ROGUE - GUILDSMAN Investigator Kit Description: Investigators are the opposite number for criminals in the world. They work for law enforcement agencies, governments, and trade guilds alike to catch thieves, and they know a great deal about how they operate. Their training allows them to often slip unnoticed into thieves' guilds and robber bands, and when such groups are apprehended by the law they often have no idea how they were caught. An Investigator's skills allow him or her to track thieves and to search out hidden information, allowing the bust to be made by the proper authorities. Most Investigators are in the official employ of a larger agency, though some are able to make a living as freelance troubleshooters and (occasionally) bounty hunters who contract with such agencies to perform their special services. In any event, the Investigator must have a keen mind and a winning personality to be able to pull off their profession with success, and a love for the danger it involves is generally a prominent part of any Investigator's makeup. Requirements: As a standard Guildsman, save that 12 Intelligence and Charisma are required, and half-ogres cannot select this class. Weapons & Armor: As a standard Guildsman; however, because they are often called upon to infiltrate thieves' guilds and work among them without arousing suspicion, they generally take proficiency in weapons with speed factor of 5 or less and wear leather or no armor so as to better emulate their prey. Thief Abilities & Modifiers: Detect Noise, Hide in Shadows, Move Silently, Open Locks At 5th level Investigators gain the ability to Bribe Official and Find/Remove Traps. In addition, at 10th level they gain the ability to Forge Document and Read Languages. Investigators gain 30 discretionary points per level of experience (no more than 15 devoted to any one skill) including 1st level. Special Benefits: As noted above, Investigators have a wider selection of thieving abilities and greater skill in them than do normal Guildsmen. In addition to this enhanced roguish repertoire, Investigators have the following abilities: Agents: As a standard Guildsman. Character Insight: As a standard Guildsman, but with a +10% bonus due to the Investigator's keen eye for detail and ability to read people and their intentions. Guild Advancement: As a standard Guildsman, though a DM may require an Investigator to have made a significant 'bust' in order to attempt quick advancement through the 'career fast track'. In any event, an Investigator who has been successful in uncovering and apprehending criminals during the previous level should receive an appropriate bonus to the roll for attempting this, while one who did not (e.g., spent all of their time dungeoneering) might receive a significant penalty. Guild Membership: As a standard Guildsman, though his or her 'code of conduct' may vary slightly from that of a normal Guildsman if they are instead employed by the government or a law enforcement agency. In addition, to help in their investigations, Investigators are allowed to call upon their employer to supply them with 'muscle' once at each experience level. This assistance comes in the form one zero-level soldier for every level of the Investigator and a single Investigator assistant of one-half the PC's level (rounding down, maximum of 5th level; thus, a 1st level Investigator will receive no assistant). This manpower can be retained for up to one day per level of the Investigator. Investigation: The forte of Investigators is, quite naturally, the art of thorough and insightful investigation. Investigators can tap into the underworld "grapevine" and make use of contacts and all manner of legal and illegal sources of information and then piece together disconnected fragments into a meaningful whole. When seeking out information, an Investigator must spend time making the rounds to various snitches and informants and doing personal legwork, getting out on the streets and talking to people in such a way as to gain their confidence. As a result, an Investigator can only use this ability while in an area where he or she has taken the Local History proficiency, and he or she must choose a single city within that area as the 'focal point' of his or her knowledge, representing the Investigator's 'home turf' in the region. An Investigator using this ability can gain access to confidential information ranging from floorplans to secret passwords, as well as all sorts of personal information that is not generally known. In order to use this ability, an Investigator must make an Investigation non- weapon proficiency check with a +1 bonus for every three levels of experience (rounding up), plus the following modifiers (which are random, reflecting the uncertain availability of information) based on how far away the information is that he or she is seeking: Modifier Location of Information +1d4 Within one specific area, quarter, or ward of the city (e.g., port quarter, government quarter) -- Within city -1d4 Within province/district (or small nation) -2d4 Within nation -3d4 Within adjacent nation -4d4 Within same continental region -5d4 Within base world Example: Performing an Investigation in Suzail, the capitol city of Cormyr, to learn about an event that transpired in Yhaunn, a city in the neighboring nation of Sembia, would apply a penalty of -3d4. If seeking information about an event that he or she knew had occurred on the wharves of Suzail itself, however, would allow a bonus of +1d4. A DM should also apply situational bonuses or penalties depending on how confidential a given bit of information is. Thus, bonuses would apply for easily obtainable information (e.g., how often a city watch patrol passes a given point, the number of exits from a given public building), while penalties would apply for extremely secret information (e.g., the exact time of arrival of a ship carrying a cargo of precious jewels). A DM will need to use his or her discretion in adjudicating the availability