 Devoted Muse
Source Paths of the Righteous pg. 14
With Aroden’s death came the Age of Lost Omens, the tumultuous time in which imperial Lung Wa collapsed, and its half-millennium of art and culture was threatened by aggressive warlords and squabbling successor states. In the century since, the passionate Muses of Five Flowers have trained and dispatched Shelyn’s faithful to study, recover, and propagate the dying art forms abandoned and despoiled in the intervening decades. To protect themselves and the valuable works they preserve, each muse trains extensively in self-defense. Their unique fighting styles are an eclectic tribute to lost martial schools, fending off foes as much with fascinating form as with actual harm.RequirementsTo qualify to become a devoted muse, a character must fulfill all of the following criteria.
Base Attack Bonus: +5.
Alignment: Lawful good, neutral good, or chaotic good.
Deity: Must worship Shelyn.
Skills: Bluff 3 ranks, Knowledge (history) 3 ranks, Perform (dance) 5 ranks.
Feats: Combat Expertise, Improved Feint, and Weapon Finesse.Class SkillsThe Devoted Muse's class skills are Acrobatics (Dex), Bluff (Cha), Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Escape Artist (Dex), Knowledge (history) (Int), Knowledge (local), Knowledge (nobility), Knowledge (religion) (Int), Perception (Wis), Perform (all) (Cha), Sense Motive (Wis), Sleight of Hand (Dex), Swim (Str).
Skill Points at each Level: 4 + Int modifier.
Hit Die: d10.Class Features| Level | Base Attack Bonus | Fort Save | Ref Save | Will Save | Special | | 1st | +1 | +0 | +1 | +0 | Artful defense, deeds, panache | | 2nd | +2 | +1 | +1 | +1 | Artistic flourish, circling strike, deadly strike, distracted, harmonious strike | | 3rd | +3 | +1 | +2 | +1 | Feinting feat | | 4th | +4 | +1 | +2 | +1 | Deeds (opportune parry and risposte), limitless art +1 | | 5th | +5 | +2 | +3 | +2 | Confused, staggered | | 6th | +6 | +2 | +3 | +2 | Feinting feat, inspirational strike | | 7th | +7 | +2 | +4 | +2 | Limitless art +2 | | 8th | +8 | +3 | +4 | +3 | Dazed | | 9th | +9 | +3 | +5 | +3 | Feinting feat | | 10th | +10 | +3 | +5 | +3 | Limitless art +3, masterful strike |
The following are the class features of the devoted muse prestige class.
Artful Defense (Ex): When wearing light or no armor and not using a shield, a devoted muse adds 1 point of her Charisma bonus (if any) per class level as a dodge bonus to her Armor Class. If she is caught flat-footed or otherwise denied her Dexterity bonus, she also loses this bonus.
Deeds (Ex): This ability functions exactly as the swashbuckler ability of the same name with two exceptions. First, the devoted muse qualifies for and benefits from deeds as if she were a swashbuckler 3 levels lower than her class level (minimum 1). Second, the devoted muse doesn’t gain the opportune parry and riposte deed until 4th level. For the purpose of this ability, a devoted muse’s class levels otherwise stack with levels in any other class that grants the deeds ability.
Panache (Ex): This ability functions exactly as the swashbuckler ability of the same name. For the purpose of this ability, a devoted muse’s class levels stack with levels in any other class that grants the panache ability.
Artistic Flourish (Su): At 2nd level, when a devoted muse has at least 1 panache point and successfully feints against an opponent in combat, instead of denying the opponent its Dexterity bonus, she can instead create one of the following effects (all of which are mind-affecting effects). A creature can be affected by only one such effect at a time, and imposing a second effect immediately ends the first. The DC of any saving throws to resist these effects is equal to 10 + the devoted muse’s class level + her Charisma modifier.
Distracted: The target treats all other creatures as though they had concealment, suffering a 20% miss chance on all attack rolls (even if the creature has blindsight). This effect lasts for a number of rounds equal to the devoted muse’s Charisma modifier, though a successful Will save reduces the duration to 1 round.
Confused: At 5th level, the devoted muse can cause the target to be confused for 1 round (Will negates). Whether or not the save is successful, a creature cannot be the target of this artistic flourish again for 1 day.
Staggered: At 5th level, the devoted muse can cause the target to be staggered for 1 round (Will negates). Whether or not the save is successful, a creature cannot be the target of this artistic flourish again for 1 day.
Dazed: At 8th level, the devoted muse can spend 1 panache point to cause the target to be dazed for 1 round (Will negates). Whether or not the save is successful, a creature cannot be the target of this artistic flourish again for 1 day.
Harmonious Strike (Su): At 2nd level, when a devoted muse hits a creature affected by her artistic flourish ability, she can spend 1 panache point to perform an especially elegant attack. She selects one of the effects below to modify this harmonious strike.
Circling Strike: After the attack, the devoted muse can move 5 feet as a free action as long as she ends her movement within the target’s reach (or former reach, if the attack incapacitated it). This movement does not provoke attacks of opportunity and does not count as a 5-foot step. If she attacked with a weapon whose critical multiplier is ×3 or higher, she can instead move 10 feet in this way. Deadly Strike: The attack deals an additional 1d4 points of damage. This extra damage increases by 1d4 every 2 devoted muse levels after 2nd level (maximum 5d4). This is precision damage and isn’t multiplied on a critical hit. If her weapon’s critical multiplier is ×3, the size of these bonus damage dice increases by one step to 1d6. If her weapon’s critical hit multiplier is ×4, the die size increases to 1d8.
Inspirational Strike: At 6th level, the devoted muse can inspire her comrades with her attack, granting her allies (including herself ) within 30 feet a competence bonus on attack and weapon damage rolls until the end of her next turn. This bonus is equal to her weapon’s critical modifier (i.e., +2 for ×2, +3 for ×3, etc.). If her attack was a critical hit, these benefits last a number of rounds equal to her Charisma modifier.
Masterful Strike: At 10th level, the devoted muse can feint against one creature within her reach as a free action after resolving the attack. If she performs an artistic flourish with this feint against a distracted target, the target’s miss chance against the devoted muse increases by an amount equal to 5 × her weapon’s critical multiplier.
Feinting Feat: At 3rd level and every 3 class levels thereafter, a devoted muse gains one of the following as a bonus feat: Disengaging FeintUC, Disengaging FlourishUC, Feint PartnerUC, Greater Feint, Improved Feint PartnerUC, Passing TrickUC, Skill Focus (Bluff ), Twinned FeintACG, or Wave StrikeUC. The devoted muse must meet the prerequisites for the feat selected.
Limitless Art (Ex): At 4th level, a devoted muse starts each day with 1 additional panache point, and her maximum number of panache points increases by 1. At 7th level and again at 10th level, the number of additional panache points increases by 1.
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