(I was thinking that perhaps this DIY 30 thing from Shane at 3 Toadstools, via Dan D on Google+, would be a good way to get back to writing--to create and write down one thing for every one of the thirty (one) days of August, so here goes ...)
First off, Troll Wives, i.e. the Drow
In the deep places of the earth, where light never shines save from the torches of the foolhardy or the lost, it is said that the trolls, those sons of Antaeus who can never die unless their feet touch not the earth and its succor, keep in secret their wives of darkness. Black-skinned, black-eyed, and yet as beautiful and lithe as lost Elves, these Troll-Wives are said to be kept in captivity in wondrous, underground cities, raised from the living stone by the tireless hands of the trolls.
Like the Elves, and yet unlike them; their ears are more wolf-like, and they shun even the light of the stars that the Elves love so much, and their speech is as different as between the soughing of wind in the pines as to the quiet clatter of stone in places deep and deeply silent.
... But in truth, these Troll-Wives, also called Drow (Drow from "Trow", a cognate of "Troll") would better be known as Troll-Mothers, for they are the ur-spring for all other trolls that plague the world of men. As the Elves are known to produce goblins as degenerate offspring, and to only rarely breed true, so the Drow produce trolls as degenerate offspring, and also rarely breed true. And all are female; reports of male Drow are few, far between, and have never been seen to be true. Their cunning in craftsmanship is equal to the dwarves, whom they hate, though they shun the use of panoplies of armor that cut them off from their lifesource, the living stone around them; and their use of magic is like to that of the Elves, of whom they are cousins, present in the beginning of the world, but dwelling in the darkness between the stars, while the Elves danced in starlight.
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Drow as a B/X class:
the level progression and spell progression are exactly as that of the Elf class, though the titles are different, of course: I Granddaughter, II Niece, III Daughter, IV Cousin, V Sister, VI Aunt, VII Mother, VIII Queen, IX Queen-Mother, X Queen-Mother 10th level.
Drow are always female. They may use any weapon and carry shields, but may not wear armor of any kind, lest they give up their ability to regenerate hit points. They fight and save as Elves of the same level, and may cast magic spells while wielding weapon and shield, just like Elves.
Regeneration: Drow regenerate lost hit points at a rate of 1 hp per round per 3 levels of experience, so from the first to third levels, they will regenerate but 1 hp per round; at fourth through sixth, will regenerate 2 hp per round, etc. They are unable to regenerate if cut off from contact with the earth, i.e. by flying, or by wearing armor; and like a troll, fire or acid damage is unable to be regenerated, but must be healed either through normal rest, or by magical means. A Drow reduced to negative hit points will continue to regnerate, and return to 1 hp after 1-6 turns; the only way to ensure her death is to burn or dissolve her body, or to remove her body from contact with the earth for at least one day per her level of experience.
Light sensitivity: as creatures of darkness, Drow are accustomed to acting in darkness. If exposed to direct sunlight, a Drow is penalized by a -2 on each of her rolls; she can never be "acclimatized" to direct sunlight. Meanwhile, when exposed to lesser light, e.g. dawn or dusk, torchlight, or a light spell, a Drow is penalized -1 on each of her rolls.
Naturally, Drow are able to see in darkness out to 60 feet or so, and operate normally in near- or total-darkness.
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I've always been ambivalent about the Drow. On the one hand, their (literally) darkly seductive aesthetic and their Italian-renaissance-style backstabbing House politics is certainly attractive. But I've never really been happy with "Dark Elves" as a thing, especially outside of wargames like Warhammer or 4x games like Master of Magic where they can be a separate faction. And I can't overstate how much I dislike Drizzt and the idea of Chaotic Good Drow running around on the surface world.
And anymore in my game, Elves already are Chaotic creatures inimical to the Lawful civilizations of man ... they are seductive, cruel, arrogant, and devoid of true love or real empathy. So what use to me are "Dark Elves" that are just more of the same, but under a different skin color?
But I got to thinking the other day ... there are no female dwarves in my setting (I wouldn't disallow players to play female dwarves if they want, but such a character would be unique and strange should one be rolled up). The dwarves refuse to talk about it, such that it is considered a grave insult to press the matter with a dwarf; and dwarves do rarely take wives, though of other races (usually human), and even more rarely, actually love them.
So I've got this all-male race; why not have an all-female race? If the Drow are already "matriarchal" in the D&D material, why not let that be because they're all women? And if, as in my setting, Elves produce goblins as degenerate offspring, why not let the Drow be ur-trolls, who produce trolls as degenerate offspring?
Those are my thoughts on the matter, anyway. I've introduced Drow into my game already, albeit only briefly, and now with one Drow character running around. I intend to develop them further in the future.
Showing posts with label new class. Show all posts
Showing posts with label new class. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 1, 2018
Wednesday, April 18, 2018
New Class: the Ogre
Back when the Greyhame Game was just picking up, only a few sessions in, one of the prospective players asked me if he could roll up an ogre character for the game. No, I immediately replied, wishing as referee to retain control of the game and its B/X basis (this particular player was familiar with 3rd edition and its rules for monsters as characters).
But then I relented. After all, directly from Holmes, "At the Dungeon Master's discretion, a character can be anything his or her player wants him to be. Characters must always start out inexperienced and relatively weak and build on their experience. Thus, an expedition might include, in addition to the four basic classes and races ... a centaur, a lawful werebear, and a Japanese Samurai fighting-man." (p.7, Dungeons and Dragons, by Gygax and Arneson, edited by Eric Holmes, 1979 edition)
So I agreed that he could play an ogre-character, but not until another character in the game had reached fourth level (given that ogres start off with HD 4+1). Well, today he remembered that conversation, and told me he was going to roll up an ogre tonight (probably for Thursday's game). I told him to roll it up as usual, 3d6 in order, and I'll write an ogre-class ... so here goes.
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The OGRE
Strength is the prerequisite of the ogre class, and STR 13+ provides a bonus of 5% to earned xp, while a STR 16+ provides a bonus of 10% (non-cumulative). Ogres may not be of Lawful, Clannish, Good, or Evil alignment; Ogres of less than INT 13 also may not be of Arcane alignment.
Level 1 -- Bully -- 4d8 HD -- 0 XP
Level 2 -- Brute -- 5d8 HD -- 16,000 XP
Level 3 -- Masher -- 6d8 HD -- 32,000 XP
Level 4 -- Ogre -- 7d8 HD -- 64,000 XP
Level 5 -- Bluebeard -- 8d8 HD -- 120,000 XP
Level 6 -- Chieftain -- 9d8 HD -- 240,000 XP
Level 7 -- 7th Level Chieftain -- 9d8+4 HD -- 480,000 XP
Level 8 -- 8th Level Chieftain -- 9d8+8 HD -- 600,000 XP
Ogres may advance no higher than 8th level.
Languages known are Ogre, Orc, Troll, Stone Giant and a pidgin Common. Ogres with INT 13+ may learn additional languages (or be fluent in Common) normally. All ogres start play as illiterate, and remain so until/unless they spend time in-play learning to read and write.
Ogres fight and save as a fighter of a level equal to their hit dice (i.e. an Ogre 1 fights and saves as a Fighter 4). They may use any weapon or shield, but armor must be fashioned specifically for their frame, at great cost. Magic armor may not be worn unless fashioned for a giant-type creature to begin with.
Without armor, Ogres have an armor class of 6; they start the game with a suit of piecemeal armor that lowers this to armor class 5 when worn. To fashion armor for an ogre, the cost is 100 gold for leather (AC 4), 400 for mail (AC 2), or 1000 for plate (AC 0), at minimum.
Because of their great strength, ogres deal 1-10 damage when striking with clubs of their own make. Any other weapon in their hands deals an additional +2 to damage (i.e. a spear would deal 3-9 damage, rather than 1-6). This is in addition to any bonuses or penalties from an ogre's strength score, so an ogre with STR 13 will actually deal +3 damage on every hit with a normal weapon (or 2-11 damage with his own club).
All Ogres begin play with only three items: piecemeal armor, a club, and an ogre-bag. The ogre bag may carry up to 4000 coin of weight, and contains an additional 2-5 random items according to the table at the bottom of the post (roll once at first level; after that, what's in your bag is what you put into it).
At 4th level (Ogre HD 7), an Ogre may invest 5000 gold into raw materials, magical components, etc., in order to complete an esoteric ritual to sew and create a new ogre-bag which is actually a bag of holding. The creation of this bag takes from 1 to 3 months to create, though--as the ritual is largely involved in the slow process of stitching everything together--it may be interrupted by periods of adventuring. Nevertheless, any time spent adventuring does not count toward time spent creating the bag.
At 6th level (Chieftain HD 9, so basically "name level") an Ogre may carve out or seize a cave or some other underground complex as his lair. Depending on the Ogre-character's proclivities, the referee will provide the details for this adventure. Once the lair has been secured and any inhabitants driven off or subdued (or, if carving it out, any attempts to take it by other creatures are driven off), the Ogre will attract a tribe of 2-20 normal HD 4+1 ogres to join him. These do not serve per se, but may be bullied into doing the Ogre chief's bidding.
