Crusader Class
Crusader Class
Crusader Class
The world knows paladins, usually, to be shining paragon of virtue who champion lofty ideals
such as compassion, nobility, sacrifice, and valor. They fight demons and hordes of undead,
following them into the bowels of the abyss to destroy them. They also carry with them the
strength and faith of the Zakarum, which has blazoned a path through the West and helped put
King Leoric on his throne. It’s those who’ve felt the gaze of the virtuous paladin weigh heavy on
their soul. Paladins, and their presumptuous notions of righteousness, have done much to further
their faith in the West, often times at the tip of a sword or the blow of an axe. These morally
conscious holy warriors not only drive the wicked to ground but anyone who has ever muttered
words against their tactics.
Yet in the ashes of these Paladins wake, rise that of true noble causes. When the paladins of
the Zakarum – formed in the time of Rakkis’s crusade and marched west against the Western
Kingdoms – help build the foundations of the kingdom of Westmarch, another cleric of the faith
had different plans. Akkhan led his secretive group of zealots East in order to find the sense of
corruption that seemed to plague their faith. These paladin counter-parts would still derive their
power from the Light, but put them to the pursuit of ferreting out the taint of evil.
The type of paladin you can create with this PDF is the Crusader.
Crusader
Divine Striker: As a holy warrior of the Zakarum faith, you strive to stamp out evil where it lies
and destroy the seat of corruption that remains at the heart of your order. You do this by focusing
the divine power of the Light though your power of Law and conviction.
Key Abilities: Strength, Wisdom
Resourceful and resilient, crusaders are an entirely different breed of holy warriors, trained to
wield sacred powers in a more focused and direct form from that of their paladin brethren.
Unbending champions of faith and law, crusaders’ formidable skills and abilities set them apart
on the battlefield, wading through scores of foes and leaving demonic bodies in their wake. These
soldiers of Light aren’t concerned overmuch for their own physical wellbeing, no they have the
Light to guide them and protect them in this matter. Nor are the overly concerned with those in
their company, for their belief is to strike hard and fast, stamping out evil before it has time to
regroup.
Experienced veterans, crusaders often spend their lives on the move, in the wilderness and city
alike, they take part in thousands of fights from epic battles to back alley brawls. The thick of
battle is unforgiving but crusaders rush in without hesitation, relying on holy magic and heavy
armor to guarantee victory. Well trained crusaders are adept at defecting attacks entirely, often
shrugging off massive blows that would fell lesser combatants. If pressed, they can sacrifice speed
and mobility for pure staying power.
Crusader Traits
HEROIC CRUSADER
In the heroic tier, you learn to combine your fighting skills and divine magic into a potent
combination. Your first efforts at using the essence of divine wrath and the Light to improve your
prowess are successful and hint at greater, and more heroic things to come. This time of your
crusade is where true heroes start and whether or not your faith is strong enough to carry you
further.
CRUSADER HEROIC TIER
Level 2: Consecration
Crusaders know the value of healing, as anyone in the business of fighting monsters and evil
might. Which is why these holy warriors learn a secret prayer that immediately consecrates the
ground, allowing their healing powers – limited as they are – to have the fullest potential.
Benefit: You gain the Consecration power.
Level 4:
Ability Score Increase
Radiance is becoming so ingrained within you that it infuses your essential nature and makes you
more than you were before.
Benefit: You increase two ability scores of your choice by 1.
Level 4: Steed Charge
Your blessings of the Light increase, granting you further powers.
Benefit: You gain the Steed Charge power.
Steed Charge For a short duration, you call down the power of the Heavens to grant you a
boost to speed, manifesting itself as a phantom-like warhorse.
Laws of Justice You call upon order to give you strength and protection against attacks of
the unjust.
Laws of Retribution You seek to bring about grave retribution against your enemies and
your fervor ignites the passion of your allies around you.
Level 8:
Ability Score Increase
You are long accustomed now to the Light within you, and your body and mind become more
formidable.
