"Generally speaking, if I'm involved, things have gone too far already."

—Jaed Catt

The ebon saint lives in the darkness, but seeks to expose his enemies to the light. Flitting from the shadows to learn the secrets of his enemies and dispatch them quickly, the ebon saint seeks to further his personal agenda by gathering and exploiting information on those who oppose him.

The goal of these dark infiltrators is to sneak into the lairs of their enemies, uncover their dark secrets, and expose them to the world. Whether an ebon saint seeks to right the wrongs of the world, maintain the status quo, or strike tyrannical fear into the hearts of the oppressed, he does so from the cold, unchanging certainty of the darkness in which he resides.

BECOMING AN EBON SAINT

Ebon saints nearly all begin their careers as lurks, since that class provides the necessary foundation for ebon saint abilities. A fair number, however, are rogues with the Wild Talent feat. Whereas a lurk might use the shadows to achieve his ends, an ebon saint lives in them, seeking to master the art and discipline of the dire strike in the service of an ideology that is greater than any one person. The nature of that ideology is determined by each ebon saint, and is molded by his alignment and life experiences.

PLAYING AN EBON SAINT

You adventure to further your personal ideology. One ebon saint might be concerned with religious matters, another with philosophical issues, and yet another with something else entirely. The one sure thread that ties you to all other ebon saints is your belief that those who oppose your goals should be exposed and removed, or as the saints say, "rendered unto the Ebon Dawn."

Having a differing viewpoint alone isn't enough to qualify someone to become an ebon saint's target. To be marked for the Ebon Dawn, a creature's entire philosophical axis must be opposed to yours. For example, an ebon saint might be convinced that slavery is the greatest injustice and seek to destroy all slave traders. Another might believe that only through complete acceptance of servitude will the populace at large be truly productive, and thus might seek to make a living in the service of a terrible tyrant. Still another might believe that a specific religion is the true path to enlightenment, and seek to expose another church (or churches) as a group of charlatans or corrupt bureaucrats. Whatever the cause he espouses, an ebon saint holds an unshakable conviction to his personal ideology.

Combat

You should try to begin every fight from the shadows, studying your opponent to set up a dire strike attempt. This establishes a combat advantage that eventually allows you to make use of a host of abilities, enabling you to further your cause by obtaining key information.

Unlike some who strike from the shadows, you are not averse to relying on the assistance of your companions. Indeed, without allies, you are hard-pressed to use your abilities to their full effect. You can move fluidly within melee, looking for an opponent that is already distracted by one of your companions. Seek out flanking or near-flanking positions from which to strike, or else find shadowed areas from which you can set up a dire strike.

Eventually, you can use your abilities to take on the appearance of your foes, enabling you to move through enemy strongholds more easily and find the highest-ranking opponents. At the highest levels, you can make surgical strikes, gaining information and then erasing your presence from your victim's mind.

Advancement

This path is chosen by a lurk or rogue whose ability to bring down his foes has evolved into a sort of personal code, or even a pseudo-religion. These dedicated individuals often end up gaining a reputation for their single-minded pursuit of a goal. Ebon saints look for individuals with that drive and conviction and set out to recruit them into the organization, making the group stronger as a whole.

After becoming an ebon saint, you are encouraged to pursue your cause through whatever means you find worthwhile. The organization is a loose one, more a brotherhood of idealogues than a physical collection of resources and individuals. You are largely left to your own devices as far as training and acquiring resources are concerned. As the other saints look at it, if you are devoted enough to a truly worthy core of beliefs, you will find your own way to power.

As you progress in power, it is important to choose powers that aid in mobility (such as psionic dimension door and psionic freedom of movement) or that give you a combat advantage (such as psychofeedback and temporal acceleration). Nonpsionic feats such as Dodge, Mobility, and Spring Attack can be a great help as well

Any magic item or psionic item that enhances your Hide and Move Silently checks (boots and cloak of elvenkind) or that makes you more agile (gloves of Dexterity) is desirable. Any item that increases the DCs for the saving throws against a saint's special abilities (headband of intellect) is desirable as well.

