Child of the Night (3.5e Prestige Class)

Child of the Night

“	If you fought me in a fair fight, you'd win. Too bad I don't fight fair.	”
—Calagil Galadrrin, Elven Night Child

The Child of the Night is Tharizdun's agent, and devotes her life to him. She goes to guild meetings and goes about her life, with none of her loved ones knowing about the Children of Night guild of which she is a member. She may go adventuring using her powerful Night abilities.

Becoming a Night Child

Children of the Night are always worshipers of Tharizdun, the god of darkness. They become aware of the secret guild (called The Children of Night)'s existence by dreams sent by the diety's priests or by getting recommended by others in the guild. Rarely, somebody could just happen upon a meetring and discover the guild. No matter how they join, a Night Child is always a guild member.

Entry Requirements

Alignment:	Any nonlawful, although most good characters do not become a Night Child.
Skills:	10 Move Silently, 10 Hide, 10 Bluff, 10 Sleight of Hand, 10 Open Lock, 10 Escape Artist
Feats:	Power Critical, Weapon Finesse, Spring Attack
Patron:	The character must worship to some degree Tharizdun, the god of darkness. Given his neutral alignment, the character is free to choose either good or evil.
Special:	You must be part of the secret guild called the Children of Night to be a Night Child. In order to join this guild, you must discover it and prove that you are loyal to Tharizdun as well as show your skills at stealth combat (have sneak attack or sudden strike of at least 4d6).

Table: The Night Child

Hit Die: d6

Level	Base Attack Bonus	Saving Throws			Special
		Fort	Ref	Will
1st	+0	+0	+2	+0	+1d6 Night Strike
2nd	+1	+0	+3	+0	Improved Hide in Plain Sight
3rd	+2	+1	+3	+1	+2d6 Night Strike
4th	+3	+1	+4	+1	Assassinate
5th	+3	+1	+4	+1	+3d6 Night Strike
6th	+4	+2	+5	+2
7th	+5	+2	+5	+2	+4d6 Night Strike
8th	+6	+2	+6	+2	Night's Blow
9th	+6	+3	+6	+3	+5d6 Night Strike
10th	+7	+3	+7	+3	Precision of the Dark
Class Skills (6 + Int modifier per level) Bluff, Climb, Disable Device, Disguise, Escape Artist, Gather Information, Hide, Jump, Listen, Move Silently, Open Lock, Search, Sleight of Hand, Spot, Tumble, Use Rope.

Class Features

The Night Child specializes in the use of the shadows and the night as a source of power. They draw it from Tharizdun himself. All of the following are class features of the Night Child.

Night Strike: The Night Child uses the powers of deception and darkness to deal more damage when not seen. This ability functions exactly as Sneak Attack does, and stacks with both it and Sudden Strike for all purposes except Night Blow (see below) or when it is specifically noted that Night Strike is needed. Note that Sudden Strike and Sneak Attack do not stack. The Night Child gains 1d6 of Night Strike damage at 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th and 9th levels.

Improved Hide in Plain Sight: The Night Child needs to be unseen for many of her abilities to function. This ability allows her to make a hide check at any time (including in urban areas) without cover or concealment.

Assassinate: The Assassinate ability helps the Night Child do her specialty: Deal massive amounts of damage at one time. With this ability, she can add her sneak attack/sudden strike/night strike damage to any critical hit that is confirmed.

Night Blow: The Night Blow is useful for giving staggering blows as it allows the Night Child to double all damage from Night Strike dice on a critical hit. For example, if she critical hits and has 4d6 of sneak attack and 5d6 of Night Strike, if her weapon deals 1d6 damage, she will deal 16d6 damage [2(5d6+1d6)+4].

Precision of the Dark: The Night Child is becoming very powerful by this level and is able to deal extreme amounts of damage at once. With the Precision of the Dark power, a number of times a day equal to her Intelligence modifier, she may add her Night Strike damage to any confirmed hit AFTER it is confirmed if Night Strike damage would be applied.

Ex-Night Children

If a Night Child breaks the guild's rules, they are expelled from it. Expulsion from the guild results in loss of Night Strike d6, Night Blow Ability, and Precision of the Dark abilies. Assassinate can still be used, as its power is not derived from the guild's deity. Ex-Night Children may seek to bring down the guild in revenge, or prove themselves worthy in some other way to reenter.

Children of the Night Guild Rules 1. Never kill somebody in cold blood. If you do, you will pay a blood price of 10,000 gp or be expelled. 2. Never betray the guild's existence to anybody who you think will tell about it. If you tell about it, and that person tells before joining the guild, you will be expelled. 3. Worship only Tharizdun. If any other god is worshiped, you will be expelled.

Campaign Information

Playing a Child of Night

Combat: While in combat, the Night Child prefers to go unseen. She generally succeeds in getting a surprise round in on the enemies, by sneaking up and sneak attacking. Once seen, she will use Improved Hide in Plain Sight in order to re-obtain the sneak attack bonus. If this is not possible, using high-percentage critical hit weapons allows her to add her sneak attack and night strike damage.

Advancement: The Child of Night class generally goes through level 20, so advancement is not always an option, but continuing with the rogue class can be a good idea to obtain some of their class features and more sneak attack dice.

Resources: Members of the Children of Night have each other's back. They will help each other in small ways, but often times they are too busy with their own affairs. Donations float around members, but that is usually the extent of their affiliation. Guild meetings are held monthly, but most people do not make it to all meetings (or even the majority of them) unless they are extremely devoted to their deity.

Children of the Night in the World

“

Our power is derived from Tharizdul, and therefore, we are shrouded in his darkness, Elven Night Child

”

Most members of the guild are not known members by any, because of the secrecy of the guild. Most members carry on normal lives besides the meetings and occasional missions, and some adventure and journy.

NPC Reactions: NPCs react to Night Children just as they would any other person, because they do not know the person is a member of this guild.

Child of the Night Lore

Characters who do not know about the Children of Night cannot research it, for they do not know of its existence. If a character does know of it, they should have Knowledge (Religion) can research the class. When a character makes a skill check, read or paraphrase the following, including information from lower DCs.

<-the appropriate skills->

DC	Result
11	Tharizdun is worshipped by members of the Children of Night. They are a guild of Night warriors who fight for their own good, but never kill in cold blood.
16	Those in the Children of the Night get their powers from Tharizdun. They have to do with using darkness to make their moves more concealed and attacks more lethal.
21	If you want to know how to join the Children of the Night, they meet at a place specified with a letter between the two parties signed in each other's blood.
26	Tharizdun started the guild so that they would be his servants, but he chose the wrong people to start up with and they did not want to serve him, only worship him. Today, he accepts them as his followers.

Night Children in the Game

PCs in the Children of Night guild generally do not need to go to meetings, as it is only a roleplaying point. They are undoubtedly build to be the party's striker, as few can deal as much damage in as few hits. They should be protected well, because they cannot heal themselves and have few hit points. NPCs usually are enemies, as they make confusing people to locate and battle with.

Adaptation: In order to make the Night Child fit into your campaign, you could make their guild involved directly with the quest. For example, maybe the guild is the giver of the quest, or the PC Night Child must choose between his friends and his guild and potentially face expulsion.

Sample Encounter: The PCs are travelling through a dark, gloomy wood when suddenly, one of them is stabbed by Night Child and greatly damaged. Then, several of them pop out of the woods, all wearing uniform clothing, and disappear right before the PCs' eyes.

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