Misplaced Samurai - Cloak-and-Sword Class

 Just getting on the semi-regular GLOG bandwagon for single-level Cloak-and-Sword classes, this one comes from the future.

Class: Sword Dancer
Start with all-encompasing swathes (Medium Armour), a ritual sword (d4: 1. Mandau 2. Kaskara 3. Daab 4. Chokuto) and a five-point code of honour that you cannot be compelled to break by any force.

+1 to Attack and Defence when you have an audience.

Vessel: You can replicate any act of swordsmanship you have ever witnessed, as long as your body is fully covered. This ability has a usage die of d6, and is refreshed by spending four hours performing a ceremonial play that tells the tales of heroic deeds. 

Speaker: You can see ghosts through your mask and can allow them to speak and act through you while in your swathes, if you permit this you are allowed to ask the ghost a favour in return which it must abide by. This favour can be "don't attack my friends" if you're feeling suspicious.

Empty: You can at any time choose to be invisible as long as you are surrounded by people, trees or long grass.

Actor: Your alignment is whatever you want it to be in the moment, this allows you to wield any intelligent swords without complaint.

Stage: While you wear your swathes you can detect all illusions (you can't see though them, you just know what is and isn't an illusion) and can selectively choose to treat them as real to you - walking over an illusionary bridge, cooking food on an illusionary fire, wresling an illusionary sword off a phantom soldier, etc. While you treat them as real, the illusionist who cast them cannot alter their parameters.  

Yojimbo: If someone pays you to defend them or kill another, you have a number of +1's to apply to Defence or Attack equal to the amount of GP paid divided by 10. Each +1 can only be used once, but can be stacked as many times as you like.

Wanderer: Any Esprit rolls of 2-5 that your group makes with anyone who might be described as a noble or warlord are made with promises of ample compensation in return for your service. 

Shed: If you choose to doff your swathes and stand naked beneath the sun with only a sword in your hand, you have only 1hp but cannot be harmed by anything but a sword.

Legend of the 5 Rings Samurai - GLOG

I love Legend of the 5 Rings, or more accurately I love its setting of Rokugan. It is not an attempt at authenticity to feudal Japan, rather it's a gloriously technicolour pan-asian mishmash running entirely on vibes. Real samurai were mostly horse-archers during the time they were militarily significant but Rokugani samurai have a cult of the sword because that's what Kurosawa and anime taught us. I love it because it's inauthentic, imaginative and wide-eyedly romantic. It also happens to be eminently GLOG'able due to its School system. Here I render a few of my favourites, in the fashion of Deus-ex-Parabola's 5e conversions.

Samurai
You have a number of Void Points equal to the highest of your Wis or Xha modifiers (in a proper Rokugan game I'd probably replace the usual six attributes with the five elements, but this will do for purposes of general OSR compatibility) plus your School Rank (i.e. your Templates in Samurai Schools, you don't get any Void Point increase from following strange dishonourable ways of other classes). You can spend Void Points to add +d6 to any weapon attack or skill roll taught by your School, if you have trained in multiple schools (rare, but it does happen) you can use this on them all, some School techniques give other options for spending Void Points. The maximum number of Void Points that can be spent in any one round is equal to your School Rank. You get any used Void Points back after you sleep a full night.

Samural Schools are categorised as either Bushi, Shugenja, Ninja or Courtier, plus occasionally some weird ones like Artisan. For now I will just be covering Bushi, who are Fighting Men and as such never fumble with conventional weapons. Maybe I'll do Shugenja if people like this.

I will not fail.

Crab Clan: Hida Avenger
You are a warrior in a clan that hasn't been off a war footing in over a thousand years. You guard a wall that seperates the Empire from a literal incursion of hell into the material plane. Not for you is learning how to elegantly kill a man in one stroke after staring at eachother for five minutes or how to attain oneness with the universe through meditation on the sword. You drilled in full armour until you collapsed from exhaustion, then recovered your stamina listeing to lectures on military philosophy, siege tactics and monster recognition, and when that was done you drilled again. Eventually you did not collapse, and you were ready.

Skills: Athletics, Tactics, Shadowlands Lore, Intimidation.
Weapons: Sword, Bow, Hammer, Mace, Greataxe
Starting Equipment: Light or Heavy Armour (your choice) with slate grey lacquer, hardwearing clothes, katana & wakizashi, one heavy weapon or polearm that is part of the School's weapon groups, furoshiki, a finger-sized bar of jade, 3 koku (about 10gp each).

+1 Attack and +2 HP per Template, the Crab Clan are tough and seasoned soldiers.

A: Way of the Crab, The Mountain Does Not Move
B: Two Pincers One Mind
C: Hida's Rage
D: The Mountain Does Not Fall

A: The Way of the Crab
The crab is not encumbered by his shell, neither are you. You can do everything except stealth in heavy armour as well as you could without, even swimming. When wielding a heavy weapon, any damage rolls below your School Rank+1 are treated as being equal to it.

A: The Mountain Does Not Move
You reduce all damage by your Con modifier or 1, whichever is higher. This is counted against each attack made against you, and even applies to psychic or spiritual damage.

B: Two Pincers One Mind
You can make two attacks per round when wielding your School's weapons. Any penalties to your attack rolls - such as from hostile spells, exhaustion, difficulty or darkness - are reduced by 2 points.

C: Hida's Rage
At this rank, you have learned to channel a portion of the legendary berserker fury of the Clan's founder. You may allow any enemy in close combat with you an attack of opportunity against you, in return you get an additional attack against them this round.

D: The Mountain Does Not Fall
Spend a Void Point to ignore being stunned, dazed, fatigued, subject to magically induced emotions, or the need to sleep for 8 hours (obviously, you don't regain any Void Points if you don't sleep).

For the coward there is no life.
For the hero there is no death.

Crane Clan: Kakita Duellist
You remember that crack up page about killing a man with one stroke? That's these guys. The Kakita family are descended from (and bear the name of) the literal greatest swordsman who ever lived - and by the Kami did he know it. The Crane are however at heart not a warlike clan, their power is in the realm of politics, fashion and money - damn near every Empress in history has been a Crane and they practically designed Rokugani high culture from the ground up - art styles, poetry, cuisine, dress sense, all the things that make a Rokugani distinct from the gaijin beyond. As such, you weren't trained for the battlefield but for the court - to win honour duels on behalf of a Doji courtier according to the precepts of Kakita's foundational text, The Sword. Does this make you any less deadly than the Lion or the Crab? Oh, goodness, no. Not at all.

