WARRIOR-BARBARIAN KIT

Northman

Description:  Northmen are Barbarians whose lives are inextricably tied to the 
cold, stormy seas of the northern latitudes.  Some Northmen captain sailing ships 
up and down the northern coasts or across trackless seas, while some serve as 
officers on the ships of others or even serve as privateers (either working for 
themselves or for their clan chiefs).  To a Northman, there is nothing more 
invigorating than challenging the elements.  The feel of wind and spray on one's 
face and the deck pitching beneath one's feet is the greatest feeling in all the 
world.  If humankind is to expand its reach, daring men and women (i.e., 
Northmen) must defy the odds and dare the impossible.  The thrill of exploration 
is sweeter than any mead or grog; there is always risk, but without risk life is 
empty.   Life is to be lived to its fullest, and the consequences be damned.  A 
Northman's loyalties are first of all to their shipmates (usually close kin), then 
one's ship (often treated more as a brother or sister, rather than a mere 
conveyance), then to other family.  All other considerations (loyalty to clan 
leaders or the will of the gods) are subsidiary to these.  Though Northmen do 
venerate a variety of deities (predominantly those of sea, sky, storm, and battle), 
they do not rely on the hand of such powers to extract them from difficulties, for 
such would be coddling that leads to a lack of challenge and room to grow.  They 
believe the powers help those best who find solutions for themselves by helping 
those plans to work--fortune favors the bold, and there are few in all the world 
bolder than Northmen.

Requirements:  Northmen may be of any non-lawful alignment, but they must be 
humans, half-ogres, or half-orcs.  Northmen must have Strength and Constitution 
of at least 14 and Dexterity of at least 12.

Weapons & Armor:  Northmen can wear any sort of armor up to chain mail and 
can use any type of shield.  A Northman's initial weapon proficiency slots must be 
spent on the following weapons:  axe (battle and hand), hammer (throwing), 
harpoon, spear, sword (broad).

Special Benefits:  Northmen are masterful sailors, implacable warriors, and 
extraordinarily confident allies.  They have most of the usual Barbarian abilities:

Berserkergang:  All Northmen have the ability to enter into a wild fighting frenzy 
that increases their effectiveness in battle.  This frenzy is not automatic; a 
Northman must spend at least one round working him- or herself up to 
Berserkergang (frequently biting their shield or howling like a wild beast), which 
precludes any other action.  At the end of the round, the Northman must roll a 
successful save vs. death magic (magical bonuses do not apply, but Wisdom 
bonuses or penalties can be applied as a bonus to this roll) in order to enter a 
battle frenzy.  If the save fails, the Northman can continue psyching him- or 
herself up each round to reach the wild mental state required for Berserkergang, 
with a new save allowed at the end of each round.  After ten rounds of such 
activity, he or she automatically becomes berserk.

Once a Northman has entered Berserkergang, he or she gains the following 
benefits:

	- Strength increase of 2 points (each 'step' of exceptional Strength 
	counts as 1 point)
	- 1 extra attack per 2 melee rounds
	- 2d6 bonus hit points; damage taken while berserk is subtracted first 
	from these bonus hit points
	- +2 bonus to saves vs. mind-affecting attacks
	- immunity to pain, stunning, knockout blows, and knockdown attacks

This battle rage does incur several restrictions.  A Northman in Berserkergang 
must:

	- Enter melee combat immediately (weapons can be hurled during 
	approach); if 2 consecutive rounds pass without a Northman attacking 
	in melee, the Berserkergang ends immediately.
	- Continue fighting a given opponent until the foe is slain or flees and 
	cannot be pursued (i.e., cannot switch targets).
	- Cannot retreat while an opponent (someone attacking or previously 
	attacked in melee by the Northman) is still fighting; if all opponents 
	within melee range are slain or driven off a Northman can retreat, but 
	this ends the Berserkergang.

Unlike most berserking abilities, a Northman maintains a strong vestige of 
rational control and can choose to end his or her Berserkergang at any time.  In 
any case, Berserkergang can last only as many rounds as a Northman has points 
of Constitution; if it has not ended before this time, it ends immediately.

Once the Berserkergang has ended, all benefits disappear immediately and the 
Northman must make a save vs. death magic (magical bonuses do not apply) with 
a -1 penalty for every round spent in Berserkergang.  If successful, he or she 
suffers no ill effects, but if the save is failed he or she will be drained and 
exhausted, temporarily losing 6 points of Strength and 1d6 hit points.  Strength 
points are regained at rate of 1 point per hour, but hit points lost due to strain 
and exertion must be recovered normally by rest and time, magical healing, etc.

Hardiness:  As a standard Barbarian.

Heroic Effort:  As a standard Barbarian.

