WARRIOR-BARBARIAN KIT

Vandal

Description:  Vandals are barbarian warriors who either by choice or by force 
were removed from their native lands before they were fully mature.  In many 
cases, Vandals were adolescents who were captured and enslaved in a raid by a 
'civilized' nation, often for use in gladiatorial battles.  Most Vandals, however, 
simply elected to sign on as mercenaries in the service of some foreign power.  
They have left their native lands (which can be virtually anything) for the promise 
of money, land, or simply a chance to escape their former lives.  They find 
themselves in a strange region that considers itself more cultured than their own, 
yet paradoxically it calls upon the barbarian tribes for protection and military 
might.  Most civilized folk who employ Vandals as 'mercenary barbarians' 
consider them at best a necessary evil and at worse a potential cause for civil 
insurrection.  Vandals may attempt to clean up their dress or given well-tailored 
uniforms, but nothing can ever cover up their hideous mangling of language and 
their ill-bred manners.  In fact, Vandals tend to openly cultivate and display a 
savage, inhuman side to their personality in order to impress potential employers 
with their battlefield prowess, but this same savagery tends to disturb and 
unsettle civilized compatriots.

Vandals do not tend to band together in any sort of common group, due in part 
to them coming from so many different areas; it is rare (though not unheard of) 
for Vandals from the same village or even the same clan to serve together in the 
same army, and even those originating from the same general area may be rivals 
rather than friends.  This lack of kinship does not mean that Vandals cannot band 
together and fight as an effective unit--in fact, their wide and varied array of 
barbaric fighting styles can be quite terrifying to a civilized army facing them on 
the field of battle--but given a choice the typical Vandal prefers to fight alone or 
with a handful of trusted friends.  PC Vandals are considered to have been hired 
for a brief time and then cut loose (or quitting because they were assigned some 
boring duty or did not receive the promised payment from their masters).

Requirements:  Vandal share the normal requirements for other Barbarians.

Weapons & Armor:  A Vandal adopts many civilized customs and can wear any 
armor he or she desires (but see Military Experience).  Vandals can use shields if 
they wish.

With regard to weapons, a Vandal must become proficient in short sword and 
spear (as part of the attempt by their masters to standardize weapons and tactics), 
and at least half of their initial weapon proficiencies must be spent on other 
weapons native to their home culture (see the Barbarian Weapons Table).  The 
remaining weapon slot and weapon proficiencies gained later can be spent as the 
Vandal desires, including for specialization (see Combat Specialization below).

Special Benefits:  In many ways, Vandals have accommodated themselves to 
civilization and have merged elements of their barbarian tradition into their new 
life as part of civilized society.  Vandals are much more urbane and sophisticated 
in their attitudes than other Barbarians (or perhaps simply more pragmatic), and 
they can associate freely with wizards (they still regard them with some 
suspicion, but are willing to see their usefulness) and use magical items and wear 
armor of all types.  A Vandal can own up to one magical item for every two 
levels of experience (rounding down).  A Vandal also gains a +2 bonus to his or 
her Wisdom check to overcome tribal superstitions (see Special Hindrances for 
Barbarians).

Paradoxically, in some ways Vandals act even more wild than other Barbarians, 
due in part to the rebellion of their primal spirits against the indolence of 
civilization but more a result of the fact that Vandals intentionally learn to 
exaggerate the flashy and outrageously barbaric elements of their personality and 
culture in order to 'impress the locals' and improve their chances of getting a job.

Combat Specialization:  Unlike other Barbarians, a Vandal can make use of all 
forms of special combat maneuvers, proficiency (including group proficiencies), 
and specialization available to 'civilized' warriors.  A Vandal can specialize in one 
weapon or several, as he or she wishes and as weapon proficiency slots are 
available.  Each level of specialization in punching, wrestling, or a weapon native 
to their home culture costs one proficiency slot.  Any other specialization (e.g., 
fencing, shield, nonnative weapons) costs two slots per level of specialization, 
though simple proficiency in nonnative weapons, fencing, or shield use cost only 
one slot.

Hardiness:  As a standard Barbarian, but a Vandal is more familiar with magic 
and has a far less deeply ingrained resistance to it than other Barbarians.  As a 
result, they do not gain the usual bonus to saves vs. rods, staves, and wands and 
do not ever gain the level-based bonus to saves vs. spell or the chance to resist 
spells and psionics that normally allow no save.

Heroic Effort:  As a standard Barbarian.

Heroic Fray:  When battling against much weaker opponents who are attacking 
the Vandal and his or her cohorts in large numbers, a Vandal has the ability to 
make double his or her normal allotment of attacks.  In order to engage in a 
Heroic Fray, the Vandal's side must be outnumbered at least 2 to 1 or else the 
Vandal him- or herself must be outnumbered in personal combat at least 3 to 1.  
In addition, the Vandal's enemies must be at least ten hit dice (ignoring pluses) or 
levels below his or her own level or must have fewer than one hit die.  Thus, a 
Vandal of any level can engage in a Heroic Fray against kobolds or giant rats, 
while a 13th level Vandal could engage in a Heroic Fray against gnolls, bugbears, 
wolves, or even human soldiers of up to 3rd level.

A Heroic Fray is cumulative with the extra attack for Wild Fighting, if that ability 
is being used.

