Known for their amazing feats of agility, their uncanny bursts of speed, and their psionically resilient nature, xephs are the embodiment of speed and grace. Xeph paragons exemplify their agility and speed, using it both to see more lands through travel, and to more ably defend themselves in combat. Xeph paragons are masters of movement, often darting in and out of combat, catching their opponents by surprise.
Adventures:
Adventures are exciting, or so xeph paragons believe. The draw of the unknown and the possibility of new people to meet, laugh with, and trick capture the xeph paragon’s attention.
Characteristics:
Xeph paragons are faster and more agile than the average members of their race. Because of their agility qualities, xeph psychic warriors are likely to become paragons, although soulknives and nonpsionic agile classes (such as rogue or ranger) appear at least as frequently.
Alignment:
Xeph paragons tend strongly toward good alignments. Because of the race’s affinity for the abilities of the soulknife, xeph paragons tend to be more lawful than chaotic, but it is not required.
Religion:
More than the average xeph, xeph paragons tend to revere those deities of travel, quickness, and horizons. These beliefs tie most closely to what drives the xeph paragon.
Background:
Xeph paragons tend to develop their racial paragon skills while out seeking to enjoy life. Their good-natured demeanor sometimes can result in bullies attempting to harass the xeph paragon, and, as such, his impressive mobility comes in handy. The xeph fondness for tricks tends to lend itself to the need for the additional psionic resistance, as any manifesters finding themselves the butt of a xeph paragon’s joke is not likely to be too kind to the joker.
Races:
Xeph paragons follow the same general principal of interacting with other races as a normal xeph would. While they feel the maenad are too uptight, they tend to get along with most other races. They regard duergar as too dour to be much fun, although they enjoy playing jokes on good-aligned duergar, as they are less likely to seek physical retribution than their evil counterparts.
Other Classes:
Because xeph paragons focus to increase their race’s natural speed, they work best with classes that can keep their enemies standing still or causing a distraction. As such, front-line combatants, such as the fighter, psychic warrior, or spellcasters such as the wizard or sorcerer tend to complement the xeph paragon’s abilities quite well.
Abilities:
Xeph paragons benefit from a high Dexterity score to improve their ability to avoid their enemies’ attacks. A high Constitution score is also important for those strikes that actually land.
GAME RULE INFORMATION
Hit Die: d8
Class Skills:
Autohypnosis, Bluff, Diplomacy, Climb, Concentration, Craft (any), Listen, Knowledge (Psionics), Profession (any), Spot. Skill points at each level: 4 + Int modifier. Skill points at 1st level: (4 + Int modifier) x 4.
Class Features:
Weapon and Armor proficiency: A Xeph Paragon is proficient with simple weapons, light armor, and shields (but not tower shields).
Improved Burst: When a xeph paragon uses his racial burst ability, he gains an additional 10 feet of movement. This bonus increases to 20 feet at 3rd level
Psionic Deflection: At 2nd level, if a xeph paragon rolls a natural 20 on a saving throw against a power of a level no greater than one third his hit dice (to a minimum of 1), he may expend his psionic focus as an immediate action to rebound the effect as if by the reddopsi power. The xeph paragon cannot use this ability on effects that the reddopsi power would not normally be able to rebound.
Ability Boost: At 3rd level, a xeph paragon gains a +2 bonus to Dexterity.
Mind Dagger: The xeph paragon, upon achieving 3rd level, learns to emulate those among his race who utilize the mind blade. He is able to create a mind blade as a 1st level soulknife, but it appears in the form of a dagger (instead of a short sword). If he has at least one level in soulknife, he also gains the ability to shape his mind blade into a dagger as well as his other options, if any, with a full-round action. Further, xeph paragon levels now stack with soulknife levels for the mind blade and mind blade enhancement class features.
