Campaign Design - Prestige Class: Knight of Bedlam

Knight of Bedlam (adapted from the Unholy Warrior's Handbook)

Attributing a moral component to the force of chaos as an agent of good or evil is nearly impossible, as chaos lacks an independent intelligence. Chaos is madness. Chaos is amoral. Chaos engenders elements of creation and destruction, art and violence, and offers the spark of life with the randomness of death. Chaos is responsible for demons, yet checks them with other forces that uphold liberty and virtue.

Chaos has a seductive appeal to those of an evil bent. It offers them an easy path to spreading mischief and woe. They receive complete license to do as they wish to whomever they want. Rising above the rest, defeating all contenders among the anarchic kind, is a champion of a sort. He is a knight with no code, no honor, and no soul, erroneously titled for his armored façade and his choice of arms. Those who expect fair treatment on the field of battle are in for a surprise, for this chaos knight is anything but noble. He is all that is chaotic, all that is insane, and often, all that is evil.

Knights of Bedlam are, to the extent that anyone is, the servants of Lyssa. They revel in the raw chaos of madness and insanity, seeking to spread destruction in as wide an area as possible. Their nihilistic tendencies make them fitting targets for holy warriors, clerics, and good-aligned adventuring parties. Knights often lead armies conscripted from hordes of orcs, gnolls, and depraved humans. Their armies are anything but orderly, controlled only through force of will, slaughtering opposition. Knights of Bedlam never serve a mortal master, their insanity leading them instead to prefer to be cajoled by the very substance of the corrupted chaos of their mentally unstable mistress.

DM's Note: Knights of Bedlam are not all evil, but they are, at best, chaotic neutral. Consequently, just as a player character could technically play a character who chose Lyssa as their patron deity, a player character could technically enter into this prestige class. While most Knights of Bedlam find that the madness inherent in following Lyssa as a patron leads one down the path of evil, some manage to avoid falling to the side of perfidy. A player could choose this prestige class, but the role-playing challenge would be great. Consequently, I reserve the right to approve of player's taking on this character class on a case-by-case basis.

Hit Die: d12.
Luck Die: d3.

Requirements
To become a knight of bedlam, one must meet the following criteria:

• Alignment: Chaotic evil or chaotic neutral.
• Base Attack Bonus: +5.
• Skills: Knowledge: the Planes 8+ ranks.
• Feats: Power Attack and Cleave.
• Special: Must have Lyssa as their patron deity.
• Special: Prospective knights of bedlam must have committed a random act of heinous violence for nothing more than the pleasure of the act.

Class Skills

• The knight of bedlam's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Bluff (Cha), Climb (Str), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Knowledge: the Planes (Int), Ride (Dex), Sense Motive (Wis), Use Magic Device (Cha), and Use Rope (Dex).
• Note: Because the Three Worlds campaign uses the Skills by Character house rule, the list of class skills given here is only included for the sake of completeness, and is not used by characters in the campaign setting.
• Skill Points at each level: 2 + Intelligence modifier.

Class Features
All of the following are class features of the knight of bedlam prestige class.

• Base Attack Bonus: Good. A knight of bedlam gains +1 base attack bonus per class level.


• Base Fortitude Save Bonus: Good. A knight of bedlam gains a +½ base Fortitude save bonus per class level.


• Base Reflex Save Bonus: Poor. A knight of bedlam gains +¹⁄₃ base Reflex save bonus per class level.


• Base Will Save Bonus: Poor. A knight of bedlam gains +¹⁄₃ base Will save bonus per class level.


• Weapon and Armor Proficiencies: Knights of bedlam gain no new proficiency with any arms or armor.


• Detect Law (Sp): At will, the knight of bedlam may detect law as a spell-like ability. This ability duplicates the spell detect law.


• Chaotic Aura (Su): By embracing the raw energies of chaos, the knight emits an aura of unusual power. This halo, of sorts, provides a +1 deflection bonus against all melee attacks made by lawful creatures. In addition, the chaotic aura confers a +2 insight bonus to Will saves against spells with the lawful descriptor and spell-like abilities from creatures of the lawful subtype such as coatl, efreeti, formians, and so on.


• Spellcasting: A knight of bedlam continues training in magic as part of the advancement in this prestige class. Upon the 1^st level earned in this class, as well as the 4^th, 7^th, and 10^th levels, the knight of bedlam gains new spells per day as if she had also gained a level in a spellcasting class she belonged to before she added the prestige class. She does not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained such as an improved chance of controlling or rebuking undead, metamagic or item creation feats, and so on. If a character had more than one spellcasting class before becoming a knight of bedlam, she must decide to which class she adds each level of knight of bedlam for purposes of determining spells per day when she adds the new level. Knights of bedlam may not cast spells with the law or good descriptors.


• Mutation (Su): At 2^nd level, chaos' taint leaves its first indelible mark on its champion. When the knight of bedlam receives a mutation, she undergoes a physical change. As the source of the mutation is chaos itself, the exact nature of the mutation is necessarily random. For every level at which the character receives a mutation, the player must roll on the mutation chart below.


