Barber (D&D class)

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Unofficial rules compendium

Class Level	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Special
1st	0	0	0	2	Bardic knowledge, Bardic Spells, Grooming
2nd	1	0	0	3	Enthrall
3rd	2	1	1	3	Makeup artist
4th	3	1	1	4	Suggestion
5th	3	1	1	4	Final touch

Barbers are rouges who live by their wit and charm more than their combat prowess. Rather than delving through dusky tombs, they banter and cajole their way into prestige and riches.

Almost every Barber is a dabbler in a variety of fields. They meet many people in their work, and they try to educate themselves into erudite and respectable personages. Most only succeed in becoming dabblers, spreading their knowledge too thin over too wide an area of expertise.

This extends to magic as well. Barbers dabble is bardic magic, but unless they are also real bards, they rarely progress to the point where their magic becomes much of an asset.

Barbers thrive in cities and markets. Some travel from market to market, but most prefer to settle in a larger town and practice their profession where there are plenty of wealthy customers. Some Barbers use their abilities in various get-rich schemes. Most are content with a life as a part of the social circuit of their towns, keeping track of gossip and subtly helping their favorites on the social scene, gaining influence through friends and favors rather than through wealth and power.

A Barber will rarely use violence to coerce his customers, relying on quick wit, learning and trickery to forge their way in the world. Striking out on their own a Barber can win influence over the affairs of court by helping his favorites with advice and by grooming, and a snide word or subtly disfiguring hairdo can be as devastating as a knife in the ribs. And Barbers make the perfect confidantes and aides for a socially active noble or a party in an intrigue.

Believe it or not, the only surgeons available in medieval times were barbers. Their talent with blades accounted in part for this medical bent. Equally important, Barbers were well versed in the folk treatments and herbal medicines of the time. Though this class has access to the heal skill, any deeper medical knowledge must be sought elsewhere. There is a companion prestige class, the surgeon, that a Barber will find it very easy to qualify for; many Barber characters alternate between advancing in level as a Barber and a surgeon.

Requirements

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

Skills: Gather Information: 4 ranks, Profession (barber): 8 ranks.

Class Features

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

Class Skills: The Barber’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Alchemy (Int), Appraise (Int), Bluff (Cha), Decipher Script (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Disguise (Cha), Forgery (Int), Gather Information (Cha), Heal (Wis), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (all skills, taken individually) (Int), Listen (Wis), Profession (Wis), Read Lips (Int, restricted skill), Sense Motive (Wis), Sleight of Hand (Dex), Speak Language, Spellcraft (Int), Use Magic Device (Cha), Use Rope (Dex).

Skill Points at Each Level: 6 + Int modifier.

Hit Die: d6

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Barbers are proficient with the dagger, club, dart, sap, sword (short), and kukri and with light armor. Note that the standard armor check penalties to skills apply. Barbers do not gain proficiency with shields.

Bardic Knowledge (ex)

Like a bard, a Barber may make a special bardic knowledge check with a bonus equal to his level + his Intelligence modifier to see whether he knows some relevant information about local notable people, legendary items, or noteworthy places. Bard and barber levels stack when using this ability. This check will not reveal the powers of a magic item but may give a hint as to its general function. The Barber may not take 10 or take 20 on this check; this sort of knowledge is essentially random. The DM will determine the Difficulty Class of the check by referring to the table below.

DC	Type of Knowledge
10	Common, known by at least a substantial minority of the local population.
20	Uncommon but available, known by only a few people in the area.
25	Obscure, known by few, hard to come by.
30	Extremely obscure, known by very few, possibly forgotten by most who once knew it, possibly known only by those who don't understand the significance of the knowledge.

Bardic Spell Progression

A Barber learns and casts arcane spells as a bard of the same level. A character that has levels as both a bard and a Barber may combine his levels in these classes for the purpose of spellcasting abilities. The Barber casts these spells without needing to memorize them beforehand or keep a spellbook. Barbers receive bonus spells for high Charisma, and to cast a spell a bard must have a Charisma score at least equal to 10 + the level of the spell. The Difficulty Class for a saving throw against a Barber’s spell is 10 + the spell's level + the Barber’s Charisma modifier.

Grooming (Ex)

By spending half an hour and making a Profession (barber) skill roll with a difficulty equal to the target's Charisma score, the Barber gives that person an enhancement bonus to Charisma. For every five points of margin on the skill roll, the recipients Charisma is temporarily increased by one. A margin of less than five improves appearance, but not enough to increase Charisma. This lasts until the recipient next rest period (never more than 24 hours).

Example: Wuzzat the young Barber (profession (barber) skill bonus +6) tries to do some grooming on Az'irat the dwarf (Charisma 8). A profession (barber) result of 8 indicates successful grooming, but no beneficial effect. A roll of 13 indicates an enhancement bonus to charisma of +1, a roll of 18 gives a bonus of +2 and a roll of 23 gives a bonus of +3 (the maximum possible in this case).

A barber is not constantly busy while grooming, and can converse and use other barber class abilities meanwhile. However, he cannot engage in combat without spoiling the grooming attempt.

It is not possible to take 10 or 20 on grooming attempts.

Enthrall (Ex):

By speaking continuously, the Barber can enthrall his audience. This is an extraordinary ability, and works just like the spell. The Will Saving throw DC is 10 + half the Barber's character level + the Barbers Charisma modifier. The Barber can use this ability as often as he likes, but a target that passes the Saving throw is immune to further enthrall or suggestion attempts from him for 24 hours.

If you are currently grooming someone, the save DC is at +4, and they can't get out of the enthrallment automatically in case of danger, after all, they have your razor at their throat. They do get a chance to save each round while in danger.

Makeup Artist (Ex)

If the Barber helps someone put on a disguise (including himself), there is a +4 circumstance modifier to all disguise rolls. This ability is not cumulative with the bonuses provided by spells like change self, alter self or polymorph-type spells.

Suggestion (Ex)

By clever wording and verbal trickery, the Barber can make almost any proposition seem reasonable (or at least preferable to having to listen to more of the Barber's banter). In this way, the Barber can use suggestion on anyone he has first enthralled. The Will Saving throw DC is 10 + half the Barber's character level + the Barber’s Charisma modifier. The Barber can use this ability as often as he likes, but a target that passes the Saving throw is immune to further enthrall or suggestion attempts for 24 hours.

Final Touch (Ex)

At this level of ability, your grooming skills have become legendary. Even if one of your assistants does the actual grooming, you get to make the skill roll and decide what the final bonus is, as long as you spend at least five minutes making final touch-ups.