B&T Lost Classes: The Dragon Disciple

March 3, 2012March 14, 2021 / jstater / 3 Comments

I love classes. Since I picked up my first Dragon ages ago and discovered the concept of the “NPC class” (like we weren’t going to try to play them), I’ve loved classes. I’ve posted quite a few on this blog. When it came to Blood & Treasure, I wanted to stick to the classes in the SRD – i.e. the classic classes of AD&D plus the sorcerer. I decided, to make Blood & Treasure a little different, I would throw in one more, in this case converting the Duelist prestige class into a class of its own. That gave me 13 classes, which I somewhat doubled by giving examples of variant classes one could create with a little reassembly of existing parts.

All along, though, there were a few other classes I wanted to throw in. The psychic (my version) was one of them, but I decided with four dedicated spell casters in the game already (cleric, druid, magic-user and sorcerer), one more was overkill. From the SRD, three other classes caught my eye. The first was the soulknife, and it nearly made it in. The other two, both prestige classes, were the shadowdancer and dragon disciple. I’m calling these three the “lost classes” of Blood & Treasure, and I’m posting them here, starting with the dragon disciple.

And yeah, I know, I’m posting “lost classes” from a book that hasn’t been published yet. So sue me.

DRAGON DISCIPLE
Dragon disciples are men and women who enter into secret dragon societies with the object of harnessing the powers of dragons and eventually transforming themselves into dragons. All of them have the mystic blood of dragons flowing through their veins, and by energizing their chakras, they can become dragons themselves.

Requirements: Dragon disciples must have intelligence, constitution and charisma scores of 13 or higher.

Hit Dice: d10 (+3 hit points per level from 10th to 20th).

Armor: None.

Shield: No.

Weapons: Club, crossbow (any), dagger, hand axe, javelin, kama, nunchaku, punching dagger, quarterstaff, sai, shuriken, siangham, sling and spear.

Skills: Escape, find secret doors and listen at doors (see Heroic Tasks below).

CLASS FEATURES
Dragon disciples are scholars as much as they are warriors, and have the abilities of a sage (see Henchmen).

At 1st, 4th, and 7th level, a dragon disciple gains a +1 bonus to their existing natural armor. As his skin thickens, a dragon disciple takes on more and more of his progenitor’s physical aspect.

At 2nd level, a dragon disciple gains claw and bite attacks if he does not already have them. Medium-sized dragon disciples deal 1d6 points of damage with bite attacks and 1d4 points of damage with claw attacks. Smaller dragon disciples reduce these values by one dice size, while larger dragon disciples increase these values by one dice size.

As a dragon disciple gains levels, his ability scores increase as follows:

At 3rd level, a dragon disciple gains a minor breath weapon. The type and shape depend on the dragon variety whose heritage he enjoys (see below). Regardless of the ancestor, the breath weapon deals 2d6 points of damage of the appropriate energy type.

At 7th level, the damage of the breath weapon increases to 4d6, and when a disciple attains dragon apotheosis at 10th level it reaches its full power at 6d6. Regardless of its strength, the breath weapon can be used only once per day. A line-shaped breath weapon is 5 feet high, 5 feet wide, and 60 feet long. A cone-shaped breath weapon is 30 feet long.

At 5th level, the dragon disciple can use nonvisual senses to notice things it cannot see. He usually does not need to make checks to notice and pinpoint the location of creatures within 60 feet, provided that he has line of effect to that creature.

Any opponent the dragon disciple cannot see still has a tactical advantage against him.

At 9th level, a dragon disciple grows a set of draconic wings. He may now fly at a speed equal to his normal land speed.

At 12th level, a dragon disciple takes on the half-dragon template. His breath weapon reaches full strength (as noted above), and he gains +2 to strength and +1 to charisma. His natural armor bonus increases to +4, and he acquires the low-light vision of elves, darkvision to a range of 60-ft, immunity to sleep and paralysis effects and immunity to the energy type used by his breath weapon.

Monster Matinee – Attack of the Crab Monsters

February 25, 2012March 14, 2021 / jstater / 7 Comments

I’m working my way through the public domain sci-fi/horror movies on Pub-D-Hub, and last night I took in Roger Corman’s Attack of the Crab Monsters (1957).

Spoilers are a comin’, so be warned.

The combination of “Corman” and “Crab Monsters” doesn’t fill a person with much hope. The monsters, I assumed, would either be men in rubber suits or green-screened crabs made to look giant harassing a bunch of strangers, etc. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. It is a movie in the sub-genre of “group of people menaced by monsters, dying one by one”, but had some pretty clever details – oh, and one of the characters is played by Russell Johnson, better known as the Professor on Giligan’s Island!

Still trying to get a transmitter to work, and not a coconut in sight

The “crab monsters” in the title weren’t what I expected. They were giant crabs altered by atomic tests on an island. As it was described in the movie, they weren’t just enlarged crabs. Their atoms had been detached from one another in such a manner that they were in a semi-liquid state – liquid given a permanent shape. Their weird atomic structure has given them additional abilities. When the crabs consume people, their atoms simply join the crab’s atoms, making them a sentient part of the crab. Several people’s minds and memories can exist within the crab simultaneously, and though they retain their memories, their personalities change. They now seek the continued survival of the crab, even if that means killing former friends. The crab’s are also capable of transmitting telepathic messages via bits of metal, these messages being in the voice of the people that have absorbed. The crabs can regenerate body parts and generate significant amounts of heat, but electricity turns them quickly to dust.

