The Engineer - New B&T Class

So I whipped up that Gadgeteer class, now called the Engineer. I mostly took the mechanics outlined here: http://reynaldogamingsoap.blogspot.com/2012/08/pioneers-of-distant-past-and-far-future.html. I also added in the clockwork companion, though it may need slight retooling so it doesn't harp on the summoner too much.

Engineer

D6 Hit Points

Requirements

            Dexterity and Intelligence of 13 or higher

Armor Allowed

            Padded armor, leather armor, ring mail, studded leather, no shields

Weapons Allowed

            All light melee weapons, all crossbows and all gunpowder weapons

Skills

            Find Traps, Remove Traps, Open Locks, Decipher Codes

Level	Hit Dice	Attack	Fort	Ref	Will	Title
1	1d6	0	15	13	15	Apprentice
2	2d6	+1	15	12	15	Scrapper
3	3d6	+1	14	12	14	Tinker
4	4d6	+2	14	11	14	Gadgeteer
5	5d6	+3	13	11	13	Greaser
6	6d6	+3	13	10	13	Technician
7	7d6	+4	13	10	13	Mechanic
8	8d6	+5	12	9	12	Forger
9	9d6	+6	12	9	12	Architect
10	10d6	+6	12	8	12	Architect
11	+2	+7	11	8	11	Architect
12	+2	+8	11	7	11	Architect
13	+2	+8	11	7	11	Architect
14	+2	+9	10	6	10	Architect
15	+2	+10	10	6	10	Architect
16	+2	+10	10	5	10	Architect
17	+2	+11	9	5	9	Architect
18	+2	+12	9	4	9	Architect
19	+2	+12	9	4	9	Architect
20	+2	+13	8	3	8	Architect

Engineers combine magic with technology, building extremely powerful and useful gadgets for almost any situation they may face. Depending on the setting, the gadgets could be fueled by steam, magic or any other source. They are almost as dexterous as thieves, but they are times smarter and just as crafty.

An engineer is naturally adept at fixing mechanical devices. After an hour of study, they can determine the function of any mechanical device. This hour of study can also determine what's broken in a machine and how the engineer can fix it. The amount of time and materials needed to fix the machine vary, but the actual fixing requires a successful Remove Traps check. If the engineer fails, they can not attempt to fix the machine until they increase a level.

An engineer carries around any number of incidental gadgets that help him succeed in almost any mundane task. Three times per day, the engineer can use one of his gadgets on any heroic task. This allows him to replace the normal attribute associated with the task with his Intelligence attribute. These items should be flavorful and related to the task: Open Locks could be a laser that melts the lock or Escape Bonds could be a sonic disruptor that loosens the threads of the ropes.

A 3rd level engineer (tinker) has managed to develop one of his prototypes into a flawless, working gadget. The gadget, which is so light it weighs almost nothing, replicates a single first level magic-user or cleric spell three times per day. Afterwards, at 6th level and every third level after, the Engineer can make a new item that functions in the same manner, except that a spell of one level higher can be selected for the device (i.e. 2nd level spell at 6th level, 3rd at 9th, and so on, maxing out at a 4th level spell at level 12).

A 7th level engineer (mechanic) has built a companion out of machine parts, such as a clockwork golem or a wrought-iron horse. The companion is a construct that has a CL equal to half the engineer's level (rounded down) which increases as the engineer levels up due to constant tinkering. If the companion ever reaches 0 health, it is broken, though the engineer can fix it with one week of work and a successful Remove Traps check.

A 10th level engineer (architect) can create his own workshop and gain followers. An engineer that becomes a lord or lady attracts 1d4-men-at-arms per level, 1d6 first level engineers who want to trade under them and one 3rd level engineer to serve as a lieutenant.

Edit: And a variant for those who want to have steam augmentation in their game!

Variant: Augmenter

The augmenter goes into possibly dangerous territory with his experiments, grafting them into his very flesh in order to better power them.

Instead of being able to create a companion at level 7, the augmenter can begin to implant his prototypes into his body. This normally produces no change until the augmenter decides to push his prototypes by draining away his very vitality. The augmenter can self inflict 1d8 damage on himself, thus allowing any of his “installed” prototypes an extra use for the day.

B&T New Classes

So I thought it may be fun to create some new full-fledged original classes for B&T. However, I was thinking of making them slightly different.

