Early Adopter Class

Found on this page on TVTropes, don't know original source

Levels/saves/hp as Thief.

Through some strange turn of fate, you have become stranded in a distant time or another world. Your only asset is a Device you possess, which functions by strange magics unknown to this place and will soon be useless unless you find a way to restore its powers.

You begin play with a fully-Charged Device, which is either a phone (50 max Charge, takes up negligible inventory space) or a tablet (60 max Charge, takes up 1 inventory slot), no means to restore Charge, and the listed basic abilities.

Every level (including 1st), you may pick two new abilities. These are properties of your Device, not of you; if you find another, it will likely have a different set of functions.

At level 5, you can try to hack Devices, bypassing the password. Spend 1 hour and roll under Intelligence. On a success you have unlimited access to the Device, on a failure you are shut out and can never attempt to hack that Device again.

Each Device has a unique password, which must be known to access any of its abilities.

Basic abilities: These can be used by anyone with a Device if they receive some brief training or spend a while fiddling with it (roll Int each 10 minutes of messing around to figure out a function of your choice). Advanced functions may be more difficult to learn, depending on specifics.
        Light: Can produce light as bright as a torch, costing 1 Charge each 10-minute Turn.
   Camera: Can instantaneously produce an image of whatever you point it at. These are near-perfect reproductions, if a bit grainy. Each has a 1-in-6 chance of costing 1 Charge.
   Communications: You can contact other Early Adopters (or anyone with a Device). Text-only communications may be sent at negligible cost in Charge. Each minute of vocal communication costs 1 Charge. You begin play with the contact information of 1d3 Early Adopters in the same world as you, though they will usually not know much of use. If you know the true name of a magical creature, you can call it whether it has a Device or not.
   Calculator: Can instantly perform a variety of simple or complicated mathematical operations. Highly valuable to a medieval engineer or mathematician.

Added functionality:
1. Improved Camera: Images taken are now high-quality, cost negligible Charge to render, and can be produced in low light or darkness. Doing so will produce a bright flash of light which causes sighted darkness-dwelling creatures to save vs. blindness for 1 Round.
        1.1. Video Camera: You can now record short sequences of images with accompanying sound, which produce the illusion of motion when viewed sequentially. Recording one of these costs 1 Charge per Round. (You can also make video calls now, which cost 1 Charge per Round.)
        1.2. Image Editing: You can modify images and videos produced with your Camera. You have access to effects including recoloring, distortion of features, removal or addition of objects, and more. Another Early Adopter or anyone who examines a modified image carefully (taking at least 1 minute) may notice discrepancies.

2. Internet Connection: You have somehow gained access to your civilization's collective mind-weave, which holds untold amounts of information on nearly any topic conceivable. Unfortunately, most of it is irrelevant or misleading. You may spend 1 minute and 1 Charge to query the Web for information on a topic or the answer to a question. The GM rolls 1d6 + your Int or Wis mod to determine the quality of the answer you get. The roll may be modified by the relative obscurity of the subject. 0 or less: Wildly incorrect, or subtly, dangerously incorrect, 1-2: Incomplete, confusing, or contradictory information, 3-4: Distracted for 1d6 minutes, you may try again, 5: Most relevant facts, 6 or more: Complete and accurate answer.
   2.1. Social Media: You can spread knowledge of your deeds to the whole world; some of the world's greatest Bards and heralds are on good terms with other Early Adopters. You get +5% xp for anything xp-gaining if you put an image or write something about it and post it online. (You can also post about other topics if you'd like, which gains you no xp.) Anyone you know personally will be aware of it in a day, most important people in a week, and everyone who's not a hermit or similar in a month. You can read the surface thoughts of anyone you could contact via Communications (whether you're currently contacting them or not), and they can read yours, unless one of you deliberately abstains from Social Media.
        2.2. Addictive Distractions: A sapient creature who sees the Device while these are active must save or be distracted (assuming it doesn't have to pursue some urgent matter). If they fail the save, they can make a new one each 10 minutes thereafter. Anyone who failed one of these saves will have a strong urge to use the Device again later.
   2.2.1. Meme: Choose a subject (could be a person, group, place, event, idea, etc.) and an emotion or gut feeling, and distribute your meme (may have to accomplish this through more conventional means, e.g. through posters or word of mouth, depending on the local level of technology). Anyone who sees your meme will, if they fail a save, feel a significant impulse of your chosen feeling toward the subject whenever they see or hear about it for 1d6 days. You can only make a meme this good once a month. Can target the meme at a specific subgroup/community to give them a penalty on the save: -1 if you have a passing familiarity, -2 if you're a novice member, -4 if you are a veteran member. It must be a fairly narrow group with similar strong interests or a common history.
   2.3. Location Services: You can activate these to allow your Device and the area immediately around it to be easily viewed by magic or technology, so long as you grant permission. You can determine your current location in the universe anytime you like. You can also locate your Device remotely, provided you have access to another Device with this function.
   2.3.1. Street View: At no cost, you can get an overview of local businesses and other establishments in any city or town in the world, with ratings and reviews. At the cost of 1 Charge per round, you can scry on public areas.
   2.3.2. Weather Prediction: 5-in-6 accuracy for today's weather, -1 for each day after.
2.3.3. Special Delivery: This function may be taken multiple times; you can make one order for each. The massive delivery corporations of your homeworld have, at great expense, figured out how to transport goods across space and time, although such services are only occasionally available. You may (for 1 Charge and ten times the normal market price, plus a delivery fee of at least 100 gp/sp) order one item or several items of the same kind. For a start, you can get Devices, charging machines, and batteries, as well as anything from the standard equipment list, but of at least twice the normal quality (weapons and armor count as +1). You may also order magical items or anything you can find on a real-world retail site, though such items will require GM approval. Your order will be delivered by an armed, semi-autonomous flying machine in 1d6 days to any reasonably safe, accessible location you designate.

