Category:Knights of the Scale

Tradition Origins: Formed originally be the arvek nar, the Knights of the Scale serve the cause of legal and personal integrity. Many order of the scales cavaliers track down and apprehend fleeing lawbreakers so that these vagrants may answer for their crimes and make good on their debts. They often serve as judges or stakeholders, and work to ensure that wherever a bargain is made—whether it is monetary, a life debt, or an oath to be upheld—both ends make good on their promises. Many of them follow Serriel oor Daeus, though any lawful deity may be common.

Tradition Edicts: The cavalier must fulfill all binding agreements he makes with others. If a bargain becomes impossible to fulfill, he must satisfactorily compensate all aggrieved or adversely affected parties involved in the bargain. When serving as a judge or arbiter, the cavalier must make fair, impartial judgments, and if unable to do so, must recuse himself at the earliest possibility. If authorized to enforce an agreement, the cavalier must wholeheartedly strive to accomplish this, remaining unswayed by threats, bribery, and other deterrents.

Challenge: Whenever an order of the scales cavalier issues a challenge, he receives a +1 morale bonus on combat maneuvers and attacks of opportunity made against the target of his challenge. This bonus increases by 1 for every 4 levels the cavalier possesses.

Skills: An order of the scales cavalier adds Knowledge (local) (Int) and Linguistics (Int) to his list of class skills.

He gains a bonus equal to half his level (minimum +1) on Sense Motive checks to determine whether someone is bluffing and to determine whether a creature's behavior is being influenced by an enchantment.

Order Abilities:

Mobile Wall (Ex):At 2nd level, the cavalier receives Step Up as a bonus feat. He can use this feat while mounted by succeeding at a DC 15 Ride check, directing his mount to move rather than himself. The cavalier gains a +1 bonus to his CMD against attempts to tumble through squares he threatens. At 6th level, and every 4 levels thereafter, this bonus increases by an additional +1.

Seek Retribution (Ex): At 8th level, once per day after receiving a request for aid from a legal authority or an aggrieved party regarding the breaking of an oath, whenever the cavalier encounters the oath-breaking creature, he can choose to vehemently exact retribution. As a swift action, the cavalier can grant himself a competence bonus equal to his Charisma modifier on all attack rolls, weapon damage rolls, and opposed checks against the oathbreaking creature. These bonuses last for 1 round per level.

Sworn Oathkeeper (Ex): At 15th level, the cavalier can formally witness an oath or agreement between two creatures. If either creature breaks or reneges on the agreement and the cavalier becomes aware of this, he gains the bonuses from his seek retribution ability against that creature at all times. This ability ends when the creature fulfills the conditions of the oath or receives just punishment for breaking the oath. The maximum number of witnessed oaths cavalier can have active at a time is equal to his Charisma modifier (minimum 1).