I intend the following as a PC-quality class for campaigns that meet the
basic assumptions outlined at the beginning. This may be a lot more
readable at my newly-created website:
http://sites.google.com/site/dalambgaming/Home/dd-35-house-rules/classes/noble
Stuff that's on separate pages there are separated by plus signs here.
[Keith: gave up on a serious search for a host and went with Google Sites]
I'm reasonably happy with the basic ideas but am very uncertain about
the suitability of particular features for particular levels. I'm
fairly sure the level 19 and 20 features need to be beefed up. I don't
think it invades any other class' niche. Note: uses my revision to the
skills list, which is basically similar to what Pathfinder and/or 4.0 do.
I am sure there are many campaigns where this class is nearly
irrelevant; the most helpful comments might assume the campaign in
question involves some reasonable restriction on how far the party
wanders from a home base, and that ideas like ransoming the party
actually make sense (obviously not in a "never surrender" environment).
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Noble is a PC-quality Aristocrat, with abilities based around
feudalism, social privilege, strongholds, and an expectation of command.
Class Features
* Alignment: any non-chaotic
* BAB .75 (cleric)
* HD d8 (cleric)
* Good Fort and Will; Poor Ref.
* 4 skill points per level
* Class skills: Athletics (Str), Bluff (Cha), Diplomacy (Cha),
Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (all skills taken individually),
Perception (Wis), Perform (Cha), Sense Motive (Wis), Speak
Language (none).
* Weapons and armour: all simple and martial weapons, all armour,
and shields.
Level-based Features
1. Educated; Feudal Obligation (Boon, Service); Noblesse Oblige;
Alarm and Charm Person 1/day, increasing by +1/day at level 2
and every 3 levels thereafter.
2. Feudal Obligation (Right of Hospitality); Create Water 1/day,
increasing by +1/day at every even level.
3. Feudal Obligation (Ransom); Unseen Servant 1/day, increasing 1/day
each odd level.
4. Ancestral Relic; Create Food and Water 1/day
5. bonus Leadership feat (without 6th character level prerequisite);
Charm Monster 1/day, increasing by +1/day every third level
thereafter.
6. Feudal Obligation (Ransom)
7. Feudal Obligation (Sanctuary); Secure Shelter 1/day
8. Stronghold (Landlord feat without 9th character level
prerequisite). Triple uses of Unseen Servant per day, with the
increase usable only within the stronghold.
9. Feudal Obligation (Ransom); Greater Leadership x2
10. Glyph of Warding 1/day*, increasing by +1 day at every odd level
11. Hero's Feast 1/day; Word of Recall* 1/wk
12. Feudal Obligation (Ransom)
13. Magnificent Mansion 1/day; Forbiddance 1/mth*; Greater
Leadership x3
14. Greater Glyph of Warding* 1/day
15. Feudal Obligation (Ransom)
16. Refuge* 1/day
17. Greater Leadership x4
18. Feudal Obligation (Ransom)
19. --
20. Greater Leadership x5
* Must be cast within the stronghold.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Feature explanations:
Ancestral Relic: At fourth level the noble obtains an ancestral relic:
some item of at least masterwork quality with a history within the
noble's family, or possibly the family of his/her master. At any time
the noble may add magical qualities to the relic via a ritual and
expenditure of gold or experience points or both.
Educated: A noble is better educated than the general population. All
knowledge skills are considered trained, and the character may add two
additional class skills at first level.
Feudal Obligation: A noble is the vassal of some master, usually another
noble but sometimes a high-status organization such as a church. The
vassal has obligations to the master, but the master also has
obligations to the vassal. The vassal's alignment must be withing one
step of his/her master's. Nobles acquire followers at higher levels via
rules similar to the Leadership feat.
Noblesse Oblige: Nobles are expected to engage in aristocratic causes.
One half of the noble's class level, rounded down, stacks with class
levels of Knight, Paladin, and suitable prestige classes for purposes of
determining features of those classes that vary with level. Thus a
Noble 3/Paladin 4 has effective Paladin level 5 for Lay on Hands.
