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Ringing in 2015 with some Classic D&D
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<blockquote data-quote="Jack Daniel" data-source="post: 6483070" data-attributes="member: 694"><p><strong>The Classes</strong></p><p>This is where the crap gets cool. I love devising class systems so much… okay, so there will be six classes for this game, one tied to each of the six ability scores: the Fighter (Strength), the Expert (Dexterity), the Brawler (Constitution), the Artificer (Intelligence), the Druid (Wisdom), and the Sorcerer (Charisma).</p><p></p><p><strong>Fighters</strong> are masters of armed combat and battle-tactics. They possess a trained psychological battle-focus that unlocks certain special maneuvers usable only by fighters. The opportunity to use a maneuver will only present itself a few times during any given engagement, thus maneuvers are limited to only so many attempts per battle, according to the fighter’s experience level.</p><p></p><p>[code]</p><p>[U]Lv Hit Dice Fighting Special Abilities</p><p>[/U]1 1d8 +2 Focused strike 1/battle</p><p>2 2d8 +2 Perfect parry 1/battle</p><p>3 3d8 +2 Split focus 1/battle</p><p>4 4d8 +4 Whirlwind attack 1/battle</p><p>5 5d8 +4 Focused strike 2/battle</p><p>6 6d8 +4 Two attacks per round</p><p>7 7d8 +6 Split focus 2/battle</p><p>8 8d8 +6 Perfect riposte 2/battle</p><p>9 9d8 +6 Focused strike 3/battle, Turn undead 2/day (caster level 3rd)</p><p>10 9d8+2 +8 Whirlwind attack 2/battle, Cast one spell, learn 1st level spells</p><p>11 9d8+4 +8 Split focus 3/battle, Cast two spells</p><p>12 9d8+6 +8 Three attacks per round, Caster level 4th</p><p>13 9d8+8 +10 Focused strike 4/battle, Learn 2nd level spells</p><p>14 9d8+10 +10 Power smash 1/battle, Recover 1st level spell 1/day</p><p>[/code]</p><p></p><p><u>Fighting:</u> Fighters (and brawlers) are good at fighting; experts and druids less so; sorcerers and artificers, not so much. A character’s fighting capability is a bonus to hit any given armor class. A target in leather armor, for example, is AC 7, while a target in a full suit of plates is AC 1. To hit a target with a melee weapon, you must roll equal to or less than (the target’s AC + your fighting capability + your Str mod) on 1d20. With a missile weapon, the formula is the same, except that Dex replaces Str, and range penalties apply (–2 to hit for medium range; –5 to hit for long range). Fighting capability also delineates a character’s ability to make a saving throw, and again, fighters (and brawlers) are superior in this area. A character’s chance to save against any hostile circumstance (spell, trap, breath weapon, whatever) is 5 + fighting capability + Wis mod. Rolling this target number or less on 1d20 makes the saving throw.</p><p><u>Focused Strike:</u> Use of this ability must be declared before the fighter rolls to hit, and a miss ruins the attempt. The fighter attacks, and if he hits, he deals maximum damage instead of rolling dice for damage. (On a critical hit, the extra damage must still be rolled.)</p><p><u>Perfect Parry:</u> This ability is used only as a response to an enemy attack; thus it does not use up the fighter’s action during a combat round. Once per battle, when an enemy melee attack would otherwise hit the fighter or an adjacent ally, the fighter may roll a saving throw to negate the damage. If the fighter carries a shield, a ranged attack may be negated in similar fashion; but if the fighter only carries weapons, parrying a ranged attack will halve rather than negate the damage. At 8th level, this ability is replaced by the “Perfect Riposte”: now useable twice per battle, it also grants an immediate, free counterattack against a successfully parried attacker in melee.</p><p><u>Split Focus:</u> Like the focused strike, the use of this ability is declared before the fighter rolls to hit. This maneuver allows the fighter to strike two adjacent foes with a single attack. The fighter makes a single attack roll and compares it to both targets’ armor classes, with normal damage occurring for one or both targets hit.</p><p><u>Whirlwind Attack:</u> The fighter makes a single melee attack roll. All enemies within 10’ of the fighter who would be hit by the attack take normal damage.</p><p><u>Multiple Attacks:</u> Fighters make two attacks round after 6th level and three attacks per round after 12th level. Multiple special maneuvers are permitted in a round, so long as the fighter has sufficient attempts-per-battle remaining.</p><p><u>Power Smash:</u> The most powerful of the fighter maneuvers, use of this ability (as per usual) must be declared before rolling to hit. On a successful hit in melee, the fighter adds his entire Strength score to the damage dealt, in addition to all the usual adjustments from Strength bonus, magic bonus, and so forth. This ability may also be used to perform a “Precise Snipe”, which is functionally identical, but for ranged attacks: in this case, the fighter adds his Dexterity score to the damage dealt on a hit with a missile attack.</p><p><u>Name Level—Paladin:</u> A 9th level fighter stops rolling hit dice and thereafter adds +2 hit points per level. A 9th level fighter is called a paladin and is capable of turning undead twice per day, as if the fighter were a 3rd level druid. A 9th level fighter cannot yet cast spells from memory, but can read spells off of druidic scrolls. (No other druid-only magic items are permitted.) At 10th level, the fighter becomes capable of learning 1st level druid spells: the fighter’s effective caster level is also that of a 3rd level druid. The fighter can have up to (2 + Wis mod) spells memorized and therefore ready to cast, and can cast one of these spells in a day. At 11th level, the fighter can now memorize a selection of (4 + Wis mod) spells from his list of known spells, and can cast two spells per day. At 12th level, the fighter’s effective caster (and turning) level becomes that of a 4th level druid for the purpose of variable spell effects. At 13th level, the fighter becomes able to learn and cast 2nd level spells. At 14th level, the fighter acquires the “Spell Recovery” ability: once per day, after the fighter has used one of his two spell slots to cast a 1st (but not a 2nd) level spell, the fighter may spend ten minutes resting in order to recover the spent spell slot. (NB, turning undead counts as a 1st level spell that the paladin always has memorized. Even after using up his two daily uses of turning undead, a 10th level paladin can continue to use this ability by expending spell slots; and after reaching 14th level, he can use his spell recovery ability to restore a spell slot used to turn undead.)</p><p></p><p><strong>Experts</strong> are adventurers who specialize in an eclectic mix of manual skill and ranged combat ability. They can be practically any profession imaginable—burglars, bards, scholars, tradesmen, diplomats, gunslingers, bounty-hunters, salesmen, scouts, wanderers, rogues, and gamblers. An expert’s hallmarks are extraordinary skill and uncanny luck.</p><p></p><p>[code]</p><p>[U]Lv Hit Dice Fighting Special Abilities</p><p>[/U]1 1d6 +2 Lucky Shot No. 3</p><p>2 2d6 +2 Backstab</p><p>3 3d6 +2 Sniper's Aim (–1/–2)</p><p>4 4d6 +2 Second chance 1/day</p><p>5 5d6 +4 Crit ×3</p><p>6 6d6 +4 Alertness (1-in-6)</p><p>7 7d6 +4 Evade area spells</p><p>8 8d6 +4 Steal the initiative</p><p>9 9d6 +6 Crit ×4, Skill mastery, Combat improv, Cast a spell (Lv1, CL 3)</p><p>10 9d6+1 +6 Second chance 2/day, Armored sorcery</p><p>11 9d6+3 +6 Evade breath weapons, Cast two spells</p><p>12 9d6+4 +6 Two attacks per round, Caster level 4th</p><p>13 9d6+6 +8 Crit ×5, Learn 2nd level spells</p><p>14 9d6+7 +8 Perfect Awareness, Recover 1st level spell 1/day</p><p>[/code]</p><p></p><p><u>Lucky Shot No. 3:</u> The expert’s basic ability is getting lucky in combat. Where most characters have a 1-in-20 chance to score a critical hit in combat, an expert has a 3-in-20 chance. </p><p><u>Backstab:</u> A 2nd level expert is better able to take advantage of unawares opponents. Whenever a 2nd level expert strikes an opponent from behind (such as during an ambush, when surprising an opponent, or when attacking a fleeing opponent with a "parting shot"), the expert rolls to hit at +4 (instead of the usual +2 bonus for attacking from behind).</p><p><u>Sniper's Aim:</u> For most characters, attacking at medium range imposes a –2 penalty to hit and attacking at long range imposes –5 to hit. Experts are excellent snipers, with only –1 (for medium) and –2 (for long) range penalties after 3rd level and no range penalties at all once they reach 14th level.</p><p><u>Second Chance:</u> Once per day at 4th level and twice per day at 10th level, the expert is able to re-roll any one attack roll, saving throw, skill check, or ability check and take the second result if it’s better.</p><p><u>Critical Damage:</u> An expert of 5th level causes triple damage on a critical hit or backstab. After 9th level, this improves to quadruple damage, and after 13th level, quintuple damage.</p><p><u>Alertness:</u> Where most characters are surprised when the DM rolls 1 or 2 on the surprise roll (1d6), experts of 6th level and higher are surprised only half the time, when the DM rolls a 1; and upon reaching 14th level, an expert is never surprised.</p><p><u>Evasion:</u> A 7th level expert is able to partially negate the effects of area-effect spells, such as <em>fire ball</em>. Whenever the expert is hit by a spell that allows a save for half damage, the expert takes half damage automatically and one-quarter damage on a successful saving throw. After 11th level, this ability also applies to breath weapons that allow a save for half damage. Use of this ability relies on complete freedom of moment, so it only applies if the expert is wearing light armor (such as leather) or no armor at all.