ROGUE - GUILDSMAN

Outrider Kit

Description:  Outriders often find work in the employ of governments or military 
forces, but their particular specialty is in leading and guarding merchant 
caravans, bringing them through the easiest paths on overland trails and 
avoiding natural hazards.  They are generally trustworthy, since those who are 
not will not get repeat business for their special services.  However, it is not 
unknown for Outriders to lead their employers into an ambush or other tight spot 
and then abandoning them or turning on them.  Those who do so are expelled from 
their organizations or merchant houses (and sometimes even hunted down as 
examples of the price for betrayal), but they can often dupe those who may not 
know their reputation into following them into danger. 

Outriders specialize in observing and leading alone (i.e., some distance away 
from their charges), while staying hidden and in engaging foes from a distance 
or negotiating for safe passage before his or her charges come into danger.  
They never close into melee unless forced to do so.  Outriders lead a difficult 
and demanding life, requiring a great deal of willpower and attention to detail 
to survive.

Requirements:  As a standard Guildsman, but Outriders must also have Dexterity 
and Constitution scores of at least 13.  Any race save for half-ogres can become 
an Outrider.

Weapon Proficiencies:  As a standard Guildsman, save that all weapons of 
proficiency taken by an Outrider must be usable as missiles in some fashion.  At 
1st level, Outriders must become proficient in knife and any single missile fire 
device.  In addition, Outriders gain free proficiency in darts.

Thief Abilities and Modifiers:  Climb Walls, Find/Remove Traps (including the 
ability to set traps), Hide in Shadows, Move Silently

At 5th level, Outriders gain the ability to Detect Noise and Escape Bonds.  They 
have the normal amount of discretionary points for a Guildsman.

Special Benefits:  Outriders are masters of leading and guiding caravans through 
the trackless wilderness, using their skills to ensure that trade shipments 
arrive safely and on time.  Their scouting skills and affiliation with 
mercantile and government agencies grant them the following abilities:

Avoid Danger:  Outriders are very good at learning shortcuts, escape routes, 
hiding places, and 'back ways' in terrain types with which they are familiar 
(i.e., know the Survival proficiency).  Whenever an encounter with a creature of 
Low (5-7) or better Intelligence is rolled for the Outrider's party in such 
terrain, the Outrider can attempt a proficiency check with a +1 bonus for every 
three levels of experience (rounding up).  If this check is failed, the 
encounter will proceed normally, possibly including an ambush or attack upon the 
Outrider and his or her party.

If the check succeeds, the Outrider will be able to eliminate the chance of 
immediate attack and induce a parley with the creature(s) encountered, during 
which he or she can attempt to negotiate for safe passage.  When doing so, he or 
she gains a +2 bonus to reactions, doubled to +4 if he or she has previously 
negotiated with the same creature(s) (or the same clan or tribe) in a friendly 
fashion, without intervening hostilities.  It is up to the DM to adjudicate the 
success of such a parley, but in general terms achieving a Friendly reaction 
should enable to Outrider to bypass the encounter without harm and possibly even 
without tribute or a bribe being required.  Less favorable reactions will result 
in less pleasant consequences for the Outrider and his or her caravan.

If the check succeeds by a margin of 10 or more, the Outrider has managed to 
find a hiding place or alternate route that will enable him or her (and an 
accompanying caravan or party, if applicable) to avoid the encounter entirely 
without being detected.  This kind of evasion requires a delay or side trip of 
1d10 turns, and there is a 25% chance that during this time of hiding out or 
taking an alternate route the Outrider will run into another encounter with no 
chance to evade it.

Character Insight:  As a standard Guildsman.  In addition, an Outrider can use 
this ability to judge the hit dice and/or level of any creature encountered in 
the wilderness.

Combat Skill:  Outriders are especially skilled with darts, gaining a +1 bonus 
to hit and on damage when using darts.  They also gain a +1 bonus to hit and 
damage when they engage in unarmed combat, as they frequently must break up 
fights within the caravans they lead without causing lasting harm.

