Kalahari Bushmen

Bushmen live in the scrubs and wilderness of the Northern Yusuf desert. They are diminutive men who are as hard and coarse as the desert and badlands where they live.

Role

The bushmen are warriors of the desert who are not like the romantic desert peoples of the Southern Yusuf. These are grizzled warriors who have had to be strong to survive. They are often armed only with cast away equipment and those they could make with their limited resources.

Distinctive Appearance

None

Special Benefits

The major benefit of being born in the harsh conditions of the desert is that it breeds toughness and strength. This translates to an initial bonus of +1 (or +10%, if an 18 is rolled) to initial Strength and + 1 to initial Constitution.

Bushmen can smell moisture in the air at up to a mile’s distance, a remarkable testament to the dryness of the desert air and to the acute senses of the bushmen.

The bushmen may also hide in the desert wastes and Move Silently as if they were a Ranger of equal level. They thus surprise foes as if they were Elves.

Special Hindrances

Bushmen may never wear armor but may carry shields. They are usually wrinkled and coarse-skinned from the wind and sun, and so suffer a -2 penalty to initial Charisma to those not of the bushmen culture.

Class

Fighter

Attribute Requirements

None

Barred Beliefs

None

Race Requirement

Human

Bonus Weapon Proficiencies

None

Required Weapon Proficiencies

Spear, knife

Recommended Weapon Proficiencies

Dagger

Barred Weapon Proficiencies

None

Bonus Non-Weapon Proficiencies

Survival (desert)

Recommended Non-Weapon Proficiencies

Fire Building, Direction Sense, Weather Sense, Alertness, Endurance

Equipment

None

Wealth Options

Standard, though all equipment bought must be considered discarded material (breaks on a 1 on a d6 when used) unless it is a “rustic” (stone, bone, etc.) weapon.

Homeland Terrain

None

Economic System

None