"There is no such thing as a secret."

-Kory Stargazer, unseen seer

Mysterious and elusive, the unseen seer trades in secrets. Subterfuge is her business in the same way that death is the assassin's business, and she uses her magic to help her gather other people's secrets while keeping her own.

BECOMING AN UNSEEN SEER

Because an unseen seer specializes in stealthy information gathering, this prestige class is especially attractive to rogues. Ninjas, scouts, and spellthieves might find it equally beneficial. Regardless, these characters must master the basics of arcane divination magic before entering, whether by multiclassing as a wizard (typically a diviner), sorcerer, or other arcane caster. The beguiler can qualify as an unseen seer without multiclassing, and though bards make good unseen seers, they typically must multiclass to meet the skill requirements.

PLAYING AN UNSEEN SEER

You move silently through the world in search of the truth, and no one is better than you at finding it. You were in the shadows when the queen's lover declared his undying devotion, and you eavesdropped on meetings of secret societies dedicated to dark entities. You saw an assassin's knife end the career of a promising young artist, and a forger's pen create the letter that started a war. The potent combination of your divination abilities and your stealth skills can strip away pretense and reveal the twisted truth behind society's polite facade.

In your travels, you learned that everyone has at least one dark secret - even the paladin carrying out his deity's will. And those secrets can bring both power and wealth to the one who knows them and isn't afraid to exploit them.

For the most part, you work alone, though you might profess membership in the Seekers of Truth, an organization dedicated to discovering the truth behind all the lies. Its membership is diverse and includes paladins and clerics, as well as unseen seers such as yourself. All who value the truth, for whatever reason, are welcome in its ranks. Rumor holds that even a few assassins have made themselves at home within its ranks, building cells of members whose moral viewpoints align with their own. Nominally, the organization claims neither a good nor evil bias, but the presence of more than a few paladins in its upper ranks causes it to lean more toward the side of good.

Combat

Sometimes your best option for combat is to avoid it altogether. To that end, use your skills to put strangers at ease whenever possible, and stay unseen as much as you can. When combat is inevitable, it's best to be forewarned. Use detect thoughts or clairvoyance/clairaudience to gain information about your opposition just before a battle begins. Just because you specialize in divination doesn't mean you can't make good use of illusions and abjurations to keep yourself safe.

If you have ranks in the Hide skill, you can slink to the fringes of a battlefield and slip out of sight before any enemy can target you. If necessary, you can use Bluff to create a distraction that makes it easier for you to get out of danger. When you finally do attack, be prepared to move quickly to a new hiding place.

Advancement

Your insatiable curiosity led you to divination magic in the first place, and from there to becoming an unseen seer. It gives you a heady feeling of power to magically know what's happening elsewhere or glimpse the possible outcomes of your actions before committing to them. But when you began to amass information about others simply for its own sake, a representative of the Seekers of Truth sought you out and invited you to join the organization.

As a new member, you studied stealth skills to complement your divination abilities, and you learned how to make the most of your scrying spells. Thereafter, you accompanied a senior member of the organization a few times on missions to ferret out the truth from king's courts, military command centers, and other places where secrets abound.

Since your initial training, you have operated largely on your own, gathering secret information to enter in the guild's archives through your adventures. No piece of information is too small or too volatile. Though you must have permission to draw information directly from the guild's archives, no rule says that you can't use the information you gain by the exercise of your abilities before turning it over for archiving. Thus, you can operate as a king's advisor, an information broker, or a blackmailer, according to your wishes.

To function as an unseen seer, you need a good Dexterity to take full advantage of your Dexterity-based skills, and a decent Charisma for wheedling information out of unwilling parties when your divination spells fail you. Keep your Diplomacy, Bluff, and Sense Motive skills maxed out, and collect plenty of divinations for your repertoire.

Resources

The library of information to which all seekers contribute is your most important resource. The information contained in the organization's archives could bring down kingdoms and plunge whole societies into chaos, and for that reason, no single member can withdraw more than a small amount of it for personal use. But the right piece of information can make an excellent bargaining chip for use in gaining even more secrets.

Your fellow unseen seers can also provide valuable assistance to you, both in terms of training and as comrades in the search for truth. Small groups of unseen seers working together can unmask a conspiracy against a throne or stop a revolution before it starts. Finally, you can borrow magic items from the cell to which you belong for periods up to one year. Scrying items are the most commonly borrowed, but the Seekers of Truth also stockpile scrolls and wands with divination spells on them, as well as items that provide help in keeping out of sight.

