General Prestige Class : Urban Soul
"The city's streets are my arteries, and its buildings my bones Threaten my city, and you threaten me." - Parethian, urban soul of Rel Astra
Urban souls are the chosen champions of the deity Urbanus, charged with protecting city denizens from external dangers such as marauding monsters, and from subtler threats to the city such as crime and urban unrest.
Becoming An Urban Soul
Bards and rogues have the easiest path into this prestige class, although rogues have to buy Knowledge (architecture and engineering) as a cross-class skill. Wizards can enter the class with relative ease, but the lack of spellcasting advancement makes it unlikely that they'll be interested.
Requirements
To qualify to become an Urban Soul, a character must fulfill all the following criteria:
- Race: Human.
- Skills: Knowledge (local) 10 ranks, Knowledge (architecture and engineering) 5 ranks, Gather Information 5 ranks.
- Special: Blessing from the temple of Urbanus.
Class Skills
The urban soul's class skills are Balance, Climb, Escape Artist, Gather Information, Hide, Intimidate, Jump, Knowledge (architecture and engineering), Knowledge (local), Listen, Move Silently, Search, Speak Language, Spot, and Tumble.
Skill Points at Each Level: 6 + Int modifier.
Class Features
The urban soul's class features focus on survival in cities and large communities. Many of your powers rely on your being within the boundary of a city. For the purpose of your class features, the term "city" applies to any community with more than 5,000 inhabitants (that is, at least as large as a small city).
City Ramparts (Ex): Once per day, you can call upon the combined might of a community's citizens to fortify yourself in body and mind. Doing this grants you a +4 bonus to Constitution and a +2 bonus on Will saves, and it also toughens your skin, giving you damage reduction 5/adamantine. This effect lasts for at least 1 round per point of (adjusted) Constitution modifier (minimum 1 round). If you are within a city, the duration increases as noted below:
| Small city | (3 + Con modifier) rounds |
| Large city | (5 + Con modifier) rounds |
| Metropolis or larger | (10 + Con modifier) rounds |
You can use this ability twice per day at 5th level and three times per day at 9th level.
Urban Sustenance (Ex): You rely on the presence of a city for your physical needs, and you suffer when you travel beyond such areas. While within a city, you need not eat, drink, or sleep, and you heal at twice the normal rate. If you cast spells, you must still rest for the normal amount of time needed to regain spells.
However, you cannot heal naturally at all outside a city, and you eventually weaken if kept away from an urban environment. If you remain outside a city for 24 hours, you must succeed on a DC 20 Fortitude save or take 1 point of Strength damage and 1 point of Constitution damage. Each day after the first that you remain outside a city, the save DC increases by +1.
Citybred Senses (Ex): Starting at 2nd level, you gain a +2 insight bonus on listen, Search, and Spot checks made within a city.
At 6th level, your bonus improves to +4, and at 10th level, it improves to +6.
Meld Into City (Sp): Beginning at 3rd level, you can meld your body and possessions into the wall of a building, into the street, or into any other stone structure that is part of a city. This ability otherwise functions like meld into stone, usable at will, with your urban soul level as the caster level.
See the City (Sp): At 4th level and higher, you can create a magical sensor (as clairaudience/clairvoyance, except that only sight is allowed) three times per day, using your urban soul level as the caster level. The sensor is not limited by the clairaudience/clairvoyance spell's range; you can see anyplace within the city you're in.
Urban Skill Mastery (Ex): By 6th level, you have become so familiar with moving through cities that you can do so with extraordinary ease. While in a city, you can take 10 on any of the following skill checks even when under stress: Balance, Climb, Jump, Move Silently, and Tumble.
Hear the City (Sp): At 7th level and higher, you can speak with a building, street, or other part of a city once per day. This ability is the equivalent of a stone tell spell (using your urban soul level as the caster level), except that it works on any part of a city.
You can use this ability twice per day at 10th level.
