Complete Book of Elves Kit Evaluation

 The Complete Book of Elves is infamous; I used to jokingly call it "Meine Alf", because it was just a book about how cool elves were. Not how they were sometimes flawed, or necessarily about their culture, but about how they were more in tune with the universe and made the best stuff (like armor that you could cast in, awesome bows, and the occasional cybernetic appendage). Most infamous were the Bladesingers, who were these amazing Fighter/Mages, on top of the coolness of already getting to be a fighter/mage.

So I'm going into this a bit biased against the book. Keep that in mind, as I will be.

Kits are organized by class group, but oddly... Priest, Warrior, Mage/Thief, Fighter/Mage, Fighter/Thief, Fighter/Mage/Thief, and Any Class. No pure wizard kits, no pure rogue kits.

Priest Kit
Herbalist: Herbalists are interesting; not too powerful, but very useful if they're in their element. Bonus WP of sickle, which might conflict with their divine class, bonus NWP of Healing and Herbalism. But their focus is pretty much entirely on non-magical herbalism, and limited by terrain... at 1st level, they must pick one, and have a penalty in all others, including a 1 in 4 possibility of picking poisonous ones. While in their terrain, they can heal extra damage (1d4 points if they can start within 4 rounds of someone being hurt), being able to find hard-to-find herbs (no mechanics), and identify plants and pure water in their chosen terrain. Every five levels, they can add a new terrain, and five levels after that, they can identify plants and pure water in their terrain. They technically CAN brew poison, but if they ever do for use against others (as opposed to testing for antidotes), they lose the kit.

This kit could be very useful if you were likely to stay in a single place; their healing is pretty useful, especially at low levels. I am somewhat curious about the choice to make it 4 rounds for the healing... why not a turn? Why not five rounds? But it is what it is. A very specific sort of kit, but not bad at it, in its own way.

Warrior Kits:
Archer: Archers suck with melee weapons, get a bonus to trick shots, a bonus to damage with well-cared for equipment, and an improved rate of fire... but that's part of the problem. They get +1/2 an attack, which is reasonable enough. But then the kit claims that their rate of fire becomes 5/2... ok... and includes movement. What? The PH (Movement and Missile Combat) says that moving means you get half your usual ROF. So it would be 3/2, right? Nope. Because Complete Elves gives elves the ability to maintain their ROF even though they've moved (p. 73). The kit then says that, if they stood still, they'd get a 3/1, which means it's not just a +1/2, it's a +1 attack. This isn't a specialization bonus; bows don't get additional attacks per round when specialized. It's just a special ability of archers, stacked on top of a special ability of elves, that came out of nowhere.

It is through things like this that the reputation of the Complete Book of Elves was built.

Wilderness Runner: A ranger-only kit, Wilderness runners pick up bonus WP (bows and quarterstaves), NWPs (Endurance, Running, Set Snares). They get a bonus to tracking, ignore natural weather changes between 32* and 100* (this is, incidentally, an ability given to all elves on page 36), can use Set Snares to make man-traps, and can make any equipment they need. I think it is supposed to be that they don't use swords, since their recommended weapons include "organic weapons", but I can't see that it's required anywhere. They start with almost no money. This is balanced by some pretty heavy restrictions... have to make a wisdom check to stay in a city for more than a day, have to make a wisdom check to stay in unnatural caves (they don't LIKE natural caves, but they won't freak out). They also get a big penalty to dealing with "civilized" elves, but the inverse with sylvan elves and their allies. And they start with almost no money... you might not even be able to afford leather armor, though you can justify starting with any equipment you want.

Like the Herbalist, the Wilderness Runner is a choice. You're playing a backwoods ranger who makes their own gear, their own jerky, and probably their own moonshine. You won't ride a horse, and probably won't wash your socks. They're good at what they do, but what they do is narrowly tailored.

Windrider: In theory, an elven fighter or ranger without a kit can choose this one. Sometime between 4th and 6th level, they'll get the benefits (I assume they got the bonus WP and NWPs before then): They get a griffon, hippogriff, or pegasus as a mount, and they get a +2 to reaction from the higher-class humans and elves. Downsides are a -3 to reaction with lower class elves and humans, and they have to worry about their mounts. Of the three, griffons are the toughest (7 HD, 3 AC), pegasi are the smartest and fastest, and hippogriffs are an option... slightly faster than griffins, do more damage with hooves than griffin claws, but far less damage with a bite, and having only about half the HD, and far less morale.

Nothing terribly to write home about, in all, but not an unbalancing kit, either.

Mage/Thief
Spellfilcher: Some bonus NWP, Detect Magic 1/level/day (which level? Thief or mage?), and a +5% to find and temporarily disable magical traps, and +5% more per four levels (which level?). The last is kind of a mixed bag; +5%/4 levels to find and remove magical traps is nice, especially since magical traps cut your chance in half. But it's also only 5% every 4 levels; 1.25% per level, only for magical traps, and traps are only temporarily disabled, not removed. They're tightly tied to the Spellfilcher's Guild, including needing to ask for permission to go adventuring, and they're supposed to get negative reactions from non-elven wizards, and be sought after by non-elven thieves... but there's no mechanics backing these up, like a negative encounter reaction. The 1/day/level detect magic is nice, but I think it's trying to do all the heavy lifting, and it has mage/thief noodle arms.

Fighter/Mage
Bladesinger: Bonus NWPs, +1 to hit and damage with a weapon of choice, +1/4 levels with special fighting manuevers (eg disarm), sizable bonus to AC when casting (half level, +1), can cast 1-handed at +2 to initiative. This is balanced by a very wishy-washy "Have to help elves and advance the elf race" (unless they think it's a trick), -1 to hit with any weapon other than their prefered weapon, no bonus with bows. They can't specialize in weapon groups, which is odd, since no one can. Penalty when wearing armor heavier than elven chain or studded leather. It's recommended that they take single weapon or two-handed style, which is another weird bit... they do not practice bladesong as a fighting style. Their AC bonus while casting mimics Bladesong's ability to parry while fighting, but doesn't apply while fighting. They get a +1 to hit and damage with their chosen weapon, but not Bladesong's +1 to AC. It feels like the two abilities, kit and style, are out of synch, and much could have been made out of just making Bladesingers the masters of the Bladesong fighting style... let them use all the abilities of the bladesong in the same round, let them improve the bladesong's bonuses as normal. They're not super-powerful, just feel out of touch with the bladesong they're supposed to be masters of.

War Wizard: Bonus WP, Bonus NWP (Spellcraft and Engineering or Survival). They can add a +1 to their entire side's attack bonus, which is pretty great, but under some pretty harsh restrictions (have to study and map the area, have to hold a strategy meeting with everyone, anyone who is getting the bonus has to pass an Int check); great bonus, but hard to get. +1 to hit with their weapon of choice, and a spell of choice every 4 levels, which gets a -1 to initiative or inflicts a -1 on saving throws. And at the next multiple of 4, the bonuses on spell one go up, and you get a new spell at -1 (which is a good thing). A couple sweet bonuses. Penalties are can only select certain weapons (swords, bows, and lances), have a code of conduct that is left up to the DM ("should be fierce, demanding, and restrictive"), and must comply with the demands of the unit. This is the second kit where the chaotic elves absolutely must follow orders, incidentally. Still, if your DM isn't too harsh, the benefits are pretty nice.

Fighter/Thief
Huntsmen: Bonus Net WP, NWPs of Hunting and Tracking. +10% to Move Silently and Hide in Shadows on top of everything else. They "take a smaller bonus to their Tracking proficiency than other non-rangers", but what this smaller penalty might be is never mentioned. Just that it's smaller. Cannot take Read Languages like other thieves, and get a -2 to reaction penalties with good people (he's a bounty hunter) and evil people (he's a bounty hunter). Neutral people apparently don't care.

This one is just poorly written, IMO. How do you say they get a smaller penalty then not tell me what the smaller penalty is? Sure, it's +20 to thief skills, but it's also taking away an entire thief skill, and making you disliked.

Fighter/Mage/Thief
Collector: Bonus NWP (Ancient History and Engineering), half of a bard's chance to know about magic items (5% per 2 levels), plus a bonus if they can search for references and spend their time looking into it. By spending a lot of money (10d100 gp), they can figure out more or less where an item might lie. They get a +10% to Find/Remove traps, and can at +1 or -1 to a roll once a day. Nice benefits; the Find/Remove Traps bonus, incidentally, is better than the one Spellfilchers get... a +10% to all traps equals a +5% to magic traps, but also applies to all traps. While a spellfilcher gets +5%/4 levels, and the Collector is flat, I think the Collector comes out ahead on that.

But the downsides? -2 reaction penalty to everyone. Will not knowingly use a charged magic item, will not destroy a magic item if at all possible, and destroying one gives them -2 to attacks and saves for a week. Now, I got a question, here... does that include potions and scrolls, which are destroyed by their very use? Logically, as they are magic items, it does. However, you are a wizard who cannot use scrolls. This isn't QUITE as bad as the peasant wizard who is technically forbidden from owning a spellbook, but sweet monkey, think through your kits!

Infiltrator: Good bonus NWPs (FIVE!), and a +1 to all of them. They also can pass themselves off as a tall dwarf or a short human with disguise at a -4 (half the normal -7 penalty), which disappears at a rate of 1 per 4 levels in their most expensive class, and +10% to two thief skills of choice. Downside? Reduced resistance to sleep and charm spells of 10% per level (minimum 30%), and supposed to role-play being unsure of themselves and their own identity. Hefty penalty, but they are good at what they do.

Any Class
Undead Slayer: Bonus WP (Medium-sized bludgeon available to their class), NWP (Blindfighting, only), +2 to Hit and Damage against one kind of undead, and can find undead lairs, without any mechanics attached. In return, they must fanatically hunt undead, especially intelligent undead, even to the point of dying themselves if it means killing more. Won't work with non-evil undead. Have to buy holy water and a silver mirror at the start. In a lot of ways, they feel like a concept with a bit of mechanical cover (the +2 to hit and damage one kind of undead), rather than something fully developed.

Overall? The kits kinda suck. I like the concepts, but I don't really want to play any of them as written. I do not understand why either the Collector or the Infiltrator need to be Fighter/Mage/Thieves; they could have been pure thief kits without a lick of change, and the Collector has a crippling flaw of being unable to use potions or scrolls. Herbalists are nice, if limited. Archers are reasonable, but leverage an out-of-left field bonus. Wilderness runners aren't bad, but somewhat narrow, Windriders could be replaced by Complete Fighter Beast Riders who have had a bath, Spellfilchers get a lot of bonus spells... well, one bonus spell a lot of times... Bladesingers don't practice bladesinging. War Wizards really have no reason to be fighters. Huntsmen are incomplete. Undead Slayers are basically a member of any class who got a ranger's species enemy for a single type of undead. And every single one of them is written with paens to the wonderful nature of elves.

An that, I think, is the essential problem with the Complete Book of Elves: It doesn't treat elves seriously. There's no real examination of them that isn't purely laudatory... even the story about four elves capturing and torturing a dwarf for decades comes across as a testament to elven ingenuity. Complete Dwarves talked about dwarves having flaws; Complete Elves waves them away, and makes new abilities and equipment to make elves even kewler. Did you know they can claim a +3 to reaction checks on their homeworld? That they have up to 50% resistance to disease? It's suggested you give elves 3 or more bonus NWPs. And they have not just elven chain, but full plate armor that doesn't interfere with casting. And they can make cybernetics. Not magical limbs... they are explicitly not magical.

An entire book like this; bonus abilities and new stuff where every elf is totally cool.

Complete Bard Kit Evaluations

 I think I can say pretty confidently that the Complete Bard is one of the best Complete Handbooks of the series; I've heard few bad things about it, and, usually, their reasoning is incomprehensible to me, so they're obviously entirely wrong. Unlike the previous books, the kits in the Complete Bard are close to being new classes. They take four abilities of bards... Influence Reactions, Rally Allies, Countersong, and Legend Lore... and make them optional, mixing in other abilities that fit a particular type of performer. They also take the 4 NWPs bards begin with... Singing, Musical Instrument, Reading, and Local History... and swap them around, too. It results in one of the most dynamic complete handbooks.

