Sword & Planet: The Mystic...

Good Morning, All:

This is the third of three posts that describe the basics of the character classes I'm proposing for a Planetary Romance campaign. This particular post describes the Mystic, this being a character who resolves challenges through the use of mentalism, mysticism and applied willpower. The rarest of the character concepts, there are still a good number of Mystics present in various Planetary Romance series, particularly the Dray Prescot of Antares/Kregen series by Ken Bulmer.

The Mystic
As a Mystic, you dabble in strange and unusual powers, harnessing forces of the mind that others cannot or dare not pursue. You may hold any of a number of positions in or along the fringe of society, but your mystic powers set you apart from your fellow man.

Prime Attribute: Charisma, Wisdom
Starting Hit Dice: 3d6, +(3x Con modifier)
Hit Dice/Level: 1d6/level (gains 1 hp/level after 7th)
Armor/Weapons Permitted: None/Any one weapon group (see Warrior for details).
Saving Throw Bonus: Mystics gain a +2 bonus on Wisdom-based saving throws.
Skills: 2 + Int modifier

Table: The Mystic

Level	HD	BAB	DEF	Special
1	3d6	+1	+3	Profession, Mystic powers
2	4d6	+2	+3
3	5d6	+2	+3
4	6d6	+3	+4
5	7d6	+3	+4
6	8d6	+4	+4
7	9d6	+4	+5
8	9d6+1	+5	+5
9	9d6+2	+5	+5
10	9d6+3	+6	+6

Table: Mystic Powers Known

Level	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th
1	2	—	—	—	—
2	2	—	—	—	—
3	3	—	—	—	—
4	3	1	—	—	—
5	4	2	—	—	—
6	4	2	1	—	—
7	5	3	2	—	—
8	5	3	2	1	—
9	5	4	3	2	—
10	5	4	3	2	1

Special
The Mystic's core special ability is Mystic Powers.

Mystic Powers: A Mystic gains mystic powers which are selected from the Mystic power list. Each power defines how often it can be used, and these powers are not forgotten by the Mystic once they have been used. A Mystic’s selection of powers is extremely limited. A Mystic begins play knowing two 1st-level powers of your choice. At each new Mystic level, he potentially gains one or more new powers, as indicated on Table: Mystic Powers Known. These new powers can be common powers chosen from the Mystic power list, or they can be unusual powers that the Mystic has gained some understanding of by study. The Mystic can’t use this method of power acquisition to learn powers at a faster rate, however.

Upon reaching 2nd level, and at every even-numbered Mystic level after that (4th, 6th, and so on), a Mystic can choose to learn a new power in place of one he already knows. In effect, the Mystic “loses” the old power in exchange for the new one. The new power’s level must be the same as that of the power being exchanged, and it must be at least one level lower than the highest-level Mystic power the Mystic can use. A Mystic may swap only a single power at any given level, and must choose whether or not to swap the power at the same time that he gains new powers known for the level.

Profession: At 1st level, the Mystic selects one of the following professions. He immediately gains the profession's special ability, as weill as the profession's skill as a bonus skill.

• Adept: The Adept is a mystic whose mastery of mysticism derives from the efforts of his own mind and body as they work in harmony.
• Cultist: The Cultist is a student of long-lost lore which might best be left unknown.
• Doxologist: The Doxologist derives his mystical power from the inner peace he derives from his religious practices.
• Oracle: The Oracle is gifted with incredible insight into the future.
• Pretender: The Pretender disguises his true mystic talents behind the banter and pageantry of a carnival act or side show.