</p><p><u>Steal the Initiative:</u> An 8th level expert always acts first in combat, before the initiative order. (In this respect, they’re sort of the opposite of zombies, which always act last, after the initiative order.) If opposing sides in a battle both have experts of 8th level or higher, the experts all take their actions first and simultaneously, and the DM adjudicates the results before handling all the other actions that take place during the normal initiative order that round.</p><p><u>Skill Mastery:</u> Explaining this ability requires briefly explaining the skill system. <em> Engines & Empires</em> has twelve skills: Athletics, Civics, Craft, Diplomacy, Entertain, Knowledge, Medicine, Outdoors, Perception, Pilot, Stealth, and Trade. Originally, characters’ skill levels were ranked from 1 to 5, and the skill check made on 1d6, mirroring the many sub-systems and game-mechanics in classic D&D which are handled in that fashion (such as bashing open stuck doors, or elves finding secret doors, or thieves hearing noise). But skill checks as originally conceived were entirely independent of ability checks, and not in any way affected by ability score modifiers. In an effort to simplify things and fold these two systems together, this game will use a more unified mechanic: ability checks are made on 1d12, with the check passed if the roll is equal to or less than 4 ± the associated ability score modifier. (This replaces the old “roll your score or lower on 1d20” ability check system.) If a skill would apply to the situation, a character’s skill rank is added to the chance-in-12 to pass the check, thus making the target number 4 ± ability modifier + skill rank. Characters of the fighter, brawler, artificer, druid, and sorcerer classes begin the game with (6 + Int mod) skill points to distribute amongst the twelve skills. They may put up to four skill points in a single skill (thus, the maximum skill rank for most characters is 4, and the maximum bonus from a skill to an ability check is +4). After 1st level, characters gain one further skill point at every level from 2nd to 9th, and then one further point on odd-numbered levels above 9th (the 11th and 13th levels). Humans of all classes add +2 bonus skill points at 1st level.</p><p>Experts start with (10 + Int mod) skill points at 1st level (again, with +2 extra points if human), gain 2 additional skill points per level from 2nd up to 9th level, and then one further skill point again at 11th and 13th levels, just as other characters above name level do. A 9th level expert has the “Skill Mastery” ability: characters of this level and above may raise a skill as high as rank 6, for a potential +6 bonus to skill-modified ability checks. (This means that an expert with a high ability score might conceivably achieve a 12-in-12 chance or better to pass a skill check. Under these circumstances, a natural roll of 12 on the die will still fail the check. But a high chance of success might negate other penalties imposed by the situation, such as, for example, attempting to sneak in heavy armor.)</p><p><u>Combat Improvisation:</u> An expert of 9th level or higher can fight “Jackie Chan” style, dealing 1d4 damage (rather than the usual 1d2) with unarmed strikes; 1d6 damage (rather than the usual 1d3) with improvised weapons; and full damage rather than half damage with ordinary weapons used in unusual ways (such as 1d8 damage for throwing a longsword, where other characters could only cause 1d4 damage by doing this). A 9th level expert has only a –2 penalty to strike with off-hand attacks, rather than the usual –4 penalty imposed on other characters.</p><p><u>Multiple Attacks:</u> A 12th level expert is able to make two attacks per round.</p><p><u>Perfect Awareness:</u> A 14th level expert is never surprised, suffers no range penalties when attacking with missile weapons, and can hide practically anywhere, even when in plain sight and without the benefit of shadows or cover.</p><p><u>Name Level—Professional:</u> An expert of 9th level or higher is called a professional. Above 9th level, professionals stop rolling hit dice and add +1.5 hit points per level (with the half hit point “rolling over” and adding up to a full hit point on odd-numbered levels). A high-level expert is a formidable foe indeed. While some might settle down and found a guild, many keep working as elite operatives: spies, ninjas, assassins, or secret agents. A professional can often pass himself off as a lower-level member of another class, such as a fighter, a brawler, or even a sorcerer—because professionals are able to learn spells of sorcery! At 9th level, a professional becomes able to both read sorcerer spells off of scrolls, and to learn, memorize, and cast 1st level sorcerer spells. (No other sorcerer-only magical items are usable.) A 9th level professional has the effective caster level of a 3rd level sorcerer; is able to memorize (2 + Cha mod) spells from his spell-book; and can cast one of these memorized spells per day. After 10th level, the professional becomes better able to cast spells in armor, reducing the chance of spell failure by 10% for the armor type. After 11th level, the professional can memorize (4 + Cha mod) known spells at once, and can cast two of his memorized spells in a day, in any combination. After 13th level, the professional can now learn 2nd level sorcerer spells and cast them with his two daily spell slots. Finally, at 14th level, the professional gains the ability of “Spell Recovery”—once per day, after having used one of his spell slots to cast a 1st (but not a 2nd) level spell, the professional can spend ten minutes resting to recover the spent spell slot.</p><p></p><p><strong>Brawlers</strong> are masters of unarmed combat and internal energy, which manifests itself as extraordinary feats of toughness and reflexes, and then borderline psychic powers. Some brawlers are monks or martial artists who attribute their abilities to “qi”—life force and meditative “breath” control. Others may be wild warriors, barbarians whose power comes from a spirit totem that focuses the warrior’s fighting style into an imitation of some ferocious beast. Still others may be ordinary pugilists and street-boxers, whose capabilities would appear to stem from the same intense mental focus that drives a fighter’s battle-maneuvers.</p><p></p><p>[code]</p><p>[U]Lv Hit Dice Fighting Special Abilities</p><p>[/U]1 1d8 +2 Brawl 1d4, Off-hand –2, Deflect missile 1/battle</p><p>2 2d8 +2 One-inch punch</p><p>3 3d8 +2 Brawl 1d6, Tough as nails +3</p><p>4 4d8 +4 Stunning fist 1/battle</p><p>5 5d8 +4 Brawl 1d8, Off-hand –1, Deflect missile 2/battle</p><p>6 6d8 +4 Two attacks per round</p><p>7 7d8 +6 Brawl 1d10, Tough as nails +7</p><p>8 8d8 +6 Fists of fury</p><p>9 9d8 +6 Brawl 1d12, Off-hand –0, Deflect missile 3/battle, Feel qi</p><p>10 9d8+2 +8 Stunning fist 2/battle, Focus qi</p><p>11 9d8+4 +8 Evade breath weapon, Control qi</p><p>12 9d8+6 +8 Three attacks per round, Project qi, +1 qi point</p><p>13 9d8+8 +10 Evade area spell, Speed of breath</p><p>14 9d8+10 +10 Brawl 1d16, Flow like water, Touch of death</p><p>[/code]</p><p></p><p><u>Brawl:</u> The brawler’s basic ability is unarmed fighting. Where most characters cause 1d2 points of damage with unarmed strikes, brawlers progress through all of the die-types from 1d4 up to 1d12, and then even up to 1d16. Brawlers are only able to use their improved unarmed damage (and, indeed, most of their other abilities) if they wear no armor or light armor—either a leather jerkin or the incredibly rare mythrill maille-shirt.</p><p><u>Off-Hand Penalties:</u> When most characters engage in two-weapons combat, they roll to hit with their main-hand at no penalty and their off-hand at –4 to hit. For brawlers, off-hand attacks come at a lesser penalty: –2 at 1st level, –1 at 5th level, and no penalty after 9th level (in effect, a brawler’s off-hand attack is a free bonus attack at 9th level and above).</p><p><u>Deflect Missile:</u> Once per battle at 1st level, twice at 5th level, and thrice at 9th level, the brawler may negate the damage from a missile attack that would otherwise have hit him. Use of this ability is an automatic success for most missiles, up to and including arrows, quarrels, and other such projectiles. For extraordinary missiles (musket and pistol bullets, blunderbuss shot, <em>magic missiles</em>, boulders hurled by a catapult or the arm of a giant), a saving throw is required to negate the damage.</p><p><u>One-Inch Punch:</u> When a 2nd level brawler drops a foe to 0 HP, and another foe is within reach, he may cleave through into the next enemy, making one additional attack against this new target. After 8th level, this ability improves, becoming “Fists of Fury”. Now the brawler may continue to make additional attacks so long as each previous attack has reduced its target to 0 HP, and new targets are available within reach.</p><p><u>Tough as Nails:</u> A brawler gets +3 bonus hit points at 3rd level and a further +7 bonus hit points at 7th level.</p><p><u>Stunning Fist:</u> Use of this ability must be declared before rolling to hit, and a miss ruins the attempt. If the brawler attempts to use this ability while wearing armor heavier than leather, it has a chance to fail, just like an arcane spell. The brawler makes an unarmed strike, and on a successful hit, in addition to normal damage, the target must save or be stunned for 1d3+1 rounds (reduced to one-third movement speed and unable to act for the duration of the effect). A creature must have a living anatomy to be affected by this power, so undead and magical constructs are immune.</p><p><u>Multiple Attacks:</u> A brawler makes two attacks per round after 6th level and three attacks per round after 12th level.</p><p><u>Evasion:</u> An 11th level brawler is resistant to dragon’s breath, just like an 11th level expert. Whenever the brawler is struck by a breath weapon that allows a save for half damage, the brawler takes half-damage automatically and one-quarter damage on a successful save. After 13th level, this ability also applies to area-effect spells, the same as for a 7th level expert.