What Heroes of Lore did is take the basic theme of a class and modify it slightly. In fact, many classes could probably fall under this sway: wardens are druid variants, tattoo mages are sorcerer variants and so on. Variants are easy to make and not extremely "special."

However, I feel new classes are needed if you are introducing entirely new mechanics. My summoner variant probably should have been a new class, but I think it's good enough to stand on its own. There are two classes I think would be great for B&T, even though they would be very setting specific: the Spellblade and the Gadgeteer.

I said in my 4e in B&T post that the Warlock variant is basically the spellblade, but this is missing the main point of a spellblade: their ability to charge their weapons with arcane energy. I think that's distinct enough to constitute its own class. An easy variant would be the Gun Mage, who channels his powers through a gun rather than a sword.

Gadgeteers will be interesting in that they will more fall along the Sorcerer path in that they will have variant castings. Their powers will instead be in gadgets that they can use. I'm also thinking of giving them the ability to build clockwork constructs. This class would be good for high technology campaigns. A variant could be steam augmentation to Gadgeteer's body

New File in Games I've Made

I finally uploaded that small Heroes of Lore update file that details a few replacement variants, as well as a few updates. Check it out in the "Games I've Made" section

Worlds of Lore - Riftgate

So after Psionics of Lore is released, my next project is Worlds of Lore. Originally intended to be purely my setting of Astoria, I decided to make it into 10 "micro-settings" that GM's and players can expand upon. And I've written the first one!

The first one is called Riftgate, and it is basically a modified Planescape. However, it's not exactly the same; Riftgate is more lighthearted than Planescape was, as well as more spiritual in a way. Riftgate also is very human-centric, stressing that you are playing "normal" people in an extremely abnormal world. I hope it interests you, because it sure interests me!

Riftgate

About 100 years ago, Glyph was an amazing city. Located on the human planet of Borikon, Glyph was roughly the size of Mexico City and about 20 times more diverse. Divided into hundreds of districts with thousands of neighborhoods, all kind of cultures existed within this medieval mecca. It was truly the crown jewel of Borikon. This was all before the Ravaging.

One day, small, black points and space started appearing around the outskirts of the city. These "rifts," as they were called, were no bigger than a fist. They seemed to float two-dimensionally in space, and people who looked through the rifts saw marvelous sites. Some held beautiful glades full of wild creatures, others held magnificent cities and others held barren hellscapes. The scholars of Glyph believed these rifts were portals to other dimensions.

What came as excitement soon turned into horror; the next day, these rifts were larger and about the size of a small child. What's worse is that things started coming out of them; people, animals and monsters. Every day, these rifts grew and grew, advancing ever towards the city and absorbing the countryside. Most of the creatures who came through the rifts were peaceful; looking for refuge, adventure or opportunity.

Two weeks after, the rifts had fully opened and spread like fire, absorbing the entire planet of Borikon except for the city of Glyph. The king of Glyph, Harold Remus IV, called down martial law on the city for fear of certain destruction.

Then, as quickly as the rifts appeared, they vanished, leaving Glyph as a giant floating city in the middle of space. People were both relieved and frightened; the doom was gone, but now they lived in the middle of no where, living next door to demons or elves. They had all the resources to stay alive and thrive, miraculously, but things were dire none the less

However, the rifts did not really close: they shrank. Instead of country spanning, many were the size of doorways. Through these doors anyone could pass, wandering into the infinite planes and dimensions of the multiverse. All the while, King Remus rules over Glyph with an iron fist as more and more creatures funnel into and out of these riftgates.


Themes

Everything is Strange: The world of Borikon was simple, having almost no magic or even sentient humanoids besides humans. The Ravaging changed all that; strange creatures, artifacts and magic were thrust upon Glyph, and the populace had to adapt or die. Still, people are confused and startled by the changes, and some are even curious.

Riftgates Can Be Anywhere: Riftgates come from everywhere and can lead to anywhere. The worst part is that riftgates pop up unexpectedly and close just as quickly. Your kitchen doorway could turn into a portal to Tarturus of an hour a day, but you just have to deal with that sort of thing in the city of Glyph.

Remus is Always Watching: King Remus IV is a cowardly, yet powerful man. Though he does not actively destroy the planar visitors, his Riftguards constantly patrol the streets of Glyph, striking at the first sign of trouble. Remus often initiates insane decrees, but those who do not follow them are quickly dealt away with. It is unknown how Remus has survived for so long, but many believe he has physically become part of the city.

