AD&D Calibans?

[Deewun]

I posted another thread about a campaign I will be running with all AD&D modules. Probably just 7 or 8 posts down, you cannot miss it.

In discussing that campaign with some of my players, one asked about Calibans, which do not exist in the 2nd edition version of the world. And that got me thinking.

Calibans are great for Ravenloft as a setting not because the 3.x had half-orcs and they needed a version in the setting. The new ideas created around them are incredibly intricate and interesting. They are the exact opposite of the Half-Vistani. Both cursed by their heritage, though the Half-Vistani because of their non-human part, and the Calibans because of their human part. They have the same curse, a rejection from their (human) race, but a different boon, as the Half-Vistani become more intelligent and wise, and the Calibans become tougher and stronger. They also both fill the same "demi-human" role within the world: more accepted than elves, dwarves, gnomes, and halflings (for the most part), but less accepted than being actually human.

I am a sucker for juxtaposition, and these two combined have it in spades. But ... they don't exist in 2nd edition. My own hatred of the 3.x system of Dungeons and Dragons foils an intriguing and in my opinion necessary addition to the setting as a whole.

My first attempts to bring this race didn't fare very well. I tried to take design inspiration from Dark Sun, thinking that either Half-Giants or Muls would make a very interesting mechanical representation of Calibans. And while Muls could work, their greater endurance abilities and ability to choose whether or not they are a human or demi-human are counter productive to my concept of how the Calibans fit within Ravenloft as a whole, as no matter how inhuman they seem, they are still human, merely cursed, or very unlucky to say the least.

I've gone on to try to match them to half-vistani, again in my attempt at juxtaposition, and that works pretty well. [NOTE: I will put this information down at the bottom of this post, as it breaks up the narrative flow of my thoughts a bit too much] But I still come to a problem with their actual racial abilities. Sure, I could say they have none other than the Stat adjustments and their class choices, but where is the interest in that?

Then I realized, I cannot be the only one who has wondered what these creatures would be like in 2nd edition? Perhaps some of the folks on this board have an idea or two? So I ask you fellas of the Fraternity, what do you think? Do you have any ideas? Does this even slightly peak your interest? I welcome all thoughts, and will hopefully have a good answer for my player other than "Only in 3rd edition, sorry".

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Calibans

Ability score adjustments: +1 Str, +1 Con, -2 Char

Class avaliable: Fighter, Avenger, Elementalist*, Cleric, Thief, Psionicist

* On this detail I feel I should give my ideas for this, considering that only Humans can be elementalists, and the other classes are pretty self-explanatory. Beyond the fact that I think it would be very visually interesting, I had a strong feeling about this class choice. Wizards are in and of themselves a rare breed among the populace. Even more so arcanists. But Elementalists are the "barbarians" of wizards, in a sense. They use the most basic understanding of nature and the arcane (the four elements) and seek to control it. I thought this meshed will with the state of the Calibans. I also liked the idea of them being able to do something only humans could previously do, as in effect, they really are just humans, though cursed for no fault of their own. I also felt it made a nice juxtaposition to the Half-Vistani: as they could be Arcanists, the Calibans can be Elementalists. I actually used this idea of two-sides of the same almost-human-coin for why Calibans could be clerics as well, since Half-Vistani cannot.

[The Giamarga]

Your stats are quite similar to the 2E or 1E half orc iirc. (1E PHB, 2E from PHBR10) And this is probably as it should be.

2E questions: Which multiclass combinations are allowed? How high can they advance?

[Deewun]

I want to emphasize that they are human, just cursed, so they are a dual-classing race, like humans and half-vistani.

As for level caps, I generally houserule those out anyway, but again, I'd wanna emphasize that human nature, so unlimited.

[Rotipher of the FoS]

While the name "caliban" wasn't applied to them, NPC freaks have been turning up in Ravenloft products for a very long time. There's a freakish child in the Requiem module series, a malformed outcast as protagonist in the Headless Horseman story from Tales of Ravenloft, and a number of hunchbacks have appeared in the setting's modules or fiction.

Rather than treat them as a separate race, 2E products generally treated these people as human, where game statistics were concerned. If they were stronger, tougher, or tons less charismatic than most folk, that was because they were statistical outliers within the human population, not because of racial modifiers. At most, the ones with the weirdest traits might be given a single unique modifier to reflect their abnormality, much like the Twisted or someone who's blown a Powers check.

[Matthew L. Martin]

While the name "caliban" wasn't applied to them, NPC freaks have been turning up in Ravenloft products for a very long time. There's a freakish child in the Requiem module series, a malformed outcast as protagonist in the Headless Horseman story from Tales of Ravenloft, and a number of hunchbacks have appeared in the setting's modules or fiction.

I remember talking to John Mangrum during the design of RL 3E, and he called those characters (I'm specifically thinking of the deformed child from Death Triumphant, Horg from Mordenheim and Wort from Tower of Doom) as inspiration for 3E's caliban.

