Legendary Investigator

The investigator is a highly skilled character that brings knowledge, ingenuity and tactics to their adventures. They are scientists and researchers, detectives and problem solvers.

They survey their surroundings and bring their wits to bear to find the best solution to the problem.

Why do the legendary investigator? What will change?: The investigator is an amazing concept and a fun class to play.

Though, as a hybrid class of the rogue and alchemist it tried too hard to mash in the elements of both classes which felt forced. The legendary investigator will seek to take the class in the direction of investigators and intelligent adventurers from literature and media while retaining the elements of what made the class great.

Role: The legendary investigator is a skill-based support character but can be built to be a second line combatant or ‘caster’.

Alignment: Any

Hit Die: d8

Starting Wealth: 3d6 × 10 gp (average 105 gp.) In addition, each character begins play with an outfit worth 10 gp or less.

Class Skills: The legendary investigator treats all skills as class skills.

Skill Ranks per level: 6 + Intelligence modifier

Table: The Legendary Investigator

Level	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Reflex Save	Will Save	Special
1st	+0	+0	+2	+2	Course of study, inspiration, studied combat, studied strike +1d6
2nd	+1	+0	+3	+3	Quick Wits
3rd	+2	+1	+3	+3	Danger sense +1, investigator talent, keen recollection, studied strike +2d6
4th	+3	+1	+4	+4	Course of study ability, piercing the veil
5th	+3	+1	+4	+4	Investigator talent, studied strike +3d6
6th	+4	+2	+5	+5	Danger sense +2, stimulate the mind 1/day
7th	+5	+2	+5	+5	Investigator talent, studied strike +4d6
8th	+6/+1	+2	+6	+6	Course of study ability, piercing the veil (illusion sense)
9th	+6/+1	+3	+6	+6	Danger sense +3, investigator talent, studied strike +5d6
10th	+7/+2	+3	+7	+7	Stimulate the mind 2/day
11th	+8/+3	+3	+7	+7	Investigator talent, studied strike +6d6
12th	+9/+4	+4	+8	+8	Course of study ability, danger sense +4, pierce the veil (all glamers/figments)
13th	+9/+4	+4	+8	+8	Investigator talent, studied strike +7d6
14th	+10/+5	+4	+9	+9	Slippery Mind, stimulate the mind 3/day
15th	+11/+6/+1	+5	+9	+9	Danger sense +5, investigator talent, studied strike +8d6
16th	+12/+7/+2	+5	+10	+10	Course of study ability, piercing the veil (immunity)
17th	+13/+8/+3	+5	+10	+10	Investigator talent, studied strike +9d6
18th	+14/+9/+4	+6	+11	+11	Danger sense +6, stimulate the mind 4/day
19th	+15/+10/+5	+6	+11	+11	Investigator talent, studied strike +10d6
20th	+15/+10/+5	+6	+12	+12	Master Intellect

Class Features

The following are class features of the legendary investigator.

Weapon and Armor Proficiencies: A legendary investigator is proficient with simple weapons, plus the hand crossbow, rapier, sap, shortbow, short sword, and sword cane. They are proficient in light armors, but not shields. If they have the arcane source of power, they may cast legendary investigator spells while wearing light armor without incurring the normal arcane spell failure chance.

Like any other arcane spellcaster, a legendary investigator wearing medium or heavy armor, or a shield incurs a chance of arcane spell failure if the spell in question has a somatic component. A multiclass legendary investigator still incurs the normal arcane spell failure chance for arcane spells received from other classes.

Course of Study (Ex)

A legendary investigator has a curious mind and may dabble in many disciplines, but their thirst for knowledge drives them to specialize in a particular field which they use to their advantage when adventuring. At 1st level, a legendary investigator chooses a course of study (see the courses of study page). Once the choice is made, it cannot be changed. They gain additional abilities at 4th, 8th, 12th and 16th levels.

Each courses of study provides a bonus equal to the legendary investigator level to a related skill notated under the course of study as the ‘focus skill.’