I should note, all of the kits (except True Bard) get a modification to their thieving abilities, and these can vary pretty widely; Gallants get a net -25, all from Pick Pockets, while the best net +15%. Of the 17 kits in the book, five of them are net negative thieving skill points.

True Bard: The True Bard is just the bard class, as written up in the PH, and sort of a template for how the rest of them will come out. Bards are jacks of all trades, with tons of abilities and very little synergy... they're thieves but have the least-taken thief abilities, fighters but they have bad HD, and wizards who can't take advantage of their fightery armor while casting spells. Their Rally Allies ability remains simply horrible (+1 to hit OR +1 to saves OR +2 to morale, IF the bard can do nothing for three rounds, and then it only lasts 1 round per bard level), but their Legend Lore ability got a bit of an interesting change... as an optional rule, if the bard succeeded, the DM should roll 3d6 once per level of the bard, and give the bard information base on the table; an 18 means you should just let them read the DMG entry, a 3 will tell them how many charges are left, and all sorts of other things. It's a neat addition, which takes bards from being the identify machine and into someone who knows random bits of stuff about stuff.

Blade: Oooh, sexy and scary! Dark clothes and weapons and they definitely appealed to a younger me a lot more. The first thing to note is the NWPs... Armorer, Bowyer-Fletcher, Gambling, and Weaponsmith... that's 7 slots worth of bonus proficiencies, not the 4 the bard gets. Their Weapons Display is actually better than Rally Allies... it hurts the enemy's morale, and gives allies a +1 to hit, while taking only a round to do (and lasting the same round/level). Two effects, one round, as opposed to a bard getting one of three effects for three rounds of work. They also get some combat benefits (better TWF and automatically ambidextrous), and spins, another kind of weapons display. They give up the 10th level ability to read any magic item. It's a potent ability, but... it's a 10th level ability. The restriction isn't going to come up much.

Charlatan: One thing I missed when younger... Charlatans can wear any armor. They don't like to, but they can. And, sweet monkey, are they powerful. They can charm person, without magic, 1 person per level at a time. Not "A 3rd level charlatan can have 3 people charmed"... as written, they can charm 3 people, then go on and charm another 3 people, and another 3 people. Indefinitely. They can pretend to have any NWP, and have a chance to actually succeed at it... roll Int-10, and if you do, roll a NWP check and, if you succeed at THAT, you successfully used the NWP. They can detect lies, they can detect alignments, they can pick pocket people with words. There's no specific hindrances to this kit, save that people are mad when you swindle them. It is an amazingly powerful kit if people read it.

Gallant: Gallants are if bards were knights in shining armor... literally. They can wear any armor, but only want the coolest stuff... they will always choose pretty over better protection. It's not backed up by mechanics, though, just "This is what Gallants do." Their special abilities are pretty potent, including a +1 HP per level, a floating +2 that can be applied once each round, and, improving reactions with, and the ability to charm, someone of the opposite sex (or appropriate sex, I would argue, given that we're not under TSRs Hayes Code equivalent... Zorro, after all, is sometimes a Gay Blade). Their hindrance is that they cannot gain the soldiers of a True Bard, instead getting a 1st level fighter as a squire starting at 5th level, and their Code, which, among other romantic ideals, requires that they spend half their money.

Gypsy-Bard: Drinking deep the stereotypes of "gypsies", the gypsy-bard is a free-spirit, nature-loving, dancer. They can cast certain animal-related spells as spell-like powers, can free cast any enchantment/charm they know in a long ritual (1d10 turns of dancing and music), and they can tell fortunes with any magical item designed for divination, even if they normally couldn't use the item; they can even use the Deck of Many things this way, and do it safely (but they can't use it normally any safer than others can). If the DM allows, they have a psionic wild talent, all in exchange for a -25 to climb if it isn't a tree. They have a small restriction on weapon choices, and armor, too. All in all, I think they're kind of scattered... there's the fortune-telling and the dancing which fits with the stereotype they're going for, but there's also the animal magics and the "oh, yeah, they might have any weird psionic power the dice give them." It's not a very cohesive idea, and is a bit real-world racist.

Herald: Heralds are supposed to be either wandering bearers of news or James Bond. The intro text is literally "Hello, my name is Bard, James Bard, and I'm a Herald working for His Majesty, the king." They identify rumors, learn who's-who in a given town or district, sway crowds (similar to a True Bard's Influence ability), and can, with luck, speak to anyone, regardless of language. This is a really social kit, and doesn't carry much advantage in a dungeon, but would be an invaluable member of a thieves guild or other espionage game.

I think my biggest complaint is with the sway crowds ability, and this applies to the True Bard, and a few others, as well... if someone fails at their save, they go with the bard's opinion. If someone makes their save, they go opposite the bard's opinion. There's no chance that people listening to the bard just won't have their opinion swayed, which seems odd to me.

Jester: Oh, the Jester. I think I could kill several grognards at a time by suggesting I was going to play a kender jester, as they are deeply unserious characters with some seriously powerful abilities. They do have some weapon and armor restrictions, but relatively minor. Fool's luck gives them a +1 to AC and almost everything else (except attack and damage). They can communicate with anyone through body language, if the person is wise enough to figure out the jester's actions, or they can use it to try to make people hit them. They can use jokes to influence reactions or dispel fear. And they get a big bonus to save v. enchantment/charm and a chance to confuse (as the spell) anyone who tries to read their mind. Fools luck makes them a potent jack of all trades, but as the book observes, it's going to take a special player, in the right campaign, to not make them an annoyance.

Jongleurs: Jumping and tumbling around as entertainment; they're kind of neat, and have some similarities to the Complete Thief Acrobat kit, in that one of their big benefits is enhanced proficiencies... not only do they get Jumping, Tumbling, Juggling, and Tightrope Walking for free, they're better at it than other people. They also dodge certain attacks and calamities, and entertain crowds, with only minimal downside (weapon and armor restrictions, and no 10th level reading ability). They're a nice one... a very physical character, with nice benefits that aren't overpowering.

Loremaster: If Bards were wizards, really. They have a bard's legend lore, but can attempt to use ANY magical item from the jump, and have at least a 70% chance of doing do (minimum Wisdom 14, and it is a Wisdom check). They cast spells from 1st level, as a 2nd level caster, can influence people and, unlike True Bards, Jesters, etc., only turn people against them on a 20 on the save. They can also try to read ancient languages twice, but they have restrictions on weapons and armor.

I don't hate it; I wouldn't be opposed to entirely replacing wizards with this kit. They have a slower ramp-up in power; while they cast at 1 level higher, they get fewer slots, and the numbers bear out that normal wizards would surpass them in spells. Because of their mastery of magic and legend lore, they feel more like characters who know things, rather than the rather hyper-focused wizards who do nothing but cast spells.

Meistersinger: If Bards were Druids... or maybe Disney Princesses. They have an odd weapon proficiency restriction; they have to start with a melee weapon and a ranged weapon, but then they must select proficiencies in the order hurled (4th) melee (8th), ranged (12th), and so on. It's not overly restrictive. Their music is oriented towards animals... they pick up animal companions and magical abilities from them (but those animal companions dying might kill the bard), they can influence the reaction of animals, protect others with their song, and even straight-up charm animals. They don't get standard followers, just animal companions. They're a nice, focused, class, but the risk of dying if their animal companions do throws me right out of interest in the kit. Animals are so very squishy in D&D, it feels like few will make it to 10th level, when they can shapechange into their Large animal companion.

Riddlemaster: While I kind of like the Loremaster, the Riddlemaster rubs me wrong; they're supposedly super-intelligent and oriented towards solving puzzles, so they get extra time and attempts to work through things, bonuses to learn spells, and can use written magical items at 8th, instead of 10th. They have some minor restrictions on weapons, but their "Common Sense" ability is kind of what spoils it for me. Like the Jester's Fool's Luck, it adds +1 to AC and +1 to a lot of rolls... including attack and damage. Why are these guys, of all people, the better fighters? Blades don't get any attack or damage bonuses, why do Riddlemasters? It's out of place, and the whole ability feels off.

Skald: Skalds are more fighty, less casty, bards. Their War Chant is better than a bard's, kind of... while they can choose more and different effects, they still require the 3 round pre-combat chanting. The effects end instantly if the skald is hit. They get a +1 to hit and damage under pretty common circumstances (must be chanting, must use one of their kit's preferred weapons), and can influence reactions and do legend lore like a regular bard (though they only turn people against them on a 20, not on any successful save). But they ALSO might not be able to cast spells, if the DM doesn't want them to. Their cultures are presented as illiterate and non-spellcasting, and so Skalds can't learn Reading/Writing at first, don't get the Read Languages ability at first, can't use written magic items at all, and don't start casting spells until the level after they encounter it. It is a very stiff penalty, and, to be honest, I'd rather just be a regular bard and wear a horned helmet... War Chant isn't THAT much better, and +1 to Hit and Damage is nice, but hardly game-changing.

Thespian: I never liked the Thespian, much. They're able to use any armor (with a 1 AC penalty if it's heavier than a bard's usual chain mail), get a -2 non-proficiency penalty with all weapons (except the 3 that they are allowed to be proficient with), and can influence reactions. But they're also implied to be able to convince anyone of anything they act out... they can pretend to be dead from a light blow, they can pretend to be a powerful wizard, even force people to make morale checks by pretending to cast spells. I don't like it; it's a bit too much bullshit, too dependent on the DM willing to let you do whatever zany thing you come up with. Their "Observe Motions" ability gives them a +2 to AC and a +1 to hit if they win initiative, which is a nice restriction on the bonuses for a non-combat variant.

Demi-Bards. Bards who are neither human nor half-elven. Gnome and elven demi-bards are pretty standard, though gnomes have to abide by illusionist spell restrictions for some reason. But dwarves and halflings? Instead of actually casting spells, they can become partially immune to them. See, they learn a spell, right? And then, instead of being able to cast the spell, they get, effectively, magic resistance against that spell. Learn Magic Missile? You now have a % chance to ignore any and all magic missiles. Fireball? % chance it won't affect you. But you have to learn the spell. How does this work if a halfling encounters a Wall of Fog? Can he see through the fog?

Dwarven Chanter: So, Dwarven chanters can not only resist spells they know, they can also try to dispel them. A dwarven chanter can attempt to chant at a spell in place, that they know, to dispel it, which is kind of neat. Their War Chant is a better combat music than we've seen so far, because it doesn't require a 3 round prep time, just 1d10 rounds to get started. It improves dwarven morale and initiative, and degrades opponents... not hit or damage bonuses, but definitely worthwhile, especially on the battlefield. Their timing chants (which increase productivity during mining and other dwarven activities) and trance chants (which let them chant for a long time, up to and including their own deaths) are not that inspiring... explanation for NPCs, more than anything else. They can wear any armor except plate, but can't use shields, and are supposed to only take bludgeoning weapons. Apparently, the author never heard of smacking your shield as part of a chant.

Elven Minstrels: I'm not 100% sure this kit is a benefit. Bonus to save v. musical attacks, counter song, influence reactions, and a completely different method of spellcasting that requires them to have a bag made of deer leather, as well as be able to sing and play an instrument. This is neat, but I don't get how it's supposed to be a benefit to the Minstrel, because it seems like it's adding additional components to an spell with Somatic or Material components, and that's it. If it were paired to something like specialist benefits or SOMETHING, it might be interesting, but it's not, and so it's just "So, you cast your spells from a bag?" And they top it off with weapon and armor restrictions.

Gnome Professor: I want to like them, but they do some weird things. First all, their weapon proficiency options are weird, only allowing complex things like crossbows, arquebuses, mancatchers, whips. They're limited in armor, but they can, once a month, wear anything for 1d10 days. Do you have spare suits of armor lying around? But their abilities are kind of cool. Standard legend lore, but they also have floating bonuses (+1 per level, limited to +1 per action) to hand out if everyone is following the plan... but that means you have to develop a plan. They can find/remove traps, and figure out strange devices. They can design stranger things... but they also have a 1% chance of killing someone every time they do. Not as vulnerable as the Meistersinger, with their small furry bags of vulnerability hanging around, waiting to kill them, but still something concerning, especially since you can't, BTB, do anything to defend against it. Your rotary potato peeler might kill someone.... maybe even you.