Skills: Etiquette, Heraldry, Any three artforms of your choice; ikebana, poetry and painting are popular.
Weapons: Sword, Bow, Spear.
Starting Equipment: Light armour with sky-blue lacquer, fashionable clothes, katana & wakizashi, any 1 other weapon, furoshiki, hair bleach, 10 koku.

+1 to Attack and +1 to Defence per Template, the Crane are precise and careful.

A: Way of the Crane, The Speed of Lightning
B: The First and Last Strike
C: Strike From The Void
D: Strike With No Thought

A: Way of the Crane
You act as a "third side" during initative, rolling on your own with a modifier equal to your School Rank. If your initiative is higher than your opponent, you may add the difference to your damage rolls.

A: The Speed of Lightning
You are immune to ambush, and still act as normal during a surprise round.

B: The First and Last Strike
Kakita taught that any fight could be won with a single blow - and should be. You may choose to hold your attack back to the end of the round during the spellcasting phase, if you do then your attack can be interrupted - if you take damage you must Save or lose your attack. If you succeed, however, your damage is doubled - including the bonus damage from Way of the Crane, if any. This is typically done in a iaijutsu strike where you unsheathe your sword, strike, flick it clean and resheathe it in the same motion - a fighting style both wildly impractical and unbearably cool.

C: Strike From The Void
You can now spend Void Points on damage with any School weapon. Not everyone knows this, but when you do so your weapon counts as having a magical plus equal to your School Rank for purposes of bypassing supernatural resistance.

D: Strike With No Thought
A true student of the sword needs no technique, he simply acts as the sword demands. You get an attack of opportunity against anyone entering melee with you, a number of times per round equal to your School Rank.

Defy Definition

Dragon Clan: Mirumoto Niten
If Kakita was the stamp from which all people judge a swordsman, Mirumoto was the guy who completely broke the mold. Win every fight with one strike? Then why am I wearing two swords? He thought. Like all Dragons, he had a bad habit of flying in the face of all established wisdom and somehow still winning regardless. So was the Niten style created, wielding both katana and wakizashi simultaneously, emphasising fluidity and practicality over stance and technique. The Mirumoto are also the Kakita's primary rival for title of best duellists in Rokugan. Combats between the two families are usually tense and have surprising outcomes - it was Mirumoto's son Hojatsu who finally defeated Kakita, though he too died in the act.

Skills: Athletics, Magic Lore, Meditation, Theology.
Weapons: Sword, Bow, Any one weapon group of your choice.
Starting Equipment: Light armour with green lacquer, tough clothing, katana and wakizashi, any one weapon, furoshiki, copy of Niten, 5 koku.

+1 to Attack and Saves per Template, the Dragon are uncanny and perceptive.

A: Way of the Dragon, Calm Amidst Thunder
B: Strong And Swift
C: Furious Retaliation
D: Heart of the Dragon

A: Way of the Dragon
When wielding the katana and wakizashi simultaneously you may riposte any attacks that roll 1+School Rank on the d20, immediately making a counterattack and adding your School Rank to your damage on a hit.

A: Calm Amidst Thunder
When you fight an opponent in simultaneous initative with you and your damage would kill him, his damage is not applied to you even if it would hit. You may also make a double attack when wielding the katana and wakizashi simultaneously, but if your damage does not kill your target they get a free attack of opportunity against you.

B: Strong And Swift
Niten is not a set of instructions to follow, but a map to be explored - in a thousand years of study, there is always something new to find. You may now attack twice per round when wielding School weapons. Furthermore, attempts to perform special maneuvers like trips, pushes, disarms and the like are made with a bonus equal to your School Rank.

C: Furious Retaliation
You gain advantage on all attacks against anyone who has dealt you damage within the last round.

D: Heart of the Dragon
The Dragon is everywhere and nowhere, his claws and teeth and scales are all around you. You may now spend Void Points to gain additional attacks on a one-for-one basis. You can do this even outside of your turn in response to an attack against you, in which case you count as being in simultaneous initative with your attacker.

Duty, Honor, Leadership

Lion Clan: Akodo Bushi
The Lion are among the most traditionalist clans in Rokugan and their fighting style shows it. While other schools teach elaborate specialised techniques and compare their swordsmanship to painting or caligraphy, the Akodo family drill the foundations of kenjutsu and military theory into their students again and again in a fashion more like hammering nails than high art. Who cares about complicated tactics and showy "secret techniques"? Just strike exactly as you intended, repeat until dead - a tactic that works every time. The Lion's way is the way of victory, and if you have any doubt as to the efficacy of their simple, traditional ways, just ask to whom the Emperor has trusted the bulk of his legions to command - perhaps it would be better to call it the Lion's share. 

Skills: Athletics, Tactics, History, Heraldry.
Weapons: Sword, Bow, Spear, Polearms.
Starting Equipment: Light Armour with yellow lacquer, conservative clothing, katana and wakizashi, any one weapon, furoshiki, tessen, 5 koku.

+1 to Attacks per Template, +1 to Damage on A, C. +1 to Defence on B, D. Lions are fierce and natural warriors.

A: Way of the Lion, Strength of Purity
B: Fangs of My Fathers
C: The Hand of Destiny
D: The Final Lesson

A: Way of the Lion
You critically hit range expands to 19-20, this stacks with any other effects that expand critical hit range. If the system you're playing in doesn't usually have double damage on natural 20 attack rolls, you still do - tell the DM I told you so.

A: Strength of Purity
The wicked man fears the blade held in the hand of the righteous. You add your Xha modifier to damage against creatures of supernatural evil, chaotic humanoids and foreigners (unless the Emperor permits their presence on Rokugan).

B: Fangs of My Fathers
You can make two attacks per round when fighting with your School weapons. The first blow is yours, the second from you ancestors - it still does minimum damage on a miss (1 per damage die plus your Strength and Damage modifier, usually), even to targets that have magical resistance to your attacks.

C: The Hand of Destiny
All things are predestined, there is no such thing as luck. At the start of the day you recieve a number of d20 rolls equal to your School Rank - note down the results, these can be used to replace any of your own attack rolls or the attack rolls of anyone else within 10' of you. If you wish you may spend Void Points during your morning meditations to gain additional rolls.

