Hu Xiang Lun's page

Hu Xiang Lun
Male human (Tian-Sha) bard (negotiator) 1/wizard 1/gestalt 1
LN humanoid (human)
Init +2; Senses Perception +4
Favored Class: Wizard
FCB: +1 Skill Points
DEFENSE
AC 13, touch 12, flat-footed 11 (+1 armor, +2 Dex)
HP 10 (1d8+2 Con)
Saves Fort +2, Ref +4, Will +2
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft.
Melee hanbo +0 (1d6)
Melee dagger +0 (1d4/19-20)
Ranged light crossbow +2 (1d8/19-20/80 ft)
Ranged dagger +2 (1d4/19-20/10 ft)
Special Attacks distraction, fascinate (DC 12), fast talk, splintered spear 7/day (+4, 1d6+4)
Bard Spells Known (CL 1st, Concentration +3)
0-level - prestidigitation, lullaby (DC 13), sift, unwitting ally (DC 13)
1st-level (2/day) - coin shot, saving finale
Wizard Spells Prepared (CL 1st, Concentration +5)
0-level - daze (DC 15), detect magic, light
1st-level (3/day) - charm person (DC 16), color spray (DC 16), sleep (DC 16)
STATISTICS
Str 10, Dex 14, Con 13 (14), Int 18, Wis 10, Cha 15
Base Atk +0; CMB +0; CMD 12
Feats Armor Proficiency (light), Scribe Scroll, Shield Proficiency, Spell Focus (Enchantment, Illusion), Weapon Proficiency (simple, longsword, rapier, sap, shortbow, shortsword, whip)
Traits Bureaucracy Navigator, Child of Changdo
Skills Bluff +7, Craft (calligraphy)* +8, Diplomacy +7 (+9 vs bureaucrats), Intimidate +7, Knowledge (arcana) +8, Knowledge (history) +8, Knowledge (local) +9 (+11 laws and law enforcement), Knowledge (nobility) +9, Linguistics +8, Perception +4, Perform (oratory)* +6, Sense Motive +5, Spellcraft +8, Use Magic Device +6
Languages Tien, Elven, Draconic, Taldane, Minkaian
SQ Arcane bond (bamboo amulet), arcane school (Wood – Opposition school: Metal), bardic performance (6 rounds/day), cantrips, hard bargainer, Flexible Enhancement (+1 Con)
Combat Gear scroll of mage armor Other Gear scroll of comprehend languages (2), scroll of animate rope, hanbo, dagger, light crossbow, haramaki, noble’s outfit, signet ring, 200 gp jewelry, wizard’s kit, 2 scroll cases, 5 pieces parchment, 29 gp

Spellbook
0th – all
1st – animate rope, charm person, color spray, comprehend languages, mage armor, shadow trap, sleep, snowball

Traits
Bureacracy Navigator - Accustomed to wading through governmental bureaucracy, you gain a +2 trait bonus on Diplomacy checks against bureaucrats and on Knowledge (local) checks related to laws and their enforcers.

Child of Changdo - You belong to a noble family that matters in Po Li, though as the story begins you may or may not be on good terms with your relatives. Your upbringing among the city’s well-to-do gives you an upper hand when it comes to knowledge of high society, and you start the game with a modest inheritance. With Gongzhu Zeitan’s efforts to provide for Po Li’s common citizens and overturn years of tradition, new lines are being quietly drawn in the sand, and you have found yourself embroiled in these intrigues whether you intended to be or not.
With this trait, the assumption is that you belong to a minor noble family (and can make up your family name). In this case, your family keeps a small manor in Aroden’s View or Senate’s Hill. If you want to be a member of one of Changdo’s major noble families, you must take the Noble Scion feat at 1st level.
You gain a +1 trait bonus on Appraise and Knowledge (nobility) checks, and one of these skills is always a class skill for you. The Noble Scion feat (see the sidebar) does not have a Charisma prerequisite for you. In addition, you start play with a noble’s outfit, a signet ring, and a single additional nonmagical item worth no more than 200 gp.

Feats
Spell Focus (Enchantment, Illusion) - Increase the saving throws of the chosen schools by 1.

