The stellar corsair is a roving warrior, bringing the mentality of the privateer to the spacelanes. She can be a semi-official agent of the law—traveling under letters of marque of a government or merchant house—or a freebooter serving her own greed.
Though fighters and rogues are naturally drawn to this class; paladin, bard, and even barbarian or monk stellar corsairs are not unheard of.
Hit Die: d8
To qualify to become a stellar corsair, a character must fulfill all the following criteria.
Base Attack Bonus: +4
Skills: Balance 4 ranks, Climb 5 ranks, Knowledge (local) 4 ranks, Profession (spacehand) 2 ranks, Tumble 4 ranks, Use Rope 5 ranks.
Feats: Weapon Finesse
The stellar corsair's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Appraise (Int), Balance (Dex), Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Hide (Dex), Jump (Str), Knowledge (wildspace), Move Silently (Dex), Search (Int), Spot (Wis), Tumple (Dex), Use Rope (Dex).
Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier.
All of the following are class features of the stellar corsair prestige class.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: The stellar corsair gains proficiency with the dagger, longsword, rapier, sap, scimitar, and short sword; and with light armor.
Scale the Rigging (Ex): A stellar corsair can climb ropes and rope ladders at an accelerated rate without suffering a -5 penalty to Climb checks.
Gather the Crew (Ex): The stellar corsair gains a bonus to her Leadership score for the purpose of attracting followers (but not for attracting cohorts). This bonus is +2 at 2nd level and +4 at 7th level.
Sneak Attack (Ex): The stellar corsair gains the sneak attack ability (see the rogue section in the Player's Handbook) at 3rd level if she does not already have it. She gains a +1d6 damage with this attack initially, and this rises by +1d6 per three stellar corsair levels thereafter. If she already has the sneak attack ability from a previous class, the damage bonuses stack.
Fortune's Smile (Ex): Once per day, the stellar corsair may reroll any attack, saving throw, ability check, or skill check that she has just made. The stellar corsair must accept the second roll, regardless of whether or not it represents an improvement.
Uncanny Dodge (Ex): Starting at 5th level, the character gains the uncanny dodge ability (see the rogue section in the Player's Handbook) if she does not already have it.
Inspire the Crew (Su): The stellar corsair's stirring words can inspire courage in her allies, much like a bard's song. To be affected, an ally must hear the stellar corsair speak for one round. The effect lasts as long as the stellar corsair speaks and for 5 rounds after the stellar corsair stops speaking (or 5 rounds after the ally can no longer hear the stellar corsair). While speaking in this way, the stellar corsair can fight but not cast spells, activate magic items by spell completion (such as scrolls), or activate magic items by magic word (such as wands). Affected allies receive a +2 morale bonus to saving throws against charm and fear effects and a +1 morale bonus to attack and weapon damage rolls. The stellar corsair can inspire courage a number of times per day equal to her Charisma modifier (minimum once per day). This is a language-dependent, mind-affecting ability.
Improved Uncanny Dodge (Ex): At 8th level, the stellar corsair gains the improved uncanny dodge ability (see the rogue section in the Player's Handbook) if she does not already have it.
Scourge of the Spacelanes (Ex): By 10th level, the stellar corsair's reputation is so legendary that any enemies fighting her (or her crew, as long as her presence is known) suffer a -2 morale penalty to attacks, damage, and saves vs. fear. In addition, she gains a +4 circumstance bonus to Intimidate checks.