Resources

You were initially recruited into the ebon saints by an existing member of the class, who sought you out because of your strong convictions. He trained you and taught you the basics of being a saint, and how to turn your abilities to even greater advantage in pursuit of your cause. Once initial training is done, you are turned loose in the world to pursue your own philosophy. Like-minded saints sometimes join forces on a particularly difficult task, but most work alone or in small groups with individuals of other classes.

EBON SAINTS IN THE WORLD

"Ebon saint? Ebon slayer is more like it. On the other hand, that Jaed Catt feller keeps the crime lords in the merchant district on their toes, so I'm not one to complain."

—Zachary Druthers, blacksmith

Ebon saints are a great source of adventure. They are almost completely self-motivated, and one is always looking for ways to further his personal ideology. As a PC, a saint adds spice to any group of characters because of his dedication to his ideology. As an allied NPC, a saint makes a PC group all the stronger. A saint is excellent at uncovering secrets, so such a character makes an excellent vehicle for advancing a plot.

As an enemy NPC, an ebon saint can make a great recurring villain as he attempts to slay or stop the members of an adventuring group. An evil ebon saint, with his enhanced ability to hide, his acceptance of the dark, and his strong conviction about the way the world should be, could be set up in direct opposition to the PCs' pursuits, embodying a philosophy that directly contradicts that of the PCs.

Organization

Each ebon saint is governed by his own chosen system of beliefs. Where those beliefs are challenged by civic authority, an ebon saint is viewed as a rebel, or in some instances, a vigilante. Where they are supported by the community, he is regarded as a hero. In almost all cases, however, an ebon saint and his allies operate outside the bounds of established organization structures.

Some ebon saints share beliefs with larger groups and latch on to those organizations to further their own ends. An ebon saint with particular spiritual convictions might become an agent of a particular church, for example. Some saints become convinced that the best way to pursue their personal ideology is to recruit like-minded individuals, so they form their own organizations dedicated to those convictions.

NPC Reactions

Ebon saints take pride in remaining unnoticed in the shadows. An individual ebon saint is far more likely to be judged on his own reputation than his membership in such a nebulous organization. Those NPCs who do know of the ebon saints have an initial attitude of indifferent toward such a character. If they are among the target of the character's beliefs, however, their attitude shifts to unfriendly or even hostile. Other ebon saints are typically friendly toward such a character based solely on his status as an ebon saint. However, if the two characters' ideologies are at odds, the attitude of each one toward the other varies according to the extent of the difference.

EBON SAINT LORE

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (local) can research an individual ebon saint to learn more about him. When a character makes a skill check, read or paraphrase the following, including the information from lower DCs.

DC 10: [Name of NPC] strikes from the darkness. If he reveals himself, it's likely the last thing you'll see.

DC 15: [Name of NPC] has been disrupting the efforts of [name of organization or group]. He seems to have a real vendetta going, or someone is paying him well to keep the pressure on.

DC 20: [Name of NPC] is an ebon saint. Each ebon saint is dedicated strongly to his own personal convictions, and will do everything he can to reveal his enemies and expose their weaknesses for the world to see.

DC 30: Characters who achieve this level of success can learn important details about a specific notable ebon saint, the areas where he operates, and the kinds of activities he undertakes.

EBON SAINTS IN THE GAME

An ebon saint PC might be the catalyst for events in your game, or he might simply follow the rest of the group, attempting to enforce his ideology wherever he goes. His fervent adherence to a cause can provide a handy way to involve characters in an adventure, though it can lead to conflict within the group if it is relied on too often, or if the ebon saint's player decides his goals take precedence over everything else.

People who enjoy playing ebon saints are often attracted to the strong sense of purpose these characters have, combined with the freedom to set their own goals (as opposed to having to exemplify an alignment, for example). Players who enjoy creating self-professed vigilantes will find this class attractive as well. Ideally, an ebon saint PC has aims and goals that are generally aligned with those of the other characters. In this role, the ebon saint is a friend, if one with potential thorns.

Adaptation

Whether the ebon saint in your game has the spotlight or waits in the wings, you'll want to be sure to work with the player to make sure that the ideology his character pursues doesn't conflict too strongly with other members of the party. Next, devise an NPC or an NPC organization whose ideology directly conflicts with the ebon saint's. This gives the character a great deal to worry about and plan for. The open-ended nature of the prestige class leaves plenty of room for working the class into your game.