Thursday 30 November 2017

Class: Beast-Man

Credit, Piotr Chrzanowski

It is said that magic is a wondrous thing. It gives mere mortals power over the constraints placed upon them by the universe. It can renew life or snuff it out in an instant. It allows those who wield it to see the true nature of things, and they see the roiling mass of chaos that surrounds everything. This chaos seeks to twist and change all it touches, corrupting the very fabric of reality and those who dwell within its fragile shell.

Accursed and feared, Beast-men are those poor mortals who succumbed to the insidious warping influence that uncontrolled arcane energy has on mortal flesh. What was once a young apprentice who fouled up a spell, or a miner who happened upon a lode of unrefined wytchfire stone, now stands as a twisted slab of muscle and gristle with the features of a wild animal - a Beast-Man.

Hated and feared by their non-mutated brethren for what they represent, most Beast-Men are killed or driven into the wilds to fend for themselves, where some survive and multiply. Many nurse a hatred of non-mutants and gleefully raid and pillage civilised areas, seeking to wreak havoc and mayhem among the people who scorned them. Some few eke a fragile living on the edges of society as guides, shepherds and hunters where they are not outright condemned or driven off. Such an existence is an uneasy one for the people around them see the potential for corruption to claim them all, and the Beast-Man sees a constant reminder of what they have lost.

Lamentations of the Flame Princess

SAVES
As Fighter

HIT DICE
As Fighter

ADVANCES
As Fighter

SKILLS
Beast-Men start with a 3-in-6 Bushcraft skill. This advances in-line with a Dwarf's Architecture skill.

Their Stealth skill has a 5-in-6 chance of succeeding when in wilderness areas, like a halfling.

SPECIAL
Beast-Men apply a +1 bonus to their Strength modifier. They use the standard (non-Fighter) base attack bonus, but have access to the Fighter's attack options (improved parry, press etc.).

Beast-Men have a 5% chance (when rolling the character) to be spellcasters. If so they start with Read Magic in their spellbook and must obey the same restrictions as Magic-Users when preparing and casting their spells.

When creating a Beast-Man the player must state which creature they represent - they then take +2 to any reaction rolls made when encountering said creature. A Beast-Man's reaction roll is always made with a -4 penalty when encountering 'civilised' peoples, unless said peoples have a good reason for interacting with them at the GM's discretion.

Credit, Piotr Chrzanowski

The Black Hack

Starting HP: d10 + 4
HP Per Level/Resting: 1d10
Weapons & Armor: Any and All

Attack Damage: 1d8 / 1d6 Unarmed or Improvising

SPECIAL FEATURES

Roll with Advantage when testing DEX to move stealthily in wilderness areas.

Roll with Advantage when navigating, tracking, hunting, foraging and building shelter in wilderness areas.

Roll with Advantage when testing CHA to influence other Beast-Men. Roll with Disadvantage when testing CHA to influence non-Beast-Men.

LEVELLING UP

Roll to see if attributes increase, roll twice for STR and DEX.


The above classes are meant to provide a character who can hold their own in a fight and who have considerable advantages in wilderness areas - things like tracking prey, foraging for food and laying ambushes all come naturally to this class. The main disadvantage is that many ordinary people will hate this character for what they are, which presents an issue that the party would need to take creative steps to avoid.

2 comments:

  1. This is really rad. I like it a lot! Simple and straightforward, but able to be flavored to any setting.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm glad you like it! I've tried to make it as easy as possible to adapt into other settings, luckily LotFP and The Black Hack are minimalist enough that it shouldn't take too much work to tweak them.

      Delete

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