12/07/2024

Welcome back to Tabletop Thoughts!

Today, we are going to continue my delve into the Players Companion for Shadowdark and focus on the classes.

There are 36 classes new classes in the book. They are Archer, Assassin, Beastmaster, Berserker, Brigand, Buccaneer, Burglar, Charlatan, Conjurer, Druid, Elementalist, Enchanter, Explorer, Gladiator, Mage, Mariner, Monk, Mystic, Necromancer, Noble, Oracle, Pugilist, Ranger, Rogue, Savage, Scholar, Scout, Shaman, Soldier, Sorcerer, Spy, Squire, Thug, Urchin, Valkyrie, and Witch. (Wow, that is a lot!)

I took a cursory glance at the classes. I feel that most are just the base classes from the core rules. They have a background or concept. Some of the classes have talents that are overpowered and some have talents that are about useless. I do like some of the talents. I would consider allowing the character to add those to their class talent chart. Alternatively, they can substitute them for another talent. I think some homebrew is always good. Still, most of these talents can just be handled as part of the character’s background. According to the Shadowdark rules, “Work with the GM to determine if your background provides you advantages in a given situation.”

I will break these new classes into 4 groups based on the four base classes in the core book.

Fighter: Archer, Beastmaster, Berserker, Explorer, Gladiator, Mariner, Noble, Pugilist, Savage, Scout, Soldier, Squire

Priest: Druid, Monk, Mystic, Oracle, Ranger, Shaman, Valkyrie, Witch

Thief: Assassin, Brigand, Buccaneer, Burglar, Charlatan, Rogue, Spy, Thug, Urchin

Wizard: Conjurer, Elementalist, Enchanter, Mage, Necromancer, Scholar, Sorcerer, Witch

We will start our look into the classes with the Fighter types, starting with the Archer. I will share the flavor text of the class. I will also give my opinion on the talents of the class. Since there are so many “Fighter” classes, I will break them into 2 parts. This will be Part 1.

Archer

“Archers have trained from a young age to repeatedly make a heavy bow pull and hit targets at a distance. They tend to avoid close combat, where they are vulnerable.”

Archers have 2 really overpowered talents: Called Shots and Taking Cover.

Called shots give a -2 penalty but the archer can inflict a condition/action on the target. Hitting a leg prevents movement for 2 rounds. Hitting a hand causes the target to drop whatever they are carrying. Hitting the head causes extra damage. Causing a target to stop moving can be brutal if the target doesn’t have ranged attacks. 2 rounds mean that as long as the archer hits every other round, the target is stuck motionless.

Taking Cover imposes disadvantages against range attack if the archer has 25% cover instead of the normal 50%. That is roughly up to the knees. Seems like not much effort to find that much cover for such a good advantage.

Beastmaster

“Beastmasters are adventurous wild animal tamers. They are adept at calming and training animals to fight alongside them in combat. They are formidable front-line combatants.”

Animal Kinship is not limited by the RAW (Rules as Written). The Beastmaster may calm down wild animals (The Beastmaster’s Level or Less). If he passes a check, he can tame the calmed creature into service. The problem is that there is no limit to the number of creatures. The Beastmaster’s player can have so many creatures that it just bogs down the game. Here is an example: A badger is a Level 1 creature. They have AC 11, 5HP, and get 2 attacks for 1d4 damage. Now, imagine a Level 1 Beastmaster with 10 badgers in his service. That is 20 attacks just from badgers! As a fix, I would limit the total levels of service creatures to the level of the Beastmaster. A level 1 Beastmaster can have a single badger. A level 5 Beastmaster can have 5 badgers or a single brown bear (Level 5 creature).

Berserker

“Berserkers are body-painted barbarians that seem to go wild in combat. They seek to conquer new lands and subjugate their enemies.”

The Blooded ability provides the Berserker with +2 AC. It also grants double movement for 3 rounds. This happens if he deals 1 point of damage. This isn’t so bad but the Berserker is allowed to wear ANY armor (Since when did Berserkers wear heavy armor?) and use a shield. A Berserker in full plate mail and shield has an AC of 17. They can move twice as fast as any other character for 3 rounds. During those rounds, their AC becomes 19. If the armor was limited to leather armor, I wouldn’t have an issue with the talent.

Explorer

“Explorers are experienced scouts that are comfortable in the wilderness. They are often paid to lead parties of travelers through rough, dangerous, or unknown terrain. Merchants often employ an explorer to lead their caravans, even through known territories.”

Wait, isn’t there a scout class? Why yes there is and both of the classes have the Alertness and Pathfinding talents. Again, this is an example of a background being applied as a class. Both of these classes should be a Fighter with a background of Scout or Explorer.

Explorers get Lucky which just allows them to have 2 Luck tokens and makes it harder for them to die. I would rather have a Fighter with better armor and weapons that has a background as an explorer.

Gladiator

“Gladiators are warriors that fight for fame and fortune in the arena. They are beloved by their fans and practiced at doing whatever it takes to take out their opponent.”

Dirty Trick is another overpowered and awful talent. “Make a DEX check vs a close opponent’s AC. If successful, the opponent is stunned (cannot act) for 2 rounds.” That is brutal if the gladiator is not alone. Imagine not acting for 2 rounds in combat if the gladiator rolls a Dex check. Gladiators can wear any armor and use a shield.

This class should have been a Fighter with a gladiator background, especially if they can use all weapons, armor, and a shield.

Mariner

“Mariners are practiced seafarers trained in all aspects of sailing. They are comfortable high in the rigging and adept at navigation. Unlike a buccaneer, the mariner focuses on peaceful sea travel.”

What, so there is another class, the Buccaneer (Thief), in the same book that is about the same with slightly different talents? Yep!

In the core rules, there is a background called sailor that is listed as “Pirate, privateer, or merchant — the seas are yours” Again, this is a class that should be just a fighter or thief with a sailing background.

The Dead Reckoning talent allows the mariner to determine their location using an INT check. With an astrolabe, no check is required. Sailing talent means they can sail a boat. Both of these are pretty useless as talents and can easily be covered by a background.

Noble

“Nobles are minor landed gentry, typically the third born (or worse) with little opportunity to inherit their family’s land. Instead, they set off into the world to make their fortune as adventurers instead.”

Again, this is a class that is listed in the core rules as a background. “Noble. A famous name has opened many doors for you”

The Languages talent means the Noble gets an additional Language at character creation. The Leadership talent means that NPC allies and aligned creatures can roll Morale with Advantage. I actually like these two talents and would allow the player to substitute these talents for the standard Fighter talents.

The Nobility talent gives mind-affecting spells and abilities against the Noble Disadvantage. Why? If this is the case, then all of the NPCa that are of nobility to higher social status should give Disadvantage to the players if they try to charm them. Guarantee the players wouldn’t be happy with this feature.

The Wealth talent gives the Noble double dice to roll for starting wealth. I am indifferent about this talent. After the first couple of adventures, the starting gold will seem insignificant. The treasure recovered from their adventures will far exceed it. But, it would make the Noble feel more like someone from a wealthier family.

Conclusion: So far, I am not really impressed with the new classes in this book. It seems that the author had some concepts for characters, made those into classes, and generated some talents to fit. Most of these concepts are really just backgrounds. They could be flushed out with the GM. Some of the talents can be developed and substituted into the core classes.

Next time, we will finish the Fighter classes.

Keep on gaming!