D: Akodo's Final Lesson
There are no failures. Your attacks now deal a minimum of your School Rank damage, even on a miss. Furthermore, you have advantage on your next attack made after a miss.

Choosing between two evils
is still choosing evil.

Phoenix Clan: Shiba Yojimbo
The Shiba are unusual in many ways, unlike all the other kami-descended families they are subservient to the Isawa clan who are descended from a human hero - arguably the greatest mortal man in history, having single-handedly elevated the practice of magic from simple divinations and blood rites to the elemental glory of the shugenja's art but merely a man all the same. In a clan that espouses pacifism as the highest ideal they train for war. With the Phoenix way of war focusing on the judicious application of their unmatched magical power, the bushi of the Shiba clan concentrate on defending their vulnerable shugenja cousins so they can invoke their spells in safety. Intensely spiritual, devoting as much time to mastery of the self through the no-mind technique, the Shiba produce warriors with the aspect of monks and the purity of fire.

Skills: Athletics, Etiquette, Magic Lore, Theology.
Weapons: Sword, Bow, Spear, Mace.
Starting Equipment: Light Armour with red lacquer, austere clothing, katana and wakizashi, any 1 other weapon, furoshiki, oil lamp, 5 koku.

+1 to Attacks and Void Points per Template. Phoenix are focused and spiritually strong.

A: Way of the Phoenix, A Single Life
B: One With Nothing
C: Everywhere and Nowhere
D: The Purity of Fire

A: Way of the Phoenix
Mastery of "no-thought" sharpens your sensitivity to the Void. Your Void Points now count as d8s, and return to your pool on a roll equal to or below your School Rank.

A: A Single Life
Understanding your place in the universe makes it easy to sacrifice your life for another. You can attune yourself to another person by spending a Turn in shared meditation with them, thereafter until the next dawn you may intercept any attacks directed against them using your own Defence as long as you remain within 10' of them. At a cost of a further Void Point you can also intercept hostile spells and other effects that require a Save.

B: One With Nothing
Whenever a spellcaster (even an enemy) in your immediate area loses a Magic Die to a roll of 6, you gain a Void Point - these can exceed your maximum but are lost at the next dawn if unspent. When you lose a void point on a roll of 8 a spellcaster of your choice in the immediate area gains a Magic Die.

C: Everywhere and Nowhere
Flowing with the Void, the bushi can now attack twice per round with any School weapon. You can strike incorporeal beings as if they were solid, and your weapons count as having a magical plus equal to your School Rank for purposes of damaging supernatural enemies. If you spend a Void Point this becomes an actual magical plus to attacks and damage for a number of rounds equal to the d8 roll.

D: The Purity of Fire
Your spirit burns so brightly it is nearly inextinguishable, surely all heavens and earth will fall before a warrior with such purity does. When you are subject to an attack that deals multiple damage dice, or multiple successful attacks in a single round, you may spend a Void Point to reduce the damage you take by a number of dice equal to your School Rank to a minimum of 1.

I can swim.

Scorpion Clan: Bayushi Ambusher
The Bayushi clan's version of the Frog and Scorpion aesop has a different ending. If the Crane are the Emperor's left hand, and the Lion his right, then the Scorpion are his under-hand. The Kami Bayushi was less idealistic when it came to human nature than the rest of his brothers and sisters, and knew that an empire ran by people devoted to honour would inevitably fall to those without. So he chose to play the villain to spare the others the shame of having to dirty their hands, recruiting thieves, spies and assassins into his new clan. The shadow-people of the Empire, to do the things that tarnished their own honour so that others didn't have to. To be mistrusted, so others would have an example of what not to live up to. No clan is more maligned, has fewer allies or more enemies.

And yet, they still keep swimming.

Skills: Athletics, Etiquette, Stealth, Dissembling.
Weapons: Sword, Spear, Dagger, Chain.
Starting Equipment: Light Armour with black lacquer, dark clothing, katana and wakizashi, any 1 other weapon, furoshiki, personalised mask, 5 koku.

+1 to Attacks and Surprise Rolls per Template. Scorpions strike fast and from the shadows.

A: Way of the Scorpion, Pincers & Tail
B: Strike At The Tail
C: Above & Below
D: Pincers Hold & Tail Strikes

A: Way of the Scorpion
Tied initative always breaks in your favour, when initative is in your favour you gain a bonus to your Defence and Attack rolls equal to your School Rank.

A: Pincers & Tail
You have a Tail Die of d6, which is dealt as unmodified automatic damage to the target in combat with you that has the lowest HP. This represents a multitude of probing jabs, kicks, thrown stones, pommel-clonks and shivvings you deal alongside your usual attacks to cull the weak. If this damage kills a foe, it may be rolled again against the next-weakest a number of times equal to your School Rank.

B: Strike At The Tail
If an opponent is stronger than you then first, take away his strength. When you successfully perform a maneuver to trip or disarm an opponent, you may immediately make an extra attack against them.

C: Above & Below
When you attack, do so from unexpected angles. You may now attack twice per round, futhermore your Tail Die increases to d8.

D: Pincers Hold & Tail Strikes
When you hit the same opponent with both your attacks, you may make a third. If you spend a Void Point on this third attack, the opponent who survives must Save or be stunned for 1 round by the psychic venom of your attack.

One cannot capture the wind

Unicorn Clan: Shinjo Horsemen
The Kirin Clan spent eight centuries outside Rokugan, scouting the surrounding lands for external threats. When they returned, riding from the West through the Shadowlands like an invading army, it caused one of the biggest upheavals in the Empire's history, as their ancient territories held in trust by other clans were once again ceded back to their old masters. What's more, though they had done their best to preserve their Rokugani traditions, time and extremity had led to the now Unicorn Clan having picked up a number of odious foreign customs like eating meat, leatherworking, and some decidedly unconventional fighting styles.

Skills: Athletics, Riding, Gaijin Lore, Hunting.
Weapons: Sword, Spear, Bow, Polearms.
Starting Equipment: Heavy Armour with purple lacquer, rugged clothing, katana and wakizashi, any 1 other weapon, furoshiki, quality riding horse, 10 koku.

+1 to Attacks per Template, +1 to Initative on A, C. +1 to Defence on B, D. Unicorn warriors strike like the wind and are gone before foes can retaliate.