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Contents of an Ogre's Bag
Roll 2-5 times on this table at first level. After that, what's in your bag is up to what you put into it.
11 - hemp rope 100'
12 - a battered lantern
13 - a week's worth of hardtack and pemmican
14 - two halves of a 10' pole
15 - a large, tarnished hand-mirror
16 - a scroll which is actually a randomly generated treasure map; you can't read it, of course
21 - a lump of wax
22 - a tangled mass of string and twine
23 - a large jar of lard
24 - 50 pieces of greasy parchment
25 - 2-12 iron ingots
26 - large cast iron cooking pot
31 - 4 large, round, river rocks
32 - a broken-off stalactite/stalagmite--may be used as a club that deals 1-12 damage
33 - a cool geode; you think it's worth something, but it probably isn't
34 - a little box of dirt you took off some halfling; doesn't seem worth much
35 - 1-6 chunks of ore; could be copper, might be gold
36 - 1-6 pieces of fool's gold
41 - a large bone whistle fashioned for your lips/mouth
42 - a long braided sling; casting large stones with it, you deal 1-8 damage
43 - soiled laundry (jerkin, etc.) that even you won't wear anymore
44 - a sewing kit with large bone needles--sometimes even ogres need to stitch something!
45 - a large whetstone and a large knife (shortsword) sharpened by it
46 - an idol of your god or giant-hero, whittled with some patience
51 - the corpse of a giant rat
52 - a live troll arm--you've got to keep eating from it day-to-day or it will grow into an angry troll
53 - 1-6 of what might be dragon teeth (the kind that grow armed warriors when planted)
54 - 2-12 orc heads
55 - a roper's gizzard containing 1-3 gems worth 10-100 gold each
56 - a wyvern's sting with one dose left
61 - a giant's femur, scrimshawed with scenes of battle
62 - a cask of fine wine of excellent vintage; you've been saving it for a real shindig
63 - a battered old book of poetry worth maybe up to 600 gold (except you can't read it)
64 - a rolled-up old tapestry worth maybe 100 gold to the right collector
65 - furs worth 100-600 gold
66 - 1000 gold
But then I relented. After all, directly from Holmes, "At the Dungeon Master's discretion, a character can be anything his or her player wants him to be. Characters must always start out inexperienced and relatively weak and build on their experience. Thus, an expedition might include, in addition to the four basic classes and races ... a centaur, a lawful werebear, and a Japanese Samurai fighting-man." (p.7, Dungeons and Dragons, by Gygax and Arneson, edited by Eric Holmes, 1979 edition)
So I agreed that he could play an ogre-character, but not until another character in the game had reached fourth level (given that ogres start off with HD 4+1). Well, today he remembered that conversation, and told me he was going to roll up an ogre tonight (probably for Thursday's game). I told him to roll it up as usual, 3d6 in order, and I'll write an ogre-class ... so here goes.
The OGRE
Strength is the prerequisite of the ogre class, and STR 13+ provides a bonus of 5% to earned xp, while a STR 16+ provides a bonus of 10% (non-cumulative). Ogres may not be of Lawful, Clannish, Good, or Evil alignment; Ogres of less than INT 13 also may not be of Arcane alignment.
Level 1 -- Bully -- 4d8 HD -- 0 XP
Level 2 -- Brute -- 5d8 HD -- 16,000 XP
Level 3 -- Masher -- 6d8 HD -- 32,000 XP
Level 4 -- Ogre -- 7d8 HD -- 64,000 XP
Level 5 -- Bluebeard -- 8d8 HD -- 120,000 XP
Level 6 -- Chieftain -- 9d8 HD -- 240,000 XP
Level 7 -- 7th Level Chieftain -- 9d8+4 HD -- 480,000 XP
Level 8 -- 8th Level Chieftain -- 9d8+8 HD -- 600,000 XP
Ogres may advance no higher than 8th level.
Languages known are Ogre, Orc, Troll, Stone Giant and a pidgin Common. Ogres with INT 13+ may learn additional languages (or be fluent in Common) normally. All ogres start play as illiterate, and remain so until/unless they spend time in-play learning to read and write.
Ogres fight and save as a fighter of a level equal to their hit dice (i.e. an Ogre 1 fights and saves as a Fighter 4). They may use any weapon or shield, but armor must be fashioned specifically for their frame, at great cost. Magic armor may not be worn unless fashioned for a giant-type creature to begin with.
Without armor, Ogres have an armor class of 6; they start the game with a suit of piecemeal armor that lowers this to armor class 5 when worn. To fashion armor for an ogre, the cost is 100 gold for leather (AC 4), 400 for mail (AC 2), or 1000 for plate (AC 0), at minimum.
Because of their great strength, ogres deal 1-10 damage when striking with clubs of their own make. Any other weapon in their hands deals an additional +2 to damage (i.e. a spear would deal 3-9 damage, rather than 1-6). This is in addition to any bonuses or penalties from an ogre's strength score, so an ogre with STR 13 will actually deal +3 damage on every hit with a normal weapon (or 2-11 damage with his own club).
All Ogres begin play with only three items: piecemeal armor, a club, and an ogre-bag. The ogre bag may carry up to 4000 coin of weight, and contains an additional 2-5 random items according to the table at the bottom of the post (roll once at first level; after that, what's in your bag is what you put into it).
At 4th level (Ogre HD 7), an Ogre may invest 5000 gold into raw materials, magical components, etc., in order to complete an esoteric ritual to sew and create a new ogre-bag which is actually a bag of holding. The creation of this bag takes from 1 to 3 months to create, though--as the ritual is largely involved in the slow process of stitching everything together--it may be interrupted by periods of adventuring. Nevertheless, any time spent adventuring does not count toward time spent creating the bag.
At 6th level (Chieftain HD 9, so basically "name level") an Ogre may carve out or seize a cave or some other underground complex as his lair. Depending on the Ogre-character's proclivities, the referee will provide the details for this adventure. Once the lair has been secured and any inhabitants driven off or subdued (or, if carving it out, any attempts to take it by other creatures are driven off), the Ogre will attract a tribe of 2-20 normal HD 4+1 ogres to join him. These do not serve per se, but may be bullied into doing the Ogre chief's bidding.
------
Contents of an Ogre's Bag
Roll 2-5 times on this table at first level. After that, what's in your bag is up to what you put into it.
11 - hemp rope 100'
12 - a battered lantern
13 - a week's worth of hardtack and pemmican
14 - two halves of a 10' pole
15 - a large, tarnished hand-mirror
16 - a scroll which is actually a randomly generated treasure map; you can't read it, of course
21 - a lump of wax
22 - a tangled mass of string and twine
23 - a large jar of lard
24 - 50 pieces of greasy parchment
25 - 2-12 iron ingots
26 - large cast iron cooking pot
31 - 4 large, round, river rocks
32 - a broken-off stalactite/stalagmite--may be used as a club that deals 1-12 damage
33 - a cool geode; you think it's worth something, but it probably isn't
34 - a little box of dirt you took off some halfling; doesn't seem worth much
35 - 1-6 chunks of ore; could be copper, might be gold
36 - 1-6 pieces of fool's gold
41 - a large bone whistle fashioned for your lips/mouth
42 - a long braided sling; casting large stones with it, you deal 1-8 damage
43 - soiled laundry (jerkin, etc.) that even you won't wear anymore
44 - a sewing kit with large bone needles--sometimes even ogres need to stitch something!
45 - a large whetstone and a large knife (shortsword) sharpened by it
46 - an idol of your god or giant-hero, whittled with some patience
51 - the corpse of a giant rat
52 - a live troll arm--you've got to keep eating from it day-to-day or it will grow into an angry troll
53 - 1-6 of what might be dragon teeth (the kind that grow armed warriors when planted)
54 - 2-12 orc heads
55 - a roper's gizzard containing 1-3 gems worth 10-100 gold each
56 - a wyvern's sting with one dose left
61 - a giant's femur, scrimshawed with scenes of battle
62 - a cask of fine wine of excellent vintage; you've been saving it for a real shindig
63 - a battered old book of poetry worth maybe up to 600 gold (except you can't read it)
64 - a rolled-up old tapestry worth maybe 100 gold to the right collector
65 - furs worth 100-600 gold
66 - 1000 gold
Thursday, December 14, 2017
New Class: the High Orc
A friend at work was telling me about his playing of the game Shadow of War (2017) a couple weeks back, and regaling me with all the variety of orc nemeses he'd run into (sounds like the game has a pretty cool means of randomly generating orc NPCs that recur and actually try to hunt you down as you play). "The Rhymer", "the Singer", "the Deranged", etc.--it all sounds immensely amusing--but it got me thinking about orcs ... and if there are High Elves as well as wood Elves and dark Elves; and High Men, as well as barbarians and nomads; why not have High Orcs, civilized a notch above the rest? And why not write them into a new B/X class?
So after a while sitting on this and letting ideas do their distillation, it's time to give this a shot.
