ROGUE - BARD Gypsy Kit Description: Gypsies are often called "traveling people" or "forest nomads," typically wandering the lands in caravans comprising of brightly painted carts or wagons. These people are well-known for their strange music and dances, typically surviving in their wandering lifestyle by entertaining villagers and folk in the places they roam. Gypsies wander the land, experiencing life as they go. They travel until they find something of interest, where they establish a temporary camp and remain until the urge to see more of the world overpowers their desire to stay. Adventuring gypsies may be on a personal quest to locate some unique place or thing or may simply be out to experience the great wonders that appear along the adventuring path. Gypsies are often misunderstood by others, who classify them as thieves, beggars, carnival people, nomads, or any number of other erroneous names. They are also very open and welcoming to those who seek to learn their ways and join them in their wandering, garnering for them a reputation for stealing children in the night and then spiriting them off into the wilderness. It should be noted that not all Gypsies are bards or have bardic abilities; Gypsy bards, known among Gypsy clans as "rawuns," function as the chief storytellers, lore-keepers, fortune tellers, and spiritual advisers of their Gypsy clans. Requirements: As a standard Bard, save that only humans, half-elves, and tieflings can become Gypsies. Weapon Proficiencies: Gypsies cannot take proficiency in any melee weapon with a speed factor greater than 5, though any missile weapon may be used. At first level, a Gypsy must take proficiency in a dagger or knife of some type, and the first sword proficiency (if one is ever taken) must be the scimitar. Gypsies will wear only leather or padded armor or elven chain, and they will never wear a shield. Thief Abilities: Climb Walls, Detect Illusion, Escape Bonds, Move Silently, Pick Pockets Special Benefits: Gypsies have a variety of special abilities, passed down from prior generations of Gypsy rawuns. They can always speak with other Gypsies using a 'secret language' that is never shared with outsiders. In addition, a closely held secret among Gypsies is that all of them (at least all who become full-fledged Gypsy bards) are born with a psionic 'Wild Talent', either selected by the DM or randomly determined as described in the Complete Psionics Handbook (or The Will and the Way); DMs who do not use psionics in their campaigns should of course feel free to ignore this. In addition, they gain the following class abilities: Entertainment: As a standard Bard, but a Gypsy of 9th level or above will never establish a stronghold or attract soldiers to their service. They can, however, form performing companies and attract artists to perform with them. Evil Eye: This ability manifests itself as a minor curse that the Gypsy can either bestow on or remove from another creature once per day. The victim may save vs. spells, and if successful the Gypsy must make a Wisdom check or suffer the effects of the evil eye. If failed, however, the victim suffers a -2 penalty to all saving throws, ability checks, and proficiency checks, and the aura of the curse adversely affects reactions, making a "friendly" reaction impossible--"indifferent" is the best reaction that can be had. The curse lasts for as many days as the caster has levels, although it can be removed by a remove curse or similar spell. At 10th level, a Gypsy's evil eye increases in power. Instead of using the standard curse, he or she may by glance and gesture cast the equivalent of an eyebite spell once per day. A Gypsy can also spend one full day creating a magical charm, which remains effective for one day per level of the Gypsy. The charm must be a small item of bone, mineral, or precious metal, usually a bead of glass or a carved bone. It acts as a protective device, granting a +1 bonus to save vs. enchantment/ charm and necromantic magic and a +2 bonus to saving throws vs. curses of any type. Its protection will last for one day per level of the Gypsy that created it. Such a charm is especially effective against the evil eye, granting a +4 bonus to saving throws vs. its power (or a +4 bonus to a Gypsy's Wisdom check to avert the evil eye affecting him or her if the intended victim saves). If such a protective charm is given to a creature after he or she has fallen under a curse or the evil eye, it will be of no help. Fortune Telling: If a Gypsy of 5th level or above possesses a miscellaneous magical item with divination powers (e.g., crystal ball, medallion of ESP), he or she can predict attempt to foretell the future in a manner similar to an augury spell once per day for every five