A Discworld Inspired Starfinder Adventure

Well here I am again at the end of the month with a new post.  As I mentioned before, I've been listening to all of the Discworld novels and some changes are made to the Starfinder game setting to accommodate an alteration to make the setting a bit more like that of the discworld.  To get up to speed for this, I suggest you take sometime to familiarize yourself with the Discworld, then get started with a game.

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--On the Setting--

Note to GM’s…Absolom Station in this setting is much bigger than it is normally.  It is essentially an artificial planet that was made to replace the one that went missing.  The station is roughly over 2,000 miles across.  Its exterior sections comprise the industrial workings of the station that allow it to function/operate and thus maintain the atmosphere of the encased chunk of planet.

It is believed and to a degree known that the section of planet may have been a part of the skull of a god that died who knows how many centuries ago.  Natural resources are present (for example, gold was believed to have been a part of its nervous system, and magma – such as what it is – is believed to have been blood that is still circulating).  The main reason for the belief that this was part of a god are the deposits of fat that can be mined.

There are a number of regions, as well as there being an ocean.  The central and largest city of the station/planet is the city Star-Morbief.  An academy of magic is present here, along with many different guilds which more or less run the city as its council…with one small exception.  The city is essentially governed by one person, the Regent.

Running a massive city is a difficult thing, more so when the city is the central hub of the station.  The Regent is often viewed as an evil man, but this is only do to the fact that in order to keep everyone in line you had to be quite the prick when no one else wanted you to.  He also has a practical view toward crime, namely that since there is going to be crime, it best be organized under the rule of order.  Thus, there are many guilds that exist in the city as a means of controlling crime.  It all works oddly enough.

For example, for a small monthly fee people can avoid being mugged or robbed.  There is a guild for almost everything in Star-Morbief.

While the Regent controls the city, it is the Overseer that manages the entire station.  She ensures that everything works and stays working.  The Regents of the cities all answer to her, though her job is typically busy enough as is that she has time to deal with the Regents.  She gets reports, and typically is quite happy with the work of the Regent of Star-Morbief (who is an impossibly clever man who seems to know that is going on in the city even when magic is being used to obscure scrying).

Since the station possesses an atmospheric shield, ships can land directly on the surface instead of in any of the outer landing bays.  This is widely frowned upon, and the regents of the various major cities and the outlaying governors & mayors take a hard edge against space vehicles landing on planet with out the proper authorization (often requiring the direct authorization of a person in charge of the surrounding area or getting authorization from the Overseer’s office.

The station is a bit of an oddity.  Aside from believing that the land was once part of a god, the station appearing in the place of the planet Golarian and possessing the Starstone (which powers the whole thing and keeps the land alive), it also has roving dungeons which appear in the land for no real reason other than to provide starfinders with a challenge every once in a while, and to spew out monsters.

Additionally, there is the high magical field of the place which causes certain things to manifest an avatar of what they are.  Not everyone can see these avatars unless they possess magical capabilities or are under particular conditions that would allow them to.  For example, Death is manifested as a skeletal man with a scythe who rides upon a pure white horse.  Magic users can see Death for what he is when he is around, while other beings either won’t see him at all or their minds will simply insert a different visage of what they are seeing instead of what is really there.  The only other way that Death is visible to normal people (or non-magical folk) is by either being a child, a cat, or being in a heightened state of awareness where death is ever close at hand.  Death is not evil, and there is a death on every planet, tending to just that planet.  The Death of Golarian is the Death of the station.  He knows what happened to the planet, but it is not his place to tell people what really happened, it would be against the rules.  And while he may bend the rules, he does not break them.  Death cannot be compelled to divulge the truth of this, and even gods are subject to him when their time comes.  Death is always polite and finds mortals interesting.  However, Death sometimes becomes depressed and wanders off from the job, (but never for too long).  He has a love for cats and can become irritated by people who are cruel toward them.

--Oddities of the World--

The world that is the space station is filled with various oddities.  Some gods live upon the world, off and on, and a there is a Death that cares for the dead of this place.  The players encountering death during life or death circumstances should provide brief light-hearted moments, where time seems to stop, and they get a bit of a parlay with Death.  These are brief moments meant to allow a Level 1 character to survive.  The player to get to abuse the stop in time for a moment (one free turn of actions).  They can hold a conversation with Death who is accommodating but must let time progress normally at a point.  He won’t care too much for the abuse of things – all things die eventually, but he would prefer if people would stop taking advantage of these little interactions.

