Pit Fighter

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

Some barbarian seek to profit from their fighting abilities by engaging in the decadent brawls of pit fighting. While reminiscent of gladiatorial arena fighting, pit fighting is even more violent and brutal. The owners of the pit fighters lower the two combatants into a hand-dug pit, where they fight with whatever weapons might be available to them. Weapons change from combat to combat, never the same twice in a row. In most nations, pit fighting is illegal, although it continues to exist in the underworld, where gamblers stake their money and lives on the eventual outcome. Characters needing to make a fast gold coin can seek out these arenas to face the champion pit fighter Non- Player Character. These characters opinions about the sanctity of life are jaded and cynical. Thus, their humour is dark and rather offensive. If encountered in the depths, they are brutal and unforgiving, making use of every dirty trick.

Hit Die: d12

Requirements

To qualify to become a pit fighter, a character must fulfill all the following criteria.
Base Attack Bonus: +5
Skills: Bluff 4 ranks, Intimidate 8 ranks
Feats: Combat-Quarters Combat, Dodge, Improvised Weapon

Class Skills

The pit fighter’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Bluff (Charisma), Climb (Strength), Escape Artist (Dexterity), Intimidate (Charisma), Jump (Strength), Sense Motive (Wisdom) and Tumble (Charisma).

Skill points at each level: 2 + Intelligence modifier.

Pit fighter
Level	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Special
1	+1	+1	+1	+0	Improved Feint
2	+2	+1	+1	+0	Sneak Attack +1d6
3	+3	+2	+2	+1	Damage Reduction 1/-
4	+4	+2	+2	+1	Sneak Attack +2d6
5	+5	+2	+2	+1	Damage Reduction 2/-

Class Features

All of the following are class features of the pit fighter prestige class.

Weapon and Armour Proficiency: Pit fighters are proficient in all simple and martial weapons. In addition, they receive proficiency in one Exotic Weapon of the player’s choice. Pit fighters do not gain any additional armour proficiency although they are proficient with the shields. Note that armour check penalties for armour heavier than leather apply to the skills Balance, Climb, Escape Artist, Hide, Jump, Move Silently, Pick Pocket and Tumble.

Improved Feint (Ex): Out of necessity, the pit fighter’s Survival sometimes necessitates deceiving their opponents. Pit fighters using the ‘feinting in combat’ action may do so as a move-equivalent action instead of as a standard action. Furthermore, considering their experience at fighting unusual opponents, the penalty for feinting against a non-humanoid reduces to -2, while against a creature of animal Intelligence (1 or 2) it is reduced to -6. Feinting against a nonintelligent creature is still impossible.

Sneak Attack: Pit fighters, due to their uncanny knack at exploiting an opponent’s weakness, gain the rogue’s sneak attack ability. This ability conforms in all manners to the rules presented in the SRD. Sneak attack damage stacks with sneak attack damage derived from other classes.

Damage Reduction: Pit fighters gain the ability to shrug off damage earlier than other barbarians. They learn to ignore small amounts of damage thanks to their nearly endless time spent fighting in the pits. Damage reduction earned by this class stacks with the damage earned by the Barbarian class only. For example, Tostig is a 3rd level pit fighter and 11th level barbarian. Both classes confer damage reduction 1/-. Therefore, Tostig has damage reduction 2/-.