Fortnightly Fiends: Moonwasp

 In the void between worlds, and in the silver-limned reaches of the Astral and Ethereal Planes are many variegated creatures, many fearsome and many utterly alien: imagine then, the sense of comfort the planar traveller feels upon first encountering the Moonwasp, so familiar in form, singing their everlasting mental hymns to the pleasures of friendship and the joy of the new. Despite their appearance - human-sized wasps with silver wings and white bodies and rainbow-hued multifaceted eyes - Moonwasps will almost always treat first encounters as a chance for a new friendship and sharing of stories. They are great travellers and singers - and occasionally defenders of those whose freedom and individuality is threatened by other, less benign planar forces. Thus they are betimes found opposing Devils, Demons and other such horrors.

Moonwasps can function in the void of space, and the Astral and Ethereal Planes without hindrance, although they do enjoy visiting the Prime Material Plane and its multifarious variants (not so much during the hours of daylight, however). They have some command of planar magic, and their powerful minds are opaque to magical control. They do not like to fight, but will do so if pressed, especially against Chaotic foes and the alien horrors that stalk the void. They prefer, however, to utilise their potent mental songs to defuse dangerous situations.

Moonwasp for Labyrinth Lord 

Credit to my son, who turns 9 today, who came up with the word "Moonwasp".

ALOT Left Undone: The Barber Petty-Class for OSR Games

 

BARBER

 

The Barber is something of an oddity - to modern eyes at least - in that, in addition to cutting hair and beards and providing a nexus for neighbourhood gossip, they also practice basic surgery and dentistry, although they seldom serve the higher orders (who prefer the services of the Physicker, for reasons that make very little sense). 

Barbers are, of course, hardly effective combatants, but they are physically deft, competent in social settings, adept at sniffing out rumours and possessing a surprising amount of political, commercial  - and criminal - knowledge. Their healing skills are limited, and sometimes do more harm than good, but are better than nothing in a pinch.

Attack Table: 0-level Human

Hit Dice: d4

Saving Throw: Level 1-3 (all 20, except Spells 19); Level 4-5 (all 19, except Spells 17, Polymorph 18); Level 6 (all 19, except Spells 17, Polymorph 17)

Armour/Shield Permitted: none

Weapons Permitted: club, dagger, dart, short sword, sling

Weapon Proficiencies: 2 + 1 per 3 levels

Non-Proficiency Penalty: -3

Base Skills: Charm 2, Common Knowledge 1, Craft (Barber) 3, Gossip 2, Heal 1, Jest 1, Local Knowledge 3, Numeracy 1.

Free Elective Skills (choose 4 skills amongst which you may distribute 6 Competency Levels): Blather, Bluff, Brewing (1), Etiquette, Evaluate, Fence, Gamble, Gossip, Haggle, Heal (3), Herb Lore (1), Jest, Read/Write, Numeracy, Potion Lore (1), Sense Motive, Sleight of Hand, Story Telling, Surgery (1), Wit. 

 

Barber Level Advancement
	Base Experience			Hit Dice
Level	Points Required			(d4)	Abilities
1		0		1	In the Know 10%, Chirurgery 30%
2		500		2	Keeper of Secrets I
3		1250		3	Chirurgery 40%
4		2250		4	In the Know 15%
5		3500		5	Chirurgery 55%, Keeper of Secrets II
6		5000		6	In the Know 20%, Chirurgeon's Lore

 

In the Know: The Barber hears many things, and quickly becomes capable of connecting seemingly disparate facts to deduce unexpected relationships between them. As their knowledge of the political or social context of this data increases, so to does their chance of successfully connecting these previously unrelated facts. At 1st level, their base chance is equivalent to 10 plus a number derived from the Maximum Henchmen column of the Charisma table, but based upon both the Barber's CHA and INT scores (e.g. Hollanby Tourge, is a 1st level Barber with CHA 12 and INT 8. His CHA gives him 5 Maximum Henchmen, whilst his low INT gives him an equivalent number of 3. Hollanby's chance of success in this ability is 10 + 5 + 3=18%).

