WARRIOR-BARBARIAN KIT

Islander

Description:  Islanders are Barbarians who live among the scattered archipelagos, 
verdant atolls, and tropical coastlines of the southern seas.  Islanders see 
themselves as protectors of their home islands and coastlines from exploitation by 
'civilized' folk, while at the same time attempting to enjoy the bounty to be found 
there in a responsible and caring manner.  Islanders are free spirits, loving nothing 
more than to canoe from island to island and see what might be found on each 
new shore.  They are never afraid to face the menaces that lurk in the southern 
seas and the scattered mysterious islands, but they are careful to avoid civilized 
folk whenever they can.

Islanders interact frequently across clan and tribal lines, and any Islander with a 
dispute against another can ask for the dispute to be settled at a local 'drum 
council', where all ranking tribe members (at least twelve from the tribe of each 
person involved in the dispute) sit in democratic judgment on such issues.  It is 
considered bad form to bring insignificant issues before a drum council, as adults 
should be able to resolve most disputes among themselves.  In cases where such 
is not possible, however, Islander tradition reserves the right to call for a drum 
council where everyone will be allowed to present their case, and once a decision 
has been rendered it is very rare (and extremely dishonorable) for it to be broken.  
Islanders thus carry themselves with a degree of confidence in dealing with their 
barbaric neighbors, because they feel secure in the knowledge that even among 
those of differing points of view they can get along.  Their view of civilized folk 
is far less rosy, based on long, hard experience of unpleasant confrontations with 
such people invading their islands and taking what is theirs.  In such cases, 
Islanders stand ready to defend their islands, whatever the cost may be.

Requirements:  Islanders may be of any non-lawful alignment but must be 
humans, half-elves (aquatic or wild elf stock only), half-orcs, or half-ogres.  
Islanders must have scores of at least 14 in Dexterity and Constitution and 12 in 
Strength.

Weapons & Armor:  Islanders most commonly wear no armor, but they may 
wear hide armor if they wish.  Islanders cannot use shields.

An Islander's initial weapon proficiency slots must be spent on the following 
weapons:  bow (short), club (backlash, datchi club, flaming club, singing sticks), 
and dagger.

Special Benefits:  Islanders are free spirits, loving the traditions of their people 
and knowledge of their history and the islands and sunny shores where they make 
their home, but equally fond of new experiences and voyages of discovery, 
always curious to see what lies beyond the horizon.  Their special abilities reflect 
their adaptations to their unique environment.

Firedancing:  Islanders frequently make use of fire in tribal ceremonies, including 
juggling burning torches, dancing and leaping over fires, and even walking across 
hot coals.  These skills are often applied to deal with active volcanic and 
geothermal conditions that exist on many islands.  Because they are so used to 
dealing with conditions of extreme heat, an Islander can attempt to gain extreme 
resistance to heat by remaining still and concentrating for 1d6 rounds and making 
a Wisdom check with a +1 bonus for every three levels of experience (rounding 
up).  If this check is successful, the Islander gains the benefits of an endure heat 
spell for 1 round per level of experience.  This can be done only once per day.

In addition, the tribal rituals of an Islander can be exciting, entrancing, and nearly 
hypnotic to non-Islanders who see them.  Any Islander can engage in Firedancing 
(a euphemism for any ritualistic performance involving fire, using one or more of 
the 'required' proficiencies for an Islander) by spending at least one round 
performing a tribal ritual with the use of their proficiency.  If a proficiency check 
is successful after one round of such Firedancing, any non-Islander viewing the 
performance will be entranced by it unless they succeed in a save vs. paralyzation 
(Wisdom bonus allowed), with a +4 bonus if the viewer is of a higher level than 
the Islander; creatures with 18 or higher Wisdom or more than 4 levels above the 
Islander's level cannot be entranced with this ability, though they may enjoy the 
performance greatly.

An entranced creature will do nothing but watch the Islander's Firedancing, 
staring in rapturous wonder at this exotic spectacle, for as long as the 
performance continues.  The Islander must make a successful proficiency check 
at the beginning of each round in order to keep his or her the attention of his or 
her audience.  If an Islander knows more than one of the required proficiencies, 
he or she can attempt checks for each proficiency, and as long as one check is 
made each round, the performance can continue for as many rounds as the 
Islander's level plus Constitution, after which he or she becomes too mentally and 
physically drained to perform any more that day.  If these checks are failed, the 
audience loses interest and the trance is broken.  It is also broken if the Islander 
at faster than half normal speed, if line of sight is blocked between an entranced 
creature and the Islander, or if the victim is physically shaken or attacked in any 
way.  A creature who is attacked can respond in the same round, but he or she 
will always lose initiative and can perform only a single action, even if normally 
allowed multiple actions.

