Hellknight

You've presented yourself to a Hellknight citadel as a candidate to become a fearsome Hellknight. You believe that all who live must be forced to obey the law, and you adventure as a test of your loyalty, discipline, and courage. You might aspire to become part of a specific order of Hellknights, or you might instead present yourself to any law-abiding authorities as an enforcer and quietly menacing emblem of order.

As such, you begin this career as an armiger. You hope to eventually take the Hellknight Test and battle a devil in single combat to prove your strength and fully join the Hellknight ranks. Until then, you prepare yourself for that day, training with your weapons and armor and meditating on the precepts of the Measure and the Chain.

Once you become a Hellknight, you're considered to be among the fiercest warriors in the Inner Sea region. You become a bastion of law wherever chaos threatens to rear. You've likely officially joined one of the many Hellknight orders, following their agenda and favoring their preferred weapon. Each order usually operates in a specific geographical region, but it isn't unheard of for a Hellknight from any order to travel across the world to deal with threats.

Instead of focusing on martial prowess, you can follow the path of the Hellknight signifer instead. These powerful and enigmatic Hellknight spellcasters support and sometimes lead their fellow knights on missions to enforce unwavering law. You're formidable in your own right, keeping your emotions hidden behind an unmistakable faceless mask and wielding magic as a force of order and authority.

Additional Feats: 8th Shatter Defenses, Steady Spellcasting; 12th Fearsome Brute

Hellknight Dedication Feat 2

You've started walking the path toward becoming a true Hellknight, though you're currently considered only an armiger. You've been taught how to terrorize others into compliance, but you also continually study the structure and hierarchy of Hell. You must survive painful tests of your body and mind called reckonings that steady your willpower against all sorts of trauma.

You gain resistance to mental damage equal to 1 + your number of archetype class feats from the Hellknight archetype. You become trained in Intimidation; if you were already trained, you become an expert instead. In addition, you gain the Additional Lore general feat for Hell Lore; if you were already trained in Hell Lore, you also become trained in a Lore skill of your choice.

Ardent Armiger Feat 4

You've trained to resist the manipulations of fiends, and your Hellknight discipline makes you difficult to influence. You gain a +1 circumstance bonus to saves against effects that could inflict the controlled or frightened conditions.

If a mental effect would compel you to act in a way that violates your Hellknight order's tenets (as determined by the GM), you can attempt to break free from the effect as a free action triggered by receiving the violating order, and you gain a new Will save against the effect. You can attempt this save even if the effect would normally prevent you from acting of your own volition. You can attempt this new save only once for a given effect, even if you're compelled to violate your order's tenets multiple times. You can't receive a worse result on this Will save than you originally got against the compelling mental effect.

Armiger's Protection Feat 4

You've learned to wear the iconic Hellknight armor. You become trained in light armor and Hellknight Breastplate, a medium armor. If you were already trained in light armor and medium armor, you gain training in Hellknight Half Plate and Hellknight Plate. Whenever you gain a class feature that grants you expert or greater proficiency in any type of armor (but not unarmored defense), you also gain that proficiency in the armor types granted to you by this feat. If you have a class feature that grants you expert proficiency in unarmored defense and you're 13th level or higher, you also become an expert in the armor types granted to you by this feat.

In addition, when you choose this feat, you receive a non-magical suit of Hellknight armor of a type you become trained in (Hellknight Breastplate, Hellknight Half Plate, or Hellknight Plate).

Diabolic Certitude Feat 4

Your Hellknight training drilled details of Hell's denizens deep into your mind. Attempt a check to Recall Knowledge about a devil you're observing. If you critically fail this check, you fail instead. If you succeed at this check, you critically succeed instead.

Mortification Feat 4

Your reckonings have prepared your body for physical punishment. Choose bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing damage, based on the nature of your physical reckonings. You gain resistance to the chosen damage type equal to your number of archetype class feats from the Hellknight archetype.

Hellknight-Errant Feat 6

Either through unfortunate circumstances or your own choice, you remain a Hellknight armiger instead of entering the true ranks of your order, though you still believe in the tenets of law and order. You likely take on an adventuring life with a group of like-minded individuals who aren't Hellknights. The resistance to mental damage you gained from the Hellknight Dedication feat increases to 5 + your number of archetype class feats from the Hellknight archetype.