Chirurgery: This score reflects the Barber's base ability in their side gig as folk surgeons. In addition to standard healing practices - first aid and folk cures - they utilise surgical techniques to (hopefully) cure most agues and maladies. This includes bloodletting, amputation, the lancing of boils and cauterisation of wounds. However, it is a chancy thing, as the Barber's knowledge of such procedures is, quite literally, painfully incomplete. Their base chance of success at first level is equivalent to 30 plus (or minus) modifiers for their INT, DEX and WIS scores (all derived from the Reaction Adjustment column of the Charisma table). Thus, Hollanby Tourge, our previous exemplar, has an INT of 8, WIS of 7 and a DEX of 14. Cross-referencing the Charisma table, we see that Hollanby's good DEX score grants him +5, whilst his 8 INT and 7 WIS give results of -5 and -10 respectively. Although Hollanby is good with his surgeon's tools, he doesn't have a good eye and his memory of the correct procedures has more than a few gaps, giving him a 20% chance (!) at first level. Folk will probably only call on Hollanby's services in desperate straits.

Chirurgery, when it fails, can be catastrophic: patients may bleed to death, lose a limb unnecessarily or be left with permanent damage to one or more abilities. Hollanby bungles an attempt to drain fluid from a consumptive's lungs, leaving them with a loss of 3 CON, and a permanent -5 to Saving Throws against poison and death.

Keeper of Secrets: Sooner or later, a Barber comes into possession of a piece of information that, were it to become generally known, could have potentially explosive consequences. The Barber rolls on each column of the following table, to find the nature of the secret and the range of potential consequences (e.g., Hollanby - now level 2, rolls the following numbers: 7, 26 and 16. His rumour, obtained from a barkeep, tells him that an engineer of high repute is a double agent. Fleshing out these rather bare but juicy bones, the GM decides that this engineer contributed to the design and building of a great fortress on the border of an enemy nation - actually his employers - and left sections of the walls particularly vulnerable to siege engines or sappers.)

Chirurgeon's Lore: having reached the apex of their profession, 6th level Barbers may select one of the following secret lores.

Vitalist: the Barber has achieved a minor but useful understanding of the spiritual life force that pervades all things. Once per week, they may - by using massage, dietary, ritual and hypnotic techniques - provide one suffering from a disease (including magical maladies) with the opportunity to make a Saving Throw to shake off the disease. The Barber must make a successful Chirurgery roll each day of the treatment (3d4 days) treatment to effect this change. This does not repair any damage previously resulting from the infection, but each day there is a successful treatment check, the disease does not advance. If two treatment checks in succession are failed, the Barber has lost their chance to cure the disease and may not attempt to do so again. A Vitalist may oversee the simultaneous treatment of 1d3 + 6 patients at any one time, but apply a -5% penalty per patient for every patient after the first.

Humouralist: the Barber is a considerably skilled practitioner of humoural medicine. Using dietary, exercise and meditative techniques, they can make a Chirurgery check to help a patient afflicted with some form of mental illness return to what passes for normal 'sanity' by rebalancing the six humours. It takes at least 2d4 months to effect a cure, with a successful check required each week. If a weekly check fails, the Barber must roll 1d8 and consult the following list: 

1: serious failure, causing tremendous mental anguish and possible injury (depending on the nature of the illness), and no more cures can be attempted; 

2-5: major setback, start again; 

6-7: minor setback, add 1d4 weeks to the treatment; 

8: a close shave (you're a Barber, after all). If you successfully roll equal or less than your WIS score (on a d20), you lose the week and must repeat that week's treatment. If you fail, treat as a minor setback. 

The Humouralist can provide treatment for 1d3 patients at the same time, but must distribute their Chirurgery score between all cases (e.g., a Barber with a score of 62% in Chirurgery might allocate 34% to one particularly difficult case, 20% to another and 8% to what seems to be a hopeless case.)

Skill of the Day: Mountain Lore!

 

Mountain Lore is a skill generally used in conjunction with other skills, to reduce the Competency Level required. The skill includes knowledge of major mountain chains, significant peaks, cultures that dwell in mountainous regions, a basic understanding of the different types of the flora and fauna found in mountains and the kind of rocks and minerals that may be found there. 

 

Thus, a character with Mountain Lore could use it in combination with (for example): Cartography (for more accurate mapping of mountainous regions); Climb (to locate the safest climbing route); Mining (to locate sources of mineral wealth and ascertain the best locations for mining); Navigate (general route-finding) or Weather Sense (to better predict the weather in mountainous areas).

