Yes, sir. I am still alive (sort of…) and yes, I should update this
blog more frequently. Unfortunately, besides being still incapable of keeping
an organized schedule or goals, I have been over my head with a thousand other
things. My life is indeed a mess and I wish I could hide in this tower’s
fastness for an incarnation or two but, alas, there is no rest for the wicked.
On the bright side, I have been running weekly games for two different tables,
besides participating as a player in a third. So, (nerdy) life is good (while
it lasts).
This (poorly and probably unplayable) attempt at a class is
something that I have been cooking for some years. Basically, I wanted to a "Gandalf class". No, not a magic-user or a wizard. That is not how I see the Grey
Wanderer. Mithrandir for me is someone who travels a lot, knows a lot of stuff
(and people) and uses that knowledge to help his allies (and his plans). This
is my “adventuring sage” class if you will. So, I wanted a class that attempted
mechanically to do that… in an OSR game. Of course, such a class would have
rules that are inherently too much “metagamic” for OSR, which I respectfully
disagree with. But I am the kind of person who loves the narrative features of
D&D 5E Backgrounds (which, of course, were removed from “5.5” or whatever
the soulless mercenaries at WotC are launching this year), FATE’s Aspects, cooperative
emergent world-building, and mechanics in general that let you get some table input
into the narrative. After all, the plaque above this tower’s entrance says
“Where Old and New School Meet”, no?
All references below are to the amazing OSE SRD, which can be found
HERE.
Fair Warning: Besides been
heretical, unorthodoxy, and probably capable of corrupting traditional family
values, this class also requires constantly moderation by the Referee. For me,
that is part of “my job” as a referee and game narrator. If you don’t agree
with that, then probably you won’t like this class and shouldn’t allow it at
your games. In fact, if you prefer games where the Referee is more a impartial
umpire who never interferes, then this class is probably not your game style (I
love both impartial and narrative games, and I know when I’m running one or the
other).
The fiction is King! (Or Queen!): the
Wanderer is part of a game tradition that gives importance to the fiction,
narrative sense, or verisimilitude of the game. Most tables actually follow
this principle without noticing. It basically means – use your common sense
(not the rules!). Therefore, no Wanderer ability can be used if breaks the
table’s disbelief regarding their game. Each table, of course, will also have
their own levels of acceptable verisimilitude and suspension of disbelief. In
the end: have fun!
The Wanderer
Requirements None
Prime requisite CHAR
Hit Dice 1d6
Maximum level 10
Armour None
Weapons Any
Languages Alignment, Common
The Wanderer attacks and saves as a Thief of the same level.
Lores: Some Wanderers know pieces of
hard-earned knowledge and secrets. Others are gifted individuals who can easily
inspire and unite others. Some have a touch of the Otherworld and do what other
people would call “magic”. Each Wanderer is unique but all are marked by
wanderlust and a desire to see the world (and thus to adventure)
A particular Wanderer’s baggage of special skills and tricks are
represented by Lores. Each Wanderer starts with 2 Lores selected from the 1st
level list. When levelling up, they gain 1 new Lore.
Between adventures, if the Wanderer had the time to rest, they could
decide to change one Lore from their repertoire.
Limits: unless otherwise written,
activating a Lore doesn’t cost an action and you can only activate one Lore per
round. You can only learn Lores of the same level or lower than your Wanderer
level.
Complications: many of the Lores, once
activated, invite the Referee (and/or the table) to add some complications. The
idea of a complication is something to make the Wanderer’s life “interesting”.
For example, if a Wanderer used a Lore to gain a monster’s friendship, then
maybe they own that creature a favour. If they use to gain some new knowledge,
they might be in debt to a sage. The Referee, as usual, has the last word. When
in doubt, the Referee can “store” complications, using them later on to create an
NPC, curse, of challenge suited to the Wanderer.
Hard Mode (Optional): some Referees
don’t appreciate the idea of classes that have access to an open pool of powers
and can change those powers freely. If you are one of those Referees, change
the rule above in that a Wanderer can change their list of Lores only when they
level up.