Guild Leadership:  As a standard Guildsman, but an Outrider is only able to 
attract and train new prospective Outriders, rather than Guildsmen or mercenary-
type guards.  Also, a 5th level Outrider (a Senior Escort) is considered equal 
to the highest social-class person under his or her guard in terms with regard 
to decisions that affect the course of their journey.  

At 10th level (Captain of Escorts), an Outrider gains the right, when assuming 
responsibility for any sort of caravan, to exercise complete control over any 
servants in the caravan party, including bodyguards and henchmen, to be used in 
the best interests of the caravan.  Also, the permanent staff of underlings 
assigned to the Outrider will be made up of other lower-level Outriders (but is 
otherwise identical to the staff provided for a normal 'Guildmaster' of 10th 
level or above).

If an Outrider elects to set up his or her own caravan-guarding company at 10th 
level or above, he or she will attract 8d4 new recruits that can be trained as 
Outriders.  Also, at 10th level and at each level thereafter an Outrider has a 
5% chance per level to attract into service a lower-level Outriders who wishes 
to join up with his or her organization as a lieutenant or escort captain.

At 15th level (Master of Escorts), unless he or she has suffered a humiliating 
defeat in the course of guarding a caravan, an Outrider's banner becomes an 
object of profound respect.  Any hostile beings (other than undead, mindless 
creatures, and extraplanar creatures) who see and recognize that banner must 
check morale before coming within 100 yards of the bearer, assuming that the 
person carrying it looks reasonable capable of defending him- or herself.  In 
addition, all employees of the Outrider's company gain a +2 morale bonus as long 
as the banner is visible.  These benefits replace those that normally accrue for 
Guild Leadership, and an Outrider never gains the ability to boost an ability 
score.

Guild Membership:  As a standard Guildsman.

Horsemanship:  Outriders are expert horsemen and are trained in mounted combat.  
An Outrider's mount can be coaxed to greater than normal speed without loss of 
endurance, gaining a +1 bonus to its MV rate for every three levels of the 
Outrider (rounding up, maximum of +6), assuming that the animal is not 
encumbered.  In addition, his or her mount will never panic from normal causes 
and also receives a +2 bonus to saves vs. fear.  An Outrider also gains a 5% 
chance per level of completely avoiding damage when thrown from a mount or when 
faced with trampling or stampeding animals (including exotic creatures such as 
elephants or dinosaurs), and in any event they will suffer no more than half 
damage in such situations.  An Outrider of 5th level or higher receives a +1 
frontal Armor Class bonus when mounted, which increases to +2 at 10th level.  
Outriders can use missile weapons from horseback without penalty, even while 
riding at full speed.

DM's Note:  Dwarves, halflings, and gnomes who become Outriders typically ride 
ponies instead of horses, but at the DM's option these small folk might ride 
more exotic mounts.

Outdoor Survival:  An Outrider gains one free Survival proficiency at 1st level, 
plus one more for every five levels of experience (rounded down).  Because of 
their intimate familiarity with such terrain, an Outrider gains a +20% bonus to 
the use of any of their thieving abilities in a terrain type in which they know 
the Survival proficiency.  An Outrider also gains a +1 bonus to any other 
wilderness-based proficiencies (DM's discretion) when traveling through a 
terrain type for which he or she knows Survival.

Outriders are able to observe subtle changes in terrain, natural hazards, coming 
changes in the weather, or even traps or ambushes set by intelligent creatures, 
with a chance of success equal to his or her Find/Remove Traps score of noticing 
such hazards even if he or she is not actively searching for them.  If an 
Outrider spends 1d10 rounds actively searching for such things, he or she can 
make a check at double the normal chance of success.  Typical natural hazards 
affected by this ability include quicksand, sinkholes, avalanches, rockslides, 
slippery slopes, and thin ice, while man-made hazards such as pit traps, 
deadfalls, snares, and unstable bridges are detectable with this ability, as can 
ambushes.  Outriders can also detect approaching storms and even earthquakes.

