Learning the truth comes at a price. A contingent of scholars seeking the ancient city of Tu’Lia made an overwhelming discovery, and entered into The Emptiness. There they glimpsed the truth of their imperfection, and sought to rectify this. These Empty Shepherds now labor to bring about the resurrection of Promathia, the Keeper of the Apocalypse, and his subsequent destruction. Once this is accomplished, every soul will be torn from these imperfect bodies, rushing to the dying Promathia in a perfect reunion.
The empty shepherd is a deific order of the cleric class.
Limit Breaks (Su)
At 1st level, the empty shepherd receives the Limit Breaks (Bastion of Twilight and Chains of Promathia).
Bastion of Twilight (Su): This Limit Break grants the empty shepherd a fortress of darkness, shadowy vestiges of The Emptiness, that clings to his body and that of his flock. For a duration of 1 round + 1 round per four cleric levels after 1st, the empty shepherd and any allies within 30 feet gain the effects of Protect, Shell, and Regen. At 5th level, these increase to the II versions, at 9th level, the III versions, at 13th level, the IV versions, and at 17th level, the V versions. This limit break requires only a swift action.
Chains of Promathia (Su): This Limit Break conjures shadowy chains around the empty shepherd’s foes, giving them a mere glimpse of the terrifying truth of the world as they are bound. All enemies within 30 ft. of the empty shepherd must make a Will save (DC 10 + half of his cleric level + his Charisma modifier) or be inflicted with the Immobilized and Cowering status effects for 1 round + 1 round per four cleric levels after the 1st. The cowering status is a fear effect.
Spells
An empty shepherd casts black mage spells which are drawn from the black mage spell list.
To learn or cast a black mage spell, the empty shepherd must have a Wisdom score equal to at least 10 + the spell level (Wis 11 for 1st-level spells, Wis 12 for 2nd-level spells, and so forth). The Difficulty Class for a saving throw against an empty shepherd’s spell is 10 + the spell level + his Wisdom modifier. In addition, an empty shepherd gains additional MP for having a high attribute (Wisdom). All black mage spells learned by the empty shepherd use his Wisdom modifier instead of Intelligence for all spells’ effects.
Class Skills
An empty shepherd adds Perception to his list of class skills. In addition, he gains a bonus on Knowledge (Planes) checks equal to half his cleric level.
Favored Weapon
An empty shepherd adds spiked chains to his list of weapon proficiencies.
Domains
An empty shepherd gains access to two of the following domains: Death, Destruction, Evil, Law, Void.
Deity Abilities
An empty shepherd gains the following abilities from his deity as he increases in level.
True Knowledge (Ex)
At 1st level, if an empty shepherd’s Intelligence score is less than 13, it counts as 13 for the purpose of meeting feat prerequisites.
Malevolent Blessing (Ex)
At 3rd level, the empty shepherd increases the DC of all dark school spells he casts by 1.
Chain Mastery (Ex)
At 6th level, an empty shepherd becomes more adept at handling his spiked chain, the symbol of Promathia’s bindings. He gains the Chain Mastery feat as a bonus feat, without needing to meet the prerequisites. In addition, when making disarm or trip combat maneuvers using his spiked chain, the empty shepherd may use his cleric level in place of his base attack bonus for his CMB.
Winds of Oblivion (Su)
At 9th level, the empty shepherd calls forth The Emptiness, tugging at the souls of his foes to try and send them to Promathia. He may attempt to Curse all enemies within 30 ft. for a number of rounds equal to his Charisma modifier. A successful Will save (DC 10 + half of his cleric level + his Charisma modifier) negates the status effect. The empty shepherd may use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + his Charisma modifier.
Rending Chain (Ex)
At 12th level, when an empty shepherd successfully performs a disarm or trip combat maneuver with his spiked chain on an enemy, that enemy provokes an attack of opportunity from him. In addition, the empty shepherd gains a +2 bonus on any attacks of opportunity made against opponents he has successfully disarmed or tripped with a spiked chain within the last round.
Infernal Deliverance (Su)
At 15th level, the empty shepherd may spend 3 daily uses of channel energy to create a momentary rift to The Emptiness up to 100 ft. away, the shadow erupting in a 30-ft.-radius burst. Creatures caught in the area of effect take 15d8 points of shadow damage and are stunned for 1 round. A successful Fortitude save (DC 10 + half of his cleric level + his Charisma modifier) halves this damage and negates the status effect.
It Matters Not (Su)
At 18th level, an empty shepherd knows that all in this life is a lie, and that the true life begins when all souls join with Promathia. At the start of his turn, without taking any action, the empty shepherd may spend 1 daily use of channel energy to ignore the effects of one status effect he is suffering from for 1 round. On subsequent rounds, he may continue to spend a daily use of channel energy to ignore that same status effect for another round. Only 1 status effect per round may be ignored using this ability.
Soul Rejoining (Su)
At 20th level, the empty shepherd may use a small portion of Promathia’s power, rending an enemy’s soul and bringing it into his own body. Once per day, when the empty shepherd dies, he may use this ability as an immediate action against his killer – he may do so even if he is unconscious, targeting the last creature that damaged him if he bleeds out. That creature must make a Fortitude save (DC 20 + his Charisma modifier) or instantly die. This is a death effect. If the targeted creature dies from this, the empty shepherd is restored to life at full hit points.