The Analyst
The analyst is intellectual cousin to the alienist and the mesmerist, although analysts generally claim to be grounded more in “real science” than either of the aforementioned professions. The analyst treats mental illnesses by carefully interviewing the patient to identify possible anomalies in the patient’s attitudes and mental states. The analyst’s methods for treating insanity were formulated through correspondence between François Mousel and doctors and administrators at several of the Core’s leading asylums and sanitariums. James Mousel, whose reputation as a mesmerist is second only to that of his grandfather, Germaine d’Honaire, brought these methods from theory to practice. Mousel took his father’s and grandfather’s theories, expanded upon them at the Mousel Sanitarium and established the unique derivative as the primary method of treatment the very week he took over following his father’s semi-retirement in 751 BC. François continues to work at the sanitarium, although most of his time is spent writing books and tracts in collaboration with his son, trying to spread the word about the treatment methods they co-developed. The analyst prestige class expresses the power of Mousel’s treatment method in game mechanics. Like any weapon, it is only as good or evil as its wielder, and thus the class reflects both the good and evil that the analytical method can do. It also brings into play mystical qualities that even Mousel himself has not yet discovered, although he is starting to suspect they exist as he deepens and expands his preliminary research.
Hit Die: d4.
Requirements
To qualify for the analyst (Anl) prestige class, a character must meet the following criteria.
Skills: Diplomacy 5 ranks, Gather Information 8 ranks, Heal 5 ranks, Hypnosis 8 ranks, Sense Motive 8 ranks.
Feats: Investigator, Negotiator, Soothing Presence*.
Class Skills
The analyst’s class skills (and the key ability for each) are Bluff (Cha), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Gather Information (Cha), Heal (Wis), Hypnosis (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (arcana) (Int), Knowledge (history) (Int), Knowledge (local) (Int), Knowledge (nobility and royalty) (Int), Knowledge (religion) (Int), Listen (Wis), Profession (Wis), Search (Int), Sense Motive (Wis), Spot (Wis).
Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier.
Class Features
The following are class features of the analyst prestige class.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: The analyst gains no additional weapon or armor proficiencies.
Bonus Feat: At 1st level, and again at 4th, 7th and 10th levels, the analyst receives a bonus feat from the following list: Diligent, Indomitable, Iron Will, Knowledgeable, Library, Literacy, Logical Mind, Machiavellian, Mesmerizing, Open Mind*, Sharp Eyes*, Sharp Wit*, Skill Focus (Bluff), Skill Focus (Diplomacy), Skill Focus (Gather Information), Skill Focus (Hypnosis), Voice of Wrath, Wealth, Willbreaker*.
The analyst must meet any prerequisites before a feat can be chosen.
Likable (Ex): Starting at 1st level, the analyst’s training allows him to project an affable demeanor at all times: He gains a +2 bonus on all Diplomacy checks and Gather
Information checks.
Mindshadows (Ex): Starting at 2nd level, using careful observational and linguistic techniques, the analyst can identify things that frighten or disturb another individual with a successful DC 15 Gather Information check. This requires 1 full minute, during which time the analyst must speak with a subject who can hear him. Then, by speaking with the subject for at least 1 hour each day for one full week, the analyst may cause the subject to make a DC 15 Wisdom check. If the check is successful, the subject gains a permanent +2 bonus or –2 penalty (depending on the analyst’s stated intention) to all fear checks against the stated source of fear. The ability can be used only once per source of fear on any given subject. Only another use of this ability or a wish or similarly powerful effect can negate this bonus or penalty.
Using this ability to impose a penalty on fear saves is grounds for a powers check (2%, or higher if the DM decides other factors are involved that might attract the attention of the Dark Powers).
Trusted Friend (Ex): At 3rd level, the analyst can forge a bond of trust with a subject. After 1 hour of conversation, the analyst may make a DC 15 Bluff check; if successful, the analyst places the target under an effect similar to that of the spell charm person, save that it has no maximum duration. Further, this effect, being an extraordinary ability, is not negated by dispel magic or similar effects. While a subject is under the sway of the trusted friend ability, any powers checks triggered by actions the analyst takes in relation to the subject are increased by 2%.
Insightful (Ex): At 4th level, the analyst’s ability to predict behavioral responses to linguistic triggers increases: He gains a +2 bonus on all Bluff checks and Sense Motive checks made against any creature with whom he can converse.
Shadow Terrors (Ex): At 5th level, the analyst may delve deep into the minds of those whose trust he has gained (whether through simple friendship, the use of the trusted friend ability, or some other means). By speaking with a subject for at least 1 hour each day for one full week, the analyst may cause the subject to make a DC 16 Wisdom check. If the check is successful, the subject thereafter gains a permanent +2 bonus or – 2 penalty (depending on the analyst’s stated intention) to all horror saves. Only another use of this ability or a wish or similarly powerful effect can negate this bonus or penalty. Using this ability to impose a penalty on horror saves is grounds for a powers check (3%, or higher if the DM decides other factors are involved that might attract the attention of the Dark Powers).