levels of experience (rounding down). The Gypsy can make use of this ability even if the divinatory magical item is not one normally usable by Bards. Even if no such magical item is available, a Gypsy can attempt an augury-type divination by making use of a non-magical crystal ball, deck of cards, or similar divinatory instrument. This may be done only once per day and requires 1d10 rounds to complete, and it has only half the normal chance of success. At 10th level, the Gypsy's Fortune Telling powers become more accurate. Instead of attempting an augury about the future, the Gypsy may instead attempt a divination; if performed without a divinatory miscellaneous magical item, the divination has only half the normal chance of working. A Gypsy of 10th level or higher also gains the ability to make use of all divinatory magical items, regardless of normal class restrictions. Performance Magic: As a standard Bard. In addition, certain Gypsy songs and dances can have magical effects that focus the spell powers of one or more Gypsies through the performance. This allows Gypsies to use their Performance Magic in a cooperative fashion. A single Gypsy must take the lead role in such a performance (typically a dancer), and that Gypsy must choose a spell to cast, as per the normal rules for Performance Magic. In addition, other Gypsies participating in the performance can add their energy to the leader's spell by successfully making the appropriate proficiency checks as if they themselves were using Performance Magic. Every participating Gypsy who succeeds in their proficiency checks, regardless of whether they are of sufficient level to cast the spell being used by the leader, is able to contribute magical energy to the spell effect being created. As a result, the level at which the spell is cast should be determined by the total levels of all Gypsies involved in the performance divided by two (rounding down). Example: A 9th level Gypsy wishes to cast hold person through a performance. She is assisted by two 4th level Gypsies and two 1st level Gypsies. The leader succeeds in her checks to cast the spell through Performance Magic, as do the one 1st level and one 4th level Gypsy, but the other two fail their checks. As a result, their levels are not considered in determining the effect of the spell. The actual casting level of the hold person spell is 9+4+1 = 14, divided by 2 = 7. Thus, by casting the hold person spell cooperatively with other Gypsies, the leader was able to boost its effect from 4th level (i.e., normal effective casting level for Bards is equal to half their level rounding down; in this case, 9/2 = 4.5, rounded down to 4th) to 7th level. In any event, only the Gypsy actually casting the spell (i.e., the 'leader') needs to expend a 'spell slot' when using cooperative Performance Magic in this way. A Gypsy who is merely assisting another in the performance does not need to expend any magical energy directly in order to do so. Note that it is also possible for two Gypsies of sufficient level to cast the same spell simultaneously through the use of Performance Magic. All Gypsies involved in a performance must cast the same spell, and the Performance Magic proficiency checks should be made only once and applied to all spells being cast through the performance. Example: If the above group of Gypsies elected to use Performance Magic to cast sleep, the 4th level Gypsy who failed his or her rolls would fail to successfully cast the spell or assist the performance of the others. A 1st level 'spell slot' would still be expended, however. The two 1st level Gypsies cannot yet cast spells, so all that they can do in this situation is attempt to assist the others (in the above example, one succeeded and one failed). The net result would be that both the 4th level and 9th level Gypsy successfully cast sleep (expending a 1st level 'spell slot' for each of them), and both spells would take effect at 7th level. As with the Performance Magic of all Bards, there is no sign of obvious spellcasting when this form of magic is being practiced, but any required material components must be on the Gypsy's person when the spell is cast. Casting a spell normally (i.e., by a single Gypsy) through Performance Magic operates just as it does for other Bards (the most common choices are Dancing or Musical Instrument (tambourine) for a somatic component and Singing or Musical Instrument (flute) for a verbal component; at the DM's option he or she may allow the tambourine to be used in place of a verbal component as well). Cooperative use of Performance Magic, however, increases the casting time of any spell to the next higher time increment (e.g., casting time 3 becomes 3 rounds; 1 round becomes 1 turn, etc.). It