of information for this purpose. Modifier Availability of Information Auto Common (easily available to anyone) -- Uncommon (not legally restricted and no effort to suppress or keep secret, but not commonly known) -1d6 Confidential (known or legally restricted to a particular profession or group) -2d6 Secret (known or legally restricted to only a highly-placed subset of people within a profession or group) -3d6 Top secret (known by only a handful, actively suppressed and legally restricted, with severe penalties for revealing it) Common information requires only that the Investigator spend 1d4 hours of effort, asking a few cursory questions and performing a bit of routine observation to obtain accurate information, without a roll needed for success. Uncommon information requires one full day of effort and the expenditure of 2d4 c.p. in bribes. Uncommon information obtained by an Investigator is always accurate, assuming a successful skill check. Confidential information requires 1d4 days of effort and an outlay of 2d4 s.p. per day, and it has a 10% chance of being outdated or otherwise incorrect. Secret information requires 2d4 days of Investigation and 2d4 g.p. per day for bribes, and it has a 25% chance of error. Top secret information requires 3d4 days of effort and costs 2d4 p.p. per day, and it has a 40% chance of error. Note that inaccurate information is not necessarily useless; only some portion of the information is wrong (e.g., a new wall or door may have been added to a floorplan, or the guard schedules on the royal treasury might have been changed). If the skill roll succeeds, the Investigator gains the information about the desired person, place or thing, although it is up to the DM to determine exactly how detailed the information revealed by skill is, reflecting the margin by which the roll succeeded; likewise, the degree of error in incorrect information will reflect the degree by which that roll was failed. If the roll is failed, the character cannot learn any information about that subject until he or she advances a level. If the roll is a natural 20 (unless only a roll of 20 will fail), the Investigator gains incorrect information; hence, the skill roll should be made by the DM. Public Relations: As a standard Guildsman. When using their Local History proficiency to impress a thief or a law enforcement official native to that area (as is typically done to ingratiate oneself with a local thieves' guild or to secure assistance from local authorities with a 'manhunt'), an Investigator gains a +1 bonus to the proficiency check for every three levels of experience (rounding up). Special Hindrances: Investigators are in many ways functionaries or agents of the guilds, companies, or governments they represent, but they do not truly represent the core membership of that group. As a result, they do not receive the Guild Training that others in their organization receive, nor do they have the ability to progress to upper levels of Guild Leadership. They are also more beholden than normal to their employers, as their specialized skills may be called upon at any time in the service of the guild. An Investigator has triple the normal chance to be summoned for duty by his or her organization each time he or she gains a level (or by a wealthy potential employer, if he or she elects to become a freelance 'private investigator' at 10th level or above). The nature of the investigative work in such a job varies a great deal, but as previously noted they often involve interacting with or infiltrating thieves' guilds, and in such cases an Investigator whose true nature is discovered can expect that his or her life is likely to end very quickly (or possibly very slowly and painfully). Investigators tend to travel very light and attempt to simulate the dress and equipment styles of local thieves (a Local History proficiency check can generally reveal common weapons, garb, and well-known tactics of the thieves prevalent in an area); in general, these include weapons with a speed factor of 5 or lower and leather or no armor. Since they are so acclimated to using such equipment, an Investigator wearing any armor other than leather suffers double the normal Dexterity check penalties, and they likewise suffer a -1 attack roll penalty when using weapons with a speed factor over 5. Bonus Proficiencies: Investigation, Language (Modern--Thieves' Cant) Preferred Proficiencies: Administration, Alertness, Awareness, Bureaucracy, Cartography, Charm, Direction Sense, Disguise, Fast-Talking, Information Gathering, Intimidation, Law, Local History, Mental Resistance, Observation, Persuasion, Reading Lips, Reading/Writing, Seduction, Signaling, Tracking, Trailing ***DISCLAIMER*** As with all postings by me of classes or races, it should be noted that portions of the information contained herein were inspired by or derived from information in published works of TSR, Inc., and may contain references to those works, quotations or passages of text (especially in the area of 'Character Description', where applicable sections from TSR works were often carried over more or less intact into my campaign world), or particular powers or abilities invented by TSR staff writers. No relationship with TSR, Inc., is to be implied by this use, nor is any attempt being made to solicit profit or remuneration of any kind. I have read the TSR Online Policy document, and have tried to accommodate the stipulations contained therein. In instances where I have lifted an essentially complete class or race without significant alteration, I have not included these in my postings but instead have inserted a reference to the appropriate D&D sourcebook for those curious in including it in their campaign. Only variations that include a significant component of original work, alteration, or reformulation (including the compositing elements from various TSR sources into new combinations) of have been included in this set of postings. Jason Eric Nelson < tjaden@u.washington.edu >