Order of the Iniquitous Blade

A cavalier who belongs to the order of the iniquitous blade has dedicated himself to both a sovereign (be it a king, queen, or warlord), and to the faith of one of the deities of evil. Cavaliers of this order seek to punish the guilty according to the letter of the law, live a life of unyielding devotion to their sovereign, and ensure the liberties of all who live within the borders or their realm so far as they do not oppose the cause of his sovereign. This order complements the Malevolent Knight multiclass archetype.

Edicts: The cavalier must be of either lawful evil or lawful neutral alignment, adhere to the strictures of the faith, strictly uphold the laws of the land without deviation, live up to his code of honor, dispense justice without compassion or mercy, allow the fate to dictate the destinies of the poor and weak, defend the freedoms of all within their domain, even if doing so results in tyrannical rule or exploitation.

Challenge: Whenever an order of the iniquitous blade cavalier issues a challenge, he receives a +1 morale bonus on attack and damage rolls made against the target of his challenge if the target makes an attack against a target other than the cavalier. This bonus lasts for 1 minute. The bonus increases by +1 for every four levels the cavalier possesses. Furthermore, if the target of the cavalier’s challenge is of good alignment, the morale bonus on damage rolls increases to +2.

Skills: An order of the iniquitous blade cavalier adds Knowledge (nobility) (Int) and Knowledge (religion) (Int) to his list of class skills. An order of the iniquitous blade cavalier can make Knowledge (nobility) skill checks untrained. If he has ranks in the skill, he receives a bonus on the check equal to 1/2 his cavalier level (minimum +1) when making attempts to identify military standards, family crests, or heraldry emblems or symbols.

Order Abilities: A cavalier belonging to the order of the iniquitous blade gains the following abilities as he increases in level.

Concecrated Weapon (Ex)

At 2nd level, the cavalier designates one type of weapon with which he is proficient which becomes consecrated in the service of his god. Whenever the cavalier attacks with his consecrated weapon, he gains a +1 profane bonus on attack and damage rolls. Every six levels thereafter (7th, 13th, and 19th), the cavalier gains an additional +1 profane bonus on attack and damage rolls when using this weapon. The cavalier also adds this bonus to any combat maneuver checks made with his consecrated weapon. This bonus also applies to the cavalier’s Combat Maneuver Defense when defending against disarm and sunder attempts made against this weapon.

A cavalier will typically choose from the following list of traditional knightly melee weapons (GMs may add other weapons to this list), or his deity’s favored weapon: bastard sword, battleaxe, flail, greatsword, heavy flail, handaxe, heavy mace, heavy pick, lance, light mace, light pick, longspear, longsword, morningstar, spear, or warhammer.

Aura of Despair (Su)

At 8th level, whenever enemies are within 10 feet of the cavalier, they take a –2 penalty on all saving throws. This penalty does not stack with the penalty from aura of cowardice. This ability functions only while the cavalier is conscious, not if he is unconscious or dead.

Arms of Sin (Su)

At 15th level, the cavalier’s weapons are treated as evil-aligned for the purposes of overcoming damage reduction. Any attack made against an enemy within 10 feet of him is treated as evil-aligned for the purposes of overcoming damage reduction. This ability functions only while the cavalier is conscious, not if he is unconscious or dead.