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A bone collector is a person who draws personal power from the destruction of undead. Bearing tokens and trophies of her kills, the bone collector is often mistaken by the ignorant for a common necromancer, when in truth most oppose necromancy and seek to undo its works. A rare few are parasites to necromancers, using cast-off bits of discarded experiments in undeath to increase their own power. A bone collector is usually a fighter, cleric, or paladin, although some good-aligned beings avoid this career because of the constant association with undead and negative energy. Some rogues, bards, and monks become bone collectors, adorning themselves with strange icons to advance their other skills. Rarely do barbarians, druids, rangers, sorcerers, or wizards become bone collectors, either opposing the gathering of residual undead energy or else having more effective ways to do so. Bone collectors are usually loners, although in places where undead are more common, they sometimes gather in groups to plan their attacks and trade items. Such groups either oppose (if good) or ally with (if evil) active groups of necromancers and undead. More than once has a cabal of necromancers been undone from within by their supposed allies who found a sudden need for undead parts. Hit Die: d8. Requirements
To qualify to become a bone collector, a character must fulfill the following criteria.
Class Skills
The bone collector’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Alchemy (Int), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Heal (Wis), Hide (Dex), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (arcana) (Int), Knowledge (the planes) (Int), Profession (Wis), and Sense Motive (Wis). See Chapter 4: Skills in the Player’s Handbook for skill descriptions.
CHAPTER 1:
BONE COLLECTOR
Base Attack Bonus: +5. Skills: Alchemy 2 ranks, Concentration 3 ranks, Craft (armorsmithing, bowmaking, or weaponsmithing) 1 rank, Heal 5 ranks, Knowledge (arcana) 3 ranks. Feats: Endurance, Great Fortitude. Special: The character must have been knocked unconscious or killed by an undead creature or necromancy spell, or must have received a negative level or ability damage or drain from an undead or a necromancy spell. ALL ABOUT GHOSTS
the hunter’s mercy spell, except that activating this ability does not provoke an attack of opportunity. Blindsight (Su): Like her bonded spirit tree, a Guardian of 5th level or higher can sense creatures without using her eyes, giving her the blindsight ability with a range of 30 feet. She can activate this ability once per day as a free action, lasting a number of rounds equal to her class level. Nature’s Defender (Ex): A Guardian of 7th level or higher gains a +1 morale bonus on attack rolls, weapon damage, checks, and saving throws when within 500 feet of her bonded tree. Quench (Sp): A Guardian of 7th level or higher can use the quench ability (as the spell) once per day. Tree Stride (Sp): A Guardian of 9th level or higher can use the tree stride ability (as the spell) once per day.
Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier. Class Features
All of the following are class features of the bone collector prestige class. Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Bone collectors gain no proficiency with any weapons, armor, or shields. Spells: A bone collector has the ability to cast a small number of divine spells. To cast a spell, the bone collector must have a Wisdom score of at least 10 + the spell’s level, so a bone collector with a Wisdom of 10 or lower cannot cast these spells. Bone collector bonus spells are based on Wisdom, and saving throws against these spells have a DC of 10 + spell level + the bone collector’s Wisdom modifier (if any). When the bone collector gets 0 spells of a given level, such as 0 1st-level spells at 1st level, she gets only bonus spells. The bone collector’s spell list appears below. A bone collector prepares and casts spells just as a cleric does. Recognize Undead (Ex): A bone collector has trained her senses to such an extent than she can more easily recognize an undead creature for what it is. She gains a +4 bonus on Spot checks or Will saving throws to penetrate an undead’s disguise or an illusion spell that changes its appearance. If an undead creature is not attempting to disguise its nature or naturally appears much like a living creature, the bone collector gains a Spot check (DC 10 + undead’s Cha modifier) to
Table 1–4: The Bone Collector Level 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th
Base Attack Bonus +0 +1 +2 +3 +3 +4
Fort Save +0 +0 +1 +1 +1 +2
Ref Save +0 +0 +1 +1 +1 +2
Will Save +2 +3 +3 +4 +4 +5
Special Lesser bone armor, recognize undead Lesser bone weapon Negative energy shroud Greater bone armor Greater bone weapon Undead channel
1st 1 2 2 2 2 2
Spells per Day 2nd — 0 1 2 2 2
3rd — — — 0 1 2
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