The Lightbringers are an expansive guild of undead hunters that readily hands out charter memberships to anyone who wants to stamp out undead. The Lightbringers have no central headquarters. Generally affiliated good-aligned temples in large cities set aside meeting rooms for those who sign the guild's charter. Pelor's temples are best known for hosting Lightbringers—believers and nonbelievers alike.

For more about guilds, see page 223 of _Dungeon Master's Guide II*.

Symbol: The Lightbringers' symbol is a stylized half-sun, half-moon disc.

Credo: "Suffer no false life."

Requirements

Class Features

LIGHTBRINGER ALTERNATIVE CLASS FEATURES

Alternative class features replace class features found in the original class description. If you have already reached or passed the level at which you can take the feature, you can use the retraining option described below to gain an alternative class feature in place of the normal feature gained at that level.

Lightbringer alternative class abilities help members improve in their quest to destroy all undead. However, any character interested in slaying undead could qualify for the alternative abiliteis, even if the Lightbringers guild does not exist in your campaign. (In that case, rename them "hunter alternative class abilities.")

Each set of alternative class abilities presents variants for selected standard classes based on the concept of hunting undead. The DM can add more Lightbringer alternative class abilities (such as for a barbarian or a fighter) as desired, using the ones presented here as guidelines.

A character need not take all the alternative class abilities provided for a class. For instance, a lightbringer paladin might decide to take only the detect undead alternative class ability at 1st level, ignoring those available at other levels.

The format for alternative class features is summarized below.

Alternative Class Feature Name

A general description of the ability and why you might want to consider it.

Level: You can slect th alternative class feature only at this level (unless you are using the retraining option).

Replaces: This line identifies the ability that you must sacrifice to gain the alternative class feature.

Benefit: This section describes the mechanical effects of the new ability.

Class Feature Retraining

Retraining is adjusting a decision you made earlier in your character's career by selecting a different legal option. This technique represents the charater's practicing new talents in lieu of honing older ones. In a way, the process is similar to attaining a new level. in keeping with that concept, the tratraining option can be chosen only during level advancement.

Each time your character attains a new level, you choose to retrain. This decision must be implemented before any benefits of the newly attained level are applied. For example, if a 5th-level rogue wants to trade her trap sense feature for the penetrating strike alternative class feature (see page 208), she can do so immediately upon attaining 6th level, before she gains any of the benefits for that level (such as additional hit points, skill points, and so on).

Class feature retraining allows you to swap out one character option at a given level for another. The character remains basically the same, since his class levels haven't changed, but he's now highlighting a different aspect of his class. Such retraining also allows a character to adopt an alternative class feature, such as those presented in the section.

To choose an alternative class feature, substitute it for one class feature available at that level. The new feature must represent a choice that you could have made at the same level as you made the original choice. Also, the new choice can't make any of your later choices illegal—thought it might automatically change class features acquired later if the are based on the initial choice.

Advancement

LIGHTBRINGER BARD

Bards who are most excited by the music of the dirge, the funeral march, or the requiem are those most strongly drawn to be lightbringers. The lightbringer bard brings hope and courage to those oppressed by the depredations of unlife, and he uses tricks, music, and magic to thwart the conspiracies of undead masterminds.

Undead Bardic Knowledge

A lightbringer bard has special interest in events, items and persons that are important to undead. Your focused, careful studies allow you to identify such creatures and effects commonly associated with them.

Level: 1st.

Replaces: If you select this class feature, you do not gain bardic knowledge.

Benefit: you can tap into some of your specialized knowledge of the undead. You make a check just as though using the standard bardic knowledge ability, but your insights concern only the undead. You gain a +5 circumstance bonus on this check. You can attempt this check in addition to a Knowledge (religion) check to learn about an undead creature or some other bit of undead lore, such as an item used to destroy a legendary undead or a plague caused by undead.

Inspire Turning

You use your knowledge of religious hymns and divine song to lend greater energy to an ally's turn undead attempt.

Level: 1st.

Replaces: If you select this class feature, you do not gain the inspire competence bardic music ability.

Benefit: You can expend one daily use of your bardic music to help an ally who attempts to turn undead (or destroy undead, if a lightbringer cleric). The ally must be within 30 feet and able to see and hear you. You must also be able to see the ally. The ally is treated as being two levels higher than his actual level for the purpose of turning undead as long as he or she continues to hear your performance. The effect lasts as long as you concentrate, up to a maximum of 2 minutes. You can't use inspire turning on yourself. This is a supernatural, mind-affecting ability.

Repel Domination

Your study of the undead allows you to fortify your mind against their attacks.

Level: 6th

Replaces: If you select this class feature, you do not gain the _suggestion* bardic music ability.

Benefit: You gain a +2 bonus on saving throws against mind-affecting spells or abilities from undead creatures. Furthermore, whenever you succeed on such a saving throw, the undead creature that produced the effect is shaken for the remainder of the encounter.

LIGHTBRINGER CLERIC

Lightbringer clerics are those clerics who focus first and foremost on their ability to turn undead. They know that the positive energy they bring to bear against undead is the single most important aspect of their class. The negtative energy of undeath must be opposed everywhere and always with the positive energy of light.

Destroy Undead

You can channel positive energy to destroy undead creatures.

Level: 1st.

