Chapter 1 - Class - Character Kits - Warrior Kits
Savage
The Savage is a tribesman, technologically and culturally far more
primitive than even the Barbarian and Berserker, who is very much in tune with the
natural world.
A Savage can be an honorable jungle vine-swinger raised by animals, a very dirty and
primitive warrior who lives in mud-wattle huts and fights with bone weapons, a
breathtakingly beautiful native princess from a culture which the characters consider
impossibly primitive and yet uncorrupted and very noble . . . and so on. In short, the tribal
culture from which the Savage character comes can be as crude or civil, coarse or noble,
nasty or admirable as the players and DM want it to be.
To be a Savage, a character must have a minimum Strength score of 11 and a
minimum Constitution score of 15.
Role: - In a campaign, the savage character has a couple of roles. His particular skills
and benefits are of use to the average adventuring party. If he comes from a particularlynoble tribe, he may choose to act as the "voice of conscience" for the adventuring party,
asking why, if the other characters are supposed to be so much more civilized than his
own people, their honor and ethics seem to drag so far behind? But for the most part, he's
a role-playing challenge, and should be chosen only by players willing to devote the extra
effort to portraying someone from such a different culture . . . and how that character
reacts with the other PCs' culture. This is an opportunity for a lot of humor and not a little
tragedy in a campaign . . . but only if the player is willing to go to that effort.
Secondary Skills: - The Savage character should have Fisher, Forester, Hunter, or
Trapper/Furrier as his Secondary Skill (player choice).
Weapon Proficiencies: - The DM should define a set of weapons which the PC can
choose his beginning weapon proficiencies from. A typical set, for classic "noble
savages": blowgun, long bow, short bow, club, dagger, javelin, knife, sling, spear. The
character must make his first-level weapon proficiencies selections from these choices.
Once he begins play and begins adventuring in the outer world, he may learn any other
weapon, of course . . . but it's better role-playing if he prefers to stick to the weapons of
his tribe.
Nonweapon Proficiencies: - Bonus Proficiencies: (General) Direction Sense, Weather
Sense, (Warrior) Endurance, Survival. Recommended: (General) Animal Handling,
Animal Training, Fire-Building, Fishing, Riding (Land-based), Rope Use, Swimming,
(Warrior) Animal Lore, Bowyer/Fletcher, Hunting, Mountaineering, Running, Set Snares,
Tracking, (Priest, double slots unless Paladin) Healing, Herbalism, Local History,
Religion, (Rogue, double slots) Jumping, Tightrope Walking, Tumbling, (Wizard, double
slots unless Ranger) Herbalism, Religion.
Equipment: - The Savage gets no gold (0 gp) with which to purchase his weapons and
equipment. Instead, he may take up to four of the weapons listed under "New Savage
Weapons" in the Equipment chapter. He may assemble an equipment list of up to ten
additional items, subject to the DM's approval, which he will have accumulated during
his years with the tribe; they must be items which members of a savage tribe could have
made (things such as pouches, clothing, food, rope, fishing gear, sheathes for weapons,
and so forth—no mirrors, lanterns, iron cooking pots, and the like.) With the DM's
permission, if the tribe is a river-tribe or a riding tribe, he may have either a riding horse
(with saddle-blanket, halter, bit and bridle) or a small canoe.
Special Benefits: - One of the Savage's special benefits is that he receives more bonus
nonweapon proficiencies than any other type of warrior—testimony to the fact that the
Savage must know more skills just to stay alive than other characters. Another,
substantial, benefit the Savage receives is this: He has a special ability, resembling a
spell, which he may use once per day per experience level he has (i.e., a 5th-level savage
could use his ability five times per day).
The special ability must be chosen from the list below, must be chosen when the
character is first created, and may never be changed. The special ability is not truly
magic, and Detect magic will not detect it; it is an ability natural to the Savage. It does
not require verbal, somatic, or material components, even if such are required from the
normal spell.
The list:
The DM can disallow any of the four abilities given above, or introduce new ones— though he can't add anything that resembles a magical spell above 1st level.
Special Hindrances: - The Savage has some drawbacks, too. He is uncomfortable in
civilized clothes and armor — When wearing any sort of clothing more cumbersome and
concealing than his normal tribal dress, he suffers a –1 to all attack, damage and
nonweapon proficiency rolls; he's uncomfortable, and it's affecting his actions and
reactions.
Likewise, he can wear any type of armor, but is so uncomfortable in it that he will
suffer a –3 to all attack, damage, and nonweapon proficiency rolls while wearing any sort
of armor at all. If a player blatantly decides not to role-play his character's dislike of
armor and simply wears armor continually, accepting that negative modifier, the DM
should gradually increase the modifier: –3 in one play–session, –4 in the next, –5 in the
next, and so on . . . with no limit. If the player asks why this is happening, the DM need
merely reply that the character is growing more and more uncomfortable in his unnatural
trappings and finding it harder and harder to concentrate on the job at hand.
Wealth Options: - The Savage starts out with no gold. He gets his starting weapons as
described above, under Equipment. After the campaign starts, the character will
inevitably come across the concepts of money; it's up to the player how he reacts to them
(he could either like the idea and try to accumulate the stuff as his allies do, or put it
down to civilized corruption and stay away from it).
Races: - Most role-playing campaigns tend to think of the demihumans as being more
civilized and cultured than humans, but it's perfectly all right to have Savage dwarves,
elves, gnomes, half-elves, and even halflings in your campaign if the DM wishes them to
be there.
Note: "But," you say, "what if my character grew up in a Savage tribe and was later
enslaved and trained as a Gladiator and then escaped? What is he, a Savage or a
Gladiator?"
That's up to you to answer. If he still considers himself a member of his tribe and has
not been distanced from it by his capture and training, take the Savage Warrior Kit;
perhaps your DM will allow you to use some of your proficiencies to learn weapons and
skills appropriate to Gladiators. Likewise, if the character is now more urban than savage,
build him with the Gladiator Warrior Kit . . . but have him use some of his proficiencies
on Savage skills and weapons.
The same sort of theory applies if you're creating any character with a complicated
background: A Barbarian youth brought up in the traditions of a Samurai, an Amazon
lass who has grown up to be a Knight (Noble Warrior), a Pirate boy who gave up the seas
and took to being a big-city Swashbuckler. Decide which Warrior Kit the character
considers himself to belong to, create him with that Kit, and use some of your
proficiencies to buy weapons-knowledge and skills pertaining to the other Kit.
