| Ability Requirement: |
Constitution 13+ Intelligence 13+ Wisdom 13+ Charisma 15+ |
|
| Prime Requisite: | Dexterity, Charisma | |
| Races Allowed: | Half-elf, Half-Vistani, Human |
When most folk think of gypsies in Ravenloft, they picture the mysterious Vistani. While it is certainly true that those wanderers of the Mists are often called by the common name "gypsy", they are not the only such folk who dwell on the Demiplane of Dread. Player character gypsies are not Vistani, although many of these oft-called vagabonds do have some hint of Mist walker blood in them.
Ability Requirements
In order to be a gypsy, a character must have Constitution, Intelligence, and Wisdom scores of at least 13. In addition, his Charisma score must also be at least 15. If a gypsy has Dexterity and Charisma scores of 16 or better, he receives a 10% bonus to any experience points he earns.
The former requirements reflect the fact that the gypsy has traveled far and wide. He must be strong enough to survive the rigors of traveling and should have gathered a great deal of knowledge and common sense in his journeys.
The latter requirement indicates the aura of mystery and awe that surrounds these people. Sadly, while this makes them stand out from the common folk of Ravenloft, it also brands them as outsiders - and citizens of the Demiplane of Dread seldom trust outsiders.
Alignment
The gypsies are a mysterious people who live by a rigid code of personal honor and laws. Because their values often differ from those of the communities that they visit, however, many people regard gypsies as a wild and lawless breed. In truth, however, all such characters must be either lawful or neutral. No matter how much the villagers of Ravenloft might like to think so, no chaotic gypsies exist. Also, no player character gypsies can be of an evil alignment.
Of course, this doesn't mean that all gypsies are virtuous and kind. In fact, the ranks of non-Vistani gypsies are evenly divided between good, neutral, and evil. Thus, while they may adhere to their own standards of honor, their values and morality differ greatly from tribe to tribe.
Arms and Armor
Gypsies have a somewhat limited choice of weapons and armor compared to other rogues. No doubt this is partially responsible for their tendency to avoid direct confrontation in favor of stealth and trickery. Gypsies cannot wear any form of metal armor. Even the delicate and supple chainmail wrought by elf smiths is prohibited to them. In addition, they never make use of any form of shield. Gypsies can employ only one-handed melee weapons, although they are free to employ bows, crossbows, and other two-handed missile weapons.
Spells and Magical Items
The gypsies of Ravenloft have access to a fair selection of magical items and can cast a good many spells. They can also use any magical item normally available to members of the thief class. In addition, they have free access to all magical items that emulate divination spells, such as a crystal ball, even when those are intended for characters of another class.
Higher-level gypsies do not gain the ability to use priest and wizard scrolls as thieves do. However, those that have a divination purpose, like a scroll with a detect magic spell on it, are always usable by them.
As they advance in levels, gypsy characters can use a limited number of wizard spells. They do not keep spell books like normal wizards do, although they do go through similar steps to learn their spells. In addition, they need not choose their spells ahead of time, although any spell they wish to use has a casting time of three turns (thirty minutes). Only those spells that fall into the schools of lesser and greater divination are available to the gypsy. Table 104: Gypsy Spell Progression indicates the number of spells that a gypsy can cast per day.
Table 104: Gypsy Spell Progression
| Gypsy Level |
Wizard Spell | |||||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |||||
| 1-3 | 1 | - | - | - | ||||
| 4-6 | 2 | - | - | - | ||||
| 7-9 | 2 | 1 | - | - | ||||
| 10-12 | 3 | 2 | - | - | ||||
| 13-15 | 3 | 2 | 1 | - | ||||
| 16-18 | 3 | 2 | 2 | - | ||||
| 19+ | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | ||||
Gypsy Clans
All gypsy player characters are members of gypsy tribes. For one reason or another, however, they have left their tribe behind to explore and adventure for a time. This is not an uncommon action among the young men and women of Ravenloft's gypsy tribes.
During his travels, a young gypsy may well encounter tribes other than his own. Depending upon his alignment and the values of the other tribe, this may or may not present a problem. It is impossible for a gypsy to hide his alignment from another tribe without the use of magical spells.
If the adventurer encounters a tribe whose alignment exactly matches his own, he is welcomed as a friend. He is given whatever aid and comfort it is within the means of that tribe to provide. Should the tribe's alignment deviate only slightly from that of the character (lawful neutral and lawful good, for example), the adventurer is welcomed and treated as a guest. He receives no special consideration but is given food, a place to sleep, and the like. If the adventurer and the tribe do not have similar alignments, he is turned away. Depending on his response to this treatment, violence may erupt. Nothing prohibits one tribe of gypsies from making war on another.
Knife Fighting
The traditional weapon of the gypsy is the knife or dagger. In fact, no other class (with the possible exception of the fighter) is as skillful in the use of these weapons as the gypsy. For that reason, a gypsy can specialize in the use of the knife just as if he were a fighter. This specialization requires the normal allocation of proficiency slots and applies to both melee combat and the throwing of knives as well.
This specialization is a limited form of the fighter's ability, however. While the character does receive the normal +1 attack bonus and +2 damage bonus, he does not gain any extra attacks with the knife.
Gypsy Lore
This ability is similar to that of the bard and the arcanist, who know a little bit about everything. Because of the traveling life of a gypsy, whether he is on his own or in the company of his clan, these characters accumulate a wealth of knowledge about the various lands of Ravenloft.
When a gypsy character is presented with an object, meets a person, explores a place, or is otherwise confronted with something about which he might have knowledge, the Dungeon Master should roll percentile dice. The chance that a character will know something about a given topic is 5% per level. Thus, a 12th-level gypsy has a 60% chance to know a little bit about a given domain lord or magical object.
The extent of the character's knowledge should be determined by the Dungeon Master, but should generally be brief. For example, when a gypsy character first encounters an unfamiliar plant, the Dungeon Master may decide to give the character a chance of recognizing it. If the roll succeeds, the gypsy might be told something like, "Those are bloodroses; I'd keep my distance."
Sinister Perceptions
Because the gypsies are not looked upon with favor by most of Ravenloft's common folk, they suffer a marked disadvantage in earning their trust. Whenever a gypsy is called upon to make an encounter reaction check (see the Dungeon Master Guide), his result is automatically shifted one place toward hostile. Thus, a gypsy never receives a result of "friendly" when dealing with a nongypsy. Note that this applies only when dealing with nongypsies. The rules presented earlier in this section can be used to adjudicate encounters between members of various gypsy tribes.
The Vistani
Non-Vistani gypsy tribes fall into a sort of cultural netherworld. Not only are they feared and often mistrusted by their human kindred, the ranks of the Vistani find them generally distasteful as well. In the eyes of Ravenloft's so-called "true gypsies," these people are at best considered cheap imitations and are often the target of ridicule and abuse. At worst, non-Vistani gypsies are frauds who can not be trusted and who wish to ferret out the secrets of the Mist walkers.
In game terms, this negative reaction is reflected in an adjustment to the character's Charisma-based attributes. When dealing with a Vistani, a gypsy character will find that his initial reaction and loyalty base adjustments are always penalties. Thus, it is as bad to have a high Charisma score as a low one when dealing with the Vistani.