Revelry:  Northmen are generally able to celebrate longer and more boisterously 
than others, with a greater chance of shrugging off the effects of intoxication 
when consuming large quantities of alcohol.  When engaging in any sort of 
drunken Revelry, a Northman can attempt a Constitution check after each full 
portion of ale, wine, mead, or other drink has been consumed, with a -1 penalty 
per drink (i.e., the first drink applies a -1 penalty, the second -2, and so on).  
With a successful Revelry check, the portion of alcohol just consumed has no 
effect on the character.  If the check is failed, the character begins to be affected 
normally by his or her drinking, but only the drink for which the Revelry check 
was failed and subsequent drinks apply toward the character's level of 
drunkenness.  Any drinks for which Revelry checks were successful do not count.

High-level Northmen are even more skilled at holding their liquor and gain a +1 
bonus to their Revelry checks for every three levels of experience (rounding 
down).  Northmen also gain a similar bonus to saving throws vs. ingested poison, 
but not to poisons of other types.

Seafaring:  Northmen are excellent sailors, born and bred to salt spray, sea 
storms, and the rolling deck of a ship.  They gain a +1 bonus to their Navigation, 
Seamanship, and Weather Sense proficiencies for every three levels of experience 
(rounding up), but only when they are sailing in a Northman ship (e.g., knarr, 
longship) or in the rocky, windswept coastal lands where they dwell.  In any 
other situation, these proficiencies simply gain a straight +1 bonus regardless of 
the Northman's level.

Any ship with a Northman captain can make use of his or her Seafaring skill to 
increase its movement rate by 1 (in noncombat situations only) and its 
seaworthiness rating by 5.  A ship with an all-Northman crew gains +2 movement 
rate bonus (+1 in combat situations) and increases its seaworthiness rating by 10.

Northmen are expert fighters aboard ship and in the water, suffering no penalty 
to initiative when fighting on board the rolling deck of a ship.  When fighting 
creatures on board ship who are not themselves Corsairs, Mariners, Northmen, 
or similar characters, they gain a -2 initiative bonus and a +1 bonus to hit and 
Armor Class.  Northmen also have a fine sense of balance, developed from years 
of working on pitching decks and shimmying up masts and yardarms.  Under 
normal circumstances, a Northman will never slip or fall when negotiating narrow 
or precarious footing.  If forced to make a Dexterity check or saving throw to 
maintain his or her balance, a Northman gains a +2 bonus.

Tribal Stature:  As a standard Barbarian, save that Northmen are exceptionally 
skilled at the art of boasting and intimidation, as if they were four levels higher 
than their actual level.

Tribal Warfare:  As a standard Barbarian.

Special Hindrances:  Northmen share the usual restrictions of Barbarians.  In 
addition, they are supremely confident warriors and love to face others in mortal 
combat but they shun stealth and surprise as dishonorable.  They thus have no 
facility with Natural Stealth, and a Northman will never attack a sentient living 
foe from surprise.  If in a party that achieves surprise on such an opponent, a 
Northman will loudly bellow forth his or her challenge to the enemy, informing 
them of their imminent demise at the hands of the Northman and his or her allies, 
but they will not actually take any direct offensive action until his or her 
opponent is ready to receive his or her onslaught.  Northmen will frequently use a 
surprise situation to begin working themselves up into a Berserkergang.

Northmen tend to keep to their villages and ships rather than living the wilderness 
lifestyle of other Barbarians, trading with (or raiding) more civilized nations for 
the essentials and luxuries of life.  Northmen thus do not gain the Survival Skills 
and Outdoor Craft of other Barbarians.

In addition to these restrictions, land-dwelling NPCs regard all sailors as rather 
unsavory characters, and a Northman thus suffers an additional -2 reaction 
penalty when dealing with such NPCs, who can easily spot the Northman as a 
seafarer unless he or she is magically disguised.  Northmen also have a very 
strong emotional attachment to the sea, and if a Northman must remain away 
from the sea for more days than the sum of his or her level and Wisdom score, he 
or she will suffer a -2 penalty to morale (if an NPC), saves vs. mind-affecting 
attacks, and ability checks (including proficiency checks) and will suffer a -1 
penalty to attack rolls and all other saving throws.

Bonus Proficiencies:  Endurance, Seamanship
Required Proficiencies:  Navigation, Weather Sense
Preferred Proficiencies:  Animal Lore, Awareness, Boat Building, Boating, 
Brewing, Carpentry, Cartography, Chanting, Direction Sense, Distance Sense, 
Engineer-Shipwright, Excellent Vision, Fishing, Foraging, Gaming, Haggling, 
Jumping, Lightning Reflexes, Rope Use, Rune Lore, Seamstress/Tailor, 
Signaling, Sixth Sense, Survival, Swimming
Forbidden Proficiencies:  any General Rural, Urban, Subterranean, or Wilderness 
proficiencies