Dungeons don’t often appear in cities, but when one does its never a good thing.  While smaller than those found outside, the monsters inside are exceptionally dangerous and they don’t typically stay confined.  The city police often can keep these occurrences confined, but outside help is never turned away.

There is also something that grows on the land here called Sapient Pear Wood.  It is magical, though its true properties aren’t revealed until you make something with it.  Staves and wands are the most common things made, but people have also been known to make chests and trunks out of the stuff.  Its virtually indestructible (has a lot of HP and DR), will follow its owner anywhere (somehow), and seems to have its own personality.  It acts in a similar capacity as a bag of holding, save that it’s as if it has several bags of holding…as well as being able to act like a mimic in that it will eat beings that cross it.

Wands & Staves made from the stuff are semi intelligent and won’t allow any other magic user to use them except for their owner (they are magic items, and grant the user the ability to use one or more magic feats in addition to what the user already knows.  The wand or staff will also teleport to its owner when called.  Armor and weapons are not typically made out of the stuff due to the difficulties in working with the wood, though if a weapon has a portion of wood as part of it (like a hilt, or stalk) then the item will teleport when called coming to their hand.  Even though the wood could be sharpened to have an actual cutting edge, the problem there is that you could end up cutting your fingers off or impaling your hand.

Armor is no better either.  You could call on it, but it could manifest on you backwards, upside down, or even correctly.  But it also could appear inside you.  Luggage made of it though doesn’t have this property and is more sapient than items are.  Chests and similar objects made of the stuff get around on dozens or hundreds of little legs but can pass through dimensions and bash their way through walls, doors and the like with single minded purpose.  They can even travel in the void of space somehow, but it’s best not to think about how it happens.  Luckily few people want sapient pear wood things due to the problems involved with it.

--Character Creation--

Characters can be of any type from the PHB.  In terms of background, however, all PC’s are required to have a common desire to explore and understand the universe.  The PC’s are each a scholar in their own ways.  As such all PC’s are required to have at least 1 knowledge related skill (Culture, Life Science, Mysticism, Physical Sciences, or Profession).

--The Starting Adventure Hook--

The game starts with the PC’s on Absalom Station.  They have recently joined the Starfinder Society out of a curiosity to see the galaxy and understand it’s wonders.  The roving dungeons of the station are considered a good testing point for new Starfinders.  These dungeons often are an irritation when they appear around cities, but the further out that they appear, the more dangerous they become (typically).

As a test of their capabilities, the Players will be tasked with exploring a dungeon that has been annexed by the society on the outskirts of Star-Morbief.  It will be up to them to locate the dungeon, and then explore it.  If they meet any difficulties that exceed their level of capability they can either, choose to press on or raise the alarm to the test’s overseers.

The dungeon should be two levels and is meant to take PC’s from level 1 to level 2.  Encounter difficulties are meant to be “average”.  Make the encounters low tech for this dungeon if possible. Skeletal Undead are a good starting foe, as are Space Goblins (though they should be treated as just normal Goblins for this dungeon.

There is also a dungeon master, a monster that is essentially the final guardian of the secrets of the dungeon.  This should be a single creature that is a “Challenging” or “Hard” opponent for the entire group.

At the end of the dungeon is the riddle of 3 qualities.

• Which is the greatest quality; Might, Intelligence, or Power?

o   The riddle must be answered by each person present, it must be their own answer.  When an answer is chosen, a door opens to admit one person at a time into the room beyond.  A magical force will keep anyone else from forcing their way in.

o   If answered wrong, after entering the door and it closes, the person finds themselves back at the entrance of the dungeon, and unable to enter again.

o   The answer is different for each person.  It is a riddle of self-value.  What does the person value most?  Strength has many meanings.  A character that enjoys exercise could see that valuing physical strength is most important to them.  But a strong moral compass may also be an acceptable answer.  Intelligence also has its meanings, is it over all intellect, or is it knowledge of a particular thing?  As for power, it should be self-explanatory, but power also has many meanings as well.  Is it the power to influence others, or magical power?

o   When answered correctly the door leads to another room.  A scroll is present.  When read, the magic vanishes but the words on the scroll remain, its language after this is indecipherable by the PC’s (DC 35-40 for an appropriate skill roll without the right tools, or time).  Players who chose Strength will gain a +1 to either STR, DEX, or CON (choose one to apply it to), or they can gain a combat related feat.  Those that chose Intellect can apply a +1 to either INT, WIS, or CHA, or they can gain a skill related feat.  For those that chose Power they may know 1 additional level 0 & 1 spell, or a feat that enhances magic or some other class ability.  With those that have no magical power they instead can choose to know a single level 0 spell (if a DC is needed for the spell then it is generated like it would be for any other class).

