Thursday, March 6, 2014

Some Class Items for Dark Souls D&D

You Rolled a 13

I mentioned finding an item on my Dark Souls D&D post grants you a Class. Below are examples and a chart for generating random items with some flavor.

Provisional Rule: "Getting" the Class out of the item takes an exploration turn (approx. ten minutes) spent doing nothing else as the memories of the item's last owner wash over you as an indistinct blur of emotion, sound and image. At the end of the turn, you re-roll HP, per your Class and take the higher of the new or existing number and gain the other bonuses and abilities of the class. Magic-Users can immediately cast any spell granted. Picking up the item is enough to know what Class (but not alignment or anything else) you get out of the item. 


Provisional Rule: parts of armor are treated like a helmet (+1 AC) but the bonus is not cumulative with any armor other than a shield.

Provisional Rule: Some spells may be cast as a ritual. Rituals require a Spell Component (magical or semi-magical item). Rituals may be attempted by any who know them. Magic-Users know the Read Magic ritual and Clerics, in lieu of turning undead, know the Commune With Spirits ritual.

Weapons listed below can be used as weapons (d6 damage).


Starting Class Items
roll Item Character is
1 dented helmet Unaligned Fighting-Man
2 scorched pauldron Lawful Fighting-Man
3 rotten bandolier Chaotic Fighting-Man
4 nicked short sword Chaotic Fighting-Man
5 notched dagger Chaotic Fighting-Man
6 sack of bloody arrowheads Unaligned Fighting-Man, literate in Low Gothic. (item may instead be used as a Spell Component)
7 upper-quarter of a jack of mail Chaotic Fighting-Man
8 tarnished gauntlet Unaligned Fighting-Man
9 rusting long sword Lawful Fighting-Man
10 bent gorget Lawful Fighting-Man
11 scratched breastplate Unaligned Fighting-Man
12 blackened mace Unaligned Fighting-Man, literate in Low Gothic
13 blackened half-cap Lawful Fighting-Man, memories of a chained creature (see above picture), an enormous sword in a dungeon deep
14 half-used candle, taper pulled out Chaotic Magic-User, knows Darkness
15 bent conical hat Unaligned Magic-User, knows Charm Person
16 stinking flounce hat Unaligned Magic-User, literate in Low Gothic, knows Hold Portal
17 shredded gloves Chaotic Magic-User, knows Sleep
18 rotting wood cross, wrapped in wire and bone Lawful Cleric of the One That Walks
19 splintered rod, flaking black paint Chaotic Cleric of the Winged Queen
20 charred chap book Unaligned Cleric of a Dead God

there are also magic class items, like the Armor of the Black Knight (Chaotic Paladin?)

And here is a method for breathing life into random items. You can:


1. Use the chart to make an item based on the condition and material



*Roll a d20 to discern the condition. 



*Determine material by reading to the right of the condition. If there are two options, take the first, if there are three, take the second. If the die roll is even, then the item is a weapon or armor, if it is odd, it is something else. (cloth or leather weapons may be a garrote, billyclub, knotted rope, etc.)


2. Use the chart to describe an already existing item; 

*Determine the sort of material the item likely is, consult the roll by material column and then roll for the condition using that die.

The objective is to take the basic facts and run with them. If things need changing, then change them, but resist fudging what feels like a frequently recurring result unless it's becoming ludicrous. Random patterns can often spur players to take things in an interesting direction.


Items by Condition & Material

roll condition material roll by material
1 threadbare cloth d8
2 shredded cloth d8
3 torn cloth d8
4 soiled cloth, leather d8 or d6+3
5 rotting cloth, leather d8 or d6+3
6 stinking cloth, leather d8 or d6+3
7 torn to shreds/strips cloth, leather, metal d8 or d6+3 or d12+6
8 patched liberally cloth, leather, metal d8 or d6+3 or d12+6
9 bent leather, metal d6+3 or d12+6
10 dented metal d12+6
11 rusting metal d12+6
12 tarnished metal d12+6
13 scratched metal d12+6
14 blackened metal d12+6
15 notched metal, wood d12+6 or d6 +14
16 charred metal, wood d12+6 or d6 +14
17 warped metal, wood d12+6 or d6 +14
18 broken metal, wood d12+6 or d6 +14
19 splintered wood d12+6 or d6 +14
20 rotting wood d12+6 or d6 +14
attributions: Beserk manga 

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