GLOG Class - Machine Knight

 

This class was inspired by Mordolic, but honestly it can probably be hacked into any weird setting with post-medieval tech.

MACHINE KNIGHT

+1 Attack, +1 AC and -2 HP per Template

A – WIRE OPERATED KILLING SWORD, Machine Mail
B – Fear Itself
C – Kill Forever Electronically
D – Revenant on Wires

Each Template, you lose Max HP due to the corrupting influence of your demonbuilt mechanical armour and extremely evil sword.

WIRE OPERATED KILLING SWORD

You have a longsword which is also an electrified chainsaw. It deals 2d6+STR Damage on a hit when activated, and 1+STR when not activated. You must expend a Charge every time you want to activate it, which activates it for a minute.

Charges are gained by killing people with the sword. A demon lives in there, and will eternally haunt your nightmares if you activate the sword even once.

If you roll a Critical Hit, it deals 5d6+STR Damage and sprays gore everywhere.

On a fumble, the chain breaks and you suffer 2d6 Damage.

It also functions in the normal manner of a chainsaw while activated.

Machine Mail

You’re clad in heavy, mechanised armour. While wearing it, you have +1 STR.

Once per combat, you may decide to suffer no damage from an effect that isn’t lightning or fire. 

Fear Itself

Whenever you kill someone with your WIRE OPERATED KILLING SWORD, the nearest enemy must Save vs. Fear.

 

Kill Forever Electronically

If a creature has failed a Save vs. Fear, they take double damage from your attacks.

 

Revenant on Wires

When you drop to 0HP or die, you may choose to Revenant. You do not suffer the effects of death until danger has passed, upon which you explode gorily and are condemned to Hell forever.

GLOGscape: The Paladin

“What is it you wish?”

“To see terror on the face of evil.”

Songs of Violence

The Paladins are not in service to the Gods. This is a common misconception. 

Yes, many bear holy symbols, and many speak in quotations from litanies and holy books, but no:

Like their eternal shadows, the Illriggers, the Paladins are the mortal army of a Planar polity -  where the Illriggers are bound to the Baatezu of the Nine Hells, the Paladins serve the Archons of the Seven Heavens. 

They say the first Paladin was anointed in the city of Heart’s Faith, on the Outlands, which has since slid to the shore of the Silver Sea, at the foot of the Heavenly Mountain.

 Now, they rule Excelsior on the Outlands as their holy capital, from which they prosecute the Archons’ wars in the name of Heavenly Law. 

THE PALADIN

+1 AC and +1 Save per Template.  

Starting Items: 1 Piece of Shiny Armour, An Engraved Weapon, an Angel’s Feather, a Medallion of Service. 

Skills: 1) Empath 2) Navigator 3) Athlete 4) Theologian 5) Planar Expert 6) Public Speaker 

A - Oath to the Archons, Armour of the Righteous 

B - Blessed Steel 

C - As to the Faithful

D - Borne Aloft 

Oath to the Archons

Choose which Host of Archons you swore your Oath to. 

Should you fail to uphold your Oath, the Archons will know, and you will lose all Paladin features (excepting the bonus AC and Save) until you undertake Penance (see below). 

As a consequence of the method used to create them (strict and constant testing to advance in the ranks), most Archons are inflexible, dogmatic and judgemental. 

(See Below).

  1.  Deva

The Hosts Astral, Movanic and Monadic comprise the Deva, the messengers, foretellers, soothsayers and deliverers of omens among the Heavens. 

Each Host has its own subset of multifarious and assuredly holy duties in the realms of the Celestial Bureaucracy, but the bearing of Messages is that for which they are best known. 

OATH

Never Allow a Lie to Conquer the Truth. 

BLESSING   

 

A - Incorruptible Word

When you speak, all present can understand you. Your voice cannot be halted by magical silence or similar effects. 

You may burn an angel's feather, and speak aloud a message of up to ten words to a person you have met, and it will travel any distance to reach their ears. 

   2. Planetar

The Hosts Planetar are the soldiers of the Seven Heavens, sometimes called the Sword Archons - they are the ones who battle Fiends and watch the Outlands for possible invasion. 

The Hosts Planetar are highly respected in the Archonic Hierarchy.

OATH

When You Make a Promise, Fulfil It.

BLESSING 

A - Extension of the Arm 

Choose one weapon of any kind. It becomes a magic weapon with +1 to Hit and Damage.

You cannot be disarmed of this weapon unless you choose to be. With an hour's prayer, you may change the weapon affected by this ability.  

 

  3. Supernal

The Host Supernal are the lore-keepers and historians of the Seven Heavens, sometimes called the Tome Archons. 

