Dervish

Fanatically religious, nomadic people who wander steppes and desert regions, living in tents

Type: Person

Biome: Desert

Stat Blocks

Old-School Essentials Classic Fantasy

Armor Class	6 [13] or 4 [15]
Hit Dice	1 (4hp)
Number Appearing	0 (1d6+1 × 10)
Attacks	1 × weapon (1d6 or by weapon)
THAC0	19 [0]
Movement	120' (40')
Saving Throws	D12 W13 P14 B15 S16 (1)
Morale	10
Alignment	Lawful
XP	10
Treasure Type	A

Monster statistics extracted from online SRD wiki, not the published hardcover edition.

Fanatically religious, nomadic people who wander steppes and desert regions, living in tents.

Special Abilities

Mounted: On warhorses.

Arms: 50% of group have: leather armour, shield, lance; 25% have: leather armour, shield, shortbow, sword; 25% have: chainmail, shield, lance.

Camps: Groups commonly combine and live in a camp or tribe of up to 300 dervishes, plus women, children, and animals. 25% chance of a wood or brick enclosure.

Camp leaders: Led by 10th level cleric.

Intolerant: Of other religious views.

Holy war: Occasionally wage war against other religious factions. Will slay people of different faith, or take them prisoner. Prisoners must convert; otherwise killed or used as slaves. Characters of Lawful alignment may be asked to join the holy war. Dervishes are highly suspicious of those who refuse (without good reason).

OSRIC

Armor Class	Determined by armour worn
Hit Dice	1d6 hp
Number Encountered	30d10
Attacks	1
Damage	By weapon
Move	120-ft
Alignment	Lawful good
Intelligence	Mean
XP	Variable
Size	Man-sized
Frequency	Rare
Lair	5%

Monster statistics extracted from online SRD wiki, not the published hardcover edition.

Dervishes are highly religious desert nomads. They will always be led by higher level fighters and clerics as follows. They are fanatical devotees to their religion. As a result they are at +1 to combat and never need to check morale.

Dervishes are always mounted on light or medium warhorses.