Once everyone has left the dungeon it vanishes, their Health is also restored upon leaving.

Awaiting everyone outside will be a small group of thugs.

[NOTE:  This group is present to help put PC’s up to level 2 if they are not already there.]

The thugs are there to take what ever riches the PC’s have found.  Its not an uncommon practice to do this, the Regent of the city does frown upon the practice when not done in the city and under the licensed supervision of the Thieves Guild.

Guilds This city of Star-Morbief is home to a number of different guilds, and with a suitable petition and $2000 credits you can start your own guild as well.  While there are a number of guilds there are certain guilds that stand above the others. The Thieves Guild – Since there is going to be crime, it may as well be organized.  For a small monthly payment, a citizen or visitor to the city can ensure that they are not mugged or robbed by one of the many licensed thieves of the city.  Killing by a licensed thief is prohibited, but accidents do happen.  On the other hand, an unlicensed thief does not want to be caught by the guild, especially if they want to keep all of their limbs intact.  People who want to steal and not pay guild dues typically work outside the city, but there’s still many people who are gutsy enough to work with in the city. The Assassin’s Guild – While one would think that assassination is an underhanded profession, the assassin’s guild makes it look cool.  Aside from offering one the best educations money can buy; assassination work requires paperwork from clients and thus contracts to be set up and full filled.  The guild has the right to raise the payment for fulfilling contracts on certain people, as well as black listing possible targets.  Their job is largely seen as a public service since most people who can afford an assassin are those with wealth who by large see the work of offing a competitor or government lacky as a good service to them as they are a part of the public.  They do travel, however, and thus typically operate outside of the cities confines.  Not all assassins survive the years of training, and some choose to quite with an excellent education under their belts.  Most law enforcement agencies in the galaxy know that once an assassin returns to the city, their off limits.  For the sake of decency, the guild is referred to as the Dark Scholar’s Guild, but everyone knows that it really is.  Assassin’s do work that doesn’t involve murder, often sending a very pointed message. The Red Light Guild – If the name wasn’t obvious enough, the guild is one that women and men of “negotiable affections“ are members of.  The guild offers a high degree of safety for its members and of course offers them great healthcare.  Before new people can visit their chosen “date” they do have to undergo a health screening or provide current documents on one’s health.  Discretion is always apart of their business as well. Other Guilds – For most major types of businesses, there is a guild. Starfinder Society Guild – While the guild works largely the same as that of other guilds in the city, they are the only guild with noted operations across the galaxy.  In the city, and generally on the station, it is the job of the Starfinders to explore the dungeons that spring up.   The on-station work pays decently (free room & board at guild houses, + 1,000 credits a month {minus membership fees, with raises based upon activities and experience}, + the right to keep certain findings or have certain discoveries named after them {for good or bad}.

Once the players get back to the guild with their information, they are told that the guild’s experts will need 24hrs to decrypt the scrolls.  The magics had a purpose that was served, but the scrolls contain imbedded micro-circuitry in the paper in addition to the strange language on them.

The end of the game session is here.  There is a new adventure hook waiting that involves the scrolls if they want to pursue that, or they can choose to find something else to do.

Project Update, and the wonderful world of the Discworld...

Hi everyone!

So work on a Starfinder campaign is a slow moving thing.  The trouble I'm having is two fold.

First, time, has not been on my side.  A new round of college has started, though this semester seems like it will be a bit easier to handle than last semester.  The previous semester of work was a lot of busy work, lots of coding, but lack of structure from the instructors.  They wanted you to create your own structure for delivering different parts of the over all projects.  That doesn't work so well for people like myself who have a busy home life and need that little bit of structure we've gotten from our classes.

Second problem I've faced is a case of writer's block.  Nothing to really be done about this one other than to try and get some sort of inspiration.  Sure, Star Wars is a source point that could be used, or Star Trek if I cared about that franchize (which I don't, sorry Trekkies).  Right now I'm hammering on an idea of giant robots, but the problem is - where to take this ride?

In other news is my current love for the Discworld.

