River Gypsy (3.5e Prestige Class)
River Gypsy
Masters of the rivers, canals and lakes upon which they live, River Gypsies are fun loving free spirits with a passion for sailing. They are friends with all the goodly races and wild animals that live near their adopted home.
Becoming a River Gypsy
| Race: | Halfling |
|---|---|
| Skills: | Profession (Sailor) 8 ranks |
| Alignment: | Must be Good-aligned |
| Level | Base Attack Bonus | Fort Save | Ref Save | Will Save | Special | —Spells per Day— | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | ||||||
| 1st | +0 | +2 | +0 | +2 | Favored Enemy: Humanoid Reptillian, River Speak, Run the Boat | 0 | - | - | - |
| 2nd | +1 | +3 | +0 | +3 | Broken Breath, Otter Friend | 0 | - | - | - |
| 3rd | +2 | +3 | +1 | +3 | Otter Shape | 1 | 0 | - | - |
| 4th | +3 | +4 | +1 | +4 | Bonus Feat | 1 | 0 | - | - |
| 5th | +3 | +4 | +1 | +4 | Sink the Boat, Spite | 2 | 1 | 0 | - |
| 6th | +4 | +5 | +2 | +5 | Bonus Feat | 2 | 1 | 0 | - |
| 7th | +5 | +5 | +2 | +5 | Remember the Hills | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| 8th | +6 | +6 | +2 | +6 | Bonus Feat | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| 9th | +6 | +6 | +3 | +6 | Fly the Boat | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| 10th | +7 | +7 | +3 | +3 | Recall Home | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| Class Skills (4 + Int modifier per level, ×4 at 1st level) Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Handle Animal (Cha), Heal (Wis), Jump (Str), Knowledge (Geography) (Int), Knowledge (Nature) (Int), Listen (Wis), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), Spellcraft (Int), Spot (Wis), Survival (Wis), Swim (Str). | |||||||||
Class Features
All of the following are class features of the River Gypsy.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A River Gypsy is proficient with all simple and martial weapons, and with light armor and shields (except tower shields).
Spells: A River Gypsy casts divine spells, which are drawn from the druid spell list. A River Gypsy must choose and prepare her spells in advance (see below).
To prepare or cast a spell, the River Gypsy must have a Wisdom score equal to at least 10 + the spell level. The Difficulty Class for a saving throw against a River Gypsies spell is 10 + the spell level + the River Gypsies Wisdom modifier.
Like other spellcasters, a River Gypsy can cast only a certain number of spells of each spell level per day. Her base daily spell allotment is given on the table above. In addition, she receives bonus spells per day if she has a high Wisdom score. She does not have access to any domain spells or granted powers, as a cleric does.
A River Gypsy prepares and casts spells the way a cleric does, though she cannot lose a prepared spell to cast a cure spell in its place. A River Gypsy may prepare and cast any spell on the druid spell list, provided that she can cast spells of that level, but she must choose which spells to prepare during her daily meditation.
Favored Enemy: Reptilian Humanoid River Gypsies have had a profound hatred for all reptilian humanoids since the Yuan-ti destroyed their homeland. This ability works exactly like the Ranger ability of the same name.
River Speak (Ex): River Gypsies have learned to speak to the mammals that make their homes in, on, or by the rivers and canals of the world. Communication is rudimentary, only simple concepts can be exchanged.
Run the Boat (Su): At 1st level a River Gypsy is taught the secret of animating a boat. They may animate a narrow-boat of 10ft + 10ft per level in the River Gypsy prestige class. They may also animate any object that is currently floating in water that is less than 1 ton per level in the River Gypsy prestige class. Whatever object is so animated will move forward, backward or side-to-side at a rate of about 10 miles per hour +1 mile per hour per character level. This lasts a number of hours per day equal to the River Gypsies character level to a maximum of 16 hours per day. A full eight hours of rest is required to recover this ability. The duration may be spread out amongst multiple objects, one object at a time.
Broken Breath (Ex): A River Gypsy fighting in the water can attempt to hit their opponent in such a way that they lose their breath. On a successful melee attack a River Gypsy causes the target to make an immediate Constitution check to continue holding their breath, the DC is equal to 10 + 1/2 the damage dealt to the target on this attack. Every round after this the target must continue making Constitution checks per the rules on drowning.
Otter Friend (Ex): A River Gypsy may make a bond with one of the otters that make their home on the river. The Otter is treated like a Druid's animal companion.
Otter Shape (Su): Similar to the wild shape ability of the Druid, this ability allows the River Gypsy to take on the form of a normal river otter. They may switch back and forth an unlimited number of times per day and stay in otter form as long as they like. They do, however, automatically revert back to their normal Halfling shape when they fall asleep or otherwise lose consciousness.
