Conan and Red Sonja. Hercules and Xena. He-Man and She-Ra. Kratos and Nariko. Fantasy fiction is full of half-naked heroes. Behold a prestige class for them.

 

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Most warriors brave enough to risk their lives fighting monsters are smart enough to know plates of metal withstand claws, clubs, and magic better than a thin layer of skin. There are those that choose lighter armour, like leather or at most a chain shirt, but these warriors generally feel that strapping giant chunks of metal to ones body compromises their natural quickness. Why dress to withstand any blow when you can dress to avoid most blows and hopefully withstand the rest?

There exist a few warriors with absolutely no interest in armour. They dress minimally at all times, and extend their lack of modesty to the battlefield. Women wear impractical strips of leather and chainmail bikinis. Men wear fur loin clothes and possibly a belt if only to hang their sword off of. This naturalist attitude is not as unintelligent or impractical as it may appear, at least not to those that pull it off. These few physical pinnacles are so chiselled their exposed bodies protect them through sheer awe better than any amount of armour ever could.

Although Barbarians get the most out of this prestige class, any warrior class can be an Adonis. Clerics with access to the Strength domain may consider taking the Adonis prestige class to please their god. Multiclassing sorcerer/warriors greatly benefit from the Adonis’ combination of a high charisma and no armour check penalty. Charismatic rogues occasionally become Adonises, although this prestige class works better with smash mouth melee combatants than stealth-based tacticians.

Hit Dice: d12

Requirements

To qualify to become an adonis, a character must fulfill all the following criteria.

• Base Attack Bonus: +7
• Ability Score: Cha 16+
• Skills: Intimidate 10 ranks

Level	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Special
1st	+1	+2	+0	+0	Dense Muscle, Powerful Presence +1
2nd	+2	+3	+0	+0	Enchanting Body, Intimidating Physique +1
3rd	+3	+3	+1	+1	Damage Reduction 1/-, Poetry in Motion
4th	+4	+4	+1	+1	Powerful Presence +2
5th	+5	+4	+1	+1	Awe Striking, Intimidating Physique +2
6th	+6	+5	+2	+2	Damage Reduction 2/-
7th	+7	+5	+2	+2	Force of Personality, Powerful Presence +3
8th	+8	+6	+2	+2	Intimidating Physique +3
9th	+9	+6	+3	+3	Damage Reduction 3/-
10th	+10	+7	+3	+3	Physical Peak

 

CLASS SKILLS

The Adonis’ class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Handle Animal (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Listen (Wis), Ride (Dex), and Swim (Str).

Skill Points at 1st Level: (4 + Int modifier) ×4.

Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 4 + Int modifier.

CLASS FEATURES
All the following are class features of the adonis prestige class.

Weapons and Armour Proficiency: An adonis is proficient with all simple and martial weapons but gains no proficiency with any armor or shields.

Dense Muscle: Not only is a statuesque body unbelievably attractive, well defined muscles provide a thick layer of protection. When unarmored, add your Strength bonus as an armour bonus to AC.

Powerful Presence: You gain a +1 bonus on Diplomacy checks. This bonus increases by +1 every three levels thereafter (+2 at 4^th level and +3 at 7^th level). This benefit applies only when you are wearing no armor, and can be seen.

Enchanting Body: Beginning at 2^nd level, your unarmour body is treated both as manufactured armour and natural armour for the purpose of spells and effects that enhance or improve either manufactured armor or natural armor. Your body can be enchanted in the same way as masterwork armour, although this requires a great deal of patience on your part.

Intimidating Physique: Beginning at 2^nd level, you gain a +1 bonus to Intimidate checks. This bonus increases by +1 every three levels thereafter (+2 at 5^th level and +3 at 8^th level). This benefit applies only when you are wearing no armor, and can be seen.

Damage Reduction: At 3^rd level, you gain damage reduction 1. Subtract 1 from the damage you take each time you are dealt damage from a weapon or a natural attack. Every three Adonis levels thereafter (6th, and 9th level), your damage reduction rises by 1 point. Damage reduction can reduce damage to 0 but not below 0. This damage reduction stacks with damage reduction gained from other sources (such as the barbarian class feature).

Poetry in Motion: Typically a warrior entering a wild combat frenzy is off-putting and frightening. As an adonis, the fluidity of your movements turns this violence into a sight to behold. Beginning at 3^rd level, when you rage, you temporarily gain a bonus to Charisma. This bonus is equal to the bonus to Strength and Constitution gained when raging (+4 when entering a rage, +6 when entering a greater rage, and +8 when entering a mighty rage). Note that Poetry in Motion does not actually grant the rage ability. It improves the rage of adonises who already have the ability.

Awe Striking: If there exists universal beauty, an adonis sees it in his reflection. Beginning at 5^th level, you add your Charisma bonus as a shield bonus to AC. This benefit applies only when you are wearing no armor, and can be seen.

Force of Personality: Beginning at 7^th level, you gain a +4 bonus to saves against effects that damage or drain Charisma.

Physical Peak: Beginning at 10^th level, you add your Charisma modifier to weapon damage rolls and to attack rolls made to confirm critical hits.