This is the name of the ruling family in the southeastern part of the lower island. All lords in the region are sub-servant to Lord Boarbado in law, but not necessarily in practice. The culture is European with several hints of feudal Japan. The most noticeable of these are the feudal lord structure of the government and the practice of Toroque, a form of martial arts. The word Toroque is derived from the pronunciation of "Torrr-oque" by its practitioners when summoning every once of strength for a martial attack.
The influence of philosophy in this region is such that psions outnumber mages almost 3 to 1 and command a great deal of respect for their abilities. Lord Boarbado's personal bodyguard is rumored to be almost half psionic and psionic multi-classed characters.
The reaction of southerners to magic extends throughout the community. As a consequence, single-class mages are rare as are guilds. Most mages are multi-classed, and any societies they form are generally secretive and underground.
The most common priesthoods in this campaign are the gods of trade, war, rulership, the sea, strength, fortune, death, magic (upper island and northernmost lower island), and fire (in the south and especially at the Gloria peaks). The most politically influential of these priesthoods are those of war, trade, and rulership (in that order). The sphere of influence of these priesthoods is detailed below.
War: The war-like state between the north and the south is ideal territory for stirring up trouble. The priests of this mythos are constantly contriving to bring forces together for battle and glory (in the eyes of their god). They tend to be at odds with the priests of trade, and oscillate between being in favor with the priests of the god of rulership.
Trade: These priests make secret deals with each other between the northern and southern sects to increase trade and acquire goods that are difficult (illegal) to get otherwise. They are very active in the communities, and are generous with their wealth to show everyone that trade barriers hurt all and that everyone could be rich if they were eliminated. This alone keeps them from being crushed by the warlords.
Rulership: The influence of this god is very strong in the north. It is reported that the Crown of King Mulcock is an Artifact from Jordan (the north's name for the god of rulership) and protects him from psionics. A small sect worships this god in the south, claiming of course that Lord Boarbado is the true ruler of the island. They continual conspire to steal King Mulcock's crown, and many spies have been caught in the attempt.
The great wealth in Homage Islands and the large disparity between the rich and poor leave plenty of room for the adventurous thief. In many of the uncivilized areas rogues have come to have high places in the social structure because of their exploits. This is not true in general. Thieves are poorly regarded that steal from lords as they tend to bring armies to villages and towns which turn everything upside down. They are even more poorly treated in the better sections of civilized areas; suspicion is the rule.
Psionicly endowed individuals are highly revered in the southern portion of Homage Islands. This is not true in the northern portion where they are generally treated with suspicion until they reach name level (level 9). If they have served the community well, they will be given a small place in the social and political structure. After all, the enemy to the south is overly populated with psions, and whom better to help fight them than another psion.
Due to the Asian influence, several unique weapons are available in the southern Homage Islands. Table 6-2: Asian Weapons is reproduced from the DMG, pg. 161.
|
|
Cost |
Dmg. |
Critical |
Range Incr. |
Weight |
Type |
|
Simple Weapons - Ranged |
||||||
|
Blow Gun |
1 gp |
1 |
x2 |
10 ft. |
2 lb. |
P |
|
Needles (20) |
1 gp |
- |
- |
- |
* |
- |
|
Martial Weapons - Melee |
||||||
|
Small Wakizashi** |
300 gp |
1d6 |
19-20/x2 |
- |
3 lb. |
S |
|
Medium Size Kusari-garna |
10 gp |
1d6 |
x2 |
- |
3 lb. |
S |
|
Exotic Weapon - Melee |
||||||
|
Large Katana*** |
400 gp |
1d10 |
x2 |
- |
6 lb. |
S |
|
*No weight worth mentioning. **Except as indicated, same as masterwork short sword. ***Except as indicated, same as masterwork bastard sword. |
||||||
The southern region does not normally manufacture any armor more complicated than banded mail. It too is almost always adorned with the symbol of the wearer's lord and suits that do not carry such marks are considered indications of commonness. Disrespect and harassment is the normal reaction. Only Lord Boarbado and his bodyguards have better armor, which is captured and converted plate mail (not that Lord Boarbado might admit this).
Practitioners of Toroque are known as Ratri, Fabridu, or Cabridu. Ratri refers to all zero-level warriors whom have training in Toroque. The Fabridu are any warriors (fighters, paladins, rangers, or psychic warriors) whom practice Toroque. The Fabridu form the basis of the armies in this region. It is said that the best Fabridu are able to combine Toroque with martial weapon skills and are probably the most dangerous warriors in the world. Finally, Cabridu are any non-warrior (psion, priest, rogue, etc.) that practice Toroque. Any commoner that might learn Toroque will never get one of these titles as they represent honorable positions in the Boarbado society.