Far to the east under the great mountains, those ramparts raised against heaven like the Kush or the Himalayas, great cities of orcs have been carved through the hearts of the hills. These are no simple orc-holes, but full cities, vaster than even the greatest of dwarf-holds, cruder in craft, but sublime, perhaps, for the brute functionality of their forms. The orcs that built these cities are the High Orcs--civilized and even Lawful of alignment--and they maintain empires of tribute from the seats of their power, demanding goods, wealth, and slaves from their subjects in return for the lawful protection of the orc Sârs and their armies.
Slaves? Of course--these orcs may be civilized and Lawful, but many Lawful human societies maintain slaves, including of course the Roman and Persian empires. And these are the best analogs to consider when thinking about the orc empires, especially Rome because the orcs can furnish armies of orcs (attended by multi-national/racial auxiliaries) with the same war-furor as the Romans, using similar legal systems to ensure/enforce conscription of orc-citizens.
Even High Orcs, being orcs, hate the sun and fight at -1 "to hit" beneath its relentless light, so one might well wonder how an orc empire can exert its power over a surface realm of subject-kingdoms. First, and more simply, the multi-national face of their empire, in which the High Orcs can conscript legions of men or hordes of gnolls to fight their wars, or hire mercenary companies of dwarf halberdiers and halfling slingers. Secondly, perhaps more importantly, the High Orcs are excellent miners and machinists, and this makes them unstoppable siege engineers. Not only do High Orcs have an affinity for machines--crossbows, ballistae, catapults, trebuchets, etc.--which allows them to construct city-destroyers (helepolises); but being superb miners, it is a simple task for a team of orc sappers to dig mines beneath the walls of a city, fire them, and thus collapse the walls, allowing their armies to easily storm the city.
But how did an entire empire of orcs turn to Law, when almost all their brethren of raiding warbands are Chaotic of alignment? (forget about the 2E Monstrous Manual entry for "Orcs" unless you want to read Lawful Evil orcs as High Orcs ...)
The civilization of the High Orcs and their empire is obsessed with the power of Law which they saw in human societies ... Whereas most orcs, confronted with the demand to give up some portion of their wealth, would say, "Come and get it!" so that only the strongest orc could take his fellows' gold, and then only as long as he maintains a coalition of support within the tribe/warband ... the first High Orcs became enamored of Law when they witnessed a human tax-farmer demand gold from a human community subject to the King-of-Kings--and when the tax-farmer produced a sign of the King, the community, without a struggle, offered up tribute which was then taken back to the court of the King!
What wondrous power this Law must have!--and so a number of orcs from an entrepreneurial tribe were sent to the court of the King as "hostages" to learn the ways and means of human Law, and then brought back rituals and philosophies with which to enforce Law upon their fellows. A great war among orcs followed between the Lawful and Chaotic tribes, in which the Lawful tribes managed to drive out the Chaotics and to establish their own empire within the mountain caves, and thus was the beginning of the empire of the High Orcs.
--Chaotic orcs, of course, remember this ancient war, and hate the High Orcs as traitors, hating them more fiercely, perhaps, than even their hatred of Elves or dwarves ...--
------
That's the backstory, so what about the class?
The HIGH ORC
Strength is the prime requisite of the High Orc, with a 13+ STR earning 5% extra experience, and a 16+ STR earning 10% more experience (non-cumulatively). High Orcs should be of Lawful alignment, and may not be of Arcane or Natural alignment ("should" means that High Orcs can be of other alignments, but that they won't gain their full class abilities otherwise). (and this intending my alignment rules)
Level 1 -- Foulspawn -- 1d6 HD -- 0 XP
Level 2 -- Gargun -- 2d6 HD -- 2200 XP
Level 3 -- Orc -- 3d6 HD -- 4400 XP
Level 4 -- Uruk -- 4d6 HD -- 8800 XP
Level 5 -- Orog -- 5d6 HD -- 17,000 XP
Level 6 -- Olog-Hai -- 6d6 HD -- 35,000 XP
Level 7 -- Satrap -- 7d6 HD -- 70,000 XP
Level 8 -- Warlord -- 8d6 HD -- 140,000 XP
Level 9 -- Sâr -- 9d6 HD -- 270,000 XP
Level 10-- 10th Level Sâr -- 9d6 +2 hp -- 400,000 XP
Level 11-- 11th Level Sâr -- 9d6 +4 hp -- 530,000 XP
Level 12-- 12th Level Sâr -- 9d6 +6 hp -- 660,000 XP
High Orcs may advance no higher than 12th level.
High Orcs fight and save as fighters of the same level. They may use any weapon, armor, or shield, and any magic items that fighters may use.
Moreover, High Orcs, given their affinity for machinery, receive a +1 "to hit" with crossbows (and guns, if your game includes them), as well as a +1 "to hit" or otherwise operate any type of siege engine. AND, presented with any kind of machinery, High Orcs may tinker with it to fix what's broken, to break what works, or to change its function in reasonable ways. This tinkering takes 1 ten-minute turn at minimum, but likely more depending on the complexity of the machine, or the extent of the tinkering.
As orcs, High Orcs have infravision out to 90 feet underground; but in direct sunlight, they suffer a -1 penalty to all "to hit" rolls, and to any kind of save against fear effects. Also, given their expertise in mining and tunneling, High Orcs have abilities equivalent to dwarves to detect sloping passages, new construction, etc.
Finally, Lawful High Orcs are initiated into the mysteries of Law, and through those mysteries learn how to command their lesser brethren with special signs, words of power, lawful formulae, and other such esoteric rituals. It is by these formulae that the High Orcs subject various other tribes of orcs, goblins, gnolls, etc. to accede to their imperium, to join their legions as auxiliaries, and to offer them tribute ...
A High Orc, presenting a Lawful symbol and uttering a Lawful formula, may compel one HD of "giant" class creatures per his level per day (e.g. 3 HD at level 3; which could be 3 orcs in one room, or 2 in the first room and a hobgoblin in the next, etc.) to do his bidding, per a command spell (save at -2), per a charm spell, or per a suggestion spell (save at +2).
"Giant" class creatures are per 1E AD&D rangers, so bugbears, ettins, giants, gnolls, goblins, hobgoblins, kobolds, ogres, ogre-magi, orcs, and trolls--plus or minus whatever seems appropriate to the referee
At Name Level, i.e. 9th or Sâr, a High Orc may establish a stronghold and begin to carve out his own domain of Lawful orcs. When he establishes his stronghold, he attracts a body of 10-60 orcs who will fight for him and serve him, enamored of his wealth. These orcs will likely require slaves, wealth, and constant reminders of the power of Law to remain loyal; otherwise, they might seek the aid of the nearest Chaotic orc warband to overthrow their Sâr and take his wealth for themselves ...
------
Just a last thought--I know representations of orcs have grown to bizarre proportions (literally) in recent years, with orcs becoming giant greenskinned berserks half again the height of a man ... but my own understanding of orcs is that they're weak, crooked folk, going about with bandied legs and awkwardly long arms. Stooped at the shoulders, an orc's head should be no higher than an average man's breast--and as for High Orcs, who stand up just a little straighter than their crooked Chaotic brethren, even they do not raise their faces higher than a man's shoulder, on average.
For all the faults I may find with the Peter Jackson Lord of the Rings movies, the Mordor orcs were always a redeeming factor--they're almost exactly the way I picture orcs, with grey skin and stooping gaits. I don't give a damn about his Uruk-Hai, but the Mordor orcs in The Two Towers were spot on.
So after a while sitting on this and letting ideas do their distillation, it's time to give this a shot.
Far to the east under the great mountains, those ramparts raised against heaven like the Kush or the Himalayas, great cities of orcs have been carved through the hearts of the hills. These are no simple orc-holes, but full cities, vaster than even the greatest of dwarf-holds, cruder in craft, but sublime, perhaps, for the brute functionality of their forms. The orcs that built these cities are the High Orcs--civilized and even Lawful of alignment--and they maintain empires of tribute from the seats of their power, demanding goods, wealth, and slaves from their subjects in return for the lawful protection of the orc Sârs and their armies.
Slaves? Of course--these orcs may be civilized and Lawful, but many Lawful human societies maintain slaves, including of course the Roman and Persian empires. And these are the best analogs to consider when thinking about the orc empires, especially Rome because the orcs can furnish armies of orcs (attended by multi-national/racial auxiliaries) with the same war-furor as the Romans, using similar legal systems to ensure/enforce conscription of orc-citizens.
Even High Orcs, being orcs, hate the sun and fight at -1 "to hit" beneath its relentless light, so one might well wonder how an orc empire can exert its power over a surface realm of subject-kingdoms. First, and more simply, the multi-national face of their empire, in which the High Orcs can conscript legions of men or hordes of gnolls to fight their wars, or hire mercenary companies of dwarf halberdiers and halfling slingers. Secondly, perhaps more importantly, the High Orcs are excellent miners and machinists, and this makes them unstoppable siege engineers. Not only do High Orcs have an affinity for machines--crossbows, ballistae, catapults, trebuchets, etc.--which allows them to construct city-destroyers (helepolises); but being superb miners, it is a simple task for a team of orc sappers to dig mines beneath the walls of a city, fire them, and thus collapse the walls, allowing their armies to easily storm the city.
