Naive Initiate

Among those with dark powers are starry-eyed fools who believe they can use them for good. These would-be champions of justice start with the best of intentions, leading them along a beautifully-maintained road to hell. As they approach the powers they contract with with their guard down, their minds and bodies are far more susceptible to malign influence than those of most shady drifters. The vast majority of naive initiates ultimately fall, corrupted by the power they thought they could control.

Alignment

Naive initiates must be of Good alignment.

Just Pursuits

The naive initiate loses access to one discipline of choice from the normal shady drifter discipline list. In exchange, he gains the Radiant Dawn discipline.

A naive initiate has a pool of Essence equal to 1+1 per 6 shady drifter levels. He may use this Essence to empower some of his Radiant Dawn Battle Artes; expended Essence points are regained when he spends 10 minutes to prepare maneuvers.

This ability alters Battle Artes.

Malign Influence (Su)

Starting at 2nd level, the naive initiate's unsuspecting mind makes him far more vulnerable to the corruption of his dark masters than most shady drifters are. Each time the naive initiate gains a level (including reaching 2nd level), he may dabble further in his dark powers. He may choose to roll a d100 and gain the corresponding minor mutation per Mutations. If he does so, his alignment shifts one step towards Evil. He may instead take the major mutation corresponding to his roll, though if he does, he takes two steps towards Evil.

After 4 such steps, the naive initiate's alignment goes from Good to Neutral, and can never revert. A Neutral naive initiate who does not choose to gain a mutation when he levels up must make a Will save (DC 15+1/2 shady drifter level) or be tricked by his dark patrons into accepting the mutation (and step toward Evil) anyway; on a natural 1, he takes the major mutation.

If he ever reaches 9 total steps toward Evil, the naive initiate becomes a conduit to the material realm for his overlord. He immediately explodes, dealing 1d6 bludgeoning damage per shady drifter level in a 20-ft radius (DC 20 Reflex 1/2). His soul is devoured by his patrons, who warps one of their minions into the material realm; this is a mulespawn chosen by the GM with CR based on the shady drifter's level.

A naive initiate gains a +1 profane bonus to attack rolls, weapon and Battle Arte damage rolls, and Cha-based skill checks for each step he has taken toward Evil; he takes an equal penalty to Sense Motive skill checks.

Sanity Checks: If you select this archetype in a campaign that does not include the Sanity optional rules, then whenever a creature would be subject to a Sanity check based on the naive initiate's mutations, they suffer the following effect instead. They must make a Will save (DC 10 + 1/2 shady drifter level + number of mutations possessed). On a failure, they are nauseated for 1 round+1 per 6 shady drifter levels. On a success, they are shaken for the duration instead.

This ability replaces channeled artes.