Justicar

Sometimes justice requires special skills and a different kind of leadership. You can lock up a common criminal or outlaw slavery, but there may be no straight path to recover a holy artifact from a lich, to bring fleeing assassins to trial, or to rescue a victim kidnapped by demon cultists. The justicar's primary role is to capture wrongdoers and return them for trial and judgement -- justicars scorn bounty hunters, who serve gold rather than justice. As committed agents of justice, in service to Pantheon, justicars bring unique talents to bear on these kinds of missions, and more.

A justicar may be of any class, though they are most often clerics, paladins, monks, and, sometimes, rogues who use their stealth to serve justice. Barbarians and bards often have the skills to become justicars, but they tend to be too undisciplined. Sorcerers and wizards with subtle and stealthy magic sometimes become justicars, but they are extremely rare. All justicars, however, have a desire to see wrongs set right, and all have a special devotion to the god of justice.

As NPCs, lower-level justicars find criminals and bring them to justice. In wild places and borderlands, authority may be distant, and the strong may rule over the weak -- in these places justicars protect the rule of law. More experienced justicars may be responsible for special missions, acting alone or as head of a team, on behalf of a court or holy authority.

Hit die: d8

Requirements

• Attack Bonus: +4
• Feat: Alertness, Mobility, Track
• Skills: Hide 3 ranks, Move Silently 3 ranks, Knowledge [laws] 4 ranks, Spot 4 ranks, Sense *Motive 9 ranks
• Special: The justicar must have brought a wanted or known criminal back to justice.

Table -- The Justicar

Lvl...Att...Will...Refx...Fort...Special Abilities

1. .....+0....+2.....+2.....+0.....Truthtest, +1 spellcast lvl
2. .....+1....+3.....+3.....+0.....Sneak Attack +1d6, +1 spellcast lvl
3. .....+2....+3.....+3.....+1.....Hide in Plain Sight, +1 spellcast lvl
4. .....+3....+4.....+4.....+1.....Sneak Attack +2d6, +1 spellcast lvl
5. .....+3....+4.....+4.....+1.....Location, +1 spellcast lvl
6. .....+4....+5.....+5.....+2.....Sneak Attack +3d6, +1 spellcast lvl
7. .....+5....+5.....+5.....+2.....Clear Vision, +1 spellcast lvl
8. .....+6....+6.....+6.....+2.....Sneak Attack +4d6, +1 spellcast lvl
9. .....+6....+6.....+6.....+3.....Administer Justice, +1 spellcast lvl
10. .....+7....+7.....+7.....+3.....Sneak Attack +5d6, +1 spellcast lvl

Class Skills

The Justicar's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Bluff (Cha), Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Decipher Script (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Disable Device (Dex), Disguise (Char), Healing (Wis), Hide (Dex) Intimidate (Chr), Jump (Str), Knowledge (laws) (Int), Knowledge (religion) (Int), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Open Lock (Dex), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), Search (Int), Spot (Wis), Survival (Wis), Tumble (Dex), Use Magic Device (Chr, exclusive), and Use Rope (Dex). See Chapter 4: Skills in the Player's Handbook for skill descriptions.

NOTE ON TRACKING: A justicar may use either her Search skill or Wilderness Lore with the Track feat, whichever is higher. If she has at least five ranks in the lower skill, she also gains a +2 synergy bonus on Track rolls. In addition, the justicar can choose to also apply a bonus equal to her level on all track rolls -- however, if she uses this bonus, then her quarry can feel her presence from behind, growing stronger as the justicar gets closer, weaker if she loses the trail or falls back.

Skill Points at Each Level: 6 + Int modifier.

Class Features

• Weapon & Armor Proficiencies: Justicars are proficient with light and medium armor and with shields. They are proficient with all simple and martial weapons, and with saps, whips, spiked chains, and nets. When using any melee weapon, justicars can inflict subdual damage instead of normal damage without paying the usual -4 attack penalty for changing normal damage to subdual damage. When justicars use spiked chains to do subdual damage, they usually blunt the spikes on the chain. Note that unarmed attacks, saps, and whips always do subdual damage, and that nets do no damage.

• Spells & Spell Progression: When a new justicar level is gained, the character gains new spells per day as if she had also gained a level in a spellcasting class she belonged to before she added the prestige class. She does not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained (better wildshape, metamagic or item creation feats, and so on). This essentially means that she adds the level of justicar to the level of some other spellcasting class the character has, then determines spells per day, spells known, and caster level accordingly. If a character had more than one spellcasting class before she became a justicar, she must decide to which class she adds her justicar levels for purposes of determining spells per day when she first adopts the PrC.

• Sect: The sect of justicars constitutes a network through which information about notorious evil-doers is passed. Justicars also operate gaols in which to hold prisoners awaiting trial and prisons in which some are confined as punishment. Justicars work closely together to find especially cunning targets, and few fugatives can long evade the resolved sect of justicars.

Special Abilities

• Truth test: With a successful Sense Motive check secretly opposed by either a Will save or a Bluff check (target's choice), the justicar can tell when a target creature is lying, just like a Discern Lies spell. However, the justicar must be holding his holy symbol and concentrating on a target creature for this ability to function. If the target is deliberately lying or trying to mislead the justicar, the symbol glows with a pure white light. If the target is telling the truth, or wins the sense motive check, or unknowingly tells a lie, the symbol stays dark.

• Sneak Attack: This is like the rogue's ability, except that it can ONLY be used to deal subdual damage. This ability stacks with other sneak attack abilities.

• Hide in Plain Sight: Once per day, justicars can use their Hide skill even while being observed. As long as they are within 10 feet of some sort of shadow, justicars can hide themselves from view in the open without having anything to actually hide behind. They cannot, however hide in their own shadow. A justicar can use this ability twice per day at level 6 and thrice per day at level 9.

• Location: The justicar can spontaneously cast Locate Object or Obscure Object as a second level or higher spell, and she can also spontaneously cast Locate Creature as a third level or higher spell. This is just like a cleric spontaneously casting a healing spell.

• Clear Vision: A Justicar gains both darkvision and low-light vision. The justicar can also spontaneously cast True Seeing in place of any fourth or higher level spell; this is just like a cleric spontaneously casting a healing spell.

• Administer Justice: As necessary, the justicar can spend 10 minutes in prayer, with hand laid on a helpless or willing captive, and then call on divine insight to determine guilt or innocence of the captive. If the captive is guilty, the justicar can then cast Mark of Justice or Geas or Greater Geas on the captive -- Greater Geas is like Geas, except that damage is doubled and duration is permanent. If the captive is innocent, the justicar must free the captive and compensate her fairly, and the justicar loses all spell-casting ability for one week, or until he atones (with the spell).