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Chapter Six
Prestige Classes
Chanter
The legendary power of the Dwarven chanters has been the source of much scholarly and religious speculation. Many attribute the very success of the Dwarven race to this special gift. Ancient Dwarven lore speaks of chanters who led their people through the Underdark for weeks at a time, allowing them to outpace enemies who surely would have destroyed them. Other tales speak of incredible mining expeditions that returned with five times the yield thought possible by employing chanters with their mining groups.
Chanters were present in all past Dwarven empires, and it is suggested that the ancient kingdom of Shanatar could not be shattered until all of its chanters had been assassinated or incapacitated. It was through the treachery of one of Taark Shanat's most trusted chanters that the Drow almost destroyed the Wyrmskull Throne during their final assault on Alatorin. This act caused Dumathoin himself to hide the Wyrmskull Throne from the Stout Folk for thousands of years and to reclaim the secret of the chanters' incredible abilities. Dumathoin would not again bestow this powerful secret upon his people until the Year of Thunder (1306 DR), when he joined with Moradin to help restore the dwarven race to prominence on Faerun.
Chanters are now working their way back into dwarven society, albeit slowly due to lingering suspicions over the betrayal of so many years ago. They work as foremen, clergy of Dumathoin, advisors, and military personnel. Wherever they go the chanters are able to bring aid and prosperity, and no large dwarven army or community is without several of these powerful allies. Some chanters choose to take up the adventuring life, often to spread the word of Dumathoin or to assert the power and relevancy of the dwarven race. Many were adventurers before they were called to this path and are simply continuing their journeys, albeit with newfound abilities and powers far surpassing what they had achieved before.
Hit Dice: d6
Requirements
To qualify to become a Chanter, a character must fulfill all the following criteria.
Constitution: 13+
Perform: (chant, percussion)
Concentration: 8 ranks
Feats: Great Fortitude
Patron Deity: Dumathoin
Class Skills
The Chanter's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Alchemy (Int), Appraise (Int), Balance (Dex), Bluff (Cha), Climb (Str), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Decipher Script (Int, exclusive skill), Diplomacy (Cha), Disguise (Cha), Escape Artist (Dex), Gather Information (Cha), Hide (Dex), Intuit Direction (Wis), Jump (Str), Knowledge (all skills, taken individually) (Int), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Perform (Cha), Pick Pocket (Dex), Profession (Wis), Scry (Int, exclusive skill), Sense Motive (Wis), Speak Language (Int), Spellcraft (Int), Tumble (Dex), and Use Magical Device (Cha, exclusive skill). See Chapter 4: Skills in the Player's Handbook for skill descriptions.
Skill points at each level: 6 + Int modifier
The Chanter
| Class Level |
Base Attack |
Fort. Save |
Ref. Save |
Will Save |
Special |
| 1 |
+0 |
+2 |
+0 |
+2 |
Timing Chant, Mighty Endurance |
| 2 |
+1 |
+3 |
+0 |
+3 |
Soothing Chant (1/day) |
| 3 |
+2 |
+3 |
+1 |
+3 |
War Chant (1/day) |
| 4 |
+3 |
+4 |
+1 |
+4 |
Counter Chant |
| 5 |
+3 |
+4 |
+1 |
+4 |
Continuous Spellcasting |
| 6 |
+4 |
+5 |
+2 |
+5 |
War Chant (2/day) |
| 7 |
+5 |
+5 |
+2 |
+5 |
Trance |
| 8 |
+6/+1 |
+6 |
+2 |
+6 |
Healing Chant (1/day) |
| 9 |
+6/+1 |
+6 |
+3 |
+6 |
War Chant (3/day) |
| 10 |
+7/+2 |
+7 |
+3 |
+7 |
Dumathoin's Kiss (1/day) |
Class Features
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Chanters are skilled with all simple weapons. In addition, the Chanter is proficient with one of the following weapons: greatclub, heavy flail, light flail, light hammer, or warhammer. Chanters are proficient with all armor (heavy, medium, and light) except for plate mail, field plate, and full plate. The Chanter is also proficient with shields. Note that armor check penalties for armor heavier than leather apply to the skills Balance, Climb, Escape Artist, Hide, Jump, Move Silently, Pick Pocket, and Tumble. Also, Swim checks suffer a -1 penalty for every 5 pounds of equipment carried.
Timing Chant: At 1st level, the Chanter learns to use his rhythmic chanting to aid laborers in tedious, repetitive work. The four most common Timing Chants are the Miner's Song, the Forger's Steel, the Marching Tune and the Labor Song. In order to initiate the Timing Chant, the Chanter must chant for a full minute while accompanying himself on a percussion instrument. During this time, all who wish to be affected must join the chant and continue to accompany the Chanter for the duration of the effect.
The effect of this chanting is to increase the speed and production capabilities of the affected individuals. A Chanter confers a +2 bonus per class level to any checks related to the activity at hand. A military unit might gain a bonus to Constitution checks on a forced march or a group of miners might receive a bonus to their Profession checks to determine the value of their work.
The Timing Chant is not without a physical toll for those involved, however. At the beginning of each new hour the Chanter must make a Perform check (DC 10+# of hours worked). If successful, he continues to inspire his fellows. If he fails his check, however, the chant falters. Anyone affected by the Timing Chant (including the Chanter) must make a Fortitude save (DC 5+# of hours worked) or be forced to stop whatever he is doing and rest as if the Timing Chant had ended. The Chanter may continue the chant with another Perform check (DC 20); if he fails, the Timing Chant ends immediately.
