Divine Agent

(Manual of the Planes, p. 24)

God’s Strong Right Hand. The Goddess’s Voice. Servant of the Greater Powers. The divine agent is a specially selected agent of their deity, and they act in the service of that power or deity. Divine agents are unrestricted by dogma or hierarchy, other than their accountability to their immediate (and highest) superior.

Clerics and paladins make excellent divine agents, but the class is not limited to them. The deities have need for a variety of abilities and a variety of viewpoints. A divine agent is often sent across the planes by their deity to attend to a crucial or delicate matter. On such occasions, they are, usually welcome to bring comrades along.

A low-level divine agent is often found on their native plane or the plane of their deity. As divine agents progress in level, they are more common on other planes, where they perform missions at the behest of their deity.

The divine agent is a specially selected agent of their deity, and they act in the service of that power or deity.

Hit die: d8

Requirements

BAB

+4.

Skills

Knowledge (religion) 7 ranks.

Spells

Able to cast 2nd-level divine spells.

Special

The divine agent must have made peaceful contact with their deity or its direct agents (sometimes other divine agents acting on the deity’s behalf ). Furthermore, a potential divine agent must have completed a specific task assigned by their deity in order to become a divine agent. Once the task is completed, the character can become a divine agent at any point thereafter.

After a character has embarked on this path (as a 1st-level divine agent), a divine agent cannot become the divine agent of another deity.

Class skills

Concentration, Craft, Diplomacy, Disguise, Gather Information, Heal, Intimidate, Knowledge (religion), Profession, Search, Sense Motive, Spellcraft, Spot, Use Magic Device.

Skill points at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier

Advancement

Level	BAB	Fort	Ref	Will	Special	Spells per Day
1st	+0	+0	+0	+2	Granted domain
2nd	+1	+0	+0	+3	Contact	+1 spellcaster level
3rd	+2	+1	+1	+3	Godly gift, Menacing aura
4th	+3	+1	+1	+4	Altered appearance	+1 spellcaster level
5th	+3	+1	+1	+4	Plane shift to deity’s plane, Commune
6th	+4	+2	+2	+5	Godly gift	+1 spellcaster level
7th	+5	+2	+2	+5	Plane shift to any plane
8th	+6	+3	+3	+6	Audience, Alignment shift	+1 spellcaster level
9th	+6	+3	+3	+6	Godly gift, Mystic union
10th	+7	+3	+3	+7	Gate	+1 spellcaster level

Class features

Weapon and armor proficiency

Divine agents are proficient with all simple weapons, and with all types of armor. Furthermore, a divine agent gains proficiency with their deity’s favored weapon, if they do not already have it.

Granted domain

A divine agent gains access to one domain chosen from among those their deity offers, and with it the granted power of that domain. Divine agents who were once clerics essentially gain a third domain this way and can prepare their domain spells at each level from the new domain’s list if they wish.

No matter what their prior class was, divine agents gain the granted power of the domain they choose. In cases where the granted ability relies on cleric levels or allows turning or rebuking, use the sum of a character’s cleric and divine agent levels to determine the ability’s effect.

Contact

(Su) Supernatural ability

A divine agent of 2nd level or higher may be contacted mentally by their deity or its agents, usually to impart particular knowledge and orders to the divine agent. This contact only functions one way; the divine agent cannot initiate the contact, question the orders, or ask for clarifications. The nature of the contact depends on the deity: Dreams, ghostly visions, and illuminations from above are all possibilities. Contact from the deity rarely interrupts the divine agent’s normal actions.

Spells per day

A divine agent continues training in magic as well as gaining power from their deity. At 2nd, 4th, 6th, 8th, and 10th level, the divine agent gains new spells per day as if they had also gained a level in whatever spellcasting class they belonged to before they added the prestige class. they do not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained. This essentially means that they add the level of divine agent to the level of whatever other spellcasting class the character has, then determines spells per day accordingly.

If a character had more than one spellcasting class before they became a divine agent, they must decide to which class they add each level of divine agent for the purposes of determining spells per day when they add the new level.

