User:Spazalicious Chaos/Weaponized Anthropologist (3.5e Prestige Class)

Weaponized Anthropologist
"You ask why every nation has declared orcs an enemy of the state? Because I advised them so."

Long term studies of the socio-political environment show a number of inconsistencies in regards to race relations. Entire tribes of orcs who had never seen another race slaughtered by adventurers for crimes against humanity. Drow noble houses crushed by dwarven raids after years of peaceful trade between the two races. Races of lizardmen and giants forced to live on the peripheals of society and denied access to technology and trade, on grounds of a lack of sentience or civilization. Species of intelligent magical beasts hunted and killed for their wealth. And it can all be traced to a select few.

While some who studies the various cultures of the world wish to learn more about it, there are a few who wish to turn that knowledge to their own ends, using it as a sword to cut down groups that disturb them. And they are called Weaponized Anthropologists.

Becoming a Weaponized Anthropologist
To become a weaponized anthropologist is to come to a series of conclusions after an extensive education in psychology, sociology, economics, anthropology, and social stratification. First they must come to the conclusion their own culture is the baseline culture, by which all other enthnic and racial groups must be judged. Second, they must conclude that groups that do no conform the this standard are in some way flawed. Finally, they must conclude that such flawed groups not only can, but must be fixed.

The long lived races are the most likely to become Weaponized Anthropologists, though there have been a few among such races as orcs and goblins. To be such requires not just a high degree of intelligence, but also some charisma to affect changes and wisdom to see kinks in their changes before they happen.

Class Features
All of the following are class features of the Weaponized Anthropologist.

 : Upon becoming a Weaponized Anthropologist the character gains immediate transparancy within his educational background, applying his findings to find universal cultural truths. Any use of Knowledge (Nobility and Royalty) and Knowledge (Local) apply to any culture or region, regardless of travel, experience or region. The WA also can always use these skills when trying to recall facts about a culture, regardless of whether he has even heard of the culture in question before.

 : By spending one hour interacting with and analyzing a culture and succeeding on a Sense Motive check (DC 10 +2 for each community size category above Thorp), the Weaponized Anthropologist gains an understanding of the local customs, etiquette and even the names and occupations of community leaders. This grants the WA a bonus equal to double his Weaponized Anthropologist level on all charisma based checks, Knowledge (Nobility and Royalty), Knowledge (Local), and Sense Motive checks within the culture, as well as with individuals native to that cultural group. By spending one week within the culture and suceeding in a Dechipher Script check of the same DC he also learns to speak the common language of the culture.

 : At second level the Weaponized Anthropologist learns how to use an individual to make an overextended generalization. By succeeding on a Diplomacy check to improve the attitude of an individual or a crowd, he causes all of that culture to be percieved that way by that crowd. He may uses this ability whether improving or degrading attitude, whether in regards to himself or in regards to another, or may choose not to use the ability at all. If the subject might be easily indentified as a member of more than one cultural group (half-orc farmer of Alderan from the village of Bristol, for example) he must choose which group is affected. The effects last continuously, but may be changed by futher encounters with other individuals of that group.

Trying to use this ability to influence the attitudes of creatures that are longer lived than you causes a -2 on the check, but using this ability to influence creatures of a shorter lived race grant the check a +2 bonus.

For example, Varmillion Anthiel VII is using Diplomacy to convince a guard squad to question a half-orc roughly, degrading the guards attitude from indifferent to unfriendly. He dicides to activate Tokenism, playing up how it is just like half-orcs to cause trouble, like they are bred to the break the law. The guards will now have a starting attitude of unfriendly in regards to all half-orcs.

 : At second level the Weaponized Anthropologist may retrain others to reject their previous associations. The WA must have the victim trapped an isolated for a day. He rolls one skill check each day, which is opposed by the victims Will save. Success on the Anthropologists part erases all of the victims ranks in a skill as per below:
 * WA rolls Knowledge (Nobility and Royalty)= lose one regional Knowledge (Nobility and Royalty)
 * WA rolls Knowledge (Local)= lose one regional Knowledge (Local)
 * WA rolls Diplomacy or Intimidate= lose Knowledge (Religion)
 * WA rolls Decipher Script= lose one known language, which is replaced by one that the WA knows of the WAs choice.

If the target is of a longer lived race than yours, it gets a +2 bonus on it's save. If from a shorter lived race than yours, it gets a -2 on it's save.

