Monday, February 4, 2019

GLOG Class: Actor

I've been looking at OSR and B/X systems and derivatives, and Arnold K's GLOG system looks like the next one I'm going to try... as soon as I have a game. In the vein of Coins and Scrolls, I'm making custom classes, because the template system is adorable. This is more of a 'social' class, as opposed to martial or magic, which would be safest in a noble court, not dungeon delving. Of course, if adventuring was safe work, everyone would do it. This is a character with no combat prowess, no built-in dungeoneering skills, and only a few abilities that allow for more survivability. This is absolutely not balanced, nor is it meant to be. Nobody should take it seriously, everybody should play it. Look like you know what you're doing, especially when you don't, stay out of the fray, and use your skills whenever possible. Goblins like Hamlet... right?


Class: Actor

Starting Equipment: fencer's foil, costume and makeup set, unfinished masterpiece
Starting Skill [d3]: 1 = town crier, 2 = player, 3 = poet

Templates:
A: Stunt Work, Brag
B: Disguise, Entertainer
C: Cause Célèbre, Recitation
D: Dramatic Infiltration, I Am Slain!

Stunt Work 
You can imitate a great fighter, even if you aren’t one. At the start of combat, you gain +1 AC for each Actor template you possess, until you are damaged for the first time that combat.

Brag 
If you recount your adventures in front of an audience, every character who participates in the retelling gets +10% of the XP they got from the adventure. Usable once per adventure.

Disguise 
You can disguise yourself and other party members quickly and effectively given feasible time and resources. You can’t make royal robes out of a handful of straw, but you can become somebody else with well-applied face paint and new clothes.

Entertainer 
You have +4 on rolls to entertain others, make merry or stall. You can engage targets in long-drawn out conversations about a topic they know a lot about and/or are passionate about for 1d4 hours, after which they will realize you are a poseur and react angrily to you. Unless, of course, you really do know/are passionate about that, in which case you can keep their attention for 1d4 days, with breaks to eat, drink and sleep. Will distract from urgent issues, but not immediate threats, e.g. the royal ambassador is demanding an audience, not a group of bandits just jumped through the window. The more farcical the better

Cause Célèbre 
By telling a tale of great woe, tragedy or injustice, you can rally a group of people together to solve the cause of the moment, uniting even staunch opponents for a time. Whether that cause is real or solvable, and how long it takes the group to figure that out, is best left roleplayed.

Recitation
You can quickly memorize and accurately recite long texts; letters, dispatches, essays etc. Afterwards, you may copy down the text again. This extends to magic texts and spellbooks, though you don’t understand what they mean, and thoughtlessly repeating magic words is its own punishment.

Dramatic Infiltration 
At any time, you may declare that you are walking off-screen. Later on the session, you may reveal yourself to have been a minor NPC in the background of the scene “all along” as long as there actually are minor NPCs in the background of the scene. You can always walk back on stage at any time, even climbing in a window. This ability is limited by plausibility.

I Am Slain!
Once per lifetime, you can play off your death. This only works for plausible ‘deaths’, e.g. a spear narrowly misses your organs, a crushing blow is caught by your ribs, not dissolved in acid. Fall with a cry of death and a moribund monologue (the longer the better, no effect on believability). Survive with 1hp and probably some severe injuries. When you die for real, you can inspire one nearby character with your final speech. Urge a friend to vengeance, call for peace among ancient enemies, make your killer feel so guilty they must Save vs. Suicide (success results in Depression).

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