Ruins of Adventure
Lone Wolf
Ajathar was originally apprenticed to an illusionist. He never completed his formal training, however. His master, Zalabom the Magnificent, was outspoken on a number of religious and political issues. One day his words went too far against the popular grain, and a mob dragged him from his tower, stoned him to death, and set fire to the building after looting it. Young Ajathar narrowly escaped with his life and a couple of texts of illusion magic.
Homeless and hungry, Ajathar had to steal for a living. Assisted by what few illusions he could muster, he became a burglar—and a surprisingly proficient one, considering that he was self-taught. As his burglary skills improved, so did his understanding of the magical arts of deception.
He took as his symbol, his trademark to be left at each “job,” an illusionary blue hand. The illusion would fade after a few days—but its discovery came to invariably bring panic to the heart of anyone who discovered it in his house. Sometimes Ajathar would not take a thing, but only leave the hand as a warning, a taunt, a mockery of a house’s easily-penetrated defenses.
Eventually Ajathar moved on. His native town, where Zalabom was killed, was neither affluent nor an exciting place for a daring young entrepreneur. Eventually, Ajathar took on an apprentice, training him in his unique blend of magic and thievery. Others followed, and now a fair number of these “lone wolves” can be found throughout the land.
One peculiarity of Ajathar’s character is his strict adherence to the alignment of True Neutrality. The lesson he gained from Zalabom’s death is that extremism and fanaticism in any form are dangerous and to be avoided. Both the illusionist and the bloodthirsty crowd were, to Ajathar’s mind in hindsight, repulsive. All apprentices that the Bluehand trained adhere to this philosophy as well.
Base Class Statistics:
- Ability Requirements: Aim 12, Reason 12
- Alignments: Any Neutral
- Experience Chart: Lone Wolf
- Hit Dice: d4
- Maximum Hit Dice: 9d4
- Additional Hit Points: +1 per level beyond 9th
- Attack: Rogue
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Saves:
- Paralyzation/Poison/Death: as Rogue
- Rods/Staves/Wands: as Rogue
- Petrification/Polymorph: as Rogue
- Breath Weapon: as Rogue
- Spell: as Rogue
- Proficiencies:
- Allowed Weapons: Any
- Allowed Armor: None
Class Features:
Lone Wolves are exceptional climbers. They do not suffer the normal penalty for free climbing (climing without tools), and gain a bonus to Climbing checks equal to their AC bonus from Balance if any.
Lone Wolves gain a bonus to surprise opponents, but only if the lone wolf is not in metal armor. Even then, the lone wolf must either be alone or 90 feet or more away from his party to gain this bonus. If he fulfills these conditions, he moves so silently that opponents suffer a -4 penalty to their surprise die rolls. If the lone wolf must open a door or screen to attack, this penalty is reduced to -2. If the lone wolf gains similar abilities from another source, such as being an Elf, the penalty is increased by 2.
Spells: Lone Wolves cast spells from the Wizard list, which must be selected from the Illusion school. Unlike other wizards, they may learn any spell contained in the school of Illusion, even if it also belongs to other schools. They may not learn any spell which does not belong to the Illusion school. If using the rules for Paths, all Lone Wolves begin Ajathar’s Path as their first path known (this still counts against their maximum number of paths known).
| Lone Wolf | Spells | ||||||||
| Level | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th |
| 1 | 1 | ||||||||
| 2 | 2 | ||||||||
| 3 | 2 | 1 | |||||||
| 4 | 2 | 2 | |||||||
| 5 | 3 | 2 | |||||||
| 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | ||||||
| 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | ||||||
| 8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | ||||||
| 9 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | |||||
| 10 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | |||||
| 11 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | |||||
| 12 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | ||||
| 13 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | ||||
| 14 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | ||||
| 15 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | |||
| 16 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | |||
| 17 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | |||
| 18 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | ||
| 19 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | ||
| 20 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | ||
| 21 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | |
| 22 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | |
| 23 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | |
| 24 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| 25 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| 26 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 |
| 27 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 |
| 28 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 |
| 29+ | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
When a Lone Wolf reaches 17th level, he gains an additional +1 bonus to his saving throws against illusion spells cast by anyone other than a specialist Illusionist.
At 20th level, the Lone Wolf gains the ability to cast a special dispel phantasmal force up to three times per day (despite the name, this works against any Illusion spell of 2nd level or lower, but no other spells). The base chance of success is 50%, +5% per level difference between the Lone Wolf and the caster of the phantasmal force. The dispel has a range of 30 yards and a casting time of 1; the Lone Wolf need only point at the illusion and concentrate. If the Lone Wolf attempts to dispel something that turns out to be real, the attempt still counts against his limit of three dispels per day.