Power Source: A legendary investigator chooses to mix extracts or to cast arcane, divine, or psychic spells as determined by their courses of study. The investigator can create only a certain number of extracts or cast a certain number of spells of each level per day. Their base daily allotment of extracts or spells is given on Table: Investigator Spellcasting. In addition, they receive bonus extracts or spells per day if they have a high Intelligence score, in the same way a wizard receives bonus spells per day.

Power Sources

Arcane Power Source

A legendary investigator casts arcane spells drawn from the bard, bloodrager, magus, sorcerer/wizard, and witch spell lists. Only spells of 5th level and lower are added to their spell list. If a spell appears on more than one spell list, the investigator uses the lower of the two spell levels listed for the spell. For instance, charm monster is a 3rd-level bard spell and a 4th-level sorcerer/wizard spell, making it a 3rd-level legendary investigator spell.

A legendary investigator must prepare their spells ahead of time, but unlike a wizard, her spells are not expended when they’re cast. Instead, they can cast any spell that they have prepared, consuming a spell slot of the appropriate level, assuming they haven’t yet used up their spell slots per day for that level. To learn, prepare, or cast a spell, the legendary investigator must have an Intelligence score equal to at least 10 + the spell’s level.

The saving throw DC against a legendary investigator’s spell is 10 + the spell’s level + the legendary investigator’s Intelligence modifier.

A legendary investigator may know any number of spells, but the number they can prepare each day is limited. At 1st level, they can prepare four 0-level spells and two 1st-level spells each day. At each new legendary investigator level, the number of spells they can prepare each day increases, adding new spell levels as indicated on Table 1-2: Legendary Investigator Spellcasting.

Unlike the number of spells they can cast per day, the number of spells a legendary investigator can prepare each day is not affected by their Intelligence score. Feats and other effects that modify the number of spells known by a spellcaster instead affect the number of spells a legendary investigator can prepare.

A legendary investigator must choose and prepare their spells ahead of time by getting 8 hours of sleep and spending 1 hour studying their spell book. While studying, the legendary investigator decides what spells to prepare and refreshes her available spell slots for the day.

Like a sorcerer, a legendary investigator can choose to apply any metamagic feats they know to a prepared spell as they cast it, with no increase in casting time.

A legendary investigator must study their spellbook each day to prepare their spells. they cannot prepare any spell not recorded in her spellbook except for read magic, which all legendary magi can prepare from memory. A legendary investigator begins play with a tome containing all 0-level investigator spells plus three 1st-level investigator spells of her choice. The investigator also selects a number of additional 1st-level investigator spells equal to her Intelligence modifier to add to her spellbook. At each new investigator level, they gain two new investigator spells of any spell level or levels that they can cast (based on their new legendary investigator level) for their spell book.

At any time, a legendary investigator can also add spells found in other spell books to their own.

A legendary investigator can learn spells from a wizard’s or a magus’s spell book, just as a wizard can from a legendary investigator’s tome. The spells learned must be on the investigator spell list, as normal.

An alchemist can learn formulae from a legendary investigator’s spellbook, if the spells are also on the alchemist formulae list. A legendary investigator cannot learn spells from an alchemist.

Divine (Ideal) Power Source

This functions as the arcane power source, except that the spells they cast are divine. They may learn spells from the antipaladin, cleric, inquisitor, and paladin spell lists They use a holy symbol as their divine focus, just as a cleric, though it need not necessarily be the holy symbol of a deity they themselves worship.

Divine (Nature) Power Source

This functions as the arcane power source, except that the spells they cast are divine. They may learn spells from the druid, ranger, shaman, and witch spell lists (witch spells they learn are still considered divine.)

They use a sprig of holly or other sacred plant as their divine focus, just as a druid.

Extracts

When an investigator mixes an extract, they infuse the chemicals and reagents in the extract with magic siphoned from their own magical aura. An extract, once created, remains potent for 1 day before becoming inert, so an investigator must re-prepare their extracts every day. In addition, an extract can be used by any creature who possesses it. Mixing an extract takes 1 minute of work—most investigators prepare many extracts at the start of the day or just before going on an adventure, but it’s not uncommon for an investigator to keep some (or even all) of their daily extract slots open so that they can prepare extracts in the field as needed.

