Base Requirements

• Races: Human
• Classes: Any Warrior, Any Priest, Any Rogue, Psionicist
• Ability Requirements: none
• Alignments: Any
• Starting Cash: 200gp
• Bonus Languages: Thorass
• Recommended Languages: Thorasta, Northern, Lantanna, Alzhedo, Halruaan, Cosh
• Local Religions: Chauntea, Cyric, Iyachtu Xvim, Lliira, Selune, Sune

Proficiencies

• Weapon Slots: +1 slot
• Non-weapon Slots: By class
• Available Categories: By class, plus Social
• Bonus Proficiencies: Appraise, Etiquette, Numeracy
• Required Proficiencies: none
• Recommended Proficiencies: Administration, Haggling, Literacy, Survival (Desert)

Overview: Known across Faerûn as the Merchant Kingdom, this land is renowned for its skilled traders and master craftsmen. Even beggars who come from Amn know more about trade and commerce than the best peddlers in most other nations. Adventurers from Amn have two distinct functions: They are traders in their own right, and they defend Amnian merchants who require protection when venturing beyond their borders.

Description: Wealth and all of its trappings are prized in Amn, and adventurers reflect this all too eagerly. Their clothing is bright, gaudy, and of course, expensive. Males tend to favor long capes embroidered with threads of precious metals, while females favor elaborate headdresses. Chain mail is the favored armor among Amnite warriors. Beards are predominant, for the better a man’s beard, the more powerful his spirit is believed to be. Usually they have a fair number of gold coins at hand.

Role-Playing: Material wealth is venerated over everything. While a wise priest or a muscular warrior is respected, neither are as admired as much as the wealthy merchant. Even casual conversation is laced with financial metaphors. Amnites are generous to the poor, though only if people can see their altruism and thus raise their status as a munificent benefactor. Otherwise, the less fortunate are reviled and cursed.

The folk from the great Merchant Kingdom are skillful dealers. While all adventurers favor more loot for less risk, Amnians make that condition the top priority. Every situation is viewed from a profit-and-loss standpoint. If a proposal offers good return with minimal risk, it is considered worthwhile. If it doesn’t, then negotiation is in order. Failing that, the proposition is discarded as worthless.

Amnites of all stripes have a strong hatred of wizards, and feel ill at ease if forced to adventure with them.

Special Abilities:

• Each Amnian begins with the maximum amount of wealth (200gp). Of this amount, the Amnian must keep at least 10 gold pieces for spending money. Each Amnian also gets a jambiya and a money belt at no cost.
• When an Amnian character must expend money for any reason, he reduces the amount spent by 25%. This reflects the character’s business acumen and trading savvy.
• Starting at 5th level, any Amnian with the Literacy proficiency may attempt to use both Wizardly and Priestly magical scrolls by making a successful Literacy check. On a failed check, the scroll backfires in some way. This sort of malfunction is almost always detrimental to the thief and his party. It could be as simple as accidentally casting the reverse of the given spell or as complex as a foul-up on a fireball scroll, causing the ball of flame to be centered on the thief instead of its intended target.

Special Disadvantages:

• Amn’s merchants are noted as being crafty and devious. This makes it difficult for anyone to trust an Amnian, even another Amnian. An Amnian’s starting Leadership score is reduced by 2 points (minimum 3).
• If you are poor, you are nothing in the eyes of many Amnites. Many in Amn feel that poverty is a curse from the gods. If an Amnian has less than five gold pieces per level (stored away and carried on his person), he is considered impoverished. The character is humiliated and despondent over his financial status, and makes attack rolls and saving throws with a penalty of -1. He suffers a -4 penalty on NPC Reactions when dealing with other natives of Amn. These penalties remain constant until the character earns or obtains at least 50 gold pieces per level. Incidentally, no one in Amn will lend money to a character in such an impoverished state, nor will credit or “tabs” be allowed by anyone from Amn.
• Amnians cannot resist attacking a wizard, whether he is a party member or not. When an Amnian meets a particular wizard for the first time, the Amnian must make a Willpower check, or attack the wizard immediately, not ceasing the attack until the wizard is driven off, incapacitated, or killed.
  Since this could be somewhat of a problem in a party with a wizard PC, allow the other members of the party to each make an Intuition check to see if any of them notices their Amnite comrade getting ready to attack. If they notice him, they can interpose themselves between the Amnian and the wizard, effectively halting bloodshed.

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