These are the standard bad guys of legend. Almost any adversary
in a stock fantasy movie can qualify as an Anti-Paladin, but historical cases
abound - ranging from Vlad Dracul's persecution of Turkish prisoners to Mongol
warlords boiling opposing chieftains alive.
Examples: The Kurgan, Mordred, the Black Knight, the Nazgul, Tamerlane,
Sir Francis Dashwood
Garb: Must wear a white belt and have a Black Phoenix openly displayed
on clothing or armor.
Requirement: Must have been a Knight for twelve weeks
Armor: 4 points
Shields: Large
Weapons: All Melee, javelins
Immunities: Control
Lives: 4
Abilities & Traits:
Levels
1st - None
2nd - Touch of Death (ex) (1/game)
3rd - Poison Weapon (ex) (1/game)
4th - Steal Life (m) (1/game)
5th - Innate Ability (choose one before game starts):
a. Poison Weapon becomes 2/game
b. Touch of Death becomes 1/life
6th - Immunity: Flame
Innate Ability (choose one before game starts):
a. Fear (m) 2/game
b. Reanimate (m) 1/game
Everyone knows the legend of William Tell, and that story has
a basis in fact in the Welsh Archers who long resisted British rule before making
the English longbow world-famous. Other outstanding examples include the kyudo
archers of Shogun-era Japan, and the Sioux Dog Soldiers.
Examples: William Tell, Odysseus, Paris of Troy, Robin Hood, Bard of
the Dale, the Ettrick Foresters, and Minamoto Tametomo
Garb: Orange sash (plus must carry a bow or crossbow)
Armor: 3
Shields: None, initially
Weapons: Dagger, short, long, long or short bow
Immunities: None
Lives: 4
Abilities & Traits:
Levels
1st - Bowyer (ex) (1/life)
2nd - Stun Arrow (1/reusable) (T)
Flame Arrow (1/reusable) (T)
3rd - Accuracy (T)
4th - Total lives increase to 5 (T)
Armor-piercing Arrow (1/reusable) (T)
5th - May now use small shields (T)
6th - Penetration Arrow (1/reusable) (T)
Assassins were once so powerful in the Middle East that Hulagu
Khan had to storm their mountain fortress when they demanded tribute. Renaissance
Italy and its setting of political intrigue made the courtly killing somewhat
of an art form.
Examples: The Ninja, the Borgias, the Jackal, Hassan-I-Sabah, Sir Francis
Walsingham
Garb: Black sash plus must wear a mask or concealing face paint. Mask
may be worn around neck.
Armor: None initially
Shields: None initially
Weapons: Dagger, short, long, throwing weapons
Immunities: None
Lives: 4
Abilities & Traits:
Note: Each time an assassin plays in a battlegame, he must choose which abilities
he is using for the entire battlegame. He can switch them between each battlegame
as he sees fit.
Levels
1st - No additional abilities
2nd - Innate Ability (choose one):
a. May use a short bow (T)
b. Poison Weapon (ex) (2/game)
c. Trap (ex) (1/game)
3rd - Innate Ability (choose one from this list or any lower level ability
not already taken):
a. Touch of Death (ex) (1/game)
b. Teleport (ex) (2/game)
c. Antidote to Poison (ex) (1/life)
4th - Up to two points of armor may now be worn (T)
5th - Innate Ability (choose one from this list or any lower level ability
not already taken):
a. May now use small shields (T)
b. Assassinate (ex) (2/game)
6th - Innate Ability (choose two from this list or any lower level abilities
not already taken):
a. Take Teleport again (must have already been taken once) Teleport becomes
(1/life)
b. Take Assassinate again (must have already been taken once), Assassinate becomes
(1/life)
c. Take Poison Weapon again (must have already been taken once), Poison Weapon
becomes (1/life)
d.Take Trap again (must have already been taken once), Trap becomes (1/life)
The Chinese, from ancient periods onward, have considered everyone
else to be Barbarians, and oddly enough it is the Eastern tradition from India
to China that gives us the image of civilization defending itself against the
nomadic hordes of such peoples as the Tartars, White Huns, Seljuk Turks, and
other steppe tribes.
Examples: Conan, Yellowbeard, Leif Eriksson, Hannibal Barca, Attila the
Hun, Alaric the Vandal, the Voivodes
Garb: Blues and browns, furs and leather. Must wear a fur or leather
sash that cannot reasonably be mistaken for the sash of any other class.
Armor: 2 points
Shields: Large
Weapons: All melee, short bow, projectile weapons
Immunities: Subdual
Lives: 3
Limitations: Cannot carry enchantments. May not use relics except Heimdall's
Horn.
Abilities & Traits:
Levels
1st - Berserk (ex) On last life
2nd - Total lives increases to 4 (T)
3rd - Fight After Death when Berserk (T)
4th - Powerful Blows (T)
5th - Total lives increase to 5 (T)
6th - Total lives increase to 6 (T)
Berserk on last two lives
Bardic history is mostly tied in with the early oral tradition
of the druids and Norse skalds. Medieval Europe does give us a case of actual
singing knights, many of them female, from the independent French province of
Aquitaine before it was crushed by the Papacy.
Examples: Sarafin, William Shakespeare, Alan O'Dale, Homer, Scheherazade,
Circe, Bragi, Snorri Sturluson
Garb: Light blue sash, plus must carry a musical instrument
Armor: None
Shield: Medium (will subtract from magic points)
Weapons: See the Magic section for a listing of weapons used. Weapons
subtract from the Bard's magic points
Immunities: None
Lives: 4
Abilities & Traits:
Bardic Charm: Some monsters may be immune to the control school, but
not bardic charm. Bardic charm is any control magic that is cast by a bard (even
those bought with Voice).
Magic-user: Bards are magic-users and gain magic at each level. See the
Magic section for more details.
Neolithic anthropological evidence indicates a strong tradition
of matriarchy and mother worship in Central Europe, the origin of the proto-Celtic
Beaker and Axe peoples. It is highly possible that many if not most early Druid-types
were priestesses rather than priests.
Examples: Galadriel, Johnny Appleseed, Lady of the Lake, Cathbu, Tom
Bombadil, the Green Knight
Garb: Brown sash
Armor: None
Shield: Small, will subtract from magic points
Weapons: See the Magic section for a listing of weapons used. Weapons
subtract from the Druid's magic points
Immunities: None
Lives: 3
Abilities & Traits:
Magic-user: Druids are magic-users and gain magic at each level. See
the Magic Section for more details.
Levels
1st - No additional abilities
2nd - Number of lives increases to 4 (T)
3rd - Pass Without Trace (ex) (2/game)
4th - Immunity: Poison
5th - Immunity: to magic from fey monsters
6th - Immunity: Control