Category:Project Heretica

Ladies and gentlemen, children of all ages! Outsiders and Eldritch Abominations are welcome too!

First, for those who guessed: YES, IT HAS TO DO WITH PALADINS. But not entirely with paladins, actually. Most explanation will be done on how the name emerged (it will be silly and you will unleash words of undiluted wrath upon me once you hear it), but it has evolved into a little thing on its own, because it managed to reveal a little thing I wasn't aware of in my own retoolings.

So, without further ado, I introduce...Project Heretica

1) Why "Project Heretica"? It sounds like a quirky name...

And...well, yes, it is quirky.

You see, most (if not all people; if not, you'll know here) of the people I know are aware that my favorite class...no, archetype in a fantasy setting is definitely the Paladin. In fact, whenever I play a game, usually the main character WILL resemble a Paladin in some way, unless the main character's progression is fixed. Whether it's a console game, an MMO (with some exceptions), or a tabletop game, the first archetype I seek is definitely Paladin.

And, of course, there are LOTS of perceptions about Paladinhood, but there are some core concepts. First, they are GOOD. No, not merely Lawful Good, not merely Altruistic, but Good to the point of ridiculousness. That is balanced with a specific concept; they are GOOD, but they are also GRITTY. It's not easy being the good guy, much less the hero in a place full of corruption, where your higher-ups DEMAND you to be the beacon of light in the sea of darkness, much less when your companions won't stop until they corrupt you. Sometimes, harsh decisions have to be made, but the Paladin will be one of the few, if not the only one, who will ponder on what's beyond.

Another is that they are warriors blessed. They are skilled in arms just as the swordmaster, or the huge guy wielding an axe, or the guy with flair and a thin needle in his arm, its handle covered by an impossibly nice-looking cup. However, because of their mission, they are also blessed with nice things. Blessed armor. Healing abilities. Ways to layeth the wrath of their gods upon the non-believers and the forces of darkest Evil.

Another thing is that they are called. You can try your best to become a Paladin, but unless you've heard that call, it's hard, if not impossible, to stir the gods to give you that power. You've probably been screened from your birth, and you'll gonna be pestered about it until the day you die, and probably the gods will be FURIOUS because you decided to be a simple farmer instead of leading the glorious battle of Good against Evil. Or...maybe not, but not everyone can answer the call.

And...well, they are meant to be tanks. In the defensive, surviving, sense of the word. Look at any game that has Paladins, and what you'll probably see is that they hit just as hard as the warrior wearing the same weapon would on a normal day (without the buffs that make that warrior hit harder), but when you take a hit, while the squishies would die, you just call it a flesh wound and then heal it up to non-existence. Huge explosions? Nah, you shrug it off and say "did it got hot in here"? Vile, poisonous wounds that could kill a man in seconds? "Aww, my clothes got stained... PREPARE TO FACE THE WRATH OF MY GOD!!" The Paladin is expected to be the first to enter, and the last to leave, IF he is to leave at all.

So, after all of this, why the name "Project Heretica"? Well, you see, when reading the Tier system for classes system of Balance Points, I was quite surprised that the Paladin was well below the expected power curve, only useful if you were mounted on a pony with a drill for a weapon, shouting the finest praises to your deity in hopes you could land a crit; else, other people might just leave you and your fanaticism on the nearest church...if not a sacrificial altar in hopes of gaining favor with who knows which deity. It was a bit hard to deal with, but apparently, Paladins are not as awesome as they should be. And...well, considering just how many rewrites, upgrades, and rebalancings of Paladins you see (not as many as Monks, of course), D&D apparently doesn't have the best of Paladins.

So, as a dutiful Paladin fan, I decided to put the best of my abilities to place the Paladin on the pedestal it should be: right along the Grey Knights, the Diablo II Paladins...you know, the guys that dish holy justice and bite more that they can chew, swallow, digest and...erm, you get the idea. However, while there were less hassle with other classes, there's a fundamental problem with Paladins: if the class is supposed to be my favorite, why I am retooling it and not defending it until I am sorely beaten? That would be...heresy! Heresy of the worst sort!

Hence, "Project Heretica". Which isn't just about Paladins; as you'll see later on, it covers more than just those warriors of absolute Good...

<!-- 2) Alright, I'm this close to ragequit reading this... Amuse me/prove this is worthy/REDEEM YOURSELF!!!

Sure, sure, coming...

You see, giving such a pretentious name for a Paladin rewrite is definitely a sign of either hubris or lack of taste. So, how could I redeem this? Making different alignment-based classes and call it a day? Yes, I did that, but that doesn't really sound like something you'd give a title of "Project". Retool Prestige Classes that have strong Paladin ties? That's a bit closer, but still not enough.

So...how can I really redeem it? If I were to tell you that you've already SEEN Project Heretica in action, would you believe me? I guess not, you're already thinking "hey, it's a Paladin remake; how can we've already seen it?"

Look no further: enter the Bez-Kismet. Yes, that class; the retooling of the Hexblade. Can't believe your eyes? Look at the Paladin retool later on, and see just how similar they are. Look at the Ranger, at least how the spells are dealt with? Similar with Bez-Kismet? Well, it'll also hold some similarities with the classes in Project Heretica.

But...only similarities to classes? Is that it? Well, what if I tell you the Monk, the Ninja, the Samurai, the Healer AND the Warmage also hold roots to Project Heretica? Impossible? Well, not that much.

You see, all of these classes have something in common, and will have something in common with other retools I've made. Notice, specifically, on how the class abilities are rigidly set, all in pretty close mathematical proportions (in case the abilities advance), the proliferation of bonus feats in some of them, how one class can adapt to the other with little effort. I've done mentions of something called the "chassis". In a car, the chassis is essentially its skeleton; it's the thing that holds the entire car together, so to speak. Well, if you notice carefully, you'll see the Monk, the Ninja and the Samurai all have a specific chassis; the Healer and the Warmage have another chassis, and the Bez-Kismet and the Paladin (and the other PrH classes) will have a similar chassis. When I realized that, I found that as the core of Project Heretica; explaining the very nature of how I do class retoolings, and specifically the concept of mechanical modularity (a term so fancy it requires a proper explanation to make it feasible, but in any case it refers to how I can take a skeleton, figure out which abilities are good to subtract from the original as-is, which to adapt to the chassis core abilities, and which to make new to upgrade the class) within classes.

Thus, while the biggest part of Project Heretica is the Paladin (and "friends") retoolings, there is ONE thing I decided to work with in order to expand the project to something other than a package of classes. This isn't really a breakthrough concept in class systems, but at least what I follow when I do retoolings, and something that could hold a strong discussion (and if it inspires other people to adapt to their own homebrews, that would be fantastic!). Being part showcasing and part discussion, I expect the thread to be larger than the others, and thus worthy of a "project" title. -->