Agent (3.5e Class)

Summary::A versatile specialist dispatched to protect law and order on the behest of authority or government. Length::20 Minimum Level::1 Base Attack Bonus Progression::Moderate Fortitude Save Progression::Good Reflex Save Progression::Good Will Save Progression::Good Class Ability::Sneak Attack Class Ability Progression::Minor

Allowed Alignments::Lawful Good Allowed Alignments::Lawful Neutral Allowed Alignments::Lawful Evil Allowed Alignments::Neutral Good Allowed Alignments::Neutral Allowed Alignments::Neutral Evil Allowed Alignments::Chaotic Good Allowed Alignments::Chaotic Neutral Allowed Alignments::Chaotic Evil

= The Agent =

"The anonymous forging of bonds through flattery and telling lies through them is the fountainhead of an Agent's success."

Expert at information gathering and able to hold their own in combat, agents are powerful tools to be used by governments and influential authority figures alike for the purpose of investigating events and carrying out secret missions, ranging from escorts to private investigation to assassination. They are highly trained with a developed sense of independence in mind, allowing them to work alone with minimal correspondence, however, they can also put their abilities to great use in furthering the agenda of an entire taskforce or party.

Adventure: When an agent sets out adventuring, he usually does so on behest of his employer and many different occasions constitute a potential assignment for an agent, to counter the spread of chaos or to fight organized crime being merely a few examples of what merits an agent's attention.

Characteristics: Agents are bred for loyalty, but they need to be able to think for themselves; an agent needs to be astute and smart, as to avoid being misled or manipulated and to develop information gathering skills. An agent would do wise to have at least some fleeting knowledge of culture, history and financial standing concerning the locations in which they operate.

However prepared an agent can be to deal with issues concerning their own turf, they need to be just as able to undertake assignments in regions unknown. Next to needing the stamina to traverse lands either on foot, mount, cart or ship, they are required to be able to extract information at all times, from as many sources as they can find, and for that they need a sound grasp of linguistics. Stranded in an unknown pocket of land at night, between possibly errant wildlife, they need to be able to have some survival training under their belt as well.

When it comes to it, the agent is an individual of well-rounded skills, requiring a sound aptitude for the physical, the mental and the social altogether, so that the trust that their employers put into their skills will be well founded. Of course, not every agent can possess all of the skills that make agents such an important part of law enforcement, which is why they specialize and play to their individual strengths.

Alignment: Due to the commitment required for an agent to adhere to his code, to uphold the law of the various locales in which he operates and to cater to the wishes of his employer, agents are bound by their discretion and principles. Even freelance agents benefit from such a standing, as their trustworthiness is directly tied to their business ethics. Agents are lawful and usually - but not necessarily - share the moral alignment of their employers.

Religion: Religion is in most cases of no importance to an agent. An agent differs from a cleric in that the authority that steers his actions is not divine. He usually incurs no special benefit from worshipping a deity, and most agents have no devotion. The exception are agents in the service of an theocracy or influential clerics that enjoy a seat of power. In that case, the agent usually worships the deity - or one of the deities - around which the theocracy is centered. The rules for agent devotion are not absolute.

Background: Agents often start out their lives in a web of ancient bureaucracy and favor currying. Young couriers, aspiring soldiers or beginning scholars with untapped potential are in some cases pulled off the streets with the intention of turning them into full-fledged operatives to uphold the law or indeed the policies of the lord or lords under which they serve.

Races: Becoming an agent requires a well balanced sheet of abilities and skills as well as the necessary amount of discretion. Because of this, most agents are human. Elves, Gnomes and Halflings are well suited to become agents as well, although Dwarves and Half-Orcs less so.

Other Classes: Although trained to be able to operate alone, agents are generally able to work well in a partnership, although their affiliation to a designated party is often quite transitory. Because of their individual training, they usually work best with other agents, but they will be able to find their place in a well balanced party (that is to say, a party representing strength in battle, magical aptitude, covert skills and social venues equally). Agents generally work well with fighters, clerics, monks and wizards.