A: Way of the Unicorn, Dance of the Blade/Yomanri
B: Four Winds Strike
C: One Spirit
D: Dancing With The Fortunes

A: Way of the Unicorn
Most Unicorns learn to ride before they can even walk. On horseback you add your School Rank to Defence and Damage. Your steed uses your Defence score.

A: Dance of the Blade/Yomanri
You learn one of the techniques the Unicorn picked up on their long sojourn;

• Dance of the Blade: In response to an attack against you, once per round you may make your own attack roll; if it exceeds your foes' roll their damage is reduced by d6.
• Yomanri: Traditional Rokugani archery holds that the loosing of an arrow should be instinctual, meditative, letting the arrow find its way. Gaijin think it's better to just aim. You can delay an archery attack until the end of the round, like declaring a spell. If you do, and are not interrupted by an attack, your shot automatically hits.

B: Four Winds Strike
You may now attack twice per round. You may make a move action between attacks without provoking an attack of opportunity.

C: One Spirit
The bond between you and your steed is now on an almost spiritual level. You can bond with a horse by investing a Void Point in the animal, which remains invested for as long as you choose to maintain the bond. While invested, your steed responds to even complex commands with human-like intelligence and you can perform impressively improbable feats of horsemanship like mounting your steed while it is galloping full speed or fighting proficiently while hanging sideways on the saddle. Your bonded steed will never fumble an athletic feat like jumping a fence and the damage multiplier for charging with a lance increases to x3 while riding it.

D: Dancing With The Fortunes
Unicorns are famously lucky, they had to be to survive 800 years of self-imposed exile. Once per round you can spend a Void Point to reroll a die (any die, including damage) rather than gain a bonus to your roll, even critical failures. 

Reinventing The Beholder - The Ontocritic (GLOG Bandwagoning)

 Another day, another GLOG blogosphere bandwagon. This time it's a classic monster; the Beholder.

Also Spellweavers, a criminally underused monster.

Ontocritics are powerful and by human standards quite insane. They are tall many-limbed humanoids that dwell in remote cavern grottoes deep in the roots of mountains, These lairs are often entirely inaccessible without access to powerful magic (which the creatures have innately), but may sometimes contain some ventilation shafts or claustraphobic crawlways to allow its servants to come and go without needing to call upon their master's power. The creatures are fortunately quite rare and universally solitary for a simple but defining reason; every Ontocritic develops unique personal beliefs during adolescence that once hardened as they enter adulthood they will defend with megalomaniacal fervour beyond that of any human zealot. 

An Ontocritic literally cannot stand to have their opinions criticised in any way, reacting to even the slightest disagreement with merciless violence as if disagreement caused it physical pain. Given that every Ontocritic has a unique idiosyncratic worldview they by their nature cannot form communities among themselves, instead they use their powers to brainwash members of other races into sycophantic obedience and set themselves up as petty kings of their own delusional fiefdoms. Only a once-a-decade estrus cycle brings them to meet in groups, where they conduct their courtship rituals in careful silence and part wordlessly once consumated. Young Ontocritcs flee their mothers' lair once they realise their own identity has asserted itself, the only time in their lives where their instinctive rage at disagreement is replaced with fear.

However, once fully grown and established an Ontocritic has little to fear from anything. Within the palms of each of their six hands is an eye-like organ capable of projecting a reality interdiction field that negates or replaces some aspect of the world within its field of view. With these fields it can render reality into forms more agreeable to it, like a painter layering pigment upon a canvas. The noted diabolist Zhu Fengming in his opus 'Fire Meditations' numbered being subjected to all six of an Ontocritic's fields at once as one of the eight Corporeal Hells that can be experienced while still alive which he recommended all practitioners of the Path of Screams to seek out so that they might steel themselves for the afterlife.

Ontocritic

12HD (72hp) AC 15 (leathery keratinous skin), Morale 8, 12 if criticised (see below)

Alignment: Any

No. Appearing: 1, plus 4d4+4 sycophants of Normal Stature (1-3HD).

Movement: 12", employs its Field of Intangibility to walk through walls.

% In Lair: 80%

Attacks: An Ontocritic will not typically fight conventionally, instead relying on its fields to disorient and disable its foes. Each round the Ontocritic can choose which direction its fields are pointed, each being 9" cones. Eight potential options are presented below, others may exist. At any one time the Ontocritic can only have six fields active, one for each hand. It may change what kind of field each hand projects on its initiative, and may have more than once instance of the same field active. Unless otherwise specified, exposure to any Ontocritic field requires a seperate Save vs. Wands each.

• Field of Blindness: Save or be rendered blind, as the spell Blindess.
• Field of Deafness: Save or be rendered deaf, as the spell Deafness, ho hum.
• Field of Anhedonia: Save or become unable to benefit from plusses outside of your base stats, including from class abilities, spells and magic items - whatever's on your character table is all you get Sonny-Jim.
• Field of Agnosia: Save or all your attacks are directed against random targets, as per the Confusion spell, nobody is more familiar to you than anyone else. Ontocritcs' sycophants are not immune to this, which doesn't stop their master sending them in to the fight anyway.
• Field of Achronia: Save or time's passage becomes incomprehensible, minutes seem to pass in centuries, hours in attoseconds. This is a gussied up stun effect, save or lose your action each round.
• Field of Agony: Save or take 8d6 illusory damage (all restored if you succeed a save). This cannot actually kill, but those reduced to 0hp are rendered unconscious and if not saved will likely be taken back to the Ontocritic's Lair and be hypnotised into sycophancy.
• Field of Intangibility: Renders matter within its area incapable of interaction with matter outside it. The Ontocritic uses this to walk through walls to its hidden cave Lair and disable foes with ranged weapons.
• Field of Entropy: Save or become unable to heal or otherwise restore expended resources until you are outside the field.

Ontocritics prefer to fight in narrow corridors where they can direct all their fields on attackers at once, ideally on a corner where they can keep ranged attackers suppressed with their Field of Intangibility. If attacked from multiple sides, engaged in melee or subjected to ranged weapons they will attempt to flee back to their lair. Defeated enemies are usually left disabled by their Field of Agony rather than dead, and if not recovered by their companions will be hauled off to the Ontocritic's lair for brainwashing into a Charmed sycophant by means of a combination of torture, sensory deprivation and application of the Ontocritic's hypnotic gaze (a little known feature of the species). This process takes 1 hour per HD of the victim, and can only be removed by application of a combination of Remove Curse, Modify Memory and Dispel Magic cast in sequence. They are capable of wielding weapons, but largely distain doing so as it requires them to use a hand which could otherwise be employed to project a field, but some Ontocritics do employ Magic User tools such as Wands of Frost.

