In pursuit of Power some study the art of war others learn the arcane ways, but then there are those dark and disturbed few courting with abyssal powers to achieve their goals. Tyrants, cultists and death dealers, people driven by selfish ambition seek out to further their agenda and the one of their dark patron. These dark crusaders or more often called by the name Blackguard get rewarded for their servitude with the power to vanquish heroes, inflict pain and suffering with a mere touch and rally those under him into unholy frenzy against anyone on their path. Blackguards are champions of evil, they often lead armies of evil creatures and work with other villains to bring ruin to the holy and tyranny to the weak. Not surprisingly, Warriors of Light stop at nothing to put an end to such nefarious villains.
The blackguard is an archetype of the cleric class, available only to evil clerics.
Archetype Main Ability Scores:
The blackguard mainly focuses on STR/DEX for martial combat, and CHA for their class features and spells.
Archetype Feature Replacements:
1st – Spell Proficiency, Faith, Channel Energy, Sense Alignment, Deific Order’s spellcasting. 2nd – Faith Talent, Divine Combat. 4th – Blessing of the Faithful. 5th – Clear Mind. 7th – Prayer. 13th – Divine Spellcasting. 14th – Devotion. 17th – True Channeler. 20th – Deific Capstone.
Prerequisites
Must be of an evil alignment and worship an Evil-aligned god or goddess.
Martial Prowess
A blackguard’s base attack bonus increases by one step (from 3/4 BAB to full BAB). Also increases blackguard’s hit dice from d8 to d10.
This ability replaces cantrips, spells, and MP pool gained at 1st level. Blackguards do not gain any spells or spellcasting ability, do not have a caster level, and cannot use spell trigger and spell completion magic items until 4th level.
Weapon Focus
At 1st level, a blackguard gains Weapon Focus with her deity’s favored weapon as a bonus feat.
This ability replaces spell proficiency.
Smite Good (Su)
Once per day, a blackguard can call out to the powers of evil to aid her in her struggle against good. As a swift action, the blackguard chooses one target within sight to smite. If this target is good, the blackguard adds her Charisma modifier (if any) to her attack rolls and adds her cleric level to all damage rolls made against the target of her smite. If the target of smite good is an outsider with the good subtype, a good-aligned dragon, or a good creature with levels of white mage or holy knight, the bonus to damage on the first successful attack increases to 2 points of damage per level the blackguard possesses. Regardless of the target, smite good attacks automatically bypass any DR the creature might possess.
In addition, while smite good is in effect, the blackguard gains a deflection bonus equal to her Charisma modifier (if any) to her AC against attacks made by the target of the smite. If the blackguard targets a creature that is not good, the smite is wasted with no effect.
The smite good effect remains until the target of the smite is dead or the next time the blackguard rests and regains her uses of this ability. At 4th level, and at every three cleric levels thereafter, the blackguard may smite good one additional time per day to a maximum of seven times per day at 19th level.
This ability replaces faith.
Harm Touch (Su)
Beginning at 1st level, a blackguard can inflict wounds by touch. Each day she can use this ability a number of times equal to half her cleric level plus her Charisma modifier. With one use of this ability, as a touch attack, a blackguard can inflict 1d6 hit points of shadow damage for every two cleric levels she possesses. Using this ability is a standard action that does not provoke attacks of opportunity.
Alternatively, a blackguard can use this dark power to heal damage to undead creatures, healing 1d6 points of damage for every two levels the blackguard possesses. Harm Touch can be used by deific order abilities and faith talents that require channel energy.
This ability replaces channel energy.
Sense Good (Su)
At 1st level, at will, a blackguard can, as a move action, concentrate on a single item or individual within 30 feet and determine if it is good, with a successful Sense Motive skill check. The DC for an item is equal to 10 + the caster level of the item. The DC for an individual is equal to 10 + the CR of the creature.
This ability replaces sense alignment.
Aura of Despair (Su)
At 2nd level, a blackguard emits an enfeebling aura that grants the blackguard’s enemies within 20 ft. a -2 penalty to Will saves.
This ability replaces a faith talent gained at 2nd level.
Profane Blessing (Su)
At 2nd level, a blackguard applies her Charisma modifier (if positive) as a bonus on all saving throws. If the character is ever able to add her Charisma modifier to her saves through use of another ability (for example, the dark knight’s dark blessing), she may only add her Charisma modifier once to her saves.
This ability replaces divine combat.
Defile (Su)
At 4th level and every three levels thereafter, a blackguard gains a defile as a dark knight of the same level.
This ability replaces blessing of the faithful.
Spells
Spells: Beginning at 4th level, a blackguard gains the ability to cast dark knight spells, which are drawn from the dark knight spell list. A blackguard begins play with 1 1st level dark knight spell of her choice. Each time a character attains a new cleric level, she gains one spell of her choice to add to her list of spells. The free spell must be of spell levels she can cast. Like most spellcasters, a blackguard can find or purchase scrolls with spells to add to her repertoire. Unlike other spellcasters, a blackguard wearing armor does not affect her spellcasting ability.
To learn or cast a spell, the blackguard must have a Charisma score equal to at least 10 + the spell level (Cha 11 for 1st-level spells, Cha 12 for 2nd-level spells, and so forth). The Difficulty Class for a saving throw against a blackguard’s spell is 10 + the spell level + the dark knight’s Charisma modifier. In addition, a blackguard gains additional MP for having a high attribute (Charisma—see Table: Bonus MP per Day (by Spell Level) on the MP System page).
