WARRIOR-BARBARIAN KIT

Ice Hunter

Description:  Ice Hunters are those Barbarians who live in the frigid wastes not 
normally deemed habitable by civilized men.  Ice Hunters have a curious semi-
egalitarian social order, in which no person is the superior of another, with the 
exception of the priests and shamans who serve as sometimes autocratic rulers 
(though in many cases they govern more by consensus than edict), teachers, 
keepers of history and wisdom, and leaders of the defense of the people.  Ice 
Hunter warriors are expected to aid, assist, and obey their shamans in teaching 
the children clan traditions and practical survival knowledge and in protecting the 
people in the harsh and unforgiving lands where they make their home.  Their 
societies are very orderly and somewhat staid, especially by Barbarian standards.

Many Ice Hunters believe that their society is perfectly ordered by the words of 
the spirits of nature, whispered into the ears of the shamans, and that all should 
be happy with their place in the society and should not question the words of the 
shamans.  Such folk also tend to be xenophobic in the extreme, shunning all 
contact with outsiders.  Many Ice Hunters, however, while perhaps somewhat 
distrustful of strangers, believe that all people and animals share the same 
emotions, thoughts, and morals and simply choose to express them differently.  
They consider sentient and non-sentient beings alike in the grand scheme of 
things, and disrespect of any can incur the wrath of the spirits.  All people and 
animals are deemed to have a life essence called pokulu, and when they die their 
pokulu goes to join the spirits.  If they have led a discordant life, they may face a 
harsh judgment from the other spirits in the afterworld.

Requirements:  In sharp contrast to other Barbarians, Ice Hunters must be of 
lawful alignment.  Ice Hunters must have Strength and Constitution of at least 14 
and Wisdom and Dexterity of at least 12.  Humans, arctic and shield dwarves, 
half-orcs, and half-ogres can become Ice Hunters.

Weapons & Armor:  Ice Hunters favor thick, heavy clothing that wards against 
the cold as much as protecting them against attack.  Such parkas, trousers, 
mittens, and boots of fox, wolf, bear, and seal skin (often with fur linings) are 
equivalent to padded or hide armor, depending on the particular workmanship.  
Ice Hunters will not wear other types of armor, and they cannot use shields.

At 1st level, Ice Hunters must become proficient in the following weapons:  bow 
(eyklak), garnok, iuak, knife, quabone, and ritiik.  Further weapon proficiency 
slots can be spent as the Ice Hunter chooses.

Special Benefits:  Ice Hunters gain most of the usual Barbarian abilities, though 
theirs are of course tailored to their particular interest in survival in the 
inhospitable polar regions of the world.

Hardiness:  As a standard Barbarian.  In addition, Ice Hunters gain a +2 bonus to 
saves vs. cold-based attacks and reduces cold damage by 1 point per die, and can 
survive in frigid environments for up to 1 round per level without suffering 
hypothermia or environmental damage from the cold, even if immersed in icy 
waters.  An Ice Hunter of 5th level or better is able to ignore the effects of 
freezing weather or conditions, assuming that he or she is wearing at least a 
reasonable amount of warm clothing (i.e., they need not wear the massive and 
bulky arctic coats that other characters use to keep worm).  At 9th level, an Ice 
Hunter's saving throw bonus vs. cold-based attacks increases to +4 and he or she 
suffers only half normal damage from such attacks.

Heroic Effort:  As a standard Barbarian.

Natural Stealth:  As a standard Barbarian, but an Ice Hunter has double the 
normal chance to Move Silently (or move without leaving tracks) and Hide in 
Shadows in snowy or icy conditions; however, if not in an arctic or subarctic 
climate zone (or, at the DM's option, a temperate climate during the winter), he 
or she has no chance of success with such stealth abilities.

Outdoor Craft:  As a standard Barbarian; however, an Ice Hunter's skills apply in 
any terrain type but are limited to arctic and subarctic climates (plus temperate 
climates during the winter, at the DM's option).  Ice Hunters can also detect 
environmental dangers such as avalanches, thin ice, and the like.  Ice Hunters 
may learn the languages of intelligent monsters native to arctic and subarctic 
terrain by spending proficiency slots, as such languages are well-known to them, 
but they do not receive such languages for free.

