Barbarian - Wild Elf (Character Kit)

Class Information 	Class Information
Class Requirements 	Fighter, ranger (no multiclassing for latter)
Racial Requirements 	Elf (wild), half-elf (wild)
Ability Requirements 	Constitution 11, Dexterity 11, Strength 13
Prime Requisite 	Dexterity, Strength
Aligments 	Any (most CG; some NG, N, CN)
Social Rank 	Lower class
Hit Die Type 	d10
Attack as 	Warrior
Save as 	Warrior
Advance as 	Fighter or ranger
Spell Ability? 	No (Yes for high-level rangers)
Exceptional Strength? 	Yes
Exceptional Constitution?	Yes
Starting Cash (x10 gp) 	None
Proficiencies 	Proficiencies
Weapon Slots 	4
Initial Weapons 	Long bow or short bow (spec.), plus two others (see below)
Additional WP Slot 	3
Additional Weapons 	See below
Nonproficiency Penalty 	-2
Nonweapon Slots 	3
Additional NWP Slot 	3
Available Categories 	General, Warrior
Bonus Proficiencies 	Animal lore, endurance, fishing or hunting, survival (forest)
Recommended Proficiencies	Animal handling, animal lore, animal training, appraising, boating (CRH), blind-fighting, bowyer/fletcher, camouflage (CRH), carpentry, direction sense, fire-building, healing, herbalism, jumping, leatherworking, local history, rope use, running, seamstress/tailor, set snares, swimming, tightrope walking, tracking, weaponsmithing (crude, CRH), weather sense, weaving
Secondary Skills 	Armorer, bowyer/fletcher, fisher, forester, hunter, leather worker, scribe, tailor/weaver, trapper/furrier, weaponsmith, woodworker/carpenter
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==Overview==
Wild elves, who call themselves Sy'Tel'Quessir, have the least organization and most primitive culture of any of the elven subraces of the Realms. While they are not complete savages, they tend to be nomadic hunters and gatherers, having little interaction with other peoples and staying close to their beloved temperate and subarctic forests. Many wild elves can read and write, but their oral traditions are far more extensive than their written works, which rarely survive long in the wilderness. Some wild elves travel extensively through their forests in their constant search for food and shelter, and they may take on adventures during this time.
Wild elf barbarians are found on Evermeet and in Cormanthor, the Forest of Tethir, the Greycloak Hills, and many other old forested regions of Faerûn. They are the most common types of elves on the mainland since the Retreat, except for Evereska moon elves. Wild elves were formerly known from the Chondalwood, in the Vilhon Reach, but those appear to have all gone to Evermeet. Many half-wild elves of the Yuirwood, in Aglarond, and some in Cormanthor use this barbarian kit.
Not all wild elves should use this kit, as some are more civilized and have established permanent homes and even cities, though always in heavily wooded areas. This is true in places with much contact with humans, such as Deepingdale and parts of the Forest of Tethir, in Tethyr. Many wild elves of the High Forest are secretly attempting to set up a kingdom there, called New Eaerlann, and these elves would not use this kit.
==Description==
A wild elf of Faerûn stands about human height (5 feet 6 inches or so), with coppery skin with tinctures of green. Hair color is usually brown or black, with occasional reds and blondes; the eyes are green, brown, or hazel.
Clothing in warm, temperate forests is kept to a minimum, down to loincloths, sandals or moccasins, and assorted decorative touches like earrings and arm bands. Tattooing is widely practiced. In cool weather, wild elves wear light leather clothing like buckskin, expertly stitched, and high, fur-lined boots. Hair decorations include feathers, leather bands, berries, and so forth. Leather armor is the only armor that wild elf barbarians willingly use. Wild elf barbarians use horses only rarely, if at all, though more civilized wild elves do so more often.
==Roleplaying==
A wild elf barbarian wants most to simply be left alone. He is in tune with the forest, engaged in a simple struggle for survival that he believes is all that the elven gods intended for him. Hunting, gathering, eating, sleeping—this is what makes life worthwhile for him, and he gains wisdom from living so close to the land and so much at the mercy of nature. Contact with other peoples interferes with his appreciation of the forest and can anger him greatly. Wild elf barbarians are emotional beings, not rational ones.
Certain elements of civilization intrude on this life, but the wild elf accepts them grudgingly. He may be a nomad, but small communities of settled wild elves that he visits may have forges for blacksmithing, stockades of domestic animals, and trading posts with links to the outside world. He does not fully approve of this, but he understands it is the only way to create and maintain the iron weapons he uses.
While a barbarian fighter has few other worries, the barbarian ranger is responsible for the safety of his people. He selects the creatures he views as most dangerous to his people, then attacks them with a vengeance in a never-ending war.
==Special Advantages==
All proficiencies that a wild elf barbarian takes are oriented toward life in the forest. The bonus proficiencies he receives each include an additional +1 bonus on their checks when used in any forest, and a +2 bonus when used in his home forest.
A wild elf barbarian may use animal lore to understand the actions of wild birds and mammals as if he were able to talk with them. If a proficiency check is made with a -4 penalty, he learns something from the creature, if anything is there to be learned. The wild elf can communicate to some extent with the creature and can use his Charisma score to influence the creature's reaction, if the creature's Intelligence score is 1-4. In his home forest, a wild elf has a +6 bonus to avoid being surprised, even if asleep. In other forests, this bonus falls to +2. In his own forest, he can creep up on intruders so carefully as to add another -2 penalty to their chances to be surprised, cumulative with the normal elf chances for this.
A wild elf barbarian may fire his bow without penalty while traveling at MV 6. Trick shots and called shots are possible. The normal elf bonus of +1 to attack rolls with a bow is added to all other bonuses. Attack options with the bow are in The Complete Fighter's Handbook, The Complete Book of Elves, and PLAYER'S OPTION: Combat & Tactics.
==Special Disadvantages==
As a barbarian, a wild elf starts out with no Faerûnian money. He may choose up to 10 items other than weapons to take with him on his travels. These items include leather armor, sacks, dried meat, a waterskin, tools (for skinning, digging, or sewing), fishing gear, rope, etc. These items can be made of steel, wood, bone, leather, stone, etc; many are gained from trade with other elves.
The wild elf barbarian also gains possession of three weapons that his people normally make and use; these are also his initial weapons of proficiency, one being a bow, with which he must specialize. He must select his other initial weapons only from the following: hand axe, club, dagger, dart, javelin, knife, sling, spear, sword (any). The wild elf can learn to use new weapons later on but diverges from the previous list only for very good reasons. Nothing could convince him to learn to use a siege weapon or a firearm, but he might learn to use a pike if fighting dangerous monsters at a distance.
Wild elf barbarians do not trust or like humanity, and they aren't crazy about dwarves. NPC humans and dwarves have an immediate negative reaction to all wild elves unless these NPCs come from areas known to be friendly with the forest folk (for example, Deepingdale). Humans and dwarves apply a +2 modifier to all reactions checked on Table 59 of the DMG; hostile reactions are possible.
Wild elf barbarians have a particular aversion to the Underdark, oceans (surface or undersea), cities and towns, deserts, wildspace, other planes, and arctic conditions. On any adventure in these regions, a wild elf barbarian takes a -2 penalty to all proficiency checks and saving throws, as a result of feeling oppressed by the lack of a true forested wilderness. This penalty is permanent. (Even lythari are more flexible about their living conditions, so long as they get meat.) Wild elf barbarians tolerate grasslands, swamps, subarctic conifer forests, and tropical jungles well enough to avoid this dramatic penalty, however.
Finally, wild elf barbarians have no abilities to detect secret or concealed doors, as they are never around them in the wild.