Spellcasting: Starting at 5th level, the analyst has studied so many obscure and arcane texts dealing with matters of the psyche and the spirit that he has gained the ability to cast a number of arcane spells. To cast a spell, an analyst must have a Charisma score of at least 10 + the spell’s level, so an analyst with a Charisma of 10 or lower cannot cast these spells. Analyst bonus spells are based on Charisma, and saving throws against these spells have a DC of 10 + spell level + the analyst’s Charisma bonus. The analyst’s spell list appears below. An analyst casts spells just as a sorcerer does. Upon reaching 7th level, at again at 9th, an analyst can choose to learn a new spell in place of one he already knows. The new spell’s level must be the same as that of the spell being exchanged, and it must be at least one level lower than the highest level analyst spell the analyst can cast. An analyst may swap only a single spell at any given level, and must choose whether or not to swap the spell at the same time that he gains new spells known for that level.
Discern Nature (Ex): At 6th level, using careful observational and linguistic techniques, the analyst can determine a subject’s alignment with a successful Gather Information check opposed to the subject’s Will save. This requires 1 full minute, during which time the analyst must speak with a subject he can see clearly and who can hear him. The information gained depends on the relative success of the Gather Information check (see below). If the subject has multiple personalities (due to a failed madness save, for example), the analyst receives information about the alignment of the dominant personality at the time the check is made.
Superior Technique (Ex): At 7th level, the analyst knows the workings of the mind so well that he can attempt to impose his will upon others through subtle manipulation: He gains a +2 bonus on all Hypnosis and Intimidate checks. Mindbending (Ex): Starting at 8th level, the analyst can easily find weaknesses in a subject’s mental integrity. By speaking with a subject for at least 1 hour each day for one full week, the analyst may cause the subject to make a DC 18 Wisdom check. If the check is successful, the subject thereafter gains a permanent +2 bonus or –2 penalty (depending on the analyst’s stated intention) to all madness saves. Only another use of this ability or a wish or similarly powerful effect can negate this bonus or penalty. Using this ability to impose a penalty on horror saves is grounds for a powers check (3%, or higher if the DM decides other factors are involved that might attract the attention of the Dark Powers).
Gazing Into the Abyss (Ex): Starting at 9th level, the analyst is able to pick his way through even the deepest and darkest recesses of a subject’s mind. If the subject is currently under the influence of mindshadows, shadow terrors and/or mindbending, the analyst may increase the bonus or penalty to the subject’s fear, horror, or madness checks, as specified by the analyst. By speaking with a subject for at least 1 hour each day for one full week, the analyst may cause the subject to make a DC 20 Wisdom check. If the check is successful, the subject thereafter gains a permanent +4 bonus or –4 penalty (depending on the analyst’s stated intention) to any one of fear, horror, or madness saves. This bonus or penalty replaces that already in place as a result of the mindshadows, shadow terrors and/or mindbending ability, as applicable. Only another use of this ability or a wish or similarly powerful effect can negate this bonus or penalty. This close intimacy with the minds of others, however, threatens to crack the analyst’s own sanity. Whenever the analyst uses this ability, the analyst must make a Will save and possibly suffer ill effects as a result of the treatment, as shown on the table below. (All penalties or effects from failed Will saves made as a result of this ability are cumulative.)
Mind Harnessing (Su): At 10th level, the analyst gains the supernatural ability to shatter or restore the sanity of a subject. By speaking with a subject for at least 10 minutes, the analyst may force the subject to make an immediate madness check, with a DC equal to the analyst’s Bluff check result; if the result of a failed madness save is a “moderate” madness result or higher (see the “Failure Margin” chart in the in the Ravenloft Player’s Handbook), the analyst may instead inflict a madness of his choice of one level of severity less than the actual result. For example, if the analyst’s Bluff result is a 29 and the subject’s madness save result is only a 13, then the analyst may inflict a major madness effect of his choice.
Alternately, the analyst may use this ability to cure a subject who has failed a previous madness check. Simply by speaking with a subject for at least 10 minutes, the analyst may make a Hypnosis check — if his check result beats the DC of the madness effect affecting the subject, the subject is immediately cured of her madness as if by a heal spell. This ability may be used a number of times per day equal to the analyst’s Charisma modifier. Using this ability to cause madness is grounds for a powers check (5%, or higher if the DM decides other factors are involved that might attract theattention of the Dark Powers).
Analyst Spell List
1st Level: Cause fear, charm person, comprehend languages, daze, detect magic, doom, hypnotism, message, remove fear.
2nd Level: Calm emotions, daze monster, detect thoughts, eagle’s splendor, lesser confusion, lesser geas, rage, scare.
3rd Level: Charm monster, crushing despair, lesser restoration, modify memory, suggestion, tongues.
