Prestige Class: Legacy Champion

Augment: You can augment this power in one of the following ways. 1. If you spend 4 additional power points (9 total), you regain one daily use of a chosen lesser ability. 2. If you spend 12 additional power points (17 total), you regain one daily use of a chosen greater ability. Sever Legacy, Psionic

Telepathy

Level: Psion/wilder 8

Display: Mental

Manifesting Time: 1 round

Range: Close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)

Target: One creature

Duration: Permanent

Saving Throw: Will negates

Power Resistance: Yes

Power Points: 15

As the sever legacy spell (see above), except as noted here. Other than by again performing the legacy rituals to regain lost feats, this effect can be negated by miracle, psychic chirurgery, reality revision, or wish.

Augment: For every 2 additional power points you spend, this power’s range increases by 5 feet and its save DC increases by 1. Suppress Legacy, Psionic

Telepathy Level: Psion/wilder 5 Display: Mental Manifesting Time: 1 round Range: Close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels) Target: One creature Duration: 1 round/level Saving Throw: Will negates Power Resistance: Yes Power Points: 9 As the suppress legacy spell (see above), except as noted here.

Augment: For every 2 additional power points you spend, this power’s range increases by 5 feet and its save DC increases by 1.

“In my hand, talismans of ancient manufacture have no secrets. Their primeval power is mine.”

— Marrush Scarhand

As a legacy champion, you are so devoted to the history and chronicle of a particular item of legacy that you enjoy enhanced access to your item’s legacy abilities.

You can learn the needed rituals more quickly and use the item’s abilities more often, and you can even customize the item’s abilities to your own purpose.

The story of a particular legacy item becomes central to your own identity, so much so that you might change part of your name, behavior, clothing, or other attributes to more closely reflect historical or visual aspects of your item. BECOMING A LEGACY CHAMPION

To become a legacy champion, you must already possess an item of legacy, have unlocked its least abilities, and be on the cusp of unlocking its lesser abilities.

No particular class is most associated with legacy champions—obsession can be visited upon anyone.

Members of classes more inclined to study ancient texts, such as wizards, have a slight predilection for becoming legacy champions; however, reduced spellcasting ability keeps wizards from predominating.

Legacy Champion Entry Requirements

Skill: Knowledge (history) 5 ranks. Feat: Least Legacy*. Special: Must possess a legacy item, character level 10th. *New feat; see page 14.

CLASS FEATURES

As a legacy champion, you are focused on exploring to the fullest the potential of your legacy item. Your class features deal with getting needed information more quickly and exploiting it effectively. Your existing class abilities continue to advance at nearly their full rate, interrupted only by opportunities to unlock legacy abilities at greatly reduced cost.

Class Features: At each level except 1st and 7th, you gain class features and an increase in effective level as if you had also gained a level in a class to which you belonged before adding the prestige class level. The specific class features you gain include spells per day (and spells known, if applicable), improved chance of turning or destroying undead, metamagic

or item creation feats, bonus feats, monk special abilities, sneak attack progressions, and so on, depending on the class. You do not, however, gain the benefit of your previous class’s Hit Dice, attack progression, skill points, or saving throws. If you had more than one class before becoming a legacy champion, you must decide to which class to add each level for the purpose of determining class abilities.

Reduced Ritual Cost: After you’ve made a successful Knowledge (history) check to learn the lesser legacy ritual for your legacy item, you can perform that ritual and gain the Lesser Legacy feat as normal. However, you do not pay the ritual’s associated gp cost. You must still perform all other aspects of the ritual and pay any personal costs required to unlock lesser abilities. If you have more than one legacy item, you must decide to which one this reduction applies. On reaching 7th level, you can perform the greater legacy ritual for your item without paying the associated gp cost.

Bond of Lore (Ex): You add your class level as an insight bonus to Knowledge (history) checks made in relation to your legacy item.

Replace Legacy Ability (Ex): As your bond with your legacy item strengthens, you become capable of permanently changing the item’s abilities to suit your needs. At 2nd level, you can replace any one least ability granted by your item with your choice of any least ability from Menu A in Chapter 4: Founding Legacies. At 5th level, you can replace any one least or lesser ability with your choice of any least ability from Menu A or any lesser ability from Menu D, respectively. At 10th level, you can replace any one least, lesser, or greater ability with your choice of any least ability from Menu A, any lesser ability from Menu D, or any greater ability from Menu G, respectively.