But how did an entire empire of orcs turn to Law, when almost all their brethren of raiding warbands are Chaotic of alignment? (forget about the 2E Monstrous Manual entry for "Orcs" unless you want to read Lawful Evil orcs as High Orcs ...)
The civilization of the High Orcs and their empire is obsessed with the power of Law which they saw in human societies ... Whereas most orcs, confronted with the demand to give up some portion of their wealth, would say, "Come and get it!" so that only the strongest orc could take his fellows' gold, and then only as long as he maintains a coalition of support within the tribe/warband ... the first High Orcs became enamored of Law when they witnessed a human tax-farmer demand gold from a human community subject to the King-of-Kings--and when the tax-farmer produced a sign of the King, the community, without a struggle, offered up tribute which was then taken back to the court of the King!
What wondrous power this Law must have!--and so a number of orcs from an entrepreneurial tribe were sent to the court of the King as "hostages" to learn the ways and means of human Law, and then brought back rituals and philosophies with which to enforce Law upon their fellows. A great war among orcs followed between the Lawful and Chaotic tribes, in which the Lawful tribes managed to drive out the Chaotics and to establish their own empire within the mountain caves, and thus was the beginning of the empire of the High Orcs.
--Chaotic orcs, of course, remember this ancient war, and hate the High Orcs as traitors, hating them more fiercely, perhaps, than even their hatred of Elves or dwarves ...--
------
That's the backstory, so what about the class?
The HIGH ORC
Strength is the prime requisite of the High Orc, with a 13+ STR earning 5% extra experience, and a 16+ STR earning 10% more experience (non-cumulatively). High Orcs should be of Lawful alignment, and may not be of Arcane or Natural alignment ("should" means that High Orcs can be of other alignments, but that they won't gain their full class abilities otherwise). (and this intending my alignment rules)
Level 1 -- Foulspawn -- 1d6 HD -- 0 XP
Level 2 -- Gargun -- 2d6 HD -- 2200 XP
Level 3 -- Orc -- 3d6 HD -- 4400 XP
Level 4 -- Uruk -- 4d6 HD -- 8800 XP
Level 5 -- Orog -- 5d6 HD -- 17,000 XP
Level 6 -- Olog-Hai -- 6d6 HD -- 35,000 XP
Level 7 -- Satrap -- 7d6 HD -- 70,000 XP
Level 8 -- Warlord -- 8d6 HD -- 140,000 XP
Level 9 -- Sâr -- 9d6 HD -- 270,000 XP
Level 10-- 10th Level Sâr -- 9d6 +2 hp -- 400,000 XP
Level 11-- 11th Level Sâr -- 9d6 +4 hp -- 530,000 XP
Level 12-- 12th Level Sâr -- 9d6 +6 hp -- 660,000 XP
High Orcs may advance no higher than 12th level.
High Orcs fight and save as fighters of the same level. They may use any weapon, armor, or shield, and any magic items that fighters may use.
Moreover, High Orcs, given their affinity for machinery, receive a +1 "to hit" with crossbows (and guns, if your game includes them), as well as a +1 "to hit" or otherwise operate any type of siege engine. AND, presented with any kind of machinery, High Orcs may tinker with it to fix what's broken, to break what works, or to change its function in reasonable ways. This tinkering takes 1 ten-minute turn at minimum, but likely more depending on the complexity of the machine, or the extent of the tinkering.
As orcs, High Orcs have infravision out to 90 feet underground; but in direct sunlight, they suffer a -1 penalty to all "to hit" rolls, and to any kind of save against fear effects. Also, given their expertise in mining and tunneling, High Orcs have abilities equivalent to dwarves to detect sloping passages, new construction, etc.
Finally, Lawful High Orcs are initiated into the mysteries of Law, and through those mysteries learn how to command their lesser brethren with special signs, words of power, lawful formulae, and other such esoteric rituals. It is by these formulae that the High Orcs subject various other tribes of orcs, goblins, gnolls, etc. to accede to their imperium, to join their legions as auxiliaries, and to offer them tribute ...
A High Orc, presenting a Lawful symbol and uttering a Lawful formula, may compel one HD of "giant" class creatures per his level per day (e.g. 3 HD at level 3; which could be 3 orcs in one room, or 2 in the first room and a hobgoblin in the next, etc.) to do his bidding, per a command spell (save at -2), per a charm spell, or per a suggestion spell (save at +2).
"Giant" class creatures are per 1E AD&D rangers, so bugbears, ettins, giants, gnolls, goblins, hobgoblins, kobolds, ogres, ogre-magi, orcs, and trolls--plus or minus whatever seems appropriate to the referee
At Name Level, i.e. 9th or Sâr, a High Orc may establish a stronghold and begin to carve out his own domain of Lawful orcs. When he establishes his stronghold, he attracts a body of 10-60 orcs who will fight for him and serve him, enamored of his wealth. These orcs will likely require slaves, wealth, and constant reminders of the power of Law to remain loyal; otherwise, they might seek the aid of the nearest Chaotic orc warband to overthrow their Sâr and take his wealth for themselves ...
------
Just a last thought--I know representations of orcs have grown to bizarre proportions (literally) in recent years, with orcs becoming giant greenskinned berserks half again the height of a man ... but my own understanding of orcs is that they're weak, crooked folk, going about with bandied legs and awkwardly long arms. Stooped at the shoulders, an orc's head should be no higher than an average man's breast--and as for High Orcs, who stand up just a little straighter than their crooked Chaotic brethren, even they do not raise their faces higher than a man's shoulder, on average.
For all the faults I may find with the Peter Jackson Lord of the Rings movies, the Mordor orcs were always a redeeming factor--they're almost exactly the way I picture orcs, with grey skin and stooping gaits. I don't give a damn about his Uruk-Hai, but the Mordor orcs in The Two Towers were spot on.
 |
| By the Lawful power of the Red Eye, I conjure thee not to touch the halflings! |
Monday, October 30, 2017
New Class: the Hardy Yeoman
So there are some random advancement classes out there in the blogosphere that I've looked at, and I think they're neat (Zak S has several, here's the fighter; Jeff Rients has several, here's the B/X halfling; Perttu Vedenoja, alongside whom I've played in a couple online games has a sellsword; by way of examples ... there are more, I'm sure), and I thought I wanted to get in on that idea.
I was also trying to think of what kind of a character might use constitution as a prime requisite?
The Hardy Yeoman is the result of a fusion of these intents, and it is not quite like the linked d100 table classes, certainly less flashy, but more in keeping with my tastes. The future might see something different, but the present has the Hardy Yeoman, an upstanding peasant-type who's willing to leave his community for a time to deal with the forces of Chaos encroaching from beyond his family's ancient plot and fields.
Without further ado:
The HARDY YEOMAN
His or her prime requisite is Constitution; 13+ grants a 5% bonus to xp earned on adventure, and 16+ grants a non-cumulative 10% xp bonus
Level 1 -- Serf -- 1d6 HD -- 0 XP
Level 2 -- Peon -- 2d6 HD -- 1500 XP
Level 3 -- Peasant -- 3d6 HD -- 3000 XP
Level 4 -- Burgher -- 4d6 HD -- 6000 XP
Level 5 -- Freeman -- 5d6 HD -- 12,000 XP
Level 6 -- Yeoman Farmer -- 6d6 -- 25,000 XP
Hardy Yeomen may advance no further than 6th level in their own class; at that level, a Hardy Yeoman may construct a freehold/homestead, attracting a spouse, 1-4 family members, and 2-7 farm hands, as well as receiving (on a d6) (1-2) a herd of 2-12 horses and pasturage, (3-4) a herd of 3-24 cattle and pasturage, or (5-6) acreage for 1-3 cash crops per season, plus subsistence.
Furthermore, a 6th level Hardy Yeoman may dual class into a class that they qualify for (and rolls of 1-4 on their ability chart automatically qualify them for the relevant class, fighter, cleric, magic-user, or thief); dual classing means they retain current hit dice and hit points, but advance from first level in the new class as far as they wish; any use of their Hardy Yeoman abilities before reaching 6th level in the new class invalidates any XP gained from the particular adventure on which that ability was used. Once the former Hardy Yeoman reaches 7th level in his or her new class, he begins to gain hit dice per the new class, and continues to gain abilities for that class.
The Hardy Yeoman fights as a Cleric and saves as a Fighter; he or she may use any weapons or armor
At first level and every level gained thereafter, the Hardy Yeoman rolls once on a d20 table; as a d20 table, the referee will probably eventually have to start changing specific abilities, but with only one or two Yeomen in a game, there shouldn't be too much overlap of abilities.
I was also trying to think of what kind of a character might use constitution as a prime requisite?
