Shadowdark Western Reaches Stretch Goal: New Classes

[Bill Zebub]

I want a Brute class.

"If you shoot him, you'll just make him mad."

• Leather armor and shields
• Clubs and improvised weapons
• Damage reduction/mitigation
• Gets some kind of bonus for having low Int/Wis/Cha
• Immediately after taking damage gets a combat bonus

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I want a Brute class.

"If you shoot him, you'll just make him mad."

• Leather armor and shields
• Clubs and improvised weapons
• Damage reduction/mitigation
• Gets some kind of bonus for having low Int/Wis/Cha
• Immediately after taking damage gets a combat bonus

 

[WanderingMystic]

I want a Brute class.

"If you shoot him, you'll just make him mad."

• Leather armor and shields
• Clubs and improvised weapons
• Damage reduction/mitigation
• Gets some kind of bonus for having low Int/Wis/Cha
• Immediately after taking damage gets a combat bonus

That is very close to the pit fighter. They get hp from hitting people, the ability to just not die a few times, advantage on con and the ability to just take no damage.

The sea wolf gets a 20 AC of you spend your action defending, hit points on enemy kills and the ability to just choose to not take damage a few times.

 

[WanderingMystic]

If it were possible for Shadowdark to have a class that's focused around a minion—whether that be a martial "beast master" or a spellcaster "summoner"—I'm always interested in seeing how systems can handle that archetype. Pet masters and puppet masters are some of my favorite concepts, and while pet masters often feel same-y, taking minions in a magical direction wildly opens up possibilities.

Yes, it would need to be carefully handled—have two characters to control grants a lot of additional power and action economy, and infinite minions are a bad idea because that more-or-less nullifies many traps. There would need to be a tight balancing of resources
But if pets/minions are not going to be a thing, I'm in the camp most interested in a Paladin sort of class for Martial—although, truthfully, it could be handled through an addition to the spell list of the Priest class, kind of like how Druids and Sorcerers are just wizards with additional spells added to their lists. For spell caster, I'd love to see something in a conceptual space similar to the Wyrdling but applied to spells—a super weird, kinda gross mutant psion would fit that bill (although I have no idea if it would be appreciated by the fans clamoring for a psionicist). If not a psionicist, then maybe an alienist.

So just as am fyi the new basilisk warrior can get a pet basilisk. It is an addition to the class and not the man focus but it hasn't felt more powerful than any other class I have seen played.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

That is very close to the pit fighter. They get hp from hitting people, the ability to just not die a few times, advantage on con and the ability to just take no damage.

I had a pit fighter be the last man standing in a TPK. It was funny watching him get pummeled "to death," stand back up again and say "is that all you got?" and then get beat down all over again.

Not a winning strategy, it turns out, but still a lot of fun in play.

 

[WanderingMystic]

I had a pit fighter be the last man standing in a TPK. It was funny watching him get pummeled "to death," stand back up again and say "is that all you got?" and then get beat down all over again.

Not a winning strategy, it turns out, but still a lot of fun in play.

My sea wolf did the same thing. My 20 AC was just to difficult for people to hit repeatedly so they turned on each other until it was just me and the warrior. My damage mitigation won over her increased damage

 

[Scribe]

So just as am fyi the new basilisk warrior can get a pet basilisk. It is an addition to the class and not the man focus but it hasn't felt more powerful than any other class I have seen played.

You just run it as a distinct 'character' controlled by the player?

 

[WanderingMystic]

You just run it as a distinct 'character' controlled by the player?

It doesn't have much it can do, it has the chance to turn people to stone ... Slowly and can make a weak attack. The player controls it completely. The main class is more about having natural armor and a petrifying gaze of your own, the pet is a talent you can role so it is not a big focus of the class.

 

[WanderingMystic]

6hp, 13 ac +1 bite that deals 1d4 and has a chance to petrify 1 limb dc 9 save.

 

[VenerableBede]

So just as am fyi the new basilisk warrior can get a pet basilisk. It is an addition to the class and not the man focus but it hasn't felt more powerful than any other class I have seen played.

I will admit, I was pretty hyped when I saw that as an option. Even though it's not really what I'm looking for, it's a step in that direction—although my excitement tempered as I realized how limited this feature really is. I wish there was an option to "age up" the pet basilisk, make it stronger, as you level up—if you roll "12" again on the talent table, maybe.

Also, I prefer to play the game very strictly, so the odds of me ever getting such a basilisk egg are pretty low—I almost never roll a "2" when doing my talent rolls.

It doesn't have much it can do, it has the chance to turn people to stone ... Slowly and can make a weak attack. The player controls it completely. The main class is more about having natural armor and a petrifying gaze of your own, the pet is a talent you can role so it is not a big focus of the class.

Which is part of the issue (for people like me). It feels like an extra, not a core focus. I also don't like that if the basilisk dies there's no built-in way to replace it (even if that means waiting until you can go to town and find a new one to train), which means you need to buy one, or go on a quest for it—which anyone can do, it doesn't need to be a class feature, and it's a real hassle.

The nice thing about minions as class features is it means I have that as a built-in option when I want to play one—I don't have to hope that I will survive long enough to have the money to buy one, or the levels to survive a quest for one, and I don't have to hope that the GM is willing to play ball in the first place. I get to play the way I want out play out of the gate.

Granted, Shadowdark kind of has pets/minions as a core feature built in some classes. There's the Camel Rider and the Kyzian Archer classes. Naturally, those are very focused on the minion as a mount, rather than as a skirmisher, tank, or utility focus—so also not quite what a pet master/puppet archetype invokes, but kinda getting there.