PHBR1 - The Complete Fighter's Handbook

Player's Handbook Rules Supplement

The
Complete

Fighter's
Handbook

TSR, Inc.



Introduction

Warrior Kit Creation rSulheseeftoTrhedAifDfeVrAenNtCEDweDaUpoNnGEONS
& DRAGONS® 2nd Edition Play- styles, combat tactics, combat
er's Handbook and Dungeon maneuvers, jousting, combat Incidentally, The Complete
Master's Guide told you all you results, and many other fighter- Fighter's Handbook presumes
needed to know about playing oriented abilities within these that you're using the AD&D®
warriors in the game. But it pages. 2nd Edition game rules for
could be that you want to know Weapon Proficiencies and Non-
more than the bare minimum it Is it new equipment you're af- weapon Proficiencies. Many of
takes to play the warrior ter? That, too, is present in copi- the rules presented in this book
classes. ous quantities, from new armor depend on use of the proficien-
and weapons to new magic cies. So if you haven't been us-
That's where The Complete items. ing them so far in your
Fighter's Handbook comes in. campaign, we highly recom-
In these pages, we're going to Or perhaps you want some mend that you familiarize your-
show you lots of interesting role-playing and campaigning self with them and introduce
things you can do with the war- tips for your fighter characters them into your playing.
rior classes . . . things that the . . . or your campaign in general.
Player's Handbook and DMG In these pages you'll find role- Here's a special note for those
didn't have room to show you. playing advice for fighter char- of you who are using this Com-
acters, and discussion of the plete Fighter's Handbook with
Do you want to play fighter role of the fighter in regular your first edition AD&D® game
characters other than Fighter, campaigns and in all-fighter instead of the new second edi-
Paladin, and Ranger? Here we'll campaigns. tion: This supplement mentions
give you rules for characters like a lot of page numbers from the
barbarians, samurai, gladiators, Whether you're a player or Player's Handbook and the
amazons—they're all subsets of DM, an intent rules lawyer or Dungeon Master's Guide. The
the three main warrior classes, just someone wishing to add a page numbers cited are for the
but they're here. little depth to your campaign or second edition, not the first;
character, you'll find something you'll have to ignore the page
Do you want new combat here for you. Have fun. numbers given.
rules? We have them. You'll find

The Complete Fighter's Handbook

Introduction 1 Amazons 46
Character Creation Barbarians and Berserkers 47
Ability Scores 4 Beast Riders 48
Races Cavaliers 48
Classes 4 Gladiators 49
Alignment 4 Myrmidons 49
Warrior Kits 4 Noble Warriors 50
Proficiencies 4 Peasant Heroes 50
Armorer 4 Pirates and Outlaws 51
4 Good-Guy Outlaws and Pirates 51
The Workshop 4 Bad-Guy Outlaws and Pirates 51
Apprentices and Overseers 4 Samurai 52
Time to Craft Armor 6 Savages 52
Cost to Craft Armor 6 Swashbucklers 53
Chance of Failure 6 Wilderness Warriors 53
Added Expenses 7 The Miitary Campaign 53
Player-Character Workshops 8 Campaign vs. Mini-series 54
Repairing Armor 8 56
Repairing Magical Armor 8 Combat Rules 56
Bowyer/Fletcher 8 56
Weaponsmithing 10 New Combat Rules 56
Weaponsmithing Failure 10 Off-Hand Weapons Use 56
Weapon Quality 10 Kneeling and Sitting 58
Weapons Not Shown 10 Range and Initiative 58
Money and Equipment 11 58
Magic 11 Weapon Proficiency Slots 58
Experience 11 Intelligence and Proficiencies 58
Warrior Kits 11 Single-Weapon Proficiency Weapon Specialization 59
Kits and Warriors Weapon-Group Proficiency 60
Kits and the Warrior Classes Tight Groups 60
Kits and Character Creation 13 Broad Groups 60
The Warrior Kits Non-Groups 61
Amazon 13 Weapon Specialization and Weapon Groups 61
Barbarian 14 Ambidexterity 61
Beast-Rider 14 Style Specialization 61
Berserker 14 Punching and Wrestling Specialization 61
Cavalier 14 Martial Arts 62
Gladiator 16 Fighting Styles 62
Myrmidon 18 The Four Fighting Styles 62
Noble Warrior 18 Specializing in the Styles 62
Peasant Hero 22 Guidelines 62
Pirate/Outlaw 24 Multiple Style Specializations 62
Samurai 25 Limitations on Style Specialization 63
Savage 26 Single-Weapon Style 64
Swashbuckler 29 Two-Hander Style 64
Wilderness Warrior 30 Weapon and Shield Style 64
Recording Kits on the Character Sheet 31 Two-Weapon Style 65
Warrior Kits and Multi-Class Characters 32 Sample Style Specialization 65
Warrior Kits and Dual-Class Characters 34 Melee Maneuvers 65
Abandoning a Kit 35 Called Shots 65
Modifying the Kits 36 Striking a Specific Body Part 66
Creating New Kits 36 Smashing Something Being Held 66
Role-Playing 37 Bypassing Armor 68
37 Special Results 68
Warrior Personalities 37 Disarm 68
The Brash Youth 37 Thrown-Weapon and Missile Disarms 69
The Crude Crusher 69
The Dangerous Antagonist 39 Expert Disarms 69
The Doomed Champion Grab 70
The Fated Philosopher 39 Grabbing a Person 70
The Merry Showoff 39 Grabbing a Monster 70
The Natural Leader 40 Hold Attack 70
The Sneaky Thinker 40 71
41 Characters with Multiple Attacks 71
Changing Personality Types 42 Parry 71
The Warrior Campaign 42 71
43 Choice of Parries 71
Magical World vs. Nonmagical World 43 Polearm Parries 72
Magical World 43 Missile Weapon Parries 72
Mostly Nonmagical World 44 Parrying from the DMG 72
Strictly Nonmagical World 44 Pin 73
The Mixed-Warrior-Type Campaign 45 Pull/Trip 73
The One-Warrior-Type Campaign 45 Use of Polearms
45 Sap
46 Shield-Punch
46 Shield-Rush
Strike/Thrust
Surprise and Flash Maneuvers

The Complete Fighter's Handbook

Don't Say No; Determine Difficulty 73 Wolf-pack Tactics 90
Maneuvers in the Campaign 74 Tactical Mix 90
Punching, Wrestling, and Martial Arts 74 Rotation 90
74 Spear-Carriers 91
Specializing With Punching and Wrestling 75 Directing Traffic 91
Normal Punching Attacks 75 Campaign Tactics 91
Punching Specialization 75 Just Arriving in Town 92
Normal Wrestling Attacks 75 The Combat Sheet 92
Wrestling Specialization 76
Martial Arts 76 Equipment 93
Martial Arts Results
Descriptions of the Maneuvers 76 Old Weapons 93
Specializing in Martial Arts 77 One-Hand, Two-Hand 93
More Than One Style 77 New Weapons 94
Continuing Specialization 78 Gladiator Weapons 94
The Complete Martial Artist 78 Pirate Weapons 100
In Oriental Campaigns 78 100
Barehanded Maneuvers 79 Samurai Weapons 103
Called Shots: Punching and Martial Arts 79 Savage Weapons 103
Called Shots: Wrestling 79 Swashbuckler Weapons 104
Disarm 79 New Armor 104
Grab 79 Gladiator Armor 105
Hold Attack 79 Samurai Armor 106
Parry 79 Effects of Armor 106
Pin 80 106
Pull/Trip 80 Effects on AC 106
Sap 80 Effects on Speed 107
Shield-Punch 80 Effects on Dexterity Checks 107
Shield-Rush 80 Effects on Vision and Hearing 107
Strike/Thrust 80 Other Helms and Helmets 107
Hit Locations 80 What Head Protection Doesn't Do 107
The "Numbed" and Useless" Numbers 80 Vision and Hearing Checks 109
Body Locations 80 No Head Protection 109
General Effects of Called Shots 81 Variant Armor 109
Specific Effects of Called Shots 81 Racial Armor 110
Recording These Injuries 82 Armor Fitting Ill
Individual Injuries and Healing Magic 82 High-Quality Racial Armor 112
Permanent and Crippling Effects 82 Piecemeal Armor 112
Monsters and Hit Locations 82 Weight of Piecemeal Suits 112
This System and Low-Level Characters 82 Magical Armor 112
Recovery 82 Gladiator Armor 112
Recovery of Temporary Damage 82 Damage to Armor 112
Recording Temporary Damage Piecemeal Armor 113
Recovering From Temporary Damage Magical Armor 113
Magical Healing and Temporary Damage 82 Repairing Armor 113
Recovery From Knockout 82 Effects on the Campaign 116
Temporary Damage and Knockout 83 Magical Items 118
Magical Healing and Knockout 83 Miscellaneous Equipment
Combat Conditions 83
Darkness and Blindness 83 Tables
Unstable Ground 83
Mounted Combat 83 Forms 120
Jousting
Lance Specialization 84 Complete Fighter's Character Sheet 120
Horseback Archery 85 Complete Fighter's Combat Sheet (PC Side) 122
Tburnaments 85 Complete Fighter's Combat Sheet (DM Side) 123
The Basic Tournament 85 Warrior Kit Creation Sheet 124
The Joust List 86
The Jousting Competition 86 Written by Aaron Allston
Blunted Lances 86 Edited by Steve Winter
Queen of Love and Beauty 86 Black and White Art by Valerie Valusek
Prizes Color Art by John and Laura Lakey. Doug Chaffee. and Jeff Easley
Other Events 86 Typography by Angelika Lokotz
Archery Competition 87 ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS. AD&D. PRODUCTS OF YOUR IMAGINATION, and
Foot Lists 87 the TSR logo are trademarks owned by TSR Inc.
Merchants' Stalls 87 °1989 TSR Inc. All rights reserved.
Dancing, Socializing 87 Printed in the U.S.A.
When to End Combat 87 Distributed to the book trade in the United States by Random House Inc. and in Canada by
When Characters Don't Accept Surrender 88 Random House of Canada. Ltd. Distributed to the toy and hobby trade by regional distribu-
When Characters Always Chase Escapees 88 tors. Distributed in the United Kingdom by TSR UK Ltd.
When Characters Never Negotiate 88
Notes on the Combat Sequence This product is protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America. Any
Tactics reproduction or other unauthorized use of the material or artwork contained herein is
Shield Walls and Polearms 88 prohibited without the express written permission of TSR Inc.
88 TSR Inc.
POB756 TSR Ltd.
Lake Geneva.
88 WI 53147 U.S.A. 120 Church End, Cherry Hinton
89 Cambridge CB1 3LB
89 United Kingdom

89 ISBN 0-88038-779-3 211OXXX15O1
89

In this chapter, we' ll briefly Classes cholcc. IThe chaotic evil fi ghter
prese nt notes on character crea· who wa nts to play with th e
tion In the AD&D~ game. This Is The three war- troupe of wandering paladins
material you a lready know. but rior character classes (Fighter, wi1l be a problem .)
we'lI be talkJng abou t character Paladin, and Ra nger) are still
creation as It speciOcaJ ly applies the only warrior cha racter Warrior Kits
to warrior p layer·ch aracters classes, liowever, those players
(Fighters. Paladins. and Rang· who would lIke to have more Once you've
ers). s pecialIzed warrior classes will worked up you r character's abil-
probably find what they wam in it y scores. a nd then chose n his
, the Warrior Kits chapter. class and alignment. you can
c hoose a Vlarrior Kif for t he
Ability Sc.ores Whe n you're crealing single- character. Warrior Kit s are dis-
class warrior characters, we rec· cllssed in the WalTlor Kits c hap-
For a normal ommend t hat you start a ll ter of this book.
campaign. a ny of the six dice· first-l evel warriors with the
rolli ng methods from the Play· maximum num ber of hit points rro fl d~nd~s
er's Handbook. page 13. is they can have at that level-
acceptable. don 't even both er to roll th e As lh e In(ro-
dlcc. In other words, If you have dueL/on nolcs . lise of the ProO-
If you decide to run a n all· a first-level Figh ter with a Con- cleneies section of th e AD&D
warrio rs cam paign (see the stitu tion of L6 . he'd start with 2nd Edition Player's Handbook
Role·Playing c hapter of th is 12 hit points Instead of roiling is nOI optional with Th e Com ·
book for details on such a thing). his 1dlO and adding +2 for his plete Fighler's Handbook. The
we recommend that you use one Constitution adJusunc nl. Proficlencles are necessary fo r
of the five Alternate Dlce·Rolllng you ( 0 cus(omlze and nne-tune
Methods present ed. This is for a couple of impor- your character. a nd for the usc
ta nt reasons. Firs t. It gives the of the Warrior KJrs chapter of
Whether or not you run an all- warrior a slightly better chance this book_
warriors campaign , If you uti- for survivaJ at lower experlencc
lize the Warrior Kits cha pter of levels. Seco nd , It refl ects the Usc of the Weapon ProOclen-
this rule book. we recommend facl that warriors a re si mpl y cles are pre tty much self-
that you use Melhod Vi to create tougher and hardier than other evld enl a fl er you rea d the
Lhe abUlty scores for your char- player-character classes_ Player's Handbook. La ter in this
acters, Because charac ters us· boo k, thou gh . In th e Combat
Ing the Warrior Kits are so BUl remembcr: This is for flrsl ehapler. you'lI learn som e inter-
specialized. you 'lI nnd it helpful esti ng new things wh ich you
to be able to custom-design your Jel'eJ singlc-class warriors only. can do with weapon profiCien -
character ability scores, which
Method VI aJ lows you to do, Slartlng wit h second level. des.
these Fighters, Paladin s. a nd
Ra ces Rangers have to roll their hit Don ' t forgel that high Intelll ·
poims like everyone else. No gence scores grant ex tra profi·
Muc h of The other class gelS this benefit. and cie ncles (equal lo the number of
Complete Figh ter's Handbook Is mulU-class wa rriors (such as extra languages th e character
wrillen with the human charac- warriorllhleves. warrior/mages, receives for the same score).
ter In mind . However, most of and the like] don' t get to do this,
the text is equally applicable to Here, let's talk about three
a ll the other player-character Alig n m e nt nOllweapon proficiencies (Ar-
races as well. a nd can be used morer. Bowyer/Fl etch er. and
by Lhem wlLhou t any sort of ad- The Complete Weaponsmlthingl which are of
aptation necessary. particu la r use to the wa rrIor
Fig hler's Handbook follows all p\ayer-c haracter.
All the nonnal rules for racial normal gam e rules for character
ability adjust m ents. class reo alignmen ts. Once the player has Armorer
s trictions, le vel li mits. lan- ch osen an alignm ent for hi s
g uages, and misce ll aneous character, he needs to have his With the Ar-
bonuses and penaJtles wiIJ be choice approved by the OM: It morer proficiency, a character
u sed, and all the material In th is may be that his c hoice will clash knows how to build all varieties
book can be used for all the dc- excessively with the alignments of armor. Arm orer overla ps a
mlhuman races except where of other characters In th e party, couple of other proOclcncies:
so the OM is within his rights 10
specifically nOled in the (ext. disapprove a ny alignment

•

The Armorer knows enough sary to process unrefined metal Then, the workshop would ac-
Blacksmlthlng to rorge metal ar- into armor. commodate three more armor-
mor and craft scale and chain ers at the same time. For
mall (though he cannot rorge Such a workshop costs 200 another +250 gp, now totalllng
horseshoes. wrought iron gates. gpo plus the cost of the shelter 1.000 gpo the shop can accom-
hardened metal tools, or any where it is set up: An additional modate nine armorers at the
other userul items unless he also 100 gp for a pavilion tent. an ad· same time.
knows Blacksmithing): dltional 300 gp ror a well-crafted
hut/workshop. or more as part Leather Annar
The Armorer knows enough of a larger dwellIng. such as a If he Intends to make any sort
Leat herwor kin g to cu t and mansion. villa or castle (these
shape boiled leather Into leather sorts of dwellings are priced at of all·leather armor (hide armor.
armor. shield coverings. and the whatever sort or price scheme leaLher armor. and armored
under·layers or scale mall and the OM prefers). leather caps). the workshop Is a
banded mall (though he cannot leatherworker's shop. Including
make dress jerkins. saddles. (Included In the price of the apparatus for leather soaking.
elaborate pouches or rucksacks. smithy Is the cost of the tools scraping. tanning. boiling. boil-
or any other useful leather necessary to make leather hilt· Ing In wax . s ha ping. hole-
items): and wrappings. padded armor. ar· punchlng. sewing. and all the
mor linings and padding. and other p rocesses by which
The Armorer knows enough the simple leather straps used to leather Is transformed Into ar·
or the Th..1lor·s art to manufac- hold all·metal armors together.) mar.
ture padded armor and armor
padding (but not enough to cut This workshop Is la rge Such a workshop costs 25 gpo
and sew any sort or good- enough to accommodate the
looking garment) . character and up to two appren· plus the cost of the shelter
tices working full·time. (The ap· where It Is set up: An additional
Naturally. the ordinary Black- prentlces. too. must have the 25 gp for a large tent. an addi-
smith cannot rorge metal armor. Armorer pronclency: the char- tional 75 gp for a well-crafted
the Leal.herworker Is not experi- acter can always take tn an ap- hu t/workshop. or more as part
enced with making leather ar· prentice without the pronciency of a larger dwelling (at whatever
mors. and the laUor isn't and train him. but until he ac· price scheme the OM prefers).
conversant with the maklng or quires the Armorer proficiency
padded armor. unless they also he doesn't count as a productive (Included In the price of the
lake the Armorer pronclency. element of the works hop .) leatherworker's shop Is the cost
of the tools necessary to make
The Armorer can repair exist- In theory. the character could padded armor and armor Iln·
Ing armor that has taken dam- hire another three·man crew to Ings and padding.)
age (if you 're using that optional work a second shift In the same
rule) . and can also craft barding workshop: thus the workshop As with the smithy above . this
(horse armor) through use orhls would be occupied nearly 24 price presumes one prinCipal
pronclency. hours a day. (This presumes leatherworker and up to two ap·
eight· to ten·hour shifts and a prentlces may work together at
But what does all of this mean certain amount or necessary the same time. Above that num·
In a campaign? nonproductive time each day: ber costs 50% of the workshop
Time for furnaces to cool and be and hOUSing costs per addl·
The Workshop cleaned. tools to be repaired and tional three leatherworkers.
sharpened. etc.) No more than
1b craft annor. three people can work in this Meral and Lea ther Annor
the character must firs t have a workshop elTectlvely: with more If he Intends to make both
workshop {a place to work and than three people. the workshop
tools with which to do Work}. sulTers a loss of efficiency so that sons of armor. or armor which
It produces goods just as though combines both metal and
Metal Annor It were only manned by three ar- leather elem ents (banded maJl.
Irhe Intends to make any sort morers. brtgandlne. bronze plate maH.
ring mall. scale mall. shields.
or a U·metal armor (chain mall. Tb expand the workshop costs splint mall. and studded
field mall. full plate. plate mall. an a ddition al 50% for each leather). a combined workshop
and helmets), the workshop is a +three workers. If the s mithy Is needed.
smithy. complete with tools. bel· costs 200 gp and Is set up in a
lows. a rurnace. an anvil. tongs. 300-gp hUl. thus costing 500 gpo Such a workshop costs 250
cauldrons. casting molds. and the builder could pay +250 gpo gpo plus the cost of the shelter
all the other materials neces- where Ills set up : An additional
100 gp for a pavilion tent. an ad·

5

dillonaJ 300 gp for a well-crafted Time t o Cr.lft Armor For pieces of a rmo r which
hut/workshop. or more as pan don't grant spcclnc AC benefits
of a larger dwelling (agaJn. at 1b determine (like helmets), figure th e time at
whatever pricing the OM pre· the ame it takes to make a piece I week per 7.5 gp value. Thus. a
fers). of armor. lake the armor'S AC . greal helm wou ld take four
The number thai the AC is un· weeks to make (It costs 30 gpJ: a
(Included in the cost of the ar· der 10, multiplied by Iwoweeks. basinet. one week and a few
morers shop is the COSt of the is the time it takes an apprentice hours of the eighth day (It costs
tools necessary to make wooden (supervised and aided by a n 8 gp).
shie ld blanks and shield frdmes. Overseer) to craft the Hem.
padded annor. and a Uarmor lin· C,ost to ( r.ft Armor
ings and padding necessary to Th us. a set of chai n mail (AC
the armored goods.) 5) is calculated th is way: 10 - 5 And It does
'" 5: 5 x (Wo weeks :: ten weeks. cost money to craft armor. T he
As with the smithy above. this It takes ten weeks to make a sulf COSlls:
price presumes one prlncipaJ ar- of chain mall.
morer and up to two appren-
tices: above that number costs Standard Costs to Manufacture Armor
+ 50% of lhe workshop a nd
housing costS per additional Apprentice
three annorers.
Armor Retail Ma t e r i a l s Time & lbtal
Apprentices and O ~ erseers Piece Value Cost (gp) Cos t
Banded Mail 200 Taken Overseer 148
The cost of the Brigandlne 100 92
workshop constitutes only the Bronze plate 120 60 12wk 48· 3 14
set-up cost for the armoring op- Chain mail 400 200
eration. Maintenance of the Field Plate 75 38 8wk 32 · 58
works hop. pay for the employ · Full plate 2000 1000 12 wk 114 •• 1304
ees, and cost of materials also Helm/grea t 7000 3500 10 wk 20·· • 3842
come into play. Of course, so do Hel mlbasin e t 30 15 23
the profits from the sale of man- Hide annor 4 16 wk 304 +
ufactured goods. Leather armor 8 7 6
Padded armor 15 +++ 18 wk 342 + 15
Each apprentice COSts 2 gp/ 5 0++ + 4 wk 8 ••• 5
week for food. upkeep, and Plate mall 4 300 1 wk 2 ••• 4
training. And once an appren- Ring mail 600 50 433
tice has reac hed young adult- Scale mall 100 60 8wk 8 + + 74
hood (age 16) and has achieved Sh ieldlbody 120 5 92
an Armorer ability check of 12 S h le ldlbuck1er 10 0++ + 4wk 4 + + 9
or beUer, he'll demand to be pro- Shield/medium 1 3 1
moted to Ovetseer statUS (de- Shield/small 7 4wk 4 + + 7
scribed Immediately below) or Splint maU 3 1 3
will nnd ben er pickings else- Studded Ithr 80 40 14 wk 133 · • 64
where. Barding: 20 10 16
6wk 24 ·
Apprentices cannot run a C ha in 500 250
workshop unsupervised. Super- Full plate 2000 1000 8wk 32 ·
vision comes in the form of an Full scale 1000 500 2wk 4 •••
Overseer, an adult with an Ar· 500 250
morer ability check of 12 or bet- Half brig. 100 50 2wk 1 ++
ter, Each Overseer costs 15 500 250 2wk 4 • ••
gp/week (the OM may wish to Half padded 150 75 2 •••
have the cost relate to the Over' Half scale 2wk 24 •••
seer's Armorer ability check: 15 Lthr/Padded 12wk
gp/week a t a check of 12, + 15
gp/week per + I to his ability 6wk 6 + +
check: thus. if his ability check
is 16, he costs 75 gp/week). lO wk 190 + 440
16 wk 304 + 1304
8wk 152 + 652
114+ 364
6wk 38 + 88
2wk 152 + 402
8wk 150
75 +
4wk

• 1\vo apprentices, no overseer
•• One apprentice. If~ overseer
••• One apprentice. no overseer

+ 1\vo apprentices. one overseer

++ 1/2 apprem lce. no ove rseer
++ + Cost reduced because of easy availability of materials: cost of

