Hamippos

The Hamippoi are lightly armed infantry trained to fight alongside cavalry. They are more than mere soldiers however—Hammipoi are trained to attack enemy horses.

They run into battle holding onto the tails and manes of the cavalry and then disengage to hack at enemy horsemen.

Hamippoi are especially fond of sliding underneath enemy horses and slicing open their stomachs. Dodging in and out of cavalry in battle is not for the faint of heart and attracts only the most vicious personalities to its ranks.

Equine’s Bane

When you choose this archetype at 3rd level, you gain advantage on attack rolls and skill checks against bovines.

Equines include horses, centaurs, divine horses, hippo kabeiro golems, hippolektryons, hippokampi, and hippomonkeri.

Dread Ambusher

At 3rd level, you master the art of the ambush. You can give yourself a bonus to your initiative rolls equal to your Wisdom modifier. At the start of your first turn of each combat, your walking speed increases by 10 feet, which lasts until the end of that turn. If you take the attack action on that turn, you can make one additional weapon attack as part of that action. If that attack hits, the target takes an extra 1d8 damage of the weapon’s damage type.

Ambush Master

Starting at 13th level, you excel at leading ambushes and acting first in a fight. You have advantage on initiative rolls. In addition, the first creature you hit during the first round of a combat becomes easier for you and others to strike; attack rolls against that target have advantage until the start of your next turn.

Sudden Strike

Starting at 17th level, you can strike with deadly speed. If you take the attack action on your turn, you can make one additional attack as a bonus action. This attack can benefit from your Sneak Attack even if you have already used it this turn, but you can’t use your Sneak Attack against the same target more than once in a turn.

Section 15: Copyright Notice

5E RPG: Ancient Adventures. Copyright 2020, Mal and Tal, LLC; Author Michael Tresca.