The Mountebank Class, Take Two

Work on revisions to my variant classes continues apace (new ones coming down the pike too). That scamp the Mountebank has been reworked: carte-blanche illusionist spellcasting is replaced with a set of special abilities. Level advancement has been lowered to reflect the change—and to be more in line with the metrics of the system I posted the other day.

Special thanks for feedback and inspiration to Mack and Brad from the tabletop group and to Jonathan Becker for some cross-fertilization. And big play-testing thanks to the Siggy Tomb Raiders group our ongoing revolving GM Skype group): Scott, Dan, Bill, and of course Brent (aka Guanillo).

Mountebank

Requirements: INT 13, DEX 13, CHR 13

Prime Requisite: CHR

Hit Dice: 1d4

Maximum Level: None

The mountebank is the consummate con artist of the medieval-fantasy world. By use of smooth talk, sleight of hand, and magical illusion the mountebank stays one step of the law—and earns a decent living in the mean time. Because of their specialized skill set they are often also employed as spies.


As a sub-class of the thief, they are allowed to wear leather armor and use any weapon. They are also allowed to pick pockets, move silently, hide in shadows, listen at doors, and back stab as per a thief of the equivalent level. They can further use disguises as per the assassin class. All saving and combat throws are made on the thief table.

They are also able to use a new skill, sleight-of-hand, at the level they can pick pocket--plus an additional 15 percent. Sleight of hand allows the mountebank to move, switch out, or otherwise manipulate without being noticed a hand-sized object.

They are restricted to only using magic items open to thieves until ninth level at which time they can also begin to use items available to illusionists.

At ninth level, the mountebank attracts a crew of 2d6 grifters, con-men, and other ne'er do wells (1^st level mountebanks) as followers.

Mountebanks cannot be lawful or “good” in alignment.

Beginning at first level, a mountebank can use their smooth fast-talking and arcane powers to create semi-magical effects. All abilities are dependent on the character being able to talk in a language understandable to the target.

Mountebank Special Abilities

Level	Effect	Duration
1	Flim Flam, raises Charisma to 18	1 turn, +1 per level
2	Hustle, lower or raise a price in a commercial transaction by 10-40%	Immediate.
3	Charm Person, same as Magic User spell	1d4 hours, +1 per level
4	Hypnotism, same as Illusionist spell	1 round, +1 per level
5	Manufacture Flash Powder, causes blindness, one batch a day with appropriate materials (150gp)	Immediate
6	Charm Person twice a day	See above
7	Hypnotism twice a day	See above
8	Charm Monster, same as Magic User spell	1d4 hours
9	Suggestion, same as Magic User spell	6 turn, +1 per level
10	Implant Emotion, same as Illusionist spell	Same as spell

Mountebank Level Progression

Experience	Level	Hit Dice (1d4)
0	1	1
1,565	2	2
3,125	3	3
6,251	4	4
12,501	5	5
25,001	6	6
50,001	7	7
100,001	8	8
200,001	9	9
300,001	10	+1 hp only *
400,001	11	+2 hp only *
500001	12	+3 hp only *
600,001	13	+4 hp only *
700,001	14	+5 hp only *
800,001	15	+6 hp only *
900,001	16	+7 hp only *
1,000,001	17	+8 hp only *
1,100,001	18	+9 hp only *
1,200,001	19	+10 hp only *
1,300,001	20	+11 hp only *

*Hit point modifiers from constitution are ignored.

New Ways to Kill and be Killed in LL or B/X

Futzing with combat is one of the more common temptations in old school house rules. I, for one, seem to go in a six-month cycle of wanting more and more detail only to turn full circle and move back to the most stripped down and quick (and by the book). Our current house rules (flavored a bit by LotFP) are somewhere in my medium zone, a place I hope to stay.

So with no further ado some of the new weapons, armor, combat options, and the ever loveable Death and Dismemberment chart (adopted and modified in a chain from Robert Fisher to Norm of Troll and Flame to myself). You'll note that the HC version of the latter table is a bit more on the deadly side than others.

