Specialty
Chronicler/Historian
Qualifications
Loremasters must have an
Intelligence and Wisdom of 14 or more (other
ability scores are standard). Elves can advance up to 12th level as Loremasters. (Level limits are not enforced in this campaign)
Introduction
You want to know about history, lost civilizations, and other fascinating
topics? Well, let me introduce myself, I'm
Ashlant a gray elf and self-proclaimed Loremaster.
I guess I've been poring over old tomes, exploring ancient ruins, and searching for lost
civilizations for the past 150 years or so. And
I've learned many important things. Did you
know that, in ages past, the entire inland
plains were covered with a vast forest of
pinon and pine trees? Humans were scarce
back then and elves ruled the land. Oh, that
must have been a beautiful time! Then there
came the great goblin wars, when all
goblinkind rose up in anger after being pushed
far below ground. They were lead by Trogundak, perhaps the largest and most evil troll
shaman who ever lived.
But I forget myself. You want to know
about me and not the past. Well, I'm called a
recluse by most of the villagers around here.
This is actually far from the truth. I love people, all people. I love to study about their past
history in an attempt to understand them better than they understand themselves. Then I
try to teach them about their past and educate
them so they won't commit the mistakes of
their forefathers all over again.
I guess I do seem a bit odd to the average
soul, seeing as how I'm always poking around
cemeteries, old churches, ruins, and private
libraries. Most people can't figure me out.
Some think I'm a cleric, others believe me to
be a simple hermit, and there are those who
call me sage or wizard. It is true that I can
speak over half a dozen languages, but I'm
just a Loremaster, that's all.
Remember, study your past; it can be the
most powerful tool you have.
Description
Loremasters are romantically
entranced by the past. They believe in the circular nature of history and relate the lessons
of ancient times to the problems of the present
to help guide their people along the path to the
future. As Loremasters proceed through life,
they record the events of their own times for
posterity.
Loremasters love to relate the lessons of history to those who will listen. However, they
are often viewed as being more reclusive and
eccentric than wizards. Their preoccupation
with old tomes, arcane lore, ancient languages, and lost civilizations dominates their
lives, when they aren't putting on an oratorical performance. From their research, Loremasters gain unique wisdom and insight,
allowing them to identify certain magical
items, understand ancient writings and languages, gain special benefits in the arcane lore
of magic, and incite crowds to action.
Role
There is a fine line between Loremaster and sage. So fine that many Loremasters call themselves sages and are rarely
questioned about it. However, true sages are
knowledge specialists who concentrate their
efforts into mastering a specific field such as
mushrooms, elven swords, and so on. Loremasters are fond of any aspect of history that
makes a good story.
Many Loremasters are travelers who wander the lands searching for great historical
tales and facts to relate to crowds. In order to
gain the substance of their tales, Loremasters
often take up adventuring. Unlike many other
adventurers, Loremasters are not simply seeking gold or magic. Rather, they are searching
for a new legend or tale. Loremasters are the
first to open old tomes, read the runes on passage walls, and record the general events of an
adventure.
Weapon Proficiencies
Due to their great interest in knowledge and their concentration
on the past, Loremasters bother to learn only
the lightest and simplest of weapons. They are
limited to selecting weapon proficiencies for
blowgun, dagger, dart, hand crossbow, knife,
quarterstaff, sling, and staff sling.
Nonweapon Proficiencies
Bonuses
Ancient History, Languages (ancient), Navigation, Reading/Writing.
Suggested
Animal
Lore, Artistic Ability, Astrology, Direction
Sense, Engineering, Etiquette, Heraldry, Languages (modern), Local History, Musical Instrument, Religion, Spellcraft, Weather Sense.
Armor/Equipment
Loremasters spend their
time studying arcane tomes and ancient civilizations. They do not bother to practice the use
of heavy armor. Thus Loremasters can use
only leather armor.
Loremasters generally dress and act much
like wizards.
Special Benefits
Legend Lore
Loremasters gain the same
legend lore ability as
True Bards. This ability
works in similar fashion, with the following
exception: All of the optional rules suggested
for the True Bard's legend lore ability are required for the Loremaster.
Arcane Lore
Through their devoted study
of the past, Loremasters come across numerous texts on the arcane lore of magic. They
read all of these, hoping that some great tale
will be uncovered. Loremasters eventually
gain a fundamental understanding of many
strange magical items not normally usable by
the bard class. Thus, Loremasters can attempt
to use any magical item. A Wisdom check is
rolled; if it is successful, the Loremaster successfully uses the magical item in question.
This does not mean that the Loremaster fully
understands the operation of the item, only
that his attempt to use it in this particular way
is successful.
Loremasters also pore over scrolls and spell
books whenever they get the chance. This enhances their understanding of magical spells
so much that they memorize and cast spells as
if they were one level higher. Thus, a 1st-level
Loremaster casts spells the same way as a 2nd-level True Bard.
Persuasion
Usually Loremasters recite
their collections of historical fables and legends to a crowd simply to entertain and educate. Although these oral performances are
wonderful to hear, they do not necessarily
have any direct impact upon the crowd.
When a Loremaster wishes to affect the
mood or actions of an audience, he uses his
great skills of verbal persuasion, oratory, and
rhetoric. He might relate the legend of the horrible massacre of Tothar Keep by lizard men in
an attempt to incite the crowd to hate and despise lizard men.
Using such persuasion takes at least 1d10
rounds. All who are listening to and can understand the Loremaster must roll a saving
throw vs. paralyzation with a -1 penalty for
every three levels of the Loremaster. Those
who fail have their reactions adjusted one
level up or down (as desired by the Loremaster). Those who succeed are not inspired
by the tale, and those few who roll a natural
20 strongly disagree with the tale and have
their reactions adjusted one level in the opposite direction.
Etymology
Loremasters can make their
read languages attempt twice if the language
in question is an ancient one (a language no
longer spoken). They can also use their read
languages ability to decipher runes, glyphs,
pictograms, ideograms, or any other form of
ancient visual communication.
Even though a Loremaster cannot be proficient in a newly encountered ancient language, if he makes his Ancient Languages
proficiency check, he understands the basics
of the ancient language. Elementary use of the
language is gained, allowing for written or
even spoken communication at one-tenth the
normal rate.
Special Hindrances
None
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