Benefit: You increase two ability score of your choice by 1.
Level 9: Daily Power
The more you draw on the power of the Light, the more
easily the power comes to you. You can shape it to
devastating effect, bringing a battle to swift conclusion.
Benefit: You gain a new paladin daily attack power of
your level or lower.
Aura of Condemnation At your command, light flows from your wounds and works its
way into your enemies’ injuries.
PARAGON CRUSADER
In the paragon tier, the power of conviction grows within you. It begins to define your powers
completely, and you must be strong to keep the path towards your crusade to rid the Zakarum
faith of the taint of corruption, and keep it from affecting or harming those dear to you.
Level 14:
Ability Score Increase
Your continued cultivation of the Light within you enhances your physical and mental resilience.
Benefit: You increase two ability score of your choice by 1.
Avatar of Justice Doling out justice is second nature to you and in the world of Sanctuary,
it’s needed now more than ever. As wicked creatures attempt to take the world from humanity,
sowing destruction and chaos in their wake, your presence makes them falter. You do not falter
or hesitate in your crusade; you are the embodiment of righteousness.
Avatar of Retribution In the wide world where evil runs rampant, only swift retribution is
acknowledge and respected. Justice is ideal when there is time to seek it and to see it through to
its end. Yet, often enough, a crusader must be the one who metes out retribution where
civilization is sparse. This vengeful practice can take a toll on you, as each strike of your blade is a
creature’s execution.
Iron Skin Though your strength to the divine is growing, crusaders are very pragmatic and
will adopt spells of other devotions into their own arsenal to continue their quest. One such spell
is the ability to turn their skin into a suit of living iron, becoming more resistant to attacks.
Provoke Crusaders often use surprise and quick strikes to end their foes but sometimes, when
they’re rooted to the spot, they need the enemies to come to them. This often means taunting or
otherwise provoking these creatures into an assault against them.
Blessed Hammer The hammer brings divine force in its wake, knocking your foes back and
it spins in a deadly arch.
Level 20: Conviction Daily Power
Akarat’s champion paragon path feature
A career spent in service to the Zakarum faith has boosted your faith to unforeseen heights. The
constant use of the Light and allowing yourself to be a conduit for its righteousness has
undeniably left a mark upon your person. Your presence afflicts your enemies with your
conviction’s power.
Benefit: You gain a daily power associated with your conviction (justice or retribution).
EPIC CRUSADER
When using your divine power, you are a physical manifestation of your chosen conviction. No
foe is beyond you. If any creature defies or questions your virtue, you have the might and the will
to face it.
When your crusader reaches 21st level, he or she takes on an epic destiny. This epic destiny
represents the grand finale of your adventuring career. Like your paragon path, it grants a set of
related features and powers.
CRUSADER EPIC TIER
Level 24:
Epic Destiny Feature
Your place among the celestial beings elevates as you gain still more power. At this point, divine
providence ensures your survival.
Benefit: You gain a feature associated with your epic destiny.
Level 25: Daily Power
Your connection to Pandemonium and the immortal angels that dwell there strengthens, letting
you lay waste to evil and vileness with spectacular success.
Angelic Wall Your call for aid is answered and the air stirs before you, as if fanned by angels’
wings, and your enemy is turned to face their end.
Heaven’s Fury The Light-infused energy residing inside you alters an enemy’s physiology,
turning their own vitality into a weapon of Heaven. The victim becomes alight with radiance as
beams shoot out when it sustains severe damage.
Level 12 Conviction
Utility Power (Justice)
Akarat’s champion paragon path
feature
The weight of your conviction has
manifested substance, creating an
area where your enemies are
measured and judged accordingly.
Level 20: Conviction Daily Power (Justice)
Akarat’s champion paragon path feature
The power gleamed from the visions and authority of Akarat swarm within you, making your
conscious clear for the decisions you make and the justice you serve.