Class: Pathfinder

The core of the army. The Pathfinders.

General info:
The pathfinders are the elite force of the army of Athas. Recruitment started at year 02 of the "New Dawn". The force counts no more than a thousand men. 20 men make a platoon, 5 platoons a battalion, 10 battalions the regiment. They bare the mark of an arrowhead on the right side of their chests and at the saddle of their horses.

Recruitment:
The philosophy of the force is that only young and free minds can understand the unique ways of combat the pathfinders use. It is proven that a grown man with experience in weaponry cannot use the exotic ways of moving, cooperating and coordinating which makes them unable to act as a pathfinder. Only inexperienced males at the age of 14-15 for men, 48-53 for half-elves, and 90-102 for elves can be recruited to join the force. Anyone at that age can sign up to join as a candidate but gaining the rank is hard enough that one out of a thousand succeeds, keeping the force relative small. Churchood is not allowed in the ranks. Mage apprentices are not allowed in the ranks.

Training and qualification of candidates:
Training starts from zero and reaches very high military levels. The pathfinders are trained with any standard weapon but favor the bow and the short sword. They are excellent in path finding, tracking, navigation, riding and sneaking as units. As a battalion they are excellent in using special combat moves that confuses the enemy, causing them to make gaps in their defense, giving the allied army or cavalry the chance to break them in half. The most remarkable ability is that they are able to aim with bows while riding at full speed. Qualification to pathfinder cannot happen individually. The final test consist unit testing and platoon testing. As a unit a candidate must test his accuracy while riding, the ability to jump of high grounds, and the ability to control his heartbeat. As a platoon the test moves to the wild where they take a special mission of capturing or escorting. Escorting a merchant without him noticing the platoon, taking care of a domestic horse in the wild until it mates with a wild horse, capturing wild animals are examples of platoon testing. If all members pass the unit test and the platoon test, the whole platoon joins the force, with full duties and privileges. However it is possible for a member to join while failing the unit test and it is granted only when the platoon completes the mission with results far better than expected, or when executing the task at the risk of their life above and beyond the call of duty. Therefore even if a member fails individually the platoon testing still takes place. Generally a candidate in order to pass must be wise in mind and spirit, be mature and make quick and correct decisions.

Ranks:
Pathfinder: The standard member of the force. Equal to army captain. First bowman: Leads a platoon. Equal to army major. Captain bowman: Leads a battalion. Equal to army colonel. Commander bowman: Leads the force. Equal to army general.

Duties:
The force keeps a strict code of behavior, and every ranking officer is responsible for the actions of his men. The force is used as escorts of people of royal importance, diplomats, and merchant caravans in the early days when there was scarce in a specific good. Under martial law each pathfinder is responsible for a city region, and leads its garrison. In war they are never in the first line, but are used in pre-attack missions to distract and confuse the enemy in order to create advantages for Athas army. They execute any special military mission given by the palace.

Privileges:
Succeeding to the force leads to lifetime monthly military payment and no taxation for the pathfinder and his family. Also they get a free horse, saddle and stable, while they have the right to move to any free house they like. They get free first sit tickets to theaters, extra rations of food, free clothing, tools, and weapons. Despite their young age pathfinders are recognized by soldiers as high ranking soldiers in the army. They cannot be arrested by any city guard, only by their superior officer, and can demote any army officer from the rank of captain and below if they judge so. Pathfinders are recognized by citizens as the core of the city protection. Uniform consists of a fine leather armor, pathfinder insignia, and a dark green heavy cape.

End of duty:
Upon serving for 21 years, despite the race, the pathfinder may choose to retire. However, men cannot stay in the force upon completion of their 38 year in life. Elves and half elves however may choose to stay as long as they see fit. When retired, a pathfinder gets one third of their salary per month, while keeping every other privilege except their army rank and everything attached to it. A pathfinder may be expelled from the force if he is found guilty for taking advantage of his power, or making bad decisions that led to a failed mission of great importance. That way, every privilege is lost and if led to a trial the punishment is two times greater than the one of a simple citizen. Fallen pathfinders are considered simple citizens after that.

Note:The Pathfinder is not related to the ranger kit also called"Pathfinder".For Rangers,a Pathfinder is actually what their name indicates:a wilderness man who is extremely capable on navigating,tracking,finding their way into difficult terrain etc while the warrior Pathfinder is a special Athasian Unit of the Army,originally created by Queen Silth Kain .



