Man-azon
by LemmingofGlory

Poem

The Amazons get such acclaim,
Each uses brawn and a mighty brain,
Now the question you must ask,
Is "Who's behind this valiant mask?"

Tribes of Amazons great and small,
No one human could meet them all,
Of questions one still bothers me,
Do Amazons reproduce for free?

Nay, folly is this to assume!
Each has a man to tame and groom,
Only by this can there be more,
Amazon tribes grow by the score!

(Note: Last line's use of "score" is "set of twenty.")

Class: Necromancer
Tag: MAZ

Introduction

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. And this variant is merely that, an imitation of Charis' Amazon variant. The Amazon was great fun, so I thought that this take-off on it would be not only humorous, but also fun. ;) CursedLemming (my Bow-wielding, Cursing Necro - he wanted to be 'Zon-like) was where I got the idea for the Manazon. So instead of a class imitating another class (as some of my other variants attempt to do; see next paragraph), the Man-azon is an imitation of a variant.

Similarly, the Returned Albrecht variant stemmed from a Necro/Paladin idea that I had, although Albrecht is quite a bit different from my original Necro-Pal idea (which is now the Undead Paladin). After that, the Horadric Knight idea came from a Pal/Sorc idea.

Storyline

Man-azons are the tamed manslaves of the Amazons. The story goes simply that one day while his tamer is away a Man-azon breaks into the weapons cabinet and steals some fightin' tools. He then heads off to battle, hoping to prove his worth to his people. The problem? Man-azons are not trained for combat! cringe Ohh, this could get ugly.

Rules

The Manazon may put no more than 2 points into energy per level up.

The Manazon must sell his starting wand.

Mercenary Rules

The Man-azon trusts only Town Guard (Act 2) mercenaries, and he will hire no other mercenary. Their use of spears reminds him of home. Other mercenaries are distrusted or considered too dull to be worthy of his company.

Could a Merc be played as a Man-azon? Mercenaries are tough fighters trained for combat. I don't see how they could be played by Man-azon rules. ;)

Skills

These mostly revolve around one simple phrase: "Now how did th Amazons do that attack? Ah, yes, simply do this, this, and this... presto!... EEEEPP!!! *RUNS* "

You do not have to be wielding a specific weapon to use these skills. You're weak anyway, so it won't overpower you. Example: You can use Bone Spear even if you're using a Bow.

Combat skills
Amplify Damage (Critical Strike)
Terror (Evade)
Dim Vision (Inner Sight)
Bone Armor (Dodge)
Clay Golem (Decoy)
Fire Golem (Valkyrie)

Javelin skills
Bone Spear (Piercing Javelin)
Poison Nova (Plague Javelin)

Bow skills
Bone Spirit (Piercing Missile. Restriction: BSpirit may do no more than your maximum melee/bow damage.)

Other
Golem Mastery (Valkyrie's Personal Trainer)

Ranks

The Amazons don't train their men for combat, so you don't have to do all the same quests that Amazons do. This doesn't mean that you won't have ranks and quests, it just means that they'll be more-or-less easier. Well, maybe.

Escapee
At this stage you're a lonely traveler who passed out somewhere in the wilderness and now find yourself waking up here, in a Rogue Encampment. You learn of the evil in this area and decide that it would make you look pretty darn good if you did something about it. Having gambled away the fine Amazon weaponry that you'd stolen, you're left with nothing but your fists. This means you've gotta find a weapon. Beyond that, you've decided that during this stage the only weapon you'll use is the Javelin. Venture out into the wilderness and do three things:

- Obtain weapons that would suit an Amazon. (Javelin, and 2H axe for next stage.)
- Clear the Den of Evil
- Kill Blood Raven

Refugee
You learn of someone who, if rescued, would be a refugee. During this stage only a 2H axe may be used in your quest to...

- Rescue Cain the Refugee
- Obtain a Peg Leg and keep it in your stash. You never know when you might need it.
- Kill Griswold the Blacksmith

Fugitive
Word gets out around the Rogue Encampment about an escaped Amazon manslave. Fearing your discovery, you ditch your outfit and hurry off to the East.

- Kill Andariel
- Ditch your gear (all equippable items you've used) on Andariel's level.
- Travel East without delay!

Dervish
You arrive in Lut Gholein and decide that a disguising yourself as one of Greiz's mercenaries wouldn't be a bad idea. Well, it wasn't such a bad idea until Greiz cornered you in a back alley and made you tell him who you are. He forces you to pay him a protection fee while you stay in Lut Gholein.

- Disguise yourself as a Legionnaire by following Legion of Greiz rules for the duration of this stage.
- Hire an Act 2 Merc. It also plays by Legionnaire rules for the duration of this stage. While in Lut, if it dies you must resurrect it upon your next visit to town.
- Meet Meshif and help him to leave port. Go with him to Kurast.

Archer
Upon reviewing some books and other documents you found on Meshif's rickety boat, you realize just how sheltered your life has been. The Amazons taught the manslaves virtually nothing about the world. You focus on a word you learned from one of Meshif's texts: Hero. You were taught about heroines, but no man was ever to be a champion. Looking at the spine of the book, you notice the author's name, Farnham of Tristram. He must've been a swell guy to write books like this.
Now in Kurast, you decide that a good heroic weapon would be a Bow or a Crossbow.

- Get a bow/crossbow and use it for the duration of this stage.
- Find the Golden Bird and give it to Alkor. Store the potion he gives you in your stash until later.
- Get the Travincal Waypoint.

Sharpshooter
Determined to right wrongs, triumph over evil, etc., etc., etc. you must defeat the High Council of Travincal and Mephisto.

- Use Wirt's Leg to smash in the heads of the Council Members of Travincal.
- Using either Wirt's Leg, any quest weapon, or a Bow/Cross bow, kill Mephisto.

Hero
You walk into the Pandemonium Fortress and feel great. A scrawny ex-slave slew a Prime Evil. Is he a hero? Yes, and you now may choose freely what gear you wish to use. Now you ask yourself, what could a slave do to become a champion?

- Slay Diablo.
- If possible, retain a socketed version of the weapon type that you used to do this.
- Drink the Potion of Life obtained from Alkor.

Champion
Champion Manslave, slayer of two Prime Evils. You're called upon to rescue the besieged town of Harrogath and stop the final Prime Evil. You mustn't disappoint.

- Stop Shenk's Siege.
- Rescue the Barbarian prisoners and Anya.
- Defeat Nihlathak and the Ancients.
- Defeat all of Baal's minions.
- Duel Baal.

He-Manazon
Once Baal has fallen, you obtain this rank. The destruction of the Worldstone brings disaster. The once docile enslaved bovines of the Rogues revolt! They take up arms and prepare to overthrow mankind. Tyrael calls upon you to stop them.

- MOO!

1) Special Event
(occurs after D is slain; difficulty doesn't matter)

Return to your Amazon Tribe and face anything they may throw at you. Tribes are denoted by colors. I'll let Charis explain it:

"If possible, select a socketable version of your intended weapon, and embed a stone of at least normal quality which represents the 'colors' of your nation - blue, green, red, amber, white, purple, or black. Other stones may be added for their effect, these will not affect the color of the weapon - just the first one."

The "intended weapon" mentioned is the one used vs D. My addition to this is if you used Throwing Weapons, you might want to pick a non-throwable version of the weapon that you used. (Spear in place of Javelins, Dagger in place of Throwing Knives, etc.) Do this and should you meet an Amazon whose Tribal colors match yours, tell her of your deeds and see what she thinks!