WARRIOR-PALADIN KIT

Marshal

Description:  It would be perfectly correct to borrow the slogan of the Canadian 
Mounties for Marshals, as they always strive to 'get their man'--or whatever 
sort of being they might be hunting.  A single-mindedness about this goal is 
required.  Marshals work well with many sorts of beings as long as this goal is 
followed, and they do not mind gathering up willing allies to set off in search 
of criminals.  While a Marshals are not necessarily particular about their 
physical appearance, they are very particular about giving a good account of 
themselves and serving the greater needs and interests of society.  In this, 
they are dangerous and dogged manhunters and have no qualms about killing their 
quarry if there is no other way to bring that creature back for proper 
administration of justice.  That stated, they always attempt to capture their 
prey alive for a proper trial.

Restrictions:  Marshals must be humans, aasimar, or (in rare and unusual cases) 
halflings.  They must be of lawful good alignment and must have Intelligence of 
at least 13 in addition to normal Paladin requirements.

Weapons & Armor:  A Marshal can wear any sort of armor and use any type of 
weapon or shield, though they will often wear light armor in order to maximize 
their Stealth ability (see below) and must spend at least half of their weapon 
proficiency slots to learn the use of Capture Weapons.

Special Benefits:  Marshals are often employed directly by law enforcement 
agencies, but perhaps just as often they are retained by their churches as 
special agents to perform field work in cases where perhaps the laws of the land 
are too lax or have been corrupted or subverted by powerful criminals.  They 
gain the following general and unique class and kit abilities:

Capture Weapons:  Because of their usefulness in capturing people, Marshals 
favor the use of Capture Weapons:  aklys, bolas, chain, garrote, lasso, 
mancatcher, net, sap, whip.  When using any of these weapons, a Marshal gains a 
+1 bonus to hit and has double the normal chance of entangling or impeding an 
opponent or his or her weapon.

Charismatic Appeal:  As a standard Paladin.

Chosen Foe:  If a Marshal is in pursuit of a specific outlaw or gang of outlaws, 
he or she can spend 24 hours studying them, their history, and their tactics, 
which will allow the Marshal to gain the full normal Chosen Foe bonus against 
those specific outlaws.  In addition, even if no special study has been 
undertaken a Marshal always gains a +1 bonus to hit and damage vs. 'generic' 
bandits, brigands, pirates, thieves, and similar outlaw characters.  Marshals 
suffer a reaction penalty with criminals and outlaws of all types equal to their 
normal Charisma-based reaction bonus.

Marshals almost always have (or can make, using their Charismatic Appeal) 
contacts within law enforcement organizations in order to provide them with 
information about specific 'wanted' criminals.  If a Marshal succeeds in 
bringing one of these specific outlaws to justice, he or she can usually collect 
a substantial reward of up to 1,000 g.p. per level of the criminal if brought 
back alive (generally 100 g.p. per level or less if dead); the precise amount is 
up to the DM, but rewards will rarely exceed this amount.

Essence of Virtue:  As a standard Paladin.

Knockout Blow:  When attacking from surprise, a Marshal gains a +4 bonus to hit.  
In addition, he or she can chose to attempt to knock a target unconscious with a 
sharp blow to the head.  The specific implement used is irrelevant to the 
success of this attack, but a successful hit (note that an unarmored head is AC 
10) inflicts 1d4 points plus his or her Strength bonus (which is real, permanent 
damage), plus one additional point of temporary damage per level of the Marshal, 
which is restored with one turn of rest.  In addition to this damage, a Knockout 
Blow also has a 7% chance per point of damage to knock the victim unconscious 
for 1d10 turns with no saving throw allowed.  If the target is of equal or 
higher level than the Marshal, this knockout chance is halved.  Note that a 
Knockout Blow can only be attempted from surprise versus a humanoid creature 
between halfling and ogre size--creatures too small or too large simply cannot 
be struck in the right way to knock them out.  Creatures such as undead, trolls, 
dopplegangers, and similar creatures cannot be affected by a Knockout Blow.

Priestly Powers:  As a standard Paladin two levels lower than their actual 
level.  However, Marshals do gain access to the spheres of Charm and Thought, 
and any spells cast from the spheres of Charm, Divination, or Thought take 
effect as if the Marshal was two levels higher than his or her actual level.  
Thus, their access to spells is somewhat slower than for other Paladins, but 
their spells relating to the mind are more effective.