</p><p><u>Flow Like Water:</u> The brawler’s capstone ability, whenever the brawler is confronted by enemies with 2 HD or fewer (but not 2+1 HD or better), the brawler may forego his usual number of attacks per round and instead make one unarmed attack per experience level against the throng of weak enemies—and any foes which are destroyed by a blow in this “heroic fray” grant the brawler extra attacks by virtue of his Fists of Fury ability!</p><p><u>Name Level—Master:</u> A brawler of 9th level or higher has access to “qi” powers. Such a brawler takes the title of “master”. The master has qi points equal to (3 + Con mod). At higher levels, these are spent on powers, and recovered on a per-day basis, just like spells. Any of a master’s spell-like qi powers have a chance to fail if the master wears armor, just like a sorcerer casting spells. A 9th level master has only one qi ability, and it is automatic and persistent: the master can “feel the flow” of qi, which grants the master partial alertness, reducing his chance to be surprised before a battle to 1 in 6, just like a 6th level expert. A 10th level master can “focus qi” downward against gravity, allowing the master to leap to great heights or slow a fall and reduce damage taken—10’ per point of qi in the master’s qi pool in either case (maximum qi, that is; spending qi on other powers does not reduce the effectiveness of the master’s focus). An 11th level master controls qi, healing by means of pressure points—this requires an expenditure of 1 qi point, and will heal the master or another target touched of 3d4 HP. A 12th level master can project qi into a destructive bolt of energy, which may be hurled as a missile at any target within 150’. A hit causes 3d6 points of damage, and 2 qi points are expended to produce the missile. For each additional qi point spent, the damage of the missile can be increased by 1d6. Since the bolt is made of kinetic force, a <em>shield</em> spell will defend against it as it would a <em>magic missile</em>. Also at 12th level, the master’s qi pool becomes (4 + Con mod) qi points. At 13th level, the master gains the “Speed of Breath” power, which allows the master to <em>hasten</em> himself for the duration of one battle by expending 3 qi points. Finally, at 14th level, the master gains the feared “Touch of Death”: for 4 qi, the master can charge his fist with deadly energies and then attempt to strike a pressure-point on a living enemy’s body (undead and golems are immune). A miss ruins the attempt, but a hit forces the enemy struck to save or die.</p><p></p><p><strong>Artificers</strong> are adventuring engineers who make use of super-science gadgets, alchemical concoctions, advanced weapons, and steamworks. Artificers live and die by their technology: to be effective, they must carry a bewildering array of tools, parts, chemicals and reagents, finished inventions, and big portfolios filled with blueprints, schematics, and formulas. The average artificer looks like a walking, one-man junk-shop (and smells like a chemical plant placed between a mechanic’s garage and a munitions store). </p><p></p><p>[code]</p><p>[U]Lv Hit Dice Fighting Devices P/S/T Miscellaneous</p><p>[/U]1 1d4 +2 1 1/1/0 Craftsman</p><p>2 2d4 +2 2 2/1/1 —</p><p>3 3d4 +2 2 3/2/1 Smithy</p><p>4 4d4 +2 2 4/2/2 Breakthrough invention</p><p>5 5d4 +2 3 5/3/2 —</p><p>6 6d4 +4 3 6/3/3 Jury-Rig 1/day</p><p>7 7d4 +4 4 7/4/3 —</p><p>8 8d4 +4 4 8/4/4 Greater Smithy</p><p>9 9d4 +4 4 9/5/4 Breakthrough invention</p><p>10 9d4+1 +4 5 10/5/5 —</p><p>11 9d4+2 +6 5 11/6/5 MacGyver 2/day</p><p>12 9d4+3 +6 6 12/6/6 —</p><p>13 9d4+4 +6 6 12/7/6 Master Smithy</p><p>14 9d4+5 +6 6 12/7/7 Breakthrough invention</p><p>[/code]</p><p></p><p><u>Devices:</u> An artificer’s basic ability is the creation of devices, small single-use items that produce some scientific or alchemical effect. Artificers are able to prepare a number of devices per day given in the table above (one device per day at 1st level, up to six per day at 12th level). Devices are prepared according to scientific principles that the artificer understands—this is the list of technological degrees that the artificer has mastered.</p><p><u>Degrees:</u> All of the special effects that an artificer can realize as items are described by technological degrees. There are twelve degrees in each of the three fields of scientific artifice, physics/mechanics, chemistry/explosives, and biology/pharmaceuticals. The list of degrees is reproduced here: their effects are found in the <em>Engines & Empires</em> setting guide. A technological degree is usually equal in power to a spell level of one-half the degree, e.g. 6th or 7th degree technology is about as powerful as 3rd level magic.</p><p></p><p>[code]</p><p>[U]Degree Biology/Pharmaceuticals Chemistry/Explosives Physics/Mechanics</p><p>[/U]1st Herbal Healer Chemical Smoke Ballistic Projectile</p><p>2nd Stimulant/Depressant Psychotropic Compound Optic Flash</p><p>3rd Pheromones Metallic Alloy Magnetic Field</p><p>4th Growth/Reduction Explosive Combustion Kinetic Engine</p><p>5th Cellular Transparency Toxin/Antitoxin Flight/Submersion</p><p>6th Vile Venom Corrosive Acid Electric Induction</p><p>7th Ectoplasmic Distillate Adhesive/Lubricant Sonic Vibration</p><p>8th Disease/Vaccine Flash Freeze Holo-Projection</p><p>9th Wonder Drug Polymer Plastic Radio Telegraphy</p><p>10th Genetic Mutation Protoninc Solvent Analytic Engine</p><p>11th Tissue Reanimation Crystal Lattice Gravitational Field</p><p>12th Tissue Regeneration Radioactive Plasma Quantum Shift</p><p>[/code]</p><p></p><p>Unlike spell-casters, artificers acquire their degrees automatically with each experience level. Every artificer designates one of the three fields as his “primary” field of study and other two as “secondary” and “tertiary”. The artificer learns one degree in his primary field at every level up to the 12th, and he alternates between his secondary and tertiary fields, learning degrees from his secondary field on odd-numbered levels and from his tertiary field on even-numbered levels. Thus, the five most powerful degrees in a given field are only available to an artificer who has specialized in that field as primary (at least until the artificer passes beyond Expert-level play and into the Companion Set rules).</p><p><u>Craftsman<strong>:</strong></u> Artificers are all about making things. As a consequence of their background, all artificers begin the game with 2 bonus ranks in the Craft skill, in addition to their normal number of starting skill points.</p><p><u>Smithy:</u> A 3rd level artificer is good at crafting useful tools. For 300 silver pieces (my games always use a silver standard!), an artificer is able to make a fine masterwork tool that grants a +1 bonus on appropriate skill or ability checks—but such fine and delicate tools can only grant this bonus five times before the tool is ruined and must be repaired or replaced (costing another 300 silver). After 8th level, the artificer can confer a +2 bonus on such tools (for a cost of 600 silver pieces), and after 13th level, a +3 bonus (for 900 silver pieces). The time required to create a master-crafted tool is 2d6 hours. At the end of this span of time, the artificer must roll a successful Intelligence + Craft check; if the check passes, the tool was created or modified successfully; otherwise, all of the time and half the resources (money spent) have been wasted.</p><p>From 9th level onward, the artificer can create permanently master-crafted tools for ten times the cost of a temporary modification.</p><p><u>Breakthrough Invention:</u> At each of the 4th, 9th, and 14th levels, the artificer may select from his known degrees one device effect, and work this effect in a permanent item which can be used multiple times per day. The invention takes the form of a gadget, weighing 10 lbs., which only the artificer can properly operate. The artificer can choose to build the device in a “stable” configuration (it can be used three times per day, with no chance of failure), or as an “unstable” prototype (the player rolls 1d6 each time the invention is used; on a roll of 6, the device breaks down and fails to work again until repaired; and on a breakdown, the player must roll the die again, and if a second 6 results, the device has backfired or exploded). A full day’s work is required to repair a broken invention, or to shift an invention between its stable and unstable configurations. If an artificer wishes to change out one breakthrough invention for another, this requires one week of work and an expenditure of materials costing 500 silver pieces per degree of the replacement invention. (A 13th level “master smithy” can change out his breakthrough inventions at a reduced cost, 400 silver per degree and five days’ work.)</p><p><u>Jury-Rig:</u> Once per day, a 6th level artificer can spend one round to “jury-rig” one of his daily prepared devices into a different device based on another degree that he knows, provided the new device is drawn from the same field of science (biology, chemistry, or physics) as the original device being replaced. The degree of either device doesn’t matter; only the field. After 11th level, this ability is replaced by the “MacGyver” ability: now the artificer can perform this feat twice per day, and he can swap any device that he has prepared for any device that he could otherwise prepare, regardless of its field. Alternatively, an 11th level artificer can use his MacGyver ability to try and salvage the materials from a used-up device. With a successful Intelligence + Craft check and 30 minutes’ work, the artificer can thus attempt to prepare an extra device during the adventuring day, provided he has already expended one of his daily devices already, and therefore has used-up materials to salvage from.