Holy Crusader (5e Class)

Holy Crusader

Take back the Holy Land!

The battle rages on as the armored crusader swings his sword mercilessly upon his heretical foes. With each death, he utters a prayer to keep his strength steady and his aim true. Every drop of blood on this sanctified ground is another prayer of apology. As the hordes who oppose him swell to overwhelm him, he entreats to the higher power to grant him strength.

My god, do not forsake me!

Drawing upon that cry, a thunderous clap sounds and the heretics are blasted away by a sudden torrent of stormy lightning. When the last of his enemies fall, the storm overhead seems to part, letting down radiant rays that shine upon the blood glistening off the edge of his old sword.

Creating a Holy Crusader

By Younghun Byun

One does not become a holy crusader by simply stealing the mantle or with a half-hearted mind. They are brazen and bold individuals who give their body and soul to a higher power. Unlike a simple paladin, their faith alone cannot sustain all their power, unfortunately. A holy crusader's cause is typically deific and usually to do with a holy deity rather than a devilish one. While they have the faith to fight in battle, they require the aid of their god sometimes, whom they call on for aid. However, they are not clerics either. Their brazen willpower is not reliant solely on a god. Rather, they are halfway between cleric and paladin, relying both on their inner faith and also their god in their darkest hour. Their zeal can be described almost like that of a barbarian, and their faith being their armor tends to corroborate this.

How did your character discover their faith to their deity? Which deity do they revere? Many crusaders join orders which train them en masse. Did your character go through similar training, or were they on their own and came upon some revelation which opened their eyes? Consider how the power of belief makes your character's personality change. Are they always praising their god, or quietly praying on their own time? Are they absolute madmen in battle, or quiet and contemplative warriors of discipline?

Quick Build

You can make a Holy Crusader quickly by following these suggestions. First, Wisdom should be your highest ability score, followed by Strength. Second, choose the Soldier background.

Class Features

As a Holy Crusader you gain the following class features.

Hit Points

Hit Dice: 1d12 per Holy Crusader level
Hit Points at 1st Level: 12 + Constitution modifier
Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1d12 (or 7) + Constitution modifier per Holy Crusader level after 1st

Proficiencies

Armor: shields
Weapons: Simple melee weapons, martial melee weapons
Tools: None
Saving Throws: Strength, Wisdom
Skills: Choose 3 from Arcana, History, Intimidation, Investigation, Medicine, Perception, Religion and Survival.

Equipment

You start with the following equipment, in addition to the equipment granted by your background:

• (a) a longsword and a shield or (b) any two martial melee weapons

• 4 javelins, priest's pack, holy symbol and a crusader uniform of your order.
• If you are using starting wealth, you have 3d4x10gp in funds.

Table: The Holy Crusader

Level	Proficiency Bonus	Features	Religion Points
1st	+2	Unarmored Defense, Faith Pool, Heresy Killer	5
2nd	+2	Fighting Style, Pray	5
3rd	+2	Path of Holiness	5
4th	+2	Ability Score Improvement	5
5th	+3	Extra Attack	10
6th	+3	Divine Radiance	10
7th	+3	Path of Holiness feature	10
8th	+3	Ability Score Improvement	10
9th	+4	Down With Heresy	15
10th	+4	Holy Communion	15
11th	+4	Path of Holiness feature	15
12th	+4	Ability Score Improvement	15
13th	+5	Additional Fighting Style	20
14th	+5	Extra Attack (x2)	20
15th	+5	Path of Holiness feature	20
16th	+5	Ability Score Improvement	20
17th	+6	Sermon On The Mount	25
18th	+6	True Faith, Salt Of The Earth	25
19th	+6	Ability Score Improvement	25
20th	+6	Transfigured Protection	30

Unarmored Defense

Your god has granted you protection as their crusader. You exude a palpable aura that wards off harm. While you are wearing no armor, your AC is equal to 10 + your Strength modifier + your Wisdom modifier. You may use a shield and still gain this benefit.

Faith Pool

Starting at 1st level, your faith and prayers which you offer to your god are an essential resource of any crusader. Your access to this energy is represented by a number of religion points. Your holy crusader level determines the number of points you have, as shown in the Religion Points column of the class table. You can never have more points than shown for your level.

You can spend these points to fuel various crusader features. You start knowing two such features: Dying Breath and Faith Charge. You learn more crusader features as you gain levels in this class.

When you spend a religion point, it is unavailable until you finish a short or long rest, at the end of which you replenish your soul through meditation and prayer. You must spend at least 30 minutes of the rest praying to regain your religion points.

Some of your crusader features require your target to make a saving throw to resist the feature's effects. The saving throw DC is calculated as follows:

Crusader save DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Wisdom modifier

Dying Breath

Immediately after you drop to 0 hit points, you can spend 5 religion points point to make a weapon attack a reaction. You then immediately fall unconscious.

