Tunnelrat - Faerûn (Character Kit)

Class Information 	Class Information
Class Requirements 	Thief
Racial Requirements 	Dwarf (gold, shield, gray), gnome (rock, deep), halfling (hairfeet, stout)
Ability Requirements 	Constitution 9, Dexterity 9, Strength 9
Prime Requisite 	Dexterity
Aligments 	Any
Social Rank 	Lower class
Hit Die Type 	d6
Attack as 	Rogue
Save as 	Rogue
Advance as 	Thief
Spell Ability? 	No
Exceptional Strength? 	No
Exceptional Constitution?	No
Starting Cash (x10 gp) 	2d6
Proficiencies 	Proficiencies
Weapon Slots 	Dagger, dart, hand crossbow, knife, short sword, punching, wrestling
Initial Weapons 	4
Additional WP Slot 	Standard thief, excluding quarterstaff, including punching and wrestling
Additional Weapons 	
Nonproficiency Penalty 	-3
Nonweapon Slots 	3
Additional NWP Slot 	4
Available Categories 	General, Rogue
Bonus Proficiencies 	Blind-fighting, tracking, mountaineering, slow respiration (CBDw)
Recommended Proficiencies	Animal lore, blacksmithing, fire-building, hunting (CTH), languages (modern), leatherworking, mining, rope use, swimming
Secondary Skills 	Hunter, miner
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==Overview==
Tunnelrats are small folk who are able to negotiate narrow tunnels and cramped chambers in the Underdark, making themselves extremely important to the defense of their home cities, strongholds, and mines. They are guides to the Underdark, scouts and spies for military groups, and explorers seeking new passages and riches through the endless labyrinth beneath the lands of Faerûn. Short demihumans with infravision make the best tunnelrats.
Tunnelrats first appeared among dwarf strongholds millennia ago but now are seen in many human-dominated cities with sewer systems or infestations of tunnel-building osquips, giant weasels, and giant rats. (Waterdeep comes to mind, as it has Undermountain beneath it.) The besieged rock gnome mining town of Quarrelshigh in Amn has many fine tunnelrats, and rock gnomes working for the gold dwarves in the Great Rift also have fine reputations. Deep gnomes, stout halflings, and outcast gray dwarves are seen as tunnelrats, too.
==Description==
The average tunnelrat closely resembles the pestkiller at first glance, though the latter smells much worse. A tunnelrat on patrol wears thick, tough clothing over leather armor. All loose straps, belts, and cords are tucked in so they don't snag on projections if the tunnelrat must crawl through a narrow opening. Beards are tucked away or covered by a special cloth. Dirt and mud are common features, along with minor injuries sustained by crawling about on hands and knees, or squeezing through thin passages. Gloves, boots, and padded elbow and knee joints in clothing are common. A thick leather helmet with metal plates sewn inside (AC 4 head) is often worn for protection.
==Roleplaying==
Tunnelrats usually have a standard work assignment if employed by a city, mine, or stronghold, patrolling various tunnels below the city to ensure they are free of monsters, pests, and enemies. Pestkillers often assist tunnelrats in this work; the two groups get along famously. Some tunnelrats work freelance or explore caves and tunnels on their own, conducting their own private wars against Underdark denizens.
The first weapons learned by a tunnelrat are those thieves' weapons useful in tight quarters in close combat, primarily piercing/thrusting weapons. The dart can be hurled with a flip of the wrist. After 1st level, a tunnelrat can learn standard thief weapons with the exception of the quarterstaff and sling, which cannot be used in close combat. The lasso can be used to bridge chasms if space permits the tunnelrat to make a rope toss.
Tunnelrats are very aggressive and harshly practical, which is an adventurer's way of saying they generally take no prisoners. They cannot afford to do so in the cramped tunnels in which they fight; only a dead enemy does not try to kill you as you squeeze past him. Surrender means a swift death to any side in a tunnel conflict. It's fight or flight, nothing else.
==Special Advantages==
A tunnelrat takes no penalties in combat conducted in areas as small as 2 feet across so long as he uses stabbing, piercing hand-held weapons (dagger, knife, and short sword). He even gains a +2 bonus to attack rolls with these weapons, if chosen. He can fling darts for full effect with only 1 foot of throwing space in front of him or to one side. He also gains a +2 bonus to punching or wrestling attack rolls in these confined spaces, if either of those are chosen as weapon proficiencies.
