Heavy Metal Thunder -- The Warlord and The Spellbinder (Beta 4)

Today's post features two classes based off the the d12 class die:

• The Warlord
• The Spellbinder

Warlord was one of the first few "expansion" classes that I wanted to add, after the first slate was finished (as has been mentioned here previously.)

I personally never quite got the allure of the "lazylord" style of gameplay, but I included it nonetheless, with a few twists of my own; making the Warlord a d12 class was mainly done for two reasons:

• a distinct lack of d12 classes to take inspiration from, in pre-existing d20 systems
• the desire to make attacking a powerful option for the class, rather than always opting to make someone else attack instead

This also meant that Warlord would be a melee-focused class, as per the role of the d12 within the system. It's a class that is more effects-based than damaged-based, in some ways similar to the Ranger.

The Commander archetype can direct allies as either a Standard Action, or when they make an unsuccessful attack. This is intended to allow players to be conservative and just trade their action to their teammates, but to also not punish them for being aggressive and choosing to attack.

The Protector archetype is meant to be a strong battlefield controller, wading into the thick of things to defend allies and punish enemies. 

With the Warlord polished up for Beta 4, their slate is now complete!

Heroes of Martial Might & Divine Power

• The Acrobat (d4)
• The Fighter (d6)
• The Cleric (d8)
• The Paladin (d10)
• The Warlord (d12) 

...

Spellbinder began its life as the Swordmage archetype for the Mage (d4) class. Originally, Mage was the only class that had any sort of teleportation abilities, so it was logical that Swordmage would fit under that umbrella. When I settled on writing 3 slates (and on what shape those would take) the Mage became the Sage, with Wizard and Monk as its archetypes; it made sense to shift an archetype like Swordmage up to a "heavier" slot, like the d12.

As for another archetype to go with the Swordmage, probably one of the first names to come to mind was the Hexblade. In a slate of classes built around arcane magic and shadowy power, it made for a class with an interesting dichotomy to reflect that.

Though not as fiddly as the Essentials version of the class, the Hexblade as presented here takes inspiration from the Fey pact, with its focus on teleporting; this also serves to make this archetype a good fit for the umbrella class. The Hexblade also works well with the d12; it's basically a melee-focused version of the warlock, a class that naturally lends itself to the mechanic of burning reserves (of which d12 classes get the highest number) for powerful effects.

The name "Spellbinder" doesn't seem a great fit at first glance, but I think the archetype names themselves compliment one another. However, the definition of the word "spellbound" references distracting, fascinating, or holding someone's attention (either with the spoken word, or outright magic.) This seemed perfect for a class with one archetype that focuses on distracting enemies to protect their allies (Swordmage) and another that gains their attention in order to punish them even harder (Hexblade.)

I also had intentions of incorporating ideas from the "Binder" (warlock subclass in 4e) just to wrap the name up neatly, but a quick glance at that class showed it to be mostly a ranged version of the Hexblade, and so it was not really suited to a d12 class.


The Spellbinder caps off another slate!

Heroes of Magic & Shadow

• The Sage (d4)
• The Rogue (d6)
• The Bard (d8)
• The Mystic (d10)
• The Spellbinder (d12)

---

All of the classes are now set! That means it's time to move on to other aspects of the game's design. Going forward, posts will likely focus on the "GM side" of the system, although player options may see some further tweaks and refinement.

TNP Design will be taking a short break for the holidays, but expect a new post on January 5th.

See you in 2017!

Scoundrels, Swashbucklers, and Scholars -- The Rogue and The Bard (Beta 4)

Busy day, so here's a short post with the latest drafts for these classes.
Check this post tomorrow for an updated version with more info!

• The Rogue (d6)
• The Bard (d8)

*UPDATED* (11/11/2016)

In the previous Beta, there were two d6 classes: the Rogue and the Trickster.

The Rogue had 3 archetypes: the Assassin, the Scoundrel, and the Scout. Skill-wise, the Assassin favoured INT, the Scoundrel favoured STR, and the Scout favoured WIS. The Assassin was meant to be the type who lurked in the shadows, then struck with deadly precision. The Scoundrel focused more on melee combat, excelling as a brawler. The Scout was the outdoorsy rogue, with a two-weapon fighting style.

The problem I found, was that the Scoundrel grew out of a suggestion to give the Rogue incentive to be in melee. But limiting that to one archetype didn't make sense, and also I ended up with 3 archetypes that were too bare-bones. With the completion of the revised Martial Artist archetype (for the Acrobat class) the brawler-rogue seemed kind of redundant, and I had always kind of felt like Sneak Attack didn't fit with it anyway.

When I settled on the 3 slates as they are constituted now, I knew I wanted to make Scout into its own class; it's essentially the "wilderness Rogue" so it falls into a different "power source" than an Assassin. 

The thing then, was, that the Rogue was left with only one archetype...

So, the Trickster was a class I was never particularly happy with. It basically had a "lucky number" mechanic, but otherwise its main gimmick was using abilities from other classes. It also had 3 archetypes (Bard, Skald, and Sorcerer) but I was never particularly happy with any of them; the Skald was just bland, the Bard wasn't unique enough, and the Sorcerer didn't have enough meat on it.

When I was writing up my post about "Casting the Dice" I realized that the Bard needed to be a d8 class; it made sense as a jack-of-all-trades support specialist, that was comfortable at range or in melee (if not necessarily a "skirmisher" per se.) The Sorcerer made sense as a d6 class, since it was intended to be a damage-stacking class, but not particularly durable. 

And so, a connection was made: the Sorcerer would become a Rogue archetype.

What we end up with is two classes for the slate which I refer to as: 

"Heroes of Magic & Shadow"

Though mechanically the Sorcerer and the Assassin don't share much in common, the idea of them thematically as both being outsiders or renegades seems to fit. In that sense, they're sort of "two sides of the same coin," with one using arcane spellcasting, and the other as a shadowy weapon-user. They both utilize the d6 class die quite well, for its intended purposes. The Sorcerer also retains some of the "lucky number" mechanics of its prior incarnation with the Trickster class, showcasing it as a chaotic and unstable style of magician; its use of other class' abilities has been stripped down and simplified, but the flavour is still there, giving the Sorcerer two distinct "sub classes."

The Bard similarly retains the "lucky number" mechanic, with different applications depending upon the combat role they choose. Their archetypes (Scholar and Performer) serve to add a bit of flavour to the class, informing their skills selection. I am a lot happier with their new iconic abilities being closer to what has made Bards popular, however, I still consider the class to (overall) be in its infancy, so there may be more heft added to it in later revisions; the mechanics may change shape a bit, down the road.

...

The two classes I will be showcasing in my next post will be:

• The Druid
• The Ranger

Stay tuned!