The Hardy Yeoman is the result of a fusion of these intents, and it is not quite like the linked d100 table classes, certainly less flashy, but more in keeping with my tastes. The future might see something different, but the present has the Hardy Yeoman, an upstanding peasant-type who's willing to leave his community for a time to deal with the forces of Chaos encroaching from beyond his family's ancient plot and fields.
 |
| "Why yes, sir, I did hear of some goblins causing trouble out beyond the hedgerow. I was thinking of taking my shovel to them." |
Without further ado:
The HARDY YEOMAN
His or her prime requisite is Constitution; 13+ grants a 5% bonus to xp earned on adventure, and 16+ grants a non-cumulative 10% xp bonus
Level 1 -- Serf -- 1d6 HD -- 0 XP
Level 2 -- Peon -- 2d6 HD -- 1500 XP
Level 3 -- Peasant -- 3d6 HD -- 3000 XP
Level 4 -- Burgher -- 4d6 HD -- 6000 XP
Level 5 -- Freeman -- 5d6 HD -- 12,000 XP
Level 6 -- Yeoman Farmer -- 6d6 -- 25,000 XP
Hardy Yeomen may advance no further than 6th level in their own class; at that level, a Hardy Yeoman may construct a freehold/homestead, attracting a spouse, 1-4 family members, and 2-7 farm hands, as well as receiving (on a d6) (1-2) a herd of 2-12 horses and pasturage, (3-4) a herd of 3-24 cattle and pasturage, or (5-6) acreage for 1-3 cash crops per season, plus subsistence.
Furthermore, a 6th level Hardy Yeoman may dual class into a class that they qualify for (and rolls of 1-4 on their ability chart automatically qualify them for the relevant class, fighter, cleric, magic-user, or thief); dual classing means they retain current hit dice and hit points, but advance from first level in the new class as far as they wish; any use of their Hardy Yeoman abilities before reaching 6th level in the new class invalidates any XP gained from the particular adventure on which that ability was used. Once the former Hardy Yeoman reaches 7th level in his or her new class, he begins to gain hit dice per the new class, and continues to gain abilities for that class.
The Hardy Yeoman fights as a Cleric and saves as a Fighter; he or she may use any weapons or armor
At first level and every level gained thereafter, the Hardy Yeoman rolls once on a d20 table; as a d20 table, the referee will probably eventually have to start changing specific abilities, but with only one or two Yeomen in a game, there shouldn't be too much overlap of abilities.
1 - was in the local fyrd/militia;
rolls “to hit” as a fighter (further rolls indicate a cumulative
+1 “to hit” rolls)
2 - had some trouble with the law;
gains one thief ability at random
3 - had some schooling at a local
shrine; may cast 1 first level cleric spell per day (even wearing
armor)
4 - apprenticed to a hedge mage; may
cast 1 first level magic-user spell once per day, when not wearing
armor
5 - knows woodcraft; may track
creatures through the wilderness
6 - hunter; may forage food for 1-6
people per day in any wilderness
7 - knows some herb lore; can recognize
poisonous/beneficial herbs
8 - peasant doctor; one patient under
care regains double the usual hp from a full day of rest
9 - inheritance; receive a monthly
income of 10-60 gold
10 - peasant religion; leave 10+ gold
as an offering at shrines to a place-god/land-elf/nature-spirit/etc.
for a chance to receive a blessing
11 - green thumb;
preternaturally good at gardening and growing things
12 - smells
oncoming rain; can predict the weather
13 -
brewer/brewster; can brew one batch of profitable beer/mead/etc. per
month, given necessary resources--even IPAs and weird-tasting sours
can find a niche market
14 - horse-sense;
+1 reaction rolls with animals
15 - sturdy stock;
+1-3 hit points
16 - sturdy stock;
+1 on all saves
17 - handyman - can
perform general maintenance on almost anything
18 - cheesemaker;
can produce one profitable cheese per month, following the local
monastary's recipe
19 - blood is
thicker than water; your kinfolk are spread through many realms, and
all will treat even distant cousins as one of the family (by
providing provender, a place to stay, advocacy under the law, or even
help breaking you out of jail … kin may be called on 2-5 times
before they think you're some kind of black sheep or Took and won't
have more to do with you)
20 - royal decree
favoring archery over football; you're a bowyer and a fletcher, and
receive +1 “to hit” with bows, slings, etc.
 |
| "I'd rather be playing football on the village green ..." |
Saturday, October 14, 2017
New Class: the Free Goblin
As opposed to goblins still enslaved by their Elfin masters. The Elves of in my setting are soulless jerks who are followed around by entourages of enslaved goblins and ensorcelled/infatuated humans ... not that goblins aren't soulless jerks too, once freed, as Elves and goblins come from the same stock. The Elves just get the good blood, and the goblins get the ugly-genes.
I tend to think goblins are more interesting than orcs (don't get me wrong, I use a lot of orcs ... but the encounters with Goblin Kings and such tend to be more fun than with just another orc chieftain), so when contemplating adding another demi-human to my game--a semi-monstrous one, like a half-orc--I opted instead to write up the goblin as a new B/X demi-human class. Half-orcs might come later, but goblins are what I have now. So:
The FREE GOBLIN
To play a free goblin, a character cannot have a charisma higher than 12. The free goblin's prime requisite is Dexterity; 13+ grants a 5% bonus to xp earned on an adventure, while 16+ grants a 10% bonus (non cumulative). Free Goblins may be Chaotic or Arcane of alignment.
SPELLS
First Second Third Fourth
Level 1 -- Scroggling -- 1d4 HD -- 0 XP -- -- -- --
Level 2 -- Goblin -- 2d4 HD -- 2500 XP 1 -- -- --
Level 3 -- Hobgoblin -- 3d4 HD -- 5000 XP 2 -- -- --
Level 4 -- Bugabear -- 4d4 HD -- 10,000 XP 2 1 -- --
Level 5 -- Goblin King -- 5d4 HD -- 20,000 XP 2 2 -- --
Level 6 -- Goblin King 6th Level -- 5d4+1 hp -- 40,000 2 2 1 --
Level 7 -- Goblin King 7th Level -- 5d4 +2 hp -- 80,000 3 2 1 --
Level 8 -- Goblin King 8th Level -- 5d4 +3 hp -- 200,000 3 2 2 1
Free Goblins may advance no higher than 8th level.
Goblins fight as clerics, save as thieves, may use any weapons (except those too large for a smaller creature to use, e.g. no two-handed swords, no longbows, no polearms), may wear only leather armor, but may cast spells while wearing armor. They may use shields, but cannot cast spells if their hands are full, i.e. wielding a weapon and a shield at the same time.
Being free goblins, freed from the yoke of slavery under the Elves, goblins hate Elves and may not adventure in their company; likewise, Elves will not associate with free goblins (other than perhaps by trying to re-enslave them).
Goblins have thief skills as a thief of the same level, and cast spells from their own spell list:
First Level
1) Detect Magic, 2) Protection from Law, Darkness, 3) Cause Fear, 4) Charm Person, 5) Hold Portal, 6) Sleep, 8) Ventriloquism, 9) Douse Lights, 10) Phantasmal Force, 11) Audible Glamer, 12) Change Self
Second Level
1) Blight (opposite of bless), 2) Silence 15', 3) Snake Charm, 4) Speak with Animals, 5) Detect Invisible, 6) ESP, 7) Invisibility, 8) Knock, 9) Locate Object, 10) Mirror Image, 11) Web, 12) Wizard Lock
Third Level
1) Cause Disease, 2) Animal Growth, 3) Curse, 4) Dispel Magic, 5) Haste, 6) Invisibility 10', 7) Protection from Normal Missiles, 8) Waterbreathing, 9) Hold Person, 10) Suggestion, 11) Slow, 12) Blindness
Fourth Level
1) Cause Serious Wounds, 2) Poison, 3) Sticks to Snakes, 4) Charm Monster, 5) Confusion, 6) Dimension Door, 7) Hallucinatory Terrain, 8) Massmorph, 9) Polymorph Self, 10) Polymorph Other 11) Wall of Fire, 12) Wizard Eye
At 5th level, goblins reach Name Level--Goblin Kings--and if they construct a labyrinth (i.e. a dungeon), they will gain 4-24 goblin followers. These are normal goblins (1-1 HD), and they will do as commanded only if cajoled, bullied, or bribed by the Goblin King. They always have Morale 7, regardless of treatment by the Goblin King or the deaths of their fellows, and are a generally unruly and surly lot. They may be replaced by referee fiat.
Goblin Kings also gain two abilities, first they can fill their labyrinth with magical tricks, creating one per week--these tricks can virtually be anything, but must be worked out with the referee. Secondly, Goblin Kings gain the ability to transform human infants or children in to 1st level Free Goblins, a process that takes one year.
I wrote the Free Goblin class to reach "name level" quickly, i.e. 5th, to let people get into the domain game quickly, with their goblin followers and their ability to construct labyrinths/dungeons--and also to keep goblins weak compared to other demi-humans and especially humans. I wouldn't personally be put off by it when rolling up a character, but I wouldn't be surprised if it put others off.