Bonus Feat (Ex): The River Gypsy may select a bonus feat from the following feats: Tireless Pilot, River Runner, Sailing Large, Remote Running, Siege Boat, (more to come)
Sink the Boat (Su): At 5th level a River Gypsy may command his boat to submerge itself. The boat magically maintains an enclosure of breathable air that replenishes itself quickly enough to support as many people as can fit on the boat. This ability is only useful in areas where the water is deep enough to completely submerge the boat. It takes 5 rounds to completely submerge most river vessels, larger vessels may take longer. Movement underwater is at 1/4 the River Gypsies 'on water' rate.
Spite (Ex): Once per day, a River Gypsy may attempt to mark an opponent as part of a normal melee attack. She adds her River Gypsy level to her attack roll and, if the attack connects deals 1 extra point of damage per River Gypsy level and the opponent is mystically marked. All Halflings can sense this mark and react with hostility automatically upon meeting a marked individual. All Halflings get an additional +1 bonus to their attack rolls against a creature that has been spited.
Remember the Hills (Su): Similar to Hallucinatory Terrain, Remember the Hills allows the River Gypsy to call up an illusion of their homeland that completely obscures the real terrain. Typically this ability is used to confuse and deter attackers by hiding the River Gypsies boat and usually even the river itself. Examples of techniques using this ability are securing the boat to the side of the river and then simply extending the riverbank to cover the boat and hide it from view or to cause the river to appear to be ten or twenty feet further away from where it actually is and cause people on shore to fall in to the river unexpectedly or boat pilots to run their ship aground when they try to follow the illusionary course of the river. This illusion lasts for two hours per River Gypsy level or until it is disbelieved and covers an area of up to a 30 foot cube per River Gypsy level.
Fly the Boat (Su): A River Gypsy that has reached this level of mastery of their boat can actually cause any boat that they can normally animate to fly for a period of time and a rate of speed equal to their Run the Boat ability. They may extend their distance by cooperating with another River Gypsy, effectively using the other River Gypsy as a back up battery to keep them powered for a period of time equal to the assisting River Gypsies Run the Boat ability. I.e. A 9th level River Gyspsy with 16 character levels can keep the boat in the air for 15 hours, he is assisted by a 2nd level River Gypsy with 7 character levels can keep the boat in the air an additional 7 hours. Of course this is very tiring, and anything over the 16 hour limit from the Run the Boat ability incurs a Will Save with a 20 DC and increasing by 1 point every additional hour the boat is kept in the air. Failing the save causes the boat to float to the ground and the River Gypsy and any assistants to pass out as their mental reserves are completely exhausted from the effort of keeping the boat in the sky.
Recall Home (Su): A River Gypsy can teleport their ship back to their home way station. A River Gypsy can change which way station they identify as home by spending one uninterrupted week in the way station.
Playing a River Gypsy
Combat: River Gyspsies typically use their knowledge of the river, their friendship with the animals and creatures around the river, and their abilities to avoid combat. If combat is inevitable, they use their abilities to keep their opponents off balance.
Advancement: River Gypsies who are masters of their own ship tend to stay in this class as long as possible, occasionally cross-classing with the Druid or Ranger classes.
Resources: River Gyspies belong to a close knit familial network that helps and supports each other as much as possible, as such they have a tendency to be able to get a hold of pretty much anything they need.
River Gypsies in the World
| “ | I've travelled every waterway, lake, swamp, and canal on this continent. Where were you trying to find? | ” |
| —Dab Coldridge, Halfling Narrowboat Captain and River Gypsy | ||
River Gypsies are nearly always found on the waterways. Occasionally they can be found off procuring something that the community needs or raiding into Yuan-ti controlled areas.
NPC Reactions: Most NPC's will react to a River Gypsy favorably as they are known for their goodly ways and (fairly) honorable nature. In areas of the world where Yuan-ti control is the norm, River Gypsies may be viewed either as criminals for their untiring hatred of the Yuan-ti people or as saviors by those held under the scale of their Yuan-ti masters.
River Gypsy Lore
Characters with ranks in Knowledge Local, History, or geography can research river gypsies to learn more about them. When a character makes a skill check, read or paraphrase the following, including information from lower DCs.
| DC | Result |
|---|---|
| 11 | River Gypsies are halflings who run boats up and down the waterways of the world. They also Hate Yuan-ti and most Lizard Folk |
| 16 | River Gyspsies control their narrowboats with magic and can even make them fly!. |
| 21 | River Gypsies can obtain practically any good in the known world. There is a place called the Lost Way Station that links with other way stations through a network of magic portals. |
| 26 | River Gypsies are planning something big, something that could spell the end of all scaly folk. |
River Gypsies in the Game
River Gypsies slip handily into any adventuring party that is wandering the waterways of the world..
Adaptation: River Gypsies need no real adaptation to fit into a campaign world, the world may need to have canals added to make it more friendly for River Folk.
Sample Encounter: A need to get up the river fast may initiate an encounter with a River Gypsy and her crew.
EL 8: Star Otterfriend, a River Gypsy pilot that has been running the rivers of the world since she was knee high to an otter.
Star Otterfriend (3.5e NPC)
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