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

I think it's a fine idea to try and include calibans in a 2e campaign, whether by doing as Rotipher said and just making them humans with the right stat choices, or making a new race for them.

But sadly, I can't comment much on the rules... as I read your post, I came to realize that most of my 2e knowledge has fled my brain. If I were to play 2e again, it would be like learning a whole new system. As it was the first version of D&D I actually owned, this really saddens me.

(The other night I woke up unexpectedly and thought to myself, "Hey, remember 'Exceptional Strength'? That was a weird rule... huh..." and went back to sleep. Perhaps that was the last of my 2e memories sneaking out under cover of darkness...)

[Deewun]

Rather than treat them as a separate race, 2E products generally treated these people as human, where game statistics were concerned. If they were stronger, tougher, or tons less charismatic than most folk, that was because they were statistical outliers within the human population, not because of racial modifiers.

While true, I am wanting to give them actual stats to mirror the Half-Vistani. And in general this arguement could apply to all races, but the mechanics are what cement these things for players. What separates a human from a half-elf? The partial elven racial abilities, not the pointy ears.

Not to say you are wrong, just not what I'm looking for in this endeavor, though I DID do this for my last campaign's Caliban NPC.

But sadly, I can't comment much on the rules... as I read your post, I came to realize that most of my 2e knowledge has fled my brain. If I were to play 2e again, it would be like learning a whole new system. As it was the first version of D&D I actually owned, this really saddens me.

This is what I was mostly afraid of, and is understandable. Heck, I'm the strange one for wanting to use the defunct and at least 10 year old rule package instead of the new(er) 3.X series, or Jester's additions to 4e.

But while the memory of the rules may be gone, I know that the memory of the subject matter is still there, and that is enough for me and anyone else who can remember the rules to try to piece together an AD&D counterpart.

I will hopefully have some musings up in a few hours of mechanical aspects that I think should be considered, just so folks can see, and if nothing else, I can help entertain and spark conversation.

[Deewun]

My mechanical musings on the Calibani [note: I always liked the sound of this version of pluralizing the name, so I'm humoring myself here.]

Description and Personality are both cribbed from the 3rd edition write ups.

Ability Scores:
+1 Str and Con, -2 Char

Special Abilities:

Nightsight [note: my wife actually suggested this, though in very different words, as she has yet to play in a 2nd edition campaign, or any campaign for that matter]

A calibani character’s eyes are accustomed to darkness, giving them a version of infravision, though everything has a seemingly greenish tint. This “nightsight” as it is colloquially called goes out to about sixty feet, though unlike infravision, torches and lanterns do not spoil this ability. This ability only functions in mundane darkness, and has no effect on magical effects or supernatural effects created by certain types of monsters.

Tortured Souls

The calibani have an innate resolve to the terrors of the world, as they are troubled with the weight of their existance, and used to the more terrible aspects of human nature. This provides calibani characters with an innate +1 bonus to Fear and Horror checks.

Blood Madness [note: As I wrote earlier, I really like the idea of this race and Half-Vistani being two sides of the same "almost human coin" mechanically, which lead to the creation of their own form of "lunatio." This was much easier to do once I realized the work had already been made for me in the form of the 2nd Edition Horror checks.]

Life is not simple for a caliban. Whenever a Caliban kills another living person, a blood madness or cruorem takes over them, as all their inner rage and fear wells up inside them.
Whenever this happens, a calibani character must make a successful madness check or be overcome with this madness. A failed check results in the character becoming enraged, as per the failed horror check (pg. 147 Domains of Dread), though the target of his rage is the closest target in sight, friend or foe. After three rounds, the character may make another madness check. Success indicates that the cruorem has left him and he has come to his senses. Failure results in another three rounds, which then allows for another madness check. If no living foe is left available, then the character will flee to some place he deems safe.
Flying into such a terrible rage leaves a calibani character’s mind weary and sleep restless. Because of this, he cannot heal wounds without magical aid and is utterly unable to memorize new spells until another day has passed.
Because of the necessity of blood, killing an undead foe does not trigger the cruorem. Fresh blood must be spilt for the blood madness to take sway over the character.

Rogue abilities [note: I decided early on that there was no way to be able to give the Calibans they're own version of Tralaks or an innate understanding of nature within the Demiplane of Dread or to be from different tribes, which left me wondering about the balance of such a race. Then I stumbled over the idea of what a calibani rogue would look like, how they would differ from the other races. Basing my ideas off of Quasimodo and Mr. Hyde, I found an interesting idea of differentiating the race again from others, by giving them a very distinctive feeling as rogues.]

Pick Pockets -10%
Open Locks –
Find and Remove Traps –
Move Silently –
Hide in Shadows +5%
Detect Noise –
Climb Walls +15%
Read Languages +5%