Arrowind Pathfinders



Description: The Pathfinders are the "Special Unit" of the army of Arrowind, young men excellent in using effectively the bow while horse-riding and the two-weapon fighting technique while on the ground. This unit was originally created as the Queen's escorts, her most capable and trustworthy soldiers before it turned out to be the pride of the Arrowind's militia. Their alighnment cannot be chaotic or evil. Pathfinders have slightly different armor signs than the rest of the army. Their unit is never large in numbers because not many have the skill and will necessary to join the unit, nor the age. The skill of using the bow while riding a horse, the most fearful pathfinder's ability, cannot be taught if one has passed childhood, nor can it be retained long after young age. Pathfinders concentrate in their duties only, following a daily program and their training is much more strict than the other soldier's.

Pathfinder is a warrior class, it has the fighter THAC0, saving throws and proficiency slots gain, but advances in levels as a paladin (xp needed).

Races: Only Humans, Elves and Half-Elves may become Pathfinders.

Requirements:
Str: 13
Dex: 14
Con:8
Wis:11
Cha: 14 (for officers only)
Alingment: Only non-evil and non-chaotic characters can become pathfinders. They mostly become lawful neutral when their trial period ends due to their training.
Multiclass restrictions: The pathfinders cannot multiclass given their constant training that prevents them from learning something else. They can however denounce their class, and begin a new life.
Loyalty: The pathfinders are strictly an athasian unit. Only the Arrowind army has the capability of training a pathfinder. If a pathfinder loses his loyalty to the king of Athas, he automatically loses all his abilities save for “battle coordination” and he is considered a fighter of equal level from that time on. A fallen pathfinder is exiled from Athas and can never regain his abilities.

Role: Pathfinders are used for special missions of the palace like escorting ambassadors from other nations, delivering orders of great importance, tracking down high-rank enemies, generally every task that demands precision, skill, speed, cleverness and tactics. Pathfinders avoid open combat, preferring to strike with precision to the right spot, in the right time. For example if there's a battalion of orcs approaching with some trolls and a hill giant who is carrying a ballista, the pathfinders job will ONLY be to take down the hill giant and then flee. They avoid risking their lives, and they have strict orders not to, as their numbers are always thin and every casualty hard to be replaced.




Weapon Proficiencies: Required: Short Bow(specialization),Short Sword, shield. Bonus: exotic proficiency free at level 7.


Non-Weapon Proficiencies : Bonus: Ambidexterity, Riding Land-Based, Knowledge of anatomy (humanoid) free at level 11 for shadows, Leadership free at level 11 for officers.. Recommended :Animal Handling, Animal Training, Tracking, Etiquette.




Equipment: Studded leather armor, Shortbow, shortsword, riding shield, pathfinder insignia are provided by the army. Later on, they usually choose an exotic weapon that they must get on their own, and specialize on it until the very end. Mostly they choose slashing weapons like double edged swords, bastard swords but daggers and fist weapons are also acceptable. They may use a heavy armor, but they lose the ability to coordinate in battle as long as they wear it.



Special Benefits:

Lifetime training and advancement: Pathfinders begin as initiates. They gain full privileges at level 3 if they pass the trial and gain the title and insignia. If a player has reached level 3 and has not undertaken the trial, he gain xp normally but cannot advance in levels until the trial is complete. If the player fails the trial he is considered a 3 lvl fighter and can choose to become a city guard (which happens in most cases). On level 7 they must choose the path they will follow, either be offensive or defensive.

Offensive pathfinders gain +1 on all attack and damage rolls.
Defensive pathfinders gain -1 armor class +1 on all saving throws except death/paralyzation and +1 damage reduction vs physical attacks.

On level 11 they must again choose any specialization between the battlemaster, sniper, shadow, or officer.
Battlemasters are placed in the front lines and gain +2 attack/+1 damage when they coordinate or +1 attack when fighting alone, on all melee attacks.
Snipers are placed behind the front lines and they gain+2/+1 when in battle coordination or +1 attack when fighting alone on all ranged attacks. Range increases by 20 yards.
Shadows must attend a 5 month schooling and upon completion they gain full level 11 thieving abilities as well as thieving backstabbing modifiers. They also gain the "knowledge of anatomy (humanoid)" skill for free. Those are used in special missions and their number rarely exceeds 10. There is a lot of competition when gaining the rank therefore there is a lot of difficulty.
Officers must attend a 1 year schooling and upon completion they go up on rank. They gain the leadership proficiency for free, and ranks as judged by their general. Officers can take battalion decisions but often have a lot of responsibilities. Not suitable for those who think something else besides the army. Must have a minimum charisma score of 14.

