Mysterious Stranger (3.5e Prestige Class)

The Mysterious Stranger[edit]

“	You can hide sins from a gavel, you can drown them in rum - but when you're trained in my sights there's nowhere to run...	”
—Mysterious Stranger

Gunslingers use a potent mixture of common sense and manual dexterity in order to control the fickle power of their weapons. But a few rare gunslingers seem to accomplish their chosen tasks purely through willpower and an unwillingness to ever give up. These mysterious strangers use their force of personality to keep going when the chips are down, often moving on from a region as soon as they accomplish their goals—hence the name.

Trained in stealth, marksmanship and the dark arts; a mysterious stranger can alter the prevailing conditions of any situation with terrifying speed and precision and disappear just as quickly.

The Mysterious Stranger is an ideal Prestige Class for those who wishing to play a kind of Gunslinger crossed with an Assassin.

Adventuring: Mysterious Strangers are typically plagued by wanderlust - almost incapable settling in one place for more than few weeks. However, they are not without goals or dreams: many adventure for the sake of improving their skills and fighting abilities, and some have a more personal motivation such as revenge or riches.

Though rarely lawful, good Mysterious Strangers are frequently drawn to the roles of lawmen and bounty hunters - enjoying the prestige and lifestyle whilst the less scrupulous of them are drawn to careers as 'guns-for-hire' since constant travel is part and parcel for these professions.

Characteristics: Mysterious strangers are very similar to Assassins in skillset. They train themselves in the art of fast, stealthy, and efficient killing at extreme range. At the same time, however, they crave the prestige the comes with being a famed hunter of men. Mysterious strangers were frequently romanticized in their day in the form of dime novels and their very names are unsettling to even the staunchest outlaws.

Alignments: Mysterious Strangers come from all walks of life - but as they are drawn to recognition and public acclaim they are never evil in nature. A Lawful Stranger is mainly inclined to target fugitives, outlaws, gangs and crimelords. Chaotic Strangers do as well, but will also target tyrants, corrupt nobles, and slavers irrespective of the legality of their target's chosen moral infringement. They rarely have the patience for 'due process' and bureaucracy and usually feel that it's quicker to clean up the streets with a gun.

Religions: The Mysterious Stranger's first love is the road and gods vary widely between individual strangers based on race, creed and background but typically view religion and devotion to a single with distaste preferring to follow the way of ka, a variant of destiny. However, Strangers are known to be respectful of holy sites such as churches, rarely being so bold as to disturb sanctified places of worship.

Races: The vigilantism and craving for prestige is seen throughout most cultures but humans and half-human societies carry a certain predilection for romanticizing the acts of Mysterious Strangers.

Interaction: The Mysterious Stranger gets along well with most non-evil characters. In particular, she can appreciate the devotion of the Cleric, the skill and cunning of the Rogue, and the hunting instinct of the Ranger. Some (not all) Paladins, on the other hand, might find the stranger's apparent lack of appreciation for due process in contradiction to their beliefs.

Requirements[edit]

To qualify as a Mysterious Stranger, a character must fulfill all the following criteria.

Alignment: Any nonevil.

Base Attack Bonus: +4.

Skills:Hide 8 ranks, Move Silently 8 ranks,

Feat: Alertness, Uncanny Dodge, Martial Proficiency (firearms).

Stat: Cha 13+

Class Skills[edit]

Class Skills: class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Balance (Dex), Bluff (Cha), Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Decipher Script (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Disable Device (Int), Disguise (Cha), Escape Artist (Dex), Forgery (Int), Gather Information (Cha), Hide (Dex), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Open Lock (Dex), Search (Int), Sense Motive (Wis), Sleight of Hand (Dex), Spot (Wis), Swim (Str), Tumble (Dex), Use Magic Device (Cha), and Use Rope (Dex).

Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier.

Hit Die: d6.

Table: The Mysterious Stranger
Level	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Special	Spells per Day
Level	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Special	1st	2nd	3rd	4th
1st	+0	+0	+2	+0	Deadly Aim +1d6, Resolution, Spells, Escape Plan	1	—	—	—
2nd	+1	+0	+3	+0	Shot on the Run	2	—	—	—
3rd	+2	+1	+3	+1	Improved Fake Out, Deadly Aim +2d6	3	1	—	—
4th	+3	+1	+4	+1	Headshot 1/day	4	2	—	—
5th	+3	+1	+4	+1	Deadly Aim +3d6,	4	3	1	—
6th	+4	+2	+5	+2	Improved Uncanny Dodge	4	4	2	—
7th	+5	+2	+5	+2	Deadly Aim +4d6, Headshot 2/day	4	4	3	1
8th	+6	+2	+6	+2	Hide in plain sight	4	4	4	2
9th	+6	+3	+6	+3	Deadly Aim +5d6	4	4	4	3
10th	+7	+3	+7	+3	Confidence, Headshot 3/day	4	4	4	4

Class Features[edit]

All of the following are Class Features of the Mysterious Stranger prestige class.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Strangers are proficient with firearms of all kinds. Strangers are also proficient with light armor but not with shields.

Deadly Aim: The Strangers’s attack deals extra damage any time her target would be denied a Dexterity bonus to AC (whether the target actually has a Dexterity bonus or not) and the marksman is successfully hidden. That is, she is not visible by virtue of a spell or by using the Hide skill and not being noticed. This extra damage is 1d6 for pistols at 1st level, 1d2 per pellet for shotguns 1d10 for muskets and 1d12 for rifled muskets, and it increases by one die every two marksman levels thereafter; or when the Stranger may take a full-round action to gain extra damage as well as range upon using her rifle. In addition Deadly Aim damage can only be done with ranged attacks, and the 30 ft. range of sneak attacks does not apply to Deadly Aim attacks. The extra damage dealt increases by one die every other level (2nd, 4th, 6th, 8th, and 10th).

