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NightBlade (3E)

"We are the hand of death..coming sure and swift through the dark..We are the reason that evil sleeps restlessly throughout the Empire..We are remorseless, relentless, resolute...And we, are the only justice the people of this empire will ever be given." ~ Uriden Nossisi, Prime Nemesis, Order of the Blade.

Who should play?

Players who love to have secrets, who approach situations with strategy as opposed to force. Who appreciate subtlety, political intrigue and mysteries as old as time. You should be an experienced roleplayer, who preferably has played rogues and even assassins before, but is looking for something more.

Who should DM?

This class is perfectly suited for the slower paced campaign, filled with political intrigues and elaborate alliances. NightBlades do ok in the wilderness and in dungeon crawls, but they truly shine in their home element, a large city.

It is a class that comes with much attached history..and loses most of its meaning when separated from it. Do NOT allow this class in your campaign unless you are incorporating the whole of its history (or something similar) into your campaign as well. A NightBlade should have a logical reason for existence within your campaign framework.

OVERVIEW

Just as much a secret society as a class, every NightBlade is an a member of The Order of the Blade, a shadowy group of vigilante assassins with limited magical abilities. Each of them keeps a cover identity and their membership in the Order is a secret kept under pain of death. The NightBlades work to ensure that NO ONE is above justice in the Empire, even those who enforce and make the laws.

Characteristics:

Whereas an assassin may use disguise to infiltrate an organization, Nightblades live their entire lives in deep cover. They are secretive and subtle. They attempt to blend in to their surroundings. They are masters of disguise, concealment, and misdirection. They trust almost no one, passing themselves off as rogues, mercenaries, or even NPC classes whenever appropriate. Many NightBlades conceal their true nature behind a facade of lightheartedness and revelry.

Alignment Tendencies:

NightBlades are always Neutral Good

Religion:

NightBlades secretly follow a goddess of divine retribution, even they do not know her name..but refer to her as "the Lady of the Blade". They do not worship her in the traditional sense, but many a NightBlade has petitioned her or called for her aid during a desperate situation. Missions are often referred to as "the Lady's Work"

Background:

The NightBlade has an elaborate history..too elaborate to do justice in this small space. Suffice to say that their roots lie in the past, before the Empire had grown to its current dominating position.. In those days, there was money to be made in the "Trade" as it was referred to..as rival mages, disgruntled business partners, and greedy family members sought out "ultimate solutions" to their relationship problems. But as the Empire became more powerful and thus more corrupt..they began to keep that sort of activity in-house. This of course led to many conflicts with the Assassin's Guild, finally resulting in the empire declaring all out war against them. During this state of affairs all the assassins who were only interested in monetary gain fled to greener pastures, leaving behind only those who decided to take a stand against the vileness and corruption of the government. Uriden Nossisi, who was then the First Lieutenant GuildMaster, had been hiding from the Imperial guard in some ruins under the city of Divinshade. He emerged with a vision and purpose. That day he assembled a meeting of the remaining assassins and officially commissioned them as the Order of the Blade. Over the centuries it has been each NightBlade's duty to train a single successor, an apprentice who will take their place when and if they are killed or age inhibits their ability to function. Thus the secrets of the order (and there are many) have been passed down through the generations.

Races:

Any race but Dwarves can become a NightBlade.

Relations to Other Classes:

Since each NightBlade goes to extreme measures to keep their true nature secret, other classes have no official position toward them. In fact, very few people even know of their existence. NightBlades themselves are generally suspicious of all other classes, but prefer the company of rogues.

GAME RULE INFORMATION

Abilities:

The life of a NightBlade is very demanding. Sharpness of mind, quickness of hand and eye, and glibness of tongue are all required, therefor Nightblades must have a minimum score of 13 in each of Int, Dex, and Cha.

Alignment Restrictions:

Must be Neutral Good

Hit Die:

d6

Level Progression:

As Rogue (See p. 46, Player Handbook)

Class Skills:

NightBlades are jacks of all trades and masters of only a few. Because of this, a NightBlade may take any skill as if it was one of their class skills ( i.e. at a cost of 1 point) Nightblades always take skills that fit with their cover identity, thus many have "profession" skills of a type suitable to their cover. They also suffer no "untrained penalty" when making an unskilled check with a skill that does not require training. NightBlades are required to take the following skills: Hide, Disguise, Move Silently, Climb, Gather Information. They must purchase these skills normally with their initial points. A NightBlade must additionally spend all of their initial and subsequently earned points towards Hide, Disguise, and Move Silently until each has been increased to 8 ranks or more. Only then may they spend skill points on other skills

"Faking It"
A NightBlade can "fake" an attempt at any skill that is "Trained Only", even those that are normally restricted to a certain class, IF they have observed its SUCCESSFUL use in action by another character. The NightBlade must not be engaged any other activity or otherwise distracted. The player must state to the DM at the time of the observation that they are observing and the DM must rule that such an action is possible. At the end of the observation, the Night Blade must roll a successful Int check vs. the same DC as faced by the character they were observing. Success means the character has learned enough through observation to be able "Fake" the skill from now on. Players should keep a separate list of skills they have learned to "Fake", and they may attempt a skill check with any "Faked" skill as if they are trained in it, only at -4 to the roll. If they succeed, they can decrease the penalty by one for subsequent checks. If they fail on a subsequent attempt, the penalty increases by one.. the penalty can never increase beyond -4 or be improved above 0.