Mob Violence (Su): At 8th level, you become able to channel the anger of a restive populace into fury you unleash on your enemies. You can activate the mob violence class feature for a number of rounds per day equal to your class level, split up as you like. Activating or deactivating this ability is a free action. While you have this class feature active, your attacks deal extra damage as noted below.
| Small city | 1d6 points of damage |
| Large city | 2d6 points of damage |
| Metropolis or larger | 3d6 points of damage |
Citywalk (Sp): At 10th level, you can magically travel between cities at will. This ability functions much like transport via plants, except that you must begin the journey within a city, and you end the journey on the outskirts of a specified city on the same plane.
You cannot specify a particular endpoint (such as the laughing Manticore Tavern in Rel Astra or the Mayor's Reception Hall in Greyhawk). The ability deposits you in a safe location determined by the DM (assuming one exists) just outside the destination city. If the specified city doesn't exist, or if no safe location outside the city exists, the ability fails.
You must concentrate for a specific period of time to activate this ability. The size of the destination city determines how long the concentration must last, as noted below. If your concentration is interrupted during this time, you must start again.
| Small city | 1 hour |
| Large city | 10 minutes |
| Metropolis or larger | 1 minute |
| Urban Soul | Hit Die: d8 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CL | BAB | Fort | Ref | Will | Special |
| 1st | +0 | +2 | +2 | +0 | City ramparts 1/day, urban sustenance |
| 2nd | +1 | +3 | +3 | +0 | Citybred senses +2 |
| 3rd | +2 | +3 | +3 | +1 | Meld into city |
| 4th | +3 | +4 | +4 | +1 | See the city |
| 5th | +3 | +4 | +4 | +1 | City ramparts 2/day |
| 6th | +4 | +5 | +5 | +2 | Citybred senses +4, urban skill mastery |
| 7th | +5 | +5 | +5 | +2 | Hear the city 1/day |
| 8th | +6 | +6 | +6 | +2 | Mob violence |
| 9th | +6 | +6 | +6 | +3 | City ramparts 3/day |
| 10th | +7 | +7 | +7 | +3 | Citybred senses +6, hear the city 2/day, citywalk |
City-Bonded Substitution Level
Urban souls who desire a deep connection to a specific city may take this substitution level instead of the 10th level of the urban soul prestige class.
Class Skills
The city-bonded substitution level grants the class skills of the urban soul prestige class plus Diplomacy and Sense Motive.
Skill Points at Each Level: 6 + Int modifier.
Class Features
All the following are features of the city-bonded substitution level. These three substitution benefits replace the 10th-level urban soul's citywalk ability; the character still receives the benefits of the citybred senses and hear the city class features.
City Bond (Su): This class feature offers greater power within your city in exchange for the flexibility to travel. As long as you remain within the boundaries of your chosen city, you do not age. (If you leave the city, you age normally.) Your class features that depend on your being inside a city function only when you're within the boundaries of your chosen city.
This bond enables you to draw more strongly on the collective strength of the city, even if it's not the largest urban environment. For the purposes of your class features, your chosen city is considered a metropolis, regardless of its actual size. If your city's population drops below 5,000 inhabitants, you lose access to your class features until the population grows again.
Intracity Teleport (Sp): You can magically travel between any two points within your city at will. This class feature functions like the greater teleport spell, except that it requires a full-round action, and both the origin and destination must be within your city.
Urban Renewal (Sp): As a city-bonded urban soul, the cityscape is yours to command. You gain access to the following spell-like abilities: disintegrate (objects only), stone shape, and wall of stone. You can use these abilities a total of five times per day, split up however you choose (two disintegrates and three walls of stone, for example). Your caster level is equal to your urban soul level.
| City-Bonded Urban Soul | Hit Die: d8 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CL | BAB | Fort | Ref | Will | Special |
| 10th | +7 | +7 | +7 | +3 | Citybred senses +6, hear the city 2/day, city bond, intracity teleport, urban renewal |
Source: Races of Destiny