Alas, despite my constantly pointing out to my players that they can roll up Free Goblins, none have yet taken me up on that offer. They haven't seen the rules (having evinced no interest), so I don't know if these just seem like weakling characters, or if my current group just isn't interested in playing creepy goblins. So I don't have any free goblin feats to report on.
 |
| Blix (from Legend) was almost a Free Goblin when he got that unicorn horn ... then the Devil showed up to remind him who's boss |
I tend to think goblins are more interesting than orcs (don't get me wrong, I use a lot of orcs ... but the encounters with Goblin Kings and such tend to be more fun than with just another orc chieftain), so when contemplating adding another demi-human to my game--a semi-monstrous one, like a half-orc--I opted instead to write up the goblin as a new B/X demi-human class. Half-orcs might come later, but goblins are what I have now. So:
The FREE GOBLIN
To play a free goblin, a character cannot have a charisma higher than 12. The free goblin's prime requisite is Dexterity; 13+ grants a 5% bonus to xp earned on an adventure, while 16+ grants a 10% bonus (non cumulative). Free Goblins may be Chaotic or Arcane of alignment.
SPELLS
First Second Third Fourth
Level 1 -- Scroggling -- 1d4 HD -- 0 XP -- -- -- --
Level 2 -- Goblin -- 2d4 HD -- 2500 XP 1 -- -- --
Level 3 -- Hobgoblin -- 3d4 HD -- 5000 XP 2 -- -- --
Level 4 -- Bugabear -- 4d4 HD -- 10,000 XP 2 1 -- --
Level 5 -- Goblin King -- 5d4 HD -- 20,000 XP 2 2 -- --
Level 6 -- Goblin King 6th Level -- 5d4+1 hp -- 40,000 2 2 1 --
Level 7 -- Goblin King 7th Level -- 5d4 +2 hp -- 80,000 3 2 1 --
Level 8 -- Goblin King 8th Level -- 5d4 +3 hp -- 200,000 3 2 2 1
Free Goblins may advance no higher than 8th level.
Goblins fight as clerics, save as thieves, may use any weapons (except those too large for a smaller creature to use, e.g. no two-handed swords, no longbows, no polearms), may wear only leather armor, but may cast spells while wearing armor. They may use shields, but cannot cast spells if their hands are full, i.e. wielding a weapon and a shield at the same time.
Being free goblins, freed from the yoke of slavery under the Elves, goblins hate Elves and may not adventure in their company; likewise, Elves will not associate with free goblins (other than perhaps by trying to re-enslave them).
Goblins have thief skills as a thief of the same level, and cast spells from their own spell list:
First Level
1) Detect Magic, 2) Protection from Law, Darkness, 3) Cause Fear, 4) Charm Person, 5) Hold Portal, 6) Sleep, 8) Ventriloquism, 9) Douse Lights, 10) Phantasmal Force, 11) Audible Glamer, 12) Change Self
Second Level
1) Blight (opposite of bless), 2) Silence 15', 3) Snake Charm, 4) Speak with Animals, 5) Detect Invisible, 6) ESP, 7) Invisibility, 8) Knock, 9) Locate Object, 10) Mirror Image, 11) Web, 12) Wizard Lock
Third Level
1) Cause Disease, 2) Animal Growth, 3) Curse, 4) Dispel Magic, 5) Haste, 6) Invisibility 10', 7) Protection from Normal Missiles, 8) Waterbreathing, 9) Hold Person, 10) Suggestion, 11) Slow, 12) Blindness
Fourth Level
1) Cause Serious Wounds, 2) Poison, 3) Sticks to Snakes, 4) Charm Monster, 5) Confusion, 6) Dimension Door, 7) Hallucinatory Terrain, 8) Massmorph, 9) Polymorph Self, 10) Polymorph Other 11) Wall of Fire, 12) Wizard Eye
At 5th level, goblins reach Name Level--Goblin Kings--and if they construct a labyrinth (i.e. a dungeon), they will gain 4-24 goblin followers. These are normal goblins (1-1 HD), and they will do as commanded only if cajoled, bullied, or bribed by the Goblin King. They always have Morale 7, regardless of treatment by the Goblin King or the deaths of their fellows, and are a generally unruly and surly lot. They may be replaced by referee fiat.
Goblin Kings also gain two abilities, first they can fill their labyrinth with magical tricks, creating one per week--these tricks can virtually be anything, but must be worked out with the referee. Secondly, Goblin Kings gain the ability to transform human infants or children in to 1st level Free Goblins, a process that takes one year.
 |
| Goblin Kings don't automatically gain a potato in their pants, but they certainly ought to construct a magical codpiece |
I wrote the Free Goblin class to reach "name level" quickly, i.e. 5th, to let people get into the domain game quickly, with their goblin followers and their ability to construct labyrinths/dungeons--and also to keep goblins weak compared to other demi-humans and especially humans. I wouldn't personally be put off by it when rolling up a character, but I wouldn't be surprised if it put others off.
Alas, despite my constantly pointing out to my players that they can roll up Free Goblins, none have yet taken me up on that offer. They haven't seen the rules (having evinced no interest), so I don't know if these just seem like weakling characters, or if my current group just isn't interested in playing creepy goblins. So I don't have any free goblin feats to report on.
Saturday, October 7, 2017
New Class: the Traveling Man
Not to overload things here with new classes, but I've written several for my game, and I wanted to sort of "get them out in full view," a couple now, a couple later. The Man-Ape was actually the most recently written (and my favorite issue, I won't lie ... the Free Goblin and the Hardy Yeoman, to be posted later, vie for second place); while the Traveling Man (or Traveling Woman, as you will), was the first, conceived a couple months heretofore.
It was a slower day at work, when I had the leisure not to rush about trying to do everything at once, and I was wondering how one might work up classes with prime requisites of Constitution or Charisma (rather than merely Strength for fighting-men, Intelligence for magic-users, Wisdom for clerics, and dexterity for thieves). After all, the original game had only fighting-men and magic-users--clerics and thieves were added in later. So why not tack on other classes after that? (but classes unrelated to the later iterations of ranger, bard, or sorcerer--I wanted to be original-ish)
Considering Charisma, I thought for a while of trying to come up with an Odysseus-type who could talk his way out of troubles; or a Siren class who could charm enemies. I considered coming up with new abilities, with new tables and trees and rolls to make under certain circumstances ... and then suddenly got sick of it all--after all, when fighting-men level up, they only get an additional hit die and (occasionally) a better "to hit" roll.
Hence, for the Traveling Man I tried to work only within the rule systems already presented in Basic. Certainly they have more fiddly particulars than a fighting-man, but I tried not to tack on any new rule system to their class (like a bard song ability, or whatever weird thing I could come up with that seemed Charisma-like).
Did I mention Odysseus? Ultimately, I did hope to create a class who might somewhat emulate his feats, cheating a Cyclops in part by claiming his name to be "Nobody," so that when the Cyclops calls to his brothers, "Nobody has blinded me!" the other Cyclopes only laugh and ignore him (and out of hubris, Odysseus reveals his name, and is thereafter damned to wander many years before returning home, bedding various siren-type sorceresses and telling tall tales about his own journeys and exploits).
But also, through the mediation of the 2000 film O' Brother, Where Art Thou and the lead character Ulysses (i.e. Odysseus), I also began to think of the Traveling Man as the Rambling Gambler of Americana and Celtic folk. So.
The TRAVELING MAN (or WOMAN)
Level 1 -- Tramp -- 1d6 Hit Dice -- 0 XP -- +1 bonus language
Level 2 -- Trotter -- 2d6 HD -- 1500 XP
Level 3 -- Hitchhiker -- 3d6 HD -- 3000 XP -- +2 bonus languages
Level 4 -- Hobo -- 4d6 HD -- 6000 XP
Level 5 -- Rover -- 5d6 HD -- 12000 XP -- +3 bonus languages
Level 6 -- Rambler -- 6d6 HD -- 24000 XP
Level 7 -- Gambler -- 7d6 HD -- 50000 XP -- +4 bonus languages
Level 8 -- Supertramp -- 8d6 HD -- 100000 XP
Level 9 -- Wanderer -- 9d6 HD -- 200000 XP -- +5 bonus languages
Level 10 -- Wanderer 10th level -- +1 hp -- 300000 XP
Level 11 -- Wanderer 11th level -- +2 hp -- 400000 XP -- *languages
etc, every 100,000 XP earns 1 additional level and+1 additional hp
Traveling Men/Women (i.e. Travelers) fight as clerics and save as fighting-men; they may use any weapons or armor. Charisma is their prime requisite, and a Charisma of 13+ will net 5% extra xps at the end of the adventure, or Charisma 16+ will net 10% extra xps (not cumulatively).
Travelers, being garrulous individuals who make their way through the world with words, develop an ability to talk to just about anybody or anything. They receive +1 to any reaction roll involving speech or negotiations.
Moreover, as their rambling lives require Travelers to maintain their cool in various stressful situations (like trying to talk their way out of gambling debts or crossbow-weddings), Travelers are also able to impart some of their cool to others, granting followers and retainers +1 to morale scores.