Knacks: a Wanderer starts with 2 Knacks,
plus 1 additional per level. Knacks activate a particular Lore (and some Lores
require more than 1 Knack to be activated). Knacks are just a fancy name for
“spell slots” if you prefer (no, Lores and Knacks are not technically magical,
although some might be… it is complicated). A Wanderer recovers all their
Knacks after a full night of rest.
Limits: unless otherwise written each
Lore costs 1 Knack to activate and you cannot spend more Knacks in one
activation than your total Wanderer level.
Referee’s call and vetoes: the Referee can
always veto a Lore’s activation. When that happens, it is usually good to
explain why the Lore was vetoed. In those cases, the Knack is not spent (but
the Wanderer player should also play nice and don’t try the same trick). Again,
if this generates discussions and makes your game experience worse, DO NOT USE
THIS CLASS. At my tables, these adjudications happen all the time and everyone
is fine with that but YMMV.
Learning from their Mistakes (Optional):
a Wanderer reduced to 1 hit point that survives the encounter recovers 1 Knack
from their ordeal. This can happen only once per day.
List of Lores
1st LEVEL
A Particular Set of Skills: before
attempting any dice rolling requested by the Referee for a mundane task,
declare how you learned/mastered such task before. It must be something not
unique to a particular OSR Class. No spellcasting, combat, thieving skills,
trap detection etc. It can be stuff like setting a fire (even in the rain!),
swimming, hunting for food for the party, navigating by the stars etc. If the
Referee and the table accept it, you succeed automatically at it (if they don’t
approve it, regain the Knack… and don’t push this topic again!). Once you use
this Lore, that particular skill becomes a part of your character’s abilities.
Because of that, you can’t activate this Lore again in the same game session,
in-game week/month, or in the same adventure (as determined by the Referee).
Setting Limit (Optional): Referees
that fear this Lore might be abused are free to set as a limit to one skill per
Wanderer level. Another option is that this Lore must be activated (i.e., the
Wanderer must pay 1 Knack each time). Wanderers are indeed versatile, but they are
never trained enough to “permanently” learn a skill.
Helpful Advice: you can activate this
Lore before another player rolls any dice. You must be at their character’s
side and your advice must make a difference. If that applies and your friend fails
his check, spend a Knack so that they can reroll it (you can only do this once
for each check).
Know Thy Enemy: activate this Lore to
have complete access to one type of monster's stats during this encounter
(including total and current hit points). You must explain how you know that
much about those creatures and probably incur some trouble or complication (as
decided by the Referee). If your table has an “open monster stat policy” and
the Referee doesn’t hide this information, ignore this Lore. This Lore works on
common sense. While you might know stats and hit points (and perhaps even the
spell list), the Referee doesn’t need to tell you exactly everything the
enemies are carrying. However, if you must declare your actions before rolling
initiative, the Referee is free to declare the monster’s actions to your
Wanderer.
Loremaster: activate this Lore if you
can inspect an item without interruption for one turn or 10 minutes. For each
Knack spent you can identify one magic item, scroll, spell or you can list all the
spells within one spellbook (but in this last case they are not identified and
still need to be fully deciphered). You can use this Lore instead to translate
one scroll, map, inscription or something similar. If merely reading something
would trigger a trap or curse, you must immediately pay a second Knack. If you
fail to that you trigger the trap or curse (including symbols and runes).
Masters of Tongues: activate this Lore
to know one extra language during the game. Explain how you learned (and incur
any complications as set by the Referee, particularly for exotic and strange
idioms). You can activate this Lore only twice per Wanderer level. If you have
chosen a language (either during character creation or with this Lore) but
never used it in the game, you can change it using this Lore.
Well-Traveled: you always keep your ears
open to rumours and travellers’ tricks. This Lore has two options.
In the first version, activate this Lore to instantly remember one
rumour regarding the adventure or the place where you are. It must be something
at least a bit useful. For example: if exploring the Caves of Chaos, you might have
heard about different humanoids and in which direction they roughly lie
(nothing certain, this is a rumour).