DM's Note:  As a general rule, Outriders are specialists in the realm of outdoor 
activity, and the benefits of Outdoor Survival cannot be applied to indoor, 
urban, subterranean, or aquatic settings.  It is not too farfetched, however, to 
suppose that there might be subterranean Outriders among the dwarf or drow elf 
races, able to use these abilities in the Underdark, or similar characters among 
the aquatic races to safeguard seaborne commerce.  In no case, however, should 
these abilities apply within urban or indoor/dungeon environments.

Pathfinding:  Outriders have a great deal of facility at leading others through 
the wilderness.  These benefits apply only when the Outrider is at least 10 
yards ahead of those he or she is leading (other Outriders, Rangers, or wood 
elves may be nearer to the Outrider than this).  The Outrider's trail sense 
reduces the chance of his or her party getting hopelessly lost by 10%.  
Outriders' sense for the outdoors enables them to always manage to find the 
easiest trail through rough terrain, increasing the party's movement rate when 
traveling overland.  Referring to Table 74:  Terrain Costs for Overland Movement 
on page 125 of the Dungeon Master's Guide, terrain costs for clear farmland and 
plains are unchanged, but terrain movement costs from 2 to 4 are decreased by 
one and movement costs greater than 5 are decreased by 2.

In addition to reducing generic terrain costs, Outriders can use their own Climb 
Walls skill to assist others in scaling obstacles.  An Outrider can assist one 
other person per experience level to climb with the same chance of success that 
he or she enjoys, provided that he or she has climbing equipment available for 
each person.  An Outrider can also provide this same chance to one other person 
for every five levels of experience (rounding down), even when neither of them 
is using any sort of climbing equipment.

Finally, an Outrider's Company Affiliation allows him or her to Company 
Affiliation, where appropriate.

Special Hindrances:  Outriders exist more as special agents or employees of a 
guild rather than truly being members of it.  As a result, though they do gain 
certain benefits of their association with the guild, including the ability to 
move into leadership positions within their particular branch of guild or 
government service (though not leadership within the guild or agency as a 
whole), they do not receive Guild Training, nor do they have the opportunity for 
Guild Advancement.  For much the same reason, they do not attract Agents.  
Outriders are also very practical-minded and focus their studies on the 
wilderness and how best to make use of it for trade, and they do not spend time 
learning how best to manipulate and use Public Relations.

Because their primary role is as scouts and guides, helping their caravans to 
avoid danger, Outriders are trained to avoid melee combat if at all possible, 
suffering a -1 penalty to attack and damage rolls in melee combat (save for 
unarmed combat).  Further, as noted above, all weapons of proficiency of a 
Outrider must be usable as missiles, and at least half must be pure missile 
weapons, not usable in melee.  Outriders can wear any type of armor they wish, 
but most wear leather similar light armor so as to not interfere with their 
stealth abilities and to allow them the greatest possible speed when trying to 
escape pursuit.  An Outrider will never carry more than his or her unencumbered 
weight allowance except in emergency situations (e.g., to save a person or item 
placed under his or her care during an overland journey).  This also applies to 
an Outrider's mount--he or she will not load it to the point where its movement 
is impeded.

Finally, Outriders operate at full effectiveness only in wilderness settings.  
If not in a wilderness setting of some type, their ability to Climb Walls, Hide 
in Shadows, and Move Silently operate at only half normal effectiveness.  Their 
ability to Find/Remove (and Set) Traps cannot be used at all if not in a 
wilderness setting.

Bonus Proficiencies:  Riding (Land-based), Survival (any one)
Preferred Proficiencies:  Alertness, Ambush, Awareness, Animal Lore, Animal 
Noise, Bowyer/Fletcher, Camouflage, Cartography, Direction Sense, Distance 
Sense, Endurance, Hunting, Jumping, Looting, Monster Lore, Mountaineering, 
Observation, Sign Language, Signalling, Sixth Sense, Survival (any), Tracking, 
Trail Marking, Trail Signs, Trailing, Voice Mimicry


***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 
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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. 


<a href="mail to:tjaden@u.washington.edu">Jason Eric Nelson </a> < tjaden@u.washington.edu >