 

Using a skill like Mountain Lore to complement another check is subject to a few simple guidelines: if the character's Competency Level in Mountain Lore is less than half of the skill being checked, it cannot be used in such a way. If it is more than half or equal to the skill being checked, the character may add 1 to their effective Competency Level in the companion skill. If the Competency Level in Mountain Lore is greater than that of the companion skill, 2 can be added to the effective level. 

 

When to Roll the Dice

 

When determining if a check is needed for the Mountain Lore skill, the quick and dirty rule is the standard one for all skills: that where there is no time pressure and the Competency Level required is no higher than that of the character, matters can be safely hand-waved. Otherwise, a roll can be made. 

 

MOUNTAIN LORE

Primary Ability: Intelligence

Alternative Abilities: Wisdom, especially in such situations as foraging and tracking.

Usual Time Requirement: varies with context, up to 1 hour maximum

Availability: Level 1

Type/Rate of Development: Campaign/Strategic; Average (1:2)

FREE DEVELOPMENT BY CLASS:

OSRIC: Ranger (*)

Swords & Wizardry: Ranger (*)

Labyrinth Lord: Dwarf (3*), including any Dwarf variant (e.g. Raging Slayer, War Chanter); Ranger (*)

FREE DEVELOPMENT BY LINEAGE:

OSRIC: Dwarf (3*)

Swords & Wizardry: Dwarf (3*)

Labyrinth Lord: Dwarf (3*)

 

Note that“*” indicates a quicker rate of development (1 Competency Level for every  Character Level), whilst the 3 in parentheses indicates that Dwarves and Dwarf sub-classes begin with 3 free levels of Competency.

Story Hook: The mighty peaks of the High Esvels form a massive range that separates the New Kingdoms from the northern lands – much of them barbaric deserts and wastes – and provides the watershed for most of the New Kingdoms’ great rivers. The High Esvels reach their greatest heights northeast of Rakhanay, in the towering Mount Orvael (over four thousand metres in height), although they seldom rise above half that. The mountains have a number of subsidiary ranges (such as the Low Esvels) and vary in width from between sixty miles (in Dalrok Haan) to over one hundred and fifty miles northeast of Torreg Tallyn.

North of Rakhanay itself the High Esvels are about one hundred miles broad from south to north, and rise to over two thousand seven hundred metres at Murokhagan. The mountains are populated by Gerredain, Orcs, Den Haarn, Goblins, Amaghli, High Esvelmen (barbarians not particularly close in relationship to the Low Esvelmen) and many ferocious monsters and beasts. There are no known cities in the High Esvels – and indeed few towns of any size. There are a number of tenuous and dangerous routes across the range, but only the Valderthorn Way north of Murokhagan sees much traffic. Of late, both the Guilbhir Trading Leagues and the Grovelords of Tarezain have been exploring the possibilities of developing the Valderthorn Way into an alternative route for trade, hoping to circumvent the rapacious folk of Dalrok Haan, who hold control of the upper Sandlane, and thus the main gateway to the fabulous riches of the north.

The Guilbhir Trading Leagues are looking for willing and brave folk to accompany and defend two of their Engineers (Wolden Shursant, LN Human Engineer* 4 and Krin Boistur, NE Half-Elf Illusionist 3/Engineer 4) as they survey the Valderthorn Way. Neither Engineer is particularly experienced in mountain environments, and thus require the services of a few seasoned souls with mountain knowledge. There's a problem, however: Krin Boistur is in the pay of the Dalrokhani, and is hoping to somehow sabotage the endeavour - perhaps by using his magic to bring about the downfall of his fellow engineer before reporting to his League 'masters' that the Valderthorn route is not viable.

* the Engineer is a Petty-class that may be detailed in a later post.

Skill of the Day: Dowsing!

 

DOWSING
Primary Ability: Wisdom
Alternative Abilities: none
Usual Time Requirement: varies, not usable in combat
Availability: Level 1
Type/Rate of Development: Campaign/Strategic; Slow (1:3)
FREE DEVELOPMENT BY CLASS:
OSRIC: none
Swords & Wizardry: none
Labyrinth Lord: none
FREE DEVELOPMENT BY RACE:
OSRIC: none
Swords & Wizardry: none
Labyrinth Lord: none DEVELOPMENT BY CLASS: OSRIC: Druid**,  Mentalist**, Seer**, Ranger*, Witch* S&W: Druid*, Ranger*, Witch* Labyrinth Lord: Druid**, Fortune Teller**, Mystic**, Ranger*, Witch*

 

Time to look at another item off the list of things left undone: Skill of the Day! It's been in abeyance for far too long - I get distracted easily - but here's a new skill (if you want to understand what this is, check out this post).  

