Kshatriya (3.5e Class)

Kshatriya

The kshatriya are based upon the warrior elite of India. Brave fighters and defenders of the innocent, the kshatriya use their abilities to contain and reverse the spread of power of evil users of arcane magicks while upholding the laws of the land and helping those not entirely able to help themselves.

Making a Kshatriya

<-Strong points and weak points, and effectiveness with party members.->.

Abilities: As a ranged combatant, Dexterity is vital for a kshatriya, improving both his attack rolls and reducing his chance to get hit. Charisma enhances a kshatriya’s self-protective capabilities and counter-spelling ability. A Wisdom score of 14 or higher is required to gain access to the most powerful kshatriya spells, and a Wisdom score of 11 or higher is required to cast any kshatriya spells at all. Constitution is also helpful, since kshatriya do not have access to heavy armor, and a high Constitution allows them to stand up in combat longer.

Races: Humans, being the founders of the culture that birthed the kshatriya, are by far the most common kshatriya. Behind humans are the half-breed races (half-elves, half-orcs, etc.), with half-elf kshatriya being significantly more common than the rest. Very few members of the other races have the chance to become a kshatriya because of the inherent classist nature of the class. However, when inter-marriage occurs, certain individuals may be given the chance to adopt the class.

Alignment: Lawful Good.

Starting Gold: 6d4×10 gp (150 gp).

Starting Age: Complex.

Table: The Kshatriya

Hit Die: d10

Level	Base Attack Bonus	Saving Throws			Special	Spells per Day
		Fort	Ref	Will		1st	2nd	3rd	4th
1st	+1	+0	+0	+2	Aura of Good, Detect Evil, Ranged Smite Evil 1/day	—	—	—	—
2nd	+2	+0	+0	+3	Divine Grace, Rapid Shot	—	—	—	—
3rd	+3	+1	+1	+3	Divine Health, Mettle	—	—	—	—
4th	+4	+1	+1	+4	Divine Counterspell	0	—	—	—
5th	+5	+1	+1	+4	Arcane Hunter, Ranged Smite Evil 2/day	0	—	—	—
6th	+6/+1	+2	+2	+5	Curse Breaker 1/week, Manyshot	1	—	—	—
7th	+7/+2	+2	+2	+5		1	0	—	—
8th	+8/+3	+2	+2	+6		1	0	—	—
9th	+9/+4	+3	+3	+6	Curse Breaker 2/week	1	0	—	—
10th	+10/+5	+3	+3	+7	Ranged Smite Evil 3/day	1	1	—	—
11th	+11/+6/+1	+3	+3	+7	Improved Precise Shot	1	1	1	—
12th	+12/+7/+2	+4	+4	+8	Curse Breaker 3/week	1	1	1	—
13th	+13/+8/+3	+4	+4	+8		1	1	1	—
14th	+14/+9/+4	+4	+4	+9		2	1	1	0
15th	+15/+10/+5	+5	+5	+9	Curse Breaker 4/week, Ranged Smite Evil 4/day	2	1	1	1
16th	+16/+11/+6/+1	+5	+5	+10		2	2	2	1
17th	+17/+12/+7/+2	+5	+5	+10		2	2	2	1
18th	+18/+13/+8/+3	+6	+6	+11	Curse Breaker 5/week	3	3	2	1
19th	+19/+14/+9/+4	+6	+6	+11		3	3	3	2
20th	+20/+15/+10/+5	+6	+6	+12	Ranged Smite Evil 5/day	3	3	3	3
Class Skills (2 + Int modifier per level, ×4 at 1st level) Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Heal (Wis), Knowledge (arcana) (Int), Knowledge (nobility and royalty) (Int), Knowledge (religion) (Int), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), Sense Motive (Wis), and Spellcraft (Int).

Class Features

Class Features. All of the following are class features of the kshatriya.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Kshatriya are proficient with all simple weapons and all martial weapons. Kshatriya are proficient with light and medium armor, and with shields (except tower).

Aura of Good (Ex): The power of a kshatriya’s aura of good (see the detect good spell, PH 219) is equal to his kshatriya level, just like the aura of a cleric of a good deity.

Detect Evil (Sp): At will, a kshatriya can use detect evil, as the spell.