The giant crabs, there are two in the film initially, are intent on destroying their island to keep people from discovering their existence. One of them is “with child”, and once the crabs have increased their numbers under the waves, they plan on expanding their dominion. They are destroying the island using dynamite they have captured from the various groups of soldiers and scientists that have come to investigate an aircraft that crashed near the island.

Naturally, a monster this creative needs some game stats!

Crab Monster (Blood & Treasure)
Large Magical Beast, Neutral, Average Intelligence; Cast (1d6)

HD 6; AC 14; Atk 2 claws (2d6 + grapple); Speed 30 (Swim 20); Save F6, R7, W10; XP 600; Special: Immune to fire, generate heat, resistance to physical weapons, vulnerable to electricity, consume memories, telepathy 300-ft. (transmits through metal).

Crab monsters can generate heat in a radius of 30 feet. This can be done three times per day and 10 minutes at a time, and all in the radius suffer 1d4 points of damage per round. Metal in the area of effect is affected as per the heat metal spell.

Crab Monster (Mystery Men!)

Level 6; Physique 5; Mentality 5; DC 16; SPD 2; XP 2800; ATK 2 claws (2d6); POW consume memories*, correspond, energy burst (fire), energy immunity (fire, lasers), energy vulnerability (electricity), half damage from physical attacks

When a crab monster consumes a person, they add their mind to their own. These minds remain independent, but are now part of the crab and work for the crab’s survival and interests, even turning on former allies. The crab can correspond telepathically using the voices of the people it has consumed. Increase the crab’s Mentality score to that of the highest Intelligence it has consumed. Any psychic powers possessed by a person consumed by the crab monster are now possessed by the crab monster.

Crab Monster (Space Princess)

HD 6 | DEF 19 | FIGHT 12 (2d6) | SHOOT 11 | MOVE N | STR 6 | DEX 5 | MEN 4 | KNO 4 | DL 9

Crab monsters are immune to fire and heat, and suffer only half damage from lasers and ray guns and from physical attacks. Electricity attacks inflict double damage on them. Crab monsters absorb the KNO and MEN of people they consume, increasing their values to the highest value they have consumed. They also absorb the psychic powers and knowledge-based skills of people they consume, though they might not be able to use these skills due to physical limitations. Crab monsters communicate telepathically using the voices of the people they have absorbed. This telepathy can only be heard through metal.

Variant Classes in Blood & Treasure

February 21, 2012March 6, 2021 / jstater / 2 Comments

Half-Orc Assassin (or Bounty Hunter?) by Jon Kaufman

My main goal in Blood & Treasure was to use as much of the treasure (i.e. creative ideas as opposed to rules rules rules) in the SRD as I could. Now, there are plenty of things in the SRD that, deprived of one rule or another wilt and die. Most of the prestige classes fit into that category, for example, and there were a few spells, feats, etc that just could not make the leap.

At this point, I’ve written 90% of the game, needing only to write down some ideas on creating dungeons and on running characters through the wilderness and city. Almost all of this material comes from the “core” SRD and the psionics material (a few classic powers turned into spells and some of the classic monsters). That leaves me with two more “books” – Unearthed Arcana and the Epic Level Handbook.

The Epic Level Handbook I’m mostly ignoring, though I am poaching a few monsters and cutting their Hit Dice and Armor Classes in half (or close to it). They’ll work well with 20th level adventurers. Unearthed Arcana is primarily about alternate rules systems, and since B&T is intended to work with most classic forms of D&D and the retro clones, those systems are of no interest to me. That leaves some of the variant races, classes, etc.

The variant races are not terribly interesting to me, to be quite honest, and could probably be hand waived by a Referee. Since B&T is clocking in at around 270 pages, I really don’t want to devote any of those precious pages to desert halflings or fire dwarves. (Crap, just writing fire dwarves makes me want to include fire dwarves … must resist). The variant classes, on the other hand, gave me an idea. Why not, to show how easy it is to make a variant class, include one for each of the main classes.

In the case of magic-users, I already have the specialist mages. In the case of clerics, it gives me something to do with the cleric domains, using their granted powers as a way to make specialty priests. The fighter gives me a chance to do a quick and dirty conversion of the dwarven defender, recasting it as simply a defender. For the paladin, the blackguard (I’d go with anti-paladin, but I’m not 100% sure that wouldn’t get me in trouble – at your table, call it whatever you like).

Here are a few of the other variant classes included in B&T:

Bounty Hunter (Assassin Variant)
Some Referees and groups of players may feel uncomfortable about having an assassin in their midst, especially if the party is to include a paladin or other lawful characters. Feel free to use the bounty hunter as a slightly less “evil” version of the assassin.

The bounty hunter replaces the assassin’s 5th level death attack with a “knockout punch” attack. The attack works in the same manner, but the result is unconsciousness for 1d6 turns instead of death.

The bounty hunter learns to cast spells from the ranger spell list instead of the assassin spell list.

Specialty Priests (Cleric Variants)
The clerics presented above are fairly basic agents of Law and Chaos, or, in the Medieval sense, of God and the Devil. One can expand the horizon of the cleric by using specialty priests of different deific domains.

Each domain corresponds to the portfolio of a god or goddess and gives the specialty priest a special power that can be used in place of the traditional cleric’s turn or rebuke undead ability. Specialty priests can be neutral as well as lawful or chaotic.

