Qaestumancer

Profit is equal parts preparation, perseverance, and providence.

— Jessup McCallum, Master Quaestumancer.

  Quaestumancers - from quaestus (profit) and mantia (divination) - are a sort of traveling merchant who combines commercial acumen with arcane knowledge and a thirst for adventure. A quaestumancer might be the kind of person who chooses an itinerant life in search of profit, such as a caravaneer, but just as often he is a small town merchant who takes to the road because of circumstances beyond his control. Perhaps the local economy has collapsed, famine and banditry have choked off access to foreign goods, or the taxes and tariffs have made the cost of doing business too high to match the benefits. Others are retired, seeking to spend their former wealth on experiences that a lifetime of hard work had denied them. Still others are devoted to deities of craftsmanship, travel, commerce, or fortune, taking on a life on the road out of devotion to a higher cause. Whatever the case, the quaestumancer lives by the credo of ‘always be prepared’ and stands ready to lend the benefits of this philosophy with his traveling companions - for the right price, of course.     Deal (Ex): A quaestumancer is, at his core, a merchant who has heeded the call of adventure because remaining in one place is either not bearable, possible, or profitable anymore. As such, he carries his knowledge of good deals and trades wherever he goes, supporting the party with his special acumen for commerce in all its forms.   Whenever engaged in an exchange of goods, whether for currency or on a direct barter basis, a quaestumancer may sell all goods for 1% more and buy all goods for 1% less. This percentage increases by 1 for every class level above first the quaestumancer possesses at the time of the trade (maximum 20%). For each item (taken individually) to be exchanged, the quaestumancer must make an Appraise roll opposed by the vendor’s own Sense Motive, Appraise, or Profession (merchant) roll; if the quaestumancer beats their opponent’s roll, they receive the benefit of the Deal class feature for that transaction. The discount and bonus accorded by the Deal class feature also applies to certain other class features possessed by the quaestumancer. In these cases, the quaestumancer must make an Appraise roll equal to 5 + his class level to gain the benefit of the Deal. See the class features below for additional information on this topic.   Stock (Ex or Su): A quaestumancer’s primary benefit to the party is the ability to take his profession ‘on the road.’ As such, quaestumancers prepare thoroughly for travel by stocking up on miscellaneous items which, while disorganized in storage to the untrained eye, may be retrieved at a moment’s notice by the quaestumancer himself to provide aid for his adventuring party.   At 1st level, a quaestumancer may designate any one backpack, sack, chest, barrel, or similar storage container he possesses as his ‘stock’ by visiting a merchant, caravan, marketplace, or other site of commerce with it. Thereafter, whenever the quaestumancer visits such a person or place, he may ‘invest’ gold in his stock to fill it; this gold is considered removed from the quaestumancer’s inventory upon investment, but may be retrieved by once again engaging in commerce.   At 1st and 2nd level, losing a stock container also loses all gold invested in it, but the stocks of more powerful quaestumancers are actually shared extradimensional storage spaces (see below) and, thus, may be accessed at any time from any container the quaestumancer has designated as his stock. A container only functions as a stock as such when in the possession of a quaestumancer; anyone else searching the container finds it filled with an unidentifiable assortment of mundane trinkets worth half the owner’s current investment total. A stock does, however, continue to function as a normal container of its type for the purpose of storing and retrieving objects.   A quaestumancer may rummage through his stock and, as a move action which provokes attacks of opportunity, retrieve an item from it. This item may be any item which falls within the quality and monetary limits set forth in Table I: Quaestumancer Abilities, fits within the space allotted by the stock (also described in Table I) and costs less than the investment remaining in the stock. At first level, an item pulled from stock may only be of mundane quality, including weapons, armor, alchemical items, and other non-magical equipment. At 2nd level, the item may be of masterwork quality, including weapons, armor, and tools.   