OGC:Justice (3.5e NPC Class)

This material is published under the OGL 1.0a.

Justice

The justice is similar to both the expert and the aristocrat. He is physically weaker than either class and has limited combat training, but he has a good selection of skills and receives more skill points than either of the other two NPC classes. Needless to say, a character does not have to have levels in this class to hold the office of justice. The class simply represents formal training for legal service; a character with levels in this class has dedicated his life to the law, as opposed to spontaneously being appointed to the role.

While it is an NPC class, the justice has an excellent selection of skills. In particular, if a character wants to become an inquisitor, the fastest way to reach his goal is by serving as a justice.

Making a Justice

Abilities: A high Charisma is vital for a justice; as an agent of the law, he must be able to exert his authority over others and get people to listen to his words. Wisdom is equally important; a justice must have an unshakeable force of will and a keen ability to see into the depths of the human soul. Physical abilities are less important; as a general rule, the justice will have guards to protect him from harm.

Alignment: Any lawful. As an instrument of the legal system, it follows that a justice would respect the power of the law. Of course, a lawful evil justice may twist the law to his own benefit — but that’s a different story.

Table: The Justice

Hit Die: d4

Level	Base Attack Bonus	Saving Throws			Special
		Fort	Ref	Will
1st	+0	+0	+0	+2	Judicial Authority
2nd	+1	+0	+0	+3
3rd	+1	+1	+1	+3
4th	+2	+1	+1	+4
5th	+2	+1	+1	+4
6th	+3	+2	+2	+5
7th	+3	+2	+2	+5
8th	+4	+2	+2	+6
9th	+4	+3	+3	+6
10th	+5	+3	+3	+7
11th	+5	+3	+3	+7
12th	+6/+1	+4	+4	+8
13th	+6/+1	+4	+4	+8
14th	+7/+2	+4	+4	+9
15th	+7/+2	+5	+5	+9
16th	+8/+3	+5	+5	+10
17th	+8/+3	+5	+5	+10
18th	+9/+4	+6	+6	+11
19th	+9/+4	+6	+6	+11
20th	+10/+5	+6	+6	+12
Class Skills (8 + Int modifier per level, ×4 at 1st level) Appraise (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Gather Information (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (All skills, taken individually) (Int), Listen (Wis), Perform (Cha), Profession (Wis), Sense Motive (Wis), Speak Language, and Spot (Wis).

Class Features

All of the following are class features of the justice.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A justice is proficient with the club, dagger, quarterstaff, and three additional simple weapons of his choosing. The justice is not proficient with any sort of armor or shield.

Judicial Authority: A justice is a representative of the law. As long as the justice is pursuing his duties and is within the dominion of the force that grants him his authority, he may demand room, board, and cooperation from the local representatives of the law. All citizens are expected to cooperate with a justice acting in the pursuit of his duties, but your mileage will vary based on the degree of respect that the populace has for the governing body. A justice in the service of a much-loved church may receive freely offered advice and assistance, while if he serves a hated tyrant the citizens may actually try to sabotage his efforts behind his back.

Judicial Authority is a privilege; if a justice fails to perform his duties or incurs the wrath of his liege, he will lose his authority. Likewise, if a player character takes a level in this class during his adventuring career, he does not automatically receive Judicial Authority. He has the training required to become an excellent justice, and a lord may recognize this, but he still has to be invested with an office by someone in a position of power.

Playing a Justice

Common specialties for the Knowledge skill include Geography, Law, Local, Nobility, and Religion; Perform is generally reserved for oratory and other forms of public speaking.

If you’re looking for an interesting alternative to the standard dungeon crawl, you might consider trying a brief campaign in the service of the law. The life of a traveling justice can be filled with adventure and intrigue, and can make an interesting basis for a party.

Consider the Following Party Structure:

The Justice — If you’re going to make a campaign out of the pursuit of the law, someone needs to play the justice. A justice can start taking levels in the inquisitor class as early as 3rd level. If you start off with a somewhat experienced group, the justice can begin with a few inquisitor levels. That way he can serve as his own truthteller and also make up for the fact that he’s got an NPC class.

The Investigator — Most of the time an itinerant justice will trust in the report of the jury. But as an adventuring group, you never know what you could encounter. Cover-ups, conspiracies, doppelgangers, and stranger things abound — for such cases, it’s good to have someone on the team who specializes in gathering information. An investigator is the logical choice for this, but a rogue or bard can serve equally well.

The Confessor — Assuming that the nation isn’t filled with atheists, it never hurts to have a representative of the gods in the party. Criminals and townsfolk alike may be more willing to unburden themselves to a minion of the divine that to a representative of the king. And if blood is shed, the ability to heal never hurts. A hint: a cleric of a god of Good, Protection, the Sun, or the like usually makes a better confessor that a priestess of Death, Destruction, or Evil.

The Shields — An itinerant justice would be wise to travel with a few good blades at his side. Aside from the likelihood of bandits on the roads, there’s always the possibility that the townsfolk may take umbrage with an unpopular ruling. The justice must be prepared to enforce his decision through force of arms. And if you conduct your own investigation, you never know what you might find. Both fighters and paladins serve this purpose admirably, but if you start at higher levels you may want a magehunter, to help to control mystical prisoners.

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Section 15: Copyright Notice (place problems on the discussion page).

Justice from Crime and Punishment, © 2003, Atlas Games; Author Keith Baker, based on original material by Keith Baker. It is covered by the Open Game License v1.0a, rather than the GNU Free Documentation License 1.3. To distinguish it, these items will have this notice. If you see any page that contains Open Game License v1.0a material and does not show this license statement, please contact an admin so that this license statement can be added. It is our intent to work within this license in good faith.