Extra Legacy Ability Use (Su): As your bond with your legacy item strengthens, you can draw on its abilities more often than normal. At 3rd level, choose one of your item’s least abilities with a daily use limit. You can use that ability one extra time per day. Once you have chosen an ability, you cannot change it later. At 6th level, you can also gain an extra daily use of one of your item’s lesser abilities. At 9th level, you can also gain an extra daily use of one of your item’s greater abilities. You can instead choose to gain an extra daily use of a lower ability (for example, choosing a second least ability instead of a lesser ability at 6th level), but you can’t gain more than one extra daily use of a given ability. If your item has no legacy abilities with a daily use limit, you gain no benefit from this class feature.

If you later gain access to an eligible legacy ability, you can immediately choose that ability for an extra daily use.

Bonus Legacy Feat: At 4th and 8th level, you gain a bonus feat related to your legacy item, which can be selected from any of the legacy feats in this chapter for which you meet the prerequisites. PLAYING A LEGACY CHAMPION

You hold a deep reverence for the historical significance of your legacy item. You know that many useful and valid lessons lie in the story of its founding and the events that surround its passage down the ages to your current stewardship. The pageant of its history contains myriad stories that, if properly interpreted, remain as relevant today as the day the item was founded. The history of the legacy item is more than a litany of craving for power, of bloodlust, violence, destruction,

Table 2–1: The Legacy Champion Hit Die: d8

Base Fort Ref Will Level Attack Bonus Save Save Save Special Class Features

1st +0 +0 +0 +2 Reduced ritual cost (lesser), — bond of lore 2nd +1 +0 +0 +3 Replace legacy ability (least) +1 level of existing class features 3rd +2 +1 +1 +3 Extra legacy ability use (least) +1 level of existing class features 4th +3 +1 +1 +4 Bonus legacy feat +1 level of existing class features 5th +3 +1 +1 +4 Replace legacy ability (lesser) +1 level of existing class features 6th +4 +2 +2 +5 Extra legacy ability use (lesser) +1 level of existing class features 7th +5 +2 +2 +5 Reduced ritual cost (greater) — 8th +6 +2 +2 +6 Bonus legacy feat +1 level of existing class features 9th +6 +3 +3 +6 Extra legacy ability use (greater) +1 level of existing class features 10th +7 +3 +3 +7 Replace legacy ability (greater) +1 level of existing class features Class Skills (4 + Int modifier per level): Concentration, Decipher Script, Gather Information, Knowledge (history), Use Magic Device, plus existing class skills from all your classes.

and war—you are part of that history, even as it unfolds. In your hands, the item continues its great journey through the ages, becoming a part of events yet to take shape. In some distant future, it might be your name that is repeated in awe when some lucky person finds the legacy item and learns something of its past. Combat

who might be able to provide additional information in return for your own expertise. LEGACY CHAMPIONS IN THE WORLD

Characters particularly proficient with legacy items are a rare breed, especially since legacy items are not nearly as common as standard magical items.

If your legacy item is primarily made for battle, then obviously it is your first and last recourse when conflict beckons. In fact, the more attention you draw to yourself and the wonder you wield, the more you might intimidate foes with its unparalleled potency. Use Bluff, Diplomacy, or Intimidate before or during combat while reciting your item’s pedigree to shake your enemies’ confidence in their ability to defeat you. Organization

Legacy champions have no particular or overarching organizations.

Each is unique, and other than an all-consuming desire to learn as much as possible about his legacy item, each legacy champion has little in common with any other. NPC Reactions

Advancement

Your advancement as a legacy champion can vary widely, depending on your original class. Because you continue to have limited access to some of that class’s abilities, your best strategy is to customize your item’s legacy abilities to your original class. For instance, if you were originally a fighter, your legacy item is probably a weapon.

