Lhazaaran Bloodsail

Lhazaaran Elf class — see Classes for the full list.

Lhazaaran elves are masters of the sea. Lhazaaran bloodsails are cruel pirates and ravenous treasure-hunters who live for nothing more than to loot, pillage, and plunder their filthy black guts out.

	Lhazaaran Bloodsail Level Progression
Experience	Title	Level	Hit Dice	Damage Bonus	Backstab	Acrobatics	Climbing
0	Seafarer	1	1d6+1	+1	+1d	18+	6+
2,200	Salt Dog	2	2d6	+1	+1d	17+	5+
4,400	Cutthroat	3	3d6	+2	+1d	16+	5+
8,800	Swashbuckler	4	4d6	+2	+1d	15+	4+
17,600	Buccaneer	5	5d6	+2	+2d	14+	4+
35,200	Marauder	6	6d6	+3	+2d	13+	4+
70,000	Corsair	7	7d6	+3	+2d	12+	3+
140,000	Pirate	8	8d6	+3	+2d	11+	3+
310,000	Dread Pirate	9	9d6	+4	+3d	10+	3+
480,000	Dread Pirate, 10th level	10	9d6 + 2*	+4	+3d	9+	3+
650,000	Dread Pirate, 11th level	11	9d6 + 4*	+4	+3d	8+	2+
820,000	Dread Pirate, 12th level	12	9d6 + 6*	+5	+3d	7+	2+
990,000	Dread Pirate, 13th level	13	9d6 + 8*	+5	+4d	6+	1+

Bloodsail Attack Bonus and Saving Throws

Level	Paralysis	Death	Blast	Implement	Spells	Attack Bonus
1	12+	13+	15+	16+	17+	+0
2-3	11+	12+	14+	15+	16+	+1
4	10+	11+	13+	14+	15+	+2
5-6	9+	10+	12+	13+	14+	+3
7	8+	9+	11+	12+	13+	+4
8-9	7+	8+	10+	11+	12+	+5
10	6+	7+	9+	10+	11+	+6
11-12	5+	6+	8+	9+	10+	+7
13	4+	5+	7+	8+	9+	+8

Combat Characteristics

Combat Proficiencies: Bloodsails have weapon proficiency with all tiny, small, and medium melee weapons and all missile weapons, as well as light or very light armor, and fighting style proficiency with all dual weapon and weapon and shield styles but not the two-handed weapon style.

Combat Progression: Bloodsails advance in attack throws and saving throws by two points every three levels. They increase their base damage roll from successful missile and melee attacks by +1 at 1^st level, and by an additional +1 at 3^rd, 6^th, 9^th, and 12^th level. They can cleave after felling a foe up to once per round per class level.

Starting Class Powers

Acrobatics: Bloodsails are trained to jump, tumble, somersault, and free-run around obstacles. They gain a +2 bonus to saving throws where agility would help avoid the danger, such as tilting floors and pit traps. They can add their class level to their DEX for purposes of the distance and height they can jump (see Dungeon Delves). As his movement action, a bloodsail can attempt a proficiency throw to tumble past an opponent he has engaged. If the throw fails, the character remains stationary. If it succeeds, he tumbles directly past his enemy into the space on the enemy’s opposite side, ending up either facing towards or away from the opponent (player’s choice). If the space on the enemy’s opposite side is occupied, the bloodsail cannot tumble.

If the opposite space If he ends up facing away from the opponent, he can make a combat movement in lieu of attacking if desired. If he ends up facing towards the opponent, he can attack (and possibly backstab) him. The bloodsail cannot tumble if he has an encumbrance of more than 5 stone and cannot tumble past the same enemy on two consecutive rounds. (This class power is the equivalent of Acrobatics proficiency.)

Backstabbing: Bloodsails are skilled at treacherously attacking unprepared enemies. A bloodsail can backstab any vulnerable opponent. Backstabs can be made in melee or with missile weapons at short range but cannot be made with missile weapons at medium or longer range. When backstabbing, a bloodsail gains a +4 bonus to hit and if the attack succeeds, the bloodsail deals an additional die of damage for every four levels he has attained.

Balanced Fighting: The bloodsail fights in an agile and acrobatic style that resembles the movement of the ocean. If the character is wearing light armor, very light armor, or no armor, and carrying 5 stones or less encumbrance, he gains a +1 bonus to Armor Class. At 7th level, the AC bonus increases to +2, and at 13th level the AC bonus increases to +3.

Balanced fighting can be stacked with Swashbuckling proficiency to increase the AC bonus, but the bonus from Swashbuckling is capped at +1 unless the character is unarmored.

