Iron Chef Optimisation Challenge in the Playground XCIII

[Venger]

This, but to keep from accidentally posting my build in a random topic somewhere, I do this in a PM to myself.

I use the "new thread" thing so I can move stuff around if my dish is more than 25k that time around.

[Troacctid]

I was looking through Sword and Fist today and there are some interesting ones in there. I could see Gladiator, Master of Chains, Ninja of the Crescent Moon, and Warmaster all being good ingredients.

[jdizzlean]

24 hours later, after yet another 20 revisions or so, and finally done :)

can't wait to see what everyone else has come up with!

[PunBlake]

Formatting complete. I just need to write up the backstory that's in my head and some sweet spots so I can submit.

[WhamBamSam]

I was looking through Sword and Fist today and there are some interesting ones in there. I could see Gladiator, Master of Chains, Ninja of the Crescent Moon, and Warmaster all being good ingredients.

The Ninja base class is apparently considered to be an update of Ninja of the Crescent Moon, though Heliomance has suggested that it might eventually be a SI anyway.

Gladiator is bad in a vaguely interesting way. I have some rough ideas for it.

Requiring Weapon Specialization drastically restricts the possible entries into Master of Chains and Warmaster, and Warmaster would require special dispensation on the Leadership ban.


Super psyched for the reveal. It's looking like this'll be a great round.

[The Viscount]

I was looking through Sword and Fist today and there are some interesting ones in there. I could see Gladiator, Master of Chains, Ninja of the Crescent Moon, and Warmaster all being good ingredients.

As Sam has pointed out, Ninja of the Crescent Moon is officially counted as folded into Ninja base class, but I'm perfectly fine ignoring that and just having a round with it. Or if we're doing 3.0 ninjas, there's always Ninja Spy.

The same document also nixed Master of Chains by folding it into Exotic Weapons Master, but again the two don't really have anything to do with each other.

Warmaster I'm wary of since it leans so heavily on Leadership.

Gladiator seems like fun.

[PunBlake]

We have a slight problem. @Heliomance, your inbox is full now. I submitted the majority of my entry.

[The Viscount]

Well that's awkward for me as well. I suppose that's what I get for putting it off until now. I've got it all finished up, though, so still doing a little better than I do on average.

[Heliomance]

Inbox is now cleared. Have an extra day to give time to resubmit if necessary.

[PunBlake]

Build submission complete.

[The Viscount]

Me, too. Thanks for the heads up, Helio.

[KrimsonNekros]

Any word from the chair?

[Heliomance]

Apologies for the delay. I usually post the results when I've got a quiet patch at work with not much to do. The past couple of weeks I've been working on a reasonably major piece of development and have been pretty full throttle, and haven't been able to take the time to do it. I'm hoping to pass it off to test tomorrow, so hopefully I should have time to post it soon.

[Thurbane]

This thread has brought another pretty awful full BAB class to my attention: Planar Champion (MotP, p.28). The real kicker is that the reqs kind of shoe horn you into 4 levels of Fighter, unless you get creative.

[daremetoidareyo]

If I get an entry in before tomorrow, can it count?

[Venger]

well, you haven't seen what anyone else cooked. best of luck to you.

[KrimsonNekros]

Apologies for the delay. I usually post the results when I've got a quiet patch at work with not much to do. The past couple of weeks I've been working on a reasonably major piece of development and have been pretty full throttle, and haven't been able to take the time to do it. I'm hoping to pass it off to test tomorrow, so hopefully I should have time to post it soon.

NP. RL first.

[Heliomance]

Right, I've finally got a gap to deal with this. Brace yourselves - there are a lot of builds incoming!

[Heliomance]

Someday I'll get back to having the time to come up with quips again. Ah well.

Entry number 1:

Hae Wyre


Chaotic Neutral Star Elf

Planar Bard 6/cataclysm mage 3/Hoard stealer 5/Sublime Chord 1/Ultimate Magus 5

Note: If you’re not playing in a “kitchen sink” campaign, you can replace star elf with Spell Scales from Races of the Dragon. (Warning: One Very Realmsy stuffed sentence) Star elves have a pseudo-cataclysmic past, so it is reasonable to suggest a cataclysm mage refluff around being refugees from Sildenyuir.

Spoiler: star elf

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-2 CON, +2 CHA.
Medium-sized.
Type: Humanoid (extraplanar)
Land speed 30.
Immunity to magic sleep spells and effects, and a +2 racial saving throw bonus against enchantment spells and effects.
Low Light Vision Otherworldly Touch: Between sunset and sunrise a star elf confers the ghost touch ability on any melee weapon she wields and any armor she wears, but only so long as she keeps the weapon in hand or wears the armor. Star elves have a magical affinity for starlight that gives them an unusual edge in fighting extradimensional foes.
Extraplanar: Star elves are not outsiders, but they are not native to faerun. Spells and effects that target extraplanar creatures affect star elves. Banaishment, dismissal, and similar effects that banish outsiders return a star elf to Sildeyuir
+2 racial bonus on Listen, Search and Spot checks. A star elf who merely passes within 5 feet of a secret or concealed door is entitled to a Search check to notice it as if she were actively looking for that door
Star elves have no racial weapon proficiencies.
Favored Class: Bard
Automatic Languages: Common and Elven. Bonus Languages: by character region.
Level Adjustment: +0

Spell Scale
+2 Charisma, -2 Con
Low-Light Vision: A spellscale can see twice as far as a human in starlight, moonlight, torchlight, and similar conditions of poor illumination. He retains the ability to distinguish color and detail under these conditions.
Humanoid (dragonblood): Spellscales are humanoids with the dragonblood subtype. For all effects related to race, a spellscale is considered a dragon.
Blood Quickening: Each day, a spellscale can perform a draconic meditation to gain a benefit. Variations of this meditation are described in the Blood-Quickening Meditations sidebar, page 25.
Favored Class: Sorcerer . A multiclass spellscale's sorcerer class does not count when determining whether he takes an experience point penalty for multiclassing.

32 point buy.
str 8,
dex 10,
con 12 -2 = 10
int 17,
wis 8,
cha 17+2=19
All stat bonuses go to charisma

Hae Wyre has a stay of execution in no small part for the knowledge and arcane benefits he has accrued for the mithral elf resistance against the incursion of the Nilshae. The lawbreaking that Hae engaged in remains denounced and let all others be warned that they may not employ any methods of the sort that Hae willingly flung his frail little body into.

So this little bag was levitating towards me, and it slipped right under the adamantine door. I figured it was one of Slugg’s magical trinkets, and paid it no mind. Always stop and question little floating bags! Take it from me. Slugg took one of my eyes for that robbery

We was chasin the elf. Me, Captain, and my two cousins. So, We turned a corner and found a little rope hangin. It was a little portal. Captain said it was a rope trick used by minor wizards. He sent my cousins up. And nothing happened. I thought I could hear some singing, but i din’t know. A Half day later, Captain decided to climb the rope himself. He’s still gone.

Hae Wyre has a basket of tricks all based around re-routing portals through a combination of planar bardic music use and spells, this character can get around obstacles. The first six levels play like a bard. Hae is weak and very squishy, so it is advised that he inspires courage from whatever safety he can muster.

At sixth level, he obtains portal dissonance:

Spoiler: planar bard sub level

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Portal Dissonance (Su): A bard of 6th level or higher with 9 or more ranks in a Perform skill who selects this planar substitution benefi t can use music or poetics to infl uence intraplanar and extraplanar portals, moderate or severe planar breaches, and other discrete passages between planes (complete planar breaches cannot be affected). The portal, breach, or other qualifying passage to be affected must be centered within 60 feet. The bard must know about the portal. Each round of the performance, he attempts a DC 20 Perform check. The bard can’t take 10 on this check. Success indicates that the bard can redirect the portal destination to the mouth of any other active portal or breach he has personally traveled through in the past 30 days. Redirection automatically fails if the portal chosen as the temporary endpoint is no longer active. Only creatures and objects are affected by redirection, not traits (which leak through planar breaches). Creatures that enter the portal from the bard’s side of the portal, or creatures that would otherwise arrive at the bard’s location through the portal, instead arrive at the endpoint of another portal chosen by the bard this round. The portal to which the bard redirects travelers continues to connect to its original destination; if a redirected creature attempts to go back through the bard-influenced portal, it doesn’t return to the bard’s location, but instead to that portal’s natural endpoint. The bard may keep up the dissonance for 10 consecutive rounds (this counts as one of the bard’s bardic music uses per day). This benefit replaces the suggestion bardic music ability gained by a standard bard at 6th level.

This effect will be combined with the Cataclysm of flesh cataclysm mage ability, the rope trick spell, the hoardstealer’s deep pockets ability, the scramble portal spell, the shadow well spell, the shadow cache spell, and the precipitate breach spell. Hae will be able to stow himself in a deep pocket, and walk out anywhere else, or to use one of the other portal abilities to land himself back into his own deep pocket. On enemies, they can be sent to other planes using scramble portal. And they may be inclined to follow Hae, in which case they have to contend with his use of portal well. Further, if enemies do wind up in Hae’s deep pockets through these portal shenanigans, Hae will be able to use transdimensional spell to target them with acid rain or shadow evocations of fireball or lightning bolt.

Considering the plane hopping nature of Hae’s abilities, it should be reasonable for them to get access to planar touchstone. That feat allows one to key to the catalogues of enlightenment, which grant domain abilities. Keying to the kobold domain grants search and disable device to the skill list.

Melodic casting allows you to use your portal redirections while casting portal based spells.

Levels 7-12
Here is where Hae gets really weird. Hae learns cataclysm of flesh and ups his bard spell casting. Cataclysm of flesh does this

Spoiler: cataclysm of flesh

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Cataclysm of Flesh (Sp): At 3rd level, you complete your study of the daelkyr-Dhakaani conflict, gaining the ability to tear a hole in the fabric of the planes and let the madness of Xoriat corrupt all it touches. This ability has a range of 25 feet + 5 feet per class level, and a duration of 1 round per class level. All creatures within a 20-foot radius of the affect's center must succeed on a Reflex save (DC 14 + your Int modifier) or be touched by the lemon rains and mindless star-worms of the Realm of Madness, forced to endure as their own flesh melts away and rains upward to patter on the ceiling as they deliquesce. An affected creature cannot hold or use any item (including clothing, armor, magic items, and so on). It can ooze forward with gelatinous pseudopods at a speed of 10 feet. If it normally has movement modes other than land speed, those modes are reduced by 30 feet (with a speed of 0 or less meaning that the creature has lost that movement mode until it regains its normal form).

That looks to me like a planar breach. So use your bardic music ability to transport the baddies to your deep pocket.

Speaking of deep pockets, at level 12, you finally get the ability. Rather than take all 10 levels of hoardstealer to obtain maximum room in your deep pockets, widen supernatural ability doubles the area of effect, so you only need 5 levels to get 10 levels worth of deep pocket space.

Note: if you have to take the spellscale option, the kobold domain makes sense. Further, the hide from dragons ability makes you unable to detect yourself. I’m not sure what that means, but it does seem like a fun thing to play with.

Level 13: sweet spot
Let the sublime chord levels begin! With this level you get the rest of your portal redirecting tools, including the ability to make a breach that doesn’t cause deliquescence. From here on, you are finishing up two more levels of hoardstealer and then moving on to ultimate magus.

The rest of the levels, From here we use ultimate magus to advance both hoardstealer and sublime chord casting. You’ll be able to persist spells all day at 20th level, and at 15th level...you get rope trick. Read rope trick again...that spell pairs badly with shadow cache, deep pockets, etc. If you need to rip a hole into the astral, you have all of the tools that you need to do so. Yes, this was possible at level 9, but that means that your DM will be nixxing rope trick shenanigans super early. It’s better to throw that into your arsenal later for at least one big surprise astral voyage of a BBEG. Further, ultimate magus allows you to blow spells from your terrible hoardstealer class list to augment your sublime or bardic casting.

Level	Class	BAB	Fort	Ref	Will	Skills	Feats	Class abilities
1	planar bard	0	0	2	2	36: Appraise 4, Disable Device 1cc Escape Artist 4 Hide 4, knowledge (arcana) 4, knowledge (history) 4, knowledge (the planes) 4 listen 4, Move silently 2 Open lock 2cc, perform 4, Profession (astrology) 4 spellcraft 4	Transdimensional Spell (Complete Divine, p. 85) [Metamagic]	Bardic music, bardic knowledge, countersong, fascinate, inspire courage +1
2	planar bard	0	0	3	3	9: Appraise 5, disable device 1, Escape Artist 4, Hide 5, knowledge (arcana) 5, knowledge (history) 5, knowledge (the planes) 5, listen 5, Move silently 3, Open lock 2, perform 5, Profession (astrology) 4 spellcraft 5
3	planar bard	1	1	3	3	9: Appraise 6, Disable Device 2cc, Escape artist 4, Hide 6, Knowledge (arcana) 5 Knowledge (history) 6 Knowledge (the planes) 6 Listen 5, Move silently 4 Open Lock 2, Perform 6 Profession (astrology) 4 Spellcraft 6	Melodic Casting (Complete Mage, p. 44) [General]	planar inspiration
4	planar bard	1	1	4	4	9: Appraise 7, Disable Device 2cc, Escape artist 4, Hide 6, Knowledge (arcana) 5 Knowledge (history) 7 Knowledge (the planes) 7 Listen 6, Move silently 6 Open Lock 3, Perform 7 Profession (astrology) 4 Spellcraft 6
5	planar bard	2	1	4	4	9: Appraise 8, Disable Device 2cc, Escape artist 4, Hide 8, Knowledge (arcana) 5 Knowledge (history) 8 Knowledge (the planes) 8 Listen 8, Move silently 8 Open Lock 3, Perform 7 Profession (astrology) 4 Spellcraft 6
6	planar bard	2	2	5	5	9: Appraise 8, Disable Device 3cc, Escape artist 4, Hide 8, Knowledge (arcana) 5 Knowledge (history) 8 Knowledge (the planes) 8 Listen 8, Move silently 8 Open Lock 3, Perform 7 Profession (astrology) 4 Search 8 Spellcraft 6	catalogues of enlightenment: kobold domain	portal dissonance
7	cataclysm mage	2	2	5	7	5: Appraise 8, Disable Device 4cc, Escape artist 4, Hide 8, Knowledge (arcana) 5 Knowledge (history) 8 Knowledge (the planes) 8 Listen 8, Move silently 8 Open Lock 4, Perform 8 Profession (astrology) 4 Search 8 Spellcraft 6		Dhakaani secret, personal prophecy
8	cataclysm mage	3	2	5	8	5: Appraise 8, Disable Device 4cc, Escape artist 4, Hide 8, Knowledge (arcana) 8 Knowledge (history) 8 Knowledge (the planes) 8 Listen 8, Move silently 8 Open Lock 4, Perform 9 Profession (astrology) 6 Search 8 Spellcraft 6		xoriat secret
9	cataclysm mage	3	3	6	8	5: Appraise 8, Disable Device 4cc, Escape artist 4, Hide 8, Knowledge (arcana) 12 Knowledge (history) 8 Knowledge (the planes) 8 Listen 8, Move silently 8 Open Lock 4, Perform 8.5 Profession (astrology) 6 Search 8 Spellcraft 6	extra music	cataclysm of the flesh
10	hoardstealer	3	3	8	8	9: Appraise 8, Disable Device 4cc, Escape artist 4, Hide 8, Knowledge (arcana) 13 Knowledge (history) 8 Knowledge (the planes) 8 Listen 10, Move silently 8 Open Lock 4, Perform 10 Profession (astrology) 6 Search 8 Spellcraft 6		Darkvision +30 ft., trapfinding
11	hoardstealer	4	3	9	8	9: Appraise 8, Disable Device 4cc, Escape artist 4, Hide 8, Knowledge (arcana) 13 Knowledge (history) 8 Knowledge (the planes) 8 Listen 13, Move silently 8 Open Lock 4, Perform 11.5 Profession (astrology) 6 Search 8 Spellcraft 6		Hide from dragons 1/day
12	hoardstealer	5	4	9	9	9: Appraise 8, Disable Device 4cc, Escape artist 4, Hide 8, Knowledge (arcana) 13 Knowledge (history) 8 Knowledge (the planes) 8 Listen 13, Move silently 8 Open Lock 4, Perform 15 Profession (astrology) 6 Search 8 Spellcraft 6 UMD 2	Widen Supernatural Ability (Tome of Magic, p. 75) [General]	Trap sense +2, deep pockets
13	sublime chord	5	4	9	11	7: Appraise 8, Concentrate 4 Disable Device 4cc, Escape artist 4, Hide 8, Knowledge (arcana) 13 Knowledge (history) 8 Knowledge (the planes) 8 Listen 13, Move silently 8 Open Lock 4, Perform 16, Profession (astrology) 6 Search 8 Spellcraft 6 UMD 2		Bardic lore, bardic music
14	hoardstealer 4	6	4	10	11	9: Appraise 8, Concentrate 4 Disable Device 4cc, Escape artist 4, Hide 8, Knowledge (arcana) 13 Knowledge (history) 8 Knowledge (the planes) 8 Listen 13, Move silently 8 Open Lock 4, Perform 16, Profession (astrology) 6 Search 8 Spellcraft 8 UMD 7		Treasure dowsing 1/day
15	hoardstealer 5	6	4	10	11	9: Appraise 8, Concentrate 4 Disable Device 4cc, Escape artist 4, Hide 8, Knowledge (arcana) 13 Knowledge (history) 8 Knowledge (the planes) 8 Listen 13, Move silently 8 Open Lock 4, Perform 18, Profession (astrology) 6 Search 8 Spellcraft 8 UMD 14	extra spell: rope trick	Darkvision +60 ft.
16	ultimate magus	6	4	10	13	5: Appraise 8, Concentrate 7 Disable Device 4cc, Escape artist 4, Hide 8, Knowledge (arcana) 13 Knowledge (history) 8 Knowledge (the planes) 8 Listen 13, Move silently 8 Open Lock 4, Perform 19, Profession (astrology) 6 Search 8 Spellcraft 8 UMD 14		Arcane spell power +1
17	ultimate magus	7	4	10	14	5: Appraise 8, Concentrate 11 Disable Device 4cc, Escape artist 4, Hide 8, Knowledge (arcana) 13 Knowledge (history) 8 Knowledge (the planes) 8 Listen 13, Move silently 8 Open Lock 4, Perform 20, Profession (astrology) 6 Search 8 Spellcraft 8 UMD 14		Expanded spell knowledge (1st level or lower)
18	ultimate magus	7	5	11	15	5: Appraise 8, Concentrate 14 Disable Device 4cc, Escape artist 4, Hide 8, Knowledge (arcana) 13 Knowledge (history) 8 Knowledge (the planes) 8 Listen 13, Move silently 8 Open Lock 4, Perform 21, Profession (astrology) 6 Search 8 Spellcraft 8 UMD 14	extend spell	Augmented casting
19	ultimate magus	8	5	11	16	5: Appraise 8, Concentrate 17 Disable Device 4cc, Escape artist 4, Hide 8, Knowledge (arcana) 13 Knowledge (history) 8 Knowledge (the planes) 8 Listen 13, Move silently 8 Open Lock 4, Perform 22, Profession (astrology) 6 Search 8 Spellcraft 8 UMD 14		Arcane spell power +2, expanded spell knowledge (2nd level or lower)
20	ultimate magus	8	5	11	16	5: Appraise 8, Concentrate 20 Disable Device 4cc, Escape artist 4, Hide 8, Knowledge (arcana) 13 Knowledge (history) 8 Knowledge (the planes) 8 Listen 13, Move silently 8 Open Lock 4, Perform 23, Profession (astrology) 6 Search 8 Spellcraft 8 UMD 14	persistent spell	Bonus feat

Bard
Spells per Day

Level	0lvl	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th
1st	2	-	-	-	-	-	-
2nd	3	0	-	-	-	-	-
3rd	3	1	-	-	-	-	-
4th	3	2	0	-	-	-	-
5th	3	3	1	-	-	-	-
6th	3	3	2	-	-	-	-
7th	3	3	2	-	-	-	-
8th	3	3	2	0	-	-	-
9th	3	3	3	1	-	-	-

Bard Spells Known

Level	0lvl	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th
1st	4	-	-	-	-	-	-
2nd	5	2	-	-	-	-	-
3rd	6	3	-	-	-	-	-
4th	6	3	2	-	-	-	-
5th	6	4	3	-	-	-	-
6th	6	4	3	-	-	-	-
7th	6	4	3	-	-	-	-
8th	6	4	4	2	-	-	-
9th	6	4	4	3	-	-	-

0: Detect magic, Mage Hand, Detect Crossroads (magic of faerun p.88), Minor Disguise (Spell Compendium, p. 142), prestidigitation, mending
1:Inspirational Boost (Spell Compendium, p. 124), Guided Path (Complete Mage p.106), Undersong (Spell Compendium, p. 227), Harmony (player’s guide to faerun)
2:Portal Well (Champions of valor p.56), misdirection, insight of good fortune (PHB2 p.116), soundburst
3: Shadow Cache (Spell Compendium, p. 183), Listening Coin (Spell Compendium, p. 133), G'Elsewhere Chant (Spell Compendium, p. 100)

Spoiler: Important spells

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Portal Well (Champions of Valor p.56) Transmutation Level: Bard 2, Components: V, S, M, Casting Time: 1 standard action Range: Touch Target: Active portal touched Duration: 1 round/level (D) When you step into a portal affected by this spell, you can wait for a short time within an extradimensional space between the portal's entrance and exit. This spell only works on a portal you are able to activate; for example, if you are an elf and the target portal doesn't work for elves, you can't use this spell on the portal. The extradimensional space created by this spell is similar to that created by a rope trick spell but can only hold you and your gear (up to your maximum heavy load). When the spell ends, you exit the portal at either your point of entry or the portal's destination. While within this extradimensional space, you can see the origin and destination locations, though the images are blurry (much like viewing the Material Plane from the Ethereal Plane). Dispel magic or gate seal traps you within the extradimensional space for as long as the portal is negated or sealed (as would surrounding both ends with a dead magic area). Mordenkainen's disjunction or some other effect that destroys a portal outright forcibly ejects you from one random end of the portal and deals 5d6 points of damage to you. This spell originated in Shaundakul's church and is hard to find elsewhere. Arcane Material Component: A silver wire tied in a knot.

Shadow Cache (Spell Compendium, p. 183) Illusion (Shadow) Level: Bard 3Components: V, S, Casting Time: 1 standard action Range: Touch Area: 1-ft.-diameter circle Duration: 1 minute/level (D) SWith a flourish, you open an invisible portal. Plunging your arm inside, you see your hand vanish as though it were invisible. You can temporarily stash small items on the Plane of Shadow (DMG 152) or permanently dispose of them there. This spell opens a small portal to the Plane of Shadow that is invisible on the Material Plane and appears as a small disk on the Plane of Shadow. You can reach into the Plane of Shadow through the portal created by shadow cache, but only small, nonliving objects can pass entirely through the hole. The cache can hold up to 30 cubic feet of material, or 250 pounds. You can recover objects placed in the portal throughout the duration of the spell, or by casting another hadow cache later. A shadow cache remains stationary at the point where you create it. Items placed in a shadow cache can possibly be picked up by natives of the Plane of Shadow, and in any event are slowly moved by the morphic trait of the plane. For every 24 hours that passes, there is a 10% chance each day that objects placed on the Plane of Shadow with shadow cache are gone (either moved or taken). The spell cannot be cast on the Plane of Shadow itself, but only on planes coexistent with the Plane of Shadow.

Hoardstealer
Spells per Day/Spells Known

Level	1st	2nd	3rd	4th
10th	0	-	-	-
11th	1	-	-	-
12th	1	0	-	-
13th	1	0	-	-
14th	1	1	-	-
15th	1	1	0	-
16th	1	1	1	-
17th	2	1	1	0
18th	2	1	1	1
19th	2	2	1	1
20th	2	2	2	1

1:expeditious retreat, identify,
2:Cat's Grace, Invisibility
3:Clairaudience, Shrink item
4:freedom of movement, dimension door

Sublime Chord
Spells per Day

Level	4th	5th	6th
13th	2	1	-
14th	-	-	-
15th	-	-	-
16th	-	-	-
17th	2	2	-
18th	3	2	1
19th	-	-	-
20th	3	3	2

Sublime Chord
Spells known

Level	4th	5th	6th
13th	3	1	-
14th	-	-	-
15th	-	-	-
16th	-	-	-
17th	4	2	-
18th	4	2	1
19th	-	-	-
20th	4	3	2

4:Shadow Well (Spell Compendium, p. 186), Scramble Portal (Spell Compendium, p. 181), shadow conjuration
5: Precipitate Breach (Planar Handbook p.103),]Acid Rain (Heroes of Battle), shadow evocation
6: Seal Portal (Planar Handbook p.104), Eye of Stone (Races of Stone)

Spoiler: Important Spells

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Shadow Well (Spell Compendium, p. 186) Illusion (Shadow) Level: Sorcerer 4, Wizard 4, Components: V, S, Casting Time: 1 standard action Range: Close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels) Target: One creature Duration: 1 round/level Saving Throw: Will negates; see text Spell Resistance: Yes You spit out the words of the spell, and the shadow of your foe darkens, becoming a solid black pit. Your opponent pinwheels its arms as it topples backward into the darkness. You cause the target's shadow to become a temporary gateway to a pocket realm within the Plane of Shadow. The target must make a Will save or be pulled into the gateway. Inside the pocket realm, the creature sees a deserted, gloomy duplicate of the real world, while shadowy phantasms stalk and taunt it without causing actual harm. Each round, the creature can attempt another Will save to return from the shadow well. Otherwise, the subject returns to the real world when the spell's duration expires. Being trapped in a shadow well can be terrifying; upon returning to the real world, the subject must succeed on another Will save or be frightened for 1d4 rounds. Upon leaving the pocket realm, the subject reappears in the spot it had been in when the shadow well spell was cast. If this spot is filled with a solid object, the subject appears in the nearest adjacent empty space. Spells and abilities that move a creature within a plane, such as teleport and dimension door, do not help a creature escape a shadow well spell, although a plane shift spell allows it to flee to another plane as normal. The target might still become frightened upon leaving.

Scramble Portal (Spell Compendium, p. 181) Transmutation [Chaotic] Level: Sorcerer 4, Wizard 4, Components: V, S, M, Casting Time: 1 standard action Range: Close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels) Target: One interplanar gate or portal Duration: 1 round/level Saving Throw: None (for portal) Spell Resistance: No You raise your hand and send a roiling ball of crackling, multicolored energy at the portal, knowing its chaotic power will give portal users a surprise. You randomize the destination of one interplanar gate or portal for the duration of the spell. Anyone who passes through the portal from either side is sent to a random plane instead of the portal's normal destination. Material Component: A cracked mirror.

Precipitate Breach (Planar Handbook p.103) Conjuration (Teleportation) Level: Sorcerer 5, Wizard 5, Components: V, M, Casting Time: 10 minutes Range: 0 ft. Effect: Planar breach; see text Duration: See text Saving Throw: None Spell Resistance: Yes You meddle with the boundaries between planes, creating instability and, finally, a minor planar breach. See Planar Breaching, page 151, for details concerning this phenomenon. You have no control over the breach created. However, as opposed to a truly random breach (see page 153), when this spell is first cast in any area that doesn't already contain a breach, a minor breach forms automatically. The breach has the size (10d10-foot radius) and onset time following casting (1d4 rounds) described for a random breach. Roll on Table 7-1: Random Planar Breaching, page 152, to determine the trait that leaks through from the breaching plane. The effect is as for a minor breach. The breach has a standard duration for a minor breach (1d6 days minus 12 hours, minimum 12 hours), after which time it fades away. If you cast precipitate breach into an area that currently hosts a minor breach, you precipitate a severe breach. Reroll the size, the onset time, and the trait that leaks through from the breaching plane (which could mean that the identity of the breaching plane changes). The effect is as for a severe breach. The breach has a standard duration for a severe breach (1d6 days minus 48 hours, minimum 1 hour), after which time it fades away. This spell has no effect if cast into an area currently hosting a severe or complete breach. Material Component: Jade dust worth 250 gp sprinkled in the center of the effect.

Spoiler: References

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Races
Star Elf (Unnapproachable East p.9)
Spellscale (Races of the Dragon p.27)

Classes
Ultimate Magus (Complete Mage p. 77)
Sublime Chord (Complete Arcane p. 60)
Hoardstealer (Draconomicon p. 130)
Cataclysm Mage (Explorer's Handbook p. 58)
Bard (Core)
Planar substitution levels (Planar Handbook p. 29)

Feats
Transdimensional Spell (Complete Divine, p. 85)
Melodic Casting (Complete Mage, p. 44)
Planar Touchstone (Planar Handbook p.41) Catalogues of enlightenment (Planar Handbook p.166) Kobold Domain (Web)
Extra Music (Complete Adventurer, p. 109)
Widen Supernatural Ability (Tome of Magic, p. 75)
Extra Spell (Complete Arcane, p. 79)
Persistent Spell (Complete Arcane, p. 81)

Spells
Detect Crossroads (magic of faerun p.88)
Minor Disguise (Spell Compendium, p. 142)
Portal Well (Champions of Valor p.56)
Shadow Cache (Spell Compendium, p. 183)
Inspirational Boost (Spell Compendium, p. 124)
Guided Path (Complete Mage p.106)
Undersong (Spell Compendium, p. 227)
insight of good fortune (PHB2 p.116)
Listening Coin (Spell Compendium, p. 133)
G'Elsewhere Chant (Spell Compendium, p. 100)
Scramble Portal (Spell Compendium, p. 181)
Shadow Well (Spell Compendium, p. 186)
Precipitate Breach (Planar Handbook p.103)
Seal Portal (Planar Handbook p.104)
Acid Rain (Heroes of Battle)
Eye of Stone (Races of Stone)

[Heliomance]

Entry number 2

Splash Gordon



Race: Deepwyrm Half-Drow
Build Stub: Drow Feat Rogue 1/Truenamer 4/Hoardstealer 3/Truenamer +7/Hoardstealer +5
Multiclass Penalty: No.
Languages: Common, Elven, Draconic, Undercommon, Drow Sign Language, Terran
Alignment: NE
Ability Scores:

Ability	Score	Racial	(Points)	Increases
Strength	8		(0)
Dexterity	14		(6)
Constitution	12		(4)
Intelligence	18		(16)	4th/8th/12th/16th/20th
Wisdom	8		(0)
Charisma	14		(6)

Spoiler: Build Progression

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Level	Class	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Skills	Feats	Class Features
1st	Drow Feat Rogue 1	+0	+0	+2	+0	Appraise 4, Balance 4, Bluff 4, Craft:Poison 4, DisDev 4, Escape Artist 4, Hide 4, MoveSilent 4, OpenLock 4, Search 4, Tumble 4, UMD 4	Hidden Talent, Quick Draw	Poison Use ACF (Drow of the Underdark), Martial Rogue ACF (UA)
2nd	Truenamer 1	+0	+0	+2	+2	Appraise 4, Balance 4, Bluff 4, Craft:Poison 5(+1), DisDev 4, Escape Artist 4, Hide 4, MoveSilent 4, OpenLock 4, Search 5(+2cc), Truespeak 5(+5), Tumble 4, UMD 4		Know Personal Truename
3rd	Truenamer 2	+1	+0	+2	+3	Appraise 5(+2cc), Balance 4, Bluff 4, Craft:Poison 5, DisDev 4, Escape Artist 4, Hide 6(+2), MoveSilent 6(+2), OpenLock 4, Search 6(+2cc), Truespeak 5, Tumble 4, UMD 4	Guerrilla Warrior	Knowledge Focus (Arcana)
4th	Truenamer 3	+2	+1	+3	+3	Appraise 7(+4cc), Balance 4, Bluff 4, Craft:Poison 5, DisDev 4, Escape Artist 4, Hide 7(+1), MoveSilent 7(+1), OpenLock 4, Search 7(+2cc), Truespeak 5, Tumble 4, UMD 4
5th	Truenamer 4	+3	+1	+3	+4	Appraise 8(+2cc), Balance 4, Bluff 4, Craft:Poison 5, DisDev 4, Escape Artist 4, Hide 8(+1), MoveSilent 8(+1), OpenLock 4, Search 8(+2cc), Truespeak 7(+2), Tumble 4, UMD 4
6th	Hoardstealer 1	+3	+1	+5	+4	Appraise 8, Balance 5(+1), Bluff 5(+1), Craft:Poison 5, DisDev 9(+5), Escape Artist 4, Hide 9(+1), MoveSilent 9(+1), OpenLock 4, Search 9(+1), Truespeak 7, Tumble 4, UMD 4	Exotic Weapon Proficiency: Gnome Calculus	Darkvision 30', Trapfinding
7th	Hoardstealer 2	+4	+1	+6	+4	Appraise 8, Balance 5, Bluff 5, Craft:Poison 5, DisDev 10(+1), Escape Artist 4, Hide 10(+1), MoveSilent 10(+1), OpenLock 4, Search 10(+1), Truespeak 7, Tumble 4, UMD 10(+6)		Hide from Dragons 1/day
8th	Hoardstealer 3	+5	+2	+6	+5	Appraise 8, Balance 5, Bluff 5, Craft:Alchemy 2(+4cc), Craft:Poison 5, DisDev 11(+1), Escape Artist 4, Hide 11(+1), MoveSilent 11(+1), OpenLock 4, Search 11(+1), Truespeak 7, Tumble 5(+2cc), UMD 11(+1)		Trap Sense +2, Deep Pockets
9th	Truenamer 5	+5	+2	+6	+5	Appraise 8, Balance 5, Bluff 5, Craft:Alchemy 3(+1), Craft:Poison 5, DisDev 11, Escape Artist 4, Hide 11, Know:Arcana 2(+2), MoveSilent 11, OpenLock 4, Search 11, Truespeak 12(+5), Tumble 5, UMD 12(+1)	Extend Supernatural Ability
10th	Truenamer 6	+6	+3	+7	+6	Appraise 8, Balance 5, Bluff 5, Craft:Alchemy 6(+3), Craft:Poison 7(+2), DisDev 11, Escape Artist 4, Hide 11, Know:Arcana 4(+2), MoveSilent 11, OpenLock 4, Search 11, Truespeak 13(+1), Tumble 5, UMD 13(+1)	Truename Research
11th	Truenamer 7	+7	+3	+7	+6	Appraise 8, Balance 5, Bluff 5, Craft:Alchemy 9(+3), Craft:Poison 9(+2), DisDev 11, Escape Artist 4, Hide 11, Know:Arcana 6(+2), MoveSilent 11, OpenLock 4, Search 11, Truespeak 14(+1), Tumble 5, UMD 14(+1)		Knowledge Focus (Arcana x2)
12th	Truenamer 8	+8	+3	+7	+7	Appraise 8, Balance 5, Bluff 5, Craft:Alchemy 12(+3), Craft:Poison 11(+2), DisDev 11, Escape Artist 4, Hide 11, Know:Arcana 8(+2), MoveSilent 11, OpenLock 4, Search 11, Truespeak 15(+1), Tumble 5, UMD 15(+1)	Darkstalker, Recitation of the Sanguine State	Bonus Recitation Feat
13th	Truenamer 9	+8	+4	+8	+7	Appraise 8, Balance 5, Bluff 5, Craft:Alchemy 14(+2), Craft:Poison 14(+3), DisDev 11, Escape Artist 4, Hide 11, Know:Arcana 10(+2), MoveSilent 11, OpenLock 4, Search 11, Truespeak 16(+1), Tumble 5, UMD 16(+1)		See the Named 1/day
14th	Truenamer 10	+9	+4	+8	+8	Appraise 8, Balance 5, Bluff 5, Craft:Alchemy 17(+3), Craft:Poison 17(+3), DisDev 11, Escape Artist 4, Hide 11, Know:Arcana 12(+2), MoveSilent 11, OpenLock 4, Search 11, Truespeak 17(+1), Tumble 5, UMD 16		Knowledge Focus (Arcana x3)
15th	Truenamer 11	+10	+4	+8	+9	Appraise 8, Balance 5, Bluff 5, Craft:Alchemy 18(+1), Craft:Poison 18(+1), DisDev 11, Escape Artist 4, Hide 12(+1), Know:Arcana 14(+2), MoveSilent 12(+1), OpenLock 4, Search 11, Truespeak 18(+1), Tumble 5, UMD 18(+2)	Truename Training
16th	Hoardstealer 4	+11	+4	+9	+9	Appraise 8, Balance 5, Bluff 5, Craft:Alchemy 18, Craft:Poison 18, DisDev 15(+4), Escape Artist 4, Hide 13(+1), Know:Arcana 14, MoveSilent 13(+1), OpenLock 4, Search 15(+4), Truespeak 19(+1), Tumble 5, UMD 19(+1)		Treasure Dowsing 1/day
17th	Hoardstealer 5	+11	+4	+9	+9	Appraise 8, Balance 5, Bluff 5, Craft:Alchemy 18, Craft:Poison 18, DisDev 19(+4), Escape Artist 4, Hide 14(+1), Know:Arcana 14, MoveSilent 14(+1), OpenLock 4, Search 19(+4), Truespeak 20(+1), Tumble 5, UMD 20(+1)		Darkvision 60'
18th	Hoardstealer 6	+12	+5	+10	+10	Appraise 8, Balance 5, Bluff 5, Craft:Alchemy 18, Craft:Poison 18, DisDev 21(+2), Escape Artist 4, Hide 17(+3), Know:Arcana 14, MoveSilent 17(+3), OpenLock 4, Search 21(+2), Truespeak 21(+1), Tumble 5, UMD 21(+1)	Craft Skull Talisman	Trap Sense +4, Hide From Dragons 2/day
19th	Hoardstealer 7	+13	+5	+10	+10	Appraise 8, Balance 5, Bluff 5, Craft:Alchemy 18, Craft:Poison 18, DisDev 22(+1), Escape Artist 4, Hide 21(+4), Know:Arcana 14, MoveSilent 21(+4), OpenLock 4, Search 22(+1), Truespeak 22(+1), Tumble 5, UMD 22(+1)		Treasure Dowsing 2/day
20th	Hoardstealer 8	+14	+5	+11	+10	Appraise 8, Balance 5, Bluff 5, Craft:Alchemy 18, Craft:Poison 18, DisDev 23(+1), Escape Artist 4, Hide 23(+2), Know:Arcana 16(+4cc), MoveSilent 23(+2), OpenLock 4, Search 23(+1), Truespeak 23(+1), Tumble 5, UMD 23(+1)		Skill Mastery (Craft:Alchemy, Craft:Poison, DisDev, Hide, Know:Arcana, MoveSilent, Search, Truespeak, UMD)

