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On Tuesday the 27th Little Red Goblin Games will be releasing the first part of a two part series called “Alternate Paths”. The first one focuses on martial characters. This book is designed for experienced players and presents alternate rules and classes that are more suited to their needs. Many of the variant rules, classes, feats, and other material presented in this book focus on martial combat.
It introduces a few new rules/concepts:
“Natural Gifts”: These are requirements, not always statistically/mechanical, that serve as prerequisites for classes in this book (for example, a thane must be “big”).
Pain & Gain: Some class features in this book serve as thematically relevant penalties and are marked with a “Pn” tag.
Base Classes: We have EIGHT new playtested, feat-supported, base classes for this book! We will be talking more in-depth about them in coming posts in this thread, but they are: Adventurer, Athlete, Gladiator, Guardian, Inheritor, Tataued Warrior, Thane, and the Undying!
Prestige Classes: Bogatyr of the Dying Light, Commando, Frog Knight, Lone Wolf, and Mystic Seeker (again, we will be talking about these in more detail in coming posts).
Alternate Rules: We’ve got 22 new alternate rules you can slot into your game to make them more thematically appropriate. There are rules for making your game more deadly, more combat focused, more realistic, faster, etc. None of these rules are required to be used for use with any particular class in this book, though some have suggestions or alternate options if you are using one or more of these alternate rules.
Feats: We’ve got feats in spades! We have new “feral” feats, feats to support our new classes, new “war” feats, and revised versions of feats that you need to play to believe! We have 24 “normal” feats and an extra 9 new “revised” feats. These revised feats add a bit more “umph” to them, causing them to scale more appropriately as the character level and providing a wider variety of more organic effects.
Weapons: Did we say we’ve got weapons? Because we’ve got 21 new weapons (almost all of them exotic) from the fullblade to the dire nunchuck! In addition, we’ve got a new system for adding templates to weapons (like making a “military” version of a simple weapon) to give them an extra edge in battle!
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YES~! I have been waiting for this one- looking forward to it; any chance we can hear a little bit about the thane first?
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Sure. Thane is actually one of our most playtested classes.
Thanes are big.
I know that sounds like a silly premise, but thanes are martial characters who use their size to their advantage. When you are fighting against a thane it always feels like you are fighting a guy above your weight class. If you've ever boxed or done martial arts you know the guy in your class who outweighs you by 100 lbs and is 6 inches taller than you? He fights different and had a big edge over you.
They are somewhat akin to barbarians and fighters in that they are purely martial combatants. They specialize in two-handed weapons and mechanically rely on size discrepancies between their targets them them (they even grow a size category at one point mid level).
They have a fun new "knockback" mechanic that allows them to fling enemies around the room with some of their attacks. We found this to be a very compelling mechanic and very "visual". They are akin to a paladin in the respect that things that they really shine against certain kinds of enemies (paladins = evil creatures, thanes = smaller creatures). They have some unique ways of utilizing this mechanic and it doesn't mean they can't stand their own against creatures larger than themselves.
In terms of their origins they draw from the "5 man band" idea of party composition. They are the "big" guy who is know for their strength. Some examples of thanes (or at least "the bigs") in popular media include: Hulk (on the Avengers), Chewbacca (Star Wars), the Mountain & the Hound (Game of Thrones), Goliath (David & Goliath), Ajax (Iliad).
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Dot! Sounds interesting.
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Dot! Sounds interesting.
Well our playters and Patreon backers (who have already seen a lot of this) think so! :-)
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I really should get around to supporting your Patreon- it's just that my situation means I never know how much cash I will have each week :( .
Anyway, happier conversation, the thane sounds awesome, can't wait to see it! I asked about it first because I can at least guess at what each other class does from its name. That said, the Tataued Warrior I am guessing gets tattoos, however I am none the wiser on how that works as part of the class. Explain, pretty please?
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Sounds like an ideal book to me. Consider me interested, especially after buying Dragon Tiger Ox.
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I really should get around to supporting your Patreon- it's just that my situation means I never know how much cash I will have each week :( .
Anyway, happier conversation, the thane sounds awesome, can't wait to see it! I asked about it first because I can at least guess at what each other class does from its name. That said, the Tataued Warrior I am guessing gets tattoos, however I am none the wiser on how that works as part of the class. Explain, pretty please?