The quaestumancer is not required to have designated which item or items he pulls from his stock beforehand. For roleplay purposes, this use of the Stock class feature is treated as though the quaestumancer picked up a useful item in his last commercial interaction in preparation for unforeseen circumstances - for example, he might exclaim, ‘I knew this would come in handy!’ upon ‘finding’ a new holy symbol in his stock to hand off to the cleric. The price of the withdrawn item is immediately subtracted from the amount of gold invested in the stock, though the benefits of the Deal class feature (see above) apply to this transaction with the appropriate roll. A quaestumancer who acquires the Quickdraw feat may withdraw an item from his stock as a swift action instead of a move action.   As a quaestumancer gains levels, he gains the ability to tap into extra-dimensional storage spaces and, eventually, extra-dimensional entities interested in making trades with the denizens of the material plane. Starting at 3rd level, a container designated as the quaestumancer’s stock gains the storage features of the item indicated in Table I - including the volume and weight of items which it can store or provide via the Stock class feature - though he still may draw items from such a space as a move (or swift) action as before regardless of the form it takes. Furthermore, the selection of items which may be withdrawn from the stock at a given time grows to include items which would appear on the indicated category on the item lists in Chapter 7: Magic Items of the Dungeon Master’s Guide. He may withdraw cursed items from his stock at 6th level (though he receives no special protections from their effects), intelligent items at 12th level, and epic items at 21st level, though they must all also fall within the size, weight, and price requirements as normal.   Product Demonstration (Su): In the interest of demonstrating the quality of his products to potential customers, the quaestumancer gains the uncanny ability to use items drawn from his stock with temporary proficiency. For a number of rounds equal to 3 + the quaestumancer’s class level after an item is drawn from the quaestumancer’s stock for the first time, the quaestumancer gains the ability to use the item as though he possessed any required proficiency feat (Martial Weapon Proficiency, Medium Armor Proficiency, Shield Proficiency, etc). At 2nd level, the item gains the masterwork quality - if it did not already possess it - for the duration of the Product Demonstration. At 4th level, this ability allows the quaestumancer to treat the item as though he had succeeded at any appropriate Use Magic Device or Use Psionic Device check to use the item without penalty, though this is treated as a minimum roll (i.e. for the purposes of effective caster level for spell trigger items).   Special Contact (Ex): Starting at 2nd level, a quaestumancer’s network of business contacts begins to expand. Each time he gains the Special Contact class feature, he gains a number of friendly NPC contacts in the world equal to the total number of times he has gained this class feature, including the current instance (1 at 2nd level, plus 2 at 8th level, plus 3 at 14th level, and so forth). These NPCs function like the followers granted by the Leadership feat and progress as though they are the quaestumancer’s highest level followers, though they are tabulated separately from the quaestumancer’s followers from the Leadership feat if he has it. These special contacts initially appear in the world where the quaestumancer designates, though they are generally limited to one per adventure module, and generally remain in roughly the region in which they are placed.   Special Contacts gained at 2nd level only have local spheres of social influence in the world, but may be created with regional spheres of influence at 8th level and extraplanar spheres of influence at 14th level. The size of a Special Contact’s sphere of influence relates to the knowledge such a contact possesses, the other NPCs they might have relationships with, the places in which they reside, and the resources which they might be able to offer their good friends - the quaestumancer and his party. The Dungeon Master may use Special Contacts to provide additional support for the party, deliver exposition, or even initiate side quests. In roleplay, treat these contacts as those with whom the quaestumancer has regular business contact and, later, whom he trades with via his Remote Sales ability (see below).   Bargain (Ex): At 3rd level, a quaestumancer gains a +1 bonus to Appraise, Gather Information and Knowledge (local) checks to find places to trade, as well as any charisma-based checks to engage in commerce, negotiate a deal, or influence the attitudes of others in social situations. This bonus specifically applies to certain other class features (see below), including the Appraise roll made as part of the Deal class feature. This bonus increases by one at every third level (+2 at 6th, +3 at 9th, and so forth).   