Mercurial Warrior (3.5e Prestige Class)

Mercurial Warrior
"Wanna race?"

There are those in this world who have the ability to move at virtually impossible speeds, and move around obstacles as though they weren't even there. These individuals are known as mercurial warriors, and it is a common joke that they are able to outrun their own shadows from time to time. A mercurial warrior is not a terribly dangerous opponent, but is extremely difficult to pin down, making them highly irritating enemies to fight.

Becoming a Mercurial Warrior
A person who would take a level or two in mercurial warrior is someone who would wish to focus almost entirely on his speed. A mercurial warrior is rarely ever caught unprepared, and is even more rarely trapped. They are blindingly fast warriors who can be found anywhere on the battlefield at any given moment, from the deepest reaches of the enemies forces, to far back at the rear end of the allies force, and who can be found moving from one of these points to another in mere instances.

Class Features
All of the following are class features of the mercurial warrior.

 (Ex): Mercurial warriors have amazing reflexes, and can do things that others only dream of. When taking a standard action, a mercurial warrior can move both before and after the action, provided that his total distance moved is not greater than his speed. Moving in this way does not provoke an attack of opportunity from anyone who threatens the square he takes the standard action in, though it might provoke attacks of opportunity from other creatures, if appropriate. The mercurial warrior must move at least 5 feet both before and after he takes this standard action in order to utilize the benefits of fleet style.

For a total time per day of 1 round per positive modifier of Constitution the mercurial warrior posesses, he can move with an instinct bonus to his base land speed, as shown as shown on Table: The Mercurial Warrior. This effect occurs automatically as soon as it applies, lasts until it runs out or is no longer needed, and can operate multiple times per day (up to the total daily limit of rounds).

So, for example, a 3rd level mercurial warrior with a +3 Constitution modifier could gain a +30 foot instinct bonus to his base land speed up to a total of 3 rounds out of a day.

At 2nd level, a mercurial warrior gains a +1 instinct bonus to his Reflex save and initiative. This instinct bonus to the mercurial warriors Reflex save and initiative increases by an additional +1 every even level after second (4th, 6th, 8th, etc.).

Starting at 3rd level, a mercurial warrior need not move in a straight line to charge, nor must he charge the closest available space. He still may not move back on himself during a charge, and his charge move still ends as soon as he threatens his target.

 (Ex): A mercurial warrior's reaction time is without match, and this can be seen during any given moment in any given battle. Starting at 3rd level, a mercurial warrior can react to danger before his senses would normally allow him to do so. He retains his Dexterity bonus to AC (if any) even if he is caught flat-footed or struck by an invisible attacker. However, he still loses his Dexterity bonus to AC if immobilized.

When running, mercurial warrior move six times his normal speed (if wearing medium, light, or no armor and carrying no more than a medium load) or five times his speed (if wearing heavy armor or carrying a heavy load) at 4th level.

 (Ex): A mercurial warrior's reflexes are impossibly fast, and can allow him to avoid things that he shouldn't actually be able to avoid. Starting at 5th level, if a mercurial warrior makes a successful Reflex saving throw against an attack that normally deals half damage on a successful save, he instead takes no damage. Evasion can be used only if the mercurial warrior is wearing light armor or no armor. A helpless mercurial warrior does not gain the benefit of evasion.

At 6th level, a mercurial warrior no longer provokes attacks of opportunity from his target when he charges, nor does he need to have line of sight to his target in order to charge them. Additionally, the mercurial warrior gains the ability to move back on himself during a charge, should he wish to. His charge move still ends as soon as he threatens his target.

 (Ex): A mercurial warrior seems to always be prepared for what's coming towards him, regardless of where it is coming from. A mercurial warrior of 6th level or higher can no longer be flanked. This defense denies a rogue the ability to sneak attack the character by flanking him, unless the rogue has at least four more rogue levels than the mercurial warrior.

At 7th level, a mercurial warrior gains the ability to act normally in a surprise round, no matter the circumstances.

When running, mercurial warrior move seven times his normal speed (if wearing medium, light, or no armor and carrying no more than a medium load) or six times his speed (if wearing heavy armor or carrying a heavy load) at 8th level.

At 9th level, a mercurial warrior is no longer subject to attacks of opportunity made against him from any source while he is charging. Additionally, the mercurial warrior doesn't take the usual –2 penalty to his AC that he would recieve due to charging. His charge move still ends as soon as he threatens his target.

 (Ex): Mercurial warriors eventually master their instincts and reactions to such a degree, that nothing ever catches them off gaurd. This ability, gained at 10th level, works like evasion (see above). A mercurial warriors takes no damage at all on successful saving throws against attacks that allow a Reflex saving throw for half damage. What’s more, he takes only half damage even if he fails his saving throw.

The epic mercurial warrior gains a bonus feat (selected from the list of epic mercurial warrior feats) every 3 levels after 10th.