</p><p><u>Name Level—Inventor:</u> An artificer above 9th level stops rolling hit dice and adds only one hit point per level. A name-level artificer is called an inventor, and is able to create all manner of gadgets and gizmos, widgets and tonics, and vehicles and automata, using the normal rules for magical item creation. An inventor can also permanently enhance weapons, armor, and other tools, and research new technological degrees.</p><p></p><p><strong>Druids</strong> are wandering “white wizards” who serve the gods, working their will in the world in subtle ways, so as not to impinge upon the free will of mortals. They follow an organization known as the White Order, founded long ago by a prophet of the gods who was almost certainly one of the Gáldre in mortal guise. The mission of druids is to protect civilization from chaos and evil, and to seek out and destroy abominations of the same—especially undead and the spawn of Mórgrundel, murkwyrms and the foul goblin and trollish races.</p><p></p><p>[code]</p><p>[U]Lv Hit Dice Fighting Slots SpLv Recovery Special Abilities</p><p>[/U]1 1d6 +2 0 — — Turn undead 3/day</p><p>2 2d6 +2 1 1st — —</p><p>3 3d6 +2 2 1st — —</p><p>4 4d6 +2 2 2nd 1 —</p><p>5 5d6 +4 2 2nd 1 Destroy undead, Sig. spell Lv1</p><p>6 6d6 +4 2 3rd 1/1 —</p><p>7 7d6 +4 2 3rd 3/1 —</p><p>8 8d6 +4 2 4th 3/1/1 —</p><p>9 9d6 +6 2 4th 3/3/1 —</p><p>10 9d6+1 +6 2 5th 3/3/1 Signature spell Lv2</p><p>11 9d6+3 +6 3 5th 3/3/3 —</p><p>12 9d6+4 +6 3 6th 3/3/3 Two attacks per round</p><p>13 9d6+6 +8 3 6th 3/3/3/1 —</p><p>14 9d6+7 +8 3 6th 3/3/3/1 Signature spell Lv3</p><p>[/code]</p><p></p><p><u>Turn Undead:</u> The druid’s only starting ability is the power to drive off undead. Thrice per day, a druid can produce an aura of light (either in a 30' radius around himself, or in a 60' cone in the direction he faces) that instills fear in undead. All undead caught in the area of effect must roll a saving throw or else flee (as if they’d failed a morale check). For a druid of 5th level or higher, any undead with half or fewer as many hit dice as the druid has levels may destroyed by the druid’s power. On a failed saving throw, these undead are instantly destroyed; and even on a successful save they are turned and flee. (Chaotic druids may produce a shadow instead of light, which will bolster, rebuke, or after 5th level, utterly dominate undead.) A druid of 2nd level or higher may expend spell slots for additional daily uses of this power. Turning undead counts as a 1st level spell for the sake of spell recovery, so from 4th level onward, if a spell slot is expended for extra turning, the druid may use spell recoveries to refresh the used slot.</p><p><u>Spells:</u> Druids cast spells drawn from the list of clerical spells found in the Basic and Expert sets, and the druidical spells found in the Companion and Master sets (or pretty much just all the divine spells up to 6th level listed in the Rules Cyclopedia). The above table gives the druid’s number of daily spell slots (one at 2nd level, two at 3rd level, three after 11th level) and the spell level of the druid’s spell slots. A slot may be expended in order to cast any spell of that level or lower that the druid has memorized. The druid may memorize a number of spells equal to twice his daily number of slots (viz. 2 at 2nd level, 4 at 3rd level, 6 after 11th level) plus his Wisdom modifier. </p><p><u>Spell Recovery:</u> At 4th level, after a druid has used one of his daily spell slots to cast a 1st level spell (or to turn the undead), he may spend one turn (ten minutes) resting in order to recover that spell slot. As druids gain experience levels, they also gain the ability to recover slots expended on higher-level spells. A higher-level spell recovery point may always be used to recover a spell slot of the given level or lower. Thus, for example, a 14th level druid has spell recoveries amounting to 3/3/3/1—the druid can thrice per day recover spell slots used on 1st level spells (or turning undead), thrice per day recover slots used on 2nd level or lower spells, thrice per day recover slots used on 3rd level or lower spells, and once per day recover a spell slot used to cast a 4th level or lower spell. Recovering an expended spell slot always takes one turn’s rest. Note that spell recovery can only be used to refresh the druid’s daily spell slots; it cannot be used to recover the druid’s three free uses of turn undead, or any free uses of signature spells.</p><p><u>Signature Spell:</u> A 5th level druid may select one of the 1st level spells that he knows and designate it a signature spell. This has two benefits. First, the signature spell may be cast up to three times per day without expending any of the druid’s daily spell slots. Second, a signature spell is at all times considered memorized, such that if a druid has used up all three free uses of his signature spell that day, he can then continue to cast the spell by expending spell slots, without it counting against his normal limit of (2, 4, or 6 + Wis mod) spells memorized at any one time. The druid may choose a 2nd level signature spell at 10th level and a 3rd level signature spell at 14th level. The choice of signature spells must be made carefully, for a druid’s selection of signature spells is all but permanent. A druid can only change one of his signature spells by means of a full week of seclusion and deep prayer, and with an expenditure of treasure (the amount determined by the DM) as a sacrifice to the gods.</p><p><u>Multiple Attacks:</u> A druid of 12th level and higher makes two attacks per round in combat.</p><p><u>Name Level—Arch Druid:</u> A druid of 9th level or higher stops rolling hit dice and instead adds only +1.5 hit points per level thereafter. An arch druid is capable of researching new spells and crafting magical items.</p><p></p><p><strong>Sorcerers</strong> are spirit-binders, conjurers who command unseen beings to work their will. As casters of black magic, sorcerers are beholden only to themselves and to the spirits for their power. The arcane spells scribed into a sorcerer’s spell-book are actually detailed instructions for intricate rituals of summoning and binding: when a sorcerer studies his grimoire and memorizes his spells, he is actually calling out to the spirit world, drawing unseen entities into his psyche, and trapping them there in some cage-like corner of his own mind. Only sheer, psychic force of will (represented by a high Charisma score) enables a sorcerer to command and contain otherworldly intelligences in this fashion. When a sorcerer actually casts a spell, he is uttering a few simple trigger words to undo the binding in a safe and controlled way—the spirits flee from his brain, escape back to their own plane of existence, and the small tear in reality that results is what allows the magical effect to leak into the material realm. Sorcerers must always use great caution when dealing with spirits from beyond, and they must take care to purge their minds from time to time, clearing and refreshing their spells each day—otherwise, the spirits may begin to possess and influence the sorcerer’s personality. If a sorcerer should be slain with spells still memorized (and any sorcerer who dies in battle almost assuredly has a full suite of spells prepared), those spirits may escape into the physical realm as undead, either on their own as incorporeal ghosts, or inhabiting any nearby corpses (including the sorcerer’s)!</p><p></p><p>[code]</p><p>[U]Lv Hit Dice Fighting Slots SpLv Recovery Special Abilities</p><p>[/U]1 1d4 +2 1 1st — —</p><p>2 2d4 +2 2 1st — —</p><p>3 3d4 +2 2 2nd 1 —</p><p>4 4d4 +2 2 2nd 1 Signature spell Lv1</p><p>5 5d4 +2 2 3rd 1/1 —</p><p>6 6d4 +4 2 3rd 3/1 —</p><p>7 7d4 +4 2 4th 3/1/1 —</p><p>8 8d4 +4 2 4th 3/3/1 —</p><p>9 9d4 +4 2 5th 3/3/1 Signature spell Lv2</p><p>10 9d4+1 +4 3 5th 3/3/3 —</p><p>11 9d4+2 +6 3 6th 3/3/3/1 —</p><p>12 9d4+3 +6 3 6th 3/3/3/1 Master of sorcery</p><p>13 9d4+4 +6 3 6th 3/3/3/1/1 —</p><p>14 9d4+5 +6 3 6th 3/3/3/1/1 Signature spell Lv3</p><p>[/code]</p><p></p><p>All of a sorcerer’s special abilities (spells, spell recovery, and signature spells) are identical to those of a druid, except that Charisma rather than Wisdom modifies a sorcerer’s number of daily memorized spells. A sorcerer's spells have a chance to fail if the sorcerer wears armor. In light armor (a leather jerkin or quilted gambeson), the chance of spell failure is 10%. In medium armor (a maille hauberk or brigandine/jack-of-plates), the chance is 20%. In heavy armor (scale armor or a plate cuirass), 30%; and in a full suit of plates, 40%. </p><p> The sorcerer casts spells drawn from the magic-user spell list described in the Basic and Expert sets or in the Rules Cyclopedia, with the following alterations:</p><p><em>Read magic</em> is replaced by <em>bind spirits</em>, a spell which can have one of three effects: (1) it is used to decipher magical writings found in spell-books, in order to learn new spells, just as <em>read magic</em> normally does. (2) It can be cast to issue a one-word <em>command</em>, just like the clerical spell of the same name, but it only works on incorporeal beings—wraiths, shadows, and so forth. (Beware: undead will inevitably ignore a command to "die".) (3) It can be cast on the sorcerer himself, enabling the sorcerer to command whatever minor unseen spirits might be nearby at the moment. This allows the sorcerer to perform <em>cantrip</em> effects (as per the AD&D 2nd edition version of <em>cantrip</em>) for one hour per caster level.</p><p>The other alteration is one I commonly make to the OD&D magic-user spell-list for the sake of game balance: <em>haste</em> moves up to 4th level, and <em>ice storm</em> falls down to 3rd level in its place (where it rightly belongs, I should think, alongside its fellow elemental attack spells, <em>fire ball</em> and <em>lightning bolt</em>). The alternate form of the <em>ice storm</em> spell, <em>wall of ice</em>, remains at 4th level as the reverse of <em>wall of fire</em>—so any sorcerer who learns <em>wall of fire</em> automatically learns <em>wall of ice</em> as well, and vice versa.