Valkyrie



"A challenge? Come then - test your clumsy steel against the dancing of the light, and let us see in truth which of us is the fool."

-Miyu, a Valkyrie

When the Temple of Nine Swords fell to the hordes of darkness on that fateful night so long ago, many would claim that the golden age of the Sublime Way had come to an end, the secrets of the swords lost in the chaos and confusion. To some extent, this was undoubtedly true, and none since have managed to unify the disciplines in the same manner as the wise and mighty Reshar. Yet, in the scattered nooks and crannies of the world, masters and students still train in the old ways, and more warriors study the secrets of perfection than ever before.

With this newfound ubiquity, it was inevitable that one of the many dojos of the Sublime Way would eventually find a student blessed with the inner radiance of a magical girl. None can say who, precisely, was the first to walk the path of the valkyrie, turning the same techniques used to achieve mastery of the Way upon her own inner radiance - all that is known is that, with time, their teachings spread to all corners of the world. Through patience, discipline, and a peerless understanding of the nuances of their power, a valkyrie wields the light as a weapon to match any of the Nine Swords.

Requirements
To become a valkyrie, you must fulfill all the following criteria.

Base Attack Bonus: +5

Skills: Concentration 8 ranks, Martial Lore 5 ranks

Feats: Weapon Focus (Device)

Illuminations: Must know at least one illumination with a mote cost of at least 2m

Martial Maneuvers: Must know at least two martial maneuvers, including one strike, one of which must be of at least 2nd level

Class Skill List
Balance (Dex), Climb (Str), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Handle Animal (Cha), Intimidate, Jump, Knowledge [History] (Int), Knowledge [Local] (Int), Knowledge [Religion] (Int), Martial Lore (Int), Perform (Cha), Sense Motive (Wis), Swim (Str), Tumble (Dex), Use Magical Device (Cha)

Skill Points
4 + Int modifier at each level.

Hit Die
d10

Weapon and Armour Proficiencies
A valkyrie is proficient with all simple and martial weapons and with all armor (heavy, medium, and light) and shields (but not tower shields).

Illuminations
At each indicated level, a valkyrie gains an increase in evoker level, illuminations known, illuminations readied, innate illuminations, and personas known as if they had gained a level in an illumination-using class to which they belonged before adding the prestige class level. She does not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained. If she had more than one illumination-using class before becoming a valkyrie, she must decide to which class to add each level for the aforementioned purposes.

Imbuement
At 5th level, the valkyrie increases her Imbuement limit by one.

Maneuvers
At 1st level, the valkyrie selects three martial disciplines to form the core of her fighting style. Once made, this decision can never be altered.

At each odd-numbered level, the valkyrie gains a new maneuver known from one of her chosen disciplines. She must meet a maneuver’s prerequisites to learn it. A valkyrie may add her full class level to her initiator level to determine her total initiator level and her highest-level maneuvers known.

At 3rd, 6th, and 9th level, a valkyrie gains an additional readied maneuver.

Stances Known
At 5th level, the valkyrie learns a new stance from one of her chosen disciplines. She must meet a stance’s prerequisites to learn it.

Illuminant Adept (Su)
As a student of both her inner light and the splendor of the Sublime Way, a valkyrie can do battle with a grace and precision few mundane warriors could ever hope to match. With practice, her maneuvers come to flow through her with the same ease as the illuminations that infuse her soul. As a free action, no more than once per round, the valkyrie may recover a single martial maneuver by expending motes equal to twice the level of that maneuver. She may only use this technique to recover maneuvers of a level is no greater than her class level. This ability does not allow the valkyrie to ready new maneuvers – merely to recover expended ones.

Martial Evoker (Su)
A true warrior must learn proficiency with all the weapons at their disposal. While there is a time and a place for elegant mysticism, a valkyrie is a warrior first and foremost. Beginning at 3rd level, whenever the valkyrie uses a Blast illumination, she may treat it as if it possessed either the Imbue blast shape or the Assault blast shape. This replaces any effects the blast’s previous shape might have imparted, but does not alter the illumination’s final cost in any way.

Enhanced Armaments (Ex)
At 5th level, a valkyrie’s bond with her radiant armaments grows, allowing them to grow and evolve with her burgeoning power. At each specified level, the valkyrie may select one of the Enhanced Armaments effects listed in the Radiant armaments section to be applied to her costume or device.

Warrior of Light (Su)
Many magical girls would hold to the claim that light is their weapon, but for a valkyrie, this statement is true in a very literal sense. Eschewing the crude physical constructs most evokers require to channel their power, a valkyrie of 7th level or higher is capable of manifesting arms and armor of pure radiant energy. A costume manifested from radiant energy allows the valkyrie to add its armor bonus to her Touch AC, as well as her normal AC. A device manifested from radiant energy deals untyped energy damage, rather than physical damage. Any additional damage imparted by martial maneuvers executed while wielding a radiant device may likewise be converted to untyped energy damage. A valkyrie chooses whether to deploy her armaments in their physical or radiant form each time she manifests them.

Faultless Zenith Stance (Su)
At 9th level, a valkyrie masters one of the most difficult and fundamental links between the paths of initiator and evoker, mastering their personal flow of light as an extension of their own body. As a swift action, the valkyrie may exit any stance she is currently occupying to enter the Faultless Zenith stance. As part of this action, the valkyrie selects a single surge illumination she knows (though it does not need to be readied). So long as she remains in the Faultless Zenith stance, the valkyrie gains the full effect of the chosen surge, and her mote pool is reduced by a value equal to the mote cost of the chosen surge. The valkyrie may end this stance at any time as a swift action, or she may simply switch to a different stance – either way, upon exiting the Faultless Zenith stance, her reduced mote pool will refresh to its normal value at the beginning of her next turn.

Eternal Blaze (Su)
At 10th level, a valkyrie’s melding of blade and brilliance is, at long last, truly seamless. A barrage of light is no greater a challenge than a graceful dance of blows, and she gives no more thought to her simple illuminations than a veteran soldier gives to the practiced strokes of their weapon. Once per round, the valkyrie may evoke a blast illumination with the Imbue shape component as a free action.