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In a world where conflict usually means violence, where good and evil meet regularly on the field of battle, where might too often makes right and power is measured in gold pieces, the apostle of peace is a lone voice crying in the wilderness, calling for a change of heart. Having completely forsworn violence in any form, the apostle of peace is an advocate for nonviolent resolution of conflict. He is a powerful font of divine magic, but his spells are all aimed toward healing, calming hostility, and aiding his allies.

Members of all classes can qualify to become apostles of peace, though barbarians, fighters, and rogues have difficulty meeting the skill prerequisites and are usually too oriented toward martial exploits to be interested. Clerics, bards, and druids often develop pacifistic philosophies and gravitate toward this class, but any character can experience a conversion of sorts and become an apostle of peace.

Apostles of peace are usually solitary wanderers or even hermits. Many nonplayer character (NPC) apostles are far removed from the violent struggles of the adventuring life, but may serve as resources of knowledge, spells, or spiritual guidance for adventuring PCs. Apostle of peace PCs are unusual but not impossible; see Waging Peace in Chapter 2 for advice about using such characters in the game.

Requirements

Class Features

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Apostles of peace gain no proficiency with any weapon or armor.

As part of their sacred vows, apostles of peace forswear the use of armor, though they may wear magic items that protect them (such as a ring of protection or bracers of armor). An apostle of peace who wears any armor is unable to cast apostle of peace spells or use any of his supernatural class abilities while doing so and for 24 hours thereafter.

Spells: An apostle of peace has the ability to cast a number of divine spells. To cast an apostle of peace spell, the apostle must have a Wisdom score of at least 10 + the spell's level, so an apostle with a Wisdom of 10 or lower cannot cast these spells. Apostle of peace bonus spells are based on Wisdom, and saving throws against these spells have a DC of 10 + spell level + the apostle of peace's Wisdom modifier. When the apostle of peace gets 0 spells per day of a given spell level (for instance, 2nd-level spells for a 2nd-level apostle), he gains only the bonus spells he would be entitled to based on his Wisdom score for that spell level. The apostle of peace prepares and casts spells just as a cleric does.

To determine the caster level of an apostle of peace, add the character's apostle levels to one-half of his caster levels in other spellcasting classes.

Spontaneous Casting: An apostle of peace can channel stored spell energy into healing spells that the apostle did not prepare ahead of time. An apostle can "lose" any prepared apostle spell in order to cast any cure spell of the same spell level or lower (a cure spell is any spell with "cure" in its name).

Turn Undead (Su): An apostle of peace can turn undead as a good cleric of his apostle of peace level would. If he is also a cleric (or paladin), he adds his apostle levels to his effective cleric levels to determine his turning capability.

Pacifying Touch (Su): At 2nd level, an apostle of peace gains the ability to pacify hostile or angry creatures by touch. The effect is similar to the calm emotions spell. The apostle can affect only a single target with each use of the ability, and must touch the target. A touched creature receives no saving throw and spell resistance does not apply. The pacifying touch does not suppress positive emotions, just anger, rage, and hostility. The apostle of peace can make a level check as if casting dispel magic, using his character level as his caster level, to dispel certain mind-affecting spells affecting the target. The pacifying touch can only dispel spells that incite violent emotions in the target, such as fear or rage.

Censure Fiends (Su): A 4rd-level apostle of peace can censure fiends, much as good clerics turn undead. Channeling holy power from the celestial planes, he can make demons, devils, and other outsiders with the evil subtype recoil. Make a Charisma check for the apostle and consult Table 8—9 in the Player's Handbook, using the apostle's character level to determine the most powerful fiend he can censure. Roll 2d6 + the apostle of peace's level + his Charisma modifier for censuring damage. Using both the apostle's character level and his class level in this manner means that he is more likely to affect a single powerful fiend, but unlikely to censure more than one of them.

A censured fiend is stunned by the apostle's holy power for 1d4+1 rounds. If an apostle of peace attacks a censured fiend, the stunning ends immediately and the fiend can act normally on its next turn. If the apostle of peace's character level is at least twice the fiend's Hit Dice, he banishes the affected fiend back to its home plane. An apostle of peace can make a number of censuring attempts per day equal to 3 + his Charisma modifier. These attempts are separate from any attempts to turn undead.

Advancement