Core Rules · Part 1
5. Champion System
Champions are extraordinary individuals who exist at the intersection of destiny and power. Statistically, roughly one in a million people are born as a Champion — individuals whose very nature is dual, capable of walking two paths simultaneously. Others become Champions through divine intervention, pacts with powerful entities, or rare and dangerous rituals. Regardless of origin, Champions are considered invaluable assets to any nation, government, or organization fortunate enough to count one among their ranks.
Mechanically, the Champion system uses the gestalt character rules as a foundation. The default gestalt rules can be found in Wizards of the Coast's Unearthed Arcana (D&D 3.5). All Champions in this campaign operate under those rules with the exceptions and additions described in this section.
5.1 Champion Origins
There are three recognized origins for becoming a Champion. Each determines how a character's secondary class side advances.
| Origin | Champion Type | Secondary Side Advancement |
|---|---|---|
| Born | Standard Champion | Automatic — both sides level simultaneously and evenly |
| Divine Intervention | Standard Champion | Automatic — both sides level simultaneously and evenly |
| Pact / Covenant | Covenant Champion | Story-granted — patron awards secondary levels through narrative milestones |
5.2 Standard Champion (Born / Divine Intervention)
A Standard Champion levels both class sides simultaneously and evenly. Each time the character gains a level, they choose one class for each side (primary and secondary) and gain the full class features of both. They use the best HD, BAB, and saving throw progression available between the two classes, exactly as described in the Unearthed Arcana gestalt rules.
Example: Dan is a born Champion. Each level he gains features from both of his chosen classes simultaneously, always keeping both sides at equal level.
5.3 Covenant Champion (Pact)
A Covenant Champion gains their secondary class through an agreement with a patron — a powerful entity, organization, or force that grants power in exchange for service or fealty. The Covenant Champion's secondary class side is not automatically advanced with experience. Instead, the patron awards secondary class levels as a reward for completing story milestones, fulfilling obligations, or otherwise serving the terms of the pact.
As a result, a Covenant Champion's two class sides may be at different levels. A character who is 10th level on their primary side may only be 6th level on their secondary side if they have only completed six milestones worthy of their patron's recognition. The patron retains narrative control over when and whether the secondary side advances.
Example: Bree accepted a pact later in life. Her primary class levels normally with experience. Her secondary class levels are gifted by her patron and advance only when she completes story actions her patron deems worthy.
5.4 Champion Restrictions
All Champions, regardless of origin, are subject to the following restrictions in addition to any standard gestalt rules.
| Restriction | Details |
|---|---|
| One Hybrid Class (Primary Only) | Only one hybrid class (e.g. Bloodrager, Brawler, Arcanist, Slayer) may be used in a gestalt pairing, and it must be on the primary side. A hybrid class may never appear on the secondary side. |
| No Ability Double-Dipping | Scaling class abilities (such as Sneak Attack, Bardic Performance, etc.) are capped at half your total character level / HD, consistent with existing Pathfinder stacking rules. Gestalt does not create a new loophole around this cap. |
| No Same-Role Classes | You cannot pair two classes that share the same core mechanical identity. Example: Rogue + Ninja is not permitted. Classes from different traditions or archetypes are fine. Example: Wizard + Sorcerer is permitted. |
5.5 Patron Bond (Mythic Power) Beta
Section 5.3 covers the Covenant Champion from the side of the character who receives the pact. This subsection covers the other side of it: the Mythic Power that lets a character hand out those pacts in the first place.
Patron Bond is a Mythic Power, chosen the same way any Mythic Power is chosen — at the moment a character gains a Mythic Tier. It cannot be picked up mid-story by a character who has not reached a tier at which to choose it.
A character with Patron Bond can grant a fragment of their own nature to another creature, turning that creature into a Covenant Champion under 5.3. The Champion gains a secondary class side that exists only because of the bond, and a racial template called a Bond Mark.
This is deliberately a second, lesser power track. It sits below Mythic in ceiling but stays worth having, and it is the intended way to hand real power to an NPC without pushing that NPC onto full Mythic progression. Holding Mythic Tiers and granting or receiving Patron Bonds are not mutually exclusive; a character can do both at once.
5.5.1 The Four Rules of the Bond
These four rules never change, no matter what the patron is or what its nature is built out of.
| Rule | How It Works |
|---|---|
| Cost | Granting a bond, or granting an advancement to a bond that already exists, costs the Patron Charisma damage. The cost scales with how many bonds the Patron currently has active, and increases further if the recipient is more powerful than the Patron. This is the hard limiter on how often and how generously a Patron can bless. |
| Bond Limit | A Patron may hold a number of active Covenant Champion bonds equal to their Wisdom modifier. This is always Wisdom — it represents insight into who actually deserves the gift — regardless of which ability score powers the Patron’s other abilities. See 5.5.4 for the one sanctioned exception. |
| The Bond Mark | Every Covenant Champion created this way receives a racial template built to a fixed shape and reskinned to match the Patron’s nature. The Mark stacks on top of the Champion’s existing race. See 5.5.2. |
| Patron-Gated Advancement | The Champion’s secondary class side does not advance on experience. It advances only when the Patron consciously grants the advancement. The Patron can feel a bonded Champion’s growth building up and chooses when to release it. In exchange, the Patron gains 2% of that Champion’s experience at the moment the advancement is granted — not as a continuous drain. |
That last rule is why Patron Bond stays naturally capped below Mythic power. A Champion’s growth depends on their Patron’s judgment and willingness, not on how much experience they have piled up.