Class Features
Arcane Bond (Su) (Bonded Item: bamboo amulet): At 1st level, wizards form a powerful bond with an object or a creature. This bond can take one of two forms: a familiar or a bonded object. A familiar is a magical pet that enhances the wizard's skills and senses and can aid him in magic, while a bonded object is an item a wizard can use to cast additional spells or to serve as a magical item. Once a wizard makes this choice, it is permanent and cannot be changed.
Wizards who select a bonded object begin play with one at no cost. Objects that are the subject of an arcane bond must fall into one of the following categories: amulet, ring, staff, wand, or weapon. These objects are always masterwork quality. Weapons acquired at 1st level are not made of any special material. If the object is an amulet or ring, it must be worn to have effect, while staves, wands, and weapons must be held in one hand. If a wizard attempts to cast a spell without his bonded object worn or in hand, he must make a concentration check or lose the spell. The DC for this check is equal to 20 + the spell's level. If the object is a ring or amulet, it occupies the ring or neck slot accordingly.
A bonded object can be used once per day to cast any one spell that the wizard has in his spellbook and is capable of casting, even if the spell is not prepared. This spell is treated like any other spell cast by the wizard, including casting time, duration, and other effects dependent on the wizard's level. This spell cannot be modified by metamagic feats or other abilities. The bonded object cannot be used to cast spells from the wizard's opposition schools.
A wizard can add additional magic abilities to his bonded object as if he has the required Item Creation Feats and if he meets the level prerequisites of the feat. For example, a wizard with a bonded dagger must be at least 5th level to add magic abilities to the dagger (see Craft Magic Arms and Armor feat). If the bonded object is a wand, it loses its wand abilities when its last charge is consumed, but it is not destroyed and it retains all of its bonded object properties and can be used to craft a new wand. The magic properties of a bonded object, including any magic abilities added to the object, only function for the wizard who owns it. If a bonded object's owner dies, or the item is replaced, the object reverts to being an ordinary masterwork item of the appropriate type.
If a bonded object is damaged, it is restored to full hit points the next time the wizard prepares his spells. If the object of an arcane bond is lost or destroyed, it can be replaced after 1 week in a special ritual that costs 200 gp per wizard level plus the cost of the masterwork item. This ritual takes 8 hours to complete. Items replaced in this way do not possess any of the additional enchantments of the previous bonded item. A wizard can designate an existing magic item as his bonded item. This functions in the same way as replacing a lost or destroyed item except that the new magic item retains its abilities while gaining the benefits and drawbacks of becoming a bonded item.

Arcane School - Wood
Wood Magic: At 1st level, add the following spells to your Wizard spell list at the listed spell level: 2nd—entangle, 3rd—tree shape, 4th—plant growth, 5th—command plants, 6th—tree stride, 7th—liveoak, 8th—transmute metal to wood, 9th—control plants.

Flexible Enhancement (Su): A master of the wood element is able to bend like bamboo when stressed and snap back into place. You gain a +1 enhancement bonus to your Dexterity, Constitution, or Wisdom ability score. This bonus increases by +1 for every five Wizard levels you possess to a maximum of +5 at 20th level. You can change this bonus to a new ability score when you prepare spells. At 20th level, this bonus applies to two of these ability scores of your choice.

Splintered Spear (Su): As a standard action, you can create a wooden shortspear appropriate to your size, which hurls itself as a ranged attack against one target within 100 feet (range penalties apply), using your Intelligence modifier as an attack bonus instead of your Strength or Dexterity modifier. The spear deals normal damage according to its size, plus your Intelligence modifier, then breaks into countless splinters; the target takes 1 point of bleed damage each round on its turn. At 6th-level and every 6 levels thereafter, the spear gains a +1 enhancement bonus and the bleed damage increases by +1. You can use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + your Intelligence modifier.

