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| Made by Igor Gadreaud |
If you prefer to explore the implied setting of PARIAH with a more faithful old-school system (as hinted at in my previous post, a design analysis of my own game, it's perhaps worth giving the players something they can sink their teeth into. I'm more than a little wary of doing this, but in the words (paraphrased) of Skerples of Coins and Scrolls:
Writing a... class is easy. It meets what I'd call the "minimum creativity threshold". To write a wizard you just need about 20 decent ideas. To write any other kind of class you need between 4 and 10. It's not difficult to make a class based on any random idea you've ever had. It's also a lot easier to think of elements of a class than it is to, say, a fill in a d100 table or write a dungeon.
It is known.
Pariah, the [OSE] class:
Requirements: None
Prime requisite: None
Hit Dice: 1d6
Maximum level: 14
Armour: Any available in your setting; shields might inhabit abilities (see below)
Weapons: Any
Languages: Alignment, Common
Pariahs are hunter-gatherers who have been cast out of their tribe for reasons unknown. They possess a unique set of skills from their years of subsistence foraging in the wilderness.
Prime requisite
Pariahs have no prime requisite and thus no XP bonus.
Enchanted items
Pariahs may use any magical or enchanted item, regardless of class restrictions. Typically they are not literate, and thus are unable to use scrolls (unless they learn to read).
Ambush
Pariahs receive a +4 bonus to hit against an unaware opponent with both ranged and melee attacks. Any damage dealt is doubled.
Wilderness skills
Pariahs possess the below skills in common with the thief. They may not use any of these skills while wielding a shield or heavy armour:
- Climb sheer surfaces
- Hear noise
- Hide in shadows
- Move silently
Chance of success is the same as an OSE thief of the same level.
Experience & progression
Progress skills, saves and to-hit as OSE thief. Pariahs gain experience by defeating great beasts and making offerings to spirits and other bands. Gold is fleetingly rare in the proto-Neolithic, GMs should adjust XP accordingly.
After Reaching 9th Level, the pariah's reputation will have moved their former tribe to forgive their past transgressions. Their player has the opportunity to retire them with good grace.
Alternatively, they may announce themselves chief de jure of their band of pariahs, and receive formal recognition as a tribe among equals.
Warrior, the [OSE] class:
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| Really hard to find image creators in the age of Pinterest, isn't it? Believe this is some Assassin's Creed concept art... |
Requirements: None
Prime requisite: Strength
Hit Dice: 1d8
Maximum level: 14
Armour: Any available in your setting
Weapons: Any
Languages: Alignment, Common
Many pariahs are trained as warriors: they lose some of the prowess of hunters, but gain greater combat hardiness
Enchanted items
As with all pariahs, warriors may use any magical or enchanted item, regardless of class restrictions. Typically they are not literate, and thus are unable to use scrolls (unless they learn to read).
Experience & progression
Progress saves and to-hit as OSE fighter. Warriors gain experience by defeating great beasts and making offerings to spirits and the chiefs of other bands. Gold is fleetingly rare in the proto-Neolithic, GMs should adjust XP accordingly.
After Reaching 9th Level, the warriors are known as heroes. Their reputation will have moved their former tribe to forgive their past transgressions to such a degree they will be invited back to lead it. Their player has the opportunity to retire them with good grace.
Alternatively, they may announce themselves chief de jure of their band of pariahs, as above.
Wise-One, the [OSE] class:
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| Still from the 2007 movie Primeval |
Requirements: None
Prime requisite: Wisdom or charisma
Hit Dice: 1d6
Maximum level: 14
Armour: Any non-metallic armour available in your setting
Weapons: No metal weapon
Languages: Alignment, Common
Wise-ones are attuned to the spirits and trained in the proper rites of honouring them.
Metal
Wise-one's eschew the usage of metal tools, including arms and armour. They can handle and carry metal, sometimes even incorporating it into their rituals, but they do not utilise it to interact with the world of the ordinary senses in a meaningful way
Ancestral relic:
Wise-ones must carry an ancestral relic in order to use any of their class abilities.
Spiritual disfavour:
Wise-ones must be faithful
to the tenets of their alignment and the spirits of the land. They incur penalties if they fall from favour
with the spirits.
Enchanted items
As with all pariahs, wise-ones may use any magical or enchanted item, regardless of class restrictions. Typically they are not literate, and thus are unable to use scrolls (unless they learn to read).
A wise-one of any level
may spend time and resources to create new ritual spells or other magical effects associated
with the spirits. At 9th level, they are also able to create
enchanted items.