Climbing: Bloodsails are adept at scaling sheer surfaces, including smooth walls or steep cliffs. The character must make a Climbing proficiency throw for each 100’ climbed (with a minimum of one check required). If the throw succeeds, the character can safely ascend or descend the distance. If the throw fails, the character falls a distance equal to half the attempted distance, plus the distance covered by any previous throws, taking 1d6 bludgeoning damage per 10 feet. A character can climb at his exploration speed or one-third his combat speed without penalty. If he moves at one-half combat speed, he takes a -5 penalty to the proficiency throw, and if he moves at full combat speed, he takes a -10 penalty.

Ship Sense: All bloodsails are trained to serve aboard marine vessels. The character knows how to sail or row (his choice). If he also has Navigation proficiency, he can serve as a navigator on a seafaring vessel. This is effectively one rank of the Seafaring Proficiency taken as a class power and can be improved by taking additional ranks.

Weapon Finesse: Bloodsails fight with lissome speed and cat-like agility. A bloodsail can apply his DEX modifier instead of his STR modifier on his melee attack throws when using tiny, small, and medium weapons. (This class power is the equivalent of Weapon Finesse proficiency.)

Additional Class Powers

Dirty Fighting (2^nd): Victory goes to the cunning and ruthless. The bloodsail gains his choice of Combat Trickery proficiency.

Boarding Party Leader (5^th): The bloodsail’s presence inspires troops he leads. Any marines or mariners gain a +1 bonus to their morale score whenever he personally leads them in ship combat. This bonus stacks with any modifiers from the bloodsail’s Charisma or proficiencies.

Ship (9^th): By acquiring a ship worth at least 15,000gp, the bloodsail can attract followers to his service. 5d6 x 10 0th level mariners and 1d6 bloodsails of 1^st – 3^rd level arrive to serve him within 1d3 months of him acquiring the ship. If the bloodsail already has a ship, the followers arrive to serve him within 1d3 months of him reaching 9^th level. The bloodsail must pay his followers the ordinary rates for mercenaries and henchmen or they leave his service.

Dread Pirate Robbery (11^th): The bloodsail’s fearsome reputation speaks for itself. In lieu of moving or attacking on his initiative, the bloodsail can demand surrender from a group of hostile creatures. The group can be of any size, but the creatures must be able to see, hear, and understand the character, and must be either outnumbered or surprised by the character and his allies in order to be affected. Affected creatures must make an immediate morale roll with a penalty equal to the bloodsail’s CHA bonus. A result of Retreat or Fighting Withdrawal will lead to their immediate surrender. If the demand fails, a character cannot demand surrender from the same creature or creatures again until other circumstances have triggered a morale roll by the creature or creatures. This ability can be used at the start of a D@W battle if the opposing army is surprised or outnumbered by the character’s army.

Racial Traits

As Lhazaaran elves, all bloodsails also possess certain benefits and drawbacks from their bloodline.

After the Flesh: For most mortals, undeath is a curse. For Lhazaaran elves, it is a pathway to power. If transformed into intelligent undead, the Lhazaaran retains his racial powers and his class abilities. Once transformed, the bloodsail can continue to advance in Hit Dice without limit, even past his class’s maximum level. All of the Lhazaaran’s class abilities will continue to progress without regard to his class’s maximum level, to a maximum of 14th level. The ACKS II Judges Journal offers additional rules for characters advancing via this power.

Illmarrow’s Blessing: Because of their connection to the Emerald Queen, Lhazaaran elves are completely unaffected by diseases caused by undead and gain a +1 bonus to Paralysis and Death saving throws. Their robust vitality grants a +1 bonus to their HD roll at 1st level. (These adjustments are already factored into their HD and saving throws on the tables.)

Dark Soul: Because of their black spirits, the grim embrace of death holds special perils for Lhazaaran elves. Whenever a deceased Lhazaaran elf rolls on the Tampering With Mortality table, he suffers a penalty on the 1d20 roll of -1 per class level.

Inexorable: Lhazaarans are inexorable in the face of horrors that terrify normal men. They are immune to all fear effects.

Lhazaaran Tongues: Due to their background and training, all Lhazaarans can speak Caernathi, Common, Dwarf Giant, and Lhazaaran.

Class Proficiencies

Proficiency Progression: At 1^st level, bloodsails select one class proficiency from their class proficiency list and one general proficiency from the general proficiency list. They select an additional class proficiency at 3^rd, 6^th, 9^th, and 12^th level. They select an additional general proficiency at 5^th, 9^th and 13^th level.

Lhazaaran Bloodsail Proficiency List: Alertness, Armor Training, Blind Fighting, Cat Burglary, Combat Ferocity, Combat Reflexes, Combat Trickery (disarm, force back, knock down, overrun, sunder), Command, Eavesdropping, Fighting Style Specialization, Intimidation, Kin-Slaying, Leadership, Manual of Arms, Martial Training, Military Strategy, Navigation, Precise Shooting, Riding, Running, Seafaring, Skirmishing, Sniping, Swashbuckling, Unarmed Fighting, Weapon Focus