Table: 1/2 MP Chart
| Level | MP | Spell Level |
|---|---|---|
| 4th | 1 | 1st |
| 5th | 2 | 1st |
| 6th | 3 | 1st |
| 7th | 4 | 2nd |
| 8th | 5 | 2nd |
| 9th | 6 | 2nd |
| 10th | 7 | 3rd |
| 11th | 8 | 3rd |
| 12th | 10 | 3rd |
| 13th | 12 | 4th |
| 14th | 14 | 4th |
| 15th | 16 | 4th |
| 16th | 19 | 4th |
| 17th | 22 | 4th |
| 18th | 25 | 4th |
| 19th | 29 | 4th |
| 20th | 33 | 4th |
Through 3rd level, a blackguard has no caster level. At 4th level and higher, her caster level is equal to her cleric level – 3.
Dark Resilience (Ex)
At 5th level, a blackguard is immune to all diseases, including supernatural and magical diseases, including mummy rot.
This ability replaces clear mind.
Fiendish Boon (Su)
Upon reaching 7th level, a blackguard forms a divine bond with her god. This bond can take one of two forms. Once the form is chosen, it cannot be changed.
The first type of bond allows the blackguard to enhance her weapon as a standard action by calling upon the aid of a fiendish spirit for 1 minute per cleric level. When called, the spirit causes the weapon to shed gloom as per darkness spell. At 7th level, this spirit grants the weapon a +1 enhancement bonus. For every three levels beyond 7th, the weapon gains another +1 enhancement bonus, to a maximum of +5 at 19th level. These bonuses can be added to the weapon, stacking with existing weapon bonuses to a maximum of +5, or they can be used to add any of the following weapon properties: abyssal, abyssal burst, anarchic, brilliant energy, defending, flaming, flaming burst, keen, speed, unholy, vicious, and wounding. Adding these properties consumes an amount of bonus equal to the property’s cost (see Table: Melee Weapon Special Abilities). These bonuses are added to any properties the weapon already has, but duplicate abilities do not stack. If the weapon is not magical, at least a +1 enhancement bonus must be added before any other properties can be added. The bonus and properties granted by the spirit are determined when the spirit is called and cannot be changed until the spirit is called again. The fiendish spirit imparts no bonuses if the weapon is held by anyone other than the blackguard but resumes giving bonuses if returned to the blackguard. These bonuses apply to only one end of a double weapon. A blackguard can use this ability once per day at 7th level, and one additional time per day for every four cleric levels beyond 7th, to a total of four times per day at 19th level.
If a weapon bonded with a fiendish spirit is destroyed, the blackguard loses the use of this ability for 30 days, or until she gains a level, whichever comes first. During this 30-day period, the blackguard takes a –1 penalty on attack and weapon damage rolls.
The second type of bond allows a blackguard to gain the service of an unusually intelligent, strong, and loyal steed to serve her in her crusade against good. This mount is usually a heavy horse or a yellow chocobo (for a Medium blackguard) or a pony (for a Small blackguard), although more exotic mounts, such as a boar, camel, or dog are also suitable. This mount functions as a beastmaster’s animal companion, using the cleric’s level as her effective beastmaster level. Bonded mounts have an Intelligence of at least 6.
In addition to horses, a blackguard may select (at the GM’s discretion) some less ordinary creatures.
Once per day, as a full-round action, a blackguard may magically call her mount to her side. This ability is the equivalent of a spell of a level equal to one-third the blackguard’s level. The mount immediately appears adjacent to the blackguard. A blackguard can use this ability once per day at 7th level, and one additional time per day for every four cleric levels thereafter, for a total of four times per day at 19th level.
At 11th level, the mount gains the fiendish creature simple template and becomes a magical beast for the purposes of determining which spells affect it.
At 15th level, a blackguard’s mount gains spell resistance equal to the blackguard’s level + 11.
Should the blackguard’s mount die, the blackguard may not summon another mount for 30 days or until she gains a cleric level, whichever comes first. During this 30-day period, the blackguard takes a –1 penalty on attack and weapon damage rolls.
This ability replaces prayer and divine spellcasting.
Aura of War Revelry (Su)
Starting at 14th level, the blackguard begins to emit an aura that bolsters his combat prowess when he receives damage. Whenever the blackguard receives damage in combat, he gains a +2 morale bonus to weapon attack and weapon damage rolls for one round. This bonus increases to +3 at 16th level, +4 at 18th level, and to +5 at 20th level. Whenever he takes damage in combat, allies within 20 feet of the blackguard gain a morale bonus equal to half the bonus this ability grants to him.
This ability replaces devotion.
Ultimate Defiler (Su)
At 17th level, when a blackguard uses harm touch, she can choose to reroll any 1s or 2s when determining how much damage he inflicts.
This ability modifies true channeler.
Unholy Champion (Su)
At 20th level, a blackguard becomes a conduit for the power of her god. Her DR increases to 10/good. Whenever she casts dark spells or uses harm touch, she inflicts the maximum possible amount of damage. In addition, any weapon the blackguard wields is considered Evil aligned for purposes of bypassing damage reduction, dealing an additional 1d6 points of shadow damage against all good opponents and an additional 2d6 points of holy damage against good white mages and holy knights.
This ability replaces the deific capstone at 20th level.