General Prestige Class : Mole
by Michael Means, Dragon #310
In underground communities where members dig their homes and livelihoods out of the living earth, a few diggers occasionally gain an unusual affinity for earth and digging. When combined with a warrior's spirit, these underground dwellers sometimes become moles.
Moles are patient and tenacious, like the stone from which they carve their livelihoods. As combatants, they live for the ambush. They can wait for hours in cramped space for quarry to come along, and they launch devastating blows from the safety of an alcove, or within solid rock.
As workers and miners, they are single-minded in their attempts to wring a few more gems out of the earth. Further, they can excavate amazing amounts of earth in a fraction of the time it would take a normal miner to dig out a vein of precious metal. In a mining operation, moles are usually given a passage to themselves and told to come back when they get hungry. Sometimes these individuals aren't seen for two or three shifts afterward.
Moles' fingernails are usually long, tough, and always dirty. Their clothes and skin, similarly remain covered with dirt, but the smudges and stains are a symbol of station for moles. They claim a difference between "good dirt" and "dirty," although the distinction seems wasted on non-moles. Although they are traditionally dwarves, members of any race who spend time digging underground have been known to become moles, including humans, gnomes, and drow. In one instance, a grimlock had even developed mole class abilities.
Mole is a relatively easy prestige class to qualify for, and it can benefit nearly anyone in a dungeon setting. Rogues, bards, and rangers qualify for this class quickly. Other classes can also learn to be moles with an appropriate focus on skill choice. The greatest impediment to reaching this class is the necessary amount of time spent underground. Most mole PCs should have either spent the time underground in their pre-adventuring life or taken a long break from adventuring to fulfill this requirement.
Obviously, moles fare best underground. Above ground, especially in wooded or urban settings, a mole's special abilities are less useful. However, moles are still capable of surprising flexibility when in contact with the earth.
Requirements
To qualify to become a Mole, a character must fulfill all the following criteria:
- Alignment: Appraise 2 ranks, Hide 3 ranks, Profession (miner) 1 rank, Search 3 ranks
- Base Attack Bonus: +3
- Special: Must have worked in a mine for at least 1 year or lived underground for at least 5 years
Class Skills
The mole's class skills are Appraise, Climb, Concentration, Hide, Jump, Knowledge (Architecture and engineering), Knowledge (dungeon), Listen, Move Silently, Profession (any), Search, and Survival.
Skill Points at Each Level: 6 + Int modifier.
Class Features
All the following are class features of the mole prestige class.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Moles gain proficiency with simple weapons and picks. They gain proficiency with light and medium armor, but not shields.
Burrow (Ex): At 1st level, as long as a mole has two hands free, he can burrow at a speed of 5 feet. He can burrow through dirt, but not rock. The mole may use this ability to create a hiding place out in the open, even aboveground, as long as he can dig into the dirt as a move action.
At 3rd level, the mole's burrow speed increases to 10 feet.
Sneak Attack: The mole gains the sneak attack ability at 2nd level if he does not already have it. This is exactly like the rogue's sneak attack ability. The mole gains +1d6 damage with this attack initially, but this rises to +2d6 at 4th level. If she already has the sneak attack ability from a previous class, the damage bonuses stack.
If a mole gets a sneak attack bonus from another source (such as rogue levels), the bonuses to damage stack.
Meld Into Stone (Sp): At 2nd level a mole gains the ability to conceal himself with in a block of stone. Once per day, he may act as though under the effect of a meld into stone spell cast by a 12th-level cleric.
At 4th level, he may use this ability 3 times per day.
Stone Sight (Su): At 2nd level, moles gain the ability to see through stone. A mole may see through one inch of stone for each level of mole he has. Among other benefits, stone sight allows a mole to see outside the rock when he is melded into stone.
Stone Shape (Sp): At 4th level, stone becomes a malleable surface for a mole. Once per day, he can cast the stone shape spell as a 10th-level cleric.
Improved Burrow (Su): By 5th level, the mole is so attuned to earth that it moves willingly for him. He can burrow with a movement rate of 20 feet, and can burrow through rock or other hard minerals at half speed.
| Mole | Hit Die: d8 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CL | BAB | Fort | Ref | Will | Special |
| 1st | +0 | +2 | +0 | +0 | Burrow (5 ft.), sneak attack +1d6 |
| 2nd | +1 | +2 | +0 | +0 | Meld into Stone, stone sight |
| 3rd | +2 | +3 | +1 | +1 | Burrow (10 ft.), sneak attack +2d6 |
| 4th | +3 | +3 | +1 | +1 | Stone Shape, meld into stone (3/day) |
| 5th | +4 | +4 | +1 | +1 | Improved burrow, sneak attack +3d6 |
Source: Dragon #311