Desert Slave Warrior Class

[Waylander the Slayer]

The concept I have been provided with by the GM is the following:

It is a society of slaves raised in the desert who know nothing other than to follow orders - they are fierce mounted warrior who also excell in mounted combat ( seems counter intuitive to me). They are tough as their environment and skilled unarmed and mounted combatants.

Is there something similar out there in anything published? Here is what I have been working up for the GM - it does'nt feel right though. Any input is appreciated.



Game Rule Information
Legions of Sand (The “Unbound”) have the following game statistics.
The Unbound are slaves, they are trained like slaves and as such have a slave mentality. Their LN aligment makes them follow orders and the strict rules of their organization to the point of self sacrifice.

Abilities: Strength , Constitution, Dexterity

The unbound are trained to survive; just like the slave does they are. He is there to last; to last under the sun, to stand against any storm. Hence constitution is the most imporant attribute for an Unbound.

Alignment: Must be LN

Hit Die: d12


Class Skills
The Unbound’s class skills (and key ability for each skill) are Balance (Dex), Bluff (Cha), Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Survival (Wis), Sense Motive (Wis), Tumble (Dex) Handle Animal (Cha) and Ride (Dex).
Skill Points at 1st Level: (4 + Int mod) x 4.
Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 4 + Int modifier.

Class Features
All of the following are class features of the Unbound.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A Unbound is proficient with all simple and martial weapons , light armor and shields .


Unarmed Strike: An Unbound of 1st level or higher gains the benefit of the Improved Unarmed Strike feat.

Prone Attack: starting at second level. The unbound gains the benefit of the "Prone Attack feat" and suffers no penalty when attacking from a prone position. If the attack succeds he can stand up as a free action

Starting at second level. The unbound gains the benefit of the mounted combat feat

[Improved mounted archery (class unique feat)
the Unbound can use a bow or any ranged weapon while riding suffering no penalty and double movement speed and (-1) of penalty if mount is running .

Uncanny Dodge (Ex): At 4th level, a Unbound retains his Dexterity bonus to AC (if any) even if he is caught flat-footed or struck by an invisible attacker. However, he still loses his Dexterity bonus to AC if immobilized. If an Unbound already has uncanny dodge from a different class, he automatically gains improved uncanny dodge (see below) instead.

Damage Reduction: At 5th level and every 5 levels thereafter, the Unbound gains damage reduction 1/-(1/- at 5th, 2/- at 10th and so on)

Remain Concious: At 6th level the unbound can remain consient even after reaching 0 hit points. the unbond can the take a partial action each round until reaching -10

No Mercy: A 7th level Unbound can perform a coup de grace as a standard action rather than a full-round action.

unbound mount: at 7th level the unbound aquires a special mount. treated as a magical creature this mount has superior habilities and strenght than a normal mount.

Improved Uncanny Dodge (Ex): At 8th level and higher, a Unbound can no longer be flanked. This defense denies a rogue the ability to sneak attack the Unbound by flanking him, unless the attacker has at least four more rogue levels than the target has Unbound levels. If a character already has uncanny dodge (see above) from a second class, the levels from all classes that grant uncanny dodge stack to determine the minimum level a rogue must be to flank the character.

at 8th level the unbound recieves his name and is known as an unbound ( before this he only knew himself as slave) he will aquire a slave (up to 1d3 level) to train in the way of the unbound. the unbound can have as many warrior slaves as he has levels above 8.

Starting at 10th level, the unbound gains the benefit of the Spirited Charge feat

Starting at 11th level, the unbound gains the benefit of the Trample feat

Fearsome Mounted apearance: at 13th level an unbound and his mount frightens his enemies that fail a will check (10+charisma modifier). this is a gaze attack and can be used as a free action

Starting at 14th level, the Unbound gains the benefit of the Cavalry Charger feat

.....(anything to add for higher levels?)