"0 gp" means cos t is a negligible

6

(a) About half the " retat! apprentices to the Job. At that the manpower on the task as It
value" of the armor piece for point. you cut the speed of the customarily requires. thus cut-
materials; plus Job In half. ting lhe time required to one-
fourth. or two weeks). If he can
(bl The cost of maintaining E:<ampie: From (he chart, you selltt for 15 gpo he's made 8 gpo
one or two apprentices during see it takes one apprentice willi
the time It takes to make the no overseer ten weeks lO work He's earning a meager 4 gp a
piece; plus up a set of chain mail. That 's a
standard in the armorer's indus- week, which Is better than a
(c) Additional cost based on try: they'/J always te/J you It poverty-level wage, but less than
how much of the overseer's time takes len weeks lO work up a middle-class.
and anentlon the project takes. chain mail hauberk. BUl In an
(The project may take one or Chance of Failure
two overseers full-time on the emergencysituation. they could
project, may take only half one It would seem
overseer's time on the project. put an extra apprenUce on the that the thing to do would be La
or may la ke none of the over- Job (el/her have two working on set up an armorer's shop and
seer's time-the latter consti- It a l once, or have one on thc Just build Oeld plate and full
tUle projects that the "day shift" and onc on the plate. which are the most profit-
apprentices can do all by them- " night shift "). \Vilh twice (he able Items of armor. However.
selves, mostly unsupervised.) that Isn't necessarily so.
B1'ailable manpower. It would
The previous table shows This Is because, forevery Hem
standard costs to manufacture only take half the time. or nve of armor you make, you have to
armor. weeks. (0 cr ea te I.he chain mail. make an Armorer Ability
Check. At the end of the armor-
In us ual circumstances. the Second. If the Overseer is a making period , the most experl·
differe nce between the To tal player-character. he doesn't enced (highest ability check)
Cost and the Retail Value Is the have to pay himself as much. character who worked contlnu·
shop's profit when it sells a piece This is usually the case with ar· ously on the project makes h is
of armor. morers when they first go Into Armorer abllily chec k . If h e
business for themselves: They passes the check. the annor Is
As you can see from the table. pay the cost for materials and Just nne. If he ralls It. It's flawed.
hide armor, leather armor, pad- the cost for their apprentices.
ded armor, med ium shields and and whatever they have left If the character missed his roll
s m all shields are IIttle-[o-no· over Is their own salary. even Iflt by 1. 2, 3. or 4, the armor looks
profit proposlUons. However. Is much less than the 15 gpl Jus t One. The maker knows It's
they keep the apprentices paid week standard m entioned flawed. but this ..... iII nOI be obvi-
and keep work In th e shop. above. (That number. 15 gpl ous to a nyone on casual lnspec-
week. represents a rum lower· tion. and only another armorer
PI.ylng With These Numbers middle-class standard of living: will be able to detect that It's
a n armorer who carns less will fia wed . . . and only with carerul
Now. the costs be living at a lower-class s tand- Inspection . This type of flawed
given above are not the final a rd of living.) armor fun ctions at I AC higher
word on how much It costs to than it should (thus flawed full
ma ke armor. With your DM's With that in mind. we can re- pla te would be AC 2 Instead of
permission. you can skew these Interpret some of the num bers II. If the fi awed armor is ever
num bers around (both up and above. Let's say that we have struck in real combat with anal-
down ) through th e foll ow ing one playe r-charac ter armorer ural to-hit roll of 19 or 20, It
means. who wants to work up a set of " breaks" (caves In . splits open ,
hide armor. etc.). lIS AC goes up 4 (thus our
First. you can put extra men flawed fu ll plate would shoot
on a Job. (Important Note: If Hide armor normally takes up from AC 2 to AC 61. And beeause
overseers are d rafted to do half the work-day of one a ppren- It 's broken and hanging wrong.
apprentice-level work. one over- tice for eight weeks. It costs 7 gp It hinders the player: unUI he
seer counts as two apprentices.) in materials. and he can sell it on can take it off (this takes Id4
You can only put extra m en on a the usual market for 15 gp.lfJust rounds). he moves at half his
job In increments of the original the chief armorer. who counts as normal rate and suffers a -4
number of men required for the an Overseer if his Armorer abil- penally to all or his attack rolls.
Job: In other words. if the job re- Ity check Is 12 or beLter. works
quired two a pprentices. yo u on this item alone. It will take Ob\'iously, most reputable ar-
don't see an Improvement in him only two weeks to make the morers would never sell a piece
speed until you assign tWO more hide armor (remember. an Over-
seer counlS as two apprentices:
therefore, he's put ling four times

1

'6 Character Creation

offiawed armor. They have their Armor Type Modifier to Unclaimed Goods: Some·
reputations (0 protect. so they Armorer times a patron who custom·
throw It away. They take a loss Barding: orders a piece of armor never
in money equal to the lbtal Cost Chatn Proficiency shows up to buy it. Maybe he's
Full plate Check been kUled in the meantime;
of the armor from the chart Full scale maybe he ran low on funds and
above. Halfbrlg. o decided not even to tell the ar·
Half padded morer of his misfortune. And if
If the character misses his roll Half scale -3 the custom piece of armor was
by 5 or more. It's obvious to any· LthrlPadded decorated or fine·tuned to that
one. with casuailnspecUon. that o specific customer (for example.
the armor Is nawed . No one will o !fIt bears his coat of arms or un·
buy It at the nonnal retail value. o usual decoration). It cou ld be
o that no one else Is willing to buy
The armorer might be able to sell o It.. . except at heavUy discounted
It at half the lbtal Cost value to prices.
someone desperate for cheap ar· As you can see. making field
mar. someone who's wtlllng to plate and full plate Is a risky Unsold Stock: Armorers
take the risk of wearing flawed proposition. Only lhe best of In· don't Just work up pieces of ar·
annor. If he can't seD It. this too de pendent armorers wUl under· mor to order. The armorer fabri·
take such a task because lhe cates numerous examples ofthe
Is a total loss. pOlentlallosses are so great. (On most common sorts of annor
Finally. not all armor Is the the other hand. a hireling ar· (leather and padded armor.
morer will do It whenever his shields) for the casual customer
same in the level of difficulty It employer says. because al l the and as practice for the appren·
reqUires to manufacture. Some financial risk Is his employer·s.) Uces. Not all of this gets sold,
armor Is simple enough that ap- And player-character annorers and a piece that Is never sold is a
prentices can work on It alone. run these same financial risks few gold pieces out oftbe shop's
Some Is so complicated that when lhey try to make neld coffers.
plate and full plate for them·
only master armorers should selves or theLr friends. All In all , It may be safer, fi·
oversee this work . And hiring a nanclally, for a player-character
master armorer costs more than Added Expenses to be a full·tlme adventurer and
Just hiring a normal overseer. only a part-time armorer.
If lhe OM
The chart below shows the wishes. he can add to lhe grief of PI.yer·Chuutcr Workshops
relative diffic ulty of manufac· a player-character annorer by
turing lhese dIrrerent types of confronting him wllh a lot of lhe Often, a PC Ar-
hidden expenses ofany such op· morer who is also an adventurer
annor. eraUon: wiU set up an annorer's shop
and crew It with a single over·
ArmorType Modifier to Bribery: In many places. local seer and two apprentices. This
Armorer officials will expect a little graft shop's duty will be to keep the
Banded Mail In order for lhem to process the PC supplied In armor: also,
Brigandlne Proficiency necessary permits emclently whenever the PC returns home.
Bronze plate and regularly. If the PC doesn't he can. If he wishes. operate the
Chain mail Cbeck pay up. those permits take a shop, especially In the "off·
Field Plate long. long time (months) to be shift" (whichever shift the regu·
Full plate +1 processed. and during lhat tlme lar crew Is not operating It).
Helm/great lhe PC can 't operate a retail ar·
Helmlbaslnet +1 morer's shop. If he does hire an overseer.
Hide armor he' II have to pay the rates ac·
Leather armor o Theft: Annorer's shops can cording to the overseer's ability,
Padded armor be burglarized just like any as described above,
Plate mall +3 other operation, Thieves are
Ring mati -3 quite wtlling to steal some high· Note that a PC Annorer can
Scale mati -3 quality annor goods and fence make annor for his friends. He
Shleldlbody +3 them elsewhere in the city. De· can't avoid paying lhe mini·
ShleldfbuckJe r +3 pending on the quality of the mum cost for the materials, of
Shield/medium merchandise lying around In course. The character can carry
Shie ld/small +3 the shop, this can be a serious fi·
Spllnt mail +3 nanclal blow for the shop.
Studded leather +3

o

+1

+1
+3
+3
+3
+3
+3
+3

8

a ten t and lealherworker 's s hop morer. whic h assum es that a p· Repairing M..glc..1 Armor
on the back of a horse. so he can prentices arc doin g the work .
work on any sort of a ll-leather or and unsupervised: appre ntices Magical armor
padding armor while on the can pe rform a ll armor·repai r Is repaired In exactly the same
road. But on the road. hc can func tions . The cost to thc a r· way. Base the cost for re pairs on
only gel in a couple of hours' morel'. compared to the apprcn- lhe normal retail value of the ar·
work per day. so m ul tiply a U lIce's wage, shows you how long Ill or as if it were not magIcal .
a rmor-making limes by four to II takes 10 repair (2 gp/week for
determine how long they take. one apprentice. remember!. Whe n magical a nnor Is dam-
aged . holes may be driven into
The c haraClcr who does a ll Example: A set of chain mail il. but the basic encha nlmentis
this extra work will be a little has fak en 10 polllls of damage unc hanged. The refore, the ar-
more tired than his fellows: re- III combat. Th e owner brings if morer doesn't have to have re·
duce h is Inl e lli ge nce ability pa ir materials enchanted to
check to spot upcoming dan- in fa be r epair ed. Retail valu e of " ma tch" the origi na l a nnor: aJl
gers. chain m all is 75 gpo so the COSf he has to do is pa tc h up the
fa repaIr each point of damage holes a nd th e a rm or will be
Repairing Armor wfll be . 75 gpo or 75 cpo The ar- nxed. Typically, th e arm ore r
morer repaIrs the 10 poinls of wil l not e ve n know that he's
If you use the working on magical annor.
optional rules for damaging a r· damage. whic h costs him 750
mol' foun d in this rule book's Of course. as we discuss in the
Comba t chapter. you can also cp (75 sp). Thjs is Jess lhan 1 gpo
use the Annorer proficicncy to Combar cha pler. If a set or magi-
repair damaged armor. so f_h e apprenrJce doing rh e re- cal armor Is damaged so severely
lhat the enchan tment is ruined,
It costs the armorer 1/ I00th the pairs cakes abou t two days ron...
armo r's retail va lue for eac h nothing a nonnal a nnorer can
Da mage Point Iha l he repairs. (h e chain maul ha u berk. do will repair it. Annor lha t seri-
Again. thal's thc COsl 10 lhe ar- ous ly da maged Is ruined even as
Armorers typically c barge a nonnal annoI': a n a nnorer won't
50% profit on repair jobs. In lhe be able to fix it .
exam ple above. the armorer's
cOSt was 75 sp: the refore. he'd
c harge the cu stomer about It5
s p for the repair job .

9

l owyerlFletcher fact. the same smithy can be when it's being cooled after
used for armorlng a nd weapon- heat·temperi ng).
The ma terial smithing.
on the Bowyer/Flet che r profi- Wupon Qu..lIty
c iency from Ole Players Hand- The Weapon Construction ta-
book, page 58 , is aU correct for ble o n page 65 of the Player's It Is possible to
use with Lhls supplement. Handbook Is correct. It cons ti- construc t weapons of dlITerent
lutes one Overseer·level wea- qua lity than just average.
A set of bowyerlne tch er's ponsmith working by himself
and crafling weapons ofaverage Poor quality weapons are
tools, which can be used at max- quality. An Overseer weapon- shabbily made. They look bad.
smllh working with two appren- and like the nawcd weapons de·
Im um efficiency by one c harac- tices cu ts the time in ha lf. T he scribed above. they break on a
ter, costs 10 gpo (It's 15 gp for a lime indicated on the c ha rt natural attack roll of 1 to 5 .
set whic h can be used simulta- should be converted to weeks so
neously by three workers. a nd tha t you can compare the wea· T hey don't hit as we ll (this Is a
ponsmith's times with the ar-
+7,5 gp per +3 workers which morer's; consider 5 days on the penalty to the attack roll) o r do
chan to constitute one week. as much damage (penalty to the
can work simuILaneously.) The damage) as the ir average-
bowyerlOetchcr is nOl required WupQnsmlthlng F..I.Jure quality equivale nts.
(0 set up a workshop: he can
work by hlmselfin the field,lf he When con- Average q ua lity weapons are
chooses. lfhe chooses tOsel up a slruclinga weapon. a t the end of not especially notable: they gel
permanent shop, tents and huts the weapon-making process. the Job done. they're reliable.
cost the same as w hat's listed the weaponsmilh makes his a nd they're inexpensive. Unless
for the leatherworker's s hop Wcapo ns mHhing profi c ie n cy otherwise noted. all (non·
labove, under " Armorer"). ability c heck. He'lI use the Profi- m agical) weapon s listed on
c ie ncy Modifier based o n the c ha rts In the AD&D:llgame are of
Note that the co nst ruc tion weapon and the weapon q uality average q ua lity.
times listed in the Player 's he's trying to ach ieve; see the
Handbook presume that he's chart be low . under "Weapon Fine q uality weapons a re very
wo rking a full week. If he's trav- Quality," for that modifier. we ll-made. Each will have o ne
eling o r adventuring and work- specific bonus: Either a + 1 to
Ing on bows and arrows in his If he s uccessfully makes his hit or a + 1 to damage. T his bo-
spare lime, multiply all crafting check. he's created the weapon nus Is nor magica l: It comes
Limes by four. Thus. a lo ng or he wanted to create. from improved balance. s harp-
shon bow takes four weeks. ness. e tc. (The weaponsmith de-
Ifh e fails by 1. 2. 3, or 4, he's termines. when he's makin g the
Cost of materials fo r arrows c reated a weapon tha t looks weapon . wh ether he's trying to
and normal bows Is negligible. If like what he Intende d to make make it more accurate or make
. .. but he knows It has a seri- it h it harder.) Th ey also cost a lot
the character is trying to make a ous structural naw . In a real more than average weapons.
combat. if the wielder rolls a En c ha ntm e nts a re typica ll y
weapon of truly fi ne quality. he naturalS or less (0 hit. the made on weapons of at least
must either pay 50% of lhe weapon breaks and Is useless. Fine quality.
weapon's normal retail value fo r (For some reason . it Just won't
excepUonally fine woods. o r add break in practice combats ... Excepltonal qua lity weapons
an ex tra 100% to the tim e It only In the real thing.) He can are like fin e weapons. but have
takes to craft the weapon: the still sell the weapon. of course. both bonuses: They're + 1 to hil
extra time constitutes him hav· but e ventually. after he's done and + I (0 damage. They're also
ing lo look for the perfect wood lh ls sort of th ing a few tim es. very expens ive.
a nd materials in the wild. his reputation as a c rafts ma n
will be utterly ru ined . It's better The followi ng li st. adapted
Weaponsmlthlng j ust to break Lhe item . se ll it as a from the list o n page 65 of Lhe
wall ·hanger. etc. Player 's Handbook. shows lhe
The text on differences In cost and lime to
Weaponsmlthing proficiency If he falls by 5 or m ore, the create weapons or these diller-
fr o m th e Player's Handbook weapon breaks and Is ruined ent levels of q uality.
(page 65) is basically correct, during the last stages of the c re-
but Jet's elaborate on It. a tion process (for exa mpl e.

As mentioned. a weapon·
smith does need to have a
smithy. The costs for havIng a
smithy are given above In this
sec llon , under "Arm ore r: ' In

,0

Time to Construct the first blow of lhelr first fight.
However. If you prefer to have
Weapon Type Poor Average Fine Exceptional
Arrowhead 20/day your beginning characters a bit
BatUeAxe 5 days IO/day 5/day l/day more n ervous and defensiv e,
Hand Axe 2 days 45 days then It's certainly more appro-
Dagge r 3 days 10 days 20 days 20 days priate for you to start beginning
H. Crossbow 10 days 20 days characters at 1st level.
L. Crossbow 8 days 5 days 10 days 90 days
Fork. THdent 10 days 60 days (haracter Sheet
Spear. Lance 2 days 5 days 10 days 90 days
Short Sword 10 days 20 days At the back of
Long Sword 15 days 20 days 45 days 90 days the book is a character sheet es·
2·hd Sword 20 days I20days peclally s uited for use with The
15 days 30 days 180 days Camp/ere Fighter's Handbook.
Thke a look at it. a nd then we'n
20 days 45 days discuss it in greater detail.

4 days 10 days front of th·e-Shee.t

20 days 45 days In the top box
of the character shcet's rront.
30 days 60 days you put allthc vital statistics of
the character: His name, physi·
45 days 90 days cal and raciaJ characteristics,
his character class. his Warrior
Effects On Mod. to Prof Kii (If he uses one-see the War·
Performance rlor Kits chapter), alignment,
Check to cu rrent expe rience level. his
Attack Damage current experience earned. and
Weapon Quality Breaks Craft the amount of experience It'll
Poor -1 -I take hIm to reach the next level.
J·50nd20 +2
Av e r a g e 00 In the second box, you put all
Fine +1 +1 J on d20 • 0 the Infomlation relating to the
+1 +1 character's six ability scores
Exceptional •• -2 (Strength. Dexterity, Constitu-
tion, Intelligence, Wisdom. and
•• - 4 Charisma). All this Infonnauon
comes from the charts in the
• This Isn 't an automatic break; it breaks only If the OM fee ls like it. PJayer'sHandbook. pages 14·18.
•• Fine weapons get either a + 1 to hit or + J to damage, not both .
In the third, narrow , box, you
Fine and Exceptional weapons break only in remarkable circum · write down any bonuses and
stances, as dictated by the DM (for example. a powerful enemy abilities the character receives
roUinga natural 20 when hitting the weapon . or the charac ter roll· based on his race: for instance, if
Ing a natural 1 when striking at an arllfact). he 's an elf. you'd put something
like "90% resistant to sleep and
Weapo ns Not ShoWn Ma'glc charm: + 1 to hll with bow,
short sword, long sword: can
If you're LTyi ng Some warrior surprise opponents: Infravlslon :
to co nSLTuct a weapon not characters (Paladins. Rangers. I on d6 lO detect secret doors (1·
shown on this chart. compare It and multl·c1ass Fighter/Mages 2 on d6 when looking. 1-3 fo r
to the most similar weapon that and Figh ter/Priests) do have portals),"
is on the chart and use those val· spe lls. At this point In the char·
ues. (The OM has the final say acter crcation process. for the In th e fourtll box. you write
on what Is most similar.) For in- mulli-class characters. you and down many of the character's
stance, if you 're trying to crcate the OM will have lO determine ga m e·mechanlc notes: How
a halberd, that's closest to a fork the character's spells. (Paladins many hit points he has. how his
or trident, lfyou 're trying to cre· and Rangers walt until 9th and hit dice are ca lcu lated (with
ate a bastard sword, that's c1os· 8th Ic\'els, respectively, to get Fighters. you'd write "d 10").
est to a long sword. their spells. so you don't have to
worry aboul them (or a while.)
Money and Equipment
Expertence
The Complere
Here's a n op·
FIghter 's Handbook follows aU lion you ought to think about If
the normal Player's Handbook you're planning to run espe-
guidelines for the character's Cially herOiC, combat·heavy ad·
InlUal money a nd eq uipme nt ventures or cam palgns.

.. usually, Use of some of the You migh t wish to start all be·
Warrior Kits will dictate differ- ginnin g player·characters out at
ences in the way some ch arac· 3rd experience level instead of
te rs spend their beginning 1st. This makes th cm a bit
money, tougher, a btl more heroic, and a
lot less fearfu l abou t dying with

11

what his AC Is, what his THACO Buk of the Sheet ma de In an a d ve nture. ("Of
Is, what his saving throws are, course I have my Staff of the
The back of Magi along! I a lways have II
notes on hiS fo llowers and any the sheet Is u sed mostly for taped to my Staff of Power! No,
special abilities or res trictions equipment lists. reallyr ')
from his character class choice
(especially appropriate with pal. The tOp box is used to record And in the bottom box yOll
adlns and rangers), and his his weapons: here . you can pu t can make any other notes perU-
Spell Progression (if any: th is, all the Information found on the nent to the character.
too, is especially appropriate for Weapons table {Player s Hand·
paladins a nd rangers). book. page 681. The Nut Step In
Ch. ruter Creation
In the nrth box, you note The second box is used for
down any modifications made shan descriptions of im portant Fo r the next
to the character by the Warrior equ ipme nt. especially magical step In oll r wa rrlor·ori ent ed
Kit he c hooses (again , see the cha racter creation process, tum
item s. to the Wa rrio r Kit s c hapt er,
Warrior K ils chapter for details). which follows Immediately,
In the six th (bottom) box, you T he third box a llows the
player to Indicate where all h is
record any of the character·s character's Important posses·
slons are normally kept. The
s klll ·type abilities: Hi s la n- OM should Ins ist that the play·
guages, his weapon proOcien· ers use these blanks: It helps
cics (and specializations!) , and prevents mistakcs from being
his nonweapon proftclencles.

.1

Sometimes It's Just not warrior must take that from the propriate for him , and the OM
enough to be a Fighter, Paladin number of slots he has available must steer him toward such
or Ranger. Each of those classes to "spend." eqUipment types.
Is a lot of fun, but there's noth·
ing which says you want to be Nonweapoo Proficiencies: For example. the pirate who
restric ted only to Lhree types of You also must use the Non· keeps his full plate on whUe
fun. weapon Proficlencles rules from aboard ship will be knocked
AD&D· 2nd Edition, as many overboard time and time again
So, here. we're going to s how Warrior Kits require your char· as a reminder of why pirates
you how to create and play other
sorts of warrior characters. acter to take spectfic non· don't usually wear such cum·
weapon proflclencles. (For bersome stuff. As he's being
Kits and Warriors Instance. It's foolish to be a pt. dragged to the ocean bottom, he
rate wi thout Seama nship, or a can renect on his mistake. A no.
Each special Wasteland Rider without Rid· ble warrior who wears leathers
warrior described In Lhls c hap- when Jousung will almost cer·
ter Is defined as a Kit of different Ing.) tainly get what he deserves for
characteristics. The Kit consists his folly.
of the following elements: But these required Non,
weapon Profictencles are Special Benefits: Most War·
Description: This paragraph bon uses- given In addition to r10r Kits have some special ben·
talks about what the warrior Is. the nonweapon proficiency eflts that others don't. Often,
It's a general description of the choices you nonnally choose. they 're denned as special reac-
appearance. mann er, cultural Sometimes a bonus proficiency
background and use of Lhe char· tion bonuses among certain
acter In a campaign. It also Usts will come from a group other classes of society, special rights
any requiremems necessary for tha n th e Genera l or Warrior In cenaln cultures. and so forth.
the character to take the Kit: for groups, but. since It 's a bonus, It OLher benefits a re m ore unusual
Instance, to be an Amazon, a or dramatic: The Berserker can
character must be female, (Sur, doesn't mailer how many extra call on hidden resources of
prise!) slots H would oLherwtse be reo strength and vl taUty when In
qulred to occupy, combat . for Instances.
Role: This paragraph de·
scribes the role of this warrior In Some proficlencies will Special Hindrances: Like·
the society that spawned him merely be recommended, not wise, each Warrior Kit has cer·
and in an ongOing cam paIgn. A required . When a choice is rec- tal n disadvantages which
Samurai has a different cultural hinder him. Pirates are sought
role from a Wilderness Warrior, ommended . It Is not gIven to the by the authorities: Amazons
even If both . say. are Paladins. character: If the character de· face discrimination In male ·
cldes to take this nonweapon
Secondary Skills: If you 're proficiency, he takes It from the dominated societies.
using the Secondary Skills rules Wealth Options: Some War·
from AD&D~ 2nd Edition, then number of choices he has.
your Kit may require your war- If you wish . you can use both rior Kits have special rules reo
rior to take a specific skill: Lhe gardlng their wealth. The Noble
character may not be able to Secondary Skills and Non· Warrior. for instance, wUl begin
choose or random·roll his Sec- weapon Proncle ncles In your play with m ore starting gold
ondary SkUI. campaign , but you'll find that than some other Warrior Kits.
character creation is simpler However, he's also required to
Weapon ProUcieocies: You and more consistent If you use
must use the AD&D~ 2nd Edt· only the Proficlencles rules. maintain a higher standard of
tlon game rules for Weapon Pro. Hvlng Lhan the others, If he fails
ficl encles In order to use these Equipment: Some Warrior
Warrior Kits. Most of these KJts to do so, he temporarily loses
wtll require your warrior to take Kits gravitate toward certain some of his Special Benefits,
s pectfic weapon proficiencles. A types of eqUipment. Noble War·
Samurai wouldn 't be the same riors lend toward heavy armor Races: Each of Lhese Kits Is
without hIs katana, or a Noble written with the human charac·
Warrior withou t his lance, fo r and weapons such as swords tcr in mind, and this paragraph
example. and lances: Pirates lean toward describes what happens when
cutlasses. throwing knives, you have a demlhuman c harac·
When required to take a spe· ter instead. The OM will have to
clflc Weapon ProOctency, the light or no annor. and Lhe like.
These equipment listings ask himself If he wants certain
race/Warrior Kit combinations
aren' t really restric tions or
hard·and·fast rules. A Pirate on (Savage Elves? Dwarf Ama·
shore may wish to deck himself zons? Noble HaIOing-War-
out In full pla te, for instance. r1ors?). If he does allow them.
But tn normal circumstances, a
character should gravitate to·
ward the types ofeqUipment ap'

