Silent One

Nearly all assassins pride themselves on their stealth and their ability to carry out a hit with exactitude and stealth, but the Silent Ones have made silence a way of life. Quiet as the hunting owl, fleet as the falcon, the Silent Ones slip through the night like wraiths, the only evidence of their a presence flicker of movement that only the sharp of eye can catch.

Silent Ones are a semi-monastic order of assassins whose members have taken a rather extreme vow of silence. Upon initiation into the order, the new Silent One, if he is not otherwise mute, has his tongue cut out by hot irons in a special ritual. For this reason, very few, if any, spellcasters will ever become Silent Ones, even with metamagic feats like Silent Spell, and no bard has ever been known to become a Silent One. Most members of the order are former thieves or monks, though the occasional ranger or fighter applies for entry also.

Hit Die: d6.

Requirements

To qualify to become a Silent One (Sil), a character must fulfill all the following criteria.

Alignment: Any non-good

Skills: Stealth 8 ranks, Speak Language (Signs)

Feats: Skill Focus (Stealth)

Special: Must be mute. Usually this is accomplished by having the initiate's tongue cut out, but the character may also be born mute or be rendered permanently mute through magical means.

Restrictions: If a Silent One ever regains the power of speech, he loses all class abilities until such time as he is rendered mute once more.

Class Skills

The Silent One's class skills are Acrobatics (Dex), Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Decipher Script (Int), Disable Device (Dex), Disguise (Cha), Jump (Str), Knowledge (local) (Int), Perception (Wis), Search (Int), Sense Motive (Wis), Stealth (Dex), and Swim (Str)

Skill Points Per Level: 4 + Int modifier



Table 1: The Silent One
Level Base
Attack Bonus
Fort
Save
Ref
Save
Will
Save
Special
1st +0 +0 +2 +0 Silence of the body, sneak attack +1d6
2nd +1 +0 +3 +0 Death attack
3rd +2 +1 +3 +1 Catfall
4th +3 +1 +4 +1 Silent blow, sneak attack +2d6
5th +3 +2 +4 +2 Silence of the mind
6th +4 +2 +5 +2 Silent shot
7th +5 +2 +5 +2 Silent passage, sneak attack +3d6
8th +6 +3 +6 +3 Silencing strike
9th +6 +3 +6 +3 Aura of silence
10th +7 +4 +7 +4 Silence of the soul, sneak attack +4d6


Class Features

All the following are class features of the Silent One.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Silent Ones gain no additional weapon or armor proficiencies.

Silence of the Body (Ex): Silent Ones are more than adept than others of their ilk at moving quietly. They gain a +10 competence bonus to their Stealth checks to move silently.

Sneak Attack: This is exactly like the rogue ability of the same name. The extra damage dealt increases by +1d6 every three levels (4th, 7th, and 10th). If a Silent One gets a sneak attack bonus from another source, the bonuses on damage stack.

Death Attack: This is exactly like the Assassin ability of the same name.

Catfall (Ex): At 3rd level, the Silent One can land on his feet when falling and catch himself without making a sound, incidentally taking a reduced amount of damage in the process. He must make an Acrobatics check; the DC for a 10-foot fall is 12, and it increases by +2 for every 5 feet further. He also takes half damage from the fall if he makes a successful check.

Silent Blow (Su): The Silent One can wield melee weapons in such a way that they make no sound when striking a target.

Silence of the Mind (Su): Just as they can mask the sound of their footfalls, so too can the Silent Ones mask the sound of their minds. At 5th level, a Silent One is permanently under the effects of the mind blank spell, as if he were a wizard of equal character level. Note that this applies only to scrying and detection effects; a Silent One is still vulnerable to mind-affecting effects.

Silent Shot (Ex): When using ranged weapons, the Silent One can throw or shoot them in such a manner that they make no sound when striking a target.

Silent Passage (Ex): When the Silent One walks - but not when running, jumping, or in combat - he cannot be detected by creatures with tremorsense. He can still set off traps triggered by weight (since he is putting his weight down), but not vibrational triggers.

Silencing Strike (Su): The Silent One can strike in such a way that the victim cannot make a sound for 1 round after being hit. This ability can only be used with a death attack; if the attack hits, whether or not it kills the victim, the target cannot make a sound of any kind for the rest of that round and the entirety of the next round.

Aura of Silence (Su): Silent Ones radiate an aura of silence in a 5-foot radius. This means that any actions they take are totally silent, if the effects remain in that area; for example, a Silent One could break a window with his elbow and not raise the alarm, but he couldn't throw a rock at the same window 10 feet away and keep it quiet. Silent Ones are still affected by sonic-based spells and effects, though they gain a +4 circumstance bonus to all saves against such effects. They can raise or lower this aura as a free action, at will.

Silence of the Soul (Su): A Silent One is so skilled at masking his presence that he cannot be detected by any detection or location magics short of those from an artifact or deity. He can lower this protection at will as a free action.

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