The second version comes in if the Referee has no rumour to share or
if the Wanderer intends to help the party recover. Activating this second
version of the Lore requires a safe spot and it takes one hour during which
your Wanderer shares what they know about the adventure with the party. If
those conditions are met, the Wanderer spends 1 Knack and each party member (except
the Wanderer) can regain 1 Hit Dice in hit points (this represents mechanically
that they are better prepared for the dangers ahead).
This Lore can only be activated once per day, week, or adventure
(Referee’s call).
Sings & Omens: you know how to read
signs and auguries left by the gods, the Fates, or maybe Balance itself. When
you awake in the morning, spend 1 Knack and roll 1d20, noting the number rolled.
During that day, before rolling any d20, you can instead substitute the result
with the d20 rolled in the morning. If you spend 2 Knacks, you can instead
substitute the d20 rolled by an ally. If you spend 3 Knacks, you can substitute
the result rolled by an enemy (but they can roll a saving throw against spells
to negate this). You can only use this Lore once per day.
To Arms!: after the initiative is rolled
but before the first round starts, activate this Lore to go first (or for one
ally to go first). If the Referee uses group initiative, this Lore can only be
used once per day.
Travel Bag: at any point, activate this
Lore to explain how you were carrying one common mundane item all along. This must
make sense within the adventure. It could anything normally found in the region
that you are travelling to or from someone you had contact with. It must also
be something that you can afford (the Referee can ask you to pay it
“retroactively”). You cannot have stolen the item. Examples are a sword, a
rope, a handcuff etc. Instead of one common item, you can change it to one
consumable item for each Wanderer level. Examples could be rations, water, or
maybe oil. So, a 2nd level Wanderer who activates his Lore, could
have bought 2 extra rations or torches.
Treasure-Hunter: you are a professional
burglar (thieves are, after all, lower-class individuals). After combat, you
can activate this Lore and declare that you are searching for any extra treasure
hidden close to the encounter area. The Referee will roll a new Treasure Roll
to see if anything comes up. This Lore can only be activated once per encounter
(and, as usual, the Referee can decide to veto the result or to roll and don’t
use the result if will make the game worse).
Useful Superstition: as your action
during any combat encounter, you can propose a source of superstition that you
heard about the creature(s) your party is currently facing. If approved, activate
this Lore to instantly trigger a Morale Check in the creatures. If the Morale
Check works, now your proposed superstition is part of the campaign (and the
Referee is encouraged to modulate it, and create complications or consequences
around it). Usually, the safest way to modulate this is to restrict it to the local
region (i.e., the orcs of the Crooked Mountains are afraid of gooses). You can
only activate this Lore once per encounter, day, week, or adventure (Referee’s
call).
If the Referees allow it, you can spend 3 Knacks to trigger a Morale
check in creatures theoretically immune to it. For example, you can explain
that you carry a particular holy symbol of St. Cudgel that can trigger Morale
checks in the undead. Of course, the complications here are higher. St. Cudgel
might appear in a vision and demand you donate all treasure to the closest
temple to keep his favour (and avoid a curse maybe).
Words of Peace: you acquired enough
knowledge of pidgins and weird customs to know how to get another intelligent
creature’s attention quickly, even if just for a moment. You can activate this
Lore before the first round of combat (even if you lost initiative) to cry a
word or do something before your party and an intelligent monster (or group of
hostile creatures) come to blows against each other. This instantly sets the
monsters’ reaction to Uncertain and might give your party a chance to parley.
This is not magic and does not work if you are ambushed. Also, monsters will
not act stupidly.
2nd LEVEL
A Curse or Two…: activate this Lore when
a monster succeeds at a save. Explain some small curse that you know and how
you cast it against the poor critter. The monster must reroll their save. You
can only activate this Lore once per save.
A Love of Maps: you always carry a bundle
of old and weird maps (and you love collecting more). This bundle weighs and
fills as much space as a spellbook. If you lose it, you can accumulate a new bundle
between adventures (paying whatever costs the Referee proposes). If you have
access to your maps, consult your minutes for approximately one minute and
activate this Lore to ask the Referee if the party is lost. If they are indeed
lost, you can pay a second Knack to safely guide them back from where they came
from (no chances of getting lost on the way back). For each day you are guiding
your party back you must pay 1 Knack when you start marching.