13

~1 /· Warrior Kits

o

this paragraph will make notes questiona ble. For example, it's For each Warrior Kit. the OM
on recommended racial modlfi· not likely Lhal you' ll be playing has to choose:
cations. For Instance. the Noble a Pirate Paladin . However. it is
Dwa rf-Warrior will be required possible. If your band of pirates. ( IJIfhe will even aIlow this Kit
to be proficient with axe a nd in happy-go-lucky movie tradi- In his campaign .
tion . attacks only the wicked.
hammer rather than sword and frees all innoce nts . a nd per - (2) What addiUonal informa·
form s In an oLherwlse mostly- tion he needs [0 give the players
lance. and won't be required to honorable fashion. they' re abou t each KIt.
be a rider. obviously not an evil group a nd
a pala din could adven ture (3) What changes he might
An Importoilnt N ote among Lhem. If Lhat's the sort of wish to make to each KIt.
pirate campaign you and your
In the follow- OM agree to play, then that's Let's take the Amazon Kit as
log sections. several Warrior fine . an example , This Kit was
Kits get reaction bonuses and loosely derived from the Ama·
penalties as part of thelt Special When one warrior class can· zons of Greek myth . But lhls
Benefits and Special Hin - not choose a speclOc Warrior OM 's Amazons may be substan-
d rances. A word of caution Kit. the exce ptions wUl be tially differen t from those .
needs to accompany lhem . noted.
So. first. he has to decide If he
In the AD&D;tI game. when a Kits and Character will allow this Kit In his cam -
character is very charismatic. palgn . lfhe has an)' son or Ama-
he gets what is called a " reac- Creation zons on his world, he probably
tion adjustment." {See the Play- will allow this. (f he has no ."-ma·
er 's Handbook. page 18.1 When You can on ly zons, then he won ·t. Let 's pre·
the character has a high Cha- take one Warrior Kit for your sume that he does.
risma and receives a bonus, It 's character,
expressed as a plus: +2 . for in- Second, he has to decide what
s ta nce . When he has a low Cha- You can only take a Warrior additional information he needs
risma and receives a penalty. U's Kit for your character when that to give the players abou t the
expressed as a minus: -3, for character is firs t created . Amazons. In his world. let's say.
example. the Amazons live on Lunyrra. a
There's an exception to that heavily fores ted Isla nd sur·
However. when you roll the second rule: If you and your OM rounded by a lmost unscaleable
2d 10 for e ncou.n ter reactions both want to Integrate th ese cliffs. a nd make war on the s ur·
(s ee th e Dungeon M as ter 's rules into an existing campaign, roundin g islands: when players
Guide. page 103. don 't add the and both OM and players can are inte rested In playing Ama-
bonus (+) or s ubtract the pen· agree upo n what Warr ior Kit zons. he gives them that infor·
alty ( - ) from the die roll. Do It each existing player·character ma tlon In addlUon to the KIt.
the other way around. If the most closely resembles, the n
character has a Charisma of 16. you can use these rules for exist· Third. he has to decide what
and thus gets a +5 reacllon ad- Ing characters. adding a Warrior changes he wis hes to make to
Ju s tme nt. you s ubtract that Kit to each exIs ting character, the KIt. Since his Amazons are
number from the 2dlO die roll . sailors Instead of famous eques·
(Otherwise the NPCs would be Once you've taken a Warrior trians. he changes the required!
reacting even more badly be· KJt. you cannot change It. Later bonus Nonweapon Proficlencles
cause Lhe character was char1s- In the character's life. he can from Riding and Animal Ttain-
maUc!) possibly abandon his KIt: see Ing to Seamanship and Naviga-
"Abandoning A KIt," later in tion.
Ki ts and the this chapter.
By these means, he has
Warrlc;Ir Classes The Warrior Kits adapted the gener ic Warrior Kit
below to his own campaign
In ge ne ral. Following a re world and made It Ot In just as
each Kit can be used with each several sorlS of warriors re pre- he likes.
of the three warrior classes. Your sented by Warrior KllS . Before
character can . for instance. be a allowing his players to choose Amazon
Barbarian Fighter. an Amazon KllS for their characters, the OM
Paladin. or a Samurai Ranger. should review these and make Desc rip tion : Amazons a re
notes for himself about them . wome n warriors tn a male-
Some choices m ay be a lulle dominated world . Their clvlliza·
tion might have been created by
a deity who likes women war-
riors: or they might have bee n

l4

It-Warrior Kits '\

o

wom en who rebelled (rom male th eir territory. (In th is last in· and dis tincllve iy pe of fe male
s tance, some Amazon cultu res . warrior. If a pla yer wa nts to
dom inations a nd decided to rule a fterwards. may decide 10 kill have a fem a le warrior character,
themselves: or they m igh t sim- the adven turers: oLhers don'c ) Lhe OM s hould try to a ccom mo·
ply have been matriarcha l soci- For de ta ils of exactJy how the da te the player whe never poSSI ·
eties from long before recorded Amazon commu nilies work in ble. and s hould n' t ha ve to resort
your campaign world . cons ult to making Lhe characte r an Am-
h isLOry. your OM . (And give hlm ple nty a zon in order to a llow he r to be a
of lime to comc up with the an· warrior. InJ ust about every real-
Whatever the ir origin. they s wers If it's not som ething he's world history a nd mythology,
now live in civilizations or com - thought abou t befo re.) you 'lI fi nd female warriors In
munities where wome n occupy male·domln ated socie ties: oth-
the positions and roles tradition- Traditionally. Amazons are fa· erwise there would be no Joan
m ou s riders a nd breede rs of of Arc or Atala n ta of Ca lydon .
ally held by men- and. In the horses. In their own countries,
cam paign . th at mea ns espe- they wear light a rmor and carry The re a re no special a bili ty-
s hie lds, s pears. s words and score requirem ents to be an Am-
Cial ly the role of warriors and bows. In other countries. if they azon.
adventurers. a re disadvan taged by their c ui·
lural weapons a nd arm or, they Role: In her own SOCiety. re-
An Amazon c ultu re may be quickly adapt to loca l weapons gardless of the level of c iviliza-
sm all (a single town or Island) or a nd a rmor. tion, the Amazon wa rrior is very
highly regarded. She Is the de-
large Ian entire country o r conti· Here's an im portant polm to fe nder of the whole civlliza tion 's
n ent). very advanced or very reme mber: In most campa igns , way of life, a nd every Ama zon
primi tive. So me Amazon c ui · you don't ha ve to be a n Amazon girl aspires to grow up to be a
tures keep men as servanlS and to be a fe male wa rrior: check wa rrior. But In the oute r world.
slaves. a stern reversal of the wi th you r OM for other ways to a nd in the campaign in general,
fonner sta tus: others have no the Amazon is a curios ity, ofte n
m en In their com munjtles, and playa fema le war rior. The Ama- regarded as a barbarian (no mat-
zons arc merely a vcry colorful
take long holidays In order to
vlsH t:r:iend ly neighboring tribes
of men: others perpetuate their
kind by being very hospitable to
adve nturers passi n g th rough

15

~l i. Warrior Kits

teT how cultured her civilization Special Benefits: Male war· either: they'd follow the rules
might be), stared at. whLspered rlors in a civilization where fe· above for human Amazons.
about. The people of oLher cul- male warriors are rare tend to
tures will be suspicious of her, underestimate the Amazon. It's a little harder to envision
and she will probably start out Therefore. In any fight where dwarvlsh. gnomish. or halIling
being uncomfortable around the Amazon confronts a male Amazons. But if you do use such
who Is not familiar with her per- civiltzations:
men who appear to be her social sonally or female warriors in
equal-in her eyes. c:beyare the general. she gets a +3 to hit and Dwarf Amazons will have Axe
ones who are unnatural. + 3 damage on her first blow and Hammer as their required
weapon proftciencies: they are
The OM will have to guide this only. This Is because her oppo· still Riders. but substitute swine
situation carefully. Once the nent's guard Is down. for their mount of choice (swine
Amazon character has proven are very dangerous, and the
herself In combat to her outer- This doesn't work on player· prospect of a ferocious she·
world allies. and once they have characters unless the player Is dwarf on the back of a biting
proven themselves in combat to role·playlng honestly enough to boar is a daunting one).
declare that he, too, would un·
her. there 's no reason why they derestlmate her. Gnome Amazons wIll have
Throwing Axe and Short Sword
cannot be staunch alUes . NPCs This ability doesn't work on as their reqUired weapon profi·
some other types of characters: ciencies: their Bonus Non·
may continue to trouble her, but weapon Proficlencles are
player-characters should not: An NPC who is wary enough 1tacklng and Survival.
and the other PCS should rise to not to underestimate the Ama·
her defense when NPCs make zon might. with a successful In· Halfllng Amazons will have
trouble for her: only the most teillgence check. see the attack Javelin and SUng as their re-
obnoxious of PCs would con- coming and deny her the bonus: quired weapon proficlencles:
tinue to give her trouble. and their Bonus Nonweapon Profi·
the other PCs certainly A seasoned veteran {any War· clencles are Endurance and Set
shouldn't support his attitude. rior of 5th level or higher, or any Snares: and you wtll have to pre·
other character of 8th level or sume that these haltlings aren't
Secondary Skills: Required: higher}. in spite of his prejudice. as fond ofease and leisure as the
Groom. will realize that she is moving more common sorts of halnlngs,
like a trained warrior and keep
Weapon ProCicienci.es: Re- his guard up. denying her the Barbarlanj
qUired: Spear. Long Bow. (Ama- bonus.
zon fighters can Specialize only Description: This is not the
in Spear or Long Bow.) Recom· If the Amazon hits an NPC barbarian ofhistory. but the bar·
mended: Various axes. swords. with this attack. he'll never barian of fantasy fiction . He's a
again be prey to it: if an NPC powerful warrior from a culture
Nonweapon ProCiciencies: even sees an Amazon hit some- on the fringes of civilization.
Bonus Proficlencies: Riding one with It, he'lI never fall for It He's left his home to sell his
(Land-Based), Animal Training. himself. But If she misses that skills and adventure In the civi-
Recomme nded : General-Ani· first strike. Lhen the target will lized world-perhaps to amass a
mal Handling. (Warrior) Animal continue to underestimate her fortune with which to return
Lore. Armorer. Bowyerl and she can use those bonuses home. perhaps to become an im·
Fletch er. Humlng. Running. again on her next strike. portant figure In this so-called
Survival.1tack1ng. clvlUzaUon. He's known for
Special Hindrances: The strength. cunning. contempt for
Equipment: When an Ama- Amazon suffers a - 3 reaction the outer world's decadence.
zon c harac ter is first created. roll adjustment from NPCs who and for adhering to his own code
she must buy her weapons and are from male-dominated socl· of honor.
a rmor from among the follow- eUes. This reaction adjustment
Ing choices only: Weapons- goes away for characters who The barbarian Is usually very
Battle Axe. Bow (Any). Club, come to respect her. such as strong: therefore, the barbarian
OaggerlDlrk, Hand or Throwing (presumably) her PC allies. must have a Strength abWty
Axe. Javelin . KnIfe. La nce.
Spear, Sword (any): Armor- Wealth Options: The Ama· scare or 15 or more. A character
Shield , Leather, Padded . Stud· zon gets the ordinary 5d4x 10 gp
ded Leather. Brlgandlne. Scale as starting money. can come from a barbarian tribe
Mail. Hide. Banded Mail. Bronze and have a lower Strength than
Plate Mail. Once she has adven- Races: The Amazons from that-but he cannot have the
tured elsewh ere in the world, folklore and myth were humans. Barbarian Kit.
It's not difficult to envision elvish
she may purchase weapons and or half-elvlsh clans of Amazons,
annor from those regions.

16

Role: The typical RPG barbar- the lis ted nu mber o( s lo ts if reaction . B u r beca use he's
ian is a powerful. dangerous fig- Figh ter or Ranger. or Just the reached an 8, his Bar barian b0-
listed number if Paladin ) Her- nus comes inca pJaJ~ making the
ure. as though he were a n balis m . (Rogue-costs double fina l react,jon roll a 5: A frie ndly
animal totem in human ski n. In s lots) Jumping . The OM is
a campaign, he's a front-line withIn his rights to Insist tha t r eaction.
figh ter with some special skiJJs the Barbarian c haracter ta ke a
proficiency in the triba l spe- Special Hindrances: All that
and a ve ry different outlook clall}, (Fishing. Ag ricu lture. im pressiveness ca n wo rk
than the rest of the characters; whatever) if the OM so wishes. against the Barba rian . too.
Whenever the barbarian c har·
his player should always play Equipment: The charac ter. acter ach ieves a reaction roll o(
him as someone from a different when he spen ds his starling 14 or more. he takes an addi-
land, someone whose likes and gold . may no t buy arm or tionaJ - 3 modifier. That Is. if the
d islikes and percept io ns a re heavier [han Sp liOl mail, reaction is negative at all . It will
based on a different cul ture. (If banded mail, or bronze plate be even more negaHve than it
you play him as Just a nother mail. Outside his tri be. once he otherwise wou ld have been-
warrior (rom down the s treet, has adventured In th e outer the barbarian is scary, and the
you lose a lot o( the mystique world , he can usc a ny type ofar- other person overreacts.
the character has.) mar without penalty. When he
Exanlple: Thra th next m eets a
If the PC party has no real spends his starting go ld . he suspicious witch, a nd is indiffer -
leader, he may gravitate to that must limit hlmsel( to weapons ent towar d her. On the " Indiffer -
role; i( It has a good enough the OM says arc appropriatc for ent " column of the Encoun ter
leader. he' ll probably stick to be- his tribe-the usua l group of Reactions chart. t/Je OM rolls a
Ing a specialist In the thi ngs he weapons Inclu des battle axe. 17, 1brath 's Cha ris ma bonus of
does well , bows (any). club. dagger or dirk. 3reduees the roll loa 14, bu tHs
(ootman's nail. mace, or pic k,
Second a ry Skills: The OM hand or th row ing axe. s Ung, still enough that his Barbarian
wHi decide. based on the charac- spear, or sword (any).
ter's background. what sort o( penallyJust shoots il righ t back
seco ndary s ki ll wou ld be re- Special Benefits: Barbarians
quired, Most barbarian tribes are Impressive because of s heer up to a 17 agaln, The witcll be-
have a required skl1J; a tribe that strength, intensity. and animal
makes ils living by fishi n g magnellsm ; this gives the m a comes Threatening.
would have Fisher as its re- +3 reaction adjustment bonus
quIr ed secondary skill. In certain situations. Wealth Options: The Barbar-
Ian gelS the s tarling gold (or a
Weapon Profi ciencies : Re- Whenever the barbarian c har- Warr ior (5d4x 10 gp), but he
quired: Batt.le Axe, Bastard acter achlevcsa reaclion roll 0(8 m uslspend Itall (be(ore starting
Sword. (These a re the classical or less (including Charisma and play) except three gp or less: he
fictio n-barbarian weapons: the racial bonuses). you subtrac t can have some pocket change
OM may decide to substitute the modifier. That is. I(!.he reac- when he reaches civilization.
others more appropria te to his tion is positive at a ll . It will be but must be close to penniless,
own world ,) Barbarian figh ters even more positive than it other-
may specialize In a ny weapon. wise wou ld have been, Races: Oemihuman Barbari-
ans (allow the same rules.
but are not likely to e ncou nter Example: Thralh the Thra nar- Dwarves are perhaps the most
un usual weapons [like lances. an is a Barbarian with a Cha- admirably suited to belngBarbar-
quarte rstaves, naIls, peculia r ris m a of 15, Encountering a lans_ The OM will have to decide
polearms} until they reach the knighr who could be friend or whether his elves. half-elves and
ou ter world. Recomme nded: foc lO him, he speaks wUh the
Bow (any), Sling, Sword (anyl . gnomes are brtX>dlng and menac-
War Hammer. k night In a friendly fashion. The Ing enough to be Barbarians: the
question is even harder with the
Non weapon Profi ciencies: DM rolls his Encou nter Reaction leisure-loving halOings. But if the
Bonus Proficiency: Endurance. OM wishes to allow a ny or all of
Recommended: General- Ani- and achieves an lI on 2d I O. On these demihuman races to have
mal Ha ndling. Animal Training. the "FrieJldly" column of lile Barbarians among them . he may.
Direction Sense. Fire-Building.
Riding (Land-Based). Weather Encoum er Reactions chart from Fina l Note: Most classic
Sense. (Warrior) BUnd-f lghtIng, fantasy-fiction barbarians are
Hunting. Moun taineering. Run- the Dungeon Master's Gu ide, male_ but this Warrior Kit can
ning. Set Snares, Survival. this is a "Cau tious" reaction. ce rta in ly be laken by (emale
characters. with all the Kit's re-
Tracking. (Priest - costs twice B u r wai l -llfs charisma g i ves quirements. benefits, a nd hin-
drances In effect.
h im a +3 bon us. The 11 be-

comes an 8, sWI an IndlffereOl

11

~ll Warrior Kits
I

Beast· Rlder lee ry or speaking to or negotiat- the Beast-Rider and act as a
ing with the Beast·Rlder If moum. With the DM's permls·
Description : The Beast·Rlder there's a more "civilized" char· s ion . the Beast-Rider character
Is a wa rrior In a tribe or clan acter on hand to perform those gets to decide what sort or ani-
(us ua ll y a barbarian tribe ) ma l this Is: the OM Is encour-
whic h has a strong affinity for func tions. The OM needs con- aged to disallow any sort of
on e type of animal. The anim al stantly to use the Beast-Rldcr's a nima l that will give the Beast-
Is the tOlem of the Uibe. and the reaction modifiers. listed below Rider a great ad vantage In the
Beast-Rider makes friends very under '·hindrances ." campaign (for e xample, a pega-
easily with that type of anImal s us or griffon) .
a nd can uaJn Il Imo a riding· Secondary Skills: If you're
beast . .. even {flt'sa rype of anl- USing th e Second a ry Ski ll s The Beast·Rider ge ts a +5
maJ not normally considered a rules. the character must take
ridin g- be a s t. the Groom (Animal Han dling) positive reaction adj ustment
secondary skill,
In a campaig n. the Beast - whenever dealing with these an·
ruder Is an exotic warrior who Is Wea pon Proficiencies: Re- ima ls. He fi nds Il easy to make
friends with them: on a dle·roll
notable for his kinship with his quired : None. Recommended: result of 9 or less (on the " Hos·
a nima l: like the Barbaria n . he All the weapons commonly as- We" column of the Encoun ter
sociated wllh mounted war- Reactions Chart. Dungeon Mas-
brings a w lld , oULSider 'S3 (Utude riors - Bow (composite s hort. ter's Guide page 103). he can
and short), Horsem a n 's nai l. even persuade attacki ng ani·
InlO the adve nturing party. His Horseman's mace. Horseman's ma ls of this sort to leave him
a nimaJ also has a bilities which a nd his a llies alone.
can be nefi t the adven turing pick. Lance (an y. according to
party. However. the morc unu- th e size of the animal), Spear. Additionally. the Beast-Rider
s ual lhe anlmaJ Is, the harder It Bastard Sword, Long Sword . begins play In the campaign
Is to a ccommodate In all situa- with one of these animals as his
tions: It's no problem to sta ble a Nonweapon Proficiencies: personal friend and mount. This
horse althe inn. butjus l try sta- Bonus Proficlencles: Animal animal Is devoted to him and
bli ng a grea t white wolf. a wUd Training. Riding (Land·based), will risk (or even sacriflce) Its
boar. or a dolphin! own life to save lhe character:
The c haracter must dec lare
1b be a Beast-Rider. the c har· which one sort of animal both and the character Is expected to
ac ter must ha ve a Cha ris ma of these proflciencies pertain to. behave the same way toward his
a lleasl 13. (Na turally. there a rc Recomme nded : Ge neral- mount. {If he doesn' t role·play
me m bers of lhc Beast -Rid er's Animal Ha ndlin g. Directio n this al1achment (0 his a nima l.
tribe who are not th emse lves Sense. Flre·bulldlng. (Priest) the OM should decide that the
Beast·Riders ; the Beast-Riders Healing (speCifically veteri- character has abandoned this
a re lhe tribe 's e lite warriors.) nary) . (Warrior) Animal Lore. Wa rrior Kit, as per the gUide-
Hunting, Mountaineering. Set lines given later In this chapter. )
Role: As mentloncd . in h is
own SOCiety. the Beast·Rider Is Snares. SurvivaL Tracking. The Beast·Rlder has a tele-
the elite warnor. and he com · Equipment: When he is first pathic rapport with his animal.
ma nds a lot of respect among When In contact or visual line of
his own kind. Outside his LTlbal created. the Beast-Rider may sight with his a nima l. he can tell
grounds. however. he's very de- on ly have Hide . Lea ther. or Pad- what the beast is feeling, even
finit ely an outsider. His barbar- ded armor (plus shield a nd thinking Ir It has some intelli-
Ia n m a n ne ris ms a nd his helm). Later in the campaign . gence: he and the animal can
obv ious and very unusual he may switch to more communicate with one another
fri endship with his animal set a dvanced forms of a rmor .. . as withou t appearing (0. Whe n the
him apa rt from most socleUes. long as his mount can carry him two are not within Hne or s ight
Because of this , the Beast·Rlder and the armor both . of course. with one another. each will
may become especially at- When fi rst created, he may have know the other's emotional
tac he d to th e oth er playe r- only wcapons from the lis t stale and whether or not the
c haracters (If they treat him as a bove under " Weapon Proncle n· other Is hurt : each w ill know the
an equal a nd not a freak). even If cies ." (The OM may change or direction to travel to find his
add to thls list 10 refiect specific friend . and the approxjmate dis·
he'd ne\'er admit ilIa them . cultural details of the Beast- tan ce (a hundred yards. a n
The DM needs to re,inrorce this Rider's LTlbe.) hour's trave l. severa l days '
travel. for In stance) .
social role by ha ving NPCs react Special Benefits: T he Beast-
to the Beast-Ride r 's s trange· Rider has an amazing rapport
ness. For Inslan ce. NPCs will be with one type oranlmal. The an-
Imal must be of a s pecies nor-
mally strong enough to carry

18

If.Warrior Kits \

If the animal ever dies, the Tiger. Wild role-play the c haracter 's reac·
Unicorn (traditionally. only vir- lions- he's just felt. through
Beast- Rider can choose another their telepathic li nk . the death
gin lawfu l-good females may of his beloved frie nd , after all.
animal of the same type as his ride)
Wolf. Dire {evil characters could Wealth Options: The Beast-
companion . Howev er. the OM bond with a Winter WolO Rider gets the ordinary 5d4x 10
must Include this situation as gp for s tarting gold . Like the
• Flying animals do tend to Barbarian. however. he must
part of the campaign story: The change the nature of a cam- spend It all (before starting play)
paign. especially a low-level except 3 gp or less.
c harac ter mu st see k out a n- cam paign. by ma king It easy
for c haracters to go long dis- Races : This Is a kit that is es-
other s uc h an im al. a nd may tances qUickly. to avoid dlm- pecially appropriate for demlhu -
only be sallsfled wll h the c ult te rrain , e tc. The OM man c ha rac ters. It 's easy to
heal thiesl. strongest. greatest shou ld disallow any s u ch envision dwa rves on boars.
ex am pl es of t his animal (in c hoice if It will cause prob- elves on dire wolves. sea-elves
other words. if the character ap- lems In his campaJgn. on giant sea-horses. a nd so on.
pea rs to be cont e nt to seale with
+ Since many of these crea- Notes : II adds a lot of de tail
less. t h e OM tcIJs h im. "You tures are evil. the OM may a nd color to a campaign If the
have to introduce into his DM does a certal.n amoun t of
sense you won ' t be able (0 bond campaign a nearly-Identical wo rk c reating t he socie ty of
with t h is animal .. ." 1: t h e n race wi m neu tral or good le n- eaeh Beas t-Rid e r tribe . Th e
t here must be some son of de ncles. tribc's behav ior a nd activities
would be dictated by the type of
bonding ritual between beast & This species only works If animal It was tied to: Horse-
most of the campaign takes Riders wou ld live on the plains.
and man ((or example. a physi- place In wa tery domains. riding fa r and wide. while Boar-
cal combat where the human Riders would live in forests and
must be able to saddle and ride 10 calculate the weight-bearing moist bottom -lan d . few eve r
the a nimal In spl le of itS spirited abilities of these animals. com- travelling morc tha n five miles
attempts to throw hlmJ . Only pare them to the list on page 78 of from their home village.
then can the character have his the Players Handbook. Choose
the animal from lhat Ust most re- Berserker
new animal. sembling your animal In stze and
Following is a lis t or m a ny ani· mass. and then usc the values for Description: The Berserker is
I.hat animal. a warrior who has special attrlb-
m als wbich are appropriatc utcs and abillUes when he's In
m ounlS fo r th e Beast-Rider. Special Hindrances: As men- com bat. In combat. he ca n
Not e that not all of them arc in- tioned earlier, the Beast-Rider is achle\'e an ecstatic state of mind
cluded in the MonSlrous Com- outof place In moot societies. He that will enable him to nght
pendiu m series: If a playe r takes a - 3 negative reaction ad- longer. harder, and more sav-
chooses one not included there, justment when meeting NPCs agely than a ny human bein g
and the OM approves the choice, from a ny cult ure but his ow n. has a right to. This makes him a
the OM will have to work up the (The player-characters do not deadly warrior ... who can be
animal's abilities. have to be hosti le to the Beast- as muc h a menace to himself as
Rider If they do not wish . how- to his e nemJes_ In a campaign,
Bal. Huge · + (mobat) (gnomes e ve r.) he's nearly identical to th e
a nd halfllngs only may ride) Barbarian-except it's obvious
Also. should the Beast·R1der's from the outset that he has a
Bear a nimal ever die, whether iI's In truly savage and inhuman ele-
the Beast-Rider's presence or far ment in his personality, and he
Boar away. the Beast-Rider immed l· tends 1.0 di s turb a nd unscale
atcJy takes 2d6 points of da m - other people.
Burralo age and must make a saving
Camel throw vs_ spells. If he fal ls the Like the Barbarian. the Ber-
Dolphin & saving throw, he behaves as U serker must have a SlIcngth
Dragon • + (only a llowa ble in he were a magic-user hit with abillcy score of 15 or more.
f ecbJemind fo r the next 2d6
\lery h igh -powered heroic hours. Even If he makes the sav- Role: In his tribe . the Be r-
campaigns) ing throw, the player should serker has a special role. He's
Elephant
Griffo n ·
Hlppogrirr •
Horse
Hy a e no d o n
Lizard (FIre . Giant , or Minotaur)
Lobster. Giant &
Pegasus ·
Ray, Manta &
Sea- Horse. Giant &
Smllodon