New Combat Options

The fighting classes have a few more options in combat. An eligible character has two more attack options to use in melee in place of a standard attack: an all-out attack and a defensive attack. An all-out attack gives a +1 to hit, but costs the player a +2 AC penalty on the next round of attacks on him/her.

A defensive attack conversely gives the character a bonus of -1 on AC at a cost of -2 for the attack. Fighters alone get one other special attack, a shield pummel, in lieu of a standard attack. A fighter equipped with a large shield can inflict 1d4 of fatal or bludgeoning (non-fatal) damage on a successful hit using the shield pummel option. Fighters equipped with a small shield inflict 1d3.

New Weapons and Armor

Weapon	Cost	Damage	Weight
Rapier	15 gp	1d6+1	2 lbs.
Spiked Gauntlet	5 gp	1d3	2 lbs.
Dirk	4 gp	1d4+1	1 lbs.
Pike*	6 gp	1d6	6 lbs.

* The pike is a two-handed spear about 15-20 feet long. A pike-equipped character can strike from the second rank of a party and can be set to receive a charge. It is extremely awkward weapon in cramped underground quarters however.

Armor	Cost	Armor Class	Weight
Hides/Fur	20 gp	7	3 lbs
Bronze Breastplate	80 gp	5	20 lbs.
Field Plate	1250 gp	2	50 lbs.
Large Shield	10 gp	-1	10 lbs.
Small Shield	20 gp	-1	5 lbs.

Death and Dismemberment Chart

Roll d10 after PC reaches 0 or lower hit points For each subsequent hit while below the 0 hp mark the player must make a roll with a -1 for each time he has rolled on the chart previously in the encounter. The GM can also adjudicate positive or negative modifiers according to circumstance.

1d10
0 or lower	Grisly Death. Body so spectacularly destroyed that only a resurrection or wish spell can bring it back to life.
1 to 2	Just Plain Dead. Dead as per the usual rules.
3 to 4	Fatal Wound. Character dies in 1d12 turns unless magical healing is applied. Character is completely incapacitated and will remain an invalid for 3d6 weeks . Scarring makes for -1 to Charisma.
5 to 6	Severed or Mangled Limb or Digit. Roll randomly or GM pick for which limb or digit (can also eyes, ears, or nose). Unconscious for 3d6 rounds. Character requires 3d4 weeks of healing before being able to adventure.
7 to 8	Broken Bone. Roll randomly or GM picks limb. 3d4 weeks to heal bone. Also Unconscious for 2d6 rounds.
9	Unconscious for 2d6 rounds.
10 or higher	Stunned for 1d4 rounds. Unconscious for 2d6 rounds if not wearing helm.

Homebrewing New D&D Classes

Designing new classes for D&D is tough work, as I have noted before. Balance is tricky. It's phenomenally easy to either design a character that upsets the delicate balance of the core archetypical classes—or one that feels rather lame or mundane in comparison.

When farting around with class-design myself, I keep wishing that there would be some kind of simple metric to help keep a class from floundering on either of those poles. Fortunately, Michael Curtis of the Society of Torch, Pole, and Rope pointed some time ago on his blog to an article in Dragon magazine #109 by Paul Montgomery Claburgh that laid out some guidelines to tricking out custom classes. Duly tracking it down late last week I was pleased to find a number of useful charts to help scratch my itch.


Note, like Michael, I have done some heavy modifications of my own to fit my own tastes. Some costs are a increased to protect the core classes; many other guidelines are simplified; and more specific detail for the meat of any custom class—special abilities and restrictions—are added.


Tomorrow I will spend some time talking about the non-mechanical backside of class creation such as creating a coherent concept; tailoring a class to pulp fantasy archetypes; experimenting with new special abilities; and the like.


Design Steps:
Draw up a class concept. What is the basic idea behind this class? What is this class capable of? What are the ability requirements? Prime requisites? Alignment restrictions?

Work your way with through the tables starting making choices that fit with your class concept. Tally up the various percentage amounts as you go.


Add the combined totals to a baseline cost of a 100 percent. Multiply the total to the baseline experience level for each level to get the final cost for level advancement.