   2.3.4. Ride Hailing: Can call up transportation from anywhere to anywhere at a large fee. Some contractors will have combat capacity, which they will only use to defend themselves and their passengers. Fee = mode x distance (miles) x passengers gp/sp. Available modes (may vary based on your setting): Horse: 1, Armored carriage with guard: 3, Ferry: 1, Flying Carpet: 10, Dragon: 20, Wizard who can teleport: 10,000 for any distance, Underworld ferry: 2. Contractors arrive at your location in 1d6 Turns, or 1 Turn if you pay double the fee.

Dragon: "It's a living."
(MTG: Dragonsoul Knight, by Justin Sweet)

3. Music: You have access to an extensive selection of music and sound effects, allowing you to play any song you like and any general kind of noise you've heard, though volume and quality are limited by your Device's hardware. Playing sound costs 1 Charge per 10 minutes.

4. Voice Command: Your Device can be operated by speech. You may set it to recognize only your vocal harmonics, or those of anyone. It has a 1-in-20 chance of misinterpreting commands, 1-in-6 for anyone other than its owner.
   4.1. Virtual Assistant: Your Device hosts a human-level artificial intelligence which can act autonomously, within parameters set by you. With the limited processing power available, it can only run as fast as a regular human mind. On the bright side, it consumes negligible Charge. Its personality: (1d6: 1. Relentlessly optimistic, 2. Relentlessly pessimistic, 3. Vindictive, 4. Takes everything extremely seriously, 5. Servile but sarcastic, 6. Fixated on a hobby). It is loyal to you, though mistreatment may change this.

Notes: Very little combat ability, but a pretty versatile set of info-gathering/social/utility abilities. The initial challenge for this class is to recharge your Device before you run out and become powerless. You can do this by leveling up until you get the "Special Delivery" ability and order a generator and a charger, but I recommend that the DM put some other ways to charge into the setting; spells could be used as a temporary power source, or sacrificed magic items, or souls of vanquished enemies. You might find replacement batteries in treasure in the weirder sort of dungeon. Your fellow Early Adopters might have access to chargers, if you can strike a deal.

Ten Spells

I came up with these spells several years ago for a system with magic points (MP), though they could easily be adapted to other systems. They're not designed for any particular sort of themed wizard. I intended to make most of them fairly versatile while remaining specific about their costs and effects, though I now think some might be overly complex or specific.

Spells are cast by spending 1 MP, or more if it says to do so. Powers are used by investing 1 MP into the power, which is regained when you turn it off. While the power is active, you have the option to spend MP to produce special effects.

There were also some "craft" spells which didn't use MP. I might post them later.

  1. Fire (power): You can conjure a small fire that hovers above your hand (or at the end of a staff or other magic device, as long as you're touching it). It illuminates within 30' and can set things on fire like a torch (it deals 1d6 damage when used to attack). At the cost of 1 MP, you can throw a ball of fire at a point within 60' for 1d6 damage to everything within 10' of its landing point (Dex save halves damage, assuming there's somewhere one can dodge to). (Proportionally larger fires or fireballs can be created by spending more MP; range increases by 20', size by 1d6, and radius by 5' per MP.)

2. Water (power): You can produce small waves or a steady current, enough to push a small vessel along still water, bring up small objects from deep water, or keep a person afloat without swimming. By spending 1 MP, you can produce a large wave, assuming there's enough water around; this pushes everything within 30' of the caster (or within a section of that circle) outside of that range, as long as you are in or near the water. Creatures may save vs. Str to avoid being pushed, with appropriate bonuses/penalties for size. Small vessels are capsized if their pilot fails a skill roll. A wave may continue up onto the land if large enough, though it travels half as far over land as it would over water. Spending additional MP increases the range and size of the wave by 30' and adds -2 to the save for each MP. Anything thrown against an unyielding object by the wave takes 1d6 damage for each 15' it was pushed (half on a successful Str or Dex save, if a creature).