Without further preamble, I rolled a 4 and a 1 on my d12s, and came up with the skill Dowsing, which I am classing as a Strategic or Campaign skill, rather than a Tactical or Adventure skill. Campaign skills are generally used during exploration or downtime. Dowsing is, of course, the art of locating water sources using the proverbial Y-shaped stick. The required level of Competency will vary with the availability of groundwater and the amount of magical 'noise' in the vicinity (highly magical areas such ley lines and faerie forests might confuse the Dowser's intuitive sense). Also, magical 'dead zones' will make this task much harder, increasing the required Competency Level by 4. As a rough guideline, a Dowser can examine one 10'r area (multiplied by their level of Competency) every five minutes. A Druid with Dowsing 3, therefore, can examine a 30' radius area every five minutes. 

Loss of the Dowser's divining rod - to which they are uniquely attuned - imposes a penalty of 3 Competency Levels (to a minimum of 1) until it is recovered or a new rod procured.  Note that such cannot be bought, or crafted: it must be found. There is a cumulative 5% chance per day spent searching for the right rod that one will be found (the maximum % chance is 80%). The Dowser must then spend 1d12 hours attuning themselves to the rod (usually through a combination of contemplation and experimentation) before it can be used.

Obviously, this skill is most useful in the strategic environment, especially when travelling long distances in arid regions. Another application is to sell one's services to farmers, landowners and travellers in marginal areas. As a rough figure, a Dowser can expect a base of 1 sp per day spent searching and anywhere between 1-100 gp should they find water sufficient to the needs of their client, with the payment dependent on quality, quantity and ease of access of the discovered water source. 

Lastly, there is always the possibility that other resources may be found, although such discoveries are almost always serendipitous. A Dowser searching for resources other than water (for example, gold, gems or copper) must overcome a Competency requirement of 10 (plus or minus 1-3 depending on how common or accessible the material is in the area surveyed). Note that Dowsers with Competency in skills such as Gem Lore or Metallurgy may be able to reduce this penalty (by no more than 1, in any case). Applying the same principle, a Dowser with Competency in Heal or Surgery could also search for bones... 

If you look at the summary chart above, you’ll note that the rate of development is “slow”: you gain 1 Competency Level for every three adventuring levels. The (*) indicates that the listed classes develop the Dowsing skill at 1 Competency Level per two adventuring levels. Two asterisks “**” denotes development at 1:1. 

Adventure Hook: Grasley Yearden, an experienced Dowser (Human Fortune Teller, L7, AL N, Dowsing Competency level 7) has gone missing: hired by an impecunious noble house to search their holdings for water to alleviate the effects of prolonged drought, she spent over a month in her search of their lands before disappearing. her findings are - apparently - unknown. The noble house insist they never received her report, and suspect that she may have fallen victim to foul play. However, the noble family has a bad reputation, and are quite capable of disappearing a mere Fortune Teller to avoid paying for their services...or suppressing their findings. 

ALOT Left Undone: Two More OSR Petty-Classes

 

SHEPHERD

 

Shepherds are sometimes tempted by poverty – or forced by circumstance – to pursue an adventuring career. By experience they are well-suited to outdoor adventures, being physically and mentally resilient and schooled in dealing with the dangers of their lonely life. They are also blessed with great humility – a product of long periods of solitary reflection and an acknowledgement of their relative insignificance in the wider scheme of things.

 

Attack Value: 0-level Human 

Saving Throws: Levels 1-4: 18 (all, except Death: 16). Levels 5-6: 17 (all, except Death: 15) 

Hit Dice: d6

Armour/Shield Permitted: leather only/no shields

Weapons Permitted: staff, sling, dagger

Weapon Proficiencies: 1 + 1 per 4 levels

Non-Proficiency Penalty: -4

Base Skills: Animal Husbandry 2, Animal Training 1, Common Knowledge 1, Local Knowledge 1, Weather Sense 1.

Free Elective Skills (choose 3 skills amongst which you may distribute 4 Competency Levels): Cook, Evade, Flee!, Folk Lore, Heal, Herb Lore, Hide, Keen Senses, Mountain Lore, Spinning & Weaving. 