AIR: A deity of air might be a deity of the sky and heavens, such as Jupter, Zeus, Anu or Varuna, or a more minor deity of a particular wind. Air priests can turn or destroy earth elemental creatures.

ANIMALS: Priests of animal deities might be dedicated to a particular animal like Bast, goddess of cats, to animals in genral, or to deities of the hunt, like Artemis. Animal priests can speak with animals at will.

CIVILIZATION: Deities of civilizations might be lawgivers like Marduk of the Babylonians, founders of great civilizations, like Romulus of Rome, or simply the patron deity of a city or kingdom. They are almost always lawful deities. A civilization priest can use calm emotions once per day and gains a +2 bonus to all reaction checks.

DEATH: While death deities are usually considered chaotic, mainly because living creatures have a general disregard for dying, they need not be chaotic. Hades was one of the kings of creation, along with his brothers Zeus and Poseidon, and thus arguably a lawful deity. The demon lord Orcus is also associated with death, via his control of the undead. Death priests may use a touch of death once per day. They must make a successful melee attack against an opponent and roll 1d6 per cleric level. If the roll is higher than the target’s current hit points, they die with no saving throw.

EARTH: Earth deities run to the deities of mineral wealth, like the Roman Plutus, deities of stone and earth, like the Egyptian Geb, and deities of the land, like the Chinese Tu Di Gong. Earth priests can turn or destroy air elemental creatures.

EVIL: Deities of pure evil or primordial chaos are quite common in mythology and religion. For pure evil, there is, of course, Satan in all his guises in the Abrahamic religions, a primordial deity like Tiamat, or a fictional deity such as H.P. Lovecraft’s Azathoth. Evil priests can smite lawful creatures as a paladin smites chaotic creatures.

FIRE: Priests of fire include priests of hearth deities (who are usually lawful), priests of the element of fire (who may be neutral) or priests of hellfire (and thus chaotic). Fire priests can turn water elemental creatures instead of turning undead creatures.

GOOD: Deities of good are always lawful, and include such heroic deities as Mithra of the Zoroastrians (or Mithras, his Greco-Roman incarnation), archangels like Michael, or saints, such as Cuthbert or George. Priests of good can smite chaotic creatures in the same manner as a paladin.

KNOWLEDGE: Deities of knowledge are often also deities of magic, the Egyptian Thoth being a good example. One might consider some saints, like the Venerable Bede, as a deity of knowledge. Priests of knowledge have the same abilities as sages (see Henchmen below).

LOVE: Gods and goddesses of love may be gentle and kind, and thus lawful, or lustful and passionate, and thus chaotic or neutral. A priest of love is probably chosen as much for their charisma as for their wisdom. Love priests can, once per day, make a charisma skill check with a bonus equal to their cleric level.

MADNESS: Deities of madness are always going to be chaotic in nature. They might include the fictional Nyarlathotep created by H.P. Lovecraft or the Greek demigoddesses known as the Mania. A priest of madness gains a +2 bonus to save vs. mind control, and can cast confusion once per day.

MAGIC: Deities of magic include the lawful Thoth, the more neutral Hermes Trismegistus and the chaotic Hecate. Priests of magic can use scrolls and wands as though they were magic-users of the same level

PLANTS: A plant priest is not unlike a druid. Plant deities are sometimes wild, like Dionysus, the god of wine, but often they are associated with fertility and agriculture, like the Germanic Freyja or the Greek Demeter. Plant priests can rebuke or command plant creatures.

STRENGTH: Deities of strength are often deities of heroism. Heracles, the Greek demigod, is probably the most famous deity of strength, but there is also the Roman goddess of strength, Strenua, and the daughter of Thor, who was called Thrud. Once per day, a priest of strength can gain a bonus to a Strength skill check equal to their cleric level.

SUN: Though sun deities are usually lawful, peoples who inhabit extremely hot climates may cast them as chaotic. The Egyptians, for example, had lawful Ra, the god of the morning sun, and chaotic Set, the chaotic god of the noonday sun. Sun priests may only attempt to turn undead three times per day, but once per day, a sun priest can destroy undead with a successful turn undead check instead of just turning them.

TRAVEL: Deities of travel are often also deities of communication and merchants. Some examples include lawful Mercury of the Romans, and chaotic Eshu of the Yoruba of West Africa. For a total time of one round per level, priests of travel can operate under the effects of the freedom of movement spell.

TRICKERY: Trickster deities are rarely lawful, but they need not be chaotic. Some tricksters simply balance the playing field between man and god, or keep the gods from becoming too egotistical, such as Raven of the American Indians or, to some extent, Monkey of Chinese mythology. Others are true agents of chaos, such as the Norse Loki. Trickster priests add hide, move silently and legerdemain to their class skills.

WAR: War is one of the oldest human endeavors, and most pantheons contain one or more deities of war. War gods include the chaotic Ares and Tezcatlipoca and the more lawful Athena and Tyr. War priests can use edged and piercing weapons.

WATER: Water deities are usually divided between deities of the oceans and seas, lile Susanoo, Aegir, Mananan Mac Lir and Neptunus, and the lesser deities of fresh water. Water priests can turn or destroy elemental fire creatures.

WEATHER: Weather deities are fairly close to air deities in form and function, and one could argue that Jupiter and Zeus are more associated with lightning than with the sky for many people. Some thunder gods have managed to survive in popularity into modern times, such as Thor in comic books and Raiden in video games. Weather priests add survival as a class skill, and add lightning bolt to their list of third level spells.

