Class: Wizard of the God-Serpent

You were anointed by the blood of the forever dying God-Serpent, the beheaded Ouroboros. You were given a mission:

Survive, scavenge, study and spread.

Subvert, subsume, supersede.

Save me.

Go forth, little snake, and ease your sire's suffering.

This is half a stolen snake wizard, revised and reflavoured for my setting, and half a snake mutant race.

 

from a player of mine

 

You are an Outsider, but bound to become an Outlaw unless you are careful with your machinations. Do not fail the God-Serpent.

Items: d20 pet snakes

Skills: Herpetology

Perks & Flaws:

Your body is partially covered in scales, however much you choose. You can speak with snakes.

You are cold-blooded. You may never gain resistance or immunity to cold and cannot rest while cold.

Cantrips:

1. Your eyes are slitted. You may switch between normal vision and infravision.
2. Your tongue is forked. If you can smell something, you can taste it too, and all magical things taste weird.
3. You can unhinge your jaws and swallow anything that is less than the circumference of your neck without difficulty. You can regurgitate anything you have eaten (and not digested or passed) at will.

from Dark Souls

 

Spells:

1. Coiled Strike

When you cast this spell, choose one:

• One or both of your arms transform into serpents until dismissed, and can be used as melee weapons dealing d6+[dice] damage, with a 10ft reach. If you transform both of your arms, you can attack twice per action, but cannot grasp or gesture.
• Your head transforms into a viper's head on an elongated neck and makes a single attack for [sum]+[dice] damage with a 30ft reach.

2. Shed Skin

Pull off your own skin. This takes d6-[dice] full rounds (min 1) and leaves you naked. Afterwards, choose one of the following:

• Restore [sum] hp.
• Restore [dice] points to a damaged attribute.
• Your body changes according to your wishes - your hair or eye or skin changes colour, your height or gender or apparent species adjusts - but no more than a professional prosthetic makeup could manage and with no mechanical effects. You may dismiss this effect at will, returning to your natural appearance, but if you do not do this before [sum] hours elapse, your new form becomes your natural one. You may never use this spell to create the same appearance twice.

Your shed skin is whole, similar to that of a snake, and can be kept.

3. Gift of God's Fangs

Up to [dice] touched weapons or [sum] projectiles become envenomed, dealing +d4 poison damage for 1 hour.

While you have this spell memorised, also grow fangs (d4 poison).

4. Gift of God's Tail

Your legs merge and transform into a massive serpent's tail, shunting everything you have worn on your lower body Elsewhere. You cannot be knocked prone and can grapple with your tail while keeping your hands free. This lasts until dismissed.

For every [die] after the first, choose one of the following:

• Make grappling tests with advantage.
• Swim at full running speed.
• Your body can twist, contort and squeeze into any shape without suffering harm, except for your skull. You can wriggle free from mundane manacles nigh-instantly, and from being hogtied in a minute.
• As an action, you can coil your tail tightly as a spring and then jump triple your normal distance.

5. Serpent's Charm

As you lock eyes with a nearby creature, it must save vs charm. On success, choose for it to be unable to move closer to, or further away from you. On failure, it is unable to move from its place at all. It can still perform any action except for moving. As an action, it can save again to negate the effect. Creatures of HD [dice]×2 or more are immune to this effect.

6. Charm Serpents

Up to [sum] total HD of snakes or snake-like creatures within 60ft are lulled into a peaceful daze. This lasts for [dice] hours or permanently with 4+ [dice], but breaks when any of the targets is attacked or otherwise endangered.

7. Snake Ball

A massive illusory sphere of serpentine mating orgy springs from your outstretched palm and starts rolling, up to 30ft per round for [dice]×2 rounds. Any creature struck by it must save vs fear, and flee or fall prone on failure.

8. Sticks to Snakes

R: touch; D: [dice]×2 minutes

A bit of a misnomer, as this spell can target sticks, staffs, snake tattoos or snakes.

Sticks or snake tattoos are transformed into actual snakes, up to [sum] of them. Each has 1 hp and bites for 1 poison damage, but more importantly is clever enough to follow complex commands. If a tattoo snake is killed, it discorporates into ink and flows back onto its owner's skin.

Staff (only one) becomes a large snake with [dice] HD, [dice]×2 armour and a bite dealing d6 damage. If the staff was magical, you may choose the bite's damage type and may originate your spells from the snake. If the snake is killed, it reverts back to a staff, cracked.

Snakes, up to [sum] total HD of them, are transformed into sticks or staves, save negates. Huge or magical snakes may become staves with special properties.

9. Snakes to Stairs

Stomp on the ground and a [dice]×50ft long snake will emerge to anchor itself between you and a point within its reach. It will serve as narrow stairs or walkway, but will not move from its place nor take part in combat. It has [sum] hp and disappears after [sum] minutes if not destroyed.

