Justicar

The Quintessential Paladin

Author Alejandro Melchor

Series Quintessential Series

Publisher Mongoose Publishing

Publish date 2002

In vast lands where settlements are either too far from each other or are too small to receive the full benefits  of belonging to a kingdom, the monarch dispatches agents to uphold the law and  act as judge, jury and, if necessary, executioner. Called justicars, these agents  of the crown are chosen from the wisest and most discerning of the king’s subjects, and are given the king’s seal so that people know that their decisions are to be considered as if royal judgements. Justicars travel constantly, visiting towns in a scheduled route or at random to better surprise wrongdoers. Others reside in important cities and take the road when they are specifically summoned to deal with matters of law. With impartial judgement and balancing mercy, the justicar protects the laws of the realm and, ideally, also the people. Good justiciar’s seek to achieve fair sentences and give culprits the chance to pay for their crimes, neutral justiciar’s stick to the letter of the law and evil ones bend it to their benefit.

Any kind of character can serve as a justicar, but paladins make for the best agents of law as they are sure to uphold fairness as well as royal decrees. In lawless lands, the justicar takes it upon himself to create order out of chaos, his authority coming directly from the people rather than from a ruler.

Hit Die: d10.

Requirements

Alignment: Lawful Good.
Skills: Search 5 ranks, Sense Motive 8 ranks.
Special: Must be able to detect evil either by spell or ability.

Class Skills

The justiciar’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Bluff (Charisma), Concentration (Constitution), Craft (Intelligence), Diplomacy (Charisma), Gather Information (Charisma), Handle Animal (Charisma), Heal (Wisdom), Intimidate (Charisma), Knowledge (law) (Intelligence), Profession (Wisdom), Ride (Dexterity), Search (Intelligence), Sense Motive (Wisdom) and Spot (Wisdom).

Skill Points at Each Level: 2 + Intelligence modifier.

The Justicar
Level	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Special
1	+0	+0	+0	+2	Discern Truth
2	+1	+0	+0	+3	Detect Guilt
3	+2	+1	+1	+3	Restraining Attack
4	+3	+1	+1	+4	Crippling Attack
5	+3	+1	+1	+4	Smite The Guilty

Class Features

Armour and Weapon Proficiency: Justicars are proficient with all simple and martial weapons. They are proficient with light and medium armour but not with shields. Note that armour check penalties for armour heavier than leather apply to the skills Balance, Climb, Escape Artist, Hide, Jump, Move Silently, Pick Pocket and Tumble. Also, Swim checks suffer a –1 penalty for every 5 pounds of armour, equipment, or loot carried.

Discern Truth (Ex): The justicar is a good judge of character and his poise and reputation puts others on the Spot when he questions them. The character gains an inherent bonus to all Sense Motive checks equal to his justicar level plus his Charisma modifier, if any.

Detect Guilt (Su): When he is in a group of people asking questions, the justicar can use the detect evil spell or ability with finer precision in order to detect guilt. As per the spell, the character concentrates and detects the degrees of guilt of those around him. In order for this ability to be of any use, the justicar must start questioning about his current investigation, in order to make his targets concentrate on that specific issue, so that he knows the guilt he is detecting refers to the subject and not about random regrets.

Restraining Attack (Ex): If the justicar wishes to capture a target alive, he has the option to cause subdual damage with any of his physical attacks without incurring the normal -4 penalty.

Crippling Attack (Ex): Once battle is joined, the justicar prefers to take his targets alive but, if they pose too great a danger to others or to himself, he has no qualms about crippling it so that it does no further damage. By concentrating for a full round and succeeding at a Heal check (DC 10 + target’s base attack bonus), he identifies the target’s weak spots and attacks them. Instead of dealing normal damage, he deals 1d6 + Wisdom modifier points of temporary ability damage to the target’s Strength, Dexterity or Constitution scores (character’s choice). If the damage reduces the target’s ability to 0, the justicar can choose to pull the punch in time and leave the target at 1.

Smite the Guilty (Ex): Once per day, a justicar may attempt to deal additional damage with a normal melee attack to a target he is honestly convinced to be guilty of a crime he is currently pursuing. He adds his Wisdom modifier (if positive) to his attack roll and deals 1 extra point of subdual damage per level. The target must make a Fortitude save (DC 10 + damage inflicted) or be stunned for 1d6 rounds. If the justicar accidentally smites a creature that is not guilty, the smite has no effect but it is still used up for that day.

Multiclass Note: paladins can gain levels in the justicar class and still be able to advance as paladins.