For those of you who don't know, the Discworld is a flat world - roughly over 6,000 miles across, that rests on the backs of 4 elephants, who stand upon the back of a massive space faring turtle - the great A'Tuin.

The series of novels were written by Terry Pratchett and consists of 41 novels.

The series contains a few stand alone stories that helps to flesh out the world, but mainly consists of several character story arcs.

The first character introduced is a wizard who goes by the name, Rincewind.

Rincewind is indeed a wizard, though if you spent any time with him you'd learn that it would be difficult to call him this.  When first introduced he knows only 1 spell, and that spell could destroy the discworld.  He is a consummate coward, which explains how he's survived for as long as he has.  But more importantly he is a pawn of the gods, an interesting playing piece in their games.

While incompetent, cowardly, a bit greedy, and capable of some magic under the right conditions, he is more or less a good person.

His adventures often lead him into any amount of trouble, which he promptly puts at his back. He is considered to be the fastest runner on the Discworld.


The next group of characters your introduced to are the 3 witches.  The adventures of the 3 tend to follow some established plays or stories that have a discworld twist.  You are treated to the tales of Magrat Garlic, Nanny Ogg, and Granny Weatherwax.

Each witch has her own way, and are not of the wicked sort you would think, though they like to play up the mythos for the respect it brings them. Witches in the discworld are able to use magic, but prefer more practical forms of everyday magic.

Namely, they use their heads, apply some logic and common sense to a situation, and question their own thoughts on a matter.  People fear the pointy hat of a witch, but they also know who to see when a child birth is not coming along well, or if animals are getting sick, or if old man Gunther's toe nails require a hammer and chisel to cut down.

Magrat is the youngest and often see's herself playing 3rd fiddle to the other two, much older & skilled women.  She is capable in her own way, and gains a bit of strength for herself by the 3rd book.

Nanny Ogg...well she's interesting.  She's led a very...colorful life.  Nanny Ogg has a massive brood of children, with two of her son's playing parts in some of the books.  She is always the peace maker, and is surprisingly fast for a woman of her girth & age.  She can drink most men under and around a table, has a singing voice that makes people run for cover (literally when its bath time), and she owner to the evilest cat on the discworld - the tomcat Greebo, though to her he's just an old softy (though she will admit that he is quite evil).

Finally there is Granny Weatherwax.  Granny only to those whom have shown respect to her, otherwise she's Mistress Weatherwax.  Considered the greatest witch of the age, and the most powerful, she's a woman who see's to the heart of the matter.  She's very no nonsense, knows a tick when she see's it, and only a good witch by choice (as she could have gone to "the dark" quite easily).  Granny Weatherwax is the main character of the series and has shown up in other books, along with Nanny Ogg.  She has even had a magical duel with one of the former headmasters of the magical school of the discworld and it ended in a draw.  Though witches would never call anyone of their kind the "head witch", Granny Weatherwax is generally treated as it.


The next arc of books deals with the city watch of Ankh-Morpork (the largest city of the discworld).  This series follows Samuel Vimes, a police man at the core of his being, but also a drunk - but the type of drunk who's typically two drinks short of actually being sober.  Initially the captain of the cities night watch.  The mundane life he had of he and his men saying "all's well" and avoiding any actual police duty changes when the next main character, Carrot Ironfoundersson.

With the arrival of Carrot, the lives of the watch change from a bunch of lazy guards who just yell the time and tell people it's all well, (even if it's not, but it has to be somewhere), to an impressive bunch of city guards who actually do a decent job.  They even become fairly progressive later, as they are ordered to open their doors to more than just human men (namely dwarves, trolls, and others).  Their cast is ever expanding, though there is a core group of characters.


Next there is the Tiffany Aching series.  Its 5 books long with the last book of the series also being Terry Pratchett's final book.  While it can be difficult to gauge the exact passage of time in the various books, Tiffany's series takes you from the time she is 9 yrs old, to her being an adult.  She's a girl who makes a lot of mistakes, but she is also an impressive young lady.  In each book, Tiffany faces an unusual opponent, something or someone that tests her capabilities.

But if you think that she's the only character in the story, you'd be wrong.  While certain witches make cameo appearances in the story, it can be said that there are some other small players in the game, who have big personalities.  They're called the Nac Mac Feegle.  Imagine a Scotsman who is 6 inches tall, likes stealing, fighting, and drinking (in any order, or preferably all at once), who has a fear of lawyers, books, and having to explain themselves to hags (witches in their language), and you'd have a Nac Mac Feegle.  On top of being 6 inches tall they all have a mess of red hair, blue skinned in addition to the blue tattoo's the have.  Their swords glow blue when lawyers are around as well.