Epic Mercurial Warrior Bonus Feat List: Blinding Speed, Dire Charge, Epic Dodge, Epic Endurance, Epic Prowess, Epic Speed, Fast Healing, Improved Combat Reflexes, Perfect Two-Weapon Fighting, Superior Initiative, Two-Weapon Rend

Playing a Mercurial Warrior
Combat: Mercurial warriors are able to follow any religion they may wish to, no matter how unsettling or obscure this religion may be. Though, being a mercurial warrior hardly ever sways an entity to follow a specific religion. Of course, there are instances when a mercurial warrior is affected by this fact. In these cases, they find themselves drawn to deities of combat, or travel, or possible even drawn to a growing religion, solely for the fact that doing so entails a great deal of travelling.

Advancement: Mercurial warriors have thousands of lanes of advancement open to them. For example, a particular mercurial warrior may find that being in the darkness is always an advantage in combat, and may seek to always dwell within it, taking a few levels of shadowdancer to achive this. At the same time, a mercurial warrior could view his impossible speed to seem to come from nowhere, and strike blows that could never have been predicted. Mercurial warriors such as these may seek to take a level or two in assassin, as to make use of this unpredictability. Of course, a mercurial warrior could view his speed as merely an 'ace in the hole', fighting fairly up until he felt he needed to use it, being possibly drawn to taking a couple of levels in duelist.

Resources: At the beginning of combat, a mercurial warrior usually charges forward, punching deep into the enemies ranks and being a general pain in the side. A mercurial warrior is extremely difficult to predict or pin down in battle, always being slightly out of reach at any given moment. A mercurial warrior is a truly vexing enemy to fight, coming from out of nowhere at the beginning of battle, and being virtually impossible to hit during it.

Mercurial Warriors in the World
"Ever been hit by a ton of lead?"

Mercurial warriors usually find themselves working as scouts, messengers, and battlefield assassins. This is due to their incredible speed, which allows them to rocket ahead of virtually any force in the world, making them ideal for the role of scout or messenger, and their ability to avoid danger and slip past all fortifications, making them perfect as battlefield assassins. It isn't unusual though, for a mercurial warrior to be drawn to a life of crime, since they are very difficult to spot in the act, and even more difficult to actually catch.

NPC Reactions: Most of the time, mercurial warriors are indiscernable from the average adventurer, with the most obvious exception being when they run. For, when they run, they can easily be seen for what they are, since so few other beings in this world have the ability to move in the way a mercurial warrior can. When a mercurial warrior is revealed as being what they are, people can have any number of reactions, from fear, to awe, to simple numb shock.

Mercurial Warrior Lore
Characters with ranks in gather information can research mercurial warriors to learn more about them. When a character makes a skill check, read or paraphrase the following, including information from lower DCs.

Mercurial Warriors in the Game
A mercurial warrior can be found anywhere in the world, from the darkest pits of the world, to even the gray wastes that rest beyond reality. This is mostly due to their unsurmountable ability to cover ground. They can run marathons in mere moments, and leap across canyons with the momentum they carry at any given point in time. This fact almost always directly leads a mercurial warrior to become a traveller, who can be found at any place in the world, at any given time.

Adaptation: The mercurial warrior prestige class can be changed to fit into any world, any campaign, any story. For example, in a world where nations rest vast distances away from each other, mercurial warriors could be specially trained breed of messengers, who deliver messages from one nation to another. In another situation, the world could be engulfed by organized crime, and one gang would be known as the mercurial warriors, and be famed for being extremely difficult to catch.

Sample NPC: Nahum Frost grew up in an orphanage in an empty world, one where no one ever cared about happenings in other parts of the world, where no one ever went out of their way to help another, and where no one loved. He learned about things in this world, and learned that it was the way things were, that people didn't care about others. He left the orphanage when he came of age, and went out into the world, looking for a new home. He went many places in this time during his life, and saw many things, but he never cared, why should he when nothing cared about him? Nahum eventually found a job during his travels, as a merchant, trading for large ammounts of goods, then transporting them into other countries, just to trade for more. As he went back and forth from city to city, people began recognizing him, especially one young girl, a street rat, whom he had spoken to one day while setting up his shop, who hadn't bought anything, who now came back every day he was in town, just to talk. Nahum eventually developed something of a friendship with this girl, as she always wanted to hear of the places he had been to, and he always managed to get her to go out and draw in some buisiness. One day, the girl hung around a long time past the usual, even well into the night, and when Nahum started closing up, she asked him if she could spend the night with him. He was a little taken aback by this, but he agreed, but told her that they wouldn't be in the same bed. Even at this point, he still didn't open himself up. After this night though, the girl stopped coming. Nahum was a little unsettled by this in the beginning, but didn't let it get to him. Until, that is, a week had passed, without her showing up even once. Nahum was scared, and, after closing shop one day, he began looking for her. He travelled across the entire city, and only managed to find a single person who knew her, who said she had left town for some reason. Nahum soon shocked himself, by giving away everything he owned in exchange for some travelling clothes and some money. He began travelling after this, wandering though the wilderness, chasing the trail the girl had left, discoverring new things about himself as he went. He is still travelling today, and is still searching for that one girl. He will kill anyone who gets in his way too.

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