Class: Necanthrope

This wizarding tradition is based on SLA Industries, but tweaked and reflavoured to better fit the magic punk of the Wizard City.

 

From SLA Industries

 

Sixty seven years ago, a massive dimensional rift opened above the town of Krew, spewing hell-flames and alien debris for seven nights and days before collapsing on itself. The resulting wasteland was named Chiaroscuro, after the strange chiaroscuro-like glow it emits during the night. From the wreckage came innumerable monsters, but also people wearing strange armour of chitinous plates and metallic barbs and twitching tubing. They called themselves the necanthropes, they claimed to have escaped from a world of untold brutalities and they turned out to be potent mages - unless deprived of their necrosuits.

In time, Chiaroscuro became a new resource - deadly but gladly exploited - and necanthropes started to recruit new members, teaching others how to use a necrosuit. While no one currently has the technology to manufacture a new necrosuit, there are plenty to be found in Chiaroscuro, buried in debris along with their unfortunate former users. The few original necanthropes who survived falling through the rift formed a not so secret cabal, the Teeth, that ostentatiously serves to police its own members and is rumoured to slowly consolidate power for inscrutable reasons.

Xenomorph Cobra by cgfelker

 

You are an Outsider.

Items: necrosuit

Perks & Flaws:

You must be wearing your necrosuit to use magic.

Necrosuit is a semi-living biomechanical marvel of magitech from another universe, brought Around Here by extradimensional refugees. It forms a symbiotic bond with its wearer, allowing them to store and channel magical energy even if their own talents are rather lacking. It also serves as a spellbook, storing up to 20 spells.

Necrosuits' designs vary wildly, but they are always unsettling, alien and very, very conspicuous. A necrosuit cannot be worn alongside an armour, but grants the wearer AC equal to twice their unspent MD.

Cantrips:

• Imperfection: Crack any glass, crystal or ice you can see with a thought.
• Notice Me: A creature you can see is forced to acknowledge you.
• Becoming: Alter your necrosuit. This allows you to clean, mend or reshape it. However, it will always be an obvious, grotesque, Gigeresque biomagical monstrosity. You cannot make it look "normal".

Bio-Gothique by EnergyJones

Spell List:

1. Gore Cannon: Celrydreahad

R: 60'; T: creature

Momentarily transform your arm into a huge cannon that spews a torrent of psychoactive gore.

The target gets to choose to

• either take [sum]+[dice] acid damage,
• or suffer a detrimental effect of the caster's choosing.

The effect can be anything that could justifiably be caused by the aforementioned psychoactive gore. For example, the target gets glued in place, or blinded, or drugged, or the gore is acidic and dissolves their armour, or it attracts a swarm of biting vermin, etc. The target knows the exact effect before choosing.

2. Ebb Enhancement: Seven Senses

R: self; D: [sum] minutes

Choose [dice] modifications to your necrosuit's sensory processing. For example: infrared vision, night vision, 360° vision, see invisible things as faint outlines, see magic auras, scent tracking, detect poison or disease via smell, heightened hearing, etc. Your necrosuit mutates to reflect the effects, e.g. growing a hundred tiny eyes.

3. Ebb Enhancement: Necro Mod

R: self; D: [sum] minutes

Choose [dice] modifications to your necrosuit. Most can be chosen multiple times.

• Grow any kind of melee weapon.
• Grow a new, fully functional limb of any kind.
• Gain resistance to one type of damage.
• Your suit seals all orifices and provides you with oxygen. You don't need to breathe and ignore airborne toxins.
• Sticky leakage allows you to easily climb on any surface.

Your necrosuit's AC is also maxed (as if all your MD were unspent) for the duration of this transformation.

4. Kinetic Ebb Force: Burst

All creatures and loose objects within [dice] spaces of the caster are knocked back [dice]×2 spaces, save negates. Everything affected takes falling damage.

5. Ebb Electricity: Bioluminescence

R: 60' (for shot orbs)

Conjure [dice] crackling orbs of electricity that slowly float around you for [sum] hours. As another action, shoot one of the orbs to stun a creature or disable an appliance, save negates.

6. Choose one of:

Blue Thermal: Glacial Ebb

R: touch; D: concentration

Freeze water or reshape snow and ice.

At 1 [dice], you can only roughly move, bend and twist ice, or freeze a barrel of water over the course of a minute.

At 2 [dice], you can craft elaborate objects out of ice, though they will be very brittle, or freeze a barrel of water in seconds.

At 3 [dice], you may enhance the properties of objects you shape. For example, a crowbar or armour made of ice can be used as if they were iron, or a gown of snow will not fall apart. However, your creations are no more resistant to thawing than normal ice.

At 4 [dice], you can affect glass and crystal, too.

Creatures resist the effects - water in or directly around them cannot be affected.

Red Thermal: Infernal Ebb

R: 100'; T: [dice]×5' radius

All water in the area is rapidly heated up, boiling in seconds. Creatures resist the effects, only taking [sum] damage.