Halfling Whistler: A more druidy, less Disney-princessy, bard. Halfling whistlers can Influence reactions like bards, and cast a small number of druidy spells through whistling, as well as communicate with some animals through making weird noises. But they also whistle to defend themselves against spells... which is odd, since other halfling and dwarven demi-bards don't have to do anything to defend themselves against a spell sent against them. Overall a neat idea, but I don't know what they were going for with the counter-whistling.

Overall, I still like this book. I think it approached kits in a unique way that was better suited to the more complex classes... there's not a lot you can take away from a fighter and still have it be good at its job (qv the Savage, who gives up their armor), but pulling chunks out of the bard and putting new things in their place is a good one. I still like the gnome professor, and got a new respect for the Loremaster. Blades and Gallants are interesting variants on the fightery-bard, and while Skald tries, I think it ultimately takes away too much for too little gain. Charlatans were simply not thought through, Riddlemasters are somehow more annoying than Jesters, and elven spell-singing looks to be a new and fascinating way to need more to do less.

Complete Book of Dwarves Kit Evaluation

 This is actually the oldest of my kit evaluation posts; I wrote it a couple years ago, and am reposting it since we've reached the Complete Book of Dwarves (PHBR6) in our progression.

 

 Warrior:
Animal Master: A neat kit, specifically allowing for a druid-like animal friend, though slower. Really enhances a single proficiency, at the cost of some influence with dwarves... the reaction penalty is even somewhat textually mitigated (you get a penalty, but it doesn't make them HATE you, just not like you as much) You're a weirdo dwarf, but still a dwarf.

Axe For Hire: Pretty much bonus proficiencies in exchange for some loss of reaction among dwarves. Might be an argument that it's a backdoor for non-single-class fighters to get weapon specialization, but that's only going to happen if the DM lets it happen.

Clansdwarf: Proficiencies and a reaction bonus in exchange for behavior restrictions. Kind of like a paladin, you're not going to take it unless you're willing to live it.

Hearth guard: A bonus weapon proficiency (to make it a specialization), some bonus NWPs, a very situational attack bonus, and a situational reaction penalty (i.e. "Is this place sexist enough to make this a big deal?"). Since, IME, most places in D&D aren't sexist enough to make "female warrior dwarf" a big deal, I don't see it as much hindrance... but also don't see what they get as an overwhelming bonus.

Battlerager: Battlerager is a lifestyle choice. In a lot of ways, you're at the whim of the DM to decide if you go absolutely psycho and try to kill everyone around you. And, somehow, they are considered more acceptable than kender. But you also get to/have to specialize in two weapons, and the rage bonuses are pretty significant... if you don't accidentally kill the party wizard because you were in the bounce of a lightning bolt.

Highborn: Some social bonuses in exchange for a LOT of social penalties, and conspicuous consumption "tax". Might work for a dwarf-focused campaign; if I wasn't in a dwarf heavy campaign, I'd just play up being a snooty jerk.

Outcast: Sort of like the highborn, this is mostly a social kit, unless you're willing to pay a 10% XP tax to be able to move silently. Not hide in shadows. Just move silently. Not worth it. Just say you're an outcast.

Rapid Response Rider: Free horse, bonus on horseback, penalty to dwarf reaction rolls. Similar to the Animal Master but, IMO, not NEARLY as good. An Animal Master can do pretty much everything an RRR can do, and do it better.

Sharpshooter: Somewhat specialized, but with a DM who isn't determined to be a jerk (i.e. nitpicks about whether your bolts are properly cared for, except when things are explicitly new to you), it could be a good take on an archer character. Benefits are nice without being overwhelming; everything is a gear-based bonus, offset by a gear-based penalty.

Priest:
Crafts Priest: Better than a Craftsdwarf... same sorts of benefits, but without the explicit behavior restrictions on those bonuses.

Pariah: See Outcast. XP penalty to be able to sneak, otherwise, eat social penalties.

Patrician: See Highborn. Play it straight and play it snooty.

Ritual Priest: Free reaction adjustment with dwarves! No specific social role, no hindrances, a couple bonus NWPs. OTOH, the same can be said of a Crafts Priest, whose bonuses are better, but whose NWPs aren't as cool (IMO).

Warrior/Priest:
Champion: Free Magic Weapon, can specialize as multiclass priest. Extra money at character creation. However, you're looking at behavior restrictions... follow orders, protect your religion, and protect your magic weapon (the last until you get a better one). Not terribly onerous, unless the DM wants them to be.

Temple Guard: Kind of an NPC kit, if not in a stronghold, location-focused, campaign. The bonuses aren't bad, but they're location specific.

Vindicator: Multiclass Battlerager, but with even less restrictions. The wisdom cap is rough, but if you don't have the rolls, it is what it is.

Thief Kits:
Diplomat: Bonus to detect noise and open locks, penalty to pick pockets (which I rarely see used) for a net +5%, some bonus languages and bonus money. Reaction benefits with everyone. Pretty solid choice, if you've already got the charisma.

Entertainer: Bonus to certain NWPs, slight RP restraint ("reluctant to perform for audiences not made up of dwarves"), small starting gold penalty. Mechanically, not much going on. Niche choice, can be ignored and played as a concept.

Locksmith: Your typical box man thief. They boil down to a net +5% in thief skills... +10 to two, -10 to one, -5 to another. A little bit more money. Pretty much a concept.

Pest Controller: Just garbage. They get a +5 to two skills, -10 to one (so, no net gain), and get a reaction penalty. You're paying reaction penalty for two bonus proficiencies.

Warrior/Thief Kits:
Ghetto Fighter: Really, not that bad if you want a knife-fighting dwarf. You can't specialize (unlike the couple of multiclass priest kits that allow it), but you do get some nice bonuses with daggers and knives, and a net +5% thief skills. Less money, and a social penalty that applies in one city.

Trader: Again, mostly a concept or an NPC; a bonus when defending your goods, a penalty if you're a known cheat, and start with a bit less money.

Vermin Slayer: A Pest Controller that doesn't suck. Net +0% on thief skills, bonus when fighting small enemies with a specific type of weapon (of choice), and an initiative bonus in tight spaces. They lose a bit on defense against large creatures (-2 instead of -4), but also start with some free equipment.

Wayfinder: Net +0% on thief skills. They get half-cost language NWPs, and a penalty on reaction from other dwarves. Not a bad trade-off, IMO, but not fantastic, either.

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Having now gone through the kits, most are kinda meh. Most are just character concepts with bonus NWP, a reaction adjustment, and some situational bonus. Axe For Hire, Clansdwarf, Heath Guard, Highborn, Outcast, ALL of the priest ones, Temple Guard, all the thief ones (except Pest Controller, which is even worse), and Trader.

Rapid Response Rider is, IMO, a strictly worse version of Animal Master. Not bad in and of itself, but, mechanically, it is a worse version of something a couple pages earlier. Champion is, IMO, kinda meh... not BAD, and starting with a magic weapon is nice, but also nothing to write home about... you'll likely get a magic weapon soon enough. Wayfinder isn't bad, if you want languages.

The Good Ones?
Animal Master. Sharpshooter. They sacrifice little to nothing in exchange for some nice bonuses.

More situational?
Ghetto Fighter. Vermin Slayer. Battlerager. Vindicator. These aren't bad, but they're definitely A Choice. If you go Ghetto Fighter, you want to play a knife-fighter. If you go Vermin Slayer, you're looking at fighting kobolds, not giants. Battlerager and Vindicator are not good to me, but I can see why others might like them, and they're not mechanically BAD.

In my view, the only one that is really and truly bad is the Pest Controller. You gain essentially nothing. It is a character concept given suck. Rapid Response Rider isn't bad, but it's overshadowed by someone else doing the same thing, better. My biggest criticism is that it seems like the developers didn't read the other kits being written... and there's only one credited writer. Clansdwarf and Crafts Priest are exactly the same, just one is for Warriors and one is for Priests... and the Priest one doesn't have the same restrictions, such as they are, as the Warrior one. The difference between Highborns and Patricians, and between Outcasts and Pariahs is similarly such that they don't need to be separate kits.

Complete Wizard's Kit Evaluation

 Complete Wizard was my jam. I liked it a lot, but, to be honest, I only ever really wanted to be a witch, because of the free magic items; everything else was kinda meh for me. So, let's dig into them. I'll note that each wizard kit has barred schools for specialization, though these don't actually prevent them from using those spells... Patricians won't specialize in Necromancy, but he can still use Necromancy is not otherwise prevented (i.e. illusionists have it barred as a class).

Academicians: Why not just call them academics? Who knows! They have a slight restriction on WP (boiling down, more or less, to "can't pick darts or quarterstaves at 1st level"), a bonus of Reading/Writing, and a reaction bonus with scholars, intellectuals, and similar folks, and a bonus (static or scaling with age, DMs choice) to Intelligence and Wisdom checks. In return, they have a -1 to hit on the first attack against any given opponent, and some soft "You should be a pedant and kind of a jerk about it" RP guidance that doesn't rise to the level of a modifier.

I kind of like this one; it's practically pure improvement, because a -1 to hit with melee weapons is mechanical flavor of little real impact, but it definitely skews the character a certain way. The RP "hindrance" of "you have to be a pedant" isn't backed by any particular teeth, though I question how much teeth it could be given, especially as it is oriented towards intra-party action.

Amazon Sorceress: Still kinda meh. Same "significant bonus against rare opponents, and a reaction penalty for the same people", but with a slight benefit: they can pick some more martial weapons: the Spear or the Long Bow, with an implication to also eventually get proficiency in the javelin or other bows (they're listed as possible equipment). There's also suggestions to change your amazons if they're not humans... half-elves should have short bows, gnomes should have throwing axes or short swords, and get tracking and survival instead of Riding and Animal Training, and elves should get Endurance and Set Snares. The "can hit some men better, and some men are jerks" is still a meh modification, but the bonus NWP and the WP change are nice.

Anagakok: An interesting one, with a lot of modifications. Like the amazon, they have some non-standard weapons available (bows, harpoons, javelins, and tridents), and some basic survival skills (Endurance, Survival, Weather Sense). They can find food for themselves and others, have a spell-like ability to give opponents a -1 to hit themselves and others for a decently long time (1 turn/level), and doesn't take damage from natural environments like they're used to (either extreme heat or cold; doesn't apply to spells or other attacks). In return, they have a decent reaction penalty (-2 for everyone not familiar with their culture), and a -1 to pretty much everything when they're in the opposite clime (Frigid when its hot, Torrid when its cold). But these are EXTREMES... 100*F and 0*F. Frigid Anagakok is fine through 99*, and Torrid down to 1*, which feels really light, even for the pervasiveness of the penalty. Even in our heated world, on the edge of the desert, it's not hitting 100* often enough to be a big penalty for the Frigid Anagakok. They're a pretty extreme character choice... you're playing the weirdo... but I'm not sure about the mechanical balance for some nice benefits.

Militant Wizard: I wanted to like them, but they're not good. Bonus WP and a big list of available weapons... axes, swords, bows, crossbows, etc. No pole-arms except basic spears. Bonus of Endurance. Can take Warrior NWPs without penalty. But, in return, they pick up an extra barred school (specialists), or pick up weird hindrances... forbidden from 8th and 9th level spells (more or less pointless), an effective two-point drop of intelligence (for EVERYTHING), or getting, essentially, three barred schools for no apparent reason. For all that Amazons and Anagakok just give away more martial weapons, this kit wants you to pay a really high price for them. Hard pass.

Mystic: Limited WP choice (even as they level up), bonus Astrology and Religion. Bonus weekly spell power... feign death, levitate, or Spirit Form (the best choice, IMO), which lets them astrally project and fly their spirit around. In return for this once-a-week spell-like power, they have to meditate two hours a day, every day, or they cast a number of spells equal to those of a wizard 1 level lower. This is, IMO, another too-big of cost for too small a benefit. The Spirit Form ability is cool, but, otherwise, it's a once-a-week spell that isn't that great. If they were once a day, they would maybe be worth it; as it is, it's too much for too little.

Patrician: Like the Noble Warrior and Noble Priest, the Patrician gets a chunk of change, reaction modifiers with other nobles, the ability to demand shelter, and some bonus NWP, in exchange for conspicuous consumption and the need to host others when he can. Compared to they Mystic and the Militant wizard, this is a relatively balanced and light kit... you get a bit of a cash boost at first, some NWPs that are nice, and a bearable penalty... but they're also pretty meh, beyond that.