The series is worth the read just for the appearance of the Wee Free Men (the Nac Mac Feegle).  One of them even joins the city watch of Ankh-MorPork at one time.

The series is meant for younger readers, but is still enjoyable for older readers as well (my wife in particular has been enjoying me reading the books to our kids).


Finally there is the last player that no one would want to forget.  His name is Death.  Not some guy calling himself that, but the actual anthropomorphic personification of Death, complete with scythe.  Death of the discworld is someone only a few people can see when he goes about his business.  He appears in almost every novel in some way.  He is often irritated that Rincewind ends up in many near death situations but never actually takes that last step.  He has a soft spot for cats, and often finds himself caring just a little too much for mortals.  This has led him to adopting an orphan to be his daughter, keeping a man servant to help mind things around his home, and even taking on an apprentice.

Death is fascinated by mortals, and often suffers from bouts of depression, as he can remember everything like it happened tomorrow.  He has a white horse named Binky, which is a real horse since flaming horses tend to catch things on fire (and then be rather embarrassed about the whole thing), and skeletal horses had difficulty keeping themselves together (since a horse often needs time to sort out just how many legs it has to run with).

But Death isn't alone in his little adventures.  There is also a small matter of his granddaughter.  While her mother was adopted, her father (who was Death's apprentice) became Death for a time - that is he filled in the roll of Death.  This left the two marked, and something was passed on to their daughter, Susan.  Susan is often the main character in stories dealing with Death, though he is a main character as well.  She is first introduced as a young girl in her teens who is completely fearless, and has many powers that Death himself possesses (though not to the same extent).



Susan and Death are the only supernatural beings that are the major character's of a series in discworld.  Death's antics are often humorous and you feel just a bit sorry for a guy who is always meeting people on the last day of their lives, and who remembers everything that has been and will be.  Susan is very much like the witches you'll read in the other stories.  She's abundantly smart and takes a very practical approach to dealing with problems.  One way of looking at her is as a sort of Goth Mary Poppins.

For example, when a couple of children she is a governess of are being frightened by boogyman in the basement, she arms the children with suitable weapons to deal with the problem head on, or in some cases (when there is an actual monster there) she takes up the dreaded fire poker and deals with the monster herself.

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--The Discworld as a Game--

It's an interesting fantasy setting, and for those that know - it has been turned into a supplement for the GURPS RPG.  Not exactly the game rules I'd use.

The Discworld is a very story friendly setting, favoring a rich and fun story to tell instead of out right fighting and dungeon delving.  Now it may be 41 books long, but it's an excellent source for an adventure using the Savage Worlds game system.

Now you may need to think up of a different way to handle magic in this game system.  One skill to govern it all is the best path, but you're also going to have to be sure that magic works like it does in the books.  Sure wizards can know a lot of spells, but it takes time to recover from casting spells, and many wizards would rather just stay put than miss out on their four square meals a day.

If your looking for something different for your game sessions - LOOK HERE.

But just remember, the Librarian of Unseen University is an Orangutan, not a monkey - never call him a monkey.  Things tend to go badly for people that do.

D&D 5th Edition Conversion Class - The Slayer

Hi everyone!  Good grief it has taken me forever to get this done.  Classes this semester have been pretty demanding in terms of my time.  That is, one class involves a lot of reading about small business things, and thus tends to put me to sleep.  My other class involves coding a website, start to finish, and working with a virtual client.

Either way this class is inspired by the Castlevania anime on Netflix (in part), as well as the potential of the Van Helsing character to be made into a sort of class.  Now I will say that I'm not overtly satisfied with the class.  It could be better.  But it's about as good as I'm going to get it for the moment.  Either way, keep the comments clean and helpful.  It may take me some time to integrate any suggestions into the build, but I'll do what I can.

In the meantime, because of the class I'm taking, I've got the a general outline for a website.  Now the only points of concern for this is finding a host, getting the domain, and making sure that the host uses cpanel.

Now about the class.  While it may be built to be inspired by vampire hunting, the class is more versatile than that.  But enjoy and remember I'll make changes if I agree with suggestions made.

Slayer

There are reasons to fear the dark, they are reasons that normal people pay heed to.  The man standing in the dark woods smiled as the dark looked back at him, hesitant to face a man who would fearlessly enter its domain and look every bit the predator who was in his element.