• Smite Law (Su): Once per day, a knight of bedlam of 3^rd level or higher may attempt to smite law with pone normal melee attack. She adds her Charisma modifier (if positive) to her attack roll and deals 1 extra point of damage per knight of bedlam level. If the knight accidentally smites a creature that is not lawful, the smite has no effect but is still used up for that day.


• Boon of Chaos (Su): At 5^th level, the knight of bedlam receives a potent gift from the powers of chaos. Once per day, for each time this feature is granted, the knight of bedlam may reroll and attack, save, or check. She must take the second roll regardless of the result. At the cost of two uses of this supernatural ability, she may force a target opponent to reroll an attack, save, or check. The targeted opponent does not receive a saving throw against this ability.

Knight of Bedlam

Level	Special	Spells
1st	Detect law, chaotic aura	+1 level of existing class
2nd	Mutation	-
3rd	Smite law	-
4th	-	+1 level of existing class
5th	Boon of chaos	-
6th	Mutation	-
7th	Boon of chaos	+1 level of existing class
8th	-	-
9th	Boon of chaos	-
10th	Mutation	+1 level of existing class

Mutations

d100 roll	Effect
01 - 30	Physical Transformation
	01 - 32	Height Change
		01 - 10	Reduce one size category (such as from Medium to Small).
		11 - 50	Character shrinks 1d10 inches (modify weight accordingly).
		51 - 90	Character grows 1d10 inches (modify weight accordingly.
		91 - 00	Grow one size category (such as from Medium to Large).
	33 - 64	Weight Change
		01 - 50	Character loses 1% - 10% of their total weight.
		51 - 00	Character gains 1% - 10% of their total weight.
	65 - 81	Hair Color Change
		01 - 50	Player's choice.
		51 - 00	DM's choice.
	82 - 92	Eye Color Change
		01 - 50	Player's choice.
		51 - 00	DM's choice.
	93 - 99	Skin Color Change
		01 - 50	Player's choice.
		51 - 00	DM's choice.
	00	Gender Change
		01 - 99	Opposite gender.
		00	Hermaphroditic.
31 - 60	Body Covering
	01 - 60	Hair: You may ignore uncomfortable climates of cold, but gain no special resistance to cold damage.
	61 - 80	Scales: You gain a +1 bonus to natural armor and suffer a -2 penalty to all Charisma-based checks.
	81 - 00	Carapace: You gain a +2 bonus to natural armor and suffer a -4 penalty to all Charisma-based checks.
61 - 75	Extras
	01 - 10	Extra Eye: You gain a +1 mutation bonus to all Search and Spot checks.
	11 - 20	Extra Ear: You gain a +1 mutation bonus to all Listen checks.
	21 - 30	Extra Nose: You gain the scent special ability.
	31 - 40	Extra Mouth: You may add Speak Language to your list of character skills for free.
	41 - 50	Extra Arm: You are now eligible for the Multiattack feat.
	51 - 60	Extra Leg: You gain +5 feet to your base speed score.
	61 - 70	Grow Tail: You gain a +1 mutation bonus to all Balance checks.
	71 - 82	Extra Fingers: You gain a +1 mutation bonus to all Climb checks.
	83 - 95	Extra Toes: You gain a +1 mutation bonus to all Balance checks.
	96 - 99	Extra Head: You gain the feat Skill Augmentation (Listen and Spot) as a bonus feat, and at least three opponents are required to flank you.
	00	Vestigial Twin: You grow a latent sibling, as per the Vestigial Twin feat.
76 - 90	Sensory Mutations
	01 - 80	You gain low-light vision. If you already have this ability, your vision multiplier doubles each time this mutation is rolled.
	81 - 90	You gain darkvision with a range of 30 feet. If you already have this ability, extend the range of your darkvision by 30 feet each time you roll this mutation.
	91 - 95	You gain the Scent ability.
	95 - 98	You gain tremorsense with a range of 30 feet. If you already have this ability, extend the range of your tremorsense by 30 feet each time you roll this mutation.
	99 - 00	You gain blindsight with a range of 30 feet. If you already have this ability, extend the range of your blindsight by 30 feet each time you roll this mutation.
91 - 95	Locomotion Mutations
	01 - 40	You gain a +4 mutation bonus to Initiative.
	41 - 80	You gain +5 feet to your base speed.
	81 - 90	You gain a Swim speed equal to ½ your base land speed. Each subsequent time you gain this ability, you add +5 feet to your Swim speed.
	91 - 95	You gain a Burrow speed equal to ½ your base land speed. Each subsequent time you gain this ability, you add +5 feet to your Burrow speed.
	96 - 00	You grow wings and gain a Fly speed equal to ½ your base land speed, with poor maneuverability. Each subsequent time you gain this ability, you add +5 feet to your Fly speed and improve your maneuverability by one step.
96 - 99	Attribute Mutation: Gain a +1 inherent bonus to a random ability (roll 1d6)
00	Player's Choice

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