Spoiler: Utterances, Recitations, and Spells

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Utterances & Recitations

Level	Evolving Mind	Crafted Tool	Perfected Map	New Utterances	New Recitations
2nd	1	-	-	Universal Aptitude	-
3rd	2	-	-	Inertia Surge	-
4th	3	-	-	Hidden Truth	-
5th	4	1	-	Lesser Word of Nurturing, Fortify Armor	-
6th	4	1	-	-	-
7th	4	1	-	-	-
8th	4	1	-	-	-
9th	5	1	-	Silent Caster	-
10th	6	1	-	Seek the Sky	-
11th	7	2	-	Greater Speed of the Zephyr, Analyze Item	-
12th	8	2	1	Energy Negation, Fog From the Void	Recitation of the Sanguine State
13th	9	2	1	Vision Sharpened	-
14th	10	2	1	Spell Rebirth	-
15th	11	3	1	Word of Bolstering, Rebuild Item	-

Hoardstealer Spells per Day

Level	1st	2nd	3rd	4th
6th	1	-	-	-
7th	2	-	-	-
8th	2	1	-	-
9th	2	1	-	-
10th	2	1	-	-
11th	2	1	-	-
12th	2	1	-	-
13th	2	1	-	-
14th	2	1	-	-
15th	2	1	-	-
16th	2	2	-	-
17th	2	2	1	-
18th	2	2	2	-
19th	3	2	2	1
20th	3	2	2	2

Typical Spells Prepared
1st: expeditious retreat, Tenser's floating disk, unseen servant
2nd: invisibility, resist energy
3rd: dispel magic, shrink item
4th: dimension door, freedom of movement

Spoiler: Levels 1-5

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Gordon starts out as a variation on a Flask Rogue, but instead of Sneak Attack he picks up Poison Use (via the Drow Rogue ACF). He sticks mostly to acid flasks (as funds allow), but for tougher encounters he can use his Hidden Talent (psionic minor creation) to get access to any plant-based poisons. This includes black lotus extract (DMG), luhix (BoVD), mordayn vapor (BoVD), mushroom powder (BoVD), redflower leaves (BoVD), and greensickness (Dungeonscape). Gordon wears a bandolier of empty flasks, uses psionic minor creation to fill all the flasks with a contact or inhaled poison, and then spends the rest of the battle hurling flasks at his enemies. He can also use psionic minor creation to create acid. In Dungeonscape (p. 140), there's a hazard called gray slime that creates acid whenever you walk under it or expose it to light. As per the DMG p. 76, "For purposes of spells and other special effects, all slimes, molds, and fungi are treated as plants." So dead gray slime = acid made from vegetable matter.

After that, things go considerably downhill from there... Orphaned at an early age, Gordon's efforts to learn about his ancestry lead him into researching his deepwyrm heritage, and his studies of the draconic language detour into researching draconic truenames. After discovering his own truename, Gordon comes to a horrifying realization... he's taken levels of Truenamer! While this does make him slightly better at crafting things (apparently "marketable class skills" is not part of the true essence of being a "Truenamer"), he works on his stealth skills, hiring himself out as a footpad, snitch, guttersnipe, bandit, or whatever else will pay the bills.

Spoiler: Levels 6-10

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Hoardstealer! Yes, well, that sounds much better than "Truenamer!" Turns out dragons tend to have low touch ACs and no particular immunity to "greensickness". Gordon upgrades his... uh, throwing arm to a gnome calculus, which increases his effective range out to 250'. He also picks up Trapfinding, which gives him something else to do when he's not throwing flasks at his enemies. He also gets some arcane spells, including unseen servant. In certain battles, he can use his unseen servant to double his flask attacks by directing it to fly above his opponents and drop flasks (or bags full of flasks) on his enemies from above. Hide from Dragons 1/day is a very situational SLA, but if you're ever in a situation that calls for it, then it's an extremely important spell! At 8th level, Gorden gets Deep Pockets, which this entire build is built around.

Gordon's Glass Cannon: So... any container? Such as... a flask of acid? That can now hold 300 pounds of acid. When the flask shatters, the Deep Pockets effect ends, and "everything in the container spills onto the floor". Based on the equipment table in the PHB, a single flask of acid weighs one pound and does 1d6 acid damage. Put 300 flasks worth of acid into a single flask, and now that flask does 300d6 acid damage on a ranged touch attack (1,050 average damage). Even if Gordon misses, then it lands in an adjacent square and does 300 splash damage to everything within 5'. And that's just acid... if Gordon wanted to fill his flask with poison, assuming a single dose is about an ounce of liquid, 300 x 16 = 4,800 doses of black lotus extract (3d6 Con damage), or greensickness (2d6 Str + 1d4 Con). It's a one-trick pony, but... still a pretty big pony.

After he's got Deep Pockets, Gordon heads back into Truenamer, because he has a few problems he needs to solve, and Truenamer might actually be able to help. Most notably, Hoardstealer doesn't have Craft as a class skill, and Truenamer does, so he can pile on more crafting ranks and start making more of his own poisons and alchemical items. Along the way, he picks up Extend Supernatural Ability so his Deep Pockets flask lasts six hours instead of three. This should last him *most* of an adventuring day. At 10th level, he picks up the Seek the Sky utterance, which allows him to fly for 5 rounds at a time, so he can now join his unseen servant as he rains down flasks of death from above. When he's not hurling flasks, then he's sneaking off and hiding because he's a Truenamer and he should know better than to expose himself to combat.

Spoiler: Levels 11-15

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Gordon continues to build up his Craft ranks and adds some utility utterances, mostly buffing some buffing and a little battlefield control. Outside of his Glass Cannon trick, his main job is to craft alchemical items and poisons, do a little trapfinding, and when all else fails do a whole lot of sneaking/hiding. Greater Speed of the Zephyr gives him haste, Analyze Item gives him identify, and Energy Negation gives him and his allies the ability to ignore some splash damage. Fog of the Void can give him either fog cloud or solid fog, while Recitation of the Sanguine State allows him to ignore any mishaps with poison. Vision sharpened lets him see invisible, and Spell Rebirth gives him at-will dispel magic.

*** SWEET SPOT *** Finally, at 15th level, Gordon has unlocked a 3rd level utterance in the Lexicon of the Crafted Tool: Rebuild Item. This allows him to rebuild his Deep Pockets flask over and over again. Gordon's Glass Cannon can now be RELOADED multiple times per day.

...and here is where the terribad suckitude of being a truenamer comes crashing down on you, as the DC to rebuild your flask is 15 + (2 x CL). Since the text of Deep Pockets says your container is the "equivalent of a bag of holding", that gives us a by-the-book CL of 9. 15 + 18 = 33 is not an insurmountable DC at your current level. In fact, your skill ranks + Int = 23 without tools/items. However, the DM may point out that, by the book, the CL of a Supernatural Ability is equal to your HD. Your best argument against this is to point out that you are a Truenamer, and he/she should take pity on you and let you have this shining moment of awesome.

You're likely stuck with the original duration for Deep Pockets and also must deal with the cosmic stupidity of the Law of Resistance, but your One Trick Pony is now a... One Trick Pony that you can use several times a day! Rebuild item can also be used on other things... notably, all those acid flasks that he keeps breaking (non-magical items can be rebuilt with a flat DC 25 Truespeak check). Hopefully, your DM will let you reconstitute the entire flask, complete with acid, but if your DM is a little leery of this, make sure you play the "I AM A PATHETIC TRUENAMER, PLEASE LET ME HAVE THIS!" card. For everything else Gordon needs crafting, he can buy Skull Talismans (Frostburn) of any spell he needs (such as unseen crafter, water to acid, major creation, etc.), break the skull, then use Rebuild Item to recreate the skull, ready to use again.

In other news, at 15th level Gordon also picks up Word of Bolstering, which is a nice fix for any ability drain/damage, and Truename Training to keep truespeak as a class skill.

Spoiler: Levels 16-20

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For his last five levels, Gordon returns to Hoardstealer, because not only does each new level increase his Glass Cannon by 100d6 (and increase the duration by one more hour), but there are a few other perks he'd like to pick up as well. At 16th, he picks up Treasure Dowser 1/day. This helps him track down rare or hard-to-find ingredients for poisons and alchemical items. Arsenic and many other heavy metals are highly toxic. But Treasure Dowser doesn't only find metals, it can also find "minerals". How much easier does making alchemical fire become if you can easily track down veins of magnesium and sulfur? Or create acids directly from chemical salts. See Minor Creation and You, a Small Guide for more information on alchemical substances that might count as "minerals".

At 17th level, Gordon's darkvision increases to 60', which is nice because half-drow lost darkvision in the DotU update. However, he also gets something more interesting... 3rd level spells, and that means he now has access to [I]shrink item]/I]. This is a monumental upgrade for his Glass Cannon, because he can now fit 4,000 times more acid flasks into his Deep Pocket flask. At Hoardstealer 5, that's a 500-pound capacity that can now dish out 2,000,000d6 damage on a ranged touch attack, or 2,000,000 splash damage on a miss.

At 18th level, Gordon gets Trap Sense +4, Hide from Dragons 2/day, and Craft Skull Talisman so he can create his own Skull Talismans. 19th level adds Treasure Dowsing 2/day, which is nice because he's going to need a lot of chemical salts to craft 2,800,000 flasks of acid. And at 20th level, Gordon gets Skill Mastery, which is a pretty nice perk for a capstone. He can now "Take 10" on Truespeak checks, along with nearly all the other skills he invested ranks in. The maximum capacity of his Glass Cannon tops out at 3,200,000d6 flasks of acid damage, and it lasts 16 hours, so pretty much an entire adventuring day.

How can he possibly make that many miniature flasks, you ask? Make a Skull Talisman of shrink item. It takes one round to use the skull, and one round to rebuild it (CL 5, so Truespeak DC to rebuild is an easy 25). Gordon can shrink 300 flasks an hour. If he skips sleep, he can shrink 7,200 flasks a day. Add in a servant horde or an unseen crafter or two, and it might take a few months... but that's going to be a very interesting Glass Cannon.

Spoiler: Sources

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Arms & Equipment Guide: Gnome Calculus
Drow of the Underdark: Drow Rogue ACF
Expanded Psionics Handbook: Hidden Talent, Psionic Minor Creation
Frostburn: Craft Skull Talisman
Heroes of Battle: Guerrilla Warrior
Lords of Madness: Darkstalker
Tome of Magic: Truenamer, Extend Supernatural Ability, Truename Training
Unearthed Arcana: Martial Rogue ACF

[Heliomance]

Entry number 3

Buckethead, the Pretender
Race: Strongheart Halfling
Build Stub: Rogue 1 / Druid 6 / Hoardstealer 3 / Arcane Hierophant 2 / Hoardstealer +5 / Arcane Hierophant +3
Multiclass Penalty: No
Languages: Common, Halfling, Elf, Dwarf, Gnome, Draconic (at 1), Sylvan (at 1), Druidic (at 2)
Alignment: TN
Ability Scores (32pt-buy):

Ability	Base	Racial	Total
Str	10	-2	8
Dex	12	+2	14
Con	12	+0	12
Int	16	+0	16
Wis	16	+0	16
Cha	10	+0	10

All level-up points go to Wisdom.

Spoiler: Backstory

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(Note: This character is set firmly in Eberron. Eberron dragons are not alignment-locked by color.)

"...An unmarked Talenta tribesman will discover forgotten lore, which could herald the return of the false dragons..." ~ A Chamber-interpreted fragment of the Dragon Prophecy

Some halfling tribes in Talenta keep their children away from Zilargo. The Thaun clan raise them in the city for the tough life lessons. I grew up there, and my formal education, though brief, left me fascinated with dragons. Young but obviously smart, I was sent back to the tribes to be groomed for leadership. I was a courier for one of the tribe elders, taking messages between tribes before meetings. I helped solve village problems a bit on the side when I could, but I wazs never much of a fighter.

Travellers are rare in the plains, so when I found a nobly-dressed man wandering alone, I thought it best to bring him to the tribe for safe transport where he pleased. I was wrong. After the man learned our clan name, he transformed into a gold dragon and killed half of us in an instant. The few left who could tried to fight back to give women and young time to escape. I armed myself with an improvised bucket for a helm and led those I could into the mountains to the east. We fought off goblins and others to claim caves and lay low, expecting pursuit, but the dragon never followed.

Exploring the caves led to a dragonshard with a cryptic message that only I could read: "In Xen'drick, a small one can become as great as a dragon."

At the direction of the clan shaman, I left to follow this sign. On the way, I joined the Nightbringer cult (more for power to bring balance than to end the world) but didn't stay in the Gloaming long; I had a plan. I returned to Zilargo and started digging. Not too many dragons in Khorvaire, right? Wrong. The Chamber has strong influence, and it turns out the dragon that killed most of my tribe was a low-ranking member. I put together a small company and exacted my revenge... It was too easy. Recovering his hoard wasn't hard either, but fencing it all to prevent the Chamber from noticing? Impossible.

Having a price on your head for killing a dragon makes leaving a pirate port a great idea, so I jumped onto the first expedition ship to Xen'drick I could find. Let's see if the shard was right, eh?

...Was it worth it? Was reading a dragonshard in the heart of a ruin while a dragon slumbered behind me, none the wiser, smart? I don't really know any more. I think the price on my head is bigger now, but that's probably because of how much extra junk dragons cart around. They don't need it all, so I'll help myself.

Maybe one day, I'll share what I've learned. Pretending to be a dragon is fun and rewarding. Until then, the Chamber will keep getting poorer, and the tribes and I will get richer.

Spoiler: Build

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Level	Class	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Skills	Feats	Class Features
1st	Rogue 1	+0	+0	+2	+0	appraise 4, balance 4, disable device 4, escape artist 4, hide 4, know arcana 4, move silently 4, open lock 4, search 4, UMD 4, speak language (draconic) (2cc), speak language (sylvan) (2cc)	1: Education, Bonus: Darkstalker	ACF: Antiquarian (Lose Trapfinding), Sneak Attack +1d6
2nd	Druid 1	+0	+2	+2	+2	handle animal 1, know nature 4, move silently +1 (5, 2cc)	-	Animal Companion, Nature Sense, Wild Empathy
3rd	Druid 2	+1	+3	+2	+3	appraise +1 (2cc, 5), know arcana +1 (5, 2cc), know nature +1 (5), search +1 (2cc, 5)	Nightbringer Initiate	Woodland Stride
4th	Druid 3	+2	+3	+3	+3	appraise +1 (2cc, 6), know arcana +1 (6, 2cc), know nature +1 (6), search +1 (2cc, 6)	-	Trackless Step
5th	Druid 4	+3	+4	+3	+4	appraise +1 (7, 2cc), know arcana +1 (7, 2cc), know nature +1 (7), move silently +1 (6), search +1 (2cc, 7)	Strong Stomach	ACF: Iron Constitution (Lose Resist Nature's Lure)
6th	Halfling Druid Racial Sub. 5	+3	+4	+3	+4	hide +3 (7), know arcana +1 (8, 2cc), know nature +2 (9), move silently +2 (8)	Natural Bond	Undersized Wild Shape (Tiny, Small) 2/d
7th	Druid 6	+4	+5	+4	+5	appraise +1 (8, 2cc), know nature +1 (10), hide +1 (8), move silently +2 (10), search +1 (2cc, 8)	-	Undersized Wild Shape 3/d
8th	Hoardstealer 1	+4	+5	+6	+5	balance +1 (5), bluff 2, gather info 2, know nature +1 (11, 2cc), move silently +1 (11, 2cc)	-	Darkvision +30', Trapfinding
9th	Hoardstealer 2	+5	+5	+7	+5	bluff +2 (4), gather info +2 (4), know nature +1 (12, 2cc), move silently +1 (12, 2cc), UMD +1 (5)	Natural Spell	Hide from Dragons (Sp) 1/d
10th	Hoardstealer 3	+6	+6	+7	+6	bluff +2 (6), gather info +2 (6), know nature +1 (13, 2cc), move silently +1 (13, 2cc), UMD +1 (6)	-	Trap Sense +2, Deep Pockets (Su)
11th	Arcane Hierophant 1	+6	+6	+7	+8	know arcana +4 (12), know nature +1 (14), move silently +1 (14, 2cc)	-	Companion Familiar, Ignore Arcane Spell Failure, Undersized Wild Shape 4/d
12th	Arcane Hierophant 2	+7	+6	+7	+9	concentration 1, know arcana +3 (15), know nature +1 (15), move silently +1 (15, 2cc)	Dragon Wild Shape	Undersized Wild Shape (Medium)
13th	Hoardstealer 4	+8	+6	+8	+9	bluff +2 (8), escape artist +1 (5), gather info +1 (7), move silently +1 (16, 2cc), UMD +1 (7), skill trick: collector of stories	-	Treasure Dowsing (Sp) 1/d
14th	Hoardstealer 5	+8	+6	+8	+9	bluff +2 (10), gather info +2 (9), move silently +1 (17, 2cc), search +1 (9), UMD +2 (9)	-	Darkvision +60'
15th	Hoardstealer 6	+9	+7	+9	+10	bluff +2 (12), gather info +2 (11), move silently +1 (18, 2cc), search +1 (10), UMD +2 (11)	Trickery Devotion (Complete Champion)	Trap Sense +4, Hide from Dragons (Sp) 2/d
16th	Hoardstealer 7	+10	+7	+9	+10	bluff +2 (14), gather info +2 (13), move silently +1 (19, 2cc), search +1 (11), UMD +2 (13)	-	Treasure Dowsing (Sp) 2/d
17th	Hoardstealer 8	+11	+7	+10	+10	bluff +2 (16), gather info +2 (15), move silently +1 (20, 2cc), search +1 (12), UMD +2 (15)	Feats	Skill Mastery: bluff, hide, move silently, know arcana, know nature, search
18th	Arcane Hierophant 3	+12	+8	+11	+10	move silently +1 (21, 2cc), know arcana +1 (16), listen 2, spot 2	Knowledge Devotion (Arcana)	-
19th	Arcane Hierophant 4	+13	+8	+11	+11	move silently +1 (22, 2cc), know arcana +1 (17), listen +2 (4), spot +2 (4)	-	Channel Animal (Sp) 2/d, Undersized Wild Shape 5/d
20th	Arcane Hierophant 5	+13	+8	+11	+11	move silently +1 (23, 2cc), know arcana +3 (20), listen +1 (5), spot +1 (5)	-	Undersized Wild Shape (Diminutive)

Spoiler: Spells

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Spoiler: Druid Spells

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Spells per Day/Spells Known

Level	0lvl	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th
1st	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2nd	3	1+1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
3rd	4	2+1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
4th	4	2+1	1+1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
5th	5	3+1	2+1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
6th	5	3+1	2+1	1+1	-	-	-	-	-	-
7th	5	3+1	2+1	2+1	-	-	-	-	-	-
8th	5	3+1	2+1	2+1	-	-	-	-	-	-
9th	5	3+1	2+1	2+1	-	-	-	-	-	-
10th	5	3+1	2+1	2+1	-	-	-	-	-	-
11th	6	4+1	3+1	2+1	1+1	-	-	-	-	-
12th	6	4+1	3+1	3+1	2+1	-	-	-	-	-
13th	6	4+1	3+1	3+1	2+1	-	-	-	-	-
14th	6	4+1	3+1	3+1	2+1	-	-	-	-	-
15th	6	4+1	3+1	3+1	2+1	-	-	-	-	-
16th	6	4+2	3+1	3+1	2+1	-	-	-	-	-
17th	6	4+2	3+1	3+1	2+1	-	-	-	-	-
18th	6	4+2	4+1	3+1	2+1	1+1	-	-	-	-
19th	6	4+2	4+1	3+1	3+1	2+1	-	-	-	-
20th	6	5+2	4+1	4+1	3+1	2+1	1	-	-	-

Spoiler: Hoardstealer Spells

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Spells per Day/Spells Known

Level	1st	2nd	3rd	4th
8th	0+1	-	-	-
9th	1+1	-	-	-
10th	1+1	0+1	-	-
11th	1+1	1+1	-	-
12th	1+1	1+1	0+1	-
13th	1+1	1+1	1+1	-
14th	2+1	1+1	1+1	0
15th	2+1	1+1	1+1	1
16th	2+1	2+1	1+1	1
17th	2+1	2+1	2+1	1
18th*	3+1	2+1	2+1	1
19th*	3+1	2+1	2+1	2
20th*	3+1	3+1	2+1	2

*Note: Arcane Hierophant increases Hoardstealer spells and CL beyond the table. Levels 18-20 are extrapolated and can be ignored if considered invalid by the judges. Even without the spell slots, the arcane CL increase matters for spell duration/power and Companion Familiar.

Spoiler: Mechanics

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Spoiler: Levels 1-5

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Early play is mostly as a party support and scout. Standard low level rogue and druid tactics apply.
1: This level is all about the skill ranks. Thrown daggers, alchemical substances, and shortbow are best.
2: 1st druid spells and a briaxshunty companion / mount provide speed and more combat options.
3: Nightbringer initiate is mostly for skill ranks and enervation later. Woodland stride improves scouting.
4: 2nd spells! Melee combat is possible with bite of the wererat, but support and summoning is still better. Trackless step improves scouting.
5: Trade briaxshunty for dire eagle. Scouting from the air is possible, and the eagle is a nice beatstick.
Bracket Sweet spot: 5. Low levels are the weakest part of this build.

Spoiler: Levels 6-10

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Wild Shape comes online. Still more of a scout or summoner than anything else, but wild shape ambush with sneak attack is valid.
6: Wild Shape! (see overview) 3rd spells! Because of level-up order, I can't take Natural Spell. Natural Bond is the obvious second choice. Scouting in tiny form is great.
7: Trade improved dire eagle for improved fleshraker dinosaur because I can fly now. (I waited for the improvement.) It's time to help kill/rob a very young dragon.
8: Entry into SI. All wild shape forms now have at least 30' darkvision. Item goals at this point: monk's belt + wilding clasp, mantle of the beast.
9: Natural Spell! Hide from Dragons is a great, "Oh sh-!" button when trying to steal from a dragon.
10: 2nd arcane spell from SI. This qualifies for Arcane Hierophant. Deep pockets is up, which means my bucket/hat of temporary holding is online.
Bracket Sweet spot: 9. Natural spell is very strong. For now, I stick to chordevoc form (tiny bird with fly 60' good) for scouting and spellcasting.

Spoiler: Levels 11-15

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Pure power. Spellcasting, wild shape, and companion improvements abound.
11: 4th druid spells means enhanced wild shape. Cool tricks: enhanced (gain Ex and Su) + wild shape (swindlespitter) = 90' darkvision; enhanced + wild shape (chordevoc) = blindsense 60'. Great scouting forms. Companion familiar is online. No arcane spell failure in druid armor means I can wear it again if I don't want a monk's belt + wilding clasp.
12: Dragon form time! Since effective druid level is 8, initial favored form is very young shadow dragon for shadow meld. With a know arcana of 15 ranks, familiarity checks should not be a problem. I can see further than dragons with darkvision when in dragon wild shape. Also, 3rd arcane spells. A scroll of permanency is desirable for arcane sight. Swap companion familiar for bloodstriker dinosaur; arcane CL5 = Int 8. While this is partly for pulling cart-loads of stolen treasure, a smart bloodstriker is very dangerous.
13: Treasure dowsing in mines + burrowing dragon form = free money from ore and gems. Collector of Stories is helpful.
14: 4th arcane spell, usually used for dimension door. Darkvision range is even longer. Arcane CL7 = speak with animals of its kind (dinosaurs?).
15: BAB and all saves increase. Trickery devotion means I can be very safe in any theft I undertake. I hope by this level to have found/bought a wild shape amulet.
Build Sweet Spot: 12. Dragon wild shape (very young shadow dragon) gives shadow meld; combined with spells (camouflage, ect), I can probably steal from a young or juvenile dragon while it sleeps with no problems.

Spoiler: Levels 16-20

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Incremental improvements.
16: More free money per day.
17: What I consider the capstone of the SI: Skill mastery grants a lot of benefits. Bluff and Gather Info help to begin a dragon hunt. Hide and move silently are vital. Knowledges help with wild shaping and knowing your foes. Capped out on Hoardstealer casting table.
18: 5th Druid spells. Knowledge Devotion for large, consistent (with skill mastery) bonuses vs arcana and nature foes. Arcane CL11 = SR16 and Int 11 for companion familiar.
19: Channel animal gives access to tricks with summons. Swap companion familiar for a dire bear.
20: 6th Druid spells. With no items, diminutive wild shape + darkvision 60' = a mouse inside walls. Add Trickery Devotion to get a mobile scrying sensor that you can control for some of the most potent druid spying possible. Arcane CL 13 = scry on companion familiar, SR18, Int 12. Are you not amused by an Int 12 dire bear?
Bracket Sweet Spot: 20. Post-12, every level is improvement.

Spoiler: Wild Shape Overview

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Undersized Wild Shape is flavorful and not as bad as it seems. Most medium wild shape forms have a small equivalent; you care more about maneuverability and spying than wild shape combat; and the extra use helps power dragon wild shape later.
The following is a bunch of semi-organized notes about potential wild shape forms and at what effective druid level they are accessible for this build.

Undersized Wild Shape Forms
Tiny/Small, character level 6+:
tiny chordevoc (fly 60' good): scouting and spell-slinging form, enhanced wildshape = blindsense 60'
small swindlespitter dinosaur (move 30'): enhanced wildshape = base darkvision 60'
small serval (savannah wildcat) (move 40'): imp grab, pounce, rake
small viper/sea snake (movement modes: move/climb/swim 20'), sea snake loses climb but has +2 poison DC
small badger (move 30', burrow 10')
small octopus (aquatic, swim 30'): combine with air breathing spell for escape artist bonus to squeeze through spaces?
tiny rat, cat, lizard, hawk (spy)

Medium / Dragon, character level 12+:
small very young 7 - medium juvenile 13 shadow dragon (80', fly 150'avg-poor, shadow blend [total concealment, daylight sp negates], AC +11[1z+10NA]-16NA, breath energy drain gas 1-2 lvls, Refl)
small faerie dragon 8 (swim 30', fly 100' perfect, water breathing, breath 20' C euphoria gas 1d6 r dazed, Will)
small wyrmling 7 - medium young 12 rust dragon (fly 100-150' avg-poor, burrow 45', rusting bite DC 14, breath L acid 2d4-6d4 or C rust all metal Refl)
small wyrmling 5 - medium young 11 styx dragon (low base AC, swim 60', burrow 20', amphibious, constrict, imp grab, imune to poison/disease, disease [stygian wasting], breath L acid 1d6-3d6 persists 3r or C stupefying gas 1/age Int dmg, Fort)
small very young 7 - juvenile 13 black dragon (60', swim 60', fly 100'avg-150'poor, water breathing, immune acid, AC +7[1z+6NA]-12NA, breath L acid 4d4-8d4)
medium young 12 blue (immune elec, burrow 20', 40', fly 150' poor, +11NA, breath L elec 2d8-6d8)
medium young 11 green (immune acid, 40', swim 40', fly 150' poor, +10NA, breath C acid gas 2d6-6d6)
medium wyrmling 7 red (immune fire, cold vuln, +6NA, breath C fire 2d10)
small very young 6 - medium juvenile 12 white (spider climb on ice/snow, immune cold, vuln fire, 60', burrow 30', swim 30-60', fly 150'avg-200'poor AC +6[1z+5NA]-11NA, breath C cold 2d6-4d6)
small very young 7 - medium juvenile 13 brass (immune fire, vuln cold, 60', burrow 30', fly 150'avg-200'poor, AC +7[1z+6NA]-12NA, breath 2d6-4d6 L fire or C sleep 1d6+1/age r, Will [ench, m-a])
small wyrmling 6 - medium young 12 bronze (immune elec, alternate form (young), water breathing, 40', swim 60', fly 100'avg-150'poor, AC +6[1z+5NA]-11NA, breath 2d6-6d6 L elec or C repulsion 1d6+1/age r, Will [ench, m-a])
small very young 8 - medium juvenile 14 copper (immune acid, spider climb on stone, 40', fly 100'avg-150'poor, AC +8[1z+7NA]-13NA, breath 4d4-8d4 L acid)
medium wyrmling 8 gold (alternate form, immune fire, vuln cold, water breathing, 60', swim 60', fly 200'poor, +7NA, breath C fire 2d10)
small wyrmling 7 - medium young 13 silver (alternate form, immune acid/cold, clouldwalking, vuln fire, 40', fly 100'avg-150'poor, AC +7[1z+6NA]-12, breath 2d8-6d8 C cold or C paralyzing gas 1d6+1/a r, Fort)
medium ambush drake 7 (40', fly30'poor, AC+8, Str16/Dex15/Con18, breath 30' C slow 7r, Will)
small very young 8 - medium juvenile 14 sapphire (spider climb on stone, sense psychoportation, 40', fly 100'avg-150'poor, AC +8[1z+6NA+1Dex]-14[12NA+2Dex], breath 4d4-8d4 C sonic and panic 1d4 r Will)
small wyrmling 6 - medium young 12 amethyst (force resistant, poison immune, 40', fly150'poor, burrow 20', swim 10', AC +7[1z+5NA+1Dex]-12[11NA+1Dex], breath 2d8-6d8 L force, optional subdual)


Diminutive/Large/Plant character level ~17-20 (wild shape amulet or enhanced wild shape may provide earlier access):
dim. bat, mouse (spy)
large assassin vine 4
large dire animals, various
large battlebriar lesser 12 MM3: enhanced = trample, thorn volley
medium wood woad 8 MM3: treewalk at will
large night twist 15 MM3: Str39, enhanced Su abilities Cha-based, so reduce DCs
large briarvex 8 MM4: Str25, 30', enhanced = imp woodland stride, thorn burrow
large burrow root MM5: enhanced = speed burrow
large vinespawn 12 MM5: enhanced = vine net, engulf

Spoiler: Useful Items

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Handy Haversack ASAP
Masterwork Padded Wooden Bucket Hat with latched internal bottom compartment: an ideal target for Deep Pockets. A wooden Bag of Holding isn't at risk of being punctured by weapons. A bucket is usable by almost any wild shape form (if taken off before transforming) and acts as a built-in scoop/funnel for quick grabs from hoard piles. The bucket is even a valid target for ironwood later.
+Int / +Wis prioritized; add +Int to a Stormfire Ring
Lesser Metamagic Rod of Silent Spell / Extend spell
Monk's Belt with pouches and loops (for wand/rod access in dragon shape) + Wilding Clasp
Mantle of the Beast: swift act wild shape
Wild Shape Amulet: +4 effective druid level for wild shape; this unlocks wild shape large and plant at late levels and provides earlier access to diminuitive.

