The Ruby Disciple (Prestige Class)
By Scott Brocius and Mark A. Jindra

"We see you . . . move along now."

Even though Sardior's clergy tend to be welcomed everywhere much as bards are, they know not everyone is as friendly as they seem. A small group of his clergy trains to be a martial arm of the church, serving not only as a defense but also as a show of force so that they can keep potential thieves away.

This group is known as the ruby disciples. They seek the power of Sardior, the ruby dragon, to enhance their combat capabilities. Both cleric and psions enter the service of the dragon, and while their training is similar, they have marked differences in their abilities. A character possessing both cleric and psionic levels must choose to be a divine ruby disciple or a psionic ruby disciple.

Hit Dice: d8.

Requirements

To qualify as a ruby disciple, a character must meet the following criteria.

Alignment: Any neutral.
Spells/Manifesting: Ability to cast a divine spell of 4th level or higher, or ability to manifest a 3rd-level telepathic power, or ability to manifest any 4th-level psionic power.
Feats: Combat Casting and any divine feat, or Combat Manifestation and Psychoanalyst.
Skills: Bluff4 ranks, Diplomacy 4 ranks.
Special: Must be a worshiper of Sardior.

Class Skills

The ruby disciple's class skills are Animal Empathy (Cha), Bluff (Cha), Concentration (Con), Diplomacy (Cha), Gather Information (Cha), Knowledge (any) (Int), Psicraft (Int), Remote View (Int, exclusive skill), Spellcraft (Int), Stabilize Self (Con).

Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier.

Class Abilities Specific to the Divine Ruby Disciple

Spells per Day: When a character gains a level of divine ruby disciple (except as noted on the table below), the character gains new spells per day as if he had also gained a level in the divine spellcasting class he belonged to before becoming a ruby disciple. He does not gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained.

Spell Use (Sp): Divine ruby disciples gain access to the Telepathy psionic discipline as clerical spells starting at 1st level. They can select psionic powers from the Telepathy discipline to replace normally granted spells per day. They must meet the normal Charisma requirements to cast these powers. For example, a divine ruby disciple would need a Charisma of 16 to cast a 6th-level telepathic psionic power.

Class Abilities Specific to the Psionic Ruby Disciple

Power Points: When they gain a level, psionic ruby disciples gain power points per day as though they gained a level of psion. These power points are added to the character's previous total. Psionic ruby disciples gain bonus power points based on the key ability score for their primary ability. If the character previously could not gain bonus power points for high ability scores (as is the case for psychic warriors), he now chooses a primary discipline and can gain bonus power points based on the related ability score.

Powers Discovered: With the exception of the levels noted on the table below, psionic ruby disciples discover powers per level as though they gained a level of psion. Powers are chosen from the psion power list. Their effective manifester level is increased by one for each level of the prestige class.

Power Use (Sp): Psionic ruby disciples can discover Sardior's domain spells as though they were telepathy powers of equal level. Discovering a spell this way replaces one of the normal powers discovered by the psionic ruby disciple. Psionic ruby disciples can discover domain spells as powers only when gaining a level of psionic ruby disciple.

Psionic Combat: Psionic ruby disciples discover psionic attack and defense modes as though the character were a psychic warrior of the same level as the prestige class. (Characters do not forget previously discovered attack and defense modes.)

Psicrystals: Psionic ruby disciple levels count toward the level of the psionic character for purposes determining psicrystal Intelligence and special abilities. Psicrystals are a class ability of psions. You must take at least one level of psion if you wish to encode a psicrystal.

0-Level Powers: Psionic ruby disciple levels count toward the level of the psionic character for determining the number of free manifestations per day or your 0-level powers.

Class Abilities Common to Divine and Psionic Ruby Disciples

Armor and Weapon Proficiency: Ruby disciples become proficient with all types of armor (light, medium, and heavy). They also gain proficiency in simple and martial weapons, though many prefer to use their claws exclusively when they gain that class ability.

Ruby Eyes (Ex): At 1st level, the ruby disciple's eyes transform into rubylike crystal. They have an inner glow and can act as a holy symbol. At 1st level, this transformation gives the ruby disciple low-light vision. At 5th level, they also grant darkvision. If the character already has either of these, their range is doubled. At 8th level, their eyes grant them true seeing, usable up to 10 minutes per day.

Claws (Ex): The ruby disciple gains retractable claws that do a base d8 damage. Extending or retracting the claws is a free action, but doing so can be performed only once per round.

Natural Armor (Ex): As the ruby disciple gains levels, his skin undergoes a transformation. Initially, his skin becomes pale red in color, as though sunburned. As the transformation progresses, his skin gets deeper red in color and turns into faceted scales, as though covered with plates of ruby. This translates into a natural armor bonus of +2 at 3rd level, which increases to +4 at 6th level, and then to +6 at 9th level.

Breath Weapon (Su): Starting at 4th level, the ruby disciple gains a breath weapon. The type of breath weapon varies depending on the former class of the ruby disciple as shown on the chart below. Using the breath weapon is a full action, and can be used once per day. The power of the breath weapon increases at 7th- level and again at 10th-level.

*A line is always 5 ft. high, 5 ft. wide, and 60 ft. long.
**A cone is always 30 ft. long.