Role: The roles of an agent are about as many as that there are agents in the world. They depend greatly on the specializations that are chosen.

Game Rule Information
Agents have the following game statistics:

Abilities: The most important abilities for an agent are Charisma and Intelligence, so that they can gather information more effectively and have an as wide variation of skills as possible. Strength is important if the Agent wants to specialize physically, whereas Dexterity can be handy in other, more fine-toothed practices. Since all abilities readily influence part of the agent's effectiveness, all six are useful in most cases. In regards to specialization, which is where the agent's power lies, Constitution is least important.

Alignment: Any lawful

Starting Age: As Cleric

Starting Gold: 1d4 gp

Class Features
All of the following are class features of the Agent: Weapon and Armor Proficiency: The Agent is proficient with all simple weapons, as well as rapier, scimitar and shortsword. The Agent is proficient with light armor, but not with shields.

Languages: At 1st level, an agent is able to speak, read and write a number of languages equal to his int modifier (always 0 or more), aside from Common and potentially his native tongue. He gains a bonus language at every level divisible by 5. Languages learnt these way are independent from languages learnt through Skill points.

Specialization: At 1st, 9th and 17th level, an agent can pick a specialization, which allows him to specialize in certain areas of expertise. If due to insufficient ability scores, the agent cannot choose a specialization at 1st level, he will gain the benefits of a specialization as well as any associated perks as soon as he can.

Evasion (Ex): At 2nd level or higher if an agent 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 an agent is wearing light armor or no armor. A helpless agent does not gain the benefit of evasion.

Bonus Feats: At 3rd and 4th level, an agent receives bonus feats in relation to his main specialization. If due to insufficient ability scores, the agent cannot choose a main specialization at 1st level, these two bonus feats become available to the agent as soon as he is able to specialize. The bonus feats the agent can choose from depend on the specialization chosen. The choices are listed under each specialization. An exception is the Warrior specialization, which gains more feats regardless of whether it is the agent's main specialization.

Sneak Attack: If an agent can catch an opponent when he is unable to defend himself effectively from his attack, he can strike a vital spot for extra damage.

The agent's attack deals extra damage any time his target would be denied a Dexterity bonus to AC (whether the target actually has a Dexterity bonus or not), or when the agent flanks her target. This extra damage is 1d6 at 1st level, and it increases by 1d6 every five levels thereafter. Should the agent score a critical hit with a sneak attack, this extra damage is not multiplied.

Ranged attacks can count as sneak attacks only if the target is within 30 feet.

An agent can only sneak attack living creatures with discernible anatomy; constructs, oozes, plants and incorporeal creatures lack vital organs to attack. Any creature that is immune to critical hits is also unaffected by a sneak attack.

Trap Sense: At 6th level, an agent gains an intuitive sense that alerts him to danger from traps, giving him a +1 bonus on Reflex saves made to avoid traps and a +1 dodge bonus to AC against attacks made by traps. These bonuses rise to +2 when the agent reaches 12th level, to +3 when he reaches 18th level.

Specialization
Although agents have well rounded skills, they still specialize in different regions, often depending on their insights and their personal experiences. All specializations however have prerequisites. Temporary ability drain at the moment of leveling does not influence the agent's ability to pick a specialization. When an agent picks a specialization, he receives Special Powers in accordance with the specialization chosen, which manifest 4th, 7th and 10th level that the agent has the specialization. An agent's Specializations are basically 'sub classes' to the agent class, each of which with 10 levels.

The first specialization an agent picks, that is to say the one they gain at 1st level, is referred to as their main specialization. The main specialization chosen by an agent has widespread consequences for his development. The Bonus Feats column concerns the two Bonus Feats the agent can choose when he takes the specialization in question as his main specialization.

Below follows a description of available Specializations.

