General Prestige Class : Luckstealer
"Want riches beyond measure? Just make sure you're there when the other guy's luck runs out." - Mik Cobblethrush, luckstealer with the halfling "Four Hands" caravan.
As a luckstealer, you're part spellcaster, part professional gambler - and 100% mischief-maker. You're the halfling who fleeces local card sharps out of their hard-earned gold, then disappears in a puff of smoke when the swords come out. Not that you flee, of course - you're just moving to the perfect ambush spot and signaling the rest of your caravan to rob the town treasury while the locals are busy fighting you.
Becoming A Luckstealer
Luckstealers are spellcasters, so the easiest way to get into the prestige class is to take levels in wizard or sorcerer. Wizards have more skill points due to their high Intelligence, so it's a little easier for them to buy ranks in Profession (gambler). A sorcerer is a better match for this prestige class because some of its skills and class features rely on Charisma. Clerics with the luck domain also qualify for the luckstealer class, but the low hit points and poor base attack bonus make the prestige class less attractive to them. Bards also qualify for the luckstealer prestige class easily, but the class doesn't enhance their existing abilities.
Requirements
To qualify to become a Luckstealer, a character must fulfill all the following criteria:
- Race: Halfling
- Skills: Profession (gambler) 9 ranks.
- Feats: Dallah Thaun's Luck,
- Spells: Ability to cast 3rd-level arcane or divine spells.
Domain: Luck (divine spellcasters only).
Class Skills
The luckstealer's class skills are Appraise, Bluff, Concentration, Craft, Knowledge (local), Profession, Sense Motive, Sleight of Hand, and Spellcraft.
Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier.
Class Features
As a luckstealer, your spellcasting progression slows down a bit, but you gain two useful curse abilities, class features that have an element of gambling to them, and some magical techniques that help you work your mischief at the gaming table.
Spellcasting: At each level indicated on the table below, you gain new spells per day and an increase in caster level (and spells known, if applicable) as if you had also gained level in a spellcasting class to which you belonged before adding the prestige class level. You do not, however, gain any other class feature a character of that class would have gained. If you had more than one spellcasting class before becoming a luckstealer, you must decide to which class to add each level for the purpose of determining spells per day, caster level, and spells known.
Curse of the Fatespurned (Sp): By staring at a living opponent for a moment (a move action), you can steal a bit of his or her luck for yourself. Your target must succeed on a Will save (DC 10 + your class level + your Cha modifier) or take a -2 penalty on attack rolls, saves, ability checks, and skill checks for 1 minute. The curse of the fatespurned has a range of 60 feet. The effect cannot be dispelled, but it can be removed with a break enchantment, limited wish, miracle, remove curse, or wish spell.
Your cursed enemy's bad fortune is your good fortune. Whenever you successfully use curse of the fatespurned, you gain 2 points for your luck pool. You can spend points from your luck pool on a l-for-l basis to gain a luck bonus on any attack roll, ability check, skill check, or saving throw you make. You decide how many points you're spending before you make the roll. You can also use points from your luck pool to power your desperate recall and fate's proof class features (described below).
Unspent points remain in your luck pool for 1 minute. You can't have more points in your luck pool than your Charisma modifier (minimum 1). You retain the good fortune (and the points in your luck pool) even if your enemy uses remove curse or another spell to remove his or her bad luck.
Subtle Magic (Su): The spells you cast often don't register to divination magic. If a divination is attempted against one of your spells, the caster of the divination must succeed on a caster level check (1d20 + caster level) against a DC of 15 + your caster level. The subtle magic class feature covers only your spells; the magic items you possess still register normally to detect magic and other spells.
Lucky Magic (Su): When you reach 4th level, good fortune infuses the spells you cast. Whenever you cast a spell that has a variable, numeric effect, you can reroll one die out of every five (minimum one reroll). For example, if you cast enervation, you can reroll the 1d4 to determine how many negative levels the spell bestows. If you cast a 15d6 delayed blast fireball, you can reroll any three of the fifteen dice. You must take the results of the new rolls, even if they're worse.
