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Flunky

by Beau Yarbrough

Every villainous spellcaster seems to have them: lackeys cowering at their elbows, servile, obsequious, intent on doing whatever tasks their powerful master requires, so long as it will spare them their wrath, although it never seems to do so for long.

They are the flunkies, whose toadying and bootlicking makes the work of archvillains a little simpler, as they have someone to shine their shoes, feed the prisoners, sharpen the iron maidens and, when life in the Tower of Unmitigated Darkness is quiet, someone to beat and experiment upon.

Flunkies can be members of any race, although they are most typically kobolds, goblins, orcs, half-orcs and particularly wretched halflings, gnomes, dwarves and humans. Flunkies can be drawn from any class, but in practice, only Commoners have such limited prospects that becoming a flunky seems like a good career decision.

Requirements
To qualify to become a flunky, a character must fulfil all of the following criteria.
Craft (Any): 8 ranks
Feats: Toughness, Endurance
Special: A would-be flunky must speak the Common Tongue. In addition, he must be the primary servant of a non-good villainous wizard, cleric, druid or sorcerer.

Hit Die: d4

Class Skills
The flunky's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Alchemy (Int), Appraise (Int), Bluff (Cha), Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Decipher Script (Int), Handle Animal (Cha), Heal (Wis), Hide (Dex), Jump (Str), Listen (Wis), Perform (Cha), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), Sense Motive (Wis), Spot (Wis), Swim (Str), Use Magic Device (Cha), Use Rope (Dex)

Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier

Level	BAB	Fort	Ref	Will	Special	Spells 0	Spells 1
1	+0	+2	+2	+0	Evasion	-	-
2	+1	+3	+3	+0	Toady +1	-	-
3	+1	+3	+3	+1	Avoid Wrath	-	-
4	+2	+4	+4	+1	U. Dodge	0	-
5	+2	+4	+4	+1	Toady +2	0	-
6	+3	+5	+5	+2	Avoid Wrath	1	-
7	+3	+5	+5	+2	U. Dodge	1	-
8	+4	+6	+6	+2	Toady +3	1	0
9	+4	+6	+6	+2	Avoid Wrath	1	0
10	+5	+7	+7	+3	I. Evasion	1	1

Weapon and Armour Proficiency: Flunkies are proficient with all simple weapons. They are not proficient with any type of armour, nor with shields. Armour of any type interferes with a flunky's movements, which can cause his arcane spells to fail (if those spells have somatic components). Note that armour check penalties for armour heavier than leather apply to the skills Balance, Climb, Escape Artist, Hide, Jump, Move Silently, Pick Pocket, and Tumble. Also, Swim checks suffer a -1 penalty for every 5 pounds of armour and equipment carried.

Evasion: Few flunkies would live past first level without evasion. If exposed to an effect that normally allows a character to attempt a Reflex saving throw for half damage (such as a fireball hurled by their master after a hard day battling the forces of Good), he takes no damage with a successful saving throw. Evasion can only be used if the flunky is wearing light armour or no armour. Evasion is an extraordinary ability.

Toady: Starting at level 2, flunkies become adept at subtly getting their masters to do what they want -- which normally translates into getting them to stop beating the flunky at that given moment. Flunkies gain a +1 on all Charisma checks and Charisma-keyed skills such as Bluff, Diplomacy, Disguise, Gather Information and Perform as they relate to dealing with their master. They do not gain this bonus in conjunction with Intimidate, however. This bonus increases by 1 every 3 levels thereafter -- i.e. +2 at level 5, +3 at level 8 and +4 at level 11 (for epic flunkies, the wretched creatures).

Avoid Wrath: Beginning at level 3, flunkies have become adept at spotting their master's wrath moments before it's too late, and either getting out of the way, or steeling themselves for the worst. At level 3, they gain a +1 to all spells cast by their master. This bonus increases by 1 every three levels thereafter -- i.e. +2 at level 6, +3 at level 9, and so on.

Uncanny Dodge: Starting at 4th level, the flunky gains the extraordinary ability to react to danger before his senses would normally allow him to even be aware of it. At 4th level and above, he retains his Dexterity bonus to AC (if any) regardless of being caught flat-footed or struck by an invisible attacker. (He still loses any Dexterity bonus to AC if immobilised.)

At 7th level, the flunky can no longer be flanked (the origin of a popular peasant's tongue twister), since he can react to opponents on opposite sides of him as easily as he can react to a single attacker. This defence denies rogues the ability to use flank attacks to sneak attack the flunky. The exception to this defence is that a rogue at least four levels higher than the flunky can flank him (and thus sneak attack him).

Spells: Beginning at 4th level, a flunky gains the ability to cast a small number of spells, of the sort their master, or one of their master's allies, can cast. (i.e. the flunky of a necromancer would gain arcane spells as a wizard, while the flunky of an evil cleric would gain divine spells using the master's spell list.) The flunky can only prepare spells available to their master, and does not gain any bonuses for specialisation if their master is a specialist wizard. Flunkies of sorcerers only know as many spells as they are able to cast (including bonus spells for high Charisma). Flunkies follow all other spellcasting rules as though they were a member of their master's spellcasting class.

Improved Evasion: This extraordinary ability, gained at 10th level, works like evasion (see above). The flunky takes no damage at all on successful saving throws against attacks that allow a Reflex saving throw for half damage (breath weapon, fireball, and so on). What's more, he takes only half damage even if she fails her saving throw, since the flunky's reflexes allow him to get out of harm's way with incredible speed.

Ex-Flunkies

Flunkies who are no longer in the service of a master who meets the requirements for admission to the prestige class cannot advance in levels until such time as they enter the service of another master.

Like a member of any other class, a flunky may be a multiclass character, but flunkies face a special restriction. A flunky who gains a new class or raises another class by a level other than their original class prior to becoming a flunky can never again raise their flunky level, though they retain all their flunky abilities. The path of the flunky requires an abject lack of better prospects, and once a character is aware of better career opportunities, they may never return to flunkeydom.