Beastmaster (Variant Druid)
The druid intercedes between humans (or demi-humans or humanoids) and the natural world. The beastmaster is part of the natural world, dwelling apart from civilization and maybe having even been raised by animals. Beastmasters gain the AC and movement bonuses of the monk and the favored enemy ability of the ranger, but lose the ability to use armor and shields and the druid ability to change shape.

Blackguard (Variant Paladin)
The paladin is a champion for law, and while the assassin is something of a champion for chaos, they do not fit into the traditional role of the black knight. Note, “blackguard” is traditionally pronounced as “blaggard”.

The blackguard is, for all intents and purposes, the opposite of the paladin. Any ability of the paladins that works against chaotic creatures works against lawful creatures for the blackguard. Instead of healing with their laying on of hands ability, blackguards inflict damage. Where paladins cure disease, blackguards cause disease. Blackguards retain the paladin’s immunity to fear.

Blackguards must do all in their power to glory in the seven deadly sins: Avarice (take all, share nothing), Gluttony (take more than you need), Lust (take what you desire), Envy (nobody should get something I do not), Wrath (give into hate), Sloth (let somebody else do the work) and Vainglory (tell everybody just how wonderful you are). Failing to wallow in the seven deadly sins at every opportunity has the same effect on a blackguard that breaking his code has on a paladin.

Warlock (Variant Sorcerer)
Warlocks are, depending on one’s definition, the male form of witches or simply another term for a male spell caster. This version of the warlock merely draws inspiration from the first syllable of the name, turning the sorcerer into slightly improved combatant.

A warlock loses one daily spell per level and one spell known per level. In return, they roll 1d8 for hit points and may use up to leather armor and wield the following weapons: Battleaxe, club, dagger, flail, hand axe, heavy mace, heavy pick, kukri, light hammer, light mace, light pick, longsword, morningstar, rapier, sap, scimitar, short sword, sickle, spear, trident and warhammer.

If you treat these as classes, that would bring the class total in B&T to13 normal classes and 12 variant classes (no variant for the duelist yet), for a total of 25. This, along with multi-classing and the ability of humans to switch classes should give folks who are big on options plenty to work with, while the lower power levels should keep “min-maxing” to a minimum. If you’re really itching to be a troll bounty hunter/warlock, though, and you have a Referee who is willing to allow it (and are willing to put up with a pretty severe level limit), you’re good to go, and hopefully will not overshadow the human fighter standing next to you.

Random Domain Events for Blood and Treasure

February 18, 2012March 6, 2021 / jstater / 2 Comments

Writing up a couple sections of Blood & Treasure today. Came up with this table of events for high level characters ruling a domain.

Each month, the Referee should roll 1d6, a roll of 1 indicating that some random event has occurred. Determine the event on the table below by rolling d%:

ROLL EVENT
1-10 Arrival of a yeoman family looking for 20 acres to farm.
11-18 Departure of a yeoman family.
19-24 Arrival of a professional and his family looking for work.
25-30 Departure of a professional and his family.
31-36 Arrival of a mid-level (1d4+3) character wishing to pledge his loyalty to the lord or lady in exchange for 40 acres of land.
35-40 Departure of a vassal and his family.
41-46 Arrival of 3d6 pilgrims looking for succor. Roll their alignment on 1d6 (1-2 = Lawful, 3-5 = Neutral, 6 = Chaotic). They expect one night of hospitality from the lord.
47-49 Arrival of a tribe of humanoids looking for plunder and war. Use humanoids common to the area.
50-54 Arrival of human or demi-human lord and 2d6 followers looking for hospitality. The lord brings a valuable gift and expects to stay for 1d4 weeks.
55-57 Arrival of human army looking for conquest. The army should be powerful enough to challenge the lord or lady’s army.
58-60 Arrival of demi-human army looking to rid their land of the lord and his followers. The army should be powerful enough to challenge the lord or lady’s army.
61-63 Arrival of undead plague in village. Roll 1d10: 1-3 = Ghoul, 4-6 = Wight, 7-8 = Wraith, 9 = Spectre, 10 = Vampire.
64-66 Arrival of powerful monster in wilderness. The monster should represent a strong encounter (see Monsters below) for the lord or lady of the domain and his or her most powerful followers.
67 Ill weather ruins crops. No agricultural rents will be collected this year and food must be imported to keep people alive. If food is not imported, all yeomen and professionals leave and all serfs attempt to escape. Vassals have a 30% chance of leaving their lord or lady’s service. There is a good chance that the ill weather was caused by a monster or rival spellcaster
68-69 Arrival of king’s herald, demanding the lord and his knights go off to war.
70-74 Arrival of diplomat from neighboring fief offering alliance through marriage or demanding satisfaction for some real or imagined slight. 50-50 chance of either.
75 Earthquake damages castle. There is a good chance it was caused by a subterranean monster or rival spellcaster.
76 Comet sighted! The lord will suffer bad fortune for remainder of the year until a pilgrimage is undertaken to the nearest temple or sacred site and a sacrifice worth at least 1,000 gp per level of the lord or lady is made.
77 A member of the lord or lady’s family or retinue dies suddenly and mysteriously. There is a good chance it was caused by a monster or rival spellcaster.
78-80 A mine is discovered on the periphery of the lord’s holdings. Roll 1d20 to determine the product of the mine: 1-12 = base metal, 13-14 = copper, 15 = silver, 16 = gold, 17 = platinum, 18 = fancy stones, 19 = gems, 20 = jewels. There is a 50% chance it was discovered by the lord’s agents. Otherwise, it was discovered by prospectors who work it in secret.
81-85 Bandits plague the fief, hiding in the wilderness.
86 Pregnancy in the lord or lady’s family (ignore if circumstances do not lend themselves to such an event).
87-91 Arrival of traders who wish to set up a market. The traders bring with them exotic goods and useful news of the world.
92-96 Arrival of entertainers who wish to put on a show. There is a 1 in 6 chance they are not what they seem to be.
97 An inhabitant of the fief receives a mysterious vision.
98 There is an assassination attempt of the lord or one of the members of his family or retinue. The assassin has a level equal to to their target.
99 The lord or a member of his family or retinue is cursed by a high level spellcaster or monster.
100 A valuable item is stolen or a member of the lord’s family or retinue is kidnapped by a high level rival or monster