3. Air (power): You can produce a light breeze, strong enough to scatter papers, make a flag flutter, or give someone a chill on a cool day, originating from your location and effective up to 30 feet away. If you wish to aim precisely, you must roll to hit. You can expend any number of MP to increase the height of a single jump for you or a willing creature you touch by up to 1d12 feet per MP expended. Length is increased by twice the number rolled, once going up and once coming down. The jumper will land safely if possible. You can use this for a "double jump", but you must make a Dex save to land where you intended when starting in mid-air. The length of the jump may also be increased by twice the amount of the increase in height, if desired. The target will be cushioned by air and land safely, so this can also protect against a fall or a speedy collision.

4. Earth (power): As long as you're standing on soil or stone, you can root yourself in place; while rooted, you can't move, but you can't be pushed around or knocked down. You may root one leg at a time. You can stomp the ground to create a small tremor - localized, but strong enough to topple light objects within 100', and noticeable by most creatures within 1000'. If you expend 1 MP, you can cause a creature or object no larger than roughly-human-sized (you can root single legs of larger creatures) you touch to be rooted by the earth as above if it is touching the ground. It may make a Str save on its turn to break free, or it can be released by anyone with this power at the cost of 1 MP. Larger things can be rooted/released for 1 MP per size increase.

5. Mage Hand (power): You can project a magic hand in any unoccupied point within 30 feet. It is faintly visible, appearing like shimmering hand-shaped heat haze. When you cast the spell, choose one of your hands; the mage hand has the same capabilities as the chosen hand, you can feel anything it touches, and anything done to the mage hand is done to your hand, and vice versa. You can move it around freely, even to places you can't see, as long as it remains in range. If you are missing a hand and choose to project the missing hand, it is a ghost hand; it appears where your hand would be if you still had it (on the stump of your wrist, usually) and can't move away from your body or affect physical objects, but it can go through walls and interact with ghosts and such. By expending MP, you can double/triple/etc. the size and strength of the hand for 1 round, or make it invincible to all harm for the same duration. Multiple such effects may be used at once.

6. Shield (spell): Base cost is 2 MP. Protects you from all external physical harm for 1 round with a barrier of force, and can be cast instantly, in response to something. You can keep up a continuous shield if you have enough magic points, but you can't do anything else (including moving) while your shield is up. By spending extra MP, you can protect an additional 5' radius around you per point spent. (Probably a bit overpowered.)

7. Invisibility (spell): A creature or object you touch and its equipment (fitting in a 5' cube per MP spent) become invisible. Things put into/picked up by the target turn invisible, and things removed from/dropped by the target become visible. This lasts for 1 round, +1 round per additional MP spent. (Commentary: A short-duration invisibility spell removes some of the "shenanigan potential" of invisibility, but it also means I don't have to come up with an arbitrary condition that ends the spell if the PC tries anything too overt.)

8. Lightning (spell): There must be an ongoing thunderstorm or some other major source of electric discharges for this spell to be cast. You can target any location within the atmosphere that you can see with this spell. The chance of a hit is based off of the target's degree of cover:

Base chance (In the middle of an open area with no tall objects nearby): 6/6

Each MP spent beyond the first: +1/6

A few tall objects nearby: -1/6

Many tall objects nearby: -2/6

Under partial (non-conductive) cover: -3/6

Under complete (non-conductive) cover: 0/6, and this chance can't be raised

Target is made of or touching a large amount of conductive material: +1/6

Target is tallest/highest object in vicinity: +1/6

Caster is a direct descendant of the Stormcaller kings: +1/6. (Regular humans have a 1/100 chance of being a descendant without knowing it; roll for it the first time you cast the spell. If you or your immediate ancestors came from the western continent, it's 1/20.)

The lightning bolt does (1d12)d6 damage. If the target is a living creature and survives the strike, roll 1d6 for further effects: 1. Random mutation, 2. Random insanity, 3. +1d20 years to natural lifespan and +1 permanent magic point, 4-6. Nothing in particular

9. Rapunzel (power): Your head hair or facial hair (choose one) grows at a rate of 1' per day. You can expend 1 MP to change its color (including to unusual colors) and/or make it grow 10' in one round. It is self-cleaning and as strong as a rope (unless normal hair is stronger, I'm not sure), though it is no harder to cut than regular hair. If you have extra MP invested in this power, the hair is prehensile with a Strength of 5 x total MP invested (if all your hair is focused on one task; you can divide it into multiple hair-limbs if you want) and a Dexterity equal to your own. You can hold a weapon with it, but you have to deal with the normal penalties of multi-weapon fighting.

10. Transformation (spell): You can turn yourself or another creature into any creature whose raw flesh you have eaten, or that you have turned into via any means (even an unwilling transformation). An unwilling target may save to avoid the spell. You must invest MP into the spell equal to the HD of the chosen form (minimum 1 MP); the target remains in the chosen form until you allow it to turn back, but you can't get the MP back until then.