The Planes are Infinite in All Ways: Riftgates lead to planes, and these planes can be almost anything you can imagine. Lava-filled lands of hell, majestic underwater kingdoms, realms of pitch darkness, or kingdoms composed entirely of tree people. The only people who have any semblance of knowing how the planes work are the people at the Planeswalker Guild, a giant organization that aids planar travelers in their explorations. It is a weird and wild multiverse out there, and it is yours to explore.

Glyph is Almost Infinite: Glyph is a giant city you could explore for weeks and never see the entirety of. Almost every sort of culture exists here, from bombed out slums full of goblins and rat men to floating towers full of angels and tengu. Sometimes planes bleed into Glyph, coloring and flavoring different parts of the city.

Races

Any race works in the Riftgate setting, considering the wide range of planes that creatures can come from. However, the most common races will be humans or plane-touched (Aasimar, Tieflings or Primals). Riftgate is about the normal discovering the abnormal, so more "exotic" races should be few and far between in a party.

Classes

All classes work equally well in Riftgate, including psionics. Keep in mind, however, that magic is relatively new to the native citizens of Glyph. Though they have come up with theories of magic over the last 100 years, it would be generous to say magical scholars are more than guessing.

The Divine

Gods are not particularly real in Riftgate. Instead, people praise spirits above all else. Many creatures like to declare themselves gods, but the spirits are what people follow and also what grants divine characters their magical abilities. Conflicts between believers of these different spirits are common, and many structure their whole life around serving them. The most praised spirits are as follows:

Spirits of the Ancestors: Probably the most popular spirit to worship, these spirits are the ancient people of long past. They are the ones that led to your birth, and you can usually trace direct lineage back to them. Worshipers of these spirits are often called Foundationists.

Spirits of the Wild: These spirits are the various forces that inhabit the wildernesses of the planes. Plant and animal spirits, primal spirits of weather and elemental spirits all fall under this worship. Worshipers of these spirits are often called Nativists.

Spirits of the Universe: These spirits are more of the primal powers of the universe, those which make up everything we see. Spirits of pure matter, psychic energy, dark force, gravity and more all fall under this. Worshipers of these spirits are often called Obediants.

Spirit of the Soul: This focuses more on inner spiritualism and enlightenment than reliance on others. To followers of this mindset, they are, themselves, the true source of devotion. Worshipers of these spirits are often called Centralists.

Spirit of Mankind: This worship places faith in both technology and the common man. It's the belief that all sentient creatures will prevail and move forth, aided by the ever pushing development of science, art and philosophy. Worshipers of these spirits are often called Humanists.

Spirit of Adventure: This is the closest to being atheistic as Glyph residents get. Instead of praising anything, they simply revel in experience, finding adventure, fortune and glory wherever they see fit. Worshipers of these spirits are often called Venturists.

Setting Rules

Guns are Allowed: In Riftgate, technology has managed to increase tenfold since the Ravaging. Now, most sectors of the city have access to blackpowder weaponry, as well as arcane electricity.

Riftkeys: Riftkeys are items that open specific riftgates by turning any rift into a rift to the desired dimension for about a day. The drawback is that once a riftkey is used, it remains dormant for an unspecified amount of time. Riftkeys come in various shapes and sizes, some not looking like keys at all.
 
There is a specific type of riftkey called a Passport. These rare keys, often given out by the Planeswalker guild, allow the owner to turn any riftgate on a plane into a passage to Glyph. Once they are used, they only take a day until they are recharged.

Pulpwood! Mint Condition class: The Adept

It's back, baby! I'm hitting Pulpwood! again, as I just realized how close it was to completion. Here is the much awaited Adept class!

Adept
Hit Dice: d8
Skill Points per Level: 5
Favored Save: Reflex
Class Skill: Stealth OR Perception

Adepts are the people who are willing to get their hands dirty, and are willing to do subversive deeds for the greater good. They live in the alleyways, the jungles and in old warehouses. They are masters of stealth, trickery, disguise and moor.
Adepts can be anything from a private investigator to a spy. They can be the big-game hunter or the scrappy-but-lovable pickpocket.

Talents

Silver Tongue- Your Adept is a master of false truths. When they want to make someone believe a lie the Adept is telling, you get a +2 bonus.
Improvement- If this Talent is improved, the bonus increases to +4.

Face Reading- Your Adept can easily read someone's intentions, even past a poker face. They can do a Perception Action Roll to see if someone is trying to hide an emotion.
Improvement- If this Talent is improved, a +2 bonus is added to the roll.

