Guard (3.5e NPC Class)

Author: Ganteka Future (talk) Date Created: 22 February 2026 Status: Complete Editing: Clarity edits only please

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A capable martial combatant. A guard excels at guarding. 20 1 Good Good Poor Good

"—" is not in the list (Prepared Arcane Spellcasting, Spontaneous Arcane Spellcasting, Prepared Divine Spellcasting, Spontaneous Divine Spellcasting, Arcane Spellcasting, Divine Spellcasting, Prepared Spellcasting, Spontaneous Spellcasting, Alternate Magic, Psionics, ...) of allowed values for the "Class Ability" property.

"—" is not in the list (Full, Partial, Minor, Separate, Other) of allowed values for the "Class Ability Progression" property.

Guard

The guard is a capable martial combatant; but where a warrior excels at warring, a guard excels at guarding. They are typically specialized to the kind of station they are tasked with guarding.

Abilities: Guards tend to have more rounded abilities, favoring either Strength or Dexterity for a primary physical ability score and then any mental score for their station. Outpost guards usually favor Wisdom (relying on their preceptive abilities), while city guards may favor Intelligence (for the additional skill points) and castle guards may favor Charisma (to suss out social situations).

Races: Any race with enough social structure may have guards.

Alignment: Any

Starting Age: Simple" (as rogue).

Table: The Guard

Hit Die: d8

Level	Base Attack Bonus	Saving Throws			Special
		Fort	Ref	Will
1st	+1	+2	+0	+2	On Duty, Scrutiny
2nd	+2	+3	+0	+3	Blockade
3rd	+3	+3	+1	+3	—
4th	+4	+4	+1	+4	On Duty (Knowledge)
5th	+5	+4	+1	+4	—
6th	+6/+1	+5	+2	+5	—
7th	+7/+2	+5	+2	+5	—
8th	+8/+3	+6	+ 2	+6	—
9th	+9/+4	+6	+3	+6	—
10th	+10/+5	+7	+3	+7	—
11th	+11/+6/+1	+7	+3	+7	—
12th	+12/+7/+2	+8	+4	+8	—
13th	+13/+8/+3	+8	+4	+8	—
14th	+14/+9/+4	+9	+4	+9	—
15th	+15/+10/+5	+9	+5	+9	—
16th	+16/+11/+6/+1	+10	+5	+10	—
17th	+17/+12/+7/+2	+10	+5	+10	—
18th	+18/+13/+8/+3	+11	+6	+11	—
19th	+19/+14/+9/+4	+11	+6	+11	—
20th	+20/+15/+10/+5	+12	+6	+12	—
Class Skills (4 + Int modifier per level, ×4 at 1st level) Appraise (Int), Balance (Dex), Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Decipher Script (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Gather Information (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Knowledge (local) (Int), Knowledge (nature) (Int), Knowledge (nobility) (Int), Knowledge (religion) (Int), Listen (Wis), Profession (Wis), Sense Motive (Wis), Speak Language (None), Spot (Wis), Swim (Str).

Class Features

All of the following are class features of the guard.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: The guard is proficient in the use of all simple weapons and with one martial weapon (typically a pole arm or sword) and with light and medium armor and shields.

On Duty (Ex): A guard is alert and astute in their duty. They gain a +2 circumstance bonus when "taking 10" on Intimidate, Linguistics, Perception and Sense Motive skill checks. This bonus increases by +1 at 4th level and every 4 levels after, to a maximum of +7 at 20th level.

Multiple guards working together do a better job. When on guard successfully aids another, they add the higher of their On Duty bonuses to the result, regardless if they were "taking 10" or rolling for the result.

A guard also gains this bonus if they roll a natural 20 for the check.

At 4th level, a guard also gains their On Duty bonus to a single Knowledge skill of their choice of either: local, nature, nobility, religion. This choice is typically based on where they are stationed.

Scrutiny (Ex): A guard uses their Appraise skill modifier to detect forgeries instead of the Forgery skill. If they have 5 ranks in the Spot skill, they gain a +2 circumstance bonus to Appraise for this purpose. They can always choose to "take 10" or "take 20" when scrutinizing to detect a forgery.

Blockade (Ex): At second level, a guard doesn't just let anyone pass, either by physical force or credentials. Once per minute, a guard may perform one of the following options as an immediate action:

•Gain an additional attack of opportunity for the round.
•Gain a +4 bonus to a combat maneuver check (such as grapple or trip).
•Reroll a skill check, taking the new die result even if worse.
•Gain a +10 foot enhancement bonus to their speed for 1d4 rounds.

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