They reside in great libraries in the misty fields of Venya, the Pearly Heaven, where they record history, and, if the Bureaucracy commands, redact it. 

OATH

Do Not Allow Error to Grow in the Minds of the Ignorant

BLESSING 

A - Lore Keeper 

You have a holy grimoire, gifted by the Host Supernal. You gain 1MD and 1 Spell involving Healing, Light, Fire or Metal. You may add spells to your grimoire from scrolls like a wizard. 

You gain a second MD at Level 4. 

   4. Solar

The Host Solar are the greatest warriors of the Seven Heavens. It falls to them to battle demon lords, archdevils, powerful aberrations and other such threats. 

They are regarded by most as the highest rank of the Archonic Hierarchy. 

OATH 

Do Not Allow Evil to Go Unchallenged 

BLESSING 

A - Divine Smite

When attacking an enemy your Solar patron considers Unholy, you deal +1d6 Damage. 

The Solars consider Fiends, Undead, Cultists, Aberrations and Slaad to be extremely Unholy. Warriors, Mages and Modrons are edge cases. 

Ordinary Folk and Celestials are 100% immune to your Smite, no matter how arrogant, foolish or downright bastardly they are. 

  5.  Lunar

The Host Lunar are wayfarers, sent abroad (especially to the Outlands and Hells) to guide the lost back to safety, both literally and metaphysically. 

The Host Lunar are regarded with suspicion by other Archons, as the amount of time they spend away from the Heavens leaves them open to outside influence - many are idiosyncratic, or even… Chaotic, as an Archon might put it. 

OATH

Your Duty is to Guide the Lost

BLESSING 

A - Sacred Steed

You have a blessed mount which accompanies you everywhere. This takes whatever form fits your personal history - the stereotypical one is a stallion, but Orcish paladins have been known to ride massive sacred boars, and Halfling paladins can often be seen astride a holy mastiff. 

Your steed is a Celestial Animal. If you weren’t already under constant Archonic surveillance, the steed would totally rat you out for breaking your oath. It is otherwise perfectly loyal and immune to fear.  

You can summon the steed to you in any space that it fits in - if it is slain, you can resummon it at any temple.

Your Steed has 10 Inventory Slots and the same amount of Hit Dice as you.  

 

 

  6.  Sidereal 

The Host Sidereal were created to hunt powerful Undead, Necromancers, and other beings which pervert the laws of life and death. More importantly these beings interfere with the regular flow of dead worshippers into each god’s neat little pocket of the Outer Planes - including the regular flow of souls into the bottom ranks of the Archonic Hierarchy. 

Predation by godlike liches, horrendous demon princes and other things besides has left them reduced, but they remain, unbowed even in the face of devastation. 

OATH

Uphold The Laws of Life and Death. 

BLESSING  

A - Divine Sense 

By closing your eyes and focusing, you can detect any undead, fiends, extraplanar beings or illusions within twelve paces. This effect passes through walls and ignores invisibility. 

  7.  The Lanterns 

There are a thousand Least and Lesser Hosts, which also create Paladins - these are referred to in general as The Lanterns, after the first form a mortal soul takes on the ascending path of Archonhood. 

Their ranks include the Host Relentless (Hounds), Host Luminous (Radiances), the Host Regnal (Thrones), Host Clamorous (Bells), the Host Vigilant (Wardens), and all such strange and specific sub-hosts besides. 

OATH 

Do Not Allow the Innocent to Come to Harm 

BLESSING

A - Lay on Hands 

You have a pool of [Templates] Healing Dice, which are d6s. You may hold your hands above a creature and expend any amount of these Healing Dice. They regain [sum] HP. 

If there is any HP that spills over (i.e. healing given would take them over their Max HP), the Healing Dice return to your pool. 

You regain one Healing Dice on a good night’s rest. 

Armour of the Righteous 

You can wear one piece of armour without it taking up an Inventory Slot. You can ignore the weight of that piece of armour for the purposes of encumbrance, swimming, etc. 

In systems that don’t have individual armour pieces, treat heavy armour as medium, medium armour as light, and light armour as unarmoured. 

Blessed Steel 

If you make a successful attack on your turn, you may attack again. 

This can continue until you miss, or make [Templates]+1 Attacks. 

This feature doesn’t work if the weapon can’t attack multiple times a turn (i.e., a musket), but you don’t have to use the same weapon for all of the attacks. 

As to the Faithful 

The Celestial Bureaucracy have been observing your progress with appreciative eyes. Choose another Blessing from a different Host of Archons. You still only have to follow your original Oath. 

