Darkness & Dread: Homebrew Feats and Classes

OK, so I got Darkness & Dread a few weeks ago, and decided I'd run a campaign with it. While the classes in the book are really neat, I don't want the PCs to be total weaklings. Most of the D&D core classes wouldn't fit into my dark fantasy campaign either--they have too many whiz-bang flashy powers. So I designed my own core classes for the game (which took a lot of work, but I'm quite happy with the results) based off the D&D core classes. They are designed to be as flexible as possible. The classes are all in their early stages (they will doubtlessly change once they see some gameplay). I posted them in case anyone wants to use them in their own campaign or just mine them for ideas. Any constructive criticism will be appreciated.

I’m using a variety of alternate rules in this campaign, so the classes will make a little more sense, including:

• The magic system from Midnight
• Class-based defense bonus
• The contact rules from Unearthed Arcana (slightly modified)
• The psychic rules from The Psychic's Handbook
• Reduced character hit points (unsure exactly how)
• A vicious critical hit system

Enjoy!

It turns out I can't upload all the classes at once. Here are the last three (note that the fighter and rogue are nearly unchanged from the core rules, and the psychic is expanded upon from the version in The Psychic's Handbook).

Bump

I think this should be on page one for at least another day . . .

I like the Idea for a dar campaigne, and your priest class is exactly the sort of thing I have been looking for.

Where can i find the magic rules for your game and could you sum up the madness rules as well.

If you have any other great plans let us know

I'm glad you can make use of these!

The magic rules are from Fantasy Flight Games' Midnight campaign setting. The gist of it is that spells do temporary con damage, and learning spells requires some amount of time, XP, and gold. There arn't any spells known or spells per day tables.

The madness rules (and the profession abilities) are from Fantasy Flight Games' Darkness and Dread. Basically, seeing horrible sights requirse a will save; if a character fails he gets a couple of madness points (sometimes even on a success). Every 10 madness points imposes some sort of character quirk. At 100, the character suffers some serious mental affliction that usually takes him out of the game (recovery is possible, but unlikely).

I heartily recommend Darkness and Dread if you're interested in dark fantasy. I've been quite happy with it.

I might post a revised priest class in the near future (one of my players is displeased with it; it may be too weak).

Thanks for the feedback.

I'm making use of the feats as well. What is the Craft Talisman feat about though?

Craft Talisman and Craft Charm are both from Midnight. Talismans reduce the con damage of spellcasting, but only within a specific school. Charms have a variety of minor magic effects, yet don't actually radiate magic. Charms can actually be made by non-spellcasters.

They're mainly there because I wanted the players to know of these feats' existance, and didn't want to copy all that text . . . too much typing!

spider_minion,

I have a curious question about the feat All or Nothing. If the penalty for gaining an extra attack is loss of the Dex bonus, how is a non-dextrous combatant affected?

For the feat Sacrifice Weapon, what type of weapon would this apply to? Wooden weapons? I would think one could always assume that combatants are already making blows with weapons as 'hard' as possible.

On a side note, have you looked at the Grim-n-Gritty combat rules? I have not used them myself, but I hear that the rules make combat truly gritty, and PCs somewhat shortlived (or smarter about selecting enemies).

Orlic

Cool! More replies!

In addition to the temporary loss of dex to AC, All or Nothing causes the character to loose all of his actions on the next turn. This feat is best used to get that last blow on an enemy to end a fight early. As a DM, though, I'd be very happy if the character missed.

Sacrifice Weapon is kinda cinematic. It doesn't make a whole lotta sense in game, but out of game it gives the player a choice for a short term gain with (potentially) long term consequences. Several of the feats, such as All or Nothing, are designed to work like this.

I really like the Grim & Gritty combat system, and I'm using a varient of it in this campaign. Characters start out with hit points equal to their con score (not modifier) and get a set amount of hit points with each level (1 - 4 hp). Big or little things have their con hp multiplied by something (this has not yet come into play, so I haven't decided).

I've since tweaked the classes after posting them to include the hp increases and to work with a simplified skill system. I might post them after I see more gameplay with them . . . but I'm sure how much server space I can use.