Arcanist
Some agents prefer to use skill in magic in order to get out of troublesome situations. For this branch of the secret service, a specialization in arcane matters was devised. Agents that specialize in this direction add Concentration (Con), Knowledge (arcana) (Int) and Spellcraft (Int) to class skills. The arcanist gains a number of spells known and spells slot according to the table below.

Effective caster level for the arcanist's spellcasting ability is the amount of levels that the agent has had the Arcanist Specialization (up to the maximum of 10). An Arcanist needs to prepare the spells that he knows. She is eligible for bonus spell slots due to a high Intelligence or Charisma score, but can never gain bonus spell slots above 4th level.

Special Power: An arcanist learns to partially ignore arcane spell failure when wearing light armor. He also gains access to spells up to level 4 gradually.

4th: 2nd level Sor/Wiz spells, -5% Arcane Spell Failure (Light Armor only)

7th: 3rd level Sor/Wiz spells, -10% Arcane Spell Failure (Light Armor only)

10th: 4th level Sor/Wiz spells, No Arcane Spell Failure (Light Armor only)

Bonus Feats: Spell Focus (any), Combat Casting,  Spell Penetration.

Prerequisites: Int 13 or Cha 13.

Divinist
Agents that operate under the banner of a Theocracy, or are under the employ of a powerful religious figure often open themselves to divine spellcasting in order to be able to perform their specific duties. Agents that specialize in this direction add Concentration (Con), Heal (Wis), Knowledge (religion) (Int) and Spellcraft (Int) to their class skills, as well as gaining proficiency with Medium and Heavy armor. A Divinist draws his spells from the Cleric spell list. A Divinist gains spell slots in exactly the same method and rate as the Arcanist (see the Arcanist Spell Table above), except that they apply to divine spells, and that the Divinist may choose his spells from the entire Cleric spell list. Effective caster level for these spells is the level of the Divinist specialization. Unlike the Arcanist, a Divinist does need to pray for his spells like a Cleric does.

Special Power: A Divinist gains access to spells up to level 4 gradually.

4th: 2nd level Clr spells

7th: 3rd level Clr spells

10th: 4th level Clr spells

Bonus Feats: Spell Focus (any), Combat Casting,  Spell Penetration.

Prerequisites: Wis 13.

Forensic
When an agent operates extensively in the field of justice and uses more or less scientific methods of investigation, he might have chosen the specialization of forensic. A forensic adds Appraise (Int), Craft (Int) and Knowledge (architecture and engineering) (Int) to his class skills. He also gets a +4 on all Gather Information, Listen, Search and Spot skills regarding crimes, crime scenes and local jurisprudence. Forensics also gain the special Profiling skill, in order to aid their research (see further down). Lastly, a Forensic can make use of the spells detect magic or detect poison a total of 3 + Int mod per day. Usage of either spell counts against the same limit.

Special Power: A Forensic gains access to spell-like abilities that allow him to do his job better and learns to wage combat more effectively against creatures of his type.

4th:  detect secret doors 2/day (CL 4th), Favored Enemy (character's Creature Type)

7th:  arcane sight 2/day (CL 7th)

10th:  prying eyes 1/day (CL 10th)

Bonus Feats: Diligent, Investigator, Skill Focus (Appraise, Craft, Gather Information, Listen, Search, Spot).

Prerequisites: Int 13.

Infiltrator
Using covert tools and the practices that make thieves infamous, the agent assumes the specialty of infiltration and escape. Add the Disguise (Cha), Escape Artist (Dex), Open Lock (Dex) and Sleight of Hand (Dex) to class skills. An infiltrator that takes 20 on an Escape Artist or Open Lock check only need spend 10 rounds (1 minute). Infiltrators gain the qualities of a rogue's Trapfinding, including the ability to use the Search skill to locate traps where the DC is higher than 20, and the ability to use Disable Device against magical traps. Infiltrators get a +4 bonus on Disable Device checks made to jam locks and resolve traps. If the Infiltrator beats the check DC of a trap by more than 5, he instantly knows that the trap no longer functions. If he beats the DC by 10, he may recover the trap and relocate it.

