DCC Human Classes for Sword & Sorcery

This is a “dirty and cheap” hack for playing DCC RPG in a “pure” Sword & Sorcery setting. No fuss. It all started with the idea of using races as a templates instead of classes. During my hacks for “racial templates” I came up with some “substitutes” for old demihuman classes. Yes, by “pure” S&S I mean a human setting. Here is how I would do it.

Keep the core 4 classes: Cleric, Thief, Warrior and Wizard. DCC RPG’s Cleric is so ‘hardcore’ that I don’t mind keeping it in a S&S setting (the Disapproval rule is perfect for that and if you need fluff ideas for S&S deities, please check this).

The Defender/Guardian/Protector: this is your not-Dwarf. Remove all racial stuff like Infravision, Slow and Underground Skill (specially smelling gold). Instead of that you can use your shield bash also to protect adjacent allies. When an adjacent ally is attacked, you can use your shield bash dice (a d14 at 1st) to block the enemy’s attack. If your roll is equal to or higher than the enemy’s, then your ally (our yourself!) is protected. I’m also thinking about allowing you to block attacks against your character.

The Rogue/Scoundrel: this is your not-Halfling. You’re Grey Mouser, basically. Un urbane trickster, able to fight with two weapons and how knows a little bit of magic. Remove racial stuff (Infravision and Small). You can use your Sneak & Hide bonus to cast spells from scrolls (use a d10 instead of a d20), disguise and to gathering rumors and informations while on cities. Finally, you know about curses and minor magics - this is a “reskinned” version of the Halfling’s Good Luck Charm. They’re used here to represent cantrips and minor hexes (yes, you can use Good Luck Charm to inflict penalties on your enemies’ rolls). However, every time you use this knacks you must roll a d10 - if a ‘1’ comes up you suffer some kind of misfire or backlash (as decided by the Judge). Personally, if the character was casting a hex (i.e. inflicting penalties on adversaries), I would roll a minor corruption if a ‘1’ came up. (Actually, during my first drafts with a not-Halfling class I was trying to come up with a Ranger… I couldn’t make it work. However, if you’re happy with a Scout, here is one).

The Warlock/Sorcerer: the not-Elf. As usual, remove the racial traits of Immunities, Heightened Senses and Vulnerabilities. But please, do keep Infrasion (let’s call it “Darkborn”) and add the Hide in Shadows skill from a Lawful Thief (call it “Cloak of Darkness”). You start with one Patron Taint. This class is for those that sold their souls in exchange of eldritch power, but works perfectly for heretics and “Left-Hand” adepts in general. Those that took the “easy” way. They can only use magic through a Patron.