I did a short series of posts about why adding new classes is not necessary, culminating in adding a new class because I felt that one was necessary. I'm here to contradict myself once more. I guess that makes this part four of that series.
In the second part I zoomed in on a few standout classes, one of which being the Ranger. I alluded to the idea that the Ranger is to the Wilderness as the Thief is to the Dungeon. I stand by this and have come to wonder if the two really do need to be separate classes at all.
If the Ranger is just a different version of the same class as Thief, then I want to avoid the same pitfalls of binary choices that I criticize in the aforementioned series of posts. This won't be an on/off switch where you choose either Thief or Ranger, this will be a more malleable class. In keeping with this, the skills included aren't just for these two archetypes, but for other skill-based character types too.
Some of you will be familiar with the My Thief, My Way! mechanics from the Crawl! 6 fanzine. You'll recognize this as an expanded and modified version of that concept. If not, you should get the Crawl! zines. They're good, all of them.
This post also contains some refined versions of skills from my Ranger, which should perhaps replace the original clunkier versions. Specifically, Called Shot and Set Snare have been streamlined. All of my inclusions are explained at the bottom of the post - if you have questions about why I've done things a certain way, check that section.
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SPECIALIST
Instead of being a standard Thief, a player may instead choose to be a Specialist. At 1st level, a Specialist chooses from the list of Specialist Skills, selecting:
- 4 skills as Primary skills
- 4 skills as Major skills
- 3 skills as Minor skills
- 2 skills as Misc skills
All remaining Specialist Skills are foregone and considered untrained (d10 with no bonus).
Specialists still get the Thief's Luck and Wits ability, but do not have access to Thieves' Cant unless they choose at least 10 of the original Thief skills.
The chosen skills increase in ability as the Specialist levels up. Note that non-magic skills gain a bonus to the roll, while magic skills increase in die size with level - this is to represent the difficulty in learning magical skills, their obscure nature, and the usual restriction of those abilities to Wizards only. This keeps compatibility with Dice Chain Competence.
| Level: | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Primary | +3 | +5 | +7 | +8 | +9 | +11 | +12 | +13 | +14 | +15 |
| Major | +1 | +3 | +5 | +7 | +8 | +9 | +10 | +11 | +12 | +13 |
| Minor | +0 | +1 | +2 | +3 | +4 | +5 | +6 | +7 | +8 | +9 |
| Misc | +0 | +0 | +1 | +2 | +3 | +4 | +5 | +6 | +7 | +8 |
| Level: | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Primary | d12 | d14 | d14 | d16 | d16 | d20 | d20 | d20 | d20 | d24 |
| Major | d12 | d12 | d14 | d14 | d16 | d16 | d20 | d20 | d20 | d20 |
| Minor | d10 | d10 | d12 | d12 | d14 | d14 | d16 | d16 | d20 | d20 |
| Misc | d10 | d10 | d10 | d12 | d12 | d14 | d14 | d16 | d16 | d20 |
Specialist Skill List
Backstab: As DCC RPG p. 34
Sneak silently: As DCC RPG p. 35
Hide in shadows: As DCC RPG p. 35
Pick pocket: As DCC RPG p. 35
Climb sheer surfaces: As DCC RPG p. 35
Pick lock: As DCC RPG p. 35
Find trap: As DCC RPG p. 36
Disable trap: As DCC RPG p. 36
Forge document: As DCC RPG p. 36
Disguise self: As DCC RPG p. 36
Read languages: As DCC RPG p. 36
Handle poison: As DCC RPG p. 36
Cast spell from scroll (Magic skill): As DCC RPG p. 36
Called shot (+AGI): Select a desired result from Crit Table II (Thieves) and attack as if the opponent's AC were that many points higher, e.g. achieving result 5 against an AC of 12 requires an attack roll of 17 and any less is a miss.
Navigate (+INT): Applies when travelling to avoid getting lost, or when using the stars to cross seas and deserts. Crossing plains is DC 5, forests or mountains DC 10, swamps and thick jungles DC 15. Travel along a path or road is trivial. Using the stars to find your heading is DC 10 on a clear night, DC 15 on a cloudy night with visible moon, and DC 20 on a cloudy night without visible moon. These DCs are for navigation checks approximately once per day of travel.
Hunt +AGI: Finding and catching a particular insect or tiny animal is DC 5. Hunting small prey to feed one for a day is DC 10. Hunting game to feed the party for a day is DC 15 (up to reasonable party sizes). This takes the better part of a day but can be done while travelling.
Gather +INT: Foraging food to feed one for a day is DC 5. Finding medicinal herbs is DC 10. Finding a rare magical ingredient is DC 20. This takes the better part of a day but can be done while travelling.