Optional
There may Lone Wolves who have followed a different path from that of Ajathar Bluehand. With the DM’s approval, players may select a different school of magic from which to draw their spells. These variant Lone Wolves have the abilities indicated below. They do not gain the bonus on saving throws against illusions or the ability to dispel illusions indicated above. Lone Wolves who do not cast Illusions do not gain the bonus non-weapon proficiency in Secret Languages (Rauthlek) indicated above.
Abjuration
- Must take the Path of the Smuggler as his first path.
- When the Lone Wolf reaches 17th level, he acquires immunity to all forms of Hold spells and adds a +1 bonus when saving against poison, paralyzation, and death magic.
- When the Lone Wolf reaches 20th level, his mastery of magical protective forces has become so powerful that he receives a +1 bonus to Armor Class (this stacks with all other AC bonuses). He is still forbidden to wear armor.
Conjuration
- Must take the Path of the Beggar as his first path.
- When the Lone Wolf reaches 17th level, he no longer requires any material components to cast conjuration and summoning spells.
- When the Lone Wolf reaches 20th level, he gains the ability to instantly dispel creatures conjured by an opponent who has used a monster summoning spell or its equivalent. The Lone Wolf can dispel up to 10 Hit Dice worth of creatures with this ability; only creatures with 5 HD or fewer are affected (therefore, the Lone Wolf could dispel two 5 HD creatures or ten 1 HD creatures, but not a 6 HD creature). The Lone Wolf can use this ability up to three times per day by pointing at the creatures to be affected and concentrating.
Divination
- Must take the Path of the Fence as his first path.
- When the Lone Wolf reaches 17th level, he acquires immunity to all forms of scrying spells, such as ESP and know alignment, as well as immunity against magical items that duplicate these effects. An opponent trying to use these divinations against the Lone Wolf simply get no response at all.
- When the Lone Wolf reaches 20th level, he receives the ability to cast a special divination spell once per day. To cast the spell, the Lone Wolf must concentrate for one full turn; no verbal or material components are required. Similar to the 4th-level priest spell, divination reveals a useful piece of advice concerning a specific goal, event, or activity that will occur within the next seven days. The revelation may take the form of an omen, a short phrase, or a cryptic verse, but it always reveals specific advice. In all cases, the DM controls the type of information revealed and whether additional divinations will supply additional information. The base chance for a correct divination is 80 percent, adjusted by the DM for unusual circumstances or extreme requests (such as a diviner trying to learn the exact location of a powerful artifact). If the dice roll fails, the diviner knows that the spell failed, unless specific magic yielding false information is at work.
Enchantment
- Must take the Path of the Swindler as his first path.
- When the Lone Wolf reaches 17th level, he acquires immunity to all forms of charm spells.
- When the Lone Wolf reaches 20th level, he gains the ability to cast a special free action spell once per day. The Lone Wolf can cast this spell on himself or any creature he touches. No material components are required for this spell and the casting time is 1; the Lone Wolf merely touches the subject to be affected and concentrates. When enchanted with free action, the subject is able to move and attack normally for one hour, even under the influence of a spell that impedes movement such as web or slow. The spell negates the effects of hold spells. Underwater, the subject moves at normal surface speed and inflicts full damage with weapons, provided that the weapon is wielded and not hurled.
Invocation
- Must take the Path of the Thug as his first path.
- At 17th level, the Lone Wolf gains a +1 bonus to saving throws vs. invocation/evocation spells and against magic items duplicating the effects of these spells. This increases to +2 at 20th level.
Necromancy
- Must take the Path of the Assassin as his first path.
- At 17th level, the Lone Wolf gains a +1 bonus when saving against necromancy spells or against any attacks made by undead creatures.
- At 20th level, the Lone Wolf gains a special speak with dead spell-like ability that requires no verbal or material components; he need only point at the deceased person and concentrate for one round. This spell functions like the 3rd-level priest spell speak with dead, except that the Lone Wolf may converse for up to one turn and ask four questions of the spirit.
Transmutation
- Must take the Path of the Bandit as his first path.
- When the Lone Wolf reaches 17th level, he receives one bonus non-weapon proficiency slot, and gains access to one non-weapon proficiency group of his choice.
- When he reaches 20th level, he receives another bonus non-weapon slot.
by:
Brand_Darklight