Scholar (3.5e NPC Class)

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The Scholar

the scholar is the NPC class you can use to represent people who happen to be experts in particular fields of knowledge, bookworms who do not have any combat experience whatsoever. Due to their class features, they are the best at just knowing things, being even better at bardic knowledge checks than a bard of the same level. Just like the expert class it might make an viable choice for an player character, but is more appropriate for NPCs and cohorts. As a DM, feel free to give NPC scholars who are meant to be particularly experienced maximum skill ranks, skill points, and class features as if they were a few levels higher than their actual level, an truly experienced scholar who has never so much as lifted a sword could know more than the entire party combined yet when it comes down to hit points, saving throws and attacks they may be weaker than even the wizard.

Alignment

any, but most tend toward lawful alignments

Starting Age

complex

Table: The Scholar

Hit Die: d4

Level	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Special
1st	+0	+0	+0	+2	knowledgeable +1
2nd	+1	+0	+0	+3	bardic knowledge
3rd	+1	+1	+1	+3	knowledgeable +2
4th	+2	+1	+1	+4	ability boost (int +2)
5th	+2	+1	+1	+4	knowledgeable +3
6th	+3	+2	+2	+5	skill focus
7th	+3	+2	+2	+5	knowledgeable +4
8th	+4	+2	+2	+6	ability boost (int +2)
9th	+4	+3	+3	+6	knowledgeable +5
10th	+5	+3	+3	+7	skill focus, bonus class skill
11th	+5	+3	+3	+7	knowledgeable +6
12th	+6	+4	+4	+8	ability boost (int +2)
13th	+6	+4	+4	+8	knowledgeable +7
14th	+7	+4	+4	+9	skill focus
15th	+7	+5	+5	+9	knowledgeable +8
16th	+8	+5	+5	+10	ability boost (int +2)
17th	+8	+5	+5	+10	knowledgeable +9
18th	+9	+6	+6	+11	skill focus
19th	+9	+6	+6	+11	knowledgeable +10
20th	+10	+6	+6	+12	ability boost (int +2)
Class Skills (6 + Int modifier per level) appraise, decipher script, gather information, knowledge (any), profession (any), spellcraft, speak language, two additional skills of your choice.

Class Features

All of the following are class features of the Scholar:

armor and weapons

you are not proficient in any armor or weapons, but may spend 4 skill points during character creation to gain proficiency with two simple weapons

knowledgeable

starting at 1st level, the scholar gains an +1 bonus to all knowledge checks that he has at least one rank in, as well as to all bardic knowledge checks. This bonus increases by 1 every two levels thereafter (+2 at the 3rd level, +3 at the 5th level, etc, as shown by the table above)

Bardic knowledge

starting at 2nd level you can use bardic knowledge (see the bard feature for details). Add your scholar level to the bardic knowledge check.

Ability boost

at every scholar level evenly divisible by four, increase your intelligence score by 2

Skill focus

at the 6th, 10th, 14th, and 18th levels you gain skill focus as a bonus feat. You must choose an class skill to benefit from these bonus feats

Bonus class skills

at the 10th level, you may choose two new skills to become class skills for you

Epic scholar

an scholar with epic levels is something almost unheard of, but it does happen. Such a scholar will likely be famed across the land for their comprehensive knowledge in a variety of fields and for their incredible wit, seeming to be almost all-knowing. The variants for the scholar NPC class mentioned below might not be suited for epic-level play and ought not to use these rules.

Hit Dice: d4

Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 6 + int modifier

knowledgable the bonus from knowledgable increases by 1 at every odd-numbered level (+11 at the 21st level, +12 at the 23rd, etc)

bardic knowledge: add your scholar level + int + knowledgeable bonus to your bardic knowledge check, as normal

int bonus: increase your intelegence score by two every four levels after 20th (24th, 28th, and so on)

bonus feats: You gain one bonus feat every four levels after 18

variant Scholar: military scholar

the military scholar is a scholar who focuses on war and weapons in their studies. As a result, they may become skilled in wielding some strange weapons, even if their talent is mostly for show. They use a d6 hit dice and have the following class skill list: appraise, craft(armorsmithing, bowmaking, weaponsmithing), knowledge(any), profession(any), speak the language, and one additional skill of your choice. You do not gain bonus class skills at the 10th level. You start the game proficient with a martial weapon of your choice, and you may spend 8 skill points at character creation or when you gain a level in this class to gain proficiency in an exotic weapon of your choice. Add your knowledgable bonus to your attack rolls with any exotic weapon you are proficient in.

variant Scholar: magic scholar

not to be confused with a wizard, this fellow knows a ton about spells but does not cast them. Use the following class skill list for them: appraise, decipher script, gather information, knowledge (any), profession (any), spellcraft, speak language, use magic device. Their skill points per level is 5 + int. To compensate for this they gain the following class feature at level 1:

magic comprehension

you have a number of level 0 spell slots equal to your scholar level + your intelligence modifier, that can only be used to cast detect magic or read magic. When you cast an ether spell in this manner, it does not require any components and your caster level equals your knowledgeable bonus + your wizard level (if any). Whenever you would gain skill focus as an bonus feat, you can instead do one of the following things: learn to cast Analyze Dweomer as a level 0 spell using your scholar spell slots (caster level equals your knowledgable bonus, save DC equals 10 + your intelligence modifier, the spell takes 10 minutes to cast), or choose a single metamagic feat whose level increase is no higher than your intelligence bonus that you can now apply at-will to detect magic or read magic without using a higher level spell slot or knowing the feat.

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