Example: the Delver class has a combined percentage of 280%. This is added to the 100 base cost for a total of 380. This total percentage is multiplied against the baseline experience costs (500x3.8) for a grand total of 1,900 to progress to level 2. The cost for each level is doubled after this, 3,800 to progress to level 3 and so on down the line.


Table A: Level Advancement

Starting Level	Baseline Exp.	Next Level
1	500	2
2	1000	3
3	2000	4
4	4000	5
5	8000	6
6	16000	7
7	32000	8
8	64000	9
9	128000	10
10	256000	11

Table B: Hit Dice

The default hit dice is a d6.

d4	-25%
d6	N/A
d8	+50%
d10	+100%

Table C: Armor

Default is no armor allowed.

Shield	+10%
Leather	+20%
Chain (and below)	+30%
Any	+40%

Table D: Weapons

Magic User appropriate weapons is default.

No missile weapons	-10%
Additional d6 damage weapon	+5%
Additional d8 weapon	+10%
Additional d10 weapon	+15%
All blunt weapons	+20%
Any weapon	+75%

Table E: Racial Abilities

Default is Human.

Halfling (Half Orc, Half Elf, Gnome)	+10%
Dwarf, Elf	+20%

Table G: Magic-Item Use

Default is only potions. More than one class set can be used at an additional cost.

Fighter-appropriate	+20%
Thief-appropriate	+20%
Cleric-appropriate	+30%
Magic User-appropriate	+40%

Table F: Saving Throws

Magic User is default.

Cleric	+10%
Dwarf/Halfling	+35%
Elf	+25%
Fighter	+20%
Magic User	N/A
Thief	+5%

Table G: Combat ability

Fighting as level 0 Normal Human is default.

Fights as Magic User	+30%
Fights as Cleric or Thief	+50%
Fights as Fighter	+100%

Table H: Special Abilities

Default is none.

Individual thief skill (pick locks, backstab, etc)	+10%
All thief skills	+80%
Mundane skill (barter, glassblowing, archivist, etc.)	+5%
Special mundane skill (tracking, outdoor survival, sleight of hand, etc)	+10%
Minor spell or spell-like effect (charm person, protection from evil, hypnosis, etc)	+20%
Major power (turn undead, fly, regeneration, spell over 2nd level, etc.)	+50%
Cast Magic-User (or Illusionist) spells	+200%
Cast Cleric(or Druid) spells	+150%

The cost of an ability can be modified by introducing that skill at levels past the first. Note that the minimum cost for any special ability is +5%.

Ability introduced at levels 2 or 3	-5%
Ability introduced at levels 4, 5, or 6	-10%
Ability introduced at levels 7 or higher	-15%

Random Starting Equipment Charts

Buying gear for a starting character in old school D&D is often the most time-consuming step. For some players this is a favorite ritual. Should I go for that silver dagger this time or a mining pick and a bag of caltrops? Do I really need that lantern?

For others it's just a pain in the rear. The following random gear charts (revised from a year ago) are geared to the latter--or to the former who are crunched for time.

Note that I have integrated these charts with the chargen charts from the other day for a nice full package. You'll notice that the longer version, for instance, allows extra goodies and rolls dependent on your character's family background. The PDF of this version can be downloaded here.

Chart B: Equipment

Armor (Roll d8)

Cleric, +1 to roll

Fighter +2

Thief, Druid: leather automatically

Magic User, Illusionist, Monk: no roll

1,2,3	Leather armor **
4	Studded leather *
5, 6	Scale mail
7,8,9	Chain mail
10	Splint or banded mail
11	Plate mail

* 1 extra roll on weapon or shield chart

** 2 extra rolls on weapon or shield chart

Basic Game Armor Chart (Rolld6)

1,2	Leather
3,4,5,6	Chain mail

Shield (Roll 1d6 only if extra roll indicated)

1,2,3	Small Shield
4,5,6	Large Shield

Melee Weapon (Roll 1d6)