Faith Charge

When you use the Dash action, you can spend 5 religion points to move an additional 30 feet.

Heresy Killer

Starting at 1st level, your god gives your faith power to be judge and arbiter of heretics. As a bonus action, you spend 5 religion points and mark a creature you can see within 60 feet of you as a heretic. This mark lasts for 1 minute. You gain advantage on all attack rolls against heretics you mark. As you gain more levels in this class, the mark allows you to punish heretics more. Starting at 7th level, your attacks deal an additional 2d6 radiant damage to heretics you hit, once per turn. This damage increases to 3d6 damage at 13th level, and 4d6 at 20th.

Pray

A holy crusader must pray regularly if they wish to keep their strength. Starting at 2nd level, you pray for the souls of the dead and take on their death as a burden to empower your body instead of earthly sustenance. While you are within 10 feet of a creature that has died within the hour, you can spend at least 1 minute to pray over the corpse. After doing so, your food and drink requirements for the day are halved and you regain 5 religion points. Praying multiple times a day does not stack this effect. The corpse you pray on also is considered under the effects of gentle repose for 24 hours. Praying multiple times on the same corpse does not stack any effects.

Fighting Style

Starting at 2nd level, you refine your skills and body to fight in a specialized manner for your god. Choose one of the following fighting styles at 2nd level. Choose another at 13th level. Some of the styles can only be selected at higher levels.

Dueling: When you are wielding a melee weapon in one hand and no other weapons, you gain a +2 bonus to damage rolls with that weapon.

Great Weapon Fighting: When you roll a 1 or 2 on a damage die for an attack you make with a melee weapon that you are wielding with two hands, you can reroll the die and must use the new roll, even if the new roll is a 1 or a 2. The weapon must have the two-handed or versatile property for you to gain this benefit.

Two-Weapon Fighting: When you engage in two-weapon fighting, you can add your ability modifier to the damage of the second attack.

Riposter: Whenever a creature hits you with a melee attack, you can use your reaction to make a single melee attack against that creature. You can do this once per round.

Dash attack: If you move at least 20 feet towards a creature before making your first attack on each turn. You gain advantage on that attack roll.

Combo Striker: When your melee attack makes a creature drop to 0 hit points or whenever you score a critical hit, you can make another melee attack as a bonus action. You can only use this once per round.

13th level

Combo breaker: When a creature makes 2 or more successful melee attacks against you, you may impose disadvantage to their next attack roll.

Oversized Weapon Master: You can wield oversized weapons with no negative effects and you are considered proficient with them.

Marksman: Whenever you throw a weapon, its range is doubled and you may add your proficiency bonus to the damage.

Path of Holiness

At 3rd level, you choose a holy crusader path on which you walk. Choose between Path Of Redemption and Path Of Service, both of which are detailed at the end of the class description. Your choice grants you features at 3rd level and again at 7th, 11th, and 15th level.

Ability Score Increase

When you reach 4th level, and again at 8th, 12th, 16th and 19th level, you can increase one ability score of your choice by 2, or you can increase two ability scores of your choice by 1. As normal, you can't increase an ability score above 20 using this feature.

Extra Attack

Beginning at 5th level, you can attack twice, instead of once, whenever you take the attack action on your turn. The number of attacks increases to three when you reach 14th level in this class.

Divine Radiance

Starting at 6th level, you can imbue your weapon using your faith to deal more damage to your enemies. As a bonus action, you can spend a number of religion points, up to half your level, rounded down. For each religion point you spend, your weapon deals an additional 1d6 radiant damage, until the start of your next turn.

Down With Heresy

Starting at 9th level, you can shrug off the injuries mere heretics inflict in vain on you. When a creature you have marked a heretic successfully hits you with an attack, you may use your reaction to halve the damage taken.

Holy Communion

Starting at 10th level, you show a wonderful image to your enemies of the kingdom to come, forcing them to rethink their actions and ponder on their own wickedness. You can spend 10 religion points to give a cry of faith and show a wonderful and glorious vision to all creatures within 15 feet of you. This image can be Jesus at the last supper, or the Sistine Chapel detail, or something else you come up with. All creatures within range must make a Wisdom saving throw against your crusader save. On a failed save, a creature takes 4d6 radiant damage, becomes blinded, and their damage rolls are halved until the end of their next turn. On a successful save, they take half as much damage, are not blinded, and they only have disadvantage on their attack rolls until the end of their next turn.

Sermon On The Mount

Starting at 17th level, you can preach to others and grant them the will of your god's protection. You can spend 1-hour blessing and talking about your god to up to six creatures. After this sermon, until the start of your next long rest, any damage the attenders of your sermon deal ignore resistance and immunity. You must finish a long rest before using this trait again.