Peasant Wizard: Opened up weapon proficiencies a bit to include bows and spears, a general peasant-like NWP, reaction modifier with peasants... and, technically, cannot own a spellbook. They can only own one thing worth 15gp, which spellbooks are worth far more. Total value is no more than 75gp, and spellbooks are worth far more. Like, what the hell, man? Didn't you read this? The "barred schools" also says peasants don't have many diviners, which is another WTF from me. I thought Militant wizard was unnecessarily punitive, and mystic wasn't worth the cost, but "Oh, you can't own a spellbook" is simply ridiculous.

Savage Wizard: Kind of a variation on the Anagakok, from a similarly savage tribe. Spears and blowguns are available, they get a couple of NWPs (the Anagakok gets 3 of the 4 options, while the savage only gets 2), and a weekly spell-like ability... day-long Protection from Evil, a voodoo doll that can do up to 10 points of damage to a single target (though you need hair, fingernails, or something similar), or fortune-telling, which is 50/50 bonus or penalty... and, of course, the requisite reaction penalty. The day-long protection from evil 1/week is kind of nice, the others are just meh (seriously, it doesn't tell the future, it just gives you penalties have the time). None of them are worth the cost, even though the cost isn't that big. But the day-long protection from evil is interesting, because the kit ALSO forbids you from Abjuration. And, BTW, though you can make a voodoo doll, you can't do enchantment/charm. Ugh. Bad choices, IMO.

Witch: Oooooh, boy. They're pretty BIG changes. Let's start with downsides. No WP, ever, but you still have restrictions on the weapons you must buy. HUGE reaction penalty from most people (-3), and even more from people with low Int or Wisdom (-5)... but you don't suffer it from people with a good Int or Wisdom (13+). There's a 20% chance, cumulative, of an angry mob forming EVERY DAY. If you manage to avoid it for five days, it will be 12d6 people come for your head. Additionally, you have one sort of big penalty... either a -2 to attacks and saves on nights of the full moon and three days on either side (so, every night for a week, every 4 weeks), a 25% chance of the same penalties happening on any given night, or -1 to attack all night, every night. The third is, IMO, the least burdensome, for all that it happens every night... -1 to attack isn't great, but it also isn't why you're playing a wizard.

In return? Bonus NWP (herbalism and... Spellcasting?) 1500gp worth of magic items at 1st level (not sure what they mean by GP, here, since the DMG in 2e went to pure XP value, which is what we used). Always get detect magic and read magic, which weren't that big of bonuses for us, since we gave those to all wizards. Then, every odd level from 3 to 13, they get a bonus ability. Secure familiar for free, brew a sleeping poison (up to 8 HD, save to negate). Brew Class L contact poison (not a combat poison; contact, but 2-8 minute onset, and 10/0 damage). At 9th level, it is a NO SAVE charm person or charm monster, with the only limitations being no more than 8 HD, and no more than one at a time (and that is only inferred). Sweet monkey. At 11th, they can make a flying ointment, at 13th, they can curse a person for 24 hours, no save.

Witches are kind of insane, and despite their massive drawbacks, may even be overpowered. At 9th level, they have a no-save charm on anyone 8th level or under. At 13th, it's a no-save, 24 hour curse. The note at the end says that the DM should experiment, and avoid the temptation to make them too powerful but they are big on paper.

Wu Jen: WP from an expanded list (blowgun, short bow, or a few asian weapons), at +1 to hit with them, bonus NWPs. At 4th level, they can cast a spell for maximum effect 1/day, provided it is three levels below their own... so 1st level spells at 4th, 2nd at 5th, 3rd at 6th, 4th at 7th... then any one spell per day, because they'd get 5th at 8th, but they don't get 5th level spells until 9th, and so it just tracks with maximum spell level from there. As a cost, they get a taboo at level 1, and an additional taboo at level 6, 11, 16th, etc. The effects of the taboos are left up to the DM, but can have some big role-playing difficulties if they're enforced... like can't sleep within 20 yards of the opposite sex, or can't cut hair, or can't take the life of an insect (hello, thri-kreen!). I don't particularly like how wishy-washy the mechanics are... the DM is given options from "Lose spells" to "just die", and it feels like this might have been graded a bit... your first level taboo causes X, your 6th level taboo causes Y (or it causes X and your 1st level taboo causes Y), but I think it's a not-bad kit, for all that... not as extremely powerful as a witch, but with a nice ability balanced by some ill-defined but definitely supposed to be mechanical penalties.

Overall? Meh. The Academicians are ok, the Anagakok are neat, and there are a few that expand the weapon selection. But some are just horrible. The militant wizard pays extremely for bonus WP, the mystic has a pretty huge cost for a once a week talent, the peasant wizard cannot, and I must stress this, CANNOT own a spellbook, much less things like a research library. I think the militant wizard is the most offensive, because of the very high cost they might pay, but, once again, the Peasant Wizard cannot own a spellbook, because they are too expensive, and they aren't often diviners for some reason. They're mostly just weird and poorly thought out.

Complete Priest's Kit Evaluation

 I've never liked the Complete Priest; it felt far more like it was about designing a priesthood than about playing a priest, and the priests produced were laughably weak compared to the cleric, or even druid. It mostly just disappeared from my memory, partially because I always felt it was so bad. But, it also means I haven't examined it in 30+ years, so I'll take a look now.

Amazon Priestess: Like the Complete Fighter Amazon, this is pretty lackluster; a +3 to hit and damage on the first blow against sufficiently bigoted enemies, and a -3 reaction adjustment with the same. A couple bonus NWP. None of this really improves their role as priestess, though, as with the amazon fighter, it at least flows out of the early 90s tradition of "women get to be warriors even if men don't think they can be." Which, given 1e strength limits on women, might make some sense, granted, but it rings very hollow now, and that it doesn't support them as priests is even worse, IMO.

Barbarian/Berserker Priest: This is an interesting one, not because it is, itself, cool, but because it synergistically improves the Berserker from the Complete Fighter. You get a bonus NWP, a modifier to reactions (positive with barbarians and berserker peoples, negative with non)... but you can also make berserkers go berserk more quickly. Normal? 10 rounds. With a priest nearby? 5 rounds. If the priest is capable of inspiring a berserker rage, they can do it in one round, and you don't even need to use the power. It creates some layers to character creation, but if you don't HAVE a berserker in your game, it's not much.

Fighting Monk: Another interesting one, though it also illustrates the weakness of priests created with this book, and why we never used it. Free Tumbling, can take NWP from any of the five groups without penalty, and gets two free NWP for specialization in unarmed combat. They can't wear armor or have a lot of stuff, which is pretty standard for a monk, but the game also assumes that limiting them to 3 Major spheres and 2 minor spheres is reasonable. Keep in mind, the PH cleric has SIXTEEN spheres of influence... this one is supposed to top out at 5, two of them minor.

And, look, I have ranted about the power of the cleric in the past. They are a powerful class, being 2nd best as both warriors and spellcasters. But the Complete Priest has what I consider an absolutely bonkers approach to this problem, where they try to cut priests back amazingly, with little trade-off. A Fighting Monk gets some neat benefits, and I think making one off a basic cleric is some decent trade offs with the "can't wear armor" and "can't keep stuff" requirements. But this one? Sweet blessed monkey.

Nobleman Priest: Mechanically, bonus NWPs, bonus cash, and reaction modifiers, plus the "can demand housing/must house others on demand", and requirement of conspicuous consumption, like the Complete Fighter nobleman. Their advantages are almost a copy/paste of the fighter kit, but their disadvantages aren't... the fighter's ability to fall into hugely negative reactions by failing to maintain appearances is missing from the priest. It somewhat moves the Nobleman Priest from the fighter's "OK, this is kinda cool" to "Yeah, no." It just isn't as interesting or mechanically based as the fighter it emulates.

Outlaw Priest: Upside? Free Religion Proficiency, no superiors. Downside? Superiors will try to stop you. Mechanically, even socially, it's boring.

Pacifist Priest: TBH, kind of interesting, if not something I necessarily want to play. You get a whopping +2 to Charisma, and +2 to reactions on top of that if someone isn't completely opposed to your pacifist philosophy. Downsides? You can only buy proficiency in bow and dart (why not sling? Or anything else? Who knows), and can only use them in competition. You cannot wear armor or use weapons or you lose your spells for a month. It's interesting, certainly, but even the text says "Yeah, this isn't a good idea for PCs."

Peasant Priest: Peasant priests can get shelter from peasants in their own communities, and get +2 to reactions from all peasants, which nice. Bonus of Agriculture or fishing and Weather Sense or Animal Lore (not animal handling? Or husbandry?) In return, they have some VERY strict limits on ownership. Other than weapons, they can only have one item worth 15gp; nothing worth more. Everything else must be 10gp or less, and the total can't exceed 75gp, again excluding weapons. So, they're barred from almost all armor, and, depending on your reading, might be barred from all magic items as well. It is a heavy load to carry, and I think makes the peasant priest unsuited to most D&D.

Prophet Priest: Gotta say, I kind of like this one. Take a standard priest, give him Weather Sense NWP, and the Prophecy Granted power from earlier in the book, and a -2 to reactions because We Don't Talk About Bruno... with the caveat that the reaction penalty won't make people more than Cautious. It's a nice balance of abilities... you get a granted power your priesthood doesn't normally grant but reasonably could, and it makes people nervous. Mind, the granted power is itself wishy-washy as all get-out, but it's a good balance at the level of the kit. It might have been nice to see this with the Barbarian/Berserker priest, really.

Savage Priest: Bonus Weather Sense or Direction Sense, Endurance or Survival, with a level/day detect magic, and a penalty to reactions from non-Savages. Comparing it to the fighter savage, it's a little meh, because the fighter savage had more options. Unlike the Savage Warrior, he can wear armor and definitely use a shield, and doesn't have the Savage Warrior's limitation on future use of armor, unless the DM takes the "Use the Savage Warrior equipment rules" option given in the kit. And I know I liked the prophet priest and they're much the same thing but... this one feels boring. Like they slapped Savage on it and cribbed from reading part of the Savage Warrior but changed just enough that the professor wouldn't accuse them of plagiarism.

Scholar Priest: This one is, IMO, fun. You get a bonus of Reading/Writing, can turn WP into NWP if you like, get a bonus with most scholars... but have a 1 in 6 chance of any random scholar HATING you. Like, instead of a +3 with this scholar, you get a -6, because you argued with them about something. A negative 6 reaction modifier is as if you had a TWO Charisma. It can be as much as an effective 10 point penalty to Charisma with this one person. It is LOVELY. The person who wrote this kit has clearly talked to people in academia, if not been one themselves.

Overall? Really boring. Of them, I only really liked the Prophet and the Scholar; the Pacifist was interesting, but not something I want to play, or particularly want at my table. I think I'd like the Barbarian/Berserker better if they actually gave you the Incite Beserker Rage power, like the Prophet gives the Prophecy power. But most of them felt like copies, or poor copies, of ones in the Complete Fighters, while the Fighting Monk was more "I decided I was going to completely rewrite the priest class and make you pay for it."

Complete Thief's Kit Evaluation

 A bit of a difference from Complete Fighter's: Required proficiencies in Complete Thief's are bonuses, not must-purchases. I'll also say that these kits are relatively understated... a few small changes, rather than rewriting the class. Most of the time, they're just a concept, but they've got a bit of mechanics to back up that concept, usually without going so far as to throw the game off. Usually.

Also, aside from the Acrobat, all of them are net zero change in thief skills; a +5% is matched by a -5%.

Acrobat: So, Unearthed Arcana had the Thief-Acrobat prestige class; where you paused your basic thief advancement in order to get some acrobatic abilities. This is somewhat similar, though it lies on top of a standard thief, rather than replacing it. Amazingly, it doesn't have Required NWPs, because it builds those into the special benefits... Jumping, Tumbling, and Tightrope Walking should be used even if the DM isn't using NWPs, and the Acrobat gets a +1 to use them; +2 if they aren't wearing armor. It's pretty lackluster, but since there are no Hindrances at all, and a net +5% to ability scores, it's a solid choice for any thief. Strangely, though, dwarves who take it don't get any benefits, and gnomes and halflings don't get the jumping or tightrope walking benefits for some reason.