Spoiler: Citations

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Player's Guide to Faerun: Strongheart Halfling
Eberron Campaign Setting: Education
Lords of Madness: Darkstalker
Faiths of Eberron: Nightbringer Initiate
Cityscape Web Enhancement 1: Iron Constitution
Races of the Wild: Halfling Druid, Arcane Hierophant, Briaxshunty, Chordevoc
Complete Adventurer: Natural Bond
Player's Handbook 1: Natural Spell
Draconomicon: Dragon Wild Shape, Shadow Dragon
Complete Champion: Antiquarian, Trickery Devotion, Knowledge Devotion, Mantle of the Beast
Monster Manuals 1-5: Most Wild Shape Forms
Sandstorm: serval (savannah wildcat)
Dragons of Faerun: Some of backstory
Magic of Faerun: Wild Shape Amulet
Magic Item Compendium: Wilding Clasp

[Heliomance]

Entry number 4

Paulie Pocket, The Body Bag

N Dragonborn (Wings Aspect) Skarn Psychic Rogue 1/Totemist 2/Psychic Rogue 3/Hoardstealer 10/Totemist 7

Stats

Spoiler

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(with racial adjustments)
Str 15 (17) (increases here)
Dex 14 (10)
Con 14 (16)
Int 16
Wis 10
Cha 8

Build

Spoiler

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Level	Class	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Skills	Feats	Class Features
1st	Psychic Rogue 1	+0	+0	+2	+0	Appraise 4, Disable Device 4, Escape Artist 4, Hide 4, Move Silently 4, Open Lock 4, Psicraft 2(4), Search 4, Tumble 4	Hidden Talent (Expansion)	Sneak Attack +1d6, Trapfinding
2nd	Totemist 1	+0	+2	+4	+0	Concentration 5, Psicraft 2.5(1), Tumble 5		Wild Empathy, Skilled City Dweller (Ride to Tumble), Illiteracy
3rd	Totemist 2	+1	+3	+5	+0	Concentration 6, Listen 2, Psicraft 3(1), Spot 2, Tumble 6	Body Pouch	Totem Chakra Bind (+1 capacity)
4th	Psychic Rogue 2	+2	+3	+6	+0	Appraise 6, Concentration 7, Hide 6, Move Silently 6, Search 6		Evasion
5th	Pyschic Rogue 3	+3	+4	+6	+1	Appraise 8, Concentration 8, Hide 8, Move Silently 8, Search 8
6th	Hoardstealer 1	+3	+4	+8	+1	Concentration 9, Use Magic Device 8	Barbed Stinger	Darkvision +30 ft, Trapfinding
7th	Hoardstealer 2	+4	+4	+9	+1	Concentration 10, Disable Device 8, Search 10, Use Magic Device 10		Hide from Dragons 1/Day
8th	Hoardstealer 3	+5	+5	+9	+2	Balance 3, Concentration 11, Disable Device 11, Search 11, Use Magic Device 11		Trap Sense +2, Deep Pockets
9th	Hoardstealer 4	+6/+1	+5	+10	+2	Balance 5, Concentration 12, Disable Device 12, Psicraft 4(2), Search 12, Use Magic Device 12	Practiced Manifester	Treasure Dowsing 1/day
10th	Hoardstealer 5	+6/+1	+5	+10	+2	Concentration 13, Disable Device 13, Jump 5, Search 13, Use Magic Device 13		Darkvision +60 ft
11th	Hoardstealer 6	+7/+2	+6	+11	+3	Concentration 14, Disable Device 14, Search 14, Tumble 8.5(5), Use Magic Device 14		Trap Sense +4, Hide from Dragons 2/day
12th	Hoardstealer 7	+8/+3	+6	+11	+3	Concentration 15, Disable Device 15, Search 15, Tumble 11(5), Use Magic Device 15	Shape Soulmeld (Mauling Gauntlets)	Treasure Dowsing 2/day
13th	Hoardstealer 8	+9/+4	+6	+12	+3	Disable Device 16, Search 16, Spot 3(2), Tumble 13(4), Use Magic Device 16		Skill Mastery (Concentration, Disable Device, Listen, Search, Spot, Use Magic Device)
14th	Hoardstealer 9	+9/+4	+7	+12	+4	Disable Device 17, Listen 4(4), Search 17, Spot 4.5(3)		Darkvision +90 ft, Trap Sense +6
15th	Hoardstealer 10	+10/+5	+7	+13	+4	Disable Device 18, Listen 6(4), Search 18, Spot 6(3)	Open Lesser Chakra (Arms)	Treasure Dowsing 3/day, Hide from Dragons 3/day
16th	Totemist 3	+11/+6/+1	+7	+13	+5	Disable Device 19(2), Listen 7, Search 19(2), Spot 8		Totem’s Protection
17th	Totemist 4	+12/+7/+2	+8	+14	+5	Disable Device 20(2), Listen 9, Search 20(2), Spot 9
18th	Totemist 5	+12/+7/+2	+8	+14	+5	Disable Device 21(2), Listen 10, Search 21(2), Spot 11	Open Lesser Chakra (Shoulders)	Chakra Binds (Crown, Feet, Hands)
19th	Totemist 6	+13/+8/+3	+9	+15	+6	Disable Device 22(2), Listen 13, Search 22(2), Spot 13		Totem Chakra Bind (+1 Meldshaper Level)
20th	Totemist 7	+14/+9/+4	+9	+15	+6	Disable Device 23(2), Listen 15, Search 23(2), Spot 16

Spells

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Spells per Day

Level	0lvl	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th
6th		0*	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
7th		1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
8th		1	0*	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
9th		1	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
10th		1	1	0*	-	-	-	-	-	-
11th		1	1	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
12th		2	1	1	0	-	-	-	-	-
13th		2	1	1	1	-	-	-	-	-
14th		2	2	1	1	-	-	-	-	-
15th-20th		2	2	2	1	-	-	-	-	-

Powers
1st: Expansion, Entangling Ectoplasm, Far Hand, Vigor

Backstory

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You ever meet a kobold? They’re mean little suckers, I tell you what. But they’re crafty, too. They can’t fight worth much one on one, but they are clever enough to make all sorts of traps. The points on some of those things are sharper than Mephistopholes himself. I can’t remember how many times I’ve seen someone underestimate them and end up triggering so many traps they get killed ten times before they hit the ground. If you’re fixin’ to fight some kobolds, you better be ready to jump like a frog in a frying pan. I’ve learned more about traps from them than you probably want to know.

The other thing to know about kobolds is that, to hear them say it, they’ve all got dragon blood in their veins. Now of course, every Elminster, Rary, and Bigby’s got a little bit of dragon blood in them, but kobolds actually mean it. Not quite like my dragonblood, you understand. Mine’s a more noble extraction, from a dedication to the cause. A fair number of kobolds have a whole heap of dragon blood in ‘em, enough that they’re basically dragons themselves! ‘Course they’re still pretty little, but they must know what they’re doing, ‘cause every last one that I’ve seen is old as dirt. The important thing is, they're so much like dragons that some of my little tricks for slipping past dragons work just as well on them.

What’s the point of my yarn spinning? Well ain’t you an impatient one! Well you see, everyone kind of underestimates the kobolds, like I said, and that applies to my fellow Dragonborn as well. They’re all for killing them big dragons that are always burninating the countryside, but if the number of crotchety old Dragonwrought kobolds is any indication, they’re overlooking a growing problem. And that’s where I come in. I decided to do my questing in their mines instead of a big dragon cave and I found myself a nest of ‘em. It took some doing, but I cleared them out, all right.

What’s that? You heard I did it so I could steal their hoards? Now I take offense to that. Didn’t your momma ever teach you that it ain’t stealin’ if you’re taking it from a thief? Besides, I’m on a mission to fight evil dragons, so it’s spoils of war and all that. Now go away, you bother me.

Level 5

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Let’s start at the beginning and, when we get to the end, stop. Skarn has some helpful stat adjustments, and Dragonborn further helps to beef up. It helpfully also grants immunity to frightful presence and extra AC vs dragons, valuable for an anti-dragon class like this. You might think that this is rather a heavy investment in strength for a skulk, and I’d agree with you. But since the SI doesn’t grant Hide, MS, or sneak attack, clearly we’re not building a skulk. Dragonborn provides wings which for now grant gliding. The only thing besides stat adjustments you’re keeping from skarn is the reptilian subtype, which will help us by letting us take Body Pouch. For now it’s a good place to hide things.

The SI calls for a number of skills to qualify, and we’ll be qualifying with Psychic Rogue, as it also suits our interests. It also provides a little sneak attack and some psionics. Entangling Ectoplasm provides a solid debuff to start a fight or slow down pursuers, Far Hand extends your sticky fingers, and Vigor gives you some temp hp to prep for fights. Expansion can make you bigger and stronger, and it can extend your reach in a fight.

We’re also going to spend some time in Totemist for some combat readiness. The totem bind gets you all the fancy natural attacks, and being Dragonborn gives you access to the draconic soulmelds, notably the dragon tail and claws of the wyrm which both give natural attacks when shaped.

Level 10

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Now it’s time to start talking about Hoardstealer. Now that we’ve entered we can start investing heavily in UMD to help round out the SI’s utility shortcomings. Our other skill points will go into disable device and search to fulfill the class’s trap-focused role. The darkvision the class grants helpfully stacks with any existing, so you can combine it with the basilisk mask for some very long range. Treasure Dowsing may seem limited, but you can also use it in a bind to dowse for hidden enemies, as their treasure will ping on your radar.

Enough preamble; let’s get to what this class is really about. Deep Pockets is the most interesting of the abilities, so it is the focus of this build. You can use it on any container, and Body Pouch means you always have a container to cram things into. Moving things is perfectly fine, but we’re also going to cram in creatures. The feat very explicitly allows you to place creatures inside. They have to be 2+ size categories smaller? Enter practiced manifester, allowing you to manifest expansion to become Huge (and also providing more PP to use on it). It requires a grapple check? That’s perfectly fine, since you have Barbed Stinger to initiate grapples on any creature you attack. You might wonder where the stinger to qualify for this feat is coming from. The answer is from the totem bind of the Wormtail Belt. We’ll keep it constantly bound to avoid any issues with continuous qualification. The sting’s poison helpfully damages Strength to make grappling easier for you. The boost to Strength and the +8 size bonus also make grapple easier. You can further stack the odds by shaping and investing essentia in the girallon arms. Once you’ve started the grapple, you still have another iterative left over to cram your target into your Body Pouch, where the bag of holding effect takes them.

Once your target is inside, the rules get a little interesting. The Bag of Holding effect gives them 10 minutes of air, which means you will have plenty of time on the effect to suffocate whatever you pop in. A desperate opponent may attempt to cut their way out, which will result in the contents (read: them) being irrevocably lost. I’m not sure what the bag being ruined would translate to since this isn’t a real Bag of Holding, It might end the effect. Talk to your DM.

Level 15

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With our central trick established, we can now turn our attention to enhancing our success and diversifying. With the SI wrapped up your Deep Pockets have a healthy duration and maximum weight. Skill Mastery is very useful, and will allow you to stop investing in Concentration and UMD. The boost will also help you hit those highest DCs for finding and disabling traps, and may allow you to do some of the fancy tricks like bypassing a trap while still having it be set. We’re also going to boost Spot and Listen, as we’re directing our skill points in that direction. You can further boost with the right melds. With maximum darkvision up you can see out to 180 feet (210 feet at level 18 on) with the basilisk mask, enough to see most creatures before they see you.

Opening your arms provides you with another boost to grapple checks, and also opens up more options for your melds, like rend by binding Girallon arms, easily combined with Claws of the Wyrm. The Mauling Gauntlets provide another boost to your grapple checks to keep your chance of success high. From level 12 on you can fly at 30 feet indefinitely, so you don’t have to spend any melds on flight.

As we’re finished with the SI, let’s briefly discuss spells here. Invisibility and Spider Climb can help you get the drop on your foes to start grappling them. Cat’s Grace can help offset the penalty to Dex from Expansion. Freedom of Movement can help you escape from a grapple that hasn’t gone how you wanted. Dimension Door can be used to isolate a foe from others once you’ve put them in your Body Pouch.

Level 20

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Finished with the SI, we’re returning to Totemist to become a better hulking brute. More levels mean more melds, essentia, binds, and slots. We spend the feat to open the shoulders for some very fun effects. Pounce and Trip are on the table, as are miss chance, ethereal movement, and DR/magic, which also means magic strike. Lots of your build is modifiable as a totemist, just make sure you don’t lose sight of those melds that help you fulfill your central purpose of cramming enemies into your Body Pouch.

Sources

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Psychic Rogue: Mind’s Eye
Totemist, Skarn, Shape Soulmeld, Open Lesser Chakra: Magic of Incarnum
Dragonborn: Races of the Dragon
Draconic Melds: Dragon Magic
Hidden Talent: Expanded Psionics Handbook pg 67 sidebar
Body Pouch, Barbed Stinger: Serpent Kingdoms
Practiced Manifester: Complete Psionic
Powers: srd
Skilled City Dweller: Cityscape Enhancement

[Heliomance]

Entry number 5

"Did you truly believe that after you'd coughed your feted breath upon my village and absconded with our wealth that all I would do is slip into your lair and take back the treasure you'd stolen from us? Silly dragon. This grudge permeates much deeper into my soul than that! I will fight your fire with fire!"

Shellie Caleesye

Human Rogue 1/Incarnate 1/Totemist 1/Rogue +2/Hoardstealer 10/Exemplar 1/Uncanny Trickster 3/Exemplar +1

Chaotic Neutral

Spoiler: Languages

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Common
Draconic
Elven
Dwarven
Auran
(At 9th level, the raven familiar will speak Draconic.)

Spoiler: Stats

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Str 08
Con 14
Dex 14
Int 18
Wis 10
Cha 10

4, 8, 12, 16: Int
20: Con

Spoiler: Overview

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It was Shellie's 8th birthday when her house exploded in a gout of flame. The dragons left the village as nothing but a pile of ash, and Shellie lived the rest of her childhood as a refugee, never really at home wherever she was.

For her adventuring days, she seeks to raid the lairs of dragons to take back what was stolen from her village (and, of course, more.) But the real revenge she plans, is the theft of dragon eggs. She'll raise them, train them...and sell them to the highest bidding kingdom, that they be used in battle to protect humanoid-kind against them further attacks of hungry and greedy dragons.

She will, of course, keep a few dragons around as her own pets, using them as mounts to better reach the lairs of dragons yet to be plundered. A well-trained dragon can be quite the valuable ally in such endeavors.

Spoiler: Build Table

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Level	Class	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Points (Rank) Skills	Feats	Class Features
1st	(Antiquarian) (Martial) Rogue 1	+0	+0	+2	+0	4(4) Appraise 1(1) Autohypnosis 2(2) Balance 4(4) Concentration 2(2) Diplomacy 4(4) Disable Device 4(4) Escape Artist 1(1) Handle Animal 1(1) Heal 4(4) Hide 1(1) K:arc 1(1) K:religion 4(4) Listen 4(4) Move Silently 4(4) Open Lock 1(1) Ride 4(4) Search 4(4) Spot 2(2) UMD	1st: Able Learner; H: Darkstalker; B: Mounted Combat	Antiquarian (Complete Champion p.51)
2nd	Incarnate 1	+0	+2	+2	+2	1(5) Appraise -(1) Autohypnosis -(2) Balance -(4) Concentration -(2) Diplomacy 1(5) Disable Device -(4) Escape Artist -(1) Handle Animal -(1) Heal 1(5) Hide -(1) K:arc -(1) K:religion -(4) Listen 1(5) Move Silently 1(5) Open Lock -(1) Ride 1(5) Search 1(5) Spot -(2) UMD	--	Aura; Detect Opposition
3rd	Totemist 1	+0	+4	+4	+2	1(6) Appraise -(1) Autohypnosis -(2) Balance 1(5) Concentration -(2) Diplomacy -(5) Disable Device -(4) Escape Artist -(1) Handle Animal -(1) Heal 1(6) Hide -(1) K:arc -(1) K:religion 1(5) Listen 1(6) Move Silently -(5) Open Lock -(1) Ride 1(6) Search 1(6) Spot -(2) UMD 2(2) Skill Trick: Clever Improviser	3rd: Quick Reconnoiter	Wild Empathy; Illiteracy
4th	Rogue 2	+1	+4	+5	+2	1(7) Appraise 1(2) Autohypnosis 1(3) Balance -(5) Concentration 1(3) Diplomacy 1(6) Disable Device -(4) Escape Artist -(1) Handle Animal 1(2) Heal 1(7) Hide -(1) K:arc -(1) K:religion 1(6) Listen 1(7) Move Silently -(5) Open Lock -(1) Ride 1(7) Search 1(1) Spellcraft 1(7) Spot 1(3) UMD -(2) Skill Trick: Clever Improviser	B: Trample	Evasion
5th	Rogue 3	+2	+5	+5	+3	1(8) Appraise 1(3) Autohypnosis 1(4) Balance -(5) Concentration 1(4) Diplomacy 1(7) Disable Device -(4) Escape Artist -(1) Handle Animal 1(3) Heal 1(8) Hide -(1) K:arc -(1) K:religion 1(7) Listen 1(8) Move Silently -(5) Open Lock -(1) Ride 1(8) Search 1(2) Spellcraft 1(8) Spot 1(4) UMD -(2) Skill Trick: Clever Improviser	--	Quick Fingers (Dungeonscape p.13)
6th	Hoardstealer 1	+2	+5	+7	+3	-(8) Appraise 1(4) Autohypnosis 1(5) Balance -(5) Concentration -(4) Diplomacy 1(8) Disable Device -(4) Escape Artist -(1) Handle Animal 1(4) Heal 1(9) Hide -(1) K:arc -(1) K:religion 1(8) Listen 1(9) Move Silently -(5) Open Lock -(1) Ride 1(9) Search 1(3) Spellcraft 1(9) Spot 1(5) UMD -(2) Skill Trick: Clever Improviser	6th: Bonus Essensia	Darkvision 30'; Trapfinding
7th	Hoardstealer 2	+3	+5	+8	+3	-(8) Appraise 1(5) Autohypnosis -(5) Balance -(5) Concentration 1(5) Diplomacy 1(9) Disable Device -(4) Escape Artist -(1) Handle Animal 1(5) Heal -(9) Hide 1(2) K:arc -(1) K:religion 2(10) Listen -(9) Move Silently 1(6) Open Lock -(1) Ride -(9) Search 1(4) Spellcraft 1(10) Spot 1(6) UMD -(2) Skill Trick: Clever Improviser	--	Hide From Dragons 1/day
8th	Hoardstealer 3	+4	+6	+8	+4	-(8) Appraise -(5) Autohypnosis -(5) Balance -(5) Concentration 2(7) Diplomacy -(9) Disable Device -(4) Escape Artist -(1) Handle Animal 1(6) Heal 1(10) Hide 1(3) K:arc -(1) K:religion 1(11) Listen 1(10) Move Silently 1(7) Open Lock -(1) Ride 1(10) Search 1(5) Spellcraft 1(11) Spot 1(7) UMD -(2) Skill Trick: Clever Improviser	--	Trap Sense +2; Deep Pockets
9th	Hoardstealer 4	+5	+6	+9	+4	-(8) Appraise 1(6) Autohypnosis -(5) Balance -(5) Concentration 1(8) Diplomacy 1(10) Disable Device -(4) Escape Artist 1(2) Handle Animal 1(7) Heal 1(11) Hide 1(4) K:arc -(1) K:religion 1(12) Listen -(10) Move Silently 1(8) Open Lock -(1) Ride -(10) Search 1(6) Spellcraft 1(12) Spot 1(8) UMD -(2) Skill Trick: Clever Improviser	9th: Obtain Familiar	Treasure Dowsing 1/day
10th	Hoardstealer 5	+5	+6	+9	+4	-(8) Appraise -(6) Autohypnosis 1(6) Balance -(5) Concentration 1(9) Diplomacy 1(11) Disable Device -(4) Escape Artist 1(3) Handle Animal 1(8) Heal -(11) Hide 1(5) K:arc -(1) K:religion -(12) Listen -(10) Move Silently 1(9) Open Lock -(1) Ride 1(11) Search 1(7) Spellcraft 1(13) Spot 2(10) UMD -(2) Skill Trick: Clever Improviser	--	Darkvision 60'
11th	Hoardstealer 6	+6/1	+7	+10	+5	-(8) Appraise 1(7) Autohypnosis -(6) Balance -(5) Concentration 1(10) Diplomacy 1(12) Disable Device -(4) Escape Artist 1(4) Handle Animal 1(9) Heal 1(12) Hide -(5) K:arc -(1) K:religion -(12) Listen 1(11) Move Silently 1(10) Open Lock -(1) Ride 1(12) Search 1(8) Spellcraft 1(14) Spot 1(11) UMD -(2) Skill Trick: Clever Improviser	--	Trap Sense +4; Hide From Dragons 2/day
12th	Hoardstealer 7	+7/2	+7	+10	+5	-(8) Appraise -(7) Autohypnosis -(6) Balance -(5) Concentration 2(12) Diplomacy 1(13) Disable Device 1(5) Escape Artist 1(5) Handle Animal 1(10) Heal -(12) Hide -(5) K:arc -(1) K:religion -(12) Listen -(11) Move Silently 1(11) Open Lock -(1) Ride 1(13) Search 1(9) Spellcraft 1(15) Spot 1(1) Tumble 1(12) UMD -(2) Skill Trick: Clever Improviser	12th: Wyrmgrafter	Treasure Dowsing 2/day
13th	Hoardstealer 8	+8/3	+7	+11	+5	1(9) Appraise -(7) Autohypnosis -(6) Balance -(5) Concentration -(13) Diplomacy 2(14) Disable Device 1(6) Escape Artist 1(6) Handle Animal -(10) Heal -(12) Hide -(5) K:arc -(1) K:religion -(12) Listen -(11) Move Silently 1(12) Open Lock -(1) Ride 1(14) Search 1(10) Spellcraft 1(16) Spot 1(2) Tumble -(12) UMD -(2) Skill Trick: Clever Improviser 2(2) Skill Trick: Opening Tap	--	Skill Mastery (Listed in green)
14th	Hoardstealer 9	+8/3	+8	+11	+6	-(9) Appraise 1(8) Autohypnosis -(6) Balance -(5) Concentration 3(16) Diplomacy -(14) Disable Device -(6) Escape Artist -(6) Handle Animal -(10) Heal 1(13) Hide -(5) K:arc -(1) K:religion 1(13) Listen 1(12) Move Silently 1(13) Open Lock -(1) Ride 1(15) Search 1(11) Spellcraft 1(17) Spot 1(3) Tumble -(12) UMD -(2) Skill Trick: Clever Improviser -(2) Skill Trick: Opening Tap	--	Darkvision 90'; Trapsense +6
15th	Hoardstealer 10	+9/4	+8	+12	+6	-(9) Appraise 1(9) Autohypnosis -(6) Balance -(5) Concentration -(16) Diplomacy -(14) Disable Device -(6) Escape Artist -(6) Handle Animal -(10) Heal 1(14) Hide -(5) K:arc 1(2) K:religion 1(14) Listen 1(13) Move Silently 1(14) Open Lock -(1) Ride 1(16) Search -(-) Sleight of Hand 1(12) Spellcraft 1(18) Spot 1(4) Tumble -(12) UMD -(2) Skill Trick: Clever Improviser -(2) Skill Trick: Opening Tap 2(2) Skill Trick: Magical Appraisal	15th: Skill Focus: Autohypnosis	Treasure Dowsing 3/day; Hide From Dragons 3/day
16th	Exemplar 1	+9/4	+8	+12	+8	-(9) Appraise 2(11) Autohypnosis 2(8) Balance -(5) Concentration -(16) Diplomacy -(14) Disable Device -(6) Escape Artist -(6) Handle Animal -(10) Heal 1(15) Hide -(5) K:arc 2(4) K:religion 1(15) Listen 1(14) Move Silently -(14) Open Lock -(1) Ride -(16) Search -(-) Sleight of Hand -(12) Spellcraft 1(19) Spot 1(5) Tumble 2(14) UMD -(2) Skill Trick: Clever Improviser -(2) Skill Trick: Opening Tap -(2) Skill Trick: Magical Appraisal 2(2) Skill Trick: Slipping Past	--	Skill Artistry: Spot; Skill Mastery
17th	Uncanny Trickster 1	+9/4	+8	+14	+8	-(9) Appraise 3(14) Autohypnosis 2(10) Balance -(5) Concentration -(16) Diplomacy -(14) Disable Device -(6) Escape Artist -(6) Handle Animal -(10) Heal 2(17) Hide -(5) K:arc 2(6) K:religion 1(16) Listen 2(16) Move Silently -(14) Open Lock -(1) Ride -(16) Search -(-) Sleight of Hand -(12) Spellcraft 1(20) Spot -(5) Tumble 2(16) UMD -(2) Skill Trick: Clever Improviser -(2) Skill Trick: Opening Tap -(2) Skill Trick: Magical Appraisal -(2) Skill Trick: Slipping Past	--	Bonus Trick (Listen to This); Favorite Trick (Slipping Past)
18th	Uncanny Trickster 2 (advancing Incarnate)	+10/5	+8	+15	+8	-(9) Appraise 3(17) Autohypnosis 1(11) Balance -(5) Concentration -(16) Diplomacy -(14) Disable Device -(6) Escape Artist -(6) Handle Animal -(10) Heal 2(19) Hide -(5) K:arc 2(8) K:religion 1(17) Listen 2(18) Move Silently -(14) Open Lock -(1) Ride -(16) Search -(-) Sleight of Hand -(12) Spellcraft 1(21) Spot -(5) Tumble 3(19) UMD -(2) Skill Trick: Clever Improviser -(2) Skill Trick: Opening Tap -(2) Skill Trick: Magical Appraisal -(2) Skill Trick: Slipping Past	18th: Craft Wand	Bonus Trick (Nimble Charge); Favorite Trick (Nimble Charge); Chakra Bind (Crown)
19th	Uncanny Trickster 3 (advancing Incarnate)	+11/6/1	+9	+15	+9	-(9) Appraise 3(20) Autohypnosis 1(12) Balance -(5) Concentration -(16) Diplomacy -(14) Disable Device -(6) Escape Artist -(6) Handle Animal -(10) Heal 2(21) Hide -(5) K:arc 2(10) K:religion 1(18) Listen 3(21) Move Silently -(14) Open Lock -(1) Ride -(16) Search -(-) Sleight of Hand -(12) Spellcraft 1(22) Spot -(5) Tumble 2(21) UMD -(2) Skill Trick: Clever Improviser -(2) Skill Trick: Opening Tap -(2) Skill Trick: Magical Appraisal -(2) Skill Trick: Slipping Past	--	Bonus Trick (Collector of Stories); Favorite Trick (Collector of Stories); Tricky Defense; Expanded Soulmeld Capacity +1; Incarnum Radiance 1/day
20th	Exemplar 2	+12/7/2	+9	+15	+10	-(9) Appraise 3(23) Autohypnosis 1(13) Balance -(5) Concentration -(16) Diplomacy -(14) Disable Device -(6) Escape Artist -(6) Handle Animal -(10) Heal 2(23) Hide -(5) K:arc 2(12) K:religion 4(22) Listen 2(23) Move Silently -(14) Open Lock -(1) Ride -(16) Search -(-) Sleight of Hand -(12) Spellcraft 1(23) Spot -(5) Tumble -(21) UMD -(2) Skill Trick: Clever Improviser -(2) Skill Trick: Opening Tap -(2) Skill Trick: Magical Appraisal -(2) Skill Trick: Slipping Past	--	Lend Talent; Skill Mastery +1

Spoiler: Spells

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Spells per Day + Bonus Spells

Level(s)	1st	2nd	3rd	4th
6th	0+1	-	-	-
7th	1+1	-	-	-
8th	1+2	0+1	-	-
9th	1+2	1+1	-	-
10th	1+2	1+1	0+1	-
11th	1+2	1+1	1+1	-
12th	2+2	1+1	1+1	0+1
13th	2+2	1+1	1+1	1+1
14th	2+2	2+1	1+1	1+1
15th	2+2	2+1	2+1	1+1
16th-20th	2+2	2+2	2+1	1+1

Spoiler: Meldshaping

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	Soulmelds		Essentia	Chakra Binds
Level(s)	Incarnate	Totemist	Essentia	Incarnate	Totemist
1	-	-	-	-	-
2	2	-	1	0	-
3-5	2	2	2	0	0
6-17	2	2	4	0	0
18	3	2	5	1	0
19-20	3	2	6	1	0

Typically shaped soulmelds:
For home, tending to dragons/eggs:
Arms: Riding Bracers
Throat: Silvertongue Mask
Crown: Hunter's Circlet
Hands: Lucky Dice

For home, understanding magic items:
Brow: Mage's Spectacles
Hands: Lucky Dice

For away, on adventures:
Hands: Theft Gloves
Feet: Acrobat Boots (or Brow: Keeneye Lenses)
Shoulders: Kruthik Claws
Waist: Manticore Belt

Of course, Shellie will have to plan her adventures. There may be times she'll prefer a Phase Cloak on her shoulders or the Kraken Mantle on her arms or ... or ... or ....

Spoiler: Level 5

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Shellie is a skill monkey. Do not imagine that she will ever be anything else. At this level, things are pretty straightforward. Hide, scout ahead, deal with the traps, pick the locks. Use those soulmelds accordingly: Theft Gloves, Keeneye Lenses, Kruthik Claws, Yrthak Mask, Manticore Belt....

Spoiler: Level 10

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Into Hoardstealer! The tactics stay much the same. Sneak, scout, steal. With the Hide From Dragons ability, Shellie can sneak past dragons even when Darkstalker fails (versus Mindsight, for example). Spells are also helpful for boosting movement and hiding. (Strongly consider buying wands for increased usage.) Though, let's not get crazy. Don't try sneaking around Great Red or Gold Wyrms just yet. Stick to the likes of Juvenile White or Brass dragons instead.

A raven familiar not only makes you a better scout (second set of eyes; the Alertness feat), it also offers bonuses to skills in the form of Aiding Another. With a roll of 12 (or higher), the raven can use UMD to activate wands, which betters action economy.

Spoiler: Level 13

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This is where things get fun for a skill monkey. So let's take a look at some of what these skills can do:

Spoiler: Appraise

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9 ranks + 5 Int + 2 Aid Another (from the familiar) + 3 (bonus from the raven) + 10 (from Skill Mastery) = 29
That result will certainly be enough to appraise most things. Add in a tool or two (spyglass or balance) for a slight boost when/if necessary.

Spoiler: Concentration

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5 ranks + 2 Con + 2 synergy (from Autohypnosis) + 10 (from Skill Mastery) = 19
In order to use other skills while distracted, Shellie needs to be able to make Concentration checks. Failure means the action fails and is wasted (PHB p.69-70). She can use a skill defensively at DC 15 to avoid AOOs.

Spoiler: Diplomacy

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For use of this skill (and Handle Animal), please refer to the rules section in the Draconomicon p.13: Rearing a Dragon.
13 ranks + 0 Cha + 2 Aid Another (from the familiar) + 8 insight (Silvertongue Mask soulmeld) + 1 luck (Lucky Dice soulmeld) + 2 synergy (from Knowledge: arcana) + 10 (Skill Mastery) = 36
If Shellie has been tending the dragon egg during incubation (of course she has, she stole the egg, after all, why wouldn't she tend it?) and was present at the hatching (of course she was, she's been tending to it, hasn't she?), the wyrmling will get a -7 to it's Sense Motive check. And another -5 for each component of alignment in common.
By example:
Red wyrmling dragon:
10 ranks (max for 7HD) + 0 Wis + 15 racial + 20 roll (it's possible, plan for it) - 2 (Shellie tending egg) - 5 (Shellie present at hatching) - 5 (chaotic in common) = 33. Shellie autowins.
Gold wyrmling dragon:
11 ranks (max for 8HD) + 2 Wis + 15 racial + 20 roll (it's possible, plan for it) - 2 (Shellie tending egg) - 5 (Shellie present at hatching) = 41. Shellie would need to roll a 15 or higher on the check instead of taking 10. Probably best to wait a few levels until ranks increase and more essentia can be invested into the Silvertongue Mask.

Spoiler: Disable Device

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14 ranks + 5 Int + 8 insight (Theft Gloves soulmeld) + 10 (Skill Mastery) = 37
Auto-win at bypassing wicked mechanical traps.
Auto-win at bypassing spell traps from 2nd level spells.
Auto-win at disabling spell traps from 12th (whaaa??) level spells.
Increase the total with masterwork tools.
Decrease the time with Quickfingers (from level 5).

Spoiler: Handle Animal

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Back to Draconomicon p.13!
6 ranks + 0 Cha + 10 insight (Riding Bracers soulmeld) + 1 luck (Lucky Dice soulmeld) + 10 (Skill Mastery) = 27
Auto-win against any 7HD (or less) very young dragon. (This gets better as more essentia can be invested.)

Spoiler: Heal

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10 ranks + 0 Wis + 2 Aid Another (from the familiar) + 8 insight (Hunter's Circlet soulmeld) + 1 luck (Lucky Dice soulmeld) + 1 synergy (from Knowledge: arcana) = 22 (or 24 with a healer's kit)
Roll of 3 (or 1 with a healer's kit) or higher succeeds at Hatching a Dragon Egg (Draconomicon p.11) (With the increase to essentia maximums at 18th level, Shellie auto-succeeds.)
On failures, see the Wyrmgrafter feat.

Spoiler: Open Lock

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12 ranks + 2 Dex + 2 Aid Another (from the familiar) + 8 insight (Theft Gloves soulmeld) + 10 (Skill Mastery) = 34
+2 with masterwork thieves' tools.
Auto-win good locks.
By 18th level, Shellie auto-wins against amazing locks.
Opening Tap lets this work as a swift action.

Spoiler: Search

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14 ranks + 5 Int + 2 (Glaring Eye graft (Races of the Dragon p.128)) + 10 (Skill Mastery) = 31
Auto-find secret doors and typical simple traps.
Auto-find magical traps of spell level 6 or lower. (Traps of 9th level are auto-found when Shellie is 16th level.)

Spoiler: Spot

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16 ranks + 0 Wis + 10 insight (Keeneye Lenses soulmeld) + 4 competence (Manticore Belt soulmeld) + 2 (Glaring Eye graft) + 2 Alertness feat (from familiar) + 10 (Skill Mastery) = 44
Auto-succeed on pinpointing active invisible creature.
Auto-succeed at noticing unmoving, living invisible creature.
Auto-succeed at noticing inanimate, invisible object or unmoving, unliving invisible creature.
(From Epic Level Handbook p.44)

None of the skills listed above include magical "help" of any nature. (Magic items that boost stats, items that grant skill bonuses, wands of spells that grant skill boosts, etc.) If such things are available, more's the better.

Spoiler: Level 15

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This is largely the same as before, but with more ranks in skills. One addition to note: the Magical Appraisal skill trick.

Spoiler: Spellcraft

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12 ranks + 5 Int + 10 insight (Mage's Spectacles soulmeld) + 1 luck (Lucky Dice soulmeld) + 1 roll (it's possible, plan for it) = 28
Auto-success on the Magical Appraisal check (and a lot of other things that Spellcraft can do.)

Spoiler: Level 20

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Some final skill notes (beyond what's already been said):

Spoiler: Autohypnosis

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23 ranks + 0 Wis + 2 synergy (from Concentration) + 3 (Skill Focus feat) + 4 competence (Skill Artistry @ level 16) + 10 (Skill Mastery) - 2 (shaken) = 40
Auto-wins against Great Wyrm Red Dragon's frightful presence. (Note: a Great Wyrm Gold Dragon's FP DC is 41, so Shellie will still have to roll an 11 or higher on an attempt. The Lucky Dice soulmeld could help here, though, if Shellie was so inclined to shaping it during adventure travels.)

Spoiler: Balance

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13 ranks + 2 Dex + 12 insight (Acrobat Boots soulmeld) + 10 (Skill Mastery) = 37
Auto-hits the check to cross a thin, slick, angled, strewn surface at full speed. (Though, the use of the Nimble Charge skill trick could obviate the need for a check altogether, albeit once per encounter.)

Spoiler: Escape Artist

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6 ranks + 2 Dex + 12 insight (Acrobat Boots soulmeld) + 10 (Skill Mastery) = 30
Which should get you out of most situations. Masterwork manacles will need a roll of 15 to slip out of. Shellie will never be able to slip the grasp of a sizable dragon that's got her grappled -- rely on Freedom of Movement for that.

Spoiler: Knowledge: religion

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12 ranks + 6 Int + 2 (Aid Another from familiar) + 10 (Skill Mastery) = 30
Auto-succeed on the check made with Antiquarian (Shellie's level 1).

Spoiler: Spot

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23 ranks + 0 Wis + 14 insight (Keeneye Lenses soulmeld) + 2 (Glaring Eye graft) + 2 Alertness feat (from familiar) + 4 competence (Skill Artistry @ level 16) + 10 (Skill Mastery) = 55
With Quick Reconnoiter, Shellie can take 10 on a Spot check as a free action. If she notices an invisible object (as per ELH p.44), she can try again (either as an action or on subsequent turns as the free action check) to try to roll a 15 or higher to pinpoint the object in question.

Spoiler: Use Magic Device

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21 ranks + 0 Cha + 1 roll (its possible, plan for it = 22
Auto-success on wand use. More importantly, the raven (even with it's -2 Cha modifier) can auto-succeed, too.

