Royal Explorer - General Prestige Class
This is a general Prestige class that may be applicable to the Forgotten Realms Campaign
Keoland monarchs enjoy learning of other lands and cultures, but pressing matters of state often keep them tied to their throne rooms. So for years, they have sponsored crack teams of explorers who travel the length and breadth of the world, then return to deliver reports on faraway wonders. Accordingly, the royal library of Keoland has the best selection of maps in the world, as well as a fascinating series of journals known as the Minutes of the Royal Explorers Society.
Because the Minutes are often used in geography lessons, many a noble's child lies awake at night, dreaming of climbing mountains along with Ahn Balic or hunting albino dire wolves with Istai Sunblessed. However, the entrance examinations for the Royal Explorers Society are rigorous indeed. To be accepted, an applicant must not only demonstrate a thorough knowledge of geography and possess impeccable cartographic skills, but also impress the society's admissions committee with verifiable tales of a particularly noteworthy exploration.
Academic geographers tend not to survive explorations in the wild, so most royal explorers are former bards or rogues. Adventurers in the midst of their own explorations sometimes encounter NPC royal explorers, who may either seek advice or offer it. In addition, many of them hire bands of adventurers to deal with the more dangerous denizens of the areas they're exploring. Royal explorers also pay top coin for copies of any maps adventurers may have made of previously unexplored regions.
Hit Die: d8
To qualify to become a Royal Explorer, a character must fulfill all the following criteria:
- Skills: Decipher Script 5, ranks, Profession (cartographer) 8 ranks, Spot 8 ranks, Survival 5 ranks.
- Feats: Alertness, Endurance.
- Special: The character must be admitted to the Royal Explorers Society. This requires fulfilling all the requirements above and also submitting a verifiable report of a significant exploration to the society's review council. Such a report should include, at minimum, a detailed map of the area explored, descriptions of native flora and fauna, a narrative of encounters with the area's inhabitants, and a significant relic (preferably magical) brought back for the society's museum.
From:
Song and Silence
Older Prestige class adapted to 3.5
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