Folklore: activate this Lore to create
one curious piece of information about a group that your party is currently
meeting or is about to meet. You must have some idea of who you are dealing
with (goblins, humans, barbarians etc.). If your piece of information is
helpful, there is a 4-in-6 chance it is true (“These goblins love beer! If we
offer them ours, we might get a chance to parley.”) If it is risky then it is automatically
(“These goblins love beer, but it can drive them into a berserker rage when
they drink too much.”). If it is too good to be true (“Goblins believe only
gods drink beer and they will serve us”) then don’t bother rolling (and that is
a terrible use of this Lore). You can only use this Lore once per encounter and
never more than once per day, week, or adventure (Referee’s call).
Follow my lead: if you succeed at a save
or ability check, and you can set an example or encourage your allies, activate
this Lore. If approved, choose another character to succeed at the same attempt.
You can pay more Knacks to help other allies.
Friends in Weird Places: you can
activate this Lore when facing an intelligent enemy but before the first round
of combat starts. Explain how that one of the enemies is actually an
acquaintance of your Wanderer. If approved, the Referee will add a
complication. At the bare least, you owe some money to said enemy (or a
particular item in the adventure that is hard to find). You can only use this
Lore once per encounter and never more than once per day, week, or adventure
(Referee’s call).
Hedge Magic: this lore has two versions.
In the first version, activate it when you fail a save against some
supernatural effect. Explain how your Wanderer uses some secret, talisman, or
folk magic to protect you from a spell. If approved, reroll your save. If you
succeed, you don’t suffer any partial effect (no half damage in a fireball for example).
Keep a list of each secret, talisman, or folk magic which worked. Each hedge
magic should be a complex gesture, word, or unique talisman or item. It should
be effective against one specific spell or monster (the level of detail is set
by the Referee, some are happy with “any fire spell”, others will prefer “only against
fireballs”).
In the second version, you can activate this Lore when an ally fails
a save. You must select one of your hedge magics that previously worked. Explain
how, during the party’s last rest, you shared or “cast” one hedge magic from
your list in that one ally. This must make sense. So, if one hedge magic was a
talisman, that ally would have that talisman in their person when they rolled
the save. If it is a secret magic word, then you must be close enough to say
such a word and protect them. The result is the same, the chosen ally can
reroll the save. If they succeed, they don’t suffer any ill effects.
The number of hedge magic “spells” you can keep is set by the
Referee to avoid abuses. A good benchmark is one hedge magic “spell” by
Wanderer level. Another option is to charge a price for each hedge magic, using
scroll prices as a reference. Discuss this with the Wanderer player before they
decide to acquire this Lore.
Inspiring Fellowship: if you can rest
with an ally for at least one hour, maybe cooking something for them, singing,
or just saying something about your travels, you can activate this Lore. The
chosen ally recovers one spell or daily limited ability. For characters without
limited abilities, such as Fighters and Thieves, you grant them 2 Advantages
(they can roll any die twice and pick the best result, they must declare the
use of the Advantage before rolling). Each ally can only benefit from this Lore
once per day.
Sidekick: explain to the table how,
between adventures (or after the last visit to town) you attracted a loyal
retainer. This must be possible within the narrative. If approved, activate
this Lore to immediately gain the service of one loyal retainer. Mechanically,
this retainer’s power is equivalent to a normal human (level 0), but you can
raise its level by paying one extra Knack (the limit is one level lower than
your Wanderer or 0). As long as keep the spent Knacks “locked” on the retainer,
they don’t need to make Loyalty checks. However, if you abuse your retainer,
the Referee can increase the cost of this Lore by one Knack or more until your
“reputation” improves. You can have as many level 0 retainers as you want but
only one retainer level 1+. Retainers acquired through this Lore (i.e.
sidekicks) don’t count against your maximum number of “normal” retainers.
Wanderer’s Luck: activate this Lore to
turn one attack against you into a failure or to reroll an ability or skill
check. You can also activate this Lore to reroll one saving throw against a
non-supernatural threat (such as a trap).
Watchful Guide: this Lore has two
different versions.
