Source: Polished Leadership
A summoner who answers the call of a name remembered, not a formless outsider, but a noble spirit drawn back by the weight of its own legend.
Special - Sphere Summoner Compatibility: The hero caller archetype may be used with the sphere summoner archetype; replace the sphere summoner’s eidolon, summon mastery, aspect, and greater aspect features with the hero caller’s equivalent features.
Noble Spirit (Su)
At 1st level, the hero caller gains the Leadership sphere and selects the (cohort) package. The hero caller cannot select a sphere-specific drawback that would trade the ability to recruit a cohort.
Instead of recruiting a normal cohort, the hero caller may attune to a memento to recruit a noble spirit into their service. Full information about noble spirits and mementos is detailed below.
A noble spirit is treated as the hero caller’s eidolon for all purposes, including being summoned as part of a 1-minute ritual, voluntarily dismissing the noble spirit or being dismissed if the hero caller would be killed, unconscious, or asleep, and for summoner class features such as life link and maker’s call.
This alters eidolon.
Commanding Seals (Su)
At 1st level, the hero caller gains 3 commanding seals, +1 additional commanding seal per odd hero caller level after 1st. Commanding seals allow the hero caller to push raw magic through their bond with a noble spirit to accomplish great tasks. The hero caller regains all of their commanding seals after 8 hours of rest.
When using a commanding seal, the hero caller incants the commanding seal (as an effect with the auditory [verbal] descriptor) to transfer magic to a single noble spirit; a noble spirit does not need to hear the commanding seal be used to gain its effects.
The hero caller gains the following ways to expend their commanding seals at the levels indicated below:
- Luck (1st level): The hero caller may expend 1 commanding seal as an immediate action to allow one noble spirit to roll a d20 check twice, keeping the better result. The hero caller must use this ability before the first roll is made.
- Action (5th level): The hero caller may expend 1 commanding seal as a swift action to allow one noble spirit to move up to half their speed and make a single melee or ranged attack.
- Recovery (9th level): The hero caller may expend 1 commanding seal as a standard action to allow one noble spirit to attempt a new saving throw against any non-permanent negative condition or effect, against the condition or effect’s original DC. The noble spirit receives a circumstance bonus on this saving throw equal to the hero caller’s practitioner modifier.
- Return (13th level): The hero caller may expend 1 commanding seal as an immediate action to teleport one noble spirit into a square adjacent to them. This functions the same as the summoner’s maker’s call feature, but expends a commanding seal instead of a use of maker’s call.
- Final Command (17th level): The hero caller expends all remaining commanding seals as a full-round action to grant one noble spirit a massive surge of power. The noble spirit immediately takes two turns (instead of a single turn when acting on the hero caller’s initiative) and gains a circumstance bonus on all d20 checks made during either turn equal to 1 + 1/3 the number of commanding seals expended this way. At the end of their second turn, the noble spirit is dismissed and cannot be resummoned until the hero caller rests for 8 hours and regains their commanding seals.
Note - Extra Cohorts: The hero caller possesses a single pool of commanding seals, even if they would have multiple noble spirits at the same time.
This replaces summon monster and gate.
Noble Spirit Boons
At 3rd level and every 4 levels thereafter, the hero caller selects one noble spirit boon, granting new abilities or effects. Each noble spirit boon may be selected only once. The full list of noble spirit boons are listed below.
Spirited Leader
At 5th level, and every 4 levels thereafter, the hero caller gains 1 Leadership talent as a bonus talent.
Independent Spirit (Su)
At 10th level, a noble spirit may use their own actions to expend the hero caller’s commanding seals for the luck or action commanding seal abilities. At 14th level, this now includes the recovery commanding seal ability. At 18th level, this now includes the return commanding seal ability.
This replaces aspect.