Special Power: A Infiltrator gains access to spell-like abilities that allow him to do his job better.

4th: Trap Sense (+1 increase from current Trap Sense level),  detect secret doors 2/day (CL 4th)

7th:  knock 2/day (CL 7th)

10th: Improved Evasion, passwall 1/day (CL 10th)

Bonus Feats: Agile, Demolitions, Expert Demolitions, Improved Initiative, Nimble Fingers, Run.

Prerequisites: Dex 13.

Leader
Agents with profound aptitude for taking the lead, those with personalities that can invoke allegiance and trust, and those with profound strategic ability often take this specialization. Bluff (Cha), Diplomacy (Cha) and Intimidate (Cha) become class skills and they gain the Leadership feat. A leader also gains proficiency with shields.

Special Power: A Leader gains access to spell-like abilities that allow him to do his job better and furthermore gains special skills to harry enemies in combat.

4th: charm person 2/day (CL 4th), Shield Block +1: When having a shield equipped, the leader gains +1 to his shield bonus to AC against a single enemy.

7th: suggestion 2/day (CL 7th), Taunt (Ex): Using Bluff checks, the leader is able to draw an enemy's attention away from his subordinates and onto him. With a successful check against either the enemy's Sense Motive check or Will save, the enemy will forego his former target and attempt to reach the leader.

10th:  sending 1/day (CL 10th), Shield Block +2: When having a shield equipped, the leader gains +2 to his shield bonus to AC against a single enemy, Call to Battle (Ex): A number of times per day equal to his Leader specialization level, the leader may allow an ally to retry a failed Will save against fear effects, giving the ally a bonus to his Will save equal to the leader's Charisma modifier for the purpose of the reroll.

Bonus Feats: Improved Initiative, Negotiator, Persuasive, Skill Focus (Bluff, Diplomacy, Intimidate, Sense Motive).

Prerequisites: Cha 13.

Marksman
Agents with an aptitude for aim and ranged weaponry are often likely to become marksmen, trained crossbowmen that possess great accuracy. The agent becomes proficient with all martial ranged weapons and gains +4 to Hide checks when scoping out a target (but only from the target). A marksman gains the feats Point Blank Shot and Far Shot. A marksman can perform a ranged sneak attack at up to triple range (90 ft.). A Marksman can choose to use one or more full rounds in order to settle and aim. Provided that the target stays in a direct line of sight, he may then take the shot any given round afterwards with +1 to his attack roll. This aiming ability can only be used while sniping. Marksmen only take a -10 penalty on their Hide check made after firing a ranged weapon.

Special Power: A Marksman gains further aptitude for ranged prowess

4th: further +1 to attack roll when sniping (this stacks with the normal +1)

7th: power critical when sniping (1d10 extra damage at crit) (CL 7th)

10th: crossbows gain keen effect in marksman's hands

Bonus Feats: Precise Shot -> Improved Precise Shot, Rapid Reload, Rapid Shot -> Manyshot.

''Prerequisites: Dex 13.

Scholar
The agent has a strong aptitude for scholastic disciplines and is able to convert the experiences that he amasses from learning, reading and doing into study. A scholar may select any 2 Knowledge skills to become class skills. He then may make up a curriculum consisting of a number of Knowledge class skills equal to his Int modifier (max 5). He will gains a +4 bonus to any skills in his curriculum. Thanks to his academic skill, if a scholar fails a Knowledge skill check that belongs to his curriculum, he can retake the skill check for that very same topic after 1d4 days, whether or not he has actively studied the problem. This retaking of Knowledge skill checks can be done indefinitely.

Special Power: A Scholar gains extra skill points per level. These skill point increases are not retroactive.

