Nightblade (3.5e Class)

Nightblades are like Rogues, but can be seen as a fighter class too. They are not the ultimate fighters, but they are able to act alone.

Abilities: Nightblades are quick fighters who naturally wears light armor to not lack their speed and agility, most of them don't wear armor, so a good Dexterity score is important for a nightblade for the benefit of their Dexterity bonus on the Armor Class. Wisdom is also important because that determines his bonus spells per day and his spells DC.

Races: Elves, half-elves & humans are the favored race to use this class.

Alignment: Any.

Starting Gold: 4d4×10 gp.

Starting Age: Simple.

All of the following are class features of the Nightblade.

Quick to Act: Nightblades are quick to react to danger and act to do so. They gain an insight bonus of +1 to Initiative. This bonus increase to +2 at level 5, +3 at level 10, +4 at level 15, +5 at level 20(and so forth).

Rapid Strike: Nightblades intend to end battles quickly so they use all of their opportunity in the first strike to finish their opponent. In the 1st round of combat, nightblade attacks deal an extra 1d6 points of damage and it increases by 1d6 every two nightblade levels thereafter. Should the nightblade score a critical hit with a rapid strike, this extra damage is not multiplied.

Trapfinding: Nightblades can use the Search skill to locate traps when the task has a Difficulty Class higher than 20. Finding a nonmagical trap has a DC of at least 20, or higher if it is well hidden. Finding a magic trap has a DC of 25 + the level of the spell use to create it.

Nightblades can use the Disable Device skill to disarm magic traps. A magic trap generally has a DC of 25 + the level of spell use to create it.

A nightblade who beats a trap's DC by 10 or more with a Disable Device check can study a trap, figure out how it works, and bypass it(party members too) without disarming it.

Evasion: At 3rd level and higher, a nightblade can avoid even magical and unusual attacks with great agility. If the nightblade makes a successful Reflex saving throw against an attack that normally deals half damage(such as a Red Dragon's fiery breath or a Fireball) on a successful save, the nightblade instead takes no damage. Evasion can be used only if the nightblade is wearing light armor or no armor. A helpless nightblade(such as one who is unconscious or paralysed) does not gain the benefit of evasion.

Improved Evasion: At 10th level, a nightblade's evasion ability improves. The nightblade still takes no damage on a successful Reflex saving throw against attacks such as a dragon's breath weapon or a Fireball, but henceforth the nightblade takes only half damage on a failed save. A helpless nightblade(such as one who is unconscious or paralysed) does not gain the benefit of improved evasion.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Nightblades are proficient with sample weapons, martial weapon, light armors & light shields.

Spells: Starting at 1st level, nightblades gains the ability to cast spells, which are drawn from the nightblade spell list(see below). A Nightblade can cast any spell known without preparing it ahead of time. To learn or cast a spell, a nightblade must have a Wisdom score equal to at least 10 + the spell level(Wis 11 for 1st-level spells, Wis 12 for 2nd-level spells, and so forth). The Difficulty Class for a savibg throw against a nighblade's spell is 10 + the spell level + the nightblade's Wisdom modifier.

Like other spellcasters, a nightblade can cast only a certain number of spells of each spell level per day. His base daily spell allotment is given on Table 1—1. In addition, a nightblade receives bonus spells per day equal to the Wisdom modifier for each spell level. When Table 1—1 indicates that the nightblade gets 0 spells per day of a given spell level, the nightblade gains only the bonus spells entitled based on the nightblade Wisdom score for that spell level. When the Table 1—1 indicates that the nightblade gets 1 or more spells per day of a given spell level, the nightblades gains the number of spell the Table 1—1 indicates + the bonus spells entitled based on the nighblade Wisdom score for that spell level.

Nightblades choose their spells from the following list:

0— Dancing Lights, Detect Magic, Flare, Ghost Sound, Mage Hand, Message, Prestidigitation, Resistance.

1st— Alarm, Blade of Blood, Charm Person, Comprehend Languages, Disguise Self, Hypnotism, Kelgore's Fire Bolt, Obscuring Mist, Sleep.

2nd— Blindness/Deafness, Darkness, Fog Cloud, Hypnotic Pattern, Invisibility, Minor Image, Mirror Image, Phantasmal Blades (3.5 Spell), Sound Burst, Spider Climb, Tongues, Tree Shape.

3rd— Blink, Clairaudience/Clairvoyance, Deeper Darkness, Glibness, Haste, Invisibility Sphere, Major Image, Nightmare Terrain, Scrying, Water Breathing.

4th— Confusion, Dominate Person, Greater Invisibility, Hallucinatory Terrain, Modify Memory, Nondetection, Phantasmal Killer, Sending, Solid Fog, Zone of Silence.

5th— Feeblemind, Mirage Arcana, Mislead, Nightmare, Passwall, Persistent Image, Seeming, Shadow Walk, Teleport, Tree Stride, True Seeing.

6th— Acid Fog, Greater Scrying, Mass Invisibility, Permanent Image, Programmed Image, Project Image, Veil, Waves of Exhaustion.

Weapons: Sword, Short (1d6, crit 19-20/x2, 2 lbs., piercing)

Armors: Leather (+2 AC, armor check penalty 0, speed 30 ft., 15 lbs., arcane spell failure 10%)

Skill Selection: Pick a number of skills equal to 5 + Int modifier.

Feat: Improved Initiative.

Bonus Feats: Weapon Finess.

Gear: Bedroll, Flint and Steel, Hempen Rope, Tent, 10 Torch, Waterskin, Trail Rations(10), Leather armor & Short sword.

Gold: 6d4 gold.

Religion: Nightblades don't really have belief in any dieties. If they have one it's because they decide to believe on it.

Other Classes: Nightblades have really good relationship with assassins because nightblades were once, assassins without magic.

Combat: Nightblades can be used for close range battle or they can be used for flanking the enemy while they have their attentions on your companions.

Daily Life: Nightblade love to stay in public area to hide themselve from the other.

Notables: Alistair the Faceless. Rumors said that Alistair once infiltrated a kingdom and made it fall from the inside.

Organizations: There's a nightblade guild inside the Stormreach catacombs. This guild is called Twin Blades. Most of them are children of the former guild founder. This guild is composed by clandestine warrior selling their services for the great house of Stormreach.

NPC Reactions: People are vigilent with nightblades because they have a bad reputation, because you know, at the end, they are assassins working for money. But many of them are usually good in the end and work for good intention, not with good manners, but for the good cause.

Characters with ranks in Knowledge(Local) can research nightblades to learn more about them. When a character makes a skill check, read or paraphrase the following, including information from lower DCs.

The nighblade can replace a rogue or a bard, they have pratically the same similar role.

Adaptation: You can go on a full offensive nightblade with only taking spell that might try to kill target fast, or you can go on a full stealth nightblade with defensive & evasive magic, or you can go either on a spy/infiltrator nighblade with concealment spell. Or, otherwise, you can mix the three of them.

Sample Encounter: The DM must place the nightblable in close range in the 1st round but agaisnt one opponent only to be safe and after retreat it to conceal it and use it as hidden combattant.

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