Ascetic (3.5e Class)

Ascetic

The Ascetic is an embodiment of peace and good who travels not for riches or glory. Instead he wanders to further his peaceful ways and to heal those in need.

Making a Ascetic

The Ascetic is a natural healer and diplomat at times literally glowing with innate goodness. They are also amazingly resilient. Able to survive nearly anything or anywhere. The source of their strength is also their weakness at times. They cannot own any property and as they progress they grow increasingly unable to bring harm to others.

Abilities: Wisdom is most important to the Ascetic because it determines both the number of spells per day they can use as well as how hard they are to resist.

Races: Any.

Alignment: Any good.

Starting Gold: None.

Starting Age: As Cleric.

Table: The Ascetic

Hit Die: d4

Level	Base Attack Bonus	Saving Throws			Special	Spells per Day
		Fort	Ref	Will		0	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th
1st	+0	+2	+2	+2	Sacred Vow, Vow of Poverty, Turn undead, AC bonus +4	1st	4	2	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2nd	+1	+3	+3	+3	Pacifying Touch, Vow of Nonviolence	5	3	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
3rd	+1	+3	+3	+3	AC bonus +5, endure elements	5	3	1	-	—	—	—	—	—	—
4th	+2	+4	+4	+4	Censure Fiends, Exalted strike +1 (magic), Vow of Peace	6	3	2	0	—	—	—	—	—	—
5th	+2	+4	+4	+4	Sustenance	6	4	3	1	—	—	—	—	—	—
6th	+3	+5	+5	+5	AC bonus +6, Deflection +1, Bonus exalted feat	6	4	3	2	0	—	—	—	—	—
7th	+3	+5	+5	+5	Resistance +1, Ability score enhancement +2	6	5	3	3	1	—	—	—	—	—
8th	+4	+6	+6	+6	Natural armor +1, Mind shielding, Bonus exalted feat	6	5	4	3	2	0	—	—	—	—
9th	+4	+6	+6	+6	AC bonus +7	6	6	4	3	3	1	—	—	—	—
10th	+5	+7	+7	+7	Exalted strike +2 (good), Damage reduction 5/magic, Bonus exalted feat	6	6	5	4	3	2	0	—	—	—
11th	+5	+7	+7	+7	Ability score enhancement +4	6	6	5	4	3	3	1	—	—	—
12th	+6	+8	+8	+8	AC bonus +8, Deflection +2, Greater sustenance, Bonus exalted feat	6	6	6	5	4	3	2	0	—	—
13th	+6	+8	+8	+8	Resistance +2, Energy resistance 5	6	6	6	5	4	3	3	1	—	—
14th	+7	+9	+9	+9	Exalted strike +3, Freedom of movement, Bonus exalted feat	6	6	6	6	5	4	3	2	0	—
15th	+7	+9	+9	+9	AC bonus +9, Ability score enhancement +6, Damage reduction 5/evil	6	6	6	6	5	4	3	3	1	—
16th	+8	+10	+10	+10	Natural armor +2, Bonus exalted feat	6	6	6	6	6	5	4	3	2	0
17th	+8	+10	+10	+10	Exalted strike +4, Resistance +3, Regeneration	6	6	6	6	6	5	4	3	3	1
18th	+9	+11	+11	+11	AC bonus +10, Deflection +3, True seeing, Bonus exalted feat	6	6	6	6	6	6	5	4	3	2
19th	+9	+11	+11	+11	Ability score enhancement +8, Damage reduction 10/evil	6	6	6	6	6	6	5	4	3	3
20th	+10	+12	+12	+12	Exalted strike +5, Energy resistance 15, Bonus exalted feat	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	5	4	3
Class Skills (4 + Int modifier per level, ×4 at 1st level) The Ascetic’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Bluff (Cha), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Escape Artist (Dex), Gather Information (Cha), Handle Animal (Wis), Heal (Wis), Knowledge (all skills, taken individually) (Int), Listen (Wis), Perform (Cha), Profession (Wis), Search (Int), Sense Motive (Wis), Speak Language (none), Spellcraft (Int), and Spot (Wis). See Chapter 4 of the Player’s Handbook for skill descriptions.

Class Features

All of the following are class features of the Ascetic.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: The Ascetic is proficient with simple weapons and no armor.