Clerics, Magic Users, Illusionists hand weapon only

1,2	Hand weapon (dagger, hand axe, short sword, mace, morningstar, staff, spear)
3,4	Medium weapon (long sword, battle axe, rapier, scimitar)
5	Polearm (polearm, pike)
6	Two-handed weapon (two-handed axe, two-handed sword, bastard sword)
7	Quality weapon of choice (+1 damage)

Missile Weapon (Roll 1d6)

Magic Users and Clerics sling only

1	Sling/Darts
2	Thrown (Hand axe, spear, javelin)
3	Light Crossbow
4	Short Bow
5	Heavy Crossbow
6	Long Bow
7	Pick any two

(one free batch of ammo assumed)

Adventure Packs (Pick one)

All packs come with backpack, two small sacks, bedroll, water skin, tinderbox, and one week of iron rations

Pack A (10 oil flasks, lantern, shovel, two caltrops, whistle)

Pack B (10 torches, 10 pieces of chalk/charcoal, blank scroll, mirror, crowbar)

Pack C (five torches, five oil flasks, 60 ft. rope, grappling hook, wooden pole)

Mount (Roll 1d6)

1,2	None
3	Mule
4	Pony
5,6	Light riding horse
7	Light warhorse

(saddles and other riding gear assumed)

Class-based equipment

Fighter, Ranger, Paladin: extra weapon roll, 10 gp starting

Cleric, Druid: holy symbol, 10 gp

Thief: Thieves tools, 5 gp

Magic-User, Illusionist, spellbook, 5 gp

Monk, 2 gp

Extra cash (Roll d6)

1	10 gold pieces
2,3	15 gp
4	20 gp
5	30 gp
6	40 gp
7	80 gp

The Deodand: a Monster of Vancian Splendor

Of all the influences on my own campaign perhaps no other author has held such a powerful place in my imagination than Jack Vance. Whether it's the fairy-tale medieval picaresque of Lyonesse, the somewhat melancholy pulp fantasy of the Dying Earth, or the vast array of lesser known but equally evocative space opera worlds, I can't read more than a few pages without reaching for my brainstorm notebook to jot down a new idea for an NPC, locale, absurd encounter, or just an elusive weird fantasy tone/theme to weave into a session.

Invariably some of my favorite scenes revolve around witty, deadly exchanges between the protagonist and a harm-intending creature. The crafty deodand is a particular favorite, so I present him as a monster to spring on your unwitting players.

Deodand

No. Enc.: 1 (1-3)

Alignment: Chaotic (Evil)

Movement: 90 (30)

Armor Class: 6

Hit Dice: 4

Attacks: 3 (2 claws, 1 bite)

Damage: 1d4, 1d4, 1d8

Save: F4

Morale: 7

Deodands are intelligent, man-eating humanoids rumored to be borne of a sorcerous experiment that combined a human with a wolverine and basilisk. Deodands appear as handsome, muscular men with dull charcoal-black skin, long sharp fangs, and slitted golden or white eyes. The typical deodand prefers to wear a leather harness with bits of velvet or other rich clothes attached. There is a 30% chance that the harness is adorned with ornamental gems worth 100-400 gp.

The solitary deodand prefers to ambush his prey by stealth and will hide in shadows and move silently at a 60% chance. If caught unobserved he will surprise an unwitting party on a 1-4 roll on a d6.

Though vicious and unremitting in his desire to eat other humanoids, the deodand is also particularly interested in maintaining his own skin. If obviously overpowered or reduced to less than 1/3 hit points he will beg and plead for his life, often offering to guide a party. Adventurers should remain vigilant however if they take the creature up on any offer, as the deodand may attempt to subtly lead them into danger.

Adding a Little Yummy Crunch to Your Old School D&D Character Generation

A little over a year ago I experimented with several versions of a character generator that would allow a player to get up and running with in about 10-15 minutes with a fully statted-out, equipped character with a kooky backstory. Two versions of the generator (which was based off of a heavily-modified version from a Paul Jaquays article in the The Dungeoneer.)were ultimately published: one for Basic Fantasy RPG and another for Castles and Crusades.