</p><p><u>Master of Sorcery:</u> A 12th level sorcerer acquires two benefits: first, the <em>bind spirits</em> spell described above automatically becomes an extra signature spell for the sorcerer: usable thrice per day without expending spell slots, and always automatically treated as memorized. Second, a 12th level and higher sorcerer is able to change out his other two or three signature spells by means of an elaborate week-long ritual of spell-preparation and an expenditure of materials costing 1,000 silver pieces per level of the new signature spell.</p><p><u>Name Level—High Sorcerer:</u> After 9th level, a sorcerer stops rolling hit dice and adds only +1 hit point per level. A high sorcerer is able to research new arcane spells and craft all manner of magical items.</p><p></p><p>(cont'd...)</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Jack Daniel, post: 6483070, member: 694"] [B]The Classes[/B] This is where the crap gets cool. I love devising class systems so much… okay, so there will be six classes for this game, one tied to each of the six ability scores: the Fighter (Strength), the Expert (Dexterity), the Brawler (Constitution), the Artificer (Intelligence), the Druid (Wisdom), and the Sorcerer (Charisma). [B]Fighters[/B] are masters of armed combat and battle-tactics. They possess a trained psychological battle-focus that unlocks certain special maneuvers usable only by fighters. The opportunity to use a maneuver will only present itself a few times during any given engagement, thus maneuvers are limited to only so many attempts per battle, according to the fighter’s experience level. [code] [U]Lv Hit Dice Fighting Special Abilities [/U]1 1d8 +2 Focused strike 1/battle 2 2d8 +2 Perfect parry 1/battle 3 3d8 +2 Split focus 1/battle 4 4d8 +4 Whirlwind attack 1/battle 5 5d8 +4 Focused strike 2/battle 6 6d8 +4 Two attacks per round 7 7d8 +6 Split focus 2/battle 8 8d8 +6 Perfect riposte 2/battle 9 9d8 +6 Focused strike 3/battle, Turn undead 2/day (caster level 3rd) 10 9d8+2 +8 Whirlwind attack 2/battle, Cast one spell, learn 1st level spells 11 9d8+4 +8 Split focus 3/battle, Cast two spells 12 9d8+6 +8 Three attacks per round, Caster level 4th 13 9d8+8 +10 Focused strike 4/battle, Learn 2nd level spells 14 9d8+10 +10 Power smash 1/battle, Recover 1st level spell 1/day [/code] [U]Fighting:[/U] Fighters (and brawlers) are good at fighting; experts and druids less so; sorcerers and artificers, not so much. A character’s fighting capability is a bonus to hit any given armor class. A target in leather armor, for example, is AC 7, while a target in a full suit of plates is AC 1. To hit a target with a melee weapon, you must roll equal to or less than (the target’s AC + your fighting capability + your Str mod) on 1d20. With a missile weapon, the formula is the same, except that Dex replaces Str, and range penalties apply (–2 to hit for medium range; –5 to hit for long range). Fighting capability also delineates a character’s ability to make a saving throw, and again, fighters (and brawlers) are superior in this area. A character’s chance to save against any hostile circumstance (spell, trap, breath weapon, whatever) is 5 + fighting capability + Wis mod. Rolling this target number or less on 1d20 makes the saving throw. [U]Focused Strike:[/U] Use of this ability must be declared before the fighter rolls to hit, and a miss ruins the attempt. The fighter attacks, and if he hits, he deals maximum damage instead of rolling dice for damage. (On a critical hit, the extra damage must still be rolled.) [U]Perfect Parry:[/U] This ability is used only as a response to an enemy attack; thus it does not use up the fighter’s action during a combat round. Once per battle, when an enemy melee attack would otherwise hit the fighter or an adjacent ally, the fighter may roll a saving throw to negate the damage. If the fighter carries a shield, a ranged attack may be negated in similar fashion; but if the fighter only carries weapons, parrying a ranged attack will halve rather than negate the damage. At 8th level, this ability is replaced by the “Perfect Riposte”: now useable twice per battle, it also grants an immediate, free counterattack against a successfully parried attacker in melee. [U]Split Focus:[/U] Like the focused strike, the use of this ability is declared before the fighter rolls to hit. This maneuver allows the fighter to strike two adjacent foes with a single attack. The fighter makes a single attack roll and compares it to both targets’ armor classes, with normal damage occurring for one or both targets hit. [U]Whirlwind Attack:[/U] The fighter makes a single melee attack roll. All enemies within 10’ of the fighter who would be hit by the attack take normal damage. [U]Multiple Attacks:[/U] Fighters make two attacks round after 6th level and three attacks per round after 12th level. Multiple special maneuvers are permitted in a round, so long as the fighter has sufficient attempts-per-battle remaining. [U]Power Smash:[/U] The most powerful of the fighter maneuvers, use of this ability (as per usual) must be declared before rolling to hit. On a successful hit in melee, the fighter adds his entire Strength score to the damage dealt, in addition to all the usual adjustments from Strength bonus, magic bonus, and so forth. This ability may also be used to perform a “Precise Snipe”, which is functionally identical, but for ranged attacks: in this case, the fighter adds his Dexterity score to the damage dealt on a hit with a missile attack. [U]Name Level—Paladin:[/U] A 9th level fighter stops rolling hit dice and thereafter adds +2 hit points per level. A 9th level fighter is called a paladin and is capable of turning undead twice per day, as if the fighter were a 3rd level druid. A 9th level fighter cannot yet cast spells from memory, but can read spells off of druidic scrolls. (No other druid-only magic items are permitted.) At 10th level, the fighter becomes capable of learning 1st level druid spells: the fighter’s effective caster level is also that of a 3rd level druid. The fighter can have up to (2 + Wis mod) spells memorized and therefore ready to cast, and can cast one of these spells in a day. At 11th level, the fighter can now memorize a selection of (4 + Wis mod) spells from his list of known spells, and can cast two spells per day. At 12th level, the fighter’s effective caster (and turning) level becomes that of a 4th level druid for the purpose of variable spell effects. At 13th level, the fighter becomes able to learn and cast 2nd level spells. At 14th level, the fighter acquires the “Spell Recovery” ability: once per day, after the fighter has used one of his two spell slots to cast a 1st (but not a 2nd) level spell, the fighter may spend ten minutes resting in order to recover the spent spell slot. (NB, turning undead counts as a 1st level spell that the paladin always has memorized. Even after using up his two daily uses of turning undead, a 10th level paladin can continue to use this ability by expending spell slots; and after reaching 14th level, he can use his spell recovery ability to restore a spell slot used to turn undead.) [B]Experts[/B] are adventurers who specialize in an eclectic mix of manual skill and ranged combat ability. They can be practically any profession imaginable—burglars, bards, scholars, tradesmen, diplomats, gunslingers, bounty-hunters, salesmen, scouts, wanderers, rogues, and gamblers. An expert’s hallmarks are extraordinary skill and uncanny luck. [code] [U]Lv Hit Dice Fighting Special Abilities [/U]1 1d6 +2 Lucky Shot No. 3 2 2d6 +2 Backstab 3 3d6 +2 Sniper's Aim (–1/–2) 4 4d6 +2 Second chance 1/day 5 5d6 +4 Crit ×3 6 6d6 +4 Alertness (1-in-6) 7 7d6 +4 Evade area spells 8 8d6 +4 Steal the initiative 9 9d6 +6 Crit ×4, Skill mastery, Combat improv, Cast a spell (Lv1, CL 3) 10 9d6+1 +6 Second chance 2/day, Armored sorcery 11 9d6+3 +6 Evade breath weapons, Cast two spells 12 9d6+4 +6 Two attacks per round, Caster level 4th 13 9d6+6 +8 Crit ×5, Learn 2nd level spells 14 9d6+7 +8 Perfect Awareness, Recover 1st level spell 1/day [/code] [U]Lucky Shot No. 3:[/U] The expert’s basic ability is getting lucky in combat. Where most characters have a 1-in-20 chance to score a critical hit in combat, an expert has a 3-in-20 chance. [U]Backstab:[/U] A 2nd level expert is better able to take advantage of unawares opponents. Whenever a 2nd level expert strikes an opponent from behind (such as during an ambush, when surprising an opponent, or when attacking a fleeing opponent with a "parting shot"), the expert rolls to hit at +4 (instead of the usual +2 bonus for attacking from behind). [U]Sniper's Aim:[/U] For most characters, attacking at medium range imposes a –2 penalty to hit and attacking at long range imposes –5 to hit. Experts are excellent snipers, with only –1 (for medium) and –2 (for long) range penalties after 3rd level and no range penalties at all once they reach 14th level. [U]Second Chance:[/U] Once per day at 4th level and twice per day at 10th level, the expert is able to re-roll any one attack roll, saving throw, skill check, or ability check and take the second result if it’s better. [U]Critical Damage:[/U] An expert of 5th level causes triple damage on a critical hit or backstab. After 9th level, this improves to quadruple damage, and after 13th level, quintuple damage. [U]Alertness:[/U] Where most characters are surprised when the DM rolls 1 or 2 on the surprise roll (1d6), experts of 6th level and higher are surprised only half the time, when the DM rolls a 1; and upon reaching 14th level, an expert is never surprised. [U]Evasion:[/U] A 7th level expert is able to partially negate the effects of area-effect spells, such as [I]fire ball[/I]. Whenever the expert is hit by a spell that allows a save for half damage, the expert takes half damage automatically and one-quarter damage on a successful saving throw. After 11th level, this ability also applies to breath weapons that allow a save for half damage. Use of this ability relies on complete freedom of moment, so it only applies if the expert is wearing light armor (such as