Borne Aloft 

At any time, you may summon the wings of the Archons you serve, and take flight.

 

The wings’ appearance are as follows: 

• Deva - Shimmering Bronze Feathers
• Planetar - Sharpened Iron Feathers
• Supernal - Bluish Feathers, Glittering with Stars 
• Solar - Fiery Gold Feathers
• Lunar - Misty Silver Feathers
• Sidereal - Light-Eating Black Feathers
• Lanterns - Hazy Aura of Golden Light 

PENANCE 

If you’ve broken your Oath, you can’t use any Paladin abilities nor gain more Templates as a Paladin until you Repent. 

For a Level 1 Paladin, you simply have to go to an Archon, a temple dedicated to the Celestial Bureaucracy (all temples to Bahamut are, by default) or a similar link to the Seven Heavens. Then: apologise, and mean it. 

For Paladins of Level 2 or higher, you must perform an act which would impress the Host to which you have sworn an oath - destroy a powerful undead for the Host Sidereal, reveal a long lost secret for the Host Supernal, save a village for the Lanterns, etc.  

(With thanks to the GLOG Discord for their input.) 

Stolen by Bats (Stats, Class List & The Monster Hunter)

Stolen by Bats is an unformed idea I've had for a GLOGhack based on Failbetter Games' Fallen London (and linked games Sunless Sea and Sunless Skies). 

All I know about it are the stats:

Iron: Confront and overpower.

Mirrors: Investigate and discern. 

Veils: Deceive and misdirect

Pages: Understand and control. 

Hearts: Convince and endure.

The class list: 

Correspondent*  - Criticize, Analyze and Deconstuct the Eldritch and Mundane

Crooked-Cross – Manipulative Cleric of the Counter Church, Ordained by Devils

Licentiate – Killers, Possessors of Strange Lists, Hunted by Would-be Successors.

Midnighter – Faceless Agent and Spymaster, a Skilled Player of the Great Game 

Monster-Hunter – Hunter and Killer of the Neath's Deadliest Denizens.

Silverer –  Cultish Figure, an Explorer of The Dreamworld of Parabola (No Relation) 

Zee Captain – Explorer, Zailor, Hoarder of Treasures - and Probable Cannibal. 

*Correspondent by Pilgrim's Temple

And one of the classes:  

Monster Hunter

+1 Attack and +2 HP per Template 
Starting Equipment: A Ratting Piece, a Filthy Suit, Bone Harpoon, Vicious Dog 

Skills: 1) Hunter 2) Trapmaster 3) Wrestler 4) Bully 5) Escape Artist 6) Animal Handler 
A – Rat-Catcher, Notches  
B – Rattus Faber 
C – Expert on Monstrous Anatomy 
D – Bag a Legend, Willingness to Spare

Rat-Catcher
Your attacks deal maximum damage to creatures with the same or less HD than you.  

Notches
Each time you attain a total of 10, 20, 30, and 50 kills with a weapon type (such as 10 kills with a dagger), you unlock a new ability for that weapon, chosen from the list below. 
Keep track of your kills and special abilities on the back of your character sheet.

• +1 Damage
• Expanded critical range (+1)
• Special ability (negotiated with GM, one per weapon).

You can choose an option multiple times. 

Rattus Faber
In exchange for their life, a group of Rattus Faber (Sapient, Mechanically Inclined Rats) have agreed to come into your employment. There are five of them. Decide what identifying garment each has, which is also what name they’re known by. (E.g., Cravat, Boots, Scarf, Monocle, Socks). The Faber are chatty, sardonic, and fearless. 

The Rattus Faber can over the course of an hour: 

• Set a trap. 
• Demolish a wall. 
• Scout an area. 
• Loudly steal an object that five rats could carry. 

They will expect a Ration in return. 

Expert on Monstrous Anatomy 
Upon positively identifying a creature, you may immediately rattle off a single useful fact about it. 

Bag a Legend 
Your attacks now always deal maximum damage. 

Willingness to Spare

If a monster is the only one of its kind, you can speak its language.

(Credit to DrCuriousVII for Willingness to Spare).

Some other classes have cropped up since!!

ModronRPGs Pentecost Ape, and my Tomb Colonist!

A Thieves' Guild - Frog Guild

 

By Parabolic Decree 

Level 1: Gain 2 abilities at rank 1
Level 2: Rank up an ability you have, then gain a new ability at rank 1
Level 3: Rank up 2 abilities you have
Level 4: Rank up 2 abilities you have, then gain all abilities you don't have yet at rank 1

Frog’s Guild

Starting Equipment: 2 daggers, oilskin suit, set of lockpicks, roll 2 extra random items

Skills (2, d6): 1. Acrobat, 2. Bully, 3. Swimmer, 4. Gambler, 5. Lookout, 6. Pickpocket

1. Iron Lungs
◊ - Hold your breath indefinitely with no adverse effects.
◊◊ - Hold X litres of liquid in your lungs, with no ill effects, where X is your HP.  
◊◊◊ - Take a breath so deep that you can knock people over by exhaling sharply on them.

