Wildlings
You have always felt a bit like an outsider among your fellow humans -- why is that? Why is your temper so short and your night vision so good? Why do you have such a natural talent with animals? Why does the outdoors call to you? Perhaps you adventure to answer these questions, or because you have a strange wanderlust and deep dissatisfaction that you cannot explain. Or maybe you adventure for the myriad reasons that humans do. Whatever your motive, your temper and your strength often lead those like you into battle.
Details
Introduction: Before there were humans, orcs mounted on dire wolves waged ceaseless, brutal war on the ruling sphinxes. Ultimately, the sphinxes, never great in number, were slaughtered to the last. Then dwarves, liontaurs, gnomes, and halflings rose in a grand alliance, and they stamped out the orcs utterly. Elves mostly failed to come to battle, a sin for which the dwarves have never forgiven them. When humans finally did appear, they found only a few cowed and scattered orc clans, and in their naive mercy, they adopted these orcs rather than see them dead. In time, orcs married and mingled with humans, and soon there were no more orcs — just humans with an orcish lineage. Today, people have forgotten the orcs, and you think of yourself only as a variety of human, a race known for its wild variations. Only a few of the most ancient elves have seen an orc, and only they preserve the knowledge of the orc tongue. NPC elves may recognize you for what you are, especially older ones, though they say nothing, not wanting to spark another Orc War.
Appearance: Human looks are so varied! Short, tall, weak, muscular; black, brown, pink, green; curly or straight hair; curvy or wiry physique; flat or pointy teeth. You tend to be a little taller, a little stronger, and a little fiercer than other humans. Whatever your appearance, your heritage, though unknown to you, has affected your nature. Liontaurs have noticed that some humans have a wild heart, though they do not know why, and they call your type "wildlings." A few humans have embraced this term, but to the great majority of other humans, you are just one of them.
Society: Just as flaming red hair or dark skin are distinctive features of some humans, so too you are distinctive in your way, and the wildling "look" is known for brute strength, a temper, and poor social skills. That's sterotype enough to alienate a person; add in a genuine intuition that you are different, and the result is that some wildlings are angry, or loners, or prefer the company of animals. On the other hand, many wildlings find good company among laboring folk as well as among the downtrodden or low in rank: commoners, rebels, soldiers, laborers, and gladiators.
Alignment: As wildly varied as other humans, wildlings may be of any alignment, as many good as evil, as many lawful as chaotic.
Rules
Character Creation: Apply the following adjustments to every wildling player character.
- Ability Score Adjustment: +2 Strength, +2 Dexterity, or +1 on both.
- Saving Throw Bonuses: +2 on Fortitude and Reflex saving throws.
- Extra Hit Points: +4.
- Skill Bonuses: +3 to Spot and Intimidate skill checks. You are proficient in these skills.
- Size: Medium.
- Move: 30 feet.
- Vision: Darkvision.
- Languages: Common and Human. Bonus languages: Any except rare and exotic languages.
- Special: Quick Temper - You gain a +1 morale bonus on melee attacks against any creature that has wounded you within the last minute. Your anger ebbs a minute after your foe's last blow lands.
- Weakness: Slow Wits, No Glitz - You suffer a -2 penalty on all Intelligence- and Charisma-based skills except for Handle Animal, Intimidate, and Knowledge (Nature). Non-humans treat you poorly, with a starting attitude of unfriendly, though they do not know your heritage — it is enough that you are an upstart human.
Tyro Tier (character level 3): Select one of these three powers:
- Power: Favored Class (Barbarian) - Your levels as a barbarian do not count against you when determining experience point penalties for multiclassing.
- Power: Way With Beasts - You have an affinity for aberrations, animals, magical beasts, and vermin that have intelligence scores of 1, 2, or 3. You can handle these creatures as a swift or move action, using the Handle Animal skill. You can "push" these creatures as a move action. You can teach these creatures a trick in a day. You can train these creatures in half the usual time. You can rear three more of these creatures at a time than allowed by the Handle Animal skill. You can use Ride and Handle Animal with all these creatures.
- Power: Fitting In - You have instinctively learned to fit in with human society. You are treated as a normal human in every way. Your wildling heritage is hidden, even from elves. Your fellow humans and wildlings treat you well; their starting attitude is friendly. This does not negate the numeric penalties of Slow Wits, No Glitz.
Adventurer Tier (character level 8): Select one of these three powers*:
- Power: Strong - You are not penalized in any way when carrying a light or medium load, and you use the medium load penalities when carrying a heavy load. You sleep in armor freely and you add your Active Strength Modifier to your constitution bonus when making forced march checks. You gain a +2 racial bonus with all strength-based skill checks as well as with all special attacks that result in grappling or moving the target.
- Power: Toothy - Your teeth are large and sharp, protruding even when your mouth is closed. You gain a bite attack. This is a secondary natural attack that deals 1d3 points of piercing damage. (See the rules for secondary natural attacks.) You may not take this power and also the Fitting In racial power, above.
- Power: Friends in Low Places - You gain a +4 racial bonus on charisma-based skill checks made to interact with any person with the commoner, warrior, barbarian, or adept classes; as well as with any person who is poor, downtrodden, or disabled; with hermits, loners, criminals, and losers; as well as with all slaves and prisoners and former slaves and prisoners; and with those who have a charisma less than 9 or Reputation less than 10. With all these people, your Slow Wits, No Glitz numeric penalty is removed. This bonus rises to +6 when interacting with any wildling.
Hero Tier (character level 13): Select one of these two powers*:
- Power: Beast Whisperer - You are proficient with the Sense Motive skill, and you gain a +4 bonus on Wild Empathy and Sense Motive checks made to understand aberrations, animals, magical beasts, and vermin that have intelligence scores of 1, 2, or 3. If you make a DC20 Sense Motive check against one of these creatures as a swift action, you gain a +4 dodge bonus to AC against that creature for the duration of the encounter.
- Power: Vengeance - Whenever one of your allies is reduced to negative hit points or killed, your anger drives you to greater power, and you gain a +2 racial bonus to damage with natural and manufactured weapons for the rest of the encounter.
Legend Tier (character level 18): Select one of these two powers*:
- Power: Nightstalker - You are sneaky when light is scarce. In dim light you gain a +3 on stealth checks, rising to +6 in darkness so long as your darkvision is functioning. You gain a +4 bonus to initiative for encounters that you start in dim light or darkness, so long as your darkvision is functioning.
- Power: Human After All - Select any human racial power.
* Or select a lower tier power that you have not chosen before.