Thunder Guide

Description:

The thunder guide is a hero of legend, trekking through the wilds of the great unknown, escorting travelers, rescuing maidens (or lads) and returning to the bounty of civilization to recite their tails. They are capable fighters, but understand that a clever tongue is often more important that a sharp blade. To look into the face of a drow, sahuagin, bugbear or worse and negotiate a parlay takes great fortitude. To survive such negotiations takes skill and thunder guides have both in spades. Many famous explorers have either been saved by a thunder guide or have been thunder guides themselves.

Role: The thunder guide serves a group best when acting as a guide, front line protection and overall defense when a party is foreign terrain. His skills in navigating not just the landscape, but the indigenous folk found there makes him capable of saving a group from the dangers of the wild.

Source: EB, pg. 64

Hit Dice: d10

Requirements:

To qualify to become a thunder guide, a character must fulfill all the following criteria.

Base Attack Bonus: +5.

Skills: Diplomacy 5 ranks, Survival 5 ranks.

Special: Must speak at least one of the following languages: Aquan, Argon, Elven, Draconic, Drow, Giant, Sahuagin. Must completed an adventure in an least two different regions that are not the Thunder Guide's home region.

Class Skills:

The Thunder Guide's class skills (and the key abilities for each skill) are Acrobatics (Dex), Bluff (Chr), Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Chr), Intimidate (Chr), Knowledge (geography) (Int), Knowledge (local), Linguistics (Int), Perception (Wis), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), Sense Motive (Wis), Survival (Wis) and Swim (Str).

Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier.

Table: The Thunder Guide

Class Features:

All of the following are class features of the Thunder Guide prestige class.

Weapons and Armor Proficiency: The thunder guide does not gain any new proficiencies with weapons, armor or shields.

Native Ties: The following class feature uses the Prestige rules, presented in Paths of Prestige. Go here for more details.

Starting at 1st level, the thunder guide chooses one region that he has visited. He is now well known in that region and gains prestige points, at the rate of 2 per class level, to spend toward any community of intelligent creatures that are at least indifferent toward the thunder guide that is that region. Thus, the thunder guide could choose the Shadow Marshes and apply the TPA or CPA toward any orc tribe that is at least indifferent toward him. He would not be able to spend it toward a hostile clan of ogres in the same region.

At the 3rd level, and every odd level thereafter, the thunder guide can choose another region to spend his TPA or CPA against. This TPA and CPA is in addition to any other prestige the thunder guide may gain. If the thunder guide accomplishes deeds worthy of TPA or CPA for residents of a region that he has chosen, it also applies to the TPA and CPA gained from his Native Ties class ability. Thus, a thunder guide that has chosen Shadow Marshes and the Talenta Plains and manages to save the daughter of a halfling lash (read: chieftain), the TPA and CPA gained from that act applies to the TPA and CPA from the Native Ties class ability and can be spent in either the Talenta Plains or the Shadow Marshes.

TPA gained through this class feature only stacks with TPA gained toward other organizations if the use of the TPA completely overlaps. Thus, a thunder guide with 8 TPA in the Shadow Marshes and 10 TPA with the Gatekeeper druids can spend up to 18 TPA provided that it is only for services from the Gatekeepers and only from the Gatekeepers that reside in the Shadow Marshes. CPA between organizations does not stack.

Phantom Language (Ex): At 1st level, the thunder guide gains a phantom language slot that can be determined as needed in the field. In order to assign a phantom language slot to an actual known language, the thunder guide must attempt to converse with the encountered being in a non-threatening manner for 1 minute and make a Linguistics check, DC 20. If successful, that phantom language slot is spent to actually know a language that the encountered being speaks. If the thunder guide then chooses that language through the normal ones gained through the Linguistics skill, he gains that phantom language slot back. Otherwise, he must spend a week without using this class feature to revert the new language back into a phantom language slot.

Thunder Lore: Starting at 2nd level, and again every even level thereafter, the thunder guide gains one of the following benefits. Once this choice has been made for any given level, it cannot be changed. You cannot take the same choice more than once, unless specified otherwise.

Breath of the Sea (Ex): You can hold your breath for twice as long and taking actions while holding your breath only costs one round of breath, not two.

