Deva Champion (3.5e Class)

Author: Eiji-kun (talk) Date Created: 5-28-19 Status: Complete Editing: Mechanical changes on Talk

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A martial artist who manifests their fighting spirit and maneuver mastery through the apparation of additional phantasmal arms. 20 0 Good Good Poor Poor Martial Maneuvers Full

Deva Champion

Legends tell of a god who came unto the mortal world as a man and taught mankind the art of the divine dance, the rhythm of creation, the beats of destruction, the great cycle of eons and all that lay between. Back then adherents sought to mimic their lord and developed a complex and dogmatic series of rituals of exercise to achieve the physical perfection and spiritual enlightenment they needed. Though the details of the deity are now long lost and their religion reduced to a scattered few, those who follow the dancing form of the azure-hued Many Handed God learn to channel its power in their quest for betterment. They are the deva champions, multi-armed warriors mixing maneuvers and spirituality.

Making a Deva Champion

Abilities: As warriors, deva champions benefit from high strength and constitution. Dexterity and Wisdom also play roles, depending on if they wish to benefit more from the evasive aspects, ranged combat, or finesse or if they focus on stronger will saves and class features.

Races: Any.

Alignment: Any.

Starting Gold: 5d4×10 gp (125 gp).

Starting Age: As fighter.

Table: The Deva Champion

Hit Die: d8

Level	Base Attack Bonus	Saving Throws			Special	ManeuversToB
		Fort	Ref	Will		Maneuvers Known	Maneuvers Readied	Stances Known
1st	+1	+2	+0	+0	Improved Unarmed Strike or Two-Weapon Fighting, Phantasmal Arms (2), Trained Ability, Variable Saves	3	3	1
2nd	+2	+3	+0	+0	AC Bonus, Meditation (fear)	4	3	1
3rd	+3	+3	+1	+1	Evasion	5	3	1
4th	+4	+4	+1	+1	Phantasmal Arms (solid), Weapon Whirl	5	4	1
5th	+5	+4	+1	+1	Meditation (confusion)	6	4	2
6th	+6	+5	+2	+2	Phantasmal Arms (4)	6	4	2
7th	+7	+5	+2	+2	Weapon Duplication	7	5	2
8th	+8	+6	+2	+2	Meditation (compulsion)	7	5	2
9th	+9	+6	+3	+3	Phantasmal Arms (countering)	8	5	3
10th	+10	+7	+3	+3	Cycle of Death and Rebirth	8	6	3
11th	+11	+7	+3	+3	Meditation (stasis), Phantasmal Arms (6)	9	6	3
12th	+12	+8	+4	+4	Planar Dance	9	6	3
13th	+13	+8	+4	+4	Improved Evasion	10	7	3
14th	+14	+9	+4	+4	Meditation (age), Phantasmal Arms (exploding)	10	7	4
15th	+15	+9	+5	+5	Enlightened Adaptation	11	7	4
16th	+16	+10	+5	+5	Phantasmal Arms (8)	11	8	4
17th	+17	+10	+5	+5	Meditation (astral manifestation)	12	8	4
18th	+18	+11	+6	+6	Apotheosis	12	8	5
19th	+19	+11	+6	+6	Phantasmal Arms (fused)	13	9	5
20th	+20	+12	+6	+6	Forms of the 333,333,333 Handed God	13	9	5
Class Skills (4 + Int modifier per level.) Balance (Dex), Climb (Str), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Escape Artist (Dex), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Knowledge (history) (religion) (the planes) (Int), Listen (Wis), Martial Lore (Int), Perform (Cha), Profession (Wis), Sense Motive (Wis), Sleight of Hand (Dex), Speak Language (None), Spot (Wis), Swim (Str), Tumble (Dex), Use Rope (Dex).

Class Features

All of the following are class features of the Deva Champion.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A deva champion is proficient with all simple and martial weapons, and with light armor and shields (except tower shields).

Maneuvers: At 1st, 2nd, and every odd level beyond you gain a new maneuver known from the anima river, dancing goddess, setting sun, and tiger claw disciplines. You must meet a maneuver’s prerequisites to learn it. You add your full Deva Champion levels to your initiator level to determine your total initiator level and your highest-level maneuvers known. At 4th level and every 3 levels beyond, you gain an additional maneuver readied per day. You can refresh one maneuver as a swift action if you have used no maneuvers that round, or refresh all your maneuvers as a standard action.

'Stances Known: At 1st level and every 4 levels beyond, you learn a new martial stance from the anima river, dancing goddess, setting sun, and tiger claw disciplines. You must meet a stance’s prerequisite to learn it.