Similarly, half of the levels of those classes stack with Noble levels
for determining level-dependent numbers such as times per day and caster
level for spells. The Noble may freely multiclass with these classes.
Spell-like Abilities: The noble receives several spell-like abilities,
all related to command, hospitality, leadership, and safe lodging
(strongholds in miniature). Caster level is class level, plus half
levels in closely related classes: Knight, Paladin, and noble or
knightly prestige classes such as Cavalier. DCs are Charisma based.
Stronghold: At level 9 the noble receives a bonus Landlord feat
(Stronghold Builder's Guide) for building a stronghold. While within the
stronghold, s/he obtains several additional spell-like abilities.
Ex-Nobles: If the noble fails in his/her feudal obligations, takes on a
chaotic alignment, or (for non-evil Nobles) commits a seriously
dishonourable act, s/he loses the benefits of all feudal obligations,
all stronghold-related spells and benefits, and can expect the master to
attempt to take back the former vassal's stronghold. S/he may no longer
advance as an noble. S/he retains the other spell-like abilities already
gained, and the ancestral relic, but may no longer improve the relic. If
the failure was not deliberate, an Atonement may restore these features,
although the master may require additional service before restoring
feudal benefits.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Noble's Ancestral Relic
At fourth level the noble obtains an ancestral relic: some item of at
least masterwork quality with a history within the noble's family, or
possibly the family of his/her master. At any time the noble may add
magical qualities to the relic by
* Retreating to a suitable temple to a deity whose alignment
differs from the noble's by at most one step
* Making sacrifices: donations of gold, or giving up XP equal to
1/25 the equivalent GP value, worth half the difference between the new
market value of the relic and its old, and
* Praying for at least 8 hrs/day without a break, for one day per
1000gp value sacrificed (rounded up).
At the end of this time the relic acquires the new properties. The
maximum value of the relic is 1/2 of the expected PC wealth for the
noble's current level. For example a 13th level noble may have a relic
worth up to 55,000 gp market value. The noble may have at most one relic
at any time. If the relic is destroyed, the noble must spend another
feat to get another -- if the family is even willing to give him/her one!
If the honor rules are used:
* The noble gains 2 honor points -- equivalent to serving a
powerful person. on receiving the relic.
* If s/he loses the relic, s/he loses these points plus another 3
points -- quivalent to failing at an assigned task.
Similar to the feat from Book of Exalted Deeds, which is unattractive in
any game where it is easy to find or make whatever items the player
wants (that is, the standard 3.x campaign). Unlike the BoED version,
this one doesn't require that the character be Good. If the character
previously took the BoED version of Ancestral Relic, s/he may pick
either feature to keep and replace the other with any general feat.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
Noble's Feudal Obligations
Feudalism involves obligation both up and down the hierarchy; some of
the following are obligations on the master, and some on the vassal.
Boon: This may be most valuable at 1st level, when the noble has very
little money of his/her own. At each level the master may choose to loan
the vassal an item, or small number of items, of value up to 1/3 the
expected PC wealth of the vassal's next higher level. The master need
not loan anything, and may request the item(s)' return at any time. The
item(s) must in any case be returned before the vassal reaches the next
level; items consumed, destroyed, or lost must be paid for.
Ransom: At every 3rd level, the master will pay a ransom of up to half
the expected PC wealth for that level to free a captured vassal and
his/her companions. If captors demand a higher ransom, and if the master
chooses to pay it, s/he expects the PC to pay back the excess before
achieving the next character level. If unused these benefits accumulate.
Right of Hospitality: This is likely to be most useful at low levels,
aside from the associated provision of sanctuary. Starting at 2nd level
the vassal can expect free room and board from the master for herself
and 3+min(noble level, Cha mod) associates. Once per year any other
vassal of the same master who has a stronghold will provide the same
room and board for (class level) days. When the character establishes a
stronghold s/he is expected to provide the same service.