5.5.2 The Bond Mark
The Bond Mark is a racial template with a fixed Race Points budget and a fixed set of slots. The Patron chooses what fills those slots and reskins them to their own nature, but the budget and the shape do not change. All trait costs are taken from the Advanced Race Guide race builder.
| Slot | Budget | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Senses | 2 RP | Darkvision 60 ft. is the standard pick. Low-light vision (1 RP) frees a point for elsewhere. |
| Defensive | 1–2 RP | Energy resistance 5 against one type is 1 RP. A +2 save bonus against one broad category is 1 RP. |
| Magic | 1 RP | One 1/day spell-like ability, caster level equal to the Champion’s character level. |
| Cosmetic | 0 RP | A permanent, visible marker of the Patron. Always free, never optional — a Covenant Champion can always be recognized as one. |
| Total | 5 / 7 / 10 RP | The budget grows with the Patron’s Bond Tier. See 5.5.3. |
The cosmetic marker is not decoration. A Covenant Champion is visibly marked by whatever made them, and anyone who knows what they are looking at can tell. That is the price of the gift.
5.5.3 Bond Tiers
The bond scales across three tiers that track the Patron’s own Mythic Tier. When a Patron crosses into a new band, their Bond Tier advances automatically — and every bond they already hold is upgraded retroactively to match. This is not limited to bonds formed after the upgrade. Existing Champions grow when their Patron grows.
| Bond Tier | Mythic Tier | Bond Mark | Patron Benefits |
|---|---|---|---|
| I | 1–3 | 5 RP | Base system. Bond slots limited by Wisdom modifier; Charisma cost scales with active bonds. |
| II | 4–6 | 7 RP | The Patron may re-shape which traits the Mark grants at the moment they grant an advancement, rather than being locked to the traits chosen when the bond was formed. |
| III | 7–10 | 10 RP | Charisma cost per bond is reduced by 1 (minimum 1). The Patron can sense each bonded Champion’s location and general condition at will, not merely feel their growth. |
5.5.4 Exceeding the Bond Limit
Widened Communion (Mythic Feat)
Prerequisite: Patron Bond, Wisdom 15.
Benefit: Your bond limit increases by 2, in addition to your Wisdom modifier.
This is the only sanctioned way to hold more active bonds than your Wisdom modifier allows.
5.5.5 Revocation
A Patron can revoke a bond they granted, but only as a consequence — never as a threat and never on a whim. Revocation is triggered by betrayal, and the trigger sits on the Champion’s side of the bond, not the Patron’s.
| Trigger | Result |
|---|---|
| The Champion knowingly betrays their Patron | The Champion breaks the bond themselves, immediately. |
| The Champion unwittingly betrays their Patron | The bond breaks the moment the Champion realizes what they did. |
| Any other reason | The bond holds. A Patron cannot strip a bond for any other cause. |
5.5.6 Example: The Lawbringer Bond
The character in this example, Chris, carries a fragment of the Clockwork Nirvana lodged in his chest. That connection is what his bond is built out of, and it is what every Champion he creates is marked by. His Bond Mark is built on the aphorite chassis, reskinned to law, and grants the following to his Champions at each Bond Tier.
| Bond Tier | Trait | Cost | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| I | Clockwork Sight | 2 RP | Darkvision 60 ft. |
| I | Axiomatic Resonance | 1 RP | Electricity resistance 5. |
| I | Ordered Mind | 1 RP | +2 on saving throws against mind-affecting effects. |
| I | Law’s Ward | 1 RP | Protection from chaos 1/day as a spell-like ability, caster level equal to the Champion’s character level. |
| I | The Mark Itself | 0 RP | A metallic sheen to the skin, hair and eyes, and faint crystalline rune-lines that surface when the Champion acts. Permanent and visible. |
| II | Brass Plating | +2 RP | Gains +1 natural armor as the Lawbringer’s order works its way outward through the body. |
| III | Axiomatic Aegis | +3 RP | Spell resistance equal to 11 + the Champion’s character level. |
Tier I totals 5 RP, Tier II totals 7 RP, and Tier III totals 10 RP, matching the budget in 5.5.3. A Patron whose nature is storm, void, decay or anything else builds to the same budget and the same slots — only the reskin changes.
Example: Chris is Mythic Tier 2, so his Bond Tier is I and his Champions each carry the 5 RP version of the Mark. When he reaches Mythic Tier 4, his Bond Tier rises to II, and every Champion he has already bonded gains Brass Plating at the same moment — he does not need to re-grant anything.
Note on spell resistance at Bond Tier III: spell resistance applies to friendly magic as well as hostile magic. A Champion who wants a cure spell has to lower it. This is intended — it is the cost of being that far inside a Patron’s nature.