So, I am working on my Pirate Hack for Blood & Treasure, to use with the setting I am making with the Gygax 75 Challenge. Part of that is tweaking a few classes, such as turning the Barbarian into the Reaver (the battle-mad front line of a good ship raid), or turning the NOD Companion's Curmudgeon class into the Old Salt (for NPCs who have been around the block a few times, or for a slightly different player choice).
The two I am adding are the Artillerist and the Topkick.
THE ARTILLERIST
Requirements - Intelligence and Dexterity 9+
Armour Allowed - Padded, leather, ring mail, scale mail, tower shield/pavises
Weapons Allowed - All black powder and siege weapons, club, dagger, mace, polearms, shortsword, sling
Skills - Bend Bars, Break Down Doors, Engineering, Move Silently, Riding
Black powder isn't exactly new, but it is the cutting edge of technology. The Artillerist rides that edge, a master alchemist and pyromaniac extraordinaire. While they can fight, they prefer to hang back, using their fancy new weapons whenever possible.
When using black powder weapons, the Artillerist reduces their reload time to 4/6, or 1 round when using pistols. They can also use weapons which require a staff or support without one.
Masters of black powder and alchemy, the Artillerist can concoct small explosives in their downtime. Each takes 10 minutes to make, and the artillerist suffers no chance of failure (basic or explosive!) when making them.
A 1st Level Artillerist can concoct normal explosives that become more powerful as they increase in level, and can create different concoctions as the table below;
All these bombs have a blast radius of 5 feet, or as their listed spell. An Artillerist can sacrifice one dice of damage to increase the radius by 10ft.
At 5th level, the Artillerist counts as two people when operating any siege or artillery weapons, and can reroll any artillery or thrown weapon scatter dice.
At 9th level, the Artillerist can open a Gunnery School, teaching the arts of black powder. They attract 1d6 men-at-arms per level, 1d6 1st level artillerists who wish to train under them, and a 3rd level artillerist to act as a lieutenant/deputy headmaster.
The Topkick is a master of small-unit tactics; the one leading boats on shore missions, or groups to infiltrate a coastal fort to bring it down from the inside. Similar to a Captain being in charge for shipboard battles, the Topkick is the absolute authority on his missions. This does not mean he cannot be questioned, but simply that his fellows trust his word when it comes to tactics.
This version of the Topkick is heavily lifted from A Wizard's Kiss, who did a version of the Warlord for OSR games. While he hasn't updated for a while, his blog is full of cool stuff - go have a look!
THE TOPKICK |
| Captain Flint is a Topkick for sure |
Requirements - Intelligence and Charisma 13+, Strength 9+Armour Allowed - All
Weapons Allowed - All
Skills - Communication, Politicking, Riding
Topkicks
demand absolute dedication from their allies in battle. This doesn't
mean the other players have to obey everything the Topkick tells them
to do, it just means that when the Topkick says jump, your character
trusts him enough to know that there must be a knee-high buzzsaw
approaching or suchlike.
To
establish this trust, the Topkick must spend ten minutes talking to
any new party members. There cannot be more than one Topkick in a
party - if there are, then their orders confuse each other and the
Topkicks' abilities are all negated. The Topkick cannot command a
group of people larger than the Topkick's Charisma score
(until 9th level - see below.)
Topkicks
can spend a standard action to use a Command,
which is a catch-all term for various speeches, orders, battle-cries,
etc. that have the power to turn the tide of battle. The Topkick can
use one Command per level per encounter - the focus required for this
sort of tactical thinking and charismatic oration is very mentally
draining.
Commands
only work on allies who are conscious and can understand the Topkick.
They also need to be within 30' or the command is too faint or
garbled to be heard.
Pick
one Command at 1st level and one other at each odd-numbered level
thereafter:
Encouraging
Command: The Topkick and any allies under their command gain +1
to their side's Initiative rolls. 6th Level: +2 to initiative
rolls.
Defensive
Command: The Topkick can gather their allies into a shield wall -
if three or more are together and armed with shield, they can an
extra +1 AC, and provide cover to anyone behind them. 6th Level: gain +2 AC in the shield wall.
Invigorating Command: The
Topkick inspires
one ally to fight on through the pain, giving them 1d6 temporary hit
points (last until the end of the encounter or 1 turn). 6th
Level: 1d6+level hitpoints, and if the ally is unconscious, you
can use this to slap them awake.
Inspiring Command: The
Topkick brings
one ally back from the brink of terror and defeat, allowing them to
reroll a failed morale check or saving throw vs. fear. This command
can be used as a reaction (i.e. on the turn of the person failing the
save or morale check.) 6th level: Can grant all allies
a rerolled morale check, OR grant one ally a rerolled save against
domination, confusion, or other mental effects.
Warning Command: The
Topkick warns one
ally of an incoming attack, granting them a +4 bonus to AC for one
round against the next attack from a designated enemy. 6th
level: The Topkick predicts every
attack just before it happens, granting the bonus against all
incoming attacks in the next round.
Analysing Command: The
Topkick points
out a weak spot in the enemy's armour or their posture, allowing one
ally to gain a +2 bonus to hit and damage against that enemy on their
next attack. 6th level: All allies gain the bonus against
that enemy for one round.
Tactical Command: The
Topkick sees an
opening in the flow of battle and orders one ally into it, granting
them an extra action. 6th level: This Command, and the
extra action it grants, can be used before initiative is rolled.
At
9th level, the Topkick gains the ability to command an army of up to
100 soldiers per level, or one ship per level. Everyone in the army is considered to be an
ally for the purposes of Commands, though the effects will still be
limited by the 30' radius. Furthermore, the Topkick's
Commands can now also be used as Gambits -
essentially the same thing but on a Naval scale. For example, a
Tactical Gambit could be used to steal a ship into an enemy formation, an
Analysing Gambit could maneuver a ship into position to flank, etc.
DM fiat/negotiation will be required here, as it isn't a perfect fit with the Freebooters Naval Combat rules, but I am sure I can make it work!