- Poison: 1 die, medicinal herb
- Paralysis: 2 dice, medicinal herb
- Disease: 2 dice, medicinal herb
- Blindness or deafness: 3 dice, rare magical ingredient
- Organ damage: 3 dice, rare magical ingredient, 1 day's rest
- Broken limbs: 4 dice, rare magical ingredient, a splint, 1 day's rest
Survive +INT: Predicting weather changes is DC 5. Constructing shelter (including instructing the party to assist) with readily available materials is DC 5 to protect from sun, DC 10 to protect from rain and DC 15 to protect from cold. Increase the DC by 10 if materials are not readily available. Finding water in the desert is DC 20.
Track +INT: Following recent tracks is DC 5. Tracking a stealthy creature is DC 15. Following intentionally obscured tracks is DC 20.
Cover tracks +AGI: Covering or brushing over footprints in the ground is generally DC 10. Crossing a river drops the DC by 5, light vegetation increases the DC by 5 and thick vegetation increases the DC by 20. The tracker must make successful a check to follow you, though the DC depends on your success (see Track).
Set snare +INT: Setting a snare requires some basic materials (the Judge should let the player describe how they want to do it). The result of the skill check sets the DC of the save required to avoid the snare. A fumble means the character snares themselves.
Convince +PER/+INT: Reason with a person to get them to work with you, form a partnership, or change their plans, or do something for you. DCs vary greatly depending on personality and relationships, but as a general rule it is easy to convince someone to do something that is genuinely in their best interest and very hard to convince someone to do something that is not. Personality or Intelligence applies depending on whether the argument is logical or emotional in nature.
Sway emotion +PER: Manipulate someone's emotions. Intensifying an existing emotion (e.g. egging on an enraged foe) is generally DC 10, deintensifying an emotion is generally DC 15 (e.g. calming the same enraged foe enough for them to consider talking), and wild swings (from friendly to furious or vice versa) are DC 20 or higher.
Hold attention +PER: Make yourself the most obvious thing in the room. A successful check, usually DC 15, means all eyes are on you and your allies are free to act unnoticed (or at least unresisted). Large crowds can be captivated as easily as small groups or individuals. The only limitation to crowd size is that whatever you are doing to get attention must be visible or audible to the entire group.
Inspire +PER: Morale checks, and also attempts to shake an ally out of debilitating effects such as a magical fear or charm (DC depends on the spell's save DC).
Know lore +INT: Local knowledge is trivial and shouldn't be rolled for. Recalling information about religion, history, current events, or legends is anywhere from a DC 10 for neighboring towns and villages, to DC 20 for distant lands. Information generally only accessible by speaking to sages and wizards could be DC 30+.
Communicate +INT: Convey information to someone without using language, usually by performing gestures or using symbols. The DC depends on the abstrusity of your method of communication.
Acrobatics +AGI: Jump gaps, balance, or swing. The bonus is also applied whenever a saving throw is used to prevent falling or to jump over/duck under a hazard. It also allows for performative flips or tumbles that other adventurers might be untrained in. Crossing difficult or hazardous terrain unhindered is DC 15, and crossing a line of enemies by passing over/under them without provoking an attack of opportunity is DC 20.
Alchemy (Magic skill): As Make Potion, DCC RPG p. 223 with Caster Level equal to your Specialist level. Spellburn is not possible as a non-Wizard.
Artificing (Magic skill): as Sword Magic, DCC RPG p. 229 with Caster Level equal to your Specialist level. Spellburn is not possible as a non-Wizard.
Example Skillsets
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Skill Inclusions Explained
The Thief skills need no explanation.
The Ranger skills come from my Ranger class, with this version applying bonuses the way the Thief does instead of applying a flat bonus across all skills. It also removes favoured wilderness and favoured enemies because in the end, I don't think those are good for the table. They absolutely support the character fantasy, but it has this weird effect of locking the Ranger's effectiveness into places they've already been and making them useless in new and unexpected places - and shouldn't a campaign always be taking us to new and unexpected places?
The revised Called Shot is more elegant and uses existing tables instead of needing to invent a bunch of new ones.
The revised Set Snare removes the "setting your own DC" mechanic and simply succeeds on any roll better than a natural 1, but with variable effectiveness.
Bard skills come from this reddit post which seems to have crossover with Breaker Press's Balladeer, though I haven't actually read the Balladeer. They're tweaked to my liking. Everything in your game should be tweaked to your liking.
Acrobatics comes from BECMI's Mystic.
Alchemy and Artificing are there to allow for Alchemist and Artificer characters - I like those archetypes and creating magical items being accessible to certain specialized non-wizards goes some way toward explaining how potions and magic swords end up in the world. I was this close to just making any magical spell a potentially useable magic skill. What stopped me wasn't the fact it'd be overpowered (I don't think it would, actually) but the risk of diluting the Wizard's or Cleric's identity.
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More skills could definitely be added as you wish, to create more Specialist archetypes. Care should be taken that adding skills does not detract from other classes, and it should be remembered that any class can attempt these activities - Specialists simply get training and bonuses. Consider the difficulty of performing these tasks with a flat d10.
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