Table: Mystic Professions

Profession	Skill	Special
Adept	Athletics	Body Mastery: Once per rest, the Adept can spend an action to heal himself for 1d6 hitpoints, plus his CLM and his Wisdom modifier.
Cultist	Lore	Psychic Vampirism: Once per rest, the Cultist may spend action to "steal" the vitality of someone whom he touches to regain another use of an expended power. The target must succeed in a Difficult (DC 20) Constitution ability check or suffer 1d4 hitpoints of damage per level of the Mystic power that is being renewed. This drain counts as a non-lethal or subdual attack. If the target succeeds, he loses no hitpoints and the Cultist does not regain another use of the expended power.
Doxologist	Persuasion	Calm Single Creature: Once per rest, the Doxologist may spend an action to mystically calm a single agitated creature within thirty feet, suppressing any extreme emotion such as rage, fear or joy for three rounds. The affected creature cannot take violent action or be destructive until attacked, although the creature is allowed to attempt a Difficult (DC 20) Wisdom ability check to resist this effect.
Oracle	Perception	Minor Divination: Once per rest, the Oracle may take one minute to consult a divinatory tool (runes, cards, dice, bones, entrails, clouds, etc.) for some hint as to the outcome of a particular action that will be performed within the next half hour. If he succeeds in a Difficult (DC 20) Wisdom ability check, the Oracle knows whether that act will bring good, bad, both good and bad, or neutral results.
Pretender	Bluff	Mental Illusion: Once per rest, the Pretender may spend an action to create an illusory image within the mind of a single target within thirty feet. The mental illusion lasts only three rounds, is silent, and cannot exceed ten feet long in any direction. If the target succeeds in a Difficult (DC 20) Wisdom ability check, they can see through the illusion and are not affected.

Once again, I've chosen the professions based on iconic character concepts from Planetary Romance novels. These are not intended to reflect common character options from a fantasy setting, but you always have the freedom to expand the list in that direction if you so desired. Please let me know what you think.

With Regards,
Flynn

Sword & Planet: The Expert...

Good Morning, All:

This is the second of three posts that describe the basics of the character classes I'm proposing for a Planetary Romance campaign. This particular post describes the Expert, this being a character who resolves challenges through the use of agility and intellect. On those occasions when a protagonist of a Planetary Romance series has a companion for a time, that companion is often an Expert.

The Expert
As an Expert, you are the master of your craft, a truly skilled individual against whom few can compare. You may come from a number of professions, but when push comes to shove, your skill mastery is your saving grace.

Prime Attribute: Dexterity, Intelligence
Starting Hit Dice: 3d8, +(3x Con modifier)
Hit Dice/Level: 1d8/level (gains 2 hp/level after 7th)
Armor/Weapons Permitted: Light/Any two weapon groups (see Warrior for details).
Saving Throw Bonus: Experts gain a +2 bonus on Dexterity-based saving throws.
Skills: 4 + Int modifier

Table: The Expert

Level	HD	BAB	DEF	Special
1	3d8	+2	+4	Profession, Skill Mastery (1/rest)
2	4d8	+3	+4
3	5d8	+3	+4
4	6d8	+4	+5	Skill Mastery (2/rest)
5	7d8	+5	+5
6	8d8	+6	+5
7	9d8	+6		+6	Skill Mastery (3/rest)
8	9d8+2	+7	+6
9	9d8+4	+8	+6
10	9d8+6	+9	+7	Skill Mastery (4/rest)

Special
The Expert's core special ability is Skill Mastery.

Skill Mastery: At 1st level, the Expert selects one skill from among those he knows. Once per rest, when attempting a skill check with their skill of mastery, the Expert can elect to roll two d20s at the same time and take the better of the two rolls. This increases to twice per rest at 4th level, three times per rest at 7th level and four times per rest at 10th level.

Profession: At 1st level, the Expert selects one of the following professions. He immediately gains the profession's special ability, as weill as the profession's skill as a bonus skill.

• Assassin: The Assassin is an Expert at killing without being seen, be it for money, duty or honor.
• Diplomat: The Diplomat is highly skilled at negotiations, particularly with the aristocracy.
• Healer: The Healer is an Expert at tending to the wounds of others.
• Sage: The Sage is reknowned for their expertise on a single given subject.
• Warden: The Warden is an Expert at surviving in a specific terrain, and is trained in combating creatures from that area.

