Lore masters are romantically entranced by the past. They believe in the circular nature of history and relate the lessons of ancient times to the problems of the present to help guide their people along the path to the future. As Lore masters proceed through life, they record the events of their own times for posterity.
Lore masters love to relate the lessons of history to those who will listen. However, they are often viewed as being more reclusive and eccentric than wizards. Their preoccupation with old tomes, arcane lore, Languages, Ancient, and lost civilizations dominates their lives, when they aren't putting on an oratorical performance. From their research, Lore masters gain unique wisdom and insight, allowing them to identify certain magical items, understand ancient writings and languages, gain special benefits in the arcane lore of magic, and incite crowds to action.
Specialty: Chronicler/Historian.
Role
There is a fine line between Lore master and sage. So fine that many Lore masters call themselves sages and are rarely questioned about it. However, true sages are knowledge specialists who concentrate their efforts into mastering a specific field such as mushrooms, elven swords, and so on. Lore masters are fond of any aspect of history that makes a good story.
Many Lore masters are travelers who wander the lands (often with gypsies) searching for great historical tales and facts to relate to crowds. In order to gain the substance of their tales, Lore masters often take up adventuring. Unlike many other adventurers, Lore masters are not simply seeking gold or magic. Rather, they are searching for a new legend or tale. Lore masters are the first to open old tomes, read the runes on passage walls, and record the general events of an adventure.
Distinctive Appearance
Lore masters generally dress and act much like wizards.
Special Benefits
Lore masters gain the same legend lore ability as True Bards. This ability works in similar fashion, with the following exception: All of the optional rules suggested for the True Bard's legend lore ability are required for the Lore master.
Through their devoted study of the past, Lore masters come across numerous texts on the arcane lore of magic. They read all of these, hoping that some great tale will be uncovered. Lore masters eventually gain a fundamental understanding of many strange magical items not normally usable by the bard class. Thus, Lore masters can attempt to use any magical item. A Wisdom check is rolled; if it is successful, the Lore master successfully uses the magical item in question. This does not mean that the Lore master fully understands the operation of the item, only that his attempt to use it in this particular way is successful.
Lore masters also pore over scrolls and spell books whenever they get the chance. This enhances their understanding of magical spells so much that they memorize and cast spells as if they were one level higher. Thus, a 1st-level Lore master casts spells the same way as a 2nd-level True Bard.
Usually Lore masters recite their collections of historical fables and legends to a crowd simply to entertain and educate. Although these oral performances are wonderful to hear, they do not necessarily have any direct impact upon the crowd.
When a Lore master wishes to affect the mood or actions of an audience, he uses his great skills of verbal persuasion, oratory, and rhetoric. He might relate the legend of the horrible massacre of Tothar Keep by lizard men in an attempt to incite the crowd to hate and despise lizard men.
Using such persuasion takes at least 1d10 rounds. All who are listening to and can understand the Lore master must roll a saving throw vs. paralyzation with a -1 penalty for every three levels of the Lore master. Those who fail have their reactions adjusted one level up or down (as desired by the Lore master). Those who succeed are not inspired by the tale, and those few who roll a natural 20 strongly disagree with the tale and have their reactions adjusted one level in the opposite direction.
Lore masters can make their Read Languages attempt twice if the language in question is an ancient one (a language no longer spoken). They can also use their read languages ability to decipher runes, glyphs, pictograms, ideograms, or any other form of ancient visual communication.
Even though a Lore master cannot be proficient in a newly encountered ancient language, if he makes his Language (Ancient) proficiency check, he understands the basics of the ancient language. Elementary use of the language is gained, allowing for written or even spoken communication at one-tenth the normal rate.
Special Hindrances
None
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