19

stl! Warrior Kits

o

been touched by s upernatural specially (Trapping, Agricul· (0 "nonnaJ" and suffers the or-
ture. etc.). dinary consequences for com-
forces. and accepted that touch ing out of a Berserk (described
so that he might better defend Equipment: As with the Bar- below), The c haracter can come
barian. the Berserker may not ou t of his Berserk once the last
his people. use his starUng gold to buy ar· enemy Is down (he must liter·
The idea of a Derserker Pala- mOT heavier than splint mall , a ll y be down on the ground.
banded mail, or bronze plate even If still a live and surrender-
din Is a little strange. and some ing; the Berserker will stay ber-
OMs will prefer not to a1l0w it. mall. Once he has adventured in serk and continue fighUng so
That's fine. It's not always inap- the outer world. he can usc any long as the re are e ne mies s till on
propriate. though. If lhc charac- type of armor without pe na lty. their feet). Once the fight ends.
ter's lrlbe ts df.eply involved with When he spends his starting the Berserker must come oul of
a n appropria te a nimal totem. gold. he must limit himself to his Berserk s ta te.
such as a bear or wolverine. a weapons known to his tribe. and
may not choose missile weap- For these reasons, Berserking
paladin might even be required ons. Good choices include bat lle is a more appropria te reaction
to be a Berserker. since lhe OM axe, club. dagger or dirk. fOOl- when the characters are about
may reason iliat Irs only the su- man's flail. mace. or pick, ha nd to attack or be attacked by a foe
pematurallouch o(the [Otem an· axe, spear. or sword (any). they know about. If the charac-

imal spirit that gives the paladin Special Benefits: Berserkers leTS are, Instead. Jumped by a
his other powers. Bul. again. receive a +3 reaction adjus t· smaIl party of orcs. It's us ually
ment bonus from NPCs belong- not worth the effort to Go Ber·
that's up to Lhe indiVidual OM. ing to any tribe that also has serk: the consequences a nd ef·
Berserkers-they recognize the fon outweigh the benefits.
Secondary Skills: As with the
Berserker instinctively and re- When Berserk. the character
Barbarian. the OM will decide spec ( hi m. even If he is a n has phenomenal endu rance and
what sort of secondary skill is enemy. res is ta nce to pa in and !So me
most appropriate for tha t spe· forms of magiC. Only while Ber·
Th e other be nefit the Ber- serk. he gains the fo llowing ben-
clfic barharian/bcrserkcr tribe. serker receives is his Berserk. eflts:
Weapon Proficiencies : No
At any time. the Berserker (1 ) He is Immune (no Saving
speclnc weapon proficlcncles may choose to Go Berserk. This Throw Is necessary) to the wiz-
are required of the Berserker- isn't an Instanta neous pro- ard spells charm p erson.
but he may not stan out play cess-he must spend a little
having a proficiency in a ranged time to "psych himself up." It friends. hypnotism, sleep. Irrita·
weapo n (no thrown axes or takes a fu ll turn (tcn combat
knives. no bows or crossbows, rounds) to Go Berserk. In that tion. ray ofenfeebJem ent. scare.
etc.). The Berserker lives to de· time, the character Is growling. geas. and t.he c le rical spells
stray thi ngs In han d·lo· hand moaning, uttering imprecations command, charm person or
combat. so he cannot stan play . " It's Impossible to be quiet m ammal , enth ra ll. c loak of
with any sort of ranged weapon when trying to Go Berserk. He bravery, and sym bol.
may also be fighti ng during that
proficiency. He can learn others lime, meaning that he can SLart l2 J He gets a + 4 Lo save
during the course of the cam· to Go Berserk on the round the agai nst the wizard spells blind-
palgn, if he and his OM wish to nght begins. nght for len full ness. Thsha 's uncontrollabl e
rounds. and then be Berserk on
aJlow it-but it's a little out of the eleventh round. hideous laughter. hold person.

character for the Berserker. Of course, whe n th e Berserker charm monsl cr. and confUSion.
Nonweapon Proficiencies: knows a nght is coming. he can a nd [he clerical spells h old per-
begin to Go Berserk , even If son and hold animal.
Bonus ProfiCiency: Endurance. th ere Is no fight currently goi ng
Recommended: General-Ani· on. At the end of a full tum of (3) The emollon spell has no
maJ Handling. Animal Trainin g. effect on the Berserker. unless
Direction Sense. Fire·Building, preparauon. he can become Ber· the caster ehose the fear result.
Riding (Land-Based). Weather serk instantaneously. If there's If fear was chosen, the Berserker
Sense. (Warrior) Blind-Fighting. no enemy in sight yet. he can gets a normal Saving Throw: If
Huming, Mountaineering. Run· hold the Berserk until com bat is he makes it. he continues on as
ning, Set Snares. Survival. engaged . But if no combat takes before. but If he fails It. he is pre-
Tracking. lPriest-costs twice p lace within O\'e more full maturely snapped au ! of his
the IJsled number of s lots If turns . he automatically revens Berserk. with all the normal ef·
Fighter or Ranger) Herbalis m. fects of coming out of the Ber·
{Rogue-cos ts double slots} serk (but he doesn't s uffer any
Jumpin g. As with the Barbar-
Ian. the OM may choose to insist
that the Berserker character
take a proficiency In the tTlbaJ

20

.\1f-Warrior Kits

other fear effect). The (ear spell (6) While Berserk. the charac- "The ore-captain hits you with
has exactly the same effect: lfhe ter gelS + 1 to a ttack, +3 to his axe, a mighty blow which
damage. and +5 hp.
saves, there 15 noerrect. and Ifhe you barely fee l . . ." It Is there-
doesn't save. he's snapped out Special Hindrances: The Ber-
of the Berserk. If he fall s a sav- serker has hindrances as severe fore very possible fo r a Ber-
as all those benefits he receives, serker to be nlckled and dimed
Ing throw against charm mon-
( I ) The Berserker character to death and not know It until he
ster. he simply counts the caSler receives a - 3 reacllon from all drops dead. The OM can also. Ir
as one of his allies: he doesn 't NPCs (except, that Is. c harac- he so chooses, roll all Saving
come out of the Bel'"Serk or obey ters from lf1bes which have ber-
the caster's commands. serkers In them. as described Throws for the Berserker. not
above). telling the player whether they
(4) Being Berserk offers no
rea] protection from finger of (2) When the Berserker goes were failures or successes.
Berserk. the OM should Immedi-
death. except that the spell ef- ately say to him . "Tell me how (3) While Berserk. the charac-
fects do not take place untJllhe many hit points you currently ter can use no ranged weapons.
character has come out of his have." From that point until the
Berserk. If the Berserker saves, fight is done a nd the Berserker He kUls only In hand-to-hand or
has re turned to normal. the OM melee-weapon combat.
he doesn't suffer the 2d8+ I keeps track of his hit points. The
player Is not told how many hp (4) While Berserk. he must
damage until ImmedIately after he has left. nor how m any
he snaps out of the Berserk . If he' points of damage he is taking fight each opponent until that
with each attack. (After a1l. the
falls to save. he doesn't die unUI character can reel no pain. , , so opponent lS down . Once an op-
he snaps out of the Berserk. he can nOl kee p track of how
close he Is to death.) The OM ponent Is feUed. the Berserker
(5) The Berserker. while Ber- simply tells him something like: must move to the nearest en-

serk. Is Imm une to KO results emv and attack him . He can't.
from the Punching and Wres- for -Instance. c hoose to attack
tling rules . and takes only half
damage from bare-handed at- the enemy leader IIthat leader is
tacks from these rules. behind seven ranks of spear-

mcn. The Berserker must keep
fighting until all enemies are

down. as described earlier.

21

~li Warrior Kits

•

(5) While Berserk . the charac- except three g p or less. t.ha t bo th are noble me n war ·
Races: It's the OM 's choice as riors. but the Noble Warrior is
ter ca nnot ta ke cover agains t primarily mterested In defe nd-
m issile fi re. \0 whether his demlh uman Ing the rig hts and maintaining
c harac ters can have Berserkers the status quo orhls social class.
16} If. while the c harac ter Is a mong them. It ·s entirely appro· while the Cava lie r pu rs ues
Berserk . a nother character tries prlaLC for dwa rves. and not lnap· loftier goals.
something he can Interpret as propria te for elves. gnomes a nd
a ttack ((or instan ce. hits him to half·elves. Ha lOing Berserkers 1b be a ca va lie r. the charac ter
arc not \'cry li kely. In a ny case. mus t be of a ny good a Ugn ment
m ove him out of the way of an demlhuma n Berserkers would (cha otic good , neutral good, law-
not advertise the fac t tha t they ful good) and have a t least the
Incom ing anack.) the Berserker were such ; until the first time fo llo win g m inim um a bfllty
mus t roll Id 20 \'5. h is In teIl t· they Berserked in combat . their scores : Strength 15. Dexterity
gence. If he s ucceeds (tha t is, companio ns would probably be 15. Con slftutJon 15. Intel1lgence
rolls his Inte lligence score o r u naware lha t they were Ber· 10 . Wisdom 10.
serkers . (The DM ca n help pre-
less). h e's dim ly aw are tha t h is serve the secret by not Also. the ch a rac ter mu st be·
pu bliciZing th e fa c t that a ll long to the noble social class in
frie nd Is not anacking him. If he NPCs are taking a - 3 to reac· the campaign . It 's u p to the OM
fa lls Irolls higher tha n his Intelli- tion rolls concerning the Ber· to determi ne whe ther this Is
gence}. he now thinks his frie nd serker cha ractcrs.) possible. If his cam paign uses a
Is a n enemy. and contin ues to ra ndom die-roll to dete rmine
think so ufIlil the ngh t Is done Cavalier w ho's nobil ity a nd who Isn ' t,
and he is no longer Berserk. then Lhe characte r m ust first
Desc ription : The Cava lier Is successfully roll to be noble in
l7J Wh ile Berserk. the charac- the ultimate mounted warrior of order to bea Cava lie r. ' fi t's more
ter Is [cmporarily una ITeeted by cJvillzed c ultures. especia ll y of a role·play lng exercise in the
those of Midd le Ages technology campaig n. then a ny charac ter
t h e clerica l s pe lls bless, c ur e and oullook. ln a campaign , he's who takes the Cavalier Warrior
the s hining knig ht who leads his Kit will be presum ed to be of the
light wounds. ald. c ure serious fellows o n a n eternal ques t fo r nObi li ty. (This doesn ' t m ea n
wo unds. c ure critical wounds, lru Lh . j us tice, and the e liml na· that he has a lot of money ; It's
tion of evil. To w e world at large . q uite likely tbat he be longs toan
h eal , r egen erate (and wilh er). he's a mig hty he ro. To his impoveris hed noble family, one
friend s a nd allies. he 's a s ta unch with a lot of honorable tradition
He will gain the benefits of those frie nd . a tire less c heerleade r. bUI no mODey to speak of.)
spells only af (er he has come ou t a nd oflen a n overen thusia stic
of his Berserk and s uffered any pain in the neck. Fighters and Pa la dIns may be
and a ll damages which occured Cava liers : Rangers may not.
then. This is a good Warrior Kit fo r Only hu mans. elves. a nd half-
pala dIns to take. It can be ar- elves may be Cavaliers.
(8 ) The taunl spell Is automat· gued that pa ladin s look some·
ically successful. a nd wUl cau se thi ng like th is alrea dy. but tha I Role: In his own and sim ilar
t.h e Berserker to abandon h is Isn 't necessarily so: Only pala· c u ltu res . the Ca valier Is a
c urre nl e ne my a nd rush to a t· dins of cultures resembling me- mighty hero who has the reo
tack the taunter. dieval Europe would look like spect of tile majority of the pop.
this (a paladi n of a Japanese- ula tlon (the crim ina l classes a nd
(9) Finally. whe n the charac· type culture. a paladin of a evil c harac te rs excepted). He
ler comes out of his Berserk, bad Polyneslan·like culture, a nd a has the good·wUl of the people.
lhlngs ha ppen to him . He loses palad in of a c ulture resembling
the 5 hp he gain ed whe n he be- later Rena issance Europe would (reflected as bonu ses to his reac-
cam e Berserk. {This cou ld drop a ll be very diffe rent from the
him to or below 0 hp a nd kill Cavalier) . Therefore. a pa la din tion rol\s). bu t the people a lso
h im , of course.' He collapses In who wa nts to look every inch make many demands of him:
e x.ha ustion (exacLly as If hit by a the s hining knight s hould take When the re's da nger. wh en
r ay of enfeeblem ent. no saving the Cavalier Warrior Kit. someone is in trouble, the peo·
throw possible, for one rou nd fo r pie turn to the Cavalier for help.
every round he was Berserk . He T he Cava lie r kit resem bl es This cha racter does not gel
s uffers the effects of a ny s pells the Noble Warrior kit (q.v.) in m uch time for rest and relaxa·
which wait until he's returned
to normal before affecti ng him Uon .
(finger of dearh . for Ins tance). Secondary SkHls: If you're
And only chen can healing mag·
ics affect him . using th e Scc.ondary Sk ill s

Wealth Opti o ns : The Ber-

serke r gets the ordinary 5d4x 10

gp for starting gold. Like the

Barbarian . howeve r. he m us t
s pend It all (before startin g play)

II

rul es, the Cavalier must lake These pluses to hit do not add When he travels. he can de-
Croom. to damage. and don't allow the mand shelter from a nyone in his
own nalion who is of status
Weapon Proficiencies: Re- Cavalier to hit a monster that can lower than nobility. And most
qUired: Lance (any: player only be hit by magical weapons. people of his own status or
choice) and Sword (any : player highcr will be ha ppy to ofTer him
choice) . Recomm ended : All The Cavalier ls compietely im- shelter when he Is travelling.
other Lances. all other Swords. mune to the fcar spell . Because
all Horseme n 's weapons, Dag· he is so brave . he Inspires others Special Hindrances: For all
ger, Spear. Javelin. to courage. and so. while he is these benefi ts, the Cavalier has
fighting. he actuall)' radiates an some preHy hefty hindrances as
Nonweapon Proficiencies: emoCion spell In a 10' radius. we ll .
Bonus Proflclcncles: Riding. This cm oHon spell radiates
(Land·based. horse). EUqueue. The Cavalier cannot attack an
Recomm e nded : Animal Han· courage (see the writeup for the opponent a t range If he can in-
dllng, Animal Train ing. Danc· sl ead charge ahead and atiack
ing. Heraldry. (Pries t, double 4th-level wizard spell emotion). him in melee or Jousting com·
slots unless Paladin) Musical In· but only to the extent that II ne· bat. Therefore, he cannot s nipe
slru ment. Readlng/Wrlling. gates fear: it does nOI bestow the
(Warrior) BlInd·Figh ting. En· berserk fury that the actual wiz- on enemies with a bow or cross-
d u r a n ce. ard spell provides. bow: he cannot use a polearm
from behind a s hield wall. He
Equipment: The Cavalier The Cavalier is +4 to save vs. has to be on the front Line. meet·
all magiCwhich would affect his Ing his foes face- to-face. (A Cav·
must start play with (i.e.. spend mind. such as the wizard spells alter could conceivably shoot an
his initia l gold on) at least twO opponcnt with an arrow to stop
weapons, Including one lance chann person. friends. hypno· tha t opponent from kiliingan In -
and one sword. and must then tism, sleep. irrllatlon. ray or en- noce nt person : that doesn't con·
buy the most expensive SCt of feebl ement , sca re. and geas. s litute a violation of his code.
annor he can stili afford . After and the clerica l spells com- But he couldn't shoot Ule en-
those expenditures. wha lever mand, charm persOn or mam - emy to protect a friend if his
remai ns of his gold can be spent friend is fighting that enemy
on Ilems of his choice. mal. enchralJ. cloak or bravery. honorably ... even if his friend
Is losing.)
Special Benefits: The Cava- and symbol.
The Cavalier starts play with In any combat. the Cavalier
lier enjoys many special bene- must attack the enemy who is
fits . including: a horse which he docs not have lhe biggest and most powerful-
to pay fo r. This will be either a looking. If he's held up by lesser
At 1st level. he gets a + 1 to hit troops. he must dispatch them
with any lance fo r which he has Heavy Warhorse. Medium War· as quickly as possible and then
proficiency. when using the horse. or Light Warhorse (see get to his "'real " opponent.
lance from horse back. This goes
up + 1 every s ix experien ce the Monstrous Compendium. He must a lways have the
levels (so he'll be +2 at 7th level. Volume One entry on Horses). highest-qua lity armor he can af-
+3 at 13th. etc .). The player may choose what ford . As he goes through his
sort of horse it is. subject to the early experie nce levels. if he has
At 3rd level. he gets a + 1 to OM's approval It will automati- the money. he' II constantly be
hit with a nyone rypc of sword cally be a Charger (see the sec- selling his old armor and buying
(his choice from among those he tion on Horse Quality In the lhe next most protecllve se t of
Dungeon Master's Guide. page armor. His goaJ Is to have a Sel of
has proficiency wi th : most com- 36): the OM may roll for Its per-
mon are broad sword. lo ng sonali ty traiLS according to full plate armor: the next step
those rules. If this horse dies. down from thai is field plate.
sword. bastard sword, and scim· the Cavalier has to acquire him- the n plate mall. then bronze
ltar). This goes up + 1 every six se lf another on e through th e plate mall. then banded or
experience levels (SO he' II be +2 usual campaign means (buy splint, then chain. th en scale or
at 9th level. +3 at 15m. etc.). brlgand inc. then ring or stud-
one. be given one for noble ded. And to him. magiC bonuses
At5thlevel.hegets a + I to hit deeds. elc.). but will not be con· don't mean as much as the type
with either horseman's mace. teOl wim any horse which is not of annor: He prefers a s uit of or-
horseman 's nail. or horseman's a Warhorse of Charger quality. dinary field plate to a set of
pick (his choice from among banded mail +5. The OM must
those h e has proficiency with). The Cavalier receives a +3 re-
This goes up + I every six expe- acllon from anyone of his own
rience levels (so he' II be +2 at culture (except criminals and
11 th level. +3 at 17th level. cha racters of evil alignment.
from whom he receives a -3).
etc.) .
And finally, the Cavalier has

the right to demand shelter.

H

~!I Warrior Kits

o

rigorously e nfo rce this limita- If the Cavalier breaks his vow was a freeman. wHl feel like a
tion on th e c haracter If the a third time without repenting naturalized cItIzen there.} A
player Is Inclined to ignore It. and undertaking that task. he Gladiator player·c haracter can
has abandoned his Cavalier be a n acllve gladiator tn the
The Cavalier must also follow Warrior Kit. He permanently a rena. one who adventures In
the very strict Code of Chivalry. loses aU the special beneOts of his free time (or within some
In most AD&D- game cam- the KIt. He no longer has to obey other context of the current ad·
his knightly code. He receives a venture), or can have formerly
paigns. his code Incl udes these permanent - 3 reacUon adJust- been a gladiator now living the
rules: He must Cheerfully per- ment from all members of his life of the adventurer.
own c ulture (even those who do
form any noble service or quest not know of his past will be put In the campaign. the Gladia-
asked ofhim: he must defend. to off by the air of treachery and tor Is going to be a s howy, hJgh·
the death. any person or item fail.hlessness that now haunts profile warrior. He performs
placed In his c harge : he must the man). His horse. even if It Is dangerous stunts in combat. He
show courage and enterprise not the one he began play wUh, attracts the attention or crowds
when obeying his rulers: he leaves him-either rides off Into of admirers. He receives a lot of
the sunset without him. or at· credit for brave deeds whether
must show respect for all peers tacks him . He may never ride it he deserves the credit or not. A
again. even If he kllls H trying to Gladiator can be a callous brute,
and equals; he must honor all do so. See "Abandoning a Kit" a dirty arena Oghter with no tn·
those above his station (his so- later In this chapter. terests other than kUling his en-
emy as quickly as possible and
cial class): he must demand reo Wealth Options: The Cavalier making off with his prize: or he
gets the standard 5d4x JO gp in can be a clean-Itmbed. heroic
spect and obedience from those startlng gold. Ogure, a hero who a lways fights
below his statlon: he must scorn honorably in the arena and
those who are lowly and Ignoble Races: Of the demlhuman never kills when he does not
(he will not help the 111- races. only elves and half-elves have to.
mannered. the coarse, the may be Cavaliers.
crude: he will not use eq uip- OMs take note: a Gladiator
ment which Is badly-made or in- Gla dia t o r charac ter Is not likely to be a
Ccrlor : he will nght on fOOL before Ranger. You can permit It If you
riding a nag: etc.): he must per- Description: The gladiator is wish, but Rangers are very
form military service to his lord a s howman -warnor from a socl· wUderness-oriented characters.
whenever asked; he must show ety where public com bat com- a nd Gladiators are very urban.
courtesy to all ladles (If the Cay· petitions are a popu lar sport. A Ranger could have been cap·
aller Is male): he must regard The gladiatOr Is a professional tured, enslaved, (rained as a
war as the flowering of ch ivalry, warrior tn this high-profile Gladiator. and then escaped . ..
and a noble enterprise: he must arena: for the delight (and blood- but still. the Ranger and Gladia-
regard battle as the test of man· lust) of the c.rowds. for his own tor personalities don't seem to
hood, and combat as glory; he personal wealth and aggran· work together very well. Allow
must achieve personal glory In dlzement (or, If he Is a slave. for this only if you really wish to.
battle: he must slay all those the profits of his owner). he
who oppose his cause: and he fights organized matches It's up to the DM to decide
must c hoose deaLh before dis· against human. demlhuman, whether there are female gladia·
honor. and even monstrous opponents. tors on his world. Unless his
campaign is a lready rigidly set
If a Cavalier chooses not to fol· There are no special ability' up to pre\'ent It, he might as well
low this code. bad things hap- score requirements to be a Glad· allow It; a she-gladiator c harac·
pen. The first time he breaks his lator. ter could be a very Interesting
vows, the OM will warn the one,
player that the Cavalier feels Role; For the Gladiator to ap·
bad about violating his code. pear In a campaign. the OM Secondary Skills: The Gladi-
The second time he breaks his must establish that at least one ator character receives his sec·
vows. the Cavalier loses all his cu lture has gladiatorial com· ondary skill through whatever
special beneOts until such lime bats, and the Gladiator charac- means is usual for the
as he repents and undertakes a ter must come from such a campaign-by choice or ran·
dangerous task to redeem him· culture. [He need not have been dam dle·roll. This skill probably
self. When performing this task. born there ... but he will either represents the trade he learned
he must behave according to his have been a slave there or. If he before becoming a Gladiator.
code and h is hindrances. Only
when the task Is successfully ac-
complished does he regain his
benefits.