Table: Expert Professions

Profession	Skill	Special
Assassin	Stealth	Sneak Attack: When attacking a flat-footed opponent, the Assassin gains an additional +2 attack bonus, and his damage is doubled.
Diplomat	Persuasion	High Society: The Diplomat gains a +3 bonus on Bluff and Persuasion skill checks when interacting with members of the highest levels of society.
Healer	Healing	Improved First Aid: A Healer can apply First Aid up to an hour after combat, rather than be limited to immediately after combat.
Sage	Lore	Defining Interest: The Sage selects a defining interest, and all Lore skill checks related to this interest gain a +3 bonus.
Warden	Survival	Terrain Mastery: The Warden selects a specific terrain type: Aquatic, Desert, Forest, Hills, Mountains, Plains or Underground. He gains a +1 bonus on attack and damage rolls against creatures native to that terrain type, and gains a +2 bonus on Survival skill checks made in that terrain.

As before, I've chosen the professions based on iconic character concepts from Planetary Romance novels. These are not intended to reflect common character options from a fantasy setting, although you could expand the list in that direction if you so desired. It's important to me that I could identify at least one character in a Planetary Romance novel as fitting a given profession before I included it on the list. As always, please let me know what you think.

With Regards,
Flynn

Sword & Planet: The Warrior...

Good Morning, All:

This is the first of three posts that describe the basics of the character classes I'm proposing for a Planetary Romance campaign. This particular post describes the Warrior, this being a character who resolves challenges through the use of physical force and endurance. In the end, almost every protagonist of a Planetary Romance series is a Warrior.

The Warrior
As a Warrior, you are a true combatant, a force to be reckoned with on the field of battle. You may come from a number of professions, but when push comes to shove, your skill at arms saves the day.

Prime Attribute: Constitution, Strength
Starting Hit Dice: 3d10, +(3x Con modifier)
Hit Dice/Level: 1d10/level (gains 3 hp/level after 7th)
Armor/Weapons Permitted: All/All.
Saving Throw Bonus: Warriors gain a +2 bonus on Constitution-based saving throws.
Skills: 2 + Int modifier

Table: The Warrior

Level	HD	BAB	DEF	Special
1	3d10	+3	+7	Profession, Weapon Mastery (+1 atk, +0 dmg)
2	4d10	+4	+7
3	5d10	+5	+7
4	6d10	+6	+8	Weapon Mastery (+1 atk, +2 dmg)
5	7d10	+7	+8
6	8d10	+8	+8
7	9d10	+9	+9	Weapon Mastery (+2 atk, +2 dmg)
8	9d10+3	+10	+9
9	9d10+6	+11	+9
10	9d10+9	+12	+10	Weapon Mastery (+2 atk, +4 dmg)

Special
The Warrior's core special ability is Weapon Mastery.

Weapon Mastery: At 1st level, the Warrior selects one weapon group from the following list: Axes, Bows, Claw Weapons, Crossbows, Flails and Chains, Heavy Blades, Light Blades, Maces and Clubs, Personal Firearms, Picks and Hammers, Polearms, Slings and Thrown Weapons, or Spears and Lances. When using a weapon that belongs to this group, the Warrior gains a +1 bonus to attack rolls. This bonus increases to +2 at 7th level. At 4th level, the Warrior gains a +2 bonus to damage with a successful attack from a weapon of his chosen group. This bonus increases to +4 at 10th level.

Profession: At 1st level, the Warrior selects one of the following professions. He immediately gains the profession's special ability, as weill as the profession's skill as a bonus skill.

• Equestrian: The Equestrian is a skilled rider most at home in the saddle. Despite the name, the Equestrian's mounts are not necessarily horses or even horse-like, depending on the setting.
• Martial Artist: The Martial Artist is skilled at unarmed combat, and continuously hones his body to its peak physical condition.
• Mercenary: The Mercenary sells his weapon talents to those willing and able to pay for them, and is skilled at holding the line against attackers.
• Outlander: The Outlander is typically a tribal or nomadic warrior more comfortable with the wilds than the confines of civilization. Most Outlanders are accomplished hunters.
• Pilot: The Pilot is a master of his ship, whether the setting uses airships, sailing ships or dune ships (that "sail" across the surface of a silt-like desert on skids and/or runners.)
• Tactician: The Tactician is highly skilled at massive battles, and inspires courage to those around him.