Table 1-1: The Unbound

Level BAB Fort Ref Will Special
1 +1 +2 +0 +0
2 +2 +3 +0 +0
3 +3 +3 +1 +1
4 +4 +4 +1 +1
5 +5 +4 +1 +1
6 +6/1 +5 +2 +2
7 +7/2 +5 +2 +2
8 +8/3 +6 +2 +2
9 +9/4 +6 +3 +3
10 +10/5 +7 +3 +3
11 +11/6/1 +7 +3 +3
12 +12/7/2 +8 +4 +4
13 +13/8/3 +8 +4 +4
14 +14/9/4 +9 +4 +4
15 +15/10/5 +9 +5 +5
16 +16/11/6/1 +10 +5 +5
17 +17/12/7/2 +10 +5 +5
18 +18/13/8/3 +11 +6 +6
19 +19/14/9/4 +11 +6 +6
20 +20/15/10/5 +12 +6 +6

 

[Angerland]

Doesn't feel much like a slave type to me. Why is bluff a class skill? If you are a slave master it soesn't seem to me you want your slaves being able to lie to you or otherwise try to trick you. Also why does a society bred as mounted warriors have a prone attack or improved unarmed strike? Also a standard action Coup De Grace feels awfully powerful to me as well.

Mainly I feel that you give the class quite a few benefits with no drawbacks.

 

[Bryntryst]

So they're slaves. Who owns them? What are they used for?

 

[Waylander the Slayer]

From what I gather, they are slave warriors that are part of a society who owe utter obedience to the religious leaders. The bluff I had put in earlier before i modified the class a bit (had feint and some related build at the time) ( I get the feeling that it would be similar to a Jannisary/gladiator; but the whole unarmed combat stuff, due to "lack of resources," throws me for a loop).

 

[Waylander the Slayer]

Mainly I feel that you give the class quite a few benefits with no drawbacks.

It might very well be; I am trying to interpret the GM's ideas into something cohesive. I am unsure as to how "benifical" the abilities are other the CdG since most of them relate to being mounted which is a tricky proposition at best. On the other hand, the character does not seem all that strong as a combatant considering unarmed combat to be the primary mode of combat for the character ( still trying to figure out an unarmed warrior on horseback).

 

[Darklone]

Mounted unarmed warriors? Bad idea.

 

[IanB]

Perhaps you can draw some inspiration from these guys:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mameluk

If I had to guess I'd say that's where your DM is ultimately deriving this idea from.

 

[Arkhandus]

I'm confused. If they're fierce mounted warriors........ why are they still slaves? I'da thunk they'd realize their opportunity to escape at some point while mounted up, and who's gonna be able to stop them?

 

[The Souljourner]

Nah.... this is straight out of George R. R. Martin's "A Song of Fire and Ice" series. The Unbound are specially trained slaves made for fighting and not for thinking. They're basically the ultimate foot soldier - follow orders exactly, to the death, no matter what. They come from a desert city where wealthy merchants trade in slaves... most of their best business is selling armies of The Unbound, and they are in fact renowned throughout the lands as being the best foot soldiers in the world.

They wear no armor, but wield shields and spears and feel no pain. They actually were specifically never mounted in the book, which was actually a big problem because horsemen really tore them up, even though they did better than any other footmen could against a more maneuverable army. I also don't remember them ever mentioning spectacular unarmed combat abilities.... certainly nothing surpassing regular fighters. Their strength was in their perfect discipline and lengthy training.

A few things stick out from what I remember of their training... when they start their training, they are given a puppy to feed and take care of for a year. At the end of the year they must kill the puppy with no sign of remorse. When they finish their training, they must go into the city and find a mother and newborn child and kill the child in front of the mother, again with no remorse.

Finally, they have no names, but draw their names randomly (I forget the exact mechanism) every day... all the names are the lowliest of creatures combined with colors... so you might be green worm today, and red slug tomorrow.

They will follow orders even if it means their death. If you tell them to stand in place without moving or sleeping, they will do so until they pass out from exhaustion, thirst, or exposure to the elements. If you tell them to kill themselves, they will without a second thought.

Honestly, I didn't read your whole writeup, but figured I'd give you what information I could remember from the books.

-Nate

 

[the_mighty_agrippa]

Too many feats up front and a slave class should not be a 20-level core class. It should be a 5-level class, tops. Ranger or scout for easiest entry.

Unarmed strike is a bad call, especially for mounted warriors. A slave who can fight with his bare hands - that's the roots of capoeria. It's a revolt/resistance waiting to happen.