UNSEEN SEERS IN THE WORLD

"I told no one, I swear. And yet she knew. She knew everything!"

-Jovan Ismul, Grand Vizier of Jelumal

Unseen seers introduce an element of mystery into a campaign. As NPCs, they are best used as advisors to important persons and as information brokers. They can provide missions for PCs based on secret information they have learned, or they can serve as mentors for PC diviners wishing to pursue the prestige class. Alternatively, they can make formidable foes for characters who have a stake in keeping a secret - either their own or an employer's.

Organization

The Seekers of Truth have a strict hierarchy. At the top is a mysterious figure known only as the omniscient one. Below him are three eyes of seeing, who manage the archives and sort out information. Roughly equivalent in rank are six knowledge sealers, who maintain the security of the archives. In the next rank are all the unseen seers and other members responsible for gaining secrets, and at the bottom are the remaining paladins, clerics, and other members of the organization who perform most of its legwork. Individual cells of the organization, usually headed by unseen seers, are located throughout the civilized world, usually in large cities and near strategically important locations.

The Seekers of Truth are dedicated only to obtaining the truth, not to using it. However, the eyes of seeing examine all the material that comes in and connect bits of information to determine plots and trends, then advise the omniscient one about issues that seem to be of major social and political importance. Occasionally, the omniscient one decides to leak information to influence the outcome one way or another.

Promotion is based on the information-gathering prowess of the individual. In particular, an unseen seer might be promoted to a higher position only when she has learned the secrets of her superior. An unseen seer can leave the organization at any time without repercussions, but anyone who does so and then reveals group secrets to nonmembers is likely to find out for certain that assassins exist within its ranks.

NPC Reactions

Few people know that unseen seers exist. Those who do universally mistrust them, if only because knowing all sorts of secrets gives the seers an unfair advantage. Thus, the attitude of ordinary people toward unseen seers is usually either indifferent or unfriendly. However, rulers and other persons of importance who employ unseen seers place great faith in their abilities and integrity. Such people are usually friendly toward any unseen seer.

UNSEEN SEER LORE

Characters who have ranks in Knowledge (arcana) or the bardic knowledge ability can research unseen seers to learn more about them. When a character makes a successful skill check or bardic knowledge check, read or paraphrase the following, including the information from lower DCs.

DC 10: Some spies who can magically see into the lives and minds of others are called unseen seers.

DC 15: Unseen seers blend stealth and arcane spells to become master information-gatherers.

DC 20: Unseen seers specialize in avoiding detection themselves and shun anything resembling a fair fight. If you spot one, don't expect her to stick around for long.

DC 30: Characters who achieve this level of success can learn important details about specific unseen seers in your campaign, including notable members, the areas where they operate, and the kinds of activities they undertake.

PCs wishing to contact an unseen seer or the Seekers of Truth must attempt a DC 20 Gather Information check. Success gains the character an interview, after scrying verifies that no threat exists.

UNSEEN SEERS IN THE GAME

Unseen seers operate from the shadows and usually leave no trace of their presence. Thus, they are relatively easy to incorporate into a campaign - some have probably always been there, witnessing all but undetected until now. They can provide plenty of plot hooks for PCs to pursue because of their detailed but fragmented knowledge of secret information.

This prestige class appeals to players who enjoy missions involving subterfuge and intrigue. Any character who enjoys operating from the shadows and dabbling in arcane magic is a good candidate for this class. She can be of significant aid to her party by spying on enemies prior to major encounters and gaining information that can be used for bargaining.

Adaptation

Though the unseen seer is presented as a divination specialist, the class could also be used for an illusion-based spy by simply changing the prerequisites and spell power class feature. In a campaign with a darker theme, the Seekers of Truth could be actively using gathered information to influence political leaders.

Sample Encounter

PCs might encounter an unseen seer in a variety of ways. Such a character could be the ultimate villain who is pulling the strings of a leader through blackmail, or she could be a good-hearted king's advisor who needs the PCs to act on secret information to save the kingdom.

EL 12: Kory Stargazer (N female human rogue 4/diviner 1/unseen seer 5) was chief advisor to the king, and in that capacity she gained access to a large number of spells. At one time, the king placed great faith in her divination ability and advice. In his service, she came across information indicating that the king's younger brother is plotting to murder him for the throne. The king refused to believe his brother capable of such an act and released her from his service. Due to her patriotism and loyalty to the king, however, Kory finds it impossible to let the matter lie. Therefore, she plans to hire some adventurers to obtain the proof she needs of the king's brother's duplicity.