Harper Paragon

Player’s Guide to Faerûn, pp.181–182.

Though all the Harpers are more or less devoted to fighting evil—particularly combating evil churches and organizations that try to spread their influence across Faerûn—it does not necessarily follow that the Harpers are good. A Harper paragon, however, is as dedicated to the cause of good as they are to opposing evil. They actively promote the welfare of other creatures while preventing evil forces from preying on innocents.

Most Harper paragons have training as rangers or Harper agents, and many have also been bards. Clerics and paladins dedicated to Deneir, Tymora, or Lliira also frequently pursue the path of the Harper paragon.

Harper paragons are most common among the Harpers working under Lady Cylyria in Berdusk. Only a few can be found in the ranks of the politically manipulative “Moonstars”, who operate under the leadership of Khelben Arunsun, or the independent adventurers working out of Shadowdale. Harper paragons rarely experience any conflicts of interest in the Berdusk branch of the organization, but their consciences may be pricked regularly in other branches of the organization.

Hit Die: d10.

Requirements

To qualify to become a Harper paragon, a character must fulfill all the following criteria.

Skills

Diplomacy 8 ranks, Perform 5 ranks, Sense Motive 4 ranks, Survival 2 ranks.

Feats

Sacred Vow & Vow of Obedience (Book of Exalted Deeds).

Special

Favored Enemy: The character must have one of the following monstrous kinds or evil organizations as a favored enemy: humanoid (goblinoid, gnoll, orc, or reptilian), outsider (evil), undead, the Church of Bane, the Cult of the Dragon, the Iron Throne, the malaugryms, the Red Wizards, or the Zhentarim.

Class skills

The Harper paragon’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), Jump (Str), Knowledge (all) (Int), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Perform (Cha), Pick Pockets (Dex), Profession (Wis), Sense Motive (Wis), Speak Language (Int), Survival (Wis), Swim (Str), and Tumble (Dex).

Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier.

the Harper Agent

Level	BAB	Fort	Ref	Will	Special	Spellcasting
1st	+0	+0	+2	+0	Aura of good, detect evil, Harper knowledge	+1 existing level
2nd	+1	+0	+3	+0	Favored enemy (evil)	+1 existing level
3rd	+2	+1	+3	+1	Celestial spells	+1 existing level
4th	+3	+1	+4	+1	Exalted Companion	+1 existing level
5th	+3	+1	+4	+1	Favored enemy	+1 existing level
6th	+4	+2	+5	+2	Smite evil 1/day	+1 existing level
7th	+5	+2	+5	+2	—	+1 existing level
8th	+6	+2	+6	+2	Smite evil 2/day	+1 existing level
9th	+6	+3	+6	+3	—	+1 existing level
10th	+7	+3	+7	+3	Smite evil 3/day, Favored enemy	+1 existing level

Class features

All of the following are class features of the Harper paragon prestige class.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Harper paragons gain no proficiency with any weapon, armor, or shield. Armor check penalties for armor heavier than leather apply to the skills Balance, Climb, Escape Artist, Hide, Jump, Move Silently, Sleight of Hand, and Tumble, and double the normal armor check penalty applies to Swim checks.

Spellcasting: When a new Harper paragon level is gained, the character gains new spells per day (and spells known, if applicable) as if they had also gained a level in a spellcasting class they belonged to before they added the prestige class. They do not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained (bonus metamagic or item creation feats, improved chance of turning or rebuking undead, and so on), except for an increased effective level of spellcasting. This essentially means that they add the level of Harper paragon to the level of some other spellcasting class the character has, then determines spells per day, spells known, and caster level accordingly.

If a character had more than one spellcasting class before they became a Harper agent, they must decide to which class they add each level of Harper paragon for the purpose of determining spells per day and spells known.

Aura of Good (Ex): The power of the character’s aura of good is equal to their Harper paragon level. If they have the aura of good ability from another class, levels of that class stack with their Harper paragon levels for the purpose of this ability.

Detect Evil (Sp): At will, a Harper paragon can use detect evil, as the spell.

Harper Knowledge (Ex): At 1st level, the Harper paragon can access knowledge in the same manner that a bard can. This ability functions like the bardic knowledge ability, except that the bonus for the check equals the character’s Harper paragon level + their Int modifier. If the Harper paragon has another such lore ability from another source (such as bard, loremaster, or Harper agent levels), their Harper paragon levels stack with levels of all other classes that grant such an ability for the purpose of Harper knowledge checks.

Favored Enemy (Evil) (Ex): At 2nd level, a harper paragon gains evil creatures of all kinds as a favored enemy. They gain a +1 bonus on Bluff, Listen, Sense Motive, Spot, and Survival checks when using these skills against evil creatures. They also gain a +1 bonus on weapon damage rolls against evil creatures. If the Harper paragon has the favored enemy ability from another class (such as ranger) and a particular evil creature also qualifies as a favored enemy for that class, the bonuses stack.

Celestial Spells (Ex): Upon reaching 3rd level, a harper paragon can cast spells as if they were a celestial. Specifically, they can learn and cast any spell from Book of Exalted Deeds that has a celestial component, as long as they would otherwise qualify to cast the spell. (That is, the spell must appear on their spell list and be of a spell level that they can cast, and the ability score that controls their spellcasting must be high enough to allow them to cast spells of that level. The Harper paragon can also cast spells that have the specific kind of celestial component that matches their alignment—archon if they are lawful good, guardinal if they are neutral good, or eladrin if they are chaotic good.

Exalted Companion (Ex): At 4th level, a Harper paragon gains Exalted Companion (Book of Exalted Deeds) as a bonus feat if they do not already have it. If they do not already have an animal companion, they gain one now, as though they were a druid of a level equal to their Harper paragon level. If they have the ability to summon an animal companion from another class (such as druid or ranger), their Harper paragon levels stack with levels of any classes that grant this benefit for the purpose of determining the kind of exalted companion they qualify for and its abilities.

Favored Enemy (Ex): At 5th level and again at 10th level, the Harper paragon may select one additional favored enemy from the following list: the Church of Bane, the Cult of the Dragon, the Iron Throne, the malaugryms, the Red Wizards, or the Zhentarim. The Harper paragon gains a +2 bonus on Bluff, Listen, Sense Motive, Spot, and Survival checks when using these skils against creatures of its type. Likewise, they get a +2 bonus on weapon damage rolls against such creatures. In addition, the bonus against any one favored enemy of their choice (regardless of the class in which they chose it) increases by 2.

Smite Evil (Su): Once per day, a Harper paragon of at least 6th level may attempt to smite an evil creature with one normal melee attack. They add their Charisma bonus (if any) to the attack roll and deal 1 extra point of damage per Harper paragon level. For example, a 6th-level Harper paragon armed with a longsword would deal 1d8+6 points of damage, plus any additional bonuses from high strength or magical effects that would normally apply. If a Harper paragon accidentally smites a creature that is not evil, the smite has no effect but is still used up for that day.

The Harper paragon can use this ability twice per day at 8th level and three times per day at 10th level.