24

\11-Warrior Kits
•

Weapon ProCiciencies: Re- Gladiators. at least. if not by MyrmldQR.
th ei r own names-w here\rer
quired : short sword {gladIus). they go. This makes It more diffi- Description: The Mynnldon
cult for them to do lhlngs in se- Is the ultimate soldier. Soldier-
trident. net. Gladiators should crct; some troublesome NPC is Ing 15 his life. He may be a high-
learn an eve n mix of nonnal and always remembering "'the tall . ranking officer or a caree r
fair-haired gladiator" who was at sergeant; he may belong to one
unu sua l weapons; t h e OM Is the sce ne of the action. which na tion's armed forces or may be
makes iL very easy for the au· a mercenary. Th the campaign
within his rights to Insisl tha I thorlties to follow the heroes' and the adventuri ng party, he
trail. (This Is something the OM brings diSCipline and a useful
the Gladiator learn o ne strange w ill have to e nforce scrupulously understanding of military tac-
weapon proficiency (su ch as if the Gladiator is to have hin· tics: he's often rigid and con-
whi p) for every " normal'- profi-
drances offscttlng his benents.l temptuous of rugged
ciency {Uke sword, spear. etc. }. Also. and th is Is s trictly a role- individualists or characters who
don 't like to take orders. so he
(Also. see Lhe Equipment chap- play ing consideration , pro- can cause a lot of frieLion in an
l er, u nder "New Arm s" and moters and managers are adventuring party. too.
aJways interfering In th e Gladia-
"New Annar:' for weapons and tor's life: Try ing to hire him to When first created, the Myr-
participate In ce rtain -death mldon's player must decide
armor especially appropriate to events, to fighl people the Gladi- whether his character Is part of
Gladiator characters.) ator doesn't wam to fight . to a standing army or a mercenary
force him to pa rti cipate In unit. Ir he's part of a s tanding
Nonweapon Proficiencies: events taking place at the exact anny. he's employed as a soldier
time the Gladiator needs to be or omcer In the army of a nation,
Bonus Proficlencles: (Warrior) some..... here else, etc. These pro- large region. city guard. or even
Cha rloteerlng . (Rogu e) Thm- moters will go to any length to palace/castle guard . If he's pan
get their way; they may black- of a mercenary unit , he belongs
hllng (for the combat showman- m ail the characler. kidnap his to a group of freelance soldiers
followers. use the time-honored who hire themselves to just
ship mat cha racterizes arena baH of a gorgeous romantic In- abou t anyone who can pay: or
fighting). Recommended: (Gen- terest (whom th e Gladiator m ay be a personal bodyguard .
doesn' t Im medlalely realize Is The OM will have the deciding
eral) Animal Handling. Animal an employee of the promoter), VOLe In what sort of force the
a nd so forth . Myrmidon belongs to: If. for in·
Tra ining. Eliq uette. Riding stance. the OM doesn't want to
(Land-Based), (Warrior) Ar- lb make sure this is regarded have an ail-m ilitary campaign ,
as a hindrance. the OM should he' ll probably Ins is t that the
morer. Bllnd -Flghllng. Endur- ma ke It clear tha t these pro- Myrm idon be a mercenary. cu r·
a nce. Gaming, Weapon- moters arc mos tly of the sleazy rently employed by a player-
smithing. (Priest) Healing (dou- character or NPC Important to
ble s lots unless Paladin). variety who will cheat. rob and the current story.
betray him at the drop of a hal.
Equipment: The Gladiator However. In the course of the
ma y buy a ny son of non· Wealth Options: The Gladia- campaign. the Myrmidon's em-
magical weapon or combination tor gelS the s tandard 5d4x 10 gp ployment can change. once or
of weapons before beginning to spend. and may spend It any several times. He may start out
play. However. he must choose way he chooses (subject to the as a mercenary bodyguard:
his armor from lhe listing of restrictions li s ted In " Equ ip- later In the campaign. he may
Glad iator Armor in lhe Equip· me nt." Immediately above) or find himself commanding a
ment chapter. under "New Ar- have It all unspent at the begin- small m ercenary force In a bor-
m o rs : ' ning of play.
der war: later s till. he may ac-
Special Benefits: Gladiators. Races: Any demihuman war· cept a comm ission In the klng's
because of m eir intensive train- rior can be a Gladiator. Opera· army and find himself a regular
Ing, get a free Weapon Speciali- tors of the arenas lry to acquire
zation (sec under " Weapon as many dlffc rent, unusu al officer.
SpecializatiOn" In the 2 nd Edi- fl ghters as Ihey can . by hiring or The choice of whe ther the
tion Player's Handbook) , This enslaving them, and dcmlhu-
doesn't cost any of their begin- ma ns (when they can be ac· character Is of a non-commls-
ning weapon proflcie ncles : qulred) are major attractions. sloned rank (such as recruit. prl-
They still get all four of those,
and gellhls Specialization free.
It must be chosen from one of
the fo llow ing weapons : bow
(chOice) . cestus· , dagger. dru-
sus", lasso ·. nel - , scimita r.
short sword. spear, trident. and

whip. (The" - " indicates a new
weapon found in the Equipmenl
c h a p le r.)

Special Hindrances: Gladia-
tors tend to be recognized-as

15

-St!/' Warrior Kits

o

vale. or sergeantl or an officer's Equipment: The Myrmidon A second hindrance Is his em·
may spend his starting gold on ployer, Naturally. his employe r
rank (such as Caplaln) Is entirely whatever sort of arms. armor, makes many demands on the
a nd equipme nt he chooses. If. Mymlldon, If the Myrmidon is a
up to t he OM, w ho'll make his whe n he's first created . it is bodyguard. he must a ccom-
agreed that he'll be part ofa spe· pany his employer Just about
c hoice based on what works clfic military force with specific everYWhere, regardless of a ny
best In his campaign 's current eqUipment requirements, he's personal goa ls or interests the
storyline. reqUired to buy thal equipment. Myrmidon has. If the Myrmidon
but the OM must give him extra is a common soldier. he's sub-
1b be a Mvrmldon. the charac- gold in the amount of half that Ject to the orders of his officers.
cost. If the Myrm idon is a military of·
ter mus t have scores of at least ficer, he'ssubjec tto the orders of
12 In Strength and Constitu- Special Benefits: The Myrml· his superiors or the local ruler.
don has two advantages of note: and bears the added Slress of
tio n. having to look out for his men
f irsl, he gelS a free Weapon whenever they' re engaged tn
Role: In the campaign 's cul- Specialization. He must choose military action .
lure. t.he Myrmidon Is a career it from the followin g group: Bat-
tle axe. Bow (composite long Wealth Options: The Myrmi·
soldIer. In times of war. they're bow. compos ite short bow. or don recei"es th e s ta nda rd
heroes to the nation. In Limes of long bow). Crossbow (heavy 5d4x 10 gp s ta rting gold.
peace. the common folk often crossbow or li gh t crossbow).
look on chern as parasites. living Lance (chOice). Polcarm Races: Depending on the way
(chOice). Spear. Sword (choice). the DM has set thc campaign up.
offtaxcs but providing no useful any dem ihuma n race can ha ve
service. Mercenaries are often Second. the Myrmidon Is usu· Myrmidons. Mercenary Myrmi·
looked on as bandits and preda- ally in the employ of some pow· don demlhumans will be travel·
tors. Regardless of the public's erful patron. The DM wilJ have ling mostly In human·occupied
to decide what Imm ediate bene- Jands. while Myrmidon demihu·
opinion. though . the Myrmidon fi ts this grants him : Uley vary mans in standing armies will
with the type of employer he is usually stick to their own race's
and the standing army are nec· working for. te rritories ... alLhough some
essary to the defense of the na- s pecial ones fi. e.. th e p layer·
For ins ta nce. if he's working characters) will ofte n fin d them·
tion, and so there are always selves senl out on spec ial quests
for a wea lth )' nobleman . he and adventu res a ll over lhe
Mymlldons to be found . won 't have to spend any money campaign world .
for room and board and will en·
Secondary Sk ills: If you're joy an upper-class existence. Noble Warrl'or

using the Secondary Skills Or. If he's part of a standing Description: This character
r ules. th e Myrmidon may Is of the nobili ty. and theoretl·
choose his Secondary Skill. but a rmy. he may be Immune to cally re presents everything the
must choose It from the follow· prosecution by the Civilian au· ruling class s lands for. 10 classic
Ing list : Armorer. Bowyerl thorlties (th ough he can cer· medieval fantasy. this means
Fletcher. Forester. Groom. laln Jy fa ce court manlal for ch iva lry. the protection of
Hunter. Leather worker. Navlga· misdeeds), women (those who want to be
tor. Sailor. Scribe. Tea ms terl protec ted . that is-I t 's a bad
Freighter. Weaponsmilh. Special Hindrances: The idea LO try to prolect a woma n
Mynnidon Is lnsran dy recogniz· warrior anxious to prove herself
Weapon P r oficiencies: The able by his military demeanor. In combat). and (espeCially) up·
Myrmidon may spend hi s erecl posture. disciplined man· holding lhe rights of the ruling
Weapon ProfiCiency s lots any nerlsms, etc. (There arc plenty class to rule (and upholding the
way he chooses. of soldiers a nd mercenaries who righ ts of the olher classes to
aren', Mvnnldons who aren't so serve ... ). Noble Warriors in
Nonweapon Proficiencles: disUncll~'e.) Because he is dis· mos t ca mpaigns are called
Bonus ProOciencles : Ancient tinctive. the Mynnldon is easily Knights or Squires. though spe-
History (specifically Military remembered and described by cific campaigns may have dlffcr-
HiStory). Fire·BuUd lng. Recom · witn esses to his adventures:
mended: (General) An imal Han· this makes it easier for lbe en·
dling. Cooking. Heraldry. RJding emy to Identify him and follow
(Land ·based). Seamanship. his Lrail if he's trying to escape
Swimming. Weather Sense. or travel through dangerous ter·
(Pri est. double slots unless Pala· r ito ry.
din ) ReadIng/Writing. (Rogue,

double slots) Disguise. (Warrior)
Armorer. BHnd·Flghting, Bow·
yer/Fletcher. Charioteertng, En·
durance. Navigation. Set
Snares. Survival. Tracking,
Weaponsmlthing. (Wizard, dou·
ble slots unless Ranger)
ReadlngfWritlng.

26



~ll Warrior Kits
I

em designalions and be based horses. a nd don ' t fo rge t this Warrior Is fifth level. the patron
skill when they themselves be-
on different sou rces than medI- come knigh ts. will offer s helter for the Noble
eval European hlslory.
Weapon Pro fici e ncies : Un· Warrior and u p to nine of his
10 be a Noble Warrior. a char- less th e campaign deals with a com panlonsj. In his own la nd .
acter must have Strength and culture u nlike medieval Europe,
a ll Noble Warriors m ust take the the Noble Warrior can adm inis-
Conslilulion scores of 13 or followi ng p roflc lencles: lo ng
betler- It's what comes of being sword or bastard sword (player ter low j ustice u pon common-
forced to train In heavy plate ar- choice). lance (player choice of
mor for so many years. ty pe, usuall y Jousting la nce). ers - a ct as judge. Jury and exe-
and horseman's na il or horse-
Ro le: In a campaign . lhe No- man 's mace(playerchoice). The cu tioner for mi nor crimes he
last pronclency may be used for
ble Warrior is a romantic Ideal a weapon of the warrior 's choice comes across (the defini tion of
wh ich mOSt of society looks up or to specJalize In one of the reo " m inor crim es" Is necessarily
qulred choices.
lo. T he Noble Warrior is sup- up to the OM or the campaign .
posed to be courageous. gallant. Nonweapon P roficien cies: b ut in ge neral s hould Include
proteclive of the defense less. Bo nus Prof1cie ncles; (Genera l) things like assault. petty theft.
dedicated to honorable ideals. etc,).
Etiqu e tte . Heraldry. RIdi ng
But tllat 'S j ust what SOCiety (Land-Based). Recom m ended: Special Hindrances: In order
(Gen eral) Animal Train ing.
expects of the Noble Warrior. Da ncing. (Wa rr io r) Bli nd - to become a Noble Warrior. the
Some lheoreLically Noble War- Fighting. Gam ing. Humin g, c ha rac t.er bas sworn a n oath of
riors are mere brutes in shiny Tracking. (Priest. cost dou ble
s lots un less Pa ladin) Local His· loyalty to some greater nohle. If
armor. warriors who lake what tory, Musical Ins trumen t,
they want. murder the Inno- ReadlnglWrltl ng. he's squ ire toa knig ht. he hasan

cent. and continually bct..ray t he Equipment: The Noble War· oath to his kn ig h t. If h e 's a
oaths they took when they first rior may spend his gold p retty
won theJr spurs. So It 's up to an much as he chooses- but t.h ere k nigh t himself. he's sworn an
in dividual player to decide what are certai n minim um standards
alignment his Nob le Wa rrior he cannot viola Ie. He can not oath to his king or some other
takes and how weJ l he lives u p to buy arm or less proteC(ive tha n
the pertinent ideals, brigandlne or scale ma il . Befo re noble-or perha ps to both . He' ll
s tarting pla y. he m usebuy a suit
Whether the Noble Warr ior of armor. a shield. a t least o ne be expected to live u p to tha t
character is a Knight or a Squire weapon larger than a dagger. a oath rrom time to time: Accom-
(or some other d eslgnaUonl de· horse (at least a r1ding horse).
pends on the campalgn and its ri ding sad d le, bit & b rid le. pany his lord Into com ba t. pro-
OM. From the Viewpoint of con-
venlence.lt's best fo r Noble War· horseshoes and shoeing. ha lter vide troops to his lo rd . even
rior c haracters to begin playas and saddle blanket. beggar his ow n household in or-
young knights who have Just
wan their spurs: this wlU ac- Specia l Benefits: The Noble der to su pport his lord 's needs,
count far the fact that they ha\'c Wa rrior starts with more gold
Iitlle m oney (they' re Just s tart- than other Warrior Kits; see be- Add lUonal ly. the Noble Wa r-
Ing out as free-lancers) o r fol- low u nder Wealth Options. The rior is expec ted to live well . Afte r
lowers. and for the fact lhat Noble Warrior receives a + 3 re- he Is created . he must add
they're wandering around ad· action from anyone of his own + 10% to the base cost of goods.
venturing: they're anxious to cultu re, When trave lling. he can eq uJpment. a nd services he is
prove their metUe. If the OM pre· de mand shelter from anyone in
fers . t.he starting Noble Warrior his own nation w ho Is of lower buying- for each exper ien ce
could be the squire for an NPC social status than he. Most peo- level he has-to rcnec t his noble
knight. one who is aging a nd ple of his own status or higher
necd s the stoul sword-arm of a will offer him s helter w hen he is tastes and req uiremen ts.
young sqUire: but here. the OM travelling-up to two persons T his extra cost Is no tJus t a tip.
has to run UIC NPC knight u n til times thc Noble Warrior's expe-
It's time for the squire character rience level. (T haI Is. i{[he Noble The character is b u ying higher.
to leave h is knight.
q ua li ty good s. Here·s h ow it
Secondary Skills: All Noble
Warrior characters must lake works,
Lhe Groom skill, Squires are ex- Example: Sir Am stard ridcs
pected to care for their knigh ts'
inca tOlVn , He's In need of a new

swor d, a nigh t's lodging at th e

in n for himself an d his s quire.
and meals and ba ths for both.
He's a 5th·]evel Noble WalT/or,

He SlOp S by a wcaponmaker,
T h e basic cost for a long sword

is 15 gpo Ams ta rd must choose a

befl cr weapon than th e "bas ic

long sword: ' and SO ch ooses a
more decora tive one ha ving llic
exact same com bat characleris·
Ucs, bu t cost.ing 22 gp and 5 sp.

He goes to the inn. The basic

ra l e at fha! speclflc inn Is 2 gp

28

per nlghr per person, Amslard him visited by a nice. large campalgn·world's peasants,
won 'r setrle for the basic room. crowd of nobles to whom he Is Short sword, spear, bow , foot-
though, and so pays 3 gp per expected to offer shelter and man's weapons and the like are
night per person , all for betler food ... and who proceed to eat all very appropriate; horse·
quality rooms. He pays 6 gp, one him out of house and home. man's weapons. exotic po-
nlghr's stay for himself and his learrns, lances. long swords,
Wealth Options: The Noble tridents and the like are not.
squire. Warr10r begins play with more This is only a restriction when
gold than other Warrior Kits: be the character Is first created: af·
Th e two baths would be 3 cp receives 225 gp plus the stand· terwards, ofcourse. he can I~arn
each, or 6 tota l. Amstard, ard 5d4x 10 gp, Butdo not forget any weapon he receives training
though , must have soap and a that he Is required to spend a with.
brush and the water h ealed es· large portion of that on speclOc
peclally for him (an d for his Items described above ... Nonweapon Proriciencies:
squire, too): total cost Is 9 cpo Bonus Proficlencies: Agrlcul·
Races: Irs appropriate for any ture or Fishing (player choice),
And so on ... Weather Sense or Animal Lore
sort of demihuman race to have (player choice). Recommended:
If the Noble Warr10r Is unable a class of Noble Warriors. Any of the General proficien·
to spend this extra money be· c les.
cause of lack of funds, he can Peasant Hero
settle for lesser goods. , . but his Equipment: The Peasant
bonus to ReacUon raUs wtll be Description: The Peasant Hero may spend his starting
reduced, at -1 per such inci· Hero Is the "local boy done gold any way he sees fit, but
d en t. until it reaches +0, to reo good," the home-town warrior
who fights and adventures to may have no more than 3 gp left
Oect the fact thal people are the d eUght of the people In his
seeing that h e Is settling for home area. The Peasant Hero Is when he begins play.
shabbier goods and otherwise the most common sort of fighter Special Benefits: No matter
not living up to their expecta· found wandering the land and
tions of how a noble warrior advemurlng: every village has what he's done or what a nyone
should Uve. At the OM's dlscre· one or has had one within living thinks of him, the Peasant Hero
tion . other problems may follow memory. always has shelter and often has
this: Nobles fall to offer him other help when he's in his own
shelter or help because he's There are no ability-score reo community. Unless It is known
such a shabby specimen, he quirements to be a Peasant that the Peasant Hero has hurt
Hero, people from his own commu-
gets a reputation as a penny· ntty, he' ll always find people to
plncher, etc. Role: In the campaign, the put him up, hide him and com-
Peasant Hero is the fellow who
1b retaln his bonus, when the won'[ forgel that his roots are In panions from the law, supply
the country and in the soil. He them with food and drink and
Noble Warrior is once again in can be a rebel against the crown what little weaponry can be
the money he must do whatever in lands where the peasants are scraped together (usually dag·
especially oppressed: he can be gers), and even provide them
it takes to upgrade his situation the fa rm boy who becomes a with helpers-earnest O·level
(buy new clothes, go on a buy· mighty generaJ: he can be the youths who want to grow up to
ing spree. etc .. at the OM 's d is- noble 's child (secretly raised by be like their hero.
cretion) and his +3 reaction wUl peasants) who grows up to fulflll
return. an a ncient prophecy: but in Special Hindrances: Since
every case, he remembers his the Peasant Hero Is looked upon
If a Noble Warrior gets a bad origins and strives to make as a patron and hero by the peo.
reputation , deservedly or unde- things better for his family and pIe from his home. they will fre-
servedly, his + 3 reaction be- home community, quently come to him for help.
comes a - 6 reaction from Whenever the viJlage Is losing
everybody who knows of the Secondary Skills: The player people to nocturnal predators.
reputation, may choose his character's sec- whenever a v1llage overlord
ondary skill. turns out to be a dangerous ty·
And Just as other nobles are rant, whenever a local citizen Is
expected to extend shelter to the Weapon Proriciencies: The Jailed and tried for something he
Noble Wanior, he Is expected to player may choose his charac· d idn't do. the citizens turn to
offer other nobles shelter when ter's weapon proficlencies, but the Peasant Hero for help. And If
they are travelling through his may not choose any that the OM he turns them away. he loses
territory-or when they meet on feels would be unusual for his their respect and earns a - 2 re-
the road whlle he is encamped
and they are not, etc. Whenever
a Noble Warrior character Is get-
ting too cocky, the OM can have

19

stl/, Warrior Kits

action from all af lhe peasants in and his Merry Men, where the skill). Tightrope Walking, TU m·
the land until he Is once again in outlaws robbed fro m the rich bling, (Wizard, double s lots un-
his home communlty's good a nd gave to the poor. and pro-
graces. tec ted the defe nse less with less Ranger) Engineering (for
more honor an d zeal than En- shipbuilding). ReadlnglWnting
Wealth Options: The Peasant gland's supposedly Noble War- (for mapmaking). Outlaw's Bo-
Hero gets the standard 5d4xlO riors did. nus Profielenc les: Direc tio n
gp starting money. Sense, Flre·Bulldlng. Outlaw's
Naturally, If a player chooses Recommended Proficie ncles:
Races: T he Peasant Hero Is a (General) Riding (Land·Based).
dIstinctly human sort of charac- to bea good guy in a company of (Warrior) Animal Lore, Bowyerl
ter: It's also appropriate to half- Fletcher, Endurance, Hunt ing,
lings. and to half-elves living bad guys. or vice-versa, when Running. Set Snares. Survival.
among humans. But no other his companions find out his true Tracking, (Prlese dou ble slots
demihumans should have Peas- colors. they' ll probably try to un less Paladin) Healing. Herbal-
ant Hero characters un less the kill hIm or to turn him in to the ism. Local History. (Rogue. dou·
DM decides thal their cultures law (or the reward on his head. ble slots) Disguise. Special Note:
are very much like rural h uman Your OM may bea fan of the very
Secondary Skills: If the char- acrobatic pi ra te or outlaw mov-
society. acter is a Pirate, roll d 100 fo r his ies of the past. and prefer that
Secondary Skill. On a 0 1-70, his Thmbling be one of your Bonus
Ph'ate/Outlaw Secondary Skill Is Sailor: on a Proficiencies Instead of one of
7 1-80. It's Shipwright: on 8 1·00. the ones listed: check with him
Description : This character It's Navigator. If the c harac ter is La sec If this Is so.
Is the heroic scomaw. {he war- an Outlaw. the character may
rior who defies the laws and choose between Bowyerl Equipment: Pirates and Out·
rulers of the land and steers his Fletcher, Foresier. Hunter. and laws come from widely diverse
own course. Usually In the com- T r a p p e r/Furrie r. backgrounds. so there's no real
pany ofother pirates or outla ws. restriction on what t.hey can buy
h e nghLS the minions of l.he Weapon Proficien cies : If the with their starting money. How·
ruler s he defies. and comes to be character Is a Pirate. he mus t ever, It would be foollsh for either
regarded as a hero by others take the following profieieneles: type of character to buy metal ar·
who suffer at those rulers' Cutlass· . and Belaying Pin - or mor of any kJn d (banded, brlgan-
hands. The Pirate. of course. is Gaff/Hook - (p layer e hoicel. If dine. bronze plale. chain , field
the adventurer of the high seas. the character is an Outlaw. he plate, full plate. plate mall. and
who makes his living raiding can take any weapon proficJen- ring maill. Pirates wearing such
other ships and seacoast com- cles he chooses ... but the DM. annal' In naval combat willlnevl·
munities: the Outlaw makes his if he's created this campaign SO tably fall overboard and sink
home In the wilderness (ofte n that the outlaws have a special (they can't swim with such stuff
deep fo rest) a nd preys on the motif weapon (such as Robin on): if they' re luc ky enough to
traffic moving through that wil - Hood's Merr), Men a nd the ir get it off so they can swim ,
derness. longbows} may insist that all they've lost the annor. Outlaws
Outlaw characters take a spe- living out In the wild have their
There are no special a bility- cific weapon profi ciency. Rec· belongings exposed to the ele·
omme nded to classic Me rry ments. and metal annol' qUickly
score requirements to be a PI- Man-type outlaws arc longbow, corrodes. Therefore. It's up to the
long sword and quarlerstafr. DM to keep things in balance. lfa
rate or Outlaw. (Th e " . " symbol Indlca tes a Pirate or Outlaw buys metal ar-
Role: In a campaign. the pi· mor and keeps It stowed away
new weapon found In the Equip- for special occasions (major land
rate or outlaw can belong to one ment chapte r.) engagemen ts, climactic battles,
ofrwo orientations. Eith er he's a etc.), that's fine. But if they wear
"good guy." and It Is the law a nd Nonweapon P ro fi ciencies: such stuff all the time. the DM
the rulers who are evil , or he is a Plrate's Bo nus Proficlencles: s hould continually take It away
"bad guy" and simply takes (Ge neral) Rope Use, Seaman· from them through accidents.
what he wants from those who s h ip. Pirate's Recommended rust and corrosion, etc.
have it. The player. therefore , Pronciencies: (General) Swim'
gelS to decide on his character 's ming, Weather Sense, (Warrior) Special Benefits: Pirates and
aUgnment and (mls}dceds. Navigation. (Priest. double s lots Outlaws do not have any Intr in-
unless Paladin) Engineering (for sic s peCial benefits. a lthough
Note. though. that good guy shipbuilding). Reading/Writing
pirates and outlaws tend to live (for mapmak ing), (Rogue, dou ·
by a very strict code of ble slots) Appraising. Set Snarcs
conduct- for example, the clas- (In association with Rope Use
sic cinema code of Robin Hood