True Faith

Your faith in your god now protects you entirely from lies and fear. Starting at 18th level, you are immune to being charmed and frightened.

Salt Of The Earth

Your faith is inexhaustible, as it is the core of your existence in the end. Starting at 18th level, at the beginning of your turn, if you have no religion points remaining, you regain a number of religion points equal to your Wisdom modifier.

Transfigured Protection

Starting at 20th level, you can use 20 religion points as a bonus action to bring forth the transfiguration of your god onto yourself and become a true extension of their will, granting you their protections. For 1 minute, or until you dispel this effect with a bonus action, you are resistant to all damage. When you take damage from a creature's attack, the attacker takes force damage equal to half the amount of damage you took, rounded down. You must finish a long rest before using this trait again.

Path of Redemption

Holy crusaders on the path of redemption seek to become the cleansing blades of god. Redemption, to these crusaders, is through a trial of fire and blood. Enemies of the faith are to be cut down and destroyed if they cannot be converted. These crusaders tend to be extremely zealous and do not take lightly to allies of differing opinion. Betrayal, to them, is deserving of a fate worse than death.

God Smite Thee!

Starting at 3rd level, you beseech your god for greater power to destroy horrible obstructions on your path of holiness. After you finish a prayer through your Pray feature, your attacks become blessed. Until the start of your next long rest, your weapon attacks deal an additional 1d8 damage against any Undead or Aberration creatures. This damage increases to 2d8 at 7th level and also affects monstrosities.

Marking Strikes

Starting at 7th level, your attacks sear your holiness onto heretics on contact. When you successfully hit a creature with a weapon attack, the creature becomes marked as per your Heresy Killer feature.

Fiery Cleanse

Starting at 11th level, you can summon forth a fraction of your god's wrath onto your enemies. As an action, you loudly declare your enemies to your god and use 10 religion points. A burst of divine punishment erupts in a 10-foot radius, 40-foot high cylinder centered on a point within 15 feet of you. Any creature within the area is engulfed in divine flames that cause searing pain, and it must make a Constitution saving throw. It takes 6d10 radiant damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. This damage ignores immunity and resistance.

Heavy Sins

Starting at 15th level, you force the unrepentant to bear the weight of their sins. As an action, you can designate a creature within 30 feet of you that you have marked as a heretic. A crushing weight slams down on them, decreasing their movement speed by 10 feet. If you use this on a creature that is flying, they are instantly forced down to ground level and cannot rise over 5 feet off the floor. You can maintain this weight on them as though concentrating on a spell, for up to 1 minute. For each turn you sustain this effect, the creature must make a Strength saving throw against your crusader save at the start of each of their turns. On a successful save, they shrug off the weight and escape. On a failed save, their movement speed becomes 0 until the end of their turn. For each turn after their movement speed is decreased, the creature takes 6d6 force damage at the start of each of their turns while they are under the weight. You must finish a short or long rest to use this feature again.

Path of Service

Crusaders who walk the path of service are highly loyal to their orders, but also their fellows. Rather than focus on pure violence, service crusaders focus on healing, defense, and even empowering allies in need of a boost. They are often the type to go on pilgrimages to help others through events like pestilence and such, and often accompany those on the path of redemption.

Faithful Shield

When you take this archetype, your faith manifests in a new way. Starting at 3rd level, a glimmering aura of protection can be seen around you to those with truesight or the ability to see into the ethereal plane. Thanks to this aura, you are immune to being poisoned and diseases.

Pick Me Up Prayer

Starting at 3rd level, your prayers reach others who witness it. When you Pray, a number of creatures equal to your Wisdom modifier within 5 feet of you regain hit points equal to your proficiency bonus + your Wisdom modifier.

Holy Aura

Beginning at 7th level, your faith projects out to ward and harm those who stand against you. They cannot stand to be near you and it affects their very mind. Any creature marked by your Heresy Killer feature takes psychic damage equal to your proficiency bonus while they are within 15 feet of you.

Healing Image

Starting at 11th level, the image of your faith uplifts others around you while harming enemies. When you use your Holy Communion feature, any creatures friendly to you within range regain hit points equal to the amount of damage they would have taken instead and gain advantage on all attack rolls and saving throws until the end of their next turn.

Morale Boost

Starting at 15th level, you can use your faith to inspire others through your deeds. When you successfully hit a creature with an attack, you can expend a religion point without using an action. Any creature friendly to you that can see you gains advantage to all their attack rolls until the end of their next turn.

Multiclassing

Prerequisites. To qualify for multiclassing into the Holy Crusader class, you must meet these prerequisites: 13 Strength and 13 Wisdom

Proficiencies. When you multiclass into the Holy Crusader class, you gain the following proficiencies: Athletics, Religion and simple melee weapons

---

Back to Main Page → 5e Homebrew → Classes