OSR Let's make Shadowdark classes!

[Krachek]

Class design

fighter.
best armor and weapon.
Best hit points
Weapon mastery : Bonus to attack ranging from +1/+1 to +6/+6 at level 10.

priest
Best armor and weapon
Medium hit points
Cleric spell list : more oriented toward combat and protection.

Wizard
Weakest armor and weapon
Weak hit points
best spells

thief
Poor weapon and armor
Weak hits points
Best exploration skills
damage burst with condition roughly 1d6 to 6d6 at level 10. Or d4.



new Classes
If you build new classes we can use a reference class and make trading.

Ex
Paladin
Build from the Cleric.
allow a half progression on spells.
trade this with D8 instead of d6 for hit points.
Use Cha instead of Wisdom for casting
add another minor ability to flavor a Paladin.

ranger
Give the hiding, sneaking and climbing from the Thief.
not able to handle traps and locks you give D6 instead of d4.
For a Ranger you need to add LongBow.
now we can do a mix from the damage burst of the thief and the reliable damage of the Fighter.


warlock
Give a half progression on wizards spells.
trade this with
better hit points.
Better armor and weapon
A cool class feature.


barbarian
start with the fighter.
Increase hit point to d10.
Trade this with less armor.
Barbarian can have damage burst, but we have to lower the weapon mastery.
Add explorations skill, again have to lower armor or damage to trade off.

 

[Mannahnin]

Captain
Grizzled veteran warrior, trained officer, or inspiring noble, the captain leads troops to victory. A fighter uses weapons as tools to bring victory: a captain uses fighters in the same way.

Tactical Assistance: When you hit with your ranged or melee attack, you may choose not to apply the bonus damage from your attribute to your target. The next party member to make a ranged or melee attack on the target then gains advantage on the attack.
As I have been reminded, Shadowdark does not give ability bonuses to damage. This may require a bit more thought.

Trying to figure the cleanest phrasing but perhaps something like...

"When you hit with a ranged or melee attack, if your roll is high enough that you would have hit without your attack bonus, the next party member to make a ranged or melee attack on the target then gains advantage on the attack."

 

[Andrew Anderson]

Trying to figure the cleanest phrasing but perhaps something like...

"When you hit with a ranged or melee attack, if your roll is high enough that you would have hit without your attack bonus, the next party member to make a ranged or melee attack on the target then gains advantage on the attack."

An interesting thought. I was trying to make it an interesting choice, rather than a lucky bonus. The class otherwise has relatively few choices from their mechanics.

 

[Bill Zebub]

Feedback on this greatly appreciated....​

​

Captain​

Grizzled veteran warrior, trained officer, or inspiring noble, the captain leads troops to victory. A fighter uses weapons as tools to bring victory: a captain uses fighters in the same way.

Weapons: All weapons.
Armor: All armor and shields.
Hit Points: 1d8 per level

Tactical Assistance: When you hit with your ranged or melee attack, you may choose not to apply the bonus damage from your attribute to your target. The next party member to make a ranged or melee attack on the target then gains advantage on the attack.
As I have been reminded, Shadowdark does not give ability bonuses to damage. This may require a bit more thought.
Strategic Planning: Add one or your Wisdom Modifier, whichever is greater, to the initiative of every party member in the Near distance when initiative is rolled.
Logistical Preparation: Add 1 or your Intelligence modifier, whichever is greater, to the gear slots of everyone in the party. If your character dies, this benefit is lost.

​

Captain Talents​

Roll	Talent
2	Add one to your Logistical Preparations Talent
3-5	Gain +2 to Strength, Dex, Int, or Wis
6-8	Gain +1 to melee or ranged attacks
9-11	Add one to your Strategic Planning Talent
12	Choose a Talent or +2 points to any Stats

Adding one to everybody’s initiative is unlikely to do much (anything) because of how initiative works.

 

[darjr]

Live!

 

[darjr]

Designing the Ranger Class for Shadowdark RPG!

We hit the $750,000 stretch goal for the Shadowdark RPG Kickstarter, so we're designing two new classes for the game!This video is about designing the ranger...

www.youtube.com

 

[Andrew Anderson]

Adding one to everybody’s initiative is unlikely to do much (anything) because of how initiative works.

My concern was it can grow rapidly. I have to double check some of the numbers and talents, but if it becomes desirable, it should be possible to grow it past 1 very quickly, possibly to unbalancing levels. I appreciate the thought and will throw it on the test bench this weekend.

 

[darjr]

That was fun.

 

[Bill Zebub]

My concern was it can grow rapidly. I have to double check some of the numbers and talents, but if it becomes desirable, it should be possible to grow it past 1 very quickly, possibly to unbalancing levels. I appreciate the thought and will throw it on the test bench this weekend.

What I was referring to is that the only initiative roll that matters is the highest one, since the order then just goes clockwise around the table. So it has (mostly) the same result as just giving the bonus to one player of your choice.

(Mostly, but not exactly. There are very gamist circumstances in which giving the bonus, if it's large enough, to a player of your choice is better than giving it to everybody.)

 

[Bill Zebub]

That was fun.

Yes! So happy it's not a D&D ranger!