Further, given their experience with various valuables--in pawn shops, card halls, bazaars, and yard sales--Travelers may appraise items with a general accuracy. Because of the generalized nature of this skill, particulars or odd historical details might be missed, but usually a Traveler can tell if any old gem or piece of jewelry is worth approximately 10 gp or 1500 gp. Further, this ability extends to familiarity with legends/aspects of magic items, resulting in a cumulative 5% chance per level (90% maximum) of correctly identifying any magic item that a Traveler handles (only one roll per item per level allowed).
Lastly, being gambling types (e.g. Simon and Garfunkel singing Roving Gambler and Rose of Aberdeen, or the traditional Rambling Gambler sung by the Irish Rovers) Travelers learn the games of chance of many cultures, cards especially. Once per week, a Traveler may set up a game with his own cash, up to 100 gp/level, and then wins -10% to +40% for himself; but he must also make a save against poison (at -1/100 gp) or binge, spending an additional 100 gp/level on further gambling.
I have further rules for Traveling Men and Women who reach Name Level (9th for this class)--they may elect either to settle down and build a permanent INN (whether they remain there, or leave a trusted second in charge is up to the individual and their own wanderlust ...), or gather a semi-permanent CARAVAN about themselves, a sort of traveling community that moves from place to place, buying and trading goods, gambling here and there, working odd jobs, and maybe being a little bit gypsy to boot.
But all of that is for Name Level Travelers. Right now, all that exists of this class is a single Traveling Man, played by one of my brothers-in-law, a first level Traveler seeking the halfling land of Hopshire to save the halflings there from Giants and "evil men". He is a newcomer to a larger party, a hanger-on amongst the fellows of Baldo the Halfling, the would-be hero of Hopshire. And alas, this traveling is set in a kind of limbo as we play first play through a certain other quest--though, of course, traveling forever is that at which a Traveling Man excels ...
It was a slower day at work, when I had the leisure not to rush about trying to do everything at once, and I was wondering how one might work up classes with prime requisites of Constitution or Charisma (rather than merely Strength for fighting-men, Intelligence for magic-users, Wisdom for clerics, and dexterity for thieves). After all, the original game had only fighting-men and magic-users--clerics and thieves were added in later. So why not tack on other classes after that? (but classes unrelated to the later iterations of ranger, bard, or sorcerer--I wanted to be original-ish)
Considering Charisma, I thought for a while of trying to come up with an Odysseus-type who could talk his way out of troubles; or a Siren class who could charm enemies. I considered coming up with new abilities, with new tables and trees and rolls to make under certain circumstances ... and then suddenly got sick of it all--after all, when fighting-men level up, they only get an additional hit die and (occasionally) a better "to hit" roll.
Hence, for the Traveling Man I tried to work only within the rule systems already presented in Basic. Certainly they have more fiddly particulars than a fighting-man, but I tried not to tack on any new rule system to their class (like a bard song ability, or whatever weird thing I could come up with that seemed Charisma-like).
Did I mention Odysseus? Ultimately, I did hope to create a class who might somewhat emulate his feats, cheating a Cyclops in part by claiming his name to be "Nobody," so that when the Cyclops calls to his brothers, "Nobody has blinded me!" the other Cyclopes only laugh and ignore him (and out of hubris, Odysseus reveals his name, and is thereafter damned to wander many years before returning home, bedding various siren-type sorceresses and telling tall tales about his own journeys and exploits).
But also, through the mediation of the 2000 film O' Brother, Where Art Thou and the lead character Ulysses (i.e. Odysseus), I also began to think of the Traveling Man as the Rambling Gambler of Americana and Celtic folk. So.
The TRAVELING MAN (or WOMAN)
Level 1 -- Tramp -- 1d6 Hit Dice -- 0 XP -- +1 bonus language
Level 2 -- Trotter -- 2d6 HD -- 1500 XP
Level 3 -- Hitchhiker -- 3d6 HD -- 3000 XP -- +2 bonus languages
Level 4 -- Hobo -- 4d6 HD -- 6000 XP
Level 5 -- Rover -- 5d6 HD -- 12000 XP -- +3 bonus languages
Level 6 -- Rambler -- 6d6 HD -- 24000 XP
Level 7 -- Gambler -- 7d6 HD -- 50000 XP -- +4 bonus languages
Level 8 -- Supertramp -- 8d6 HD -- 100000 XP
Level 9 -- Wanderer -- 9d6 HD -- 200000 XP -- +5 bonus languages
Level 10 -- Wanderer 10th level -- +1 hp -- 300000 XP
Level 11 -- Wanderer 11th level -- +2 hp -- 400000 XP -- *languages
etc, every 100,000 XP earns 1 additional level and
Traveling Men/Women (i.e. Travelers) fight as clerics and save as fighting-men; they may use any weapons or armor. Charisma is their prime requisite, and a Charisma of 13+ will net 5% extra xps at the end of the adventure, or Charisma 16+ will net 10% extra xps (not cumulatively).
Travelers, being garrulous individuals who make their way through the world with words, develop an ability to talk to just about anybody or anything. They receive +1 to any reaction roll involving speech or negotiations.
Moreover, as their rambling lives require Travelers to maintain their cool in various stressful situations (like trying to talk their way out of gambling debts or crossbow-weddings), Travelers are also able to impart some of their cool to others, granting followers and retainers +1 to morale scores.
Further, given their experience with various valuables--in pawn shops, card halls, bazaars, and yard sales--Travelers may appraise items with a general accuracy. Because of the generalized nature of this skill, particulars or odd historical details might be missed, but usually a Traveler can tell if any old gem or piece of jewelry is worth approximately 10 gp or 1500 gp. Further, this ability extends to familiarity with legends/aspects of magic items, resulting in a cumulative 5% chance per level (90% maximum) of correctly identifying any magic item that a Traveler handles (only one roll per item per level allowed).
Lastly, being gambling types (e.g. Simon and Garfunkel singing Roving Gambler and Rose of Aberdeen, or the traditional Rambling Gambler sung by the Irish Rovers) Travelers learn the games of chance of many cultures, cards especially. Once per week, a Traveler may set up a game with his own cash, up to 100 gp/level, and then wins -10% to +40% for himself; but he must also make a save against poison (at -1/100 gp) or binge, spending an additional 100 gp/level on further gambling.
I have further rules for Traveling Men and Women who reach Name Level (9th for this class)--they may elect either to settle down and build a permanent INN (whether they remain there, or leave a trusted second in charge is up to the individual and their own wanderlust ...), or gather a semi-permanent CARAVAN about themselves, a sort of traveling community that moves from place to place, buying and trading goods, gambling here and there, working odd jobs, and maybe being a little bit gypsy to boot.
But all of that is for Name Level Travelers. Right now, all that exists of this class is a single Traveling Man, played by one of my brothers-in-law, a first level Traveler seeking the halfling land of Hopshire to save the halflings there from Giants and "evil men". He is a newcomer to a larger party, a hanger-on amongst the fellows of Baldo the Halfling, the would-be hero of Hopshire. And alas, this traveling is set in a kind of limbo as we play first play through a certain other quest--though, of course, traveling forever is that at which a Traveling Man excels ...
Friday, October 6, 2017
New Class: the Man-Ape
One thing I love about pulp fiction like Robert E. Howard's Conan series and Edgar Rice Burroughs' John Carter of Mars books is the use of apes as enemies for the eponymous heroes to wrestle--the grey apes that Conan faces in close quarters and the four-armed white apes that dwell around the southern pole of Mars ... apes make great uncanny valley enemies, being not-quite-human, not-quite-beast, but definitely physically more powerful than human (and my wife thinks monkeys and apes are "creepy and demonic"), and all of this led me to think, "I need more apes in my D&D games."
I don't actually use apes as often as I feel like I should as monsters--when I remember, I'll add white apes, rock baboons, and hsing-hsing to my wandering monster rolls. But then again, apes don't always make sense in my dungeons; a catacombs filled with undead horrors, warped fey hounds, troglodytes, mad myconids, and a white-dragon cult doesn't necessarily have room for apes. So I figured the most reasonable way to get more ape-action in my games was to make a playable ape-class.
Hence, the MAN-APE! (and not Ape-Man, because that implies an apish man, like Tarzan, rather than a mannish ape like King Louis--from the Jungle Book, not French history!)
Level 1 -- Brute -- Hit Dice 2d8 -- 0 XP
Level 2 -- Ape -- HD 3d8 -- 2200 XP
Level 3 -- Great Ape -- HD 4d8 -- 4400 XP
Level 4 -- Grey Ape -- HD 5d8 -- 8800 XP
Level 5 -- Silverback -- HD 6d8 -- 18000 XP
Level 6 -- Beastlord -- HD 7d8 -- 36000 XP
Level 7 -- King of Monkeys // Kong -- HD 8d8 -- 72000
Level 8 -- King of the Jungle // King Kong -- HD 9d8 --150000
(no further advancement)
Yes, they start with two hit-dice, rather like AD&D rangers.
Strength is the Man-Ape's prime requisite, and 13+ will earn 5% more xps, while strength 16+ will earn 10% additional xps (not cumulatively).
Man-Apes fight and save as fighting-men of the same level. They start without any gold or possessions. Also, Man-Apes may not lead retainers until Name Level (7th, for my game ... unless the referee fiats otherwise).