Shun Magic:  Ice Hunters are even more suspicious of magic than other 
characters, and they have been taught over the centuries to despise wielders of 
wizardly magic as an abomination upon the world.  Ice Hunters have a 25% 
chance to detect magic, requiring one round of concentration.  This chance 
increases by 5% per level after 1st, to a maximum of 90%.  This ability does not 
differentiate between types of magic, but it detects only wizard magic.  It does 
enable an Ice Hunter to the presence of magical auras or the ability to use wizard 
spells within 5' per level of experience.

Ice Hunters gain a +3 bonus to saves vs. all forms of wizardly magic (including 
magical items restricted to use by wizards).  In addition, they gain a +1 bonus to 
attack and damage rolls when battling creatures capable of using wizard magic.  
Ice Hunters also have the peculiar ability to gain a special blessing or divine favor 
in return for slaying a wizard or destroying an item of wizardly magic.  This may 
be a gift from a tribal shaman (sometimes an herbal potion or tribal talisman), use 
of a tribal relic on an adventure, spells cast by a shaman on his or her behalf, the 
ability to shapechange into an arctic animal (generally one revered as a 'totem 
animal' by a tribal shaman, such as a seal, walrus, reindeer, or polar bear) one or 
more times, or bonus experience points equal to those gained for creating an item 
of the type destroyed (or a double experience point award for a slain wizard).

Survival Skill:  As a standard Barbarian, save that an Ice Hunter is most skilled at 
climbing on ice.  His or her chance of success at climbing any other surface is 
halved.  An Ice Hunter's Climb Walls skill can also be used as their chance to 
move across ice or similar slick surfaces (even including a grease spell or slippery 
ice created by magic, such as ice storm) without slipping.

Tribal Warfare:  As a standard Barbarian, but an Ice Hunter can never raise a 
barbarian horde.

Special Hindrances:  Ice Hunters share the normal restrictions common to all 
Barbarians.  They are even more averse to wizards and their magic than other 
Barbarians, however, and suffer triple the normal reaction penalty when dealing 
with wizards.  An Ice Hunter can own only one magical item per five levels of 
experience (rounding down), with the normal restrictions of other Barbarians in 
terms of the type of items they will use.  Tribal relics and shamanic talismans and 
herbal potions do not count against this total.

It should be noted that the 'preferred' weapons used by Ice Hunters are 
manufactured from bone (save for the eyklak bow) and thus suffer a -1 penalty to 
attack and damage rolls vs. metal-armored foes, and there is a 1 in 6 chance that 
any bone weapon will break if maximum damage is rolled.

Ice Hunter society is alien in many ways when compared to civilized society or 
even other barbarian society.  For this reason, and because of their very 
egalitarian outlook on things, Ice Hunters care nothing for Tribal Stature and 
gain no benefits from it.  They also can have difficulty communicating verbally 
with 'civilized' persons and must make a Language (Modern) proficiency check 
each time he or she attempts to communicate with a non-barbarian.  Although 
they are distant even from other barbarians, the relationship and commonality of 
culture are near enough that such misunderstanding occurs only very rarely.  
Thus, a proficiency check is still required when conversing with other barbarians, 
but with a +5 bonus to the check.

Finally, Ice Hunters are very much inured to their arctic environments, and as a 
result they become very uncomfortable and suffer a -1 penalty to attack rolls, 
saving throws, and ability and proficiency checks when they are in environments 
with temperatures above 80 degrees.  If targeted with fire- or heat-based attacks, 
they suffer a -1 penalty to their saving throw and suffer one additional point of 
damage per die.

Bonus Proficiencies:  Endurance
Preferred Proficiencies:  Ancient History, Boating, Camouflage, Charioteering 
(dog sled), Direction Sense, Distance Sense, Fire-building, Fishing, 
Leatherworking, Local History, Mountaineering, Navigation, Set Snares, 
Survival, Tannery, Tracking, Weather Sense