Bardic Performance - A bard is trained to use the Perform skill to create magical effects on those around him, including himself if desired. He can use this ability for a number of rounds per day equal to 4 + his Charisma modifier. At each level after 1st a bard can use bardic performance for 2 additional rounds per day. Each round, the bard can produce any one of the types of bardic performance that he has mastered, as indicated by his level.
Starting a bardic performance is a standard action, but it can be maintained each round as a free action. Changing a bardic performance from one effect to another requires the bard to stop the previous performance and start a new one as a standard action. A bardic performance cannot be disrupted, but it ends immediately if the bard is killed, paralyzed, stunned, knocked unconscious, or otherwise prevented from taking a free action to maintain it each round. A bard cannot have more than one bardic performance in effect at one time.
At 7th level, a bard can start a bardic performance as a move action instead of a standard action. At 13th level, a bard can start a bardic performance as a swift action.
Each bardic performance has audible components, visual components, or both.
If a bardic performance has audible components, the targets must be able to hear the bard for the performance to have any effect, and such performances are language dependent. A deaf bard has a 20% chance to fail when attempting to use a bardic performance with an audible component. If he fails this check, the attempt still counts against his daily limit. Deaf creatures are immune to bardic performances with audible components.
If a bardic performance has a visual component, the targets must have line of sight to the bard for the performance to have any effect. A blind bard has a 50% chance to fail when attempting to use a bardic performance with a visual component. If he fails this check, the attempt still counts against his daily limit. Blind creatures are immune to bardic performances with visual components.
Counterargument (Su) - At 1st level, a bard learns to counter magic effects that depend on sound (but not spells that have verbal components). Each round of the counter argument he makes a Perform (act, comedy, oratory, or sing) skill check. Any creature within 30 feet of the bard (including the bard himself) that is affected by a sonic or language-dependent magical attack may use the bard's Perform check result in place of its saving throw if, after the saving throw is rolled, the Perform check result proves to be higher. If a creature within range of the countersong is already under the effect of a non-instantaneous sonic or language-dependent magical attack, it gains another saving throw against the effect each round it hears the countersong, but it must use the bard's Perform skill check result for the save. Counterargument does not work on effects that don't allow saves. Counterargument relies on audible components.
Distraction (Su) - At 1st level, a bard can use his performance to counter magic effects that depend on sight. Each round of the distraction, he makes a Perform (act, comedy, dance, or oratory) skill check. Any creature within 30 feet of the bard (including the bard himself) that is affected by an illusion (pattern) or illusion (figment) magical attack may use the bard's Perform check result in place of its saving throw if, after the saving throw is rolled, the Perform skill check proves to be higher. If a creature within range of the distraction is already under the effect of a noninstantaneous illusion (pattern) or illusion (figment) magical attack, it gains another saving throw against the effect each round it sees the distraction, but it must use the bard's Perform skill check result for the save. Distraction does not work on effects that don't allow saves. Distraction relies on visual components.
Fascinate (Su) - At 1st level, a bard can use his performance to cause one or more creatures to become fascinated with him. Each creature to be fascinated must be within 90 feet, able to see and hear the bard, and capable of paying attention to him. The bard must also be able to see the creatures affected. The distraction of a nearby combat or other dangers prevents this ability from working. For every three levels the bard has attained beyond 1st, he can target one additional creature with this ability.
Each creature within range receives a Will save (DC 10 + 1/2 the bard's level + the bard's Cha modifier) to negate the effect. If a creature's saving throw succeeds, the bard cannot attempt to fascinate that creature again for 24 hours. If its saving throw fails, the creature sits quietly and observes the performance for as long as the bard continues to maintain it. While fascinated, a target takes a –4 penalty on all skill checks made as reactions, such as Perception checks. Any potential threat to the target allows the target to make a new saving throw against the effect. Any obvious threat, such as someone drawing a weapon, casting a spell, or aiming a weapon at the target, automatically breaks the effect.
Fascinate is an enchantment (compulsion), mind-affecting ability. Fascinate relies on audible and visual components in order to function.
Fast Talk (Su) - At 1st level, a negotiator can use performance to affect the perceptions of any number of targets that can hear him. While the negotiator performs, these targets take a –1 penalty on saving throws against enchantment (charm) and illusion (figment, glamer, or shadow) effects, as well as a penalty on Appraise checks equal to half the negotiator’s level (minimum –1). A target that fails its Appraise check believes that the object in question is worth 10% more or less (negotiator’s choice) than its actual value. At 5th, 11th, and 17th levels, the saving throw penalty increases by 1 and the shift in an object’s perceived value increases by 10%. Fast talk is a language-dependent, mind-affecting ability that uses audible components. This performance replaces inspire courage.