You also gain the Warding Shift action, which allows you to keep your allies from harm.

Hellknight Preferment Feat 6

You've forged your body to be able to stand toe-to-toe with a devil, and your mind has been shaped by the strictures of the Measure and the Chain. You've become a true Hellknight. You gain expert proficiency rank in Intimidation (or in another skill in which you're trained of your choice, if you were already an expert in Intimidation). You gain the armor specialization effects of Hellknight breastplate, Hellknight half plate, and Hellknight plate, and your resistance from that armor specialization is 1 higher than normal. In addition, you gain a +1 circumstance bonus to Intimidation checks while wearing any Hellknight armor.

Hellknight Signifer Preferment Feat 6

You've bolstered your force of will with the power of the Measure and the Chain. You've officially joined the ranks of Hellknight signifers, and you receive a Signifer's Mask, often devoid of eyeholes or other decorative features. The mask doesn't obscure your vision, though it makes it impossible for others to see your eyes. While wearing your signifer's mask, you gain a +1 circumstance bonus to Deception checks to Lie, Intimidation checks to Coerce, and Deception DCs against Sense Motive. You gain expert proficiency rank in Intimidation (or in another skill in which you're trained of your choice, if you were already an expert in Intimidation), as well as in your choice of Arcana, Nature, Occultism, or Religion.

Hellknight Mobility Feat 8

You've learned how best to move in your heavy armor. When wearing heavy armor, if you meet the Strength requirement, instead of reducing the movement penalty by 5 feet, you reduce the penalty by 10 feet (typically reducing the penalty to 0). If you're a dwarf with the Unburdened Iron feat, increase your Speed by 5 feet.

Masked Casting Feat 8

You harness the magical energy flowing through your eyeless mask to effortlessly protect you from visual effects. You Avert Gaze. While Averting your Gaze in this way, you also gain a +2 circumstance bonus to saving throws and checks to disbelieve illusions.

Order Training Feat 8

You gain the lesser order benefit for the Hellknight order to which you belong.

Sense Iniquity Feat 8

Your Hellknight training gives you the ability to focus your senses and root out those who would attempt to deceive or hide from you. For 1 minute, you gain a +2 status bonus to your Perception DC against attempts to Create a Diversion, Feint you, or Lie to you. During this time, if you Seek to locate a Hidden creature or to see through a creature's Impersonate attempt, you gain a +2 status bonus to the Perception check.

Gaze of Veracity Feat 10

You can channel your mask's power to pierce through lies and see the truth in any situation. You learn the Glimpse the Truth focus spell. This has the same tradition trait as the spellcasting class feature used as a prerequisite for Hellknight Signifer Preferment. You gain a focus pool of 1 Focus Point if you don't already have a focus pool or increase your focus pool by 1 (to a maximum of 3). You can Refocus by studying tomes of law or by contemplating the Measure and the Chain.

Signifer's Sight Feat 10

The magic flowing through your signifer's mask allows you to see in the dark, and the mask dampens the distraction caused by sudden flashes of bright light. While wearing your signifer's mask, you gain darkvision; if you already have darkvision, you instead gain greater darkvision. Additionally, if you're Dazzled while wearing your signifer's mask and the target is Concealed only because you're dazzled, you reduce the flat check DC to target that creature from 5 to 3.

Blade of Law Feat 12

You call upon the power of law against a foe who would dare stand against you. Make a weapon or unarmed Strike against the target. This counts as two Strikes for your multiple attack penalty. The Strike deals one extra weapon damage die and 1d8 spirit damage. At 18th level, this spirit damage increases to 2d8.

Advanced Order Training Feat 12

You gain the greater order benefit for the Hellknight order to which you belong.

Conjure Hell Feat 12

Though you might not worship Asmodeus or other devils, you've studied enough of Hell to call forth a brief burst of its fire. Each creature in a 15-foot burst within 120 feet takes (2 × half your level − 3)d6 fire damage with a basic Fortitude save against your spell DC. This fire damage ignores an amount of fire resistance equal to your level, but not immunity to fire. A creature that fails its save also has its soul set aflame, taking 2d6 persistent spirit damage (or 4d6 persistent spirit damage on a critical failure). At 14th level and every 2 levels thereafter, the initial fire damage increases by 2d6.