Ranged Smite Evil (Su): Once per day, a kshatriya may attempt to smite evil with one normal ranged attack made with a bow (shortbow, longbow, or the composite versions of each). He adds his Charisma bonus (if any) to his attack roll and deals 1 extra point of damage per kshatriya level. The target must be within 30 feet for the kshatriya to use this ability. At 5th level, and at every five levels thereafter, the kshatriya may smite evil one additional time per day, to maximum of five times per day at 20th level.

Rapid Shot: At 2nd level a kshatriya gains Rapid Shot as a bonus feat.

Divine Health (Su): At 3rd level, a kshatriya gains immunity to all diseases, including supernatural and magical disease (such as mummy rot or lycanthropy). This ability does not grant immunity to Taint (see Unearthed Arcana™, page 189).

Mettle (Ex): At 3rd level and higher, a kshatriya can resist magical and unusual attacks with great will power and fortitude. If he makes a successful Will or Fortitude save against an attack that normally would have a lesser effect on a successful save (such as any spell or psionic, with a few additions power with a saving throw entry of Will half or Fortitude partial), he instead completely negates the effect. An unconscious or sleeping kshatriya does not gain the benefit of mettle.

Divine Counterspell (Su): A kshatriya of 4th level and higher has the supernatural ability to counter another spellcaster’s magic through pure force of will. This ability functions just as if the kshatriya were using dispel magic to counter the spell, except that he adds a number equal to his class levels – 3 (instead of his caster level) to the d20 roll. A kshatriya does not need to identify the spell the opposing spellcaster is casting to make the attempt.

A kshatriya can attempt to counterspell a number of times per day equal to 1 + the kshatriya’s Cha modifier.

A character with 5 or more ranks in Knowledge (arcana) gets a +2 bonus on counterspelling attempts when using this ability.

Spells: Beginning at 4th level, a kshatriya gains the ability to cast a small number of divine spells, which are the same spells available to a paladin. A kshatriya must choose and prepare his spells in advance.

To learn or cast a spell, a kshatriya must have a Wisdom score equal to at least 10 + the spell level (Wis 11 for 1st-level spells, Wis 12 for 2nd-level spells, and so forth). The Difficulty Class for a saving throw against a kshatriya’s spell is 10 + the spell level + the kshatriya’s Wis modifier.

Like other spellcasters, a kshatriya may only cast a certain number of spells of each level per day. The kshatriya base daily allotment of spells is given on the table below, Table 2-1: The Kshatriya. In addition, a kshatriya receives bonus spells per day if he has a high Wisdom score (see Table 1-1: Ability Modifiers and Bonus Spells, page 8 of the Player’s Handbook). When the table indicates that the kshatriya gets 0 spells per day of a given level (for instance, 1st-level spells for a 4th-level kshatriya), the kshatriya gains only the bonus spells he would be entitled to based on a high Wisdom score.

Through 3rd level a kshatriya has no caster level. At 4th level and higher, his caster level is one-half his kshatriya level.

Arcane Hunter (Ex): At 5th level, a kshatriya has undergone extensive study on the proper techniques for combating arcanists of any kind (anyone or anything that uses arcane spells or invocations, but not other spell-like abilities). As a result of this training, the kshatriya gains a +2 bonus on Bluff, Listen, Spot, Sense Motive, and Survival checks when using these skills against arcanists. Likewise, he gets a +2 bonus on weapon damage rolls against arcanists. Every 5th level after (10th, 15th, and 20th level) the bonuses the kshatriya has against arcanists improve by intervals of two (+2 at 5th, +4 at 10th, etc.).

Psionic Semi-Transparency Note: If your DM’s game world is functioning under the psionic semi-transparency mechanic, in which magic and psionics share a similar base but divereged into unique things, then a kshatriya also adds a bonus to the aforementioned skill checks and to damage rolls on all creatures that have a power point reserve. The bonus that a kshatriya adds on such rolls against such creatures in half of the arcane hunter bonus, rounded down.

Curse Breaker (Sp): A kshatriya of 6th-level or higher can produce a remove curse effect, as the spell, once per week. A kshatriya can use this ability one additional time per week for every three levels beyond 6th (twice per week at 9th, three times per week at 12th, and so forth).

Beginning at 12th level, a kshatriya can expend two of his weekly uses to produce a break enchantment effect, as the spell.

Manyshot: At 6th level a kshatriya gains Manyshot as a bonus feat.