Sanctuary: Starting at level 7, while under the hospitality of the
master or another of the master's vassals, the vassal has the privilege
of sanctuary. The host will resist any attempt to remove the vassal from
the sanctuary to the best of his/her ability, and can expect to call
upon the master for assistance, up to and including a muster of the
master's entire feudal structure. Only a trial presided over by the
master, in which the vassal is found guilty of some appropriately
serious crime, can remove this privilege, and even then the master may
require the vassal to pay some form of compensation instead.
Service: Once per character level the master may choose to call upon the
vassal for a specific service for which the vassal should expect little
direct reward. If unused this obligation carries over to the next higher
level.
Leadership: At level 5 the noble receives a bonus Leadership feat,
without the character level prerequisite. The cohort and most of the
followers should be vassals, but if some form of rules for contacts are
used, some of the followers might be non-vassal contacts, especially
influence and information contacts within other noble households. In
many campaigns it might be appropriate to restrict these followers, and
even the cohort, to non-adventuring roles. Cohorts are automatically
vassals with feudal obligations appropriate for their Noble class level
plus half the total of other class levels, rounded down.
Leadership, Greater: At level 9 the noble receives additional followers
equivalent to the numbers given in the leadership table (using a
leadership score one higher than that given by the default rule), one
follower of the first level where they have zero followers, and a cohort
who must be one level lower than the previous cohort. Thus a noble with
current leadership score 16 gets a 10th-level cohort, 25 additional
1st-level followers, two 2nd level, one 3rd level, and one 4th level.
Note: by this point the noble automatically qualifies for +2 to the
leadership score for having a stronghold.
The player may "trade up" lower level followers for higher level ones by
combining numbers of followers: five first-level for a second level, and
two Nth level for an N+1st level. Thus the aforementioned "leadership
16" noble may combine all 25 1st-levels into 5 2nd-levels, then
recombine four of those into a 4th level. These "combined" followers may
never be of higher level than the highest level given by the default
rule, nor may they be more than one level lower than the (lowest level)
cohort. Thus the aforementioned two 4th level followers, one combined
and one default, may not be recombined into a 5th level.
The noble receives another equivalent group of followers and cohort at
levels 13, 17, and 20, using an additional +1 to the leadership score
each time.
+++++++++++++++++++++++
Noble's Spell-Like Abilities
Basic Spell-Like Abilities
* Level 1: 1/day each Alarm and Charm Person, each increasing by
+1/day at level 2 and every 3rd level thereafter.
* Level 2: Create Water 1/day, increasing by 1/day at every even level.
* Level 3: Unseen Servant 1/day, increasing by 1/day at every odd
level. Once the noble establishes a stronghold, these numbers triple,
but the excess may only be cast within the stronghold.
* Level 4: Create Food and Water 1/day
* Level 5: Charm Monster 1/day, increasing by +1/day at every 3rd
level thereafter.
* Level 7: Secure Shelter 1/day
* Level 11: Heroes' Feast 1/day
* Level 13: Magnificent Mansion 1/day
Stronghold-Based Spell-Like Abilities
These abilities may only be used within the stronghold, and are lost if
the noble fails in his/her feudal obligations.
* Level 9: Glyph of Warding 1/day, increasing by 1/day each odd
level thereafter. The optional spell may be cast by any spellcaster.
* Level 10: Guards and Wards 1/day, increasing by 1/day each level
thereafter. Must be cast within the noble's stronghold.
* Level 11: Word of Recall 1/wk. Returns to a pre-selected point in
the noble's stronghold.
* Level 12: Forbiddance 1/mth. Must be within the noble's stronghold.
* Level 13: Greater Glyph of Warding 1/day, increasing by 1/day
each odd level thereafter. The optional spell may be cast by any
spellcaster.
* Level 14: Forbiddance 1/month
* Level 15: Refuge 1/day, maximum (caster level) foci at any one
time. Returns the bearer to a specific point within the noble's
stronghold, selected at the time of use of the ability.
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