I tried to make sure that many of them are really just adventure hooks in disguise.

My New Character …

February 16, 2012March 14, 2021 / jstater / 1 Comment

Found at Kitschy Kitschy Coo

… is definitely going to be a gnome barbarian!

Hmmm – why not roll up a quick gnome barbarian for Blood & Treasure?

And just for fun, I’ll time how long it takes.

I’m starting at 12:29 PM (yeah, I’m on my lunch break)

First – roll my ability scores. Since I definitely want a gnome barbarian, I’m going to roll 3d6 and arrange as I like. I get 8, 5, 13, 14, 10, 9. Wow – great scores. Okay – he’ll be uncharismatic (I think the photo is proof of that), the good stuff goes into strength and constitution to meet the class requirements, everything else is mediocre.

I make a note of the special abilities from being a gnome, adjust ability scores. Pick a couple languages. Roll 1d10 for barbarian hit points – got a 10. Hot damn.

Now I note the skills and special abilities of a barbarian. Increase land speed, rage, etc.

Final step – buy gear. I have 50 gp to spend (Cha 5 x 10 gp), and if I’m using the photo above for my model, not much gear to buy.

Done at 12:42 PM – took 13 minutes, most of that looking at equipment.

KNOBBY THE BARBARIAN

Strength: 13 / +1
Intelligence: 8 / -1
Wisdom: 9 / +0
Dexterity: 9 / +0
Constitution: 14 / +1
Charisma: 5 / -2

Class: Barbarian
Race: Gnome
Level: 1
Hit Points: 11
Armor Class: 10
Saving Throws: Fort 12, Ref 15, Will 15
Speed: 30 ft.

Languages: Gnome, Common

Special: +2 save vs. illusions, knack for listening at doors, see twice as far as humans in dim light, rage (1/day, double damage for duration of combat but -2 AC), no bonus for attacking him from behind or while invisible

Skills: Bend bars (12), break down doors (12), climb (12), jump (12), survival (15), swim (12)

Money: 25 gp, 1 sp

Gear: Club (0 gp), backpack (2 gp), bedroll (1 sp), 50-ft silk rope (10 gp), hooded lantern (7 gp), oil (3 pints) (3 sp), flint & steel (1 gp), ration (7 days) (35 sp), waterskin (1 gp)

Hail the Evolutionary

January 28, 2012March 13, 2021 / jstater / 6 Comments

I had reason this week to think about the old science-fiction novel Last and First Men by Olaf Stapledon. In this seminal work, Stapledon explores the future evolution of mankind, through 18 different forms, many of them of our own creation using genetic engineering. Now, I will admit that I haven’t yet read the book (it’s waiting in line behind about six others), but the idea inspired me, so with a little research on Wikipedia (which I think is usually sufficient when preparing game material – any more information than that and you become too obsessed with making things perfect instead of fudging things for the sake of playability) I present this rather odd little class … the Evolutionary.

EVOLUTIONARIES

Evolutionaries are strange men and women who devote themselves to the writings of a mad monk who described, in startling detail, the physical path that led from the basic oozes (i.e. oozes begat plants with begat vermin which begat animals which begat magical beasts which begat monstrous humanoids with begat humanoids which begat humans) to the human form. Within their bodies, he claims, lies the potential for stepping into future stops on this mystic path, allowing these evolutionaries to actually change their form as they learn and grow. With each form, they gain new abilities.

Hit Dice: d8 (+3 hit points per level after 9th)

Attack As: Clerics

Weapons Permitted: Any

Armor Permitted: Leather armor, ring armor and shields.

All evolutionaries must be humans to start with. They tend to be arrogant and overbearing, for they believe they know a truth beyond truth. It is for this reason that their relations with clerics and druids are somewhat strained, though they acknowledge their power and accept their blessings. Evolutionaries adventure that they might grow and collect monies to support their church and its sage fathers and mothers, the “Last Men”.

.nobrtable br { display: none }

Level	XP	HD	Save	Title
1	0	1d8	15	First Man
2	2,000	2d8	14	Second Man
3	4,000	3d8	13	Third Man
4	8,000	4d8	12	Fourth Man
5	16,000	5d8	11	Fifth Man
6	35,000	6d8	10	Sixth Man
7	70,000	7d8	9	Seventh Man
8	150,000	8d8	8	Eighth Man
9	300,000	9d8	7	Ninth Man
10	500,000	10d8	6	Last Man
11	700,000	9d8+6	5	Last Man
12+	900,000	9d8+9	4	Last Man

Note – The level titles reference “man”, but can just as easily be read as “First Woman”, for the class is open to either gender.

