Oriental Prestige Class : Shadow Scout
The camouflage of a tiger, the stamina of a horse, the eyes of an eagle: these are the ingredients of the shadow scouts, elite spies, trackers, and runners. Shadow scouts are trained to blend into their surroundings, to observe and remember the smaller details about an opposing force, and to run like the wind to bring a report back alive.
While some shadow scouts come from the samurai character class, many begin their careers as rangers. In Rokugan, they are drawn exclusively from the Crab clan, where they are trained by the Hiruma school and sent to scout the Shadowlands.
NPC shadow scouts are often attached to large armies or in the service of powerful warlords or emperors. They are usually found near dangerous lands - demon infested mountains, haunted forests, or enemy lines.
Class Requirements
To qualify to become a Shadow Scout, a character must fulfill all the following criteria:
- Alignment: Any nonevil
- Skills: Hide 9 ranks, Move Silently 9 ranks, Spot 5 ranks
- Feats: Run, Track,
- Base Attack Bonus: +4.
Class Skills
The shadow scout's class skills are Climb, Craft, Hide, Jump, Knowledge (Shadowlands [Rokugan]), Knowledge (nature), Listen, Move Silently, Profession, Ride, Search, Spot, Survival, and Use Rope.
Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier.
Class Features
The following are class features of the shadow scout.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Shadow scouts are proficient with all simple and martial weapons and with light armor.
Favored Enemy: At 1st level, a shadow scout may select a type of creature (such as giants, goblinoids, undead, oni) as a favored enemy. A shadow scout may select another human clan as his favored enemy. Due to his extensive study of his foes and training in the proper techniques for combating them, the scout gains a +1 bonus on Bluff, Listen, Sense Motive, Spot, and Survival checks when using these skills against this type of creature. Likewise, he gets the same bonus on weapon damage rolls against creatures of this type. The shadow scout also gets the damage bonus with ranged weapons, but only against targets within 30 feet. The bonus doesn't apply to damage against creatures that are immune to critical hits. At 4th level and at every three levels thereafter (4th, 7th, and 10th level), the bonus goes up by +1.
If a shadow scout already has a favored enemy, he may select a new favored enemy, and the bonus associated with every previously selected favored enemy goes up by +1. The bonus for previously selected enemies increases every time the new bonus goes up. For example, a 6th-level ranger/5th-level shadow scout will have three favored enemies, with bonuses of +4, +3, and +2.
Fast Movement: The shadow scout has a speed faster than the norm for his race by +10 feet when wearing no armor, light armor, or medium armor (and not carrying a heavy load).
Evasion (Ex): At 2nd level and above, a shadow scout can avoid even magical and unusual attacks with great agility If the scout makes a successful Reflex saving throw against an attack that normally deals half damage on a successful save, he instead takes no damage. The shadow scout can only use evasion if he is wearing light armor or no armor.
Detect Enemy (Sp): At 3rd level, a shadow scout gains the ability to detect the presence of his favored enemy. The ability is similar to the detect evil spell in range, area, and duration. In the first round of concentration, the shadow scout can ascertain the presence or absence of his favored enemy within the area. In the second round, the shadow scout can determine the number of creatures in the area and the power of the strongest one (as per the detect evil spell). In the third round, the shadow scout can determine the strength and location of each creature. If the shadow scout has more than one favored enemy, he can detect any of them, and on the second round he can determine what kind of creature is in the area.
Memory: At 6th level, a shadow scout's memory is greatly enhanced. He can hold in his mind an image he has seen or up to 1 minute of speech, and can describe the details or repeat the words (even if he does not speak the language) as if he were still present. The shadow scout can only hold one image or sound in his mind at a time.
Freeze (Su): By keeping completely still while using the Hide skill, a shadow scout of 8th level or higher can vanish into his surroundings. He gains a +15 bonus on his Hide check. The shadow scout can use this ability three times per day
Smite Enemy (Su): A 9th-level shadow scout gains the ability to smite his favored enemy once per day He adds his Intelligence modifier (if positive) to his attack roll and deals 1 extra point of damage per level. This damage bonus stacks with his favored enemy bonus. If the shadow scout has more than one favored enemy, he can smite any of them, but can still use the ability only once per day.
| Shadow Scout | Hit Die: d10 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CL | BAB | Fort | Ref | Will | Special |
| 1st | +1 | +2 | +0 | +0 | Favored enemy +1, fast movement |
| 2nd | +2 | +3 | +0 | +0 | Evasion |
| 3rd | +3 | +3 | +1 | +1 | Detect enemy |
| 4th | +4 | +4 | +l | +1 | Favored enemy +2 |
| 5th | +5 | +4 | +1 | +1 | - |
| 6th | +6 | +5 | +2 | +2 | Memory |
| 7th | +7 | +5 | +2 | +2 | Favored enemy +3 |
| 8th | +8 | +6 | +2 | +2 | Freeze |
| 9th | +9 | +6 | +3 | +3 | Smite enemy |
| 10th | +10 | +7 | +3 | +3 | Favored enemy +4 |
Source: Oriental Adventures
Older Prestige class adapted to 3.5