Whilst taking Deadly Aim the range increment of the weapon doubles, stacking with any effects such as the Far Shot feat or Distance magical weapon enhancement. A target must first be selected for the Stranger to use Deadly Aim and be within sight of the Stranger. If the target is moving, this does not effect the accuracy of Stranger while using Deadly Aim. However if the Gunslinger is on a surface which is either unstable or is himself moving, then she is unable to use the Deadly Aim enhancement.

A Stranger may steady his aim even when mounted although must be stationary unless she has acquired the Ride-By Attack feat, which allow the Stranger to use Deadly Aim even when his mount is moving. However this does not allow the Stranger to use Deadly Aim when moving on foot.

Deadly Aim does provoke an attack of opportunity. If an enemy is successful in scoring a direct hit on the Stranger while shes attempting Deadly Aim, then the Stranger must succeed a Concentration Check of DC 10 + Damage Dealt or else lose extra damage granted by Deadly Aim (Stacks with all levels of Steady Aim (True Gunslinger, 3.5e).

Resolution: If a Stranger studies her victim for 2 round and then makes a Deadly Aim ranged touch attack with a firearm that successfully deals damage at the beginning of the third round, the Deadly Aim has the additional effect of possibly either paralyzing or killing the target (player’s choice). While studying the victim, the stranger can undertake other actions so long as his attention stays focused on the target and the target does not detect the stranger or recognize the stranger as an enemy. If the victim of such an attack fails a Fortitude save (DC 20 + the Stranger’s class level + the stranger’s Cha modifier) against the kill effect, it dies. If the saving throw fails against the paralysis effect, the victim is rendered helpless and unable to act for 1d6 rounds plus 1 round per level of the Stranger (stacks with levels of classes that grant Death Attack like skills). If the victim’s saving throw succeeds, the attack is just a normal sneak attack. Once the stranger has completed the 3 rounds of study, she must make the death attack within the next 3 rounds.

If a Resolution is attempted and fails (the victim makes her save) or if the stranger does not launch the attack within 3 rounds of completing the study, 3 new rounds of study are required before she can attempt another death attack.

Spells: Beginning at 1st level, an Stranger gains the ability to cast a number of arcane spells. To cast a spell, a Stranger must have an Charisma score of at least 10 + the spell’s level, so a stranger with a Charisma of 10 or lower cannot cast these spells. Mysterious Stranger bonus spells are based on Charisma, and saving throws against these spells have a DC of 10 + spell level + the Stranger’s Charisma bonus. When the Stranger gets 0 spells per day of a given spell level she gains only the bonus spells she would be entitled to based on her Charisma score for that spell level.

The spell list appears below. They cast spells just as a bard does.

Upon reaching 6th level, at every even-numbered level after that (8th and 10th), they can choose to learn a new spell in place of one they already knows. The new spell’s level must be the same as that of the spell being exchanged, and it must be at least two levels lower than the highest-level spell they can cast. A Mysterious Stranger may swap only a single spell at any given level, and must choose whether or not to swap the spell at the same time that they gain new spells known for that level.

Table: Mysterious Stranger Spells Known
Level	Spells Known
Level	1st	2nd	3rd	4th
1st	3¹	—	—	—
2nd	4	—	—	—
3rd	4	3¹	—	—
4th	5	4	—	—
5th	5	4	3¹	—
6th	6	5	4	—
7th	6	5	4	3¹
8th	6	6	5	4
9th	6	6	5	4
10th	6	6	6	5
Provided the Mysterious Stranger has sufficient Charisma to have a bonus spell of this level.

Escape Plan: The Stranger is an expert at hiding even after their position has been given away. After attacking, the marksman must make an opposed Hide check at a -20 penalty to stay hidden. The Stranger may apply their class level times two as a competence bonus to Hide checks after attacking, to a maximum of +20. At level 5, for example, she gets a +10 bonus to their Hide check after attacking.

Improved Fake Out (Ex): At 3rd level a Stranger's advanced training and years of experience allow him to feint more rapidly than ever. He is from here on able to make a Bluff check to feint in combat as a swift action. If he could do so already, he becomes able to make this Bluff check to feint as a free action.

Improved Uncanny Dodge (Ex): At 5th level, an Stranger can no longer be flanked, since she can react to opponents on opposite sides of herself as easily as she can react to a single attacker. This defense denies rogues the ability to use flank attacks to sneak attack the Stranger. The exception to this defense is that a rogue at least four levels higher than the Stranger can flank her (and thus sneak attack her).

If a character gains uncanny dodge (see above) from a second class the character automatically gains improved uncanny dodge, and the levels from those classes stack to determine the minimum rogue level required to flank the character.

Headshot (Ex): Starting at 4th level, a Stranger becomes able to aim their ranged attacks at their enemies' weak points. Once a day, she may expend his use of this ability as a swift action to make his next attack, if successful, an automatic critical hit. If this attack misses, the use of the ability is expended without effect. The Stranger gains an additional use of this ability at 7th and 10th level afterward (Stacks with levels of the True Gunslinger class for uses per day).

Hide in Plain Sight (Su): At 8th level, a stranger can use the Hide skill even while being observed. As long as she is within 10 feet of some sort of shadow, a stranger can hide herself from view in the open without having anything to actually hide behind.

Confidence: At 10th level a stranger can now add her Charisma bonus to all extra die when using the Deadly Aim ability. For example a 10th level Stranger with a +2 Charisma modifier using a pistol can now deal 5d6+8 extra damage as opposed to the regular +5d6 (adds to Steady Aim dice as well). On a musket it would be 5d10+8.