Spoiler: Resources

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Rogue -- PHB p.49
Antiquarian ACF -- Complete Champion p.51
Martial Rogue -- Unearthed Arcana p.58
Able Leaner feat -- Races of Destiny p.150
Darkstalker feat -- Lords of Madness p. 179
Mounted Combat feat -- PHB p.98
Incarnate -- Magic of Incarnum p.20
Totemist -- Magic of Incarnum p.29
Autohypnosis skill -- Expanded Psionics Handbook p.36
Quick Reconnoiter feat -- Complete Adventurer p.112
Trample feat -- PHB p.101
Quick Fingers ACF -- Dungeonscape p.13
Bonus Essentia feat -- Magic of Incarnum p.35
Obtain Familiar feat -- Complete Arcane p.81
Skill Tricks -- Complete Scoundrel p. 82
Wyrmgrafter feat -- Races of the Dragon p.101
Skill Focus feat -- PHB p.100
Exemplar -- Complete Adventurer p.44
Uncanny Trickster -- Complete Scoundrel p.67
Craft Wand feat -- PHB p.92

[Heliomance]

Entry number 6

Mellon

N Dragonborn Human Cloistered Cleric 5/Hoardstealer 4/Ruathar 2/Hoard +4/Sovereign Speaker 3/Hoard +2

Replace Rogue w/ Cleric obviously…

Spoiler: Background

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My papa was always fond of saying that if you walked in the forest and no one could see or hear you, were you ever really there?
He gave me a name, but used to just call me Boy. He said it was better sometimes to not be found, just in case someone or something came looking for you.

He taught me many things in life, not least of all about the lifelong path my feet have taken me on. He called me his “little helper”. In truth, I was a pack mule, but a well fed and well paid one once I could earn my keep.

In time, I heard other “voices” beyond his. Greater powers were calling me into a life of service, of a sort. First I answered the call of Bahamut and became a Dragonborn. I then sought out and gained the attention of Astilabor to whom we’d been tithing to for as long as I could remember. She sent an emissary to speak to me, a great honor indeed. I was instructed to continue my path for there were many others such as had paid her lip service, and promised their own tithes, but yet never paid their due. Of course after the collection had been made, I was free to do with it such as I would. My own hoard began to grow.

It wasn’t always dragons whose hoard I would raid either. Occasionally there would be some other fool who might leave their valuables unprotected or uncared for. Obviously I could do better, and so they were added to the pile. A hoard could come in any size after all as my papa was fond of saying. A chest, a coin purse, or a fistful of coins set down at the opportune moment.

On one such occasion, while visiting a particularly lax Emerald Dragon, I stumbled upon a scroll with a unique spell written upon it, while “helping” my party fight the beast after they stupidly aroused its attention. The spell located the lost Elfblade “Aryvelahr Kerym” known as The Warblade. I knew enough about artifacts to know that I should steer clear of them, and so I turned the scroll over to a representative of the House of Irithyl that I knew to be nearby. That is, after I’d made my due escape from those bumbling idiots. Seriously, learn to walk without making such a ruckous that only the dead could ignore. I did them the favor of saving their backsides of course before leaving, I’m not inhuman!
In return, the elvish Lords named me Friend, and gave me an honorific on top of that. I hadn’t sought payment, it was simply the right thing to do, but never look a gift elf in the mouth my papa used to say. I attracted the service of a Huitzil, and he became my familiar, and his hoard grew along with my own.

My travels took me to many a strange land. I was not always in service to Astilabor as I went my way. I’m not a mindless buffoon who only acts upon the whim of another. She is mighty indeed, but a man has needs, and a hoard must grow. In time I came to see some validity in the religion of one of those far off lands. I would never disavow Astilabor, but I could see no harm in honoring others as well.

As I’ve often told my own son, whom I call Boy, your life is what you make it, but don’t make it hard. Don’t be a complacent fool. Take charge of your own destiny. Find a cause or a path and walk it, just like my papa and I have done. The Gods have been, and will be, long before and after you are gone, so choose your allegiances wisely, whatever they may be.

Spoiler: Pt Buy/class stuff

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D6x17+D8x3+40 HPs

Deity: Astilabor

Dragonborn: Mind Aspect
Immune to paralysis/magic sleep. Darkvision 30ft and lowlight vision. +2 Listen/Search/Spot
at 6hd: Darkvision to 60, at 9HD DV to 90, lowlight to 3x human, at 12HD DV to 120, low to 4x human, 15HD gain Blindsense 30ft
+2 CON -2 DEX
gain (dragonblood) subtype, +2 dodge bonus to AC vs dragons, Immunity to Frightful Presence, Draconic Aspect (Mind), gain Speak Draconic

Cloistered Cleric:
As cleric, but 6+INT skills (add decipher script, speak language, all knowledges), d6 HD, poor BAB (I used Wiz progression), simple weapons, light armor proficiency, Lore (as bardic knowledge w/ cleric levels)

32 pt Buy:

Str 8
Dex 16
Con 12
Int 14
Wis 16
Cha 10
All points into WIS

Final
Str 8
Dex 14
Con 14
Int 14
Wis 21
Cha 10

A note on skills
Able learner = all skills cost 1 pt/rank regardless of class or not
at creation, Appraise, Hide, Knowledge Arcana, and Move Silently are all class skills via feat/domain with a bonus rank in both hide and move silent at level 1.
at 3rd lvl: Disable device, Open Lock, and Search become class skills via feat
Skill rank assignments and feats can be chosen at the same time, as per PHB 87.

CCLeric/Hoard=8 skill points/lvl, Ruathar=6/lvl, SS=4/lvl

Spoiler: Build

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Level	Class	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Skills	Feats	Class Features
1st	Cloistered Cleric1	+0	+2	+0	+2	Appraise 4, Concentration 2, cc-Disable Device 2, cc-Escape Artist 2, Hide 4, Knowledge Arcana 4, Knowledge Religion 1, Move Silently 4, cc-Open Lock 2, cc-Search 2, cc-Sleight of Hand 1, Spellcraft 4, cc-Spot 1, cc-UMD 1	Apprentice, (B) Knowledge Devotion, (B) Skill Focus -Appraise, (B) Able Learner	Rebuke Dragons ACF, Spells, Dragonborn stuff (Mind Aspect)
2nd	CCleric 2	+1	+3	+0	+3	Appraise 5, Conc 4, Hide 5, Know Arc 5, Know Rel 3, Move 5	-	-
3rd	CCleric 3	+1	+3	+1	+3	Appraise 6, Disable 3, Hide 6, Move 6, Open Lock 3, Search 3, Collector of Stories	Initiate of Astilabor	-
4th	CCleric 4	+2	+4	+1	+4	Appraise 7, Disable 4, Escape 3, Hide 7, Move 7, Open 4, Search 5	-	-
5th	CCleric 5	+2	+4	+1	+4	Appraise 8, Escape 4, Hide 8, Move 8, Search 8, UMD 2	-	-
6th	Hoardstealer 1	+2	+4	+3	+4	Conc 5, Disable 5, Escape 5, Open 5, Search 9, Sleight 2, UMD 4	Darkstalker	Darkvision +30, Trapfinding, Spells
7th	Hoard 2	+3	+4	+4	+4	Conc 6, Disable 6, Hide 10, Move 10, Open 6, Sleight 3, UMD 5	-	Hide from Dragon 1/day
8th	Hoard 3	+4	+5	+4	+5	Conc 8, Disable 8, Hide 11, Know Arc 6, Know Rel 4, Move 11	-	Trapsense +2, Deep Pockets
9th	Hoarde 4	+5	+5	+5	+5	Conc 9, Disable 9, Hide 12, Know Arc 7, Know Rel 5, Move 12, Open 8	Practised Spellcaster (Cleric)	Dowsing 1/day
10th	Ruathar 1	+5	+5	+7	+7	Conc 10, Disable 10, Hide 13, Know Arc 8, Know Rel 6, Move 13	-	Word of Friendship, Gift of Elves, +1 SC (Cleric)
11th	Ruathar 2	+6	+5	+8	+8	Conc 11, Disable 11, Hide 13, Know Arc 9, Know Rel 7, Move 14	-	Elfwise, Improved Lowlight, +1 SC (Cleric)
12th	Hoard 5	+6	+5	+8	+8	Conc 12, Disable 12, Hide 14, Know Arc 10, Know Rel 8, Move 15, Open 10	Obtain Familiar, (B) Alertness	Darkvision +60
13th	Hoard 6	+7	+6	+9	+9	Conc 13, Disable 13, Hide 15, Know Arc 12, Move 16, Open 12	-	Trapsense +4, Hide from Dragons 2/day
14th	Hoard 7	+8	+6	+9	+9	Conc 14, Disable 14, Hide 16, Know Arc 14, Move 17, Open 13, UMD 6	-	Dowsing 2/day
15th	Hoard 8	+9	+6	+10	+9	Conc 15, Disable 15, HIde 17, Know Arc 15, Move 18, Open 14, Swift Concentration	Worldly Focus	Skill Mastery (Conc, Disable, Hide, Move, Open Lock)
16th	Sovereign Speaker 1	+9	+6	+10	+11	Disable 16, Hide 18, Move 19, Open 15	-	Bonus Domain (Celerity)
17th	SS 2	+10	+6	+10	+12	Disable 17, Hide 19, Move 20, Open 16	-	Bonus Domain (Magic), +1 SC (Cleric)
18th	SS 3	+11	+7	+11	+12	Disable 18, Hide 20, Open 17, UMD 7	Dragonfoe	Bonus Domain (Luck), +1 3rd lvl domain slot, +1 SC (Cleric)
19th	Hoard 9	+11	+8	+11	+13	Hide 21, Move 21, Open 18, Sleight 6, Opening Tap	-	Darkvision +90, Trapsense +6
20th	Hoard 10	+12	+8	+12	+13	Open 20, Sleight 10, Clever Improviser	-	Dowsing 3/day, Hide from Dragons 3/day

Spoiler: Feats/Familiar/Skills

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1- Apprentice
1- (B) Knowledge Devotion
1- (B) Able Learner (cc skills only cost 1 pt)
1- (B) Skill Focus Appraise
3- Initiate of Astilabor (add Disable Device, Open Lock, Search to class skill list, spells)
6- Darkstalker
9- Practiced Spellcaster CArc 82 (+4 CL for 1 class - Cleric)
12- Obtain Familiar (comp arc 81) – Huitzil
12- (B) Alertness
15- Worldly Focus
18- Dragonfoe - +2 attacks vs dragons, +2 CL to overcome SR, dragons at -2 to saves

Familiar:
Huitzil (BASE)
N Tiny Animal (Dragonblood)
Init +2 Lowlight, Hover, (B) Weapon Finesse, Distract (Ex)
AC 17 Touch 14 Flat 15 (+2 size +2 Dex +3 Natural)
F2 R4 W0 STR 5 DEX 15 CON 10 INT 2 WIS 11 CHA 8
speed 10/fly 60 avg
Bite +4 (1d3-3) Talon -1 1d2-3) BAB/Grapple +0/-11
Hide +10, Sleight of Hand +10, Search +4, Spot +2

LVL 10 Familiar:
10HD ½ Master’s HP, +5 NA, INT 10, Master’s BAB/Base Saves/Skills
Alertness, Improved Evasion, Share Spells, Empathic Link, Deliver Touch Spells, Speak with Master, Speak with animals of its kind

Apprentice: No good listed options match the needs of a Hoardstealer, so we’re making one up based loosely off of the Criminal subtype.
Retain the extra starting 100 gold
Gain +2 to Move Silent checks, Associated Skills Hide, Move Silent

Skill Tricks:
Collector of Stories – gain a +5 bonus to all knowledge checks to ID monsters
Swift Concentration – maintain concentration as a swift action
Opening Tap – open locks as a swift action
Clever Improviser – ignore penalties to disable device/open lock from no tools

Spoiler: Spells/Domains

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Spoiler: Spells Table

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Cleric Spells per Day

Spoiler

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Level	0lvl	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th
1st	3	2+1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2nd	4	3+1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
3rd	4	3+1	2+1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
4th	5	4+1	3+1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
5-9th	5	4+1	3+1	2+1	-	-	-	-	-	-
10th	5	4+1	4+1	3+1	-	-	-	-	-	-
11-17th	6	5+1	4+1	3+1	2+1	-	-	-	-	-
17th	6	5+1	4+1	4+1	3+1	-	-	-	-	-
18-20th	6	6+1	5+1	5+2	3+1	2+1	-	-	-	-

HS Casting:

Spoiler

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Hoardstealer Spells per Day

Level	0lvl	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th
6th	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
7th	-	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
8th	-	2	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
9th	-	2	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
12th	-	2	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
13th	-	2	2	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
14th	-	3	2	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
15th	-	3	2	1	1	-	-	-	-	-
19th	-	3	3	1	1	-	-	-	-	-
20th	-	3	3	2	1	-	-	-	-	-

Add to list from Cloistered Cleric:
0-message, 1-erase, identify, unseen servant, 2-fox’s cunning, 3-illusory script, secret page, tongues, 4-detect scrying
At 3rd lvl, add from Initiate Feat
1-Hoard Gullet
2-Knock
3-Nondetection
7-Sequester


Cavern Domain
GP- Gain Stonecunning (PHB15)
1- Detect Secret Doors
2- Darkness
3- Meld into Stone
4- Leomund’s Secure Shelter
5- Passwall
6- Find the Path
7- Maw of Stone

Wealth Domain
GP- Gain Appraise as a class skill, add Skill Focus (Appraise) as a bonus feat
1-Alarm
2-Obscure Object
3-Glyph of Warding
4-Detect Scrying
5-Leomund’s Secret Chest
6- Forbiddance
7-Sequester

Magic Domain
GP: Use Scrolls/Wands/other devices with spell completion/trigger activation as a wizard of one-half your cleric level. For the purposes of a scroll or other magic device, if you are also a wizard, actual wizard levels and these effective wizard levels stack.
1-Magic Aura
2-Identify
3-Dispel Magic
4-Imbue with Spell Ability
5-Spell Resistance
6- Antimagic Field
7- Spell Turning

Celerity Domain
GP: Your land speed is faster by +10 feet as long as you are in light armor and carrying less than a med load.
1-Expeditious Retreat
2-Cat’s Grace
3-Blur
4-Haste
5-Tree Stride
6- Wind Walk
7- Cat’s Grace, Mass

Luck Domain
GP – 1/day reroll any roll before the DM declares success or failure, must keep 2nd roll
1-Entropic Shield
2-Aid
3-Protection from Energy
4-Freedom of Movement
5-Break Enchantment
6- Mislead
7-Spell Turning

Spoiler: Fun spell uses

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Unseen Servant – have it “stand” between you and the dragon, if the dragon charges you, it hit’s the US instead, allowing you time to gtfo. Or use it to carry off another 20 lbs of loot, or shovel it into a bag of holding etc. When sufficient currency is built up, save your slot for something else using a Collar of Perpetual Attendance instead (2k gold) to summon them at will.

Dark Way and Bridge of Sound can likewise be used to put a barrier between you and any dragon or other minion that might be trying to eat you.

Hoard Gullet is especially useful and synergetic, especially when combined with the share spells ability of your familiar.

Meld into Stone gives you a getaway option, and combining that with Footsteps of the Divine gives you a way to burrow through the rock, this is of course improved even further when using Hide from Dragons/Dimension door.

I think it’s a travesty that this SI doesn’t have silence on its spell list, so you need to obtain that some other way, like cleric 2! That will probably be a go to spell for a long time, so how about a wand or some scrolls of silence? Silence combined with Darkstalker means you can’t be detected at all for the duration, how would you make a Listening check when there’s nothing to hear?

Contingent Energy Resistance can be cast before you ever even enter the dungeon/dragons Lair and gives you an extra layer of defense should you be detected. Likewise Energetic Healing both gives you immunity to a breath weapon and gives some minor healing on top of that immunity.

In a pickle? Favorable Sacrifice turns that pile of loot the dragon has into massive defensive bonus’s to you. If you’re already caught, why not go whole hog?

Passwall, stoneshape are just more ways to get either into or out of the vault.

Quall’s Feather Token (tree) dropped in the middle of the dungeon, combined with Tree Stride means a get out of jail free card.

Possible Spells
Cleric:
1- Conjure Ice Beast, Ebon Eyes, Favorable Sacrifice, Snowshoes, Spell Flower,
2- Dark Way, Divine Insight, Spider Legs, Find Traps, Silence
3-Anti-Dragon Aura, Blindsight, Bridge of Sound, Chain of Eyes, Footsteps of the Divine, Mantle of X, Stone Shape, Meld into Stone
4-Abyssal Might, Contingent Energy Resistance,
5-Aura of Evasion, Divine Agility, Energetic Healing, Wall of Dispel Magic


14 INT = Bonus spells of 1-1,2-1
16 WIS = Bonus spells of 1-1, 2-1, 3-1
18 WIS = Bonus spells of 1-1, 2-1, 3-1, 4-1
20 WIS = Bonus spells of 1-2, 2-1, 3-1, 4-1, 5-1

Cleric CL = 13, but effective level 9th (5th’s}
HS CL = 10 (4th’s)

Spoiler: Build Breakdown

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5- the Knowledge Domain is traded for Knowledge Devotion. Through Feats and Domains you pick up Appraise, Hide, Knowledge Arcana and Move Silently, Search, Open Lock, and Disable Device as class skills. All the pre-reqs for the SI are paid off, at this point you’re a sneaky cleric. Conjure Ice Beast is your goto low level combat spell, otherwise you’re a support character/backup or replacement rogue and thanks to Lore + Collector of Stories+ Knowledge Devotion, a source of knowledge for your team or yourself. (Skill Focus Appraise is given up to Dragonborn)

10- Half way into the SI, you pick up Darkstalker and catch your cleric casting up with Practiced Sellcaster. Darkvision is out to 120ft at this point, who needs a torch? Ruathar gives you essentially a free magic item at the pointy eared one’s discretion, for us, probably boots of elven-kind which means a free +5 to move silently. At 3rd lvl Divine, and 2nd lvl Arcane from the crappy SI spell list. The first sweet spot is at level 6 where Darkstalker and Silence combine to make you practically undetectable.

15- 8/10 levels in the SI, 5 in CCleric and 2 in Ruathar. Pick up a Huitzil familiar, plenty on that already spelled out about how to use it. Pick up extra uses of the SI’s abilities, and take Worldly Focus as a feat, meaning we no longer need a holy symbol in our hands to cast. Swift Concentration frees up our action economy a bit. The second sweet spot is at lvl 12 where your Familiar comes online and starts synergizing with all your other abilities. The third sweet spot is at 15 when you can take 10 on all your most used abilities thanks to Skill Mastery.

20- Finishing off the SI as well as picking up 3 levels in Sovereign Speaker which also grants 3 additional Domains (Celerity, Magic, and Luck). Darkvision tops out at 210 feet and you gain Blindsense 30 feet on top of that. Dragonfoe is the final feat chosen giving bonus to you and negatives to them, 2 hoorays in one. Silent Spell could be a good alternative, allowing spell casting while in our near permanent silence field. Clever Improvisor means we don’t even have to carry tools with us anymore unless the bonus from using them is more important than not having them. Opening Tap also aids our action economy making those checks swift actions as well! Doing more stuff is always better than doing the same or less stuff per turn.

Spoiler: Build Thoughts

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First off, I don’t believe the “casts as a Wizard does” means that your HS casting would stack with any other wizardlike casting to grant you beyond this list, or that you could jump into something else and suddenly have 10 CL’s of wizard to build off of. So that means either a rogue/melee entry or choose another casting source for the other 10 levels of the build. I chose to go w/ Cloistered Cleric primarily for the skill points, but also because cleric casting options are strictly speaking better options thematically for this SI. Especially since you only need an INT of 14 to cast the entire HS spell list.

A lot of the the things in this build highlight and work in synergy right alongside the SI. Darkvision is maximized almost to the breaking point. 90 feet from the SI, an additional 120 feet from Dragonborn.

Trapfinding/Trap Sense is pretty underwhelming by itself, but considering that you assume you’ll be underground the majority of the time, the granted power of the Cavern Domain, stonecunning, grants you a bonus to find traps in stonework. On top of that, this SI is so MAD that you can’t optimize one ability score w/o drastically damaging another one that may be equally important. Elfwise also grants a minor bonus to help with these skills as well.

Deep Pockets is a great ability, but at only 1/day for 10 hours you better hope you can get out of the dungeon before all that comes up.. Hoard Gullet, when combined w/ share spells for your familiar emulates this, meaning you might have a bag of holding, or a belt of many pockets, or a handy haversack, or any other extra dimensional space as well. Hoard Gullet in turn makes your tummy a bag of holding, and you can just swallow things to your hearts content while also shoveling items into a bag, while also having your unseen servant do the same, while also having your familiar do the same… Add Favorable Sacrifice into this for when you get caught, and you will gain massive DR/SR and other defenses to help you get out. Many other spells/abilities will come online to assist in this. Survival is more important that money, but we’ll keep the money if at all possible. Don’t discount what your familiar can stuff down its throat just because he’s tiny. A 1000 pounds or 100 cubic feet of diamond dust, dragon bone dust, platinum coins, etc etc.

Hide from Dragons is great as a spell, but horrible as a class feature… 1 ROUND/level… what’s the point? However, combining Darkstalker and the spell Silence means you are basically invisible to that dragon unless it can detect you by some other means. Scent is your only weakness that HfD does for you, but in those 10 rounds while this is up, you better be getting out of dodge asap, lest a few dragon breaths are launched at your last known location.

Treasure Dowsing is so utterly worthless entirely that it is the only aspect of the SI not optimized. 3/day for 100 feet of range you can tell where a specific metal is. Whoopty do. The only thing you’re doing to make this better is the skill trick Swift Concentration that lets you possibly do this as a swift instead of a full round action, and combining that with skill mastery concentration. Otherwise, the ability links directly to the rod in the DMG of the same properties that instead of 100 feet range instead gives you 30 feet range on demand at the likewise exorbitant cost of 10k gold. (It’s called a search check…)

Finally, Skill Mastery. Taking 10 on our most used skills: Conc, Disable, Hide, Move, Open Lock means more likely than not instant success the majority of the time. The only thing to possibly switch out to make more sense would be Open Lock or Disable Device and replace either of them with UMD or Knowledge Arcana to stack on the Devotion pain (However you’re more interested in hiding from the dragon than fighting the dragon..).

Also, Knowledge Devotion, Lore, and Collector of Stories + Knowledge Arcane all combine to give you the leg up on your draconic foes. Dragonfoe later piles on the dragon hate train. Fun Fact, Collector of stories gives you a +5 competence bonus to knowledge checks, but doesn’t specify to which knowledge it applies. So for the low low price of 2 skill points for the skill trick, you gain a +5 bonus to ALL knowledge checks made to “learn powers or vulnerabilities”.

Lore (+7), Collector (+5), Know Arc (+15) plus a die roll equals your Know Devotion check. Obviously the Know Arc amount changes over time, but the result of that roll at any given point equals a bonus to attacks and damage of:

0-15 = +1
16-25= +2
26-30= +3
31-35= +4
36+ = +5

At first level our modifier would be Lore (+3) Know Arc (+4) plus a d20. At third it jumps to Lore (+5) Collector (+5), Know (+5) plus a d20, and it scales upward from there!

I briefly considered a dip into Contemplative for another bonus domain, this time the Time Domain. Improved Initiative is always nice, but I really just wanted access to Permanency as a 5th spell. However, with as much loot as you should be rolling in at the point that you would get access to this, you should be able to just buy all those effects on yourself anyways without it really effecting your pocketbook to much.

The magic domain’s granted power stacks ½ your cleric levels w/ effective wizard levels for the purposes of using items scrolls/wands/devices w/ spell completion triggers. Theoretically you could argue that your check for those would be: cleric 2 + wiz 10 + UMD + your d20 roll. It does state that if you are “actually a wizard”, however I think in this case the wording of how you cast as a HS would actually work in your favor. If the DM goes for it, bonus, if not, well, you have it worked into your build anyways, just not as “yay” as it could be otherwise.

Astilabor vs the Sovereign Host:
There is nothing in the PHB that unequivocally states that you can only have 1 deity as a cleric. In fact, a cleric doesn’t even need to have a deity if they so choose. I have chosen to serve Astilabor, but also later worship the Sovereign Host as a pantheon and not a single god. In fact, PHB page 106 states, “It is only prudent to be respectful toward or even pray to other deities when the time is right”. As a Neutral character I prefer good over evil, and have chosen to spontaneously convert spells to healing spells. The Host generally speaking looks out for the people. As a Cleric to Astilabor, I’m in favor of advancing the size of my own hoard primarily above all things, but I also care about the well-being of others.

Spoiler: Sources

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Complete Arcane – Obtain Familiar, Practiced Spellcaster
Complete Champion – Knowledge Devotion
Complete Divine – Celerity Domain
Complete Scoundrel –skill tricks
Draconomicon – Astilabor, Dragonfoe, Hoardstealer, Wealth Domain
Dragon Magic – Huitzil, Initiate of Astilabor, Rebuke Dragons ACF
DMG II – Apprentice
Faiths of Eberron – Sovereign Host, Sovereign Speaker, Worldly Focus
Lords of Madness – Darkstalker
Player’s Handbook – Cleric, Luck Domain, Magic Domain, Stonecunning
Races of Destiny – Able Learner
Races of the Dragon – Dragonborn
Races of the Wild - Ruathar
Spell Compendium – Cavern Domain
http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/cl...terClasses.htm
http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spellLists/clericDomains.htm - Magic Domain

[Heliomance]

Entry number 7

Astrid crouched, her calves growing sore, peering across the town square at the guard standing firmly in front of the gilded door.

“This is ridiculous,” whispered Nyssa. “We’ve been waiting for hours. Why don’t we just go in?”

“Well, if there wasn’t a guard standing in front of the door holding an axe that weighs more than the both of us combined, maybe I would!” She looked around. “Just wait. The prophecy said the warrior would appear. The prophecy is never wrong.”

“Well, it might not be wrong, but it’s certainly late,” she said. “It’s nearly sundown. Let’s just go up and see if they’ll let us in. Hells, how do we know the General is even still in there?”

“I don’t!” she hissed. “And don’t shove me. The warrior will come. Trust me. The great warrior will appear in the town square today and tear down the walls of corruption that have imprisoned our city. General Driftmoor will be cast aside, and the fires of revolution will finally come ablaze. This day has been written in the prophecy for hundreds of—”

“Hundreds of what?”

“Hang on, was that there before?”

“Was what there?”

“That… box. Was that always there?” Astrid looked around. In the middle of the square, next to the fountain, stood a little square structure no bigger than a farmer’s hut covered in greyish-blue metal. On the side facing them was a heavy door. Astrid slowly walked up to it, looking all around. No one else seemed bothered by the box’s sudden appearance. She raised her fist, hesitated, knocked.

“Just a minute!” came a small voice. There was a great scraping noise, several loud clunks, one loud clatter as though someone tripped over something large. Then the door shook with the sound of a large deadbolt withdrawing and swung inwards. “Yes?”

Astrid looked down. Standing barely more than waist-high was a little man… or was he? No, not a man, some kind of small machine made of wood and bronze and silver, leaning on a wooden walking stick with a black metal head. His small, mechanical eyes looked up at her. He was dressed oddly, a large burgundy frock coat and a child’s short-pants covered in patches over what appeared to be some sort of armor plating. All of this sopping wet, dripping noisily on the ground.

“I - hello, I…” Astrid stammered. “Um. You’re wet.”

“I was swimming,” he said. “It does tend to get one wet.”

“Swimming? In your clothes?”

“Well, I hardly had time to change,” he said testily.

Astrid peered around the little man into the small space behind him. “Where - where were you swimming?”

“In the swimming pool, of course,” he said. “Don’t ask stupid questions. Where am I, exactly?”

“What? You’re in Adderport,” Astrid answered, confused. “You don’t even…?”

“Oh, good,” said the little man, and he rushed out past her, slamming the door to the strange little room behind him as he went. Without stopping, he strode quickly across the town square and up to the large guard in front of General Driftmoor’s residence. “Hello,” he said, staring up at the man. “I’m here to see the General.”

The guard grunted and adjusted his axe. “Have you got an appointment?”

“No, I haven’t got an appointment. Just an old friend, passing by. Well, I wouldn’t say friend, exactly. More of an old associate. Well, maybe not associate, that’s not the word. Chum? Confidant? No, that’s not right either. Doesn’t matter. Just tell General Driftmoor I’m here. It’ll be a bit of a surprise. Can’t wait to see his face.”

“The General is occupied,” the guard grumbled. “Unless you have an appointment.”

“Just turn around and go inside and tell General Driftmoor that the Professor would like to see him,” said the man, shooing impatiently. “I haven’t got all day.”

“The Professor? Professor who?”

“Just the Professor. Tell him exactly that.”

The large man frowned and considered protesting further, then shrugged and went inside. Astrid crept closer to the door, waving Nyssa forward. She could just barely make out the sound of the guard’s deep voice grumbling through the door, then a loud bang, and heavy footsteps returning. The door swung open and the guard stood there again, still quite alone and frowning.

“The General, um, says thank you for coming by,” he said. “He regrets to inform you that he, uh, is just completely booked right now. No chance to chat, but, um…”

“He’s climbing out the rear window, isn’t he?” asked the Professor.

The guard sighed. “Yes, sir,” he said. “Yes he is.”

The Professor turned, his little legs carrying him quickly around the building. After several paces, he turned to Astrid and Nyssa. “Well?” he asked, the falling sun glinting off of eyes of metal and glass. “Are you coming?”

The Professor
CG Warforged Scout, Rogue 1/Artificer 9/Hoardstealer 10

"We're all stories in the end. Just make it a good one, eh?"

Spoiler: The Build

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Level	Class	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Skills	Feats	Class Features
1st	Rogue 1	+0	+0	+2	+0	Hide 4 ranks, move silently 4 ranks, use magic device 4 ranks, escape artist 4 ranks, search 4 ranks, open lock 4 ranks, disable device 4 ranks, appraise 4 ranks, craft (armorsmithing) 4 ranks, craft (weaponsmithing) 1 rank, forgery 1 rank, knowledge (arcana) 1 rank, decipher script 4 ranks, craft (alchemy) 4 ranks	Darkstalker	Sneak attack +1d6, trapfinding
2nd	Artificer 1	+0	+0	+2	+2	Appraise +1 rank (5), hide +1 rank (5), move silently +1 rank (5), use magic device +1 rank (5), search +1 rank (5), decipher script +1 rank (5)	Scribe ScrollB	Artificer knowledge, artisan bonus, disable trap, infuse self, item creation, Scribe Scroll
3rd	Artificer 2	+1	+0	+2	+3	Appraise +1 rank (6), hide +1 rank (6), move silently +1 rank (6), use magic device +1 rank (6), search +1 rank (6), craft (armorsmithing) +1 rank (5)	Brew PotionB, Wand Bonding	Brew Potion
4th	Artificer 3	+2	+1	+3	+3	Appraise +1 rank (7), hide +1 rank (7), move silently +1 rank (7), use magic device +1 rank (7), search +1 rank (7), knowledge (arcana) +1 rank (2)	Craft Wondrous ItemB	Craft Wondrous Item
5th	Artificer 4	+3	+1	+3	+4	Appraise +1 rank (8), hide +1 rank (8), move silently +1 rank (8), use magic device +1 rank (8), search +1 rank (8), craft (armorsmithing) +1 rank (6)	Extend SpellB	Tools of war, bonus feat
6th	Artificer 5	+3	+1	+3	+4	Hide +1 rank (9), move silently +1 rank (9), use magic device +1 rank (9), search +1 rank (9), craft (armorsmithing) +2 ranks (8)	Craft Magic Arms and ArmorB, Persistent Spell	Craft Magic Arms and Armor, craft weapon familiar
7th	Hoardstealer 1	+3	+1	+5	+4	Hide +1 rank (10), move silently +1 rank (10), use magic device +1 rank (10), search +1 rank (10), craft (armorsmithing) +2 ranks (10)		Darkvision +30 ft., trapfinding
8th	Hoardstealer 2	+4	+1	+6	+4	Hide +1 rank (11), move silently +1 rank (11), use magic device +1 rank (11), search +1 rank (11), craft (armorsmithing) +1 rank (11), craft (alchemy) +1 rank (5), disable device +1 rank (5)		Hide from dragons 1/day
9th	Hoardstealer 3	+5	+2	+6	+5	Hide +1 rank (12), move silently +1 rank (12), craft (armorsmithing) +1 rank (12), use magic device +1 rank (12), search +1 rank (12), open lock +1 rank (5), Clever Improviser skill trick	Landlord	Trap sense +2, deep pockets
10th	Hoardstealer 4	+6/+1	+2	+7	+5	Hide +1 rank (13), move silently +1 rank (13), craft (armorsmithing) +1 rank (13), use magic device +1 rank (13), search +1 rank (13), know (arcana) +1 rank (3), craft (alchemy) +.5 ranks (5.5)		Treasure dowsing 1/day
11th	Hoardstealer 5	+6/+1	+2	+7	+5	Hide +1 rank (14), move silently +1 rank (14), craft (armorsmithing) +1 rank (14), use magic device +1 rank (14), search +1 rank (14), know (arcana) +1 rank (4), craft (alchemy) +.5 ranks (6)		Darkvision +60 ft.
12th	Hoardstealer 6	+7/+2	+3	+8	+6	Hide +1 rank (15), move silently +1 rank (15), craft (armorsmithing) +1 rank (15), use magic device +1 rank (15), search +1 rank (15), craft (alchemy) +1.5 ranks (7.5)	Obtain Familiar	Trap sense +4, hide from dragons 2/day
13th	Hoardstealer 7	+8/+3	+3	+8	+6	Hide +1 rank (16), move silently +1 rank (16), craft (armorsmithing) +1 rank (16), use magic device +1 rank (16), search +1 rank (16), craft (alchemy) +1.5 ranks (9)		Treasure dowsing 2/day
14th	Hoardstealer 8	+9/+4	+3	+9	+6	Hide +1 rank (17), move silently +1 rank (17), craft (armorsmithing) +1 rank (17), use magic device +1 rank (17), search +1 rank (17), craft (alchemy) +1.5 ranks (10.5)		Skill mastery (use magic device, search, disable device, hide, move silently, forgery, appraise, open lock)
15th	Hoardstealer 9	+9/+4	+4	+9	+7	Hide +1 rank (18), move silently +1 rank (18), craft (armorsmithing) +1 rank (18), use magic device +1 rank (18), search +1 rank (18), craft (alchemy) +1.5 ranks (12)	Improved Familiar	Darkvision +90 ft., trap sense +6
16th	Hoardstealer 10	+10/+5	+4	+10	+7	Hide +1 rank (19), move silently +1 rank (19), craft (armorsmithing) +1 rank (19), use magic device +1 rank (19), search +1 rank (19), craft (alchemy) +2 ranks (14)		Treasure dowsing 3/day, hide from dragons 3/day
17th	Artificer 6	+11/+6/+1	+5	+11	+8	Hide +1 rank (20), move silently +1 rank (20), craft (armorsmithing) +1 rank (20), use magic device +1 rank (20), search +1 rank (20), craft (alchemy) +3 ranks (17)	Craft WandB	Craft Wand
18th	Artificer 7	+12/+7/+2	+5	+11	+8	Hide +1 rank (21), move silently +1 rank (21), craft (armorsmithing) +1 rank (21), use magic device +1 rank (21), search +1 rank (21), craft (alchemy) +3 ranks (20)	Dimensional Jaunt	Metamagic spell trigger
19th	Artificer 8	+13/+8/+3	+5	+11	+9	Hide +1 rank (22), move silently +1 rank (22), craft (armorsmithing) +1 rank (22), use magic device +1 rank (22), search +1 rank (22), craft (alchemy) +2 ranks (22), spellcraft +1 rank (1)	Rapid InfusionB	Bonus feat
20th	Artificer 9	+13/+8/+3	+6	+12	+9	Hide +1 rank (23), move silently +1 rank (23), craft (armorsmithing) +1 rank (23), use magic device +1 rank (23), search +1 rank (23), craft (alchemy) +1 rank (23), autohypnosis +1 rank (1)	Craft RodB	Craft Rod

Spoiler: Stats

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32-Point Buy (before racial mods): Str 8/Dex 12/Con 12/Int 18/Wis 10/Cha 14
(after racial mods): Str 6/Dex 14/Con 12/Int 18/Wis 8/Cha 12
Lvl 4: Str 6/Dex 14/Con 12/Int 19/Wis 8/Cha 12
Lvl 8: Str 6/Dex 14/Con 12/Int 20/Wis 8/Cha 12
Level 12: Str 6/Dex 14/Con 12/Int 21/Wis 8/Cha 12
Level 16: Str 6/Dex 14/Con 12/Int 22/Wis 8/Cha 12
Level 20: Str 6/Dex 14/Con 12/Int 23/Wis 8/Cha 12

Spoiler: Hoarstealer spells

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Hoardstealer Spells per Day

Level	1st	2nd	3rd	4th
6th	0	-	-	-
7th	1	-	-	-
8th	1	0	-	-
9th	1	0	-	-
10th	1	1	-	-
11th	1	1	0	-
12th	1	1	1	-
13th	2	1	1	0
14th	2	1	1	1
15th	2	2	1	1
16th	2	2	2	1

Spoiler: Infusions

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Infusions per Day

Level	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th
1st	-	-	-	-	-	-
2nd	2	-	-	-	-	-
3rd	3	-	-	-	-	-
4th	3	1	-	-	-	-
5th	3	2	-	-	-	-
6th	3	2	-	-	-	-
7th	3	2	-	-	-	-
8th	3	2	-	-	-	-
9th	3	3	1	-	-	-
10th	3	3	1	-	-	-
11th	3	3	1	-	-	-
12th	3	3	1	-	-	-
13th	3	3	1	-	-	-
14th	3	3	1	-	-	-
15th	3	3	1	-	-	-
16th	3	3	1	-	-	-
17th	3	3	2	-	-	-
18th	3	3	2	-	-	-
19th	3	3	3	1	-	-
20th	3	3	3	2	-	-

Spoiler: The Professor's Tools

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In general, despite being an artificer, the Professor spends very little time crafting. He primarily uses his infusions, especially spell-storing item, to create useful magic items on demand rather than crafting things in advance. However, he does have the ability to craft, letting him boost the strength of his party significantly or create useful wands and scrolls as necessary. This is not part of his normal modus operandi, and for the most part he functions fine without crafting at all, but it is an option he has for campaigns with significant periods of downtime.

