Amazon [Human]

Amazons are strikingly tall women, often handsome but cold of eye and heart. A clan's homeland shapes its gear and talents, from riding to small-boat work. All speak the common tongue; some clans also keep a private language.

Nothing short of invisibility lets a foe surprise an amazon. They fight as barbarians, usually in light chain (it varies), favoring spears, with swords, axes and bows also common; younger warriors are often good with slings. Strength runs 15 to 18 with 18/00 possible, and Dexterity and Constitution each fall from 13 to 18. Unarmed, she still inflicts 1d6 per round with fists, kicks, nails and teeth.

Plains clans drive light two-horse war chariots, each crewed by a driver and an archer, moving at 18 and stocked with javelins and war arrows; the archer shoots a composite short bow from the moving car as if on solid ground. Steppe clans are mounted archers who live in huge wagons that circle into a fortified camp, and their horsemanship seems nearly supernatural. Island clans sail light, quick galleys for trade and occasional piracy, all swim and handle small craft superbly, and they shine with the long bow.

Ten or more amazons travel with a 2nd-level witch-doctor and an extra 5th/6th leader; twenty or more add a captain of 7th/8th. With thirty or more there is a 30% chance this band is one of 2-5 raiding groups, all within 5 miles, and their 'lair' is a ship or a pack or wagon train.

A home base holds thirty 4th-level warriors, four leaders of 5th/6th, one of 7th/8th, and a queen, a 9th- to 12th-level barbarian guarded by four men of 2nd/3rd and two women of 5th/6th. A male witch-doctor of no less than 4th-level wizard skill also dwells there. Common men outnumber the warrior women two to one; half serve as men-at-arms equipped like their mistresses and the rest mind 2-12 children. Island clans live in walled cities built around a great marble temple to their goddess, where a priest-magician of like skill replaces the witch-doctor.

Warriors under 4th level are 15 to 19 years old. Any who fall short by 20 are banished and seldom readmitted. A worthy female outsider of 4th or higher may be adopted after initiation, training and quests that teach her the clan's arms. Lone amazons sometimes fight in mercenary companies, keeping their clan weapons or picking up foreign ones.

Large amazon nations keep to themselves or stay on the move. Neighbors call them barbarians regardless of their real sophistication and distrust them, and the amazons return the feeling. Plenty of warlike peoples have assumed a band of women would be easy plunder; all of them learned otherwise at great cost.

Elven amazons roam the forests armed with long bows and spears, sometimes riding unicorns. Dwarven ones swing axes and war hammers from the backs of giant boars. Gnomish amazons carry short swords and throwing axes; they lack mounts but are superb survivors who track as rangers. Halfling amazons use slings and javelins and are known for clever snares and tireless stamina.