4th: +1 to normal skill points/level

7th: +2 to normal skill points/level

10th: +3 to normal skill points/level

Bonus Feats: Skill Focus (Any Knowledge).

''Prerequisites: Int 13.

Survivalist
Field agents often come into contact with difficult outlandish situations; predators, harsh weather and hard-to-nagivate locales, while pursuing their targets. These types of agents often choose this specialty. Jump (Str), Knowledge (nature) (Int), Survival (Wis) and Swim (Str) become class skills and the Survivalist gains the Track feat. If a Survivalist fails a Survival check in regards to tracking, he can retry in 10 minutes, instead of the usual hour.

Special Power: A survivalist gains favored enemies, increasing his prowess when faced with certain threats. Pick from the Ranger Favored Enemies table.

4th: 1st Favored Enemy (Ex)

7th: Woodland Stride (as ranger), 2nd Favored Enemy (Ex)

10th: Camouflage (as ranger, 3rd Favored Enemy (Ex)

Bonus Feats: Blind-Fight, Endurance -> Diehard, Self Sufficient.

''Prerequisites: Wis 13.

Unarmed
Agents that often have to fight discreetly find it in their best interest to learn a strong, yet versatile and efficient combat system. Unarmed Specialists have a dedicated and strong mind, as well as an acute body. Agents that choose this specialization gain the Improved Unarmed Strike feat and are able to attack lethally without weapons for 1d6 points of damage. Unarmed specialists are treated as to have Weapon Finesse with their unarmed strike and thus apply either Strength or Dexterity modifier to their attack roll, whichever is higher. An agent specializing in unarmed combat has no such thing as an 'off-hand' while fighting unarmed for the purpose of calculating damage. The Unarmed Specialist gains a +1 dodge bonus to AC against melee attacks when both his hands are free. An unarmed specialist that fights defensively gains +3 dodge bonus to AC instead of +2, and using the total defense action bestows +6 dodge bonus to AC instead of +4. Also, the unarmed specialist may need a weapon when the situation becomes dire. He may use improvized weapons of size Tiny or smaller (wood axes, hammers, or sticks and stones, etc.) without the -4 penalty to attack. When dealing with brittle items, and those that are not made to withstand heavy blows in combat, the unarmed specialist gains a +10 bonus on checks made to see whether the items in question break.

Special Power: An unarmed specialist gains the ability to perform combination attacks.

4th: Two attacks at penalty of -2/-2.

7th: Power attack (2d6) at penalty -2. Add twice your Str mod to damage. After the attack, the unarmed specialist suffers a -2 to AC for the duration of the round. Can only be used once per round.

10th: Attack / Grapple combo (-2 attack penalty, normal damage). If the attack succeeds and deals damage, the unarmed specialist may immediately attempt a grapple with +2 on his grapple check.

Bonus Feats: Combat Reflexes, Deflect Arrows -> Snatch Arrows, Improved Grapple.

''Prerequisites: Str 13 or Dex 13.

Warrior
Agents that have operated predominantly in open combat situations and battles often select this specialization in order to further hone their skills. When chosen, an agent gains Martial Weapon Proficiency with melee weapons and proficiency with medium and heavy armor as well as shields (including tower shields). A warrior may take a -2 penalty on any attack roll made with a melee weapon in order to double its critical range (max 17-20). An agent gains the Combat Expertise feat regardless of prerequisites, as well as bonus feats. Add Handle Animal (Cha) and  Ride (Dex) to class skills.

Special Power: A warrior gains more bonus feats than agents of other specializations.

4th: Bonus Feat.

7th: Bonus Feat.

10th: Bonus Feat.

Bonus Feats: Dodge -> Mobility, Improved Bull Rush, Improved Disarm, Improved Feint, Improved Overrun, Improved Trip, Improved Sunder, Power Attack -> Cleave.

''Prerequisites: Str 13.