In the first version, you can activate this Lore to avoid the
effects of one ambush (you are not surprised). You can pay extra Knack to
affect additional allies.
In the second version, you can activate this Lore after the Referee
rolls a random encounter. This last version costs 2 Knacks. If approved, the
Referee will tell the party what creature was rolled on the random encounter
(before that creature even shows up). With that information, the Wanderer (and
the table) can decide to ask the Referee to reroll the random table. They won’t
know the second result. This must be explained in the narrative. For example,
the Referee rolls a random encounter. The Wanderer player activates this
version and asks what creature was rolled. The Referee answers only the type of
creatures (“troll” for instance). After some discussions, the table decides
that they have enough oil to face trolls. Narratively, the Wanderer player
could describe how their character found marks of troll claws in the stone
marking this area is troll territory. If the table decided that they want the
Referee to reroll, then they could use the same idea. However, in the second
scenario, the Wanderer finds the troll marks and informs their allies, there
trolls in those trails, follow them through these woods instead.
Each version of this Lore can only be activated once per day.
3rd LEVEL
Bane: this Lore has two versions.
In the first version, you use your next action to provide tactical
advice that helps all allies that can hear you against one type of foe they are
currently facing them. This is typically something like “their armour is weak
at the back of their legs!”. For the rest of the encounter, all armed and
unarmed attacks that can exploit that advice have Advantage on damage rolls
(roll damage twice and pick the better). This costs 2 Knacks.
The second version affects just the next spell cast by an ally. The
damage caused by that particular casting of the spell is rolled with Advantage.
This costs 1 Knack.
Fly you fools!: activate this Lore and
use your next action to rally your friends and help them escape danger. By
spending 1 Knack, all your allies can use their next action (and only their
next action) to withdraw from melee. If they do so, they don’t trigger free
attacks from adversaries that they were engaged with. By spending 2 Knacks, you
also gain the same benefit.
Magician: you acquired a bit of true
spellcraft during your adventure by watching and learning from your friends. Activate
this Lore to cast any 1st level spell that another ally has cast on
that same day (you must follow all the other normal rules for spellcasting).
Instead of that, you can activate this Lore to cast one identified scroll (for
example, one you identified with the Loremaster Lore).
Riddles and Secrets: you collect
mysteries and secrets. Choose one item, place, or person and use one action to
activate this Lore. You can ask one “yes” or “no” question to the Referee
regarding the target. If you want to be completely sure about the Referee’s
answer, you must spend 3 Knacks. Otherwise, spend just 1 Knack but there is a
2-in-6 that the answer is not completely true (the Referee should roll the d6
in secret). You can use this Lore once per target.
What Doesn’t Kill Me…: keep a list of
all special attacks, poison, diseases and similar things that your Wanderer
survived during the game. The next time you are affected by that specific thing,
explain how you built some sort of immunity, resistance, or the capacity to shrug
off most of the hazard. If approved, lose 1 permanent Knack. You are now immune
to that attack. If that is not realistic, you suffer just your Wanderer level
in damage from it (or just 1 point of damage, as decided by the Referee). You
can build this sort of resistance to a number of effects equal to your Wanderer
level.
Survival and Flexible (Optional): If
this makes sense, between level-ups, you can lose immunity to one effect in
other to “open” a slot to a new one during the game (you regain the lost Knack
in this case).
4th LEVEL
Never Lose Hope...: if another character
is killed (i.e. brought to 0 hit points) but his body is still somewhat intact
and you can be safely reached and checked after the encounter, then there is a
chance they might still be alive. If the Wanderer is the one to reach and check
the body, activate this Lore. The chosen ally then rolls a saving throw against
death. If they succeed, they have miraculously survived but are deeply wounded.
They have just 1 hit point, move at half the normal rate, cannot carry heavy
items, and cannot attack, cast spells, or use other class abilities for the
next 24 hours. The Referee is welcome to give them some permanent scar and to
reduce one Ability Score, such as Constitution, by 1. Lucky is fickle… no
character can benefit from this Lore more than once.