At the end of a Timing Chant, all affected individuals are Dazed until they rest completely for one hour per hour worked. No magical healing or abilities such as Soothing Chant will reduce the amount of time needed to shake off the effects of a Timing Chant.
Mighty Endurance: At 1st level, the Chanter gains the benefits of the Endurance feat.
Soothing Chant: At 2nd level, the Chanter learns to use his chanting to calm and relax his comrades, speeding the natural healing process.
To activate this ability, the Chanter must chant for one full hour and be within 60 feet of any character that he wishes to affect. Characters under the influence of a Soothing Chant may not walk around, memorize spells, heal themselves, eat or perform any activity other than rest; otherwise they lose the benefits of the Chant.
Beings affected by the Soothing Chant recover one hit point per level (or hit die) and recover all subdual damage. Also, any Exhausted, Fatigued, or Nauseated character is relieved of those conditions. Any Heal checks made while a person is under the benefits of the Soothing Chant gain a +2 morale bonus.
War Chant: Beginning at 3rd level, the Chanter is able to inspire his allies and demoralize his foes by leading a fearsome chant in combat. Similar to the Bardic ability Inspire Courage, a War Chant not only provides bonuses to his allies but also imposes penalties on his enemies due to the fearsome effect of the chant. Allies of the Chanter must participate in the chant and be able to hear the Chanter to be affected; enemies must only be able to hear the chanting.
Affected allies gain a +1 bonus to Initiative and a +2 morale bonus to attack rolls, damage rolls and saving throws vs. charm and fear effects. Enemies suffer a -1 penalty to Initiative and a -2 morale penalty to attack and damage rolls. The War Chant lasts as long as the Chanter maintains his song, during which time he may fight but cannot cast spells, activate magic items by spell completion (such as scrolls), or activate magic items by command word (such as wands).
Counter Chant: At 4th level, the Chanter gains the ability to "attack" existing spells. By performing a powerful counter chant, the Chanter can temporarily lower magical effects. This works exactly as if the Chanter were casting a targeted dispel magic. For this purpose, the character may add his arcane spellcasting class levels, if any, to his Chanter levels for the purpose of his dispel check. Spells and spell-like effects are not destroyed by the Counter Chant, however, they are only lowered for as long as the Chanter continues his song. In order to switch targets, the Chanter must begin a new Counter Chant.
Continuous Spellcasting: At 5th level, the Chanter is able to boost his concentration by focusing his mind on his song, thus ignoring distractions while spellcasting.
While he is reciting this special song, the Chanter need not make additional Concentration checks when casting spells for the duration of the chant. In addition, the chant acts as the Verbal component of any spell he casts for its duration.
The Chanter begins his chant and makes a Concentration check (DC 15). He is then able to maintain incredible focus for one round for every point by which he exceeded his Concentration check. For example, Dartek the Incanter rolls a 22 on his initial Concentration check, and is thus able to cast spells without fear of distraction for 7 rounds (22 check result - 15 DC).
It is a full round action to initiate this ability, and because of the incredible mental focus necessary the Chanter must not be interrupted (take damage or be forced to make a saving throw) during the initiation round. If he is, the ability fails to activate and he must spend another round preparing his mind.
Trance: At 7th level, the Chanter learns to focus his mind so keenly on one task that he can perform the task indefinitely. After 10 minutes of uninterrupted meditation, the Chanter shuts down all mental and physical functions that aren't necessary for the task at hand. At this point the Chanter will begin the set activity (marching, mining, studying, combat, etc.) until a preset condition occurs. For instance, the Chanter may have entered the Trance to "read until I have read every book in the library."
Trances are never entered lightly, however, because they present a danger to the Chanter. The Chanter does not eat, drink or sleep during the trance, straining his body to endure the lack of these vital functions. For every 4 hours that go by, the Chanter must make a Fortitude save (DC 15+# of previous saves), or lose 1d4 temporary Constitution. A character brought to 0 Constitution in this way dies immediately.
Healing Chant: At 8th level, the Chanter learns to use his rhythmic song as a method for biofeedback. By attuning his chant to the natural rhythms of his body, he stimulates his body to heal damage very quickly.
It is a full round action to initiate the Regenerative Chant, and can be sustained until the Chanter is at full hit points at which time the Chant fails.
During the Regenerative Chant, the character gains the extraordinary ability Fast Healing 5.
Dumathoin's Kiss: At 10th level, the Chanter can channel the power of the earth itself by vocalizing the natural vibrations of the land around him.
He must be in contact with the earth for 5 full rounds while he chants this powerful song, and if he takes damage during this time he must make a Concentration check as if he were casting a spell. After the 5th round, the Chanter channels the power he has summoned to shake the foundations of any structure in contact with the earth.
For each round he chants thereafter, to a maximum number of rounds equal to his Constitution score, he may deal 10d6 points of damage to one natural or man-made structure within 500'. This may include trees, a mountain, a castle, a building, or any other structure in contact with the earth. Obviously the Chanter will not be able to topple a mountain, but he may deal it enough damage to allow entry into a formerly blocked passage, or create a massive cave-in to impede some subterranean horror. He may shift targets as often as he likes as a standard action as long as the chant is not broken.
Other than changing targets, the chanter may only perform movement actions while maintaining this difficult chant, though he may not run.
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