Loyalty: When in the presence of the highest commanding officer of athas (King, Stewart, prince or general, whoever it may be) or in the presence of the former queen Silth Kain who denounced the throne, the pathfinders gain immunity to fear and paralyzation and 40% chance to resist stun and sleep. In the presence of the rightful wielder of the "dragonblood heritage" or the leader of the “order of the Phoenix” they gain +1 on damage rolls.

Group training/battle coordination skill: When in group of 3 or more the pathfinders coordinate their attacks to find openings and strike true and strong. They gain:

+1 on all rolls if they outnumber the enemy by 1,5/1
+2 on all rolls if no outnumbering takes place
+3 on all rolls if they are outnumbered by 1,5/1

In order to use battle coordination in mounted combat their mount must know the skill as well. Only royal horses provided by the royal stables can know such skill.

Riding skills: Pathfinders gain riding: land based on level one as a free skill. They can use one mount from the army stables but they cannot call it their own. On level 3 they can choose and own a young royal mount from the royal stables. The royal mount knows the battle coordination skill.
On level 7 all pathfinders can use athas's teleportation altars as they desire.
They cannot learn riding: airborne unless they reach level 13, where they gain it by spending a week on Nienna’s monastery. They must gain a flying mount on their own then, but they cannot use it for battle coordination.

Aim: Pathfinders suffer no penalty from firing arrows while riding, even when riding in full speed. Also they can aim true in a range of 120 (140 for snipers).

Free of duty: Pathfinders are free of duty 15 days a year for any personal issue. They must be granted the off duty days by their superior officer. If they do not get free of duty for a year the days stack with the next years. A pathfinder must not be free of duty for more than 3 months.

Special Hindrances:

Lifetime training: The pathfinders must train everyday when not on mission until the end of their service. Failing to do so for more than 2 days in a row will result on the loss of all pathfinder skills except "Loyalty" and will regain his skills after attending twice the amount of training sessions he lost. Other than the loss of skills, failing on showing up for training without a valid reason will result in financial punishment. When on a mission or when they are free of duty, they must spend half an hour per day on individual training or in real battle. Elves that are over 64 years on service must train once per week and over 124 years must train once per 3 weeks. They are then considered retired, but will be called to take part on real or training missions.

Strict behavior code: A pathfinder must always be an example to the society in every aspect of his life, even when retired. In order to maintain the prestige of the force a very strict behavior code exists. Every single little mistake always leads to great punishments by the law. They are the only persons in Athas that can be punished by death penalty even if they are not accused for high treason.

Wealth Options: There is no restriction on how wealthy a pathfinder can become. However a pathfinder must always earn wealth legally. Usually wealth is acquired after completing their servitude, when they have the time to run a business of their own. Most of the times they spend a big amount of their money to enhance their weapon with magical energies. It is a tool of survival, a tool that they will definitely need to survive. Sometimes they are even competing with each other about who has the better weapon.

Remarkable pathfinders:

Labross: This gray elf was the first true pathfinder and co-founder of the order. He taught the pathfinders to aim correctly while riding. He is still in service and shows up every 3 weeks for his training. His experience is so great that he is mostly used as a teacher rather than be sending into battle. His specialization is "offensive sniper". He is the only known person that took part and survived the battles of the new dawn, the assault of arrowind, the battle of the dwarves, the liberation of grayhawk and the moon-sylvan elf conflict.

Hayess: A valorous sylvan elf and a defensive battlemaster. He taught the pathfinders the meaning of loyalty by following lady Silth Kain into Aule's castle to retrieve the crown of Athas one day before her crowning. Blessed with superhuman strength by the god himself he became a nightmare in battle. Enemies that recognize him run away on sight. He is on a constant mission to unite the sylvan tribes into the great forest and defend against the servants of morgoth. Almost accidentally killed by Beren of the great forest, in the battle of the liberation of grayhawk.




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