General Prestige Class : Gloomblade
Gloomblades serve in the Compact crusades as scouts and infiltrators. Elite gloomblades range far ahead of the main force, eliminating drow guard posts, trapping the dark elves' tunnels and caverns, and creating as much confusion as possible. Junior members form the ranged combat contingent of the main crusading force.
Gloomblades come from every race and background, but most are elves, dwarves, and halflings, and all have received some sort of training in reconnaissance. They share an overriding passion for the destruction of dark elves, and in the Ashen Compact's academies, they are trained to defeat the drow on their own terms.
Rogues make the best gloomblades, but rangers, monks, and bards can certainly become successful gloomblades as well. The martial classes stand to gain more from the deep avenger prestige class and rarely possess the skills or patience required to become gloomblades.
Spellcasters have little to gain from this class.
Requirements
To qualify to become a Gloomblade, a character must fulfill all the following criteria:
- Skills: Move Silently: 10 ranks, Hide: 10 ranks.
- Feats: Alertness, Blind-fight.
- Special: Must speak Undercommon.
Class Skills
The gloomblade's class skills are Appraise, Balance, Bluff, Climb, Craft (any), Diplomacy, Disable Device, Disguise, Escape Artist, Forgery, Gather Information, Hide, Intimidate, Jump, Listen, Move Silently, Open Lock, Search, Sense Motive, Sleight of Hand, Spot, Survival, Swim, Tumble, Use Magic Device, and Use Rope.
Skill Points at Each Level: 8 + Int modifier.
Class Features
All of the following are class features of the gloomblade prestige class.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Gloomblades are proficient with all simple and martial weapons, and light armor.
Sneak Attack: A 1st-level gloomblade gains the sneak attack ability if she does not already have if. She gains +1d6 damage at 1st level, and an additional 1d6 every three levels thereafter. If she already has the sneak attack ability from a previous class, the damage bonuses stack.
Drow Sign Language (Ex): Before they go on crusade, gloomblades learn the silent language of their prey. Using these hand signals, a team of Compact crusaders can communicate silently at distances of up to 120 feet as long as they can see each other. Note that a gloomblade learns this language without spending skill points.
Tremorsense (Ex): During their training, gloomblades learn to pay attention to subtle vibrations and changes in air temperature. As a result, they are as aware of their immediate environment as a spider in its web. Three times per day, the gloomblade may take a full-round action to detect these tiny clues, gaining the benefits of the tremorsense special quality for 1 round. She automatically senses the location of any creature within 30 feet that is in contact with the ground. This distance increases to 60 feet at 8th level.
Stonescreen (Sp): At 3rd level, the gloomblade gains the ability to take the form of a large rock formation, such as a boulder or a stalagmite, as per the Stonescreen spell, except that the duration is one hour per gloomblade level. The gloomblade may use this ability twice per day at 3rd level and gains one additional use of this ability per day at 6th and 9th level.
Immunities (Ex): Gloomblades undergo even more rigorous and painful exposure to poisons than deep avengers. As a result, gloomblades gain immunity to all poisons.
Ranged Disarm: Gloomblades are trained to disarm their opponents as quickly as possible. At 9th level, a gloomblade can use ranged attacks to disarm opponents within 30 feet. Doing so doesn't provoke an attack of opportunity from the defender unless a normal ranged attack would (if the gloomblade and the target are adjacent, for instance). Regardless of the ranged weapon the gloomblade is using, it counts as a one-handed, Medium-size weapon for the opposed disarm check. The gloomblade cannot lose her own weapon during such an attempt.
| Gloomblade | d6 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CL | BAB | Fort | Ref | Will | Special |
| 1st | +0 | +0 | +2 | +0 | Sneak attack +1d6, drow sign language |
| 2nd | +1 | +0 | +3 | +0 | Tremorsense 30 feet |
| 3rd | +2 | +1 | +3 | +1 | Stonescreen 2/day |
| 4th | +3 | +1 | +4 | +1 | Sneak attack +2d6 |
| 5th | +3 | +1 | +4 | +1 | Immunities |
| 6th | +4 | +2 | +5 | +2 | Stonescreen 3/day |
| 7th | +5 | +2 | +5 | +2 | Sneak attack +3d6 |
| 8th | +6 | +2 | +6 | +2 | Tremorsense 60 feet |
| 9th | +6 | +3 | +6 | +3 | Ranged disarm, stonescreen 4/day |
| 10th | +7 | +3 | +7 | +3 | Sneak attack +4d6 |
Source: Dragon #298