Relic Seeker (Character Kit)

Relic Seeker
Relic seekers are wizards who search for ancient items. They look for books, scrolls, tablets, metal tools anything tied to the past that can increase their knowledge or otherwise help them piece together the mysteries of ancient Athas.
Character Class: Preservers normally take the relic seeker kit, as they are more concerned with preserving not only nature and life, but even the past. Defilers can select this kit, but they do so more to increase their own power than for any love of knowledge or desire to unlock ancient mysteries. When multiclassed, the only other class that logically combines with relic-seeking wizards is the thief class.
Races: Any race that can become a wizard can select this kit. Aarakocra and humans make the best relic seekers, but there have been relic seekers among the elf tribes, and even a half-elf or two has dug into the ruins of yesterday to learn more about the world.
Requirements: Relic seekers have only two Ability Score requirements they must have Intelligence scores of at least 12 and Wisdom scores of at least 11. Otherwise, a relic seeker can be of any alignment as long as one of its aspects is lawful.
Role: Relic seekers are scholars of the highest order, curators who locate, cata- log, and carry their museums with them wherever they go. Most relic seekers aren’t interested in power. They’re historians or sages who simply want to learn and preserver that learning for others. Any power that might come their way through this course is simply an added bonus.
Relic seekers are adventurers in the classic sense they’ll go anywhere, brave any danger, to recover a relic, learn a new bit of information, or discover an ancient secret. Tall mountains, deep caverns, ancient ruins these are the obstacles the relic seekers learn to circumvent in the pursuit of knowledge. Relic seekers will join adventuring groups to gain assistance in their work, for everyone knows that adventurers spend lots of time in just the sort of places a relic seeker can uncover some piece of the past.
Artifacts, historical accounts, spells and magical items, objects of art, even odd bits of metal these are the treasures that relic seekers constantly search for. It’s their passion, the driving force that defines their ultimate motivations.
In a world where reading and writing is prohibited, where the secrets of the past are considered better left buried, the relic seekers see it as their duty to preserve and often rescue such items from the forces that would destroy them.
Class Modification: Divination spells are clearly part of every relic seeker’s repertoire. They also tend to have lots of uses for abjuration magic.
Weapon Proficiencies: Relic seekers have the same weapon proficiencies available to them as normal wizards.
Nonweapon Proficiencies:
* Bonus: Ancient history and ancient languages.
* Required: Reading/Writing. 
* Recommended: Appraising, bribery etiquette, direction sense, rope use, somatic con- cealment, teaching.
Special Benefits: Every relic seeker starts play with a minor magical item of some sort (as selected by the DM). For every magical item and ancient relic they collect, they receive a 5% bonus to their awarded experience.
Relic seekers learn how to identify ancient items with some success. They have a 5% chance per level of being able to identify an item as genuine or magical in nature. They can attempt this identification process once per item, regardless of the result they come up with. (DMs might want to make the check in secret for the relic seeker.)
Finally, to reflect the time relic seekers spend digging through ancient ruins, they get to buy skills that are usually only available to thieves. They receive 15 points at 3rd level (the starting level for DARK SUN characters) and 5 points each new level to put into these skills. The skills and their base scores are:
Open Locks 0%, Find Traps 0%, Climb Walls 15%, Read Languages 10%.
Special Hindrances: Curiosity killed the mekillot, and it certainly gets the relic seeker into trouble. Whenever the relic seeker picks up a rumor concerning an artifact or other worthy item, he must make a successful Wisdom check to keep from rushing to immediately find it. If the check fails, he’s off at the first opportunity.
As scholars, relic seekers often have their attention turned toward matters beyond the here and now. The first round of any combat, the relic seeker suffers a 2-point penalty to his initiative roll, and in any location other than ruins or while on a relic hunt, the relic seeker is always surprised.
Finally, when traveling in a place where reading and writing is prohibited, such as the city-states of Urik and Nibenay, the relic seeker must be extremely careful not to give himself away. This can be harder than it sounds, as they always carry scrolls, tablets, and other ancient artifacts in the many pouches and bags they wear.
Wealth Options: Relic seekers begin play with (1d4+2) x 30 cp and a minor magical item of the DM’s choice
Category:Character Kit
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