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A TOME OF WICKED THINGS

Those who turn from the light often find themselves cast in the shadow. Called by various foul names, these forsaken few are the champions of malice. They embody the sinful ways of their patron gods or the fiends they serve. They are often already great warriors before they are approached by envoys of darkness. They are seduced by wicked words and paid in unholy things. For his boon, an antipaladin is given what his heart desires. Some serve for power and others for wealth. Some antipaladins even claim status as their payment. Whatever the reason, these champions of darkness are often the right hands of powerful clerics or leaders of wicked cults. Evil clerics, inquisitors, and even the occasional fighter who reveres an evil deity make excellent antipaladins. The path to power is as varied as it is seductive. Paladins who fall to the darkness are far and few between but the result are almost always terrible and magnificent.

Within the pages of this guide, you will find new options for the antipaladin presented in the Pathfinder Advanced Players Guide.

Antipaladins as a Base Class:The Pathfinder Advanced Player’s Guide details how to play an antipaladin as an alternate to the Paladin base class in Chapter 3. This guide assumes that the wickedness that lays dormant in the hearts of men can be traced to the roots of all villains. For the purposes of this guide, please regard the antipaladin as a separate base class.

Favored Class Options:Chapter 1 of the Pathfinder Advanced Player’s Guide introduced alternative benefits for members of a race that take a certain class as their favored class. Normally, the benefit of having a favored class is simply that your character gains one extra hit point or one extra skill rank each time he or she gains a level in that class. Below, you will find alternative options for that favored class bonus for antipaladins:

Dwarf: Grudges run deep in dwarven blood and a slight is never forgotten. The dwarf add +1/2 to all Knowledge checks against a target that the dwarf has a grudge against. A grudge is defined as anyone who has seriously offended the dwarf in any serious fashion. (Killed a family member, stole a fortune, etc) Elf: Old secrets and old gods die hard. Elves, swayed by the call of the older times, sometimes fall to the secrets they guard. Elf antipaladins always treat knowledge (history) as a class skill. Half-Elf: Belonging to no society, half-elves often find themselves lured to the dark ways of the antipaladin. A half-elf adds one 1/5th of a new cruelty every level. Half-Orc: Rage and violence calls to the orcish blood in these half breeds and can lead them to the path of the antipaladin. Half-Orcs always add +1/2 to all Intimidate checks. Human: The heart of man is most susceptible to corruption some say. Perpetually seeking a better life, humans are apt to explore all options... especially shortcuts. Humans gain 1/4th of a use of touch of corruption.

Alternate Class Features:The following is a series of alternate class features to those described in Chapter 2 of the Pathfinder Advanced Player’s Guide.

BLACK KNIGHT

Where once chivalry flourished, only deceit now festers. Donning the dark armor of a black knight is a last resort, not an honor. Concealing one’s identity for fear of reprisal is the anti-thesis of chivalry. Many see this cowardice as unforgivable. A man should be able to look into the eyes of the man who will kill him. A black knight conceals his identity and claims victory at any cost. They have no qualms about exploiting the moral weaknesses of others. Guile (Ex): A black knight knows no shame. He

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fights dirty and revels in it! The black knight gains the sneak attack ability (as described in Chapter 3 of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook). This extra damage is 1d6 at 1st level, and increases by 1d6 every time the black knight would normally gain an additional use of smite good. Additionally, a black knight can use this ability against any good aligned creatures he strikes, even if he is not flanking them or they are not flat footed. This ability replaces the smite good class feature. Black Heart (Ex): At 3rd-level, black knights are trained in the use of poison. They have no chance of poisoning themselves accidentally when applying a poison to a weapon. At 10th-level, the black knight may apply two doses of the same poison to a weapon at once. This means the duration of the poison is extended by 50% and the save difficulty is increased by 2. This ability replaces the plague bringer class feature.

WRATH REAPER

Beyond the grave, moral men walk in the guise of the feared Grim Reaper. Consumed with despair and loss, wrath reapers are avengers from beyond the grave. Not content with death, they have made some sort of deal with a dark power to sustain them until their mission is done. Wrath (Su): At 3rd-level, and every three levels thereafter, a wrath reaper can select one new wrath to learn. Each wrath adds an effect to the wrath reaper’s smite good ability. The first time you strike the target of your smite good, the target also receives the additional effects from one of the wraths possessed by the wrath reaper. A successful Fortitude save (DC 10 + 1/2 wrath reaper level + wrath reaper’s Charisma

modifier) negates the effect of a wrath. A wrath can impart a condition that is only temporary, rather than the full duration that a real effect would impart. Such conditions vanish after rounds equal to the wrath reaper’s Charisma modifier.At 3rd level, the wrath reaper can select from the following wraths:• Fatigued: The

target is fatigued.• Shaken: The target is shaken.• Sickened: The target is sickened.At 6th level, a wrath reaper adds the following wraths to

the list of those at his disposal:• Dazed: The target is dazed.

• Staggered: The target is staggered.

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