Menacing aura

(Ex) Extraordinary ability

At 3rd level, a divine agent gains the ability to generate an intangible, invisible aura of menace that weakens hostile creatures within a 20-foot radius. Anyone about to attack the divine agent must attempt a Will save (DC = the divine agent’s character level). Those who fail the saving throw suffer a —2 morale penalty on attacks, checks, and saves for one full day or until they successfully damage the divine agent generating the aura. A creature that made its initial save or damaged the divine agent is immune to that divine agent’s aura for one day.

Godly gift

At 3rd, 6th, and 9th levels, the deity bestows on the divine agent a gift. Each deity’s gift varies, but it is usually the ability to use a spell from one of the divine agent’s domains as a spell-like ability. The deity offers a spell of the divine agent’s level or lower. In other words, a 3rd-level divine agent would gain one of their 1st-level, 2nd-level, or 3rd-level domain spells as a spell-like ability. The divine agent may use this ability once per day. The spell-like ability functions as a spell cast by a cleric of a level equal to the divine agent’s character level.

Altered appearance

(Ex) Extraordinary ability

At 4th level, a divine agent begins to show prominent physical modification to match the desires of their deity. For good-aligned deities, this often takes the form of golden skin, hair, or eyes. Divine agents of evil-aligned deities might gain horns, antlers, or a pointed tail. Neutral deities may provide a copper or silver tone to the skin, while nature deities may cause a greenish pallor and barklike hair. Elemental powers may alter their divine agents’ appearance by giving a texture to the skin reflecting the element involved. All such alterations are permanent, though disguise or spells may hide them.

Commune

(Sp) Spell-like ability

A divine agent of 5th level or higher can activate this spell-like ability (as commune) once per week. This spell-like ability functions as a spell cast by a cleric of a level equal to the divine agent’s character level.

Plane shift to deity’s plane

(Sp) Spell-like ability

A divine agent of 5th level or higher may plane shift to their deity’s home plane once per day, and from that plane to the divine agent’s native plane. This spell-like ability functions as the spell cast by a cleric of a level equal to the divine agent’s character level.

Plane shift to any plane

(Sp) Spell-like ability

Upon reaching 7th level, a divine agent may plane shift to any plane of existence, as per the spell, once per day. This spell-like ability functions as the spell cast by a cleric of a level equal to the divine agent’s character level.

Audience

(Sp) Spell-like ability

Up to twice per year a divine agent of 8th level or higher may request an audience with their deity, which functions as a double-duration commune spell allowing a number of questions equal to double the divine agent’s character level.

Alignment shift

If a divine agent is not the same alignment as their deity, then their alignment shifts to match it as soon as the divine agent reaches 8th level.

Mystic union

At 9th level, a divine agent becomes a magical creature. They are treated as an outsider of the deity’s home plane rather than as a humanoid. For instance, charm person does not affect them. Additionally, the divine agent gains 10 points of damage reduction bypassed by weapons aligned opposite the deity's alignment. For example, a divine agent of Kord would have damage reduction 10/lawful or evil. Divine agents of completely neutral deities such as Obad-hai gain damage reduction 15/magic instead.

Despite this outsider status, a divine agent may still be brought back from the dead if slain.

Gate

(Sp) Spell-like ability

A 10th-level divine agent can activate this spell-like ability (as gate, except it only reaches the home plane of the divine agent’s deity) once per day. This spell-like ability functions as the spell cast by a cleric of a level equal to the divine agent’s character level.

Fallen divine agents

Not all who follow a deity achieve that deity’s goals. It is possible to be cast out from (or to walk out on) service to one’s deity. The effects of being a fallen divine agent are as follows:

• The character loses all commune, gate, and audience abilities.
• The former divine agent retains their mystic union properties, altered appearance, and any godly gifts.
• Depending on the circumstances of the departure, the divine agent may or may not be hunted by agents of the deity in question.
• The divine agent class is forbidden to the character. Another deity will not sponsor a former divine agent.
• The divine agent may be reinstated by the deity only upon completing some great quest determined by the DM. Often the deity makes the entire process more difficult, just to test the devotion of the fallen divine agent.