Everybody should have a pet human. They are so very useful. With five skills and three talents of your choice for just 10 or 20 gold (Free for Patricians), a slave can quickly max those skills a party does not bring to the table alone. My question is, how can they be effectively used?
Here are some thoughts....
At first blush, the 1 Stamina, 1 Wound, No armor or weapons (do to legalities discussed on the old boards), and not spell casting is certainly a hindrance. But I don't think it needs to be an absolute game stopper. Take LEADERSHIP for example. Slaves -can- take it as there is no minimum ability score associated with the talent. Makes the 10 gold for a common slave more attractive doesn't it? I'd argue a free leadership every scene is worth the cost of two runes. What about Perception skills? Perception is a skill that is hard to max out. But for a slave who takes it, maxing the skill is automatic. Add Wary and Investigator to the Leadership, and wow, +9 to notice something out of place at Tier II is nothing to sneeze at. Want more skills, take Adaptable and you get SEVEN maxed skills to fill party gaps. Also, because they lack the bestial intellect flaw, slaves are self ordering. No need wast precious ticks on Beast Lore checks.
But there is something more useful than all that... HEAL. Compared to Diminish Fatigue the First Aid, and Get on your Feet, uses of Heal are not as attractive. But what about keeping that slave as a combat medic in reserve? TPK? Unless the monsters eat or burn all the vanquished, a slave with an effective HEAL skill can rush in and save the day.
The only down side is that except for a single mod with a slave market, you can only get HUMAN slaves. Whimper. Even there Elorri and Ssressen slaves are off the market. That is a bummer. Nothing would unite the Elorri and BEAST tables like a val walking around with one of each in chains. Oh well, I guess the dagger toothed clans at Origins' will just have to hiss at each other as usual.
Speaking of which, I bet nobody is going to read this until next week.....