There are those who pretend at power, and there are those who excel at this pretense. Anyone can dress up in an embroidered robe with hocus-pocus symbols on it or toss on a phony holy symbol and play cleric. Anyone might fool a dull-witted guard or a couple of simple peasant folk, but to convince an entire kingdom of your unquestionable arcane might or walk among anointed clerics as one of their own takes a true charlatan.

Wizards and sorcerers spend their lives in pursuit of the arcane secrets that grant them ultimate power. Clerics devote themselves to celestial powers in hopes of someday eternally serving their divine masters. The charlatan mocks both with her uncanny ability at deception, pretending at the power others seek without wasting her time with prayer or dusty tomes of magic. She lives by the age-old adage, "power perceived is power achieved." The charlatan can convince nearly anyone that she is an archmage or a pious cleric of a religious order. Whether the charlatan plays the part for power, profit, general mayhem, or her own inscrutable ends, her talents help her pass for the real thing. By the time anyone realizes otherwise she has long since moved on, with a faked death or a mysterious disappearance creating yet another legend.

BECOMING A CHARLATAN

Bards and rogues most often become charlatans, snubbing their noses at stuffy uptight spellcasters. Occasionally, sorcerers or wizards who tire of the arduous path to arcane power give up the pursuit of magic and take up the mantle of the charlatan instead. These former practitioners of arcane magic make some of the most successful charlatans, as a little true power can go a long way in convincing others of assumed archmage status. Clerics who have fallen from grace sometimes become charlatans out of scorn for their former brethren. These charlatans use their deceptive tricks to sully the name of the church that turned its back on them. Deities who provide the Trickery domain sometimes even encourage their clerics to become charlatans as a means of causing greater discord. Charisma is the key ability for any charlatan, although a high Intelligence also frequently proves useful.

PLAYING A CHARLATAN

As a master of deceit, the charlatan walks a dangerous line. Pretending at powers you do not possess provides both a challenge and a thrill. Bluff is intrinsic to a charlatan's survival, but juggling lies is like juggling knives - not entirely safe. If caught in a lie, a charlatan must have the skill to talk in circles and to carry herself with confidence and an air of mystery - even in the face of great danger. Most people never think to question her power, but if they do she always manages to convince them of it.

As with any con artist, confidence is tantamount for a charlatan. She relies upon her skills to see her through and never wavers in the face of a nonbeliever. Her gift of gab allows her to explain away inconsistencies in her portrayal of a cleric or wizard. A charlatan's potent imagination is her best weapon. When faced with a situation that threatens to expose her as a fraud the charlatan concocts perfectly plausible excuses for why she can't cast or pray herself a solution to every problem. She talks her way out of using her "powers" whenever able. A true charlatan claims to reserve her potent spells and prayers for only the direst situations. If called to the test she stages elaborate stunts involving hired help, optical illusions, and alchemical equipment to demonstrate her magical might.

A charlatan might gain rewards as great as the magical prowess she pretends to possess. The satisfaction of deceiving an entire town or even kingdom gives her as much reward as gold. A charlatan rarely passes up the chance to pull the wool over someone's eyes.

Combat

Charlatans avoid combat if at all possible. They attempt to stop fights before they start with a display of power or the promise of deific destruction if an opponent dares attack. If a foe is implacable, the charlatan seeks to delay confrontation until such time as she can prepare tricks and stunts to harm enemies or frighten them. When a confrontation looms a charlatan uses her false reputation to curry favor with powerful associates and sway allies to her defense. If all else fails, the charlatan might even fake her death rather than face it at the hands of a foe.

If forced to defend herself a charlatan falls back on her tricks of the trade and mind trick abilities. If facing imminent defeat in public, she loudly proclaims that her powers are temporarily unavailable to her or have no effect on the attacker for some reason, in hopes of preserving some shred of her false reputation. She uses her Bluff skill to turn foes against one another whenever able.

When facing other spellcasters, the charlatan attempts to convince them they are no match for her superior powers. If forced to duel them she attempts to stage displays of her might and embarrass the enemy caster with her distracting dispel class feature.

CHARLATANS IN THE WORLD

The charlatan might appear nearly anywhere: from standing on a street corner posing as a missionary cleric to sitting by an emperor's side as his personal archmage. Some wander from town to town while others cultivate their reputations in a single place. A charlatan's roots never grow too deep, though. If revealed as a fraud a charlatan prefers to beat a hasty retreat than to face the music.