One of the best tactics for fighting an Ontocritic is to capture and interrogate one of its sycophants for the details of their master's worldview. Faced with criticism of their cherished beliefs an Ontocritics' morale becomes unbreakable and it will fight to the death without fleeing, seeking to destroy or utterly humble its detractor.

What does this Ontocritic believe? D12:

1. Birds are homunculi created by wizards to spy on the surface world.
2. Elven swords are folded 10,000 times and can cut through plate armour like paper.
3. Elven swords are made of moldy pig iron and can be snapped over your knee.
4. Fireballs aren't real, are you kidding me? You really expect me to believe that a 3rd level spell could do that much damage?
5. Of COURSE the Derr0 control the world's banks.
6. The human kingdoms' success is just a front for the return of the serpent people.
7. STRICT TIME RECORDS MUST BE KEPT.
8. Peasantry is just a stalling tactic by low-skill kings who can't manage a kingdom where citizens are capable of rising to power.
9. Pick a religion, this Ontocritic is really into it.
10. All religions are false! I am the only true god!
11. The nobles don't want you to know this but the halflings in the Shire are free you can take them home I have 458 halflings.
12. I am not subject to maritime law!

There Is No Skill In What I do - Church Assassin (GLOG Class) (Bandwagoning)

The GLOG is going through a bit of a bandwagon again, this is mine.

The Erĝeshmál are a rumour, albeit a persistant one - a hidden cabal of fanatic-assassins whose origin stretches back to the very beginning of the Latterine Church, when the message of the Latter Prophet was scorned and its followers subjected to all manner of persecution and humiliation. The Erĝeshmál (from the Sassálid "fangs of prophecy") protected the faithful from organised pogroms and official censures through covert assassination, guided by a whisper network of hidden Latterines in the servants' chambers of a thousand palaces and, it is claimed, by inspired visions. This is history though, and the Latterine Church waxes strong across the surface of the World - there is no more reason for borderline heresies the likes of the Erĝeshmál to exist; with half the world's crowns bowing to the Deiarch on her throne in Súnelamar, what use would she have for a few silent knives in the dark?

Class: Church Assassin
You are a member of a hidden cabal of killers whose hands are guided by prophecy. You have never studied the blade, no-one taught you how to scale castle walls or pick locks, how to hide in plain sight or the secret evil ways by which men can be seperated from their souls quickly and efficiently. You need know none of these dreadful, sinful things that uproot the rightful order of creation. You spent your time in prayer, supplication and denial so that when the time came that you were needed angels would guide your hands far more surely than any training.

Starting Skill: None.

Equipment: Beggar's rags (as normal clothing, +1 to Reaction Rolls to be ignored), bronze alms bowl, bronze kitchen knife (light weapon in your hands, d3 in another's (see "Needful Things" below)), rosary (strung on garotte wire, +1d4 to grappling damage), d6 silver pieces and d6x10 copper pieces.

Every Template gives +1 Portent Die

A: Needful Things, Portents
B: The Call, +1d6 Critical Damage
C: On Angel's Wings
D: The Appointed Time, +1d6 Critical Damage

A: Needful Things
You are not proficient in any weapons or armour. However, you can wield any object of appropriate size as a light or medium weapon, even if it isn't intended as one. You can also expend a Portent of Success to automatically find any mundane equipment item somewhere in your immediate surroundings, no matter how unlikely. Items acquired this way will somehow be lost or stolen by the end of the day.

A: Portents
Your movements are clumsy, artless and imprecise, yet somehow your knife finds its way past the thickest armour and the most practiced defences while your foe's most deft blows are somehow turned by sudden stumbles and distractions, as if some unseen puppeteer guided you.

At the start of the day roll a number of Portent Dice (d6s). Each die that rolls a 1-3 grants you a Portent of Failure, while each that rolls 4-6 grants a Portent of Success. Rolls of 1 and 6 explode, granting their Portent of Failure/Success as normal and being rerolled for another.

You may expend a Portent of Failure to cause someone within your line of sight to fail a roll of your choice, as an interrupt. You must have some way of influencing them, even if as little as a whistle or a thrown pebble at the right moment.

You may expend a Portent of Success to automatically succeed at some roll you or another within line of sight are required to make. As above, you must have some way of influencing the target if it is not yourself. When used for attack rolls this counts as a Critical Hit.

B: The Call
When setting out on a mission, dungeon delve, quest or what-have-you you may pray for guidance. Ask the DM "Is there someone here who the gods wish me to kill?", and he will answer with a vision of their face and rough location - enough to narrow it down to within one quadrant of a given dungeon floor. If you kill them you may regain all your expended Portents.

C: On Angel's Wings
When someone attacks you and misses, either naturally or because of a Portent of Failure, they suffer d6 coincidental damage as they sprain their ankles, stumble into your weapon, crack their head on nearby objects or some other such improbable bungle. If their failure was a result of a natural 1, they instead take your Critical Damage.

D: The Appointed Time
This is what you have been preparing for, the reason you were placed upon the World.

First of all, you apprehend the true name Dust, and may teach it to sorcerers if you wish, they will expect to have to do you a great service in return. Aiding and abetting sorcerers is a sinful act, but you may assume special dispensation in service of a greater good.

Secondly, you are immune to sorcerous commands directed at yourself - your actions are not your own, so the word of Man has no control over you.

Finally; once, ever, you may declare a single target within your line of sight your destined kill. If there is any possibility of you even being able to deal them damage, the next time you successfully attack them they die. The archvillain can be right in the middle of his big climactic speech before his assembled minions and you run out of the crowd and clock him in the temple with a rock and he falls down dead. No save, no nothing; dead dead DEAD. Furthermore, their soul becomes entangled with your own - they cannot be ressurected, reincarnated or the like without you being physically present at the ritual, and if you die before then their soul is carried off to final judgement with you, never to be reborn again. If, however, they are not able to be harmed by any weapon or resource you currently have access to - you've wasted your chance.