Temporary Contract (Su)
At 16th level, once per day as a full-round action, the hero caller may summon an additional noble spirit they have attuned to. A noble spirit summoned this way has a temporary and unstable bond with the hero caller, remaining summoned for 1 minute per 2 hero caller levels.
This replaces merge forms.
Critical Commands (Su)
At 18th level, whenever the hero caller uses a commanding seal, if the noble spirit rolls a natural 20 as part of the granted roll or action, the hero caller regains 1 commanding seal.
Example: The hero caller uses the luck commanding seal and the noble spirit rolls a natural 20 as either of the two rolled dice. The hero caller regains 1 commanding seal due to the noble spirit’s natural 20 result.
This alters greater aspect.
Enshrined Legend (Ex)
At 20th level, the hero caller gains the Advanced Cohorts legendary talent as a bonus talent, and the hero caller’s noble spirits now possess a number of Hit Dice equal to the hero caller’s level. In addition, the hero caller may now attune to a memento instantly.
Example: Granuv the Beast accompanied a hero caller from humble beginnings to great heights as a wildling cohort, and is a 15th level wildling to a 20th level hero caller. Now at 20th level, the hero caller refines Granuv’s memento to call him as he stood in legend, now having 20 Hit Dice and with barbarian class levels.
This replaces twin eidolon.
Author’s Note - Prior Noble Spirits: Previously attuned noble spirits can be fully retrained once, at no cost, after 8 hours of rest. This should represent the hero caller unlocking that noble spirit’s true potential as an enshrined legend through the memento they previously attuned to. A previously attuned noble spirit, if rebuilt as an improved cohort, should have class levels appropriate to the original noble spirit’s cohort job (subject to GM discretion).
Hero Caller Noble Spirit Boons
The following are the noble spirit boons available to the hero caller.
If the hero caller could recruit multiple noble spirits, each noble spirit receives the benefits of a noble spirit boon independently (for example, if a hero caller could have 2 cohorts, each would have a noble attainment).
Absolute Loyalty (Su) (requires hero caller 7th level)
The noble spirit becomes immune to negative charm and compulsion effects.
Ascendent Commanding Seals (requires hero caller 7th level)
The hero caller gains 2 additional commanding seals per day.
Battle Continuation (Ex) (requires hero caller 7th level)
The noble spirit gains Diehard as a bonus feat, even if they do not meet the prerequisites. A noble spirit is no longer dismissed if they reach 0 hit points and is instead dismissed when they die. A noble spirit without a Constitution score is treated as having a Constitution score of 10 and is not destroyed when they reach 0 hit points (as normal for a construct or undead).
Change of Pace (requires hero caller 15th level)
Once per day, the hero caller may perform the 1-minute summoning ritual to swap a summoned noble spirit for one that was not chosen that day.
Fata Morgana (requires spherecasting)
The hero caller gains the Fate sphere as a bonus sphere. In addition, the hero caller may use commanding seals in place of spell points for Fate sphere effects.
Heroic Prowess (Ex)
The noble spirit chooses two skills each based on a different primary ability score. The noble spirit gains those skills as class skills and gains a bonus equal to 1/3 the hero caller’s level (minimum 1) on those skills. In addition, the noble spirit gains Signature Skill (Pathfinder Unchained) as a bonus feat for one of these skills.
Example: A noble spirit could select Acrobatics and Diplomacy, representing Dexterity and Charisma. The noble spirit could not select both Diplomacy and Intimidate because they are both Charisma-based skills by default, even if the noble spirit possesses an ability to allow Intimidate to be based on another ability score.
Independent Action (Ex)
The noble spirit is no longer limited by the life link feature and may be any distance from the hero caller. In addition, the noble spirit is no longer dismissed if the hero caller would become unconscious or sleep.
Legendary Renown (Ex)
The noble spirit gains Dazzling Display as a bonus feat, even if they do not meet the prerequisites, and may use Dazzling Display (and any related abilities or effects) without requiring a specific weapon, usually instead by reciting their name or their former deeds.
