Emissary

D&D 3e (3.0/3.5) Rules

by Ogre Bane & Milo

"I normally can't stand any mortal, much less a human. But there was something about him that I just can't figure out. I actually respected him…for a human."
—Emberflame, Red Dragon

The Emissary

Throughout the world of Krynn there are many ancient beasts as well as secrets. The eldest and most revered of those beasts are the Dragons of Krynn. They and their secrets are, perhaps, the most elusive things on Krynn. Elusive, but not uninvolved. The dragons of Krynn take it upon themselves to keep away from directly interfering with the affairs of the mortals around them. However, they use their Emissaries to keep in touch with the affairs transpiring around them.

Almost all of the metallic dragons and some of the chromatic dragons of Krynn have set about to create tendrils of information and avenues of indirect change for themselves. These two objectives are achieved through their Emissaries. Moving about the world, these emissaries relate information and act upon the wishes and objectives set to them by their master.

Believed to be as fierce, cunning, and elusive as the ancient creatures they represent, these emissaries normally gather information and affect change in subtle ways. Lately, however, their presence is become better known as the forces of evil strive to conquer Krynn. As the onslaught of cold encompasses Krynn, the emissaries of the metallic dragons are becoming more overt and active in their deeds to thwart the plots and schemes of their evil opponents.

Possessing many of the magical qualities of their masters, these emissaries are among the most fierce warriors, best diplomats, and elusive prey in all of Krynn. They act as servants, but are the masters of all they survey. It is only through years of training and discipline that they achieve such prowess. To incite their wrath is folly. To befriend them is to have befriended the ancient lords of Krynn.

Most Emissaries are monks. Because of the discipline and lawful attitude needed to serve a dragon, most other classes cannot become Emissaries. However, it is not unknown that paladins, with some training as monks, become Emissaries for the ancient dragons of Krynn. NPC Emissaries will always be found alone. They may be involved with the PC's in order to "steer" them in the right direction.

Hit Die: d8

Prerequisites:

To qualify to become an Emissary, the character must fulfill the following criteria:

Base Attack Bonus: +4
Languages: Read and write Draconic
Skills: Bluff 5 ranks, Diplomacy 5 ranks, Gather Information 5 ranks
Abilities: Still Mind and Purity of Body (monk abilities)
Alignment: Any lawful
Special: Must have been befriended by a metallic or chromatic dragon. This dragon must have accepted the character as a friend and ally. The character then must pledge his service to the dragon he will serve as an Emissary for life. This Emissary cannot simply choose to break this pact. If he does, he invokes the wrath of the dragon he has chosen to leave. However, it is not uncommon for the dragon, at any point he deems appropriate, to release the Emissary from his duties. When this happens, the Emissary can no longer advance within the prestige class, and must continue his adventuring following another class. This normally only occurs when an Emissary has acted directly against the wishes of his master, or has represented the dragon he serves poorly for some length of time.

Class Skills:

The Emissary's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Balance (Dex), Bluff (Cha), Climb (Str), Diplomacy (Cha), Escape Artist (Dex), Gather Information (Cha), Hide (Dex), Innuendo (Wis), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Spot (Wis), Swim (Str), and Tumble (Dex).

Skill points at each level: 4 + Int modifier.

Class Features:

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: The Emissary gains no new weapon and armor proficiencies.

Unarmed Strike: This follows the same rules as the ability for monks in the Player's Handbook. Use table 1:1 to see the damage of the Emissary's unarmed attack per level. If the Emissary has an unarmed strike that deals more damage from another class (such as a monk), use whichever is higher. The Emissary also follows the same rules for an unarmed strike with smaller creatures.

The Art (Ex): The Emissaries have learned from their ancient masters that direct combat is not always the solution to every problem. Sometimes, more subtle ways are needed to gain knowledge. The Emissaries gain bonuses to certain skills that may get them out of unnecessary combat. Every time they increase their knowledge of "The Art," at 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 6th, 8th, 9th, and finally 10th levels, the Emissary gains the bonus shown in table 1:1 to the following skills: Bluff, Diplomacy, Gather Information, Innuendo.

Comprehend Languages (Sp): Emissaries are often times called to duty to speak with many different races of the world of Krynn. Since these different races all have a separate language, the Emissaries must know these languages in order to deal with them. At 2nd level, the Emissary gains the spell-like ability of comprehend languages once per day. At 9th level, the emissary can cast this twice per day.

Wholeness of Body (Su): As the monk ability in the Player's Handbook. This ability stacks with the same ability in the monk class. In other words, the Emissary can add his monk and Emissary prestige class together to determine who many hit points he can cure.

Draconic Respect (Ex): Others that serve dragons or are dragons themselves know an Emissary when they see one. No matter what alignment or attitude of the draconic creature, they will respect the Emissary and his master. At 4th level, an Emissary receives a +4 morale bonus to all Charisma related checks when dealing with draconic creatures. Draconic creatures can include dragons, wyverns, draconians and even kobolds, among others. This bonus increases to +6 at 7th level.

Strike of the Ancients (Su): Since Emissaries may be attacked on certain occasions, they must be able to defend themselves. Following in the combat instructions of his Ancient master, the Emissary gains the ability to add magical abilities to his attacks. At 5th level, the Emissary's unarmed attacks are considered +1 weapons in terms of bonuses to attacks and damage. This ability allows the Emissary to harm creatures with damage reduction. This ability does not stack with Ki Strike.

Leap of the Clouds (Ex): As the monk ability in the Player's Handbook.

Aspect of the Ancients (Su): The Emissaries have become so in touch with their draconic masters that they begin to gain certain aspects of the dragon they serve. The abilities and changes the Emissary gains is dependent on the dragon they serve.

• At 1st level, the Emissary gains the natural cunning of the dragon he serves and gains a +2 bonus to all Spot and listen checks. At 6th level, this bonus increases to +4.
• At 5th level, the Emissary gains a +2 bonus to natural armor. The skin hue of the Emissary also changes to resemble more closely that of his or her dragon master. For example, if the Emissary served a Gold dragon, his skin would show a gold tint to it. This ability does not give the Emissary any scales or other advantages.
• At 6th level, the Emissary gains a Draconic Visage and his eyesight becomes more acute like that of a dragon. This makes the Emissary resemble the dragon he serves. His eyes gain a reptilian look and he gains the ability of Darkvision 60 feet and Low Light Vision. If the Emissary already had Darkvision from another race or class, the bonuses stack (For example, if an Emissary already had Darkvision from being a Dwarf, the Emissary's Darkvision would be 120 feet: 60 feet from the Dwarf and 60 feet from the Emissary Prestige Class).
• At 10th level, the Emissary becomes the most in tune with his or her dragon master. The Emissary gains a breath weapon depending on the Dragon he serves. See table 1:3 for the types of Breath weapons. The breath weapon may be used once per day. The Emissary also gains a resistance to an element type depending on the dragon he serves. This information is also provided in the table below.

Multiclass Note: Monk characters can freely multiclass with this class. In other words, you can give your monk PC a Emissary level, then return to the monk class for your next level, take an Emissary level after that, and so on.

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