Dolmenwood Firearms (OSR)

 Dolmenwood has a very nice expanded equipment list, with sub-pages for dogs, horses, pipeweed, food and drink, herbs and fungi and more besides. What it doesn't have is firearms. And while some may argue that they don't fit in a medieval folkloric game, I'd say that any setting featuring themes of civilisation encroaching on nature is ripe for gunsmoke, and a werewolf is always best disposed of with a silver bullet. Plus, as G. R. Michael has pointed out, guns are older than plate armour.

A Drune Cottager reminds you whose land you're on.

Firearms have a small but significant history in Dolmenwood, they were first carried to the region by crusaders of the Pluritine Church during the Triple Compact. These early matchlock handgonnes and cannons had a number of properties that made them exquisitely useful during the war to banish the Cold Prince - the blasting fire of gunpowder was anathema to the Prince and his court's cold magic, the noise and flash of their muzzles terrified the dangerous animals of the wood into staying clear of the battlefields and dispersed fae cavalry, and few things sting an elf quite like a slug of raw iron ore from the barrel of a handgonne. Though this time is all but myth, the practice of gunnery remained and was adapted by many of Dolmenwood's inhabitants ever since. Woldish firearms are inevitably artisanal, and frequently heirloom items. No large gun forges exist and only Castle Brackenwolde has the resources necessary to cast cannon, leaving the crafting of new guns exclusively as bespoke items by the wood's rare gunsmiths and the occasional hobbyist.

Weapon	Cost	Damage	Weight	Size	Qualities
Pistol	50gp	2d6	20	Small	Missile (50′ / 100′ / 150′), Reload, Armour Piercing
Musket	125gp	2d8	100	Medium	Missile (80′ / 160′ / 240′), Reload, Armour Piercing
Prigwort Blunderbuss	160gp	d10	100	Medium	Cone 9', Reload
Drunic Jezzail	225gp	4d4	140	Large	Elf-Shooter, Custom Grip, Reload, Armour Piercing
Mossling Woodlock	40gp	d12	100	Medium	Bursting, Cone 6', Reload
High-Rifle	300gp	2d8+2	140	Large	Rifled (160′ / 240′), Reload, Armour Piercing

SPECIAL NOTE: Adventuring, Dungeoneering and Firearms

A door with a normal lock can be automatically opened by shooting the lock off with any firearm, allowing the attackers to roll for Surprise as normal when entering combat unless they have already alerted the inhabitants on the other side. 

Normal animals can be scared off by the report of a firearm, forcing them to immediately check morale with a penalty of -1 per firearm shot in the current round. Creatures of 4HD+ or of a monstrous nature (DM decides what qualifies as a monster or a natural creature) are unaffected.

Any round in which firearms are employed in a dungeon triggers an automatic wandering monster roll, as the noise and commotion attracts the dungeon's fearless and ferocious defenders.

New Weapon Qualities

Bursting: This firearm is not particularly well made, and if rolling either minimum or maximum damage it has burst its barrel and is rendered inoperable junk.

Cone #': These firearms fire a wide spray of projectiles. Attacks made with this firearm are not rolled, instead every target within a cone of the specified number of dungeon spaces may make a Save for half damage.

Custom Grip: This firearm has been specially made for its user, to fit their specific grip and proportions. It provides its creator with +1 to hit, in the hands of anyone else it has a 3:6 chance of reducing their to-hit by -1, 2:6 chance of no benefit, and 1:6 chance of fitting them perfectly, allowing them to benefit of the +1 to hit as if the original owner.

Elf-Shooter: This gun has a reinforced barrel that allows it to fire cold iron bullets without risk of damage. Firearms without this quality that are loaded with cold iron bullets (costing double that of lead, as per DPB, 119) are damaged on a natural 1 attack roll, suffering a cumulative -1 penalty to hit and damage until repaired by a capable gunsmith, normally costing 20% of the weapon's base value per -1 penalty removed.

Rifled: As Missile (DPB, 118) but it has no Long range category, only short (+1 Attack) and medium.

Weapon Descriptions

Prigwort Blunderbuss: Used by coachmen to protect carts carrying Prigwort's famous exports of ale and spirits on their journeys throughout the wood. Known for their comically wide flaring barrels designed to facilitate reloading while atop a rumbling cart fleeing pursuers at high speed. 

Drunic Jezzail: Sometimes called "elf-shooters" by their cottager creators. Drunes sometimes take the mechanisms from muskets produced elsewhere and marry them to a extra-long reinforced barrels to allow them to endure firing slugs of hard, cold iron. Drunes make these guns just for themselves and their rare allies, and covet them almost as greedily as magic. They are usually heavily decorated by their owners with runes of spite and striking and strung with all manner of charms and talismans.

Mossling Woodlock: Maybe Dolmenwood's most unusual firearm, the mosslings make them from bored-out logs of hard woods like oak or cherry, wrapped tightly with sheets of leather or lengths of tarred rope to help contain the detonation. Ammunition is usually an assortment of pebbles, pinecones, hard nuts and wood chips, and propellant provided by the mossling's dampfire mould (see below), and ignited by a simple touch-hole and flame. These weapons are fairly shoddy and not expected to last many battles but are very effective at allowing a small group of mosslings to fend off much larger numbers, and as they are able to produce cheap propellant fairly easily are quite common among mossling militas.

High-Rifle: This sophisticated and elegant weapon is a legacy of High-Hankle's refined culture. Extremely accurate due to its rifling, long barrel and variable sights, it is intended for both sports hunting and for sniping ground targets from griffonback. High-Hankle's griffonriders have developed a special method for firing between their mount's wingbeats, making long, swivelling, tracking shots during their gliding periods.

Ammunition	Cost	Weight
Gunpowder (20)	25gp	20
Bullets, cast lead (20)	2gp	20
Gunpowder, Dampfire (20)	15gp	20

Most firearms can be loaded with basically anything that will fit down the barrel - unless using special ammunition the only cost is for gunpowder.

Ammunition Descriptions

Gunpowder: Proper corned gunpowder, the end of the gongfarmer's trade that people don't laugh about. In case you were wondering, a loose pile of gunpowder will deal d6 damage in a 5' radius for every 10 shots worth of the stuff is present, with a Save permitted for half damage. For every 2d6 damage the radius of the explosion increases by 5'. 