Magic Resistance (Ex) (requires hero caller 11th level)
The noble spirit gains spell resistance equal to 5 + your hero caller level. This spell resistance never interferes with beneficial magic effects created by the hero caller.
Noble Attainment (Su) (requires hero caller 11th level)
The noble spirit gains access to a fragment of their true power, their noble attainment: a single spellcrafted effect or technique (see Champions of the Spheres: Study and Practice), usable once per day. The effect or technique has a complexity no greater than 2, +1 per 4 hero caller levels. The noble spirit is treated as possessing any talents its noble attainment requires, and expends no resources to cast or initiate it. Each noble attainment should match the noble spirit’s legend and background (subject to GM discretion), and improves as the hero caller gains additional levels (such as revising or adding additional effects to a noble attainment at 14th level).
Noble Attainments as Equipment: At GM discretion, a noble attainment may instead be a unique piece of equipment with a gold price equal to a magic weapon with an enhancement value equal to a noble attainment’s maximum complexity (for example, a 12th level hero caller’s noble spirit could have a complexity 5 effect, equivalent to a +5 weapon costing 50,000 gp).
Reforging Bonds (Ex) (requires hero caller 7th level)
Once per round, when a noble spirit confirms a critical hit, succeeds at a combat maneuver, or reduces a creature to 0 or fewer hit points, the hero caller may regain 1 commanding seal (this cannot cause the hero caller to exceed their maximum number of commanding seals). A helpless creature or a creature that has fewer Hit Dice than the hero caller’s character level does not restore commanding seals this way.
The hero caller may regain up to their total maximum number of commanding seals each day using this noble spirit boon. For example, if the hero caller has a maximum of 6 commanding seals, they could regain 6 commanding seals throughout the day).
About Noble Spirits and Mementos
This section details noble spirits and mementos.
Noble Spirits
Each noble spirit represents a hero, legend, or individual of notable reputation, from a recent war hero fallen in battle to notorious thieves, berserker kings, and wizened mages. A noble spirit can be identified with a Knowledge (history) check (DC 10 for legendary figures, 15 for notable figures, 20 for local or obscure figures, and 35 for forgotten figures).
What a Noble Spirit Is
A noble spirit is a hybrid of a Leadership sphere cohort and a summoner’s eidolon, with the following exceptions.
Unlike a Leadership cohort, a noble spirit uses the hero caller’s level as their associated skill ranks when determining Hit Dice and other statistics. A noble spirit cannot be recruited as an ordinary cohort; the hero caller must attune to a memento to summon them. If a noble spirit dies, they are dismissed and can be resummoned after 8 hours of rest.
Unlike a summoner’s eidolon, a noble spirit is summoned directly from their memento, not from another plane. Noble spirits are not extraplanar creatures (and lose the extraplanar subtype if they would have one) and cannot be targeted by banishment, dismissal, or similar effects, but can still be dismissed as an eidolon. As a creature conjured by magic but anchored by a memento, a noble spirit is constantly staggered while within the area of an antimagic field or similar effect.
Regardless of how many noble spirits a hero caller is attuned to, the hero caller must assign a noble spirit to an available cohort slot when they summon their noble spirit for the day. Once assigned, the hero caller cannot summon a different noble spirit unless they could recruit multiple cohorts, and assign a second noble spirit to a second available cohort slot (and third or fourth), or the hero caller rests for 8 hours.
Noble Spirit Memories
Each noble spirit remembers their own name and the general details of their past, but not information that would require a Knowledge check or other specialized knowledge to recall.
Example: A legendary pirate recalls they had a great treasure, but not its location. A barbarian king remembers being entombed, but not the tomb’s location, defenses, or traps.
Noble Spirit Cohort Jobs
Each noble spirit has one or more cohort jobs matching their past. A war hero may have the warrior job, or qualify as a squire or wildling from an earlier point in their life. A renowned court mage may have the apprentice job, or the minstrel job from their traveling days.