Table: Warrior Professions

Profession	Skill	Special
Equestrian	Riding	Mounted Combat: Once per round, the Equestrian can negate an attack against his mount by making a Riding check against the attack roll.
Martial Artist	Athletics	Unarmed Combat: The Martial Artist can use his body as a weapon, inflicting 1d6 with a successful unarmed melee attack.
Mercenary	Streetwise	First Strike: Once per round, the Mercenary receives a free melee attack against an opponent that moves into the range of his melee weapon. This attack is resolved immediately, before the opponent finishes his action.
Outlander	Survival	Hunter: On a successful melee attack against a non-humanoid creature more than twice the size of the Outlander, he gains an amount of bonus damage equal to his level.
Pilot	Piloting	Shipborn: The Pilot gains a +1 DEF when fighting on a ship, and ignores any movement penalties for fighting on a slippery or pitching deck.
Tactician	Tactics	Inspire Courage: Once per rest, the Tactician can spend an action to inspire his comrades. For the next five rounds, all characters within thirty feet of the Tactician gain a +1 bonus to saving throws, attacks and melee damage.

I've chosen the professions based on iconic character concepts from Planetary Romance novels. These are not intended to reflect common character options from a fantasy setting, although you could expand the list in that direction if you so desired. For me, however, I wanted to stick with concepts that were closer to the source of inspiration. Please let me know what you think.

With Regards,
Flynn

Sword & Planet: Thoughts on Classes...

Good Morning, All:

When regarding character classes for a Planetary Romance setting, it quickly becomes obvious that the usual Fighter/Cleric/Magic-User/Thief selections detract from the setting and generally do not make sense when considering the source material and common characteristics of the genre. This puts us in the position of having to come at character classes from a different perspective. My personal favorite, in regards to character archetypes, are those espoused by the Generic Classes from WOTC's Unearthed Arcana. For purposes of discussion here, I'm going to call them Warrior, Expert and Mystic.

The Warrior
The Warrior is essentially the basic combatant of the trio of generic classes. Based on his selection of skills and profession, he can represent any of a number of diverse character concepts such as a crusader, a duelist, a hunter, a soldier or a tribesman. He prefers to address challenges through physical confrontation. His Prime Requisites are Constitution and Strength.

The Expert
The Expert can be a jack-of-all-trades or a master of a limited area of expertise. Based on his selection of skills and profession, he can focus on diplomatic matters, stealth, combat, wilderness survival, thievery, or any of a number of critical tasks. He prefers to address challenges through the application of skill and agility. His Prime Requisites are Dexterity and Intelligence.

The Mystic
The Mystic is a practitioner of mentalism and mysticism, and has an array of magical powers at her beck and call. Based on his selection of skills and profession, he can be a healer or an enchanter, a shaman or a cultist. He prefers to address challenges through magical means. His Prime Requisites are Charisma and Wisdom.

Before I go into any great depth regarding these three classes, I wanted to capture some of my thoughts on the character creation process, and the rules system in general.

At its core, the system that I would propose using is heavily inspired by various retro-clones, with a number of innovations as required to meet the needs of the genre. Many of the underlying suggestions for changes and such that I'm going to present may appear fairly radical. That's simply because they are. Very little of what I'm going to suggest will be new. However, these suggestions will often be fairly common variants in terms of rules or approaches that may lead people into areas they are not comfortable with, rules-wise. Let me state up front that I understand discomfort may happen, and there's no compelling reason that you have to do things the way I'm going to present them. You can always take what you like from the suggestions I am offering, and leave the rest behind. After all, for this mini-project, that's what I'm doing. Now, with that said, it's time to delve into character creation a little.

