General Prestige Class : Master of the South Wind
by David Noonan, Dragon #314
The secret agents among Kiu-Shanat's followers, masters of the south wind excel at espionage, sabotage, and other cloak-and-dagger jobs. They aren't assassins, and they won't poison a foe or strike her dead from the shadows. When they do their missions well, no one knows they were there. Kiu-Shanat commanded them, "Be as unobtrusive as the warm summer breeze, always welcome but beneath notice and beyond scrutiny."
Most masters of the south wind were once rogues, although a significant minority were once bards who've adopted the mental discipline necessary to impress Kiu-Shanat. A few (including Liu Shu the Scarred, the senior master) are ex-assassins who have turned away from what Kiu-Shanat calls "the game of deceit and death" but still wish to ply their stealthy skills.
A warren of tunnels beneath the Palace of the Four Winds contains the training grounds of the masters of the south wind. They often build obstacle courses to test the mettle and skill of junior members, and some capture monsters to make their training efforts more "realistic."
When stealth is at a premium, Kiu-Shanat sends masters of the south wind to do the Order's bidding. Many adopt cover identities that they maintain for months or years. As a result, they can be found nearly anywhere from a noble court to a merchant caravan to a thieves' den.
Many of the masters of the south wind are engaged in a major "social engineering" effort: an attempt to avoid a civil war by infiltrating every faction. Some factions are rendered ineffective with sabotage from within, while other disguised masters of the south wind advocate peace and tolerance. Coordinating more than a hundred secret agents in the field is straining the masters of the south wind to the limit; sometimes incognito masters have come to blows on behalf of their factions, not realizing each other's true identities.
Requirements
To qualify to become a Master of the South Wind, a character must fulfill all the following criteria:
- Alignment: Lawful good or lawful neutral.
- Skills: Climb 10 ranks, Disguise 10 ranks, Hide 10 ranks, Move Silently 10 ranks.
- Special: Must complete an obstacle course devised by senior masters of the south wind, which includes traps, guards that must be eluded, monsters to be fought, and other hazards. A typical obstacle course has five or six CR 7 encounters. They're designed to limit the lethal danger, but accidents have been known to happen.
- Other: Ki strike (magic) class feature, uncanny dodge class feature.
Class Skills
The master of the south wind's class skills are Balance, Bluff, Climb, Concentration, Diplomacy, Disable Device, Disguise, Forgery, Hide, Jump, Listen, Move Silently, Open Lock, Profession, Search, Spellcraft, Spot, and Tumble.
Skill Points at Each Level: 6 + Int modifier.
Class Features
All of the following are class features of the master of the south wind prestige class.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: The master of the south wind gains no weapon or armor proficiencies.
Monk Abilities: A master of the south wind's class levels stack with his monk levels for the purpose of determining his unarmed damage, AC bonus, and unarmored speed bonus. If a master of the south wind doesn't have monk levels prior to becoming a master of the south wind, he gains the unarmed damage, AC bonus, and unarmored speed bonus of a monk of a level equal to his master of the south wind level.
Spells: Beginning at 1st level, a master of the south wind gains the ability to cast a small number of arcane spells. To cast a spell, the master of the south wind must have a Charisma score of at least 10 + the spell's level, so a master of the south wind with a Charisma of 10 or lower cannot cast these spells. A master of the south wind's bonus spells are based on Charisma, and saving throws against these spells have a DC of 10 + spell level + the master's Charisma modifier (if any). When the master of the south wind gets 0 spells of a given level, such as 0 1st-level spells at 1st level, the master of the south wind gets only bonus spells. A master of the south wind without a bonus spell for that level cannot yet cast a spell of that level. A master of the south wind prepares and casts spells just as a bard does.
Upon reaching 6th level, and at every even-numbered level after that (8th and 10th), a master of the south wind can choose to learn a new spell in place of one he already knows, just as a bard does.
Spells Known: The master of the south wind knows a certain number of spells dependent on his level. He may choose from the following spells at each level.
1st Level: Disguise self, endure elements, entropic shield, feather fall, ghost sound, jump, obscuring mist, sleep.
2nd Level: Cat's grace, darkness, eagle's splendor, fog cloud, gust of wind, invisibility, pass without trace, spider climb, stolen breath, whispering wind, wind wall.
3rd Level: Capricious zephyr, deep slumber, deeper darkness, gaseous form, misdirection, nondetection, updraft.
4th Level: Air walk, clairaudience/clairvoyance, cyclonic blast, dimension door, freedom of movement, greater invisibility, modify memory.
Sneak Attack: If a master of the south wind can catch an opponent when she is unable to defend herself effectively from his attack, he can strike a vital spot for extra damage. Basically, any time the master of the south wind's target would be denied her Dexterity bonus to AC (whether she actually has a Dexterity bonus or not), or when the master of the south wind flanks the target, the master of the south wind's attack deals +1d6 points of damage. This extra damage increases by +1d6 points every other level (+2d6 at 3rd level, +3d6 at 5th level, and so on). Should the master of the south wind score a critical hit with a sneak attack, this extra damage is not multiplied. This ability otherwise works exactly like the rogue ability of the same name.
Air Domain: A master of the south wind who reaches 5th level is granted access to the Air domain. In the likely event that he doesn't have cleric levels, the master of the south wind adds the domain spells to his list of master of the south wind known spells, in addition to the character's normal number. The master of the south wind casts these spells as arcane spells. This does not allow the master of the south wind to cast spells of a higher level than 4th, but he can employ spell completion items that cast those the higher level spells. He uses the Air domain's granted power, substituting his master of the south wind levels for cleric levels.
| Master of the South Wind | Hit Die: d6 | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CL | BAB | Fort | Ref | Will | Special | Spells per Day | Spells Known | ||||||
| 1st | +0 | +0 | +2 | +0 | Monk abilities | 0 | - | - | - | 2* | - | - | - |
| 2nd | +1 | +0 | +3 | +0 | Sneak attack +1d6 | 1 | - | - | - | 3 | - | - | - |
| 3rd | +2 | +1 | +3 | +1 | - | 1 | 0 | - | - | 3 | 2* | - | - |
| 4th | +3 | +1 | +4 | +1 | Sneak attack +2d6 | 1 | 1 | - | - | 4 | 3 | - | - |
| 5th | +3 | +1 | +4 | +1 | Air domain | 1 | 1 | 0 | - | 4 | 3 | 2* | - |
| 6th | +4 | +2 | +5 | +2 | Sneak attack +3d6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | 4 | 4 | 3 | - |
| 7th | +5 | +2 | +5 | +2 | - | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2* |
| 8th | +6 | +2 | +6 | +2 | Sneak attack +4d6 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 |
| 9th | +6 | +3 | +6 | +3 | - | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 |
| 10th | +7 | +3 | +7 | +3 | Sneak attack +5d6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| *Provided the master of the south wind has sufficient Charisma to have a bonus spell of this level. | |||||||||||||
Source: Dragon #314