Spending too long in a body not your own may affect your mind. Each interval of time on the table specified below, roll a save. On your first failure, you take on the general temperament of the new form (which persists even if you turn back); on your second, your mind is transformed permanently into that of the new form.

0 HD: 1/month

1-2 HD: 1/week

3-4 HD: 1/day

5-6 HD: 1/hour

7-8 HD: 1/minute

9+ HD: 1/round

(Commentary: Mind-affecting drawback from Earthsea.)

Inspiration Tables - Strange Monsters and Phenomena

A few good monsters can flesh out what a setting looks like better than pages of backstory. These tables are meant to give broad inspiration, you'll have to work out specifics yourself. The first two are more general, the other three are for specific cases.

MTG - Chaosphere (Steve Luke)

Form (1d20. Roll once, or a few times for stages of a "life cycle". Some of these are concrete physical bodies, others are more abstract.)

1. Insubstantial, ghostly entity

2. Self-perpetuating idea or pattern of behavior

3. A disease, infectious or not

4. Like a plant or fungus; doesn't move much, but grows and spreads

5. A swarm of mobile things with a shared consciousness; may or may not have a "queen"

6. A corrupted/undead/mutant human or animal, or several melded together

7. An object of magic power

8. Corpses, body parts, and/or refuse

9. Hallucination or warping of perception

10. Giant monster

11. Shape based off viewer's hopes/fears/beliefs

12. Warping of reality in a particular area

13. Natural disaster or weather event

14. Recurring thought, dream, or nightmare

15. A machine, or part of one

16. Normal-looking person

17. Social institution or tradition

18. Embodiment of a cultural ideal

19. Tiny parasite that controls other creatures

20. Huge structure, natural or artificial

Can use the "Monster Mash" table to get specifics for a creature's appearance

Themes (1d20):

1. Memory or identity, realizations about your true nature

2. Urges or drives

3. Morality/ideals

4. Self-control/ability to control dangerous emotions

5. Belief or certainty

6. Change in personality over time

7. Desires or goals

8. Fear of the unknown

9. Perspective/worldview/relation of self and world

10. Reliability of own senses/knowledge/memories

11. Trust in own reasoning ability

12. Fear of (or drive toward) death/oblivion

13. Personal security, trust of society/friends, fear of betrayal

14. Existential despair, void of meaning in existence

15. Dread/awe of deep time

16. Secrets and lies

17. Hatred, resentment, and revenge

18. Guilt, regret, anxiety about the past

19. Inevitability/fate/powerlessness

20. Animal nature of humanity/cruelty of nature

Spooky effects (1d10, roll if the creature/phenomenon is evil or creepy):

1. Infants are stillborn, the very young and very old sicken and die

2. Swarms of insects devour the crops and livestock and fill the air or carpet the ground

3. Infants are born with hideous mutations, which grow more severe as they get older

4. Fresh corpses mumble incoherent predictions of the future, like they're talking in their sleep

5. Little creeping things crawl out of sewers and cesspits and into the ears of sleeping people

6. In the night, people get up and write disturbing notes to themselves, move things around in their houses, with no memory of it in the morning

7. Children have remarkably similar nightmares about a hell-like place, which they remember vividly when awake

8. Cracks open up in stable walls and foundations, bones are found inside

9. Blood-red parasitic worms lay their eggs everywhere, especially in meat, rising out of corpses fat and swollen

10. In graveyards, the dead rise and stumble to the homes they inhabited in life (all at once or a few each night)

Miraculous abilities (1d12, roll if you want it to have superpowers):

1. Can pluck stars out of the heavens, can bring them down to earth if it wishes

2. Can raise the dead in any of a variety of ways (as creepy ghosts, as living people, or whatever)

3. Knows everyone's darkest secrets

4. Can tumble high mountains and towers with a gesture

5. Can rip great chasms in the earth and release trapped horrors or open gateways to hell

6. Can turn day to night and night to day

7. Can bring down a rain of blood (or other unpleasant things, like fire, severed heads, etc.)

8. Can grant people's deepest wishes (if it chooses, can never be compelled if  e.g. a wish would harm it)

9. Can kill any person, anywhere, at will

10. Can birth demons and giants or shape them out of earth

11. Can take any form it wishes, or many at once

12. Can cure any infirmity, curse, or other affliction short of death, additionally mutating and modifying creatures to give them new capacities

Objectives (1d20, roll if it's intelligent):

1. Bring about a mass extinction, clearing the way for its greater plan (roll again)

2. Escape more powerful being pursuing it

3. Amuse self by manipulating people, nations, course of history

4. Construct a stronghold to withstand a coming apocalypse

5. Harvest the world's resources for much larger venture (roll again)

6. Shape civilization into something suitable for its overarching objective (roll again)

7. Hunt down and destroy a dangerous rival or threat, or prevent one from arising

8. Set self up as a god

9. Induct all thinking beings into its own vast consciousness

10. Scout out the planet/solar system/universe for its master/masters

11. Transform into/embody/give birth to/create/be a host for a greater being

12. Construct an immense device on or near the planet as part of a larger plan (roll again)

13. Convert world into a hospitable home or afterlife for another species, possibly its own

14. Birth and nurture its spawn or creations

15. Return to its distant home

16. Track down and acquire a particular object or creature

17. Orchestrate a very specific sequence of events to fit the requirements of a greater plan (roll again)

18. End all sentience/all life/everything

19. Determine the answer to some essential query

20. Create a new, perfect world

Monster Mash

An easy way to make up monsters in the classical style - welding a few real-world creatures together and adding some features.

