Defiant Defender PrC

Used as bodyguards and point soldiers, these individuals are often highly trained and motivated to make sure enemies have to get through them first.  Capable of anticipating and reacting to danger at a moment's notice, they are also adept at measuring up a situation and those involved.

ENTRY REQUIREMENTS

To qualify to become an defiant defender, a character must fulfill all the following criteria.

Base Attack Bonus: +5

Skills: Listen 4 ranks, Spot 4 ranks

Feats: Combat Reflexes and one other feat from the list of bonus fighter feats

Level	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Special
1st	+1	+2	+2	+2	Defensive Harrier, Battle Reactive, Steady
2nd	+2	+3	+3	+3	Holding Ground, Elude Touch, Mean Lunge
3rd	+3	+3	+3	+3	None Shall Pass, None Shall Flee, Proactive
4th	+4	+4	+4	+4	Defensive Bulwark, Interference, Sure Grasp
5th	+5	+4	+4	+4	Fearsome Display, Loyalty, Contingency Plans
6th	+6	+5	+5	+5	Impetuous Endurance, Intercept Style

Hit Die: d12

Class Skills (4 + Int modifier per level): Balance, Climb, Escape Artist, Intimidate, Jump, Listen, Perform (weapon drill), Search, Sense Motive, Spot, Swim, Tumble.

CLASS FEATURES

All the following are class features of the defiant defender prestige class.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Defiant defenders gain no proficiency with any weapon, armor or shield. 

Defensive Harrier (Ex): As far as a defiant defender sees fit, any number of opponents he threatens suffer a penalty equal to his class level on all skill checks, as well as on all attack rolls made against targets other than the defiant defender himself and his gear. For each size category an opponent holds over the defiant defender, the penalty they suffer is reduced by 1 to a minimum of 0. Opponents become aware of this effect while they are aware of being threatened.

Battle Reactive (Ex): A defiant defender gains a bonus to initiative equal to his class level. He may also add the same number to the amount of attacks of opportunity he can make in one round.

Steady (Ex): Whenever a defiant defender uses a standard action to perform or ready a move action or any other action that involves making a melee attack roll, he may then assume the penalties and benefits of fighting defensively until the start of his next turn. Any penalty a defiant defender suffers on attacks of opportunity due to fighting defensively, is reduced by an amount equal to half his class level (rounded down).

    Alternatively, if the standard action is used to perform or ready a move action only, the defiant defender may then assume the penalties and benefits of a total defense (instead of fighting defensively) and still make attacks of opportunity at a -10 penalty, reducing that penalty by an amount equal to his class level.

    In either case, a defiant defender with the Combat Expertise feat, may use it as part of this ability.

    A readied action occurs just before the action that triggered it, and if the triggering action then provokes an attack of opportunity from the defiant defender, he may make that attack of opportunity normally.

Holding Ground (Ex): Starting at 2nd level, a defiant defender gains a bonus equal to half his class level (rounded down) on Escape Artist checks and on opposed rolls to escape a grapple, avoid a sunder attempt, and to resist bull rush, overrun, feint, demoralize, disarm and trip attempts made against him. In addition, the defiant defender gains an equal dodge bonus to AC against charge attacks and attacks of opportunity made against him.

Elude Touch (Ex): Starting at 2nd level, a defiant defender's instincts begin to supersede his intellect, alerting him to danger from touch attacks (including rays). He gains a bonus to Armor Class against all touch attacks equal to half his class level (rounded down); however, his touch AC can never exceed his Armor Class against normal attacks.

Mean Lunge (Ex): By 2nd level, a defiant defender may use the Intimidate or Perform (weapon drill) skill as a move action, in an attempt to demoralize a single foe he threatens. This effect lasts for a number of rounds equal to half his class level (rounded down) or until the affected foe witnesses the defiant defender rendered helpless or dead. This is a mind-affecting ability that does not stack.

None Shall Pass (Ex): Starting at 3rd level, whenever a defiant defender deals physical damage to an opponent with a melee attack of opportunity that the opponent provoked by moving through the area threatened by the defiant defender, the defiant defender may try and stop that opponent in its tracks.

