Some people call them mad, and certainly some divine oracles are driven insane by the visions they see. Some people doubt their words; indeed, some divine oracles are destined never to be believed. Wherever the deities are known to speak to mortals, some mortals hear their voices with a unique clarity and gain insight into the past, the present, and the future by virtue of their unusual status. Divine oracles are such mortals, blessed—or cursed—by visions from their deities.
All divine oracles are spellcasters, and most were clerics or druids before adopting the divine oracle prestige class. Whatever their other classes, all divine oracles share a particular devotion to the Divination school of magic, having mastered all available means to catch glimpses of the future.
NPC divine oracles often live in out-of-the-way places, though usually close enough to civilization that people with pressing questions about the future can seek them out to have their questions answered. They frequently inhabit sacred shrines or ancient temples and rarely take an active part in world affairs.
Adaptation: The divine oracle is designed to work well with both arcane and divine spellcasters; the idea behind the class is that you’re getting divine guidance that manifests itself in a number of ways. But it doesn’t have to be that way. By adjusting the requirements, you could push the class in an arcane or divine direction. It’s also easy to add a requirement that limits it to worshipers of a deity of time, fate, or divination.
Hit Die: d6.
To qualify to become a divine oracle, a character must fulfill the following criteria.
Skill: Knowledge (religion) 8 ranks.
Feat: Skill Focus (Knowledge [religion]).
Spells: Able to cast at least 2 divination spells.
The divine oracle’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Heal (Wis), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (arcana) (Int), Knowledge (religion) (Int), Profession (Wis), and Spellcraft (Int).
Skill Points at Each Level: 2 + Int modifier.
| Level | Base Attack Bonus | Fort Save | Ref Save | Will Save | Special | Spells per Day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | +0 | +0 | +0 | +2 | Oracle domain, scry bonus | +1 level of existing class |
| 2nd | +1 | +0 | +0 | +3 | Prescient sense, trap sense +1 | +1 level of existing class |
| 3rd | +1 | +1 | +1 | +3 | Divination enhancement | +1 level of existing class |
| 4th | +2 | +1 | +1 | +4 | Uncanny dodge (Dex bonus to AC) | +1 level of existing class |
| 5th | +2 | +1 | +1 | +4 | Trap sense +2 | +1 level of existing class |
| 6th | +3 | +2 | +2 | +5 | Improved uncanny dodge (can’t be flanked) | +1 level of existing class |
| 7th | +3 | +2 | +2 | +5 | — | +1 level of existing class |
| 8th | +4 | +2 | +2 | +6 | Trap sense +3 | +1 level of existing class |
| 9th | +4 | +3 | +3 | +6 | — | +1 level of existing class |
| 10th | +5 | +3 | +3 | +7 | Immune to surprise | +1 level of existing class |
All of the following are class features of the divine oracle prestige class.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Divine oracles gain no weapon or armor proficiencies.
Spells per Day/Spells Known: A divine oracle continues advancing in spellcasting ability as well as gaining the abilities of her new class. Thus, when a new divine oracle level is gained, the character gains new spells per day (and spells known, if applicable) as if she had also gained a level in whatever spellcasting class she belonged to before she added the prestige class. She does not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained (improved chance of controlling or rebuking undead, wild shape ability, and so on). This essentially means that she adds the level of divine oracle to the level of whatever other spellcasting class the character has, then determines spells per day accordingly. For example, if Cassandra, a 10th-level cleric, gains a level as a divine oracle, she gains new spells as if she had risen to 11th level as a cleric, but uses the other divine oracle aspects of level progression such as base attack bonus and save bonuses. If she next gains a level as a cleric, making her an 11th-level cleric/1st-level divine oracle, she gains spells as if she had risen to 12th level as a cleric.
If a character had more than one spellcasting class before she became a divine oracle, the player must decide which class to assign each level of divine oracle for the purpose of determining spells per day and spells known.
