MercaneHD: d8
| Level | BAB | Fort | Ref | Will | Feature |
| 1 | +0 | +2 | +2 | +2 | Arcane appraisal, Merchant body, Planar traveller, Dex +1 |
| 2 | +1 | +3 | +3 | +3 | Merchant's oath, Secret chest, Spell resistance, Int +1 |
| 3 | +2 | +3 | +3 | +3 | Powerful build, Quick escape, Str +1 |
| 4 | +3 | +4 | +4 | +4 | Improved spell resistance, Telepathy, Dex +1, Int +1 |
| 5 | +3 | +4 | +4 | +4 | Bag of tricks, Growth, Rapid retrieval, Str +1, Int +1 |
Class skills (6+Int): Appraise, Bluff, Diplomacy, Forgery, Gather Information, Intimidate, Knowledge (arcana), Knowledge (nobility and royalty), Knowledge (the planes), Listen, Profession, Sense Motive, Sleight of Hand, Speak Language, Spellcraft, Spot, Use Magic Device
Proficiencies: A mercane is proficient with simple and martial weapons, and with light armor, but not with shields.
Features:Merchant Body: The Mercane loses all other racial traits and bonuses and gains outsider traits (darkvision 60ft). He is a Medium creature with a base speed of 30 feet, and a natural armor bonus equal to his Con modifier. He gains a racial bonus on Appraise and Profession checks equal to half his HD, and these skills are always class skills for him.
A mercane with levels in a spellcasting class can count his mercane levels as levels of that class for purposes of caster level and spells per day; however, he does not gain the spell slots provided by his "missing" levels of that class. Eg. a Mercane 4 who took 1 level of wizard could choose to have CL 5, with one 3rd level spell slot and one 2nd level spell slot, but no lower-level slots (excepting any bonus spell slots he may have for a high ability score). Remember that, if you wish, you can cast a spell from a higher level slot than required.
Arcane Appraisal (Sp): A mercane can use
detect magic and
read magic as spell-like abilities at will, with a caster level equal to his ranks in Appraise (minimum 1).
At 4HD a mercane with 7 ranks in Appraise can also use
identify, though its casting time is 1 minute.
At 7HD a mercane with 10 ranks in Appraise can also use
arcane sight.
At 10HD a mercane with 13 ranks in Appraise can use
identify as a standard action.
At 13HD a mercane with 16 ranks in Appraise can also use
analyse dweomer.
Planar Traveller (Ex): A mercane is treated as a native outsider on any plane other than the Material Plane, and thus is not subject to banishment effects. Like a native the mercane is immune to any negative effects of being on a plane, such as the fire damage inflicted by the Elemental Plane of Fire (though he could still take fire damage from its inhabitants' attacks). The mercane never takes a penalty for possessing an opposed alignment on an alignment-dominant plane.
Ability Score Increase: The mercane's ability scores increase by the shown amount.
Merchant's Oath (Sp): At 2nd level a mercane cannot be attacked by other creatures unless they succeed on a Will save (DC = 10 + half your HD + your Cha modifier), which renders them immune to this effect for 1 round. If the mercane deliberately causes harm to a creature then this effect is suppressed for 24 hours (though he is still free to order other creatures to attack for him). This otherwise functions as a
sanctuary spell with a caster level equal to your ranks in Profession (merchant) (minimum 1), except that its effective spell level is half your HD. Other mercanes take a -4 racial penalty on saves against this effect.
Secret Chest (Su): At 2nd level a mercane gains access to a small chest on a pocket demiplane connected to the Ethereal Plane, capable of holding up to 1 cubic foot of matter per HD. He may summon the chest to his position as a standard action, or banish it back to the Ethereal Plane with another standard action; however, the chest cannot be transported in either direction if it contains creatures. Unlike the
Leomund's secret chest spell, a mercane never risks losing his chest. If the chest is separated from the mercane for more than 1 hour, it returns to its demiplane (unless it contains creatures, in which case it returns after they leave).
Spell Resistance (Su): At 2nd level a mercane gains spell resistance equal to 11 + his HD, which he may raise or lower as a free action even when it isn't his turn.
Powerful Build (Ex): At 3rd level the mercane's physical stature lets him function in many ways as if he were one size category larger. Whenever the mercane is subject to a size modifier or special size modifier for an opposed check (such as during grapple checks, bull rush attempts, and trip attempts), he is treated as one size larger if doing so is advantageous to him. The mercane is also considered to be one size larger when determining whether a creature's special attacks based on size (such as Improved Grab or Swallow Whole) can affect him. The mercane can use weapons designed for a creature one size larger without penalty. However, his space and reach remain those of a creature of his actual size. The benefits of this trait stack with effects that change the mercane's size category.
Quick Escape (Su): At 3rd level a mercane can use
dimension door and
invisibility as supernatural abilities 1/day per 3 HD, except that the range of his
dimension door is reduced to Close (25ft +5ft/HD).
At 6HD the duration of his
invisibility increases to 1 hour/HD, while the range of his
dimension door increases to Medium (100ft +10ft/HD).
At 9HD his
dimension door has Long range (400ft +40ft/HD), as with a normal casting of the spell.
At 12HD he may expend two uses of his
dimension door to create a
teleport or
plane shift effect, and may use his
invisibility as a swift action.
At 15HD he may use his
dimension door as a swift action.
At 18HD he may expend three uses of his
dimension door to create a
Quickened teleport or
Quickened plane shift effect.
Improved Spell Resistance (Su): At 4th level the mercane's Spell Resistance increases by +4 while he benefits from his Merchant's Oath.
Telepathy (Su): At 4th level the mercane gains telepathy out to 5ft per HD.
Bag of Tricks (Ex): At 5th level, a mercane carries more items around with him than he can keep track of. He can "buy" any item (magical or otherwise) at double the normal price as a free action, regardless of his current location, effectively having bought it retroactively. If he is capable of crafting items then he may also craft as a free action by doubling the cost. Such an item appears in his pack or Secret Chest, after which it can be retrieved and used as normal. He may not use this ability to gain access to artefacts or other items which cannot normally be bought.
Note that the mercane is not capable of selling items as part of this transaction, meaning he must have enough raw currency to pay for the item.
Growth: At 5th level the mercane loses his Powerful Build trait and increases in size by one category (to Large). Do not adjust his ability scores for increasing in size.
Rapid Retrieval (Su): At 5th level a mercane can transport an item to or from his Secret Chest as a move action, without transporting the chest itself. He is still not capable of transporting creatures with this function.
CommentsMercanes, the merchants of the planes!
Some of the original monster's abilities don't even appear until you have high HD because, as a monster intended for epic campaigns, most mercanes will have lots of class levels anyway.
Planar Traveller + the removal of their Lawful subtype make it easier for them to trade in distant places, while Merchant's Oath encourages them to use bodyguards like their fluff. Arcane Appraisal is there because they need to know their merchandise.