7. Medical Ebb: Biomanipulation

With a touch, restore [sum] HP, or [dice] attribute points, or a Wound up to [dice]×2 severity.

8. Voice of the Ebb: Syndicate

The caster and [dice] touched creatures who share a language can speak in thoughts for [sum] hours. The spell is unreliable over vast distances and doesn't work across dimensional boundaries.

The caster can dismiss anyone from the syndicate and it ends altogether should they fall unconscious or asleep. Other targets remove themselves when they fall unconscious or asleep, or at will.

9. Kinetic Ebb Force: Field

R: 30'; D: concentration

Create a shimmering square of ebb force (10' × 10'), or a sphere around the caster (large enough for the caster and one other person). The force field has [sum] HP. It can move [dice] spaces per round and can support a person's weight.

10. Kinetic Ebb Force: Focus

R: 30'; T: creatures or objects; D: concentration

You can remotely manipulate targets as if with [dice] invisible hands of your own strength. Each "hand" can move [dice] spaces per round, independently. Creatures can wiggle free of your telekinesis with a successful save, but it takes their action. Telekinetic crushing or choking deals [dice] damage per round.

 

Gore Cannon: Celrydreahad
From SLA Industries

 

Emblem Spells:

11. Ebb Enhancement: Death Guardian

R: self; D: [sum] minutes

Animate your necrosuit to work as an independent entity. It shares your HP, MD, abilities and consciousness, but acts on its own (and gets its own action in combat). You can use your spells normally even outside of your necrosuit while this spell lasts.

With no Doom, the suit collapses on the ground once duration runs out. With the first Doom, you have to return to your suit before the duration runs out or die of sudden hemorrhage.

With 3+ [dice], if the caster's flesh body dies while this spell is active, the necrosuit will store their soul and will remain animated indefinitely.

12. Ebb Enhancement: Demon Form

R: self; D: [sum] rounds

Mutate your necrosuit into an unstoppable demon of utter destruction:

• It grows [dice]+1 times larger;
• its AC is maxed (as if all your MD were unspent);
• gain [dice] damage reduction;
• all of your attacks are enhanced.

At 2 [dice], take 2 actions per round.

At 4 [dice], take 3 actions per round.

When the spell ends, due to extreme strain you take [sum] irresistible damage and cannot use magic for [sum] hours.

 

I'm In Love With Your Darkness by DarthNeph

   

Dooms:

1. Your necrosuit painfully and permanently bonds with your body. You no longer have skin, only necrosuit. On the bright side, duration of your Ebb Enhancement spells is now in hours.
2. You lose consciousness and only wake up a day later. In the meantime, your necrosuit has gone on a murderous rampage.
3. You are now biologically immortal. Once you die, likely violently, you will mutate into a murderous monstrosity that seeks to feed on magic, grow and evolve. It is quite likely, however, that the Teeth will find you first and offer that you join their ranks. They will not take no for an answer.

You can reset your Dooms by surgically removing the suit, regrowing your skin and starting over with a new necrosuit. Alas, you cannot be permanently rid of your Dooms.

Class: Energy Thrower

Wizardry is powerful and versatile, but fickle. Energy throwing is simple but reliable.

Some people have just enough talent to use magic, but not enough patience to become wizards nor enough power to become sorcerers. These people might become energy throwers instead. They can do exactly one thing, but they can do it all day. Energy throwers are prized by the movers and shakers as good soldiers, but disdained by real magic users as... well, not real magic users.

 

  

A: Throw Energy (d6)

B: Throw Energy (d8)

C: Throw Energy (d10)

D: Throw Energy (d12), Ultimate Technique

Throw Energy

At will, conjure a blast of magical energy that deals damage dependant on [template] and has a range of 60 feet.

Most energy throwers content themselves with flinging nondescript globs of colourful energy, but there are some who train themselves in shaping these blasts into lightning, runic orbs, or even temporary weapons. The effect remains the same, though.

Ultimate Technique

Even energy throwers eventually find the motivation to learn a special technique. Roll or choose one of the following techniques:

1. Energy armour: The same kind of energy throwers who would shape their blasts into weapons might wish to learn how to make armour out of the energy, too. This technique allows one to summon any type of armour (light, medium, heavy) with all properties of a mundane armour, except made of coruscating energy.
2. Energy bubble: As a reaction once per round, reduce incoming damage by your energy throwing die.
3. Energy breath: Disperse your blast through your mouth as a cone-shaped emanation with range of 30 feet.
4. Eye beam: This technique allows you to concentrate the blast through your eyes, dealing d20 damage but blinding you for [digit sum of damage] rounds after each use.
5. Elemental blast: Choose one element; you can now change your blast into that element.
6. Twin blasts: Create one blast in each hand, throwing them both as a single action. They each deal only d6 damage, though.
7. Chained blast: On 10+ damage, the blast jumps to another nearby creature. It can jump a second time, too.
8. Kamehameha: Technique of the secretive monkey monks. Takes two full rounds to charge up (and can be interrupted), then releases as a brilliant beam that deals 2d12 damage to everything in a 100 ft line. Any wall weaker than a castle bulwark is melted through, too.