Organization

Charlatans often live solitary lives and rarely act in concert. As lying is central to their lifestyle, not surprisingly charlatans have a difficult time trusting one another. On rare occasions two or more charlatans might go into business with one another for short periods of time. Such a partnership, while it lasts, creates a terrible force to be reckoned with. Two charlatans working together can hatch all manner of complex and insidious cons, scams, and schemes. A common trick among charlatan partnerships can fleece an entire town by pitting one against the other in a scheme of "good wizard/bad wizard." One charlatan arrives, putting on a show and intimidating the folk, while the other strolls into town a few days later offering to rid the township of the "villainous mage" for a not-so-modest fee. A grand wizards' duel ensues in which the "good wizard" vanquishes the "evil wizard." The victorious charlatan departs town the following day, meeting up with her companion on the road and splitting the reward money.

Although charlatans do not trust one another, an unspoken pact exists among all true charlatans. No charlatan ever publicly exposes another. A charlatan who violates this covenant finds herself hunted by her brethren with frightening vehemence.

NPC REACTIONS

People never react well to a charlatan revealed as a fraud. Charlatans captured after abusing the trust of a community often do not fare well, facing imprisonment at the least - and in some cases execution.

On occasion, a ruler might spare an unmasked charlatan. Most leaders can always use a good liar and a powerful patron might intervene to save an exposed charlatan in order to use her to some end. A powerful wizard might even hire the charlatan to act as an evil wizard so he can defeat the charlatan publicly in order to gain notoriety. A cleric of a faith seeking converts might force the charlatan to impersonate a cleric from a rival order and then defeat her to gain more faithful for the flock.

CHARLATAN LORE

Uncovering truthful information about a specific charlatan almost always proves impossible and such attempts yield only tales of a charlatan's greatness per her false reputation ability. Characters may research charlatans in general and make a Knowledge (arcana) or Knowledge (religion) check to do so. A check reveals all the information for the appropriate DC plus all the information for lower DCs as well.

DC 10: "Charlatans don't really exist. They are only urban legends spread by paranoid wizards."

DC 15: "Charlatans are con artists who pretend to be wizards or clerics. They prey upon small farming communities, fleecing simple folk out of their coin."

DC 20: "Charlatans are skilled tricksters who often succeed in convincing those they meet that they are actually powerful spellcasters. They can even mimic some of the powers of real sorcerers and clerics."

DC 30: "A true charlatan is so skilled that she can even fool those she pretends to be. Some even take part in ceremonies with real clerics, wizards, and sorcerers without being noticed."

CHARLATANS IN THE GAME

Charlatans allow a DM to throw a curve ball at experienced players by presenting them with an apparent archmage beyond the party's power level to intimidate and embarrass them. Imagine the players' chagrin when they finally discover they've been had, and their subsequent joy at the revenge they take on the offending charlatan.

The charlatan is a natural choice for players who enjoy guile over power, and who appreciate roleplaying encounters more than straight-up combat. Besides presenting a single player with a challenging and fun option, a charlatan brings unique assets to a group of PCs. With a skilled charlatan in the group, adventurers can convince enemies to give them a wide berth and possibly even gain the attention of monarchs, nobles, and other powerful patrons attracted by the charlatan's false reputation. In addition, a charlatan can enhance her powers by including the rest of the party in her schemes. With others helping to stage simple stunts or even pretending to be under the sway of enchantments, the charlatan finds it even easier to convince the public of her power. Charlatans often prove their usefulness in an adventuring party even if their antics get the group into trouble every now and again.

Encounter

Charlatans can be a real thorn in a party's side by stealing the credit for their accomplishments and publicly humiliating them. Few lower-level PCs who haven't pierced the charlatan's disguise dare stand up to her, believing her far too powerful to confront.

EL 9: Rolinda Shroompicker (CN female gnome rogue 5/charlatan 4), the only child of a pair of gnome truffle farmers, left home at an early age to seek her own fortune and turned to petty theft and con artistry to get by in the world. While traveling in a human kingdom, her innate gnome illusory abilities caused her to be mistaken for a wizard. She ran with it and ended up making the biggest haul of swindled loot in her life. A charlatan was born.

Now Rolinda travels under the moniker The Grand Le'Shumb. Small in stature and great in arcane power, The Grand Le'Shumb's accomplishments have become hearth tales in more than a dozen kingdoms.

The PCs have just finished driving goblinoids - or some other foe - out of the woods surrounding a small town. When they return to claim their reward they find The Grand Le'Shumb has already taken the credit, and the money. The PCs could try to get it back... if they dare invite the wrath of the All Powerful Grand Le'Shumb!