 : At third level the Weaponized Anthropologist wins the admiration of others who folow his work and believe his views to be unquestionable. This functions as the Leadership feat, but the WA does not have any direct contact with them intitialy. Rather, each time he writes a published document, makes a public presentation or uses another Weaponized Anthroplogist ability there is a 50% chance a follower will reveal himself. Even those that do not will follow any instruction that they would percieve from a particular action by the WA. For example, use of Reprograming on a half-orc might result in followers finding other half-orcs and torturing them to death. Or writing a paper descibing the possibility of a kobold tribe wanting to claim lands outside their mine might cause followers to either invade or pay others to invade the kobolds lair and kill them.

The Cohort is always the first to reveal himself, but takes action on percieved cues like the other followers, and may even ask for praise for it.

 : This ability works like Tokenism, but the Weaponized Anthropologist at fourth level no longer needs the subject to be present and always affects a crowd. If the subject is not present the WA needs to paint a picture of the intended targets to his intended audience, which may be accoplished by any charisma based skill (except Use Magic Device) depending on how he wishes to go about it. Here are some general guide lines:
 * Trying to use sound arguments in a court or council setting probably uses Diplomacy or Perform (oratory).
 * Using scare tactics and inducing panic uses Intimidate.
 * Trying to spread the idea via grass root propoganda uses Gather Information.
 * Lying and half truths use Bluff. Duh.
 * Any of the Perform skills could be used if the message is blended into a preformance.

 : By expending resources for a base of opperations, the Weaponized Anthropologists following can be organized into special reprograming camps for captured targets. Each target captured and contained for a month must make a Will save versus a DC of 15+ Double the WAs Weaponized Anthropologist levels+ the WAs Charisma modifier. FAilure means the character loses all ranks in any Knowledge (Nobility and Royalty, Local and Religion) ranks it had as well as any languages it knew. They are replaced by one rank in any one of the erased skills of the WAs choice, including choice of region they pertain to, as well as knowledge of one language of the WAs choice that he can speak.

The Weaponized Anthropologist can have one such facility opperating per level in Weaponized Anthropologist.

Campaign Information
Players complaining about why they have been killing nothing but orcs in your game, and have been demanding to know where this "racist bullshit" is coming from? Now you have an answer.

Playing a Weaponized Anthropologist
Combat: Stay out of it. Just convince everyone else that your foes are evil and they will kill them for you.

Advancement: Just boost lots of social skills. If you do not have levels in Bard already, get some or else some other access to bardic music abilities, as the ability to keep everyone focused on you and what you are saying is essential.

Resources: A REAL Weaponized Anthropologist makes his own resources in wealth, political power, land and personel. It is rare when they act in concert... but deadly when it happens.

Weaponized Anthropologists in the World
"Steal from me today, and you get to watch your caravan lynched tomorrow. Repeat the theft, and your whole race dies in fire and hatred."

NPC Reactions: People either love their local Weaponized Anthropologist, or don't know who he is. He makes speeches that enlighten the whole of the society, is able to forsee threats from outsiders before even the foreigners themselves are able to concieve them. The only people who hate the WAs are those that are victimized by their propoganda.

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

Weaponized Anthropologists in the Game
There are two ways these guys can make it into your game- ultimate bad guy or genocidal campaign.

This class is an answers to the indisputable fact the D&D played straight is racist. It is a game that encourages the killing of other sentient creatures because they look funny. While how this is handled varies from "Paladins can kill orcs any time" to "You just killed an orc, and you might lose your paladin powers unless you give me a good reason why", the logistics of how this came about is not readilty apparent. The ability to detect the ethical and moral core of creatures is a level one ability for a good quarter of characters. Purely evil societies cannot exist on their own for longer than a few months because they need to feed off the products of neutral and good societies, thus the majority of "monstrous races" need to be moraly middle ground at the least. So, how did it become acceptable to kill drow, no questions asked? Enter, the Weaponized Anthropologist.

In a game about these complex issues of race and ethinicity the WA is a perfect bad guy. He is the cause, and the damage he has done is unrepairable. The societies he has killed must be avenged.

If you sit on the "let PCs kill whatever" end, the WA is a good fit if you do not mind letting the player go all-out in their genecidal rampages. Kill the adults, reprogram the children, then move on to the next orc clan.