Peasant Hero

Not all heroes are noble-born, trained in the finest academies. Some were once peasants who made names for themselves slaying voracious wolves or spotting a goblin raiding party before they overran a village. The peasant hero is such a character, a low-born farmer who has graduated to adventuring in order to see more of the world.

The peasant hero is a base class with a twist. Accessible to any character at 1st level, it represents a more heroic version of the commoner class from the Dungeon Master's Guide. Consider taking this class to represent a country bumpkin on his way towards a bigger destiny than manual labor.

Adventures: A peasant hero sees adventuring as a way to make the world a better place, to bring fortune or safety to his home or to simply see more than the surrounding countryside he's lived in his whole life.

Characteristics: A peasant hero is a hard worker and specializes in skills that he uses in day to day life. A former shepherd for instance may have sharp eyes and ears and make an excellent scout, while a peasant hero who made his living caring for animals may choose to ride on horseback into battle. He has some knowledge of battle tactics, gleaned from experience, and can heft a melee weapon if necessary, but prefers to use a ranged weapon and stay out of harm's way.

Alignment: There is no alignment that is prevalent among peasant heroes. Good heroes are typically laborers who work to improve the lives of those around them, while evil heroes tend to be bullies who foster fear to gather power. Lawful peasant heroes tend to come from larger communities than chaotic ones, who are often loners.

Religion: Peasant heroes worship whatever deity is appropriate for the region where they come from. Deities of agriculture or of the sun, like Pelor, are very common focuses of worship, deities of warfare, magic or death much less so.

Background: Most peasant heroes begin adventuring to either protect their homes or to satisfy wanderlust that they've had for most of their lives. For whatever reason, they didn't see the need to leave their communities until later in life and thus most have a na�ve or bigoted outlook of the world at large.

Races: Humans, halflings and half-elves are the most common races among peasant heroes, as these races are most likely to have traditional farming communities. Gnome and dwarf peasant heroes generally live underground farming mushrooms. Half-orc peasant heroes are uncommon, but tend to be work extra hard to win the respect and admiration of their neighbors.

Classes: Peasant heroes get along well with most classes, but are most friendly with other 'common' types of classes like fighters and rogues. They tend to be either awed or frightened by magic use and thus keep a respectful distance from spellcasters. They delight in the company of seasoned adventuring types such as rangers and bards as they can often regale the peasant hero with fantastical stories of faraway adventures.

Role: The peasant hero's role is that of a defending fighter or of a very skilled laborer. While he can fight, he is restricted by light armor, which can be a hindrance, and so they are better with ranged weapons like spears, slings or bows. Their use of mundane skills can also come in very handy, especially in the role of a scout.

Game Rule Information

Peasant heroes have the following game statistics.

Abilities: Strength is important for a peasant hero as he spends most of his time fighting. Constitution also keeps him on his feet longer. Dexterity is likewise important as he doesn't have access to heavier armors. Wisdom is necessary for many of his class skills.

Alignment: Any.

Hit Die: d8.

Starting Age: As rogue.

Starting Gold: 5d4.

Class Skills

The peasant hero's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Handle Animal (Cha), Jump (Str), Listen (Wis), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), Spot (Wis), Swim (Str) and Use Rope (Dex). See Chapter 4: Skills in the Player's Handbook for skill descriptions.

Skill Points at 1st Level: (4 + Int modifier) x 4.

Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier.

Class Features

All of the following are class features of the peasant hero.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A peasant hero is proficient with the following weapons: club, dagger, flail, light pick, longbow, handaxe, quarterstaff, scythe, shortbow, short sword, sickle, sling and spear. They are also proficient with light armor, but not with shields.

Favored Enemy (Ex): At 1st level, the peasant hero gains a favored enemy which can be chosen from the following creature types: animal, plant or vermin. The peasant hero is used to fighting the more mundane creatures that typically attack farms and homesteads. This ability works exactly as the ranger class feature. (See page 47 of the Player's Handbook for details.)

Fighter Level Increase: At 1st level and again at 3rd, the character gains an effective fighter level for the purposes of meeting prerequisites for feats or similar abilities. This means that a 3rd level peasant hero/2nd level fighter is able to qualify for the Weapon Specialization feat as if a 4th level fighter.

Skilled Laborer (Ex): A 2nd level peasant hero's daily chores lead him to focus his abilities. He receives a +2 competence bonus on two of his class skills. Once this choice is made, it cannot be changed.

Bonus Feat: At 3rd level the peasant hero gains a bonus feat. This may be any feat from the fighter's bonus feat list or Skill Focus.

Table 1-01: The Peasant Hero

Level Base Attack

Bonus Fort

Save Ref

Save Will

Save Special 1st +0 +2 +0 +0 Favored enemy, +1 fighter level 2nd +1 +3 +0 +0 Skilled laborer 3rd +2 +3 +1 +1 Bonus feat, +1 fighter level

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