2. Standing Leap
◊ - With no prep, you can jump your own height, vertically.
◊◊ - With a minute of prep, you can jump twice your own height, vertically.
◊◊◊ - With a minute of prep, and a small run up, you can jump four times your own height vertically.

3. Rope-With-Glue-On-It
◊ - You have a rope with glue on it. The glue has to be activated by applying another chemical, which you also have.
◊◊ - You can deftly wield two glue ropes.
◊◊◊ - You can hide a glue rope in your throat and spit it out with great force. You can hide the activating chemical in your mouth, also.
 

4. Poison Toad
◊ - You take half damage from any poisons.
◊◊ - You take no damage from any poisons, and your blood is a mild poison.
◊◊◊ - On death, you release a cloud of poison gas that deals 4d6 Damage to anyone standing next to your corpse.

5. Second Story Worker
◊ - You can climb vertical surfaces as quickly as you can walk.
◊◊ - Double your move speed and horizontal jump distance.
◊◊◊ - You can climb upside down as quickly as you can walk. Halve fall damage.
 
6. Friendly Toad
◊ - As an ally, you have a perfectly normal, immortal, invulnerable toad.
◊◊ - Your friendly invulnerable toad is now dog sized. Still just a toad.
◊◊◊ - Your friendly invulnerable toad is now horse sized.

GLOG Class: Verdant Monk

Bouncing around ideas for the ‘Yaalit Desert’, which is basically a cold desert in a giant crater full of lost technology. 

The Verdant Monks rule a single green hill near the city of Tlingos. They left the monastery-city due to the increasing severity of the ruling monks and the dwindling resources.

They live and teach on one verdant hill, defended by the monks. The twin cities of Tlingos and Midaq often try to conquer the place – supposedly the food and water are plentiful there. This is untrue – the monastery is constantly on the verge of collapse, and the monks only maintain it with strict and extensively planned water rationing.

The head of their order is an ancient tree, one of the last in all of Yaalit. Like all trees, it is a repository of ancient wisdom. Unlike most trees, it was taught ancient martial arts from 4000 years ago, which is why it isn’t currently part of the rafters and doors of the Twin Cities.

Verdant Monks wear dull green robes and usually carry planks.  

Equipment:
Plain green robe.
Bottle of pure water.
A staff made of holy wood.
A bag of seeds.
A bag of tea leaves (for drinking and divination).
 
Templates
A Plant Speech, Leaf-Eating-Beetle-Step
B Twig to Tree
C Dry Tree Seeking Water
D Ghost Tree Valley
 
 
Plant Speech
You can communicate with plants. Most Plants do not speak in terms of colour, light or distance, but instead in terms of water, temperature, time, seasons and weather. Only trees are capable of full conversation on a human level, and there are few trees left in Yaalit.
 
Leaf-Eating-Beetle-Step
Following the example of the Leaf-Eating-Beetle, anything wooden will support your weight. Even the thinnest twig will hold you upright as if you weigh nothing.
 
Twig to Tree
You can turn a dead or lifeless piece of wood into a growing tree briefly. The size of the leafy branches which grow depends on the size of the source wood. Twigs make twigs, a roof rafter will grow a whole trunk. You cannot use this ability on living wood, or on wood created by this ability. Trees always grow straight up, when they can. Roots can crack stone. 
 
Dry Tree Seeking Water
You can instinctively ‘smell’ water up to a mile away. Clean and foul water smell different. Water based liquids, such as wine, beer, and poison, can only be smelled from nearby. You can tell if two liquids have been mixed – for example, water and poison.
 
Ghost Tree Valley  
By undertaking an hour ritual to enchant a hole in the ground, you can access the Ghost Tree Valley, an ‘echo’ of the ancient forest which once stood where Tlingos is now. Once the ritual is complete, you and your companions may crawl into the hole and appear in a cool, twilight forest, about a kilometre wide. The place is safe, and has plentiful food and water. The ancient masters of the Verdant Monks live here as spirits and will gladly offer advice. If you damage a spirit tree, or stay more than a week, you wake up in the hole you dug at the next sunrise.
 
Each time after the first you wish to enter the Ghost Tree Valley, you must bring an offering of seeds from a new plant.