Those who walked the path of the enlightenment were not always welcomed by others. Many of the more despotic societies would persecute them for their principals. To protect against those who would oppress the seekers of enlightenment, a sect arose: the enlightened protectors, they are the militant arm of the Enlightenment.
Becoming an Enlightened Protector
The guardian nature of the enlightened protector tends to draw psychic warriors and marksmen more than other classes, although it is not unusual for a soulknife to join the ranks of the enlightened protector.
Entry Requirements
Striving ever to increase their own stage of enlightenment, the enlightened protectors are still those among the Enlightenment who act to protect those who seek only to learn more about themselves and the world around them. In the face of oppression, an enlightened protector is an enemy to be feared. To qualify to become an enlightened protector, a character must fulfill the following criteria.
Base Attack: +4
Alignment: Any non-evil
Skills: Knowledge (psionics): 8 ranks
Feats: Iron Will, Open Minded, Psionic Meditation
Psionics: Ability to manifest 2nd level psychic warrior powers OR the shape mind blade class feature.
Special: Must be inducted into the order by a member of the Enlightenment. This involves swearing an oath to never again use supernatural means to control the mind of another being. For more information (including exact
specifics of the oath), see the Enlightenment organization.
GAME RULE INFORMATION
Class Skills:
The enlightened protector’s class skills are Autohypnosis, Climb, Concentration, Craft, Diplomacy, Jump, Knowledge (psionics), Profession, Ride, Search, Sense Motive and Swim. Skill Points at Each Level: 2 + Int modifier
Class Features:
Enlightened protectors draw from their own greater understanding of the world and of themselves to defend themselves and others of their order. In the face of tyrannical oppression, the enlightened protector tends to takes on a more aggressive role, instead of as a defender of others. All of the following are class features of the enlightened protector.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Enlightened protectors gain no additional weapon or armor proficiencies.
Manifesting: At every level indicated, the enlightened protector gains additional power points per day and access to new powers as if he had also gained a level in whatever manifesting class he belonged to before he added the prestige class. He does not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained (bonus feats, metapsionic or item creation feats, and so on). This essentially means that he adds the level of enlightened protector to the level of whatever manifesting class the character has, and then determines power points per day, powers known, and manifester level accordingly.
If a character had more than one manifesting class before he became an enlightened protector, he must decide to which class she adds the new level of enlightened protector for the purpose of determining power points per day, powers known, and manifester level.
Enhanced Manifestation: At 1st level, an enlightened protector may treat his manifester level as one higher than it actually is when determining the level-dependent variables of his powers (such as range and duration). This does not allow him to spend more power points on one manifestation than his true manifester level. At 10th level, he may treat her manifester level as two higher instead of one.
If a character had more than one manifesting class before he became an enlightened protector, he must decide to which class he adds this increase.
Self Discovery (Ex): At 1st level, an enlightened protector gains Expanded Knowledge as a bonus feat if he meets the prerequisites. If he met the Shape Mind Blade requirement, he may select any feat that requires the ability to manifest a mind blade as a bonus feat.
Path of Enlightenment (Ex): At 2nd level and again at 6th and 9th level, the enlightened protector is able to use the power of his mind to enhance his combat abilities. He may choose the following feats as bonus feats, even if he would otherwise not qualify for them. Once his path is chosen at 2nd level, the enlightened protector can not alter the choice.
Mind over Body (Ex): At 5th level, an enlightened protector has learned to use the power of his mind to shrug off effects that might hinder others. By making a successful DC 25 Concentration check, he can ignore the effects of being fatigued. With a successful DC 30 Concentration check, he can lower the effects of exhaustion to those of fatigue. The enlightened protector must re-roll this check every hour to maintain this effect. If the roll is unsuccessful, he can retry in an hour.
Serenity (Ex): At 10th level, an enlightened protector has achieved a state of serenity that allows him to perform tasks impossible to those with less disciplined minds. He may attempt to regain psionic focus as a swift action. This increases the DC of the Concentration check by 10. The enlightened protector may still regain focus normally as a move action.