Although the investigator doesn’t actually cast spells, they do have a formulae list (additional investigator formulae can be found here) that determines what extracts they can create. An investigator can utilize spell trigger items if the spell appears on their formulae list, but not spell-completion items (unless they use Use Magic Device to do so). An extract is “cast” by drinking it, as if imbibing a potion—the effects of an extract exactly duplicate the spell upon which its formula is based, save that the spell always affects only the creature who drinks the extract even if it would normally be able to target multiple creatures (although investigators with the inhaled extracts discovery can affect multiple people with their extracts, regardless of if it would normally only target a single creature). The investigator uses their level as the caster level to determine any effect based on caster level. Creating extracts consumes raw materials, but the cost of these materials is insignificant—comparable to the valueless material components of most spells. If a spell normally has a costly material component, that component is expended during the consumption of that particular extract. Extracts cannot be made from spells that have focus requirements (investigator extracts that duplicate divine spells never have a divine focus requirement). An investigator can prepare an extract of any formula they know.

To learn or use an extract, an investigator must have an Intelligence score equal to at least 10 + the extract’s level. The Difficulty Class for a saving throw against an investigator’s extract is 10 + the extract level + the investigator’s Intelligence modifier. An investigator may know any number of formulae. They store their formulae in a special tome called a formula book.

They must refer to this book whenever they prepare an extract but not when they consume it. An investigator begins play with two 1st level formulae of their choice, plus a number of additional formulae equal to their Intelligence modifier. At each new investigator level, they gain one new formula of any level that they can create.

An investigator can also add formulae to their book just like a wizard adds spells to their spellbook, using the same costs and time requirements. An investigator can study a wizard’s spellbook to learn any formula that is equivalent to a spell the spellbook contains. A wizard, however, cannot learn spells from a formula book. An investigator does not need to decipher arcane writings before copying them. An investigator is treated as a spellcaster for the purpose of taking item creation feats, using their class level as their caster level. They are not treated as knowing any spells for the purpose of prerequisites of magic item creation.

Table: Legendary Investigator Spellcasting

Class Level	Spells Per Day					Spells Known/Prepared
	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	0th	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th
1st	2	–	–	–	–	2	1	–	–	–	–
2nd	3	–	–	–	–	3	2	–	–	–	–
3rd	3	–	–	–	–	4	2	–	–	–	–
4th	4	–	–	–	–	4	3	–	–	–	–
5th	4	1	–	–	–	4	3	1	–	–	–
6th	4	2	–	–	–	5	4	2	–	–	–
7th	5	2	–	–	–	5	4	2	–	–	–
8th	5	3	–	–	–	5	4	3	–	–	–
9th	5	3	1	–	–	6	5	4	1	–	–
10th	6	4	2	–	–	6	5	4	2	–	–
11th	6	4	2	–	–	6	5	4	3	–	–
12th	6	4	3	–	–	6	6	5	4	–	–
13th	6	5	3	1	–	6	6	5	4	2	–
14th	6	5	4	2	–	6	6	5	4	3	–
15th	6	5	4	2	–	6	6	6	5	4	–
16th	6	6	4	3	–	6	6	6	5	4	–
17th	6	6	5	3	1	6	6	6	5	4	2
18th	6	6	5	4	2	6	6	6	6	5	3
19th	6	6	5	4	2	6	6	6	6	5	4
20th	6	6	5	4	3	6	6	6	6	5	4

Occult Power Source

A legendary investigator casts psychic spells drawn from the medium, mesmerist, occultist, psychic, and spiritualist class spell lists. Only spells of 4th level or lower are considered to be part of the legendary investigator’s spell list. If a spell appears on more than one spell list, the investigator uses the lower of the two spell levels listed for the spell. For instance, charm monster is a 3rd-level mesmerist spell and a 5th-level psychic spell, making it a 3rd-level investigator spell.

