Basic Classes: Apprentice

[Crothian]

Ever wanted to play a 1st level magic user for D20 Modern? Well now you can.

There still exists places in this world which will take a young child and feed them, cloth them and educate them in ancient arts and knowledge. Some are full blown monasteries filled with monks and clerics of old orders, some are simply an old man in need of a youthful assistant. They all share one thing in common, the best pupils have formless minds, ready to be molded by their masters and free of restrictions.

Apprentices can either be under a divine or an arcane master. Some are under a master of both. Either way the methods of education and training are almost identical. The work of a master is not only for the benefit of the student, but also so that the student can serve as a walking monument for the master, someone to carry on their traditions and life’s work.

The training that these youths undergo is designed to educate them in the ancient ways and to condition them both physically and mentally. Their education is not just in math and literature, but it’s also in ethics, philosophy, theology and the occult. Even though this may seem like a blueprint for benevolence, remember that not all apprentices learn what their masters teach.

Training also often involves hard, demanding labor like mopping floors, cleaning dishes, cutting firewood, plowing fields, yard work and other tasks designed to weed out those deemed unworthy and break the character so that they may be rebuilt in the image of their master. Only after many years of dedicated service will the Apprentices true training begin. For this reason the average age of a true Apprentice is often in the late teens or early twenties. Those that do finish training are mentally and physically prepared for the challenges that await them in this world and the next.

Many students never finish their training and will simply disappear into the night. Although it’s not completely unheard of that some never finish because their bodies quit under exhaustion and they ended up as permanent parts of their master’s experiments (or maybe as food for their master’s pets). Those that do continue their training will eventually grow beyond what their master can teach them. At that point they will venture out on their own, always remembering that they also serve as an ambassador of their former master until that time which they become the master.

Basic Classes: Apprentice is a basic class for D20 Modern. It allows for 1st level spellcasters, although that is not the only ability available to this hero. Purchase this product to find out more about the life of an Apprentice.

 

[Crothian]

Base Class Apprentice

The Apprentice is an interesting take on allowing people to play wizards in d20 modern at first level. But it does not really allow that too well. I think the class has potential but just fails to give the user it. Or it succeeds with powerful abilities combined with the right stats. Either way the Apprentice has some problems that will be shown here.

The Base Class Apprentice is a PDF by 93 Games Studios. The PDF is only seven pages and more then half of that is really devoted to adds, cover page and other things that do not aid the core idea of the book. The class is really only two and half pages long. The layout could be better as well as the half page is literally half written on and the other half just white space. It does not look that good and a picture or spacing of text; anything would have been better.

The class is set up like any other base class in d20 Modern. It is interesting to note that it does not have the usual odd skill points per level but does give the very nice eight with a good selection of skills. The talent trees I think are either weak or strong and this is a problem. With a high wisdom the character can gain the ability to cast four divine or arcane spells per day of each spell level zero through two and a have third level spell as a spell like ability. That seems really good compared to a bonus to craft writing skills or craft visual arts. The character can also gain spell resistance equal to their level plus five. These are nice abilities and might be a little too much for the base class.

That’s all the book has in it. It does not offer any new spells, feats, or items that an apprentice might make use of. It does not offer advice on how an apprentice loses the apprentice title and becomes something more. And advanced or a prestige class that builds on the apprentices powers and theme would have really done the book some good.