So the tataued warrior has a suite of tataus that grow out of his living body-wide tatau. They provide supernatural bonuses and utility abilities, making them something of a jack of all trades. They are defiantly melee characters however but augment that with ranger-like spellcasting. They have a unique mechanic that allows you to select tataus that are of a higher level than you could normally qualify for, but you have related drawback (maybe one gives you the ability to swim but any aquatic predator is drawn towards you). Think of them as permanent buff spells.
However, that is not all they are. They are paragons of tribal cultures, serving as spiritual advisers to the leader of fringe tribes. They are masters of ritual and several of their class features require them to partake in ritualistic actions in order to gain access to class features (like showing respect to your enemy).
They wield only simple, wooden, weapons but can cause them to project spiritual energy. This energy can be shaped into a huge number of weapons and interacts with their tatus. They have a ritualistic battle dance that sends them into a battle trance.
In the play-test we had a high level t.warrior causing massive damage with his over-sized weapon (thanks to Tatau of the Whale). All of our playtesters have noted that they take a little while to "build steam" due to all the ritual actions you need to take, but as each gives you a bonus it's worth it. Even off the bat they were capable fighters, but if you give them the time to enact those rituals that is where they really shine.
My favorite was the adventurer personally, and i suspect it will be very popular.
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Dotting.
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dot
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So the next one we are going to explore is the "undying". Suicide soldiers who are masters of a mystic art known as "the phoenix arts", these hyper-indoctrinated warriors fight without fear of death. In fact, they quite embrace it. Sporting only d8 hit dice, they are commonly scene on the front line wearing little to no armor.
That's because, undying self-resurrect several times per day when they die.
That's right, these guys are probably the most counter-intuitive class to play. Your goal is to die. When you resurrect on your next turn your phoenix arts triggers numerous effects. From a ring of fire that signals your return to the world of the living to temporary boosts for nearby allies, undying are all about coming back from the dead.
They have a drawback though, they are mentally conditioned to be hyper-loyal but fearless soldiers. They follow the orders of allies to the letter, even (or perhaps especially) if it would mean their own demise. Eventually they end up becoming so dead in their emotions that they are immune to morale bonuses. Then gain, they are so stoic they are unable to be frightened or have their minds read, so it's a trade off.
This is seriously my favorite class. Christos may like the adventurer, but I personally love the undying. It is SO counter-intuitive to play, yet SO much fun. Heck, even fighting against them is fun! The first time a GM throws them at their players, imagine the expression on the party's face when suddenly their adversaries stand up- ready to go for rounds two...
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Okay, I think I need this JUST so I can throw a group of Undying NPCs at my players.
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Okay, I think I need this JUST so I can throw a group of Undying NPCs at my players.
It'll give them a heart attack.
---
Good morning!
So the PDF is formatted but we are doing some spot changes, just some last minute editing and formatting fixes we caught, before we release tomorrow night. Fun fact- this PDF will be exported at a higher resolution than our normal PDF due to the high resolution artwork of Naiche Washburn looking so good at the higher resolution!
Also, a minor lineup change: The prime hunter archetype is replaced with the wrath hybrid class. I had old information listed in the initial post.
We are going to look at the two “A”s today- Adventurer and Athlete. These two classes share a lot of the same “space” in terms of roles. They both have the generalist role and are always expected to be at least “second best” in roles that other classes fill while being able to come in handy in a pinch.
First off we have the Adventurer. This class came out of the notion of players in some home game wanting to play a very flexible, “generic”, class that could be used to pull off their character concept. This concept was first explored (in print) in Unearthed Arcana but expanded on by the community at large. While it stays true to those roots, we have added in some fun mechanics (something akin to deep pockets, a floating luck bonus, some pre-rolling stuff) as well as a slew of talents that flesh out their more versatile aspects. There is also sample lore to make it more of a “pulp” adventurer of the 1930s (ala Indiana Jones), which is a great fit.
Secondly we have the Athlete. This class is very interesting in that it starts out somewhat underwhelming (Medium BAB, 2 + Int mod, a few skills) but grows as it levels up. They can make their HD d12, their BAB full, give themselves all good saves, and massive skill bonuses, but they have to select their class features correctly. Athletes have a natural gift requirement of no ability score being below 10 and they gain bonuses to their physical abilities scores (more than normal characters) as they level up. This means they arguably have the best “base” stats across the board, and that is what they rely on.
That isn’t to say they don’t have some fun options. The have a slew of sports themed abilities and weapons that allows them to differentiate themselves from other classes like the fighter who might otherwise feel similar. They also have mechanics that make their rolls more reliable. They have “determination” that allows rerolls with a bonus a few times per day and the “clutch” class feature that allows them to take 10 during combat on certain skill checks (depending on what sports they are best at). Did I mention you get stats for beating someone with a golf-club in this section? Totally worth it for that alone.