My overall concept of character creation is simple:

Character Creation Steps

1. Generate Ability Scores: Roll 3d6 six times and record them in order: Charisma, Constitution, Dexterity, Intelligence, Strength, Wisdom. (Or whatever order you want to arrange the stats in; I just went alphabetical for a change of pace.)
2. Choose Race: Select your character's race from those offered by the setting.
3. Choose Character Class: Decide if you are playing a Warrior, an Expert or a Mystic.
4. Choose Profession: Choose your character's profession. (This was inspired by FantasyCraft and Stars Without Number.)
5. Choose Skills: Choose your character's skills.
6. Choose Powers (Mystics only): Choose your character's starting powers from the Mystic power list.
7. Choose Equipment: Choose your character's equipment.
8. Determine Basic Stats: Determine your character's basic stats, like height, weight, personality, saves, etc.
9. Choose A Name: Name your character something appropriate to the setting.
10. Begin Play: Go forth, save a princess, adventure and earn some experience.

The concept of Professions was intended to replace subclasses, character kits, variant class features, 3E feats, prestige classes, paragon paths, what-have-you. In essence, you choose a Profession, which determines one of your skill selections and grants you a special class feature. That way, characters of the same class could still have slightly different abilities, but you don't have to spend a lot of time during character creation making a ton of different choices for your character (unless, of course, you have to choose powers as a Mystic.) I really don't want more than five or six different Professions per class, and will likely take my cue from the characters in various Planetary Romance novels I've read. The goal here is to give some diversity without burdening the player with too many options, thus avoiding "option paralysis" and spending an entire gaming session building a character.

So, what do you think of what you've heard so far? Do you have any thoughts, comments or suggestions you'd like to offer at this time? Before we can get too much further in character creation, though, I do want to take a few minutes to go over some combat system changes first. That, however, can wait until my next post.

Enjoy,
Flynn

Class Balance: The High/Medium/Low Method...

Good Afternoon, All:

When I am developing new classes within a d20-based context, I tend to maintain a balance of class abilities by evaluating a class in three different areas: combat abilities, magical abilities and skill/feature abilities. I rate them all in terms of High, Medium or Low. I make one High, one Medium and one Low, unless the class is a balance in all three areas, in which case they are all Medium. Using this process, I can quickly evaluate whether a new character class is overpowered or underpowered to me, simply by looking at these three elements.

In terms of combat ability, I use the following standards:

High - Attacks, Hitpoints, Weapons and Armor as a fighter/fighting-man.
Medium - Attacks, Hitpoints, Weapons and Armor as a cleric.
Low - Attacks, Hitpoints, Weapons and Armor as a wizard/magic-user.

In terms of magical ability, I find that the following works well:

High - Casts spells as a wizard/magic-user.
Medium - Casts spells as a wizard/magic-user of ¾ level.
Low - Cannot cast spells at all.

In terms of skill/feature ability, I assume that one class feature is roughly equivalent to two initial skills/skillpoints under the D20 System, or one skill under a skills-light system like MyD20 Lite. I like the following standards:

High - Starts with five or more class features. (In MyD20 Lite, that means one base talent and four skills.)
Medium - Starts with around three-four class features. (In MyD20 Lite, that means one base talent and three skills.)
Low - Starts with two or less class features. (In MyD20 Lite, that means one base talent and two skills.)

In addition, High combat ability typically means saving throws made to withstand physical damage are easier, while High magical ability emphasizes better saving throws to resist mental effects, and High skill/feature ability places a premium on saving throws that avoid consequences by not being there (effectively dodging out of the way or utilizing good reflexes).

With that in mind, I have found that I can define seven distinct class types in terms of general abilities under this system:

Class	Combat	Magic	Features
Fighter	High	Medium	Low
Paladin or Ranger	High	Low	Medium
Cleric or Druid	Medium	High	Low
Thief	Medium	Low	High
Adept or Scholar	Low	Medium	High
Wizard	Low	High	Medium
Bard or Battle Sorcerer	Medium	Medium	Medium

Looking these options over, the one class concept that doesn’t get as much play as others is the Adept or Scholar, who sucks in combat and has moderate magical talent, but more special abilities or skills than other classes. I think the other class concepts get represented at least once in most systems, if not twice. So, what do you think of an Adept/Scholar character concept? Would it be viable? Would it be fun?

