Secutor

Secutor 

The Secutor (from the Latin word for "follower" or "chaser") is one of the better known types of gladiator one finds in the coliseums of Rome. Perhaps less so than the Retiarius (from the Latin "rete"  meaning "net" ) with their iconic net and trident. In fact, the Secutores are meant to be the ideal opponent for the Retiarii. 

The Retiarii are meant to represent the Roman god Neptune or, more popularly, fishermen, or water. The Secutores are symbolic of fish or sometimes the god of blacksmiths and fire, Vulcan. For these reasons, the recognizable helmet associated with the Secutor might bring to mind a fish, and any metal armor worn (the manica for example) is frequently made of scale mail (lorica squamata).

The battles between these two gladiatorial types pit the lightly armored, net throwing Retiarii against the more heavily armored, shield bashing Secutores, typically with the lighter armored combatant trying to wear down and exhaust the more heavily armored. 

Equipment 

The Secutor carries a scutum (a large, rectangular shield) and, for a weapon, uses the Roman gladius (shortsword). The most iconic element of the Secutor's outfitting though is the helmet. It looks something like an egg with only two one-inch openings for the eyes - no hole for mouth nor any for ears. The only adornment is a short, smooth crest, like a dorsal fin, along the top of the helmet, and flanges that come out from the neck to give some protection for the wearer's collarbones.

The helmet is claustrophobic, hot, and hard to breathe in, but offers perfect protection against the net and trident of the Retiarius. No edges for the net to grab on to, and eyeholes that are too small for the trident's prongs to penetrate. 

The Secutor wears subligaculum (a Roman loincloth or underwear), a balteus which is a wide leather belt that offers some nominal abdominal protection, a manica which is either a heavy cloth, leather, or mail covering for the sword arm, sometimes a galerus which is a piece of armor protecting the sword arm shoulder and lower neck, and an ocrea which is a cloth, leather, or metal greave worn over the shield side shin and ankle. 

This seems like rather sparse armor but attrition and exhaustion are still major factors in these battles. This illustrates how cumbersome full plate armor is and how quickly a heavily armored combatant needs to finish a battle before they're too tired or out of breath to fight. 

The Secutor may also use a securis (a Roman greataxe) or a malleus (a Roman maul), but using either takes away armor class and shield bashing ability. 

What's Next?

As a Secutor and an adventurer, you know well the ways to take out an opponent - be it a hobgoblin, an evil human, or some sort of dungeon crawling, undead beast. There is a final act for everyone and everything. Now that you're free of the arena, you're at liberty to gather wealth and eventually retire to some sun-soaked villa on the shores of the Sword Coast. The hobgoblin who tries to delay that day will have a rude and sharp-pointed awakening in its belly soon enough. 

Note: You should make a custom inventory entry for your Secutor Armor. Its weight should be 20 lbs. and it should cost 50 gp if you ever need to replace it.

Secutor Skills

Beginning when you choose this archetype at 3rd level, you are proficient with the Strength (Athletics) skill and have advantage on Strength ability checks.

You can perform a shield rush maneuver a number of times equal to your Strength modifier per long rest.

Your weapon attacks score a critical hit on a roll of 19 or 20.

You use your shield as a weapon. On your turn, as a bonus action, you can use your shield as an offhand weapon doing 1d4 bludgeoning damage. If you have the two-weapon fighting style, you can add your Strength modifier to the damage roll. This damage becomes 2d4 at 10th level.

Shield Rush: You can rush shield first into your opponent up to 10 feet away as your action, forfeiting using your shield for a bonus attack. If they fail a DC 13 STR saving throw, they are knocked prone, giving you advantage on your next attack. You can use this feature a number of times equal to your STR modifier per long rest. The DC for this feature scales with level changing to 15 at 7th level, 17 at 10th level, 19 at 15th level, and 21 at 18th level. 

Secutor Armor

When you take this archetype at 3rd level, you use the Secutor's armor: balteus, manica, ocrea, and the iconic helmet. Your training with these items gives you a base armor class of 13 + your DEX score and your shield bonus. This scales to a base of 15 at 10th level, and 17 at 15th level.

You may not wear any other armor as a Secutor. You may wear magical items that boost your Armor Class.

Shield Bash

At 7th level, a number of times per long rest equal to your Strength modifier, you can perform a Shield Bash maneuver as your action. On a successful hit, you do 2d4 bludgeoning danage, and if your opponent fails a DC 15 STR saving throw, they are stunned for one round. This attack negates using your shield for a bonus attack on this turn.

This feature scales with level, the DC becoming 17 at level 10, 19 at level 15, and 21 at level 18.

You also gain twice proficiency with your Strength (Athletics) skill.

Shield Expert

At 10th level, your mastery of the shield has granted you an additional +1 bonus to your AC score. Your shield now does 2d4 damage when using it as a weapon, and attacks made on you that require a DEX saving throw do half damage or no damage on a successful save.

Quick Finish

Starting at 10th level, you can charge your opponent and attack with a savagery that does +5 damage per hit for three rounds but with attacks made with a -2 penalty. At the end of the three rounds, you suffer one level of exhaustion. Your opponent must make a DC 15 WIS saving throw or they will be overwhelmed and suffer disadvantage on attack rolls against you over these three rounds.

See PHB p 291 for rules on exhaustion.

Weapon Master

At 15th level, your skill with the gladius allows you to add a +2 to hit and to damage rolls with the weapon. Indeed, you can apply this bonus to all of your weapon attacks. You also score critical hits on rolls of 18-20.

Recipe Ferrum!

Legend has it that crowds at gladiatorial games would shout "Recipe ferrum!" (or "Receive the iron!") if they thought a losing gladiator should be executed. 

At 18th level, up to three times per long rest, you may try a killing stroke on a humanoid opponent of medium or small size, if they are at half their hit point maximum or less. You can try to stab your gladius into their neck from above, attacking with a -5 penalty to hit. Whether you land the stroke or not still counts toward your three attempts total. If your attack is successful, the opponent must make a DC 15 CON saving throw or be immediately reduced to 0 hit points. 

Note: Although intended specifically for medium to small humanoids, it's at your DM's discretion at to what creatures this feature might be used against.