Bandit class for Mystara

29 Apr, 2025

Another attempt at combining aspects of Fighter and Thief classes (in some ways similar to previously covered Bounty Hunter class) is the Bandit class from the Dragon Magazine #63¹. The most important part in converting this class for BECMI/RC is:

1. Hit Dice: Same as Clerics +1, so d6+1 HD (+1 hp/level after 9th) instead of the AD&D’s d8+1 (+2 hp/level after 9th) they had originally.
2. Ability Requirements: Keeping the two highest and most logical ones — Strength and Dexterity.
3. Experience Progression: The original one is quite unique but roughly equals the Thief class progression multiplied by 1.5.
4. Special Abilities: Mostly ported as-is, correcting for the different dice between the two systems.

Bandit Class

📝 NOTE: This character class is designed to be used with BECMI/Rules Cyclopedia² or its free clone Dark Dungeons³, but could be quite easily ported to any other edition of your choice.

Class Ability Requirements:

Alignment Restrictions: Neutral or Chaotic.

Equipment Restrictions: All missile weapons, but only one-handed melee weapons and shields. Armor allowed — chain mail or worse.

Experience Progression: As a Thief ×1.5.

Hit Points: 1d6+1/level, +1 hp/level after 9th level.

Attack Rolls: As a Fighter.

Saving Throws: As a Fighter.

General Skills: As a Fighter.

Weapon Mastery: As a Fighter.

Magical Items: All allowed to Fighters and Thieves.

Special Abilities:

• Climb Walls as a Thief of equal level.
• Hide in natural terrain using camouflage techniques and concealment, as well as a thief of the same level can hide in shadows.
• Detect and remove pits, snares, and other traps set outdoors, as well as a Thief of equal level can find and remove traps. A bandit may only attempt to find and remove any given trap once. This ability cannot be used indoors or underground, and does not apply to traps on chests, doors, etc.
• Surprise others on a roll of 1-3, and are themselves surprised only on a roll of 1.
• Cover tracks when passing through the countryside:
  • When moving at one-half normal movement rate, the bandit can pass through any sort of terrain (grass, snow, ash, dust, sand) without leaving any footprints or other visible evidence of the passage.
  • 50% chance at first level, +3% per level thereafter, up to 1 turn per level of experience per day.
  • As many attempts as desired can be made each day, as long as the total elapsed time of all the successful attempts does not exceed the daily maximum.
  • Each individual bandit can only employ this ability on his own behalf: one cannot cover the tracks of many, and one bandit may be betrayed by another one’s failure to cover his own tracks if the two are traveling close together.
  • Although visible evidence of his passage can be covered, the bandit will leave a scent that can be followed by such creatures as bloodhounds or minotaurs.
  • Anyone tracking a bandit who has successfully covered his trail must do so at –50% penalty (–10 penalty on Tracking skill check).
  • Anyone without skill at tracking or with no acute olfactory sense has a 10% chance in the first round (thanks to blind luck) and, if successful, 10% chance every round; otherwise, the trail is lost and can only be relocated by searching in the same spot for one round and then rolling the 10% chance all over again.
• Track persons or creatures in the outdoors with a base 75% chance to succeed:
  • +2% per creature in the group being followed;
  • –10% for every 24 hours since the trail was made;
  • –25% for each hour of precipitation (rain, snow, etc.);
  • Bandits cannot track characters or creatures indoors.
• When evading pursuit in an outdoor environment, bandits add +10% to their chance of escape. This does not apply to any and all non-bandits in the evading party, so it is possible that, while the party the bandit is with cannot avoid the posse, the bandit (who is assumed to have dodged into the underbrush at the last moment) has escaped. This ability applies only when the bandit is not already covering his trail.

The first character of the Bandit class — Lalana, the daughter of a Darokin merchant and a minor Sind noble. She has craved power since childhood, and her current ambition is to recruit formidable and dangerous men to establish herself as a bandit queen.

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