Druid

“Druids are primal thaumaturgists, the scions of an age old tradition passed down from the early days of man’s sapience. They command magics wrested from the elemental skein holding all existence together, and wield them with brutal, iron-willed efficiency.”

Through fortune rather than design, this weeks piece runs in the same vein as last week’s class rules for the ranger: I present to you my version of the druid!

Again, there’s a little bit of divergence from the classic D&D approach to the class. Rather than creating rules for simple nature-flavoured clerics I tried to present druids more in the vein of those seen in the Sláine-comics and the Bronze Age descriptions in Robert Holdstock’s stories. I think the classic presentation of druids lacks some of the delicious  brutality I associate with primitive nature magic, and I made an effort to bring some of that into my version.

Cheers,

AMP

DCC class – Druid

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Illustration by the primally powerful Joni Kesti.

Ranger

“Striding through the vast wildlands outside of civilization, rangers are masterful survivalists, hunters and scouts.”

This week’s piece contains the rules for rangers in DCC. Instead of relying heavily on modern Dungeons & Dragons definitions of the class I tried to go back to the roots, referencing appendix N sources and simplifying the class considerably. Both paladins and rangers are a little tricky for DCC in my opinion, as they traditionally combine martial capability with divine magic, but actually making a distinct class that is more than just a cleric with a deed die requires a little juggling.

Anyhow, enjoy the article, and let me know what you think!

Cheers

AMP

DCC class – Ranger

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Illustration by the always auspicious Joni Kesti.

The Rogue

“A cutpurse, cutthroat, swindler, murderer and liar: the rogue is a shadowy figure, a blade in the dark and a wink to the knowing watcher.

Utilizing subterfuge and dexterity, they survive and prosper in the dark, where direct methods fail and crooked tricks are the key to success.”

The rogue is my re-imagining of the DCC thief. I’ve always been a fan of crooks and rascals as player characters, and the rules for the thief have rubbed me the wrong way for a while now. I don’t like the archaic skill division, and many of the associated rulings have caused quite a bit of discussion at my table. So I did a rewrite of the class!

I allow my players to choose between the original thief rules and the rogue, and so far all of them have opted to transfer their thieves to the new structure and the rules are getting a good bit of testing at them moment. Still, feedback is welcome as ever!

Cheers,

AMP

DCC Class – Rogue

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DCC Character Sheet – Rogue

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Illustration by the always astute Joni Kesti.

The Arcane Archivist

“Books, grimoires, fetishes… objects of lore, and power.

I sense them all, I know their power.

I must have it for my own.”

The arcane archivist is an alternative magic user class for DCC. I wrote it up based on popular demand, as my players have recently realised the value of utility wizards, Detect magic, Read magic and Comprehend languages.

The alternate mechanics are partially based on my own old home system, where arcane casting was largely tied to the power of a wizard’s spell book.

As usual, rules are below in the PDF. Enjoy!

Cheers,

AMP

DCC Class – Arcane Archivist

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Illustrations by the absolutely magical Joni Kesti.

The Song from the Sanctum

I recently contributed my take on a DCC bard class to the Sanctum Secorum Companion zine. I’m pretty happy with it, so go take a look and a listen through the links!

Cheers,

AMP

Sanctum Secorum episode #35: Hundra

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Sanctum Secorum ep. #35 companion on DriveThruRPG

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Halfling Graverobber

“Lookit that skinny little git! All gaunt and spindly, an’ she smells like the grave! She’s a queer one to be sure!

…to be ‘onest I’d kick ‘er outta the inn if it were up to me. But the missus insisted we let ‘er stay, on account of ‘er paying up front with these weird old coins. Pure silver, says the missus, an’ ‘er teef are never wrong about these things.”

The Necromancer

“Wizzards, them’s a queer bunch! But none so weird as them that dally with the dead!

Robbers, sneaks, we get all sorts at th’ graveyard. A strange lookin’ fella came round last fall, snoopin’ around the older crypts. I’ll tell ya, we were none too surprised when we found ‘im diggin up the dead one night! Looked like ‘e had a bunch a walkin’ corpses helpin’ ‘im too!

Of course, bein’ the smart gaffers we are, we scarpered into the night right quick. They’re not paying us enough to go toe to toe with no wizzards, no sirree! Live and let die, thas what me old uncle always used ta say!”

The Dwarven Runepriest

“Man is the favourite child of the gods: fickle, easily enticed and subjugated. Thus the great temples and churches of this age are built on the blood, sweat and faith of human worshipers.

This being so, the gods sometimes call forth the souls of other races as well. Among the dwarves these believers are known as runepriests, for their clothing, armour and weaponry are always inscribed with the runic scriptures of their faith.

Often shunned by their more pragmatic brethren, these fanatical devotees to the gods are always exceptional, and often integral tools in the great struggle between law and chaos.”

The Barbarian, from the North

“The figure before you is covered in singed furs and bones. Bare muscles twitch below the weather beaten drapery of practicality and ‘necessity’. A wolf’s head covers their face, with the grimacing fangs shadowing the obviously scarred face.

‘Ale. Now.’ ,the apparition demands in a grim tone.

‘Please?’, they add with a sudden glint of civility.

‘I can sing you a song, if that’s what it takes. I just really need that drink, after fighting those dire wolves, naked and barehanded…’, “