My online
campaign of DCCRPG is still going. We’re at the beginning of the Doom of the Savage Kings and the entire
party is having a blast playing a bunch of chaotic mercenary and cultists (they
always make the villains look good).
Anyway, our
new player just survived his Funnel and is starting to pick classes for his
0-level PCs. He created a Warrior and a Thief so far, but when his scribe
became 1st level I noticed he wanted something different… not quite
a Thief, and definitely not a Wizard. After a bit of chat, I came up with the
suggestion of “updating” my OD&D Mastermind class to DCCRPG. Here’s
the result: the Sage.
The main inspirations for this class were my Mastermind and – obviously – few
pieces of the Sage, from OD&D, AD&D 1st and Dragons at Dawn.
The mechanical role of this class is to be a supporter (the player told me
however that he didn’t wanted a bard).
This is my first (but I hope not last) homemade class for DCCRPG, and I wrote
it in approximately 30 minutes, so it’s either grossly unbalanced or just simply
unplayable. We still didn’t have time for a proper playtesting session. As
usual, any feedback is really welcome.
The Sage
Alignment: Any
Weapon training: A sage is trained in these weapons: crossbow,
dagger, short sword, sling, and staff. Sages rarely use armor, as it affects
the use of their abilities.
Attack: as a Wizard.
Action Dice: see
below. A sage can use his second and third Action Die only for the Sagely Advice ability.
1
|
1d16
|
1d12
|
|
2
|
1d16
|
1d12
|
|
3
|
1d16
|
1d14
|
|
4
|
1d20
|
1d14
|
|
5
|
1d20
|
1d16
|
|
6
|
1d20
|
1d16
|
|
7
|
1d20
|
1d16
|
|
8
|
1d20
|
1d20
|
|
9
|
1d20
|
1d20
|
1d12
|
10
|
1d20
|
1d20
|
1d14
|
Crit Die/Table: as a
Wizard.
Saves: as a Wizard.
Hit points: as a Thief.
Scholar (only Lawful Sages): If a lawful sage fails a lore (see Loremaster)
or social check, he always knows exactly where is (or who has) the information
that he’s searching. Scholars are respected by Lawful authorities (i.e.
civilization) and can always add their level to skill checks while introducing
themselves to rulers, requesting rooms at inns and other similar situations.
Erudite (only Neutral Sages): If the neutral sage doesn’t carry a
visible weapon or act in a threatening way, he shouldn’t be the target of any
monster on the first rounds of combat (unless there a lot of creatures facing
the party, as usual the Judge should adjudicate this). If a neutral sage
threatens a death curse, he won’t be killed by most intelligent creatures (and
if he’s killed he’ll indeed inflict a death curse on his executioner).
Mountebank (only Chaotic Sages): The first time the chaotic sage meets an
intelligent creature he can try to quickly trick or lie to him in one round of
quick conversation. If the deceit is nothing absurd, the victim must succeed at
a Will save (DC 10 + d20 + sages’ Personality and Luck modifiers). A creature,
once cheated this way, can’t again be so easily deceived by the character. If a
mountebank acquires taint from his patrons (see Supernatural Patron) he can nullify this taint, once per day,
during one short encounter (this ability is instantly negated if the sage uses
any supernatural power or ability).
Polyglot: A sage always
knows how to read and write. He also gains one bonus language per level. He can
either choose these languages during the game or spend a few days with a native
speaker to learn the new tongue (at the Judge’s discretion).
Loremaster: Sages know
a lot of things. They are always treated as trained (i.e. roll a d20)
for any skill check dealing with academic or ‘sagely’ lores (religions,
folklore, occultism etc.). If the Judge believes that a particular skill check
is also related to the sage’s previous professions (for example: a scribe
checking for a lost manuscript), the character should roll a d24. All sages
also know the following skills (like a Thief of the same alignment): Forge
document, Read languages,
Handle poison, Cast spell from scroll, wand or rod (yes, this last skill is expanded to include wands and rods).
Curse
Die: Progression as a Thief’s Luck Die. First of all, sages recover Luck as thieves.
Sages can use Luck to boost their own checks as any other characters. However,
sages are experts on curses (especially Neutral sages) and can inflict minor
hexes on their foes. A sage can expend his Luck to inflict penalties on
adversaries on sight. Each point spent inflicts a Curse Dice on the target (now
save). The sage must be able to speak to do so and he can use this knack even
during other characters’ or enemies’ actions.
Sagely Advice: A sage can only use his second and third Action Die on other
characters, instructing them about what they should do during a combat
encounter or skill check. During combat, the sage must be able to speak to the
chosen ally, who gains a new action which must use the sage’s Action Dice roll
result. A character can only receive one Sagely
Advice per round. Out of combat, a sage can also instruct a character about
how he should do something. The Judge is the final arbiter about what type of
actions can benefit from this ability and the sage must have around one minute
of time to instruct his ally.
Supernatural Patrons: Like wizards, sages can invoke supernatural patrons.
A sage automatically receives the spells patron
bond and invoke patron at 1st
level. He can only learn these spells and others granted directly by their
patrons. Unlike other spellcasters, a sage can accumulate 1 patron for every
three levels (maximum 3 at 9th level). Each patron after the first
automatically inflicts taint on the sage and increases his chance to suffer
further corruption by one (i.e. a sage with 2 patrons rolls for corruption with
a natural 1 or 2). To cast any patron-related spell a sage is treated as wizard
of the same caster level.
The Right Tool for The Job: If a sage has enough gold with him, he can declare that he has spent
that money before leaving town to buy any reasonably common item that could be
carried by either him or a hireling. The sage must explain how the item is with
him if he was searched before by enemies.
Planning Ahead: Sages add their level to their Initiative rolls. All characters that
go after him must declare their intentions.