Adventurer: The non-kit. No benefits, no hindrances, no skill modifiers, just some general role-playing advice when your "thief" is more "guy who adventures" than anything else.

Assassin: Two bonus NWP (Trailing and Disguise), and the ability to be proficient in any weapon. Their special benefit is a large section about their ability to identify poison and neutralize poison, tied with a note that, if the DM allows it, they might use poison. Herbalism is a big help in this (bonus to identifying AND giving them the ability to brew both poisons and antidotes), but they don't get it as a required/bonus NWP. As a drawback, they get only 2/3 the thief skill points, and a -4 Reaction Penalty with non-evil NPCs who know he's an assassin (subject to DM Discretion). I'm of two minds on this; and somewhat lean towards the skill point penalties being excessive; a -4 reaction penalty is huge, but it's also just as situation-dependent as the ability to use and identify poisons.

Bandit: Starts off with the requirement that they have a bludgeoning weapon (and they have a few more that they can use, not available to regular thieves), but also the knife. And they get a free WP, to fill as they like from among thief weapons. For benefits and penalties, they have a +1 to surprise in wildness settings, but they get a reaction penalty of -2 when dealing with non-bandits, if known as a bandit. Combined with a bonus WP, it's not bad; they're a tiny bit constrained in WP, but they get three of them. They have a somewhat situational bonus, and a meaningful but reasonable reaction penalty... and it is reasonable in both number and purpose.

Beggar: Four required/bonus NWPs' Begging, Disguise, Information Gathering, and Observation; they're considered the actual benefits of the kit, while the hindrances are a reaction roll penalty and a tiny amount of starting money. They have strongly worded guidance with regards to beginning weapons, but it stops just short of being a requirement... it's more enforced by starting with almost no money. It's not written, but I'd allow an adventuring beggar to avoid the reaction penalty if they avoid begging, but that also makes their hindrances practically nothing (the low beginning gold should be less of a problem once you'd adventured a bit... or dipped a few extra pockets). This is a solid choice, since it's mostly bonus NWPs.

Bounty Hunter: Bonus WP and the ability to take a non-thief WP (at the cost of two slots), and bonus NWP of Tracking, but no other benefits or penalties. Concept, with some small mechanical benefit.

Buccaneer: Sea-related NWPs (Swimming, Seamanship, Navigation), plus some bonuses when fighting from ropes like you're Errol Flynn, with a bit of a penalty climbing without a rope. Definitely a concept, but simple and balanced. They have a sizable chunk (bigger than a few kits themselves) about fighting in the ropes on a ship. Kind of surprised that they don't have Rope Use as a bonus, but it is recommended.

Burglar: Bonus NWPs, some guidance about skills, and not much else.

Cutpurse: A kit that does something! And is balanced by NOTHING. Cutpurses can use one of their bonus NWP to guess at class and level... two Observation checks to guess the two different sorts of information. But their hindrance is "other thieves look down on them", without much else to say.

Fence: Fences get NWPs, a bit of a reaction bonus with thieves (+3) and a note that they have to stay at home to be effective, and are harassed by the cops.

Investigator: NWPs and nothing else.

Scout: Scouts get the usual NWPs, a bonus (+10%) to hiding and moving silently in the wilderness, and an across-the-board penalty (-5%) on thief skills in urban settings.

Smuggler: No bonus NWPs! All they have a is a +1 to avoid being surprised.

Spy: Bonus NWP, nothing else.

Swashbuckler: This is the kit that got 97.8% of the creativity. I'm not joking. It is by far the best kit in the book (though that is damning with faint praise), and perhaps too good. Bonus WP, and gets to pick one weapon that they fight with a Fighter's ThAC0 which, holy cow, that is benefit enough for a thief... they have some limitations on weapon selection, needing to devote at least half of them to a small set... but they're not overly onerous.

But that's not all! They get the almost-required 2 bonus NWPs, they get a special disarm skill, and they get a bonus on reactions with appropriate-gendered NPCs! This is balanced by the swashbuckler being a permanent main character... "Trouble seeks out the swashbuckler." If some story hook comes along, it is going to spike the swashbuckler in the head every time. It's not a mechanical penalty, it just means that playing a swashbuckler is fun, which is great, since they were given some big advantages.

Swindler: A single bonus NWP.

Thug: Another kit that does something! +1 WP (can be non-thief but, like the bounty hunter, that requires an extra slot), +1 to Hit, a single bonus NWP, and -20 Thief skill points at 1st level. A flat +1 to hit is a nice benefit, not gonna lie, but 20 points of Thief skills might be a bit much to make me want it... but I can see some people who will.

Troubleshooter: A bonus NWP and the Swashbuckler's main character disease. The book makes it pretty clear that this is supposed to benefit the troubleshooter as much as it helps him, but I imagine this can be hard to tell.

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Overall, these kits are really lackluster. Out of 18 kits, it feels like most are just some bonus NWPs combined with alterations to thief skills without much mechanical effect, leading to the overall effect being more NWPs. There are some with other bonuses, but those aren't very significant... nothing like the Savage Warrior or Samurai. Swashbuckler is very good and, while I say "Maybe too good", I'd note that thieves generally suck, so "slightly more competent" isn't a bad thing.

Complete Fighter's Kit Evaluation

So, I did something similar in the last couple years, where I went through the Complete Dwarves and evaluated all the kits... the good, the specific, and the ugly. I figure for the "make things to keep me occupied" projects for the weekend (maybe getting my brain working on other WIPs), I'd do the same for other Complete Books, just to see how they match up. So, first, the Complete Fighter's Handbook.

As a general rule, I like mechanical changes and dislike more wishy-washy social ones, especially if they impose an expectation but not an obligation. I'll bring these up as I go.

Amazon: Mechanically, you get two bonus NWP, and a +3 to hit and damage against low-level foes for your first hit only, in exchange for a big reaction penalty against those same foes, and some restrictions on your initial equipment. Mechanically, it's pretty unimpressive. Socially? It feels like an atavism, leftover from earlier fantasy... which would have been current at the time, TBH, what with the Sword and Sorceress Anthologies. But its a very specific cultural set-up designed to interact with a very specific cultural set-up that is largely absent from the game... I can't even think of any canonical Amazon-like societies in standard worlds.

Barbarian: Another specific one; you get a bonus NWP (Endurance), and some wild rules on encounter reactions (things either go REALLY WELL or REALLY BAD), accompanied by some fairly light restrictions on initial weapons and armor (can't buy the really expensive armor you probably couldn't afford anyway, have to spend almost all your starting money). It can mostly be emulated just with choices (Endurance NWP, correct weapons and armor choices), so it's a question of whether or not you want the Title of "Barbarian" and want to interact with the Encounter Reactions (which, IME, was kind of variable as to whether or not DMs did).

Beast Rider: The first really substantive change; you are psychically linked with a certain kind of animal, gaining huge bonuses to interact with them. You start with a mount of that type, which might include flying animals. You get some NWP related to that. It's balanced by a pretty severe reaction penalty (they apply to almost everyone), and some possibly severe consequences if your mount dies (damage, possibly feebleminded for a few hours). There's some tighter restrictions on initial armor and weapons than a barbarian has (smaller list for both), and the same money spending requirement.

I like this one. It's a CHANGE. While you could emulate some of it, the monster-as-mount mechanic would otherwise only exist with DM fiat. I will note that, for some people, the Riding (Land-Based) bonus NWP might be irrelevant, and so the DM might want to step in there. Since these are general warrior kits, I assume a paladin of this kit would get their special mount as a their "warhorse", or a special version of that mount.

Berserker: Barbarian plus, really. Same bonus NWP. No required WP, but forbidden from taken certain weapons (ranged) initially.... and those are kind of weird, because you can't have thrown weapons, either, and those aren't usually separated. The reaction penalty is more straightforward (+3 from tribes with berserkers, -3 from everyone else), and there are berserking rules; I'm not a fan of the full turn required before one goes berserk, because it feels like it would be inapplicable a lot of the time, but the rules are pretty solid and well-described.

I don't particularly like this one, personally, but that's my dislike of berserking in general, not that it is a bad class. I kind of wish that, instead of flat bonuses to attack, damage, and HP, it was more scaled (bonus HP based on HD, bonus strength to do strength things, including damage); at 1st level, that +5 HP is great. At 9th level, it's not terribly significant, and your berserker can't do things like shatter chains. It's a Choice to play a certain kind of character, and good to have mechanical support for it, but I don't like that kind of character, so it's not for me.

Cavalier: A powerful kit, with a lot of benefits, blending aspects of the Beast Rider, Berserker, and Noble Warrior. Moderate restriction on beginning weapon proficiencies and beginning gear purchasing (must buy lance, must buy sword, must buy most expensive armor), and some HEFTY and MEATY role-playing restrictions; heavy limitation on missile weapon use, role-playing consideration on target acquisition (a little squishy, since a cavalier might argue about "powerful looking"... a wizard looks a lot more pwoerful to me than an ogre!), and big restrictions on armor use and behavior... a cavalier is almost as restricted as a paladin, in many ways, but to a campaign-defined "Chivalry", rather than Law and Goodness. They have a bit more leeway (three strikes), but it's still some powerful restrictions.

Like the Berserker, I don't like it for me, but I think it's a good one mechanically. It's got good advantages balanced by some strong disadvantages. I'm of the opinion that the disadvantages are less likely to matter, because you don't choose the cavalier kit if you're not planning on role-playing a cavalier, but they're there, and they're significant enough to offset the bonuses.

Gladiator: This is one of the first with sort of wishy-washy restrictions. You have some required WP, but you get a free specialization, which makes it a backdoor for non-fighter weapon specialization... and you can even do it as a paladin, if you're a former/retired gladiator (IMO, gladiatorial combat isn't usually a paladin thing). One of their bonus NWP is even a rogue one, so extra bonus. But their hindrances are all social, and non-mechanical... the gladiator is easily remembered, there's always NPCs bothering them about being a gladiator. These don't carry mechanics, though, and you run into the possibility that if the DM over-relies on it, it becomes "The Gladiator and his Hangers-on". A good DM can handle this, but I think it's a narrow thing.

Myrmidon: My favorite, but with the same problems as a Gladiator: The benefits are mechanical, the problems are circumstantial. The NWP are not bad, not great, there's no real restrictions on weapons or armor, but there may be bonus money if there are restrictions. You get a free weapon specialization in some of the most common and powerful weapons (again, non-fighter specialization is possible), and there's the advantage/disadvantage of a patron. Like the Gladiator, this is as much of a restriction as the DM wants, and if he makes it too much of a restriction, it colors the entire campaign, as Myrmidon Bob either has to do what he is told, or leave the game to do what he is told.

Noble Warrior: While this is one of those "character choice" things, I think it's well supported mechanically. Required WP, Useful bonus NWP, required expenditures (offset by a huge amount of gold), and some mostly social bonuses (offering Low Justice, requesting lodging, reaction adjustment)... but those social modifiers are offset by some pretty substantial penalties. +10% per level to costs is going to eat into early funds, and failure to pay them eats away at the reaction bonus... and the reaction bonus can turn into a massive penalty (-6????) if the character gets on the social outs. Unlike the Gladiator or Myrmidon social requirements, these are both supported by mechanics, and personal without being campaign defining... a disgraced noble might try to drive the campaign, but it's not as strict as with a myrmidon's patron or a gladiator's low-rent promoters. While you could just say "I'm a nobleman" and otherwise play your fighter, this gives it some teeth.

Peasant Hero: More on the fence about this one, for all that it mirrors the Noble Warrior in some ways. A couple useful NWP, some DM-dependent restrictions on WP, and a "spend all your money" mandate. No explicit mechanical bonuses, but some RP ones, and an explicit mechanical penalty if you don't act like a peasant hero. But most of this is lost, BTB, by going one town over, where you're not necessarily a hero to the local peasantry. While a Noble gets their benefit wherever their society stretches (a noble from Baldur's Gate might be able to impose on someone in Waterdeep), the Peasant Hero needs to be either local or adopted by the locals. In a lot of ways, a kit that could just be a concept.

Pirate/Outlaw: Entirely a character concept with a couple bonus NWPs attached, and some optional weapon restrictions if you call yourself a pirate. Other than that... no intrinsic benefits, sort of vague "the law is after you" penalties.

