The Mountebank: A Character Class for Cuccagna

This is a variant of the thief class for my Cuccagna campaign. It's designed to represent characters such as Cugel the Clever and is partially inspired by the description of that character in Dragon magazine, and the (in)famous mountebanks the Colonel and Manzifrain the Mirthful from the Hill Cantons campaign.

Mountebank
Mountebanks are thieves, grifters, and rogues.  They live by their wits, no matter how slim, and are always looking for a way to make quick cash.


Mountebank Advancement Table

XP	Level	HD	BAB	ST	Skills
0	1	1	+0	14	1-2
1,501	2	2	+0	13	1-2
3,001	3	3	+0	12	1-3
6,001	4	3+1	+1	11	1-3
12,001	5	4	+1	10	1-3
24,001	6	5	+2	9	1-4
48,001	7	6	+2	8	1-4
96,001	8	6+1	+3	7	1-4
192,001	9	7	+3	6	1-5
284,001	10	8	+4	5	1-5

Mountebank Class Abilities
Weapon and Armor Restrictions:  Mountebanks are not trained in the use of metal armor of any kind and therefore are restricted only to leather.  They may; however, use any weapon or shield.

Skills: Mountebanks possess certain skills that make their job as flimm-flamm man easier.  These include Climb, Hear Noise, Open Doors, Search, Sleight of Hand, and Tinker.  To perform these skills, a Mountebank must roll the number indicated on the above chart on a d6.  In the case of skills that have their own attribute based chart, such as Open Doors, the Mountebank uses either the skill chart or the attribute chart - whichever is higher.  Mountebanks also use this x in 6 chance to determine the chance that they surprise an opponent when sneaking off alone.  Note that Mountebank’s carrying lit torches or lanterns still cannot surprise monsters in a dungeon.

Spell Casting: Mountebanks may attempt to cast spells found on magic user spell scrolls; however, in order to do so successfully they must make a successful saving throw with a penalty equal to the level of the spell.   If the saving throw is failed, the opposite of the intended effect of the spell occurs, usually in a way that is reflected back on the mountebank.  A mountebank may also attempt to cast a spell directly from a spellbook, but the spell disappears in the same manner as a scroll.