Al-Qadim Prestige Class : Mamluk
The mamluk of AL-QADIM is a rare mix of warrior and scholar. Trained from childhood as an educated, fanatical warrior, the mamluk is without peer on the battlefield. Mamluk legions are as fierce as any fighting force and as disciplined as any army.
Each mamluk bears facial tattoos that indicate the legion to which he belongs. These simple tattoos also denote his rank within the legion. Each mamluk legion sports different patterns for rank, but all are recognizable to any mamluk.
Mamluks are fanatically loyal to others in their legions, and they readily take orders from any higher-ranking member. Rank is the final arbiter in all disputes of authority within a legion. Any mamluk may give orders to another of lower rank in the same legion and expect those orders to be carried out, unless they are countermanded by a mamluk who is superior to both.
Fighters gain the most from taking this class, although many mamluks are also paladins and rangers. A small but growing number of monks have joined the ranks of mamluks, drawn by the strict discipline and rigid codes of the order. Their refusal to wear armor or shields earns them a measure of respect from those who otherwise would mock them. Other classes have little to gain from the class, and find its requirements difficult to achieve.
NPC mamluks can be found in isolated desert oases, training and drilling, in cities, or in armies on the march.
Requirements
To qualify to become a Mamluk, a character must fulfill all the following criteria:
- Alignment: Any lawful
- Skills: Knowledge (history) 4 ranks, Survival 4 ranks.
- Feats: Great Fortitude, Toughness,
- Base Attack Bonus: +5
- Base Fortitude Saving Throw: +4.
Class Skills
The mamluk's class skills are Climb, Craft, Diplomacy, Handle Animal, Heal, Intimidate, Jump, Knowledge (geography), Knowledge (history), Knowledge (local), Knowledge (nobility and royalty), Ride, Search, Sense Motive, Spot, and Survival.
Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier.
Class Features
All of the following are class features of the mamluk prestige class.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Mamluks are proficient with all simple and martial weapons, as well as with light, medium, and heavy armor and with shields of all types.
Hardened (Ex): Mamluks train in the harshest desert environments. At 1st level, a mamluk can ignore the -4 penalty to resist the effects of heat while wearing medium or light armor. When wearing no armor, a mamluk gains a +4 bonus on saves made to resist the effects of heat. Due to their constant training, mamluks can move at their full speed when wearing medium armor.
Authority: A mamluk gains a bonus equal to +1 per mamluk level on all Charisma-based skill checks made against mamluks of lower rank.
Endurance (Ex): At 3rd level, a mamluk gains Endurance as a bonus feat.
Rally (Ex): Also at 3rd level, a mamluk learns to fight beside his brothers with ferocious tenacity. When fighting within 10 feet of at least one other mamluk, he gains a +1 morale bonus on his attack rolls, damage rolls, and saving throws against mind-affecting effects. This bonus increases to +2 at 6th level and +3 at 9th level.
Iron Focus (Ex): Mamluk training cultivates fanatical loyalty. A mamluk of 4th level or higher gains a +4 morale bonus on all saves against fear effects.
Toughness (Ex): At 5th level, a mamluk gains Toughness as a bonus feat.
Zealot (Ex): The mamluk's intense training grants him powerful resistances to certain effects. A 6th-level mamluk gains a +2 bonus on all saves against mind-affecting, sleep, paralysis, stunning, and death effects.
War-Hardened (Ex): When a mamluk reaches 7th level, his single-minded drive allows him to complete the most difficult training imaginable. At that point, he can move at his normal speed even in heavy armor.
Diehard (Ex): At 8th level, a mamluk gains Diehard as a bonus feat.
Desert Survivor (Ex): The intense survival training of the mamluks allows them to ignore the desert's harshest effects. Beginning at 9th level, a mamluk is immune to the nonlethal damage dealt by hot environments (see Heat Dangers). In addition, whenever the mamluk makes a Fortitude save for which he gains the bonus granted from the Endurance feat, he does not automatically fail on a natural 1 (he might still fail the save if his saving throw bonus isn't high enough to meet or exceed the DC).
Fanaticism (Su): Due to the fanatical mind of a 10th-level mamluk, he is able to shrug off the effects of some wounds. Because of this, he gains damage reduction 2/-.
| Mamluk | Hit Die: d12 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CL | BAB | Fort | Ref | Will | Special |
| 1st | +1 | +2 | +0 | +0 | Hardened |
| 2nd | +2 | +3 | +0 | +0 | Authority |
| 3rd | +3 | +3 | +1 | +1 | Endurance, rally +1 |
| 4th | +4 | +4 | +1 | +1 | Iron focus |
| 5th | +5 | +4 | +1 | +1 | Toughness |
| 6th | +6 | +5 | +2 | +2 | Zealot, rally +2 |
| 7th | +7 | +5 | +2 | +2 | War-hardened |
| 8th | +8 | +6 | +2 | +2 | Diehard |
| 9th | +9 | +6 | +3 | +3 | Desert survivor, rally +3 |
| 10th | +10 | +7 | +3 | +3 | Fanaticism |
Source: Dragon #321