Polymath: this Lore works a bit differently
and was created with the idea of customizing (not optimizing) your Wanderer to
make it more unique. When you first acquire it, you permanently lose one Knack,
and select one class feature (from another class) or special ability. If the
Referee allows it, that is now a permanent feature of your Wanderer. The use of
this Lore should vary to better fit the style of each table (and campaign) but here
are some general guidelines. Class features that could be selected are the
cleric’s Turn Undead, the Fighter’s training with armour and shields, and the
Thief’s Back-stab. If taken from another class (or maybe a monster) it must
follow the same limitations, unless the Referee has another idea. If you want
more versatile features (like Thief skills) or powerful abilities (such as spellcasting),
then the Referee is welcome to create their approach or use any of the
following:
Thief skills – the Wanderer can either choose to have two skills as
a Thief of the same level or all Thief skills, but they are fixed at 1st
level
Arcane spellcasting – you have the same caster level as a Magic-User
but can memorize only one spell per day from your grimoire, or you could work
as a Magic-User with half your Wanderer when you select this but levelling up
won’t change that
Divine spellcasting – the Referee could let the Wanderer have the
same spellcasting powers as a cleric of half their Wanderer levels, except that
the Wanderer can’t change their selection of memorized spells (maybe they can,
but only when levelling up or by fulfilling a quest for a temple)
The above options try to give the Wanderer access to other features
without “stealing the spotlight” from other classes. Instead of a class
feature, Wanderers can also propose new special abilities (maybe from other OSR
games), including new ones. Maybe the ability to talk with animals, smell
treasure, shape change into one type of animal etc. (a good source of special
abilities are the pregenerated characters from the OSR zine KNOCK!).
Every time you level up, you can decide to sacrifice another Knack
to gain a second benefit from this Lore. For example, you can get the Elf class
feature of using armour and casting arcane spells.
Sagely Knowledge: activate this Lore to
add ONE detail or declaration to a local element of the campaign. The target
can be one creature, location, local creature variant, or even local magic
variant. It cannot retcon or contradict any previous fact of the game. If approved,
the Referee will secretly roll a d6. There is a 4-in-6 chance that there is an
added complication that you haven’t considered. If explicitly powerful, there
is an unavoidable cost. This Lore should be used to enrich the game and
generate new opportunities for the party to solve problems. If the Wanderer
proposes a new detail with cool and interesting complications, the Referee can
just use them.
Here are some examples:
“Music can soothe the rage of a lycanthrope” – suggested so a bard
could play the flute and thus allow the party to befriend a werewolf. It is a
cool detail, so the Referee rolls a normal 4-in-6 complication chance. If
rolled, the complication is that the detail works but only if the music is played
under a New Moon.
“This lake is sacred and can be used to cure energy drain once per
year but you will own a favour to the lake’s nymph” – a powerful declaration
but with a reasonable limitation and cost, so the Referee just approved the
cost and decided that the character so healed must bring seven different magic
items to the nymph as a cost.
“Red Forest sandalwood feeds on magic and my shield is made of that
wood so I have a bonus on my saving throws against magic” – too powerful and
without cost. The Referee does not even border to roll for complication and
automatically inflicts a cost. They decide that the character can decide to
destroy the shield to succeed in a saving throw versus spells but that the
sandalwood taint the character’s aura for 7 days after using the shield, so
they must also roll a saving throw even versus beneficial magic (such as
healing). Obs.: the Referee could just have vetoed the Lore activation, but
they decided to give a chance.
When this Lore is activated, the Wanderer must spend and “lock” one
Knack. The Knack remains locked until one of these situations occurs (as
defined by the Referee BEFORE the Wanderer spends the Knack): the Wanderer’s
level up, the current adventure is concluded, or the current “campaign arc” is
concluded.
Spare an Enemy: you must activate this Lore
during the first round of combat and target one specific monster. If approved,
you and your party are now fighting to subdue the target. This activation is
cancelled if any party member uses a lethal attack – such as a disintegrate or
a deadly poison (Referee’s call). If the party defeat the target, the Referee
must then roll a new Monster Reaction check. Any result of 6+ places the
monster under the Wanderer’s retinue as a special monster retainer. Loyalty
rules apply as normal. The spent Knack remains “locked” while the monster is a
retainer. The Wanderer can only keep one monster retainer.
