The Scavenger
by The Wanderer

Class: Any
Tag: SCV

Introduction

You're one of those little red critters in the church levels.

Rules

+2 to Vit at every level until maxed. Only very healthy scavengers can survive the unsanitary conditions most live in. Also, since scavengers are typically not educated at all, no more than +1 to magic each level until vit is maxed. Once vit is maxed, they are well enough off to start worrying more about what the little scribbles they see on paper mean.

The townspeople don't like having scavengers hanging around. Only Cain will interact normally, recognizing the scavenger's potential as a hero against Diablo.

Pepin, Griswold, and Adria will only sell items which cost 10X the character's level in gold or less. They don't believe the scavenger could possibly afford anything more costly without murdering someone, and scavengers are cunning enough not to push their luck. They've seen too many other scavengers get lynched for imagined crimes in other towns and don't want to become the first in Tristram. Note that this means that elixirs, full Rejuves, and books/staves are difficult to come by.

Griswold and Adria recognize potential merchandise, regardless of the source. Scavengers can sell items to either of them and use the money to buy something *During the same visit*. ONLY money from the sold item, plus your level price limit, can be spent like this, and excess money is then thrown away at the cows.

Scavengers see little money and have little experience shopping, so they have little idea of the value of gold; both Griswold and Adria take advantage of this. The thrown away money is considered to be lost in the deal.

Items

Any base item type is allowed, as long as it follows the rules for prefix/suffix and item acquisition. Jewelry can be used regardless of any other rules regarding prefixes, suffixes, or method of acquisition. (Most pieces of jewelry are too small to be found if lost, so it falls to the scavenger to find them.)

Items with only the unrestricted prefixes/suffixes can be used regardless of source. Items bought in trade-ins do not suffer from normal prefix/suffix limitations for items dropped by monsters. If no item is traded for, the Scavenger can keep one tenth of the money from the sale, the rest being thrown away at the cows.

This makes shopping difficult at best for scavengers, reflecting their impoverished state even if they find massive amounts of cash and valuable items. Even the most valuable possible items can only be traded for one fourth their original value in items from Griz/Adria and excess cash is lost after you leave, eliminating your ability to save up (unless you save expensive items to sell all at once for a really BIG trade in!).

Items found lying on the ground, on decapitated corpses, in barrels and in sarcophaguses can be used regardless of prefix, suffix, or unique type. This is called, creatively enough, Scavenging. No other item restrictions apply to items which are Scavenged.

Scavengers cannot receive charity gifts. They would gladly accept them, but nobody likes them. Especially kind-hearted variants (don't ask me which ones, I already said I'm out of touch on this subject. Suggestions?) may give gifts, if the player wants to. However, these gifts should not be major items; no uniques and no exceedingly powerful items, although this *can* break the prefix/suffix rules.

Gifts or charity should come from OTHER people's characters, not your other characters or mules.

Enchantments
The Scavenger will use the following enchantments:
Dexterity, skill, sky, any animal , bronze, iron, steel, sharp, jagged, decay, crystalline, leech, bat, white, blue, red, amber, any + or - light radius, balance, ages, the bear, of thorns.

Those prefixes/suffixes are the only ones which can be used on items found in chests or dropped by enemies.

Most of those are items that are cheap enough that someone may throw them away or not bother to recover them, making them available to Scavengers. The animal prefixes/suffixes can only be used if their bonus is equal or less than twice the Scavenger's level (Scavengers may use animal lairs for shelter, but the animals would eat a weak scavenger). The Dex bonuses are allowed because scavengers often have quick fingers to snatch food or valuables from animals, other scavengers, or unlucky strangers. Of the ages is allowed because such items never decay, and therefore lay wherever they were dropped until someone (a Scavenger, in this case) picks them up.

Uniques
The following uniques can be used if found (essentially any indestructible unique plus the Scavenger's Carapace and a few "cheap" ones):
Leather of Aut, Demonspike Coat, Scavenger's Carapace, Torn Flesh of Souls, Eaglehorn, Blitzen, Flambeau, Gnat's Sting, Crackrust, Cranium Basher, Gnarled Root, Hammer of Jholm, Thunderclap, Split Skull Shield, Dragon's Breach, Stormshield, Black Razor, the Defender, Ice Shank, and the Eater of Souls.

Scavenger's Carapace will be used in favor of any other unique armor (including Demonspike Coat), but non unique armors may be used if desired. Scavenger's Carapace will always be kept if found.

Shrines

Scavengers fear most organized religion, and avoid most shrines. They can drink from cauldrons, though, if the player really wants to, and fountains are free to use.

Abandoned, Fascinating, Glimmering, Hidden, Ornate, Quiet, Secluded, Stone, Glowing, Shimmering, Sparkling, and Town are free to use. (Some of these are Hellfire shrines.)

These shrines are either shiny enough to attract a scavenger's eye or peaceful enough to be used as a hiding place or shelter. All others are too magical, too religious, or simply beyond a Scavenger's comprehension.

Spells

Scavengers can use any scroll they could use with their base magic value. They can add in item bonuses after vitality is maxed.

Staff spells can only be used if the staff was Scavenged or if it is a page 1 spell.

Any book they can read using their modified magic is allowed, but they can only use books from certain sources. Adria refuses to sell books to scavengers because she doesn't believe they can read and doesn't want to think about how they would use the paper. Actually, most scavengers are barely literate and have a hard time finding books they can read. To reflect this, they can use books from any source in the dungeon except bookshelves. If it's dropped by a monster, Scavenged, or found in a Library Book or Skeleton Tome, they can use it normally.

Scavengers usually need more time to think about their magic, too. To reflect this, Warriors and Rogues can't hotkey page 4 spells. Also, F5-F8 hotkeys are restricted as follows...

Warrior
No hotkeys at level 1. At each multiple of 10 they achieve in levels, they gain 1 hotkey. (1 at 10-19, 2 at 20-29, 3 at 30-39, 4 at 40+)

Rogue
Same as Warriors, but they start with 1 hotkey. (1 at 1-9, 2 at 10-19, 3 at 20-29, 4 at 30+)

Sorcerers
2 hotkeys at level 1. They get a third at level 12 and the fourth at level 25.