At each level, an evolutionary changes his or her physical form. All evolutionaries enjoy a +2 bonus to save vs. polymorph and other effects that would forcibly transmogrify them. If an evolutionary is killed and reincarnated (per the spell), they always lose one level and return to the form of a sub-man (see below).

An evolutionary’s ability scores remain stable from form to form (though some forms increase or decrease them slightly), and their memories and personality remain fairly stable as well.

First Man (1st level): The first men and women are humans. They learn insights in defeating the ancient forms of humanity. At first level, this gives them a +1 bonus to hit and damage oozes and a +2 bonus to save against the special attacks of oozes.

Second Man (2nd level): Upon attaining the second level, the evolutionary’s form changes. They become taller, adding at least 3 feet to their forms. Their necks thicken and their heads grow over-large for their bodies (improve Wisdom by 1 to a maximum of 18), their legs become as stout as a dwarf’s and their toes merge together. The second man’s skin becomes as firm as carved granite and finely molded, their skin luminous and their eyes large and the color of jade. A second man gains the ability to use ESP three times per day and gains combat insights against plants.

Third Man (3rd level): The third man shrinks in stature, becoming slight and lithe (improve Dexterity by 1 to a maximum of 18). He has sunny brown skin covered by downy red gold hair. His eyes are golden, his face compact and with a cat-like muzzle, with full lips and distinctive large ears. The third man’s six fingers are long and supple, like antennae of living steel. The third man loses the ESP ability of the second man, but gains a thief’s ability (as a 3rd level thief) to move silently, climb and pick pockets.

Fourth Man (4th level): The fourth man makes a startling transformation into a giant, floating brain. The fourth man improves his intelligence and wisdom scores by 1 (to a maximum of 18) and gain the ability to cast spells as a 4th level magic-users. They store their spells in their minds, rather than spellbooks, and begin with as many spells as they can cast per day, determined randomly. Fourth men move by flying at the normal movement rate and can levitate in place. Since they have no bodies or hands, they cannot wear armor or use weapons or other forms of equipment. Their thick skins give them an armor bonus of +2 and they can attack by slamming into opponents, dealing 1d4 points of damage. As in previous forms, they gain combat insights against vermin.

Fifth Man (5th level): In the form of the fifth man, the evolutionary regains a humanoid form, twice the height of a human being (+1 bonus to Strength, to a maximum of 18). Armor in this form costs twice as much as normal and they are capable of using two-handed swords in one hand. They have eight fingers on their hands (the sixth finger of their third form splits in this form into two tiny fingers and a thumb), and regain the ability to pick pockets as a 5th level thief. A fifth man has no hair other than a thick skull cap of ruddy brown hair and large eyebrows to shade their eyes. The fifth men gain resistance to fire and combat insights against normal and giant-sized animals.

Sixth Man (6th level): The sixth form of an evolutionary is a bit of a throwback. They become much reduced in stature, to roughly the size of a halfling or dwarf, and their Intelligence and Strength are both reduced by 1 point (to a minimum of 3), while their Dexterity and Constitution increase by 1 point (to a maximum of 18). Sixth men are expert hunters, gaining the ability to track as a ranger of 6th level, and their combat insights extend to magical beasts.

Seventh Man (7th level): The seventh man increases in height, being about as tall as an elf, and his bones become hollow (-1 penalty to Strength and Constitution, to a minimum of 3). In this lighter form, they suffer only half damage from falls. He develops skin flaps under his arms, which give him the ability to fly at twice his normal movement rate. He also improves his Dexterity score by 1 point (to a maximum of 18). These folk must wear specially prepared armor (costs double normal) if they are to fly while armored. Their vision becomes exceedingly keen, allowing them to see in darkness as well as a dwarf and to find secret doors as well as an elf. They retain the sixth man’s ability to track as a ranger, and their combat insights extend to monstrous humanoids.

Eighth Man (8th level): The eighth form of an evolutionary is that of a substantial humanoid (+1 to Strength and Constitution, to a maximum of 18) with a long, narrow head (-1 to Wisdom and Charisma). Eighth men are rather pedestrian and conservative in their views, and have a straight-forward attitude pleasing to dwarves. Their minds are logical and their insights piercing them, giving them a +2 bonus to save vs. illusions and mind-controlling or altering effects, and the ability to find and remove traps as a thief of 8th level. Their combat insights extend to all non-human humanoids, and they gain the ability to modify a human being (per polymorph) into any other humanoid form once per day with a successful touch attack.

Ninth Man (9th level): The form of the ninth men is that of a dwarfish human, almost as broad as he is tall. They are thickly muscled (+2 bonus to Strength, to a maximum of 18) and have thick skin that provides an additional +2 armor bonus. Ninth men have a +2 bonus to save vs. hold spells and any effect that would check a person’s progress or hinder their ability to move. Their combat insights apply to all humanoids, including humans. They are immune to poison. They retain the eighth man’s ability to polymorph human beings, but can now do so with their gaze rather than touch.

Last Man (10th level): The last man is the final form of the evolutionary, the end of all his struggles and tribulations. The final form is highly variable. It is always humanoid in form, but its precise form is determined by the player.

Last men exist in a group mind with all other last men, giving them an effective bonus of +2 to intelligence, wisdom and charisma, to a maximum of 18. They can communicate telepathically to a range of 1 mile, and can set up a telepathic group mind with up to six other humanoid creatures once per day, allowing them to communicate telepathically with one another at a range of up to 1 mile.

