Ancestral Aspirant

It is common for a noble to possess a deep pride for his family’s past, but when such self-importance gives way to obsession, an ancestral aspirant is born. Ancestral aspirants perform all the typical social functions of a noble, but they fill their conversations with stories of the great deeds of their family forebears, and they spend their nights researching old histories and primary sources, hungry for more.

Class Skills

An ancestral aspirant adds Bluff and Knowledge (nobility) to his list of class skills, instead of Knowledge (planes) and Profession.

This alters the occultist’s class skills.

Family Jewels

An ancestral aspirant’s implements are always objects connected to his family history. One of his starting implements must be an implement from the enchantment school.

This ability alters implements.

Emotional Reading (Su)

An ancestral aspirant doesn’t care much about objects that didn’t belong to his ancestors, but he is keenly attuned to his relatives and fellow nobles, allowing him to read the emotions of others. If he spends 1 minute examining a creature, he learns one fact, chosen by the GM, about the creature’s current emotions. Since emotional auras are complex, this ability is unlikely to reveal the secret feelings of a professional spy; instead, it only touches upon surface emotions.

This ability replaces object reading.

Courtly Contacts (Su)

Ancestral aspirants have contacts among courtly circles rather than otherworldly circles.

This works similarly to outside contact except for the following differences: First, he doesn’t need to use a magic circle or make a payment (though he still expends 1 point of mental focus from his enchantment implement).

Second, he can use those contacts to gather information for him (as per the Diplomacy skill to gather information) without spending the time himself, rather than asking a question and receiving a result similar to a divination.

He can ask more questions over the same time period at 12th level and every 4 levels thereafter, as normal with outside contact. At 16th level, instead of delivering messages and objects, the courtly contacts can spread vicious rumors and gossip about a target throughout a settlement, causing any creatures in the settlement whose attitude toward the target wasn’t helpful to have its attitude toward the target worsened by one step. These baseless rumors last 1 week or until the target spends 8 hours refuting them and succeeds at a Diplomacy check (DC = 10 + the ancestral aspirant’s occultist level + his Intelligence modifier).

This ability replaces outside contact.

Section 15: Copyright Notice

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Ultimate Intrigue © 2016, Paizo Inc.; Authors: Jesse Benner, John Bennett, Logan Bonner, Robert Brookes, Jason Bulmahn, Ross Byers, Robert N. Emerson, Amanda Hamon Kunz, Steven Helt, Thurston Hillman, Tim Hitchcock, Mikko Kallio, Rob McCreary, Jason Nelson, Tom Phillips, Stephen Radney-MacFarland, Thomas M. Reid, Alexander Riggs, David N. Ross, David Schwartz, Mark Seifter, Linda Zayas-Palmer.

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