Bonus Feats: At 3rd level, a quaestumancer gains the benefits of the Eschew Materials feat whenever he has his stock within arms’ reach. Effectively, the quaestumancer may withdraw any inexpensive (and, if he pays out of his investment, expensive) spell component he needs from his own stock. At 5th level, he gains the Quick Draw feat and may use it to draw items from his stock more quickly (see the Stock class feature for details).   Diplomatic Offering (Ex): Starting at 4th level, a quaestumancer may attempt to ‘grease the wheels’ of a social encounter through the judicious application of gifts, charity, or out-and-out bribery. While attempting to influence another in a social situation or economic transaction, a quaestumancer with this ability may offer the creature goods, services, or currency with a combined value of no less than 100 gp per HD of the creature to be influenced. If he offers enough money, he may immediately reroll any relevant check related to the interaction. This may be done any number of times in succession, allowing a reroll each time, though the quaestumancer must accept the result of whatever roll comes last. It should be noted that this ability does not give the quaestumancer any special insight into the number of HD the target possesses - he must either guess the number of HD the creature has for himself or estimate it by other means (i.e. highest level of spell he has seen the target cast).   Remote Sales (Su): Starting at 5th level, the quaestumancer gains access to extraplanar markets via his stock. The quaestumancer may take 10 uninterupted minutes to open his stock and speak to his extra-planar contacts through the extra-dimensional aperture found therein. This initiates a commercial transaction for the purpose of the Stock class feature (see above), meaning that, during this time, the quaestumancer may buy items, sell items, and adjust his investment in the stock. Items purchased or sold during a Remote Sales session must still fall within the limitations set forth in the Stock class feature, though the benefits of the Deal class feature also apply to this transaction.   Satisfaction Guarantee (Su): A quaestumancer takes pride in his products and offers a magic-infused warranty against damage or defects. When a quaestumancer witnesses an item he has drawn from his stock being destroyed, he has two options: he can opt to cause the item to ignore the effect that would cause it to be destroyed or he can cause the item to instantly disappear into his stock and be sold as though via his Remote Sales ability. This effect does not apply to items which are destroyed as part of their intended function (i.e. dust of dryness) or as a result of having their charges fully expended (i.e. rod of absorption). The quaestumancer may use this ability once per day at 6th level and an additional time per day for every six levels beyond 6th (2/day at 12th level, 3/day at 18th level, and so forth).   Speedy Negotiation (Ex): As an entrepreneur, a quaestumancer abhors violence and would much rather resolve matters through mutually beneficial (and profitable) means. As such, a quaestumancer gains the ability to rush social skill check in an effort to change the course of a confrontation. Once per encounter, he may make a social skill roll (usually diplomacy) as a full round action without penalties to influence opponents into ceasing hostilities; his Diplomatic Offering ability applies to this roll. The time required to make this roll reduces to a move action at level 13, a swift action at level 16, and as an immediate action at level 19.   Planar Ally (Sp): A quaestumancer gains the ability to use the Lesser Planar Ally spell as a spell-like ability at 7th level, Planar Ally at 11th level, and Greater Planar Ally at 17th level, each once per day. The quaestumancer’s caster level for the purpose of these spells is equal to his class level, and his Deal ability applies to the fee required for the called planar ally’s services. Quaestumancers typically use this ability to call extraplanar creatures associated with trade and contracts - such as mercanes (see the Epic Level Handbook) and certain devils - or those which would make good bodyguards for a traveling businessman.   Negotiation Mastery (Ex): A quaestumancer of at least 11th level has become a master negotiator and may, therefore, take 10 on any roll to which his Bargain class feature would apply.   Planar Peer (Sp): At 20th level, a quaestumancer’s ability to bargain and work with planar allies has reached its zenith. From this point forward, the only limit on the number of hit dice possessed by a creature he calls with his Planar Ally abilities is his class level.