Samurai/Ronin: Mechanical upsides? Two specializations, in good (if very uncommon) weapons, and proficiency in a weapon of choice (from a list). Two bonus proficiencies, but a Required NWP from a non-warrior class group, which cancels out the value of that. Limited options for weapons and armor at 1st level, but a free katana. Kai-shout lets them get 18/00 strength for one round, once a day per level, which is nice, but not terribly overpowered (especially since it might eventually be overridden by magical equipment). The samurai balances this with Myrmidon-like fealty restrictions... the ronin balances it with half XP, which, holy shit, that is WAY too much for the benefit. I know it is thematic and all, but, sweet monkey, that's a big penalty. Give them a reaction penalty or something instead.

For the samurai, I have the same problem as the Gladiator and the Myrmidon. For the ronin... yikes.

Savage Warrior: Limited weapon choices, with an admonishment (but no requirement) to stay with those weapon choices even after level 1. LOTS of free NWP; four, where most are just getting two. HEAVY gold and equipment restriction... no gold at all, just four weapons and ten other items, and possibly a horse or canoe. Their benefit is a single 1st level spell, with the DM approval, that they can cast level/day. The default options are Alarm, Animal Friendship, Detect Evil, and Detect Magic... all good options, with the DM-limited option to choose others.

Their penalty though is pretty strict. They have to wear mostly light clothing; heavy restrictions on armor use, to the point where they arguably cannot wear any at all without a steep penalty to pretty much every action; you might be able to argue with a DM and get access to Hide or similar, and I think one could get a shield, but no armor on a warrior-type can be pretty severe. And since the kit carries an attribute requirement (15 or higher con), you're less likely to have a good Dex to offset that. It is definitely a Choice to play one, and you have to think carefully about what you're going to do, and maybe buy the DM a pizza so you can get some kind of "savage" armor.

Swashbuckler: Lots of benefits, story-based penalties. They get two extra weapon slots for swashbuckler weapons, but beyond that, hey, it's two extra weapon slots, and no restrictions on what they specialize in (if they can/do). Two bonus NWP, can buy Rogue NWP at-cost, AC bonus in light armor, and a bonus to reactions with the opposite sex (which, in this enlightened age, I'd modify to "with those attracted to the swashbuckler's gender"). Their "penalty" works out to "make the swashbuckler the main character"; bad luck falls on them, but in interesting ways. They don't get shot more often in a random melee, but they get mistaken for the king or wind up in the bedroom of someone with a jealous husband... it's a very non-penalty penalty.

Wilderness Warrior: Another take on the "barbarian" archetype... you have the Mighty Thewed Warrior (Barbarian), the Beast Rider, the Berserker, the Mystic With Special Powers (the Savage Warrior), and the Wilderness Warrior, who is "Outsider good at survival without being explicitly bad at anything else." Their penalty is "gotta be an outsider", but not backed up by mechanical things, while their benefit is "good at their main skill".

That said, it's my favorite of the five. It's penalty is soft, but it's bonuses aren't that severe, either. It's got loose restrictions that don't apply much beyond first level, but, while it's benefit is cool and useful in its circumstance, it's not so amazing that you are going to play a Wilderness Warrior every time. The Barbarian has fiddly reaction mechanics; the Berserker is Like That, the Savage Warrior runs around mechanically naked; the Beast Rider is also good, but it is a choice to be cavalry in a game that doesn't always favor cavalry. The Wilderness Warrior is Good at One Thing, and it's not even a game-changing thing outside of certain circumstances.

End evaluation?

My favorite remains the Myrmidon, though that's because you can just say "Screw you guys, I'm going to Undermountain"... there may be consequences, but it's not abandoning your kit or anything. The Gladiator and Samurai are similar, with only some differences in the social place of the character, and the Samurai being a bit cooler (TWO weapon specializations and the kai-shout), but more limited because their favorite weapons are unlikely to be common. Mechanically, I like the Cavalier, the Beast Rider, the Noble Warrior, and the Berserker; strong mechanical basis for the character, though they are a character type you want to play... you are unlikely to just take them because they're good, you're going for a specific role.

Unimpressive are the Amazon, the Barbarian, the Peasant Hero, and the Pirate/Outlaw. There just isn't much there aside from a character concept, sometimes with some loose benefit. You can mostly do them by saying "I am an X" and playing that, and won't notice much difference.

Mechanically screwed up? The Swashbuckler is pretty much zero downside, with some good advantages. The Savage is a warrior who doesn't wear armor, which is a hard sell. And the Ronin gets only half XP, which is WAY too big of a penalty.

Addendum to 4e-style Multiclassing in 2nd Edition: Psionicist

An addendum to my 4e-style Multiclassing in AD&D 2nd edition, and for Elemental Psionicists,  allowing for multiclass psionicists.

Psionicist Multiclass Proficiency (1 Slot, Psionicist Group)

Multiclass psionicists may defend themselves in Telepathic Combat, rolling Wisdom -8; however, the opposing attack mode always has a +5 to its effective power score. May take Psionicist Group proficiencies at cost.

Psionic Defenses
1) Acquire the Mind Blank psionic defense. Higher than this in Psionic Defense requires that the character have some source of PSPs (due to a wild talent or the Psionic Powers talent line)
2) Acquire a second psionic defense mode that is a devotion.
3) Acquire a third psionic defense mode mode.

Psionic Attacks
1) Acquire the Contact power. This ability requires some source of PSPs.
2) Acquire a psionic attack mode that is a devotion. May make one psionic attack per round.
3) Acquire a second psionic attack mode that is a devotion.
4) May make two psionic attacks per round.
4) Acquire a third psionic attack mode that is a devotion.

Psionic Powers
1) Acquire 1 devotion from 1 discipline. If the character does not have PSPs, acquire PSPs equal to their Wisdom score (not base ability derived from Wisdom, Wisdom score), plus bonuses from high Constitution, Intelligence, and Wisdom scores (per table 5 in the Psionics Handbook). Receive 6 PSPs per additional level of experience.
2) Acquire a second devotion from their discipline.
3) Acquire a third devotion from their discipline.
4) Acquire a science from their discipline.

Elemental Psionics
1) Choose 1 element. If the character does not have PSPs, acquire PSPs equal to the element's primary attribute. They have PSPs equal to their elements' attribute. They may enact no more than complexity 1 effects. They gain 6 PSPs per additional level.
2) The character is capable of complexity 2 effects in their chosen element. If their only source of PSPs is from their elemental psionics multiclass, add an additional 5 PSPs.
3) The character is capable of complexity 3 effects in their chosen element. If their only source of PSPs is from their elemental psionics multiclass, add an additional 10 PSPs (in addition to those learned on rank 2).

Wild Talents as Multiclass Psionicists: Wild Talents may choose to become multiclass psioncists at the normal cost (not paying an additional slot for the Psionicist multiclass proficiency), if they have not already taken another multiclass proficiency. If they have, they may not multiclass as a psionicist. As they already have a source of PSPs, they will not gain additional PSPs from the Psionics Powers line, but it will improve their per-level increase from 4 to 6.

Psionicists as Multiclass Psionicists: Psionicists may choose to become multiclass psionicists. If they pursue the Psionic Powers talent line, the powers chosen must come from a non-Primary discipline. Powers gained from the Psionic Attacks or Psionic Powers talent lines do not count against their limitation on powers from outside their Primary discipline. Regardless, becoming a multiclass psionicist does not grant them additional PSPs, either initially or upon leveling.

Elemental Psionicists as Multiclass Psionicists: Elemental psionicists may pursue either normal (Tarandan) psionics, or elemental psionics. If they pursue elemental psionics, they must choose an element that they do not have. If they specialize in their primary element (chosen with their class, not their multiclass) at levels 7 and 13, the element chosen for their multiclass does not count against them, but will still make para-elemental effects available. However, they remain constrained by the complexity enabled by their multiclass element when using that element, or a para-element involving it. 

 ---

Alternate version: I apparently wrote a version back when I created the original post, and posted it to The Piazza, but not to here. I like the new version better, but here's the old version:

Multiclass Psionicist (Psionicist Group)
A multiclass psionicist gains the Mind Blank mental defense, and at-cost access to Psionicist group proficiencies. You have no PSPs (unless you have them from another source).

Psychic Strength Track
1) You have a number of PSPs equal to your Wisdom score. You gain 1d6+Wisdom Modifier (Table 5 in Complete Psionics Handbook) for each subsequent level (not any previous levels; if this is achieved at level 3, you will first gain this at level 4). After this, you may take Discipline-specific tracks. You must meet the prerequisites of any power your gain.
2) Your base PSP increases from your Wisdom Score to the Base Score indicated on Table 5 of the Complete Psionics Handbook. Your subsequent per-level PSPs increase to 1d10+Wisdom Modifier. If your Wisdom is less than 15, you receive the increase in per-level, and your base PSP increases to 15.
3) You gain 10 PSPs.

Psychic Defense Track. You must have twice the number of Telepathic devotions as you have Telepathic sciences.
1) You learn an additional psychic defense devotion (any but Tower of Iron Will). You gain 5 PSPs. This may be repeated until all 4 are acquired.
2) You may learn Tower of Iron Will. You gain 10 PSPs.

Clairsentient Track. You must have twice the number of Clairsentient devotions as you have Clairsentient sciences.
1) You learn a Clairsentient devotion. You gain 5 PSPs
2) You learn a Clairsentient devotion. You gain 5 PSPs. This may be repeated to gain more devotions.
3) You learn a Clairsentient science. You gain 10 PSPs. This may be repeated to gain more sciences.

Psychokinetic Track. You must have twice the number of Psychokinetic devotions as you have Psychokinetic sciences.
1) You learn a Psychokinetic devotion. You gain 5 PSPs
2) You learn a Psychokinetic devotion. You gain 5 PSPs. This may be repeated to gain more devotions.
3) You learn a Psychokinetic science. You gain 10 PSPs. This may be repeated to gain more sciences.

Psychometabolic Track. You must have twice the number of Psychometabolic devotions as you have Psychometabolic sciences.
1) You learn a Psychometabolic devotion. You gain 5 PSPs
2) You learn a Psychometabolic devotion. You gain 5 PSPs. This may be repeated to gain more devotions.
3) You learn a Psychometabolic science. You gain 10 PSPs. This may be repeated to gain more sciences.

Psychoportive Track. You must have twice the number of Psychoportive devotions as you have Psychoportive sciences.
1) You learn a Psychoportive devotion. You gain 5 PSPs
2) You learn a Psychoportive devotion. You gain 5 PSPs. This may be repeated to gain more devotions.
3) You learn a Psychoportive science. You gain 10 PSPs. This may be repeated to gain more sciences.

Telepathic Track. You must have twice the number of Telepathic devotions as you have Telepathic sciences. Devotions and sciences learned from the Psychic Defense track count towards the number of Telepathic devotions and sciences you have.
1) You learn the Contact devotion. You gain 5 PSPs
2) You learn the Mindlink science. (Mind Blank is given by the base proficiency, so that's 1 Telepathic devotion; Contact is 2). You gain 10 PSPs.
3) You learn an additional Telepathic devotion. You gain 5 PSPs. This may be repeated to gain more devotions.
4) You learn an additional Telepathic science. You gain 10 PSPs. This may be repeated to gain more devotions.

Unlike wizards, psionicists may not use multiclass proficiencies to increase their number of psychic powers; all psionicists are a single class, regardless of primary discipline. Wizard specialists are separate classes. In lieu of rolling for a wild talent, characters in Dark Sun may take 3 free proficiencies in Multiclass psionicist (basic multiclass, Psychic Strength 1, and one other). All Dark Sun characters may be multiclass psionicists, in addition to their other multiclass proficiencies.
(There is not Metapsionic track; if you haven't studied it, you can't learn metapsionics) 

Metapsionic Devotion: Send Omen

Send Omen (Metapsionic Devotion)
Power Score: Int-3
Initial Cost: 10
Maintenance Cost: na
Range: Self
Preparation Time: 0
Area of Effect: Self
Prerequisites: Time Shift, Send Thoughts

Send Omen allows a psionicist to help their present by wagering that future them will help the future's past; they will send a thought back to themselves that will change the past that is the present for the person receiving the omen. This allows the psionicist to reroll an attack, saving throw, power activation roll, NWP or thief skill check through a bit of sleight of hand. Upon failing the check, the psionicist may attempt Send Omen, subtracting the PSPs at that time. Success allows a reroll of the check, taking the better of the two. In 1d3 rounds, the psionicist will lose their action as they send the omen; the psionicst may choose to lose their action earlier than the roll indicates. They do not need to roll when losing their action; they will have already done that in the future, which is now the present, to help the past back when it was the present.