The last men’s group mind also allows them to contact other plane once per day, asking the group mind questions as though they were actually contacting a higher power.

Last men have an alien mindset that gives them a +2 bonus to save vs. mind reading and mind control. They can use ESP one per day on other humanoid creatures, and can use polymorph other once per day on any non-humanoid creature, though its new form must be in of type only one level higher or lower than its original type (i.e. a plant could be polymorphed into an ooze or a vermin form).

The Last man is immune to polymorph and shapechange.

SUB-MEN: The sub-men are brutish humanoids who stand about the size of an elf, but are much broader and bulky. They have a +1 bonus to starting Strength and Constitution (to a maximum of 18) and a -1 penalty to starting intelligence and wisdom (to a minimum of 3). Sub-men may advance as fighters.

Into the Land of Nod

January 20, 2012March 6, 2021 / jstater / 6 Comments

And so it has begun!

Last weekend, I officially started two things – my Blood and Treasure playtest and a foray into the hex crawls I’ve written for the Land of Nod using Google +. The games are play-by-post – maybe someday I’ll have enough time to run some ConstantCon games with Google hangouts, but for now pbp will have to do.

Eleven brave souls have stepped forward to brave Nod, and I’ve split them into two teams, which I’ve nicknamed Team Blood and Team Treasure.

Team Blood was placed at 3rd level. It currently consists of a lawful gnome cleric of Hercules, a human paladin, an elf fighter, a halfling duelist, a dwarf ranger and his guard dog and a human fighter. Their foray into Nod has begun in the wicked city of Ophir, where they’ve already had the opportunity to save a boy and his frog from an escaped carnivorous ape. Team Blood is now gathering at the Bloody Bones Tavern to talk things over.

Meanwhile, Team Treasure was placed at 6th level and consists of an elf duelist, elf ranger, dwarf barbarian, half-elf sorcerer and human cleric of Atlas. This group was lured to Ophir to collect a possible inheritance from an archmage they all had known in the past, but found themselves conked on the head for their trouble. Waking up, they witnessed their attackers fleeing the scene due to some confusion (apparently a carnivorous ape that was in their possession escaped into the city streets), taking with them a single belonging of one of the PC’s. They’re now hot on the trail of the two thieves.

If anyone else would like to adventure in the Land of Nod, look for me on Google + (John Stater) and let me know. I can’t promise to get you in on the action immediately, but once there are enough adventurers lined up, I can start a new group (Team Ampersand?) and set you loose on the sandbox.

—

Image of a human bard by Jon Kaufman from the forthcoming Blood and Treasure RPG.

Dragons in Blood and Treasure

January 10, 2012March 6, 2021 / jstater / 6 Comments

While this is a preview of the dragon stats in Blood and Treasure, it is really more of a question that I’m posing to you, the reader, about the format of the monster chapter in the book.

Initially, I intended to do a fairly straightforward layout – monster name followed by a little table of stats and then the monster description. The same basic layout that has been used for generations in fantasy RPG’s, from Moldvay to the various Monster Manuals.

Yesterday, I started thinking about doing something a bit different – somewhat inspired by the layout that I think they used in the earliest versions of the game – a table grouping all of the monster stats together, and then the monster descriptions below that.

You’ll notice some silhouettes of monsters from Telecanter, the most excellent master of silhouettes in the OSR blog community, if not the world, to show the size comparison.

I decided to give it a whirl using the monsters of the “dragon” type in the game. It still needs a little work (I need to include the organization information for the monsters – probably as a line beneath the description), and I need to play with the stats a bit, but I think it just might work. Printed out, it is very readable, and might make scanning for stats a little easier for the busy Referee.

What do you think?

Blood and Treasure Playtest + Google+ = NOD CAMPAIGN

January 5, 2012March 6, 2021 / jstater / 10 Comments

A couple posts ago I mentioned the idea of doing a Google + campaign set in Nod using all those hex crawls I’ve written. I’ve also been thinking about the eventual need for Blood and Treasure playtesting. So … it took me this long to realize I could be doing both at the same time. If enough people are interested, I’d love to stage the hex crawling with multiple parties at different skill levels. So – let the call go out far and wide that the recruitment has officially begun. If you would like to be involved, you need to meet the following requirements:

1) Be on Google +

2) Email me (my address is next to my picture in the column to the right) or leave a comment here stating you would like to play. If you leave a comment and I can’t find your email address or find you on Google +, you’re officially out of luck.

Character generation will be as follows …

1) You contact me letting me know you want to play. I’ll send you a streamlined version of the character creation chapter – all the basics on races, classes, buying equipment, etc. You will have the following races and classes open to you:

Races: Human, dwarf, elf, gnome, halfling, half-elf, half-orc

Classes: Assassin, Barbarian, Bard, Cleric, Druid, Duelist, Fighter, Magic-User, Monk, Paladin, Ranger, Sorcerer, Thief.

As the game proceeds and characters are killed, I’ll open up some of the monster races to play – aasimar, centaurs, tieflings … that sort of thing … so they can be tested as well.

2) I hook up with you on Google + and send you a randomly generated set of ability scores using the 3d6 method. You can arrange them as you like and let me know the class and race you want to play, what equipment you want, etc. I’ll review and make sure everything is correct.

