Hey, porter! Hey, porter! Please get my bags for me.
—Johnny Cash
Every traveling adventure troupe faces a serious dilemma when the day is through. How are they to haul the sometimes incredible weight of their looted treasure back to civilization? Some groups try to split the weight between their members, thus slowing them all down. Others acquire wagons, but these and the dray animals that pull them are a constant cause for concern when the group has to be away from them.
No, the really smart parties do the smart thing, they hire a porter. A professional porter is an asset to any traveling party. While their primary skill is transporting heavy loads across a distance, they are much more than living wheelbarrows. They drive and maintain the group’s animals, help pitch camp and maintain it when the party must be away and more than one has been known to take on such chores as cooking and laundering, becoming something of a traveling butler or maid. Most porters begin their careers as experts, but some rogues and rangers are drawn into becoming porters as well.
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Hit Die: d6
Requirements:
Abilities: Con 12+
Skills: Handle Animal 4 ranks, Profession (porter) 6 ranks, Use Rope 2 ranks.
Feats: Endurance
Special: The pirate captain must own his own ship, whether it was purchased, captured in battle, or stolen.
Class Skills:
The porter’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Balance (Dex), Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Handle Animal (Cha), Jump (Str), Knowledge (dungeoneering) (Int), Profession (Wis), Survival (Wis), Tumble (Dex), and Use Rope (Dex).
Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier.
| Level | BaB | Fort Save | Ref Save | Will Save | Special |
| 1 | +0 | +2 | +0 | +0 | Clever packing (10%), strong back |
| 2 | +1 | +3 | +0 | +0 | Skilled labor |
| 3 | +2 | +3 | +1 | +1 | Clever packing (20%), strong back |
| 4 | +2 | +4 | +1 | +1 | Skilled labor |
| 5 | +3 | +4 | +1 | +1 | Clever packing (30%), Steady Pace |
Class Features: All the following are class features of the porter prestige class.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Porters gain no new weapon or armor proficiencies.
Clever Packing (Ex): A porter learns the best way to make use of limited space. The porter increases the weight and volume able to be carried by storage devices like backpacks, wagons, chests and the like by 10%. At 3rd level, this increases to 20%. At 5th level, it increases to 30%. This ability has no effect on extradimensional storage spaces, such as a bag of holding. This ability does not grant a porter the ability to pack items in containers that are physically too small to hold them. For example, a longspear will not fit into a belt pouch.
Strong Back (Ex): A porter develops a rigid posture and a specific manner of walking that makes it easier for her to carry heavy loads. The porter adds her class level to her Strength score for the purposes of calculating encumbrance and carrying capacity. At 3rd level, this bonus doubles.
Skilled Labor (Ex): Carrying heavy loads is not the only trick to being a porter. At 2nd level, the porter gains a +2 competency bonus to all Handle Animal, Survival and Use Rope checks. At 4th level, this increases to a +5 bonus.
Steady Pace (Ex): The porter has become a master of her trade and can keep up with her employers, even while straining under a heavy weight. The porter’s speed is no longer hampered by her encumbrance. While she still applies check penalties as per usual, she may move as though unencumbered while carrying a medium or heavy load.