Dragonsong (Ex): You gain a +4 insight bonus to saving throws against any language dependent effect.

Exotic Weapon Expert: You gain an Exotic Weapon Proficiency feat of your choice.

Expert Navigator (Ex): You gain a +4 insight bonus to Knowledge (geography) and Survival checks to prevent getting lost or to trailblazing.

Ghost of the Wilderness: Choose one terrain from the ranger's list of favored terrains, except urban. You gain a +4 competence bonus to Stealth and Survival checks while in that terrain. This option can be taken multiple times, each time choosing a new terrain. This stacks with the actual favored terrain ability.

Native Diplomat: You gain a +2 competence bonus to Diplomacy and Sense Motive checks made concerning people native to the regions you have chosen for your Native Ties class ability.

Nimble Roll (Ex): If you use Acrobatics to tumble through an enemy's occupied square and that enemy is at least one size category larger than you, the DC is only the enemies CMD, not the normal CMD +5. You must be 6th level to select this thunder lore.

Right of Passage (Ex): If you are attacked by intelligent opponents native to a region you have selected for your Native Ties ability, you can, during the first round of combat, attempt a Diplomacy check as a standard action to diffuse the situation. The DC for the Diplomacy check is +5 higher than a Hostile attitude for the opponents and you must speak clearly in a language they understand. If successful, the attitude of the opponents shifts to unfriendly. They will not immediately attack, but are still armed and are not considered flat-footed if combat starts again, but at least negotiations are now possible.

Savage Hide (Ex): You gain a +1 natural armor bonus that stacks with other forms of natural armor. This option can be taken multiple times.

Underfoot (Ex): You gain a +1 dodge bonus to AC and +1 circumstance bonus to melee attacks when fighting creature that is at least one size category larger than you.

Well-Prepared (Ex): You can carry unspecified equipment worth up to 100 gp per class level. This can be any kind of gear that can reasonably fit into a backpack, including potions (but not any other sort of magic item). As a full-round action, you may dig through your pack to retrieve any item you need at that time, deducting its value from the allocated amount of cost. Each item retrieved cannot weigh more than 10 pounds. When the total phantom value of the pack reaches 0 gp, the you can retrieve no more items until you refill it by spending a few hours in a city or other settlement and the necessary amount of gold, up to 100 gp per class level.

Fame & Fortune (Ex): At 3rd level, the thunder guide's reputation begins to spread as tales of his heroism are retold by others. Any time that the thunder guide is in a settlement of Large Town or larger (See Gamemaster Guide, pg. 203), he can cash in his tales by being spending TPA gained from his Native Ties class feature, at a rate of 500 gp per 1 TPA. Any other TPA that the thunder guide may have cannot be spent in this manner. Spending TPA in this manner assumes that the adventures of the thunder guide up until that point are now common knowledge, a potentially dangerous thing if the thunder guide is being hunted.

At 7th level, the thunder guide may also spend CPA from his Native Ties class feature, at a rate of 1,000 gp per 1 CPA. Again, this assumes that the adventures of the thunder guide are now common knowledge.

Rescue Artist (Ex): At 5th level, the thunder guide becomes a master of guiding, helping and, most importantly, rescuing others. A thunder guide automatically succeeds on any Climb check to catch another person and gets a +4 circumstance bonus on any d20 roll with the intention to rescue, save or protect another person. Once a round, as an immediate action, the thunder guide can protect an adjacent ally from any one melee or ranged weapon. The thunder guide willingly accepts the attack, regardless of AC or miss chance, but the adjacent ally is protected. Lastly, any standard action or move action needed to rescue, save or protect another person can be done during a move action. For example, a thunder guide can spend half his move action to run up to another character, spend a standard action to grab an ally and spend his remaining move carrying the ally away, although the weight of the ally and his gear may slow the thunder guide down.

Honorary Hero (Ex): At 9th level, the actions of the thunder guide are now legendary. Choose one dragonmarked house, organization or nation that is at least indifferent toward you. You now gain a +4 circumstance bonus to any Diplomacy check involving that group and are given an appropriate title, equal to a noble lord or lady. You gain a phantom budget of up to 1,000 gp per month to spend on resources available to that group. Once this choice has been made, it cannot be changed.