Spells: An Ascetic has the ability to cast a number of divine spells. To cast an Ascetic spell, the apostle must have a Wisdom score of at least 10 + the spell’s level, so an apostle with a Wisdom of 10 or lower cannot cast these spells. Ascetic bonus spells are based on Wisdom, and saving throws against these spells have a DC of 10 + spell level + the Ascetic’s Wisdom modifier. When the Acsetic gets 0 spells per day of a given spell level (for instance, 2nd-level spells for a 2nd-level apostle), he gains only the bonus spells he would be entitled to based on his Wisdom score for that spell level. The Ascetic’s spell list appears below. An Ascetic prepares and casts spells just as a cleric does. To determine the caster level of an Ascetic, add the character’s apostle levels to one-half of his caster levels in other spellcasting classes.

Spontaneous Casting: An Ascetic can channel stored spell energy into healing spells that the apostle did not prepare ahead of time. An apostle can “lose” any prepared apostle spell in order to cast any cure spell of the same spell level or lower (a cure spell is any spell with “cure” in its name).

Ascetics choose their spells from the following list:

0— create water, cure minor wounds, detect magic, detect poison, guidance, light, mending,purify food and drink, read magic, resistance,virtue.

1st— bless, bless water, command, comprehend languages, cure light wounds, detect evil, detect undead, endure elements, entropic shield, eyes of the avoral*, invisibility to undead, obscuring mist, protection from evil, ray of hope*, remove fear, sanctuary, shield of faith, vision of heaven*.

2nd— aid, augury, bear’s endurance, calm emotions, consecrate, cure moderate wounds, delay poison, eagle’s splendor, ease pain*, enthrall, glorious apparel*, lesser restoration, make whole, owl’s wisdom, remove paralysis, resist energy, shield other, silence, status, yoke of mercy*, zone of truth.

3rd— blessed sight*, create food and water, cure serious wounds, dispel magic, helping hand, invisibility purge, magic circle against evil, magic vestment, meld into stone, prayer, protection from energy, refreshment*, remove blindness/deafness, remove curse, remove disease, remove nausea*, water breathing, water walk, wind wall.

4th— air walk, blood of the martyr*, control water, cure critical wounds, death ward, discern lies, dismissal, divination, freedom of movement, good hope, greater status*, imbue with spell ability, lesser aspect of the deity*, lesser planar ally, neutralize poison, remove fatigue*, repel vermin, restoration, sending, spell immunity, sustain*, tongues.

5th— atonement, break enchantment, commune, mass cure light wounds, dispel evil, energetic healing*, greater command, hallow, mark of justice, plane shift, raise dead, sacred guardian*, scrying, spell resistance, symbol of sleep, true seeing, wall of stone.

6th— antilife shell, aspect of the deity*, banishment, mass bear’s endurance, celestial blood*, mass cure moderate wounds, mass eagle’s splendor, forbiddance, geas/quest, greater dispel magic, heal, heroes’ feast, mass owl’s wisdom, planar ally, symbol of persuasion, wind walk, word of recall.

7th— bastion of good*, control weather, ethereal jaunt, greater restoration, greater scrying, mass cure serious wounds, refuge, regenerate, repulsion, resurrection, shield of the archons*.

8th— antimagic field, discern location, greater planar ally, holy aura, mass cure critical wounds.

9th— astral projection, end to strife*, etherealness, gate, greater aspect of the deity*, mass heal, miracle, true resurrection.

• Spells from "Book of Exalted Deeds"

AC Bonus (Su): A 1st-level ascetic receives a +4 exalted bonus to his Armor Class. The bonus increases to +5 at 3rd level,and thereafter increases by +1 for each 3 character levels. This bonus does not apply to touch attacks and does not hinder incorporeal touch attacks. Brilliant energy weapons, however, do not ignore this bonus. This does not stack with an armor bonus.

Turn Undead (Su): An Ascetic can turn undead as a good cleric of his Ascetic level would. If he is also a cleric (or paladin), he adds his apostle levels to his effective cleric levels to determine his turning capability.

Sacred Vow: You have willingly given yourself to the service of a good deity or cause, denying yourself an ordinary life to better serve your highest ideals. (See page 45 of "Book of Exalted Deeds)

Vow of Poverty: You have taken a sacred vow to forswear material possessions. (See page 48 of "Book of Exalted Deeds, all benefits are part of this class)

Pacifying Touch (Su): At 2nd level, an Ascetic gains the ability to pacify hostile or angry creatures by touch. The effect is similar to the calm emotions spell. The apostle can affect only a single target with each use of the ability, and must touch the target. A touched creature receives no saving throw and spell resistance does not apply. The pacifying touch does not suppress positive emotions, just anger, rage, and hostility. The Ascetic can make a level check as if casting dispel magic, using his character level as his caster level, to dispel certain mind-affecting spells affecting the target. The pacifying touch can only dispel spells that incite violent emotions in the target, such as fear or rage.