They can cast any spell they know without preparing it ahead of time. To learn or cast a spell, a legendary investigator must have an Intelligence score equal to at least 10 + the spell’s level. The saving throw DC against a legendary investigator’s spell is 10 + the spell’s level + the legendary investigator’s Intelligence modifier.

They know the same number of spells as a bard of their legendary investigator level and knows and uses 0-level knacks as a bard uses cantrips.

At 5th level and every 3 levels thereafter, a legendary investigator can choose to learn a new spell in place of one they already know, using the same rules as a bard.

In effect, the legendary investigator loses the old spell in exchange for the new one. The new spell’s level must be the same as that of the spell being exchanged, and it must be at least 1 level lower than the highest-level spell the legendary investigator can cast.

A legendary investigator need not prepare her spells in advance. They can cast any legendary investigator spell they know at any time, assuming they have not yet used up their allotment of spells per day for the spell’s level.

Inspiration (Ex)

A legendary investigator is beyond knowledgeable and skilled—they also possess keen powers of observation and deduction that far surpass the abilities of others. A legendary investigator typically uses these powers to aid in sizing up a situation but can also use these flashes of inspiration in other situations.

They have an inspiration pool equal to 1/2 their legendary investigator level + their Intelligence modifier (minimum 1). A legendary investigator’s inspiration pool refreshes each day, typically after they get a restful night’s sleep or spend time doing an activity that stimulates their brain. As a free action, they can expend one use of inspiration from their pool to add 1d6 to skill and ability checks, including any on which he takes 10 or 20. This choice is made after the check is rolled and before the results are revealed. A legendary investigator can only use inspiration once per check or roll.

They can use inspiration on any Intelligence-based skill checks without expending a use of inspiration, provided they’re trained in the skill. This includes skills in which the legendary investigator substitutes their Intelligence modifier for the skill’s typical ability modifier.

Inspiration can also be used on attack rolls and saving throws, at the cost of spending two uses of inspiration each time from the legendary investigator’s pool. In the case of saving throws, using inspiration is an immediate action rather than a free action.

Temporary increases to Intelligence, like from the spell fox’s cunning do not increase the number of points of inspiration the investigator has or can have.

Studied Combat (Ex)

A life of a legendary investigator typically leads them into danger, so they must always be ready to bring their wits to bear in a fight. By taking the time to observe the movements and tactics of their opponent, a legendary investigator can take advantage of openings in the opponent’s guard and faults in their skill. At 1st level, a legendary investigator can use a move action to study a single enemy that they can see. Upon doing so, they add 1/2 their investigator level (minimum 1) as an insight bonus on melee attack rolls and as a bonus on damage rolls against the creature. This effect lasts for a number of rounds equal to their Intelligence modifier (minimum 1) or until they deal damage with a studied strike, whichever comes first. The bonus on damage rolls is precision damage and is not multiplied on a critical hit.

A legendary investigator can only have one target of studied combat at a time, and once a creature has become the target of their studied combat, it cannot become the target of the same legendary investigator’s studied combat again for 24 hours unless the legendary investigator expends one use of inspiration when taking the move action to use this ability.

Studied Strike (Ex)

At 1st level, a legendary investigator can choose to make a studied strike against the target of their studied combat as a free action, upon successfully hitting their studied target with a melee attack, to deal additional damage, ending any instance of studied combat on the target. The damage is 1d6 at 1st level and increases by 1d6 for every odd level thereafter (to a maximum of 10d6 at 19th level). The damage of studied strike is precision damage and is not multiplied on a critical hit; creatures that are immune to sneak attacks are also immune to studied strike. If the legendary investigator’s attack used a weapon that deals nonlethal damage (like a sap, whip, or an unarmed strike), they may choose to have the additional damage from studied strike be nonlethal damage instead of lethal damage. If they chose to make an attack with a lethal weapon instead deal nonlethal damage (with the usual –4 penalty), the studied strike damage may also deal nonlethal damage.

