The ruffian is
the type of character normally found in taverns, loitering around docks,
or wandering the streets of town. Other names typicaly used for ruffians
are; locals, brigands, layabouts, thieves. Some ruffians will try to join
adventuring parties, offering the group their limited thieving skills and
fighting ability. They may be of any non-lawful alignment.
Humans and half-orcs
may be ruffians. Ruffians have no stat limitations, and hit on the Thieve's
table. Their saves are also on the thieve's table and they may only use
magic items usable by any class (except weapons). They have some limited
thief abilities; they can Pick Pockets and Open Locks as though they were
a thief of 3 level lower than their present level, though they have a 5%
chance of these skills at the 1st through 3rd level. They can Climb Walls
and Hide in Shadows at 1/2 the normal thief ability, regardless of level.
Ruffians are limited to leather or padded armor, or magical protections.
They may not use shields, except as bashing weapons. Any ruffian donning
any metal armor loses all dexterity armor class bonuses.
Ruffians may only be
single classed, regardless of race, but are unlimited in the levels they
can attain.
As ruffians are fighters
with no training schools or set proficiencies, they learn to fight with
whatever kind of weapon is at hand at the time. Because they learn to survive
in the school of hard knocks, ruffians use any weapon (or object that can
be used as a weapon) at only a -1 non-proficency penalty. It is not uncommon
to see a ruffian using a chair, lamp, or broken bottle in combat.
If a fighter or thief takes the time to work with a ruffian in the proper
use of a certain type of weapon, the ruffian may become proficient in
it's use. They may not become specialized.
This can apply to only
one weapon, and they may become proficient in no other.
All ruffians have certain
non-weapon proficiencies. These are; fire-building, fishing, rope use,
survival cold, and swimming. No other proficiencies are available for them,
though they do get a roll on the Secondary Skills table.
Because there are no
training schools for ruffians, they require no formal training to advance
in levels. Once the character reaches the necessary experience points to
attain the next higher level, he automatically goes up, gaining the next
level of abilities and hit points.
Ruffians get a d3 for
hit points, and if their constitution score is 16 or 17, they gain a +1
hit point bonus. A ruffian with an 18 constitution will get a +2 hit point
bonus. Their strength is limited to 18.
A ruffian may be very
young, and for gameplay his age will be 12 + 1d6.
Below is the experience
point table for the ruffian
Experience
Points
Level d3 Hit Dice
0-1000
1
1
1001-2000
2
2
2001-4000
3
3
4001-8000
4
4
8001-15000
5
5
15001-32500
6
6
32501-60000
7
7
60001-90000
8
8
90001-150000
9
9
100,000+ experience
points per level beyond 9th
Ruffians gain 1 hit point
per level after 9th
This class does not get additional experience point benefits, since they have no prime requisite stat. The Unearthed Arcana rollup used for Thief may be used to generate a human ruffian.
