In the nation of Leonay there are four groups that keep the peace and protect the citizenry. Although enemies surround Leonay, there is a feeling of safety within the borders of their home country. The reason for this feeling is the formidable protectors of the law and the land.

The first is the military and they take care of protecting the nation itself. Leonay’s borders have stood for the past 40 years without change.

Secondly, the church with its mighty priests and paladins support the military and rule the country. The many undead invasions from Lifeswallower would not have been stopped if the church of Arthom weren’t vigilant. The church also supports the other three protectors of Leonay.

The third are the city watches of the great cities of Leonay. Each city equips their own group of protectors from within their population. The city watch takes care of crimes within their respective city.

The last of the groups charged with the protection of Leonay are the Hand of Keledran. The Hand is an order affiliated with the church of Arthom, but they take orders from within their own hierarchy. They are the judges, detectives, agents, and enforcers of the laws. Where the city watch polices the general population for most crimes, the Hand watches for; infiltration from monsters, murder for hire, criminals on the run, as well as conspiracies against the government of their homeland.

A Hand must announce himself to his enemies to give them the chance to surrender, not surrendering your weapon to a Hand is a capital crime, and if there is irrefutable evidence that they are guilty of a capital crime the death sentence can be taken out by the Hand of Keledran. However, if their enemy surrenders their weapon the Hand of Keledran is expected to take the criminal into custody and put them in front of a tribunal of judges for their trial.

During the trial, a Hand of Keledran usually acts as the prosecutor and puts forth the best case possible to get the criminal sentenced to a proper punishment. If, for some reason, the Hand can’t prosecute his own arrest he can appoint another lawyer to prosecute his arrest.

Hit Die: d10. 

Requirements:

To qualify to become a Hand of Keledran, a character must fulfill all the following criteria.

Class Skills:

The Hand of Keledran’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Bluff (Cha), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Disguise (Cha), Forgery (Int), Gather Information (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Profession (Wis), Search (Int), Sense Motive (Wis), Spot (Wis), Wilderness Lore (Wis). See Chapter 4: Skills in the Player’s Handbook for the skill descriptions.

                 Skill Points at Each Level: 2 + Int modifier.

 Class Features:

All of the following are class features of the Hand of Keledran prestige class.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Hands of Keledran are proficient with all simple and martial weapons but they don’t gain any proficiency with armor or shields. Note that armor check penalties for armor heavier than leather apply to the skills Balance, Climb, Escape Artist, Hide, Jump, Move Silently, Pick Pocket, and Tumble.

Spells: Beginning at 1^st level, a hand gains the ability to cast a small number of divine spells. To cast a spell, the hand must have a Wisdom score of at least 10 + the spell’s level, so a hand with a Wisdom of 10 or lower cannot cast these spells. Hand of Keledran bonus spells are based on Wisdom, and saving throws against these spells have a DC of 10 + spell level + the hand’s Wisdom modifier. When the hand gets 0 spells of a given level, such as 0 1^st-level spells at 1^st level, he gets only bonus spells. (A hand without a bonus spell for that level cannot yet cast a spell of that level.) The hand of Keledran’s spell list appears below. A hand has access to any spell on the list and can freely choose which to prepare, just like a cleric. A hand prepares and casts spells just as a cleric does (though the hand cannot spontaneously cast cure or inflict spells).    

Robe of Office: Upon joining the Hand of Keledran, a hand is given magical robes that are linked to his lifeforce and his Oath to the Order. The robes give the hand a +1 deflection bonus to AC for every three character levels (so a 11^th level ranger/1^st level hand of Keledran would get a +4 deflection bonus to AC).

Calm Emotions (Sp): The Hand of Keledran can use calm emotions as a cleric of the same level. Starting at 2^nd level, the hand can use this spell-like ability once per day, plus one additional time per point of Wisdom bonus.

Righteous Protection: A hand of Keledran of 3^rd level or higher applies his Charisma modifier (if positive) as a bonus to all saving throws.

Bonus Feat: At 4^th level and again at 8^th level, the hand gets a bonus feat. These bonus feats must be drawn from the following list: Ambidexterity, Blind-Fight, Combat Reflexes, Dodge (Mobility, Spring Attack), Exotic Weapon Proficiency *, Expertise (Improved Disarm, Improved Trip, Whirlwind Attack), Improved Critical *, Improved Initiative, Power Attack (Cleave, Improved Bull Rush, Sunder, Great Cleave), Quick Draw, Two-Weapon Fighting (Improved Two-Weapon Fighting), Weapon Finesse *, Weapon Focus *.

Feat dependent on other feats are listed parenthetically after the prerequisite feat. A character can select feats marked with an asterisk (*) more than once, but it must be for a different weapon each time. Characters must still meet all prerequisites for a feat, including ability score and base attack bonus minimums.

Blade of Justice: When fighting a criminal or an enemy of Leonay, a 5^th level hand of Keledran gets a +1 morale bonus to attack and damage rolls.

This bonus increases to a +2 at 7^th level and +3 at 10^th level.

Dispel Magic (Sp): The Hand of Keledran can use dispel magic as a cleric of the same level. Starting at 6^th level, the hand can use this spell-like ability once per day, plus one additional time per point of Wisdom bonus.

Discern Lies (Sp): The Hand of Keledran can use discern lies as a cleric of the same level. Starting at 9^th level, the hand can use this spell-like ability three times per day.

Code of Conduct: A hand of Keledran takes an Oath that binds him to his code of conduct. A hand must make it known to a lawbreaker who he is and give the criminal the chance to surrender. This isn’t necessary when attacking non-humanoid monsters or undead. He must protect the innocent citizens of Leonay and respect legitimate authority. He cannot sneak attack nor slay his target on a battlefield without the criminal knowing who he is and why he is being executed. Hands of Keledran who fail to act according to their code of conduct lose all class features and must undertake an act of atonement before they can regain their abilities (see the atonement spell description, page 176 of the Player’s Handbook).

  Table: The Hand of Keledran