MAROONER

Salorras Paragon: Marooner · Base Path: Scoundrel (Thief) · OSE build: reskinned Advanced Fantasy acrobat chassis A custom OSE class for the swashbuckling corsairs and single-blade sea-duelists of the Deep Fleet of Lutys — the salt-cured sword-fighters of Asmeda’s seas who turn the rhythm of the waves into lethal swordplay. Played from 1st level; the character’s life upon the sea is part of their background.

The corsairs are fearsome, salt-weathered seafarers raised on the waves and the boundless deep of the oceans — the elite of the finest naval warriors in the history of Asmeda. Most are trained from an early age to join the Deep Fleet, the largest active armada in the world, though many are or were adventurers, merchants, messengers, and far-ranging explorers, and no few are cutpurses and pirates. They often travel the waters of the three continents as hired sailors, but their roots have always lain in Lutys, the historic city-state of the Free Cities of South, where the Deep Fleet and the best-known corsair haven are seated.

Salorras recognizes the corsairs’ formidable seafaring, yet keeps a wary distance from them: these sea-dogs hold an excellent command of single-sword swordplay, and negotiations with them can prove fatal. The open seas are their home, especially the waters of the Ornamentis coastline and the Tarpses gulf — stretches of the Arbon Ocean that the rest of the world’s ships systematically avoid. The marooners hold that salt water gives them life and strength, and that it is everyone’s right to travel by way of the seas; from the calm of the waves they grow wiser, and from the storms they learn to channel great force into the airy, elegant blows they deliver with their swords.

Those of the Deep Fleet act under the military laws of Lutys; the many who operate on their own live an anarchic life, despising private harbours and bureaucracy, and keep good relations with the autonomous and pirate fleets of the unofficial statelet of the Isles of Nocte. To the wider world, however it may be, the corsairs stir the feeling of anarchic scoundrels who steal, burn, and plunder the harbours and ships of Salorras.

Class Overview

Requirements: A life upon the sea (trained by the Deep Fleet of Lutys, or self-taught among the free fleets); minimum DEX 9 Prime requisite: DEX Hit Dice: 1d4 Maximum level: 14 Armour: Leather; no shields Weapons: One-handed swords and simple weapons Languages: Alignment, Colloquial

Marooners are single-sword sea-duelists — nimble, salt-cured skirmishers whose swordplay flows with the roll of the waves, and who win a fight by footwork, feint, and the sudden disarming stroke rather than by armour or weight. A prime requisite of DEX 13–15 grants +5% to experience earned; DEX 16–18 grants +10%. A marooner fights bare-handed of shield — the single-sword techniques depend on a free hand — and every trick below fails in medium or heavy armour, which they never wear.

The Marooner

Level	XP	Hit Dice (1d4)	THAC0	D	W	P	B	S
1	0	1d4	19 [0]	13	14	13	16	15
2	1,800	2d4	19 [0]	13	14	13	16	15
3	3,600	3d4	19 [0]	13	14	13	16	15
4	7,200	4d4	19 [0]	13	14	13	16	15
5	14,400	5d4	17 [+2]	12	13	11	14	13
6	30,000	6d4	17 [+2]	12	13	11	14	13
7	60,000	7d4	17 [+2]	12	13	11	14	13
8	120,000	8d4	17 [+2]	12	13	11	14	13
9	240,000	9d4	14 [+5]	10	11	9	12	10
10	420,000	9d4+2*	14 [+5]	10	11	9	12	10
11	600,000	9d4+4*	14 [+5]	10	11	9	12	10
12	780,000	9d4+6*	14 [+5]	10	11	9	12	10
13	960,000	9d4+8*	12 [+7]	8	9	7	10	8
14	1,140,000	9d4+10*	12 [+7]	8	9	7	10	8

* Modifiers from CON no longer apply. — Saving throws: D Death/Poison · W Wands · P Paralysis/Petrify · B Breath Attacks · S Spells/Rods/Staves. The marooner fights and saves as a thief; the XP column follows the Advanced Fantasy acrobat track and is reconstructed pending confirmation against the printed Player’s Tome.

Class Abilities

Combat. Marooners wield any one-handed sword or simple weapon, wear only leather, and bear no shield — a shield fouls the single-sword fighting their techniques depend on. All their sword-tricks require a free off hand and fail in medium or heavy armour.

