Loremaster (Character Kit)

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==Loremaster==
Specialty: Chronicler/Historian.
Qualifications: Lore masters must have an Intelligence and Wisdom of 14 or more (other ability scores are standard). Elves can advance up to 12th level as Lore masters.
Introduction: You want to know about history, lost civilizations, and other fascinating topics? Well, let me introduce myself, I'm Ashlan, a gray elf and self-proclaimed Lore master.
I guess I've been poring over old tomes, exploring ancient ruins, and searching for lost civilizations for the past 150 years or so. And I've learned many important things. Did you know that, in ages past, the entire inland plains were covered with a vast forest of pinon and pine trees? Humans were scarce back then and elves ruled the land. Oh, that must have been a beautiful time! Then there came the great goblin wars, when all goblinkind rose up in anger after being pushed far below ground. They were lead by Trogundak, perhaps the largest and most evil troll shaman who ever lived.
But I forget myself. You want to know about me and not the past. Well, I'm called a recluse by most of the villagers around here. This is actually far from the truth. I love people, all people. I love to study about their past history in an attempt to understand them better than they understand themselves. Then I try to teach them about their past and educate them so they won't commit the mistakes of their forefathers all over again.
I guess I do seem a bit odd to the average soul, seeing as how I'm always poking around cemeteries, old churches, ruins, and private libraries. Most people can't figure me out. Some think I'm a cleric, others believe me to be a simple hermit, and there are those who call me sage or wizard. It is true that I can speak over half a dozen languages, but I'm just a Lore master, that's all.
Remember, study your past; it can be the most powerful tool you have.
Description: Lore masters are romantically entranced by the past. They believe in the circular nature of history and relate the lessons of ancient times to the problems of the present to help guide their people along the path to the future. As Lore masters proceed through life, they record the events of their own times for posterity.
Lore masters love to relate the lessons of history to those who will listen. However, they are often viewed as being more reclusive and eccentric than wizards. Their preoccupation with old tomes, arcane lore, ancient languages, and lost civilizations dominates their lives, when they aren't putting on an oratorical performance. From their research, Lore masters gain unique wisdom and insight, allowing them to identify certain magical items, understand ancient writings and languages, gain special benefits in the arcane lore of magic, and incite crowds to action.
Role: There is a fine line between Lore master and sage. So fine that many Lore masters call themselves sages and are rarely questioned about it. However, true sages are knowledge specialists who concentrate their efforts into mastering a specific field such as mushrooms, elven swords, and so on. Lore masters are fond of any aspect of history that makes a good story.
Many Lore masters are travelers who wander the lands searching for great historical tales and facts to relate to crowds. In order to gain the substance of their tales, Lore masters often take up adventuring. Unlike many other adventurers, Lore masters are not simply seeking gold or magic. Rather, they are searching for a new legend or tale. Lore masters are the first to open old tomes, read the runes on passage walls, and record the general events of an adventure.
Secondary Skills: Limner/Painter, Navigator, Scribe (better than a third of all Lore masters are scribes.)
Weapon Proficiencies: Due to their great interest in knowledge and their concentration on the past, Lore masters bother to learn only the lightest and simplest of weapons. They are limited to selecting weapon proficiencies for blowgun, dagger, dart, hand crossbow, knife, quarterstaff, sling, and staff sling.
Nonweapon Proficiencies:
* Bonuses: Ancient History, Languages (ancient), Navigation, Reading/Writing.
* Suggested: Animal Lore, Artistic Ability, Astrology, Direction Sense, Engineering, Etiquette, Heraldry, Languages (modern), Local History, Musical Instrument, Religion, Spellcraft, Weather Sense.
Armor/Equipment: Lore masters spend their time studying arcane tomes and ancient civilizations. They do not bother to practice the use of heavy armor. Thus Lore masters can use only leather armor.
Lore masters generally dress and act much like wizards.
Special Benefits:
Legend Lore: Lore masters gain the same legend lore ability as True Bards. This ability works in similar fashion, with the following exception: All of the optional rules suggested for the True Bard's legend lore ability are required for the Lore master.
Arcane Lore: Through their devoted study of the past, Lore masters come across numerous texts on the arcane lore of magic. They read all of these, hoping that some great tale will be uncovered. Lore masters eventually gain a fundamental understanding of many strange magical items not normally usable by the bard class. Thus, Lore masters can attempt to use any magical item. A Wisdom check is rolled; if it is successful, the Lore master successfully uses the magical item in question. This does not mean that the Lore master fully understands the operation of the item, only that his attempt to use it in this particular way is successful.
Lore masters also pore over scrolls and spell books whenever they get the chance. This enhances their understanding of magical spells so much that they memorize and cast spells as if they were one level higher. Thus, a 1st-level Lore master casts spells the same way as a 2nd-level True Bard.
Persuasion: Usually Lore masters recite their collections of historical fables and legends to a crowd simply to entertain and educate. Although these oral performances are wonderful to hear, they do not necessarily have any direct impact upon the crowd.
When a Lore master wishes to affect the mood or actions of an audience, he uses his great skills of verbal persuasion, oratory, and rhetoric. He might relate the legend of the horrible massacre of Tothar Keep by lizard men in an attempt to incite the crowd to hate and despise lizard men.
Using such persuasion takes at least 1d10 rounds. All who are listening to and can understand the Lore master must roll a saving throw vs. paralyzation with a -1 penalty for every three levels of the Lore master. Those who fail have their reactions adjusted one level up or down (as desired by the Lore master). Those who succeed are not inspired by the tale, and those few who roll a natural 20 strongly disagree with the tale and have their reactions adjusted one level in the opposite direction.
Etymology: Lore masters can make their read languages attempt twice if the language in question is an ancient one (a language no longer spoken). They can also use their read languages ability to decipher runes, glyphs, pictograms, ideograms, or any other form of ancient visual communication.
Even though a Lore master cannot be proficient in a newly encountered ancient language, if he makes his Ancient Languages proficiency check, he understands the basics of the ancient language. Elementary use of the language is gained, allowing for written or even spoken communication at one-tenth the normal rate.
Special Hindrances: None.