The legendary investigator must be able to see the target well enough to pick out a vital spot and must be able to reach such a spot. They cannot use a studied strike against a creature with concealment.

Quick Wits (Ex)

At 2nd level, a legendary investigator’s ability to focus on the minutiae in their environment gives them a deep insight into their surroundings. They may use their Intelligence modifier instead of their Wisdom modifier for Perception and Sense Motive. Additionally, they may use Intelligence instead of Charisma when using Diplomacy to gather information. This use of Intelligence to gather information entails the legendary investigator using their powers of observation rather than simply carousing, otherwise, the check is unchanged.

Danger Sense (Ex)

At 3rd level, due to their preternatural ability to notice minute changes in their environment, a legendary investigator gains a +1 bonus on Reflex saves to avoid traps and a +1 dodge bonus to AC against attacks by traps. In addition, they gain a +1 bonus on Perception checks to avoid being surprised by a foe. These bonuses increase by 1 every 3 levels thereafter (to a maximum of +6 at 18th level). This ability counts as trap sense for any feat or class prerequisite.

The bonuses gained from this ability stack with those gained from trap sense (if the legendary investigator has trap sense from another class).

Investigator Talent (Ex)

At 3rd level and every odd level thereafter, a legendary investigator gains an investigator talent using their legendary investigator level as their investigator level. Except where otherwise noted, each investigator talent can only be selected once.

Investigator talents marked with an asterisk (*) add effects to an investigator’s studied combat or studied strike. Only one of these talents can be applied to an individual attack, but the decision can be made when the damage is dealt.

Keen Recollection (Ex)

At 3rd level, a legendary investigator can attempt all Knowledge or Lore skill checks untrained. This does not allow them to apply their inspiration die to the check if they normally would be unable.

Piercing the Veil (Ex)

A legendary investigator’s grasp of facts and data teaches them to see past the veils and legerdemain conjured up by others, granting them resistance to even the most potent illusions. At 4th level, they may use their Intelligence modifier instead of their Wisdom modifier on Will saving throws against illusions. Additionally, they may spend a point of inspiration to add their inspiration die to such a Will saving throw. At 8th level, they may make a Will save against any illusion requiring a specific action, like interacting with it, simply by being in its presence. At 12th level, they can make a Will save against any glamer or figment present within 10 feet regardless of it having a saving throw. For example, if an invisible creature passes within 10 feet, the legendary investigator can make a Will save to see through it. At 16th level, they automatically succeed on any Will saving throw against an illusion that grants a saving throw.

Stimulate the Mind (Ex)

At 6th level, once per day, the legendary investigator may spend 10 minutes reviewing notes, collecting their thoughts, narrating events or doing some other intellectually stimulating activity to roll their inspiration die to regain the resulting number in points of inspiration. They may do this an additional time per day for every 4 levels thereafter to a maximum of 4 times per day at 18th level.

Slippery Mind (Ex)

At 14th level, the legendary investigator’s mental control allows them to wrest control of their mind from the influence of others. If they fail their saving throw and are affected by an enchantment or other mind-affecting spell or effect, they may attempt the save again 1 round later at the same DC. They get only this one extra chance to succeed on their saving throw.

Master Intellect (Ex)

A legendary investigator’s powers of reason and deduction become almost superhuman, and they are able to use them in nearly all aspects of life. At 20th level, a legendary investigator can use inspiration on all skills (even ones they are not trained in) and all ability checks (including initiative checks) without spending inspiration. If you already may use the check without inspiration, you may roll your inspiration die twice and take the higher result.

Favored Class Bonuses

The following favored class bonuses are available to all legendary investigators, regardless of race:

• Any: +1/6 of a new investigator talent.
• Any: +1/3 a point of inspiration.
• Any: +1/4 to all knowledge checks.
• Any: +1/4 on all inspiration rolls.
• Any: +1/2 on Bluff checks to feint and Diplomacy checks to gather information.
• Any: +1/4 to the bonuses provided by your studied combat ability.