A woman stood before the coffin, the creature within was sleeping, but for how long didn’t matter.   She threw open the coffin and drove her stake into the heart of the creature that lay with in.  Had it been anyone else, the stake merely would have paralyzed the monster, but in her hands the stake would destroy it.

To be a Slayer is to be more than just one who hunts vampires, but one who can hunt any creature of darkness.  To be a slayer is to be one capable of hunting and slaying any undead, to stand against demons, and remain unflinching in the face of horrors that would drive a normal person insane.

Slayers are a rare breed, drawn from beings who have survived encounters with undead and in turn vowing to stand against the dark.  They seek out others like themselves and learn the myriad tricks of the trade that make vampire hunters the bane of monsters that they are.

Unflinching Resolve

People everywhere are always dealing with the undead.  As such a slayer is often a person who has no specific home, they travel, always employing their trade wherever they go and only setting down roots where an infestation of the undead is.  Slayers are typically well educated, as well as capable fighters, having spent years in apprenticeship to another slayer.  Typically, slayers call large cities home as their chosen quarry hunts in cities themselves.  While training, a hunter will develop a fighting style that is flexible enough to allow them to fight at range and up close with no loss in defensive capabilities.  They also learn, through a grueling regime of training, to steel their mind against the charms and frightful powers of creatures.

Bane of the Dead

Most major cities have at least one slayer present somewhere within them.  This hunter will train, advise, and even lead others in the hunt of the undead.  While Clerics and Paladins are often viewed as the best fighters to employ, and Rangers can also specialize in the hunting of the undead, it is a slayer that combines the various capabilities of all of these beings into one streamlined person. 

A person becomes a slayer as part of a calling.  This can be due to facing an undead blight in their youth, being apart of a line of slayer, or they simply feel it is their calling, a desire to put the undead down.  Regardless of their reason, the path to becoming a slayer is just as perilous as the fight as one.

Creating a Slayer

When creating your slayer, you will need to keep a few things in mind.  What happened that put you onto the path?  Did you figure out the tricks and trade of the hunter yourself, or did someone help you along?  Are you single minded in your pursuit, or is there some flexibility there?  Do you commission the weapons you wield or forge them yourself?

Quick Build

You can make a slayer quickly by doing the following.  First, choose either Strength or Dexterity to be you highest score, both are important to a slayer.  Your section highest score should be either the other score you didn’t choose, or Intelligence if you plan on your slayer possessing a scholar’s aptitude.  Second, choose the Folk Hero background, or the Sage background.

Class Features

As a slayer, you gain the following features.

Hit Points

Hit Dice:  1d10 per slayerlevel

Hit Points at 1^st Level:  10 + your CON modifier

Hit Points at Higher Levels:  1d10 (or 6) + your CON modifier per Vampire Hunter level after 1st

Proficiencies

Armor:  Light & medium armor, shields

Weapons:  Simple & martial weapons

Tools: Choose 1 set of tools to be proficient in

Saving Throws:  Dexterity, Intelligence

Skills:  Choose two skills from Arcana, Animal Handling, Athletics, History, Perception, Religion, Stealth.

Equipment

You start with the following equipment, in addition to the equipment granted by your background:

·         (a) a chainmail or (b) leather armor

·         (a) a martial weapon or (b) two simple weapons

·         (a) a short bow or (b) light cross bow, both with 20 arrows or bolts (respectively)

·         (a) a dungeoneer’s pack or (b) an explorer’s pack

Slayer’s Training

You have learned much and are ready to set upon the enemies of those who live.  At 1^st level the slayer is highly skilled at dealing with the undead.  When dealing with any undead creature you have advantage on Skill Rolls when dealing with them.  You also can, as a bonus action, make a second attack against the undead creature (or one of your chosen creature types) during your action.

At level 6 you can apply these bonuses to 1 additional creature type, and again at level 12.  The creatures you can choose to apply the bonuses to are aberrations, beasts, fiends, and monstrosities.  Against any of your chosen enemies, including your initial undead, you may use a bonus action to make an additional attack against them.