Pursuit:  A Marshal is highly skilled at following outlaws without being 
noticed.  All Marshals gain the Tracking proficiency for free, without the usual 
-6 penalty to their initial proficiency score, and like a Ranger their Tracking 
skill increases by 1 for every three levels of experience.  Marshals also can 
track while they are moving without suffering penalties to their Tracking score, 
as they must be able to follow a target without falling too far behind.

In addition to this skill at tracking, a Marshal can gain a +1 bonus to his or 
her movement rate for every three levels of experience (rounding up, maximum of 
+6), but this bonus to their movement rate applies only when they are actively 
pursing a creature within sight.  This ability is always usable when on foot, 
but if a Marshal possesses the Riding (Land-based) proficiency, he or she can 
attempt a proficiency check to provide this bonus to his or her mount when 
spurring it on to run down the Marshal's quarry.  If a Marshal has Riding 
Specialization, this speed increase is automatic when in Pursuit.

Sense Evil:  As a standard Paladin.

Stealth:  A Marshal gains the ability to hide and move stealthily (in order to 
better sneak up on a creature and capture it), gaining the Hide in Shadows and 
Move Silently thieving skills at a base level of 20%, plus 5% per level of 
experience.  All normal modifiers for race, ability scores, and armor worn apply 
when using these skills.

Suspicion:  Marshals are very cautious (almost to the point of being cynical), 
and they dislike being taken advantage of.  As a result, they are very skilled 
at sensing ambushes and surprise attacks, gaining a +2 bonus to avoid being 
surprised, and this bonus is doubled if they are actively pursuing a creature 
(including attempts to track down and apprehend a specific known outlaw).  In 
addition, Marshals should be treated as if their level was doubled for the 
purpose of noticing Pick Pockets attempts anywhere within their field of view 
(even if the attempt was not made against them personally).  They also gain an 
automatic saving throw when confronted with an illusion in order to notice its 
unreality; if an illusion normally allows no save, a Marshal gains a saving 
throw at -4 in order to resist its effects.

Finally, a Marshal has a chance of noticing lies, half-truths, and intentional 
evasion of the truth.  This ability is automatic and need not be declared as an 
action by the Marshal--he or she is simply very alert to subtle verbal and 
nonverbal clues that indicate that someone is lying.  The chance of noticing 
such deception is 1% per point of the Marshal's Wisdom score, plus 5% per level 
of experience.  A failed roll indicates that the Marshal has not noticed 
anything out of the ordinary, though he or she can also use normal detective-
type work to root out the truth.

Special Hindrances:  Marshals must follow the same general strictures as all 
Paladins.  In addition, they spend so much time learning the law enforcement 
trade that they do not have time to learn weapon specialization.  A Marshal must 
also work alone and in cities or sewers or other places where horses and other 
large animals can be impractical; thus, they cannot Call Mount as other Paladins 
can.  Marshals also focus more on their interpersonal interactions than their 
priestly abilities, causing them to function at a lower level in terms of 
Priestly Powers, and they cannot perform Faith Healing at all.  Because they 
must try to be unobtrusive and cannot afford to give themselves away to their 
prey or others who may try to interfere with their peace keeping and law 
enforcement activities.  As a result, a Marshal does not radiate an Aura of 
Holiness.

In addition to these restrictions, a Marshal is always 'on call' and may be 
asked (and expected to agree) to respond to emergencies and chase down criminals 
and dangerous fugitives of all sorts at any time of day or night.  It is rare 
that a Marshal has enough free time to set off and explore dungeons, loot 
treasures, or hunt monsters, though they do often work adventuring in around 
efforts to track down notorious criminals.  Finally, because they must be able 
to move quickly, a Marshal never travels with more than 'light' encumbrance; 
they will not wear or carry so much equipment that they will be significantly 
slowed down if they need to chase a criminal (or perhaps flee from pursuit by a 
criminal's allies).

Bonus Proficiency:  Tracking
Required Proficiencies:  Information Gathering, Law
Preferred Proficiencies:  Alertness, Animal Handling, Appraising, Blacksmithing, 
Bowyer/Fletcher, Camouflage, Etiquette, Heraldry, Languages (Modern), Local 
History, Mountaineering, Observation, Reading Lips, Rope Use, Set Snares, 
Trailing