Harper Scout
Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting, pp.46–47.
Harper scouts are members of the Harpers, a secret society dedicated to holding back evil, preserving knowledge, and maintaining the balance between civilization and the wild. Harper scouts learn arcane spells and many skills to help them in their duties of espionage, stealth, and reporting information.
Many Harper scouts are bards, but by no means all. Ranger, rogue, sorcerer, and wizard are common vocations for Harper scouts, since these classes tend to have versatility and mobility. All have some skill at manipulating others, a resistance to outside mental influences, acute abilities of perception, and a talent for solving problems.
Not all Harpers are members of the Harper scout prestige class, and rank within the organization does not depend on a character’s level in this or any other class. However, most of the higher-ranked Harpers have at least one level in the Harper scout prestige class.
Requirements
To qualify to become a Harper scout, a character must fulfill all the following criteria.
- Alignment
- Any nonevil.
- Skills
- Bluff 4 ranks, Diplomacy 8 ranks, Knowledge (local) 4 ranks, Perform 5 ranks, Sense Motive 2 ranks, Wilderness Lore 2 ranks.
- Feats
- Alertness, Iron Will
- Special
- Sponsorship by a member of the Harpers, approval of the High Harpers.
Class skills
The Harper scout's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Appraise (Int), Bluff (Cha), Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Disguise (Cha), Escape Artist (Dex), Gather Information (Cha), Hide (Dex), Intuit Direction (Wis), Jump (Str), Knowledge (Int), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Perform (Cha), Pick Pocket (Dex), Profession (Wis), Sense Motive (Wis), Speak Language (None), Swim (Str), and Tumble (Dex).
Skill points: 4 + Int
Hit die: d6
| Level | BAB | Fort | Ref | Will | Special | 1st | 2nd | 3rd |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | +0 | +0 | +2 | +2 | Harper knowledge, 1st favored enemy | 0 | — | — |
| 2nd | +1 | +0 | +3 | +3 | Deneir’s eye, Skill focus | 1 | — | — |
| 3rd | +2 | +1 | +3 | +3 | Tymora’s smile | 1 | 0 | — |
| 4th | +3 | +1 | +4 | +4 | Lliira’s heart, 2nd favored enemy | 1 | 1 | — |
| 5th | +3 | +1 | +4 | +4 | Craft Harper Item | 1 | 1 | 0 |
Class features
All the following are class features of the Harper scout prestige class.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A Harper scout is proficient with all simple weapons and light armor.
Spells per Day: Beginning at 1st level, a Harper scout gains the ability to cast a small number of arcane spells. The Harper scout’s ability to cast these spells works exactly like a bard’s ability to cast spells. (They are Charisma-based and do not need to be prepared.)
A 1st-level Harper scout learns two spells from the Harper scout 1st-level spell list. They learn two new Harper scout spells of any spell level they can cast at each Harper scout level thereafter. There is no limit to the number of these spells the Harper scout can know from this list. They may learn more by studying arcane scrolls or spellbooks.
- 1st level
- change self, charm person, comprehend languages, erase, feather fall, jump, light, message, mount, read magic, scatterspray, sleep, spider climb.
- 2nd level
- cat’s grace, darkvision, detect thoughts, eagle’s splendor, invisibility, knock, locate object, magic mouth, misdirection, see invisibility, shadow mask.
- 3rd level
- clairaudience/clairvoyance, nondetection, suggestion, tongues, undetectable alignment.
Harper Knowledge: A Harper scout can access knowledge in the same manner as a bard can. This ability functions like the bardic knowledge ability, except that the bonus for the check equals the character’s Harper agent level + their Int modifier. If the Harper agent has another such lore ability from another source (such as bard or loremaster levels), their Harper agent levels stack with levels of all other classes that grant such an ability for the purpose of Harper knowledge checks.
Favored Enemy: A Harper scout selects a favored enemy from the following list of evil organizations that oppose the Harpers’ goals: the Church of Bane, the Cult of the Dragon, the Iron Throne, the malaugryms, the Red Wizards, or the Zhentarim. The ability works exactly like the favored enemy ability of the ranger class. If a Harper scout with ranger levels chooses a favored enemy that thay already have chosen as a ranger, the bonuses stack.
When the Harper scout reaches 4th level, the bonus against their first favored enemy increases to +2, and they gain a new favored enemy at +1.
Deneir’s Eye (Su): A Harper scout gains a +3 sacred bonus on saving throws against glyphs, runes, and symbols.
Skill Focus: A Harper scout gains the Skill Focus feat for their Perform skill and any one other Harper scout class skill.
Tymora’s Smile (Su): A Harper scout gains a +2 luck bonus on any single saving throw of their choice once per day. This bonus can be added after the die is rolled and the success or failure of the save has been determined.
Lliira’s Heart (Su): A Harper scout gains a +2 sacred bonus on saving throws against compulsion and fear effects.
Craft Harper Item: A specialized form of the Craft Wondrous Item feat, this allows a Harper scout to create magic musical instruments, Harper pins, and certain potions (charisma, detect thoughts, glibness, tongues, and truth). This ability replaces the need for any other item creation feat for the item. The Harper scout’s casting level for these items is their Harper scout level plus all other caster levels from their other spellcasting classes. All the normal requirements for an item (such as race or spells) remain the same. All other rules for creating wondrous items or potions apply.
Ex-Harper scouts
Any Harper scout who violates the code of the Harpers, endangers other Harpers through negligence or deliberate action, or intentionally turns away from the Harpers quickly gains a reputation in the organization. Such an individual can no longer progress in the Harper agent prestige class. Furthermore, they can no longer use the Deneir’s eye, Lliira’s heart, or Tymora’s smile abilities. A petition to the High Harpers, fulfillment of a suitable quest set by that group, and an atonement spell from a deity chosen by the High Harpers brings the former Harper scout back into good standing. Thereafter, they regain the use of all class abilities and may once again gain levels in the prestige class.