Prepared Gear

At 1^st level you know the basics of readying yourself for an opponent.  You know how to create alchemical agents to use in your fight against your chosen foes.  You know places to get ingredients with out purchasing them, though you can buy them as well.  You typically need at least 50sp worth of materials.  It takes you around 1 hour to make one alchemical agent.  Your level of skill with this allows you to craft one of the following:

·         Weapon Grease:  This is a grease you can apply to any weapon (or even your own hands).  It allows the weapon to deal either +1d6 Radiant damage, or +1d6 Force Damage (only one, but not the other).  The grease will last on a weapon for 8 hours before it dries out, or its been used up enough to be ineffective.  It takes around 1-3 minutes to apply the grease properly to a weapon, and its sheath (if it uses one).

·         Healing Potion:  You can craft a healing potion.  While the potion works normally for you, if you use it on another person it has a reduced effect (healing only 1d4 +1).

·         Holy Water:  You know an alchemical process that creates a liquid that works like holy water.

The Abyss Flinched

At 2^nd level you have advantage on saving throws for fear and charm effects.

Slayer’s Resilience

At 2^nd level you gain immunity to all diseases

Slayer Archetype

At 3^rd level, you choose an archetype that adds to your instincts and tenacity as a Slayer.  Choose Ardent Hunter, or Grim Scholar.  Each of these are detailed at the end of the class description.  The archetype you choose grants you features at level 3, and again at levels 7, 10, 15, and 18.

Ability Score Improvement

When you reach level 4, and again at levels 8, 12, 16, and 19^th levels you can increase one ability score of your choice by 2, or two ability scores of your choice by 1.  No score can be increased above 20 in this way.

Extra Attack

Beginning at level 5, you can attack twice, instead of once, whenever you take the Attack action on your turn.

Slayer’s Weapon

At level 6 you may choose a weapon to become your favored weapon.  You know of a ritual that empowers the weapon, making it a formidable tool.  The ritual takes 2 hours to complete and requires around 500gp in materials.  Once completed, the weapon is treated as a magical weapon (if it is not) and deals +2 damage.  Against your chosen enemies the weapon does +1d6 damage of a damage type that they are weak against.  At level 11 the critical threat range of the weapon improves by +1 becoming 19-20, and against your chosen opponent you add +1d6 to the critical hit damage.  At level 17 when you score a critical hit with your chosen weapon you do +1d6 damage, but against your chosen enemy you do another +1d6 (+2d6 in total).

Darkness Holds No Surprises

At level 9 you gain Darkvision 60ft.  Additionally, if one of your chosen enemies is invisible, or is shapeshifted you have Advantage on skill rolls to detect it.

Slayer’s Blood

At level 13 your blood is a poison to any creature that would dare to bite you.  A creature that hits you with a bite attack will deal damage normally, unless it’s bit is poisonous, in which case you are immune to the poison portion of the damage you would take.  In turn, any creature biting you will find your blood quite poisonous too.  The creature must make a CON save (DC 8 + CON Modifier + Proficiency Bonus).  If they fail the save the creature takes 3d12 poison damage and is poisoned until they can succeed on their CON save.  If they succeed on their save they take half damage and are not poisoned. 

If the creature is one of your chosen foes, then it is at a disadvantage to its save due to the special qualities of your poisoned blood.  The exception to this is if the creature is immune to poison.  You may also coat weapons in your blood to have the same effect, a weapon like this is only usable for landing two hits before it has to be reapplied (with the exception being that of arrows, which only work for one the one hit).

Invocation of Power

At level 14 you are capable of invoking divine power onto your foe.  You gain the Cleric’s ability to Turn Undead.  This works like the power, the clerics ability, along with the Destroy Undead capability.  Turning undead works one time until a short or long rest is taken.  Destroying Undead, however, requires a specific applied use and can only be done once per day before a long rest must be taken to regain its use.

Veteran Slayer

At level 20 few Slayers ever reach old age, let alone survive long enough to be a master of the trade.  Against any opponent you deal an additional 1d8 damage with any weapon you wield.  If wielding your chosen weapon, the dice in extra damage that you roll is increased to d8’s.  If facing one of your chosen foes you deal an extra die of damage as well.

 Slayer Archetypes

All slayer’s have a different approach toward how they deal with their prey.  The slayer archetype you choose to emulate reflects your approach.

Ardent Hunter

The archetype of Ardent Hunter is one that focuses on one’s prowess in battle, preferring overwhelming skill in battle as a way of defeating one’s foes.

Crippling Strike

When you choose this archetype at 3^rd level, you can unleash an attack that leaves your foe vulnerable.  You must declare your attack as a Crippling Strike.  If your attack hits you deal damage normally, and the target is at disadvantage to all DEX based skill rolls and saves until they can take a long.  You can use this attack a number of times equal to your INT modifier +1 (minimum of 1 time), before a short rest must be taken to use the features allotment again.