Looking Forward To Hearing Your Thoughts,
Flynn

The Madlands Campaign: Thoughts on Class Concepts...

Good Evening, All:

When building a new campaign setting, I like to consider the roles of the various classes within the setting. Even with class-less systems such as Savage Worlds or Traveller, I tend to think of classes as archetypal concepts for my fantasy campaigns, particularly since my audience will tend to, based on their experiences with D&D and similar class-based games. Swords & Wizardry presents the basic warrior, divine caster and arcane caster as class concepts, while later games introduce stealthy skill-masters and other, lesser followed roles. For a campaign setting, it helps to consider the role of each class concept within the context of your milieu, so that you can offer suggestions for players as they build their characters.

For the role of the warrior, I almost automatically assume that at least one example of each of the following exist:

1. Mercenary (great for military-oriented warriors)
2. Weapon Master/Specialized Order (for those monks or sword masters)
3. Slayers (such as monster hunters or giant-killing rangers)

When considering divine casters, I presume that there's an order or priesthood for each major religion, which I usually base off of individual deities within an overarching pantheon. (I have occasionally used churches and similar organizations to good effect, but for the most part, I use deities following the Greyhawk model.) Aside from these priesthoods, I also assume the following:

1. Holy Warriors (for paladins and anti-paladins both)
2. Wilderness Priests (to cover tribal priests, druids and/or other shamanic types)

With arcane casters, my views on different concepts may seem to be a bit more limited. I often provide something in my campaigns to cover the following, though:

1. Artificers (for those that like magic items)
2. War Mages or Battle Sorcerers (for those that enjoy combat and fireballs)
3. High Mages (to provide for an elite brotherhood of mages that seek magical lore above all else)

Finally, I like to provide some basic concepts for sneaky guys and skill-master types. My small list of must-have concepts often include:

1. Treasure Hunters (those thieves who use their skills for dungeoneering and other adventure-worthy purposes)
2. Experts (for sages, scholars and highly skilled craftsmen)
3. Spies (often portrayed as secret societies devoted to the common good)

Note that I may only have one class to support multiple roles in terms of game mechanics, but here I'm talking about different groups in the campaign setting itself to reflect each of the different concepts. The mercenary and duelist may both be Fighting Men, for example, but the Circle of Mithril represents all officially sanctioned mercenary bands within the Duar Protectorate, whereas the Rakes of Port Salvation are a recent cultural movement among young nobles and their retainers in that port city who practice the code duello and refine their skills with the blade between encounters. Same class, different flavor, and in my opinion, a richer feel to the campaign in terms of background and gaming experience.

What kind of concepts do you feel are core to your milieu or gaming experience? What kind of character class concepts and roles do you prefer to pursue?

With Regards,
Flynn

MyD20 Lite Optional Classes: The Dungeoneer...

Good Afternoon, All:

The Dungeoneer is the last of the three optional character classes left out of the original MyD20 Lite rules. It embodies the Mage-Rogue concept as a single class, with a greater emphasis on skills in exchange for a slower spell progression.

