Rawun[]
Rawuns (rah-OONS) are the bards of the desert tribes—the tale-spinners, the lore-keepers, and the entertainers. Each is entrusted with the legends of his or her own tribe, as well as other tribes contacted. Rawuns are the master poets of their peoples, and most of their knowledge is repeated through epic poems.
Rawuns may be found in most desert tribes. The most powerful of them act as advisors to a sheikh or tribal leader. In more urban areas, members of this kit run the gamut from bazaar entertainers to viziers serving a sultan.
Requirements: Rawuns must first be bards; thieves need not apply. Both genders are allowed. The unisex title is rawun (rah-OON). The optional female title is Tawuna (rah-OON-ah). In some regions, and in their own formal poetry, the plural is raunin. (We've used the anglicized plural in this text.)
Role: Rawuns are blessed with a strong memory and an even stronger voice. In more cultured areas, they are well read, and their verses are captured on paper. In the tribal lands of the desert-where paper may be considered excess weight to a traveling people-rawuns are the keepers of all knowledge, the memory of their tribes. No tomes or scrolls hold their stories.
Members of this kit are competent and entertaining, glib and smooth in the manner of their outlander cousins, but with a deep, abiding regard for both tradition and art. As a group, they tend to be showy. Citified rawuns often don rich cloaks dripping with jewels, while those among desert tribes prefer simple but stunning white robes, trimmed with gold.
Weapon Proficiencies: Rawuns have two initial weapon proficiency slots, but they may choose any weapons to fill them.
Nonweapon Proficiencies:
- Bonus Proficiencies: Singing.
- Recommended, General: Languages (modern), debate, etiquette, riding (land-based).
- Recommended, Warrior: Animal lore, survival (desert).
- Recommended, Priest: None.
- Recommended, Wizard: Astrology, languages (ancient), herbalism, spellcraft, genie lore, reading/writing.
- Recommended, Rogue: Ancient history, local history, musical instrument.
- Forbidden: None.
Equipment: Rawuns share the usual limits of the bard class: chain mail and shield. (In the desert, such hot and bulky gear is used only in times of dire need.) Both urban and desert rawuns have prodigious memories. Those with ties to a city or settlement often collect books and scrolls to supplement what they know offhand. For a library to have any notable effect on research or knowledge, it must contain no fewer than 100 books and/or scrolls, with a total value of at least 3,000 gp. Rawuns who own such libraries gain a +1 bonus to all proficiency checks involving the research of an item-provided, of course, that they have access to their library at the time. An ancient history check, for example, would involve this bonus.
Special Benefits: Rawuns gain a 10 percent bonus when using their bard ability to determine the general nature of magical items. In addition, they have the power, once every 24 hours, to cause the evil eye to fall upon another, just by summoning it into being. (See Chapter 5.) This power is not without drawbacks. Rawuns must make a Wisdom check for the evil eye to come into effect; failure means the target is safe, but the rawun is affected by the eye instead.
Rawuns also have the ability to remove the evil eye's effects from another being, once every 24 hours. A Wisdom check determines success. Failure means nothing happens. Rawuns cannot use this beneficial power on themselves; when in need of a cure, they must find another rawun or a mage with the ability.
A rawun's powers concerning the evil eye are mutually exclusive. Hence, a rawun who invokes the evil eye may not lift it on the same day, and vice versa.
Special Hindrances: Rawuns gain spells in the normal fashion, but may use only universal spells, not those of the elemental provinces. Members of this kit do not have sha'ir abilities, but a rawun's broad knowledge may still be of some help in identifying or dealing with genies.
Thief Abilities: Some thieving abilities of rawuns undergo adjustments:
- Pick Pockets: -5 percent
- Detect Noise: No modification
- Climb Walls: -5 percent
- Read Languages: +10 percent
Wealth Options: Rawuns start the campaign with 2d6 x 10 gp each. If anything remains after initial purchases are made, a rawun can "salt it away," perhaps toward the eventual acquisition of a library.
Races: Only humans and half-elves become bards; hence, they are the only races who become rawuns.
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