Man-Apes begin with the languages of Ape and Signed Common; high intelligence might grant additional languages, assuming a forgiving referee. They also have a better ability to scent things than humans and demi-humans; this ability is intentionally left at that, to encourage unique attempts to use it.
As for armor, Man-Apes begin with a natural AC of 7, but they may only wear armor that is custom-made for them at double the normal cost. Further, if unarmored or wearing no heavier than leather armor, Man-Apes may climb anything reasonable without a check (a tree, a cliff with lots of easy handholds, etc.), or climb sheer surfaces as a thief of the same level, +5%.
When fighting, Man-Apes may use any weapon; but they may also strike with their fists in a two-attack routine (without penalty), each fist doing 1-3 damage (plus strength bonus, if applicable). If both fists hit, the Man-Ape does an additional 1-6 damage from rending (no strength bonus for this). This is only possible when fighting with fists, i.e. a sword-using Man-Ape cannot rend (though I have allowed the singular character of this class in my game to attack with his off-hand fist when wielding a weapon).
Further, Man-Apes being apes, they are capable of feats of strength that no man or demi-human could possibly emulate. That is, a Man-Ape need never "check" for normal strength-based tasks, except where the effort need be so herculean that even an ape would struggle. As a corollary to this, Man-Apes receive a +1 to their open door checks.
At Name Level (i.e. 7th for this class), a Man-Ape may acquire a troop of apes and jungle beasts--or build an urban manor and attempt to make his way in Civilization (and attempt to gather human followers). The troop of apes would be 2-12 apes; plus, if the Man-Ape (King) Kong ousts the current king of the jungle through violent combat, he receives vows of allegiance from the normal animals of the jungle (rather like the Elf Wizard-Lord's affinity for the animals within her own domain).
I don't have any rules for the urbane Man-Ape--I feel that such a course is one that must be charted on an individual basis.
Lastly, in my game and with my alignment rules (see Alignment in My Game), Man-Apes may only be of Chaotic, Good, Evil, or Natural alignment. They may not be of Lawful, Clannish, or Arcane alignment. But those are just my rules, for my alignments.
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To date, I have only had one Man-Ape rolled up for any of my games--and not the Greyhame Mountain Dungeon, but my game with my wife and her brothers.
This poor creature, Zantar (see, because he's like Tarzan ...) lived a short but glorious life covering a mere two sessions. He was introduced to the party as they tried to figure out what to do about some orcs keeping watch from the tower-top above the dungeon-entrance. Along with some party members who could fly on their broomstick, and a mid-level thief, Zantar climbed the tower and participated in the assassination of the orc watchers.
But the real glory waited under the earth, on the third level of the dungeon. There, the party encountered a giant spider and several of her brood. Zantar really shone during this fight--not only did he tear one of the lesser spiders apart, but he personally slew the Shelob-type monstrosity as she lurked over another couple of party members--and because he rolled the killing blow with a rend after two hits with his fists, obviously he tore the spider's legs off and used them to beat her to death.
Alas, Zantar's glory was cut short when, despite being a first level character, the rest of the party agreed to put him up front and have him open doors (he did have that strength thing that gave him a bonus to opening doors). Well, upon opening the wrong door--one with an enemy lurking behind, an enemy who had heard the party's approach, an enemy who subsequently rolled surprise on the party--Zantar was struck by a level-draining attack and, being of mere first level, he was life-drained to death.
I keep hoping for others to roll up Man-Apes to follow in the glorious footsteps of deceased Zantar--and if I can get a coworker to show up at a Greyhame Mountain Dungeon session in a week, I might have him convinced to do just that. (and man, but I wish people would run with this and have characters like King Louis, Koko, Doctor Zaius, Caesar, Donkey (Kong) ... so many pop-culture apes and monkeys to reference!)
I don't actually use apes as often as I feel like I should as monsters--when I remember, I'll add white apes, rock baboons, and hsing-hsing to my wandering monster rolls. But then again, apes don't always make sense in my dungeons; a catacombs filled with undead horrors, warped fey hounds, troglodytes, mad myconids, and a white-dragon cult doesn't necessarily have room for apes. So I figured the most reasonable way to get more ape-action in my games was to make a playable ape-class.
Hence, the MAN-APE! (and not Ape-Man, because that implies an apish man, like Tarzan, rather than a mannish ape like King Louis--from the Jungle Book, not French history!)
Level 1 -- Brute -- Hit Dice 2d8 -- 0 XP
Level 2 -- Ape -- HD 3d8 -- 2200 XP
Level 3 -- Great Ape -- HD 4d8 -- 4400 XP
Level 4 -- Grey Ape -- HD 5d8 -- 8800 XP
Level 5 -- Silverback -- HD 6d8 -- 18000 XP
Level 6 -- Beastlord -- HD 7d8 -- 36000 XP
Level 7 -- King of Monkeys // Kong -- HD 8d8 -- 72000
Level 8 -- King of the Jungle // King Kong -- HD 9d8 --150000
(no further advancement)
Yes, they start with two hit-dice, rather like AD&D rangers.
Strength is the Man-Ape's prime requisite, and 13+ will earn 5% more xps, while strength 16+ will earn 10% additional xps (not cumulatively).
Man-Apes fight and save as fighting-men of the same level. They start without any gold or possessions. Also, Man-Apes may not lead retainers until Name Level (7th, for my game ... unless the referee fiats otherwise).
Man-Apes begin with the languages of Ape and Signed Common; high intelligence might grant additional languages, assuming a forgiving referee. They also have a better ability to scent things than humans and demi-humans; this ability is intentionally left at that, to encourage unique attempts to use it.
As for armor, Man-Apes begin with a natural AC of 7, but they may only wear armor that is custom-made for them at double the normal cost. Further, if unarmored or wearing no heavier than leather armor, Man-Apes may climb anything reasonable without a check (a tree, a cliff with lots of easy handholds, etc.), or climb sheer surfaces as a thief of the same level, +5%.
When fighting, Man-Apes may use any weapon; but they may also strike with their fists in a two-attack routine (without penalty), each fist doing 1-3 damage (plus strength bonus, if applicable). If both fists hit, the Man-Ape does an additional 1-6 damage from rending (no strength bonus for this). This is only possible when fighting with fists, i.e. a sword-using Man-Ape cannot rend (though I have allowed the singular character of this class in my game to attack with his off-hand fist when wielding a weapon).
Further, Man-Apes being apes, they are capable of feats of strength that no man or demi-human could possibly emulate. That is, a Man-Ape need never "check" for normal strength-based tasks, except where the effort need be so herculean that even an ape would struggle. As a corollary to this, Man-Apes receive a +1 to their open door checks.
At Name Level (i.e. 7th for this class), a Man-Ape may acquire a troop of apes and jungle beasts--or build an urban manor and attempt to make his way in Civilization (and attempt to gather human followers). The troop of apes would be 2-12 apes; plus, if the Man-Ape (King) Kong ousts the current king of the jungle through violent combat, he receives vows of allegiance from the normal animals of the jungle (rather like the Elf Wizard-Lord's affinity for the animals within her own domain).
I don't have any rules for the urbane Man-Ape--I feel that such a course is one that must be charted on an individual basis.
Lastly, in my game and with my alignment rules (see Alignment in My Game), Man-Apes may only be of Chaotic, Good, Evil, or Natural alignment. They may not be of Lawful, Clannish, or Arcane alignment. But those are just my rules, for my alignments.
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To date, I have only had one Man-Ape rolled up for any of my games--and not the Greyhame Mountain Dungeon, but my game with my wife and her brothers.
This poor creature, Zantar (see, because he's like Tarzan ...) lived a short but glorious life covering a mere two sessions. He was introduced to the party as they tried to figure out what to do about some orcs keeping watch from the tower-top above the dungeon-entrance. Along with some party members who could fly on their broomstick, and a mid-level thief, Zantar climbed the tower and participated in the assassination of the orc watchers.
But the real glory waited under the earth, on the third level of the dungeon. There, the party encountered a giant spider and several of her brood. Zantar really shone during this fight--not only did he tear one of the lesser spiders apart, but he personally slew the Shelob-type monstrosity as she lurked over another couple of party members--and because he rolled the killing blow with a rend after two hits with his fists, obviously he tore the spider's legs off and used them to beat her to death.
Alas, Zantar's glory was cut short when, despite being a first level character, the rest of the party agreed to put him up front and have him open doors (he did have that strength thing that gave him a bonus to opening doors). Well, upon opening the wrong door--one with an enemy lurking behind, an enemy who had heard the party's approach, an enemy who subsequently rolled surprise on the party--Zantar was struck by a level-draining attack and, being of mere first level, he was life-drained to death.
I keep hoping for others to roll up Man-Apes to follow in the glorious footsteps of deceased Zantar--and if I can get a coworker to show up at a Greyhame Mountain Dungeon session in a week, I might have him convinced to do just that. (and man, but I wish people would run with this and have characters like King Louis, Koko, Doctor Zaius, Caesar, Donkey (Kong) ... so many pop-culture apes and monkeys to reference!)
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