Anyway! The the time draws nigh and we can’t wait to show you guys this PDF!
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adventurer is very much a build your own martial class, with all the awesome that comes with that. you could literally run an all adventurer group and have everyone fill different roles but still contribute.
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The two A's sound awesome.
I use the Talented X lines from Rogue Genius - and they have an archtype that can pull from Barbarian, Fighter and Cavalier, and another that can combine bits of Rogue and Monk.
Now of course there is already a large amount of work on those (as normal classes) besides the talented stuff. How does the Adventurer stack up, if you are familiar with those?
I love "generic" classes and was wondering how well does it pull off a Jack o' Trades?
Its well set up to be whatever you want it too be. A skill focused adventurer will still have full bab but wont be as combat optimized as a bard who did focus on combat. While spellcasting is something you can dabble in, in the adventurer walks the line between skill monkey and fighting class. Where they fall on the line depends entirely on your choice of talents and to a smaller extent ability scores.
Ugh phone typing.
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Its well set up to be whatever you want it too be. A skill focused adventurer will still have full bab but wont be as combat optimized as a bard who did focus on combat. While spellcasting is something you can dabble in, in the adventurer walks the line between skill monkey and fighting class. Where they fall on the line depends entirely on your choice of talents and to a smaller extent ability scores.
I can't wait. That was the impression I got. I really can't wait to get the book just to read it - LRGG stuff is always wonderful for flavor and mechanics. My previous questions was the "ME WANT" primal gamer side of me. :D
I guess it should only be a day or two more?
Personal note/rant.
I tend to play solo, and gestalt. The character needs to be at least competent in multiple areas - so a good skill/martial generalist mixed with a theurge type covers most things well. But as the system is has a fair amount of niche protection, generics don't happen too often, and when they do, they are often group support. So anything that looks like something new on that front is always welcome on my end.
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Nope, it should be live tonight. We had to do some last second adjustments to the guardian's table and some wording errors on wrath that threw us off. It will be up this evening still. Doing the final export here in about 10-20 min.
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Hey, PDF is up on Drivethru but mislabeled as Really Simple Prestige Classes. Heads up.
And thanks for the heads up Nid. I was aware as soon as I uploaded it, for some reason it snagged the name of a previous product and wouldn't change itself back. That product listing no longer exists and the URL above works just fine ;-)
And thanks for the heads up Nid. I was aware as soon as I uploaded it, for some reason it snagged the name of a previous product and wouldn't change itself back. That product listing no longer exists and the URL above works just fine ;-)
Thanks but now it is saying the book flat out isn't there. Any information on that?
Just purchased it. Will give impressions tomorrow.
Thanks but now it is saying the book flat out isn't there. Any information on that?And thanks for the heads up Nid. I was aware as soon as I uploaded it, for some reason it snagged the name of a previous product and wouldn't change itself back. That product listing no longer exists and the URL above works just fine ;-)
Yep the link I posted should work however. I was saying there was a name error in the system and the product page for that early version you saw with the weird name is not there anymore and was replaced with the new link.
Yep the link I posted should work however. I was saying there was a name error in the system and the product page for that early version you saw with the weird name is not there anymore and was replaced with the new link.Thanks but now it is saying the book flat out isn't there. Any information on that?And thanks for the heads up Nid. I was aware as soon as I uploaded it, for some reason it snagged the name of a previous product and wouldn't change itself back. That product listing no longer exists and the URL above works just fine ;-)
Great but it seems in my eagerness I will be buying this PDF twice.
Started reading - initial impressions are very good. The Adventurer and Athlete are both very good. Reading it as I post.
I posted to note an error - in the end of the Athlete between All Star and the example athletes, there is a "Sidebar:Similar Classes" - it is in normal text, and no layout indicating sidebar. Wasn't sure if that was intended or if that was an editing/layout mistake.
Edit - I saw it again (in the Inheritor class) so I guess that isn't a mistake.
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Great but it seems in my eagerness I will be buying this PDF twice.Yep the link I posted should work however. I was saying there was a name error in the system and the product page for that early version you saw with the weird name is not there anymore and was replaced with the new link.Thanks but now it is saying the book flat out isn't there. Any information on that?And thanks for the heads up Nid. I was aware as soon as I uploaded it, for some reason it snagged the name of a previous product and wouldn't change itself back. That product listing no longer exists and the URL above works just fine ;-)
Nid it should still be in your downloads folder on DriveThru. If it doesn't work, please send me your DriveThru email and I will send you a free copy.