Power Score: The omen was particularly apt; the second check gains a +2/+10%.
20: The omen sent was disastrously wrong; the failure not only stands, it gets worse (DM Discretion) 

Blood in the Water: Regency in the Seas of Cerilia (2e)

(last month's offering was a little weak. So have 5000 words about Birthright!) 

 

The explosion of Mount Deismaar spread the essence of the old gods far and wide across Cerilia, and in the fifteen hundred years since, people have spread it further. It should come as no surprise, but often does, that this blood is also found among the races that live off the coasts, and they form kingdoms under the sea. Undersea life doesn't lend itself to the density of life on land; there are no large cities, and few large provinces.

Unsurprisingly, the most common bloodline derivations undersea are Masela and Azrai; Masela because of her connection to the sea, and her scions' continued embrace of it, and Azrai due to the corruptive nature of his blood; any other bloodline might become an Azrai bloodline, if the situations are right. There are higher incidences of different bloodlines near traditional territories; areas near Rjurik lands are more likely to have Reynir bloodlines under the sea (and the selkies are primarily Reynir-blooded), while the Andurian coast sees many more with the blood of Anduiras, und so weiter. The sole exception to this is the Krakenstaur; though near the Brecht lands, the people of Brenna, none live too close to the great beast. Of course, other major awnshegh are generally avoided.

Peoples of the Sea

The major intelligent races of the sea include the sahuagin, the merfolk, the koalinth, and the selkies; while the sea hags, sirines, and cetaceans should not be ignored, they have little influence beyond their immediate area. The sahuagin are concentrated on the southern coast, interspersed with merfolk holdings. The merfolk themselves are concentrated in the Strait of Aerele, but extend up the eastern and western coasts, living next to the koalinth; the koalinth go further north than the merfolk do, but nonetheless avoid the arctic waters. Selkie are primarily in the northeast, off Rjurik coasts, but ply those arctic waters the others shun.

The Sahuagin

The sahuagin are the scourge of the southern coast, striking from the deep, overwhelming ships and destroying villages. The black-eyed sea devils know no mercy, and train their sharks into dangerous killing machines. If a ship is attacked by sahuagin, the sailors know to fight to the last, as fiercely as possible, as there will be no mercy, no quarter, no survival.

Sahuagin society in many ways mirrors human society; there are kings and princes, barons and chiefs, though they are called words in their watery tongue which few others speak. Chiefs rule small settlements, while barons manage towns. There are a three sahuagin kings along the southern ocean; one claims the Gulf of Coeranys, one the Ajari Deeps and Serpent's Reach, and the third the sea south of Caelcorwynn, and towards Mieres. They are not the least bit allied to each other, and barons on the edge of each territory will defect to one or the other, depending on which way the current flows, or will find themselves stuck between both. The Seadrake's presence prevents them from spreading further west, and, while there are sahuagin northward along the eastern coast of Cerilia, there are no kings there, only chieftains and barons.

Southern sahuagin worship a collection of dark gods of the sea, often depicted as sharks or giant squid. They are served by priestesses of up to 5th level; there are no male priests among the sea devils. Each kingdom may worship several of these, and their few blooded priestesses fight viciously among themselves, god against god. The limited size and strength of their holdings protects many a landsman from Realm magic from beneath the waves.

Szisithisz, of the Ajari Deeps, is perhaps the most powerful of the three, having subjugated the entire undersea near him. He controls seven provinces, though the nature of sahuagin society is such that he has only law holdings, and his priestesses have only temple holdings. His warriors raid into Djafra, Khourane, and Suiriene, and battle fiercely with the servants of the Serpent. There are merfolk in his domain, but they pay tribute to him, which offers some scant protection. He has only a minor Azrai bloodline, and collects little regency; he may have seven provinces, but they are all rating 1, so no more than 1 level of law holding. Much of what he collects goes into increasing his personal power, raising the blood score. He is Battlewise, with a Minor affinity for Serpents, and a major resistance to Poison. He has met the Serpent in battle before, and hopes to steal his blood. The Serpent, his part, covets the undersea source holdings, but any attempt to seize them is rebuked; for all his power, the Serpent cannot match Szisithisz in the sea.

T'scach'nth rules the Coeranys Gulf, but only four provinces, none which touch shore-bound provinces. The merfolk of the sea have allied with the dolphins and whales of the Gulf, and keep him hemmed in his kingdom. He rages against this constantly, launching attack after attack on his neighbors, spawning more and more sahuagin to bolster his wars. He is the only male allowed to fertilize eggs in his territory, and so every sahuagin carries his Azrai bloodline, and it increases each generation as he fertilizes eggs of his own daughters, and devours many of his sons in an orgy of bloodtheft. This inbreeding has also increased the incidence of four-armed sahuagin in his territory, so nearly one in four is such a mutant. However, for all that his blood score approaches 100, T'scach'nth possesses only one blood ability: Major regeneration. Others of his brood possess other abilities, but he tends to eat those of his sons who display significant blood abilities.

Wexwizw'n controls the seas south of Mieres and Caelcorwynn. While he hates the merfolk of his kingdom a normal amount (for a sahuagin), he desires most the seas of T'scach'nth; Wexwizw'n, he knows, could control those seas better, but T'scach'nth has recovered from many wounds that would have crippled Wexwizw'n. He nominally controls eight provinces bordering the ocean spaces to the south, but, unlike Szisithisz, he has only light control of them; only two have any holdings at all. Wexwizw'n has a bloodline of Masela, with the valuable ability of Travel; in an aquatic person, this allows him to appear anywhere in the ocean he has been before, not just travel from shore to shore. He also bears a Divine Aura, and, ironically a Protection from Evil, which stands him well in fights against other sahuagin.

Northern Sahuagin are a different and reclusive breed; they are described in Havens of the Great Bay. They labor under the Kraken, and have exterminated the Merfolk of the Bay, and most of the koalinth.

The Merfolk

Merfolk prefer the warmer southern seas, but are not strictly tied to them; they make kingdoms as far north as the Tael Firth in the west and Yenin Frith in the East, and individuals and small groups can be found anywhere south of the Thaelsian Sea or the Leviathan's Reach; those waters are too cold to be endured for long. There used to be communities in the Great Bay, and those near the Dauren Arm survived until almost 900 HC, but the predation of the Kraken destroyed those societies.

The elves of old knew the merfolk near Cerilia, though they were neither great friends nor great enemies; the elves had their forests, the merfolk their seas, and the two seldom contacted each other, much less competed. With the coming of the humans, the merfolk faced competition; both the Brecht and the Maselians were often at sea, and none of the peoples ignored it. Conflicts raged in the early years, but the merfolk were gradually driven away from coastal areas claimed by humans.

This distance and history means that merfolk are often unwilling to engage in trade with landfolk; there's little the land has that they desire. Far more common are defense of territorial rights... too many human ships in an area can lead to merfolk attacks, and aggrieved communities of merfolk can destroy many ships in very short order. However, they prefer negotiation to war. While they do not want much from the landfolk, the landfolk also out number them by more than a hundred to one, and that's just the folk near the ocean. And the merfolk, especially those of the Gulf of Coeranys and the Suidemere, do have something that the landfolk can help them with: sahuagin.

Sahuagin like the same territories that the merfolk do; the temperate waters of the southern seas are their home. Unlike merfolk, they tend towards the deeper seas, even the ocean areas that the merfolk do not inhabit. Sahuagin towns, carved from stone, can hold hundreds of the devil men of the deep, and their ferocity means that they can decimate the less martial (though often more populous) merfolk realms. So, the merfolk have learned the art of putting bounties upon sahuagin, trading pearls, undersea treasures, and sailing rights in exchange for sahuagin heads. At some shoals, when the moon is full, they will greet ships of landfolk and pay for the heads of sea devils.

Most merfolk holdings are small; level one provinces, with law, guild, source, or temple holdings to match, but seldom more than two of those. Often, these provinces will be discontiguous; one province surrounded by unclaimed seas, as the merfolk are scattered and the blood of the old gods is rare among them. The exception is the Strait of Aerele, where they merfolk live under the nominal and expensive protection of the Seadrake. He does not seek to protect them, but the expense of his seas means that there are fewer to molest the merfolk, and he gladly fights the sahuagin (because they refuse to pay him tribute). The domains are still small; the largest is only a level two province; but it is surrounded by other merfolk provinces. They have no king, each province a land unto itself, ruled by a separate tribe, and all tithe to the Seadrake; goods from the sea floor, pearls, and art made by mermaids.

Merfolk follow primarily Nesirie and Ruornil, and their priests can reach up to 6th level. Very rarely, they have wizards capable of True Magic; unsurprisingly, many of these are water elementalists. Their wizards and magicians (priests of Ruornil included) tattoo their spellbooks upon themselves.

Koalinth

Koalinth are aquatic goblins; man-sized, they are sleekly built, but share many traits with their land-dwelling kin. However, their gills do not serve them well on land; they can stay on land for only one or two hours before they have difficulty breathing. Like the merfolk, koalinth have long lived in the seas around Cerilia, but their home range was the Great Bay, until the Kraken came and destroyed many of their settlements; they hold that the Krakenstaur was once their fortress. The coming of the Kraken led to three separate lineages; the Bay, the East, and the West, for lack of better terms.

Some few koalinth still live in the Bay in isolated tribes, most in the east, near Muden and Berhagen. They hold few provinces, and most are nomadic tribes, trading with pirates and landsmen alike, herding shoals of fish. They have a legend that one day a koalinth will kill the Kraken as part of a vast war that retakes the entire Great Bay, but each tribe has different traits for that goblin, and none are sure how the original legend goes.

Eastern koalinth concentrate in the bay between Velenoye and Zoloskaya, but range down the coast as far as the lands of the Magian (formerly Pipryet), where the merfolk, pinned between them and the sahuagin of the Ajari Deeps, have resisted dislodgement. Eastern koalinth sometimes venture north, into the Leviathan's Reach, and it is regarded as a sign of great bravery, though the Leviathan hasn't been seen in three generations of koalinth.

Western koalinth settle up and down the western side of the continent, from Halskapa to Taeghas; never fond of the coldest waters (though able to endure them), their loss of the seas near Jankaping and Hogunmark after the growth of the selkie population was not grevious (and very very long ago). Unlike the other koalinth communities, the western koalinth have direct contact with the goblins of Thurazor, and do significant trade with them, and serve as something of an ace in the hole against landsmen; if Thurazor is pressed too closely, they may ask their koalinth allies to raid against seaward provinces of their enemies. Backed by Thurazor, they have spread through much of the Tael Firth, with an outpost in many of the sea regions, connecting the tribes who swim the shallow sea. Koalinth view the selkies as competition, and will contest their holdings when feasible.

Koalinth shamans follow primarily an obscure underling of Kartathok; they have few true priests, and few of them are blooded. Their clerics, however, can reach 7th level, and they have some few witch doctors, who combine clerical magic and that of the magician (similar to priests of Ruornil).

Selkies

The selkies are descendants of a Rjurik ehrshegh; one of the first, born from Deismaar itself. Coll was his name, and he carried the doom of a shapeshifter. After being anointed with the blood of Reynir, Coll was thrown into the water, and into seal shape. He swam home to Jankaping, but feared that he would be forever in seal shape, separated from his wife, slowly losing himself to seal form, as so often happens to shapeshifters.

But Coll did not lose his mind, to his own astonishment, and, after a year of trying, was able to turn himself into a man. He wept in rejoicing, and returned to his wife, who bore him many fine children. But, as each came of age, each one turned into a seal and slipped into the sea.

Coll's doom came to him centuries ago, but the selkies still live. They live much of their lives in the sea, but retain the doom of the shapeshifter... only that they can assume the form of humans only for seven days each moon, during the darkest phase. During this time, young selkies will go to land and find lovers; some other selkies, many landfolk. Those born to the selkies will remain so; those born on land will often join the selkies when they grow up... or perhaps not. Who knows how many may descend from selkies, and don't know it?

