2	+7	+3	+7	Summon Serpent V	6	5+1	3+1	2+1	0+1	—	—	—
11th	+8/+3	+8	+3	+7	-	6	5+1	4+1	2+1	1+1	—	—	—
12th	+9/+4	+8	+4	+8	Summon Divine Serpent I	6	5+1	4+1	3+1	1+1	—	—	—
13th	+9/+4	+9	+4	+8	Slippery Mind	6	5+1	5+1	3+1	2+1	0+1	—	—
14th	+10/+5	+9	+4	+9	Summon Divine Serpent II	6	5+1	5+1	4+1	2+1	1+1	—	—
15th	+11/+6/+1	+10	+5	+9	-	6	5+1	5+1	4+1	3+1	1+1	—	—
16th	+12/+7/+2	+10	+5	+10	Summon Divine Serpent III	6	5+1	5+1	5+1	3+1	2+1	0+1	—
17th	+12/+7/+2	+11	+5	+10	-	6	5+1	5+1	5+1	4+1	2+1	1+1	—
18th	+13/+8/+3	+11	+6	+11	Summon Couatl	6	5+1	5+1	5+1	4+1	3+1	1+1	0+1
19th	+14/+9/+4	+12	+6	+11	-	6	5+1	5+1	5+1	5+1	3+1	2+1	1+1
20th	+15/+10/+5	+12	+6	+12	-	6	5+1	5+1	5+1	5+1	4+1	3+1	2+1
Class Skills (2 + Int modifier per level, ×4 at 1st level) Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Handle Animal (Cha), Heal (Wis), Knowledge (nature) (Int), Knowledge (religion) (Int), Knowledge (the planes) (Int), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Spellcraft (Int).

Class Features

All of the following are class features of the snake handler priest.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Snake handler priests may be proficient with all simple weapons plus the whip. They may also be proficient with all types of armor and shields (except tower shields).

Religion: The practice of snake handling is uncommon. In fact, most people have never even heard of it in many parts of the world. However, congregants of many different religions have seen the power of snake handling and will extol its virtue to anyone who challenges its legitimacy. Nonetheless, the snake-handling practice is not supported by several gods, making the worship of them off-limits to snake handler priests. The gods who will not help a snake handler are Corellon Larethian, Erythnul, Gruumsh, Kord, Olidammara, and any other chaotic god. All other deities are conducive to snake handling.

Spells: A snake handler priest casts divine spells, which are drawn from the cleric spell list. However, his alignment may restrict him from casting certain spells opposed to his moral or ethical beliefs; see Chaotic, Evil, Good, and Lawful Spells, below. A snake handler priest must choose and prepare his spells in advance (see below).

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

Like other spellcasters, a snake handler priest can cast only a certain number of spells of each spell level per day. His base daily spell allotment is given on the table above. In addition, he receives bonus spells per day if he has a high Wisdom score. A snake handler also gets one domain spell of each spell level he can cast, starting at 1st level. When a snake handler priest prepares a spell in a domain spell slot, it must come from one of his two domains (see Deity, Domains, and Domain Spells).

Snake handlers meditate or pray for their spells. Each snake handler must choose a time at which he must spend 1 hour each day in quiet contemplation or supplication to regain his daily allotment of spells. Time spent resting has no effect on whether a snake handler can prepare spells. A snake handler may prepare and cast any spell on the cleric spell list, provided that he can cast spells of that level, but he must choose which spells to prepare during his daily meditation.

Deity, Domains, and Domain Spells: A snake handler priest’s deity influences his alignment, what magic he can perform, his values, and how others see him. A snake handler chooses two domains from among those belonging to his deity. A snake handler can select an alignment domain (Chaos, Evil, Good, or Law) only if his alignment matches that domain.

If a snake handler 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 snake handler access to a domain spell at each spell level he can cast, from 1st on up, as well as a granted power. The snake handler gets the granted powers of both the domains selected.

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

Spontaneous Casting: A good snake handler priest (or a neutral priest of a good deity) can channel stored spell energy into curing spells that the priest did not prepare ahead of time. The snake handler 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 snake handler priest (or a neutral 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 snake handler 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.

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

Serpent Empathy (Ex): At first level, a snake handler priest can use body language, vocalizations, and demeanor to improve the attitude of snakes (or anything with a serpentine likeness). This ability functions just like a Diplomacy check to improve the attitude of a person. The snake handler priest rolls 1d20 and adds his class level + Charisma bonus to determine the serpent empathy check result.
- To use serpent empathy, the snake handler priest and the serpent must be no more than 30 feet of one another under normal visibility conditions.

Serpent Companion ((Ex}}: A snake handler priest may begin play with a Small Viper or Medium Viper. This animal is a loyal companion that accompanies the snake handler priest on his adventures as appropriate for its kind.
- A 1st-level snake handler’s companion is completely typical for its kind except as noted below. As a snake handler advances in level, the animal’s power increases as shown on the table. If a snake handler priest releases his companion from service, he may gain a new one by performing a ceremony requiring 24 uninterrupted hours of prayer. This ceremony can also replace an animal companion that has perished.

Summon Serpent I (Sp): Starting at 2nd level, snake handler priests may summon a snake once/day as a spell-like ability. It appears where you designate and acts immediately, on your turn. It attacks your opponents to the best of its ability. If you can communicate with the snake, you can direct it not to attack, to attack particular enemies, or to perform other actions.
- This spell summons either a small viper, or 1d3 tiny vipers.
- A summoned snake cannot summon or otherwise conjure another creatures, nor can it use any teleportation or planar travel abilities. Snakes cannot be summoned into an environment that cannot support them.

Faith Against Poison (Ex): At level 3, the snake handler priest has faith in his god strong enough to repel poison. He may add his Wisdom modifier to his Fortitude saving throws against poison.

Ex-<-pluralized class name->

<-Describe what happens when a character violates the alignment restrictions of any other class restrictions. If there are no behavior or alignment restrictions delete this section->.

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