Base Requirements

• Races: Any
• Sub-Classes: Any Rogue
• Ability Requirements: Muscle 13, Fitness 13, Leadership 12
• Alignments: Any
• Starting Cash: By class

Weapon Proficiencies

• Weapon Slots: +1 slot
• Bonus Weapon Proficiencies: none
• Required Weapon Proficiencies: One Clubbing Weapon; One Short Blade; Shortbow or Hand-Crossbow
• Allowed Weapons: By class, plus Clubbing Weapons group
• Allowed Armors: By class

Non-Weapon Proficiencies:

• Non-weapon Slots: By class
• Available Groups: By class, plus Pastoral
• Bonus Non-weapon Proficiencies: Direction Sense, Land-based Riding, Survival
• Required Proficiencies: Animal Handling
• Recommended Proficiencies: Alertness, Animal Training, Animal Noise, Disguise, Fire-building, Fishing, Forgery, Intimidation, Looting, Rope Use, Set Snares, Swimming, Weather Sense.
• Forbidden Proficiencies: none

Overview: Travel is rarely a safe affair in the medieval fantasy setting, whether one traverses the forbidding wilderness or the pastoral countryside. Beside the dangers of nature and fantastic menaces, such as dragons and giants, there are humans who prey on their journeying kin. Almost every stretch of road near civilization is claimed by one or more bands of highwaymen, and even the far wilderness may hide the strongholds of robbers.

Found throughout the Realms, these rogues make their living by raiding merchant caravans and waylaying travelers who make their way across the bandit’ homelands. They are generally nomadic folk, and not necessarily evil. A fair number leave the life of a highwayman and become adventurers.

Description: These rogues focus not only on the subtle skills of subterfuge, but on the overt advantages of being handy with a sword. Bandits grow up in the saddle, using their riding skills to chase their victims.

Bandits do not belong to guilds, as such. A large group of them, or a network of cooperating groups, may be considered analogous to a guild, however, providing some training, intimidating non-members who operate in their “territory”, and so forth. A few Bandit groups may actually have connections to a big city guild, though such ties would probably be very loose (perhaps occasional cooperation, rather than subservience).

Bandits can expect less than mercy at the hands of the law. As if Banditry itself wasn’t punishable, most of these thieves already have a few major crimes under their belt. But, like a city guild, Bandits can work out arrangements with local military and civilian authorities. In exchange for bribes and a cut of the take, Bandits may garner information on rich targets and how best to avoid the punitive expeditions that may periodically be sent against them.

Role-Playing: Bandits are often vicious characters, desperate, cunning, and cruel. They are prone to fight or even betray each other, but two things keep them bound in groups: the utter necessity of cooperation in order to survive the perils of the wilderness (let alone to be successful robbers), and the strength of whoever has established himself as leader among them by force and cunning.

Bandits rarely have pleasant reasons for pursuing their lifestyles. Most have a history better left behind, and many have a price (or three) on their heads in some place or another. The average Bandit would be better off outside the wilderness, but with enemies and authorities elsewhere, it is the closest available thing to a sanctuary.

Special Abilities:

• All Bandits begin play with a light riding horse or pony, saddle, and necessary tack for free.
• Because of their adeptness at ambushing, Bandits gain +1 on their attempt to surprise in a wilderness setting.
• These rogues function as well in the saddle as most folks do on foot. Bandits have no penalties for any actions taken on horseback. They can stand in the saddle, fire missile weapons, leap onto and from a horse’s back, and perform all sorts of great maneuvers of horsemanship.
• Bandits are so accustomed to working in large, open spaces that they gain a +1 bonus on attack rolls and saving throws when operating in any relatively open terrain. This is any area of at least 1000 square feet of unobstructed ground where the bandit has plenty of room to move around.

Special Disadvantages:

• Used to wide-open plains, Bandits suffer a -1 penalty to attack rolls and saving throws when underground or in other completely enclosed environments. No penalties are imposed for simply being indoors, in wooded areas, or other places of median enclosure.
• Bandits are generally despised by other characters: Normal people hate and fear highwaymen, and other types of rogues tend to look at them with scorn, as outcasts and crude robbers. For this reason, any Bandit who is recognized as such suffers a -2 reaction penalty among non-Bandit NPCs.

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