Gnomish Lorefinder (Campaign Class)

Prime Requisite: INT and CHA
Requirements: CON 9, INT 9
Hit Dice: 1d6
Maximum Level: 11

Gnomes are possessed of great natural curiosity and inquisitiveness. Gnomish lorefinders indulge these motivations systematically, and cultivate their gnomish talents for magic and machinery. They use these talents to explore ruins and distant places to discover new or lost lore. Some unscrupulous individuals put their talents to use stealing books, scrolls, and magical items.

Gnomish lorefinders advance in attack and saving throws as thieves, by two points every four levels of experience. At first level, lorefinders hit an unarmored foe (AC 0) with an attack throw of 10+. Gnomish lorefinders may wield arbalests, crossbows, daggers, hand axes, maces, and war hammers. They may fight with a weapon and shield or wielding a weapon two-handed. They cannot wear armor heavier than leather. Lorefinders may use magic items usable by thieves.

Gnomish lorefinders cast and learn spells as mages of one-third their level (rounded down). They may cast spells while wearing armor. They can also engage in magical research as mages of one-third their level.

Once per hour, gnomish lorefinders can cast faerie fire and ventriloquism.

Thanks to their study of ancient lore and secrets, gnomish lorefinders possess loremastery, which allows them to decipher occult runes, remember ancient history, identify historic artifacts, and similar tasks. At 1st level, a lorefinder must make a proficiency throw of 18+ on 1d20 to succeed in these tasks. The proficiency throw required reduces by 1 per level.

Gnomish lorefinders learn many practical skills to help them plumb ruins for ancient artifacts and knowledge: they can open locks and find and remove traps as a thief of the same level.

Starting at 3rd level, the gnomish lorefinder's arcane dabbling allows him to attempt to use wands, staffs, and other magic items only useable by mages. At 3rd level, the character must make a proficiency throw of 14+ on 1d20 or the attempt bakfires in some desultory way (Judge's discretion). The proficiency throw required reduces by 2 per level, to a minimum of 3+.

Upon attaining 5th level, the gnomish lorefinder can read languages, including ciphers, treasure maps, and dead languages, but not magical writings. A proficiency throw of 5+ on 1d20 is required. If the roll does not succeed, the bard may not try to read that particular piece of writing until he reaches a higher level of experience.

At 7th level, the gnomish lorefinder can read and cast magic from arcane scrolls with a proficiency throw of 3+ on 1d20. However, a failed throw means the spell does not function as expected, and can create a horrible effect at the Judge's discretion.

The gnomish penchant for trickery leaves gnomes resistant to illusions made by others. They receive a +4 bonus on saving throws to disbelieve magical illusions. Gnomes have a nose for potions. They may make a proficiency throw of 11+ to determine the magical properties of a potion or oil on taste. Starting at 5th level, gnomish lorefinders may brew potions as mages of their class level. The gnomish tendency to underground life has granted them extended infravision to 90'. Gnomish characters speak the Common and Gnome tongue, and can also speak the tongues of Dwarves, Elves, Goblins, and Kobolds. In addition, gnomes can speak with animals (as the spell) at will.

A gnomish lorefinder who achieves enough fame and fortune from his adventures may build a gnomish vault when he reaches 9th level (Gnomish Loremaster). Gnomes usually live in clans, so gnomes of the character's clan will be the first to live under his roof, but gnomes from other clans will also come and live nearby to be ruled by the character. A total of 3d6×10 1 level NPCs of the same race will move in to help maintain and defend the vault at no cost to the character. A gnomish lorefinder is expected to employ only soldiers of gnomish descent, but may hire members of other races for other tasks. When a gnomish lorefinder builds a vault, all ordinary animals within 5 miles of the stronghold become kind and helpful.

Gnomish Lorefinder Proficiency List: Alchemy, Alertness, Ambushing, Armor Training, Art, Blind Fighting, Bribery, Caving, Climbing, Collegiate Wizardry, Contortionism, Craft, Diplomacy, Eavesdropping, Knowledge, Land Surveying, Lockpicking, Magical Engineering, Magical Music, Mapping, Martial Training, Mountaineering, Navigation, Performance, Precise Shooting, Prestidigitation, Sensing Power, Signaling, Skirmishing, Sniping, Survival, Swashbuckling, Trap Finding

Gnomish Lorefinder Level Progression
Spell Progression
Experience Title Level Hit Dice 1 2
0 Gnomish Dabbler 1 1d6 — —
2,475 Gnomish Abecedarian 2 2d6 — —
4,950 Gnomish Tyro 3 3d6 1 —
9,900 Gnomish Tinkerer 4 4d6 1 —
20,000 Gnomish Connoisseur 5 5d6 1 —
40,000 Gnomish Seeker 6 6d6 2 —
80,000 Gnomish Lorefinder 7 7d6 2 —
180,000 Gnomish Cognoscente 8 8d6 2 —
330,000 Gnomish Loremaster 9 9d6 2 1
480,000 Gnomish Loremaster, 10th level 10 9d6+1* 2 1
630,000 Gnomish Loremaster, 11th level 11 9d6+2* 2 1
* Hit point modifiers from Constitution are ignored

Gnomish Lorefinder Skills
Level Arcane Dabbling Loremastery Open Locks Find/Remove Traps
1—18+18+18+
2—17+17+17+
314+16+16+16+
412+15+15+15+
510+14+14+14+
68+13+12+13+
76+12+10+11+
84+11+8+9+
93+10+6+7+
103+9+4+5+
113+8+3+3+

Gnomish Lorefinder Attack and Saving Throws
Level Petrification & Paralysis Poison & Death Blast & Breath Staff & Wands Spells Attack Throw
1–2 13+ 13+ 16+ 14+ 15+ 10+
3–4 12+ 12+ 15+ 13+ 14+ 9+
5–6 11+ 11+ 14+ 12+ 13+ 8+
7–8 10+ 10+ 13+ 11+ 12+ 7+
9–10 9+ 9+ 12+ 10+ 11+ 6+
11–12 8+ 8+ 11+ 9+ 10+ 5+
13 7+ 7+ 10+ 8+ 9+ 4+