Skillful. A lifetime on the water makes the marooner a master mariner: they gain a bonus that grows with their level to every feat of seamanship — sailing and handling a vessel, swimming, climbing rigging, and rope-work.

Traveler’s Ken. From 1st level the marooner accrues a broad, general knowledge of the inhabitants of far regions, of fabled objects, and of strange corners of the world. Once per subject they may test this ken (a roll improving with their level and Intelligence) to recall some scrap of lore about a place, person, or legend tied to their travels.

Pirate Tricks. The heart of the marooner’s swordplay. While fighting with a single one-handed sword and a free off hand, the marooner may, at the start of each round, choose one of three sword-tricks to press that round: Disarm (a twisting stroke that flings the foe’s weapon from their grip), Feint (a deceiving flourish that robs the foe of their defence against the marooner’s next blow), or Trip (a low sweep that puts the foe on the deck). Only one trick may be pressed per round.

Duelist’s Focus. From 2nd level the marooner’s constant drill with one chosen kind of one-handed sword yields a +1 bonus to attack rolls with it, rising to +2 at 8th level and +3 at 13th.

Sea-Legs Wariness. From 3rd level the marooner does not lose their defence when caught unawares or struck from hiding (retaining any Dexterity bonus to Armour Class unless bound or helpless). From 7th level they can no longer be flanked — no ring of foes can slip past their guard by position alone.

Finesse of the Tides. From 4th level the marooner learns from the waves to put little strength behind great weight: they may apply their Dexterity bonus, rather than their Strength, to attack rolls with their chosen one-handed sword, so long as they wear no more than leather.

Traveled Linguist. Also from 4th level, having put in at countless harbours, the marooner picks up an additional regional tongue they have encountered on their voyages.

Spirited Tricks. From 5th level the marooner presses their advantage: when they land a pirate trick against a foe, they gain a bonus (equal to half their level) on the next pirate trick they attempt against that same foe within a few rounds — a “spirited trick.” The bonus is spent whether the next trick lands or not, and must be earned afresh by landing another.

Parley. From 6th level the marooner knows the rules and the unwritten code of the sea so well that they gain a bonus (equal to half their level) on any social dealing — bargaining, cajoling, cowing — with sailors, dockhands, pirates, and seafarers on matters tied to the sea.

Swells Rider. Also from 6th level, the marooner is so at home on a rolling deck that they never lose their footing aboard ship: they may move, balance, climb, and leap about a vessel with sure success even amid storm and chaos.

Shift Tricks. From 8th level the marooner’s tricks become reflex. When a foe drops their guard — moving heedlessly past the marooner or leaving an opening — the marooner may loose their chosen pirate trick as an instant reaction, spending it as they would a reactive strike.

Surge of the Oceans. From 9th level the marooner channels the airy force of a tempest into their blows: while wielding their chosen finesse-sword in no more than leather, they add their Dexterity bonus (minimum +1) to damage as well as to the attack.

Corsair Haven — After Reaching 9th Level. A marooner of proven repute may keep a corsair haven — a berth in Lutys, a hidden cove among the Isles of Nocte, a “respectable” harbour-front — whereupon sailors, deckhands, and aspiring sword-duelists gather to crew for the marooner and learn the tricks of the single blade.

Twin Tricks. From 11th level the marooner’s mastery is such that they may press two different pirate tricks in the same round, weaving disarm into feint, or trip into disarm, in a single flowing exchange.

Sea Dog Retaliation. At 14th level the marooner’s notorious appetite for revenge reaches its height. When a foe swings at the marooner and misses — above all a reactive strike as the marooner darts past — the marooner may make an immediate counterattack in return, the sea-dog answering every wasted blow with one of their own.

Ex-Marooners

A marooner cast out of the brotherhood of the sea — branded oath-breaker by the Deep Fleet, or marooned by their own crew for some betrayal of the sailor’s code — loses nothing their own hands and years on the waves have won: every technique of the class is theirs to keep. But the harbours of the Free Cities grow cold to a corsair without a crew, and a marooner who breaks faith with the sea may find every port closed and every old comrade turned enemy.