Barbarian, Exile

The criminal who escaped into the wild, the fugitive from justice and civilisation’s pariah are all examples of the exile.

The Quintessential Barbarian

Author Robert Schwalb

Series Quintessential Series

Publisher Mongoose Publishing

Publish date 2003

For whatever reason, the exile is divorced from his native land, forced to dwell in another, doomed to wander alone, struggling to survive in a hostile land. Usually comprised of the despicable, shiftless and undesirable, exiles call no place home. They wander through the wilderness wallowing in their own despair and self-loathing. Many crimes can force a citizen from his homeland. From thievery to arson, whether real or alleged, all exiles bear a brand of their crime. This brand demonstrates the nature of their crime and a reaffirmation of their status as barred from others of their kind. These lost souls must seek out contact with a people who could overlook their failings and welcome them into their fold.

Adventuring: The life of an exile is hard at best. Many roam through the wilderness in search of a new home, but usually fall prey to any one of the predators lurking in these lands. Other exiles flee to cities, leaving their people and customs behind. Once in an urban environment, the exile realises he does not have the skills to make a livelihood. Thus, he must either sell his sword as a mercenary or fall to the thieving ways that forced him into this hated way of life. Many exiles will join bands of adventurers looking to gather treasure and the power to wrest their honour back, and return to their people.

Role-playing: Exiles are usually dour and pessimistic, rarely seeing the best in any situation. Considering their status as a pariah, they are usually quiet and introverted and will do anything they can to hide the branding of their crime. Other, less honourable, barbarian will bask in their iniquity, exulting in the fear it elicits from others of his kind. Overall, exiles are unpredictable catering fully to their chaotic alignments.

Benefits: As exiles suffer their predicament by dint of their criminal past, they gain access to Sleight of Hand, Open Locks , Hide and Move Silently as class skills. Exiles also receive their Uncanny Dodge abilities one level sooner than normal. Therefore, at 1st level the exile gains Uncanny Dodge (Dexterity bonus to AC). At 4th level, he gains immunity to flanking.

Penalties: Considering most exiles gain their status by lacking commitment to their clan, they do not develop the skills common among their people. Therefore, exiles lose access to Handle Animal, Ride )and Survival as class skills. These barbarian must be chaotic in alignment. Any time they deviate from this alignment, they immediately become exbarbarian and may no longer advance in this class. Exile barbarian gain their rage abilities one level later than normal because of being cut off from the communal channelling of their anger, thus gaining the ability to rage at 2nd level, rage 2/day at 5th and so on. Finally, all Non-Player Character reaction checks from barbarians of the same clan or tribe suffer a -8 circumstance penalty.