Hell's Armaments Feat 12

You've trained relentlessly with your order's weapon to maximize their deadliness. When you get a critical success on a Strike with one of your order's favored weapons, the target must attempt a Fortitude save against your class DC. If you have access to that weapon's critical specialization effect, you must choose whether to use that effect or this one.

Critical Success The target is unaffected.

Success The target takes a –10-foot circumstance penalty to its Speeds until the end of your next turn.

Failure As success, and the target is Slowed 1 until the end of your next turn.

Critical Failure As success, and the target is Slowed 2 until the end of your next turn.

Order Cross-Training Feat 12

You gain the lesser order benefit of a Hellknight order other than the one to which you belong. This represents your time spent training with members of that order to learn their techniques and teachings. If you aren't in good standing with a given order, you can't receive their training.

March of Law Feat 14

When faced with lawbreakers, you become almost unstoppable, and your purposeful steps instill terror. Stride toward the required target with a +10-foot status bonus to your Speeds and ignoring difficult terrain. If you end your movement adjacent to the required target, each enemy adjacent to you who saw your movement becomes Frightened 2. You can use March of Law while Burrowing, Climbing, Flying, or Swimming instead of Striding if you have the corresponding movement type.

Unfetter Sight Feat 14

You release the magic within your mask in an invisible burst, allowing it to temporarily flow into your allies' minds. Each of your allies within a 30-foot emanation gains the benefits of Signifer's Sight for 1 minute, as if they were wearing a signifer's mask.

Branding Spell Feat 16

The flames of your magic mark a target as an enemy of order. If your next action is to Cast a non-cantrip Spell that deals fire damage, that spell brands the target with a mark only you can see if it fails its saving throw. This brand lasts for 1 week. For as long as the target is branded, you always know the general direction and approximate distance of the target's current location, as long as it's on the same plane. You also know the direction the branded target is currently moving, if any, as well as any conditions affecting it. You can have only one brand active at a time.

Infernal Interference Feat 16

Your attacks force a foe to glimpse the iron, soul-wrenching landscapes of Hell. Strike an enemy with the required weapon twice. If either Strike hits, the target is Stupefied 1 and can't use reactions until the beginning of your next turn. If both Strikes hit, the target is Stupefied 3 instead.

Order Benefits

The following are the lesser and greater benefits for the seven major Hellknight orders. You can gain these benefits by taking the Order Training, Advanced Order Training, and Order Cross-Training feats found within the Hellknight archetype.

Order of the Chain

The creed of the Order of the Chain is "All men lift themselves up upon the backs of others." These Hellknights seek to punish those who actively impede what they believe to be civilization's progress.

Lesser Benefit—Shackles of Law

You attempt to subdue a target with an attack and a follow‐up grab. Make a melee Strike. If it hits and deals damage, you can attempt an Athletics check to Grapple the creature you hit. If you're wielding a flail or spiked chain, you can ignore Grapple's requirement that you have a hand free, and if you succeed at the Athletics check, you get a critical success instead. Both attacks count toward your multiple attack penalty, but the penalty doesn't increase until after you've made both of them.

Greater Benefit—Sturdy Bindings

Your grapples are incredibly reliable. When you roll a critical failure on a check to Grapple a target, you get a failure instead. In addition, when a creature you have Grabbed rolls a failure on its check to Escape, it gets a critical failure instead, and if it rolls a critical success, it gets a success instead.

Order of the Gate

The creed of the Order of the Gate is "Judgment in the face of depravity." These Hellknights seek to prevent crime through magic and extraplanar knowledge.

Lesser Benefit—Locate Lawbreakers

Your pursuit is relentless, and you can magically locate stolen objects and outlaws. You gain Locate as an innate spell of a tradition of your choice, which you can cast once per day. If you're a member of the Order of the Gate, when you reach 14th level, the spell is heightened to 5th rank.

Greater Benefit—Devil Allies

You can call forth devils to assist your efforts in preventing criminal acts. You gain Summon Fiend as a 6th-rank innate spell of a tradition of your choice, which you can cast once per day. When you cast this spell, you can summon only creatures that have the devil trait. At 14th level and every 2 levels thereafter, the spell is heightened by one rank (to a maximum of 10th rank when you reach 20th level).

