Scout - Faerûn (Character Kit)

Class Information 	Class Information
Class Requirements 	Thief
Racial Requirements 	Elf (moon, wild), half-elf (moon, wild), dwarf (gold, shield), gnome (forest, rock), halfling
Ability Requirements 	Constitution 13, Dexterity 11, Intelligence 13
Prime Requisite 	Constitution, Dexterity
Aligments 	Any
Social Rank 	Lower to middle class
Hit Die Type 	d6
Attack as 	Rogue
Save as 	Rogue
Advance as 	Thief
Spell Ability? 	No
Exceptional Strength? 	No
Exceptional Constitution?	No
Starting Cash (x10 gp) 	2d6
Proficiencies 	Proficiencies
Weapon Slots 	2
Initial Weapons 	Standard thief, plus long bow or short bow
Additional WP Slot 	4
Additional Weapons 	As above
Nonproficiency Penalty 	-3
Nonweapon Slots 	3
Additional NWP Slot 	4
Available Categories 	General, Rogue
Bonus Proficiencies 	Direction sense, set snares, survival (CTH), tracking (CTH)
Recommended Proficiencies	Alertness (CRH), animal handling, animal training, animal lore (wilderness), animal noise (CTH), artistic ability (woodcarving), blacksmithing, boating (CRH), bowyer/fletcher, camouflage (CRH), fire-building, fishing, heraldry, herbalism (CTH), hunting (CTH), leatherworking, moun﻿taineering, observation (CTH), riding (land-based), rope use, signaling (CRH), swimming, weaponsmithing (crude, CRH), weather sense
Secondary Skills 	Bowyer/fletcher, fisher, forester, groom, hunter, trapper/furrier
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==Overview==
Scouting is a common occupation seen among the demihumans of Faerûn, as they must live with so many threats across the surface world. A scout is proficient in wilderness survival, stealth, and spycraft, always hunting for signs of the intentions of his people's enemies. Scouts are not restricted to exploring regions immediately around their homeland; they may wander to check out distant threats or be attached to an army command to probe territory into which the army will shortly travel.
Wild elves make great use of scouts throughout Faerûn, as many have not heeded the Retreat and still remain in their forests, surrounded by foes. For example, wild elf and half-wild elf scouts are found in Deepingdale, where they watch for agents of the Zhentarim, poachers, or slavers. Moon elf scouts are common in Evereska and the Greycloak Hills, looking for Zhentarim, orcs, or treasure hunters. Shield dwarf scouts are common around their many communities, especially in the orc-infested North. Gold dwarves watch the region around the Great Rift. Halfling scouts are common around Luiren and the Purple Hills of Tethyr. Gnome scouts are found near their few scattered towns, especially in Tethyr. Some demihuman scouts work for the Shadow Thieves, gathering news on merchant traffic.
It is worthwhile to compare the scout to the forester, who is largely concerned with the security of the woods he knows so well and rarely ventures beyond them; to the explorer, who travels enormous distances in search of new lands but not necessarily new enemies; and to the true spy, who restricts most of his intelligence gathering to urban areas and often moves openly among those on whom he spies.
==Description==
A scout looks not unlike any forester or woodsman, though his dull, natural-colored clothing is difficult to pick out from a background of trees, leaves, grass, and rocks. In the Greycloak Hills, each elf scout commonly wears a gray cloak, giving the region its name. The scout dresses to avoid being seen or heard, changing clothing colors in fall and winter to maintain the camouflage. Bright metal is deliberately tarnished or painted a dull color to prevent gleaming; a thick tunic might be worn over metal armor to muffle its noise. Leather armor or elven chain mail is used if long combat is not anticipated, to enable the scout to move quickly and quietly. A scout is nearly always dirty but seems quite at home with it. A horse or other mount may be used, but it is trained to remain silent and could be tethered several miles from the point a scout plans to explore for signs of an enemy.
==Roleplaying==
A scout is highly independent but still takes orders from a higher authority, the person most interested in his scouting reports. He can work well with groups, but his activities are best performed while he is alone or some distance from his associates. The best orders for a scout are those detailing what is to be learned or gained but not how it is to be done; a scout likes great freedom to work out the means to any end, as he might not have the ethical restrictions of a ranger.
A number of the scout's skills can easily be used as sabotage talents. Indeed, a scout could be employed solely to disrupt and destroy an enemy's operations to the greatest possible extent, working with foresters, rangers, woodsmen, barbarians, soldiers, and other outdoor types.
==Special Advantages==
The four initial bonus proficiencies of a scout each operate with a +1 bonus to their checks when used in any region the player defines for the scout's survival proficiency. This is assumed to be the scout's best scouting terrain; it could be temperate forests for elves and forest gnomes, grasslands and plains for halflings, hills for rock gnomes, mountains for dwarves, or whatever is appropriate for the campaign.
A scout can learn to use a long bow or short bow in addition to the usual weapons. The bow is used for hunting and attacking enemies silently.
A scout in leather or no armor has a +4 bonus to rolls to avoid surprise in any wilderness environment in which he has a survival proficiency. He can detect ambushes and encounters in time to take evasive action or conduct his own ambush.
The set snares proficiency is used to construct man traps to catch or harm enemy forces, from pixie up to ogre size. If the snare is constructed to injure or kill, and the proficiency check is made at -4 or better on the die when the snare is set, the man trap inflicts 1d4 points of bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing damage (player's choice) per two levels of the trap setter to any appropriately sized victim it catches. This is a favored sabotage trick used by all scouts.
The pick pockets thieving skill is replaced by the find/remove snares skill. This skill functions exactly like the find/remove traps proficiency in all respects (including racial, armor, and Dexterity bonuses) but is useful only for detecting and negating pits, snares, deadfalls, and similar outdoor traps.
A scout learns to cover his tracks in any terrain. When doing so, he moves at half speed but applies his level as a negative modifier to anyone's attempt to track him using the tracking proficiency. He can cover the tracks of other people and beings with him, but for each person whose tracks are being covered, a +1 bonus is given to the tracker's proficiency check. A mount or pack animal, being heavy and four-legged, grants a +2 bonus to the tracking proficiency. The scout can simply cover his own tracks, of course.
==Special Disadvantages==
No read languages thieving skill is possessed by a scout. No thief skill points are lost, however, and they may be distributed to other skills.
Any wilderness proficiency that can theoretically be used in an urban, Underdark, wildspace, or undersea environment functions with a +4 penalty to its proficiency check when used by a scout, as he is so unused to these regions. Thus, a scout would have great trouble setting snares in the Underdark for lack of knowledge, experience, materials, etc.
A scout does not allow himself to become encumbered, always wishing to move at the greatest possible speed in case he has to escape pursuit. He does not exceed the maximum limits on weight carried (PHB, Table 1) or always has light encumbrance if using the optional encumbrance rules in the Player's Handbook. Leather armor offers the best chances for performing his wilderness spying skills but should be supplemented when possible with magical devices offering further protection (rings, cloaks, etc.).
A scout who reaches 10th level does not gain any followers, and he cannot use magical or clerical scrolls. Backstabbing is permitted.