Wild Child

The Quintessential Elf

Author Alejandro Melchor
Publisher Mongoose Publishing
Publish date 2002

Elves like to commune with their surroundings, respecting nature and its ways, but none of them take it so far as wild children. A wild child grew up immersed in nature, learning the art of Survival from very young. Whether raised by a druid or ranger parent, or even by fey or other woodland creatures, the wild child eschewed a normal upbringing for the harsh care of the wild. They move naturally around their habitat, as if they were a natural part of it and, if they ever join elf society, they do not stop yearning for their beloved ranges, applying anything they learn to their skills. While the obvious career choices for wild children are those of druids, rangers or barbarians, it is common to find them as paladins, embracing the defence of the wild places as their cause, or as wizards, delving into the secrets of herbs and potions.

Adventuring: A wild child finds many opportunities for adventure; as he crosses the wilderness he calls home, he may stumble upon a goblinoid raiding party, forgotten ruins or a lost caravan. He makes his life out of roaming his territory like a wild beast, and many other elves will see him as such when he presents himself, covered in furs and wielding crude, but effective weapons. A wild child is a perfect guide in his territory and the best scout when venturing away, and he often joins parties, war bands and mercenary companies in that role. Most wild children would rather remain above ground, but there are also some who make their home in a cave or abandoned cellar, and they adapt easily to the conditions of deeper caverns or dungeons. A drow wild child is, of course, the reverse.

Role-Playing: Wild children are direct and to the point. They appreciate the simple things in life and do not understand why many of their brethren waste their time creating fancy and complicated Musical instruments when the song of a bird will do much better. They lack the refinement of other elves but have all the joy for life that characterizes their race. It would be easy to confuse a wild child with a sylvan elf, but unlike this elven subrace, the wild child is not a fierce defender of his community, mainly because he has none. The wild children are not necessarily loners or outcasts, but they grow up alone and apart from others, and do not feel the bonds of a community as strongly.

Bonuses: Wild children are used to living in the wild, and are blessed by their upbringing. They gain the Track feat for free and they gain a +1 competence bonus to Hide and Move Silently checks when in the wild. They lose these bonuses in cities, crypts or any other building sites. They also have the following skills as class skills: Craft (bowmaking), Craft (trapmaking), Craft (carpentry), Craft (leatherworking) and Wilderness Lore.

Penalties: As many gifts as these elves receive from their lives in the wild, they also miss out on many of their society’s teachings, suffering from a -1 competence penalty to Bluff and Sense Motive checks, as they understand the wild better than they understand other people. Unlike elves that grow up in elven society, they are not automatically proficient with any weapons except the shortbow. Additionally, regardless of their class, wild children can buy ranks in the following skills only as cross-class skills: Craft (stonemasonry), Craft (blacksmithing), Craft (gemcutting), Craft (weaponsmithing) and Knowledge (arcana). A wild child’s favoured class changes to druid, instead of wizard. Regardless of character class, the Wild Child is illiterate and cannot read or write. A Wild Child must spend 2 skill points to gain the ability to read and write any language he can speak.