Honorblade
As an honorblade, you represent the pinnacle of elegance in swordplay, courtesy, grace, and wit. You and your fellows are unmatched fencers, lungers, and leapers, parrying blows and returning effective cuts and thrusts. As quick to riposte with words as with weapons, you are sure of foot navigating contentious courts, perilous politics, and secretive salons. You are protective of your personal reputation and honor, responding to slights from lessers with contempt, and from equals and betters with a challenge for satisfaction.
You respect the ideals of noblity, and if you are not gentleborn, you aspire to high station through your own deeds and merit. You are comfortable in the company of the common folk and the aristocracy, treating both with civility and politesse. Respect for authorty and respect for one's opponents are honorblade characteristics that tend to push most towards lawful and good alignments. One might encounter a chaotic good or a lawful evil honorblade, but almost never a chaotic evil one.
Role: Honorblades are flexible and fast to respond to conflict, so as such, you are quick to support your friends and engage your foes, flowing in and around friends and enemies alike with grace. Ouside combat, your civility and honor may make you the face of your party, interacting with others in such a way as to cultivate mutual respect.
Requirements: The Universal System tends to offer the Honorblade prestige class to characters who have had remarkable experiences ...
- You wage war with intelligence and finesse, seeing expertise with a one-handed blade as the highest art.
- You understand the importance of a good reputation, and you take offense at insult and harm to your good name.
- You are calm even in rage, graceful and suave, or at least earnest and enthusiastic, not rude, impolite, or uncivilized. Vanishingly few barbarians become honorblades.
- You are cultured and appreciate the finer aspects of civilized life. Few druids, commoners, or adepts become honorblades.
- You are well-versed in courtly etiquette and the nobility, or have an inborn grasp of those topics.
- You have chosen skills, feats, and traits that focus on cleverness, quickness, and martial skill.
- You think it is beneath your dignity and dishonorable to treat people weaker than you with cruelty or malice.
- You have forged bonds of fellowship with like-minded people who are willing to act as your seconds at need.
Restrictions: As an honorblade, your reputation, courage, and integrity are paramount. Therefore, you hew closely to a code of honor. Common facets in such a code include:
- Be brave in combat, indeed, in all contests and conflicts, social and martial.
- Do not stoop to poison or dishonorable tactics.
- Guard your honor well, and keep your sworn word.
- Pity those who are helpless or beneath you, and do not afflict them without cause.
- Defer to the authorities of your land, be patriotic, and flout not the rules of society.
- Be faithful to your friends and respectful to your enemies. Show quarter and expect it to be shown to you.
Base Attack Bonus: +1.0 / level.
Caster Level: Similar to +0.25 / level, see below.
Will Save: +0.25 / level.
Fort Save: +0.50 / level.
Reflex Save: +0.75 / level.
Hit Die: d10.
Table: Honorblade Advancement Level Base Attack Bonus Caster Level Will Save Refx Save Fort Save Special 1st +0.75 +0.0 +0.25 +0.75 +0.50 Prestige Signature: Duelist 2nd +1.50 +1.0 +0.50 +1.50 +1.00 Intimidating Posture or Tenacious 3rd +2.25 +1.0 +0.75 +2.25 +1.50 Lock Down or Lunge 4th +3.00 +1.0 +1.00 +3.00 +2.00 Spot Malefactor or Eternal Watch 5th +3.75 +1.0 +1.25 +3.75 +2.50 Prestige Tier Choice 6th +4.50 +2.0 +1.50 +4.50 +3.00 Master Signature: Defense Master 7th +5.25 +2.0 +1.75 +5.25 +3.50 Leader or Inspire Trust 8th +6.00 +2.0 +2.00 +6.00 +4.00 Last Word or Shield Allies 9th +6.75 +2.0 +2.25 +6.75 +4.50 Xyzzy or Bust Out 10th +7.50 +2.5 +2.50 +7.50 +5.00 Master Tier Choice
Skill Proficiencies
The honorblade's proficient skills (and the ability scores used to boost each skill) are Appraise (Int), Bluff (Cha), Climb (Str), Diplomacy (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Knowledge-Nobility, History (Int), Language (Int), Perform-Song, Oratory (Cha), Ride (Dex), Sense Motive (Wis), Spot (Wis), Swim (Str), and Tactics (Int)
Skill Ranks per Level: 4 + Int modifier.
Weapon and Armor Proficiencies
You are proficient with all simple and martial weapons. You are proficient with all light armor and light shields.
Spells and Spell Casting
Prestige classes do not add the usual fractional increase to caster level each time you advance. Instead, at some levels you add a full caster level, and at other levels you add none. The spell level of honorblade spells varies from honorblade to honorblade -- see these rules on prestige class spell aquisition. When you cast spells gained through this prestige class, those spells are inherent in nature. The casting ability score for this prestige class is dexterity, which is used to set honorblade spell DCs, and, if it is your highest casting ability score, to set concentration checks and bonus spells per day.
KNOWN SPELLS LIST: When you add a caster level, the spells you add to your known spells list are pre-selected:
- At level 2, add Lionhearted and Heart-To-Heart Chat.
