Divine Defender

At 3rd level, a divine defender can spend one use of her lay on hands ability as a standard action to grant all adjacent allies (including paladins) a bonus. At 3rd level, adjacent allies receive a +1 sacred bonus to their AC and CMD and on their saving throws. These bonuses last for a number of rounds equal to the divine defender's Charisma modifier. At 9th level and 15th level, this bonus increases by +1. At 6th level, these bonuses are granted to all allies within 10 feet, and allies that are at fewer than 0 hit points within this area are automatically stabilized. At 12th level, these bonuses are granted to all allies within 15 feet, and allies within this area are immune to bleed damage. At 18th level, these bonuses are granted to all allies within 20 feet, and allies within this area gain a 25% chance to negate any sneak attack or critical hit scored against them. This ability does not stack with the chance provided from the light, medium, or heavy fortification armor special abilities. These bonuses are cumulative with each other. Allies only benefit from these bonuses while in the listed area. This ability replaces mercy.

At 5th level, instead of forming a divine bond with her weapon or a mount, a divine defender can form a bond with her armor. As a standard action, a divine defender can enhance her armor by calling upon the aid of a celestial spirit. This bond lasts for 1 minute per paladin level. When called, the spirit causes the armor to shed light like a torch. At 5th level, the spirit grants the armor a +1 enhancement bonus. For every three levels beyond 5th, the armor gains another +1 enhancement bonus, to a maximum of +6 at 20th level. These bonuses can be added to the armor, stacking with existing armor bonuses to a maximum of +3, or they can be used to add any of the following armor properties (asterisks note new armor properties found in Chapter 7): champion*, ghost touch, heavy fortification, invulnerability, light fortification, moderate fortification, spell resistance (13, 15, 17, or 19). Adding these properties consumes an amount of bonus equal to the property's cost (see Table 15–4 of the Core Rulebook). In addition, the bonuses can be consumed at the listed amount to add any of the following armor properties: energy resistance for +3 bonus, improved energy resistance for +5 bonus, or righteous* for +4 bonus. These bonuses are added to any properties the armor already has, but duplicate abilities do not stack. If the armor is not magical, at least a +1 enhancement bonus must be added before any other properties can be added. The bonus and properties granted by the spirit are determined when the spirit is called and cannot be changed until the spirit is called again. The celestial spirit imparts no bonuses if the armor is worn by anyone other than the divine defender, but it resumes giving bonuses if the divine defender dons the armor again. A divine defender can use this ability once per day at 5th level, and one additional time per day for every four levels beyond 5th, to a total of four times per day at 17th level.

If a suit of armor with a celestial spirit is destroyed, the divine defender loses the use of this ability for 30 days, or until she gains a level, whichever comes first. During this 30-day period, the divine defender takes a –1 penalty on attack and weapon damage rolls.