Ben Holiday - King of Landover

Male Human Expert 4/Fighter 3

Hit Dice: 4d6+8 plus 3d10+6 (47 hp)
Initiative: +2
Speed: 30 ft. (6 squares)
Armor Class: 18 (+4 chain shirt, +2 Dex, +2 heavy steel shield), touch 12, flat-footed 16
Base Attack/Grapple: +5/+6
Attack: Longsword +8 melee (1d8+1/19–20)
Full Attack: Longsword +8 melee (1d8+1/19–20)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: —
Special Qualities: Leadership Presence, King’s Resolve, Resourceful Mind, Favored by the Land
Saves: Fort +6, Ref +3, Will +7
Abilities: Str 12, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 16, Wis 12, Cha 16
Skills: Appraise +12, Bluff +13, Diplomacy +16, Gather Information +13, Intimidate +10, Knowledge (local) +11, Knowledge (nobility and royalty) +10, Profession (banker) +13, Sense Motive +12
Feats: Negotiator, Iron Will, Leadership, Skill Focus (Diplomacy), Weapon Focus (longsword)
Environment: Temperate forests and settled lands (Landover or similar realm)
Organization: Solitary, with retinue (2–12 followers plus advisors)
Challenge Rating: 6
Treasure: Standard (plus royal regalia)
Alignment: Lawful Good
Advancement: By character class
Level Adjustment: —
Languages: Common
Possessions: Masterwork longsword, chain shirt, heavy steel shield, signet ring of kingship, royal cloak, assorted legal and financial documents, 150 gp

Special Qualities:

• Leadership Presence (Ex): Ben Holiday gains a +2 competence bonus on Diplomacy and Sense Motive checks when dealing with subjects, allies, or those aware of his status as a ruler. This bonus increases to +4 when negotiating matters involving governance, law, or resource disputes.
• King’s Resolve (Ex): Once per day, Ben may reroll a failed Will save. He must take the second result, even if it is worse.
• Resourceful Mind (Ex): Ben may use Intelligence instead of Wisdom for Sense Motive and Gather Information checks.
• Favored by the Land (Su): While within a domain he rightfully rules, Ben gains a +1 morale bonus on attack rolls, saving throws, and skill checks.

Physical Description:

Ben Holiday is a man in his mid-to-late thirties with a lean, practical build and the bearing of someone still growing into authority rather than born to it. His dark brown hair is kept short and functional, often falling slightly out of place, and his face is usually clean-shaven or marked by a faint stubble from long, demanding days. His eyes are sharp and constantly attentive, carrying the habit of measuring people and situations with quiet, analytical focus. He dresses in well-maintained but unadorned armor, favoring a chain shirt and simple cloak that suggest rank without indulging in excess. There is little outward grandeur to him, yet when he speaks or holds his ground, a steadiness emerges that makes it clear - whether he fully believes it or not - this is a man others will follow.

Lore:

Ben Holiday was not born into power, but into structure - contracts, negotiations, and the rigid logic of a professional life rooted in law and finance. His understanding of the world was once governed by reason and predictability, until personal loss shattered that foundation and left him searching for something beyond calculation. His purchase of the kingdom of Landover was not ambition, but an act of desperate reinvention, a gamble placed on the possibility that somewhere, life could begin again under different rules.
What he discovered was not escape, but responsibility in its rawest form. Landover was fractured, distrustful, and shaped by the failures of those who had come before him seeking ease rather than duty. Ben’s early rule was marked by uncertainty and resistance, as he struggled to reconcile his logical instincts with a world that refused to behave logically. Yet where others abandoned the burden, he remained, learning not by mastery, but by persistence.
In time, Ben Holiday became something rare - a ruler forged not by destiny or lineage, but by decision. He does not command through fear or mystique, but through consistency and resolve. Those who follow him do so not because he is the strongest, but because he does not turn away when things become difficult. In a realm defined by magic and unpredictability, his greatest strength remains profoundly human: the refusal to abandon responsibility once it has been accepted.

From Magic Kingdom for Sale - Sold! (1986)