There are, however, two exceptions: his walking stick/weapon familiar and his stronghold.

The Sonic Walking Stick
The Professor carries his weapon familiar, a small-sized heavy mace with an adamantine head, with him at all times, using it primarily as a walking stick and general tool.

As a weapon familiar (see the warforged artificer substitution level found on Races of Eberron p130), the heavy mace is a Chaotic Good intelligent item with an Intelligence and Charisma of 14 and Wisdom of 10. It provides the Professor with a +3 bonus on Use Magic Device checks and a +2 bonus on Fortitude saves. It can communicate telepathically with the Professor and also speaks Common, Draconic and Dwarven.

The Professor has also personally augmented this walking stick in a couple of key ways to better serve him as a tool. He has given it the warning weapon enhancement from the MIC, meaning it provides him a +5 insight bonus to his initiative whenever it is held, and also enchanted it with the following command word abilities (costs to the Professor in GP and XP follow parenthetically):

• Mage hand (CL 5) at will (2250gp, 180 xp)
• No light (CL 5) 3/day (1350gp, 108 xp)
• Guidance of the avatar (CL 3) 3/day (3240gp, 259xp)

The end result is that the Professor’s walking stick can be used to sunder and destroy items despite his low strength thanks to its ability to bypass hardness, warns him of danger, assists him in activating magic items, lets him move small objects from up to 50 feet away, allows him to suppress light in an area and provides him with the guidance necessary to succeed on many complicated tasks. This is his omni-tool, used to manipulate things from afar, disable traps, aid in sneaking, manipulate magical items and far, far more.

The total costs (including for adamantine and the base enhancements) fall well within the Professor’s wealth by level thanks to his ability to craft them himself.

The Stronghold

The Professor travels in a magical fortress, a stronghold he has assisted in building. This follows the rules for a mobile stronghold found in the Stronghold Builder’s Guide. The Professor’s fortress is a single stronghold space (per the guide, this is essentially one room with a maximum size of 20’x20’x10’), the size of a small cottage.

As each level progresses, the Professor uses the funds granted from his Landlord feat to make improvements on the stronghold. Remember that in addition to the funds granted at each level, Landlord also provides matching funds for any improvements beyond what is granted by the feat, meaning the Professor can make improvements beyond what the provided funds allow for at essentially half-price. The Professor can also receive some discounts by performing some spellcasting services himself.

Without dipping significantly into his own WBL or abusing the cost reduction of providing spellcasting himself, and primarily working off of what is provided via the Landlord feat, the Professor provides the following augmentations to his stronghold:

Spoiler: Stronghold construction

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• LEVEL 9 (25k): Basic construction. A fancy smithy (3000gp), surrounded by three-foot hewn stone (6000gp), three feet of packed earth (250gp) and three-inch iron (6000gp) walls, lined with lead (1000gp). He adds an iron door with an amazing lock (650gp). Improved arcane lock only adds another 205gp but significantly strengthens things. An engraved circle of protection against evil (7500gp) permanently provides the stronghold with the effects of a magic circle against evil.
• LEVEL 10 (25k): The stronghold becomes mobile with the addition of the crawling mobility feature (1000gp) at incredible speed (25000gp), allowing the stronghold to move at a rate of 10 miles/hour. This puts us slightly over the amount granted by Landlord at this level, requiring the Professor to use 500gp of his own WBL.
• LEVEL 11 (25k): Magically treating the walls of the stronghold doubles their hardness and HP (12000gp), while ethereal solid blocks any ethereal intrusion (12000gp).
• LEVEL 12 (25k): Flying (15000gp) and burrowing (10000gp) are the next additions.
• LEVEL 13 (50k): The Professor’s stronghold can now greater teleport once per day (50000gp).
• LEVEL 14 (50k): Plane shift 1/day (25000gp) lets the Professor visit other planes, while the Veil of Obscurity (25000gp) allows it to be disguised as though by a mirage arcana spell.
• LEVEL 15 (50k): Magically treated adamantine walls (42000gp) get added onto the outside of the stronghold. A hall of speech (4000gp) means that the Professor can understand any written or spoken language inside his stronghold, while a trio of invisible helpers (4500gp) provide him with help and support in his smith.
• LEVEL 16 (50k): The stronghold can greater teleport one additional time each day.
• LEVEL 17 (100k): Two prismatic screens (60000gp each) cover the front and rear of the stronghold with a prismatic wall that refreshes every 24 hours if destroyed. (This requires an additional 10k gp fromthe Professor’s WBL.)
• LEVEL 18 (100k): And two more prismatic screens cover the other two faces of the stronghold.
• LEVEL 19 (100k): Another prismatic screen for the ceiling (60000gp), and six freestanding walls of force (4k each) seal in the stronghold in a cube of force; as the Professor has at-will teleportation by now, he no longer needs doors. A pool of scrying (12000gp) allows the Professor to scry on things from afar.
• LEVEL 20 (200k): Improved magic warding (50000gp) gives the Professor and any other occupants SR32. Solid fog veil (22500gp) allows the Professor to surround his stronghold with a solid fog. Another use of plane shift (25000gp) and greater teleport (50000gp) finishes things up.

Spoiler: Build Details

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First, let's get this out of the way: despite being inspired by the Doctor and involving some oft-maligned build aspects like artificer, this is not a joke build. The Professor is designed to be the ultimate in party support, utility and buffing, capable of getting into (and out of) most dungeons, carrying the party with his mobile stronghold and carting out treasure hoards. He works well in both small groups and large ones, designed to always have the right tool up his sleeve for just about any occasion.

The Professor begins as a fairly roguish character, focusing on stealth, infiltration and trapfinding (the ability so nice he gets it thrice!). His small size and above-average Dexterity alongside Darkstalker gives him great stealth for the level, made better by utility from things like artificer’s skill enhancement.

A note on artificer: the Professor is not intended to be your typical crafting artificer, insisting on days of downtime to constantly craft. While there are a few things he will craft himself (most notably his weapon familiar, a heavy mace he uses as a walking stick), his artificer levels are mostly focused on skills and buffing via infusions. At low levels, things like personal weapon augmentation, magic vestment, lesser construct essence and skill enhancement will be some of his best early options, alongside the excellent utility of component-free identify.

His largest power jump at the early levels comes at level 6, when he creates his weapon familiar, a heavy mace he uses as his walking stick. As he spends very little time actually crafting, retain essence is easy to give up. This is a fantastic tool in general, an intelligent item that speaks to him telepathically and does absolutely everything from manipulating traps from afar to creating pockets of darkness to hide in to boosting his skills to incredible levels. It also provides him a significant boost to his UMD checks, which means that alongside skill enhancement he can start hitting the DCs necessary to use spell-storing item. This provides absolutely outrageous flexibility, letting him create a single-use wand of any low level spell from any list with only a minute of preparation. Let that sink in for a bit. This isn’t Schroedinger’s Artificer, who happens to have the right scroll or wand prepared in advance at the right time. The Professor uses this infusion to grant access to the spells he need, when he needs them. Now here is where the real fun comes in: also at level 6, the Professor gets access to third level infusions. Go ahead and look at metamagic item off of that list. The Professor can use this to create just about any low level buff he wants and then persist it via metamagic item.

So, this is what we can expect from the Professor’s low levels: excellent scouting and manipulation, good party buffing (including low level persistomancy) and the ability to bring up almost any low level spell on demand.

With the early levels of hoardstealer, the Professor has gotten a few nice abilities: spells to help divine or feed into his Wand Bonding feat, a nice (if a bit niche) SLA, the ability to dowse for treasure and the ability to create extradimensional pockets. Yes, that’s right, his pockets are bigger on the inside. Note that as a small-sized construct, the Professor can actually enter these spaces himself once they are large enough, using them as hiding spaces or to create mini-rooms within the stronghold he is creating. (Such as, for example, turning a small chest into a swimming pool.) His darkvision is also a great little bonus, letting him use pockets of natural darkness (which he can create using his weapon familiar) offensively: he can see in them just fine, but creatures with darkvision can’t see him in return, thanks to Darkstalker.

That stronghold finally becomes ready at level 9, when he takes the Landlord feat. Well, what did you think he was raiding dragon hoards for? And how else did you expect him to haul all of that treasure away? Landlord both provides significant funds toward the building of a stronghold, and also matches additional funds that the Professor spends to further augment the space. While strongholds are usually so expensive (and, you know, stationary) that this isn’t a big deal, the Professor is specifically using the rules on p47 of the Stronghold Builder’s Guide for mobile strongholds, and creating a small stronghold the size of a single stronghold space. This actually means that many of the more expensive augmentations of strongholds become surprisingly affordable. Eventually, this will be a nigh-indestructable mini-fortress capable of moving, teleporting and plane shifting as needed, but right from the get-go it’s a great way for the party to get around.

In the mid-levels, there are a few big abilities that come online. At level 12 the Professor picks up a raven familiar, Kitt Darkfeather. Familiars are great for everyone, especially scouts, but they’re even better for artificers, since this gives you both shared spells and a second source of actions with the ability to activate items. At level 14, hoardstealer’s skill mastery comes online, meaning (among other things) that the Professor autosucceeds on all relevant UMD checks, even the high-DC spell-storing item uses. And at level 15, Kitt gets upgraded to Kaynein: a pseudodragon. Pseudodragons are a lot of fun, and Kaynein in particular is useful here, able to serve as the navigation system for the Professor’s stronghold. Kaynein can sit atop the stronghold, remaining hidden (tiny size, a racial bonus to hide and the Professor’s skill ranks mean it’s quite good at this) and observing things with blindsense, while all the while telepathically communicating with the Professor.

Once he finishes with hoardstealer, the Professor returns to artificer. Right off the bat he can start creating spell-storing items of third and fourth level spells. This means access to everything from planar binding (yes, the full version, thanks demonologist!) to summon giants (ordinarily a level 8 spell, thanks disciple of Thrym!), and a wealth of spells to persist. This gets even better when the Professor gets concurrent infusions, letting him get three uses of spell-storing item in one go, without using those infusion slots. Even better, it’s a valid target for Rapid Infusion, meaning he can now do this in a single round. The Professor also can now use his hoardstealer spells to give him access to at-will teleportation thanks to the Dimensional Jaunt feat (especially handy once he encases his stronghold in a cube made of walls of force).

To summarize the Professor’s abilities:

• Excellent stealth and scouting skills.
• The ability to create single-use wands on demand of any spell, from any list.
• The ability to persist spells cast from items (including the above) without requiring additional charges.
• The ability to use his Hoardstealer spells to activate wands without consuming their charges.
• At-will short range teleportation.
• An intelligent walking stick that allows the Professor to manipulate items from afar, succeed on most skill checks or create pockets of darkness (which the Professor can see in thanks to his Darkvision, while remaining invisible to other foes thanks to Darkstalker).
• A powerful mobile stronghold with strong defenses that can move quickly and eventually fly, burrow, teleport, plane shift and scry.
• A telepathically linked pseudodragon familiar that assists him in activating items or scouting.
• The ability to create extradimensional pocket spaces inside almost anything that allow him to cart away huge treasure hoards despite his small size and low Strength and, as he is a construct, even utilize as hiding spaces.
• General party support thanks to artificer abilities and the mobile stronghold, which is a great way to let the party move around in style.

Spoiler: Interlude

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The Professor stopped, held up one small hand. “Wait, don’t move.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Oh, nothing,” he said. “Well... almost certainly nothing. Or maybe something very little. Well... little is relative. Let’s say, in the grand scheme of things, something very small and probably inconsequential. Well, maybe not inconsequential to you or me. Alright, maybe it’s something just the teensiest bit fatal. Although, well, are there degrees of fatal? I mean that’s an interesting question. Can something be—”

“Professor!”

“Oh, right fatal,” he said. He lifted his walking stick, peered across the top, pointed it all around. “Hm,” he muttered. “Alright, just a moment… gotcha. Just move six, no, six and a half feet to the left. No, my left. Slowly. Perfect.” He rapped the metal head of the stick hard against the wall. Something crunched, crumbled. A whistling sound filled the air, followed by a clattering as a handful of bolts shot across the corridor and rebounded off the far wall. “See?” he said. “Hardly fatal at all. Although… when I see a big dangerous trap like that, it makes me wonder what it’s protecting.”

The Professor’s mechanical eyes shuttered, and he rotated slowly on the spot, pivoting on his walking stick. Halfway through his quiet circle, the eyes flew open. “That way,” he said, pointing his walking stick at the ground below him.

“What’s that way?” Astrid asked.

“Gold.” He grinned. “A big, glittering, shiny pile of gold. Possibly a dragon, too. Can’t be sure. But definitely gold. And a big, glittering, shiny pile of gold has my name written all over it. Or, well... not yet. But give me time. And an inkpot.”

Spoiler: Hoardstealer

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"Bad time to forget your walking stick, Professor," Astrid panted, staring at the locked door in front of them.

"Forgot?" The Professor reached deep into his pocket, fumbled, pulled. From his small pocket first the head, then long body of his walking stick emerged. "I never forgot my walking stick. It wouldn't let me."

"How... how did you fit that in your pocket?"

The Professor shrugged. "It's bigger on the inside."

Why Hoardstealer? While admittedly a lot of the inspiration from this build grew out of the “it’s bigger on the inside” concept of extradimensional spaces, the class actually provides everything the build needs to come together.

First, regarding entry: can the Professor contribute meaningfully to the raid of a dragon hoard worth 5000gp? Let's look at the figures. Before items are taken into effect, the Professor should have a hide check of +15 at ECL 6, boosted to +19 by skill enhancement and able to bypass the dragon's blindsight thanks to Darkstalker. If this is insufficient (depending on the age of the dragon, it might be), he can use his infusions to give his armor plating the shadow and silent moves enhancements for another +5 to hide and MS. He can also hand out the relevant energy resistance to his whole party, boost weapons with bane enhancements and more. These alone should let him participate meaningfully without stealing the show. And if he has to steal the show? Well, a scroll of shivering touch is a mere trifle for him to create by ECL 6.....

Now, onto the class features:

Spells: On the surface, what could Hoardstealer’s strangely limited spellcasting possibly offer a spell storing item-focused artificer? Quite a lot, it turns out. As flexible as artificer infusions are, they come with a lot of limitations. Hoardstealer has arcane Int-based casting from a really solid list, and while all of its spells could be duplicated by spell storing item, they still provide excellent utility and let the Professor focus his spell storing item shenanigans on buffing and utility. In particular, the divination focused spells are key for the Professor: arcane eye, arcane sight, clairaudience/clairvoyance, detect magic and locate object are all essential spells that allow the Professor to monitor things from within his stronghold or locate key items as he adventures.

Most important of all, however, is that spellcasting allows him to qualify for several abilities that would otherwise be out of reach for the artificer. Most significant among these are Obtain Familiar and Improved Familiar, as this gives him access to a familiar, which not only provides additional actions and can activate magical items (invaluable for an artificer), but which eventually also serves as the navigation system for his mobile fortress. He also uses these spells to qualify for Dimensional Jaunt, giving him at-will teleportation that combines well with spells that allow him to see from afar such as arcane eye and clairvoyance. Finally, he can use these spell slots by feeding them into his Wand Bonding ability, allowing him to not only avoid expending charges but also increase the caster level of said abilities.

(Note: ASF does apply, as the Professor does have armor plating despite being a scout. The twilight enhancement is his friend.)

Darkvision: The Professor above all else focuses on scouting and mobility, especially searching. You can’t search if you can’t see, and 90’ darkvision is rather good. The Professor also uses this abilities offensively, by suppressing light sources via no light. The Professor’s darkvision lets him function freely in such areas, while his own Darkstalker feat means that he retains concealment and the ability to hide from enemies with darkvision.

Trap sense: Fast trap sense advancement is great for any scout. The Professor loves to seemingly blunder through trapped areas, disabling things as he goes.

Deep pockets: Any container can now become an extradimensional storage with 100 cubic feet of space. This ability was actually the original inspiration for this build (it’s bigger on the inside!). In addition to the obvious uses, the Professor creates these extradimensional spaces in small storage containers within his stronghold, allowing him to create small rooms on a whim that, as a small-sized construct, he can enter freely.

Treasure dowsing: With over three times the range of the rod and no easy way to block this effect (unlike similar detection spells this is not blocked by physical barriers such as a foot of stone or a lining of lead), the Professor can use this ability to pinpoint treasure hoards used to fund his stronghold. However, this does not merely find gold (which he can find with the underrated gold finder spell - with his 8 ranks in Appraise and his Int, he autmoatically succeeds on the DC 15 Appraise check the spell requires). No, unlike gold finder, treasure dowsing works on any metal or mineral, can be used from within his lead-lined stronghold, and can allow him to pinpoint, for example, the location of all steel within ten feet per Hoardstealer level, letting him pinpoint foes while remaining safely within his stronghold.

Skill mastery: Perhaps most important after the spellcasting, skill mastery is a fantastic ability that guarantees the Professor will succeed on all of his many UMD checks from level 14 on, and also makes him significantly more reliable at trapfinding, detection and stealth.

Spoiler: Sources

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The most relevant sources for the Professor are the Stronghold Builder's Guide and the Eberron books.

In addition to being where you will find the Landlord feat, Stronghold Builder's Guide is also where all of the rules for stronghold construction and associated costs are detailed.

Infusions are all found in the Eberron Campaign Setting and Magic of Eberron, as is Rapid Infusion.

Artificer is also found in ECS, with the warforged substitution levels and weapon familiar rules located in Races of Eberron. The warforged scout itself can be found in Monster Manual 3. Wand Bonding is from City of Stormreach (it's a pain to find, because the book is laid out oddly, but it's there - check page 119!).

Other sources are as follows:

• SRD: Rogue class, Improved Familiar feat, crafting feats, Extend Spell feat, pseudodragon, autohypnosis skill.
• Draconomicon: Hoardstealer class.
• Lords of Madness: Darkstalker feat.
• Complete Arcane: Persistent Spell, Obtain Familiar feats.
• Complete Mage: Dimensional Jaunt feat.
• Complete Scoundrel: Clever Improviser skill trick.
• Book of Vile Darkness: No light spell.
• Online spells: guidance of the avatar and gold finder.

“This is one corner… of one country, in one continent, on one world that’s a corner of one plane that’s a corner of one multiverse that is forever growing and shrinking and creating and destroying and never remaining the same for a single millisecond. And there is so much, so much to see...”

[Heliomance]

Entry number 8

Stub: True Neutral Naenhoon Illumian (to necropolitan to spellstiched necropolitan) spellthief 1/dread necromancer 1/rainbow servant 10/uncanny trickster 2/hordestealer 6
Stats

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Str 8 con 8 dex 12 wis 10 int 18 cha 16 32 pb. Increase wis at 4 8 12, cha at 16 20

Sharing is caring. In Soviet Russia.
Backstory

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Paityr was born on the streets, or at least he assumed he was. Someone left him on the doorstep of a library, sigils circling his head. The librarians were rather unsure what to do with him so they gave him to a church, who kept him more or less sequestered in a tiny cell as he grew. He lived in abject poverty while he watched the priests grow fat on their largess. No one knew what the symbols meant and thought him cursed. He didn’t either, and he might have agreed with them if he had cared.
He took to the tomes the churched owned with a feverish intensity, devouring the written word. He was reading before he walked if you believed the clerics. At a very early age he would sneak out and sneak into the library, and he went to their modest stacks in no time. His memory was excellent if his body was frail, and soon he was left alone with nothing to take his time. He spent his time on the streets and learned the value of gold, and more importantly the value of magic. And how to get it for himself, and anyone else who deserved it.
With his keen eye he quickly saw that even most precious gems were worth a fraction of a simple bit of magic. A successful craftsman might earn a small handful of gold in a year, but a lone potion of the most moderate magic easily tripled that. And was much easier to hide. Magic was the key to wealth. It was no coincidence he never saw a poor wizard. It wasn’t right. It wasn’t fair. Why couldn’t everyone enjoy the comforts of wealth. It seemed so easy.
He tried talking to the other urchins and pickpockets, but most were superstitious of his sigils. Even though he could with effort suppress them, they were a distraction. No one would talk to him, or try to listen. No matter how much wealth he spread around. It was like that tiny cell at the church. He would have to make what changes he could. And he really wanted someone to talk to about it.
Then one day he decided to attempt to rob an apprentice wizard, and something marvelous happened. He not only managed to knock him out and steal some potions, he somehow stole magic. It wasn’t much, just a little dart of energy, but he took it and used it. The world seemed very much open to possibility now. He would have told someone how great it was, but unfortunately, no one wanted to talk to him. And no one seemed to believe them when he could get someone, despite gold or silver changing hands. He really needed someone else to talk to.
He developed his special brand of thievery a bit, and poured his funds, that he didn’t spread around, into books. Knowledge was one of his only solaces. He read anything he could find, especially about magic. One lucky find from a travelling peddler was a book describing the results of necromancy. The book told of the awfulness of it all, but Paityr thought, doesn’t seem so bad. So no one liked necromancers. Well no one liked him, and drudge work being able to be done indefinitely by a free worker could only enrich everyones lives. As long as you were responsible, it was like any other knowledge; a power, a tool, but the use determined its moral or ethical value. It also seemed pretty easy if he put his mind too it.

After a significant amount of trial and error, he got the knack of it. You just had to think about it in the right way, then follow your gut. Or your head. Or the trail of guts in the alley, you could probably do something with that. He spent his time hanging around graveyards and crypts, testing his newfound powers out. He had many close calls, but finally he managed to make a friend. He called him Ivan.
Ivan was a good listener. Sure he smelled a bit, and parts of him had a habit of falling off, but Paityr could talk to Ivan about anything. He groaned a bit, but that was ok. He was content to stay in the sewer most of the time, and it helped mask the smell. A bit.
He would get feisty every few days, but a bit of magic, a bit of personality, and he stayed a good loyal friend. He started experimenting with how much he could have Ivan do to help people, in secret because they wouldn’t understand that he was more or less harmless as long as he could keep a tight leash metaphorically on him. The physical leash didn’t work, tended to cut through bits and Ivan would become unleashed. And the leash got all gooey.
The townsfolk eventually found out, because sewers don’t stink as much to some, and they ran him and ivan out of town. Paityr was upset. Why couldn’t they see? Ivan was harmless. He didn’t even eat, as long as he kept the leash on. That business with Miss Davis’s cat was a total accident. No one likes being scratched, and Paityr was a bit late with the magic. It happens.
So him and Ivan, slightly torched and full of pitchfork holes, just kept moving away. He did what he could to help those he found in his travels. A bit of drudgery for a place to stay for a night or three, an occasionally bit of magic or money stolen from those who could afford it, spread around the community. Besides, he liked to get a new book every now and again, and it didn’t seem right to steal them. Thye written word was sacred. He did not know why he felt that way, but he did.
He found an old tome telling of a temple of fantastic beasts somewhere in the jungles, with standards different from most people and a different worldview, and decided why not. Ivan unfortunately didn’t make it, some jungle thing decided to snack on him, but he was a good friend while it lasted. He would have to find another Ivan. He decided it would always be Ivan. A good way to remember a friend.
A few months, and several Ivans later, including very skinny and boney Ivan the once-crocodile, and Paityr lacking in any Ivan (skinny boney Ivan the once-crocodile happened to threaten some big nasty river thing, Paityr was sure skinny boney Ivan would have wanted him to go on and find another Ivan. He was that kind of chap.) , he found the temple. They lived communally and respectfull which was nice.
They told him of his heritige, and about his sigils and what they meant. It would have been nice ten years ago but Paityr had figured most of that out already. Besides he just felt like Paityr. Always had. So no big deal.
The beautiful serpents listened calmly to his tale, and took pity on him, but forbid any Ivaning while he lived and worked there, and learned from them. Paityrs ideas were not necessarily bad, but his implementation needed work. He didn’t understand what it was like to be undead and all that entailed, so he couldn’t properly see the error of his ways.
Well, thought Paityr, maybe I can do something about that. He was scared at first, death is always scary, but he thought it might be a good idea. Besides, he would like to understand his friend Ivan better. Dying was pretty bad, but the travelling lizard who helped him said he would now never have to worry about it again. His weak body didn’t matter, and he could read and study more, so he could keep on learning, instead of doing pesky things like eating and sleeping.
The Coatls were shocked of course, but they admitted their phrasing might have been wrong, and he was still a decent enough guy. He studied with them a while longer, and they opened his mind to a wide variety of different ways of using his magical talent.

With his increased time and knowledge, he thought back to the problem of the world. That distinct lack of finanical freedom for one and all, was troubling. He understood that not everyone could survive the world as undead, which would be bad, but there had to be a way. Who has a bunch of magic and money to spread around. Then a thought hit him. Dragons do.
They had plenty, and didn’t need near as much as they had, so why not redistribute all of that wealth around?

The coatls didn’t like that idea, and if he were to pursue that path, he would not be welcome anymore in their temple. It was a hard decision, they listened almost as good as an Ivan, but their life was not for him. He wanted to help people more, bring that equality to all. He stayed for a little bit saying he would reconsider, but really he just needed a bit of prep time. He contacted various powers, used a fair bit of magic, and managed to locate a nice little horde not too far from the jungle temple he was in. He called a few allies, wished the coatl’s well, and divined his way to the nice and empty cave of a local green dragon. He managed to make a few ivans, including one from the body of the one who ate skinny boney Ivan the once-crocodile. He thought skinny boney Ivan the once-crocodile would like that. His allies balked a bit, but they had agreed to assist in recovery so they couldn’t back out now. Besides, Ivan’s are strong, so it was a nice convienent way to transport their soon to be riches.

His magic lead him seamlessly past all the barriers and traps that the place had, and he got a nice sizable bit of treasure. HIs allies departed, after they had their cut, which was only fair. He took the rest, had it delivered in part to the coatls as a thank you. He took a brief vacation around some of the nicer planes of existence as a reward for himself and his Ivans, then decided he might have found a way to fix the world. There are a lot of dragons, and as long as he didn’t have an Ivan deliver it, he thought it would be a great way to help a lot of people. The Ivans seemed to agree.

He gave himself a little more magic, and decided it was a good time to get a few more allies, more permanent though. He had the Ivans and a few less than reputable allies he met during his travels help secure him a few reasonably power mortals, and he offered them great power and a chance to better the world. Enough ivans made that a very reasonable offer, so they joined up. He called them Igors. He had them help him better the world, one dragon horde at a time. They actually talked back! It was nice to have friends.

Level by level table

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Level	Class	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Skills	Feats	Class Features
1st	Spellthief 1	0	-1	+1	+2	Appraise 4, Concentration 4, Disable Device 4, Escape Artist 4, Hide 4, Knowledge Arcana 4, Move Silently 4, Open Lock 4, Search 4, Use Magic Device 4	Heighten Spell	Naen Sigil, Steal spell 0 or 1st, Trapfinding, Sneak Attack +1d6
2nd	Dread Necromancer 1	+0	-1	+0	+4	Appraise 4.5, Concentration 5, Disable Device 4, Escape Artist 4, Hide 5, Knowledge Arcana 5, Move Silently 5, Open Lock 4, Search 4.5, Use Magic Device 4	-	Hoon Sigil, Naenhoon word, Rebuke Undead, Charnal touch
3rd	Rainbow Servant 1	+0	-1	+6	+2	Collector of Stories, Appraise 4.5, Concentration 6, Disable Device 4, Escape Artist 4, Hide 4, Knowledge Arcana 5, Move Silently 5, Open Lock 4, Search 4.5, Spellcraft 3, Use Magic Device 4	Master Spellthief	Detect evil (sp), Good Domain(good caster level +1)
4th	Rainbow Servant 2	+1	-1	+0	+7	Collector of Stories, Appraise 5, Concentration 7, Disable Device 4, Escape Artist 4, Hide 5, Knowledge Arcana 5, Move Silently 5, Open Lock 4, Search 5, Spellcraft 6, Use Magic Device 4	-	Wis +1
5th	Rainbow Servant 3	+1	+1	+2	+7	Collector of Stories, Appraise 5.5, Concentration 8, Disable Device 4, Escape Artist 4, Hide 5.5, Knowledge Arcana 5, Move Silently 5.5, Open Lock 4, Search 5.5, Spellcraft 7, Use Magic Device 4	-	Ritual of crucimigration, Undead type goodies, Turn Resistance +2, Resist control, Unnatural Resilience
6th	Rainbow Servant 4	+2	+1	+2	+8	Collector of Stories, Appraise 6, Concentration 9, Disable Device 4, Escape Artist 4, Hide 6, Knowledge Arcana 5, Move Silently 6, Open Lock 4, Search 6, Spellcraft 8, Use Magic Device 4	Extend Spell	Extra Domain (Air), grow wings
7th	Rainbow Servant 5	+2	+1	+2	+8	Collector of Stories, Appraise 6.5, Concentration 10, Disable Device 4, Escape Artist 4, Hide 6.5, Knowledge Arcana 5, Move Silently 6.5, Open Lock 4, Search 6.5, Spellcraft 9, Use Magic Device 4	-	-
8th	Rainbow Servant 6	+3	+2	+3	+10	Collector of Stories, Appraise 7, Concentration 11, Disable Device 4, Escape Artist 4, Hide 7, Knowledge Arcana 5, Move Silently 7, Open Lock 4, Search 6.5, Spellcraft 11, Use Magic Device 4	-	Wisdom +1
9th	Rainbow Servant 7	+3	+2	+3	+10	Collector of Stories, Swift concentration, Magical Appraisal,Appraise 7, Concentration 12, Disable Device 4, Escape Artist 4, Hide 7, Knowledge Arcana 5, Move Silently 7, Open Lock 4, Search 6.5, Spellcraft 12, Use Magic Device 4	Persist Spell, Law devotion	Detect Chaos, Extra Domain Law traded for Law Devotion,
10th	Rainbow Servant 8	+4	+2	+3	+11	Collector of Stories, Swift concentration, Magical Appraisal,Clever ImprovisorAppraise 7, Concentration 12, Disable Device 5, Escape Artist 4, Hide 7, Knowledge Arcana 5, Move Silently 7, Open Lock 5, Search 6.5, Spellcraft 12, Use Magic Device 4 [td]-	-
11th	Rainbow Servant 9	+4	+3	+4	+11	Collector of Stories, Swift concentration, Magical Appraisal,Clever Improvisor, Appraise 8, Concentration 12, Disable Device 5, Escape Artist 4, Hide 8, Knowledge Arcana 5, Move Silently 8, Open Lock 5, Search 6.5, Spellcraft 12, Use Magic Device 4	-	-
12th	Rainbow Servant 10	+5	+3	+4	+12	Collector of Stories, Swift concentration, Magical Appraisal,Clever Improvisor, Appraise 8, Concentration 13, Disable Device 5, Escape Artist 4, Hide 8, Knowledge Arcana 5, Move Silently 8, Open Lock 5, Search 8, Spellcraft 14, Use Magic Device 4	Divine Metamagic: Persist	Cleric Spell access, detect thought (sp), Wisdom +1
13th	Uncanny trickster 1	+5	+3	+6	+11	Collector of Stories, Swift concentration, Magical Appraisal,Clever Improvisor,Conceal Spellcasting, Appraise 8, Concentration 13, Disable Device 5, Escape Artist 4, Hide 8, Knowledge Arcana 5, Move Silently 8, Open Lock 5, Search 8, [b]Sleight of Hand 5[b], Spellcraft 14, Use Magic Device 11	Planar touchstone: Catelouges of Enlightenment (extra turning from undeath domain)	Bonus trick Conceal spellcasting, favored trick conceal spellcasting,
14th	Uncanny Trickster 2	+6	+3	+7	+12	Collector of Stories, Swift concentration, Magical Appraisal,Clever Improvisor,Conceal Spellcasting, False Theurgy, Appraise 8, Concentration 13, Diplomacy 8, Disable Device 5, Escape Artist 4, Hide 8, Knowledge Arcana 5, Move Silently 8, Open Lock 5, Search 8, Sleight of Hand 8, Spellcraft 14, Use Magic Device 12	-	Advance dread necromancer class, Bonus trick false theurgy, favored trick false theurgy
15th	Hordestealer 1	+6	+5	+11	+17	Collector of Stories, Swift concentration, Magical Appraisal,Clever Improvisor,Conceal Spellcasting, False Theurgy, Appraise 8, Bluff 8 , Concentration 13, Diplomacy 8, Disable Device 5, Escape Artist 4, Hide 8, Knowledge Arcana 5, Move Silently 8, Open Lock 5, Search 8, Sleight of Hand 8, Spellcraft 14, [b]Use Magic Device 14	Extra Spell: Animate Dread Warrior	Darkvision +30 ft (90 total), trapfinding (again), Spellstiched template, 13 (or more) SR, dr 5 magic and silver, +2 turn resistance, +2 profane all saves
16th	Hordestealer 2	+7	+5	+12	+17	Collector of Stories, Swift concentration, Magical Appraisal,Clever Improvisor,Conceal Spellcasting, False Theurgy, Appraise 8, Bluff 10 , Concentration 15, Diplomacy 10, Disable Device 5, Escape Artist 4, Hide 8, Knowledge Arcana 5, Move Silently 8, Open Lock 5, Search 8, Sleight of Hand 8, Spellcraft 15, Use Magic Device 14	-	Hide from Dragons 1x/day, +1 Cha
17th	Hordestealer 3	+8	+6	+12	+17	Collector of Stories, Swift concentration, Magical Appraisal,Clever Improvisor,Conceal Spellcasting, False Theurgy, Appraise 8, Bluff 11 , Concentration 19, Diplomacy 14, Disable Device 5, Escape Artist 4, Hide 8, Knowledge Arcana 5, Move Silently 8, Open Lock 5, Search 8, Sleight of Hand 8, Spellcraft 16, Use Magic Device 14	-	Trap Sense +2, Deep pockets
18th	HordeStealer 4	+9	+6	+13	+17	Collector of Stories, Swift concentration, Magical Appraisal,Clever Improvisor,Conceal Spellcasting, False Theurgy, Appraise 8, Bluff 12 , Concentration 20, Diplomacy 15, Disable Device 5, Escape Artist 4, Hide 8, Knowledge Arcana 7.5, Move Silently 8, Open Lock 5, Search 8, Sleight of Hand 8, Spellcraft 17, Use Magic Device 14	free (extra turning, extra spell, versatile spellcaster, martial study:mind over body)	Treasure dowsing 1/day
19th	Hordestealer 5	+9	+6	+13	+17	Collector of Stories, Swift concentration, Magical Appraisal,Clever Improvisor,Conceal Spellcasting, False Theurgy, Appraise 8, Bluff 13 , Concentration 21, Diplomacy 16, Disable Device 5, Escape Artist 4, Hide 8, Knowledge Arcana 10, Move Silently 8, Open Lock 5, Search 8, Sleight of Hand 8, Spellcraft 18, Use Magic Device 14	-	Darkvision +60 feet(120 total)
20th	Hordestealer 6	+10	+7	+14	+18	Collector of Stories, Swift concentration, Magical Appraisal,Clever Improvisor,Conceal Spellcasting, False Theurgy, Appraise 8, Bluff 14 , Concentration 22, Diplomacy 16, Disable Device 5, Escape Artist 4, Hide 8, Knowledge Arcana 13, Move Silently 8, Open Lock 5, Search 8, Sleight of Hand 8, Spellcraft 19, Use Magic Device 14	-	Trap Sense +4, hide from dragons 2/day

Snapshots

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Early Levels

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Early levels (1-5): Paityr is fairly awful. 8 con is not great, but he needs the intelligence because its absolutely dreadful the skill requirement with the horrible path I have decided to embark upon. Grab the best light armor you can afford and crossbow, and a sickle because reasons, sneak attack when you can and stay away. Grab heighten spell and your Naen Sigil. As of level 2 he picks up longbow proficiency. Cause fear and summon undead 1 are your best options, if you get lucky rebuke some low level zombies or skeletons. Hoon Sigil. You are still made of paper. Turn undead also cheeses you with naenhoon into rainbow servant at level 3. Your goal is hang back still, you are still awful. Master spellthief keeps your spell caster level up, possibly way up, and keeps the ability to steal spells relevant throughout your career. Wands despite being unable to dump points into UMD like you want are ok if they are cheap, you have good cha and a reasonable chance of activating. Plus MW tools. Its not plan A or B, but might be D or E. C is usually run away.