Though most selkies are Reynir-blooded, other bloodlines have bred into the selkies over the centuries. Furthermore, the selkie tradition of taking human lovers means that the Reynir bloodline is, in many cases, attenuated. Selkies understand and speak Rjurik, but also their own selkie language, suited for the undersea. They have formed tribes and kingdoms, with secret, air-filled, grottos where they raise their young. Unlike seals, adult selkies can breath the water as easily as the air. They are little affected by the cold, but can only manage dives of about 700 feet deep. Though their hands are fully functional, their arms in seal form are very short, making the use of weapons nearly impossible. They prefer to use their speed to avoid danger, rather than face it with only their teeth.

Some selkies are priests of Erik, though Ruornil, and Nesirie are not uncommon; they can rise to 8th level. Followers of Erik and Nesirie replace the granted powers of their faith with the abilities of a Sea Ranger three levels higher (see Complete Book of Rangers), including Animal Empathy, Sea Tracking, Land Scent, and Aquatic Combat. Selkie warriors may have up to 8+8 hit dice, though 3+3 is the norm. True Wizards and magicians are rare among the selkies, though they have their share of bards. Shapechangers, they find the merfolk tattoo spellbooks more difficult, and so keep communal spellbooks inside their sea caves and grottos.

Like those of the merfolk, selkie provinces are low in population, but they are more likely to be arranged into multi-province kingdoms. The heart of selkie territory is north of Jankaping, but they have spread throughout the Thaelesian Straits, and down into Tael Firth, where they interact somewhat uneasily with the merfolk provinces there. The merfolk regard them as, essentially, land folk, and so negotiate territorial rights with them, often ceding coast-adjacent territories to them, in exchange for free reign in open water. The two are largely not antagonistic, but that doesn't mean they're not competitors for the same resources, at times.

Sea Hag

Everyone who has sat by a fire and listened to a bard has heard of The Hag, who lives between Grabentod and Drachenward and keeps the two at each others throats. But there also the lesser hags; powerful magicians who drink the blood of scions, using it to fuel the True Magic that their unblooded state denies them.

While other hags concentrate on other magics, sea hags can the normal array of magician spells normally, and use blood to cast spells of the water and air schools, as well as necromancy. Every three points of blood strength from a victim allows the casting of one level of spells; once spent, the blood is gone. Thus, a sea hag who consumed the body of a scion with a 39 blood score could cast up to 13 levels of air, water, or necromancy spells, though illusions, divinations, and 1st and 2nd level spells of any school are governed by the usual rules of magicians.

Hags can also absorb blood scores willingly given. In exchange for blood score, freely given, hags will offer many favors; three points of blood strength from a scion gives the hag a pool of one point to use in their blood-powered magic. Furthermore, points gained in this way return at the dark of the moon, and are replenished then they consume a scion. Some sea hags have traded favors for centuries, and have impressive pools of blood points that they can spend on their horrid magics, even without eating a new scion.

Hags are, by their very nature, unblooded; once a magician becomes a hag, they can not be invested with a blood score; it will merely add to their pool. As such, Hags do not control provinces by right of blood. But powerful sea hags will extort blood from scions, or threaten them with curses, storms, and other calamities. Should they gain control of a regent, their reach can be expansive.

Dolphins

The dolphins of Cerilia have long had the blood of Masela, even before Deismaar. She loved her creatures, and blessed many with her power. But they form no provinces, only travel the ocean.

What makes dolphins remarkable is that their connection to Masela continues to Neserie, to the point where some dolphins are Paladins of that goddess, reaching up to 7th level of ability. These dolphin-paladins lead other dolphins through the sea, waging war on sahuagin and other evils of the deep. No dolphins are of other classes, though some will advance in skill and HD, up to 6 HD.

Sirines

Sirines are not native to Cerilia; it is believed that they came first from the elemental plane of water. They are little involved in the affairs of land folk, only sometimes venturing into populated areas for more than a day or dalliance. There is a 1% chance that a water elemental summoned by means other than the power of Nesirie will be a sirene; she will not be under the summoner's control and will often be very upset. If allowed to flee, most will; they know that someone who can summon a water elemental is often a dangerous foe in other respects.

Realms and Regency

Scions of undersea races form their own realms, as noted above. Sahuagin will have only Law and Temple holdings; they trade no goods and work no wizard magic, so they have no guild or source holdings. Merfolk seldom have Guild holdings, but it is not unheard of, especially in the Straits, where they trade with each other. Koalinth seldom have Source holdings. Selkies will have the full range of holdings; they will trade with the land and each other, they worship the gods much as they do on land, and they have some few true wizards among them.

These holdings generate regency and gold bars for their rulers, just as they do on land and, if means can be found, land-bound (or land-prefering) realms can trade with them. As on land, trade routes must connect different terrain types; a sea valley must connect to a reef or bank or canyon, not another valley. However, they can also connect a sea floor to a land-bound coast or plain or mountain. Temple holdings can be the source of divine realm magic. Law holdings can help control an area, including taxation. Sources, however, are somewhat different.

Tides and Trade

Trade happens underwater, and between the water and the land and, in many ways, is simpler than it is on land; the Rjurik bards call the sea the whale-road, and it is also road to selkie, merfolk, and koalinth.

Guild holdings can be connected via trade routes, much as on land, but do not require roads to be built. Trade routes can even be connected to land, through traditional trade routes, and both the koalinth and selkies have such. Trade routes between land and sea provinces require ships, but trade routes between sea provinces do not. The small size of many sea provinces reduces the value of trade to them for land traders; do you send a route to the rating one province beneath the sea or the rating seven province on land?; but they are valuable to the sea folk.

The major impediment to trade between land and sea provinces is simply that those adapted to land can seldom breathe water, and those adapted to the water can seldom move well on land; koalinth walk well, but cannot stray far from the water or they asphyxiate. Selkies move better than seals, but not much (movement of 3 on land when not in human form), and merfolk can neither walk nor stray far from land. Sahuagin can survive longer on land than koalinth, and walk better than selkies, but are also not involved in trade. Many trade routes are therefore negotiated in harbors or on board ships.

Sources and Sorcery

As noted above, most undersea realms are small. Many sea areas are the size of entire kingdoms, and, often, any given sea area will have only a single province with a ranked population;  there simply are not that many fish in the sea, no matter what your mother told you. The largest province in the sea is a three, part of the selkie ancestral holdings north of Jankaping. This, however, is of great use to wizards among the undersea races, and some few blooded wizards of the land.

The mebhaighl of the undersea is not as concentrated as above; some elves hold that it is because the lands have not had millennia of elven stewardship to nurture it, while other wizards believe that it stems from their relative insulation from the divine essence spread after Deismaar. But material from the land flows into the sea, and the waters of Cerilia are as magical as its glens, and so mebhaighl is found in the deep. Many are relatively weak; plains and valleys beneath the sea. Others, like vast kelp forests, have more strength, and those on the edge of oceans stand as if on high mountains.

Most often, these sources go untapped, as the undersea races have few true wizards, and the land races find it difficult to spend a month underwater, developing a source for their own use. But most often is not "never". Selkies and merfolk both produce True Wizards at times, and some from the land, by magic or blood, can spend their time (a domain action; a whole month) under the sea. Because of the relatively unsettled nature of these, and their inaccessibility to others, the undersea provinces are powerful Sources, when properly managed.

Generally, the sea can be considered to have four major land forms of note: Shelf Plains and Valleys, Banks and Shoals, Reefs and Kelp Forests, and Submarine Canyons.

Shelf Plains and Valleys are broad areas of the continental shelf; they are the most common type. In many ways, these are characterized by a lack of other features; they may have kelp, or small reefs, but they are not dominated by anything other than the ocea itself. The valleys are the remains of ancient river systems, and often lie at the mouths of extant rivers, where a flow of material from the land spreads out across the sea floor. They have a source potential of 4.

Banks and Shoals are raised areas from the sea floor; underwater hills, in many places, which tend to shelter a huge array of life, close to the sun. These will stand opposite rivers, many miles away, where the material from the land settles once free from the more turbulent water near the river mouth. These have a source potential of 6.

Reefs and Kelp Forests are smaller areas, usually located off banks or shoals, where unique plants, fish, and other creatures flourish among the protection. While a broad plain under the sea will not be devoid of life by any means, a reef or kelp forest explodes with it, much like an old forest where few men have tread. They usually have a source potential of 7.

Submarine canyons are scars in the continental shelf; deep passages to the ocean floor, down to the cthonic depths of the ocean areas. These canyons contain a key to ancient life, as the mebhaighl of the deep flows upward, mixing with the mebhaighl of the sea and land. These have a source potential of 8 or higher, but they are also dangerous; not only are the favorites of the sahuagin, but creatures of the dark deeps may stray upward.

Sea Sources have a unique difficulty; as their atmosphere is shifting tides, and their "land" is often made of silt and other loose earth, they are subject to erosion. On a Natural Event domain event, natural disasters may cause a shift in the mebhaighl. Upon determining that there is a natural disaster, roll 1d6, as usual. In addition to the usual effects of the event, roll 3d6 for a minor event, 2d6 for a major event, and 1d6 for a catastrophe. If the total is less than the developed rating of the source, then a shift in the mebhaighl has caused that source holding to lose 1 point. Note that the province does not lose potential; a province that could once support a 7 Source can still do so. But one point of developed source is lost, and must be Ruled again, at the normal cost in GB and RP.

The Ley of the Sea

Many ley lines between islands and the coast never enter sea provinces; they are entirely within adjacent coastal provinces. Others will cross over sea provinces without touching them; the surface of the sea itself acts like a province border, and so a line that travels above that border, never entering the sea beneath, needs pay no cost for crossing it. Beneath the waves, this can provide a means to connect sources without crossing intervening provinces; one must curve the line above the sea (inflicting the normal cost for curving a line and for crossing a province border in the air), and thus reach other sea provinces within the normal 150 mile range. This can also be done to connect land sources to distant sea sources. It is unknown if this would work on land, curving lines through the sky; there's not as a clear a barrier as the sea surface.

If a sea source holding is subject to erosion (qv), this may impact any ley lines to which it is connected. The owner of the ley line may, as a free action, perform a Forge Ley Line action to maintain the line (at no cost in GB, and only 1 RP, plus any spent to improve the roll). It will not prevent source erosion, but it will maintain the line.

War Beneath the Waves

Mechanically, war beneath the sea is conducted the same as war on land; units meet each other in the ocean and fight, comparing attack to defense, and manuevering across the battlefield. However, the sea devil is in the details.

Moving sea-based troops by sea requires 1 GB per 10 units, as with moving land units by land. However, movement by sea troops does require a success check to account for the vagaries of weather, currents, and tides; a land unit soaked by a storm doesn't wind up three provinces away. While that won't mechanically happen to a sea unit, it certainly might narratively.

On the other hand, sea provinces seldom have terrain movement costs; they have individual landforms, and thus terrain cards, but these seldom affect cross-province movement (that's what the movement success roll is for). Additionally, castles do not block troop movement underwater, nor does one require an artillerist to assault them, since you can swim over the walls. Their effect, however, is to make it impossible to subdue a province until they are reduced to zero. If the province is fortified as well, it must be separately besieged. A unit inside a castle cannot use charge attacks, and can only use melee attacks if the other side attacks them in melee, but receive a +1 to defense.

Shelf Plains & Valleys and Banks & Shoals land types do not have associated land cards; these areas are relatively open.

Reefs and Kelp Forests

Movement: Units must stop moving when they enter an area containing this card. (Unit can leave the area without penalty)

Combat: Units in this area cannot be charged. Missile attacks fired into this area suffer a -2 penalty to their attack ratings.

Submarine Canyons

Movement: Units which stop in this area must roll 1d6; on a 4 or higher they are pushed 1 area in another direction. Roll 1d4, with 1 being towards the other side's reserve, 2 being right (for the owner of the unit), 3 being back, and 4 being left.

Combat: If the area is occupied when a routed unit is forced into it,, roll 1d6; on a 4 or high they are pushed 1 area in another direction. Roll 1d4; if 2 or 4 are rolled, and are valid directions (not off the battlefield or into an enemy unit), then they survive the rout and may attempt a morale check to rally.