Campaign Design - Prestige Class: Cultist of the Forge

Cultist of the Forge (adapted from the Player's Guide to Clerics and Druids)

Cultists of the Forge believe that neither Hœnir or Wünd are divine beings in and of themselves, but rather it is the Divine Forge - an entity they call Frumscæft - that is the source of both of their power. Among the faithful devoted to Hœnir and Wünd, this cult is regarded as a heresy, but a minor and mostly harmless heresy. The cultists are generally tolerated because their skills at crafting superior magical armaments.

Cultists of the Fore are composed of clerics, druids, and favored souls. No matter their background, these heretics believe that it is the Forge that built the world and the souls therein, and that all souls eventually return to the Forge to serve as material for new creation. The cult emphasizes "forging the soul in the crucible of life", and thus self-improvement is the ultimate goal of all worship. The crafting of metal arms and armor (and other items) is considered a worthy activity that allows the devotee to channel the Frumscæft.

Not everyone in the cult of the heresy of the Frumscæft belong to this prestige class - only those hardy enough to withstand the intense initiation into the cult of the forge can learn to temper the soul and personally harness the power of the Frumscæft.

The role of any cultist of the forge is first and foremost to obliterate undead. Some focus on making weapons to damage and destroy these abominations, while other members of the cult take a more direct approach to killing their enemies. The more a cultist learns of the techniques and philosophy of this heresy, the greater an opponent he becomes for the undead.

Hit Die: d8.
Luck Die: d3.

Requirements
To become a cultist of the forge, one must meet the following criteria:

• Skills: Craft: Any Smithing 8+ ranks.
• Feats: Craft Magic Arms and Armor.
• Special: Must have Hœnir or Wünd as their divine patron.

Class Skills

• The cultist of the forge's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Appraise (Int), Concentration (Con), Craft: Any (Int), Disable Device (Int), Heal (Wis), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge: Religion (Int), Profession: Any (Wis), Ritual Casting (Con), and Spellcraft (Int).
• 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 Cultist of the Forge prestige class.

• Base Attack Bonus: Average. A cultist of the forge gains +¾ base attack bonus per class level.


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


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


• Base Will Save Bonus: Poor. A cultist of the forge gains +½ base Will save bonus per class level.


• Weapon and Armor Proficiencies: Cultist of the Forge are proficient with all simple weapons, light armor, medium armor, heavy armor, and all shields (except tower shields).


• Spells: A cultist of the forge continues training in divine magic. Thus, when a new cultist of the forge level is gained, the character gains new spells per day, as if she had also gained a level in a spell casting class he already belongs to. He does not 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). This essentially means that he adds the cultist of the forge levels to the level of some other spell casting class the character has, then determines spells per day and caster level accordingly. If a character had more than one spellcasting class before becoming a cultist of the forge, he must decide to which class he adds each level of cultist of the forge for purposes of determining spells per day when he adds the new level.


• Touch of Fire (Su): The cultist gains access to the Fire Domain. If the character is a cleric, this is added to the domains he previously had. If he already had the Fire Domain, he is treated as though he had taken the Extra Turning Feat with respect to the Fire Domain's granted power. If the character is a druid, he simply adds the spells of the Fire Domain to his spell list in addition to gaining the granted power of the domain (though he does not gain domain spell slots).


• Tempered Soul (Ex): The initiation into the cult of the forge tempers the cultist's soul, granting him increased resistance to fear. The cultist gains a +5 bonus to Will saving throws against fear effects and his training reduces the effect of a failed roll. If a cultist is affected by a fear effect, panicked results are reduced to frightened, and frightened results are reduced to shaken.


• Stoking the Fires (Su): At 2^nd level, the cultist of the forge develops an increased tolerance to fire. The cultist gains fire resistance 10.


• Great Fortitude (Ex): At 3^rd level, the cultist of the forge gains the Great Fortitude feat.


• Soul of Steel (Ex): At 4^th level, the cultist of the forge becomes completely immune to magical effects that cause fear.


• Soul of the Hearth (Su): At 5^th level, the cultist of the forge becomes totally immune to damage from fire and fire-based attacks.


• Lighting the Darkness (Su): At 6^th level, the cultist of the forge can now channel the power of the Great Forge into a weapon of his own making. This power allows him to unmake those thing which are of the energies of decay - the undead. The cultist of the forge is considered to automatically meet the requirements for creating the undead bane weapon enhancement. In addition, adding this enhancement to a weapon only increases the cost by +1 rather than the normal +2.


• The Forge Within (Su): At 7^th level, the soul of a cultist of the forge is as resilient as a blacksmith's forge, giving him immunity to negative energy attacks.


• Repairing the Soul (Sp): At 8^th level, the cultist of the forge gains the ability to cast greater restoration twice per day.


• The Undying Embers (Ex): At 9^th level, the cultist of the forge no longer loses levels when raised or resurrected.


• The Awakening (Su): At 10^th level, the cultist of the forge gains the secret of granting awareness to the weapons he crafts. Any weapon the cultist forges may be created as an intelligent one. The cultist's level in this class is added as a bonus to the roll for determining the weapon's Intelligence, Wisdom, Charisma, and Capabilities (see The Dungeon Master's Guide, Table 7-30).

Cultist of the Forge

Level	Special	Spells per Day
1st	Tempered soul, Touch of Fire	+1 level of existing class
2nd	Stoking the Fires	+1 level of existing class
3rd	Great Fortitude	+1 level of existing class
4th	Soul of Steel	+1 level of existing class
5th	Soul of the Hearth	+1 level of existing class
6th	Lighting the Darkness	+1 level of existing class
7th	The Forge Within	+1 level of existing class
8th	Repairing the Soul	+1 level of existing class
9th	The Undying Embers	+1 level of existing class
10th	The Awakening	+1 level of existing class

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