Barbarian Manhunter

Deep in the verdant jungles of the south lurk sprawling cities, where women have thrown off the chains of male supremacy and seized control of their own destiny.

The Quintessential Barbarian
Author Robert Schwalb
Series Quintessential Series
Publisher Mongoose Publishing
Publish date 2003

Like the infamous amazons, these women are both alluring and frightening. According to myth, amazons were so masculine and threatening they cut off their left breasts to become better archers. Hence the name amazon (which connotes one breasted). Manhunter cultures can be located anywhere in the campaign setting, for in most cases they wish to remain anonymous. Their societies should be enigmatic and virtually unknown, thus allowing Games Masters an easy time insofar as placement in an extant setting. Manhunters are not exactly anti-male; instead they view men as inferior to themselves. The male gender serves no obvious purpose, aside from breeding.

Adventuring: A manhunter leaves the folds of her community for many of the same reasons as any other adventurer. Feeling restricted in her homeland, or filled with wanderlust, or even simply lusting after treasure and excitement. The motivations are endless. What differentiates her from other barbarians is gender. Manhunters are exclusively female and they are experts at combating men. While this does not prevent them from adventuring with the opposite gender, they prefer not to.

Roleplaying: Manhunters exude superiority over men, which in male-dominated societies can be alarming and even a bit offensive. They view men as chattel and will openly comment on their virtues or flaws. Beyond the amusing opportunities for role-playing, man hunters are competent warriors, peerless in battle against male creatures. They will always defend oppressed women and, in doing so, exhibit a defined set of ethics and nobility.

Benefits: Manhunters automatically gain the benefits of a Favoured Enemy towards all members of the male gender. At first level, the bonus to damage and Bluff, Listen, Sense Motive, Spot and Wilderness Lore checks are +1. This bonus increases by +1 every five levels. Furthermore, manhunters automatically receive Weapon Focus (longbow) as a bonus feat and a +2 competence bonus to all Ride (Dexterity) checks. Should the manhunter gain the Favoured Enemy ability through multiclassing into another class, or prestige class then, when facing male members of their other favoured enemy, their bonuses stack.

Penalties: Manhunters are inept and virtually useless at dealing with men. They receive a -4 competence penalty to Diplomacy checks when dealing with members of the opposite sex. Furthermore, their behaviour and attitude will soon result in any man they meet being Unfriendly. Lastly, manhunters lose the Fast Movement ability and they rage one less time per day than normal. Therefore, they do not rage at 1st level. They must wait until 4th level to gain this ability.