Order of the Godclaw

The creed of the Order of the Godclaw is "Righteousness by obedience." These Hellknights extol the virtues of a pantheon of imposing deities.

Lesser Benefit—Dedication to the Five

Your dedication to the Godclaw borders on a cleric's. You gain the cleric's Domain Initiate feat but must select duty, might, perfection, or protection as your domain. Whenever you cast the focus spell gained from this feat, you gain temporary Hit Points equal to twice the spell's rank that last for 1 round. In addition, you can use any religious symbol of Abadar, Asmodeus, Iomedae, Irori, or Uirch as your divine focus.

Effect: Dedication of the Five

Greater Benefit—Blessing of the Five 3

Order of the Nail

The creed of the Order of the Nail is "Savagery must be quelled, in the land, home, and mind." These Hellknights work to tame wild frontier regions.

Lesser Benefit—Trailblazing Stride

While moving on land, you ignore any difficult terrain caused by plants, fungi, or uneven ground. When you succeed at a skill check to Recall Knowledge about a creature with the animal, beast, fungus, or plant trait, you gain a +10-foot circumstance bonus to your Speeds for the rest of your turn.

Effect: Trailblazing Stride

Greater Benefit—Reveal Beasts

You're adept at revealing—or creating—fear among those who threaten civilization. If you succeed at a check to Recall Knowledge to identify an animal, beast, fungus, or plant, you get a critical success instead. Additionally, whenever you critically succeed at a check to Recall Knowledge against an animal, beast, fungus, or plant, that creature becomes Frightened 1.

Order of the Pyre

The creed of the Order of the Pyre is "Reason's flame consumes the shadow of corruption." These Hellknights seek to purge what they call blasphemous ideologies from the world.

Lesser Benefit—Righteous Resistance

You can cast Resist Energy as a divine innate spell twice per day, except you can target only yourself. If you grant yourself resistance to fire damage, the resistance is equal to either the spell's normal value or to your level, whichever is higher.

Effect: Righteous Resistance

Greater Benefit—Spiritual Disruption 2

You channel disruptive power that severs a foe's spiritual connection to their magic. Make a melee Strike. This counts as two attacks when calculating your multiple attack penalty. If the attack hits, the target takes 1d6 persistent spirit damage. The target is Stupefied 1 until it stops taking the persistent spirit damage.

Order of the Rack

The creed of the Order of the Rack is "The venoms of the mind poison the body." These Hellknights suppress rebellions, usually within Cheliax.

Lesser Benefit—Disillusionment

Dreams are pointless illusions you seek to quash. If you roll a success on a saving throw against an illusion or dream effect or a Perception check to disbelieve an illusion, you get a critical success instead. If you roll a critical failure on any of those checks, you get a failure instead.

Greater Benefit—Silence Heresy 2

You channel a power that stifles dangerous words. Make a melee Strike. If the attack hits, the target is unable to speak in a voice louder than a whisper for 1 round. This prevents the target from using most auditory effects involving its voice, and it must succeed at a DC 5 flat check to Cast a Spell with a verbal component or the spell is disrupted. If your Strike is a critical hit, the target is entirely unable to speak for 1 round and is limited to a whisper for 1 minute thereafter. Once a creature has been affected by this ability, it is temporarily immune for 1 minute.

Order of the Scourge

The creed of the Order of the Scourge is "Without culpability, chaos reigns." These Hellknights root out corruption in all its forms.

Lesser Benefit—Fear No Law, Fear No One 1

When your allies see you stand up to fear, they become similarly emboldened. Make a Strike. If you hit and deal damage, each ally within a 20-foot emanation around you who can see you reduces the value of their Frightened condition by 1. If the target of your Strike was the source of their frightened condition, they reduce the value by 2 instead.

Greater Benefit—Seek Injustice 3

With a moment spent focusing, you can locate the telltale signs of corruption no matter what means it may use to hide from your sight. For 1 minute, you can see through up to 5 feet of stone, wood, or similar barriers as if they didn't exist (though any amount of metal or denser barriers block this effect).