Vow of Nonviolence: You have taken a sacred vow to avoid violence against humanoids. (See page 47 of "Book of Exalted Deeds)

Endure Elements (Ex): A 3rd-level ascetic is immune to the effects of being in a hot or cold environment. He can exist comfortably in conditions between –50 and 140 degrees Fahrenheit without having to make Fortitude saves (as described in the Dungeon Master’s Guide).

Exalted Strike (Su): At 4th level, an ascetic gains a +1 enhancement bonus on all his attack and damage rolls. In effect, any weapon the character wields becomes a +1 magic weapon, and can overcome the damage reduction of a creature as though it were a magic weapon. This enhancement bonus rises to +2 at 10th level, to +3 at 14th level, to +4 at 17th level, and to +5 at 20th level. At 10th level, any weapon damage the character deals is also considered to be good-aligned, so that it can bypass the damage reduction of some evil outsiders.

Censure Fiends (Su): A 4rd-level Ascetic can censure fiends, much as good clerics turn undead. Channeling holy power from the celestial planes, he can make demons, devils, and other outsiders with the evil subtype recoil. Make a Charisma check for the apostle and consult Table 8–9 in the Player’s Handbook, using the apostle’s character level to determine the most powerful fiend he can censure. Roll 2d6 + the Ascetic’s level + his Charisma modifier for censuring damage. Using both the apostle’s character level and his class level in this manner means that he is more likely to affect a single powerful fiend, but unlikely to censure more than one of them. A censured fiend is stunned by the apostle’s holy power for 1d4+1 rounds. If an Ascetic attacks a censured fiend, the stunning ends immediately and the fiend can act normally on its next turn. If the Ascetic’s character level is at least twice the fiend’s Hit Dice, he banishes the affected fiend back to its home plane. An Ascetic can make a number of censuring attempts per day equal to 3 + his Charisma modifier. These attempts are separate from any attempts to turn undead.

Vow of Peace: You have taken a sacred vow to abstain from harming any living creature. (See page 48 of "Book of Exalted Deeds)

Sustenance (Ex): A 5th-level ascetic doesn’t need to eat or drink.

Deflection (Su): A 6th-level ascetic receives a +1 deflection bonus to his Armor Class. This bonus increases to +2 at 12th level, and to +3 at 18th level.

Bonus Exalted Feats: An ascetic gets a bonus exalted feat at 6th level and every 2 levels thereafter.

Resistance (Ex): At 7th level, an ascetic gains a +1 resistance bonus on all saving throws. This bonus increases to +2 at 13th level, and to +3 at 17th level.

Ability Score Enhancement (Ex): At 7th level, an ascetic gains a +2 enhancement bonus to one ability score. Every fourth level after these bonus increases by +2 (+4 at 11, +6 at 15, +8 at 19 and so on).

Natural Armor (Ex): At 8th level, an ascetic gains a +1 natural armor bonus, or his existing natural armor bonus increases by +1. It increases an extra +1 at 16th level.

Mind Shielding (Ex): Also at 8th level, an ascetic character becomes immune to detect thoughts, discern lies, and any attempt to discern his alignment.

Damage Reduction (Su): An ascetic gains damage reduction 5/magic at 10th level. At 15th level, this improves to 5/evil, and at 19th level to 10/evil.

Greater Sustenance (Ex): Once he attains 12th level, an ascetic character doesn’t need to breathe.

Energy Resistance (Ex): At 13th level, an ascetic gains resistance 5 to acid, cold, electricity, fire, and sonic energy. At 20th level, this increases to resistance 15.

Freedom of Movement (Ex): At 14th level, an ascetic can act as if continually under the effect of a freedom of movement spell.

Regeneration (Ex): At 17th level, an ascetic heals 1 point of damage per level every hour rather than every day. (This ability cannot be aided by the Heal skill.) Nonlethal damage heals at a rate of 1 point of damage per level every 5 minutes.

True Seeing (Su): At 18th level, an ascetic gains a continuous true seeing ability, as the spell.

Sanctification: A character that reaches level 20 has achieved the pinnacle good and are thus recognized by the gods acquiring the Saint template (detailed on page 184 of "Book of Exalted Deeds").

Ex-Ascetic

An Ascetic who looses his good alignment or who breaks any of his vows intentionally immediately and irrevocably looses all class features including all bonus feats and feats requiring a class feature (Sacred Vow) and may never take another level of Ascetic. If you break your vow as a result of magical compulsion or otherwise unwittingly, you lose all class features until you perform a suitable penance and receive an atonement spell.

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