Bullets, cast lead: These are properly made, military grade bullets that have been cast in a special mold and carefully shaved with a sharp blade of any flashing that would seriously impede the bullet's flight. These minor masterworks grant a +1 to Attack.

Gunpowder, Dampfire: This is not true gunpowder, but rather a rare species of mould that is cultivated by some mossling communities. Scraped off and allowed to dry in the sun, this greasy black powder makes quite an acceptable cheap replacement for standard gunpowder. It detonates with a squeaky pop rather than a thunderous boom but it is no less loud for it. Dampfire is rare outside of mulchgrove. For every two hexes away from the region the likelihood of it being available drops by -1:6.

Base Matter Rendered Into Light - The Chandler's Grimoire

 Intended to accompany Skerple's components system here. Also maybe belated bandwagonning?

The High Chandlers are a curious case in the use of the synthesist's craft, focusing more on combining their spell components beforehand according to proscribed patterns than the usual whimiscally slap-dash witchcraft seen in those who practice this typically rustic form of spellworking. Perhaps for this reason their guild managed to reach much higher degree of respectability than that of others who employ the craft, not as vaunted as the magi of the Word, but at least on par with the Alchemists. 

A Chandler's workspace is as full of bric-a-brac as any other component-caster, just a bit more homogenous.

Benefits of candle magic;
While somewhat constrained compared to conventional witchcraft, candle magic is not without its compensations, and they are significant;

1. Component Space Efficiency: A completed magic candle takes up only one slot in a magician's component pouch but functions as two for the sake of the spell it was made for.
2. Candle Charms: A prepared candle can be given to another to use. The chandler must charge it with their own spell points beforehand, which remain committed until either the candle is used or the chandler chooses to withdraw their power - whichever comes first. The roll to see if the next casting will require more spell points is made by the person who ignites the candle and applies to them, not the chandler. e.g. a chandler creates a charged candle for a client that normally costs the chandler 1 spell point to cast, the client burns the candle and rolls a 5 - the next time the client needs a candle of that type it will cost 2 spell points to charge, but if the chandler wanted to use that candle spell themselves it would still only cost them 1 spell point. In this fashion chandlers are able to sell the same spell effects to different clients for many years without losing the power needed.
3. Candle Duration: Most candle spells can be made optionally to last as long as the candle is lit, ending only when the candle burns out or is extinguished. A typical spell candle is about the size of a birthday candle and lasts 30 minutes, but larger candles can be made at greater cost - simply multiply the cost of materials and the component size to determine the duration. Giant pillar candles often have multiple wicks to minimise the chance that all will be accidentally extinguished at once, which ends the magic, while smaller ones are best kept in lanterns. Note that candle-spells made without this option instead burn with an inextinguishable cold flame that consumes the components contained in the candle by the time the spell's duration has elapsed.

THE GRIMOIRE

A Candle to Find a Murderer
Take thee tallow taken from a good scenthound, one that has been trained by a hunter is good, one that has been trained by a hunter of men is best. Render it well and colour and scent it to your liking. For the wick, fashion it from a cord unwound from a hangman's rope. If intending to use the candle's spell yourself no further measures need be made, but if passing it to one of the uninitated as a charm add a drop of your blood to the tallow and a thread of your hair to the cord to lend it potency. Dip the wick and chant thusly once between coating; 

Find for vengence, find for hope, find for justice, find for rope.

I have been vouchsafed that the spell is more eficacious if spoken in the phlegmatic tongue of Oldenwael, but I cannot confirm the truth of this. To complete the spell, cut the victim's name into the wax and light - the candle's flame and smoke shall be as a compass needle for their slayer.

A Candle to Cleanse a Sickhouse
Take thee finest beeswax of purest white, as are in high demand by the temples. Melt it well and remove from the flame, before it begins to cloud add one tenth its weight in essence of lavender, some use oil of verbena to the same effect but it has never worked for me and in any case is not as strongly scented or noble, for the lavender was brought to our land by the men of the imperium whose works can reliably be considered superior to native ways. It is not suitable to cloud the wax with your blood if giving the candle to another, instead double-strengthen the wick with a thread of your robe and a hair of your head instead to lend it your potence - the wick is of no concern in this spell and I favour hemp or barkcloth cord to recoup the expense of the wax and essence. To complete the spell, light the candle while exclaiming "Avaunt, avaunt, unclean winds and spirits!" You will know it has worked if the circle of your flame's light is free of dustmotes and other airborne spores, which it will drive before it like a wind. No man who carries such a candle will contract the pox, nor will he choke on bad winds, even if he were to luncheon in a plague ward. If burned beside the bed of a patient they will not spread their sickness to others and may recover at greater speed.

The Leyndell Perfumers were forefront in my mind when thinking of Chandler Lore.

A Candle to Walk Unseen At Night
Take thee common tallow and blacken it with soot - I have heard tell that some use the tallow of cats instead but those who request this are like to be low sorts and unwilling to part with the coin such costly materials demand, but it may prove efficaceous. On the wick one cannot scrimp, however; only the spun threads of a thiefs' cloak will suffice (this your client may be able to supply themselves, charge them not a whit less!). Dip it in silence and darkness, by touch and familiarity of your workplace - it matters not if the result is unbeautiful. Empower with blood and hair as standard, but beware - any diviner worth their lamen can find you by it, so pick your clients wisely and the foolish and unfortunate deny. When the candle is lit and the spell is completed, only the bearer of the candle will be able to see the light it casts.

A Candle to Cast a Shadowy Death
Take thee the tallow of a werewolf, the bloodier its reign of terror before being felled the better for this purpose - this alone should warn you of the dire nature of this spell, which we do not reveal to outsiders or offer in sale to any clients besides the King and his appointed agents. Some say a female werewolf produces a slyer killer while a male a more fierce one, but this may be mere chatter - the fat of a werewolf that died of old age however is a fearsome reagent indeed! Render it well and colour and scent to your liking. For the wick take a silken strangler's cord, sometimes called a garotte in the cities of the east, and snip it free of its handles or thumb-loops. Adding too much of yourself to such a candle is, I feel, unwise and may lead to the spell being confused as to its target - if making it for another add no more than one of your hairs and one thread of your robe - NEVER blood such a candle! To complete the spell, carve the name of the intended victim into the wax and fix their image in your mind as you light the wick, saying "O, beast of smoke and shadows, I call on you to hunt!". You will see that the candle flame casts a shadow antipodal to your own, one of bestial caste and terrible swiftness, like the moving image created by a zoetrope. This will hunt your target unerringly and though it be made of shadows - and proof against blades and all mortal weapons besides fire - it can yet tear and rend flesh and wood alike as if it were solid. It will fix its attentions on the target, ignoring all others save those that try to rise in its quarry's defence or those who through flame or sorcery deal it injury.

