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Champion of Halav

by Paul Benfield

In Traladaran society there is no more hated enemy than the massed tribes of humanoids that plague their villages and roads. Even in modern Karameikos the Gnolls, Orcs and Hobgoblins threaten peaceful life for most rural communities and the Duke's men are often too few to keep these tribes in check. The Cult of Halav and to a lesser extent the Church of Traladara have recently unearthed ancient documents telling of Halav's mighty battles against the tribes and of how his closest followers sacrificed much to achieve the Golden Age of the Traldar. Some Clerics and Paladins of both orders have come to believe that the only way to restore the Golden Age in Karameikos is through conquering all of the humanoid held areas of the country by the sword. These are the Champions of Halav.

Requirements
Alignment: Any lawful.
Race: Traladaran (or half-Traladaran).
Base Attack Bonus: +3
Ability to cast Divine Spells.

The Champions of Halav follow strict moral and personal rules inspired by the mighty Halav. They only accept Traladarans from either the Cult of Halav or from the Church of Traladara as members.

Hit Dice: d8

Level	Base	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Attack Special	Bonus Spells
1	+0	+2	+0	+2	Hated enemy +1	+1 level of existing class
2	+1	+3	+0	+3	Track	+1 level of existing class
3	+1	+3	+1	+3	Hated enemy +1	+1 level of existing class
4	+2	+4	+1	+4	Bonus Language	+1 level of existing class
5	+2	+4	+1	+4	Hated enemy +1	+1 level of existing class
6	+3	+5	+2	+5	Rage 1/day	+1 level of existing class
7	+4	+5	+2	+5	Hated enemy +1	+1 level of existing class
8	+5/+1	+6	+2	+6	Rage 2/day	+1 level of existing class
9	+6/+1	+6	+3	+6	Hated enemy +1	+1 level of existing class
10	+7/+3	+7	+3	+7	Rage 3/day	+1 level of existing class

Class skills:
Heal, Knowledge (Traladaran History), Knowledge (Humanoid lore - pick one of hated enemies), Ride, Spot, Swim, Knowledge (Local - Karameikos), Diplomacy, Knowledge (Religion), Speak Language (Orc, Gnoll, Hobgoblin or Goblin, Intimidation

Skill Points: 2 + Int per level

Class Features

Champions of Halav are proficient in the use of all simple weapons and can choose to take the Longsword as a Martial Weapon Proficiency feat as this is the favoured weapon of Halav. The Champions are proficient with all types of armour and with shields although normal penalties apply for both when using certain skills or any arcane spells.

Hated enemy:
Champions of Halav spend much of their time studying the 'enemies' of the Traladar - the humanoid races that plague the wilderness of central and northern Karameikos. This leads them to become experts at fighting certain creatures at the expense of more general melee training. Each time the Champion receives this special ability they should choose one race from Orc, Gnoll, Hobgoblin or Goblin. Each race may be selected more than once. For each time the race is selected the Champion receives a +1 to base attack bonus and to damage against that specific race only. Thus a 5th level champion could choose to have a +3 bonus against Orcs or to have a +2 bonus against Goblins and a +1 bonus against Gnolls (or any other combination).
This bonus does count towards achieving multiple attacks per round when fighting the race in question.

Zealous Rage:
Champions of Halav are indoctrinated to hate their racial enemies with great passion and some Champions who are veterans of campaigns against humanoids tend to fly into a trance of zealous fury. They gain the similar benefits of the Barbarian class (+2 temporary constitution, +2 strength, +2 morale bonus on Will saves and the -2 AC penalty). The rage is not as powerful as that of a Barbarian and can only be invoked against a large number of hostile racial enemy soldiers. The rage will also only come into effect after at least one full round of combat with the humanoids.

Track:
The champions are used to hunting down humanoid raiders in the wilderness of Karameikos' hills and mountains and thus become experts at tracking their foes.

Bonus Language:
The champion learns the language of the hated enemy that has the highest bonus, i.e has been selected the most times thus far. If there are two or more hated enemies with the same bonus then the player chooses between these. Champions of Halav will use intelligence and tactics to deal with these enemies as ruthlessly as possible. Learning the language of your hated enemy makes the task of intimidation far easier...