                1. Mantis

2. Gecko

3. Snake

4. Squid

5. Mongoose

6. Rhinoceros

7. Pterodactyl

8. Crab

9. Hog

10. Spider

11. Bear

12. Horse

13. Goat

14. Tiger

15. Ant

16. Vulture

17. Sloth

18. Gorilla

19. Rat

20. Fly

21. Porcupine

22. Cat

23. Wolf

24. Lobster

25. Bat

26. Tuna

27. Jellyfish

28. Ox

29. Fox

30. Frog

31. Catfish

32. Chicken

33. Crow

34. Hippopotamus

35. Camel

36. Shark

37. Mole

38. Walrus

39. Penguin

40. Giraffe

41. Lion

42. Scorpion

43. Ant Lion

44. Moth

45. Earthworm

46. Mandrill

47. Jackal

48. Crocodile

49. Salamander

50. Hawk

51. Octopus

52. Cow

53. Narwhal

54. Weasel

55. Zebra

56. Hyena

57. Elephant

58. Donkey

59. Indricotherium

60. Trilobite

61. Triceratops

62. Stegosaur

63. Tyrannosaur

64. Plesiosaur

65. Leech

66. Tick

67. Snail

68. Wasp

69. Anglerfish

70. Lamprey

71. Gila Monster

72. Parrot

73. Skunk

74. Badger

75. Hercules Beetle

76. Chameleon

77. Squirrel

78. Armadillo

79. Lemur

80. Rabbit

81. Slime Mold

82. Tumbleweed

83. Vine

84. Venus Flytrap

85. Mushroom

86. Gear Assembly

87. Crane (Construction)

88. Train

89. Gatling Gun

90. Vacuum Cleaner

91-100. Human

With (d20, roll 1d4 times):

1. Colored exterior (1d4: 1. Dark, 2. Light, 3. Neon, 4. Shiny; 1d8: 1. Red, 2. Orange, 3. Yellow, 4. Green, 5. Blue, 6. Purple, 7. Grey, 8. Brown)

2. No eyes

3. 1d6 (exploding on 6) extra eyes (1d3: 1. same type as first creature, 2. same type as second creature, 3. roll new type)

4. Random coating (1d6: 1. Hair, 2. Scales, 3. Feathers, 4. Skin, 5. Spines, 6. Metal)

5. 1d6 (exploding on 6) extra tentacles

6. Bony ridges and extrusions

7. 1d3 extra pairs of wings, [total pairs] in 3 chance of being able to fly (1d3: 1. Feathered, 2. Bat-like, 3. Canvas)

8. Unusual composition (1d6: 1. Glass, 2. Slime, 3. Paper (can refold to randomize features), 4. Smoke, 5. Filth, 6. Plant matter)

9. Blank, featureless face/faces

10. Clawed limbs

11. Backwards joints

12. Corpulent body

13. Pores oozing malodorous fluids

14. Knotty, bulbous hide

15. 1d6 (exploding on 6) extra mouths, constantly (1d6: 1. smiling, 2. grimacing, 3. babbling, 4. screaming, 5. gnashing, 6. vomiting)

16. Attached weapon (1d6: 1. Circular saw, 2. Flamethrower, 3. Spiked Flail, 4. Venomous Stinger, 5. Cannon. 6. Cleaver)

17. 1d4 extra heads, roll on table above for type of each one

18. Rotting skin

19. 1d6 (exploding on 6) extra horns (1d6: 1. Stubby, 2. Short, 3. Long, 4. Curved and roll 1d3 for size, 5. Spiral and roll 1d3 for size, 6. Pronged and roll 1d3 for size)

20. Jaw can be unhinged

Random Papers

If you need something not-too-important in a hurry to put in file drawers, notebooks, and so forth.

1. Taxation records

2. Birth certificates

3. Transaction records

4. School worksheets (Subject 1d8: 1. Math, 2. Science, 3. History, 4. English/local language, 5. Foreign language, 6. Geography, 7. Health, 8. Technology)

5. Land surveys of a nearby area

6. Immigration papers

7. Old newspapers (1d4 x d10 years old)

8. Book manuscript

9. Crayon drawings, probably by children

10. Complex mathematical formulas

11. Rainfall tables

12. Calendars with random dates circled multiple times with large-lettered words in red ink

13. Shopping lists, all almost exactly the same

14. Packing slips

15. Letters (Topic 1d6: 1. Everyday life, 2. Personal windfall, 3. Request/plea for help, 4. Party invitation, 5. Business offer, 6. Thank-you note)

16. Legal briefs

17. Meeting transcripts

18. Survey results

19. Blueprints

20. Reroll, but it contains a secret message, hidden or in plain sight. Additional 20s mean additional nested secret messages.

