There was about fifteen years where I wasn’t running D&D for my fantasy campaign world, instead I was running my own home-brew rules. Now, much of what came out in that time-frame was dreck and did nothing to convince me that I was missing anything, but there were a number of modules that were interesting and had a lot of potential. When I came back to 1E AD&D before I started running 5E D&D, I ran a handful of modules and one that I was setting up was The Shattered Gates of Slaughtergarde. It had something that I had no way to model exactly in AD&D (so I did it as more of an “extra” – that is pretty easy in AD&D), but with 5E they actually released rules for a Prestige Class, so I’ve decided to write-up my version of the “Solar Channeler” because I always thought it was kind of a neat idea and it fits my game world pretty nicely.
The Luminous Order
An ancient and mystical fraternity with roots that are said to predate even the Society of Light, and may be the original form of the current Lightbearers of the Church of the Lords of Light. The Luminous Order consists of individuals who have been chosen by the Angelic Host, to acts as channels for the Light and even to act as a kind of vessel for a member of the Host when needed.
The Luminous Order
- 1st Level – Channel Divinity (+1/Rest), Healing Touch, Divine Spellcasting
- 2nd Level – Summon Sword of Light, Greatsword Mastery
- 3rd Level – Channel the Host
- 4th Level – Channel Divinity (+2/Rest), Wisdom Score Improvement
- 5th Level – Greater Channel the Host
Requirements:
- Be a member of the Society of Light
- Of Good Alignment
- Be at least 5th Level in a Divine Spellcasting Class
- Have both a Wisdom and a Constitution of 16+
Class Features:
- Hit Dice are 1d8 per level
- Proficiency in Greatsword
Channel Divinity
The character gains an additional use of their Channel Divinity ability between rests, at the 4th Level of the Luminous Order this become two additional uses.
Healing Touch
The character may use their Channel Divinity ability to touch any living creature and cure them of 4d8+2 Hit Points of damage, as well as freeing them from any curse, disease, poison, blindness, or deafness.
Divine Spellcasting
The character continues to gain spellcasting levels, as a full spellcaster, for the purposes of multi-classing, as long as they are a Divine Spellcaster. Clerics essentially continue their spellcasting levels as normal while Paladins potentially gain a small boost in available spell levels. Mages, Warlocks, Bards and Sorcerers (with the exception of those with the Celestial Patron) cannot gain this benefit, nor could Eldritch Knights or Arcane Tricksters. Only the rare Druids and somewhat more common Rangers that belong to the Society of Light would gain this benefit.
Summon Sword of Light
The character may, with the use of a Channel Divinity ability, summon a magical greatsword that they may wield with Advantage. It does 2d8 Slashing Damage plus 3d8 Radiant damage with each successful strike and counts as a magical weapon, and has the Finesse quality. The greatsword radiates Bright Light in a 30′ radius, and Dim Light for another 30′ beyond that. The greatsword lasts for one round per level of the character or until it is voluntarily released from the characters grasp.
Greatsword Mastery
When using a Greatsword, the character may re-roll any 1’s or 2’s rolled on damage dice, may immediately make another Attack as a Bonus Action upon making either a Critical Strike or reducing a target to zero Hit Points, and may choose to take a -5 to the roll in exchange for a +10 to the damage roll if it hits.
Channel the Host
Perhaps the signature feature of the Luminous Order, the character may use their Channel Divinity ability to act as a temporary vessel for a member of the Angelic Host. This is a choice fraught with some peril because the character loses access to their equipment and normal class features while doing so, buts access to a potent set of abilities otherwise. They gain the following abilities:
- Aura of Life and Vitality: All non-hostile creatures within 30 feet of the character (including the character) have Resistance to Necrotic energy, and their Hit Point maximum cannot be reduced. Any non-hostile, living creature regains 1 Hit Point when it starts it’s round within the aura, and the character may use their Bonus Action to heal one creature within the aura for 2d6 Hit Points of damage.
- Luminous Resistance: The character has Advantage on all Saving Throws, as well as Resistance to Radiant damage and damage from all non-magical weapons (Slashing, Piercing, and Bludgeoning). The character is Immune to Charm, Exhaustion, Fright, Disease, and Poison.
- Greatsword Mastery as the Luminous Order class feature
- Summon Sword of Light – While similar to the regular class feature for the Luminous Order, when Channeling the Host it has greater potency, and the character may Multiattack for 2 Attacks each round with it. It becomes Versatile, doing the same damage no matter if used one or two-handed.
- At 3rd Level the Sword is +6 to Strike and Damage, does 2d10 Slashing damage and 4d8 Radiant damage, and does a Critical Strike on a 19-20.
- At 4th Level the Sword is +8 to Strike and Damage, does 3d10 Slashing damage, 5d8 Radiant damage, and does a Critical Strike on a 18-20
- At 5th Level the Sword is +10 to Strike and Damage, does 4d10 Slashing damage, and 6d8 Radiant damage, and does a Critical Strike on a 17-20
- Angelic Form – While channeling, the character takes on a angelic aspect, growing in stature, with the wings, robes, and halo of one of the Host – though still discernable (with effort) as themselves through the Light that suffuses them. They are considered Large for the purposes of Grappling.
- This lasts for 1 Round per point of Wisdom Modifier
- At 3rd Level the character has an Armor Class of 17, +4 Temporary Hit Points per Hit Die, a Speed of 30, and may Fly 90′ per round.
- At 4th Level the character has an Armor Class of 19, +6 Temporary Hit Points per Hit Die, a Speed of 40, and may Fly 120′ per round.
- At 5th Level the character has an Armor Class of 21, +8 Temporary Hit Points per Hit Die, a Speed of 50, and may Fly 150′ per round.
- This feature may not be used again until after a Long Rest.
Wisdom Score Improvement
This increases the characters Wisdom Score by +2, up to a maximum of 22.
Greater Channel the Host
The duration of the Channeling increases to 1 minute per point of Wisdom modifier.
Fleur du mal 