This is how Chandlers would look as a Soulsian enemy (or NPC merchant?)

A Candle to Sting the Eyes of Darksome Beasts
Take thee wax harvested from a hive that has stung to death a mammal or a reptile of any size (cage together a mouse and the hive if you must), melt it well and colour and scent to your liking - crimson is traditional and auspicious for this work, but not necessary. The wick must be made of nettle fibre cord, easily found and harvested in summer once the nettle-tips are no longer good for eating. Dip the wick whilst speaking this Undercommon malediction between each coating;

Mong bạn nhìn thấy ánh sáng.

I do not know the meaning of this phrase myself, but I am assured that creatures of the dark places of the world consider it a dire and terrible curse. Add two parts of yourself to the mix if intended for a client; blood, hair or thread, it matters not. When lit, the candle will burn with a terrible piercing bright red flame. Those creatures that have the faculty such that they may see clearly by night will find this light especially painful and turn their faces from it as if put pepper in their eyes. Doubly so for those creatures who fear the light of the sun, who will be driven before the candle's light shrieking as if lashed by the whips of hell.

A Fulminating Candle to Dismay a Foe
Take thee tallow from a fighting bull, one which has gored a matador is best but not strictly necessary as long as it has fought on the sands. The wick must be wooden, made of lighting-struck oak, soaked in oil and allowed to dry in sunlight - olive is best, but any will suffice. The tapers should be small and fit well in the palm of the hand, with enough weight to be thrown a goodly distance. Colour and scent to your liking - be sure to pick a memorable combination! Dire results could come from mixing up this candle with others! Brightest saffron yellow and the scent of long pepper and grains of paradise are traditional. To employ, light the candle and cast it forth from your person immediately. Within five heartbeats of its lighting it will burst forth with a blast of light and buffeting force such to knock an armoured man from his feet and cast him back five paces. A foeman can so be rendered momentarily blind and dazed, ripe for the misericorde.

When you travel in dark places, carry a light.

Clerics as Prophets (Esoteric Lorebuilding)

 Clerics are odd ducks. Their classical image of the mailed crusader with a religious proscription against wielding bladed weapons deliberately evokes medieval warrior-priests of the Archbishop Turpin and Odo of Bayeux vein. But while those fellows were members of a powerful Church with clear heirarchy and vast political power, the adventuring cleric is free to roam the backroads and wildnerness, associating with thieves, bandits and witches, and if they run afoul of the authorities they can expect to be treated like any other homeless vagabond. The various incarnations of the Cleric from OD&D to 5E have expounded on their power to call down miracles and avaunt unquiet souls, but conspicuously absent has been any reference to the political power of the church or temple they represent. This is strange on the face of it, priests have always wielded a lot of social clout - but our adventuring cleric is unmoored.

There's plenty of ways I could develop subsystems and add class abilities, but I don't like changing something when I can just recontextualise it instead. And for the adventuring cleric, one little tweak to how clerics are conceptualised makes everything about its design make perfect sense;

Clerics aren't priests, they're prophets.

You have no political power or support from a wider Church as a cleric because there isn't one. Oh, there's religions out there, sure - whole heirarchies of temples, pontiffs and priests - and you're not part of it.

Bearer of the Word

As an adventuring cleric you're a revelation, a new Word coming out of the wilderness to shake the foundations of the earth. If the wider religious heirarchy hears about you they're probably not going to welcome you with open arms; they're probably going to either laugh at you or ignore you. Once you start getting more notoriety they're going to denounce you as a heretic, maybe try to get you burned at the stake if your message is a bit too radical. Once you hit Name level and start gathering real power, they're going to start sweating bullets and quietly packing the silverwear into easily-moved trunks. Either way, they're not going to help you.

Terrible Purpose

But adventurers? Freethinkers and desperadoes, living by their wits and determination. The kind of folk who decide to make a profession out of wresting handfuls of grave goods from nameless horrors deep beneath the earth aren't the sort to look askance at a fellow for worshipping strange gods and preaching radical heresies, not when he can heal with a touch and cast back the unquiet dead by force of will. Sinners one and all - the ones who need to hear your Word the most.

Shake the Foundations

When a player wants to be a cleric I now tell them to invent the name of their god and the tenets of their faith themselves and that nobody before them in the current mileu has ever heard of it. This might be because they're a foreigner, a missionary from a mysterious land far, far away (with accompanying odd customs), or they're the first to hear the voice of a nascent god in the wilderness. As they grow in notoriety and perform great deeds, so too does the power of their god over the land swell - this is why their god can't just grant them miracles on command; their power is finite and constrained - the cleric's god is at first little more than a whisper on the wind, but quickly grows to titanic proportions.

Inner Mysteries

The spell list of all clerics is broadly similar because the divine itself has a certain essential nature - that of bringing Order out of chaos. Curative spells like cure light wounds and restoration just return broken parts of creation back to their intact state, but really that's all any clerical spell does. All clerical spells are essentially just glimpses into the world as it should be, sinless and unfallen. In the world as it should be water would refuse to drown, bar the way or even moisten the robes of the righteous - that's how a cleric casts water walk, by reminding the waters of their duty. Command and Gease/Quest? People should obey a servant of the gods. Flame strike? That's just the sun and stars fulfilling their intended purpose as weapons against the forces of darkness.

Of course there are gods of Chaos and Darkness, too. Sometimes they're just the guys who cast the reversed versions of Cleric spells and command rather than turn undead by default, but in my home games clerics are exclusively the servants of Order. The gods of Chaos have their priests, of course - they're just represented by Magic-Users.

Again, this is not an excercise in changing the class - it's an excercise in not changing it, keeping it exactly as written without any need to make the game world change to fit the way clerics are actually played. That said, if players want to add one or two spells per level of their own devising to their clerical spell list to flesh out their ethos I'm more than happy - I'm ecstatic in fact.

Lightbringer