Desperate Recall (Su): At 4th level and higher, you can recover the energy from a spell you just cast, but doing so costs you a bit of the luck you have accumulated. Once per day, as a move action, you can recall any one spell that you had prepared and then cast (if you prepare spells ahead of time) or the energy from one spell slot (if you cast spells spontaneously). The spell or spell slot is then ready for use again, just as if it had not been cast. At 7th level, you can use desperate recall twice per day, and at 10th level, you can use it three times a day.
Whenever you use the desperate recall class feature, you have to pay luck's cost: 1 point from your luck pool for a 1st- to 3rd-level spell, 2 points for a 4th- to 6th-level spells-, and 3 points for a 7th- to 9th-level spell. If you can't afford to pay luck's cost, you can instead lose any luck points you have in your pool and give up a measure of your own personal good fortune: For 1 minute, you take a -1 penalty on all attack rolls, saves, ability checks, and skill checks, and a -1 penalty to your Armor Class. This penalty stacks with itself and with penalties from the fate's proof class feature and the Dallah Thaun's Luck feat.
Curse of the Black Cloud (Sp): At 7th level and higher, you can manipulate the threads of fate itself, causing a thin black cloud to descend over your foes and steal their luck away. This ability functions like the curse of the fatespurned class feature, except that the black cloud curses everyone within a 20-foot spread. The cloud doesn't affect vision, and it naturally disperses a round after you use this class feature. At 10th level, you can use this class feature twice a day.
As with curse of the fatespurned, you get the good luck that your enemies lose. You gain 2 points for your luck pool for each living creature that suffers the curse of the black cloud. The luck pool's maximum size is equal to your Charisma modifier (minimum 1). As described in the curse of the fatespurned class feature, you can use points from your luck pool to improve your rolls or to use the desperate recall or fate's proof class features.
Fate's Proof (Su): At 10th level, you have a sense of fate that borders on the precognitive. You gain occasional flashes of insight when you're in danger. For example, in the middle of a battle you might receive an instantaneous vision of a troll rending you limb from limb. By ducking and evading the troll's outstretched claws, you're able to avert a grisly fate. You can use this ability to avoid critical hits, poison attempts, and other particularly dangerous attacks.
Three times per day, you can force an opponent to reroll an attack roll, or you can reroll a save you've failed. Announce your decision to do so after you know the full effects of your bad fortune: how much damage the attack deals, the consequences of the failed save, or secondary effects such as poison or improved grab. When you use the fate's proof class feature, the attack begins again from the moment of the attack roll, and the spell or other condition that forced you to make a save begins again from the moment you attempt the save. You must accept the result of the reroll, even if it's worse than the original result. You can't use fate's proof more than once on the same roll. Whenever you use the fate's proof class feature, you have to pay luck's cost: 5 points from your luck pool. If you can't afford to pay luck's cost, you can instead lose any luck points you have in your pool and give up a measure of your own personal good fortune: For 1 minute, you take a -2 penalty on all attack rolls, saves, ability checks, and skill checks, and a -2 penalty to your Armor Class. This penalty stacks with itself and with penalties from the desperate recall class feature and the Dallah Thaun's luck feat.
| Luckstealer | Hit Die: d4 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CL | BAB | Fort | Ref | Will | Special | Spellcasting |
| 1st | +0 | +0 | +0 | +2 | Curse of the fatespurned, subtle magic | - |
| 2nd | +1 | +0 | +0 | +3 | - | +1 level of existing spellcasting class |
| 3rd | +1 | +1 | +1 | +3 | - | +1 level of existing spellcasting class |
| 4th | +2 | +1 | +1 | +4 | Lucky magic, desperate recall 1/day | +1 level of existing spellcasting class |
| 5th | +2 | +1 | +1 | +4 | - | +1 level of existing spellcasting class |
| 6th | +3 | +2 | +2 | +5 | - | +1 level of existing spellcasting class |
| 7th | +3 | +2 | +2 | +5 | Curse of the black cloud 1/day, desperate recall 2/day | - |
| 8th | +4 | +2 | +2 | +6 | - | +1 level of existing spellcasting class |
| 9th | +4 | +3 | +3 | +6 | - | +1 level of existing spellcasting class |
| 10th | +5 | +3 | +3 | +7 | Curse of the black cloud 2/day, desperate recall 3/day, fate's proof 3/day | - |
Source: Races of the Wild