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:''For other people with the same name, see [[John Cook]].''
{{Infobox D&D character class
'''John Calhoun Cook''' ([[December 26]], [[1846]] – [[June 7]], [[1920]]) was a [[19th century|nineteenth century]] politician, lawyer and judge from [[Iowa]].
|name=Blackguard
|alignment=[[Alignment (Dungeons & Dragons)|Any evil]]
|source=
|first=
|mythical=
|based=
|wizards_image_URL=http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/DnD_InWorksApril_Blackguard.jpg
|OGL_stats_URL=http://www.d20srd.org/srd/prestigeClasses/blackguard.htm
Born in [[Seneca Township, Seneca County, Ohio|Seneca, Ohio]], Cook attended common schools as a child, studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1867, commencing practice in [[Newton, Iowa]]. He was judge of the sixth judicial district of [[Iowa]] in 1878 and successfully contested the election of [[Marsena E. Cutts]] to the [[United States House of Representatives]] as a [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat]] in 1883, serving only that year. Cook was elected back to the House of Representatives to fill a vacancy in 1883, serving again until 1885. Afterwards, he resumed practicing law in [[Newton, Iowa]] and later moved to [[Webster City, Iowa]] where he became attorney for a railroad company. He died in [[Algona, Iowa]] on [[June 7]], [[1920]] and was interned in Riverview Cemetery in Algona.
In ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'', '''Blackguard''' ([[International Phonetic Alphabet|IPA pronunciation]]: 'blæ gɚd) is a base [[character class (Dungeons & Dragons)|character class]] in older versions of the game, and a [[character class (Dungeons & Dragons)|prestige class]] as of [[Editions of Dungeons & Dragons#3.5 edition|edition 3.5]]. A blackguard is the [[antithesis]] of a [[paladin (Dungeons & Dragons)|paladin]] and is an evil warrior who receives a variety of magical powers from binding pacts with fiends or evil gods.
==External Abilities links==
{{CongBio|C000719}}
Like paladins, the abilities of blackguards are tied to their charisma and wisdom scores. Most of a blackguard's abilities are reversals of paladin abilities, such as:
*[http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=18735531 John C. Cook] at [[Find A Grave]]
* ''cause disease'' instead of ''cure disease''
* ''cause light wounds'' instead of ''lay on hands''
They also have other abilities, such as ''cause fear'' or ''summon fiendish ally''.
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Their Hit die is d10, and their base attack bonus accumulates on a 1/1 basis.
{{U.S. Representative box
| state=Iowa
=== Power over the undead ===
| district=6
A blackguard gains the ability to rebuke undead like an evil [[Cleric (Dungeons & Dragons)|cleric]], rather than turning undead like a [[Paladin (Dungeons & Dragons)|paladin]]. A rebuked undead will be stunned in awe of the blackguard, while a commanded undead will become the Blackguard's servant.
| before=[[Marsena E. Cutts]]
| after=[[Marsena E. Cutts]]
A Blackguard can also make a bolster check to give the undead more strength against a good cleric's turning attempts.
| years=[[March 3]], [[1883]] (obsolete district)
=== Similarity to paladins ===
{{U.S. Representative box
Blackguards and paladins are dramatically opposed, but not complete opposites. Many of the abilities of a blackguard mimic or replace abilities of a paladin (such as the ''fiendish servant'' ability, which replaces the paladin's special mount ability). Blackguards are required to be of any evil alignment ([[Alignment (Dungeons & Dragons)#Lawful Evil|lawful evil]], [[Alignment (Dungeons & Dragons)#Neutral Evil|neutral evil]], or [[Alignment (Dungeons & Dragons)#Chaotic Evil|chaotic evil]]), while paladins are required to be [[Alignment (Dungeons & Dragons)#Lawful Good|lawful good]].
| state=Iowa
| district=6
While uncommon to rare (depending on the campaign's Dungeon Master), some paladins have turned evil or otherwise broken the paladin code of honor lose their original abilities but gain bonus abilities if they take the blackguard prestige class. The more levels a character has as a "fallen paladin", the more and greater those bonuses become to the point where if a paladin of 10th level or higher becomes a blackguard, they may even convert any paladin levels for the same number of blackguard levels. Though they lose any bonus abilities they would have gained from the levels of fallen paladin levels.
| before=[[Marsena E. Cutts]]
| after=[[James Weaver]]
== In ''Dungeons and Dragons'' miniatures ==
| years=[[October 9]], [[1883]] – [[March 3]], [[1885]] (obsolete district)
The human blackguard is a [[lawful evil]] commander in ''[[Dungeons & Dragons Miniatures]]''.
}}
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==Source of the term==
{{CongBio|C000719}}
''[[Wiktionary:Blackguard|Blackguard]]'' (usually pronounced "blaggerd", {{IPA2|'blægard}}) is a somewhat archaic term for a scoundrel. This can be disputed as it was also a common profession name for shoeshines, as they would polish boots - hence guarding the black colour of the boot.
{{Iowa-politician-stub}}
==See also==
*[[Black Guard]]
{{Template:D&D character class}}
[[Category:Dungeons & Dragons prestige classes]]
[[Category:Dungeons & Dragons prestige classes]]
[[Category:1846 births|Cook, John C.]]
[[it:Guardia nera (Dungeons & Dragons)]]
[[Category:1920 deaths|Cook, John C.]]
[[Category:Members of the United States House of Representatives from Iowa|Cook, John C.]][[Category:United States District Court judges|Cook, John C.]]
[[Category:Iowa lawyers|Cook, John C.]]
[[Category:People from Ohio|Cook, John C.]]
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