Military Experience:  Vandals are considered to have been involved in some 
degree of military (or sometimes gladiatorial) training and active duty prior to 
beginning their adventuring careers.  Because of their extensive training with 
weapons of different types during this time, a Vandal's non-proficiency penalty is 
reduced to a -1 penalty to hit and damage, though they still cannot gain multiple 
attacks with a non-proficient weapon.  Vandals are also able to select initial non-
weapon proficiencies from the Warrior list (unlike other Barbarians, who can 
select only from their preferred list).  Finally, Vandals begin play with 2d4 x 100 
experience points earned in battle as part of their Military Experience.

Vandals begin play well-armed but very cash-poor.  Thus, a Vandal begins with 
normal Warrior starting money (5d4 x 10 g.p.), but all except 1d6 g.p. must be 
spent on equipment (including a mount, if the Vandal wishes).  A Vandal's initial 
suit of armor is limited to hide, studded hide, leather, studded leather, or scale 
mail, but he or she can buy any weapons that he or she can afford.

Survival Skills:  As a standard Barbarian.

Tribal Stature:  Officially speaking, a Vandal no longer has any stature within his 
or her original tribe and culture (having abandoned tribe and clan); however, a 
Vandal has the same ability as a standard Barbarian in terms of boasting and 
intimidating non-barbarians.

Wild Fighting:  Vandals develop a bizarre and stylized combat style that 
incorporates native techniques and animalistic maneuvers.  This ferocious and 
unpredictable flurry of blows is utterly devoid of grace or discipline and is very 
tiring.  At the start of a battle, a Vandal must declare whether or not he or she is 
using Wild Fighting; if it is used, the DM should roll a Constitution check for the 
character with a +1 bonus for every three levels of the Vandal (rounding down).  
Note that Wild Fighting is difficult to perform in armor other than leather or 
elven chain, and a Vandal suffers a penalty to his or her Constitution check equal 
to the AC benefit provided by the armor being worn.  Magical armor, being 
lighter and less restricting, reduces this penalty by an amount equal to its magical 
bonus.  Shields do not affect this penalty.

Example:  A Vandal wearing chain mail (AC 5) would suffer a -5 penalty to his 
or her check.  If he or she was wearing chain mail +3, the penalty would be only -
2.

If the check succeeds, the Vandal gains one additional attack per round and 
inflicts one extra point of damage per two levels of experience (rounding up) 
with every successful hit.  If the check fails, the Vandal's flurry of blows is too 
uncoordinated to get in any additional effective attacks or to inflict extra damage.  
Regardless of whether the check succeeds, Wild Fighting leaves the Vandal 
rather vulnerable (-3 Armor Class penalty) and makes it more difficult to get in a 
good hit (-3 attack roll penalty).

Once Wild Fighting has begun, it will continue for the full duration of the battle 
whether or not the check was successful (i.e., the Vandal PC always thinks that 
Wild Fighting is working to his or her advantage, even if the dice say differently).  
After any battle in which a Vandal has used Wild Fighting, he or she must rest for 
at least one hour before being able to use this ability again.  A character can ride 
a slow-moving mount while resting, but if he or she must walk then the rest time 
is increased to four hours.  Until the Vandal has managed to rest for the full 
amount of time required, he or she suffers a -3 penalty to attack and damage 
rolls, ability checks (including proficiency checks), and AC due to his or her total 
exhaustion.

Note that, unlike most berserk combat styles used by Barbarians of other types, 
Wild Fighting leaves a Vandal in full command of his or her senses and does not 
force the Vandal to charge, engage in melee, avoid the use of missiles, attack the 
nearest creature, or any such thing.  A Vandal using Wild Fighting can act as he 
or she chooses in combat (a useful skill in the eyes of their employers--a taste of 
barbaric savagery but without the danger inherent in hiring and fielding a large 
group of true berserkers).

Special Hindrances:  Vandals suffer the normal reaction and loyalty penalties 
when dealing with NPCs who are not barbarians (including the doubled penalty 
when dealing with wizards).  Unlike other Barbarians, however, a Vandal does 
not gain any bonuses to reactions with other barbaric NPCs.

Because of their exposure to civilized ways and attitudes, Vandals are less 
restricted than other Barbarians in terms of weapons, armor, magic items, and 
superstitions.  This 'civilization', however, does not come without a price.  
Except for their choice of initial weapons, Vandals abandon most of their 
traditional combat style, and they do not gain any of the normal Tribal Warfare 
benefits of other Barbarians (including the ability to affect creatures that require 
magical weapons to hit).  They have likewise given up the study of most of their 
outdoor skills, studying their military career and not really having neither the 
time, opportunity, or inclination to keep up their study of tribal skills.  Hence, 
Vandals gain neither Natural Stealth nor Outdoor Craft.

Vandals have little opportunity for formal study or education.  Of necessity, they 
learn at least one 'civilized' language so that they can understand and obey the 
commands of their masters on the field of battle.  Beyond this, however, a Vandal 
gains only two non-weapon proficiency slots at 1st level, regardless of his or her 
Intelligence.  They gain additional non-weapon proficiencies at the usual rate, but 
any sort of training for weapon or non-weapon proficiencies requires double the 
normal amount of time, as Vandals are poor students as a result of their lack of 
opportunity to practice learning.

Bonus Proficiencies:  Endurance, Language (Modern--chose one 'civilized' 
tongue)
Preferred Proficiencies:  Armor Optimization, Blind-Fighting, Bureaucracy, 
Drinking, Gaming, Healing, Heraldry, Hunting, Immovability, Intimidation, 
Jumping, Lightning Reflexes, Local History, Navigation, Numeracy, 
Reading/Writing, Riding (Land-based), Running, Seamanship, Signaling, Sixth 
Sense, Survival, Swimming, Tumbling