Skill Points at First Level: (3 + Int Modifier) x 3

Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 2 + Int Modifier

Class Features:

All of the following are class features of the NightBlade

Weapon & Armor Proficiency:

NightBlades are proficient with the same weapon set as Rogues, additionally a Nightblade may use any martial weapon with only half the penalty. (-2 to hit)

NightBlades are proficient with any type of armor, but suffer all normal penalties associated with wearing armor regarding Dex checks or Spell failure.

The Instrument
NightBlades are required to choose a specific, single weapon that they refer to as the Instrument. This weapon must be of small size or less, must be bladed, and must be of Masterwork quality. This weapon is sacred to that specific NightBlade. Any Sneak Attack, or Death Attack must be executed with this weapon. Any weapon specialization or other weapon related feats must be for this weapon and this weapon alone.

Spells:

NightBlades have acquired, over the years, limited magical abilities to aid them in their missions. They learn them in the same manner as Wizards and are subject to the same rules with regard to the number of spells they may know per level. They are less proficient at casting however. Consult the following table for spell progression:

Spells Per Day
Lvl
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
1
1
2
2
3
2
1
4
2
2
5
2
2
1
6
2
2
2
7
2
2
2
1
8
2
2
2
2
9
2
2
2
2
1
10
2
2
2
2
2
11
2
2
2
2
2
1
12
2
2
2
2
2
2
13
2
2
2
2
2
2
1
14
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
15
3
2
2
2
2
2
2
16
3
3
2
2
2
2
2
17
3
3
3
3
2
2
2
18
3
3
3
3
3
2
2
19
3
3
3
3
3
3
2
20
3
3
3
3
3
3
3

 

Selection - NightBlades use Spellbooks as Wizards do, and must memorize their spells in advance. Spell selection for NightBlades is limited to the following:

Acquisition - NightBlades acquire their spells in exactly the same manner as Wizards.

Casting - Nightblades cast their spells in the same manner as Wizards. (See player notes below)

Replenishment - Nightblades must study their spellbooks to regain their spells, but because they are not trained Wizards, it takes them twice as long to prepare.

Special Feats and Abilities

NightBlades receive all the same special abilities as Rogues, with the following exceptions:

They do not gain Evasion at 2nd level, or any Uncanny Dodge abilities. At 10th level They do not gain any of the abilities listed for Rogues.

At any time they reach the prerequisites for the Assassin prestige class, (8 ranks in each of Hide, Disguise, AND Move Silently) as detailed in the Dungeon Master's Guide, p. 29, they automatically pick up this class as a second class and all of it's abilities and benefits except for Assassin's spell use ( Since NightBlade spell use already surpasses that of Assassins.)

Special Notes for Players:

NightBlades Guard their magic as closely as they do their identity. They never cast spells in front of others unless it is impossible to avoid. They do not break this prohibition for any reason.. and would rather die than risk revealing this secret. For this reason, NightBlades often take the spell feats: Still Spell, and Silent Spell as a means of concealing their casting attempts.

You must guard your true identity at all costs, initially you must do so even from your fellow party members. If your true identity is exposed in some manner, you may have to take extreme steps to prevent this information from escaping. This may mean that you and your DM may need to develop some set of secret signs for one another or that you need to be playing with people mature enough to know things about your character that their characters would not know, without this knowledge affecting the game. You will have to be the judge of that, but for maximum roleplaying challenge and enjoyment you may want to keep everything secret from the actual players for as long as possible, not just their characters. Discuss this with your DM before hand.

NightBlades operate as Assassins, but are strictly Neutral Good in their actions. They police themselves and one another. The order will NOT tolerate any NightBlade who performs an evil act, and the only penalty for infractions is death. Think Like 007. You have a license to kill, but doesn't mean you can off the guy at the bar who took your favorite stool. Use common sense.

 

The following section is for DM's only.

 

Special Notes for DMs:

Notes Regarding the Order of the Blade:

The true nature of the order is extremely shrouded in secrecy, so much so that I won't print it here. (Are you kidding? My players might read it!) If you want to DM this class and want to know the real scoop, email me at don@flyingwww.com and after I have verified your security credentials =], I'll fill you in.

Notes Regarding Dm'ing for a NightBlade:

The best way to start a NightBlade in your campaign is to have them be the apprentice of an elder member. Apprentices do not know the identities of any other members of the order beyond their own mentor. If the mentor somehow is removed from the picture, that can send them on a desperate search to find the other members, thus providing plenty of opportunities for further adventures or subplots. Do not allow the player to be cavalier about hiding their identity! There are many in high places throughout the empire who would give their very souls to bring down the Order..and there is much scrying and magical snooping going on at all times. A Nightblade can never assume they are alone or not being watched. If their true identities become known, they will be hunted to the ends of the earth.