Prestige Classes

ARGENT RANSEUR

The Argent Ranseurs are an order of mysterious warriors known to frequent some cities on Mori.  Their motives are unknown, their reasoning unfathomable, and their abilities deadly.  Long-haired, red-coated, and silver-bladed, they kill quickly and disappear back into the night.  Though the Ranseurs are notorious for executing mages publicly thought to be corrupt, they have also been known to turn their attentions to street scum.

Hit Die: d10.

Requirements

To qualify to become an Argent Ranseur, a character must fulfill all the following criteria.

Alignment: Any good.

Skills: Knowledge (arcana) 10 ranks, Concentration 10 ranks.

Feats: Weapon Focus (ranseur), Weapon Specialization (ranseur)

Spells: Ability to cast flare and light as arcane spells. 

Special: Must be accepted and trained by an existing Argent Ranseur.  Must be female.

Class Skills

The Argent Ranseur's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Balance (Dex), Bluff (Cha), Climb (Str), Concentration (Con), Gather Information (Cha), Hide (Dex), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Knowledge (arcana/local) (Int), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), Search (Int), Spot (Wis), Survival (Wis), Swim (Str), and Use Rope (Dex).

Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier.
 

Table: The Argent Ranseur

Class Features

All of the following are features of the Argent Ranseur prestige class.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Argent Ranseurs gain no new proficiencies with weapons or armor.

Path of the Ranseur: An Argent Ranseur relies solely on her ranseur and her magic to defend herself.  She forswears the use of all wands, staffs, and weapons but for the ranseur, as well as the use of armor and shields.  If she uses a wand, staff, or another weapon, straps on a shield, or dons armor, she loses access to all class benefits immediately and cannot progress further in the class.  A lengthy quest and an atonement are needed before she can benefit from any class features or progress as a Argent Ranseur.

As a result of this single-minded focus, she gains a competence bonus to hit with the ranseur equal to half her Argent Ranseur levels, rounded down.

Code of Conduct: Upon entry into the Argent Ranseurs, an adventurer is expected to either fit a silver blade to her ranseur, or obtain enough alchemical silver to keep it silvered for combat.  Though there are no restrictions on the company she keeps or the methods she is permitted to use to bring about justice, an Argent Ranseur may not refuse a formal assignment.

Spells per Day: When a new odd-numbered Argent Ranseur level is gained, the character increases in caster level and spells per day as if she had gained a level in any one arcane spellcasting class she belonged to before she added the prestige class. She does not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained, except as noted here.

If a character had more than one arcane spellcasting class before she became a Argent Ranseur, she must decide to which class she adds each level of Argent Ranseur for the purpose of determining spells per day.

Coat of the Ranseur: Upon attaining 2nd level, the Argent Ranseur is awarded a characteristic dark red coat, the symbol of her full membership.  In cities where the Argent Ranseurs maintain a presence, wearing such a coat provides a +5 circumstance bonus to Bluff, Gather Information, and Intimidate checks - but also unmistakably identifies the wearer as an Argent Ranseur.  Imitations have been known to appear from time to time, but they invariably disappear before too long.

Silver Flash (Su): At 3rd level, an Argent Ranseur can cause her silver weapon to give off a burst of light, dazzling all others within a radius of 10' per class level as a standard action.  A Fortitude save (DC = 10+class level) negates the effect, which otherwise lasts for one minute.

Purity of Silver (Ex): At 4th level, the Argent Ranseur becomes immune to all poisons.

Quicksilver Flash (Su): At 6th level, an Argent Ranseur can cause her weapon to flash as a free action.

The Grip of Justice (Ex): At 7th level, an Argent Ranseur gains a +3 competence bonus to all disarm checks involving her ranseur.

Hardened in Blood (Su): Argent Ranseurs of 8th level find that their spirit empowers their weapon.  A ranseur thus wielded is treated as an adamantine weapon for the purposes of hardness, ignoring hardness, bypassing damage reduction, and determining hit points.

Secret of the Red (Su): A 9th-level Argent Ranseur can transform the symbol of her identity into a potent defense.  As a standard action, she may expend a prepared spell or spell slot to gain the benefit of the starmantle spell for one round per spell level lost, as long as she is visibly wearing her red coat.  While thus protected, nonmagical weapons cannot harm her, and are turned to dust if they strike her.

The Secret of Silver (Su): In the hands of one who has mastered the path of the Argent Ranseurs, a ranseur gains a supernatural ability to pierce magical protections.  If the Argent Ranseur succeeds at a level check against a protection the first time she attempts to strike a protected target, she may ignore the protection for its duration. (Roll class level + 1d20, and compare the result against DC 10+spell level for each spell.)

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