Improved Unarmed Strike or Two-Weapon Fighting: Deva champions are trained as monks or warriors, or sometimes both. You can choose to either have the unarmed scaling of a monk of your level, and your class counts as effective monk levels for class features and pre-requisites. Alternatively you can choose the two-weapon fighting round and gain Two-Weapon Fighting as a bonus feat, plus the Improved and Greater versions when you achieve BAB +6 and +11 subsequently.

Phantasmal Arms (Su): The secret power of the deva champion is the manifestation of phantasmal arms, directly linked to their fighting spirit. They have a number of extra phantasmal arms equal to the number of maneuvers they have ready (maximum 2 arms), and as they use maneuvers their arms vanish and return. They can always choose to not manifest their any number of arms toggled as a free action, even if they qualify. Phantasmal arms start out weak, able to hold but not wield items, and providing no additional bonuses beyond additional hands to hold items.

Solid: However at 4th level the arms become solid projections of hardened light, and finally possess the capabilities to weild objects normally. However additional arms do not provide additional attacks beyond what you are normally capable of, though it might allow you to weild more than one two-handed weapon at a time. You can also make unarmed strikes with them, and phantasmal arms are considered ghost touched for the purpose of striking incorporeal creatures. For each additional pair of arms you possess, you gain a +2 circumstance bonus on Climb checks and effective +2 Strength for carrying capacity. The maximum number of arms you can manifest increases with level, to four arms at 6th, six arms at 11th, and eight arms at 16th.

Beyond expending them when using maneuvers, you can also intentionally shatter one or more of your arms as part of an attack for the following benefits. This consumes the readied maneuver as normal.

Shatter Arm Benefits

Name	Effect
Ability Boost	+2 on opposed skill check per arm shattered.
Confirmation	+2 on critical hit confirmation rolls per arm shattered.
Damage Boost	+3 damage per arm shattered.

Countering: At 9th level you can shatter arms for defensive purposes. As an immediate action, you can make an opposed attack roll to block a single melee attack if you exceed their attack roll with your own (breaking one arm), and you may shatter additional arms for a +2 bonus on the opposed attack roll per arm shattered. These consume the readied maneuvers as normal.

Exploding: At 14th level you can shatter one arm to produce an explosive wave of energy that carries your attack along with it. As part of an attack, all creatures in a 120 ft line are subject to your attack roll. If your attack is also a maneuver, the maneuver applies to a single creature in the area of effect while everyone else takes the normal attack results. This consumes the readied maneuver as normal.

Fused: At 19th level you can sacrifice one or more arms for a major, but temporary, boost in strength. You fuse all your phantasmal arms into your normal arms as a move action, granting you a +2 bonus on Strength per phantasmal arm. This consumes the readied maneuvers as normal. This bonus lasts until you release the phantasmal energy as another move action, and you are unable to use maneuvers other than stances while your arms are fused.

Trained Ability: Some deva champions find mastery in muscle memory, while others obtain an instinctual sense of their body and its movements. Choose Dexterity or Wisdom; at your choosing you can replace the scaling of DCs on any maneuvers with the chosen ability. Once selected this cannot be changed.

Variable Saves: Deva champions may train physically to augment their bodies, or spiritually to fortify their mind. Choose Reflex or Will; the chosen save gains Good scaling for this class. Once selected this cannot be changed.

AC Bonus: Starting at 2nd level, you can add your Wisdom modifier as a bonus to Armor Class, so long as you wear light or no armor, are unencumbered, and do not use a shield. This bonus to AC applies even against touch attacks or when you are flat-footed. However, you lose this bonus when you are immobilized or helpless.

Meditation (Ex): Deva champions are trained to master their body, mind, and soul through the art of meditation and focus. They can take a full round action to concentrate and are able to suppress fear effects as long as they concentrate. They can perform this action even if they otherwise would be unable to (such as due to being panicked). Meditating provokes attacks of opportunity.

At 5th level, meditation can suppress confusion effects. At 8th level, it can suppress compulsion effects. At 11th level when you are meditating you no longer need to eat, drink, or breathe and no longer provoke attacks of opportunity for meditating. At 14th level, you cease aging while meditating and can potentially remain immortal in an unmoving state.

When you reach 17th level, you can project yourself out of your body while meditating. Treat this as astral projection. Your astral projection has its full set of actions while your body is concentrating, but is illusory and has no physical presence. It can move, speak, and pass through objects as if it were incorporeal and provides you with normal senses. You can be dispelled as if you were a 9th level spell at your character level as your caster level. You can also travel as normal with your planar dance ability.

Evasion (Ex): A 3rd level deva champion gains evasion as a rogue.

Weapon Whirl (Ex): With many arms comes many chances to strike. The 4th level deva champion can make a special attack as a full round action, making one attack at their highest attack bonus with each weapon they have an arm for. However they can only strike any one creature once per round. This counts as Whirlwind Attack for effects based on it.