Master Spellthief

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There is a lot of debate around master spellthief. Since it adds your spellthief level to all arcane caster levels. At one nterpretation, it sets CL equal to the sum of all arcane spellcaster levels you have plus spellthief, and you can steal spell as if a spellthief of your HD. What is an arcane spell casting class is debatable since it is never adequately defined, mostly in regards to plus 1 spellcasting level PrCs. With this build, it applies definitely to dread necromancer (as a plus 1), likely to rainbow servant, even if only at level 10 since it does grant you spells (cleric list) as arcane sometimes, to uncanny trickster since that explicitly advances class features, and to hoardstealer since it also grants spells. What it works out to IMO in this build is plus 4 CL total, but in weird ways. DN casting is cl 16 ( 1+1 DN, 10+1 RS, 2+1 UT), and CL 7 for Hordestealer.

Mid Levels

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Mid levels (5-10) At level 5 you undergo the ritual of crucimigration, and it helps massively. You fix your bad HP, get a bunch of immunities, and can spellstitch yourself. You need to start looking for wisdom bonus items and such as soon as you can. Its your priority after cha items. You need 19 wisdom eventually (lvl 15), and the sooner the better. You have ways around this, but not for a while. You are a level behind dread necromancer now with infinite out of combat healing for you and your pets. Command undead for zombies and skeletons, extended once you can, is the bulk of your offense. Zombie dragons are great, though finding them is hard. You can convert your downtime into power, because of how long command undead lasts. Shadows are great, and you are immune to their most notable feature, and they dominate most encounters for pretty much ever. You are still heavily reliant on minions but you can flood the field with bodies given time. Get the best wisdom and charisma items you can. Ability increases can go to either, since minions are your bread and butter, but I prioritize wisdom over charisma. You snag Extend and Persist spell, and with your naenhoon have a bit of minor DMM going on already. A trip to catalogs of enlightenment for extra turning isnt bad if you can swing it. You can go yourself later but if you want earlier power pay for a ride.

Upper Levels

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Upper Levels (11-15) You finish rainbow servant and suddenly, things are amazing. The full cleric list is at your fingertips, and two levels of uncanny trickster gets you 6th level cleric and dread necro spells. That gives planar binding, planar ally, and find the path. Find the path is your key to easy hordestealing, backed by cleric divinations. You should never fight an enemy dragon unless you want to. You need wisdom 19 very soon, I suggest some efreets and an item. DMM persist is online at 12, have fun. Also you can now use all cleric wands no problem which is a nice little side benefit.

Sweet spot 1

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Level Your first sweet spot is level 14. You have 6th level spontaneous cleric casting, plus 6th level dread necro, so all the goodies happen. Divine Metamagic is online, so pick your poison from the cleric list. A bit of plane shifting for catalogs of enlightenment is recommended, pick your poison. You can pick up extra turning, improved initiative, some sweet spells, or whatever. Increasing your HD cap for undead is not recommended because A. you don’t need it, and B. your rebuke level is awful. I like extra turning for more DMM but you decide. Trumpet Archons are awesome, and you can have one. Get one. Or whatever awesome thing of 12 HD or less that you want.

Sweet Spot 2

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Your second sweet spot is lvl 15. You take extra spell. You learn Animate Dread Warrior using naenhoon and heighten spell, and with your now 19 wisdom you spellstitch yourself. You spellstitch it instantly as soon as you have the XP. Any humanoid with class levels you can raise and control now, with no limit. They gotta die first, but the crew of Ivans help build Igors. And Igors make the dream come true. You share with everyone now, and you even leave the dragons a bit. Because they derserve a piece of the pie as well. You keep an Ivan or two around, flying dragon Ivan is still useful. Your charisma might not be the greatest but dreadnecro and cleric have enough debuffs, plus anything an Igor has, to get whatever you want with planar binding. The HD cap hurts but more minions means more hands to give stuff away. Besides an angel(devas fall under your HD cap) showing up at your doorstep is a lot more likely to get let in and have a gift taken from them.

SR 13 with no cha boosts isn’t bad, another +2 turn resistance, and DR 5 magic and silver, +2 all saves. You also get to pick a ton of spells to add to yourself for free. Animate dread warrior is the only one that matters, but animate dead isn’t awful either, nor is magic jar or any other necromancy, conjuration or evocation spell. Choose what you need. Sadly you don’t get transmutation effects, but if you don’t mind a waiting period grab something level 5 off a domain from the catalogs of enlightenment and stitch it on. Revive undead from the deathbound domain is very very good. Lets you keep Igors around. Then go back for Extra turning, or turning of another kind (still powers DMM via raw and might get more uses if you have pumped cha. You have eternity use it as you see fit.)

High Levels

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High Levels: 16 to 20 plays out a lot like upper levels. You get better Igors but your schtick stays the same. You can also steal 9th level spells (not from your Igors without jumping through a few hoops, but if need be) to get your list expanded more. Your level 18 feat is free, take whatever you want. I like Martial Study Mind over Body because disentegrate is a thing, but take whatever you feel you need. You can heroics it if you feel the need (find a wand). Or diamond mind ring it. Divine a treasure horde, find the path to it, take most of it, redistribute. You can likely wish yourself unholy toughness or something of the like with a stolen spell, and if you can go for it but its not necessary. You know, heroes (PCs) may have more wealth than dragons...and make good Igors hmmm...

Spellstitching

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You could theoretically get dread warrior spellstiched earlier, likely involving some kind of dark chaos shuffle or the like, or even earlier. Looking at spellstitched I do not think there is any requirement for whoever create it to actually know the spell to stitch, just be of the level needed to cast the spell, and level 11 is the level needed for a wizard to cast Animate Dread Warrior. If the level to cast is the only requirement, so you could even do it right after the ritual if you found someone to do it for you. It costs mere 1000 gp and the experience, so its super backstory cheese but doable. Also wish could likely do it and you have planar ally and binding...but this reeks of limburgher already. Quatro-formaggio might be pushing it. Also I do not know if you can spellstitch yourself then add to your stitching, since its an aquired template I think it would need to be all in one go, because the benefits are very nice. If you can do it in stages, you get a mini spike at level 5 and you stitch yourself up as you go along. SR isn’t bad for you, you persist and extend your buffs start of the day, so in combat it should not be a problem, and I really wanted two more level of the SI but couldn’t squeeze it in. Skill mastery is always nice. Sample list of spells for stitching: lvl 6 Animate Dread Warrior, Lvl 5 Magic Jar and Revive Undead (deathbound domain), lvl 4 Enervation, Black Tentacles, Lvl 3 Animate Dead, magic circle against evil (lulz), lvl 2 Wind Wall, Command Undead, Lvl 1 detect magic, detect undead

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Items

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For itemization, its cha item, then wis item, save gear, a couple bags of holding or portable holes once you start dragon robbing. Anything that gives more turn undead is nice, to fuel dmm(nightsticks), as is the standard caster array of CL boosters, prayer beads, wands of whatever you need (heroics). Int boosters are not the worst in the world either you are very skill hungry. As many masterwork tools as you can get to help your skills. You get cha to concentration as an undead so that is nice, but you want more everything. You can avoid rebuke level boosters, they do not as much for you since your rebuking is awful. Get a mith chain shirt and load on your favorite enhancements. Grab a hammer to go with your sickle at some point for style. Dress in red.

Dread Necro Spells Chart

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Spells per Day/Spells Known
Spells per Day/Spells Known

Level	0lvl	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th
1st	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2nd	3	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
3rd	4	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
4th	5	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
5th	6	3	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
6th	6	4	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
7th	6	5	3	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
8th	6	6	4	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
9th	6	6	5	3	-	-	-	-	-	-
10th	6	6	6	4	-	-	-	-	-	-
11th	6	6	6	5	3	-	-	-	-	-
12th	6	6	6	6	4	-	-	-	-	-
13th	6	6	6	6	4	-	-	-	-	-
14th	6	6	6	6	5	3	-	-	-	-
15th	6	6	6	6	5	3	-	-	-	-
16th	6	6	6	6	5	3	-	-	-	-
17th	6	6	6	6	5	3	-	-	-	-
18th	6	6	6	6	5	3	-	-	-	-
19th	6	6	6	6	5	3	-	-	-	-
20th	6	6	6	6	5	3	-	-	-	-

Hoardstealer Spell Chart

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Spells per Day/Spells Known
Spells per Day/Spells Known

Level	0lvl	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th
1st	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2nd	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
3rd	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
4th	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
5th	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
6th	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
7th	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
8th	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
9th	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
10th	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
11th	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
12th	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
13th	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
14th	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
15th	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
16th	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
17th	1	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
18th	1	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
19th	1	1	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
20th	1	1	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Typically prepared (with int bonus spells)

1. Read magic, Detect Magic
2. Knock, Knock
3. Arcane Sight, Shrink Item

Sources

Spoiler

Show

Illuman and sigils: races of destiny p. 51
Spellthief: Complete Adventurer p. 13
Dread Necromancer: Heroes of Horror p. 84
Rainbow Servant: Complete Divine P. 54
Uncanny Trickster: Complete Scoundrel p. 67
Hoardstealer: Dark pits of the capitalist 9 hells, Chairwoman
Master Spellthief: Complete Scoundrel p. 79
Necropolitan: Libris Mortis p. 114
Spellstiched Template: Complete Arcane 162
Catelogs of Enlightenment: Planar Handbook P. 166
Animate Dread Warrior: Unapproachable East p. 48
Divine Metamagic: Complete Divine p. 80
Persist Spell: Complete Arcane p. 81
Trading domains for devotions complete champion pg. 57 (law devotion)
Zombie Dragons: Draconomicon p. 195
Skill tricks in Complete scoundrel and Complete Adventurer
Everything else should be SRD.

Thanks to the chairwoman and judges.

[Heliomance]

Entry number 9

Master Overmound
Midnighter of the 14 Companions
Halfing, Neutral Good, Rogue 4/ Swordsage 2/ Hoardstealer 8/ Whisperknife 5/ Luckstealer 1

Spoiler: Abilities:

Show

Strength	Dexterity	Constitution	Intelligence	Wisdom	Charisma	Reason
11	14	8	17	12	14	32-point buy
9	16	8	17	12	14	Racial Bonuses
9	16	8	18	12	14	4th
9	17	8	18	12	14	8th
9	18	8	18	12	14	12th
9	19	8	18	12	14	16th
9	20	8	18	12	14	20th

Spoiler: Build:

Show

Level	Class	BAB	Fort	Ref	Will	Skills	Feats	Features
1	Rogue	+0	+0	+2	+0	Appraise (Int) 4 Balance (Dex) 4 Climb (Str) 4 Disable Device (Int) 4 Escape Artist (Dex) 4 Hide (Dex) 4 Jump (Str) 4 Move Silently (Dex) 4 Open Lock (Dex) 4 Search (Int) 4 Tumble (Dex) 4	Two-Weapon Fighting	Ranged Sneak attack +1d6, Antiquarian
2	Rogue	+1	+0	+3	+0	Appraise (Int) 5 Balance (Dex) 5 Climb (Str) 5 Disable Device (Int) 5 Escape Artist (Dex) 4 Hide (Dex) 5 Jump (Str) 5 Move Silently (Dex) 5 Open Lock (Dex) 5 Profession [Gambler] (Wis) 1 Search (Int) 5 Tumble (Dex) 5	-	Evasion
3	Rogue	+2	+1	+3	+1	Appraise (Int) 6 Balance (Dex) 6 Climb (Str) 5 Disable Device (Int) 6 Escape Artist (Dex) 4 Hide (Dex) 6 Jump (Str) 5 Move Silently (Dex) 6 Open Lock (Dex) 6 Profession [Gambler] (Wis) 3 Search (Int) 6 Spot (Wis) 1 Tumble (Dex) 6	Weapon Finesse	Ranged Sneak attack +1d6, Melee attack +1d6, Penetrating Strike
4	Swordsage	+2	+1	+5	+3	Appraise (Int) 6 Balance (Dex) 7 Climb (Str) 5 Disable Device (Int) 6 Escape Artist (Dex) 4 Hide (Dex) 7 Jump (Str) 7 Listen (Wis) 2 Move Silently (Dex) 7 Open Lock (Dex) 6 Profession [Gambler] (Wis) 5 Search (Int) 6 Spot (Wis) 1 Tumble (Dex) 7	-	Quick to act +1, discipline focus (Weapon Focus){Shadow Hand}
5	Rogue	+3	+1	+6	+3	Appraise (Int) 8 Balance (Dex) 7 Climb (Str) 5 Disable Device (Int) 8 Escape Artist (Dex) 4 Hide (Dex) 8 Jump (Str) 7 Listen (Wis) 2 Move Silently (Dex) 8 Open Lock (Dex) 7 Profession [Gambler] (Wis) 7 Search (Int) 8 Spot (Wis) 1 Tumble (Dex) 8	-	Uncanny Dodge
6	Hoardstealer	+3	+1	+8	+3	Appraise (Int) 9 Balance (Dex) 9 Climb (Str) 5 Disable Device (Int) 9 Escape Artist (Dex) 4 Hide (Dex) 8 Jump (Str) 7 Listen (Wis) 3 Move Silently (Dex) 8 Open Lock (Dex) 8 Profession [Gambler] (Wis) 7 Search (Int) 9 Spot (Wis) 2 Tumble (Dex) 8	Shadow Blade	Darkvision +30 ft., trapfinding
7	Hoardstealer	+4	+1	+9	+3	Appraise (Int) 10 Balance (Dex) 10 Climb (Str) 5 Disable Device (Int) 10 Escape Artist (Dex) 5 Hide (Dex) 8 Jump (Str) 7 Listen (Wis) 4 Move Silently (Dex) 8 Open Lock (Dex) 9 Profession [Gambler] (Wis) 7 Search (Int) 10 Spot (Wis) 3 Tumble (Dex) 8	-	Hide from dragons 1/day
8	Swordsage	+5	+1	+10	+4	Appraise (Int) 10 Balance (Dex) 10 Climb (Str) 6 Disable Device (Int) 10 Escape Artist (Dex) 5 Hide (Dex) 9 Jump (Str) 7 Listen (Wis) 5 Move Silently (Dex) 10 Open Lock (Dex) 9 Profession [Gambler] (Wis) 9 Search (Int) 10 Spot (Wis) 3 Tumble (Dex) 11	-	AC Bonus
9	Hoardstealer	+6/+1	+2	+10	+5	Appraise (Int) 12 Balance (Dex) 10 Climb (Str) 6 Disable Device (Int) 11 Escape Artist (Dex) 5 Hide (Dex) 9 Jump (Str) 8 Listen (Wis) 5.5 Move Silently (Dex) 10 Open Lock (Dex) 10 Profession [Gambler] (Wis) 9 Search (Int) 12 Spot (Wis) 4 Tumble (Dex) 11	Quick Draw	Trap sense +2, deep pockets
10	Hoardstealer	+7/+2	+2	+11	+5	Appraise (Int) 13 Balance (Dex) 10 Climb (Str) 7 Disable Device (Int) 12 Escape Artist (Dex) 6 Hide (Dex) 9 Jump (Str) 9 Listen (Wis) 6 Move Silently (Dex) 10 Open Lock (Dex) 11 Profession [Gambler] (Wis) 9 Search (Int) 13 Spot (Wis) 5 Tumble (Dex) 11	-	Treasure dowsing 1/day
11	Hoardstealer	+7/+2	+2	+11	+5	Appraise (Int) 14 Balance (Dex) 10 Climb (Str) 8 Disable Device (Int) 13 Escape Artist (Dex) 7 Hide (Dex) 9 Jump (Str) 10 Listen (Wis) 7 Move Silently (Dex) 10 Open Lock (Dex) 12 Profession [Gambler] (Wis) 9 Search (Int) 14 Spot (Wis) 5.5 Tumble (Dex) 11	-	Darkvision +60 ft.
12	Hoardstealer	+9/+4	+3	+12	+6	Appraise (Int) 15 Balance (Dex) 10 Climb (Str) 9 Disable Device (Int) 14 Escape Artist (Dex) 8 Hide (Dex) 9 Jump (Str) 11 Listen (Wis) 8 Move Silently (Dex) 10 Open Lock (Dex) 13 Profession [Gambler] (Wis) 9 Search (Int) 15 Spot (Wis) 6 Tumble (Dex) 11	Point Blank Shot	Trap sense +4, hide from dragons 2/day
13	Whisperknife	+10/+5	+3	+14	+6	Appraise (Int) 15 Balance (Dex) 10 Climb (Str) 10 Disable Device (Int) 15 Escape Artist (Dex) 8 Hide (Dex) 11 Jump (Str) 12 Listen (Wis) 8 Move Silently (Dex) 11 Open Lock (Dex) 14 Profession [Gambler] (Wis) 9 Search (Int) 16 Spot (Wis) 7 Tumble (Dex) 12	-	Rapid Shot, improved uncanny dodge
14	Whisperknife	+11/+6/+1	+3	+15	+6	Appraise (Int) 15 Balance (Dex) 10 Climb (Str) 11 Disable Device (Int) 16 Escape Artist (Dex) 8 Hide (Dex) 13 Jump (Str) 13 Listen (Wis) 8 Move Silently (Dex) 12 Open Lock (Dex) 15 Profession [Gambler] (Wis) 9 Search (Int) 17 Spot (Wis) 8 Tumble (Dex) 13	-	Ranged Sneak attack +1d6, Melee Sneak attack +2d6
15	Whisperknife	+12/+7/+2	+3	+15	+7	Appraise (Int) 15 Balance (Dex) 10 Climb (Str) 12 Disable Device (Int) 17 Escape Artist (Dex) 8 Hide (Dex) 15 Jump (Str) 14 Listen (Wis) 8 Move Silently (Dex) 14 Open Lock (Dex) 15 Profession [Gambler] (Wis) 9 Search (Int) 18 Spot (Wis) 9 Tumble (Dex) 14	Dallah Thaun's Luck	Defensive throw, improved catch
16	Luckstealer	+12/+7/+2	+3	+17	+9	Appraise (Int) 17 Balance (Dex) 10 Climb (Str) 12 Disable Device (Int) 17 Escape Artist (Dex) 9.5 Hide (Dex) 15 Jump (Str) 14 Listen (Wis) 8 Move Silently (Dex) 14 Open Lock (Dex) 15 Profession [Gambler] (Wis) 10 Search (Int) 18 Spot (Wis) 9 Tumble (Dex) 15	-	Curse of the fatespurned, subtle magic
17	Whisperknife	+13/+8/+3	+4	+18	+9	Appraise (Int) 17 Balance (Dex) 10 Climb (Str) 13 Disable Device (Int) 19 Escape Artist (Dex) 9.5 Hide (Dex) 17 Jump (Str) 14 Listen (Wis) 8 Move Silently (Dex) 14 Open Lock (Dex) 15 Profession [Gambler] (Wis) 10 Search (Int) 20 Spot (Wis) 9 Tumble (Dex) 18	-	Close defense
18	Hoardstealer	+14/+9/+4	+4	+18	+9	Appraise (Int) 20 Balance (Dex) 10 Climb (Str) 14 Disable Device (Int) 20 Escape Artist (Dex) 11.5 Hide (Dex) 17 Jump (Str) 16 Listen (Wis) 8 Move Silently (Dex) 14 Open Lock (Dex) 15 Profession [Gambler] (Wis) 10 Search (Int) 21 Spot (Wis) 9 Tumble (Dex) 18	Darkstalker1	Treasure dowsing 2/day
19	Hoardstealer	+15/+10/+5	+4	+19	+9	Appraise (Int) 22 Balance (Dex) 10 Climb (Str) 16 Disable Device (Int) 21 Escape Artist (Dex) 15.5 Hide (Dex) 17 Jump (Str) 17 Listen (Wis) 8 Move Silently (Dex) 14 Open Lock (Dex) 15 Profession [Gambler] (Wis) 10 Search (Int) 22 Spot (Wis) 9 Tumble (Dex) 18	-	Skill mastery
20	Whisperknife	+16/+11/+6/+1	+4	+19	+9	Appraise (Int) 22 Balance (Dex) 10 Climb (Str) 16 Disable Device (Int) 22 Escape Artist (Dex) 16 Hide (Dex) 21 Jump (Str) 17 Listen (Wis) 8 Move Silently (Dex) 14 Open Lock (Dex) 15 Profession [Gambler] (Wis) 10 Search (Int) 23 Spot (Wis) 9 Tumble (Dex) 21	-	Ranged Sneak attack +1d6, Melee Sneak attack +3d6

Spoiler: Spells/Manuvers Per Day:

Show

Level	Manuever/Stances	Level 1	Level 2	Level 3	Level 4
1	-	-	-	-	-
2	-	-	-	-	-
3	-	-	-	-	-
4	6/1	-	-	-	-
5	6/1	1	-	-	-
6	6/1	2	-	-	-
7	6/1	2	-	-	-
8	7/2	2	-	-	-
9	7/2	2	1	-	-
10	7/2	2	2	-	-
11	7/2	2	2	1	-
12	7/2	2	2	2	-
13	7/2	2	2	2	-
14	7/2	2	2	2	-
15	7/2	2	2	2	-
16	7/2	2	2	2	-
17	7/2	2	2	2	-
18	7/2	3	2	2	1
19	7/2	3	2	2	2
20	7/2	3	2	2	2

Spoiler: Spells/Manuvers Known:

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Level	List
1	-
2	-
3	-
4	Island of Blades, Shadow Jaunt, Burning Brand, Cloak of Deception, Flashing Sun, Wolf Fang Strike, Claw at the Moon
5	-
6	-
7	-
8	Assassin's Stance, Flesh Ripper
9	-
10	-
11	-
12	-
13	-
14	-
15	-
16	-
17	-
18	-
19	-
20	-

Spoiler: A Sojourn Not Planned:

Show

Yes well I wasn’t always the master that you see before you. In fact when I was first recruited as a member of the companions I was quite the idle fellow. In fact I didn’t really see myself getting out at all unless it was to see after my interests. Was living quite comfortably in fact when The Wizard showed up and invited himself and his pod of dwarves into my home. Quite the night let me tell you. I don’t think I’d had ever seen something so adventurous. Little did I know the shenanigans that I was about to get raked up in.

Spoiler: Emerging from the hole

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Levels 1-5 are dedicated to qualifying for the SI, while expected Rogue is a good solid base to build from for this class, and has multiple openings for handy free alternate class features, since most of what we trade away we gain back as a Hoardstealer. We start by taking the racial substitution level. This specifically helps for later when we take Whisperknife, but for early on it helps deal extra damage while keeping out of the main fray as any good skulk should be. Anitquarian replaces trapfinding whchi we’ll reclaim once we take our first level of Hoardstealer, and then we trade off trapsense for Penetrating Strike. The latter is fairly obvious, but is a staple do to its reliability.
At fourth level we grab Swordsage the open the path to Shadow Blade so we can reduce our MAD a bit. Combined with Weapon Finesse we are now using Dexterity for our combat rolls. Two-Weapon Fighting is taken as a prerequisite for Whisperknife.

If you want a more thorough recollection of the accounts feel free to purchase a copy of my memoirs, There, Back, and Gone Again. But as I said that night was naught but the start of my adventures. My first run in with Goblins, fighting intelligent spiders in a pitch black forest, the escape from a wood elf jail, don’t even get me started on dealing with the werebear. Though I suppose none of it holds a candle to our first real bit dungeon delving, Reclaiming the hoard of the Great Wyrm Guams. Naturally being the thief of the group if fell to me to get in and scout it out. I was quite successful at first and had almost everything mapped out before I had to start playing Hide and Go Riddle Me This with him. I think I was doing quite well too, at least until I accidentally set him on the local lake town, but hey they were able to kill him, and we got our treasure, so all’s well that ends well!

Spoiler: A thief’s beginning:

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At level 6 we dive into the SI. Level 7 sees a brief dip back into Swordsage so we can grab Assassin’s Stance for extra Sneak attack damage. We continue to take feats to qualify for Whisperknife until level 12 and then start building up levels in Whisperknife. At level 15 we take Dallah Thaun’s Luck. This opens up the Luckstealer class for us, but more importantly it gives us a way to boost our abysmal Fortitude save. If we weren’t so feat starved trying to qualify for Whisperknife I would say take this earlier, but the damage from Shadow Blade was needed considerably earlier. Darkstalker is taken at level 18 to wrap the build up. While it would have been nice to have taken Darkstalker earlier as noted we are quite starved for feats, and trying to fit everything in was quite the challenge.

After that there was a bit of a tussle and I briefly sojourned home. Again for details please do get a copy of my memoirs it’s really quite the read. The problem is once you get a taste for this kind of thing it’s really hard to give up, so I was off again shortly afterwards. I rejoined my companions and since we’ve tried to keep our number at fourteen since it’s been quite lucky, and obviously I’ve remained as our midnighter. Now that said I do have the information we need to get this particular hoard from the dragon, please, please hold your applause, as I'd appreciate a more pragmatic salute

Spoiler: The path meanders forever:

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Level 20 is our endgame. Here we have a good solid Base attack bonus, and we're agile enough to be able to function both in and out of melee combat thanks to our race and the abilities we get from whisper knife. Being small does reduce our damage a bit, but it does give a increasing dodge bonus against most creatures we'll be fighting since they're generally going to be a fair bit larger. Additionally the close defense ability makes it even easier for us to stay alive if we do end up in the mix instead of comfortably at a distance throwing knives at things. Thanks to Dallah Thaun’s luck all our save are at least passable, and our reflex save is not surprisingly near unstoppable.

Our skills also stack together well and build upon each other as we look to get into our role and our prestige classes with only the one level dip into Luckstealer being a little odd. That said I do feel like the utility from it’s perquisite feat, and the flavor of just stealing that little bit of extra luck you need from your foe fits in with the idea of the hoard stealer well. It also helps mask our spellcasting limited as it is.

We only go up to level 8 with Hoardstealer since that is the point at which we receive our capstone ability. We have all four levels of our casting available to us, and the only thing left to gain is a little bit of distance for darkvision, and 1 more use per day of our abilities. At this point we are better served by building other aspects instead of continuing to take level in the SI unless we have nothing else we can add since most of the daily abilities are easily replicated.

Spoiler: The path meanders forever:

Show

Level 20 is our endgame. Here we have a good solid Base attack bonus, and we're agile enough to be able to function both in and out of melee combat thanks to our race and the abilities we get from whisper knife. Being small does reduce our damage a bit, but it does give a increasing dodge bonus against most creatures we'll be fighting since they're generally going to be a fair bit larger. Additionally the close defense ability makes it even easier for us to stay alive if we do end up in the mix instead of comfortably at a distance throwing knives at things. Thanks to Dallah Thaun’s luck all our save are at least passable, and our reflex save is not surprisingly near unstoppable.

Our skills also stack together well and build upon each other as we look to get into our role and our prestige classes with only the one level dip into Luckstealer being a little odd. That said I do feel like the utility from it’s perquisite feat, and the flavor of just stealing that little bit of extra luck you need from your foe fits in with the idea of the hoard stealer well. It also helps mask our spellcasting limited as it is.

We only go up to level 8 with Hoardstealer since that is the point at which we receive our capstone ability. We have all four levels of our casting available to us, and the only thing left to gain is a little bit of distance for darkvision, and 1 more use per day of our abilities. At this point we are better served by building other aspects instead of continuing to take level in the SI unless we have nothing else we can add since most of the daily abilities are easily replicated.

Spoiler: Sources:

Show

Swordsage : Tome of Battle
Whisperknife : Races of the Wild
Luckstealer : Races of the Wild
Halfling Racial Substitution : Races of the Wild
Antiquarian : Complete Champion
Penetrating Strike : Dungeonscape
Shadow Blade : Tome of Battle
Dallah Thaun’s Luck : Races of the Wild
Darkstalker : Lords of Madness

[Heliomance]

Entry number 10

Ser Iaijutsu Tonneu de Chartres
CG Otherworldly Human Ranger 2/Human Paragon 3/Fighter 2/Hoardstealer 10/Wyrm Wizard 3

“We see more and farther than our predecessors, not because we have keener vision or greater height, but because we are lifted up and borne aloft on their gigantic stature."

Spoiler

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From the blessing of angels they say was bestowed upon me at the moment of my birth I have been lifted up by the great creatures that we humans walk amongst in the multiverse. From the furthest planes to the deepest corners of our own are fantastical marvels of creation, and I have endeavored to learn their stories and their secrets. The true hoard of the dragon is knowledge, and borne upon their knowledge and that of others, I have reached a vantage point from which to peer into dark corners that elude even their sight.

Spoiler

Show

Ability Scores
10 Str, 15 Dex, 12 Con, 16 Int, 12 Wis, 12 Cha
Increase Dex at 4th and 8th level, and Int at all opportunities after that.

