Free Gladiators (CGH)

__TOC__
Free gladiators have as good a living condition as their fame, ability, and area will allow them. A poor gladiator will usually live in a poor neighborhood, unable to afford the amusements in which his wealthier and more skilled brethren engage. His training will be substandard unless he can somehow cajole a trainer into accepting him. His home will be even worse than his training unless he is independently wealthy However, the impoverished gladiator has one significant advantage over his brethren: he is free.
He does not need to fight for the pleasure of someone else. He fights for his own dignity and his own survival, not the whim of a barely-known master. He fights for his very life, both in and outside the ring, and that makes him far more desperate and therefore more dangerous than a slave gladiator. Although his training might not be as advanced as that of his compatriots, his fervor, intensity, and enthusiasm can often make up for the lack of formalized teaching.
The free gladiator must pay for all expenses he incurs, whether it is for healing or for training. Unless he can find someone who will perform these services for free, chances are his winnings will at least partially evaporate into the pockets of the healers and trainers of the city-state.