Vanor Custom Class: The Holy Dungeoneer

The following is a custom class I made for the Ruins of Vanor campaign using the ACKS Custom Class rules found in the ACKS Players Companion. It is written up in ACKS style. I will be posting more of these throughout the week, as well as a couple custom classes made by my players after the campaign call went out. 

The Holy Dungeoneer

Infused with the divine power of the Slezan Triune God, holy dungeoneers are the vanguard soldiers of the Sacrosanct Militant Order of the Holy Dungeoneers, a religious fighting order dedicated to the eradication from Hrimgate of all ruins, evil sinkholes, and dungeons, along with their beastly and vile inhabitants.

Prime Requisite: STR
Requirements: WIS 9
Hit Dice: 1d6
Maximum Level: 14

Holy dungeoneers are trained warriors and exceptionally skilled combatants. At first level, holy dungeoneers hit an unarmored foe (AC 0) with an attack throw of 10+. They advance in attack throws and savings throws by two points every three levels of experience (the best progression of any class). Holy dungeoneers also increase their base damage roll from successful missile and melee attacks by +1 at 1st level and by an additional +1 at 3rd, 6th, 9th, and 12th level.

Holy dungeoneers are trained in a broad selection of weapons, including axes, flails, hammers, maces, lances, javelins, pole arms, spears, and crossbows. They may fight wielding a weapon and a shield or wielding a two-handed weapon. They are trained in the use of all armors up to chain mail, and may use shields.

Holy dungeoneers are instructed in the sacred teachings of the Sacrosanct Militant Order. They can automatically identify religious symbols, spell signatures, trappings, and holy days of his own faith, and can recognize those of others faiths with a proficiency throw of 11+. Rare or occult sects may be harder to recognize (Judge’s discretion).

Holy dungeoneers go through extensive physical training to increase their strength and endurance while penetrating ruins and sinkholes, making them excellent ruin smashers. They gain the Dungeon Bashing proficiency for free at first level, which gives the character a +4 bonus on throws to open doors and similar acts of brute strength.

All holy dungeoneers know how to propitiate the Triune God and gain its/their favor. In return, they have a divine blessing, gaining a +2 bonus on all saving throws, and holy vision, giving them infravision to 30’.

At 2nd level, holy dungeoneers gain an aura of protection, giving the character a +1 bonus to AC and a +1 bonus on saving throws against attacks made or effects created by evil creatures. The holy dungeoneer’s aura of protection appears as a reddish nimbus of light when viewed with detect good, detect magic, or true seeing.

At 4th level, holy dungeoneers instill a unity of purpose in all hirelings of the same religion as the dungeoneers, giving a +1 bonus to their morale score whenever the character is present.

When holy dungeoneers reach 5th level, their battlefield prowess inspires others to follow him. Any henchmen and mercenaries hired by the character gain a +1 bonus to their morale score whenever he personally leads them. This bonus stacks with any modifiers from the holy dungeoneer’s CHA or proficiencies.

At 9th level, holy dungeoneers learn how to purify their bodies and souls, gaining divine health. The character is immune to all forms of disease, including magical diseases caused by spells, mummies, or lycanthropes.

Also at 9th level, holy dungeoneers can, assuming enough gold is at hand, build a castle and become a great leader of men in the Sacrosanct Militant Order. When doing so, up to 1d4+1x10 0-level mercenaries and 1d6 holy dungeoneers of 1st-3rd level will come to apply for jobs, training, and membership in the Order. If hired, they must be paid standard rates for mercenaries. Through force of arms, holy dungeoneers may ultimately control several castles or even entire realms, but must be a capable, strong, pious leader and provide protection. Additional rules for castles are detailed in the Campaign chapter of the ACKS core book.

Proficiency List: Adventuring, Animal Training, Blind Fighting, Caving, Climbing, Combat Reflexes, Combat Trickery (force back, knock down, overrun, sunder), Command, Diplomacy, Eavesdropping, Endurance, Engineering, Fighting Style (pole arm, single weapon, weapon and shield, two-handed weapons), Healing, Intimidation, Laying on Hands, Manual of Arms, Martial Training, Prophecy, Riding, Sensing Evil, Survival, Weapon Focus

Build Summary

Build Points: HD 1, Fighting 2, Thievery 1
Trades: Eliminate 1 fighting style (+1 CP); Unrestricted armor selection to Broad (+1 CP); Unrestricted weapon selection to Broad (+1 CP); Eliminate 3 thief skills (+3 CP); 2 initial skill trades for 1 at 2nd, 1 at 4th, and 1 at 9th (-2 CP)

Image Credits

Pegaso Hospitaller Miniature (link).