A member class, and the apex of the retail tree. In a world with no chain to prove ownership, there is no way to verify what an object is by looking at it, and the Assayer's mark is the substitute.
A marketplace full of forgeries, reskins and quietly reforged relics needs somebody whose word is worth something. That word is the product.
| Hit Die | d8 |
| Primary Ability | Wisdom and Intelligence |
| Saving Throws | Wisdom, Intelligence |
| Armor | Light |
| Weapons | Simple |
| Tools | Jeweler's tools, merchant's scales, one artisan's tool |
| Skills | Choose 2 from Insight, Investigation, Perception, History, Arcana, Deception |
Ability Score Improvements: 4, 8, 12, 16, 19 (you may take a feat instead at each).
| Level | Prof. | Features |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | +2 | The Mark (your stamp; a piece you assay carries its verification to any buyer, anywhere, without them trusting the seller), True Assay (authenticate beyond what any appraisal reaches) |
| 2 | +2 | Nondestructive (assay without consuming, damaging or degrading the piece, the thing that makes the trade practical) |
| 3 | +2 | Mark (subclass, below) |
| 4 | +2 | Ability Score Improvement (or feat) |
| 5 | +3 | Certificate (a written, tradeable record of an assay that travels separately from the item) |
| 6 | +3 | The Second Look (re-examine what another has already assayed; catch a mistaken assay, or a corrupt one) |
| 7 | +3 | Mark feature |
| 8 | +3 | Ability Score Improvement (or feat) |
| 9 | +4 | Standing Assay (an assay office that takes pieces in and hands them back while you are away) |
| 10 | +4 | Reputation of the Mark (pieces carrying your mark command a premium over identical uncertified goods) |
| 11 | +4 | Deep Assay (the hardest fakes, those built specifically to survive an assay) |
| 12 | +4 | Ability Score Improvement (or feat) |
| 13 | +5 | Mark feature |
| 14 | +5 | Register (a public, searchable record of everything you have certified; provenance becomes checkable by anyone) |
| 15 | +5 | Expert Testimony (your reading formally settles disputes, guild courts, settlement arbitration, contested sales) |
| 16 | +5 | Ability Score Improvement (or feat) |
| 17 | +6 | Mark feature |
| 18 | +6 | Incorruptible (your mark itself cannot be forged. The one thing in the world outside the ledger that is unfakeable, and it is unfakeable because you are the only one who can strike it) |
| 19 | +6 | Ability Score Improvement (or feat) |
| 20 | +6 | The Standard |
Detection is the core: identifying an object's true tier, spotting a forgery, reading a curse, and telling a genuine relic from a competent reproduction.
Certification is the trade: attaching your mark to somebody else's goods for a fee, and standing behind it. Provenance tracks what an object has been through and who has held it, which matters enormously for anything that came out of the Marches.
An Assayer's certification travels with the object, not the seller. It states what the item is, what tier it is, and what has been done to it, and it is only worth anything for as long as the Assayer who signed it is trusted.
A false mark is a career-ending act. Reputation here is not a number that decays; it is the entire asset.
Three ways to know a thing is real: what it is made of, what it does, and where it has been. Chosen at level 3.
Gated behind Mercantile 50 and a deep appraisal ladder, because the class is only meaningful once you have handled enough goods to be worth believing.
The Assayer is the reason a high-value item can be sold at all without the buyer inspecting it in person. Every auction house, every long-distance trade and every relic sale leans on somebody's mark.
Free class unless marked otherwise. No unlock needed: pick it at character creation and start.
More: All classes · Character · Stats, Skills & Professions · Combat
Always: Mortmain · Start Here · Reference