LGS Thief the Dark Project: Keeper PrC

Okay, so, I'm preparing to run a game using the setting from Looking Glass Studio's Thief The Dark Project game, and using Ken Hood's Grim and Gritty rules (Version 3.3). I decided to make a prestige class for use with that wondrously mysterious group, the Keepers.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with said faction, I will explain. The Keepers are a highly secretive organization built upon the principal of True Neutrality. They keep the balance between the (super)natural forces on the world and the forces of man. They do this through their constant gathering and secreting away of knowledge, and near-magical stealth abilities. Having a policy of non-interference, they don't keep the balance directly, but instead by giving out choice bits of wisdom to people believed (Prophesized?) to not only act on this information, but in the way the Keepers believe it must be. They do not take new members lightly, and it takes years of dedicated training to become a Keeper Adept. To this end, I have made the first of four Keeper prestige classes. (The others have yet to exist.) This one is the gateway class, the one you need to master before you can take any others. As such, it has only five levels, but the adherent gains abilities at an astounding rate, due to the specialized training.

The Keepers do not take someone in unless they prove themselves to be not only skilled but intelligent, and willing to adhere to their stringent beliefs. As such, there are Ability, Feat, Skill, and Alignment prerequisites that must be met before someone can call themselves a Keeper.

The mechanical prerequisites are as follows:
15+ Intelligence, Alertness, Stealthy, 8+ ranks in Hide, Move Silently, Spot, Listen, and Search, 6+ ranks in Bluff, Diplomacy, Gather Information, Sense Motive, and Urban Lore, 1+ ranks in Read Lips and Innuendo, Uncanny Dodge (Dex to AC).
(Urban Lore is to Wilderness Lore what Knowledge: Streetwise is to Knowledge: Nature. The Stealthy feat grants a +2 Circumstance bonus to Hide and Move Silently checks. More information can be found in the Legends and Lairs Traps and Treachery supplement.)
In addition, to progress in the class, the candidate must be of True Neutral alignment. (Or good enough at lying to convince some very observant people. The last bit is up to the GM’s discretion.) If at any point the candidate is no longer True Neutral, he can not progress in the class, though he loses no abilities. The Keepers simply won’t teach those whom they do not consider worthy of their training, and those who do not uphold their Non-Interference policy are by far not worthy.
Class Progression Follows:
Note, as I don’t know how to add large spacing in posts, the table will have to be horizontal, instead of vertical. I apologize for any inconvenience.


Levl: 1 2 3 4 5
BAB : 0 1 1 2 2
Fort: 0 0 1 1 1
Ref : 2 3 3 4 4
Will: 2 3 3 4 4
Def : 2 3 3 4 4

(Def is a class-based defense bonus. This only applies in under the Grim and Gritty rules)
Keepers gain 6 Skill Points per level, and get d4 Hit Dice.
Class Skills are: Appraise, Bluff, Craft, Decipher Script, Diplomacy, Disguise, Escape Artist, Forgery, Gather Information, Hide, Innuendo, Intimidate, Knowledge (All), Listen, Move Silently, Read Lips, Read/Write Language, Search, Sense Motive, Speak Language, Spot, Urban Lore, Use Magic Device, and Use Rope.

LGS Thief the Dark Project: Keeper PrC (Cont.)

Class abilities gained are as follows:
1st:

Canny Defense[Ex]: The character relies on their wit to keep themselves alive and one step ahead of others. The character, wearing Light Armor or less, can apply his Intelligence bonus to his AC. In situations where he would normally be denied his Dexterity bonus, he is also denied this bonus.
This is some of the only combat training a Keeper is given. Because they believe in avoiding confrontation, teaching their acolytes first to avoid combat at all, and second to avoid being wounded, the Keeper is better able to escape unscathed should their stealth defenses are compromised.