Dungeoneer

The Dungeoneer embodies the arcane thief, trading some of the Mage's aptitude for arcane magics in order to gain some of the Rogue's skill expertise. Dungeoneers are commonly found among cultures that emphasize both magic and education, and tend to resolve conflicts through a balance between reasoning and evasion.
Hit Dice: d6 (12 + Con Modifier at 1st Level, 4 + Con Modifier per level from 2nd to 9th level, gain 1 hp/level at 10th and later levels)
Prime Attribute: Intelligence
Saving Throw Bonuses: +2 Reflex, +1 Will
Starting Skills: 4 + Int Modifier. The following skills are suggested for a Dungeoneer character, but not required: Acrobatics, Athletics, Commerce, Crafts (any), Deception, Legerdemain, Lore (Arcana, Geography, History, Local, Nature), Perception, Perform (any), Persuasion, Stealth.
Starting Weapon Groups: 2.
Starting Armor/Shields: Light Armor, Light Shields
Class Features: The following are considered class features for the Dungeoneer. When a target is required to make a saving throw against a given class feature, the Difficulty of the saving throw is equal to a base of 10, plus the Dungeoneer's Class Level Modifier and his Intelligence bonus, if any.
Arcane Spells: The Dungeoneer has developed the ability to cast arcane spells, in a manner similar to the Mage. The Dungeoneer table below captures the Spellpoints and Maximum Spell Level for this class.
Talents: At 1st level and every three levels thereafter, the Dungeoneer may select a talent from the lists given under "Talents for Everyone", "Talents for Spellcasters", Mages and Rogues.

Table: The Dungeoneer

Level	HD	BAB	Max Lvl	SPs	Class Features
1	2d8	+0	1	0*	Talent, Arcane Spells
2	3d8	+1	1	1
3	4d8	+2	1	3
4	5d8	+3	2	6	Talent
5	6d8	+3	2	9
6	7d8	+4	2	13
7	8d8	+5	3	18	Talent
8	9d8	+6	3	24
9	10d8	+6	3	30
10	10d8+2	+7	4	37	Talent
11	10d8+4	+8	4	45
12	10d8+6	+9	4	54
13	10d8+8	+9	5	63	Talent
14	10d8+10	+10	5	73
15	10d8+12	+11	5	84
16	10d8+14	+12	6	96	Talent
17	10d8+16	+12	6	108
18	10d8+18	+13	6	121
19	10d8+20	+14	7	135	Talent
20	10d8+22	+15	7	150

NOTE: A 1st level Dungeoneer can cast spells only if he has bonus spellpoints due to a high Intelligence.

With Regards,
Flynn

MyD20 Lite Optional Classes: The Crusader...

Good Afternoon, All:

The Crusader is the second of the three optional character classes left out of the original MyD20 Lite rules. It embodies the Priest-Warrior concept as a single class, with a stronger martial prowess over a Priest in exchange for a slower spell progression.

Crusader

The Crusader embodies the militant divine spellcaster, trading some of the Priest's aptitude for divine magics in order to gain some of the Warrior's combat prowess. Crusaders are commonly found among cultures that promote both divine power and martial prowess, and tend to resolve conflicts through a balance between enlightenment and strength.
Hit Dice: d10 (20 + Con Modifier at 1st Level, 6 + Con Modifier per level from 2nd to 9th level, gain 3 hp/level at 10th and later levels)
Prime Attribute: Wisdom
Saving Throw Bonuses: +2 Fortitude, +1 Will
Starting Skills: 3 + Int Modifier. The following skills are suggested for a Sorcerer character, but not required: Athletics, Beastkeeping, Crafts (any), Heal, Lore (Engineering, Geography, History, Nature, Nobility, Religion, Tactics), Perception, Perform (Oratory), Survival, Transport (Land Mounts).
Starting Weapon Groups: 4.
Starting Armor/Shields: All Armor, All Shields
Class Features: The following are considered class features for the Crusader. When a target is required to make a saving throw against a given class feature, the Difficulty of the saving throw is equal to a base of 10, plus the Crusader's Class Level Modifier and his Wisdom bonus, if any.
Divine Spells: The Crusader has developed the ability to cast divine spells, in a manner similar to the Priest. The Crusader table below captures the Spellpoints and Maximum Spell Level for this class.
Talents: At 1st level and every three levels thereafter, the Crusader may select a talent from the lists given under "Talents for Everyone", "Talents for Spellcasters", Priests and Warriors.

