User:Aarnott/Lego Bin 15/Character Options

= Character Options =

Class Re-flavoring
Rather than write a bunch of classes specific to the setting, it seemed much simpler to just redefine the fluff behind the classes and just have everything else work the same way.

For the most part, each class is really just a type of hero (if that weren't obvious). Heroes in Mystos mean something significant. They are the ones whom are responsible for fighting monsters. They are the ones that do crazy quests like stealing the gemstone sword of the earth god. They also often piss off the gods and get away with it. That's what you will be playing.

Heroes are granted mystical abilities from the gods to assist them in their journeys. A hero is a character that actually has class levels. Class levels mean that you have these abilities that nobody else does.

Cleric
The D&D cleric is already, flavor-wise, pretty much what a Mystos Priest should be. A name change is all that is really required here.

Priests are the select few that have dedicated their lives to work specifically for one god or goddess above the others. They are privileged in the fact that they can actually get away with not honoring the other deities (at least not invoke their wrath for not honoring them). Instead they try to interpret the will of their patron deity and serve as best they can.

Some priests become more than just temple caretakers and community pillars. These priests are given magic from their deity and are charged to assist heroes. They are the ones who try to sway heroes to act favorably for their deity. In this way, they are leaders for a group of heroes.

Fighter
A fighter is a pretty generic thing to a fantasy world. The fighter class, however, is really just an archetype for a type of hero in Mystos. Fighters are the tough hero that puts themselves in front of death. Fighters, unlike most other classes, may have no gifts from the gods at all: they are simply better than others of their kind.

Paladin
Paladins work in a knightly game, but they make little sense in a bronze-age world. A paladin here is a fighter that definitely has some god-given gifts. Most paladins are probably demigods (not the epic destiny, but a demigod by birthright). Often they don't even know this: they are born with a heroic destiny, but orphaned at birth and live a modest life up until their time to be a hero.

Ranger
Rangers can be called either an archer, or a swashbuckler. They are the quick moving heroes that favor agility and movement over raw stamina. Like fighters, they can be regular men. Their experience and skill leads them to having good dueling capabilities.

And, of course, for more tribal heroes that are not from the civilized lands (usually halflings or goblins), a ranger could always be a hunter.

Rogue
Rogues are the swashbuckler type, but usually a bit more scoundrel-esque. Like pirates. And, not that all heroes that follow the rogue path are or were pirates, but it is more likely than not.

Warlocks and Wizards
Warlocks and wizards are heroes granted the power of magic by the gods. They usually carry divine blood themselves, but it isn't always the case.

Warlord
A warlord is Mystos is a king or general. Mystos has thousands of cities within its civilized borders, each with their own leader and general (sometimes the same person). The warlord hero is such a leader that will lead victories that will be told in stories to come. And their victories may come as something they do after finishing an errand for the gods. They are a hero like any other, but their specialty is leadership.

Setting Specific Skills
Mystos makes use of a new skill: sailing. It is the ability to control and use a ship and will often take the form of a skill challenge.

Every class offers sailing as a class skill.

Check
Unlike a normal skill check, the crew makes the primary check (using the average of their sailing skill) and the PCs can attempt to aid the crew. Unlike the normal aid another rules, the PCs must meet the skill check result of the crew to add a bonus and if their check is at least 10 below the crew's check result, they instead provide a -2 penalty to the check result.

A failed check when trying to move against the wind results in no movement. Otherwise, a failed check results in damage to the ship, with increased severity for every 5 points the check was failed by.

Skill Training Changes
Mystos uses a small houserule for training skills. Two skills can be "half-trained" in place of training a skill. The character is considered trained in both these skills, but only receives a +3 bonus to skill checks of that type rather than a +5. If the character gets a new trained skill later, they can fully train the skill by picking it as a skill to half-train.

This rule adds a bit more granularity to skill training without making too drastic of a change to the game.

Heroic Tier

 * Shifty: Once per encounter shift a number of squares equal to your dexterity modifier with Goblin Tactics.
 * Too Small to Hit: +1 AC and +1 Reflex against attacks from Large-sized or larger enemies.
 * Orc Frenzy: +2 damage when bloodied.
 * Tortoise Folk Weapon Training: +2 damage and proficiency with spears and thrown weapons.
 * Tide-born calm: Your allies can hold their breath 10x as long as normal as long as they are within 10 squares.
 * Dragon-born breath: You exchange your bite racial power for the breath weapon racial power for the dragonborn race in the PHB.
 * Gift of Oros: +1 attack and damage with charm and fear powers