Prestige Classes

MINDSPY

Success in combat relies on anticipating your enemy’s every move. A mindspy knows how easy that can be if you’re privy to your foe’s every thought. By reading the minds of her enemies, a mindspy knows exactly what they’re going to do a fraction of a second before they do it. Eventually she learns to probe deeper, finding weak spots in her enemy’s training.

Because the class relies utterly on detect thoughts, most mindspies are creatures who have it as a spell-like or supernatural ability usable at will, such as couatls, succubi, doppelgangers, ghaeles, myrmarchs, leonals, mind flayers, dark nagas, rakshasas, and green slaadi. Spellcasters sometimes take levels in the prestige class if they can cast detect thoughts frequently, or if they have a helm of telepathy to enable the mindspy’s class features.

The most often encountered mindspies are elite mind flayer or doppelgangers. There is rumored to be a secretive order of couatl mindspies that roams the planes, hunting down evildoers.

Hit Die: d8.

Requirements

To qualify to become a mindspy, a character must fulfill all of the following criteria.

Base Attack Bonus: +3.

Skills: Concentration 8 ranks.

Special: Able to cast the detect thoughts spell or to use detect thoughts as a spell-like ability.

Class Skills

The mindspy's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Bluff (Cha), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Intimidate (Cha), Profession (Wis), and Sense Motive (Wis).

Skill Points at Each Level: 2 + Int modifier.


Table: The Mindspy

Level Base
Attack Bonus
Fort
Save
Ref
Save
Will
Save
Special
1st +1 +0 +0 +2 Anticipate, combat telepathy, spherical detect thoughts
2nd +2 +0 +0 +3 Faster mindscan
3rd +3 +1 +1 +3 Multiple surface thoughts (two)
4th +4 +1 +1 +4 Instant mindscan
5th +5 +1 +1 +4 Multiple surface thoughts (four)
Class Features

All of the following are class features of the mindspy prestige class.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Mindspies gain no proficiency with any weapon or armor.

Anticipate (Su): Because she is reading her foe’s thoughts, a mindspy knows where she needs to block and how she needs to dodge before an attack from the foe arrives. In addition, a mindspy can detect weak points in a foe’s defense by observing her enemy’s thoughts. At 1st level, a mindspy can add 1 point of Charisma bonus (if any) per mindspy class level as a bonus to her Armor Class against attacks from a foe whose surface thoughts she is detecting (if the normal 3 rounds passes and the target fails its Will save) as well as an insight bonus on attack rolls against any foe whose surface thoughts she is detecting. If a mindspy is caught flat-footed or is otherwise denied her Dexterity bonus, she also loses this insight bonus to her Armor Class.

Combat Telepathy (Su): By reading her opponents’ surface thoughts, a mindspy can anticipate their every move. She can make a Concentration check (DC 10 + damage taken during the previous round) at the beginning of her turn. If the mindspy succeeds, she can maintain concentration on detect thoughts as a free action. If the mindspy casts a spell or uses another spell-like ability, detect thoughts ends.

Spherical Detect Thoughts (Su): A mindspy can widen the area of her detect thoughts spell or ability into a sphere centered on her, rather than a cone. The radius of the sphere is equal to the length of the cone.

Faster Mindscan (Su): By 2nd level, a mindspy has become adept at tuning into others’ thoughts quickly. In the round when she activates detect thoughts, she detects the presence or absence of thoughts and the Intelligence score of each thinking mind in the area. In the next round, she detects the surface thoughts of any one mind in the area.

Multiple Surface Thoughts (Su): A mindspy of 3rd level or higher can simultaneously detect the surface thoughts of any two creatures who fail their Will saves. This means that she gains anticipate bonuses against both of them. Once per round as a free action, she can choose new minds to listen in on. At 5th level, a mindspy can simultaneously detect the surface thoughts of four creatures.

Instant Mindscan (Su): At 4th level and higher, a mindspy can enter her enemies’ minds at the speed of thought. She gains all the information from detect thoughts (presence or absence of minds, Intelligence scores, and surface thoughts) in the same round when she activates the spell or ability. The mindspy’s enemies still get Will saves to keep their surface thoughts secret.