GLADIATOR

The arena is the battlefield of the gladiator. From hand-to-hand combat in the mud pits of small forts to the grand games of the city-states, the gladiator is a warrior who fights to the sounds of people cheering his name or cursing his presence. A master of crowd control and the art of prolonged combat, gladiators are trained to fight. They train to best wild beasts in deadly games for the amusement of the masses. They fight for glory, wealth, prestige and power. They fight to survive. Some are merely slaves, having to fight and perhaps hoping to win a chance to obtain freedom, while some fight willingly for the thrill of combat or the promise of riches and fame.

Adventures: Most gladiators adventure rarely, since the biggest crowds and highest payoffs are in the city-states. Many gladiators are owned by nobles or templars, and must obey their masters or face the deadly sting of the lash. Gladiators that are owned by a master are usually not allowed to adventure; they are worth too much to be simply let loose. Freed gladiators may join bands of adventurers to search for treasure or riches, or perhaps simply for a place to lay down after a long, bloody career. Some freed gladiators may simply travel from city-state to city-state, hoping to join great games in return for rich pay or social status. Escaped gladiators adventure to escape their master, punishment or death.

Characteristics: Gladiators are among the best one-on-one fighters in all Testoria. They are trained in hand-to-hand combat before moving on to the use of exotic weapons of the arena. They learn to improvise weapons, weilding broken bones or wooden shafts with deadly precision. They learn how to taunt and tease opponents, driving them to reckless acts and taking advantage of the situation to strike down or maim a foe. Gladiators also know how to optimize their armor to get the greatest benefit from its protection. After all, a long, drawn-out combat is more a crowd pleaser than a ten second bout.

Alignment: Gladiators are of all alignments. Some gladiators will obey all arena rules, being lawful individuals, though these often do not last long in the arena. Many gladiators tend toward a chaotic alignment. Evil gladiators use dirty tricks to gain an advantage over an opponent. Gladiators of all alignments can become crowd favorites, increasing their chances of winning their matches, since often times these matches are pre-arranged. The intrigues of the city-states can reach deep into the arena.

Religion: Gladiators have no special religion of their own. Some may worship the Sorcerer-King of the city-state they are in, while some few may worship the elemental forces. Often, the hard life of training and combat leaves the gladiator with little to think of except survival.

Background: Most gladiators are slaves, owned by nobles or templars, or even merchant houses. They are either born into slavery and trained as gladiators, or captured by slavers and sold to nobles or templars for the public's amusement. Some rare individuals join the gladiatorial ranks willingly, seeking fame or fortune. Gladiators do not assemble in guilds or unions of any sort. They may have one or two fighting parterners, or matched pairs, but this group of trusted individuals is very small. Gladiators that are owned by others often become unwillingly involved in the intrigues of the city-states. Their master may have made a new enemy, and the gladiator becomes a pawn in struggles of power. Often used to send a message to his owner, the gladiator's life may be at stake for fault of his master.

Races: All races of Athas can be found in the arenas of Testoria. Muls, with their mixed dwarven and human parentage, are highly prized in the arenas. They are often bought for a high price and treated well in return for victory on the combat floor. Elves are often used for their swiftness and natural flair for taunting their opponent. Humans are the most common of gladiators, since humans are the most common race in Testoria. Halflings make poor gladiators, since they abhor slavery and will usually starve themselves to death rather than being used as commodities by anyone. The savage races of the wastes are often used as gladiators, usually as fodder for the most successful gladiators, though those demonstrating excellent combat prowess receive formal training.

Other Classes: Gladiators tend to think of themselves as the superior warriors of Testoria, sometimes to the point of arrogance. In a sense, though, they are right. Gladiators receive training in one-on-one combat, and the use of anything they can find as a weapon. However, a group of trained fighters fighting in concert is certainly a match for a bunch of gladiators, who are unused to fighting in groups. Like most people of Athas, gladiators have a deep distrust of magic, and tend to shun wizards. They view clerics as nothing more than healers, people who put their faith in abstract things rather than a sharp blade.

