Environment: primitive jungles, wilderness, and tropical islands.
Organization: solitary, group (2-12), war party (8-48), or village (100-800)
Treasure Carried: spear, leather armor, wooden shield, bead necklace (10 gp)

Natives are the primitive people who live in jungles, wilderness, and tropical islands.

Most natives are tribal and nomadic, making only small, temporary settlements often in remote places. Their technology will often be poorly developed (stone age or bronze age), and they may rely on the outside world for more advanced technology such as iron weapons. These will often be gained by trade or war.

Since natives live close to nature, their societies and cultures reflect the limitations imposed on them by their environment and way of life.

NATIVE SOCIETY

Most natives wear scant clothes and no armor, but some wear the equivalent of leather armor and the tribal chiefs may wear special armor made of hardened bone or lacquered wood. Their most common weapons are spears, daggers, knives, axes or javelins, although some may use nets, tridents, bolas, and/or blowguns. Natives may also carry shields.

Some natives are farmers and/or animal herders, but most live by hunting, gathering, and/or fishing. Some live by preying on other tribes. Their dwellings are simple wooden huts or tents often protected (in the case of settled groups) by a wooden stockade.

The warriors of the more warlike tribes (including cannibals) are all first-level fighters, but the natives of peaceful tribes are mostly commoners who have a few high-level leaders. For every 20 natives, there is an additional 2nd-level fighter who acts as their leader. For every 40 natives, there is an additional 4th level fighter who acts as a war chief. For each village of at least 100, there is a chieftain who is a 6th level fighter. There is a 50% chance that each village of at least 100 also has a tribal shaman who is a sorcerer or cleric of at least 5th level. If 300 natives are encountered, there is a "great chief" of at least 9th level. This chief is guarded by 2d4 4th level warriors.

NATIVES AS CHARACTERS

Most natives are commoners or warriors, though a fair number of them are fighters and barbarians. Rangers, clerics, sorcerers, and druids are less common in tribal communities, but are not unheard of. Other character classes are exceedingly rare among these natives.

Natives are defined by their class levels--they do not possess racial Hit Dice. They have the following racial traits. Natives have the following racial modifiers (these modifiers replace those normally described for Humans)

• +2 Constitution, -2 Intelligence, +2 Wisdom. Natives are strong and observant, but their education is limited.
• Medium size: Natives have no special bonuses or penalties due to their size.
• Normal Speed: A native’s base land speed is 30 feet.
• Weapon Training: Natives are automatically proficient with the bola, longbow, shortbow, and the net.
• Self-sufficient: Natives get a +2 racial bonus on Heal and Survival checks.
• Born Hunters: Natives get a +2 racial bonus to Perception and Stealth checks.
• Languages: Natives begin play speaking Common. Natives with high Intelligence scores can choose any language they want (except secret languages, such as Druidic.)