In the midst of all that tinkering the mini-game nature of the backstory charts made be hanker for mixing some Traveller-flavored chocolate in my D&D peanut butter. The rub being that I didn't want to go full hog and dump the marvelously simple D&D way, so I agonized a bit over how to make a hybrid that kept the core while added a little more fun crunch.

Long story short it took me over a year (hey, I do have a real life), but here is my first stab. The PDF version can be downloaded here. I will likely be adding something like the Traveller mustering out tables to help speed up starting money and equipment.

As always any and all feedback or criticism is greatly welcomed.

[Editor's Note: due to the ridiculous amount of space the tables were taking up, I have cut them from the blog page. If you'd like to take a gander, mosey over to that download link above and get you a copy of the PDF file.]

The Feral Dwarf: New LL or B/X Class

Feral Dwarf

Requirements: CON 9

Prime Requisite: STR

Hit Dice: 1d8

Maximum Level: 12

A new class from my compendium. Special thanks to Scott Moberly as co-creator.

Feral dwarves are the deep-dwelling, untamed, neanderthal-like cousins of the more common dwarf. Their skin ranges from deep tan to light brown, and bright eyes which are almost never blue, with brown, black, or gray hair and ruddy cheeks. They are slightly taller and more wiry than their more domesticated cousins (ranging up to 4'6 and 140 pounds on the average).

Feral dwarves speak dwarvish, gnome, goblin, kobold, orcish, common, and their alignment language, but cannot learn more than two additional languages regardless of their intelligence.

Because of their background as miners and underground dwellers, they can detect by concentration within 10' any grade or slope or new construction (1-4 on a d6), sliding or shifting walls or rooms (1-4), and large stonework-type traps such as pits and dead falls (1-3). They can also detect with concentration depth under ground (1-3). They also have 60 foot infravision.

Because they are unfamiliar with new-fangled civilized weaponry and armor, feral dwarves tend to choose simple weapons such as spears, hammers, axes, clubs, and javelins (though once in civilized environs they can employ any weapon they choose). Because of their unfamiliarity and lack of comfort with heavy armor they can only wear leather, padded, studded leather, hide/fur, scale, or chain armor.

Feral dwarves also receive a +1 to hit orcs, half-orcs, goblins, and hobgoblins, due to an extended racial animosity.

Coming from a living in the remote hills and being somewhat crude in nature, feral dwarves have the ability to throw small boulders effectively in combat . They gain a +1 to hit on this and damage is 1d4 plus any STR modifiers. If they have an advantage in terrain latitude over 20 feet (i.e they are on a hill) they gain +2 to hit and +2 to damage on top of their STR modifier if applicable.

Some feral dwarves specialize in a primitive polished flint mallet. This wicked hammer inflicts 1d4+1 damage and on a roll of a natural 20 can knock its opponent unconscious/stun for 1d6 rounds.

Living on the primitive edge is a hard life, thus feral dwarves gain the ability to forage for food and water in hilly and mountainous environments. At 1st level this ability they can do so successfully is at 30 percent. This improves at 3% per each additional level. They also have the ability to start a fire in any environment without the use of flint and steel at the same levels of success as their foraging skills.

Example: Craggo Uthuk is a third-level feral dwarf. Craggo can successfully scavenge for food and start fires in the Big Rock Candy Mountains at a chance of 36%.

Despite these differences, feral dwarves fight and save on the same tables as the Dwarf race/class.

When a feral dwarf reaches 9th level he becomes a clan chieftain and can attract followers once he has found a suitable cavern.

Optional rule: Feral dwarves do not receive starting money as other characters. Instead they start with a flint mallet, hide/fur armor, and 10-40 gp of simple equipment (food, torches, bedrolls, etc). In addition they start with a small horde of raw gemstones, 1d6 gems worth 10 gp a piece and 1d4 worth 20 gp.

Feral Dwarf Level Progression

Experience	Level	Hit Dice (1d8)
0	1	1
2187	2	2
4375	3	3
8751	4	4
17501	5	5
35001	6	6
70001	7	7
140001	8	8
280001	9	9
400001	10	+3 hp only
540001	11	+6 hp only
660001	12	+9 hp only