Leader of Men - an optional Prestige Class for T20
The Imperium is ultimately about leaders and followers, whether it is a high born Noble and her loyal seneschal or the devious Rogue and his trusted partner in crime. Of course not every person, nor even every powerful person, can inspire others to join in their cause out of belief and stay by their side even when it seems doomed. You are however such a person, that rare and gifted being, a true Leader of Men!
Characteristics:
A Leader of Men is not only confident but projects and inspires confidence in others. Leaders of Men know the value of delegation and surround themselves with talented individuals to enhance their strengths and buttress their weaknesses.
Background:
Leaders of Men may come from any background and pursue any goal. They may for example be working to build a meagcorp or simply crewing a free-trader. Or they may be building a finely honed mercenary cadre or gathering a small team of con-artists. In all cases they are the one with "the plan" and the will to put it forward. Not all races or societies will however have the same attitude to Leaders that Imperial Humans have. Vargr for example will have a very different set of qualities to be seen as a Leader of the Pack in their society, though for a Vargr away from home an Imperial Human Friend and Admirers could be valuable enough to encourage them to emulate the type of Leader they will expect, and more importantly respect. The Aslan are another common alien society that will have quite different views on what makes a Leader of the Pride.
Adventuring:
Leaders are ideally suited to small gaming groups, especially one on one player and referee games. They can also be an invaluable asset to games with only a few players , bringing more abilities to the adventure with a Friend or some Admirers. This will require a little more work by the player of the Leader or the referee, though it is usually best if shared. For the truly ambitious looking for a grand campaign style, like a Naval fleet, Mercenary company or Merchant corporation, several Leader characters in the primary roles and the large number of associated Friends and Admirers they have working with them can create whole new realms for the game.
These rules only allow attracting Imperial Human Friends and Admirers but they may be used by any race. Separate rules would be required to attract Friends and Admirers for different races and societies to represent the qualities they associate with a worthy Leader.
Game Rule Information
Requirements: To enter the Leader of Men class the character must have the following minimums:
Skills - Leader 8+ ranks, Recruiting 4+ ranks
Feats - Natural Born Leader
Stamina Dice: d6 + Con modifier per level.
Leader of Men
</font><blockquote>code:</font><hr /><pre style="font-size:x-small; font-family: monospace;">Level BAB Fort Ref Will Special
1st +0 +0 +0 +2 Contact(Class)
2nd +0 +0 +0 +3 Friend L+1
3rd +0 +1 +1 +3 Contact(Class)
4th +1 +1 +1 +4 Friend L+2
5th +1 +1 +1 +4
6th +1 +2 +2 +5 Contact(Class)
7th +1 +2 +2 +5 Friend L+3
8th +2 +2 +2 +6
9th +2 +3 +3 +6 Contact(Class)
10th +2 +3 +3 +7 Friend L+4</pre>[/QUOTE]Notes:
Contact(Class) Feat is gained at the levels listed and determines which class(es) Friends and Admirers will come from. The choice is up to the player to determine the mix of classes as Admirers are gained and the Friend levels up. Note that initially the Friend will have only one class* but as they gain levels they may multiclass into the class(es) chosen by the player for their Contact classes.
*unless the Leader character has already taken the Contact(Class) Feat in prior generation
Friend L+X determines the current level of the Friend. When a Friend first joins the PC they will be one-half the PC's current total level (round down) and each time the Leader levels up with a Friend +X gain the Friend gains X levels. If a Friend is lost for any reasons beyond the Leaders control a new one will not be found until the next Friend L+X level and they will start again at one-half the PC's current total level (round down) at that time and level up the next time the Leader levels up with a Friend +X gain. If a Friend is lost due to a direct action of the Leader a new Friend will never be available.
