Wednesday, November 13, 2013

More Advanced Dungeon Crawl Classics: Barbarian and Dwarven Priest

A while back a group of us on the google+ DCC group started to discuss "advanced" versions of the DCC RPG races and classes. These discussions lead to a couple of articles by fellow community members: John Carr's article on Warrior-based subclasses and Doug Pirko's article on dwarven subclasses.

My "Barbarian" subclass is similar to the early versions of the Barbarian, including a rage mechanic. Details below:

Barbarian

The barbarian is a warrior of pure rage. What they lack in finesse they more than make up with raw force and can channel a terrific rage to make them stronger than a dozen men. This comes at a huge cost, as the barbarian lost to his rage has no concern for his own safety.

The barbarian is identical to a warrior, except in the following ways:

A barbarian only gets D10 hit die, instead of the D12 warriors usually receive.

A barbarian prefers not to wear heavy armor, the movement penalty allows his enemies to run away.

A barbarian has a Might Deed die, the same as a warrior. In addition to the standard uses of a Deed, a Barbarian can also "Rage."

Rage - In a combat the barbarian can choose to go into a rage. He rolls his mighty deed die and gains the listed number as a bonus to his attack and damage for the remainder of the battle on top of his usual deed attack die. The bonus for the Rage is set at the beginning of the rage and does not change. During this rage, the barbarian suffers a penalty to his armor class equal to the bonus gained. In addition, the barbarian is unaware of how hurt he is. The Judge tracks the barbarians hit points until the end of the rage.

After the rage expires the barbarian is exhausted. He retains the penalty to his AC for a full hour, and cannot use mighty deed or his deed die to attack until that hour is up and he has regained his strength.

level 5 - Undying Warrior - If a Barbarian in a rage is dropped to 0 hit points or less, they can continue to fight. Fueled on by their rage, they attack their foes without mercy and battle beyond death. They still have the same rounds per level before dying, but can continue to fight during this time. If they run out of enemies they immediately fall prone and die in the next round. Healing an undying warrior is difficult, and requires an attack roll to successfully lay hands.

Dwarven Priest

It's happened a lot in my games that the dwarf rolls a high personality. I've also always liked the idea of dwarven priests, they are all over in the old D&D novels. So here is my take on a variant from the Dwarf in the DCC core book.

You are a priest of the stone, a follower of the God of Dwarves, or the Forge, or some other Dwarven Deity. What you lack in martial might you make up for with the power of your god.

Hit Die: D8

Armor and Weapons: Warhammer, Battleaxe, Mace, Club, Flail, Hand axe, Crossbow, or Staff. Dwarven Priests can wield shields and wear any armor.

Attack: As a Cleric

Saving Throws: As a Dwarf

Senses: Darkvision sixty feet, can smell gold and gems as a dwarf, and gains the dwarven stone-cunning senses to detect stone traps and secret doors.

Spellcasting: Dwarven Priests cast spells as a Cleric, but gain one less spell per spell level. Minimum 1.

Lay On Hands: Dwarven Priests can lay on hands as a Cleric.

Miracle: You can beseech your god for a miracle. Summoning your ancestors or clearing a collapsed mine tunnel. The DC of the miracle is set by your Judge.

Turn Unholy: You can turn unholy like a cleric, these things are usually undead, demons, mimics and strange otherworldly creatures that inhabit the deepest depths. You turn unholy with your level + personality + luck modifiers.

Hammer and Shield: Like a dwarven warrior you can attack with both your weapon and your shield. Your shield attacks with a d14 and typically deals 1d3 damage.

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