A reasonable advancement plan is continuing to choose bonus fighter feats that enhance your prowess with that weapon; in addition, you can customize the weapon’s legacy abilities to work better with your existing talents. Resources

Since this prestige class depends on possessing an item of legacy, your first resource is obvious. Beyond that, you need to continue your research into the specific details needed to unlock your item’s history. In this regard, your singular knowledge of obscure history can get you ready access to many libraries. Likewise, the reputation of your learning is sufficient to grant you audiences with sages

Most people generally do not recognize a legacy champion as anything more than someone with a particularly powerful magic item. If he further advertises his item’s pedigree, NPCs might be impressed or afraid, but no more so than with any other character displaying an impressive weapon or staff. Those NPCs who understand the concept of legacy items are likely to be impressed by the legacy champion’s possession, whether or not they understand that he has more fully tapped into its power than most could ever hope for. Their reaction might be mere admiration, but often this is mixed with envy and greed. As with any wielder of potent magic, a legacy champion must be A legacy champion forms an exceptionally vigilant against those who want only strong bond with her legacy item to take the legacy item for themselves (for all the good it would do them). LEGACY CHAMPION LORE Characters with Knowledge (history), Knowledge (local), or Gather Information can research legacy champions to learn more about them. When a character makes a skill check, read or paraphrase the following, including the information from lower DCs.

Illus. by W. England

Illus. by S. Belledin

DC 10: Some magic items possess hidden powers that are diffi cult, if impossible, to wake.

DC 15: Some magic items of epic pedigree, called items of legacy, can be wakened to greater power if enough of their history is researched and understood.

DC 20: Among the wielders of legacy items are those who more fully tap into their items’ powers.

These are called “legacy champions.”

DC 30: Legacy champions do not have to pay the enormous costs associated with awakening a legacy item to its full potency. Moreover, they gain access to their items’ abilities more quickly and can use them more often. Establishing contact with a legacy champion is diffi cult. Characters trying to do so should make a

DC 25 Gather Information check to fi nd a library or sage, through which a meeting can be arranged, or a

DC 30 Gather Information check to track the legacy champion down directly. If a PC possesses a legacy item or has information about a legacy item, the check has a +2 circumstance bonus. LEGACY CHAMPIONS IN THE GAME

Legacy champions can show up anywhere— they have no particular creed or affi liation and thus are not constrained to particular situations or styles of game play. Encounters

Although legacy champions could show up in any situation, they are uncommon, and NPC legacy champions should be rarely encountered. When such a meeting happens, it is memorable.

EL 15: Marrush Scarhand wields the mighty spear

Guurgal (see page 103). He believes that by discovering the weapon, he is destined to be leader of the

Great Horde, an army of orcs that will wash over the civilized peoples of the world. Marrush is typically accompanied by a 10th-level half-orc barbarian and 1d4 5th-level half-orc barbarians (use the statistics on page 112 of the Dungeon

Master’s Guide).

Marrush Scarhand, Legacy Champion of Guurgal CR 13

Male half-orc fighter 10/legacy champion 3 CE Medium humanoid (orc) Init +5 Senses darkvision 60 ft., Listen –1, Spot –1 Languages Common, Orc AC 27, touch 12, flat-footed 26 hp 93 (13 HD) Resist 25% chance ignore critical hits Fort +12, Ref +5, Will +7 Speed 20 ft. (4 squares) Melee Guurgal +20/+15/+10 (1d8+8/19–20/×3) Base Atk +12; Grp +18 Atk Options bloodlust, Power Attack Spell-Like Abilities mirror image 2/day (CL 5th) Abilities Str 22, Dex 13, Con 14, Int 8, Wis 8, Cha 10 SQ incite horde Feats Blind-FightB, CleaveB, DodgeB, Greater Weapon

Focus (spear)B, Improved Critical (spear)B ,

Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Least Legacy (Guurgal)B, Lesser Legacy (Guurgal)B, Power Attack,

Skill Focus (Knowledge [history]), Weapon Focus (spear), Weapon Specialization (spear)B Skills Diplomacy +0 (+5 with orcs), Intimidate +6 (+11 with orcs), Knowledge (history) +13 (+16 regarding

Guurgal); Possessions +2 full plate armor of light fortification, +3 heavy steel shield, Guurgal, gauntlets of ogre power +2, cloak of resistance +2, ring of protection +1 Bloodlust (Su) Whenever Marrush hits and deals damage to an opponent, he gains a +1 morale bonus on his next attack against that opponent.

The next attack must occur within 1 round, or the bonus is lost. The bonus is cumulative, to a maximum of +5. Incite Horde (Su) Guurgal grants a +1 morale bonus on attack rolls and saving throws against fear to all orcs within 30 feet (not including Marrush).

Marrush Scarhand, legacy champion of Guurgal