Mongrelman
Mongrelman Ability Score Range
| Ability | Minimum | Maximum |
|---|---|---|
| Strength | 6 | 17 |
| Dexterity | 6 | 18 |
| Constitution | 8 | 18 |
| Intelligence | 3 | 17 |
| Wisdom | 3 | 18 |
| Charisma | 2 | 8 |
Ability Score Adjustments: The initial ability scores are modified by a -1 penalty to Intelligence and Charisma. The player can add a +1 bonus to any other ability score, not to exceed the starting maximum.
Hit Dice: Player character mongrelmen receive hit dice by class.
Alignment Mongrelmen tend toward lawful neutral. Player character mongrelmen may be of any alignment.
Natural Armor Class: 5
Allowed Classes: Fighter, Mage, Cleric, Shaman, Thief, Bard*
* Can adjust crowd reactions only among own kind. Other crowds will react negatively.
Multiclass: Fighter/Shaman, Shaman/Thief, Mage/Thief, Cleric/Mage, Cleric/Thief
Height & Weight: Humanoid Average Height & Weight table
Age: Humanoid Age Table
Kit Summary: Humanoid Character Kit Summary
Thieving Skill: Humanoid Thieving Skill Racial Adjusment table
Background: Mongrelmen combine the worst features of many species, including humans, orcs, gnolls, ogres, dwarves, hobgoblins, elves, bugbears, and bullywugs. No two mongrelmen look the same, but all appear as poorly constructed combinations of various humanoid races.
Always misshapen and ugly, mongrelmen grow to heights ranging from five to seven feet tall. In general, they are ashamed of their appearance and do their best to keep their bodies hidden from those they encounter. Mongrelmen speak common, though they intermix intelligible words with grunts, whistles, growls, and gestures. Their names often mimic animal noises.
Mongrelmen receive no welcome in lawful and good societies. Among evil and chaotic groups, they meet with enslavement and abuse. Mostof these reactions are in response to mongrelmen appearances — they look like deformed monsters and are treated as such by society at large.
They work as slaves or serfs, toiling endlessly for cruel and evil masters. Mongrelmen have infinite patience and an unswerving belief that their oppressors will eventually be punished by outside forces. Because of this belief, enslaved mongrelmen refuse to rebel against their masters, even when the opportunity presents itself. Those remaining free often take up residence in abandoned ruins or other long forgotten places.
Mongrelmen are survivors. To remain alive and relatively unharmed is their ultimate goal — they do not seek power or treasure or fame like other races. An orderly day-to-day existence is a mongrelman’s perfect state of being.
Patience is the greatest virtue, not the ability to destroy. They are by no means pacifists, but they will only fight in self-defense or on the orders of their masters.
Free mongrelmen have a long tradition of art, music, and literature. Of course, mongrelman music is an acquired taste, being a bizarre cacophony of animal songs mixed with mournful dirges and wails.
Languages: Common.
Role-Playing Suggestions: Mongrelmen player characters are either escaped slaves whose masters finally succumbed to outside forces (as the mongrelman knew they would) or free mongrelmen who have been inspired by some ballad or tale to take up the life of an adventurer. While fighting is not in their blood, mongrelmen make natural thieves and a few aspire to become bards or even wizards.
Even the most outgoing mongrelman is shy, quiet, and easily embarrassed. The shame that makes them conceal their bodies follows even the most successful adventurer throughout his or her career. They hate what they look like, and sometimes turn to adventuring in order to forget for a time. Of course, most people they meet are quick to remind them with a gasp, by turning away, or by outright insults.
When speaking in character, players should punctuate their sentences with grunts, whistles, and animal noises. Lots of gestures are also used by mongrelmen when they talk.
Those mongrelmen PCs who believe themselves to be artistically inclined should also feel free to make up ballads, stories, and songs on the spot to entertain their companions — the more awful and abstract the song, the more perfect it will be to a mongrelman’s ears.
Mongrelmen are great believers in what will be will be. This makes them infinitely patient and extremely ordered. Those that become adventurers may have decided that fate needs a little help now and then, but they still hold to the belief that everything is planned and they can’t change it. Of course, most feel that something good is waiting for them in the future. All they have to do is wait patiently for it to arrive.
Shyness is bred into mongrelmen, and even those of the race that work as adventurers tend to stay out of the spotlight. They like to avoid contact with others (except their companions), and have cometo believe that stealing what they need (but never more than they need) is perfectly acceptable.
They love art, music, and literature. Most read everything they can get their hands on. Often, when their party discovers scrolls or books, mongrelmen PCs will try to acquire them instead of seeking magical weapons, items, or even gold.
Special Advantages: Mongrelmen can mimic the sounds made by any monster or creature they have encountered, though they cannot imitate special attack forms.
All mongrelmen, regardless of class, can pick pockets. They have a base score of 70%, and receive a 5% bonus in pickpocket per level, starting at 5th level.
Mongrelmen can camouflage themselves and their items. It takes one full turn to hide, giving them an 80% base chance to go unnoticed. Each additional turn spent preparing the camouflage increases the chance by 1% to a maximum of 95% (after 16 turns). Successfully camouflaged stationary persons and items are not noticed unless they are touched orotherwise disturbed. Camouflaged buildings are usually unnoticeable farther away than 50 feet, though this depends on the size and type of the structure.
Special Disadvantages: No matter what Charisma score a mongrelman has among his own kind, when first meeting strangers of different races his Charisma is treated as 1 for reaction adjustments.
Monstrous Traits: Appearance, using animal noises when they speak.
Superstitions: Mongrelmen believe strongly in predestination, fear other humanoids (who hunt them for sport), and fear manifestations of the supernatural.
Weapon Proficiencies: Broad sword, club, long sword, short sword, morning star, quarterstaff, blowgun (rare).
Suggested Nonweapon Proficiencies: Acting, Agriculture, Animal Handling, Animal Noise, Artistic Ability, Begging, Brewing, Chanting, Craft Instrument, Dancing, Disguise, Etiquette, Fortune Telling, Herbalism, Hiding, Information Gathering, Observation, Poetry, Reading/Writing, Religion, Spellcraft, Ventriloquism, Voice Mimicry.
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