is only at the end of this casting period that proficiency checks must be made. Rumor & Legend: As a standard Bard. Special Hindrances: The greatest hindrance of a Gypsy is his or her adherence to the Gypsy philosophy of life. Gypsy ways are strange to others and poorly understood by most. Their reputation as lazy, shiftless thieves and vagabonds results in a -2 reaction penalty with Rural or Urban NPCs and -1 with all others. They do not recognize the existence of private property. The fruits of the land, to their way of thinking, belong to all. If there is not enough to go around, it is easy enough to pack the wagons and move along. Likewise, Gypsies use only what they need and do not seek wealth or possessions for their own sake or for the influence or power that they bring. They have no rulers and have little use for the standard Bard's skill at Leadership & Influence, though they sometimes will claim lofty titles in order to gain an advantage in bartering (when outsiders believe this, Gypsies take it as proof of their gullibility). They are generally led in their wandering by Gypsy rawuns, who receive the knowledge and traditions passed down from their ancestors. Though they love stories, they tend to keep to themselves and their own kind as a general rule, and they do not learn the Language Lore of other Bards. Gypsies love nature and seek to preserve wild beauty. They thus find favor with druids and follow many of the tenets of the druidic religion. They rarely worship deities as such, though they may give of what they have to further the causes of deities whose views are line with theirs, such as the patrons of wanderers, dancing, merriment, music, love, nature, and freedom. Though there are exceptions, Gypsies do not often form long-lasting binding partnerships, such as marriages, generally seeking companionship only for as long as both parties agree to the arrangement. They are loyal to and protect their friends, but such friendship must be earned and is not gained easily. They believe that possession and ownership are the same; anything left behind or unused is fair game for someone else to take. They also favor bartering and trade over the use of money, since money is of no use unless it is used to bring pleasure and sustain life. They always dress and act naturally and comfortably, rarely adhering to standards of decorum in 'civilized' areas; they generally believe that the rigid customs, beliefs, and proprieties of non-Gypsies are foolish and should be ignored whenever possible. Gypsies will never retain more treasure than they can easily carry, and they will never buy land (this concept is entirely foreign to them) or build permanent dwellings. They will also never retain excessive wealth, keeping only that necessary to support them and their friends in a comfortable existence, spreading around any excess to those who are in want, seeking to spread happiness and peace wherever they travel. Bonus Proficiencies: Dancing, Language (Modern-Gypsy 'secret language') Preferred Proficiencies: Ancient History, Animal Care, Animal Noise, Animal Training, Astrology, Brewing, Charioteering, Contortionist, Cooking, Craft Instrument, Direction Sense, Distance Sense, Disguise, Gaming, Herbalism, Hunting, Juggling, Leatherworking, Luck, Musical Instrument, Navigation, Poetry, Seamstress/Tailor, Seduction, Sign Language, Singing, Tattooing, Tumbling, Ventriloquism, Voice Mimicry, Weather Sense, Winemaking ***DISCLAIMER*** As with all postings by me of classes or races, it should be noted that portions of the information contained herein were inspired by or derived from information in published works of TSR, Inc., and may contain references to those works, quotations or passages of text (especially in the area of 'Character Description', where applicable sections from TSR works were often carried over more or less intact into my campaign world), or particular powers or abilities invented by TSR staff writers. No relationship with TSR, Inc., is to be implied by this use, nor is any attempt being made to solicit profit or remuneration of any kind. I have read the TSR Online Policy document, and have tried to accommodate the stipulations contained therein. In instances where I have lifted an essentially complete class or race without significant alteration, I have not included these in my postings but instead have inserted a reference to the appropriate D&D sourcebook for those curious in including it in their campaign. Only variations that include a significant component of original work, alteration, or reformulation (including the compositing elements from various TSR sources into new combinations) of have been included in this set of postings. Jason Eric Nelson < tjaden@u.washington.edu >