Mysterious Backstory Table

 For the "Sword Quest Boy" class from the previous post; based off the table from this.

1. I…

2. My mother...

3. My father...

4. My brother…

5. My sister…

6. My whole family...

7. My rival…

8. My liege/commander…

9. My one true love...

10. My closest friend…

11. My mentor…

12. My main adversary's second-in-command…

1. …was murdered by…

2. …had their inheritance stolen by…

3. …had their rightful title usurped by…

4. …was imprisoned and had their death faked by…

5. …used to work for…

6. …was trained by…

7. …thwarted the plans of…

8. …is actually…

9. …is actively working against…

10. …is secretly working for…

11. …is the parent/child/sibling of…

12. …is old friends with/is an old flame of…

1. …a dragon (or other intelligent monster).

2. …the ruler of the country.

3. …the ruler of a neighboring country.

4. …a deposed ruler, currently in exile.

5. ...a renowned hero.

6. …my main adversary.

7. …the leader of a mysterious cult.

8. …an actual demon.

9. …a vanquished evil overlord.

10. …the mysterious stranger that keeps showing up.

11-12. …[roll on first list]

A Bunch of GLOG Classes

The following is a list of classes I made based off of names from a comment on a blog a while ago. The original list of class names I used for these can be found in the comments section of this post.

The classes are in varying degrees of completion, but I figured I should get them posted so I don't sit on them indefinitely. I'll try putting up a post every day this month to slim down my backlog.

White Hawk Rider: You have a pet giant white hawk. As you gain levels it becomes more cooperative and you can ride it and teach it tricks.

Volcanic Cameo-Woman: You were a virgin who was sacrificed to a volcano, but it spat you back out, and you got some weird powers in the process.
A: You're immune to fire damage and can safely breathe toxic gases. Lava and magma hate your taste. If you wind up in some, it will try to spit you out, possibly at high speed.
B: Cameo: Once per day, if the DM runs a scene in which you do not appear, you can show up in the background sometime before it ends if at all plausible.
C: Once per day, you can turn into a cloud of noxious gas. Treat as Gaseous Form, but anyone breathing you each round must save vs. poison each round or take 1d6 damage.
D: Can give a volcano an upset stomach by jumping into the caldera and thrashing around a bit, causing it to erupt. Can use a ritual involving a lot of loud chanting and drums to raise a small volcano in a week if you're not interrupted, or in a day if you're on a tectonic plate boundary.

Book Lover: Probably a mix of this and this.

Pearl Witch: Based off of pearl divers. Can hold your breath for up to 10 minutes. Store your spells in pearls - how to make finding them interesting? Dooms involve turning into a horrible sea creature.
Clam Grip: Grab onto something as though you have 21 Strength. Lasts for [sum] minutes or until you let go. Can use your grip as a melee attack for [sum] damage. If it hits, the target can't get away without breaking your grip.
Underwater adaptation (fins for fast swimming, gills to breathe water, resistant to pressure/the bends for [sum] exploration turns)
Stick a little bit of sand or other irritant into someone's body. It deals 1 damage each round for up to [sum]+[dice] rounds, if they die without removing it you can take a pearl from their corpse whose value in sp = total damage dealt

Fun SpiritCard Fan: You play a trading card game which can summon magical creatures and effects, and is unassociated with any licensed property. Your powers are based off of your cards, and you can trade them and duel with other SpiritCard players.
You have access to Monster cards, Spell cards, and Item cards (from whatever tables or books the DM permits). Monsters and items are summoned for up to 1 minute per template, spells are cast with a specific number of dice, determined by rolling 1d4 when you get the card. For doubles/triples, use the backfire/doom list for the appropriate class.
You may assemble decks with the cards you possess. The minimum deck size is 10, which is the number of cards you start with. At the beginning of the day, choose one of your decks and shuffle it. Then draw a hand of cards equal to your templates plus 1. Whenever you rest, you may discard any number of cards to draw that many cards. If you run out of cards in your deck it's no big deal, but you're out for the day.
You add 10 new cards to your collection every time you gain a level in this class. You may also find SpiritCard packs of 1d4+1 cards each in dungeons, buy them in shops dealing in the strange and obscure, or trade with or win them from other players.
4th template gives you Heart of the Cards, which lets you draw a card of your choice from your deck once per day.

Fake Word: A sentient concept. You gain power for each person that recognizes you as a real word, which you can use to manipulate people's minds and make them say things they didn't intend to say (or be silent when they don't want to). Once you're incorporated into an established dictionary, you've pretty much won (though you may become weaker over time, and eventually be only remembered by Scrabble players and linguists).