Keeper Glyphs[Na]: The character becomes able not only to read the secret script and glyphs of the Keepers, but write in them as well. This counts as the Read/Write Languages skill for free.
The reasoning for this is obvious. All the better to understand the ideas of the past. Keepers who are not literate at this point are also taught to read and write the common tongue.
2nd:

Always Sneaky[Ex]: When wearing light armor or less, he character is able to always take 10 on move silently and hide, unless the character chooses otherwise and wishes to be seen or heard.
Constant practice and testing makes moving as silently as a cat and keeping a wraith’s profile second nature.

Eye for Detail[Ex]: The character learns to pay more attention to their surrounds, training to constantly keep their wits about them. As such, the character may apply his Intelligence bonus to his Listen and Spot skills. Upon gaining this ability, you gain a +2 synergy bonus to Search for having 5 ranks in Spot, and an additional +1 for every additional five ranks. Synergy bonuses stack.
Keepers need finely trained senses to gather the information the order requires to function. Keepers are taught to know where to look, and what to listen for, to notice everything they are able.
(Note the House Rule here about Synergy bonuses. IMC, this goes for all synergistic skills.)
3rd:

Canny Stealth[Ex]: At 4th level, the character can apply their Intelligence bonus to their Hide and Move Silent skills. This is represents the character’s intelligent use of cover and timing.
It goes without saying that knowing how to most intelligently avoid detection will go far to assist one’s stealth capabilities. A Keeper’s mind is always in motion, and their eyes and ears are constantly alert for any advantage they might be able to make use of.

Eloquence of Wit[Ex]: The character has extremely keen wits and has learned to think on his feet. Because of this the character may apply DOUBLE his Charisma bonus to his Bluff, Diplomacy, and Gather Information skills.
The Keepers may not be out in the streets, gathering the ears and attention of the masses, but in their compounds they discuss and debate prophecy and learn to understand human psychology. As such, they know what to say to people to get what they need most out of them, be it belief, understanding, or information.
4th:

Infiltration[Ex]: When wearing light or no armor while using Move Silently or Hide, the character can move his normal speed without suffering any penalty to these skills.
Just as stealth becomes second nature, muscle memory and keen observation skills allow a Keeper to walk briskly down the street without a sound, or pass an alleyway without their outlines and movements giving them away.

Improved Alertness[Ex]: At the beginning of combat the character is not considered flat-footed against opponents in his line of sight during the round before he rolled initiative. He is not flat-footed by opponents he can detect. An undetected opponent still catches him flat-footed.
A smart Keeper is always evaluating the presence of others and judging their level of threat. Even when someone threatens another person, the Keeper may well know about it before the attack has even be thrown.
5th:

Cover of Darkness[Ex]: Whenever the character is concealed by darkness, he gains the benefit of one additional degree of concealment when attacked. This ability cannot confer concealment greater than Total.
Keepers become so comfortable in darkness, so accustomed to its presence and embrace, so knowledgeable of its effects and properties, that they are able to not only hide, but fight using the cover of night like a shield against blows.

Hide in Plain Sight[Su]: The character can use the Hide skill even while being observed. As long as he is within 10 feet of some sort of shadow, the character can hide himself from view in the open without anything to actually hide behind. He cannot, however, hide in his own shadows.
Even Keepers who can perform this amazing feat may not fully understand what it is they are doing. All that is known is that, when a Keeper does not want to be seen, it takes maddening skills to detect their presence.

LGS Thief the Dark Project: Keeper PrC (Cont.)

The Mechanics:
I made this PrC with my campaign in mind, but decided not only to ask for opinions, but to give it away in it’s entirety, so it can be dissected and cannibalized for use in other games/campaigns.
Whenever I read a new PrC in a book, I get the feel of what the class is about by reading the flavor text. However, sometimes that isn’t enough for me to understand what the author was thinking, and have wanted some clarification about the class’ intent, or even the mechanics behind it. Why this prereq? Why that ability? Seeing as the class I put forth is a 5 level class that gets 2 special abilities each level, I wanted to explain myself.

I made the class 5 levels because I want to have the PC’s meeting up with full fledged Keepers, at a power level they could conceivably handle. Because a 5th level Rogue could take this PrC as his 6th level class, a full Keeper is a 10th level character. Someone who, although they are very good in their specialized area, is rather weak in many others. In addition to the power factor, I have decided to make 3 more Keeper prestige classes, as I mentioned earlier, that will require all 5 levels of this class to take. While this might be unusual by PrC standards, it makes sense for the organization this class is meant to represent.