- At level 6, add Lionhearted Major and Danger Sense.
- At level 10, add 0.5 to your caster level, and if that results in a whole number caster level increase, choose two spells known from your other class(es).
Class Abilities
PRESTIGE TIER
Level 1 Honorblade Prestige Tier Signature Ability: Honorblade's Stand (Su) Once you have rolled initiative and entered combat, you can take a stand in defense of a position. You gain combat bonuses the longer you stand in one place without moving. Standing in place for the first round offers no bonus. On the second round, you gain a +1 sacred bonus to attack, to armor class (but not CMD), to damage reduction, and to Will saving throws. On the third round, the bonuses rise to +2; on the fourth round, to +3, and finally, on the fifth round, to +4, that is, +4 to attacks, +4 AC, +4 Will saves, and 4/- damage reduction. If you voluntarily move, even a five-foot step, your bonus resets to +0.
Level 2 Honorblade Prestige Tier Interaction Ability (pick one):
- Intimidating Posture (Ex): Without saying a word, your presence can be intimidating when you want it to be. You gain a +4 competence bonus on Intimidate skill checks, which you can make through body language, without speaking.
- Tenacious (Ex): It is hard to change your mind. You gain a +4 competence bonus on saving throws against charm as well as against being shaken, frightened, and panicked. The DC to demoralize you rises by 4; you are not affected by other intimidate checks nor by diplomacy checks to change your attitude (for NPC honorblades).
Level 3 Honorblade Prestige Tier Combat Ability (pick one):
- Lock Down (Su): Every time a foe not more than one size bigger than you tries to leave a square you threaten, you can make a melee attack with whatever weapon you have at hand (even an unarmed attack will do). If you hit, you inflict no damage, but the foe cannot move for the rest of the round. If you would prefer to use an attack of opportunity instead, you may.
- Lunge (Ex): You gain the Lunge feat, even if you would not otherwise qualify to take it.
Level 4 Honorblade Prestige Tier Exploration Ability (pick one):
- Spot Malefactor (Su): You gain the Spot Malefactor I ability of the Warrior secondary class. However, the scope of the ability expands -- in addition to spotting those who who intend to harm just you, the ability also covers those who intend to harm you and your allies. This ability stacks if you already have a warrior's Spot Malefactor I, II, or III ability.
- Eternal Watch (Su): You do not need natural sleep if you stand watch during the time you would have slept. You gain the same restful benefits you would have gained if you had slept instead. Nonetheless, you must get at least one good night's sleep (of at least eight hours) once each fortnight.
Level 5 Honorblade Prestige Tier Choice: Select a Honorblade Prestige Tier Interaction, Combat, or Exploration ability that you have not yet chosen, or choose a feat from the Honorblade or Hard-Ass Feat Trees for which you qualify, treating your own tier as if it were one step higher.
MASTER TIER
Level 6 Honorblade Master Tier Signature Ability: Defense Master (Su) You gain a +1 competence bonus to your Combat Maneuver Defefense (CMD); in addition, when you are using your honorblade's stand, that bonus to CMD increases to +2 on the second round, then +4, then +6, then +8. In addition, you may take a five foot step once per round while maintaining your honorblade's stand.
Level 7 Honorblade Master Tier Interaction Ability (pick one):
- Leader (Ex): You gain a +4 competence bonus on tactics skill checks to secure camp, organize withdrawal, and extend aid. You gain the same bonus on survival skill checks to get along in the wild, gain a bonus on fortitude saves against severe weather, and to hide a campsite; when helping others with your survival skill, you can assist ten times the normal number.
- Inspire Trust (Su): After you have defended creatures from a significant danger, you gain a +10 bonus on diplomacy and bluff skill checks with those creatures. This bonus decreases by 1 per day, but never drops below +2.
Level 8 Honorblade Master Tier Combat Ability (pick one):
- Last Word (Ex): Once per day as a free action, you can make one melee attack at +5 to hit against an opponent within reach in response to an attack by that foe that reduces you to negative hit points, knocks you unconscious, or kills you. You automatically confirm critical hits when you make a last word attack. Once your last word attack is resolved, you suffer the normal effect of the attack that provoked this ability.
- Shield Allies (Ex): Allies within your threatened area gain a +2 circumstance bonus to AC and CMD.
Level 9 Honorblade Master Tier Exploration Ability (pick one):
- Xyzzy (Sp): Once per day as a standard action, you can teleport with up to five medium creatures as a Teleport spell, with no chance of error. back to the last location in which you used your honorblade's stand ability..
- Bust Out (Ex): You gain a +4 competence bonus making break skill attempts to break through doors and walls. If you have a running start of at least 20 feet, this bonus rises to +8 -- but if you fail to break through with a running start, you take 1d6 nonlethal damage.
Level 10 Honorblade Master Tier Choice: Select a honorblade Master or Prestige Tier Interaction, Combat, or Exploration ability that you have not yet chosen, or choose a feat from the Honorblade or Hard-Ass Feat Trees for which you qualify, treating your own tier as if it were one step higher.