Spell casting:
At 2nd level, wise-ones may invoke spirits to perform spell-like effects, both spontaneously and following complex rituals. Wise-ones DO NOT memorise spells, but the power and
number of spells available to them (spell slots) is determined by character level, in an identical manner to conventional clerics:
A wise-one wishing to "invoke" the spirits makes a 2d6 roll. They make make a 3d6 roll and drop the lowest die if they have made an offering to the spirits:
2
You have angered the spirits with your petty requests! No more spellcasting for you today!
3-5
No effect... you may try again next round
6-8
Nearly there: you can feel the power of the spirits welling inside you.
Roll again with advantage (roll 3 dice, drop the lowest) next round.
If you are already rolling with advantage, you automatically succeed next round
9-11
Success! Describe what you would lie to happen.
The GM will make a selection from the spells currently available to you and describe the effects.
12
Blessed are the spirits: as above, but...
...the list of available spells extends one tier higher than what is ordinarily available to you.
Spell list
TIER 1
- Cure Light Wounds (Cause Lt. Wounds)
- Detect Danger (as druid spell)
- Detect "Evil"
- Locate (as druid spell)
- Light (Darkness)
- Predict Weather (as druid spell)
- Protection from "Evil"
- Purify Food and Water
- Remove Fear (Cause Fear)
- Resist Cold
TIER 2
- Bless (Blight)
- Hold Person
- Know Alignment
- Obscure (as druid spell)
- Produce Fire (as druid spell)
- Resist Fire
- Silence 15’ Radius
- Snake Charm
- Speak with Animals
- Warp Wood (as druid spell)
TIER 3
- Call Lightning (as druid spell)
- Continual Light (Continual Darkness)
- Cure Disease (Cause Disease)
- Growth of Animal
- Hold Animal (as druid spell)
- Locate Object
- Protection from Poison
- Remove Curse (Curse)
- Striking
- Water Breathing (as druid spell)
TIER 4
- Animate Dead
- Create Water
- Cure Serious Wounds
- Dispel Magic
- Neutralize Poison (create Poison)
- Plant Door (as druid spell)
- Protection from Lightning (as druid spell)
- Summon Animals (as druid spell)
- Speak with Plants
- Sticks to Snakes
TIER 5
- Commune
- Control Winds (as druid spell)
- Create Food
- Cure Critical Wounds (Cause Critical Wounds)
- Dispel Evil
- Dissolve (as druid spell)
- Insect Plague
- Pass Plant (as druid spell)
- Quest
- Truesight
Rituals
An hour spent chanting, preparing components and consuming entheogens allows the wise-one to produce one spell-like effect from the list above, limited only by the tiers ordinarily available to them, regardless of their current spell-slots
An hour spent chanting, preparing components and consuming entheogens allows the wise-one to produce one spell-like effect from the list above, limited only by the tiers ordinarily available to them, regardless of their current spell-slots
Beseeching and Rebuking Spirits:
Wise-ones are able to communicate with any spirits detectable to them through their ordinary senses.
As an action, they may attempt to control any spirit encountered. To do so, the player rolls 2d6. The GM then consults the table below, comparing the roll against the HD of
the spirit.
If the attempt at control succeeds, the player
must roll 2d6 again to determine the number of HD affected (charmed or dominated).
Charmed: Responds to the wise-one as though under the effects of charm person.
Charmed: Responds to the wise-one as though under the effects of charm person.
Dominated: The spirit is under the complete control of the wise-one
Minimum effect: At least one spirit will always be affected on a successful turning.
Mixed groups: If control spirit is used
against a mixed group of spirits of different types, those with the
lowest HD are affected first..
Experience & Progression
Progress saves and to-hit as indicated in table above (see "spellcasting"). Wise-ones gain experience by making offerings to spirits. Gold is fleetingly rare in the proto-Neolithic, GMs should adjust XP accordingly.
After Reaching 9th Level, the wise-one will be sought by members of both the settled and nomadic communities. Their reputation will have moved their former tribe to forgive their past transgressions to such a degree they will be invited back to lead it.
Links
Last post, design analysis:
https://aloneinthelabyrinth.blogspot.com/2022/07/pariah-design-notes-part-1.html
https://aloneinthelabyrinth.blogspot.com/2022/07/pariah-design-notes-part-1.html
Coins and Scrolls blog:
OSE: Free Basic Rules
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/272802/OldSchool-Essentials-Basic-Rules
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/272802/OldSchool-Essentials-Basic-Rules
Very nice... I need to try these guys once my current campaign ends!
ReplyDeleteLet me know how you get on! Not tried out the wise-one (alternative title, "ghost-talker")
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