Cosmic Missionary
Starfinder offers the priest theme for religious characters, as well as the mystic class, but there’s certainly room for more when it comes to a character of the cloth. In sci-fi settings, the true power of priests and missionaries often seems to be the way that their faith strengthens their resolve, gives them clarity, and keeps their mind at ease, more than the actual nature of the religion. Today’s archetype attempts to capture this power of belief in a way that fits characters of any class.
New Starfinder Archetype
Cosmic Missionary
The cosmos is a vast place, full of a startlingly wide array of species, ideas, and beliefs. As disparate civilizations come together more and more, these beliefs and ideals compete with one another, until eventually each individual person finds themselves bombarded with hundreds of different ideologies, all claiming to be the only truth. It is no wonder that so many people become disenchanted with religion and ideology altogether, turning their back on the chaotic and roiling sea of philosophical claims. For some, though, a single belief rings true above all others, granting a clarity of purpose and a peace of mind. For an even rarer few, it also serves as a call to action, to spread that belief and enlightenment to those who are willing and able to benefit from it.
Cosmic missionaries are devout followers of a single religion or belief system, and draw strength from the bedrock of their faith, using that strength to aid themselves and their allies in overcoming adversity.
Alternate Class Features
The cosmic missionary grants alternate class features at 2nd, 4th, 6th, 9th, 12th, and 18th levels.
Certainty of Faith (Ex) 2nd Level
Your heart is filled with a calm certainty regarding your purpose and place in the cosmos. The DC of Intimidate checks made against you is increased by an amount equal to your level. Additionally, you gain a +2 bonus on saving throws made to resist spells and effects with the emotion or fear descriptors.
Homilies (Ex) 4th Level
Whatever the situation, you know an appropriate teaching, parable, or phrase from your religious background, which can help provide insight and clarity. A number of times per day equal to 3 + your Wisdom modifier, when an ally within 30 feet fails a skill check or ability check, you can recite a relevant homily as a reaction. If you do, and the ally retries the failed check within the next minute, she gains a +4 bonus on the roll.
Confession (Ex) 6th Level
By spending 10 minutes in private conversation with a willing creature, you can allow that creature to confess its sins to you and receive absolution. Doing so grants the creature a +1 bonus on Will saves for 24 hours. Additionally, each time a creature confesses to you in this way, you may choose to give the creature a task to perform in order to redeem himself for the things he confessed. If he does, the bonus is increased to +2, and lasts for one week, instead. Any bonuses granted by confession cease immediately if the creature resumes the types of activities that he confessed. At the GM’s discretion, this ability may have no effect if either the confession or the task you assign are disingenuous.
Rousing Speech (Su) 9th Level
The clarity of your faith is infectious, and by speaking encouraging words drawn from your beliefs, you can lift the spirits of your allies. Using this ability takes 1 minute, and requires you to expend 1 Resolve Point. Each time you do so, you can affect up to four allies who can see and hear you, granting each of them 1 additional Resolve Point, and causing them to heal a number of Stamina Points equal to 1/2 their maximum. You can use this ability at will, but any given creature cannot benefit from this ability more than once per day.
Conversion (Ex) 12th Level
Through earnest and sincere belief, you are able to convince others of the rightness of your way of living. This is a lengthy and involved process, requiring extensive conversation with the creature to be converted, who must have an attitude of at least indifferent towards you. It takes a number of hours equal to the creature’s Hit Dice to make a conversion attempt, at the end of which you must make a Diplomacy check (DC 5 + the target’s Hit Dice + the target’s Charisma modifier). The DC increases by 5 for each step that the target’s alignment differs from yours, and for each step that their attitude towards you is less than helpful. At the GM’s discretion, additional modifiers may apply for characters with particularly strong or opposing faiths, who are currently having a crisis of faith, or whose way of life is particularly well- or poorly-suited for your faith. A converted creature’s alignment shifts two steps closer to yours, and they adopt the general beliefs that you practice. These changes last indefinitely. While the creature may later be swayed to another faith or simply change their ideals naturally over time, the effects of this ability always last for at least 1 week.
Divine Intervention (Su) 18th Level
In times of crisis, you can call upon your faith for a miracle. Once per day, you can attempt to cast miracle as a spell-like ability. You have a 5% chance of success, plus an additional 5% for each day you have gone without using this ability, to a maximum of a 50% chance after 10 days. At the GM’s discretion, attempts to use miracle in ways that are antithetical to your faith may have a lesser chance of success, or no chance at all.