10. Snake Cache

R: self; T: swallowed item

If you cast this spell while swallowing (or regurgitating) an item, it is stored in (or retrieved from) an extradimensional space rather than your stomach. You can access up to [sum]×[dice]th Slot in this virtual "inventory" and store or retrieve as many items as you wish with a single casting.

The target must fit within your mouth and the accessible Slots, or the spell fails. Time basically doesn't pass in the pocket dimension, so items will be retrieved in exactly the same condition as when stored.

Kabuto from Naruto

 

Emblem Spells:

11. Shape of the God-Serpent

Call upon the God-Serpent and transform yourself into its likeness. You are now a man-sized snake with steel-like scales that grant you DR [dice]. Gain [sum] temporary hp; the transformation lasts until you lose them. In addition:

• You do not need gestures and incantations to cast your spells, and snake-related spells you cast do not trigger Mishaps and Dooms.
• You are immune to all special powers and abilities of snake-like creatures. For example their venom, hypnotic or petrifying gaze, etc.

12. Avatar of the God-Serpent

Call upon the God-Serpent and its avatar slithers into existence somewhere near you. The avatar is not under your control, but is not immediately hostile to you. It remains for a day/hour/minute/round, based on [dice], while its power is based on [sum]:

[1-6] ball python-sized, HD 2, bite/crush 1d6

[7-11] anaconda-sized, HD 4, bite/crush/poison spit 2d8

[12-19] dragon-sized, HD 8, bite/crush/poison breath 3d10 area

[20+] castle-sized, HD 16, bite/crush/poison breath 4d12 area, flying, spell-casting

Nagini
from Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

 

Dooms:

1. Lose one of your cantrips at random for a day.
2. You can no longer speak with snakes and most become hostile to you.
3. You permanently become a small, common snake. Your human mind will leave you in d6 days.

Your Dooms can be reverted by consuming the God-Serpent's raw flesh, though they can happen again. They can be forestalled completely by raising a large temple to the God-Serpent, as long as you venerate it there daily.

Class: Really Good Pedigree

Based on the other dogs, but with Incunabuli's idea of dog breeds as abilities mixed in.

 

Phelia, Exuberant Shepherd
from Magic the Gathering

 

This is a racial class, so its template A can only be gained during character creation.

Items: collar or a similar trinket

Skills: Hunting, Guarding, Burrowing, Scent-Marking, Pleading Eyes, Emotional Support

Age: You are adult at one year and will live to about twelve years.

Per template: +2 hp

A: Canine, +1 Gift

B: Really Good Nose, +1 Gift

C: +2 Gifts

D: Epic Nose, +1 Gift

Canine

You are a dog. You cannot speak, but can communicate with those you know well.

You have great senses of smell and hearing. Test Awareness to get an olfactory image of every creature and object that has recently passed through the nearby area.

You have no hands, but can run really fast (+2 Movement Speed).

Your bite deals 2d4 damage. You can safely consume raw or slightly spoiled food and murky water.

Really Good Nose

You can smell the weird stuff - poison, disease, magic, undeath - though you rarely get any specifics.

Epic Nose

If it is at all possible to track something by scent, you can do it - even incredibly old or well-concealed smells.

When you sniff something, you can ask one abstract question about it. Another question is possible after 10 minutes/hour/day/week/month/year of sniffing. For example: Does it work for a druid? Is it having an affair? What is its favourite colour?

 

One of the PCs in my campaign right now
is a three hundred years old dog (long story)
currently learning surgery to give himself
human hands and posture.

 

d12 Gifts of Good Pedigree

1. Really Good Eyes: You can see clearly in minimal light. You can see invisible things as a slight lensing in the air.
2. Best Friend: Choose one character as your Best Friend. When cooperating against a threat, you both have an advantage.
3. Medicinal Slobber: You can lick an injury to stop bleeding, no test necessary. In addition, if the injury might be infected, poisoned or diseased, the victim gets an advantage on their save.
4. Takedown: When you use a combat manoeuvre on a human-sized or smaller foe, you may also automatically grapple them. Your grapple tests have an advantage.
5. Go for the Throat: Your attacks against a grappled or prone target add an extra die of damage.
6. Street-Raised: You can swallow anything that fits into your mouth and regurgitate anything you have eaten (but not digested or passed) at will. You are immune to non-magical poisons and diseases.
7. Sighthound: You are as fast as a horse. Gain further +4 Movement Speed.
8. Snarling: While you spend the whole round yapping, growling and dancing menacingly in place, enemies must save vs fear or be unable to approach or attack you.
9. Shaggy: You are immune to cold weather and resistant to cold damage.
10. Watchful: Unless explicitly distracted, you cannot be ambushed or surprised, even while asleep. You can control and guide a group of animals with strict precision. They will not wander or get lost without your knowledge.
11. War-Trained: You are one of the big dogs. Your bite deals 2d6 damage. Gain further +1 hp per template.
12. Guide Dog: You cannot be tracked except by magical means and can always find a path to any place you have been to.