Improved Precise Shot: At 11th level a kshatriya gains Improved Precise Shot as a bonus feat.

Spells: Kshatriya generally choose their spells from the paladin spell list, with a few exceptions as noted here: Remove all spells related to a mount and/or special mount.

1st— Add the spells Alarm, Arrow Mind, Dawn, Detect Favored Enemy, Guided Shot, Hawkeye, and Hunter's Mercy to the kshatriya's spell list.

2nd— Add the spells Cat's Grace, Exacting Shot, and Wind Wall to the kshatriya's spell list.

3rd— Add the spells Arrow Storm, Decoy Image, Mark of the Hunter, Phantasmal Decoy, and Remove Disease to the kshatriya's spell list.

4th— Add the spells Foebane and Nondetection to the kshatriya's spell list.

Ex-Kshatriya

A kshatriya ceases to be lawful good, who willingly commits an evil act, or who grossly violates the code of conduct loses all kshatriya spells and abilities (except weapon, armor, and shield proficiencies and bonus feats). He may not progress any farther in levels as a kshatriya. He regains his abilities if he atones (see the atonement spell, page 201 of the Player’s Hanbook).

Like a member of any other class, a kshatriya may be a multiclass character, but a multiclass kshatriya faces special restrictions. A kshatriya who gains a level in any class other than kshatriya may never again raise his kshatriya level, though he retains all his kshatriya abilities. The path of the kshatriya requires a constant heart. If a character adopts this class, he must pursue it to the exclusion of all other careers. Once he has turned off the path, he may never return.

Epic Kshatriya

Table: The Epic Kshatriya

Hit Die: d10

Level	Special
21st	Curse Breaker 6/week
22nd
23rd	Bonus Feat
24th	Curse Breaker 7/week
25th	Arcane Hunter +10, Ranged Smite Evil 6/day
26th	Bonus Feat
27th	Curse Breaker 8/week
28th
29th	Bonus Feat
30th	Arcane Hunter +12, Curse Breaker 9/week, Ranged Smite Evil 7/day
2 + Int modifier skill points per level.

Playing a Kshatriya

Religion: Most kshatriya are fairly religious, drawing much of their powers from divine magic. They venerate the legendary Prince Rama, a demigod who was the first kshatriya. Most gods the kshatriya worship are either lawful good or neutral good in alignment, making Ehlonna, Garl Glittergold, Heironeous, Moradin, Pelor and Yondalla popular patrons among kshatriya, depending upon the particular kshatriya’s heritage.

Other Classes: Kshatriya get along best with paladins, having similar ideas on how things should be done and should work. A kshatriya also compliments a paladins melee abilities very well with his ranged ones. Kshatriya also get along well with similarly minded clerics, monks and rangers. Kshatriya are usually wary of arcane spellcasters at first. However, if an arcanist can prove their heart to a kshatriya, they will have earned a life-long and deep friendship with the kshatriya. Rogues are tolerated because a kshatriya is not so stupid so as to think they cannot be of help, although certain practices of the rogue are looked down upon by kshatriya. Druids and kshatriya rarely interact, and what interaction they do have can go either way, depending upon the two characters. Barbarians are rarely tolerated because of the disdain for laws of society and their uncouth brutishness.

Combat: As ranged combatant with competence in melee and access to medium armor, a kshatriya makes a good rear-guard. In a campaign in which there are a large umber of evil spellcasters, kshatriya are an excellent edition because of their high Will saves and the bonus on their other saves. And if the spellcaster has presents some sort of problem on the approach for the melee characters, the kshatriya is still able to take him or her out from afar.

Advancement: A kshatriya is best made when taking feats for the bow that it won't get from the class levels. The kshatriya is a class that is easily supportable on its own. However, takigna prestige class that emphasizeds either the bow, fighting evil or fighting spellcasters.

Kshatriya Lore

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) or Knowledge (religion) can research kshatriya to learn more about them. When a character makes a skill check, read or paraphrase the following, including information from lower DCs.

Kshatriya

DC	Result
5	Kshatriya are holy warriors, similar to paladins.
10	Kshatriya use ranged combat to fight spellcasters.
15	Kshatriya are the bane of evil spellcasters.
20	Kshatriya combine ranged combat and holy magic to fight evil arcanists.

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