Rogues of the Western Heartlands (Character Kit)

Class Information 	Class Information
Racial Requirements 	Human, half-elf
Ability Requirements 	Dexterity 9
Prime Requisite 	Dexterity
Hit Die Type 	d6
Attack as 	Rogue
Save as 	Rogue
Advance as 	Rogue
Spell Ability? 	No
Exceptional Strength? 	No
Exceptional Constitution?	No
Starting Cash (x10 gp) 	3d6
Proficiencies 	Proficiencies
Weapon Slots 	2
Additional Slot 	4
Nonproficiency Penalty 	-3
Nonweapon Slots 	3
Additional Slot 	4
Available Categories 	General, Rogue
Bonus Proficiencies 	Varies
Recommended Proficiencies	None
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==Overview==
The Western Heartlands is a wild region of bold frontiersmen and unclaimed wilderness. However, it does have great cities and established trade routes. The existence of cities like Elturel and Scornubel show quite clearly that mankind has established a solid footing here. Beyond the walls of these cities, though, monsters and fey magic are encountered with unsettling regularity.
==Description==
Because of the unpredictable nature of life in these regions, rogues of the Western Heartlands take great care to avoid being caught off guard. Encountering an unarmed rogue is almost unheard of. The weapons they carry are often displayed prominently. This serves as a warning to potential attackers.
Beyond their weaponry, these characters generally dress in a most utilitarian fashion. They shun clothing or ornamentation that might interfere with one's combat ability and almost always wear armor.
==Role-playing==
Rogues of the Western Heartlands, while not outright paranoid, are slow to trust others. This is especially true of people from other lands. Once someone has proven his loyalty, though, he is as fine a companion as one could hope for. Until that time, however, the rogue is coolly hospitable and is often perceived as rude.
==Special Abilities==
===Elturel===
Generally considered the second most economically powerful city in the Western Heartlands, the people of Elturel are determined to surpass the wealth of their rivals in Scornubel. While many folks believe the merchants of Elturel are the driving force in this pursuit, few recognize the role the city's rogues play in the effort. When it comes to slick bargains and subtle negotiations, no one can beat the rogues of Elturel. To reflect this, all characters created with this kit receive a +2 bonus to their Charisma score. They also begin play with the appraising skill as a bonus proficiency.
Like most of the children from this city, those who grow up to be rogues learn to ride a horse almost as soon as they learn to walk. As a result, they all begin play with the land-based riding skill as well. This is a bonus proficiency and the character need not expend a slot to obtain it. Additional slots can be allocated to this skill to increase the character's chance of success with it, however.
===Evereska===
Evereska is quite possibly the last refuge of the silver elves on all Faerûn. Here, separated from the rest of the world by thousands of vertical feet, the fair folk practice the crafts and magic that have sustained them for so many centuries. Only elf or half-elf characters can be created with this kit and all of these must be of moon elf blood.
It is said that the elf wizards here know magic long forgotten by the outside world and that the warriors here employ fighting styles taught to them by the elf god Corellon Larethian. Perhaps the most well-known skill here, however, is the archery practiced by Evereska's rogues.
In addition to the natural advantages that all elves have when employing bows, as well as any bonuses that the character might have for a high Dexterity score, rogues from Evereska are entitled to a +2 bonus on their attack rolls when using a bow. Also, any bonus they receive on their attack roll because of a high Dexterity score is applied to the character's damage roll.
===Greycloak Hills===
Characters from the Greycloak Hills must all be elves or half-elves. These are mostly moon elves, although there are wild elves here and, with the DM's approval, a character can be of that race.
All characters from this region begin play with a cloak of elvenkind, as described in the DUNGEON  MASTER Guide.  The character also receives a suit of elven chain mail upon reaching 5th level. If the character's cloak or mail is lost or destroyed, it can be replaced at a cost of 500 gold pieces. Dungeon Masters should take care to ensure that the previous special ability is not abused. For example, an unscrupulous player might want to sell these valuable magical items or purchase them for other members of his party. Such behavior simply will not be tolerated by the elves of the Greycloak Hills.
