Hajduk

Hajduk kinships are tight, family-like independent groups who live off the wild and protect those who can’t defend themselves. Instead of living under a particular banner or faction, they have found ways to live in harmony with the denizens of the forests and understand the unspoken rules of the wild. While anyone can become a hajduk, they survive as one large, insular family (called a kinship), so it’s difficult to earn their trust, let alone become one of their number. The hajduk cause is usually a noble one, but at times it requires sacrifice and bloodshed when fighting against oppression and tyranny. They take from those who greedily acquire too much and give to those who’ve been unjustly left too little. The hajduk kinships live in harmony with nature and respect its cycle, preferring to escape the artificial chains that are the laws of urban society. They leave their verdant camps to fight for justice in civilized places where corruption and oppression grip the hearts of mortals, striving to bring the ancient natural balance back to places where civility has festered into tyranny. Most folk see them as heroes willing to fight establishments for the people—not for themselves, but for the good of all. Hajduks usually operate in small guerrilla groups, ambushing supply convoys, freeing wrongfully imprisoned captives, and even planning and executing major coups against tyrannical leaders. What makes them so dangerous is their ability to infiltrate political and social organizations with cunning and ease. They don’t wage wars or go into military battles, instead relying on stealth, careful planning, and strategic positioning.

All credit is due to Yellow Mad

Skill Proficiencies: Choose two among Animal Handling, Deception, Nature, Perception, Stealth, or Survival.

Tool Proficiencies: Choose one from cartographer’s tools, disguise kit, forgery kit, or woodcarver’s tools

Languages: One of your choice

Equipment: A grappling hook, chain (10 feet), hempen rope (50 feet), a signal whistle, a two-person tent, a sling, a net, a set of travelers clothes, and a pouch containing 5 gp

Suggested Characteristics

Hajduks are led by their devotion to fight injustice. They respect the natural cycle and denizens of the wild, utilizing their knowledge of nature to continue their secret fight against usurpers and tyrants.

d8	Personality Trait
1	I protect those who can’t do so themselves as if they’re my own siblings, and I don’t expect anything in return.
2	I believe nature is the wisest teacher if you listen and observe its teachings.
3	I always like to have a trick up my sleeve
4	I live by my deeds, and I use my actions to inspire those around me.
5	Fighting for what is right sometimes comes at a great cost—a cost I’m prepared to pay
6	I’ve lost too many friends in the fight against corruption, so I cherish and keep the few I have close to me.
7	When an opportunity presents itself, I don’t pounce on it. I wait for the most advantageous moment for maximum effect.
8	I trust no authority except that of the forest and that of my kinship

d6	Ideal
1	Mercy. Everybody has redeemable qualities. Even the tyrants I stand against deserve a second chance. (Good)
2	Anarchy. Order is an illusion created by those with power to control those without. (Chaotic)
3	Altruism. The happiness on the face of the people I help is the greatest payment I can ever receive. (Good)
4	Devotion. Lives given for a greater cause are not lost, but required. (Lawful)
5	Freedom. I will not allow tyrants to subdue the people. (Chaotic)
6	Balance. I take it upon myself to relieve people of their spare change—only when they have too much—and spread it amongst the poor. (Any)

d6	Bond
1	I will always remember the faces of the people I first helped as a hajduk. Everything I steal goes toward something bigger than myself.
2	What I am today I owe to my kinship
3	I was taken away from my family when I was young, so I became a hajduk to give those like myself the opportunity to have a family.
4	I will do anything to protect the hajduk kinship and my friends.
5	I fell in love with a member of an organization that my hajduk kinship is trying to sabotage
6	My hajduk kinship was brutally murdered and I was left to watch them die. Vengeance will be mine

d6	Flaw
1	I am slow to trust and quick to assume everyone is out to con me.
2	There is no such thing as a fair fight. I either kill or get killed.
3	I can’t help but take things I like, even if they don’t belong to me.
4	Sometimes I let my friendship sabotage my work.
5	I allow emotions to cloud my judgment.
6	I am jealous of those who surpass me in my work.