Oracle Domain: Upon adopting the divine oracle class, the character gains access to the Oracle domain. The character gains the granted power associated with the domain (+2 caster level for divination spells), and can choose the spells in that domain as her daily domain spells.
Scry Bonus (Su): A divine oracle adds a +1 sacred bonus to the save DC of all her divination (scrying) spells.
Prescient Sense (Ex): Beginning at 2nd level, if a divine oracle makes a successful Reflex saving throw against an attack that normally inflicts half damage on a successful save (such as a red dragon’s fiery breath or a fireball spell), she instead takes no damage, since her prescience allowed her to get out of the way faster. This form of evasion works no matter what armor the divine oracle wears, unlike the evasion ability used by monks and rogues.
Trap Sense (Ex): At 2nd level, the divine oracle gains an intuitive sense that alerts her to danger from traps, giving her a +1 bonus on Reflex saves made to avoid traps and a +1 dodge bonus to AC against attacks by traps. This increases to +2 at level 5 and +3 at level 8.
Divination Enhancement (Ex): Beginning at 3rd level, a divine oracle may roll twice and take the better result when using divination spells such as augury or divination.
Uncanny Dodge (Ex): Starting at 4th level, a divine oracle gains the ability to react to danger before her senses would normally allow her to do so. The divine oracle retains her Dexterity modifier to AC (if any) regardless of being caught flat-footed or struck by an invisible attacker. (She still loses her Dexterity modifier to AC if immobilized.)
Improved Uncanny Dodge (Ex): At 6th level and higher, the divine oracle can no longer be flanked, since she can react to opponents on opposite sides of her as easily as she can react to a single attacker. This defense denies rogues the ability to use flank attacks to sneak attack the divine oracle. The exception to this defense is when an attacker has at least 4 more rogue levels than the target has divine oracle levels.
If a character already has levels of a class that could gain uncanny dodge, the levels from the classes that grant uncanny dodge stack to determine the minimum level a rogue must be to flank the character.
Immune to Surprise (Ex): At 10th level, the divine oracle’s sensitivity to danger is so great that she is never surprised. She can always take a standard action during a surprise round, unless she is physically restrained from doing so. If there is no surprise round then this ability doesn’t help.
Templeton: Male human cleric 5/divine oracle 3; CR 8; Medium humanoid; HD 5d8+10 plus 3d6+6; hp 52; Init –1; Spd 20 ft.; AC 21, touch 9, flat-footed 21; Base Atk +4; Grp +5; Atk +7 melee (1d8+2, heavy mace +1); Full Atk: +7 melee (1d8+2, heavy mace +1) or +3 ranged (1d8/19–20, light crossbow); SA spells, turn undead 4/day (+3, 2d6+6, 5th); SQ divination enhancement, Oracle domain, prescient sense, scry bonus, trap sense +1; AL LG; SV Fort +7, Ref +1, Will +13; Str 12, Dex 8, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 17, Cha 13.
Skills and Feats: Concentration +12, Knowledge (religion) +12, Heal +12, Diplomacy +2; Combat Casting, Iron Will, Skill Focus (Knowledge [religion]), Weapon Focus (heavy mace).
Cleric Spells Prepared (6/6/5/5/4; save DC 13 + spell level): 0—detect magic (3), guidance, light (2); 1st—bless, detect evil, divine favor, magic weapon, identifyD, shield of faith; 2nd—auguryD, bear’s endurance, hold person, lesser restoration, sound burst; 3rd—dispel magic, invisibility purge, divinationD, protection from energy, searing light; 4th—greater magic weapon, scryingD, neutralize poison, restoration.
D Domain spell. Domains: Good, Healing, Oracle.
Possessions: full plate +1, heavy steel shield +1, heavy mace +1, light crossbow, 10 bolts, wand of cure light wounds (33 charges), pearl (100 gp), incense, divination offering (25 gp), diamond dust (100 gp).
Source: Complete Divine, page 36. In the sample divine oracle spell list, replaced the divine weapon spell (which does not exist anywhere in D&D 3.5) with divine favor.