Table: The Crusader

Level	HD	BAB	Max Lvl	SPs	Class Features
1	2d10	+1	1	0*	Talent, Divine Spells
2	3d10	+2	1	1
3	4d10	+3	1	3
4	5d10	+4	2	6	Talent
5	6d10	+5	2	9
6	7d10	+6	2	13
7	8d10	+7	3	18	Talent
8	9d10	+8	3	24
9	10d10	+9	3	30
10	10d10+3	+10	4	37	Talent
11	10d10+6	+11	4	45
12	10d10+9	+12	4	54
13	10d10+12	+13	5	63	Talent
14	10d10+15	+14	5	73
15	10d10+18	+15	5	84
16	10d10+21	+16	6	96	Talent
17	10d10+24	+17	6	108
18	10d10+27	+18	6	121
19	10d10+30	+19	7	135	Talent
20	10d10+33	+20	7	150

NOTE: A 1st level Crusader can cast spells only if he has bonus spellpoints due to a high Wisdom.

Next time, I'll finish up with the Dungeoneer, the Mage-Rogue class.

With Regards,
Flynn

MyD20 Lite Optional Classes: The Sorcerer...

Good Afternoon, All:

When I originally conceived of MyD20 Lite, I pictured some additional classes beyond the four core concept classes. In essence, they captured the Mage-Warrior, Priest-Warrior and Mage-Thief multiclass concepts as single classes, at least in terms of the rules. All of them were partial casters, meaning that they shared a slower spell progression, but the trade-off was that they advanced faster than standard multiclass characters.

The next three posts contain the basic rules for these classes, in case you are interested in using them for either your MyD20 Lite games or modifying them for other retro-variants.

Sorcerer

The Sorcerer embodies the militant arcane spellcaster, trading some of the Mage's aptitude for arcane magics in order to gain some of the Warrior's combat potential. Sorcerers are commonly found among cultures that emphasize both magic and martial prowess, and tend to resolve conflicts through a balance between reasoning and strength.
Hit Dice: d8 (16 + Con Modifier at 1st Level, 5 + Con Modifier per level from 2nd to 9th level, gain 2 hp/level at 10th and later levels)
Prime Attribute: Intelligence
Saving Throw Bonuses: +1 Fortitude, +1 Reflex, +1 Will
Starting Skills: 3 + Int Modifier. The following skills are suggested for a Sorcerer character, but not required: Athletics, Beastkeeping, Crafts (any), Lore (Arcana, Engineering, Geography, History, Nature, Tactic), Perception, Survival, Transport (Land Mounts).
Starting Weapon Groups: 2.
Starting Armor/Shields: Light Armor, Light Shields
Class Features: The following are considered class features for the Sorcerer. When a target is required to make a saving throw against a given class feature, the Difficulty of the saving throw is equal to a base of 10, plus the Sorcerer's Class Level Modifier and his Intelligence bonus, if any.
Arcane Spells: The Sorcerer has developed the ability to cast arcane spells, in a manner similar to the Mage. The Sorcerer table below captures the Spellpoints and Maximum Spell Level for this class.
Talents: At 1st level and every three levels thereafter, the Sorcerer may select a talent from the lists given under "Talents for Everyone", "Talents for Spellcasters", Mages and Warriors.

Table: The Sorcerer

Level	HD	BAB	Max Lvl	SPs	Class Features
1	2d8	+0	1	0*	Talent, Arcane Spells
2	3d8	+1	1	1
3	4d8	+2	1	3
4	5d8	+3	2	6	Talent
5	6d8	+3	2	9
6	7d8	+4	2	13
7	8d8	+5	3	18	Talent
8	9d8	+6	3	24
9	10d8	+6	3	30
10	10d8+2	+7	4	37	Talent
11	10d8+4	+8	4	45
12	10d8+6	+9	4	54
13	10d8+8	+9	5	63	Talent
14	10d8+10	+10	5	73
15	10d8+12	+11	5	84
16	10d8+14	+12	6	96	Talent
17	10d8+16	+12	6	108
18	10d8+18	+13	6	121
19	10d8+20	+14	7	135	Talent
20	10d8+22	+15	7	150

NOTE: A 1st level Sorcerer can cast spells only if he has bonus spellpoints due to a high Intelligence.

Next time around, I'll cover the Crusader, the Priest-Warrior mix.

With Regards,
Flynn