Once we have a crop of characters, I’ll organize them into parties (or party, depending on how many people are interested). I’ll also randomly assign people a number of XP and thus a level – this allows me the opportunity to test different levels and the overall deadliness of the system.

Once the parties are organized, I will start them out in a city-state with two or three random rumors and then you’re free to do whatever you want. The game will be a picaresque – no major earth shattering quest and storytime, just a bunch of ne’er-do-wells roaming about the countryside getting into trouble and trying to make a name for themselves.

Play will be “play-by-post” like the Mystery Men! game I’m currently running, so you don’t need to set aside a particular time to play. I wish I could do some face-to-face video chat stuff, but my schedule makes that difficult.

If you’re interested, let me know!

—

Image from Thomas Haller Buchanon’s blog The Pictorial Arts. Check it, Nodsters.

Warriors Six

January 4, 2012March 14, 2021 / jstater / 6 Comments

Looking at the duelist class that I posted last night, I thought it might be a good idea to “roll up” the various fighting classes and see how they stack up in comparison to one another. My method was as follows:

Used Hamete dice server to roll up a set of stats using 3d6. I was going to re-roll until I got a set that would allow all the classes, but got lucky on the first try. The array was 16, 16, 16, 10, 8, 8 and was used for all of the different characters.

I ignored race – I wanted to compare and contrast the classes without any other interference; likewise, I didn’t use the optional feats

I placed each character at 6th level, to see how they stacked up in the “sweet spot”

Hit points were average for the class’s Hit Dice

I gave each character the best armor permitted by their class

Thus, the Warriors Six …

BARDRA

Barbarian, Level 6 (Shield-Biter)

STR 16 (+2); DEX 16 (+2); CON 16 (+2); INT 8 (-1); WIS 10; CHA 8 (-1)

HP 45; ATTACK +5; AC 18 (ring + shield); SAVES – FORT 8; REF 11; WILL 13

Abilities: Land speed +10 ft., rage (2/day, two attacks per round, +2 to Str-related tasks, -2 AC), foes gain no tactical advantage from flanking, sneak attacks or invisibility, immune to extra damage from sneak attacks by thieves of 8th level or less

Skills: Bending Bars (8), Breaking Down Doors (8), Climbing (8), Jumping (8), Surviving (13), Swimming (8)

DAVOS

Duelist, Level 6 (Daredevil)

STR 10; DEX 16 (+2); CON 16 (+2); INT 16 (+2); WIS 8 (-1); CHA 8 (-1)

HP 39; ATTACK +5; AC 17 (leather + buckler); SAVES – FORT 11; REF 8; WILL 14

Abilities: Add intelligence bonus to AC, +2 to hit with special attacks, +4 AC when fighting defensively, +2 to initiative rolls

Skills: Balancing (8), Jumping (13)

FARRO

Fighter, Level 6 (Grognard)

STR 16 (+2); DEX 16 (+2); CON 16 (+2); INT 8 (-1); WIS 8 (-1); CHA 10

HP 45; ATTACK +5; AC 21 (plate + shield); SAVES – FORT 8; REF 11; WILL 14

Abilities: Attack twice per round

Skills: Bending Bars (8), Breaking Down Doors (8), Riding (11)

MALA

Human Monk, Level 6 (Monk)

STR 10; DEX 16 (+2); CON 16 (+2); INT 8 (-1); WIS 16 (+2); CHA 8 (-1)

HP 33; ATTACK +3; AC 15 (unarmored); SAVES – FORT 8; REF 8; WILL 8

Abilities: Flurry of blows (extra attack, -1 to hit an all attacks), stunning blow (1/day; save or stunned for 1d4 rounds), unarmed attacks (1d6 damage, treat as though from +1 weapon); deflect arrows (1/round), land speed +10 ft., reduce fall by 20 ft., immune to all normal diseases

Skills: Balancing (8), Bending Bars (10), Breaking Down Doors (10), Climbing (10), Jumping (10)

PARSIFON

Paladin, Level 6 (Knight)

STR 16 (+2); DEX 8 (-1); CON 10; INT 8 (-1); WIS 16 (+2); CHA 16 (+2)

HP 27; ATTACK +5; AC 18 (plate + shield); SAVES – FORT 10; REF 14; WILL 11

Abilities: Smite chaotic creatures (3/day; +2 to hit, +6 damage), heal damage (6 hp/day), immune to fear, turn undead as 3rd level cleric, paladin spells (1 x 1st), remove disease 1/week

Skills: Riding (14)

RUMACK

Human Ranger, Level 6 (Pathfinder)

STR 16 (+2); DEX 16 (+2); CON 10; INT 8 (-1); WIS 16 (+2); CHA 8 (-1)

HP 27; ATTACK +5; AC 19 (chain + shield); SAVES – FORT 10; REF 8; WILL 11

Abilities: Giant Slayer (+2 to track, extra attack each round vs. giants), ranger spells (1 x 1st)

Skills: Climbing (8), Hiding (8), Moving Silently (8), Surviving (11), Swimming (8), Tracking (11)

ANALYSIS
A quick analysis of the stats (just ranking the classes and assigning some points for best – second best – third best) makes me think the Fighter and Ranger are okay, the Barbarian might be a little too okay, the Paladin a little weak (mostly because he needs those high scores in Wisdom and Charisma – perhaps I could improve his saving throws) and the Duelist comes off as the weakest. I might boost the duelist’s Hit Dice to d10 from d8 and look into some additional skills and perhaps another special ability. Of course, it will really come down to playtesting to see what’s what.