Sash of the War Champion with no Fighter levels

Question

I was looking at the item Sash of the War Champion and also read This thread But neither really answered my question.

If a character with no levels in fighter uses a Sash does it grant them armor training and bravery as a level 4 fighter?

Answer 1

The answer is up to your GM.

There isn't any specific RAW on whether or not not having a class is "0 levels" or "NULL levels," so this is a situation where the GM has to make a ruling. There are several items in Pathfinder that do this sort of thing, and the The Sash of the War Champion is, sadly, the odd one out in wording:

• Robe of Arcane Heritage: "When a sorcerer dons a robe of arcane heritage ... The wearer treats her sorcerer level as 4 higher than normal for the purpose of determining what bloodline powers she can use and their effects."

This one only turns on when a sorcerer wears the robe, so the 0/∅ issue never comes up.

• Silver Smite Bracelet: "The wearer of this bracelet treats her paladin level as 4 higher than normal for the purpose of her smite evil class feature."

This one works for anyone, but specifically only buffs for "her smite evil class feature;" that is, a class feature the wearer already possesses. It does not grant you the class feature if you don't already have it, so the 0/∅ issue never comes up.

• Champion's Banner: "A character with the challenge class feature carrying a champion's banner treats his class level as 4 levels higher..."

This one only turns on if you've got the class feature it buffs, so the 0/∅ issue never comes up.

• Amulet of Uncanny Defense: "The amulet has no benefit for characters who do not have uncanny dodge"

Improves an ability, or improves the level of it, but only if you have it, so the 0/∅ issue never comes up.

• Monk's Robe: "If the character is not a monk, she gains the AC and unarmed damage of a 5th-Level monk"

The monk's robe explicitly notes what happens when a non-monk wears it, so the 0/∅ issue never comes up.

• Bane Baldric: "If the wearer is an inquisitor..."

This one also only works for the class itself, so the 0/∅ issue never comes up.

And finally:

• Sash of the War Champion: The wearer treats his fighter level as 4 higher than normal for the purpose of the armor training and bravery class features.

This is the only example where the question of whether or not you have levels in the class comes up. The wording says "the" armor training and bravery class features, referring not to something the character possesses, but the class features themselves. This can imply one of a few things, depending on your GM's interpretation of the rules and language:

1. Since the item is the only one of these that doesn't have wording locking it to people aready in the class, it works for anyone, giving them the armor training and bravery class features of a 4th level fighter. This interpretation relies on the idea that not having the class means you have 0 levels, and is supported by this being the exception to the general "rule" that the items note what happens when someone not in the relevant class wears them.
2. Even though the item is the only one of these that doesn't have wording locking it to people already in the class, it does not work for people without that class. In this interpretation, the fact that the sash doesn't note what happens when a non-fighter wears it doesn't matter, because it won't add to someone without fighter levels. This interpretation is partially supported by the words of Jason Bulmahn here, about paladins and caster level. However, it is not explicitly stated to apply to all situations, so all we can assert here is that the RAI might apply similarly.
3. Since the difference between this and the Silver Smite Bracelet is just one word, it's likely that this is a typo, and that the writers intended it to only work for fighters. The cost of the sash (2,000gp, quite small) seems to support it being intended to work for only members of the class. However, we cannot say what the RAI is without developer input on it, so all of this is conjecture.

My personal opinion on the matter is that having "no levels" in a class is not the same as having "0 levels," and that the sash would not work for a non-fighter character. However, there is nothing in the rules (that I saw; someone correct me if I'm wrong) that explicitly states that it works either way, so it must come down to a GM call.

Answer 2

This appears to be controversial. Congrats on asking a good question!

In some places, Paizo appears to distinguish between a character having zero ranks/levels of a given feature/class, and a character not having/being a feature/class. You can see that logic at work here, in regards to boosting effective level of class-features that you're not high enough leveled to have yet.

This logic is similar to a NULL value in programming, where a variable can be non-existent and undefined, rather than having a default value of zero. Performing operations on a NULL variable often results in an error, because adding 4 to nothing doesn't have a defined effect.

Under this logic, a 1st-level wizard is not considered to have 0 levels in all other classes, but rather they have no levels in those classes, so those levels cannot be effectively increased by items, unless those items specifically define what they do when a character has no levels in the class, such as the Monk's Robe (note the verbiage, "If the character is not a monk").

The Sash of the War Champion does not have such a clause, and as such has no effect for characters who are not a fighter.

Note, however, that I am unable to find a RAW or FAQ clause that supports this logic as correct.

This question seems to come up every once in a while. Giant in the Playground says yes it works. The thread you linked says no it doesn't work, as does boardgamegeek (search for Q17), and reddit.

Answer 3

No. Without the bravery/armor training class features access, it will not do anything. If it had language similar to Monk's Robes (which states that you have the described abilities of a 5th level Monk), then it would be a different story. In fact, even if you were a level 1 fighter and had the Sash, it would not work because you do not have the class feature yet. At level 2, you get Bravery so it'll count as level 6, but it will not give you Armor Training early. At level 3, you'll count as level 7 for determining the power of both abilities (and full speed in full plate is pretty awesome).

Likewise, even if you are a fighter but has an archetype that removes one or both of those class features, you would not gain the missing class feature(s) either.