Build Table

Level	Class	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Skills	Feats	Class Features
1st	Ranger 1	+1	+2	+2	+0	Hide 4, Move Silently 4, Search 4, Spot 4, Survival 4, Disable Device 2, Open Lock 2, Appraise 2, Escape Artist 2, Knowledge (Nature) 3, Knowledge (Dungeoneering) 3, Knowledge (Local) 2, Knowledge (Arcana) 2, Knowledge (The Planes) 2	Able Learner, Otherworldly, TrackB	Favored Enemy (Arcanist), Wild Empathy
2nd	Human Paragon 1	+1	+2	+2	+0	Iaijutsu Focus 5, Hide 5, Move Silently 5, Search 5, Spot 4, Survival 4, Disable Device 2, Open Lock 2, Appraise 2, Escape Artist 2, Knowledge (Nature) 3, Knowledge (Dungeoneering) 3, Knowledge (Local) 2, Knowledge (Arcana) 2, Knowledge (The Planes) 2	-	Adaptive Learning (Iaijutsu Focus), Iaijutsu Focus, Knowledge (Arcana), Knowledge (The Planes), Knowledge (Local), Appraise, Spellcraft, Disable Device, Appraise, and Escape Artist as Class Skills
3rd	Ranger 2	+2	+3	+3	+2	Iaijutsu Focus 6, Hide 6, Move Silently 6, Search 6, Spot 4, Survival 4, Disable Device 4, Open Lock 3, Appraise 4, Escape Artist 3, Knowledge (Nature) 3, Knowledge (Dungeoneering) 3, Knowledge (Local) 2, Knowledge (Arcana) 2, Knowledge (The Planes) 2	Darkstalker, Rapid ShotB	Combat Style
4th	Fighter 1	+3	+5	+3	+2	Iaijutsu Focus 6, Hide 7, Move Silently 7, Search 7, Spot 4, Survival 4, Disable Device 4, Open Lock 3, Appraise 7, Escape Artist 3, Knowledge (Nature) 3, Knowledge (Dungeoneering) 3, Knowledge (Local) 2, Knowledge (Arcana) 2, Knowledge (The Planes) 2	Point Blank ShotB	Hit-and-Run Tactics
5th	Fighter 2	+4	+6	+3	+2	Iaijutsu Focus 6, Hide 8, Move Silently 8, Search 8, Spot 4, Survival 4, Disable Device 4, Open Lock 4, Appraise 8, Escape Artist 4, Knowledge (Nature) 3, Knowledge (Dungeoneering) 3, Knowledge (Local) 2, Knowledge (Arcana) 2, Knowledge (The Planes) 2	Far ShotB	-
6th	Hoardstealer 1	+4	+6	+5	+2	Iaijutsu Focus 9, Hide 9, Move Silently 9, Search 8, Spot 4, Survival 4, Disable Device 4, Open Lock 4, Appraise 8, Escape Artist 4, Knowledge (Nature) 3, Knowledge (Dungeoneering) 3, Knowledge (Local) 2, Knowledge (Arcana) 3, Knowledge (The Planes) 3, Knowledge (Religion) 1, Collector of Stories	Knowledge Devotion (Religion)	Darkvision +30ft, Trapfinding
7th	Hoardstealer 2	+5	+6	+6	+2	Iaijutsu Focus 10, Hide 10, Move Silently 10, Search 8, Spot 6, Survival 4, Disable Device 4, Open Lock 4, Appraise 8, Escape Artist 4, Knowledge (Nature) 3, Knowledge (Dungeoneering) 3, Knowledge (Local) 2, Knowledge (Arcana) 4, Knowledge (The Planes) 4, Knowledge (Religion) 4, Collector of Stories	-	Hide From Dragons 1/day
8th	Hoardstealer 3	+6	+7	+6	+3	Iaijutsu Focus 11, Hide 11, Move Silently 11, Search 8, Spot 6, Survival 4, Disable Device 4, Open Lock 4, Appraise 8, Escape Artist 4, Knowledge (Nature) 3, Knowledge (Dungeoneering) 3, Knowledge (Local) 2, Knowledge (Arcana) 5, Knowledge (The Planes) 5, Knowledge (Religion) 5, Spellcraft 4, Collector of Stories	-	Trap Sense +2, Deep Pockets
9th	Hoardstealer 4	+7	+7	+7	+3	Iaijutsu Focus 12, Hide 12, Move Silently 12, Search 8, Spot 6, Survival 4, Disable Device 4, Open Lock 4, Appraise 8, Escape Artist 4, Knowledge (Nature) 3, Knowledge (Dungeoneering) 3, Knowledge (Local) 2, Knowledge (Arcana) 5, Knowledge (The Planes) 5, Knowledge (Religion) 5, Spellcraft 8, Collector of Stories	Manyshot	Treasure Dowsing 1/day
10th	Hoardstealer 5	+7	+7	+7	+3	Iaijutsu Focus 13, Hide 13, Move Silently 13, Search 8, Spot 6, Survival 4, Disable Device 4, Open Lock 4, Appraise 8, Escape Artist 4, Knowledge (Nature) 3, Knowledge (Dungeoneering) 3, Knowledge (Local) 2, Knowledge (Arcana) 7, Knowledge (The Planes) 7, Knowledge (Religion) 7, Spellcraft 9, Collector of Stories	-	Darkvision +60ft
11th	Human Paragon 2	+8	+7	+7	+4	Iaijutsu Focus 14, Hide 14, Move Silently 14, Search 8, Spot 6, Survival 4, Disable Device 4, Open Lock 4, Appraise 8, Escape Artist 4, Knowledge (Nature) 3, Knowledge (Dungeoneering) 3, Knowledge (Local) 2, Knowledge (Arcana) 9, Knowledge (The Planes) 8, Knowledge (Religion) 9, Spellcraft 9, Collector of Stories	Quicken SpellB	-
12th	Wyrm Wizard 1	+8	+7	+7	+6	Iaijutsu Focus 15, Hide 15, Move Silently 15, Search 8, Spot 6, Survival 4, Disable Device 4, Open Lock 4, Appraise 8, Escape Artist 4, Knowledge (Nature) 3, Knowledge (Dungeoneering) 3, Knowledge (Local) 2, Knowledge (Arcana) 9, Knowledge (The Planes) 10, Knowledge (Religion) 10, Spellcraft 9, Collector of Stories	Practiced Spellcaster (Hoardstealer)	Knowledge of the Wyrm
13th	Wyrm Wizard 2	+9	+7	+7	+7	Iaijutsu Focus 16, Hide 16, Move Silently 16, Search 8, Spot 6, Survival 4, Disable Device 4, Open Lock 4, Appraise 8, Escape Artist 4, Knowledge (Nature) 3, Knowledge (Dungeoneering) 4, Knowledge (Local) 2, Knowledge (Arcana) 9, Knowledge (The Planes) 11, Knowledge (Religion) 11, Spellcraft 9, Collector of Stories	-	Spell Research (Polymorph)
14th	Wyrm Wizard 3	+9	+8	+8	+7	Iaijutsu Focus 17, Hide 17, Move Silently 17, Search 8, Spot 6, Survival 4, Disable Device 4, Open Lock 4, Appraise 8, Escape Artist 4, Knowledge (Nature) 3, Knowledge (Dungeoneering) 5, Knowledge (Local) 2, Knowledge (Arcana) 9, Knowledge (The Planes) 13, Knowledge (Religion) 13, Spellcraft 9, Collector of Stories	-	Draconic Discovery (Quickened Invisibility)
15th	Hoardstealer 6	+10	+9	+9	+8	Iaijutsu Focus 18, Hide 18, Move Silently 18, Search 8, Spot 6, Survival 4, Disable Device 4, Open Lock 4, Appraise 8, Escape Artist 4, Knowledge (Nature) 5, Knowledge (Dungeoneering) 5, Knowledge (Local) 5, Knowledge (Arcana) 9, Knowledge (The Planes) 13, Knowledge (Religion) 13, Spellcraft 9, Collector of Stories	Greater Manyshot	Trap Sense +4, Hide From Dragons 2/day
16th	Hoardstealer 7	+11	+9	+9	+8	Iaijutsu Focus 19, Hide 19, Move Silently 19, Search 8, Spot 6, Survival 4, Disable Device 4, Open Lock 4, Appraise 8, Escape Artist 4, Knowledge (Nature) 7, Knowledge (Dungeoneering) 7, Knowledge (Local) 7, Knowledge (Arcana) 9, Knowledge (The Planes) 14, Knowledge (Religion) 14, Spellcraft 9, Collector of Stories	-	Treasure Dowsing 2/day
17th	Human Paragon 3	+12	+10	+11	+8	Iaijutsu Focus 20, Hide 20, Move Silently 20, Search 8, Spot 6, Survival 4, Disable Device 4, Open Lock 4, Appraise 8, Escape Artist 4, Knowledge (Nature) 9, Knowledge (Dungeoneering) 10, Knowledge (Local) 9, Knowledge (Arcana) 9, Knowledge (The Planes) 14, Knowledge (Religion) 14, Spellcraft 9, Collector of Stories	-	Int +2
18th	Hoardstealer 8	+13	+10	+12	+8	Iaijutsu Focus 21, Hide 21, Move Silently 21, Search 8, Spot 6, Survival 4, Disable Device 4, Open Lock 4, Appraise 8, Escape Artist 4, Knowledge (Nature) 9, Knowledge (Dungeoneering) 14, Knowledge (Local) 14, Knowledge (Arcana) 9, Knowledge (The Planes) 14, Knowledge (Religion) 14, Spellcraft 9, Collector of Stories	Planar Touchstone (Oxyrhynicus: Longbow)	Skill Mastery (Iaijutsu Focus, Hide, Move Silently, Knowledge (Arcana), Knowledge (The Planes), Knowledge (Religion), Knowledge (Dungeoneering), Knowledge (Local))
19th	Hoardstealer 9	+13	+11	+12	+9	Iaijutsu Focus 22, Hide 22, Move Silently 22, Search 8, Spot 10, Survival 4, Disable Device 4, Open Lock 4, Appraise 8, Escape Artist 4, Knowledge (Nature) 14, Knowledge (Dungeoneering) 14, Knowledge (Local) 14, Knowledge (Arcana) 9, Knowledge (The Planes) 14, Knowledge (Religion) 14, Spellcraft 9, Collector of Stories	-	Darkvision +90 ft, Trap Sense +6
20th	Hoardstealer 10	+14	+11	+13	+9	Iaijutsu Focus 23, Hide 23, Move Silently 23, Search 8, Spot 10, Survival 4, Disable Device 4, Open Lock 4, Appraise 8, Escape Artist 4, Knowledge (Nature) 23, Knowledge (Dungeoneering) 14, Knowledge (Local) 14, Knowledge (Arcana) 9, Knowledge (The Planes) 14, Knowledge (Religion) 14, Spellcraft 9, Collector of Stories	-	Treasure Dowsing 3/day, Hide From Dragons 3/day

Spellcasting

Level	1st	2nd	3rd	4th
6th	0	-	-	-
7th	1	-	-	-
8th	1	0	-	-
9th	1	1	-	-
10th	1	1	0	-
11th	1	1	1	-
12th	2	1	1	0
13th	2	1	1	0
14th	2	1	1	1
15th	2	2	1	1
16th	2	2	2	1
17th	2	2	2	1
18th	2	2	2	1
19th	2	2	2	1
20th	2	2	2	1

Does not include bonus spells for a high Int score.

Spoiler

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ECL 5

Spoiler

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The Celestial-Attended Birth option in Champions of Valor opens up the Otherworldly feat to characters of any region, rather than just those given in the feat’s original publication. This allows us to take it for Outsider typing (and the 60 ft of Darkvision that comes with it) as a standard Human, meaning we can also take Able Learner and Human Paragon, which ensure that we can qualify for the SI with little difficulty, neatly solves the issues that would otherwise arise from omissions to the Hoardstealer skill list, and snags Iaijutsu Focus as a class skill for good measure. An Elvencraft Bow is a melee weapon, so drawing one immediately before firing on a flat-footed target is a valid way to get iaijutsu damage, and works even beyond the 30 ft range limitation of most precision damage (Hit-and-Run Tactics does unfortunately have that limitation, but at least we get a little extra damage when we’re stuck fighting up close and personal).

ECL 10

Spoiler

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Since we held onto Hide and Move Silently as class skills, Hoardstealer offers considerable help rather than impediment to our stealthiness by way of Invisibility from its casting and the Hide From Dragons SLA. It also helpfully extends Darkvision to 120 ft, as far as a dragon and further than almost anything else. Being hidden within an enemy’s field of vision or standing just outside it means that enemy is flat-footed, and hence susceptible to iaijutsu damage. Manyshot also comes online in these levels, which means that with the help of a dirt cheap Least Crystal of Return (stick it on the least important Quarterstaff head of the Elvencraft Longbow), we’ve got ourselves a free move action to ‘sheathe’ the bow before drawing and firing each round without sacrificing the ability to make multiple attacks.

ECL 15

Spoiler

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This is where things get fun. We duck out of Hoardstealer for a bit, instead progressing its casting through another Human Paragon level followed by some Wyrm Wizard. This adds Polymorph to the Hoardstealer list, which, combines with Outsider typing from Otherworldly to open up Arrow Demon form so that the archery fun can be doubled. We also nab Greater Manyshot, which explicitly says precision damage is added to all attacks in the volley, not just the first. This not only solves the issue of the dumb volley rules in the Rules Compendium, but also the logistical issues of Iaijutsu Focus. So each round, so long as we can keep targeting flat-footed enemies, either by remaining outside the range of their Darkvision or some other trick (like the 1/day Quickened Invisibility that the third level of Wyrm Wizard grants) we can crank out a bunch of iaijutsu attacks by stowing away one bow as a move action, drawing it as a free action via Least Crystal of Return, and then unleashing a Symmetrical Archery Greater Manyshot.

ECL 20

Spoiler

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Squeezing the third level of Human Paragon in for an extra +2 Int before Hoardstealer 8 adds an extra skill for Skill Mastery to apply to. In addition to Iaijutsu and the stealth skills, this means we now take 10 on every creature-identifying Knowledge skill besides Nature. With Skill Mastery alongside Collector of Stories, a +5 Int mod, a Masterwork item, and in the case of Knowledge (Arcana) another +5 from Knowledge of the Wyrm with the assistance of a dragon friend, we hit the DC 36 required for a +5 from Knowledge Devotion (or the DC 31 for a +4 if you don’t use Collector of Stories) without having to max those skills out or roll dice. That frees up enough skill points to max out Knowledge (Nature) so that it can get there on a roll of 1. Our final feat goes to Planar Touchstone (Oxyrhynicus) which adds an extra attack (or two with Symmetrical Archery) whenever we catch a target flat-footed and make two or more attacks. Even if we elect to use a sniping attack rather than Manyshot, Symmetrical Archery makes that into two shots, which Oxyrhynicus then makes into four. Hoardstealer also increases the range of our Darkvision out to 150 ft, outside the range of even dragons (but convieniently still within a single longbow range increment thanks to Far Shot).

Spoiler

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Champions of Valor: Celestial-Attended Birth
Complete Arcane: Practiced Spellcaster
Complete Champion: Knowledge Devotion
Complete Mage: Arcane Hunter
Draconomicon: Hoardstealer
Dragon Magic: Wyrm Wizard
Drow of the Underdark: Hit-and-Run Tactics
Lords of Madness: Darkstalker
Magic Item Compendium: Least Crystal of Return
Monster Manual III (Web): Arrow Demon
Oriental Adventures: Iaijutsu Focus
Planar Handbook: Planar Touchstone, Oxyrhynicus
Player’s Guide to Faerun: Otherworldly
Races of Destiny: Able Learner
Races of the Wild: Elvencraft Bow
Spell Compendium: Hide From Dragons
Everything else is SRD.

[Heliomance]

Entry number 11

Gunnar von Sacher

Spoiler: backstory

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Spoiler: In the Bag

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“Whaddayagot for me, handsome?” Gunnar asked the dvati behind the desk in operations.

Xanathar jobs always paid well enough, even if there were hoops to jump through.

“Oh, hush, everyone knows Xam’s the handsome one,” Xim said from behind a mountain of papers as he deposited them into a bank of filing cabinets.

Xam adjusted his translucent green visor and went through the meticulous stacks of files on his desk.

“I’m afraid there’s not much in our to-do pile vis-a-vis for-hire slavery.” Xam helplessly indicated the so-labeled box with his hand. It lay fallow.

“You’re killing me, boys.” Gunnar said with an easy smile. He seated himself and lit a pipe of devilweed.

“Hey, don’t look at us. You wanna complain, go take it up with the new head of slavery. Guy’s such a dynamo, he’s insisting on most of the X-man’s jobs being done in-house,” Xim said.

“Ass. He’ll burn himself out in a year’s time if he keeps that up,” Gunnar said with a puff.

Xam waved the smoke away with his hand. “We’ve got a pool going on that. I bet he’s Xanathar food in eighteen months. Xim says he’ll make it two years. You want in, it’s a hundred Thayan.”

“How come you guys get two picks?” Gunnar teased. He tossed a sizable leather purse full of gold onto the table, extricated from some dark place.

Xim stuck out his tongue. “Racist,” he teased. “Where do you keep all those goodies? Those pants don’t even have any pockets.”

“Occupational hazard. Hey, you wanna know that, you’ll have to buy me dinner first. Lemme split the difference and gimme 21 months before recruiting’s got to find a new head of slavery,” Gunnar said.

“Bane, don’t get me started on recruiting,” Xim said. “So much paperwork when we’ve got a new head to deal with. We still need a new head for laundering ever since what’s-his-name disappeared.”

Before Gunnar could get the pair started, whatever that would entail, the door to the twins’ office flew open with such force it cracked the frosted glass pane reading “operations” straight down the middle.

“Miss, I told you, you’ve got to have an appointment!” the seneschal from front desk’s voice echoed down the hall alongside frantic footsteps on its marble floor.

“’s what you get when you hire a halfling to keep out the riffraff. Legs’re so short, they couldn’t catch a one-legged digester,” Gunnar said.

“Don’t you start, EEO’s been all up our collective ass. We had to have at least one in operations,” Xim said, ignoring the interloper.

“Well? What’s so important you can’t go through proper channels, girl?” Xam demanded of her.

Gunnar turned his head and gave her the once over, which she didn’t seem to appreciate. A bandanna hung loose around her neck. Her dark hair hung in an elaborate braid well past its edge. A crimson domino mask obscured her eyes, a long tail coming from it alongside her left cheek, like a question mark. Fine, black powder, maybe soot or tea leaves clung to her chin. She’d been in disguise as a man, but wasn’t bothering now. Her breasts were unbound in red leather armor. Custom, not harvested from one of her kills like her other piecemeal accoutrements: a greave here, a pauldron there. She looked ridiculous.

“Do or do you not have Phyristos the maimed in your custody?” she barked, trying to sound tough. She fingered the handle of a whip with her left hand, though the office was far too cramped to swing it.

“Custody? I think she has us mixed up with someone else,” Xim said.

“Bane, not another kid. I’m not saying we do or don’t, but if we did, what’d he be worth to you?” Xam asked.

She clumsily untied a huge bag of Rashemi gold from her belt and hurled it onto the table, knocking over Xam’s inkwell and upsetting his papers. She began to apologize, but caught herself and coughed. Maintaining the tough girl image, no doubt.

“Were you raised in a barn?” Xam got a wand out of a coffee cup from among a dozen or so others and had an unseen servant rack up the coins into precise stacks. “I’m going to assume you don’t have an account with us, miss…”

“Red Mist,” she said with the authority of someone who practiced a nome de guerre in the mirror a hundred times before taking it out for a spin.

“Right,” Xam said and rolled his eyes to Gunnar when she wasn’t looking. “Xim, get out a new account template for Red Mist here.”

“This basically says neither of us will try to pull anything on the other. If you like, I can explain the rest. Can you read?” Xim set the paper down in front of her and scribbled his signature with a quill. “Signed.”

“Witnessed,” Xam said.

Red Mist sat in the chair beside Gunnar and huffed. “What, just because I’m Rashemi, you figure I can’t?”

“Relax, I have to ask. Want everything to be above board and all,” Xim said.

The haste with which she made an X on the document was answer enough.

“Great. Now, delivery is extra, of course. Is there anywhere you’d like him sent? I can contact smuggling.” Xam rifled through his cup of wands. “Or if you prefer to take him yourself, I’ll have slavery gift wrap him for you no charge.”

Xim went through the filing cabinets behind the desk with blinding speed. “Where the hell is our scale?”

Xam sighed in disgust. “That’s right, it’s busted. We’ll have to borrow one from laundering, but they’re all screwed up right now, so who knows how long that’ll take.” He bit his lip and looked hopefully to Gunnar.

Gunnar smirked. “So you don’t have any work for me, but you expect me to do this for free? Come on, that wouldn’t very professional.”

“Fine, what do you want?” Xam asked.

Gunnar scratched his cheek, just above the edge of his silvertongue mask. “Gimme an extra two week spread on the pool.”

“Extortionist bastard. Fine.” Xam set out a few gold bricks from his desk drawer by Red Mist’s payment. The servant had finished lining up five hundred coins.

“That’s not my department,” Gunnar joked.

“Hey, are you guys calling me a cheat?” Red Mist snarled. The twins ignored her.

“No one’s calling anyone anything, kid,” Gunnar said. “They do it any time they work with an outside contractor for the first time. It was in the contract.”

She grunted.

“All right, which, if any, of these piles contains the larger amount of gold?” Xam asked.

Gunnar pointed at the bars. “That one.”

Xam grinned. “Thought so.”

“Is there a problem here?” Red Mist asked.

“Gunnar, be a lamb and lock the door, would you?” Xam asked. Gunnar complied.

Xim set a form in front of his twin. “Transfer of ownership.”

Xam scribbled his signature. “Signed.”

“Witnessed,” said Xim.

“What’s going on here?” Red Mist got out of her chair and clenched a fist.

“Well, my dear, you tried to bamboozle us, and as it clearly explained in the contract, that means you’re forfeit. What’s she worth, Gunnar?” Xam asked. He rolled one of her counterfeit coins across his knuckles.

“Pretty penny, actually. Tell you what: put her on my tab. I can use her for a little side project I’m working on,” Gunnar said.

“Excuse me, no one is using me for anything!” Red Mist pulled a knife out of her belt.

“Oh, come on! This is ridiculous. I’m calling assassination.” Xim grabbed for a wand.

“You don’t want to do this, miss,” Gunnar said. “You’re not the kind of person who knifes accountants in their offices for no reason, are you?”

“No, I— I’m not,” she said, sounding suddenly drunk, her eyes unfocused as she tried to identify whatever face swam across the gleaming, silver surface of Gunnar’s jaw as he drew upon the souls of all the liars, cheats, and charlatans that had ever lived and ever would live.

“Right. You don’t want to cause any trouble. Why don’t you just give me the knife, and we’ll get out of here and get some fresh air?” Gunnar said, his hand empty.

“All— all right. That sounds fine,” she said. Gunnar spun her knife around his wrist and made it disappear.

“Fine, get her out of here. Our idiot secretary’ll give you a receipt on the way,” Xam said with a wave of his hand. “And you’re paying for that door!”

“Take it out of my winnings from the pool,” Gunnar said and took his slave with him.

Spoiler: Mixed Bag

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He picked up Red Mist’s receipt on the way out and declined branding. He wouldn’t need her for long. The important thing now was to get her on his ship before she came to her senses.

“Are you going to kill me?” Red Mist asked.

“You’re not too familiar with the concept of slavery, are you?” Gunnar said.

“Not in any professional capacity,” she said with disdain. Explained the mask. No point prying. Not for now, anyway.

“Unusual for a crimson scourge.” Gunnar flagged down a carriage to take them to the port. Ticking clock and all.

“Ah, so you’ve heard of me.” She sounded proud of herself.

“Not so fast. You’re traveling with a whip, and I’ve never seen you at drinks with the rest of Xanathar’s slavery department,” Gunnar said. “Whaddaya want Phyristos for? He burn your face with acid or something?”

Red Mist turned away, almost coyly. “No. There’s a big bounty for him back in Immilmar.”

“Mm. Don’t they usually send you in pairs?” Gunnar asked.

“Usually. I’m flying solo on this one. Was, anyway,” she said and looked down.

“Don’t look so down at the mouth. Tell you what: I’ve got a little side project out your way. You help me find my mark, I’ll tear up your contract and your half of the fee will more than cover Phyristos,” Gunnar said with an outstretched hand.

Red Mist wrinkled her nose as though he’d extended a dead rat to her. “You pay your slaves?” She took his hand.

“Professional courtesy. If it got out I was using outside help to bring in a mark and not offering a fair split, what’s that say about my ability to get the job done?”

The carriage stopped. Gunnar paid the driver and led Red Mist up the gangplank onto his ship.

“Ladies first,” he said and tipped the harbormaster.

“Welcome to The Choice Cut,” Gunnar said with something like pride. “Have you eaten yet? I think the cook’s got some rothe cheese in the galley.”

Red Mist shook her head and looked uneasy on her feet with the pitch of the waves against the ship’s side.

The ship unmoored, pulled up the gangplank, and made its way out to sea. Gunnar’s first mate filled him in on happenings in his absence.

Red Mist finished her charcuterie board and leaned over the edge of the ship. The first mate dispatched a crewman to hover near her with a mop.

Gunnar went to check on her. “You all right? Not gonna be much good to me if we run into trouble. I can have the quartermaster dig up a wand of sea legs if you need it.”

Without turning around, she held the cheese knife to his groin.

“You did something to me. To my mind. Why did I come with you?” she said, drawing blood.

Gunnar swallowed and took a step back.

“If I didn’t need your skills, I’d show you how I usually teach my slaves manners when they pull that kind of thing on me.” Gunnar jammed a bandage down his trousers. “Rest assured, I won’t be able to do it again today, so your thoughts are your own.”

“Why should I trust you?” She turned to face him, her back to the ocean. Gunnar clenched his fist. If he pushed her over, no one would come for her.

“You shouldn’t, really. It’s rule number one in our game,” he said.

“We don’t play the same game. We don’t even play the same sport,” she said with disgust.

Gunnar nodded at the whip on her belt and rested his hand on his own. “We use the same equipment. Let me ask you this: would the prison in Immilmar have paid Phyristos?”

Red Mist rolled her eyes. “Here comes the part where you try to equivocate. Like you’ll turn me. Fine, I’ve got nothing better to do. No, don’t be stupid.”

“All right. Would they ever have let him go?” Gunnar asked.

“Of course not. Not after what he’d done,” she said.

“Fair enough. I assume he did something really bad, like selling magic items,” Gunnar said.

Red Mist spat on the deck with contempt. The mate behind her sighed with resignation and mopped it up.

“Housebreak that one soon, willya, cap’n?” he muttered. Gunner nodded and clapped the man on the shoulder.

“How do you think he got his title? Wouldn’t expect a Thayan to understand,” she said.

“Sure. So you’re selling him into slavery to the state. They’re free to do with him what they will: put him to work in a mine, kill him, or let him rot in a cell. You just don’t let your citizens enjoy the same right,” Gunner said.

“You just don’t understand. If you’re so smart, what do you need me for?” Red Mist asked.

“I need a guide. My quarry’s in Rashemen for the time being, and you know how foreigners, much less Thayan foreigners are looked on there. Even with the right paperwork, it would make finding him harder than it has to,” Gunnar said.

Red Mist scoffed. “Right, like you’d have the right paperwork.”

Gunnar held up a letter of dispensation from the Hathran granting him permission to carry weapons within their borders.

“You’ve been to Rashemen before?” Red Mist asked, sounding almost impressed.

“No,” Gunnar said.

“Then that’s a fake? It looks almost like—“ she reached into her shirt for her own and came up empty handed.

“Here. I don’t need it anymore,” Gunnar said, producing her letter from up his sleeve. She took it and slapped him for his trouble. Even through his silvertongue mask, he felt it.

“Relax. That’s the only merchandise I laid my hands on,” he said.

“Why didn’t I feel anything? When did you—“

“Trade secret, I’m afraid. Anyway, it might be good for you to familiarize yourself with our quarry if you’re going to help me catch him.” Gunnar produced a wanted poster.

“Aartosa the Golden. Herald of—“ Gunnar began to read the poster aloud for Red Mist’s benefit.

“—of the dragon X’launt! I knew I recognized the name of this ship from somewhere!” Red Mist snapped her fingers as something clicked for her.

“So you’ve heard of me,” Gunnar said.

“Not you specifically. Suppose now’s as good a time as any to find out if any of it’s true.” Red Mist stared out at the open ocean. There wasn’t another ship in sight.

“Go for it.” Gunnar took out his pipe and stood downwind of her before lighting it.

“I heard X’launt was trying to transform himself into one of those dragons ascendant. But he couldn’t do it right away. He was so rich, he had money all over Toril. So he had to spend years getting all his exarchs to transfer his holdings someplace, so he could eat all his gold. I heard you snuck onto one of their ships, The Choice Cut, killed everyone onboard, and made off with the treasure yourself. It put him behind schedule and he hasn’t been able to ascend yet. He’s had his exarchs gunning for you ever since,” Red Mist said.

Gunnar smiled. “Interesting how different a story becomes after a few retellings, isn’t it?”

“So what, it’s all talk? You bought yourself a ship and gave it the same name to look tough?” Red Mist rested her hand on the ship’s name over the side, presumably checking how fresh the paint was.

“Not exactly.” Gunnar blew a smoke ring and watched it drift away on the wind. “X’launt did have a lot of wealth to his name, but he wasn’t dumb enough to send out a fleet of ships full of gold. They’d be easy targets, and slow ‘em down, besides. He liquidated his assets into something easier to transport.”

“All right, fine, so diamonds instead of gold.” Red Mist rubbed her eyes as salt spray kicked up over the edge of the ship.

“No. And I didn’t sneak onto this ship. I openly commandeered it with a letter of marque from whatever country it was sailing out from. I forget. Aside from the captain, I didn’t have to spill any blood.” Gunnar said.

“What about the treasure?” Red Mist asked.

“Cap’n. We’re coming up on Immilmar,” the first mate said.

“Good man. Give our papers to the port authority when they board. Everything should be in order. If it’s not, take it outta petty cash.” Gunnar handed him a sheaf of papers and clapped him on the bare shoulder as he turned to depart.

Red Mist saw the web of whip scars across his back and a slaver’s brand at the base of his neck.

“You kept it,” she whispered, horrified.

“I knew you’d get there eventually. X’launt figured if he had to swallow his entire hoard, he might as well convert his money into something he’d enjoy eating first. I forget exactly how many head he had on this ship when I took it, but they were easily worth five thousand Thayan, if they were worth a penny.”

“That’s horrible,” Red Mist said.

“Well, I don’t know about you, but I’d rather eat a steak than a handful of coins any day,” Gunnar said. “While we’re here, might as well pick up some of those smoked sausages Rashemi sell for the boys.”

“I didn’t mean the dragon. That’s in their nature. I meant you. You don’t even think of them as people, do you?” Red Mist asked, indignant.

“Is that so?” Gunnar snapped his fingers. The man swabbing the deck came over.

“You. What happened the day I claimed command over this ship?” Gunnar asked.

“You told us where we was really bein’ sent, cap’n. That thing’s dinner table. Asked if we’d rather stay here crewin’ this here ship,” he said.

“And do you and the men regret your decision?” Gunnar asked, his eyes on Red Mist.

“No, sir,” he said. Gunnar waved him away.

Gunnar and Red Mist disembarked the ship. After a few more bribes to the necessary individuals, and flashing his papers here and there, they were allowed into town to begin their hunt.

“This is your turf, so I’ll let you take the lead. Aartosa’s Rashemi. What’s the fastest way for him to get arrested around here?” Gunnar asked.

Red Mist walked a few paces in front of him to show her superiority, even though it meant showing him her back. Amateur. He’d given her knife back, so perhaps that explained her confidence.

“If he killed another Rashemi, stole their property. That’s normal property, not people-property,” she scolded. “Or if he did something against the Hathrans, obviously. Everyone’d be on the lookout for him. Why, what’d he do?”

Gunnar wrote the imagined crimes on Aartosa’s wanted poster.

“Oh, all of that, I suppose. Whatever’s unfashionable here. That’ll help us catch him, after all,” Gunnar said.

Red Mist sighed. “If you’re lying, then don’t put that he committed a crime against the Hathrans. If he’d done that, then they’d have killed him themselves.”

Gunnar erased it from Aartosa’s rap sheet. “Got it. Thanks,” he said, doing his best to be amiable. Red Mist didn’t return the courtesy.

“You got any more of those?” she asked. “I mean, not everyone can read around here, but if anyone’s seen him, I can ask people at the lodge to start passing them out.”

“That’s not a bad idea,” Gunnar said, wary to avoid shooting down all her ideas. “But if we did that, then even if they couldn’t read the reward, they’d know he was valuable enough to be hunted. They might undercut us and find him first. Where would you be then?”

Red Mist saw a Hathran silently patrolling the town square. She gave her a nod of respect and allowed her to carry on her duties.

“What’s to stop me from screaming? Letting the Hathran take care of you,” Red Mist hissed.

“I figure if that were an option, you would’ve done it by now. I don’t know why it isn’t. I don’t particularly care.” Gunnar drew his cloak around himself. It looked like snow.

The pair arrived at a nearby snow tiger lodge. Red Mist said a quiet prayer at a statue outside to its spirit guardian. Gunnar stayed quiet, unsure of what to do with his hands.

They got inside out of the cold. Red Mist ordered a bottle of jhuild. Gunnar was fond of the stuff. He tried to keep a small supply in the hold of his ship.

“Has the Golden shone his light around here lately?” Red Mist asked their barmaid. She poured a glass for her and eyed Gunnar with suspicion.

“I’ll have some. I can pay,” he reassured her. She suppressed a giggle and filled his glass.

“He has. Matter of fact, I heard he’s recruiting a band of warriors by Lake Ashane. Off on some grand adventure, no doubt. I hear his master’s up in the great game. Is your friend, ah, familiar?” she asked.

Red Mist held out her hand. “Don’t worry. He’s cool.” The barmaid dropped a few coins into Red Mist’s hand. “Won something in the pool,” she explained once the barmaid left.

“I’ll drink to that.” Gunnar raised his glass and toasted her. He sipped his jhuild and choked, spraying the wine in her face. She laughed even though her mouth had been open.

“No matter how many times I see it, I’ll never get sick of that. Real stuff’s stronger’n that watered down crap you foreigners buy, huh?” she teased.

Gunnar coughed and nodded. “Happens to everyone their first time, I gather.”

“More or less,” she said.

“Is that where you got your nickname?” Gunnar offered her his handkerchief.

She took it and dried off her mask. “None of your business. Anyway, since Aartosa’s operating in the open, I don’t figure he’s actually committed any crime, so he won’t be on the lookout for someone to capture him.”

“Makes sense,” Gunnar said. “What’re you thinking?”

“Take a page from your book,” she said. “We’ll go find him in the open.”

Spoiler: Holding the Bag

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If Gunnar didn’t know better, he’d have said the sailor standing next to him on the docks was a man. Red Mist was a dab hand at disguise, he had to give her that. For the time being, he addressed her aloud as Ralmisch.

Gunnar hadn’t bothered to disguise himself beyond some shabby clothes. Since Aartosa didn’t know him, there was no reason for him to recognize his face with a cursory glance.

The two of them were well down the line for recruitment. It couldn’t hurt their cover to make small talk.

“Whaddaya suppose this crew’s for?” Red Mist asked him, affecting a deeper pitch.

“Figure he’s up to his old tricks,” Gunnar said with a wink. X’launt still hadn’t gotten his whole hoard down his gullet.

“Maybe. Could be something new.” She didn’t sound sure.

Soon enough, it was their turn at the table. Aartosa wasn’t there himself, of course, just someone in his employ.

“Let’s have it. What do you do?” he asked Red Mist.

“Hand-to-hand. Anyone gets in the boss’s face, I’ll give him what for,” she said with a clenched fist.

“Uh huh. Go have a crack at our boatswain. You pin him for ten seconds, you’re onboard,” he said without looking up from his clipboard.

Red Mist broke the boatswain’s arm so Gunnar could see white bone from ten paces away. She was onboard without a word about it.

“Next!” the man at the table barked.

“I’m just, well I’m looking for three hots and a cot, sir. I’m not particular. Just put a mop in me ‘ands and I won’t bother you none,” Gunnar stammered, hunching his back to look weak and pathetic.

“Hmph. You’re old for a cabin boy, but you’ll do. On the ship before I change my mind, dog,” the man said and snapped his fingers, indicating where Gunnar was to go with a gesture of his thumb, not looking him in the eye.

There wasn’t long to wait before they shoved off. Gunnar was put to work immediately. He looked busy, but didn’t swab the deck too quickly, so he could take in his surroundings.

Red Mist was chumming around with the officers, laughing and drinking. No sight of the captain yet.

“Hear the weather’s gonna turn bad later,” another man mopping muttered to him. “Don’t fancy taking a trip into the drink.”

“Me neither. I ain’t too worried, though. Never leave home without me bottle of air,” Gunnar said with a smile.

“Hmph. Sure know I’d rest easier if we waited til tomorrow to set sail. Kossuth knows why we have to rush. Captain ain’t even told us what we’re sailin’ to,” the man said. “Damn bucket’s empty.” He sighed.

“Lemme get that for you,” Gunnar said and picked it up. The man nodded in thanks.

Gunnar had affected a limp earlier, so he wouldn’t appear to be a threat, and stayed in character as he ambled across the deck. He steadied himself on his mop as the ship disembarked and quickly got onto the open water.

Gunnar glimpsed the captain loitering outside the wheelhouse. Must’ve come out when he wasn’t looking.

He filled both buckets with water and started cleaning behind Aartosa. The boatswain blew his whistle: all hands on deck. The men stopped their shanty and directed their attention up front.

Gunnar studied his quarry. He shakily set down his mop.

“Oi, hurry up, you codger. Gotta address the men,” Aartosa said without turning around. His hand was still on the pommel of his saber. Not yet.

“Right, sir. Sorry, sir. Just setting me kit down,” Gunnar said.

“Hmph.” Aartosa grunted. Gunnar saw his shadow hold its hands up in a dramatic gesture before beginning his speech.

He never had the chance.

With Aartosa’s hand empty, there wasn’t a thing left on him Gunnar couldn’t steal.

He picked Aartosa clean in the blink of an eye. Everything in his possession now lay in Gunnar’s hidey hole. Aartosa stood before the crew without a stitch on.

Gunnar couldn’t afford to gloat. He clubbed him in the back of the head with a roll of coins clenched in his fist and paralyzed him. He tied him up, a coil of rope never far on a ship, jammed a bottle of air behind his teeth, and made the captain disappear as well.

“Listen up, swine!” Gunnar shouted and threw back his hood. “This man is an errand boy of the monster X’launt! He planned to deliver you to the thing’s stomach. I’m taking him back to Bezantur and claiming the price on his head. What you do with yourselves after that’s of no concern to me. But if you get in my way, there’ll be trouble. Understand?” He pulled Red Mist’s borrowed bandana down from his face and let the silver light of his mask spill out to the sailors before him. They were hirelings. Strangers. They had no reason to side with with Aartosa. Nothing to gain from it. Convincing himself was just as important as convincing them.