Garlic Burglar: An associate of the Hamburglar who either fights or collaborates with vampires?

Word Thief: Can steal words right out of people's lexicons, making it impossible for them to say the words in question. Very effective against wizards - can steal (and sometimes cast) their prepared spells. Possibly an enemy of the Fake Word (see above). Can steal words off of a page, including from magical books. Might also have better saves against/ability to notice magic writing. Maybe can steal words out of the dictionary to remove them from language?
If your target fails a save, you can steal their vocabulary, preventing them from speaking (this also stops most spellcasting). They can still make sounds, but cannot pronounce words. As long as you have their words, you can speak with their voice and effectively imitate their accent, speech mannerisms, etcetera. You can also speak any language they know. You can only possess one person's words at a time; if you steal someone else's words, you have to return the ones you stole earlier.
You can steal one of a wizard's prepared spells, and cast them if you have any MD (maybe you gain 1 MD when you get this ability?)
Can steal up to (number) of particular words of your choice from a target (rather than their whole vocabulary at once); maybe able to replace them with words of your choice?
Can remove written text or replace it with other text of your choice

Dark Millkin: A strange creature that lives in abandoned mills.

Giant-Man-Called Mauler: Get 1' taller (and +1 Str, -1 Con since your frame doesn't adequately support your height) for each level. Generally, get better at breaking things and people.

Goblin Egg Knight: A goblin knight who rides an egg with legs. It's not significantly faster than you, but at least you don't tire yourself out walking. You begin with a strange hat, armor of feathers that's as good as chain for you only, and a polearm of your choice (I recommend picking one of the obscure ones). Should your egg die, you can lay another one, which grows to full size over a week given adequate food and warmth. For each template, you get +1 to hit against anyone Lawful or bigger than you (if you don't use alignment, interpret as best you can) and +1 to save vs. fear.

A: You must behave according to Goblin Chivalry. You may never follow orders, tell the truth, or keep your word, and you cannot be made to do any of those things by any means. You must help those in need, but you are encouraged to fulfill their requests in twisted, nonsensical, or overly literal ways. Those who meet you for the first time must save or believe you are in fact an honorable knight of noble blood, though they still see you as you are in all other respects.

B: Your steed now has a beak, and can use it to climb or to attack for 1d4 damage, in addition to your attack. It can also imitate any sound it has heard a few times.

C: Your steed now has wings, and can, if not fly, at least awkwardly flutter downward, avoiding fall damage and gliding as far as it fell (more if there's a breeze in the right direction).

D: Your steed hatches into a majestic goblin peacock. It can now fly, albeit slowly, clumsily, and with a great deal of noisy flapping. Anyone, including you, who sees its bizarre, unearthly tail fan must save or be Confused for 1d6 rounds.

College Alligator: An educated talking alligator. You get +2 hp per template. You begin with an introductory textbook in a random subject, a pencil, and a stack of waterproof paper.
Freshman: You're an alligator. You can't use handheld tools or weapons or wear armor made for people, but you can talk, read, and (somehow) write. You have AC as leather and a 1d8 damage bite attack. If it hits, you can latch on and shake to automatically deal 1d8 damage each round, which counts as your attack. You can slow your metabolism to stay underwater for up to an hour or go for two years without eating, though you can't do too much in the meantime. You can only eat meat.
Sophomore: You've figured out how to blend in among humans pretty well - it's all about the subtle mannerisms. Unless you do something that draws attention, anyone who doesn't examine you closely will fail to notice that you're an alligator; you can make your way through crowds and sit in packed classrooms without much trouble (though, being at foot level, you'll likely get accidentally kicked and bumped into a lot). You usually get surprise when attacking someone who hasn't noticed you're an alligator.
Junior: Death roll. When you shake a creature you latched onto with your bite attack, it must save or lose its next turn from disorientation.
Senior: Your education has paid off. Get a degree, an additional profession/skill, 1 MD, and a spell of your choice from any Wizard spell list. You can also apply to alligator grad school, if you so choose.

Evil-Man-Hugger: You seek to redeem evildoers, primarily by hugs and kindness, but also by other means if necessary.

Zombie Blue: You're a zombie blues player. Each level, pick a new song that you can play (all have a jazzy feel to them).
Danse Macabre: See the song from here.
Funeral March
When the Saints Go Marching In
Deacon Blues?

Pepper Kingslayer: You are a cheerleader who kills kings. Each level, get a pep die (PD) and +1 to hit and damage against anything that could reasonably be considered royalty.
Pep dice: These are d6s. If you spend your turn cheering someone else on, you can give it to them to add to a roll made on their next turn. It's used up if it rolls a 1.

A: Acrobatics: Can perform cartwheels, flips, human pyramids, etc. with no need for a roll

B: 

Mountain Troll: You're made of stone. Your speed is halved, but most damage dealt to you is reduced by 3 or ignored entirely. You don't need to eat, drink, or breathe (though you do need to sleep, and will do so for longer as you get older and bigger). In daylight, you turn into an uncanny-looking boulder; you turn back once out of the sun. You can also hold perfectly still and look like a rock. Being in the cold may make you smarter (it functions as a heat sink, so you can run your processors faster).