===Iriaebor===
Living in a city of towers, the rogues of Iriaebor have naturally become skillful climbers. Any attempt they make to climb walls is made with a +15% bonus (to a maximum 95% chance of success).
In addition, these characters all receive the mountaineering and tumbling proficiencies. These are both bonus proficiencies and the character need not expend a slot to obtain them. Additional slots can be expended to enhance the character's ability with either skill.
===Scornubel===
Often called the Caravan City, Scornubel is the wealthiest and most powerful city in the Western Heartlands. During the peak trading season in the summer, the population of this city skyrockets to five or six times normal. Because of this transient population, the children of Scornubel grow up hearing stories from different lands and learning about heroes and gods that people in neighboring cities have never heard of.
In game terms this has a number of effects. The rogues of Scornubel learn how to handle animals at a young age. After all, with so much caravan traffic passing through the city, they'd have to work hard not to learn at least a little bit about animals. Because of this, all characters created with this kit begin play with the animal handling and animal training skills. These are bonus proficiencies and require no allocation of slots.
Just as they can't help but encounter many pack and riding animals in the course of their lives, young rogues are forced to deal with the press of people that crowd Scornubel's marketplace. With so much bumbling and jostling, what rogue wouldn't take the opportunity to pick a few pockets? The result of this, predictably, is that such characters become highly skilled at the practice of this art, gaining a +25% bonus to any pick pockets check they make (to a maximum 95% chance of success).
==Special Disadvantages==
===Elturel===
As skilled traders and merchants, the rogues of Elturel are less suited to combat than other thieves. After all, fighting is bad for business. Because of this, all characters designed with this kit attack as if they were wizards and must take a -1 penalty to their result when they roll for new hit points after gaining a level. (This never causes the hit points gained to fall below 1.) This penalty is no longer applied after the 10th level, since no new Hit Dice are gained after then.
===Evereska===
The altitude at which the elves of Evereska spend their lives has required them to adapt to life in a significantly thinner atmosphere than that found in the other cities of the Western Heartlands. When adventuring at lower altitudes, the oppressive atmosphere reduces their effective Constitution score by 1 point.
Because outsiders are rare in the city of Evereska, the rogues who live there have little use for the pick pocket or backstabbing skills that others of this class have. They suffer a -25% penalty to their pick pocket skill and are unable to employ the backstabbing skill at all.
===Greycloak Hills===
The elf rogues who live among the mists that continually hang over this region suffer from something of a curse. Long ago, a guild of elf thieves was hunted down
and destroyed here. Their spirits, taking the form of banshees, haunted the region for centuries. Only in recent years have the elves of this region been able to drive away these undead. The banshees, however, were not defeated without cost. As they were eliminated, they wove a dreadful curse upon all the rogues who would come to call this region home. Any character who attempts to turn undead within 60 feet of a rogue from the Greycloak Hills suffers a -2 penalty. Attempts by evil priests to control undead or the use of magical spells like invisibility to undead are unaffected.
===Iriaebor===
Life in Iriaebor is a never-ending storm of chaotic politics and cutthroat mercantile practices. Betrayal and subterfuge, especially in the business world, is unending. Rogues from Iriaebor expect no less from the world around them and behave accordingly. All characters designed with this kit must be of chaotic alignment.
In the hustle and bustle of this city, which some say never naps—let alone sleeps—rogues have little chance to hone their detect noises skill. The quiet conditions needed to successfully employ this skill are almost unheard of any where in Iriaebor. As a result, they suffer a -15% penalty to that skill whenever they attempt to use it.
===Scornubel===
The comings and goings of people in Scornubel require everyone in the city to be bilingual or multi-lingual. This is especially true of merchants and the rogues who often mingle with them. To reflect this, all rogues created with this kit must expend at least two proficiency slots to learn modern languages. The Dungeon Master is free to say which of Faerûn's many dialects the character has been exposed to.
Scornubel is a sprawling place, and those who live here see little or no need to build the tall towers that one sees in more confined cities like Iriaebor. As a result, rogues who learn their art here are less proficient with the climb walls skills than others of their class. This is evident from the -15% penalty applied to this skill.