30

\11-Warrior Kits

the OM ca n bestow some Pirate Warrior KIt. howeve r. called ron in. T he ronln has all of
They could Instead become the abilities of the samurai, but
campaign-based bendilS on Privateers-who are basically operates under slightly different
pirates sailing under the papers rules, as you will see below .
them If he chooses. For In- of (permission 00 their ruler, With your OM's pennlsslon. you
a nd preying on the nation 's ene· can create 'lour character as a
stance. In many Pirate setUngs. mies. At that point, they can ronln instead of a samurai. A
there Is a powerful pirate city sUII behave Just as they did pre· samurai can become a ronin at
where th e pes can go to trade vlous ly, and the other nation's any time In a campaign : like-
their ill·gollen gains. a place au thorities become their spe· wise. by sweanngalleglance loa
where the law dares not eOler; clfic enemy. lord who will have him. a ronin
can become a samurai again.
this makes It easier for them to Samurai,
dispose of their goods and enjoy Before you create a samurai or
the benefits of a home city when Description: The samurai Is a ronln cha racter. ask your OM if
warrior from cultures based on such things exist on his world
otherwise they wouldn ' t have the medieval Japanese clvillza· and !fyou may play one. 11 could
one. As another example. In a tion. He IIvcs by a very strict be that the OM does not wish to
"Merry Men" type outlaw cam· code of honor and behavior, a allow samurai and ronln In his
paIgn. the heroes have the dubi- code demanding: absolute obe· campaign (because the cam·
ous benefit of knowing that dlence to hiS lord: readiness to palgn world has no oriental sel-
they're on th e right side and if die for honor or for his lord at tlng to act as their origin. for
they can Just oust lhe current any time: eagerness to avenge instance).
rulers (probably restoring the any dis honor to his lord, his
proper rulers in the process). famil y. or himself: wilHngness to Secondary Skills: A samurai
they'll have their fortunes reo re pay all debts honorably: and or ronln must have the Scribe
stored or enhanced. the land unwillingness to demonstrate sccondarv skill
will once again be bright and the most dishonorable trait of
shiny. and everyone will live cowardice. Weapon Proficiencies : The
happily ever after. samurai and ronln start play
Samurai must have mini- with two free extra weapon pro·
Special Hindrances: The ma- mum scores of 13 In Strength, ficlency s lots- that's the good
Jor problem with being an out· Wisdom, and Constitution. and news. The bad news is that. of
law or pirate is that the law Is of 14 in Intelligence. They may his six InitIal weapon pronclen ·
always after the characters. be oflawful alignment only (but cies, nve are chosen for him.
Though the authorities do not sLill may be good, evil. or neu· The samurai and ronln must
have to put In an appearance I.n specialize In katana· (samurai
every single play·sesslon, tral), sword. two pronctency s lots)
they're always out there, plot· and dalkyu· (samurai great
tlng against the heroes. Many of Role: In a campaign . unless bow. three proOciency slots).
them are quHe clever, they prob· m e campaign itself Is set in an The samurai or ronln ' may
ably have more m oney, ships eastern culture, the SamuraJ is
and men than the heroes. and present to provide a touch of the spend his last proficiency s lot as
they 'll continue to plague the exotic (culture clashes are a l- he chooses ... but only from
heroes until the campaign Is ways very Interesting In a cam - among the samurai weapo ns
paign): It also allows for a listed in the Equipment chapter
done. variety of warrior who can be of thiS book. (The " . " symbol In-
Wealth Options: Pirate and trem endously deadly.
dicates a new weapon to be
Outlaw characters get the A samurai can fall from hiS found in the Equipment chap·
s tandard 5d4x IO gp for starting noble position within a greater ter.) After the c haracter is In
lord's household. It may be that play In another culture , he may
gold. the house has perished In a war become pronclenl in weapons of
Races: Outlaws and Pirates. or other calamIly, or that the that other culture.
samurai's lord has rejected him.
unless your campaIgn Is very or ordered him to commit sui· Nonweapon ProHciencies:
human-orle nted , wtll take Just clde and the samurai has Bonus Proficiencies: Etiquette,
about anyone they can geL so refused. or that Lhe samurai has Riding (Land·Based). RequIred
lL 's perfec tly approp ri ate for left his lord for some other point (samurai/ronln must purchase
there to be Outlaws and Pirates of honor. Regardless, the samu- these. bu t gets no extra s lots to
of the demlhuman races. rai is now masteriess; he Is pay for them): (Priest and Wiz-
ard. costs double slots unless
Not e: In a Pirate ca mpaign , It Paladin or Ranger) Readlngl
could be that the player·
c haracters will eventually come
to terms with the authorities
and '"go straight.'" This doesn 't
mean they have to abandon the

31

~li. Warrior Kits

Writing. Recommended: C en· he is subservient to his lord . The beautifu l native princess from a
ro nl n has his own great diffi- c ul tu re whjch the c ha rac te rs
eral- A r tlstlc Ab il ity/Calli gra- c u lty : He ea r ns e xpe rience consider Impossibly primItIve
phy. Artistic Abillty/ Paj ntln g, poi nts a t ha lf the nonnal rate. and yet uncorrupted and very
When m e OM awards the cha r- noble, .. a nd so on. In short, the
(Warrior) Blin d· Fighting. Ru n- acte rs their experie nce, the tribal culture from which the
ronin receives only ha lf what he Savage character comes can be
ning. wou ld If he were still a sam urai. as crude or civil. coarse or noble.
Equipment: The samurai a nd This particula r hind rance goes nasty or admirab le as the play-
a way whe n the c harac ter once ers and OM want It to be .
ronln must buy a ll their star ting again swearsa l!eglance to a lord
e q uipm enl from the sam u rai a nd becomes a samura\. (Of Th be a Savage. a character
weapons. arm or and equipment course, on ce he's a sa mura i must have a min imum Strength
a gain , he is subject to the hin- score of I! and a minimum Can·
listed In the Equipm ent c hapte r. drances of the samurai .) slltulion score of 15.
Thcy may have no more th an 10
gp left w h en they h ave pur· Wealth Optio ns: The samu rai Role: In a campaign. the sav-
and ronin s tart with the nonnal age cha racter has a couple of
c hased th efr equi pm cn l. Sam u - 5d4x 10 g p beginnin g money. roles . His parUcula r skills and
benents a re of use to the average
ra i and ronin do nor ha ve to buy Races: The historical prece- ad vemuring party. If he comes
lheJT ka tana: ilia l Is fTee to the dcnt for the samurai is strictly from a particularly noble tribe,
c h a r a c te r. human . so It's up to the individ- he may choose to act as the
ual OM If he wa nts to have an " voice of conscience" for the ad-
Special Benefits : The samu- oriental-based demihu man cul- ventu rin g party. asking why, if
rai a nd ronin are able to focus tu re wit h a sam urai warrior the other characters a re s up-
their vital e nergies to increase class. Such a thing is perhaps
(heir Stre ngt h score-te rn · mos t visua lly app ro priate to posed to be so much more civi-
porarlly. Once per day per ex pe· elves a nd ha lf-elves , but a DM
r le nce leve l. w e sam urai or could allow it 10 any deOl ihu - lized tha n hIs awn people , their
roni n can Increase his Strength man race In his campa ign. honor and ethics seem to drag
to ISh>o. This lasts fo r one full so far behind? But for the most
Note: Players a nd DMs Wishing part. he's a role-playing cha l-
round , and m ust be preced ed by to have: more game-oriemed In- le nge, and s hould be c hosen
a loud k ia/ s hout (making It im· fonnaUon on the samurai should only by pla ye rs willing to devote
possible for h im 10 s ummon this rea d Oriemal Ad ventures. a n the extra effort to portraying
strength silenUy or stealthJly). AD&.D game supplement deal- someone fro m s uch a different
For tha t one round, a ll his hit ing exclUSively \vitb the topiC of culture . .. a nd how tha t char-
p robabi lity. da mage a djus t- eastern campaigns. Your OM may acter reacts with the other PCS'
ment . weight a llowa nce, maxi- adapt anything he chooses to use culture. This is a n opportunity
mum press. ope n doors. and fro m tha t supplement to AD&lY' for a 10l of humor a nd not a little
be nd ba rs/11ft gates rolls a nd 2nd Edition game rules and sta- traged y in a cam paign ... but
tistics. The: sam urai presented only If lhe player is willing to go
fun c tio ns are calcula ted as lf hJs here is a simplified version of the to that effort.
OA samurai.
Strength were 18/00. Secondary Skills : The Sav-
Special Hindrances: The Savage age character should have
Fis he r, Forester. Hu nte r. o r
samurai a nd ronln have diffe r- Des cription: The Savage Is a TtapperlF'urrier as his Second-
e nt s pec ial hin d ran ces. Th e tribesma n, technologica lly a nd ary Skill (player choice)_
sam urai is (supposed to be) a b- c ull uraJly far more prim itive
sol utely devoted to his lord . He than even the Barba rian an d Wea pon Proficiencies: The
is expected Instamly to obey Berserker, who is very much in OM should define a set of wea p-
every one of his lord's orders. up tune wit h the na tural world . ons whic h the PC can choose his
to a nd includ ing kUling himself begin ning weapon proOclencies
or those he loves. lf be refuses to ASavage ca n be a n honorable from. A typical set. for classic
obey an order, he is dishonored Jungle vlne-s\vinger raised by " noble savages" ; blowg un . long
a nd is expected to kill himself. animals. a ve ry dirty and pri ml- bow , short bow , c lub. dagger.
(I f he does no t. he becom es Uvc warrior who lives in mud- Jave.li n. knlre. sling. spear. The
ronln.) The DM s hould ma ke wa ttle huts and fig hts with bone character mus t make his first-
sure that m e samura i Is acutely wea pons, a brea th takingly level wea pon proOclencies selec-
a ware of this by having his lord tlons from these choices. Once
occasionally issue orders which he begins play a nd begins ad-
are d ifficult for him to keep.
This doesn' t a lways have to be
" KI\! a ll of your allies," but the
lord can issue orders which in-
te rfere with the samurai's per-
sona! goals and rem ind hIm that

3Z

\IfWarrior Kits
•

venturing in th e outcr world. he to four of the weapons listed un· JU Si 10 s tay a li ve than other
may learn any other weapon. of der "New Savage Weapons" In charac ters. Anolher. substan-
course . . . bu t it's bett.er role- the Equipmenl chapter. He may tlal. benent the Savage receives
playing If he prefers to stick to assemble an equipment list of is this: He has a special a bUity.
the weapons of his tribe. up to len additional ilems, sub·
jectto the DM's a pprova l. which resembling a s pell . which he
Nonweapon Proficiencics: he wtll have accu mula ted duro
Bonus Proficiencies: (General) Ing his years with the tribe: they may use once per day per expe·
Direction Scnse. Wealher Se nse. must be items which members rience level he has (I .e.. a 5th-
of a savage tribe cou ld have level savage could use his ability
(Warrior) Endurance. Survival. made (things s uch as pouches, fiv e times per day).
clothing. food. rope. fishing
Recommended : (Ge ner al) Ani- gear. sheathes for weapons, and The special ability must be
mal Handling. Animal Tt-alnlng. so forth-no mirrors. lanterns. chosen from the list below. must
Fire-Bui lding. Fishi ng. Riding iron cooking pots, and the like. ) be chose n when the character is
With the OM's permission , If the first created. a nd may never be
(Land·based). Rope Use. Swim- tribe is a rlver·tribe or a riding c ha nged. The speCial ability is
ming. [Warrior) Animal Lore. tribe. he may have cUher a rid- not trul y magiC. and De tect
ing horse (w ith saddle·blanke t. magic will not d etect it; ilis an
Bo wyer/Fletche r. Hun ting, halter. bit and bridle) or a small ability natural to the Savage. It
Mountaineering. Running. Set does n Ol require verbal. SQ-
Snares. 1facklng. (Priest . dou- canoe. matlc. or materia l components.
ble slots unless Paladin) Heal· Special Benefits: One of the even If such are required from
the normal spell.
ing. Herbalism. Local History. Savage's special benents Is that
Religion. (Rogue. double s lots) he rece ives more bonus non· The list:
Jumping. Tightrope Walking. weapon proflciencies than any ( 1) Alarm (Wizard l Sl Level).
ThmhUng. (Wizard. double s lots other type of warrior-
u nless Ranger) Herbalism , Reli- testimony to the fact that the Special effects: This Is only usa·
gion. Savage must know more s kills ble by lhe Savage when he Is
resting OT sleeping in a quiet
Equipment: The Savage gets p lace. The ability does not
nogo\d (O gp) with which to pur · sound an a la nn like the spell : it
chase his weapons and equjp-
mem, Instead, he may take up

33

~ll, Warrior Kits

mere ly alerts t he Savage to in- wearin g any sort of clOIhing then escaped? What is he. a Sav-
trusion (If he is already awake) more cumbersome a nd conceal- age or a Gladiator?"
or awakens him (if he Is asleep).
Ing than his normal tribal dress. Tha t's up to you to answer. Ir
It Is not cast upon a particular he s ulTers a -I to all altack. he sti li considers h im self a
place; II aierls him to activity damage and non weapon profi· member of his tribe and has not
clency rolls: he's uncomforta- been distanced from It by his
within 10 fee t afme place where ble. and It's alTecling his actions ca pture a nd training. take the
he lies {as jf he were allhe center and reactions. Savage Warrior Kit: perhaps
of the 20'[001 cu be of effect of vour OM will allow you to use
Likewise. he can wea r any some of your proficlcncles to
the actual spell). type of amlOr. but Is so uncom· learn weapons a nd skills appro·
(2) Deleei Magic (Wi7.ard 1st fortable In Jt [hat he will suffer a priate to Cladiators. Likewise, If
- 3 to all a ttack, damage. a nd the char acter is now more ur·
Level). SpeciaJ effects: Thjs re- nonweapon proficiency rolls ban than savage. build him with
flects t.he fact that the Savage Is whlle wearing any sort of armor the Gladia tor Warrior Kit ... but
at all. If a player blatantly de- have him use SOme of his profl-
in tune wah natur e and can feel cides not to role-play his c harac- ciencies on Savage sk ill s a nd
ter's dislike ofarmor and Simply weapons.
whe n there is something unnat- wcars armor conti nually. ac-
ural (i .c.. magical) In the alr. Un- cepting tha t negative mod mer. The same son of theory ap-
less the Savage is also a Ranger. [he OM shou ld gra dually In · plies If you 're creating a ny char·
he cannol detenninc the type of crease the modifier; - 3 In one acter with a complicated
play-session, - 4 in the nex t. -5 bac kground: A Barbaria n youth
magic present (I.e.. alteration, in the nex t, and so on ... with brought up In the trad it ions or a
no limit. Ir the player asks why Samurai. an Amazon lass who
conjuration. etc.). this Is ha ppening, the OM need has grown u p to be a Knight (No-
merely reply that the character ble \Vamor). a Pirate boy wh o
(3) Animal Fnendship (Priest is growing more and morc un· gave up the seas and took to be-
comfortable in his unna tu ral ing a big-cUy Swashbuckler. De-
l SI Level). Special elTects: This trappIngs and finding It harder cidc which Warrior Kit the
ability can only make frie nds of and ha rder to concentrate on characte r considers himself to
an animal which Is not angry or the job at hand. belong to. create him with thai
threate ned. It can be used to Kit . a nd usc some of your proO-
make an angry or lhrealc ned Wealth Options: The Savage clencies to buy weapon s-
animal calm. To make frie nds StanS out whh no gold. He gets knowledge and sk ills pertaining
with an angry or threatened ani- his start.l.ng weapons as described to the other K it.
mal. therefore. the Savage must above. under Equipment After
be able to use the ability twice the campaign starts. the charac· Swashbuckler
that day (i.e__ he must be of 2nd ter w!ll Inevitably come across
the conceptS of money : it's up to Descri pti on: The Swash -
level or higher) and must have the plaver how he reacts to them buc kler Is the sophisticated,
two uses left. 1b use the abili ty. (he coU"ld either like the idea and witly. lightly arm ed and ar-
the Savage must confront the try 10 accumulate the SLuff as his mored hero in a sophisticated
animaL face to face. at no fur· allies do, or put It down to civi- City-based campaign-a la The
ther away than the limits of the lized coITUption and stay away Three Musketeers. Hc's fully ca·
anlmal's attack range. As wlln from It). pable of putting on heavy ar-
the spell . the Savage must actu- mor. picking up a bastard
ally have no ulterior motlvcs. for Races: Mosl role-playing cam- sword. and soldiering a longSide
such w ill be detectcd by the ani- palgns tend to think oflhe deml· other lank warriors . . . but he
mal. and th e abllity wHl fall . huma ns as being more civ ilized shines in com parison whe n the
and cultured than humans. but heroes are adventuring in the
(4) Deleel e" i/ (Pries t 1st It's perfectly all right to have city. in light armor a nd with
Savage dwarves. elves. gnomes. Ught weapons.
Level)_ Special effects: this Is half-elves, and even halfllngs in
like the De tect Magic abllHy. your cam paJgn if [he DM wishes To be a Swashbuckler, a c har-
above . Like the Priest spell. this the m to be there. acter must have an Intelligence
Detect Evtl cannot detec t evil In and Dexterity of 13 or better.
a PC- only in a monSler. place. Not e: "But." you say. "w hat If
or magical Item. my character grew up In a Sav· Role: In a campaign, the
age tribe and was la ter enslaved Swashbuckler is the happy-go-
The OM can dIsallow any of and trained as a GladIator and
llle four abilities given above. or
IntroduCe new ones- though he
can't add anything that resem-
bles a magical spell above Jst

level.
Special Hindrances : The

Savage has some drawbac ks.
too. He Is uncomfortable In civi-
lIzed clothes and a nnor-When

34

.\11-Warrior Kits

luck" hero with the ready wil which he has s pecialized, but dress, wielding a narrow blade.
and ' the nashlng rapier.· He's except fo r tha t limitation may will work fine as a Swashbuck-
spend hi s gold precisely as he ler. especia lly elves. half-elves
happiest when he's in the big pleases. and halnlngs . Dwarves and
city. but ca n be an imposing gnomes are not entirely ina p-
warrior anywh ere- enemies of· Special Benefits: The Swas h- propriate. but are likely to have
ten undcreslimale him because buckle r has th ree special bene- to defe nd th e m se lves from
of his charming manners and fits. First. whe n us ing up his plenty of jokes a t the expense of
Nonweapon Proficiency s lots. their c uriou s looks.
don't realize that he can plate on he doesn't have to devote dou -
ble the normal number of slots Wilderness Warrior
annar and w ield hea\'y weapons when choosi ng Rogue proficien·
cies. Second , when he's weari ng Description: This hero repre-
as well a s a n yo ne e lse. T he l!ght or no annor {I.e.. no armor, sents some tribe (either civilized
Swashbuc kl e r. beca use he's lea lhe r armor. or padded a r- or barbarian) living In a danger-
ma rl, he rece ives a -2 bonus to ous, th rea te nin g, or unusual
brigh t an d well-spoken . ohen his AC (tha t is. a n AC of 7 would wilderness environment-such
becomes party leader ... or a t as the desert. dee p In swamp
least the leader's spokesman. become a 5): he's so nimble that territory, in the frozen North ,
LUcked away In the jungle or
Secondary Skills: The he's very hard to hit . Third_ the rroplcal rain forest or In dis tant
Swashbuckler Is such a roman- mountalns.
Swashbu ckler ca n choose h is t ic fi gure thaI he al ways re-
ceives a +2 adjustment on his The Wilderness Wa rrior Is dif-
ow n Seco nd a ry Sk il l. Good reaction roll from NPC mem bers ferent from the Barbarian. He's
c h Oices in clude: Navigator (If of the opposite sex. not a utomatically a m enacing
fi gure whe n travelling a round in
h e's in wlLh a ba nd o[pirates. es- Special Hindrances: Thouble the campalgn's nornlal society;
seeks out th e Swas hbuck ler. he's j us t exotic and unus ual He
p eC iall y)' Gamble r . Jewe ler. This is somet hing that the OM can be vcry cultured and civi-
will have to play very carefully if lized, but. coming as he does
Scribe. and Wcaponsmlth. the Swashbuckler Is to be as from a di ffere nt c ulture, will
Weapon Profici e ncies: Th e hin de red as all the othcr Warrior have differe nt a tt!tudes from the
Kits_ Whe n there's a not her oth er pl ayer-c harac ters on
Swashbuckler receives IwO ex- Swashb uc kle r a round. Inte nt ma ny subjec ts.
on prov ing that he's the bes t
l ra wcapo n proficiency s lots swords man In the world _iI 'S the For example. a desert nomad
PC Swash buckle r he scn les c ha rac te r may be m erely of-
wh ic h must be devo ted 10 upon and challenges. When a fe nded al the theft of his prop-
cen al n young lady is being pur- erty but be outraged by (and
weapon proficiency with one of sued by the klng's guards. who demand the dea th penaJty for)
t he fo llowi ng weapons: sti- a rc Inte nt on stoppi ng he r fro m theft of his wat er; he may be-
letto · , main-gauche- , rapier ", revealing secrets In her posses- lieve tha t women should Slay in
a nd sabre ". (The" ' " sym bol de- sion. it is the Swashbuckler s he cam p a nd leave fighting to the
notes new weapons to be fo und stumbles across when fi eeing. m en (a n opinion he wJII find
In th e Equipm em c ha pter.) When a prince is 100 drunk to at- himself qu ickl y djsabused from
Throughout his career. he must tend his own coronation, mirac· whe n In the outer world): he
devote half of his wea pon profi · ulously he looks just like the may feel the need to pros tra te
clency slots \.0 those fo ur weap- Swas hbuckler. Life conspires to him self whe never he passes the
ons. Once he has achieved make thin gs dlffi c uil for the ch urch or lemple of the deity he
specializa tion in all fo ur of those Swashb uckl er, a nd th e OM worships: and so on.
weapons. he may freely c hoose s ho uld always throw Just a lill ie
where the rest of his weapon more good-natured bad luck at The playe r decidcs (with OM 's
proficiency slots go. lh at Warrior Kit than a t a ny perm ission) what son of tribe
and environment th e Wilder-
Nonweapon Proficiencies: other. ness Wa rrior comes from . Then ,
Bonus Proficle ncles: (Ge ne ra\) Wealth Options: The Swash- working With the OM , he mus t
Etlque ttc. (Rogue) Thmbling. determine what sort of unusual
Recom mended: (Genera\) Artis· buckler receives the standa rd be liefs and c ustoms !.he charac-
tic AbIlity. Da ncing, Heraldry. 5d4x 10 gp starling money allot- te r and h is tribe possess. He
La nguages (Mode rn). Ri ding
(Land-Based ). Seamans hip , ment
(Warrior) Blind-Fighting, Cam- Races: Any demihuman
ing. (Priesr. double s lors unless
Palad in) Musical InsLrume nt, who'd look elegant In foppis h
Reading/Writi ng, (Rogue) Ap-
praisi ng, Disguise. Forge ry,
Juggling. MUSical Instrument.
Tightrope Walking. (Wi za rd.
doub le s lots unless Ranger)
Reading/Wri ting.

Equipment: The Swashbuck-
ler m usr buy the weapon In

35

stll Warrior Kits
•

may later abandon a fe w of starting gold on items appropri· Recording Kits on the
th ese beliefs In the ou ler world, ate to his culture. For example.
the desert nomad couldn ' t buy Character 'Sheet
but should not abandon m ost of a ny armor at all with his start·
Inggold . while lhe a rellc warrior The character
them : they a rc pa rt of what could only have leather or hide record sheet presented in the
annor. (Of course. if lhc DM de- Charac ler CreaL/on chapter has
makes h i m unique in the cam · termines lhal his is a trading blanks for a ll of the benents.
culture. hc could have access to hindrances. and other notes
palgn . goods from all ovcr the world.I ge nerated wh en a charac ter
1b be a Wilderness Warrior. The Wilderness Warrior doesn'r takes a Warrior kit.
have to spend all his starting
the character m ust have a Con- gold before e nteri ng play. Once Warrior Kits and
he begins play. lhere are no reo
sUtution score ofatlcast 13. s trlclions on what sorts of Multl'Oass Characters
Role: In a campaign. like the equipment he may buy.
These Wa rrior
Barbarian a nd Savage. the Wil· Special Benefits: The Wilder· Kits arc designed to add depth
d erness Warrior is the "outsid- ness Warrior gets a speCial bo- to a warrior-('Iass character. But
nus of +5 to his Surviva l if lhe character Is a lready mulL!-
er's voice" who questions all the profic iency roll . This on ly ap- class (for example. a n e lf fi ghter-
plies to the Survival proficiency magel . he doesn't n eed any
stra nge quirks and discrepan- pertaining to e nvironme nts like more depth . Therefore. only
cies In th e player-characte rs' thaI of his origi n : If he later slngle-class warriors can take
culture. He's also an opportu- takes a second Survival pron· o nc of the Warrior Kit s de·
ciency for anothe r type of terri- scribed above.
nilY for some comic-relief ad- lOry, t.he bonus doesn't count
However. wllh your DM's per-
\' ent ures. when he misin- toward it. mission. there's no reason why
Special Hindrances: The WiI · a mulU-class warrior can ' t use
terprets some aspect of lhe soci- his weapon and non weapon pro·
ety and It leads him into confu- de rness Warrio r. in his early ficien cy c hoices to simulate onc
sion a nd tro uble. More years. is occasiona lly hindered of the KHs .. . and. again Wilh
Importa mly, the DM should a r· by his unfamUiarity wi th the OM permiSSion . the characters
range for the occasional adven- player-cha racters' society, but
ture to take place In lands like this Is a role· playing cons ide r· possessing that Warrior Kit pan
lhose of his birth. so lhat he can a tio n: the OM must occasionally
e nforce it umi l he belicvcs the consider him "one of their own"
dem onstrate his skllls In that c harac ter Is sufnclem Iy familiar wllhln the conlext of the cam-
wllh the usual culture. pai g n .
enviro nment.
Secondary Skills: If you 're Wealth Options: The Wilder- For exa mple. let us say that
ness Warrior gets the usual 5d4 your campaign features an el·
using the Secondary Skil ls x 10 gp In s tarling gold . vish Amazon tribe and you
rules. the Wilderness Wa rrio r want to play an elf fighterlLhlef
may choose his skill from the Races: Th is is a very a ppro- who be longs to that Amazon
fo llowing list: Fis her. Forester. priate Warrior Kit fo r de mihu· lrlbe.
Hunter. Sailor. 1fapperfFurrier. man warriors. and the OM may
wlsh to create some unusual de- Build her this way: Have her
Weapon Proficiencies: The mlhuman lri bes 10 showcase it. take S pear and Long Bow
Wilde rness Warrior may spend For example, everyone would Weapon Profi clenc ics. For her
his Weapon ProOciencies any e xpcct Dwa rve n Wilderness Nonweapon Profic le nc ies. have
way he pleases. The OM may in· Warriors from the mountains. her take Riding (Land-Based)
Elf and Gnome Wilderness War- a nd Animal Training (she
s ist lhat he spend one or two o n riors from the tropical raJn for- doesn 'r gel e ither of these for
est. etc. But what about Desert frcc , like the "real" Amazon. but
weapons appropriate to his cu l- Dwarves? Arctic Elves? Swamp s he can still choose the ml. For
ture: A desert nomad should Gnomes? Mountain Halnings? her Equlpme nl. limit her to the
have Scimitar and Shon Com· Such unusual c hoices can add equipment choices of the Ama-
posite Bow, while a n arctic war- some color to a campaig n. zon .
rior should have Harpoon and
If you do aU lhls. and have
Spear. for Instance. your DM 's permission. wllhln
Nonweapon Proficiencies: the context of the campaign,

Bo nus Profic iencies: Surviva l
(In his naLive environmen t). En ·
durance. Recommended: Any
relating to Lbe land of his blrlh .
s uch as Animal Hand ling, An i·
mal Training. Da ncing (his c ui ·
tural dances). Fire-building,
Fis hing. Riding {Land-based),
Swimming, (WarriOr) Moumaln·
cering, Tracking.

