Epic Level Handbook

CHAPTER 1:CHARACTERS,SKILLS & FEATSNEW EPIC PRESTIGECLASSESThere are prestige classes, and then there are truly prestigiousclasses—epic prestige classes, to be exact. Theseare classes that characters cannot pursue until theyhave already become epic characters in some otherfashion. Characters add levels of epic prestige classesusing the same rules as when multiclassing into a newcharacter class at epic levels. In other words, base saveand attack bonus progressions are replaced by epic saveand attack bonus progressions. As with other epicclasses, you can take as many levels in an epic prestigeclass as you desire.AGENT RETRIEVERFinding items, especially long-lost ones, is an agentretriever's specialty. A member of this class has a knackfor hunting down unique and valuable items, unrelentinglyfollowing every clue, every whispered rumor, andevery trail, no matter how cold, until the object forperson) is in hand. He is the ultimate bounty hunter, ableto move among the planes in his quest.Although a focused set of skills paves the way tobecoming an agent retriever, several classes exhibit thetalents needed to excel at this endeavor. Rangers, bards,and rogues most commonly take this epic prestige class,but spellcasters, especially those with scrying capabilities,also make good agent retrievers. Other classes rarelybecome agent retrievers.While many agent retrievers function independently,working for hire on a freelance basis, most work with theGleaners (see Chapter 6), an organization that trainsthem in their unique abilities.Hit Die: d6.RequirementsTo qualify to become an agent retriever, a character mustfulfill all the following criteria.Alignment: Any lawful.Skills: Gather Information 24 ranks, Knowledge (theplanes) 15 ranks.Feats: Track.Class SkillsThe agent retriever's class skills (and the key ability foreach skill) are Appraise (Int), Decipher Script (Int),Diplomacy (Cha), Forgery (Int), Gather Information(Cha), Intuit Direction (Wis), Knowledge (arcana)(Int), Knowledge (geography) (Int), Knowledge (history)(Int), Knowledge (local) (Int), Knowledge (theplanes; (Int), listen (Wis), Search (Int), and Spot(Wis). See Chapter 4: Skills in the Player's Handbook forskill descriptions.Skill Points at Each Level: 6 + Int modifier.Class FeaturesThe following are class features of the agent retrieverprestige class.Weapon and Armor Proficiency: An agent retrievergains no proficiency with any weapons, armor, or shields.Spells per Day/Spells Known: At each agentretriever level, the character gains new spells per dayand spells known, if applicable) as if he had also gained alevel in a spellcasting class to which he belonged beforeadding the prestige class level. If already an epic spellcaster,the character gains only the benefit noted underthe Spells entry for that epic class. He does not, however,gain any other benefit a character of that class wouldhave gained (improved chance of turning or destroyingundead, metamagic or item creation feats, and so on;. Ifthe character had more than one spellcasting class beforebecoming an agent retriever, the player must decide towhich class to add the new level for the purpose of determiningspells per day.Uncanny Location (Sp): When a agent retriever spendsone day attuning himself to a person or object he is seekingBEHIND THE CURTAIN: BUILDING AN EPICPROGRESSIONEven though the classes are relatively balanced at levels 1stthrough 20th, simply continuing normal progression after 20thlevel would severely unbalance the classes. That's because notall class features continue to accumulate after 20th level. Forexample, many of the monk's special abilities are gained onlyat a certain level and never improve after that point.That's why every class gets a bonus feat progression in additionto the class features that accumulate. For some classes,such as the fighter, this bonus feat progression is essentially theonly class feature available at epic levels, so it is very rapid at onefeat every other level. For other classes, such as the monk orrogue, this feat progression is only one of several class features,so it is much slower at only one feat every four levels.If you're creating an epic progression for a class otherthan the ones described in this book, you'll need to compareit to the classes here to assign an appropriate bonus featprogression. For example, if your class has essentially noclass features (or a few very weak features) after 20th level,it's probably similar to the fighter. Thus, you might assign ita bonus feat progression of one feat per two levels. A classwith plenty of features (or extremely powerful features) after20th level might have a bonus feat progression of one featper four or even five levels.The size of the bonus epic feats list is also significant, butnot nearly as important as the rate a class gains bonus feats. Alarger list (such as the druid's) is worth more than a smallerlist (such as the arcane archer's).24