The other techniques may be possible to learn via mentors and quests.

5e Lingering Injuries

In my D&D 5e game, I have replaced massive damage with lingering injuries, but I have never posted the rules. There were a few design considerations when devising this dismemberment table:

1. I wanted something small and simple, rather than a fiddly subsystem with multiple tables for an eventuality that is frankly rather rare.
2. I wanted something painful. Dismemberment happens rarely, but it should matter when it does. Even if there is a save, it should not negate a consequence.
3. I wanted diegetic, not mechanical penalties. While -4 Strength is painful, it is also patently unfun. On the other hand, "You cannot speak." or "You have only one arm." are painful and interesting, because they force the player to actively adapt, rather than do the same old with lower bonuses.

You tell me whether I succeeded or not.

 

Jan Žižka

  

While a character cannot go below 0 hp, when a hit would result in enough surplus damage to take them below negative Constitution score in hit points, they roll on the dismemberment table.

Write the surplus damage down next to the injury taken. To remove an injury, first a medical treatment (and a successful Medicine check) is needed, then this surplus damage must be healed. Whenever a character receives (natural or magical) healing, they can decide to regain hp, or to reduce the surplus damage from one of their injuries.

d10 Dismemberments

1. Panicking, you block the blow with your weapon - successfully, but you only hold a half of your weapon now. Magical weapons get a Dexterity saving throw. On success, you were only disarmed.
2. The blow was so hard that your armour is all twisted, sundered and useless now. At least all your limbs are still attached. Magical armours get a Dexterity saving throw. On success, you were only sent flying backwards.
3. Suddenly, blackness. Until this injury is healed, you are in a coma.
4. Blood everywhere! So much blood! Until this injury is healed, gain +1 Exhaustion level for every strenuous action. Fighting or casting spells is strenuous. Lying in a ditch or shuffling around is not.
5. Something inside you is broken. Lose all Hit Dice and you cannot regain hp naturally until this injury is healed.
6. You spit teeth and blood. You cannot speak or cast spells until this injury is healed.
7. Ouch, my eye! A successful Constitution saving throw means it is too bruised to use, but can be healed. A failure means you are left with an empty socket.
8. Crunch! Lose d2 legs. A successful Constitution saving throw means they are broken, but can be healed. A failure means they are no longer attached to your body, and healing the injury only stops the bleeding.
9. Crunch! Lose a random arm. A successful Constitution saving throw means it is broken, but can be healed. A failure means it is no longer attached to your body, and healing the injury only stops the bleeding.
10. Blood is dripping from your nose, but you have to laugh. Regain 1 hp and immediately get an extra turn.

Difficulty of all mentioned checks is either half surplus damage or 10, whichever is higher.

Class: Ogre Ape

Depending on the setting, this could be an ogre, an ape, or an ogre ape. (Or a half-giant, or a goliath, even a really brawny barbarian. Any big guy/gal, really.) It has a touch of James Young's barbarian, SaltyGoo's ogre and Skerples' brawler.

Ogre Sitting by vshen

 

Quest: Visit the Ape Islands, or defeat and devour a bear by your lonesome.

Language: dialect basically unheard of Around Here

Items: loincloth, greatclub (d10)

Skills: Astrology, Cooking, Fishing, Herb Lore

A: Unconquered, Half-Naked

B: choose one of Commanding Roar or Powerful Presence

C: Unbreakable

D: choose one of Silverback Punch or Withstand

Unconquered

You are an eight foot tall slab of muscle.

Your unarmed attacks deal d4 damage. Double your base maximum HP.

This probably requires a bit of an explanation. In my current ruleset, you have base HP based on Constitution and extra HP from class levels. So if your rules have for example Meat and Grit, double the Meat. If nothing like that is applicable, maybe step up their hit dice, or simply give them +2 HP per level?

Half-Naked

You are immune to the negative effects of weather and hypothermia.

Commanding Roar

Once per encounter, you can give a one-word command to a humanoid that is smaller than you. It can choose to fall prone instead of obeying the order.

Powerful Presence

At the start of each round, you can decide how creatures smaller than you react to you: They either avoid fighting you unless there is no other choice, or they gang up on you, ignoring your teammates.

Unbreakable

Once ever when you would die, instead regain full HP and gain a cool scar.

Silverback Punch

Once per session, you can knock anything unconscious. This can be used even against things like golems or doors, where unconsciousness should be interpreted liberally.

Withstand

Once per session, completely ignore an attack or effect. If it would normally continue further, you also shield everyone behind you.

This negates secondary effects too (If a trap swings a huge stone hammer at you and you withstand it with your face, you also won't be knocked back.), but may not help much against ongoing effects. (When splashed with liquid flame, you can withstand the initial damage, but you will still be on fire.)