Courtier

By Richard West

 

 

Master of diplomacy and persuasion, a Courtier excels at tricking others with her silver tongue. She is not above “convincing” a rival to back off with a poisoned dagger in the back, a common method she disposes of her foes. A Courtier is great at surviving, and thriving, in the intrigues of court. A Courtier might adventure for money, a driving force for many, or out of sheer wanderlust, they might also have similar motivations of other adventurers. Humans, with their adaptability make great Courtiers. While Elves have great charisma and class when dealing with people. Half-Orcs lack the refinement to be a Courtier.

 

Rouges, with their wide array of  skills make great Courtiers, and a Bard’s charm and personality skills make becoming a Courtier natural to them.

 

Hit Die: d6

 

Requirements

To become a Courtier, a character must fulfill the following criteria.

 

Alignment: Any non-good lawful. While a Courtier’s morals are not very particular, they play by the rules. The intrigues of court life is incompatible with any non-lawful alignment. 

 

Race: Any besides Half-Orc

 

Gender: Female (Note to DM’s, I included this prerequisite because I wanted a stress differences of gender in making characters more unique and diverse. Also, the idea of a Courtier doesn’t seem to fit with a male. Feel free to take away this prerequisite if you don’t want it.)

 

Charisma: 13+

 

Diplomacy: 8  ranks

 

Bluff: 6 ranks

 

Gather information: 6 ranks

 

Knowledge (Royalty and Nobility): 6 ranks

 

Sense motive: 6 ranks

 

Special: She must have a good reputation with the upper-class. This means she must be quite influential in the court, have gone regularly to Balls and be fairly wealthy.

 

 

 

Class Skills

The Courtier’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Appraise(Int), Bluff(Cha), Diplomacy(Cha), Disguise(Cha), Escape Artist(Dex), Forgery(Int), Gather Information(Cha), Hide(Dex), Innuendo(Cha), Intimidate(Cha), Knowledge(Royalty and Nobility)(Int), Listen(Wis), Move Silently(Dex), Preform(Cha), Craft(Wis), Profession(Wis), Search(Int), Sense Motive(Wis), Speak Language(None), Spot(Wis), Tumble(Dex), Read Lips(Int, exclusive skill), Use Magic Device(Cha, exclusive skill).

 

    Skill Points at Each Level: 8 + Int modifier.

 

Class Features

All of the following are class features of the Courtier prestige class.

Weapon and Amour Proficiency: A Courtier’s weapon training focuses on weapons suitable for stealth and sneak attacks. Courtier’s are proficient with the crossbow(light, hand, heavy), dagger(any type), dart, rapier, sap, shortbow(normal and composite), shortsword, bladed boots, cat gloves, bladed fan, wrist dart, garrote.

Courtier’s are proficient with light amour but not with shields.

                                                                                                                                   

Class Level	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Special
1st	+0	+0	+2	+2	Sneak Attack +1d6, (1)Inspiring Presence, (2)Poison Use
2nd	+1	+0	+3	+3	+1 save vs. poison
3rd	+1	+1	+3	+3	Sneak Attack +2d6, (3)Silver Tongue
4th	+2	+1	+4	+4	,2 save vs. poison, (4)Change Self
5th	+2	+1	+4	+4	Sneak Attack +3d6, (5)False Tears
6th	+3	+2	+5	+5	+3 save vs. poison
7th	+3	+2	+5	+5	Sneak Attack +4d6, (6)Soothing Voice
8th	+4	+2	+6	+6	+4 save vs. poison, (7)Serpent Tongue
9th	+4	+3	+6	+6	Sneak Attack +5d6, (8)Dominating Stare
10th	+5	+3	+7	+7	+5 save vs. poison, (9)Seduction

 

 

 

Sneak Attack: As the Rouge ability, see pg 47 in the PHB.

 

(1)Inspiring Presence: All allies within 10ft of the Courtier are filled with a desire to protect her. When the Courtier is threatened or harmed they gain a +2 bonus to all attacks, checks and saves. This bonus lasts as long as the threat is immediate and apparent.

 

(2)Poison Use: Courtiers are trained in the use of poison and never accidentally risk poisoning themselves when applying poison to a blade.

 

(3)Silver Tongue: If a Courtier talks to a creature in casual conversation (This is language dependant) and the creature is not hostile to her(ie: Not trying to kill her) for more then two minutes she may implant a Suggestion as the spell with a caster level equal to her Courtier level. The DC is (10 + ½ Courtier level + Charisma modifier). She may use this spell-like once per day per Courtier level.

 

 

(4)Change Self: As the spell, at will.

 

 

(5)False Tears: A Courtier can act distressed and helpless that people feel an overwhelming desire to protect her. If the Courtier is being harmed of threatened a creature, ALL creatures in a 30ft radius around the Courtier must succeed at a will save or be Charmed as the spell and will protect her from the threatening creature with their lives. This is at a caster level equal to her Courtier level. The DC is (10 + Courtier level + Charisma modifier). She may use this spell-like once per day per Courtier level. It is not language dependant.

 

Eg: Susan, a 6^th level Courtier is sitting in the local tavern having a drink when a nasty thug comes up to her with a sneer on his face. “Why don’t you come with me lady?” he says, grasping her arm and giving a snigger. Susan can smell his rancid breath but is immobilised by the thug’s vice-like grip. She evokes her False Tears ability and everyone in 30ft make a save, and she has a charisma of +3 so the DC is 19 (DC = 10 + 6 + 3). Regis the Dwarf, who doesn’t particularly like Humans, suddenly feels a powerful urge to protect the pretty lady by the table next to him(He fails his save) and he walks over to Susan’s table and slams his fist into the thug’s face and he collapses with a groan. “So” Regis says, “Why is such a pretty lady like you doing in this slum? My name is Regis, and if you don’t mind, I’ll escort you to better places in the city.”

“Sure” replies Susan, a smile on her face. 

 

(6)Soothing Voice: Up to one creature per two Courtier levels must succeed at a will save or Sleep as the spell(This works on creatures regardless of HD) . It is not a language dependant ability. The DC is (10 + Courtier level + Charisma modifier). She may use this spell-like once per two Courtier levels.

 

(7)Serpent Tongue: All creatures in a 30ft spread must succeed at a will save or be affected by a Charm Monster. The Courtier must speak uninterrupted for two whole rounds. It is not a language dependant ability. The DC is (10 + Courtier level + Charisma modifier). She may use this spell-like once per two Courtier levels.

 

(8)Dominating Stare: By merely looking into the target’s eyes the Courtier may Dominate Person as the spell through sheer force of will. It is not a language dependant ability. The DC is (10 + Courtier level + Charisma modifier). She may use this spell-like once per two Courtier levels.

 

(9)Seduction: Using her arts of seduction a Courtier may make one creature(In 30ft range) fall madly in love with her. The creature is utterly loyal to her and will obey any non-suicidal orders. She may use this ability once per week(and the creature must be the opposite sex). It is not a language dependant ability. The DC is (10 + Courtier level + Charisma modifier).

 

Note to DM’s: While this could be a cool PC class it would also make a good tyrant. Like “The countess of Erat has the king wrapped around her finger” and stuff like that.

 

PS: There are some new weapons on her proficiency list. I found them on the New Weapons section in The Monster.

 

Any comments or feedback, email me at [email protected]