Class Skills:
</font><blockquote>code:</font><hr /><pre style="font-size:x-small; font-family: monospace;">Class Skill Key Ability Class Skill Key Ability
Gather Information Cha Read/Write Language None
Inspire Confidence* Cha Recruiting Edu
Knowledge/Any Edu Sense Motive Wis
Leader Int/Cha Speak Language None
Liaison Cha Technical/Any Edu
Profession/Any Wis Trader Wis
*A specialized class skill.</pre>[/QUOTE]Skill Points per Level: 7 + Int modifier
Specialized Class Skill - Inspire Confidence:
This specialized class skill allows a Leader to improve their Friend's and Admirers' effectiveness on a temporary basis through inspirational speaking. The Leader must be present in person or face a -2 modifier for a remote live address or a -4 modifier for a recorded one. For determining if a location is remote the referee will have final say. For example aboard the same ship but at different locations on it would not be remote in most cases. If however the area they are in has suffered damage or is cut off from the area the Leader is in then they are remote.
Inspire Confidence has two related effects, one for a Leader's Friend and one for their Admirers. Each affect must be treated separately and if used for more than one Admirer they may be treated individually or as a group or groups with each individual or group requiring a separate check.
Inspire Confidence when used with a Friend adds one temporary level to the Friend's current class. This grants a temporary stamina die, adjusted BAB and saves, and adds one rank to a number of class skills equal to the skill points for the class.
Inspire Confidence when applied to Admirers adds the Leaders choice of one of the following for the Admirers current class: stamina die, BAB, saves, or skills (add one rank to a number of class skills equal to the skill points for the class).
The DC for the task is based on the desired duration for the effect and the attempts range from short pep talks to full motivational seminars. The Time Required must be uninterrupted or the skill check fails. Additional attempts may be made immediately after success or failure but only after the Duration of the first attempt has passed. Take 10 may be used for Duration up to 1 day but raises the Time Required to the next level. Additional attempts after success grant a DM of +1 while additional attempts after failure incur a DM of -2
</font><blockquote>code:</font><hr /><pre style="font-size:x-small; font-family: monospace;">DC Duration Time Required
15 1 minute 6 seconds
20 20 minutes 1 minute
25 1 day 20 minutes
30 1 month 1 day</pre>[/QUOTE]
Acquiring Friends and Admirers:
When the player first switches to this class they are joined by a Friend. This Friend begins as utterly loyal and trustworthy and will remain so as long as they are fairly treated. They will expect to be treated with the same loyalty and trust that they have for the PC and will share equally in good times and bad. They will expect the same treatment from the PC. If the PC is making a fortune they should have a fair share of it, and conversely if the PC is having a bad run of it and barely making ends meet the Friend will stick with them suffering just as much, while helping to get out of the situation.
When the Friend first joins the PC they should be generated just like a PC, by either or both the player and referee. The allowable class(es) are determined by the choice(s) of the Contact(Class) Feat currently possessed. As noted above, the initial level of the Friend will be one-half (rounded down) of the PC's total levels. As the PC gains levels in the Leader class the Friend will also gain levels under the PC's guidance. These levels may be in any class for which the PC has the appropriate Contact(Class) Feat, allowing the Friend to possibly multiclass if desired. The Friend is a special NPC that could be run by either or both the referee and/or player depending on the situation.
Admirers are essentially employees who want to work with rather than just for the PC. They may be acquired through the normal Recruiting process while actively engaged in the Leader class. On a successful Recruiting check one, and only one, of the applicants will be an Admirer. This applicant will be willing to take the job for the base rate of pay despite being ideally qualified (in the eyes of the PC) and eligible for more. An Admirer should be generated just like a Friend as outlined above and tailored by the PC for the job that was advertised in the Recruiting effort.
There is essentially no limit to the number of Admirers a PC might attract as long as they can keep them busy with real work close to them and pay a fair wage for that work. Admirers are there to learn from the PC as much as to earn a good wage. Admirers will only quit if they are unpaid twice in succession, as opposed to regular employees who will quit upon the first missed payment. Of course any delayed payment must be made up in the next payment or the Admirer will be walking. Admirers who do not interact with the PC on a regular basis will revert to regular employees after one month of being out of the loop.
No, really, I mean it 
All it needs is some brief explantion notes, the leveling chart and class skills list. Its in my brain just not ready to pop. Then the real editing and such can start 
