Hit Die: d12

Requirements:

• Dwarven
• Lawful alignment
• Base Attack: 7+
• Dodge
• Endurance
• Toughness

Class Skills: The Defender's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Craft (INT), Listen (WIS), Sense Motive (WIS) and Spot (WIS).

Skill Points: 2 + INT bonus each level

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A Defender is proficient with all simple and martial weapons. Defenders are proficient with all armors and shields.

Table: The Defender

Defensive Stance: When he needs to, the defender can become a stalwart bastion of defense. In this defensive stance, a defender gains phenomenal strength and durability, but he cannot move from the spot he is defending. He gains the following benefits:

• +2 Strength
• +4 Constitution
• +2 defensive bonus on all saves
• +4 dodge bonus to AC

While defending, a defender cannot use skills or abilities that would require him to shift his position, such as Move Silently or Jump. If a defender moves at all during his action, he loses all benefits of the defensive stance for a full round, but if he plants himself in one place again, not moving, the bonuses apply once again. A defensive stance lasts for 3 rounds, plus the character’s (newly improved) Constitution modifier. The defender may end the defense voluntarily prior to this limit. At the end of the defense, the defender is winded and suffers a –2 penalty to Strength for the duration of that encounter. The defender can only take his defensive stance a certain number of times per day as determined by his level. Taking the stance takes no time itself, but the defender can only do so during his action.

Dwarven Resilience: Starting at 1st level, the Defender gains the incredible toughness and defensive prowess only the dwarves can master. This improves at levels 4, 7 and finally at level 10. The bonus indicates the bonus to AC the Defender gains as well as the Damage Reduction the Defender enjoys. Thus, at level 10, the Defender gains a +4 AC bonus and has 4/- Damage Reduction. This is an extraordinary ability.

Defensive Awareness: Starting at 2nd level, the dwarven defender gains the extraordinary ability to react to danger before his senses would normally allow him to even be aware of it. At 2nd level and above, he retains his Dexterity bonus to AC (if any) regardless of being caught flat-footed or struck by an invisible attacker. (He still loses any Dexterity bonus to AC if immobilized.)

At 5th level, the dwarven defender can no longer be flanked, since he can react to opponents on opposite sides of him as easily as he can react to a single attacker. This defense denies rogues the ability to use flank attacks to sneak attack the dwarven defender. The exception to this defense is that a rogue at least 4 levels higher than the dwarven defender can flank him (and thus sneak attack him).

At 10th level, the dwarven defender gains an intuitive sense that alerts him to danger from traps, giving him a +1 dodge bonus AC and a +1 bonus to Reflex saves made to avoid traps.

Defensive awareness is cumulative with uncanny dodge. If the dwarven defender has another class that grants the uncanny dodge ability, add together all the class levels of the classes that grant these two abilities and determine the character’s defensive awareness ability on that basis.