Flaming Weapons:  Islanders are well-versed in the use of fire as a part of war.  
Islanders learn to use special flaming clubs in combat, which are 2' long shafts 
with a fist-sized wooden knob at the end.  The knob is coated with thick pitch 
and set aflame before an Islander enters combat with it.  When it is used, it 
inflicts normal club damage plus one point of fire damage and forces the target to 
save vs. petrification be smeared with flaming pitch and begin to catch fire.  
Unless the target immediately spends one full round extinguishing the flames he 
or she will suffer 1d6 points of fire damage in the following round as the pitch 
burns itself out.  Each time an Islander hits an opponent with a flaming club, he 
or she must also save vs. petrification or suffer 1 point of fire damage.  A flaming 
club can be hurled, but it has only half the normal range of a hurled club.

A flaming club will burn for 1d6+8 rounds and then must be 'refueled' and 
reignited, which requires 1d4+1 rounds of effort.  It is possible for an Islander to 
carry up to two extra prepared clubs on his or her belt, but there is a 5% chance 
each time he or she strikes an enemy that burning pitch from his or her club in use 
will ignite one of these weapons.  An Islander can use a flaming club in each hand 
if desired (with normal penalties for two-weapon use), and in addition an Islander 
who knows the Juggling proficiency can attempt a check may draw a new club 
from his or her belt, ignite it from the club that is still burning, and attack with it 
in the same round.  Otherwise, it requires a full round of effort to switch clubs.

Islanders frequently use flaming arrows with heads of obsidian or (sometimes) 
bone.  These weapons have the same fiery effect on a successful hit as a flaming 
club, but they are also consumed by fire and destroyed with use whether or not 
they hit.

Finally, an Islander may enter combat with a mouthful of flammable oil (or 
sometimes a mixture of pitch and alcohol) and spit it across a flame (often his or 
her flaming club) at an opponent up to 10' away.  This requires a successful 
attack roll, but a hit indicates that the target suffers 2d6 points of fire damage on 
the round of the hit and will suffer an additional 1d6 points of damage on the 
following round unless he or she spends the entire round putting out the fire.  If 
the Islander is struck for damage with a mouthful of pyrotechnic liquid, he or she 
must save vs. poison or swallow it and be unable to do anything but retch 
uncontrollably for 1d4 rounds thereafter.  An Islander may not fill his or her 
mouth with oil once melee has begun and must rest at least one full turn after 
performing this maneuver before doing it again.

Hardiness:  As a standard Barbarian.  In addition, Islanders suffer no penalties 
from hot or humid conditions if unarmored, and they gain a +2 bonus to saves vs. 
fire- or heat-based attacks.

Heroic Effort:  As a standard Barbarian.

Home Islands:  All Islanders have a certain island or archipelago that is their 
home and which they know better than any other as a matter of the extensive oral 
histories and legends passed down among the generations.  An Islander has a 
nearly encyclopedic knowledge of his or her home territory, ranging from the 
tides and currents to the best fishing shoals to the eating habits and special attack 
forms of local wildlife (including monsters) to location of ancient and crumbling 
ruins.  An Islander begins with a 5% chance to know virtually anything and 
everything about his or her Home Islands, and this chance increases by 10% per 
level of experience, to a maximum of 95% at 9th level and above.  In addition, 
non-weapon proficiency checks made by Islanders while using their 'bonus', 
'required', or 'preferred' proficiencies (or his or her Outdoor Craft ability) gain a 
+2 bonus while they are in their Home Islands.

Outdoor Craft:  As a standard Barbarian, but the concept of ambush is generally 
foreign to Islanders, so they do not have the ability to detect ambushes that other 
Barbarians possess.  An Islander may use this ability in all terrain types, but only 
within tropical and subtropical climate zones (at the DM's option, temperate 
areas during the summer may also be allowed) while within 10 miles of a large 
body of water.  In addition, Islanders are extremely sensitive to weather patterns 
and coming storms, and are able to use Outdoor Craft at its full normal value 
(rather than being halved as usual) in order to sense the approach of a storm.

