Slave Gladiator (D&D class)

Any warrior can fight in the arena. A true gladiator does so with style and flair, and lives for the thrill of combat, the pleasure of his mistress and the roar of the crowds. While most gladiators are slaves, some freemen do train in this class, and it is not unknown for drow to fight in the arena. The elite gladiators are picked from the best drow and slave warriors. They must display speed and agility, as well as a certain flair and talent for unorthodox weapons. They use their skills in the arena, on the battlefield and on slave raids. Some gladiators serve as bodyguards or companions to nobles, and they are sometimes used as assassins.

Requirements

To qualify to become a gladiator, a character must fulfill the following criteria:

Training: Must be trained in a gladiator school. This is usually a Drow gladiator master, but other cultures can have similar fighting schools.

Base Attack: +5

Skills: Balance 4 ranks, Perform 4 ranks, Tumble 4 ranks.

Feats: Mobility, Combat Reflexes, Combat Expertise, Improved Unarmed Combat.

Class Information

Hit Die: d8.

Weapon and armor proficiencies: The gladiator is proficient with light armor and shields (including tower shields).

Class Skills

The gladiator's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are: Balance (Dex), Escape Artist (Dex), Healing (Wis), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Listen (Wis), Perform (Cha), Sense Motive (Wis), Spot (Wis), Tumble (Dex), Use Rope (Dex).

Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier.

Table: The Slave Gladiator

Class Level	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Special
1	+1	+0	+2	+0	Living Weapon, Versatility
2	+2	+0	+3	+0	Agile Defense
3	+3	+1	+3	+1	Exotic Weapon Training

Class features

The following features pertain to the gladiator prestige class.

Living Weapon

Gladiators learn to make any part of their armor or body into a deadly weapon. An unarmed strike does d6 damage, and stacks with increased unarmed damage for monks. Gladiator armor typically includes armor spikes, attached blades or clawed gauntlets. When attacking with armor spikes or gauntlets, the gladiator can choose to inflict bludgeoning, slashing or piercing damage.

Versatility

The gladiator can inflict lethal or subdual damage with all weapons without penalty. Note that this ability lets her inflict lethal damage with a whip, even against thick skinned opponents.

Exotic Weapon Training

Gladiators train with a variety of exotic and versatile weapons. This training gives proficiency with all exotic weapons.

Agile Defense

The gladiator learns to move gracefully in any light armor and to make it a part of herself. The maximum dexterity any light armor worn is increased by +1 and the armor check penalty is reduced by -2. In addition, the gladiator no longer suffers the normal -1 attack penalty for making melee attacks with a buckler arm.

House Drazhar school

House Drazhar fight with blades, chains and whips. The blades symbolize the House of the Sword Spider, the chain their slavery to Lolth, and the whip the punishment of the Goddess. Of course, individual glatiators may develop their own fighting styles. Here is a sample:

• Trident and net
• Hydraknives (as two shortswords)
• Falchion and razorsnare (WH40K) probably translates to bastard sword and chain whip.
• Glaive

New exotic weapons:

• Armor: Armor can be fitted with spikes, blades or wicked claws, and the armored surfaces can be used for strikes. This can be translated to an exotic weapon that does 1d6 slashing, piercing (19-20/x2) or bludgeoning (20/x2) damage.
• Chain whip (exotic): This chain weapon is commonly used with the bastard sword. It is useful for attacking an opponent at range and tripping him. This is a one-handed spiked chain (light weapon, d6 damage, can be used at 5' and 10'). It can also be made without spikes in which case it does bludgeoning damage.

Design notes

This class used to be considerably more complicated and was based on the Monk class. It has been simplified to a three level class that deals with defense and exotic weapons. See the page history for details.

The armor defense ability is surprisingly similar to the Two Hands ability (http://hastur.net/wiki/D%26D/Classes/DrowWarriorLord). This page was written before PHII, and perhaps the ability should be rewritten to take the Improved Buckler Defense feat into account.

A small and maneuverable parrying buckler, and perhaps a small shield fits the concept. The buckler can be incorporate into the armor design for a distinctive look. This could be a large shoulder guard and armor on one arm; a buckler in game terms, but a cool look for the arena.

The Drazhar weapon selection is based on the Dark Eldar wych gladiators in Warhammer 40,000. Indeed, the concept of mobile, elite warriors who fight with bizarre weapons in the arena are inspired by the Wych Cults. The bastard sword is the best equivalent of for the large, curved weapon the wyches use in one or two hands. The chain whip is used in lieu of the razorsnare (a thin wire spool with a hook, used to snare opponents and pull them towards you).

The chain whip can be used to represent the weapon of the same name used by the Sisters of Sigmar in Mordheim, or the dark eldar razorsnare in the first edition of Codex: Dark Eldar.

External links

• Hypertext d20 SRD Weapon table.