leather) or no armor at all. [U]Steal the Initiative:[/U] An 8th level expert always acts first in combat, before the initiative order. (In this respect, they’re sort of the opposite of zombies, which always act last, after the initiative order.) If opposing sides in a battle both have experts of 8th level or higher, the experts all take their actions first and simultaneously, and the DM adjudicates the results before handling all the other actions that take place during the normal initiative order that round. [U]Skill Mastery:[/U] Explaining this ability requires briefly explaining the skill system. [I] Engines & Empires[/I] has twelve skills: Athletics, Civics, Craft, Diplomacy, Entertain, Knowledge, Medicine, Outdoors, Perception, Pilot, Stealth, and Trade. Originally, characters’ skill levels were ranked from 1 to 5, and the skill check made on 1d6, mirroring the many sub-systems and game-mechanics in classic D&D which are handled in that fashion (such as bashing open stuck doors, or elves finding secret doors, or thieves hearing noise). But skill checks as originally conceived were entirely independent of ability checks, and not in any way affected by ability score modifiers. In an effort to simplify things and fold these two systems together, this game will use a more unified mechanic: ability checks are made on 1d12, with the check passed if the roll is equal to or less than 4 ± the associated ability score modifier. (This replaces the old “roll your score or lower on 1d20” ability check system.) If a skill would apply to the situation, a character’s skill rank is added to the chance-in-12 to pass the check, thus making the target number 4 ± ability modifier + skill rank. Characters of the fighter, brawler, artificer, druid, and sorcerer classes begin the game with (6 + Int mod) skill points to distribute amongst the twelve skills. They may put up to four skill points in a single skill (thus, the maximum skill rank for most characters is 4, and the maximum bonus from a skill to an ability check is +4). After 1st level, characters gain one further skill point at every level from 2nd to 9th, and then one further point on odd-numbered levels above 9th (the 11th and 13th levels). Humans of all classes add +2 bonus skill points at 1st level. Experts start with (10 + Int mod) skill points at 1st level (again, with +2 extra points if human), gain 2 additional skill points per level from 2nd up to 9th level, and then one further skill point again at 11th and 13th levels, just as other characters above name level do. A 9th level expert has the “Skill Mastery” ability: characters of this level and above may raise a skill as high as rank 6, for a potential +6 bonus to skill-modified ability checks. (This means that an expert with a high ability score might conceivably achieve a 12-in-12 chance or better to pass a skill check. Under these circumstances, a natural roll of 12 on the die will still fail the check. But a high chance of success might negate other penalties imposed by the situation, such as, for example, attempting to sneak in heavy armor.) [U]Combat Improvisation:[/U] An expert of 9th level or higher can fight “Jackie Chan” style, dealing 1d4 damage (rather than the usual 1d2) with unarmed strikes; 1d6 damage (rather than the usual 1d3) with improvised weapons; and full damage rather than half damage with ordinary weapons used in unusual ways (such as 1d8 damage for throwing a longsword, where other characters could only cause 1d4 damage by doing this). A 9th level expert has only a –2 penalty to strike with off-hand attacks, rather than the usual –4 penalty imposed on other characters. [U]Multiple Attacks:[/U] A 12th level expert is able to make two attacks per round. [U]Perfect Awareness:[/U] A 14th level expert is never surprised, suffers no range penalties when attacking with missile weapons, and can hide practically anywhere, even when in plain sight and without the benefit of shadows or cover. [U]Name Level—Professional:[/U] An expert of 9th level or higher is called a professional. Above 9th level, professionals stop rolling hit dice and add +1.5 hit points per level (with the half hit point “rolling over” and adding up to a full hit point on odd-numbered levels). A high-level expert is a formidable foe indeed. While some might settle down and found a guild, many keep working as elite operatives: spies, ninjas, assassins, or secret agents. A professional can often pass himself off as a lower-level member of another class, such as a fighter, a brawler, or even a sorcerer—because professionals are able to learn spells of sorcery! At 9th level, a professional becomes able to both read sorcerer spells off of scrolls, and to learn, memorize, and cast 1st level sorcerer spells. (No other sorcerer-only magical items are usable.) A 9th level professional has the effective caster level of a 3rd level sorcerer; is able to memorize (2 + Cha mod) spells from his spell-book; and can cast one of these memorized spells per day. After 10th level, the professional becomes better able to cast spells in armor, reducing the chance of spell failure by 10% for the armor type. After 11th level, the professional can memorize (4 + Cha mod) known spells at once, and can cast two of his memorized spells in a day, in any combination. After 13th level, the professional can now learn 2nd level sorcerer spells and cast them with his two daily spell slots. Finally, at 14th level, the professional gains the ability of “Spell Recovery”—once per day, after having used one of his spell slots to cast a 1st (but not a 2nd) level spell, the professional can spend ten minutes resting to recover the spent spell slot. [B]Brawlers[/B] are masters of unarmed combat and internal energy, which manifests itself as extraordinary feats of toughness and reflexes, and then borderline psychic powers. Some brawlers are monks or martial artists who attribute their abilities to “qi”—life force and meditative “breath” control. Others may be wild warriors, barbarians whose power comes from a spirit totem that focuses the warrior’s fighting style into an imitation of some ferocious beast. Still others may be ordinary pugilists and street-boxers, whose capabilities would appear to stem from the same intense mental focus that drives a fighter’s battle-maneuvers. [code] [U]Lv Hit Dice Fighting Special Abilities [/U]1 1d8 +2 Brawl 1d4, Off-hand –2, Deflect missile 1/battle 2 2d8 +2 One-inch punch 3 3d8 +2 Brawl 1d6, Tough as nails +3 4 4d8 +4 Stunning fist 1/battle 5 5d8 +4 Brawl 1d8, Off-hand –1, Deflect missile 2/battle 6 6d8 +4 Two attacks per round 7 7d8 +6 Brawl 1d10, Tough as nails +7 8 8d8 +6 Fists of fury 9 9d8 +6 Brawl 1d12, Off-hand –0, Deflect missile 3/battle, Feel qi 10 9d8+2 +8 Stunning fist 2/battle, Focus qi 11 9d8+4 +8 Evade breath weapon, Control qi 12 9d8+6 +8 Three attacks per round, Project qi, +1 qi point 13 9d8+8 +10 Evade area spell, Speed of breath 14 9d8+10 +10 Brawl 1d16, Flow like water, Touch of death [/code] [U]Brawl:[/U] The brawler’s basic ability is unarmed fighting. Where most characters cause 1d2 points of damage with unarmed strikes, brawlers progress through all of the die-types from 1d4 up to 1d12, and then even up to 1d16. Brawlers are only able to use their improved unarmed damage (and, indeed, most of their other abilities) if they wear no armor or light armor—either a leather jerkin or the incredibly rare mythrill maille-shirt. [U]Off-Hand Penalties:[/U] When most characters engage in two-weapons combat, they roll to hit with their main-hand at no penalty and their off-hand at –4 to hit. For brawlers, off-hand attacks come at a lesser penalty: –2 at 1st level, –1 at 5th level, and no penalty after 9th level (in effect, a brawler’s off-hand attack is a free bonus attack at 9th level and above). [U]Deflect Missile:[/U] Once per battle at 1st level, twice at 5th level, and thrice at 9th level, the brawler may negate the damage from a missile attack that would otherwise have hit him. Use of this ability is an automatic success for most missiles, up to and including arrows, quarrels, and other such projectiles. For extraordinary missiles (musket and pistol bullets, blunderbuss shot, [I]magic missiles[/I], boulders hurled by a catapult or the arm of a giant), a saving throw is required to negate the damage. [U]One-Inch Punch:[/U] When a 2nd level brawler drops a foe to 0 HP, and another foe is within reach, he may cleave through into the next enemy, making one additional attack against this new target. After 8th level, this ability improves, becoming “Fists of Fury”. Now the brawler may continue to make additional attacks so long as each previous attack has reduced its target to 0 HP, and new targets are available within reach. [U]Tough as Nails:[/U] A brawler gets +3 bonus hit points at 3rd level and a further +7 bonus hit points at 7th level. [U]Stunning Fist:[/U] Use of this ability must be declared before rolling to hit, and a miss ruins the attempt. If the brawler attempts to use this ability while wearing armor heavier than leather, it has a chance to fail, just like an arcane spell. The brawler makes an unarmed strike, and on a successful hit, in addition to normal damage, the target must save or be stunned for 1d3+1 rounds (reduced to one-third movement speed and unable to act for the duration of the effect). A creature must have a living anatomy to be affected by this power, so undead and magical constructs are immune. [U]Multiple Attacks:[/U] A brawler makes two attacks per round after 6th level and three attacks per round after 12th level. [U]Evasion:[/U] An 11th level brawler is resistant to dragon’s breath, just like an 11th level expert. Whenever the brawler is struck by a breath weapon that allows a save for half damage, the brawler takes half-damage automatically and one-quarter damage on a successful save. After 13th level, this ability also applies to area-effect spells, the same as for a 7th level expert. [U]Flow Like Water:[/U] The brawler’s capstone ability, whenever