IMC: Scouts

I've never liked the name thief, nor the implied mandate to steal and implied Chaotic alignment. As a referee, I don't dig running an Evil Campaign filled with various unsavory PCs. It's a personal preference and not a value judgment on my part, so please no hate mail. Anyway, I decided to make it my own and redo the class a bit. They're better at fighting and archery, while retaining the GH Thief abilities. Basically, these guys are skirmishers (light foot). They move light and fast, hit hard, then fade away.

Armor: as Thief, but small shields allowed (though they will interfere with some Thief functions)

Weapons: any one-handed melee, shortbow (they prefer recurved bows for max. power), sling

Rolls HD, advances in combat, and saves as a Cleric.

Prime Requisite: DEX, besides BtB bonus to missile fire "to hit" for DEX > 13, if their DEX is 15 or higher they add +1 to AC, and +1 to rolled damage with missile fire.

I allow Scouts to parry.

I fretted for a while about the Scout's improved ability taken in toto with the Thief abilities but, in play-testing, it has worked out pretty well.

Tracking is basically calculated like climb walls but with penalties applied for conditions such as solid rock, crossing water, weather, whether the prey is aware of pursuit, etc.