Replaces: Turn undead.

Benefit: Instead of the cleric's normal ability to turn or rebuke undead, a lightbringer cleric can channel positive energy to destroy undead. Thus, a lightbringer cleric contributes to the destruction of undead in a fashion that interacts well with the other characters in the party such as the fighter and wizard. Lightbringer clerics want to destroy undead; thus, they despise seeing turned undead run away never seen again. At other times, a standard turning effect has no effect whatsoever, much to the chagrin of the lightbringer cleric.

Destroying undead is a standard action that deals 1d6 points of damage per cleric level to all undead within 30 feet of the cleric. The affected undead get a Will save (DC 10+ cleric level + Cha modifier) for half damage.

Undead with turn resistance can subtract that number from the damage that they take from each turn attempt. For example, a vampire with turn resistance +4 takes 4 fewer points of damage each time he takes turning damage.

When using this ability against incorporeal creatures, the lightbringer cleric does not have to roll a 50% miss chance; turning hits them automatically.

Destroy undead still counts as turn undead for the purpose of meeting prerequisites for feats, prestige classes, and so forth. A lightbringer cleric can use this ability the same number of times per day that he could turn undead. If a feat requires the expenditure of on or more uses of turn undead, it instead consumes uses of this ability. Any ability that grants a bonus to turning checks instead grants an equal bonus to this ability's save DC. This is a supernatural ability.

True Daylight

Lightbringer clerics, as befits their name, are capable of channeling divine energy in the form of pure sunlight.

Level: 1st.

Replaces: One domain granted power.

Benefit: A lightbringer cleric can use up one of his turn undead uses for the day to empower a daylight spell he casts with positive energy. The resulting daylight effect has a smaller radiance radius and a shorter, inconstant duration; however, the daylight created is the equivalent of daylight for the purposes of its effect on creatures that are damaged destroyed by bright light (such as vampires).

The effect created by this ability sheds true daylight in a 10-foot radius and has a duration of 1d4 rounds (roll to determine each time this ability is used). This is an extraordinary ability.

Positive Healing

By imparting a portion of the divine energies he commands into an ally, the lightbringer cleric sustains his friend against injuries.

Level: 1st.

Replaces: One domain granted power.

Benefit: A lightbringer cleric can use one of his turn undead uses for the day to internalize the influsx of positive energy and so gains fast healing 2 for 5 rounds. This is a supernatural ability.

LIGHTBRINGER PALADIN

Lightbringer paladins are little different from the standard paladins, and share the same compassion to pursue good, the will to uphold law, and the power to defeat evil. However, the lightbringer paladin has made it her specialization to seek out and destroy undead, seeing them as the penultimate manifestation of evil in the world.

Detect Undead

Level: 1st.

Replaces: Detect evil.

Benefit: A lightbringer paladin can use this ability at will. This is a divination effect similar to a _detect evil* spell, except that it finds undead only (of any alignment). Unlike with _detect evil*, the lightbringer paladin doesn't need to concentrate to know all relevant information. At the moment the paladin uses the ability, she knows if there are any undead within a chosen 60-degree arc, knows the exact number, and knows their exact location. This ability is the equivalent of a 2nd-level spell. It is a spell-like ability.

Pelor's Blessing

A lightbringer paladin excels at slaying the undead. When he channels energy to smite his foes, the power he summons proves doubly effective against the living dead.

Level: 3rd.

Replaces: Divine health.

Benefit: A lightbringer paladin who uses his smite evil ability against undead gains an additional +2 bomnus to the attack roll and deals an extra 1 point of damage epr two paladin levels. For example, a 13th-level lightbringer paladin armed with a longsword would deal 1d8+19 points of damage when using her smite evil ability against an undead, plus any additional bonuses for high Strength or magical effects that would normally apply. This is an extraordinary ability.

Warded Special Mount

The lightbringer paladin is a special, favored warrior of light. The gods portect his special mount so that powers of darkness cannot easily defeat him.

Level: 6th
Replaces: One weekly use of the _remove disease*.
Benefit: In addition to the standard qualities of a special mount, a lightbringer paladin's mount is immune to all death spells, magical death effects, energy drain, and any negative energy effects (such as from _inflict* spells or _chill touch*).

LIGHTBRINGER ROGUE

While most rogues are loners from day one, the lightbringer rogue has decided to throw in with others who share her fundamental disgust and rancor toward undead. The lightbringer rogue has taken extra trouble to research dusty tomes and tombs to learn abou tundead habits, undead physioloty, and most importantly, undead weaknesses. The lightbringer rogue desires to bring all undead to their penultimate ends.

Penetrating Strike

Creatures immune to sneak attack damage are a bane to rogues everywhere. Particularly in ancient tombs where undead are common, rogues must rely on their wits to survive. You have spent significant time studying this problem and have learned ways to harm even these resilient opponents.

Level: 3rd.

Replaces: If you select this class feature, you do not gain trap sense.

Benefit: Whenever you flank a creature that is immune to sneak attack damage, you still gain half of your sneak attack dice as bonus damage. Note that this benefit does not extend to creatures that ignore your sneak attack damage because you canon flank them. In addition, you still cannot gain sneak attack damage against such foes if they are flat-footed. You must flank a creature that is immune to sneak attack damage in order to use this ability.