    If the defiant defender so wishes, the opponent struck must make a Reflex save (DC equals his class level + the number of feats he has from the list of bonus fighter feats + the damage dealt). The opponent gets a +4 bonus on the save for each size category it holds over the defiant defender or a -2 penalty for each size category the defiant defender holds over it. If the opponent fails the save, it loses the remainder of its action.

    Alternatively, the defiant defender may attempt a trip attack when using an attack of opportunity that the opponent provoked by moving through the area threatened by the defiant defender. In this case, the defiant defender may use the opponent's momentum to his advantage, gaining a circumstance bonus equal to half his class level (rounded down), on the opposed ability check he makes when trying to trip the opponent.

None Shall Flee (Ex): Starting at 3rd level, any opponent threatened by a defiant defender, that takes any sort of movement, even a 5-ft step, provokes an attack of opportunity from him. Opponents may not use the withdraw action to treat the square they start in as no longer threatened by such a defiant defender.

Proactive (Ex): Starting at 3rd level, a defiant defender's initiative count does not change when taking a readied action.

Defensive Bulwark (Ex): By 4th level, a defiant defender has improved his ability to hamper foes that try to move around him, such that all opponents treat the area he threatens as difficult terrain (movement costs are doubled in those squares).

Interference (Ex): Starting at 4th level, before the defiant defender knows the result of a physical attack that he can perceive passing through or occurring within the area he threatens, be it melee or ranged, the defiant defender may use a melee attack of opportunity in an attempt to knock it off course. If the defiant defender's attack roll exceeds the incoming attack roll, the incoming attack roll must be rolled again, using the new result only if it is less than the previous result.

    For each size category the enemy attacker holds over the defiant defender, the defiant defender suffers a -4 penalty on his attack of opportunity when using this ability. Unusually massive weapons (such as boulders or ballista bolts) and attacks that don't involve a solid object or missile can't be affected. Attacks from incorporeal and ethereal enemies can't be affected unless the defiant defender possess a means of striking them with the attack of opportunity this ability allows, in which case he may suffer a miss chance (or not, if using a Ghost Touch weapon or wielding a force effect modeled after a melee weapon).

Sure Grasp (Ex): Starting at 4th level, if a defiant defender becomes stunned or panicked, he may choose not to drop whatever he is holding.

Fearsome Display (Ex): Starting at 5th level, whenever a defiant defender uses a standard action to perform or ready his Mean Lunge ability, the ability may be used against a maximum number of foes he threatens, equal to the number of feats he has from the list of fighter bonus feats.

Loyalty (Ex): By 5th level, a defiant defender may roll his saving throw twice against any mind-affecting attack or effect, and take the better result. Defiant defenders with a natural immunity to mind-affecting effects instead gain turn resistance equal to half their class level (rounded down).

Contingency Plans (Ex): By 5th level, a defiant defender has mastered the task of mentally rehearsing the moves he will make should circumstances change at a moment's notice.

  As a standard action, he may ready a standard, move action or swift action.

  As a move action, he may ready a move action or swift action.

  As a swift action, he may ready a swift action.

  The defiant defender may have multiple readied actions available at any one time, but only one of them may be allowed to occur just before a single triggering action. Only after one of the readied actions is taken, and its triggering action is then resolved, may the other readied action(s) be taken at that time or remain readied to possibly be triggered later during the round.

    A readied action occurs just before the action that triggered it, and if the triggering action then provokes an attack of opportunity from the defiant defender, he may make that attack of opportunity normally.

Impetuous Endurance (Ex): A 6th level defiant defender does not automatically fail a saving throw on a roll of 1. He still fails the save, however, if his result fails to overcome the save's DC.

Intercept Style (Ex): At 6th level, whenever a defiant defender uses a standard action to ready a move action for the purpose of movement, he may use that readied action any number of times during the round, until the sum of movement it provides equals what he can get from a single move action, or until an event occurs in which he would normally lose an entire move action. For movement that involves a check of some kind, the check must be made each time this particular readied action is used.

    A readied action occurs just before the action that triggered it, and if the triggering action then provokes an attack of opportunity from the defiant defender, he may make that attack of opportunity normally.