He can crawl on hands and knees at the same movement rate as he can normally walk, but he does so only through tunnels he is familiar with; movement is reduced to MV 3 when checking for traps, dangerous fungi, ambushes, or monsters. Belly crawling at a rate of MV 1, with full abilities to check for traps, can be done through tunnels only 18 inches wide. (A tunnelrat does not let himself get fat.) Those who aren't tunnelrats move at half the above rates at best, and take a -2 penalty on attack and damage rolls in the spaces described. Silent movement is possible even when belly crawling at normal speed. A visible light source must be present in order to check for traps, or monsters.
A tunnelrat knows the chittering language of local burrowing mammals normally known only to surface gnomes. He can use this language and his own Charisma scores to encourage burrowers to flee, aid him, or leave him alone.
From long practice, a tunnelrat is so skilled at hiding against underground terrain that, when not moving, he imposes a -4 penalty on their opponents' surprise rolls. This bonus is effective only against opponents who do not have infravision. However, the tunnelrat has learned to lie so still that he can cool his body temperature and thus even fool creatures with infravision a bit; against infravision users, the surprise penalty is -2. It takes a full hour for this body cooling to take effect, making it useful only for planned ambushes. A tunnelrat can lie perfectly still for as many hours as he has Constitution points, and he can hold his breath for up to half his Constitution points in rounds if able to prepare himself for one turn beforehand.
A tunnelrat gains bonuses to detect certain underground phenomena usually noticed by dwarves and gnomes. A light source is required. These bonuses are gained only in tunnels at most 5 feet wide, if the tunnelrat is deliberately searching for these bits of information for one round. Regardless of the tunnelrat's race, he can detect sloping passages; new tunnel construction; sliding/shifting passages; stonework traps, deadfalls, and pits; unsafe walls, ceilings, and floors; approximate depth underground; and approximate direction underground on a roll of 1-7 on 1d8. He also gains a +4 to his surprise roll against any underground plant or animal having an Intelligence from 0 to 4 (non- to semi-), detecting it ahead of time by sight, sound, or smell. A light is not required for this talent to work. (Unintelligent creatures do not know how to conceal their presence.)
A tunnelrat is immune to normal attacks of claustrophobia, as he is so accustomed to small, tight spaces. The tunnelrat gains a +6 bonus to saving throws against any magical attack or disease attempting to induce claustrophobia. He also gains a normal +2 bonus vs. magical fear-based attacks.
==Special Disadvantages==
A tunnelrat normally has no ability to use the thief's read languages skill, as he never practices it in his
work. He can gain the reading/writing proficiency as per the usual rules, but all thief skill points must be allocated to other thieving skills.
A tunnelrat is prone to develop agoraphobia, the fear of large, open spaces. With every level the tunnelrat gains, there is a cumulative 5% chance that this condition appears; the DM must roll for this chance. Once this condition appears, a special roll must be made each time the character finds himself under an open sky or in an enormous chamber. The character's player must roll a Wisdom check on 1d20, with the tunnelrat's level as a positive modifier to the roll. (In other words, the condition worsens as the character gets better at his job.) A roll greater than the tunnelrat's Wisdom score means the character is suddenly paralyzed with fear and stops dead or falls down, no matter what else is happening at the time.
Remove fear eliminates the immediate symptoms of agoraphobia if the character makes a new Wisdom check with a -4 modifier to the die roll. However, the tunnelrat's level is applied as a bonus to the Wisdom check, which may eventually negate the -4 modifier and reduce the effectiveness of the spell. The condition reappears as soon as the character goes out of doors again, with another Wisdom check required. Remove fear and cloak of bravery, if cast on the tunnelrat before he goes outdoors, function normally and apply their bonuses as negative modifiers (+4 becomes -4) to aid the Wisdom check. Heal removes agoraphobia permanently but only if cast on the tunnelrat after the condition has appeared; the condition never appears again.
Weapon restrictions on a tunnelrat are detailed above. The nature of their work prevents their using many sorts of large items, and fighting in tight quarters when escape is difficult or impossible is extremely dangerous.
Upper-class individuals regard a tunnelrat with disdain unless the character performs some widely regarded heroic act. A +1 modifier to upper-class NPCs' reaction rolls to a tunnelrat, leading to negative reactions, is applied normally.
A tunnelrat does not gain followers upon reaching 10th level, nor does he gain the ability to read and use magical or clerical scrolls. He does retain his ability to backstab opponents, however.