Equipment: The Wilderness
Warrior m ay only spe nd hi s

3.

.\!f-Warrior Kits

your charac te r will be consld· character must be hired by (or. Greek mythology. for instance,
ered a n Amazon . That Is. s he alternatively, captured and en- the Amazon queen Antlope
comes from the Amazon tribe s laved by) an arena or fighting· abandoned her former nfe to
a nd th e other Amazons con· s table owner, trained, and plued stay with King Theseus of Ath -
sider her to be a shleld ·slsler against other Gladiators. The e ns ... and s he later died fight·
a nd one of their own. lbu know, ot he r characters In the cam- Ing her form er countrywomen
a nd the OM knows. that she paign could also be entering the when they came after her.)
doesn't ha ve aJ t the special ben- gladiatorial arena, or the OM
efits of the Amazon Warrior Kit. could contrive things so thal the Once the character abandons
And lhe OM Is within his rights current adventure involves his kit. he also abandons all the
to assign the character the spe- gladiatorial elements and still s pecial benefits and hindrances
cial hindrances of the Amazon- get all the PCS Involved . It provides. Often, those benefits
after all, you 'vechosen for her to included free Nonweapon Prof]·
be Identified with a race of peo- lb better simula te the waH in- c iencles or Weapon Proflclen·
ple with those hindrances. But volved for the character to learn c ics. The character doesn't lose
to a ll outward eyes. s he Is Indis- his new trade, the OM Is within lhose, but he must pay for them
tinguishable (rom any other cl- his rights to insist that the c har· from lhe next free s lots he has
vlsh Amazon. acter not receive his Warrior Kit available to him.
until he's reached second e xpe-
Warrior Kits and · rience level In his new class. The character may not take
another Warrior Kit to replace
Dual·Class Characters Abandoning A Kit the one he's abandoned. Once
he gives up his Warrior Kit. he's
Th e same Is Sometimes Il a n ordinary Fighter, PaladIn. or
not true of duaJ-class ch arac- happens that a character Is cre- Ranger for the rest orhls playing
ters. ated with a Warrior Kit and cir· life ,
cumstances la ter force him to
If a character starts off as a reconsider his character's role. Modifying The Kits
warr1Q"f. he may take any of the For exam ple, a Noble Warrior
Warrior Kits above. If. la ter. he could become disgusted with The OM can ,
decides to change classes ac- the corruption and excesses of and s hould. modlfy the Kits pre·
cording La th e normal Dual- his class and decide to renounce sented above to represent his
Class Benefits a nd Restrictions his Lies to the nobility, Or, a Sav- own campaJgn setting more ac·
rules. he doesn't lose any of the age could become Increasingly c u r a t ely.
benefits or hi ndrances of the Kit comfortable with the c ivilized
he chose: he is sUII that sort of world and Increasingly uncom- For example, If there are no
fighter. If ilial second character fortable with his savage kin . In Amazons In his world , he
class also has a range of Kits s uch a case. the player s hould s hould disallow th e Amazon
'avaUable to It. h e m ay no! think about abandon ing the Kit. If Gladiators are all chosen
choose a new, addilionaJ KIt. Warrior Kit. from the ranks of savages de·
splsed tn the civilized land , he
If a cha racte r starts off as 1b abandon the kit, the player should modify the Glad.iator
some other character class, does s hould privately tell the OM his hindrances to reflect the fact
not take on a Kit appropriate to Intentions. If the OM has no ob· that they have no respect in the
thal class, and then later Jectlons to the abandonme nt , campaign setting.
switches to one of the warrior then It will take place. Unless
classes, he can choose a Warrior th e c hoice for abandonment Creating New Kits.
Kit at that lime ... though the were brought on by a sudden,
OM may inslsllhat certain cam· traumatic event. the OM may Similarly, If
palgn events be accomplished have to have some time to work there's a special sort of warrior
In order to a llow him to do this. the abandonment into the s tory- that the OM would like to have
li ne. Often . In th e story, th e in his world. he can design a
For instance. let's say tha t a character doing the abandoning new Warrior Kit for tha t warrior.
human mage decides, later in will have to role-play out the sit-
life. to become a f ighter, and he uation: Publicly renounce his 1b design a Warrior KIt. you
wants to be a Gladiator. Well, ties with lhe others of his Wa r· must answer the following ques·
there's noth ing wrong with tha t. rlor Kit, and then suITer any con· tions about the warrior and his
But the OM should Insist tha t sequences that might arise. (In role In your campaign .
the next several adventures deal
with that rransfonnallon. The Description: Wh at is this
warrior? What literary. mytho·
logical, or historical source is he

37

"11 Warrior Kits
•

drawn from? What speciaJ re- free to the character, that Ing throws. or the magiC is a ula-
q uirements are there Ifa charac- doesn 't maner.) maUcally successful): and
ter wishes to be one?
Equipment: I( a Warrior Kit Is Special restrictions in the cul -
Role: What Is this warrior to best-known (or having specific tu re in which the characters
typesofequl pme nl. require tha t travel (for example, not being
be In t he campaign? How does the warrior have such equip- able to o wn property or get mar·
ment whe n the campaign be- rled, or excessive punishm ents
his culture look at him? How do gins. If many examples. but not for specific crimes).
a n ove rwhelming maJority, of
oLher cultures look a t him? Is this sort o( Warrior seem to pre- Wealth Options: [f the War·
Lhere a specia l SOrt of outlook he fer a specinc type of eqUipme nt. rlor Kit has a ny restrictions or
needs to have to belong to this simply lis t it among the types of benefits In the awardi ng of his
Warrior Kit? And wha t does this equipment the Warrior Kit rcc· starting gold . or In the ways he
ommends. can spend It. notc the m here,
warrior Le nd to do in a
ca mpaign - lead mi ghty na- Special Benefits: Every War- Races: If the re are variations
rior Kit s hould have some spe· to the Kit based on the charac-
tions? brutalize and betray his cla l benefit. Il's up to you to ter's race, note them here. Some
allies? upset the delicate bal- choose what thal benefit is, but races can't lake a specific Kit:
ance of political strategies? have It should fit In with the way this some will have diffe rent profi-
a good lime without making wa rrior appea rs 10 fu nc tion In clencics. benefi ts and h ln·
waves? ficLlon , mythlore or wherever he d ra nces attached to them.
comes from . Types of benefits
Secondary Skills: If you 're Includ e: Notes: If you have any add l·
USing the Secondary Skil ls tlo nal notcs about the Wa rrior
rules. you need to determine if Bonuses to reaction rolls. es- Kit perllnent to your campaign
pecially (rom certain categories (such as which players you 'd
this Warrior Kit requires such a ofpeopie: prefer for specific Kits, for exam-
skill. If no one secondary skill ple), put the m here.
Bonuses to hit andlor dam-
should be common to all war- age, espeCially against certain Additionally, you could crea te
n ors of this type. then don ' t re- categories of enem ies, or In sp<=, Kits for other classes than War·
clal circumsta nces: rlor. or adaptlhe existing Ki ts to
quire a secondary skill. But. If the other th rough tinkering
a ll members of a Warnor KH A free weapon specialization: wllh the s kUls, proficienc les,
seem to have this skJ ll. w e n you Resistance (Im munity or a boo benefits, a nd hindrances. There
should req uire It of all who take nus to saving throws) against could easily be Rouge Swash·
specific types of magiC: bucklers or Barbarian Priests,
this Kit. Special rights In the cultu re In for example.
Weapon Proficiencies: which the c haracters normally
travel (fo r example, immunity The Wanlor Kit Crcatlo'n She'et
Many Warrior KI ts seem to grav- from prosecution fo r certai n al-
Itate toward speciOc weapon leged crimes , or the righ t [0 de- On page 124 Is
types. Knights lean to swords mand sheller): and so on. the Warrior Kit Design Shee t. If
a nd lances : Merry Men ofthe (or- Specia l Hindrances: You you wish to design a new War-
est prefer the lo ngbow. U the should also provide a special rior Kit just photocopy the
warrior you're simulating hindrance (or hindrances) sheet and design your new Kit
seems [ 0 prefer one or two weap- w hic h limit the cha rac te r as upon It. Whe n you're s hOWing
ons above all o thers. the n. In much as his be nefits help him . the Warrior Kits above to your
this Kit. you require them to Such hindrances can include: players . a lso include the new
lake the proficie ncies for those Mi nuses to reaction rolls. es· Warrio r Kits you've designed.
weapons. peclally (rom certain types of

Nonweapon Profi ciencies: people:
Most Warrior Kits, again, seem Minuses to hit andlor damage,
to have certain s kills in com-
mon , It would be s illy to have a especially agai ns t certain cate-
Noble Warrior witho ut Eti-
quette. (or Insta nce. So you may gories of enemies:
assign up to two profic ie ncy Inability to lea rn speCifi c
s lots to be gh'cn free to the char-
acter. If it's appropriate , the pro- weapon or nonweapon profi·
flclencles may come (rom
listings not appropria te to clenc ies:
warriors-the Priest. Rogue, Vulnerability to specific sorts
a nd Wizard listings. (Though
normally the cost In slots for of magiC(either a minus to sav-
s uch proHclencles doubles,
since they are here being given

38

The AD&D" game is n 't a ll Character Description: altitude. The Brash Youth is
combat and magic. and soa war· These paragraphs ta lk abou t casy prey for fast-talkers and
rior doesn 't have to be Just a col· the character's attit udes and con men, suggests straightfor-
lection of n um be rs wh ich motivations. and how the char· ward a nd foolish plans s ure to
responds to silualions by kUling acter tends to act and interact In gel lhe party captured or killed,
everylhing in sight and collect· a normal campaign. admires m ore experienced war·
IngcoIns. No. there's much more riors without questioning their
to role·playlng than that. and Best Suited For: These para·
this chapter is devoted to role· graphs talk abou t the align· motives. and can be quite a
playing the warrior character. m e nts fo r whi ch this per· menace to himself unless taken
sonallty type is best suited . and in hand by a more experienced
Wa"lor Personalities about lhe Warrior Kits (from the ad venturer.
last chapter) for which the per·
There's a mis· sonallty is best suited . It 's possl· Inevitably. a Brash Youth
co nccplion that warrio rs are bl e to com e u p with a good character has to "wise up"-to
JUSI square. solid guys who do rationale for why a character of lose some of his preconceptions
the physical work In a fight: tha t a s pecInc personality type and naivete. If this doesn 't hap·
rogues arc the clever ones who s hould have a n 31lgnment that pen naturally In the course of a
do a1l the conniving a nd trick· doesn't (at first glance) seem a p· campaign . th e OM s hould de-
Ing: that wizards are awesome, proprla te for that personality s ign an adventure around the
impersona l Inte lligence dedi· type. so lhcre is absolutely no Bra s h Yout h . a n ad venture
cated solely to th eir m agical firm alignment restr/cLion when where he's confronted with the
studies: that priests are only In · you 're choosing pcrsonaliLies.
terested In the advancement of However, lhe recomm endations consequences of his brashness.
one's spiri tual tearn ing. made for appropriate choices For instance, a con ndence man
are good enough for most char·
While th at's a simplificatio n acters, so keep the m In mind. could trick lhe Youth into acci-
co nvenlenl for firs t·time players dentally betraying his a llies: or,
of the game. more experienced [n Combat Situations: These a Yout.h ·s plan cou ld go horribly
player~ may deslre to add de pth paragraphs ta lk about how the awry and seriously or critically
to their characters by providing character reacts In combat s itu- endanger his friends: or. a hero
more de tail 1.0 thelr characters' ations. Not all warriors unstrap
persona lit ies: Deciding how their swords and wade in swing- pa rti cula rly a dmired by the
they react In certain s ituations. ing: some approac h battle sltua· Youth could tum out to be far
how they re late to other charac· tlons m ore s low ly. m ore less admirable than the Youth
tcrs. and so fort h. cleverly. or more aggressively. has always thought.

Expe ri e nced rol e·playe rs . In Role-Playing Situations: When this happens. the char-
those who already do this. These paragraphs talk about acter must stop being a Bras h
should ski p down to the head· the character's ge neral reac · Youth a nd choose some other
line reading "The Warrior Cam· tions to NPCs In role-playing sit· personality type. By now. he
palgn:' Beginning role·players uations: you can use lhem as should have been playing long
should continue from here. ge neral gUidelines for your enough that th e player will
character'S role·playlng conver· know what sort of personality
In the first part ofmIs Chapter. sations and other such encoun· that is: alternatively. the events
wc'll be talking about Warrior ters. that shock him out of being a
Personalities. describing a few Brash Youth could affect him se·
types of heroes common to fic- The BrASh Youth riously enough lhat lhis event
lion a nd mythology. Read each chooses his new personality for
description . think about Character him (thiS results In such person·
whether the descripllon com es Description : Thlsc haracter has allties as a disillusioned Crude
close to matching your concep· Jus t recently become an adven- Crusher or a hostile Dangerous
lion about your character's per· turer. and he doesn't have much Antagonis t).
sonality. and If it does, try to experie nce or common sense
utilize that descri ption's advice .. . meaning that he gets In lrOU' Best Suited For: In terms of
when role-playing and making ble. and leads his companions a lignment , the Brash Youth is
decisions fo r your character. Into trouble. quite often. There· best suited to the fu ll range of
fore. you should only choose a Good and Neutr31 alignme nts
Each person31lty In this chap· Brash )'b uth personality when (LiG. LIN. N/G. N. ClG elN). Evil
Icr will be described in the fol· you 're wJlling to role-play £his
lowin g way: characters aren'l suited to being
naJve and trusting. In terms of
Warrior Kits, the Brash Youth Is
admirably s uited to 311of them!
The only kit that might give you

39

a problem Is that of the Sarnu- find his youthfu lness channing. comfortably coarse as the Crude
raj, but U's possible (0 play an but may also nnd him exasper- Crusher is. T he Samurai and
ating because he's a lways get- Swashbuckler tend to be too
Inexperienced and eager Sam u- ting Into trouble. cultu red for this perso nality
rai struggling to keep his enthu- type. The Cavalier can 't take the
siasm from showing beneath The Crude Crusher Crude Crus her personality.
the venee r of eastern detach-
mcnt; this is an especially good Charac t e r In Combat Situations: The
choice In an all-sam ural cam- Description : The Crude Crude Crusher Is a brawler. He
paign, where one character Is Crusher Is a rude, boisterous, prefers one-on-one combats and
the brash young warrior Im er- belching. physical sort of char- fights dlny. doing whate ver It
acting with more experienced acter, He may be very clever, but takes to win a fight. He nghts ex-
and sceUed samurai_ he prefers forc e to trickery or actly as he chooses. and mayor
pers uasion-it fee ls good to may nOt follow the team plan, In
In Combat Situations: The pound people. He doesn 't Hke combat. he's si ngle-m inded and
Brash Youth is likely Just to proper m anners. cou rt eti- effective.
charge up to a foe and begin quette. literature and poetry. or
pounding away, unless that foe haughtiness. He has very coarse In Role-Playing Sit ua tion s:
is 50 big a nd scary that even the and common customs ... al- The Crude Crus her can be a lot
most foolish youth wUl be afraid lhough he could be of high birth of fun to play. because he says
of it, He 's very likely to take (nothing says a hlgh ·bom war- whatever he wants whenever he
combat orders from his friends, rior mUSl be clean , virtuous, wa nts. His crude remarks scan-
however, so It's easy for one and polite. afterallJ. Put him in a dalize more renned characters.
wiser warrior to keep him from lavern ..... ilh a crowd of noisy He's likely to antagonize his
kUlIng himself through bad tac- table-banging drinkers, where "bette rs" in conversation, ei-
tics. It's often a good. Idea for the the drinks pour freely and the ther aCCidentally or (more prob-
party to make the Brash Youth occasional brawl grinds furni· ably) deliberately, and lhis can
one of their deSignated archers, ture Into sawdust. and he's spoil pa rty negotiat ions a n d
happy. muck up the party's plans. How-
because it usually keeps him ever. none of this means that the
out of direct hand-ta-ha nd com- Best Suited For: In tenns of Crude Crus her can't be 10y31.
bat until he has wised up, alignment. the Crude Crusher courageous, compete nt a nd
can belong to any of them. If powerful. 50 adventuring par-
The Brash Youth can learn he's Lawful, he's sHU operates ties aren't likely to kick him out
from his experiences, on a case- by a code of behavior that others because of his mouth: but
by-case basis. After he's been can observe and count upon they're usually exasperated by
hammered by a troll. he can be (even Ifhe Is a social m lsnt): and his attitudes.
more cautious with the next If he's Good. he's not going to
troll or troll·like monste r he take the things he wa nts (by The Dangerous Antagonist
e ncounters, But he' ll be Just as force ) from thosc who own
brash with a monster unlike thc them . For th ese reasons, a C ha r a c te r
others he's encountered .. . Lawful/Good Crude Crush er Description: This character is a
Isn 't likely to have a lot of fun. In hero wllh an attitude problem .
In Role-Playing Situa tions: terms of Warrior Kits. the Crude He-s grim and humorless. and
The Brash Youth gets along with Crusher is we ll -suited to the neve r fights Just to give some·
everybody untU such time as Barbarian. Beast-Ride r. Ber- one a drubbing-he nghts to
the other person Insults one of serker, Gladiator, Peasant Hero. kill . He's driven by some power·
his frie nds. challenges one of his Plrate/OuUaw. Savage, and WU- ful. unsy mpathetic motivation:
preconceptions. or betrays him . derness Warrio r. A Crude A desire fo r revenge, ove r-
Even then. he' II simply be furi - Crusher Noble Warrior will 31· whelming desire for a posses-
ous and willing to nghl or op- ways suITer the reaction penal- sion. or even a near-psychotic
pose the other fellow: to be truly ties given to Noble Warriors who desire just to be left 31one. He
vengeful requires that the Youth don't Uve according to their 50- must be carefully played 50 that
go through his personali ty clal stations (see the description there actually is a reason fo r
change and take on a new per- of the Noble Warrior from the h im to accompany the other
sonality. last chapter for more on this). player-characters. and the OM
Amazons are usually too up- may need to remind his player
The Brash Youth should be tight In male societies to be as occasionally that he can have
played as ellher hesitant and fri ends and loyalties. even If he
nen-oos in new situations. or ea-
ger to throw hImself into such
situations-he's never bored or
Indifferent. Other characters

40

prefers to conceal that fact be- there's a practical reason (or it The Doomed Charnp.lon
hind hard-bluen mannerisms UuS t being merciful and hu-
and an evil temper_ Naturally, mane isn't good enough) . He Cha r acter
Description! This hero has
this personality type has few or can be a good combat tactician been afllicted with a curse or a
no romantic Inclinations or rela- (or the team. directing his allies prophecy that haunts him
tionships. to nght in the most deadly and throughout his life. He may
emclent manner possible; or. he have losl his One True Love and
Best Suited For: In terms of cou ld be a wade-right-In fighter been fated never to nnd her. He
alignment. the Dangerous An- who ven ts his hatred on his ene- may be doomed to bring misfor-
tagonist is appropriate for all of mies_ tune on anyone he cares about.
them. Different alignments re- He might be prophesied to die
s ult in dIfferent mOlh'ations: A In Role-Playing Situations: whenever certai n campa lgn-
LawfuVGood Dangerous Antag- This character genera lly related goals arc achieved . He
onist has been embittered by doesn ', do rOle-playing negotia- might be the last survivor of his
events in his life, while a race. doomed to die without Is-
Chaotic/Evil character is a soci- '0tions with NPCs. unless the PCs sue, so lhat the race dies with
him . When he's not ngh tlng for
opath , In terms of Warrior Kits. arc attempting intimidate or
most are appropriate: the usual frighten the NPCs. The Danger- his goals. this character Is su f-
exceptions are the Ca\'aJler and ous Antagon ist must be played fering. for this reason . yo u
Swash buckler. who tend to be carefully: many Dangerous An- shouldn ', play such a character
better-tempered characters. tagonist characters are merely unless yo u enjoy portraying
kHl -crazy nghters with overtn- that suffe ring. If you choose
In Combat Situations: The nated opLnlons of themselves. such a character (ype. you must
Da ngerous Antagonist nghts in a nd so it·s very easy when play- consult with your OM to dete r-
a smart and deadly fashion (un- Ing such a character to aggra- mine Just what son of curse af-
less he's a Berserker). He prefers vate the other players with his nlcts the charac ter-It's
a "Thke no prisoners!" allitude. prete ntiousness. In other absolu tely pointless to play a
but can allow himself to be over- words: Be menaci ng. but con-
ruled by his fri e nds. especlaJ ly if centrate that menace more on
th ey can pers uade h im that NPCs than your PC allies.