The heart of the Fabridu is his martial arts training in Toroque and a code of honor, similar to that of feudal Japan and the chivalry of mid-evil Europe. These codes vary from lord to lord, and can combine the various elements of them in strange combinations. In rare cases, the code of honor is a farce--it is the public image displayed by the Fabridu, but does not reflect what he practices on the battlefield.
The Fabridu is a career soldier as is the myrmidon, but he swears allegiance to his lord and as a rule does not change this allegiance often. They are revered by society, and it is an honor to have a higher level (first level and above) Fabridu to be served by a commoner’s establishment, or buy goods from him.
All Fabridu must obey some code set by their lord. Most often this code is a code of honor, Notikua. This is much like the chivalry codes of the middle ages and basically requires the Fabridu to fight without dirty tricks and to grant mercy when offered it (prisoners can be probed by psions). Breaking this code results in the dishonoring of the Fabridu and rejection by his lord. He will be stripped of the lord’s standard and shamed in public. Some lords even brand (a la the hot iron) those whom break the code. The most sever lords order death.
A Fabridu does not incur any living expenses as long is he is working for a lord or is part of a military unit. The living standard of the Fabridu will reflect by how rich his lord is, which may be a very good living standard indeed.
Part of being in the service of a lord is that the character is not accountable to the local law for his misdeeds, but instead is accountable to his lord. Whether or not a lord punishes the Fabridu will depend on alignment and the public nature of the deed.
Special Hindrances: Normally a Fabridu wears a symbol or standard on his armor or shield, indicating the lord he has sworn allegiance to. This makes the character easily identifiable in public. At low levels, this can make the character a target for harassment or assassination by other, rival Fabridu.
The Fabridu's lord may initially put him in very hostile, deadly combat situations without regard to the Fabridu's life. Only when he has attained the second level does the lord take notice of the exceptional soldier he has and decides to give him more important tasks to perform. These tasks, however, are as likely to be no less deadly and even suicidal. If the Fabridu rejects any task assigned to him, he either dies or runs like hell.
Special Benefits: A Fabridu checks at every experience level for wild psionic talent. Part of his training is bent on developing such talent if it exists within him or her. At the DM's option, a character whom makes this check may add psion as an additional class if demihuman, or switch classes if human, provided he has the ability requisites for this class.
Hit Dice: d12.
|
Class Level |
Base Attack Bonus |
Fort Save |
Ref Save |
Will Save |
Special |
|
1st |
+1 |
+2 |
0 |
0 |
Toroque |
|
2nd |
+2 |
+3 |
0 |
0 |
Battle Rage 1/day |
|
3rd |
+3 |
+3 |
+1 |
+1 |
|
|
4th |
+4 |
+4 |
+1 |
+1 |
Battle Rage 2/day |
|
5th |
+5 |
+4 |
+1 |
+1 |
|
|
6th |
+6 |
+5 |
+2 |
+2 |
Battle Rage 3/day |
|
7th |
+7 |
+5 |
+2 |
+2 |
|
|
8th |
+8 |
+6 |
+2 |
+2 |
Battle Rage 4/day |
|
9th |
+9 |
+6 |
+3 |
+3 |
|
|
10th |
+10 |
+7 |
+3 |
+3 |
Battle Rage 5/day |
To qualify to learn Toroque, a character must fulfill all of the following criteria.
Alignment:
Race:
Base Attack Bonus: .
Feats:
Spell casting:
Special:
Recommended: ancient (military) history, fire-building, animal handling, riding (land-based), seamanship, swimming, and weather sense.
Skill points at Each Level: x + Int modifier.
All of the following are class features of the Toroque Warrior prestige class.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Bonus: Toroque, specialization in Toroque if level 1 or higher. Otherwise the Fabridu must pick one sword for a weapon, and must specialize in it before he may specialize in any other weapon.
The Fabridu is normally equipped with splint mail armor, which the player must buy out of his own starting gold. If he is not able to afford it, he is assumed to be working for a lesser lord and will be able to buy chain mail at half cost. The player may have to buy other equipment if the army he is part is nominally so equipped.
Toroque: Improved unarmed fighting style. As monk.
Battle Rage: Can attack using the +4/+1 table, AC bonus, etc. while using a weapon, and in armor. Armor check penalties apply to all attack roles. Can take flurry of blows with this!
Copyright © 2002 John Lipp