the brawler is confronted by enemies with 2 HD or fewer (but not 2+1 HD or better), the brawler may forego his usual number of attacks per round and instead make one unarmed attack per experience level against the throng of weak enemies—and any foes which are destroyed by a blow in this “heroic fray” grant the brawler extra attacks by virtue of his Fists of Fury ability! [U]Name Level—Master:[/U] A brawler of 9th level or higher has access to “qi” powers. Such a brawler takes the title of “master”. The master has qi points equal to (3 + Con mod). At higher levels, these are spent on powers, and recovered on a per-day basis, just like spells. Any of a master’s spell-like qi powers have a chance to fail if the master wears armor, just like a sorcerer casting spells. A 9th level master has only one qi ability, and it is automatic and persistent: the master can “feel the flow” of qi, which grants the master partial alertness, reducing his chance to be surprised before a battle to 1 in 6, just like a 6th level expert. A 10th level master can “focus qi” downward against gravity, allowing the master to leap to great heights or slow a fall and reduce damage taken—10’ per point of qi in the master’s qi pool in either case (maximum qi, that is; spending qi on other powers does not reduce the effectiveness of the master’s focus). An 11th level master controls qi, healing by means of pressure points—this requires an expenditure of 1 qi point, and will heal the master or another target touched of 3d4 HP. A 12th level master can project qi into a destructive bolt of energy, which may be hurled as a missile at any target within 150’. A hit causes 3d6 points of damage, and 2 qi points are expended to produce the missile. For each additional qi point spent, the damage of the missile can be increased by 1d6. Since the bolt is made of kinetic force, a [I]shield[/I] spell will defend against it as it would a [I]magic missile[/I]. Also at 12th level, the master’s qi pool becomes (4 + Con mod) qi points. At 13th level, the master gains the “Speed of Breath” power, which allows the master to [I]hasten[/I] himself for the duration of one battle by expending 3 qi points. Finally, at 14th level, the master gains the feared “Touch of Death”: for 4 qi, the master can charge his fist with deadly energies and then attempt to strike a pressure-point on a living enemy’s body (undead and golems are immune). A miss ruins the attempt, but a hit forces the enemy struck to save or die. [B]Artificers[/B] are adventuring engineers who make use of super-science gadgets, alchemical concoctions, advanced weapons, and steamworks. Artificers live and die by their technology: to be effective, they must carry a bewildering array of tools, parts, chemicals and reagents, finished inventions, and big portfolios filled with blueprints, schematics, and formulas. The average artificer looks like a walking, one-man junk-shop (and smells like a chemical plant placed between a mechanic’s garage and a munitions store). [code] [U]Lv Hit Dice Fighting Devices P/S/T Miscellaneous [/U]1 1d4 +2 1 1/1/0 Craftsman 2 2d4 +2 2 2/1/1 — 3 3d4 +2 2 3/2/1 Smithy 4 4d4 +2 2 4/2/2 Breakthrough invention 5 5d4 +2 3 5/3/2 — 6 6d4 +4 3 6/3/3 Jury-Rig 1/day 7 7d4 +4 4 7/4/3 — 8 8d4 +4 4 8/4/4 Greater Smithy 9 9d4 +4 4 9/5/4 Breakthrough invention 10 9d4+1 +4 5 10/5/5 — 11 9d4+2 +6 5 11/6/5 MacGyver 2/day 12 9d4+3 +6 6 12/6/6 — 13 9d4+4 +6 6 12/7/6 Master Smithy 14 9d4+5 +6 6 12/7/7 Breakthrough invention [/code] [U]Devices:[/U] An artificer’s basic ability is the creation of devices, small single-use items that produce some scientific or alchemical effect. Artificers are able to prepare a number of devices per day given in the table above (one device per day at 1st level, up to six per day at 12th level). Devices are prepared according to scientific principles that the artificer understands—this is the list of technological degrees that the artificer has mastered. [U]Degrees:[/U] All of the special effects that an artificer can realize as items are described by technological degrees. There are twelve degrees in each of the three fields of scientific artifice, physics/mechanics, chemistry/explosives, and biology/pharmaceuticals. The list of degrees is reproduced here: their effects are found in the [I]Engines & Empires[/I] setting guide. A technological degree is usually equal in power to a spell level of one-half the degree, e.g. 6th or 7th degree technology is about as powerful as 3rd level magic. [code] [U]Degree Biology/Pharmaceuticals Chemistry/Explosives Physics/Mechanics [/U]1st Herbal Healer Chemical Smoke Ballistic Projectile 2nd Stimulant/Depressant Psychotropic Compound Optic Flash 3rd Pheromones Metallic Alloy Magnetic Field 4th Growth/Reduction Explosive Combustion Kinetic Engine 5th Cellular Transparency Toxin/Antitoxin Flight/Submersion 6th Vile Venom Corrosive Acid Electric Induction 7th Ectoplasmic Distillate Adhesive/Lubricant Sonic Vibration 8th Disease/Vaccine Flash Freeze Holo-Projection 9th Wonder Drug Polymer Plastic Radio Telegraphy 10th Genetic Mutation Protoninc Solvent Analytic Engine 11th Tissue Reanimation Crystal Lattice Gravitational Field 12th Tissue Regeneration Radioactive Plasma Quantum Shift [/code] Unlike spell-casters, artificers acquire their degrees automatically with each experience level. Every artificer designates one of the three fields as his “primary” field of study and other two as “secondary” and “tertiary”. The artificer learns one degree in his primary field at every level up to the 12th, and he alternates between his secondary and tertiary fields, learning degrees from his secondary field on odd-numbered levels and from his tertiary field on even-numbered levels. Thus, the five most powerful degrees in a given field are only available to an artificer who has specialized in that field as primary (at least until the artificer passes beyond Expert-level play and into the Companion Set rules). [U]Craftsman[B]:[/B][/U] Artificers are all about making things. As a consequence of their background, all artificers begin the game with 2 bonus ranks in the Craft skill, in addition to their normal number of starting skill points. [U]Smithy:[/U] A 3rd level artificer is good at crafting useful tools. For 300 silver pieces (my games always use a silver standard!), an artificer is able to make a fine masterwork tool that grants a +1 bonus on appropriate skill or ability checks—but such fine and delicate tools can only grant this bonus five times before the tool is ruined and must be repaired or replaced (costing another 300 silver). After 8th level, the artificer can confer a +2 bonus on such tools (for a cost of 600 silver pieces), and after 13th level, a +3 bonus (for 900 silver pieces). The time required to create a master-crafted tool is 2d6 hours. At the end of this span of time, the artificer must roll a successful Intelligence + Craft check; if the check passes, the tool was created or modified successfully; otherwise, all of the time and half the resources (money spent) have been wasted. From 9th level onward, the artificer can create permanently master-crafted tools for ten times the cost of a temporary modification. [U]Breakthrough Invention:[/U] At each of the 4th, 9th, and 14th levels, the artificer may select from his known degrees one device effect, and work this effect in a permanent item which can be used multiple times per day. The invention takes the form of a gadget, weighing 10 lbs., which only the artificer can properly operate. The artificer can choose to build the device in a “stable” configuration (it can be used three times per day, with no chance of failure), or as an “unstable” prototype (the player rolls 1d6 each time the invention is used; on a roll of 6, the device breaks down and fails to work again until repaired; and on a breakdown, the player must roll the die again, and if a second 6 results, the device has backfired or exploded). A full day’s work is required to repair a broken invention, or to shift an invention between its stable and unstable configurations. If an artificer wishes to change out one breakthrough invention for another, this requires one week of work and an expenditure of materials costing 500 silver pieces per degree of the replacement invention. (A 13th level “master smithy” can change out his breakthrough inventions at a reduced cost, 400 silver per degree and five days’ work.) [U]Jury-Rig:[/U] Once per day, a 6th level artificer can spend one round to “jury-rig” one of his daily prepared devices into a different device based on another degree that he knows, provided the new device is drawn from the same field of science (biology, chemistry, or physics) as the original device being replaced. The degree of either device doesn’t matter; only the field. After 11th level, this ability is replaced by the “MacGyver” ability: now the artificer can perform this feat twice per day, and he can swap any device that he has prepared for any device that he could otherwise prepare, regardless of its field. Alternatively, an 11th level artificer can use his MacGyver ability to try and salvage the materials from a used-up device. With a successful Intelligence + Craft check and 30 minutes’ work, the artificer can thus attempt to prepare an extra device during the adventuring day, provided he has already expended one of his daily devices already, and therefore has used-up materials to salvage from. [U]Name Level—Inventor:[/U] An artificer above 9th level stops rolling hit dice and adds only one hit point per level. A name-level artificer is called an inventor, and is able to create all manner of gadgets and gizmos, widgets and tonics, and vehicles and automata, using the normal rules for magical item creation. An inventor can also permanently enhance weapons, armor, and other tools, and research new technological degrees. [B]Druids[/B] are wandering “white wizards” who serve the gods, working their will in the world in subtle ways, so as not to impinge upon the free will of