A noble spirit’s job is determined by their memento, and cannot be retrained (even with Training Coordination’s training regiment option). To use the same noble spirit with a different cohort job, the hero caller must find an appropriate memento for that job. Subject to GM discretion, a hero caller is not prevented from recruiting a noble spirit of their choice (but may require additional effort to search for an appropriate memento).
Equipment and Possessions
A hero caller’s magic item slots are not shared with their noble spirits. Instead of gaining evolution points, each noble spirit has their own equipment, gaining half the wealth of a player character of the hero caller’s level (see PRPG Core Rulebook, Placing Treasure, Table 12-4: Character Wealth by Level). A noble spirit’s wealth can be reallocated each time the hero caller gains a level. For example, a 5th-level hero caller’s noble spirit has 5,250 gp. This wealth is separate from the hero caller’s and can be spent only on the noble spirit’s equipment. The noble spirit may not use their wealth for consumable or limited use items; the hero caller must pay for such consumables or equipment with their own wealth.
A noble spirit’s possessions are part of them and are summoned alongside them, disappearing if the noble spirit is dismissed. Equipment separated from a noble spirit for more than 1 round dissipates; the noble spirit can recall dissipated equipment to hand or worn on their person during their turn. Damaged or destroyed equipment is restored when the noble spirit is fully resummoned after 8 hours of rest. Consumable or expendable items must be paid for from the hero caller’s own wealth.
Multiple Noble Spirits and Other Interactions
If the hero caller could recruit multiple cohorts (such as through the Extra Cohorts legendary talent), the first noble spirits they summon each day “occupy” the available cohort slots they could recruit for.
For the life bond class feature (or any other feature that allows a summoner’s eidolon to sacrifice hit points on behalf of the summoner), the hero caller must designate a single noble spirit to use this feature with.
Example: If a hero caller could have 3 cohorts, they would “fill” that cohort vacancy by performing the 1-minute summoning ritual for each noble spirit they summon for the day. When the hero caller summons a third noble spirit for the day, they will have filled all three vacancies until they rest for 8 hours.
Mementos and Summoning Noble Spirits
A memento is an object tied to a noble spirit’s name, history, or legend, from objects of great importance (a war hero’s blade, the prize of a notorious thief’s greatest heist) to lesser ones (a weathered scabbard, the key to the cell they died in). Each memento is associated with a single noble spirit. Attuning to a memento is a 1-week ritual of minor rites performed during downtime; once attuned, the hero caller can summon that noble spirit normally.
Finding and Replacing Mementos
Finding a new memento is no harder than recruiting an ordinary cohort, typically by spending 8 hours in a settlement or other location holding items of importance. The hero caller instinctively knows an object qualifies as a memento upon touching it.
A destroyed or lost memento’s noble spirit can still be summoned, but is permanently staggered (even if immune to the staggered condition). The hero caller can replace the memento by spending 1 month to locate and attune to a suitable replacement. Subject to GM discretion, no suitable replacement may exist, though mementos for other cohort jobs may.
Attunement Limit
The hero caller can attune to a number of noble spirits equal to 1/2 their hero caller level + their practitioner modifier, similar to maintaining contacts. Effects that increase the hero caller’s contacts increase this number the same way.
Summoning Noble Spirits
Each day, the hero caller summons a noble spirit into an available cohort slot with a 1-minute summoning ritual (the same as summoning an eidolon). A hero caller with only one cohort slot summons a single noble spirit and cannot change that choice until they rest for 8 hours. A hero caller who can recruit multiple cohorts (such as through the Extra Cohorts legendary talent) fills each available cohort “slot” with a separate noble spirit as they summon them; once all slots are filled, their selections are locked until they rest for 8 hours.
Special: For life bond (or any feature letting an eidolon sacrifice hit points for the summoner), the hero caller designates one summoned noble spirit to use it with.