In addition to standard applications of Outdoor Craft, Islanders can sense the 
presence of land (including islands and reefs that break the surface of the water), 
including direction and distance, within 5 miles per level of experience.  If an 
Islander has ever been to that land before, he or she has a 10% chance per level 
of identifying the land mass precisely.

Finally, an Islander can attempt to use his or her Outdoor Craft to 'track' 
waterborne craft and aquatic creatures.  This is not so much a reading of physical 
signs as an intuitive deduction of the probable course and destination of the 
quarry.  This special tracking ability follows the same rules as the use of his or 
her normal Tracking ability as part of Outdoor Craft (i.e., Wisdom check with a -
6 penalty), but gains a +1 bonus for every three levels of the Islander (rounding 
down).

Tribal Stature:  As a standard Barbarian.

Special Hindrances:  Islanders share the normal restrictions of all Barbarians.  In 
addition, Islanders tend to be open, up-front, and friendly in their dealings with 
others, and they do not have the Natural Stealth of other Barbarians (though they 
can and do camouflage their dwellings to hide them from the eyes of civilized 
explorers).  They also love exploration and discovery themselves and do not 
particularly enjoy killing; though conflicts inevitably arise, in Islander society 
disputes are resolved through a drum council, not by clubs raised in anger.  
Simply put, Islanders do not have the obsession with Tribal Warfare that other 
Barbarians possess.  They also do not believe in attacking from ambush against 
sentient beings; it is acceptable to hunt and slay animals by surprise, but sentient 
beings deserve a chance to know upon whose lands they are trespassing and to be 
given a chance to retreat.  Thus, unless a specific person, group, race, or nation 
has been declared a tribal enemy by the a drum council of the tribe, an Islander 
will never take a surprise attack upon another sentient living being.  Undead, 
extraplanar creatures (for the most part--DM's discretion), unintelligent 
creatures, magical constructs, and the like are not subject to this restriction.

Islanders generally manufacture their weapons from wood, obsidian, teeth, bones, 
and whatever other natural materials they can find.  Since they see relatively little 
heavy metal armor in their torrid climate, these materials serve them in good 
stead; however, all of their preferred weapons suffer a -1 penalty to hit and 
damage vs. metal-armored foes because of their light construction; daggers and 
arrows made of obsidian or bone also have a 1 in 6 chance of breakage if 
maximum damage is rolled.  Unlike many other Barbarians, Islanders are not so 
wedded to their traditions that they will not use crafted metal weapons, though 
such items are highly subject to rusting in their island environments.

Islanders generally will not put themselves or their ideas forward in an aggressive 
way, allowing others to 'live and let live'.  When they are part of a group, they 
will strive to make sure everyone is allowed to 'have their say' (a vestige of their 
drum council tradition), but they do not feel in any real position to judge the 
actions and positions of others.  An Islander will rarely take a firm stand on an 
issue or pursue a course of action as part of a group unless the action has been 
thoroughly discussed and at least one other character agrees with his or her ideas.

Islanders are curious and love to learn and discover new things.  As a result, it is 
often hard for them to turn down new experiences and opportunities that present 
themselves.  Whenever possible, Islanders will seek out such new experiences 
(e.g., a new exotic flower to smell, a particularly challenging wild fish to hunt, a 
new island to explore), and only when faced with obvious danger will they be 
able to force themselves to resist such temptations.

Finally, Islanders are very used to warm weather and dealing with conditions of 
extreme heat.  If forced to adventure in an environment where the temperature is 
below 40 degrees, he or she will suffer a -1 penalty to attack rolls, saving throws, 
and ability checks (including proficiency checks).  They also have a very strong 
emotional attachment to the sea.  If he or she must remain more than 10 miles 
away from large bodies of water for more days than the sum of his or her level 
and Wisdom, an Islander will suffer a similar penalty to that for adventuring in 
cold climates.  These penalties are cumulative with one another.

Bonus Proficiencies:  Boating, Fire-building, Swimming
Required Proficiencies:  Dancing, Juggling, Jumping, Musical Instrument (drum), 
Tumbling (choose one)
Preferred Proficiencies:  Ancient History, Animal Lore, Artistic Ability, 
Bowyer/Fletcher, Camouflage, Carpentry, Chanting, Dancing, Direction Sense, 
Distance Sense, Ecology, Endurance, Fishing, Healing, Herbalism, Hunting, 
Juggling, Jumping, Language (Ancient), Local History, Musical Instrument 
(drum), Navigation, Religion, Rune Lore, Running, Seamanship, Survival, 
Tumbling, Weather Sense, Weaving