5th LEVEL
Esoterica (Optional): the Wanderer has
travelled far and wide and accumulated enough forbidden and unearthed arcana to
metaphysically cheat reality. They can activate this Lore to break or change
ONE rule of the game during one round or turn (whichever makes more sense). This
change can incorporate a rule or power from ANOTHER RPG. The Wanderer must
provide some weird explanation and cost for this astonishing event. Here the
best premise is to follow the Rule of Cool. Each table will have
its parameters for that. For example: a Wanderer tells the table that during
their battle with a dragon, he found a scroll with a forbidden Word of Power
from a long-dead god of magic. As soon as they read that scroll, that Word was
burned into their mind (and the scroll vanished). He proposes that he chants
the Word, freeing it from their mind. For the turn, no spellcaster needs to
memorize spells. The cost is that the Wanderer will lose their voice, becoming
mute. The Referee approves. Another example: the Wanderer found in the last
loot three holy golden apples that were planted in the Seven Heavens ages ago. Whoever
eats them gains supernal vitality. The idea is that the chosen targets can
spend their Hit Dices in short rests between, as in D&D 5E. The Referee approves
with the cost that the Wanderer is now considered to have committed a divine
sin. No beneficial divine magic will affect them until they atone.
When this Lore is activated, the Wanderer must spend and “lock” 2
Knacks. The Knacks remains locked until one of these situations occurs (as
defined by the Referee BEFORE the Wanderer spends the Knacks): the Wanderer’s
level up, the current adventure is concluded, or the current “campaign arc” is
Too Weird For My Table: this Lore
REALLY pushes it and should be embraced only by tables that love its metagame
aspects (and FLAILSNAILS games in general).
Not FLAILSNAILS Enough: if this
makes narrative sense, the Knacks are spent permanently and the new rule is now
a permanent part of the game. If the new rule would benefit both PCs and NPCs,
the Referee can reduce its cost to 1 permanent Knack.
Foresight: if the Wanderer can use their
action and pay 3 Knacks to activate this Lore as a reaction to any consequence
suffered by another party member. First, explain to the Referee how your
Wanderer foresaw that particular chain of events and thus interrupted the
chosen’s ally action (usually by screaming or somehow getting their attention).
For example, the party’s fighter charges the beholder and is disintegrated. The
Wanderer PC explains that they read about beholders during the party’s stop at
the last city’s library. The Referee approves. As a result, the chosen action never
happened and all its effects and spent resources are returned (lost hit points
are returned, spells that were cast are still memorized… and dead characters
are still alive). In the above example, the fighter’s charge against the
beholder is interrupted and the fighter PC must choose a different action. If
it makes sense, the other chain of events should still occur. For example, the
beholder should still try to disintegrate the fighter PC. However, now that the
fighter PC knows this, maybe they run for cover, resulting in the beholder
giving up his attempt or disintegrating the cover itself. This Lore can be
activated once per encounter.
Words of Awakening: the Wanderer collected
enough arcane lore to awaken temporary magic properties in otherwise mundane
objects. The Wanderer activates this Lore using their action and proposes some
cost for it: it could drain part of their vitality, the use of exotic magical
components (the Wanderer retroactively paid for them), some favour to a
god/demon/wizard, etc. If approved, the Referee rolls on a magic item table of
their choice (such as the ones from the OSE OSR). For example: a
Wanderer picks up the fighter’s sword and sprinkles diamond dust that he bought
in the last city, invoking words of power that he learned from a dwarf blacksmith
they saved in the last adventure. They propose a cost of 500 gp. The Referee
approves and rolls in the OSE’s Magic Weapons table, getting a 54 (“Mace +1”).
The Referee decides that the sword is magically transformed into a dwarven Warhammer
+1, an echo of the legendary Dwarven Forge-Hammer of Duzlin (the Referee just
made that up). This remains in effect for one encounter, although the Wanderer
can pay another Knack to extend the effect. If the chosen magic item is a one-use
effect, there is no option to extend the effect.
