A pass-warden who died defending the road and kept marching anyway — every spell aimed at him is judged first, and only afterward does his mace fall on whoever cast it.
Feats — Power Attack, Cleave, Weapon Focus (Large Mace), Toughness, Iron Will, Great Fortitude, Combat Casting, Skill Focus (Concentration)
Skills — Concentration 15, Discipline 12, Heal 8
Spells — Sohei L1 Bless · Divine Favor · Endure Elements · L2 Bull's Strength · Remove Paralysis · L3 Dispel Magic · Prayer · L4 Divine Power · Hammer of the Gods
The Fight
Every hostile spell aimed at him
Confessor's Reckoning
The CASTER, not Halvard, rolls the save - fail it and the spell turns in their own hand, leaving them dazed and Marked for one round.
Any round he lands a hit on a Marked target
Judgment Strike
The mark is spent for bonus holy damage and banks a permanent Zeal stack - Zeal only grows through this two-step chain, never from the Reckoning alone.
At 5 Zeal, repeatable
Confessor's Judgment
An AOE holy burst centered on him, then Zeal resets to zero so it can trigger again later in a long fight.
Why These Numbers
Desolate Pass's real ceiling is The Hollow-Faced Man at CR10 (Old Frostmaw's CR9 sits under him); Halvard is pitched a notch above at CR12, the area's first spellcast-hunter addition. He's the bestiary's first Sohei - a real dedicated `Sohei` spells.2da column, warrior-priest gish, capped at 4th-level spells by the class itself. No epic spell: Fighter 2/Sohei 10 comes nowhere near caster level 21.
How It's Wired
pattern
new build — cloned from fallenpriest (already ran real j_ai_* AI)