Game Rule Information

Gladiators have the following game statistics.

Abilities: Strength is especially important for gladiators because it improves their melee attack and damage rolls. Constitution is also important for giving gladiators lots of hit points that they'll need in their bloody matches. Dexterity is important for gladiators who want access to certain Dexterity-oriented feats, or for those that do not want to be slowed down or hindered by armor.
Alignment: Any.
Hit Die: d12

Class Skills

Skill Points at 1st Level: (2 + Int mod) x 4.
Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 2 + Int modifier.

Class Features

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: The gladiator is proficient in the use of all simple and martial weapons, and in the following arena weapons: Quabone, Singing Sticks, Wrist Razors, and Forearm Axe. The gladiator is also proficient in light armor and shields. Note that armor check penalties for armor heavier than leather apply to the skills Balance, Climb, Escape Artist, Hide, Jump, Move Silently, Pick Pocket, and Tumble. Also, Swim checks suffer a -1 penalty for every 5 pounds of armor and equipment carried.

Always Armed: The gladiator fighting unarmed gains the benefit of the Improved Unarmed Strike feat.

Arena Guile: Starting at second level, the gladiator adds his one half his level (round down) as a bonus to all bluff and sense motive checks that relate directly to melee combat.

Improved Critical(Unarmed Strike): At second level, the Gladiator gainst the benifit of increased critical threat range when attacking unarmed.

Master of Weapons: The gladiator is the undisputed master of weapons on Athas. At 3rd level, the gladiator receives a +1 competence bonus when using a weapon that he is not proficient with. Thus, the gladiator only suffers a -3 penalty for not being proficient with a weapon that is new to him. This bonus rises to +2 at 7th level, and to +3 at 11th level, at which point the gladiator only suffers a -1 penalty for not being proficient with a weapon.

Exotic Weapon: At 4th, 8th, 11th and every two levels thereafter, the Gladiator gets a bonus weapon proficiency with an exotic weapon of his choice.

Armor Optimization: At 5th level, the gladiator learns to optimize his armor. He conditions himself to use his armor to its best advantage, dodging and moving his body in such a way that opponents are confounded by his armor and/or shield. Provided he is wearing armor, the gladiator receives a +1 competence bonus to his AC. At 10th level, this bonus rises to +2. At 15th level, it rises to +3, and at 20th level it rises to +4.This benefit does nothing for gladiators who aren't wearing armor. Anything that grants an armor or deflection bonus to AC is considered armor for the purposes of this special ability.

Gladiators also gain the benefit of applying the Armor Optimization bonus against their non-proficiency penalty for wearing armor they are not proficient with. The Armor Optimization bonus never reduces the non-proficiency penalty beyond -1

Bonus Feats: The gladiator gains a bonus feat at 6th level and Every four levels thereafter. These bonus feats must be drawn from the following list: Ambidexterity, Armor(Heavy, Medium), Blind-Fight, Combat Reflexes, Deflect Arrows, Dodge (Mobility, Spring Attack), Expertise (Improved Disarm, Improved Trip, Whirlwind Attack), Improved Critical*, Improved Initiative, Power Attack (Cleave, Improved Bull Rush, Sunder, Great Cleave), Quick Draw, Stunning Fist,Two-Weapon Fighting (Improved Two-Weapon Fighting), Weapon Finesse*, Weapon Focus*. [[Add to list new Dark Sun feats as appropriate.]]

Some of the bonus feats available to a gladiator cannot be acquired until the gladiator has gained one or more prerequisite feats; these feats are listed parenthetically after the prerequisite feat. A gladiator can select feats marked with an asterisk (*) more than once, but it must be for a different weapon each time. A gladiator must still meet all prerequisites for a feat, including ability score and base attack bonus minimums. See Feats for feat descriptions.

Important: These feats are in addition to the feat that a character of any class gets every three levels. The gladiator is not limited to the list given here when choosing those feats.

Gladiator Class Progression

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