Amongst the nobles of Po Li, and indeed in the Lung Wa Empire before that, the Hu family were known as successful and wealthy merchants. Hu Xiang Lun’s family was one of those, with a family seat in the capital of Changdo. The family trade routes cross Tian Xian, including the cosmopolitan city of Goka, for them to bring in goods from as far away as Absalom. Xiang’s father, Huan, had studied at the prestigious Five Elements Academy, a school which taught the arts of wizardry and alchemy, and applied his magical schooling to the family business,using his magic to aid in business and the crafting of magical items for sale. It was his wish that his family further the business, and so he taught each of them the finer arts of negotiation and haggling, as well as having each of his children tested to determine their aptitude for the arcane arts. While Xiang’s brother, Han, was strong, he did not have the talent for the arcane, and he chose to serve in the military forces of Po Li. His sister, Chi, developed her abilities on her own, but ever the wild child, could not be taught the ways of wizardry, and so was not permitted to attend the academy. Xiang, however, was bright. He showed signs of potential very early on, and was accepted into the academy on his 16th name day. There, he quickly learned the fundamentals of magic, rising to the top of his class. In his studies, he learned ways to use magic with his already considerable talent for negotiations, and became quite well known as a mediator. To enhance his mediation abilities, he chose to specialize in the study of the element of Wood, to learn to bend as bamboo does in wind without breaking. He would often be called upon to mediate disputes of his fellow classmates, and his magical prowess was such that his teachers were quite pleased with his progress.

His skill in the mystic arts, coupled with his training in business and negotiation, allowed him to step into an active role in the family business as soon as he graduated. He found himself accompanying caravans to Amanador and Goka, mastering the Taldan tongue as he had his own. His greatest achievement was in helping the the Taldan nobles of House Talbot establish a trading post within Changdo itself, thanks to his ability to navigate the oracular bureaucracy and his understanding of the laws of Po Li. House Talbot agreed to pay a percentage of their profits for 10 years in exchange for that assistance. His father was proud of his son’s ability to broker such a deal, and the House received a boost to both its fortune and its reputation.

For all of Xiang’s public success and accolades, privately, he was growing increasingly disillusioned with the nature of Po Li. His travels to Goka and Amanador, plus his interactions with House Talbot, had shown him that things in Po Li might not be as good as he thought. Every year, the Oracles tested new children to see if one was the Eternal Emperor reborn, and every year, they failed to find him. Was it possible that by only testing male children, they had bypassed the Eternal Emperor’s rebirth? The Eternal Emperor had been an Empress before, and it could happen again. He also felt that nobles were being consumed by intrigue, and that the Oracles’ secrecy was a hindrance and distraction. Xiang kept his growing dissatisfaction to himself, for his family would hardly be pleased with him if they found out, but when the ruler of Wei province, Gongzhu Zeitan, began pushing for reform and a testing of female children, he found himself inclined to support her efforts, albeit subtly.

It was then he had a meeting with Lady Taishi. Her message seemed to indicate she wished to negotiate the sale of resources from her estates to the Taldane. Upon his arrival at the meeting, however, she revealed that she was there with a task for him on the Day of Exultation to help bring about reform to the nation of Po Li. Though initially hesitant, Xiang was convinced that his task would be of benefit to Po Li, and that he should take the risk to do so. So, on the Day of Exultation, Xiang sets out to the inner heart of Changdo - a part of his city he has never seen. He has dressed in his best, for in order to influence the Oracles, he must be at his best, his appearance immaculate. There is an old saying from Imperial Lung Wa that seemed especially relevant - “On the heights, the roads are paved with daggers.” He suspected he was about to find out how true that was.

Xiang is in his late 20s, and of average height and weight. He has shaved his head bald, and has grown a thin, long mustache and unattached goatee. His robes are of fine silk, and some of his jewelry is clearly not of Tian origin. The only thing out of place is the bamboo amulet around his neck, with the word “Wood” in Tien carved into it - a symbol of his rank and training. He carries a walking stick and dagger, but otherwise appears to have no other weaponry as he considers his magic and his skill with words weapon enough.