Pick Pocket- Your Adept is a master at picking pockets and cutting purses. When he does this activity, he gets a +2 bonus.
Improvement- If this Talent is improved, the bonus increases to +4.

Trap Expert- Your Adept has spent most of his life dealing with, and disarming, traps of all kinds. He gets a +2 bonus when attempting to locate and disarm traps.
Improvement- If this Talent is improved, the bonus increases to +4.

Infiltration- Your Adept can open almost any lock, and enter almost any building. He gets a +2 bonus when attempting to open locks.
Improvement- If this Talent is improved, the bonus increases to +4.

Exploit Weakness- Your Adept can easily see what will most likely harm an enemy or foe. This could be used to determine if an enemy can only be injured by a certain substance, such as werewolves and silver. The Adept rolls a Perception Action Roll, and if he succeeds, he figures out the weakness.
Improvement- If this Talent is improved, a +2 bonus is added to the roll.

Keen Senses- Your Adept has sharper senses than others. When taking this Talent, the player must choose one of the five senses (taste, touch, sight, hearing, smell). When doing a Perception Action Roll that involves one of those senses, they get a +2 bonus. Note that the bonus to sight does not replace or compound on the Trap Expert Talent. This Talent can be taken multiple times, with the player choosing a different sense each time.
Improvement- If this Talent is improved, the bonus increases to +4.

Backstab- Your Adept knows how to manuver around enemies, eventually finding a weak point to attack them. As a move action, the Adept can attempt a Stealth Action Roll to reach the weakpoint of a target. If they succeed, they can then immediately attack, doing 1d6 more damage on their strike then they normally would. If they fail the Stealth Action Roll, they can not attempt to backstab that enemy for the rest of the battle. The backstab only works on creatures with discernible anatomies.
Improvement- If this Talent is improved, the damage increases to 2d6.

Disguise- Your Adept is a master of disguise and concealment. Given an hour, the Adept can create a disguise to look like almost any person of their relative height and weight. However, the disguise is rough looking, so all close observers have a +2 bonus to their Perception Action Roll to see through the disguise.
Improvement- If this talent is improved, observers no longer gain the bonus to their roll, and the Adept can create disguises that vary his height by up to 6 inches and his weight by up to 100 pounds.

Ambush Sense- Your Adept is surprised by almost nothing. If the Adept is surprised during battle, he only suffers a -1 penalty to his initiative.
Improvement- If this Talent is improved, the Adept suffers no initiative penalty if they are surprised.

Basic 4e - Classes and Races

So, I guess I'm going to work on Basic 4e, because it seems like a fun thing to do. I know it seems as if every day I'm getting farther away from Pulpwood!, but it's always at the back of my mind. This project, however, seems somewhat short term.

So in thinking about how races and classes would be constructed, I worried how to take everything in a class and distill it down into a few core aspects. I also worried that the races were just not interesting enough.

However, I have come up with a solution in the form of Gamma World!

The latest Gamma World, which is technically 7th Edition, uses a reduced 4e as its base. It also has what I see as an elegant solution to the race/class problem.

In Gamma World, each character has two origins which grant them 3 powers each. They can choose from these powers as they level up, choosing either one origin or the other.

Why not do this with Basic 4e? Each race and class could have an ability, a power with some kind of variable usage or even a small boost, and they can choose a race ability or class ability at certain benchmarks. In between, they can gain things such as generic powers and stat boosts.

How Paragon Paths and Epic Destinies will play into this, I'm not sure. I'm also uncertain on how to flesh out some races, such as humans, but we'll have to see.

Got a Little Carried Away

Remember that 'Basic 4e' thing? Well, I've started adapting the classes for it, and it turns out.... it's really easy to do.

I have finished the classes from Player's Handbook 1 and I'm now working on Player's Handbook 2. I have also decided to throw in the Runepriest and the Seeker. I am going the way of Pars Fortuna as suggesting race-as-class, but also have a system to separate them. So for example, the Tiefling in pure B/X mode would have all the Warlock abilities. In "hybrid" mode, the Tiefling and the Warlock become separate  Humans have 6 classes (the four classics, along with paladin and ranger).

Things are still up in the air on some fronts. I think I'm going to have a skill system, but it will be along the lines of LofTP in that it is based on a d6 roll with a reduced skill list. How powers work, paragon powers, epic destinies and the possibility of feats is still undetermined.

It's exciting though!