You are quick on the draw man! It was up for like 2 seconds!| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
When will it be up on the Paizo site?
-- david
When will it be up on the Paizo site?
-- david
It will be up as soon as Liz processes. We submitted it last night. She is normally pretty quick about things. I'd expect it in a day or so.
Any feedback on the feats?
I liked the remade Focus/Specialization feats, and the Criticals. Gave more flexibility to customize build. Haven't had a chance to see how the other interact with the classes they are made for.
I like how specialization has different options. Curious why the standard +damage was not an option (unless it was and I missed it).
I liked the remade Focus/Specialization feats, and the Criticals. Gave more flexibility to customize build. Haven't had a chance to see how the other interact with the classes they are made for.
I like how specialization has different options. Curious why the standard +damage was not an option (unless it was and I missed it).
That's a question for Christos.
Also, this book is now live on Paizo.com!
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I liked the remade Focus/Specialization feats, and the Criticals. Gave more flexibility to customize build. Haven't had a chance to see how the other interact with the classes they are made for.
I like how specialization has different options. Curious why the standard +damage was not an option (unless it was and I missed it).
i wanted to regulate the more boring flat bonuses to weapon focus, after all you are simply focusing more training on a single weapon(or group if you are a fighter), i made specialization to be more about finding new methods of wielding said weapon. A guy focused on a longsword is gonna bring some hurt, but the guy specialized in the longsword may also show you a thing or two about them.
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i wanted to regulate the more boring flat bonuses to weapon focus, after all you are simply focusing more training on a single weapon(or group if you are a fighter), i made specialization to be more about finding new methods of wielding said weapon. A guy focused on a longsword is gonna bring some hurt, but the guy specialized in the longsword may also show you a thing or two about them.I liked the remade Focus/Specialization feats, and the Criticals. Gave more flexibility to customize build. Haven't had a chance to see how the other interact with the classes they are made for.
I like how specialization has different options. Curious why the standard +damage was not an option (unless it was and I missed it).
Makes sense. I don't mind, I was just curious.
Loving this book. Already having ideas from a couple of the classes. Probably going to make an athelete for my next character.
i wanted to regulate the more boring flat bonuses to weapon focus, after all you are simply focusing more training on a single weapon(or group if you are a fighter), i made specialization to be more about finding new methods of wielding said weapon. A guy focused on a longsword is gonna bring some hurt, but the guy specialized in the longsword may also show you a thing or two about them.I liked the remade Focus/Specialization feats, and the Criticals. Gave more flexibility to customize build. Haven't had a chance to see how the other interact with the classes they are made for.
I like how specialization has different options. Curious why the standard +damage was not an option (unless it was and I missed it).
Makes sense. I don't mind, I was just curious.
Loving this book. Already having ideas from a couple of the classes. Probably going to make an athelete for my next character.
Fantastic, we actually had a polo player in one of our recent playtests. She kept screaming "tally ho!" every time she made a charge attack. It was pretty fantastic.
Another fantastic one was a 20th level (or thereabouts) athlete with goal tender vs an archer. Yeah... good times.
Great work folks. I'm loving this book so far. I have noticed several typos as I'm reading it. Do you have a place I can submit those?
You can PM them to the account of send it to ScottGladstein@LittleRedGoblinGames.com
FYI: For every typo you send me, an editor loses a toe.
Great work folks. I'm loving this book so far. I have noticed several typos as I'm reading it. Do you have a place I can submit those?You can PM them to the account of send it to ScottGladstein@LittleRedGoblinGames.com
FYI: For every typo you send me, an editor loses a toe.
(double checks to make sure i'm credited as a designer.)
(double checks to make sure i'm credited as a designer.)Great work folks. I'm loving this book so far. I have noticed several typos as I'm reading it. Do you have a place I can submit those?You can PM them to the account of send it to ScottGladstein@LittleRedGoblinGames.com
FYI: For every typo you send me, an editor loses a toe.
Don't worry- you'll still lose a toe.
Let the toe sacrifice begin...tomorrow! I'll put together on my second read through. Really excited about playing/running an Undying or a Tataued Warrior.
I look forward to the toe harvest.
But yeah, tataued warrior and undying were probably the most exotic in there. Undying totally flips the game on its head.I actually liked playing the thane a lot- the knockback makes for some very amusing situations (slamming enemies into walls, into each other, etc).