The abilities of the Keeper may seem very powerful for such a small class that can be taken so early, but it is important to keep in mind the level of magic in the Thief gameworld is very low. Magic is either in the hands of Gods or Godlike figures, in secretive orders who devote their entire lives to being able to so control the elements (And get up to 5th level spells max), or in one use, expendable items. Throwing a cloak and boots of Elven kind on a Keeper would be absurd, but in the world from which they hail, there is no magic like that. This class is the talent and skill based version of a magically decked out stealth infiltrator. The only ability they have that could be called Supernatural is Hide in Plain Sight, and that’s a first level ability of the Shadow Dancer, a class with some similar prerequisites, and many more magical abilities.

At level 10, having gone 5 Rogue and 5 Keeper, the character will have a Base Attack Bonus of 5; comparable to a Wizard or Sorcerer. Their Base Fortitude save will be +2, while their Reflex and Will saves will be 8 and 5, respectively. Granted, the lowest defense boost gained at first level is +4, and as high as +7 (for a character with a 20 Int), the Defensive capabilities will only prolong a struggle.

Supposing a 15 Dexterity, and a 15 Intelligence, 13 Ranks in Hide and Move, and Stealthy, a Keeper will have a +19 to the stealth skills at 10th level. Compared to most other characters of equal level, that is rather impressive, and that is just the minimum intelligence by requirement. You could go as high as +24, with a 18 and 20 in the two stats. At Just under, or more than twice your level to your skill check, that is a pretty potent ability. However, stealth isn’t as useful in some situations as it is in others. This class requires you play it smart, because it doesn’t have the combat skills of the Rogue to fall back on, even with 5 levels of the class.

Well, that’s about all I can think of for now. Any questions or comments will be gleefully answered to the best of my ability. Suggestions are welcome as well, though whether or not I use them is, as always, up to the author.

(Lastly, I just want to say that the only class abilities that I made up are Keeper Glyphs, whish was a no brainer, and Cover of Darkness, which I can hardly own. The others came from other sources, and I’m not sure where those are, at this time. If you see something you made up, please take this as permission to use. If you want it gone, you have but to ask. And as always, please don’t sue me. Hehehh.)

- Kemrain the Keeper Acolyte.

YAY! I've always wanted to play a Garret-type IMG! But the rogue class just didn't cut it and the shadowdancer doesn't fit the idea of the character. THANX! Me use for next character I make!

Oooh, saves me the effort of making a Keeper PrC for my Thief: TDP game... consider this "yoinked"...

Pleased to be of service. Glad to see I'm getting positive feedback. Also glad to see some Thief fans out there. Very cool.

So you both like this PrC? Without any changes? You think that all the abilities make sense, and that I haven't left any out? You think it's not too powerful, and that I've balanced this class' gain with it's loss? Do you think I've described everything and that the wording is clear? Though I really like to hear that my work is good, I was hoping for some (friendly) criticism. Someone to help me decide if I've made any mistakes, or to see consiquences that I haven't yet.

You guys have any thoughts on the matter? Anyone else want to take a stab at it?

- Kemrain the Aparently Looking for Trouble

You know that two of the designers of Thief post here, right? Both Dr. Rictus (often seen in the Rules Forum) and Sagiro (seen almost exclusively in the Story Hour forum) were designers on the games.

Oh my.. I was unaware. I would love for them to view my post, and let me know what they think, have they the time.

<Grin> Oh, Great Piratecat, could you, in your immense power and wisdom, bring my humble post to their most noble attentions? Were you to do this for me, I would be endebted to you eternally, O' Feline Master of the Seas.

- Kemrain the Practiced at Sucking Up.

Cool class man. Now if only my DM would allow me to play it...

Just one question: why d4 hp?

Sure, but no promises that they'll have time to respond -- they're both pretty busy.