••

Doomed Cha mpion unless there Fate d Philosopher s: ChaoLic a lways in motion: he never
actually is a doom or curse a t c haracters arc se ldom that in- me rely gcslures whe n he can In-
work. trospective. T he Philosopher is stead make a nourish. never
equa lly suiled to Good. Neulral. walks wilen he can s tride, never
Best Suited For : Any align- and Evil charaClers. In terms of talks when he can orale.
m ent Is appropriate fo r t he Warrior Kits. the Philosopher Is
Doomed Champion. In terms of most admirably suiled to the Bes t Suited For: C haotic
Warrior Kits. most a re appropri- Samurai. He's appropriate to characters are a little be tter
ate, except for the essentially most of the other kits as well. ex·
cheery Swashbuckler. cept the Berserker. which Isn' t a suited to be Merr\' Show-oITs, as
very inlIospec live sori of hero.
[n Combat Situations: The they' re more spoillaneous tha n
Doomed Champion tends to In Combat Situations: Differ- lhe reasoned Lawful or cau tious
nght In an all-o ut. desperate- enl Fated Ph il osophers face Neu tra l characters . Howev er.
strength m ann er. He throws combat In different fa s hions. the re's no reslricllon on this.
himself fully Into a nght an d Some a re as lhoughtful In com-
seeks out the most dangerous bal as elsewhere. and take a Good. Neutral. and Evil c harac·
opponents. Either he's simply very analytical approach to ters can a ll be Merry Showolrs:
desperate [0 achieve his e nds combat: Striking where the The elega nt. dramati c. se lr-
and elude his curse. or he's un- need is grealest . evaluallng the centered. villainous lieu tenant
consciously seeking his own e nemy's strategy. and so fonh . is a classic example or an Ev il
death . He's therefore not good Others, knowing that lhey can- Merry ShowolT. In terms of War·
as a team tactician. On me other not forestall theIr fate. Jump Into rior Kits. th e Swas h bu c kl e r,
hand. his bravery is Inspira- the thic k of things and fig ht Gladiator. and Pirate/Ou tlaw
tional to other heroes and fol- with unrestrained hatlle·fury are besl su ited to this persona l·
lowers. so he's often ma de the (and. perhaps. Joy). The player Ity: the Amazon. Barbarian.
leader of war panics. He can be Is left to decide bow his Fa ted Berserker. and Samurai are
m erciful In combat. or kill aJi Ph ilosop her c haracter fig hts. leasl suited: the olher kits are
who face him (all the while reo Basica ll y. he s hould s imp ly appropriate.
gretting the grim necessity ofit). choose the method of com bat he
prefers fo r this c haracter. a nd In Combat Situations: The
In Role-Playing Situations: then rationalize it according to Merry ShowoIT must fight In the
The Doomed Champion tends to the character's philosophy of most dramatic rashIon possib le,
be sympathetic to others' needs life.
and pains ... but is himself"ery eve n when Illsn 't as efficie nt or
depressive, because he knows In Role-Playing Situations: safe as another tactic. He leaps,
thal some grim fa te awaits him . The Fated Philosopher is often a
This means he's ofle n easy to son of fathe rly-advisor c harac- he bounds. he s hou ts. he ges·
persuade 10 aid in others' quests ter. He thinks abou t everything. I ures. he taunts the enemies, he
(not quests for money: quests he's full of sage ad vice. Though m akes c hallenges fo r single
for more personal goals). he may be driven by goals as combat ... he can bea right nul ·
s trong as any other character·s. sance, for allies as well as e ne-
The FIAted PhiloSopher in person he Is seldom very in- mies, and so the player s hould
tense. be careful not to aggravate his
Character friends (00 muc h with hi s an·
Desc ription: This charac ter Is The Merry Showo ff tics.
both similar to and very differ·
ent fro m the Doomed Cham· Charac ter In Role-Playing Situations:
pion . Like the Champion. he Description: This character Likewise. mis characler s hould
knows that a particular grim lives for style or c lllcn ainmenL be as charm tngand theaLrical as
fatc awai ts h im: Death. But he's He may be a c lown who de lights possible in role· playing situa-
very philosophicaJ about it and In ente rtaining people and tions. He doesn't necessarily
does not tonure himself abou t shooting barbs Into the egos of have to be witty: thai might put
it. He's likely to be an old cam- the self- Important. He may be [00 much of a strain on a player
paigner with very few illusions an elega nt fighter who loves to who is n 't able to wisecrack with
left. but with a keen apprecia- show the world what nghtlng is ease, But he should be debonair
tion of aUHfe has to offer. like in the hands of a maSl er. He a nd gracious at a ll urnes, even
may Simply love a ll.racling the whe n talking to the leaderorhls
Best Suited F OT: In tenns of eyes of ladles. Whichever, he's enemies or the rudest and coars·
alignment. Lawful and Neutral
characters are most su ited to be est boor.

42

The N..turtll Le..der witho ut any In tent to thin k In Comba t Situations: The
abou t or direc t thi ngs, the OM Sneaky Thi nker hates to engage
C har act er s hould assign him te mporary enemies In melee. He doesn't
Description: This c harac ter Is m in uses to hit a nd da mage: mi nd bei ng a ra nged fi ghter, but
the all·around man in charge. This reflects the fact that the he'd really prefer to be doing
He's the responsible hero who, c haracler is troubled by his fail· something cleve r or spectacu-
even If he isn 't pany leader. ure to lead, even If the player lar: Sneaki ng arou nd the fight to
thinks like one: He's always Isn't, come up on the e nemy 's u n·
thinking about the team's goals guarded rea r. loosening rocks
and how to Impleme nt the m. In Role-Playing Situa tions: on the hillside above to drop
the safety of his friends, the The Natural Leader is a ve ry re· down on the enemy, persuading
strategy of the bad guys, and so sponslble character, but beyond one of the e ne my's allies to tu m
forth, He may be happy to be the that, there Is no limitation on on the e nemy, anything tha t will
leader·type. or may be a reluc· the way he should be played in de mons trate his mental su per-
tant leader: eith er way. his role·playing situations. He may Io rity ove r the e ne m y (a nd
fri ends look to him for direction . be grim or humorous, straight· may be over his a llies as well),
Natura lly. you s hould on ly forward or deceitful. arrogant or It 's up to the player whether the
choose this personality type fo r modest, as the player dec ides, character Is actually cowardly
vour character Ifyou're to make He wiU onen be the negotiator or not: Sneaky Thinkers can be
for the party, but this ISI1 ', re, as brave as the bravest warrior
inc elTort to do all that thinking quired of him . in a pinch, If that's the playcr's
conception of the character.
and planning. and are willing The Sneaky Thinker
for your charac te r LO be respon· In Role-Playing Situations:
sible for others. C h a r ac ter
Descripti on : T his c haracte r The Sneaky Thinker is often the
Best Suited For: In terms of lives a nd loves to ou tw it other party's negotiator. as he loves
alignment. Lawfu l and Neutral c haracters. He loves tricking talki ng with other characters
characters arc most approprl· money out of people, outwitting and ge lling the best possibl e
ate: Chaotic characters tend La opponents in combat. persuad· deal fo r himself and his friends.
be more spontaneous than the ing people to help him against In most role·playln g situations,
Natural Leader. However, if YOll their beller sensibilities, and so the Sneaky Th in ker will .
have a good rationaJe for a Chao forth . It's best for a campaign chameleon·llke. adapt himself
otic Natura] Leader, your OM when the Sneaky Thinker Is a to the personality of the person
may c hoose to allow you to play good friend of the rest of th e pes he's ta lki ng to. concealing hls
It that way. Most Warrior Kits and so mostly turns his talents true thoughts and em oUons be·
are appropriate to this personal· on NPCs; the D~I needs to make hind the ma sk he thinks Is most
Ity type, es pecially the Cavalier s ure that the campaign docsn', appeali ng to Lhe othe r cha rac·
a nd Noble Warrior. In a party turn into an endless succession ter, II's very hard to fi nd out
representing seve ral diffe re nt of In ciden ts of t he Sneaky what the S neaky Th inker is ac·
Warrior Kits. though. the Ber· Thinker tricking me mbe rs of tually thinking or feelin g. Note
serker and Savage shouldn' t be his own party. that It's a dangerous tem ptaUon
Natural Leaders: Other ch arae· to trick your frie nd s a nd allies:
ter types don't tend to trust Best Suited For: In terms of in a camprugn where the PCs'
them as leaders. a lignment. Neutral a nd Chaotic party Is rounded on trust and al·
c haracters are best s uited to be legla nce . such a Sneaky
In Comba t Situa tions: The Sneaky Thinkers, as Lawful Thinker will probably find him·
Natural Leader. wheth er he charac ters oflen have more re· selr cast out or killed for betray·
wan ts to or not, is always think· spect for the rights of others: ing his ers iwhUe rriends.
ing In combat and trying to dl· but. again. with a good e nough
rec t his allies' activities . He rationale pro"lded, t.he OM may Changing rerson..llty Types
makes sure that there 's a good allow himself to be convinced
m ix of ranged to me lee combal. that a Lawful charac te r should T he above ad·
that shield walls don't have big be a Sneaky Thinker. Mos t War· vice Is for players who don't yet
holes In th em. that whe n a rlor Kits a re equally suited to have a fi rm ha ndle on role-
friend falls there's someone to the Sneaky Thinker character: playing different personalities
drag him behind the lines and the Berserker. however. Is an In· from their own, And the person·
another to take his place, If a appropriate choice and s hould alitles presented here aren' t
player with a Natural Leader not be taken . firm, formal rules which a ny
characte r doesn' t do this, and
simply jumps right into combat

43

character has La foll ow: they're curse himself. he cou ld suffer a The Warrior Campaign
gu idelines with no real rest rlc· change of personality, He could
tlons placed upon them. So far, we've
become a Fated Philosopher or mostly ta lked about the warrior
Na tu ra lly. then . It's very ap· NaturaJ Leader. He might enjoy character and his role in nonnal
propriate for you to write up life so much that he becomes a AD&Dff gam e campaigns.
more Personality Types appro· Merry Showoff or Sneaky
priate to your campaign . .. Ir. Thinker. He's not likely to be- However, it's possible to run a
indeed . you need to formalize come a Dangerous Antagonist good campaign whose charac-
them to tha i extent . unless the eve nts which freed ters are moslly warriors ... or
him fr om h.ls curse were so
It ·s also very appropriate for a nasty that they still scarred his all warn'or.s.
character to change h is Person - personality forever.
ality Type in the course of a There a re a couple of reasons
campaign. Here are some ways The Fated Philosopher is n't to think about having an a ll ·
It can happen: likely to change. This personal- warrior campaign. First. In
ity type comes at the eIld of a many cam pa igns. after the fi rst
The Brash Youth wises up process of personality develop- few experience levels. the fight·
ment. not In the mid dle. ers in creas ing ly take a back
and loses his naivete and Inex· seat to th e maglc·using classes,
perlence. This has to happen The Merry Showof( could sa- whose power Increases fas ter
event ually (unless he gelS killed than the fighters' . Second,
before he ever gets wise). His ex· ber up under the weight of re- many movies, novels, myths
sponsibility. like the Crud e and legends just feature fig hter
periences in th e campaign so far Crusher. and become a Natural characters. and If one of those
will probably have a strong In- Leader. Or he cou ld naturally settings particu larly appeals to
evolve into a Sneaky Thinker you . and you want to s im ulate
fluence on the next type of per· whe n it became less and less ful- It in yo ur ca mpaign . you'll
so nallty he chooses. Here's a fill ing merely to cnterlaJn pea· want to limit you r campaign to
note for the other personalities: pie and morc fun to manipu late flghte rs.
NOlhi ng short of amnesia ever them.
changes a charac ter ( 0 the There are several ways to run
Brash Youth personality. The Natural Leader could such a campaIgn. Some sample
arrangements include:
The Cru de Cr usher isn ' t easily change if dramatic evems
made him sick and disgusted Mix ed Warrior-Types In a
likely to Change. but a cou ple of with always being so responsl· Magical World
Lhings could bring abou t s uch a bl e a nd depcndable . At t.h at
cha nge . He could fall In love Mixed Warrior-Types In a
with a more refined partner. point . any personality except Mostly Non-Magical World
Doom ed Champion Is appropri·
and . feeling gross and coarse in a te, However. unless hc's be· Mixed Warri or-Types in a
com parison . train h imself to be· come tOlaily amoral, even in his Strictly Non-Magical World
come more sophisticated. (The new personality he'll probably
Merry Showoff a nd Fated Phi· stili have leadership impulses One Warrior·Type in a Magica l
losopher become good options and do a lot of tactical thInking. Wo rld
at this polnt.j He could have
heavy responsiblJity laJd upon The Sneaky Thi nker is n't One Warrior·Type in a MosUy
him (such as a mHitary officer's ever likely to change: His way of Non·Maglcal World
commission) and be changed by life is too much fun to him . If he
It (at which point Lhe Natural were to change, to become a Iil- One Warrior-Type in a Strictly
Leader is a good choice). tle less secretive. he'd probably Non·Maglcal World
become a Merry Showoff.
The Dangerous Antagonist In lh e s econd part of this
is only likely to change when For a ny character, some horri- chapt,er. we'll be talking about
whatever made him a Danger- ble eve nt (such as the brutal a ll those arran ge ments , how
ous Antagonist originally is re- murder of a loved one) could they can be set up and what
solved . For instance, if he ever change the character, at least they mean to a campaign.
avenges himself on whomever temporarily, to a Dangerous An-
hun him in the first place, he tagonist or Crude Crusher. Magical World vo.
could change to a Fated Philoso-
pher or Natural Leader. Non·Maglcal World

The Doomed Champion Isn 't The OM , when
likely ever to change . He 's setting up his campaign, must
doomed, after all. But if, in the decide how much magiC there Is
course of the campaign. the OM In th e world- not just magical
a llows him to un-doom or un-

44

Items. but magical monsters. Mostly Non-M.glc.I·World powers which the heroes can't
spells. and effects of any sort. even approximate. The heroes
In a wor ld must use all lheir brains and
In a warrio r' where there's very little magic. brawn to confront such power-
orien ted campaign where magiC no PC can learn spells. T his ful beings. and will often have to
exis ts at the normal AD&D~ means Ihal no playcr-characlcr prepare for such a confrontation
game limits. magiC is consld· can take a Priest or Wizard class by finding artifacts. research ing
ered a scary thIng wblch nonnal as his character profession. or the history of the wizard to dis-
people don't appreclate a t al l. even as one of a dual·class or cover h is motives a nd weak-
Most wizards encountered In multi-class character's profes· nesses. and so forth.
lhe campaign will be villains. sions.
The ones who are friends of lhe Strictly Non:M.slcal WOrld
pes are mostly low- powe red In such a campaIgn. charac·
(l ow-level) . ters can still be Rangers and Pal· ~
adins, Even they can' t learn
This follows th e pattern of spells . .. bullhey still get their In world s
many sword-and-sorcery fictio n other special abilities. where there is no magiC at ail.
series. where each story's reso- there can be no genuine Mage
lulion comes down to a contest PaladlnsstJll llave the abi lities characters. (Of course. there can
between the hero and his fight· of detecting ev il . +2 to savin g be characters pretending to
ing prowess vs. a dastardly wiz- throws, Im munltv to disease. have magical powers. but
ard or magical creat ure and his heali ng by layl n'g on hands. they're probably Rogues ru n·
spells. aura of protection. tum undead,
devils. and demons. and calling ning some sort of scam opera·
In such a campaign. the DM of war horse: he can use the spe· tlon .) Priests. Rangers. Paladins
wllJ have to decide whether any cial abilities of a holy sword In and Bards exist but have no
player-characler can be a multi- the unlikely event he can find spells or magical abilities what-
class or dual-class hero with one. All the Paladjn IImHalions soever: they have on ly whatever
Wizard or Priest spells. It's a ll still apply. special s tatus their society
right to have Ranger and Pala-
din characters. as they only ac- Rangers sUIl have their abili· places on their professions.
quire their spells slowly, and ties of bonuses vs. a chosen en· Warrior·oriented campaigns
after many experience levels, .. em)'. dealing with creat ures.
but the more magically potent bu il ding castles. forts . and set on strictly non·magical
wizards a nd priests pose a big- strongholds. and attracting fol· worlds are good fo r a lot of
ger problem. Their magiC is too lowers. All the Ranger limlla· things. By taking the emphasis
handy and too depe.ndable; the lions still apply. off magiC. you put It on such
OM has to make his magical vil- thIngs as combal, battling the
lains even more powerful In or- In this type of campaign. mag· elements. and pure adventure.
der to cope . In a campaign Ical Items and treasure of any In such a campaJgn . only one's
where pes can' t be priests or sort are very. very rare. They wits . physical abilities and s kills
wizards. a mu ch lower·level may even be nonexlstcnt. as the make the diffe rence between
magical villain will be much OM decides. su ccess and failu re. life and
more effective against them . death. Magic. with all Its mys·
Magical monsters. eq ually
For these reasons. ifyou're go· rare, are espeCially nasty and tery and all its complications.
Ing to try running a warrior- fearsome. For example. a doesn't ever enter the pictu re.
oriented campaign for the first dragon encountered In a
time. we recommend that you warrlors·only campaign is more This also means that things
not allow PCS to be priests or like the ferocious. unstoppable which would be unimpressive
wizards. You can always choose engine of deaLh It appears In the in a magical world can be awe-
to add the opUon lateran . .. but myths. and it takes a n espe· some and mysterious in a non-
If you find that you like the non- cially brave St. George to con· magical one. A "dragon" may
magical warrior arrangement, just be a giant di nosaurian beast
It's not so casv to remove the front one. with no Intelligence. no magiC
pes' magical -abililies from a And wizards-If wizards are spells. and no breath weapon.
campaign where you've al ready but It will be terrifyi ng anyway,
allowed them. found. they are evil beings who as the characters have no magic
ba \'e made pacts and a ile· with which La help destroy or
glances with nether powers and defeat it.
received their spells from those
powers. Th ey' re particu larly Without magiC present. char·
nasty, powerful. and frighten- aeters are never raIsed from the
ing because they have access to dead. They must be played
more carefully than In games

45

where resurrecLion is a com- lers must have other goals If showcase a clash of cultures:
monplace event. Il might be ad- they're to be saUsned In such a Have a party of Amazon player·
visable to start characters out at campaign .
3rd level. as described in the ch a racters go adventuring in
Charoceer CreaUon c hapter. so The One-W.urior,-Type
that they'lI be a little tougher to the outside world (the mysteri·
compensate for this situation. Campaign ous. dangerous. treacherous.
woerully maJe·domlnaled out-
Such a campaign is Idea] fo r In this type of side world). A lot of the role-
scttings based on historical perl· campaign. most or all of the playing opportunity provided
ods. You could base your AD&D- player·charac ters have the
game campaign on the Cru· same Warrior KIt. They don't all by such a campaign would In ·
sades. on the era of piracy. on have to be of an \.dentlcal class:
the wars of lmperiaJ Rome or an· In a Swashbucklers cam paign, volve the characters doing the
clent Greece. on the conquest of o ne c ha rac ter cou ld be a following: Running up against.
the New World. These are all set· Flgh terlSwashbuckler. another and ba u.eri ng down. prejudices
tings rich In action and mystery. a Ranger/Swash buc kle r, an d agai nst women warriors: a nd
but for whic h there's little evl· another a Paladin/Swashbuck- fighting their own preJudices.
dence of monsters or magic. le r. which dictate either that men
are Inferior and m ust be down ·
The Mb .ed·Wanlor·Type The OM may require that all
characters In such a campaign trodde n, or are all treac he rous
u.mpalgn be Warriors. or rnav allow a mix
of character classeS a ppropriate and must atways be viewed with
In thJs type of to the campaJgn's subject . .. distrust a nd suspicion. They
campaig n . the charac ters are but the majority of characters can also have encouraging.
mostly slngle·c1ass warriors. must still be Warriors. and other amusing or even tragic encou n·
and each may have a different classes can be represented only ters with the women of the out·
Warrior KIt. With the OM 's per· by o ne player-characler. For ex· side world. whom they try to
mission . multl-class and dual· ample. In a campaign based on convince that the Amazon way
class characters (so long as one the legends of Robin Hood. most of life is the One True Way.
of the class choices Is Fighter). of the characters will be War·
pricstS and rogues may also be riors with the Pirate/Outlaw kit: He re's a samp le adventure
played. but the majority of the OM could pennltj ust one or Idea. drawn from m yth lore
playe r·c ha racters (ove r halO a few to be Thieves: there's only about the Amazons:
one Priest (Friar Thck) and only
muse be slngle-class warriors. one Bard (Allen a'Oale). Before the adventure begins, a
ship from the world of men (or a
And the OM. If he wants a The purposes of this cam- group of horsemen. ifyour Ama·
nghters·only campaign. never paign (other than the normal zons are la ndbound) arrives in
has to give permission for those Having Fun and Going on Ad· the Amazon commun ity. claim-
other c harac ter classes to be ventures. of course) are to show· Ing LO wish to conduc t peacefu l
played. case the lives of characters with trade or negotiations with the
this Warrior Kit. and to pursue Amazon peoples. They are gra·
In a campa ig n devoted to War· the goals common to characters clously received by the Amazon
riors. the OM s houJd foster an at· who share this Warrior Kit . So. court and negotiations are held .
titude that it's more deslreable below, you'U find descripUonsof
to be a fighter than another campaigns centered around all But something goes wrong.
class of character. Other classes th e speclflc Wa rrior Kits and The next morning the negotla·
may be allowed . but are usually their s peclnc goals. tors are gone. all ned-and the
represented by o nly one charac· Queen Is missing. too. obViously
ter each. In an Ama· kidnapped by the men . The
zonscampaign. obviously. most queen 's sister assembles and
One way to foster this attitude or all the characters a re sends forth a team of crack war·
Is for the warrior-characters to Amazons- recl usive women riors. the player-characters. to
get the 1I0n 's share of admlra· warriors. retrieve the kidnapped queen or
tion from the people. Characters die trying.
belonging to Olher classes will The most Interesting purpose
gel from the public the mini· for such a campaign would be to The pes must eqUip the m ·
mum a mount of admlrallon selves. the n head into the outer
they deserve for their deeds. but world . In the cou rse of thei r pur·
such acclaim shouldn't be their suit of the kidnappers. they 'lI
main motlvaUon: these charac·
meet a lot of NPCs. Some will be
callous and stupid. Intend ing
only to oppress or enslave the
PCs. and must be dealt with by
cunning or viole nce. Others will

••

be admiring of the c haracters' Th ere a re seve ral com mon tion equals decadence. where all
independ ence and a bility. and types of Barbaria ns a nd Be r· men are wea ker tha n our bar-
wiJI c haJle nge the Amazon no· serkers ca m paigns. barian heroes. They encoun ter
tion that all men in the outer terrify ing black m agiC In jungle
world are their enemies. One type is the 1hbal Cam· rui ns. bat tie e n e m y a rm ies
paign: The PCs live wilh their which stand In their way. s turn ·
Final ly. when the PCs reach tribe and act as Its defenders ble across h idden evil wizards
the city whe re their queen is be· a nd heroes. T hey repel Inva· and the bi zarre monsters they
ing held. th e DM has to decide slons. hunt m ighty and mono create. and so forth .
wha t h er true status Is. She s trous an imals for their meat.
m ight have Indeed been kid · a ttac k rival tribes. and do what· Yet another type Is the Barbar -
napped by the negotiators and e ver they can to ensure their
needs to be rescued: the Ama· own u ibe's s urvival. He re's one Ians for the Cr own CampaJgn :
zon PCS may need to break In lO sa mple adve nture Idea: In
her prison and s neak her ou t. or wastelands distant (rom civlll· Th is is much like the Barbari·
may need to a lly the mselves zation. two tribes do ballie. One an s In a Clv lJtzed World cam·
with an outer·world anny a nd is a n NPC tribe. a nd the other is palgn . but here the barba rian
sack the city. Or. she migh t not re prese nted by the pl ayer· heroes have a purpose. One or
ha ve bee n kidnapped at a U. but c haracters a nd some NPCs. The more of them Inte nds to ru le a
might lnslead have bee n struck two tribes can be enemies be·
by a sudden love for one of th e cause they com pete for hun ting civili zed nallon . He a nd his
negotiators. and ned with him- la n ds, because of som e old fr iend s must gathe r e n ou gh
espeCially neeing her responsi- grudge. for a ny reason or none. power to be a ble to accomplis h
bilities as queen . If that's the this. usua ll y by joinin g th e
case. the pes m ight c hoose to Adven tures InvolVi ng battles a rmy of some great na tion . ris-
turn around and go home. or between them migh t be s imple Ing quickly through its ranks
mIgh t have to sack the city any· fights to the death be tween (all the while going on m a ny
way. to a venge the affront done s mall squads (made particularly dangerous a rm y-orie nted ad·
the m by their though tless ex- Interesting by rough terrain and ventures). and winnin g e nough
queen. weather), but you can com pli- popu lar suppor t in the a rmy
cate things. too. Wha t If the two and elsewhere that th ey can
Since not many play ing tribes. in the course of their mo- overthrow the c urre nt despotic
groups wtll wan t to switc h over bile combat. stum ble ac ross royal fam ily.
to the eccentric all·Amazon for- some silent. time·lost city popu -
ma t. you ought to read Lhe text la ted by monsters? The tribes A last choice for a campaign
below on "Campaign vs. Mini· may continue their running bat· combines a ll three of the ca m-
Series" fo r a way to play s uch a tie through the city, awakening paign sty les above . In the early
thing withou t disrupting your the ancient, sleeping mons ters. stages of the campaign. all the
usual campaign. who will eventually come after characters are great tribal de-
the barbarians. forcing the m to fenders: ma ny adventures can
Barbarians and Berserkers com bine Lhelr efforts or die . .. be run with Lhls them e. Later.
some great cala mity forces the
In the Barbari· Another type is the Barbari- heroes to leave their nallve
ans and Berserkers campaign . ans in a CI" Jlized World Cam- tribe. As described earlie r, this
most or all characters belong to paign: Th e playe r·c ha racte r could be a mission of vengeance
a single barbarian tribe. barbarian s and berse rk ers which forces Ute m to leave for
the ou te r world : It could be the
T h e Ba r baria ns a nd Ber· travel through the so·called clvi· destruc Uon of their e ntire tribe
serkers cam paign has a couple lIzed world . They may be seek- by powe rful. evil forces: It could
of purposes. Firs t. it's an oppor- Ing a new place to settle their be a prophecy which says that
tunity for a campaign with a lor tribe. the old site being unten· one of the PCs will bring doom
of combalo especially if the cam- a ble for one reason or a nother; on the tribe if he stays. but glory
paign revolves around clashes they may be mercenaries who to himselfand h is com panions if
between two or more competing h ire themselves ou t to a nyone he leaves. So for many game·
tribes. Second . It 's an opportu · with enough gold ; they may be years the heroes will adventure
nlty to showcase how decadent pursuing some villain who In · In the outer world , until some·
and corru pt the "civilized" sulted them. or who sacked thing {another prophecy. their
world is , con trasted with the their village while the wa rriors own desires. the desires or m a-
sim ple strength and rude honor were away adventuring. nipulations of a n NPC involved
of the barbarian tribes. with the group} point them at
The player-characters travel the crumbli ng lhrone of a great
through a world whe re clvlllza-
n ation .

47