Weapon Duplication (Su): At 7th level the deva champion, beyond producing additional limbs with phantasmal arms, can also now make duplicates of any weapons they are wielding at the time. These duplicates behave as the original, but any limited use items or charges pull from the same pool, consume your same ammunition, and so forth. These phantasmal duplicated weapons vanish 1 round after they leave your hands.

Cycle of Death and Rebirth (Su): The 10th level deva champion gains Bergentrükung as a bonus feat, taking on a stone-like appearance in their stasis. In fact they can also apply this effect to other willing creatures on touch who have died within the last 3 rounds, but it has the effect of reincarnate on others after their stasis completes. You can also choose to reincarnate instead of the normal method of revival. The process may be sped up as per the feat, or also reincarnate for reincarnation methods.

Planar Dance (Ps): The myths of the Many Handed God speak of them dancing across the cosmos, even to the secret and hidden realms unseen to man. The 12th level deva champion also learns this dance, a ritual spell-like ability that duplicates plane shift (willing only) but has a casting time of 10 minutes. It may otherwise be used at will.

Improved Evasion (Ex): A 13th level deva champion gains improved evasion as a rogue.

Enlightened Adaption (Su): A deva champion walks in the footsteps of the Many Handed God, and dances to the beat of whatever environment they step within. At 15th level they benefit from a constant greater endure elements, are always considered native to any plane you are on, and are immune to the hazards of the plane such as the burning of the Plane of Fire or death by awesome from the Positive Energy Plane. This does not grant immunity to effects not from plane, such as a spell that deals fire damage.

Apotheosis: The 18th level deva champion gains enlightenment, and in doing do they become as the Many Handed God themselves. They become an Outsider, but still count as a member of their original race. They gain DR/magic equal to 1/2 their character level, and obtain a visible physical change marking them as enlightened such as glowing blank white eyes, blue skin, or jewels embedded in the skin. Their planar dance class ability becomes much faster, able to be used with a casting time of 1 round, and even when their maneuvers are depleted they retain non-solid forms of their phantasmal arms at all times if they so choose.

Forms of the 333,333,333 Handed God (Su): You mantle the very power of the 333,333,333 Handed God and his three forms: The Creator, the Preserver, and the Destroyer. At the beginning of each day you may choose which form to mantle and 1/day you may enter the form chosen, gaining the selected template for 30 minutes. During this time you are considered a deific creature with a minimum divine rank of 0.

Elven Deva Champion Starting Package

Weapons: Two Scimitars.

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

Skill	Ranks	Ability	Armor Check Penalty
Balance	4	Dex	0
Knowledge Religion	4	Cha	—
Perform Dance	4	Cha	—
Tumble	4	Dex	0

Feat: Weapon Finesse.

Bonus Feats: Two-Weapon Fighting.

Gear: Padded Armor.

Gold: 90 gp.

Campaign Information

Playing a Deva Champion

Religion: Deva champions traditionally follow the teachings of the Many Handed God, but it is less worship of a deity as a cleric would and more the following of a philosophy as a monk. Even then, following this deity is not required to achieve mastery of their teachings.

Other Classes: You fill the same thematic role as a monk, or even a priest, but your roll is that of a fighter. Often, you are a multi-weapon fighter or a two-weapon fighter.

Combat: You are a strange maneuver user, as you have reasons not to always use maneuvers such as not wishing to lose any arms. As a result deva champions may only have a few arms, using the rest of their stock to cycle through various maneuvers as needed.

Advancement: Classes friendly to maneuvers are good for this class.

Deva Champions in the World

“	The true enemy of humanity is stagnation.	”
—Metra, Elven Deva Champion

Daily Life: While nothing prevents the class from doing what they wish, as a rule deva champions follow some manner of code or creed as a religious or spiritual practice.

Organizations: Few in number are the practitioners of the devatic arts, but sometimes one will gather a small number of students to carry on the traditions of their master.

NPC Reactions: A strange otherworldly mystic with multiple arms is bound to catch eyes, cause wonder, or sow fear.

Deva Champion Lore

Characters with ranks in Knowledge Religion can research Deva Champions to learn more about them. When a character makes a skill check, read or paraphrase the following, including information from lower DCs.

Knowledge Religion

DC	Result
10	Deva Champions are initiators with the ability to manifest multiple arms, and meditate through effects that would shake lesser men.
15	As they grow in strength, deva champions gain additional arms and new powers. They can choose to focus on maneuvers, or retaining extra arms for battle. They begin to show signs of physical change as they are enlightened spiritually.
20	Powerful deva champions resemble the blue skinned multi-armed god they follow, and can dance across the cosmos, walk the deadly planes, and eventually mantle the power of god themselves.
30	Those who achieve this level of success can research specific deva champions, their whereabouts, trivia, and lore.

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