“Not so fast!” Red Mist yelled from behind him.

Gunnar turned around and saw a wanted poster with his own face pinned to the mast with a knife.

Murder. Kidnapping. Theft. Piracy. And a hefty reward.

“This man is wanted in Immilmar for crimes against every authority before man and god alike. A thousand gold pieces to the man who helps me capture him!” Red Mist drew her sword. Gunnar couldn’t take it from her now.

There was no way his magic could compete with the greed of man.

Gunnar clicked his heels together and walked on the air up the mast. Red Mist swung up toward him on a rope from the mainsail. Gunnar retrieved his whip and lashed out at her, catching her across the face.

Her mask took the worst of it, though one eye was already swollen shut. It dropped a long, long way to the deck. On her cheek, as he’d surmised, was the brand of a slave, escaped from Thay’s gladiator pits.

“What are you doing?” Gunnar blocked her sword strikes with the leather bracelet around his forearm. “We had a deal!”

“I don’t make deals with things like you! I’m going to get free of you and I’m going to bring you to justice. You’re not the scariest thing I’ve ever fought. You’re not even close!” Red Mist took her blade between her teeth, and crushed the tendons of his wrist in her hand, digging in her nails. He dropped his whip with a spasm of his fingers.

She kneed him in the groin and swung away, circling around the mast. Gunnar gasped as a splinterbolt lodged itself in his chest.

“Careful! He’s worth more alive, stupid!” one of the crewmen shouted to another as he took aim.

“Fire!” shouted the first mate. Wands upon wands of all shapes and sizes flicked out from sleeves and boots and belts and the hems of the mens’ trousers. Gunnar was blinded, wrapped in kelp, and wracked with indescribable pain. His legs dangled beneath him, withered and useless.

Red Mist completed her revolution around the mast and looped the rope around his neck.

Gunnar grabbed at the noose and tried to untie it, but his arms had fused into a single, useless limb.

“Welcome to the club, kid. Knew I’d make a slaver of you after all,” Gunnar choked as the pounding of his blood grew louder in his ears.

“I’m nothing like you.” Red Mist pulled the rope tighter.

“Then kill me,” Gunnar gasped with his final breath.

“No. You don’t deserve it.” Red Mist said.

Spoiler: Out of the Bag

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Gunnar wasn’t surprised to awaken the next morning. He was bound in rope, but the rest of his ailments had deserted him. He got uneasily to his feet, the men circled up around him. Behind him, a plank jutted from the ship’s edge over the open ocean.

The side of his head stung fiercely, but he couldn’t reach it to rub at it.

“The men took a vote, and we decided we’d rather not keep you around. Any last words?” Red Mist said. She wore a crimson bicorn. Looked like they had a new captain.

“What about the reward? Or did they just forget about that?” Gunnar said.

Red Mist pulled a necklace from her cleavage. She wasn’t in disguise anymore. No one seemed to care. On it was Gunnar’s severed ear.

“Hathrans’ divination can verify I’ve taken care of you. I can pick up Phyristos and bring him to justice and then these men can be on their way,” Red Mist said.

“Yeah, yeah, that’s what they all say. I’m allowed one last request, right?” Gunnar asked. He stood on the plank in his small clothes. His equipment had been taken. He’d have to pick up Aartosa later. Or Red Mist could deal with him when he reappeared from the secret pocket inside his trousers. Either way.

Red Mist sneered, but the murmuring of the crew made it clear she couldn’t refuse and still hold the high ground with them.

“Fine. What is it?” she asked.

“One last drink. The iron flask in my vest. Don’t even have to untie my hands, just put it in my mouth and I’ll die quietly.” Gunnar hoped none of them had appraised his gear yet.

“You heard the man.” Red Mist snapped her fingers. Already, she had a taste for command. By the time Gunnar had regrouped, he was sure she’d be a fine slaver in her own right.

The man who’d swabbed by Gunnar’s side unscrewed the flask’s cap and put its neck between Gunnar’s teeth.

Gunnar took a deep breath of the magically generated air within. He dove off the plank and the moment the water swallowed him up, used his magic to open space itself and dove inside his bottle of air, the cap closing behind him.

***

“Where to now, captain?” the first mate asked Red Mist. He dusted off her mask and handed it to her.

She turned it over in her hands and leaned over the edge of the ship. After the last of the bubbles had risen to the water’s surface and popped, she glimpsed her reflection in it.

She tore up Gunnar’s papers saying he owned her and threw them overboard. The mask followed. She didn’t need it anymore. Without it, she felt lighter already.

“Back to Immilmar.” She gestured to the open sky. “Bring me that sunrise.”

Spoiler: stub

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NE silverbrow human human paragon 1/incarnate 2/human paragon 3/hoardstealer 7/thayan slaver 5/hoardstealer 10

Spoiler: abilities

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str 12
dex 15
con 15 (increases at 12 and 16)
int 16 (increases at 4, 8, and 20 here)
wis 10
cha 8

Spoiler: table

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Level	Class	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Skills	Feats	Class Features
1st	Human Paragon 1	+0	+0	+0	+2	appraise 4, ea 4, hide 4, ms 4, search 4, sleight of hand 4, tumble 4	Able Learner, Dragon Tail	(custom skill list: appraise, dd, ea, hide, intimidate, ms, ol, search, sleight of hand, tumble), Adaptive learning
2nd	Incarnate 1	+0	+2	+0	+4	ol 4, search 1 (5)		Aura, detect opposition
3rd	Incarnate 2	+1	+3	+0	+5	dd 4, search 1 (6)	martial study (shadow blade technique)	Chakra bind (crown)
4th	Human Paragon 2	+2	+3	+0	+6	appraise 3 (7), hide 3 (7), ms 1 (5)		Bonus Feat (shape soulmeld: brass mane)
5th	Human Paragon 3	+3	+4	+1	+6	appraise 1 (8), hide 1 (8), ms 3 (8), search 2 (8)		Ability boost +2 (intelligence)
6th	Hoardstealer 1	+3	+4	+3	+6	intimidate 5, sleight of hand 4 (9), tumble 1 (5)	master pickpocket	Darkvision +30 ft., trapfinding
7th	Hoardstealer 2	+4	+4	+4	+6	intimidate 1 (6), use rope 5, tumble 4 (9)		Hide from dragons 1/day
8th	Hoardstealer 3	+5	+5	+4	+7	appraise 2 (10), balance 5, intimidate 2 (8), tumble 2 (11)		Trap sense +2, deep pockets
9th	Hoardstealer 4	+6/+1	+5	+5	+7	intimidate 3 (11), sleight of hand 3 (12), tumble 1 (12), umd 4	martial study (shadow jaunt)	Treasure dowsing 1/day
10th	Hoardstealer 5	+6/+1	+5	+5	+7	bluff 1, sleight of hand 1 (13), umd 9 (13)		Darkvision +60 ft.
11th	Hoardstealer 6	+7/+2	+6	+6	+8	bluff 7 (8), sleight of hand 1 (14), umd 1 (14), never outnumbered		Trap sense +4, hide from dragons 2/day
12th	Hoardstealer 7	+8/+3	+6	+6	+8	bluff 5 (13), sleight of hand 1 (15), umd 1 (15) mosquito’s bite	martial stance (assassin’s stance)	Treasure dowsing 2/day
13th	Thayan Slaver 1	+8/+3	+6	+8	+8	forgery 3, intimidate 5 (16), umd 1 (16)		Ruthless beating, enervating attack
14th	Thayan Slaver 2	+9/+4	+6	+9	+8	forgery 7 (10), intimidate 1 (17), umd 1 (17)		Break will
15th	Thayan Slaver 3	+10/+5	+7	+9	+9	diplo 2, forgery 5 (15), intimidate 1 (18), umd 1 (18)	open lesser chakra (arms)
16th	Thayan Slaver 4	+10/+5	+7	+10	+9	diplo 4 (6), forgery 1 (16), intimidate 1 (19), umd 1 (19), social recovery		Sneak attack +1d6
17th	Thayan Slaver 5	+10/+5	+7	+10	+9	diplo 7 (13), forgery 1 (20), intimidate 1 (20), umd 1 (20)		Crippling strike
18th	Hoardstealer 8	+11/+6/+1	+7	+11	+9	diplo 4 (17), intimidate 1 (21), sleight of hand 6 (21)	open greater chakra (throat)	Skill mastery (appraise, bluff, diplo, forgery, intimidate, sleight of hand, tumble, umd)
19th	Hoardstealer 9	+11/+6/+1	+8	+11	+10	bluff 9 (22), intimidate 1 (22), sleight of hand 1 (22)		Darkvision +90 ft., trap sense +6
20th	Hoardstealer 10	+12/+7/+2	+8	+12	+10	bluff 1 (23), diplo 2 (19), intimidate 1 (23), sleight of hand 1 (23), 8 free		Treasure dowsing 3/day, hide from dragons 3/day

Spoiler: playtips

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Spoiler: lvl 5

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Come on, chefs, pick up your axes, tell hoardstealer we’ll pay its taxes.

You’re doing a lot of heavy lifting and mise en place for now. It’s not glamorous, but that doesn’t mean you can’t do a lot of cool stuff while you’re here.

Certain taxes aren’t worth investing in after they’re paid, namely open lock, a skill which does literally nothing. The listed example for disable device is jamming a lock (either in the open or closed position, your choice) so your points are better spent elsewhere to make you a better hoardstealer.

Human paragon’s roll-your-own skill list (provided helpfully in the class features column) lets you pay all hoardstealer’s taxes and have a few goodies of your own for later, including the always-important tumble and the fun and flavorful sleight of hand.

Able learner means all ten of your skills, even the ones you didn’t have room to buy ranks in right now (namely intimidate, which becomes important later) can be bought at-cost from now on.

The dragon tail (soulmeld) is up and running and provides a reliable attack to lash out at enemies with your essentia making it hit harder. You gain access to it through your dragonblood.

You also have the dragon tail feat. This gives you a tail that always exists and can be used in addition to the meld of the same name. You can use it to make secondary natural attacks, which is handy at low levels and stays useful throughout your career.

You’ve already got your crown bind, and incarnate offers all its melds, opening up the normal doors, and providing valuable utility, such as the airstep sandals for flight and the necrocarnum circlet for an endless supply of zombies, very handy at low levels and later as well. As an evil incarnate, you’ve got access to all the necrocarnum melds, greatly boosting your versatility.

Your dragonblood from silverbrow human also gives you access to another exclusive meld, the elder spirit, which bolsters your intimidate checks, along with umd, arcana, and history (plus letting you make them untrained) and giving immunity to frightful presence, sleep, and paralysis. Highly useful since hoardstealer expects you to cross swords with dragons.

You’ve also nabbed access to brass mane through human paragon’s bonus feat. Like elder spirit, this provides a bonus to intimidate, and it’s of a different type, so the two stack.

Martial study is also here to pay taxes, and shadow blade technique provides some more extra damage, which never hurts.

Shape melds, shoot dissolving spittle, fly around, and inflict pain on your enemies.

Spoiler: lvl 10

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Congratulations. You’re in hoardstealer. It requiring hide and move silently but not providing them has been discussed. It being a class that is focused on stealing things, but not providing sleight of hand has not.

Fortunately, I have remedied this.

Human paragon provides sleight of hand. It was a class skill earlier, so its cap is raised, and I can buy it at cost thanks to able learner, so that’s what I did. Same with intimidate, which I’m buying to pay more taxes.

Umd is the best skill in the game, and I waited to buy ranks in it until I could do so with it being a class skill since the cap would be higher. This way, you’ll be able to enjoy spells from other spell lists in addition to your own.

As to skills, like all skillful classes, you’re being pulled in a few different directions covering your bases at the low-to mid levels. For this reason, in a fashion similar to open lock, it’s not worth it to sink points into search and dd every level when you can use your wealth by level and your hoardstealer class feature, umd, to cast find traps, summon celestial dead monkey, etc. Consequently, that’s where your points are going.

Master pickpocket lets you take anything from an adjacent opponent as long as it’s not in their hand, and it’s only a -10 to do it as a free action. Strip your enemies of dangerous items. This will make fighting them a lot easier. Your deep pockets ability is already online, so that’s a handy place to stow everyone’s confiscated gear.

Your treasure dowsing is online, which will help you find a good mark to steal from, and also detect counterfeit coins or other valuables. Shadow jaunt enables tactical teleportation.

You can hide from dragons and see in the dark. Combat functions largely the same way, and you’re no longer flat-footed while balancing.

Spoiler: lvl 15

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Semi-related to hoardstealer requiring hide and move silently and not providing them as class skills, hoardstealer requires a bunch of ranks in appraise, but provides no useful outlet for them. I cannot let this go unaddressed.

Enter Thayan slaver.

“Not all treasure is silver and gold, mate.”

Contrary to the captain’s feelings, by raw, people and other monsters are cargo.

Lords of madness page 101 details the rules as follows:

Cost=(cr, minimum 1)^2 x 100gp

So, even with a lean crop of level 1 human commoners, you’d only need to obtain 50 of them to hit the value of 5,000gp for entry into hoardstealer, which requires a character to locate and recover a treasure hoard from a dragon (or otherwise.) Here, I went with otherwise.

If the assortment of slaves you pick up is more diverse, or you’ve got something cool like a troll or giant, you’ll need even fewer of them. They’ll fit on a small ship easily.

Thayan slaver also grants proficiency with the tower shield, sap, whip, net, and the always-awesome spiked chain, so take advantage of these goodies when the situation arises. It also provides access to its own fantastic spell list, supplementing hoardstealer’s (listed below for ease of reference) and you can use slots or wands without even needing a roll.

Assassin’s stance is up and running, providing access to Thayan slaver. It gives you the ability to deal nonlethal damage with no penalty, and even dole out nonlethal sneak attacks.

Enervating attack provides a very useful tool in your arsenal. Once you’ve picked a target, you can study him prior to stripping him of items and protective gear via master pickpocket as free actions, and then paralyze them with your attack, since they won’t have registered you as an enemy due to your high bonus with sleight of hand checks. They are further boosted thanks to the theft gloves and necrocarnum touch from your incarnate levels, even without taking normal equipment into account.

Once they’re paralyzed, tie them up or manacle them, and into your deep pockets they go. Take them back to your lair post haste, or if you’re more than 10 minutes away from a good dump site, duct tape a bottle of air or similar in their mouth beforehand so they won’t suffocate. Thayan slaver’s spells, such as sequester, will also help.

Your deep pockets have plenty of room, so you can grab plenty of cargo, assuming you’ve got a ship or other hold established in a large urban area where a few missing people won’t be noticed.

Break will lets you whomp the heck out of your enemies’ wisdom, so do that as much as you can. Never outnumbered means you can zap a bunch of people with nonmagical wisdom damage at once, as well. Not too shabby. Once enemies are unconscious from dropping to 0 wisdom: strip ‘em, tie ‘em up, put ‘em in the hole.

“But chef, why the heck do you have all those ranks in forgery?” I hear you asking.

It’s generally known forgery is opposed by forgery and no one takes ranks in forgery. But that’s just not good enough for me.

The only listed modifiers for a mark to resist my forgery attempt are knowing the type of document I’m forging and knowing the handwriting (if applicable)

So at the very worst, they get a +4. And let’s face it, most npcs you’ll be using this against are either not going to have a bonus, or will have a negligible one.

Your ranks, alongside your prodigious intelligence, will help you get your bonus sky high, even without taking normal equipment into account.

But it’s necessary for non-epic checks to have a sample of what you’re forging. This isn’t always easy.

Well, it is for you.

Let’s say there’s a document you anticipate needing to forge. For example, special dispensation to carry weapons in town, a writ from the local noble, papers saying your quarry is an escaped slave (if you’re prowling around in a slave state) or a dangerous criminal and you’re bounty hunting or legally apprehending him (if you’re not) Find someone who would have that and use master pickpocket to relieve them of it.

Forging a 1 page document, such as an ID, warrant for your quarry’s arrest, or letter of credit only takes a minute. Depending on what the document is, you might reverse pickpocket the thing back into your mark’s pocket, or just throw it in the gutter once you’ve got what you need. Not your problem.

You see, hoardstealer doesn’t provide hide or move silently as class skills. Clearly, this means that it doesn’t want you to sneak around in order to obtain valuables. If it did, it would give you those skills. Consequently, it must intend for you to operate in plain sight. So that’s what we do, and why we follow the class’s intended design and do not further invest in hide or move silently. This is also why you don’t need darkstalker.

Your arm chakra’s open now as well, offering you the requisite goodies from your assortment of melds, including the always-useful necrocarnum touch. It boosts your sleight of hand even further (with a profane bonus to boot, so it will stack with the theft gloves) and lets you fire the touch attack off as a ray in addition to in melee.

Steal literally everything that’s not in your enemy’s hand. Punch him in the butt cheek to paralyze him and steal what’s in his hand too. Put him in your pocket. Sell him. Thanks, hoardstealer.

Spoiler: lvl 20

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You’re done with hoardstealer and Thayan slaver as well. Crippling strike’s up now, so you can dole out strength damage with your sneak attacks to make your enemies go down easier.

Hoardstealer generously gives you skill mastery with all your favorite skills and then some, including bluff, diplo, forgery, intimidate, sleight of hand, and umd, so you’ll basically never fail them again.

Your throat chakra is open, allowing you to bind all those melds. Of particular note are your brass mane, letting you fatigue all enemies nearby, and your silvertongue mask, offering an at-will suggestion effect. Enjoy these.

You operate largely the same way in and out of combat, but your numbers are larger. The world is yours. Steal it.

Spoiler: spells

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Thayan Slaver Spells per Day

Level	0lvl	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th
13th	-	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
14th	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
15th	-	1	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
16th	-	1	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
17th	-	2	1	0	-	-	-	-	-	-
18th	-	2	1	0	-	-	-	-	-	-
19th	-	2	1	0	-	-	-	-	-	-
20th	-	2	1	0	-	-	-	-	-	-

Spoiler: Thayan Slaver Spells

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1: arcane lock, alarm, burning hands, change self, command, detect thoughts, knock, ray of enfeeblement, true strike.
2: alter self, fear, hold person, invisibility, misdirection, remove paralysis.
3: dominate person, greater command, hold monster, improved invisibility, nondetection.
4: enervation, locate creature, mind fog, sequester, veil.

Spoiler: sources

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races of destiny: able learner
races of the dragon: dragon tail, silverbrow human
unapproachable east: thayan slaver
srd: human paragon
tome of battle: martial study, martial stance
city of stormreach: master pickpocket
slavery rules: lords of madness
dragon magic: draconic soulmelds
complete scoundrel: skilltricks

[Heliomance]

Entry number 12

Tag Baggit
CN Changeling Rogue 2/Shadowcaster 3/Hoardstealer 10/Recaster 5

Tag It

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Ability Scores

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8 Str, 16 Dex, 14 Con, 16 Int, 10 Wis, 12 Cha

Increase Int at all opportunities.

Build Table

Spoiler

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Level	Class	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Skills	Feats	Class Features
1st	Changeling Martial Rogue 1	+0	+0	+2	+0	Hide 4, Move Silently 4, Search 4, Appraise 4, Disable Device 4, Open Lock 4, Escape Artist 4, Gather Information 4, Sense Motive 4, Bluff 4, Diplomacy 4, Knowledge (Arcana) 4, Sleight of Hand 4	Able Learner, Constant GuardianB	Social Intuition
2nd	Shadowcaster 1	+0	+2	+2	+2	Hide 5, Move Silently 5, Search 5, Appraise 5, Disable Device 4, Open Lock 4, Escape Artist 4, Gather Information 4, Sense Motive 4, Bluff 5, Diplomacy 4, Knowledge (Arcana) 4, Sleight of Hand 4	-	Fundamentals of Shadow, Apprentice Mysteries
3rd	Shadowcaster 2	+1	+3	+2	+3	Hide 6, Move Silently 6, Search 6, Appraise 6, Disable Device 4, Open Lock 4, Escape Artist 4, Gather Information 4, Sense Motive 5, Bluff 5, Diplomacy 4, Knowledge (Arcana) 4, Sleight of Hand 4	Darkstalker, Extend SpellB	-
4th	Shadowcaster 3	+1	+3	+3	+3	Hide 7, Move Silently 7, Search 7, Appraise 7, Disable Device 4, Open Lock 4, Escape Artist 4, Gather Information 4, Sense Motive 5, Bluff 5, Diplomacy 5, Knowledge (Arcana) 4, Sleight of Hand 4	-	Umbral Sight (Darkvision 30ft)
5th	Martial Rogue 2	+2	+3	+4	+3	Hide 8, Move Silently 8, Search 8, Appraise 8, Disable Device 4, Open Lock 4, Escape Artist 4, Gather Information 4, Sense Motive 5, Bluff 5, Diplomacy 5, Knowledge (Arcana) 4, Sleight of Hand 5, Use Magic Device 5, Spellcraft 1	Dutiful GuardianB	Evasion
6th	Hoardstealer 1	+2	+3	+6	+3	Hide 9, Move Silently 9, Search 9, Appraise 8, Disable Device 4, Open Lock 4, Escape Artist 4, Gather Information 5, Sense Motive 5, Bluff 5, Diplomacy 5, Knowledge (Arcana) 4, Sleight of Hand 5, Use Magic Device 9, Spellcraft 2	Cunning Evasion	Darkvision +30ft, Trapfinding
7th	Hoardstealer 2	+3	+3	+7	+3	Hide 10, Move Silently 10, Search 10, Appraise 8, Disable Device 4, Open Lock 4, Escape Artist 4, Gather Information 5, Sense Motive 6, Bluff 6, Diplomacy 6, Knowledge (Arcana) 4, Sleight of Hand 6, Use Magic Device 10, Spellcraft 3	-	Hide From Dragons 1/day
8th	Hoardstealer 3	+4	+4	+7	+4	Hide 11, Move Silently 11, Search 11, Appraise 8, Disable Device 4, Open Lock 4, Escape Artist 4, Gather Information 6, Sense Motive 7, Bluff 7, Diplomacy 7, Knowledge (Arcana) 4, Sleight of Hand 7, Use Magic Device 11, Spellcraft 4	-	Trap Sense +2, Deep Pockets
9th	Hoardstealer 4	+5	+4	+8	+4	Hide 12, Move Silently 12, Search 12, Appraise 8, Disable Device 4, Open Lock 4, Escape Artist 4, Gather Information 7, Sense Motive 8, Bluff 8, Diplomacy 8, Knowledge (Arcana) 4, Sleight of Hand 8, Use Magic Device 12, Spellcraft 5	Trap Sensitivity	Treasure Dowsing 1/day
10th	Hoardstealer 5	+5	+4	+8	+4	Hide 13, Move Silently 13, Search 13, Appraise 8, Disable Device 4, Open Lock 4, Escape Artist 4, Gather Information 8, Sense Motive 9, Bluff 9, Diplomacy 9, Knowledge (Arcana) 4, Sleight of Hand 9, Use Magic Device 13, Spellcraft 6	-	Darkvision +60ft
11th	Hoardstealer 6	+6	+5	+9	+5	Hide 14, Move Silently 14, Search 14, Appraise 8, Disable Device 4, Open Lock 4, Escape Artist 4, Gather Information 9, Sense Motive 10, Bluff 10, Diplomacy 10, Knowledge (Arcana) 4, Sleight of Hand 10, Use Magic Device 14, Spellcraft 7	-	Trap Sense +4, Hide From Dragons 2/day
12th	Hoardstealer 7	+7	+5	+9	+5	Hide 15, Move Silently 15, Search 15, Appraise 8, Disable Device 4, Open Lock 4, Escape Artist 4, Gather Information 10, Sense Motive 11, Bluff 11, Diplomacy 11, Knowledge (Arcana) 4, Sleight of Hand 11, Use Magic Device 15, Spellcraft 8	Maximize Spell	Treasure Dowsing 2/day
13th	Recaster 1	+7	+5	+9	+7	Hide 16, Move Silently 16, Search 16, Appraise 8, Disable Device 4, Open Lock 4, Escape Artist 4, Gather Information 10, Sense Motive 11, Bluff 11, Diplomacy 11, Knowledge (Arcana) 4, Sleight of Hand 12, Use Magic Device 16, Spellcraft 8, Concentration 1	-	Metamorphic Spell (Components)
14th	Recaster 2	+8	+5	+9	+8	Hide 17, Move Silently 17, Search 17, Appraise 8, Disable Device 4, Open Lock 4, Escape Artist 4, Gather Information 10, Sense Motive 11, Bluff 11, Diplomacy 12, Knowledge (Arcana) 4, Sleight of Hand 12, Use Magic Device 17, Spellcraft 8, Concentration 2	-	Expanded Knowledge (Shivering Touch), Sudden Metamagic (Maximize Spell)
15th	Recaster 3	+8	+6	+10	+8	Hide 18, Move Silently 18, Search 18, Appraise 8, Disable Device 4, Open Lock 4, Escape Artist 4, Gather Information 10, Sense Motive 11, Bluff 12, Diplomacy 12, Knowledge (Arcana) 4, Sleight of Hand 12, Use Magic Device 18, Spellcraft 8, Concentration 3	Spell Focus (Illusion)	Metamorphic Spell (Time)
16th	Recaster 4	+9	+6	+10	+9	Hide 19, Move Silently 19, Search 19, Appraise 8, Disable Device 4, Open Lock 4, Escape Artist 4, Gather Information 10, Sense Motive 12, Bluff 12, Diplomacy 12, Knowledge (Arcana) 4, Sleight of Hand 12, Use Magic Device 19, Spellcraft 8, Concentration 5	-	Expanded Knowledge (Invisibility, Mass), Sudden Metamagic (Extend Spell)
17th	Recaster 5	+9	+6	+10	+9	Hide 20, Move Silently 20, Search 20, Appraise 8, Disable Device 4, Open Lock 4, Escape Artist 4, Gather Information 12, Sense Motive 12, Bluff 12, Diplomacy 12, Knowledge (Arcana) 4, Sleight of Hand 13, Use Magic Device 20, Spellcraft 8, Concentration 5	-	Metamorphic Spell (Space)
18th	Hoardstealer 8	+10	+6	+11	+9	Hide 21, Move Silently 21, Search 21, Appraise 8, Disable Device 4, Open Lock 4, Escape Artist 4, Gather Information 13, Sense Motive 13, Bluff 14, Diplomacy 14, Knowledge (Arcana) 4, Sleight of Hand 14, Use Magic Device 21, Spellcraft 8, Concentration 5	Evasive Maneuvers	Skill Mastery (Hide, Move Silently, Use Magic Device, Sleight of Hand, Search, Spellcraft, Concentration, Knowledge (Arcana))
19th	Hoardstealer 9	+10	+7	+11	+10	Hide 22, Move Silently 22, Search 22, Appraise 8, Disable Device 4, Open Lock 4, Escape Artist 4, Gather Information 15, Sense Motive 15, Bluff 15, Diplomacy 15, Knowledge (Arcana) 4, Sleight of Hand 15, Use Magic Device 22, Spellcraft 8, Concentration 5	-	Darkvision +90ft, Trap Sense +6
20th	Hoardstealer 10	+11	+7	+12	+10	Hide 23, Move Silently 23, Search 23, Appraise 8, Disable Device 4, Open Lock 4, Escape Artist 4, Gather Information 16, Sense Motive 16, Bluff 16, Diplomacy 17, Knowledge (Arcana) 4, Sleight of Hand 17, Use Magic Device 23, Spellcraft 8, Concentration 5	-	Treasure Dowsing 3/day, Hide From Dragons 3/day

Mysteries and Spells

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Mysteries
Fundamentals: Umbral Hand, Sight Obscured, Black Candle
1st Level Mysteries: Quicker Than The Eye, Bend Perspective
2nd Level Mysteries: Piercing Sight

Spells/Day

Level	1st	2nd	3rd	4th
6th	0	-	-	-
7th	1	-	-	-
8th	1	0	-	-
9th	1	1	-	-
10th	1	1	0	-
11th	1	1	1	-
12th	2	1	1	0
13th	2	1	1	0
14th	2	1	1	1
15th	2	2	1	1
16th	2	2	2	1

*Does not include bonus spells for a high Int score.
Casting continues to progress past 16th level, but this only increases CL as Spells/Day cap out at 10 levels of effective Hoardstealer casting.

Bag It

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Level 5

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“You’re a burglar aren’t you? Get in there and burgle something!” The dwarf chieftain glowered at the halfling figure before him.

“Alright. Wait here,” Tag stepped into the darkness of the tunnel. He took a deep breath and felt his eyes adjust to the blackness. “Ugh. Dwarves,” he muttered to himself. “Should have seen this coming, really.” After one more final sigh, he steadied himself and proceeded on in silence, finally coming to what had once been a dwarven mead hall. Sitting at the far side, preening in an ornate jeweled mirror, was a Young Red Dragon.

“I smell you, I feel your breath…” The dragon growled. Tag’s heart shot into his throat and he pressed himself against a wall to take cover, but the dragon continued looking into the mirror, trying to pose impressively.
Thank the Host. He’s just practicing lines. Tag breathed a silent sigh of relief. Still, have to be careful. He reached out with a hand of darkness and surreptitiously drew a few valuable looking items back to his hiding place.

“My teeth are swords,” the dragon bellowed, baring its fangs into the mirror.

Okay, I think that’s enough for today. Tag tucked the last item into a now slightly overfull sack. Time to go.

“And my breath, death!”

I’ll take your word for it. Tag slipped back into the passageway, and made his way back to the dwarves. Those damned dwarves had better not try to screw me out of my cut.



Changeling Rogue is a natural to get into Hoardstealer. It’s good for skill-monkeys, trades out Trapfinding so we don’t have redundancy there later on, and allows us to deal with the problem of Hoardstealer not offering Hide and Move Silently as class skills as we qualify for Able Learner per this passage from Races of Destiny.

Chameleons can be reworked as a completely nonmagical class, where they have no spells but use Sleight of Hand to make items "disappear," and potions or powders to create smoke, fog, and fire. They could be made completely magical as well or even psionic, using spells or psionics to actually gain the abilities of other classes. If you're using the EBERRON Campaign Setting, the chameleon prestige class should be available to changeling player characters as well as humans and doppelgangers. In this case, the Able Learner feat extends to changelings as well.

Emphasis mine.

We also pick up Darkstalker as a mandatory feat tax for sneaks. As Tag isn’t much of a fighter, a line of utility Fighter feats ends up being preferable to a d6 of Sneak Attack. We also drop a few levels into Shadowcaster. It doesn’t give quite as many skill points as one would like, but it offers some Darkvision (roughly the only thing holding Changeling back from being a complete slam dunk), along with some abilities for boosting stealth and thievery, and a bonus feat which will be important later on.

Level 10

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Tag stopped abruptly as rocks dropped down from the ceiling in front of him. A gout of dragon fire licked at the back of his neck, but only managed to singe his tunic as he ducked aside. He pocketed a final gem and bolted toward the exit. The dragon roared in fury, crashing into a pillar in her rush to soar after him. Suddenly, she turned the corner to have her senses greeted by an apparently empty hallway. She looked around perplexed, unable to see Tag’s figure or even hear his heavy footfalls as he sprinted away at top speed.



We’re into the SI. Trapfinding, extended Darkvision, and Hide From Dragons aren’t too bad. Trap Sensitivity gives us some use for all the Trap Sense that Hoardstealer grants, allowing Tag a Search check for any non-magical trap that he comes within 5 ft of. Cunning Evasion will get more interesting later on, but traps and dragons both make you roll Reflex saves from time to time, so getting a 5ft step is a nice thing, and with a Collar of Umbral Metamorphosis or similar, could allow chances to slip back into hiding. Also offering off turn movement is the Dutiful Guardian feat. While jumping into melee is normally not going to be Tag’s MO, he will often be invisible or under the effect of Hide From Dragons, which could make *ahem* tagging in for an ally a more attractive option.

Level 15

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“We know about every rat scurrying within 100 miles of my uncle’s hoard. We know which ones are Darkstalkers like you. We know when one gets hidden from dragons. No one’s going to rob so much as a seed hoard unless they come with enough force to crush a nation or one of us is stupid enough to pay for your ‘consulting services.’ Peddle your snake oil somewhere else, monkey.” The entrance to the cave began to seal itself, the dragon behind it sneering at the human figure standing outside.

The smile on Tag’s assumed face didn’t falter. “I understand sir. But I have it on good authority that someone is going to try soon. Can I at least offer you my card?” He ducked under a bolt of lightning, and darted forward toward the gate, arm outstretched with a business card in hand. The dragon snapped at him in annoyance drawing blood, but Tag pressed forward undeterred, repeating “my card.”

“I’ll tell you where you can shove your card,” snarled the dragon, rearing back to bite again, but Tag was quicker and closed the distance, pressing the card onto its scaly breast. Suddenly, the huge scaled body went completely still as if frozen.

“I’ll just leave you with that contact info. Name’s Tag, as in ‘you’re it.’” Tag stepped through the gate, touching a wand to his wounded shoulder. “Now then. I had better get this done before reinforcements arrive.”



We duck out from Hoardstealer for a bit and progress the casting with Recaster instead. Its Expanded Knowledge adds Shivering Touch to the Hoardstealer list, which is a crucial tool for anyone that’s going to be dealing with dragons. Recaster also lets Tag Maximize it for free, allowing him to put down not just dragons, but significantly more dexterous opponents as well in one shot.

Level 20

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The trap detonated, and when the smoke cleared there wasn’t a trace of the intruders to be seen. They’ve gone invisible, the dragon said through the telepathic link.

The mechanatrix exarch nodded mechanically, and the two quickly confirmed the positions of the vanished creatures, ending with a message of Changeling’s 45 feet off you at 10 o’clock. He’s the one who shivered Colryxanu, watch yourself from the exarch.

Two figures appeared next to the Mechanatrix, their invisibility offering them the split second edge needed for their weapons to find purchase, even with their positions known. The exarch struck back, and the dragon let loose a bolt of lightning to level the field, but ultimately to no avail as the Mechanatrix fell before the assault.

The wyrm stomped in Tag’s direction letting out a deafening roar of fury. His ears bleeding, the Changeling steadied himself and silently set off one spell to strip the dragon’s wards, and another to reach his Shivering Touch through the darkness.



We finish off Recaster and Hoardstealer. Recaster picks us up a nice little gem in Invisibility, Mass, which is only 3rd level on the Telflammar Shadowlord list despite being all the way up at 7th on other lists. Invisibility, Mass should count as an invisibility spell (there’s precedent in the general categorization of inflict and cure spells), so with Evasive Maneuvers Tag can cast it as an immediate action when he makes a successful Reflex save for Evasion. He can also now cast Shivering Touch from 30ft away thanks to Metamorphic Spell (Space). Skill Mastery along with Social Intuition means Tag can take 10 on pretty much all the skills he’s focused on, and with his Con and a masterwork item, he can trivially make the Concentration check to cast any of his spells (up to 4th level) defensively with minimal rank investment.

Sell It

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Draconomicon: Hoardstealer
Drow of the Underdark: Constant Guardian, Dutiful Guardian
Dungeonscape: Trap Sensitivity
Exemplars of Evil: Evasive Maneuvers
Lords of Madness: Darkstalker
Player’s Handbook II: Cunning Evasion
Races of Destiny: Able Learner
Races of Eberron: Changeling, Changeling Rogue, Recaster
Tome of Magic: Shadocaster, Most Mysteries
Urban Magic Web Enhancement: Quicker Than The Eye
Everything else can be found in the SRD.