mortals. They follow an organization known as the White Order, founded long ago by a prophet of the gods who was almost certainly one of the Gáldre in mortal guise. The mission of druids is to protect civilization from chaos and evil, and to seek out and destroy abominations of the same—especially undead and the spawn of Mórgrundel, murkwyrms and the foul goblin and trollish races. [code] [U]Lv Hit Dice Fighting Slots SpLv Recovery Special Abilities [/U]1 1d6 +2 0 — — Turn undead 3/day 2 2d6 +2 1 1st — — 3 3d6 +2 2 1st — — 4 4d6 +2 2 2nd 1 — 5 5d6 +4 2 2nd 1 Destroy undead, Sig. spell Lv1 6 6d6 +4 2 3rd 1/1 — 7 7d6 +4 2 3rd 3/1 — 8 8d6 +4 2 4th 3/1/1 — 9 9d6 +6 2 4th 3/3/1 — 10 9d6+1 +6 2 5th 3/3/1 Signature spell Lv2 11 9d6+3 +6 3 5th 3/3/3 — 12 9d6+4 +6 3 6th 3/3/3 Two attacks per round 13 9d6+6 +8 3 6th 3/3/3/1 — 14 9d6+7 +8 3 6th 3/3/3/1 Signature spell Lv3 [/code] [U]Turn Undead:[/U] The druid’s only starting ability is the power to drive off undead. Thrice per day, a druid can produce an aura of light (either in a 30' radius around himself, or in a 60' cone in the direction he faces) that instills fear in undead. All undead caught in the area of effect must roll a saving throw or else flee (as if they’d failed a morale check). For a druid of 5th level or higher, any undead with half or fewer as many hit dice as the druid has levels may destroyed by the druid’s power. On a failed saving throw, these undead are instantly destroyed; and even on a successful save they are turned and flee. (Chaotic druids may produce a shadow instead of light, which will bolster, rebuke, or after 5th level, utterly dominate undead.) A druid of 2nd level or higher may expend spell slots for additional daily uses of this power. Turning undead counts as a 1st level spell for the sake of spell recovery, so from 4th level onward, if a spell slot is expended for extra turning, the druid may use spell recoveries to refresh the used slot. [U]Spells:[/U] Druids cast spells drawn from the list of clerical spells found in the Basic and Expert sets, and the druidical spells found in the Companion and Master sets (or pretty much just all the divine spells up to 6th level listed in the Rules Cyclopedia). The above table gives the druid’s number of daily spell slots (one at 2nd level, two at 3rd level, three after 11th level) and the spell level of the druid’s spell slots. A slot may be expended in order to cast any spell of that level or lower that the druid has memorized. The druid may memorize a number of spells equal to twice his daily number of slots (viz. 2 at 2nd level, 4 at 3rd level, 6 after 11th level) plus his Wisdom modifier. [U]Spell Recovery:[/U] At 4th level, after a druid has used one of his daily spell slots to cast a 1st level spell (or to turn the undead), he may spend one turn (ten minutes) resting in order to recover that spell slot. As druids gain experience levels, they also gain the ability to recover slots expended on higher-level spells. A higher-level spell recovery point may always be used to recover a spell slot of the given level or lower. Thus, for example, a 14th level druid has spell recoveries amounting to 3/3/3/1—the druid can thrice per day recover spell slots used on 1st level spells (or turning undead), thrice per day recover slots used on 2nd level or lower spells, thrice per day recover slots used on 3rd level or lower spells, and once per day recover a spell slot used to cast a 4th level or lower spell. Recovering an expended spell slot always takes one turn’s rest. Note that spell recovery can only be used to refresh the druid’s daily spell slots; it cannot be used to recover the druid’s three free uses of turn undead, or any free uses of signature spells. [U]Signature Spell:[/U] A 5th level druid may select one of the 1st level spells that he knows and designate it a signature spell. This has two benefits. First, the signature spell may be cast up to three times per day without expending any of the druid’s daily spell slots. Second, a signature spell is at all times considered memorized, such that if a druid has used up all three free uses of his signature spell that day, he can then continue to cast the spell by expending spell slots, without it counting against his normal limit of (2, 4, or 6 + Wis mod) spells memorized at any one time. The druid may choose a 2nd level signature spell at 10th level and a 3rd level signature spell at 14th level. The choice of signature spells must be made carefully, for a druid’s selection of signature spells is all but permanent. A druid can only change one of his signature spells by means of a full week of seclusion and deep prayer, and with an expenditure of treasure (the amount determined by the DM) as a sacrifice to the gods. [U]Multiple Attacks:[/U] A druid of 12th level and higher makes two attacks per round in combat. [U]Name Level—Arch Druid:[/U] A druid of 9th level or higher stops rolling hit dice and instead adds only +1.5 hit points per level thereafter. An arch druid is capable of researching new spells and crafting magical items. [B]Sorcerers[/B] are spirit-binders, conjurers who command unseen beings to work their will. As casters of black magic, sorcerers are beholden only to themselves and to the spirits for their power. The arcane spells scribed into a sorcerer’s spell-book are actually detailed instructions for intricate rituals of summoning and binding: when a sorcerer studies his grimoire and memorizes his spells, he is actually calling out to the spirit world, drawing unseen entities into his psyche, and trapping them there in some cage-like corner of his own mind. Only sheer, psychic force of will (represented by a high Charisma score) enables a sorcerer to command and contain otherworldly intelligences in this fashion. When a sorcerer actually casts a spell, he is uttering a few simple trigger words to undo the binding in a safe and controlled way—the spirits flee from his brain, escape back to their own plane of existence, and the small tear in reality that results is what allows the magical effect to leak into the material realm. Sorcerers must always use great caution when dealing with spirits from beyond, and they must take care to purge their minds from time to time, clearing and refreshing their spells each day—otherwise, the spirits may begin to possess and influence the sorcerer’s personality. If a sorcerer should be slain with spells still memorized (and any sorcerer who dies in battle almost assuredly has a full suite of spells prepared), those spirits may escape into the physical realm as undead, either on their own as incorporeal ghosts, or inhabiting any nearby corpses (including the sorcerer’s)! [code] [U]Lv Hit Dice Fighting Slots SpLv Recovery Special Abilities [/U]1 1d4 +2 1 1st — — 2 2d4 +2 2 1st — — 3 3d4 +2 2 2nd 1 — 4 4d4 +2 2 2nd 1 Signature spell Lv1 5 5d4 +2 2 3rd 1/1 — 6 6d4 +4 2 3rd 3/1 — 7 7d4 +4 2 4th 3/1/1 — 8 8d4 +4 2 4th 3/3/1 — 9 9d4 +4 2 5th 3/3/1 Signature spell Lv2 10 9d4+1 +4 3 5th 3/3/3 — 11 9d4+2 +6 3 6th 3/3/3/1 — 12 9d4+3 +6 3 6th 3/3/3/1 Master of sorcery 13 9d4+4 +6 3 6th 3/3/3/1/1 — 14 9d4+5 +6 3 6th 3/3/3/1/1 Signature spell Lv3 [/code] All of a sorcerer’s special abilities (spells, spell recovery, and signature spells) are identical to those of a druid, except that Charisma rather than Wisdom modifies a sorcerer’s number of daily memorized spells. A sorcerer's spells have a chance to fail if the sorcerer wears armor. In light armor (a leather jerkin or quilted gambeson), the chance of spell failure is 10%. In medium armor (a maille hauberk or brigandine/jack-of-plates), the chance is 20%. In heavy armor (scale armor or a plate cuirass), 30%; and in a full suit of plates, 40%. The sorcerer casts spells drawn from the magic-user spell list described in the Basic and Expert sets or in the Rules Cyclopedia, with the following alterations: [I]Read magic[/I] is replaced by [I]bind spirits[/I], a spell which can have one of three effects: (1) it is used to decipher magical writings found in spell-books, in order to learn new spells, just as [I]read magic[/I] normally does. (2) It can be cast to issue a one-word [I]command[/I], just like the clerical spell of the same name, but it only works on incorporeal beings—wraiths, shadows, and so forth. (Beware: undead will inevitably ignore a command to "die".) (3) It can be cast on the sorcerer himself, enabling the sorcerer to command whatever minor unseen spirits might be nearby at the moment. This allows the sorcerer to perform [I]cantrip[/I] effects (as per the AD&D 2nd edition version of [I]cantrip[/I]) for one hour per caster level. The other alteration is one I commonly make to the OD&D magic-user spell-list for the sake of game balance: [I]haste[/I] moves up to 4th level, and [I]ice storm[/I] falls down to 3rd level in its place (where it rightly belongs, I should think, alongside its fellow elemental attack spells, [I]fire ball[/I] and [I]lightning bolt[/I]). The alternate form of the [I]ice storm[/I] spell, [I]wall of ice[/I], remains at 4th level as the reverse of [I]wall of fire[/I]—so any sorcerer who learns [I]wall of fire[/I] automatically learns [I]wall of ice[/I] as well, and vice versa. [U]Master of Sorcery:[/U] A 12th level sorcerer acquires two benefits: first, the [I]bind spirits[/I] spell described above automatically becomes an extra signature spell for the sorcerer: usable thrice per day without expending spell slots, and always automatically treated as memorized. Second, a 12th level and higher sorcerer is able to change out his other two or three signature spells by means of an elaborate week-long ritual of spell-preparation and an expenditure of materials costing 1,000 silver pieces per level of the new signature spell. [U]Name Level—High Sorcerer:[/U] After 9th level, a sorcerer stops rolling hit dice and adds only +1 hit point per level. A high sorcerer is able to research new arcane spells and craft all manner of magical items. (cont'd...) [/QUOTE]
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