 

Shepherd Level Advancement
	Base Experience			Hit Dice
Level	Points Required			(d6)	Abilities
1		0		1	Humility 1
2		500		2	Hardiness 1
3		1250		3	Humility 2
4		2250		4	Hardiness 2
5		3500		5	Humility 3
6		5000		6	Herder’s Blessing

 

Humility: Shepherds are protected by their awareness of greater things – the vastness of the natural world – and the knowledge of their own significance as a part of creation. This enables them to more readily resist outside influences, engage comfortably with others and be open to unusual insights and perceptions. At first level they may once per day choose one of the following options: re-roll a saving throw against mind-affecting magic, an Insight, Keen Senses, Charm, Encourage or Sense Motive roll. Where a re-roll is made, the Shepherd must take the second roll, even if it is worse. The required Competency Level of social skill checks to manipulate Shepherds increases by 1.

At third level, they may deploy their Humility ability twice per day. The Competency requirement to use social skills against the Shepherd increases to 2. At 5^th level, they may use the ability three times per day and the required Competency level improves to 3.

 

Hardiness:  In addition to their mental resilience, Shepherds are also physically robust. At level 2, they may once per day re-roll a saving throw against Death or Paralysis (but must take the second roll, even if the result is worse). This ability may be used twice per day from level 4. They also may add their Hardiness bonus when rolling hit points (as follows: +1 at 2^nd & 3^rd level; +2 at 4^th, 5^th and 6^th level). Finally, they may add their Hardiness bonus to the following Competencies: Climb, Fish, Herb Lore, Navigate, Weather Sense and Wilderness Lore.

 

Herder’s Blessing: At level six, the Shepherd’s mighty humility grants the ability to cast one of the following Druid or Cleric spells per day (the Shepherd may select the spell when the occasion arises, and may select a different spell each day): cure light wounds, purify food and drink, detect danger, locate plant or animal and animal friendship.

 

SAILOR

 

Sailors are very much natural adventurers: they have a wanderlust that does not abate and a set of skills that serves them well in many situations. They have also learned a thing or two in their travels – odd, disconnected pieces of information that occasionally prove of great utility.

 

Attack Value: Thief (level 1) 

Saving Throws: Levels 1-4: 18. Levels 5-6: 17 (all, except Death: 16) 

Hit Dice: d6

Armour/Shield Permitted: leather only/no shields

Weapons Permitted: staff, sling, dagger, cutlass

Weapon Proficiencies: 2 + 1 per 3 levels

Non-Proficiency Penalty: -3

Base Skills: Climb 2, Common Knowledge 2, Consume Alcohol 2, Fish 2, Folk Lore 2, Navigate 1, Sail 3, Swim 2, Weather Sense 2.

Free Elective Skills (choose 3 skills amongst which you may distribute 4 Competency Levels): Boat Building, Cartography, Haggle, Intimidation, Mock, River Lore, Row, Sleight of Hand, Story Telling, Strike Mighty Blow. 

 

Sailor Level Advancement
	Base Experience			Hit Dice
Level	Points Required			(d6)	Abilities
1		0		1	Sea Legs
2		500		2	Sea Lore
3		1250		3	Shanty
4		2250		4	Sea Legs 2
5		3500		5	Sea Lore 2
6		5000		6	Old Salt

 

Sea Legs: Sailors are experienced with keeping their feet on deck, regardless of what the sea is doing. Any penalty to combat or skill resolution incurred due to instability underfoot (at sea or otherwise) is reduced by 1, increasing to 2 at 4^th level.

 

Sea Lore:  Sailors hear all sorts of odd stories, rumours and gossip. Once per day, they may search their memories for some nugget of information that might prove useful. They have a 5% + 2%/level chance of knowing something relevant. At level 5 this chance increases to 10% + 3%/level.

 

Shanty:  Sailors know many tall tales and songs to rouse the spirit or enthral the listener. At 3^rd level, they may use either the Perform or Story Telling skill (with a required Competency Level of 4) to improve the Reaction Rolls of an audience numbering no more than half their CHA bonus (rounded up).

 

Old Salt: Veteran sailors have seen and heard a lot in the course of their seafaring. At level 6 they become very difficult to fool, adding 3 to the Competency Level required to deceive them, and treating their Keen Senses Competency Level as if 3 higher for the purposes of detecting illusion magic.