Pirate Organization: See The Crew, from here

Refuge God: A household god whose family died or left, and now takes in all sorts of people in need of shelter (such as adventurers). You are the spirit of a large house, but you have lost most of your original powers; each level, regain control over one room of your environs (roll on Room table - not included).
At any time, you have 1d6-1 temporary inhabitants passing through per template, mostly vagrants, drifters, and homeless people, not including the PCs. You can't talk to people within you directly, but you can manipulate your environs in subtle ways, making floorboards creak, doors open or shut, curtains flutter, etc. You can hide creatures within you who want to be hidden, making them very difficult to notice or find.
You have more direct control over your components - you can lock or unlock doors, open or close windows, light or extinguish fires (in fireplaces), control electric devices and plumbing, drop ceiling tiles, etc.
You can control household pests (rats, ants, etc.) as long as they remain within your walls. You can't make them do anything unusually dangerous or outside of their normal behavior range. You can also preserve food indefinitely or spoil it.
You can manifest yourself to talk to people in flickering household fixtures such as fires, TVs, maybe lightbulbs? Mirrors are also suitable. If anyone settles down in you permanently (for at least a year and a day), you regain control over all rooms.

Sword Quest Boy: A young Destined Hero with a mysterious past. Begin with a radical hairstyle, amnesia, and an unusual sword (1d8). +1 hp and save vs. fear each level. Also, roll on the Mysterious Backstory table each level to find out what you remember about your past.
A: Your sword is an Important Quest Object. It counts as +1 for you only. It will not be damaged or broken except in an important battle. If you lose it, it will show up again in 1d4 sessions. The sword has a 1-in-6 chance of being sentient and able to talk; if it is, add it to the list of characters on the Mysterious Backstory table.
B: Gain a Love Interest and a Sidekick (both level 0, each with a random Profession and personality). They are loyal to you and will never desert you or turn against you unless you knowingly betray them. If they would be killed, they will probably (5 times in 6) get lost or kidnapped instead. You also get a Rival, who either is like you but cooler and enjoys showing you up, or is like you but lamer and is obsessed with defeating you (1 level higher/lower, half chance of each). They gain a level whenever you do and have a half chance of showing up the first time you enter a given town or dungeon to cause trouble for you, but they will also sometimes provide useful information or help you against a common enemy.
C: More of your memories return. Roll an extra time on the Mysterious Backstory table. You gain 1 MD and learn a random spell. Your Love Interest and Sidekick also each gain a level in different classes.
D: Your memories return in full (roll two extra times on the Mysterious Backstory table), and your sword's ultimate powers are unlocked. It counts as +2 for you, +1 for anyone you willingly give or lend it to, and +0 for anyone else. It also has a special property, usable by you only (1d6: 1. Flaming (+1d6 fire damage), 2. Wishing (grants one wish after killing the Main Adversary), 3. Cutting (+1 damage, and can cut anything up to the size of a mountain in half, once ever; creatures get a save), 4. Dowsing (if allowed to spin freely, points toward either your greatest desire or your greatest fear, pick one when you get this power), 5. Fate-severing (ignores damage resistance, can injure and kill supposedly immortal or invincible beings and deals maximum damage to them), 6. Royalty (clearly marks you as the lost heir to a small kingdom recently fallen on hard times, somewhere on or near the campaign map))

(Possibly the Love Interest or Sidekick can be replaced by a Mentor who starts out two levels higher than you, but has a mysterious agenda that requires them to be absent half the time and dies shortly after you surpass their level.)

(Mysterious Backstory table coming next post, based off of this.)

Angel of Heralds: A messenger of Heaven. Begin with a trumpet and a scroll containing a divine proclamation. +1 to initiative and +5 ft to movement speed each template
A: You can run indefinitely without tiring, as long as you don't stop running (when you do, you may speak for up to 1 minute, then collapse for a length of time = half the time you spent running). As long you are carrying a message for Heaven to a specific, known destination, you will not be waylaid (no harmful random encounters), you can walk or run across water and fire without harm, and your recipients will at least hear you out. Heaven will always have a new message for you to deliver, but there is only a half chance the destination will be at or near somewhere you want to go. If you take too long to deliver a message or give it to the wrong person, you'll get chewed out by your superiors and they won't give you any new messages for 1d6 weeks.

B: You can speak and understand any mortal language. You can play your trumpet to call for aid (2d4 mile range, anyone who hears knows it is a call for help) or make enemies roll a morale check (works no more than per fight)

C: You can run on air like a cartoon character, as long as you make it back to solid ground by the end of your turn.

D: You may ask the Angel of Sending, your superior, to instantly deliver a brief message (25 words or less) to anyone anywhere. They won't do it again until you do them a favor in return.