Rend the Darkness

At 7^th level you possess the ability to stand against the darker forces that exist in the world.  You may choose an additional chosen enemy type to have (from your existing list).  Once per day you gain the ability to cast the Dispel Magic, or Remove Curse, but only one or the other.  The caster level for this is equal to your current level as a slayer, Intelligence is the governing attribute for casting these spells if it is necessary.  After casting the spell you must take a short or long rest before you can use it again.

Unrelenting Hunter

At 10^th level when you denote a particular prey as your target.  When you track your chosen prey, you have advantage on relevant skill rolls to track them.  While tracking your prey you only need 4 hours for a long rest.  If you spend 1 hour tracking and studying your opponent, or researching them (or combination of any of the above), then when you face your opponent they are at disadvantage on attack rolls made against you for the next 24 hours.  If your opponent is one of your chosen enemies, you may reroll the relevant skill roll used to track them one time.

Alchemically Ready

At 15^th level you’ve expanded upon your alchemical creations for more combat capable concoctions.

·         Advanced Healing Potion:  The healing potions you can make are more concentrated, having a consistency almost like honey.  It needs only an hour to brew but uses 4x the amount of ingredients.  The potion heals 4d8+4 HP to you, but if someone other than yourself drinks a potion, they only recover 2d8+2 HP.

·         Dragon’s Ire Potion:  This potion takes 6 hours to brew, and 500gp worth of ingredients and creates a liquid like the element of what’s given.  When ingested, the character can use an action to breath a 5 x 30ft line of flame dealing 6d6 damage (of a damage type chosen from the Dragonborn list) if the target fails a DEX save (DC = 8 + DEX Modifier + proficiency bonus).  If the target makes their save they take half damage.  Once used, the character cannot use another Dragon’s Ire potion until they have had a long rest.  If you have a natural breath weapon the potion instead immediately restores the natural breath weapon’s use, and adds 2 additional die of damage to what is done.  If someone else drinks the potion they must make a CON Save (DC 8 + the crafter’s INT modifier + proficiency bonus).  If they succeed they can use the potion at half strength.  If they fail the save they instead take the damage themselves.

·         Quicksilver Potion:  The potion takes 3 hours to brew, 250gp of materials, and creates a liquid that is like mercury.  When drank the person gains an extra 30ft of movement and can make an extra attack.  If someone other than the maker drinks it, they only gain 15ft of movement.  The effects, however, last only two rounds – ending at the end of the second round.  Once over you have to take a short rest before you can use another potion again.

Monster Slayer

At 18^th level your lethality is the stuff of stories and legends.  You can end a creature in a single well-placed strike.  In the place of an attack action you can attempt to use your Monster Slayer strike.  Against an enemy that is not one of your chosen foes, you can deal normal critical damage to the target with a successful attack roll.  If the enemy is one of your chosen enemies then critical hit damage is dice is rolled 3 times instead of the normal two.  If you roll an actual critical hit for this attack, you then would roll 3 times the damage or 4 times the damage (respectively).  If the target looses more than half their HP in this attack, they must make a CON save (DC = 8 + DEX modifier + Proficiency bonus).  If they succeed they take the damage normally.  If they fail the save they die.

Grim Scholar

The archetype of Grim Scholar is one that focuses on one’s skills and capabilities instead of overall combat prowess.

Know Thy Foe

At 3^rd level you have the ability to quickly assess your foe and their capabilities.  When facing an opponent you can spend an action to analyze a single chosen opponent.  On your next turn and until that chosen opponent is defeated you may choose one of the following options to use when fighting them:

·         +1 AC

·         +2 Damage

·         +1 to Attack Rolls

If the foe is one of your chosen opponents from Slayer’s Training, you can double the bonus.  At the start of each of your turns you can choose how to reapply the benefits.

A Trick Up Your Sleeve

At 7^th level you have developed tricks for concealing weapons and items on your person.  You have advantage on skill rolls to conceal objects on your person.  Additionally, you are never with out a weapon.  With an hour of prep time you can bond a light weapon to yourself.  This weapon can be called to yourself from anywhere it is.  You also can bond one item that is not a weapon to be called to you in the same way.  When called the weapon simply appears in your hand.  You may also choose to send the item back to where you called it from if you deem it necessary.

Worldly Study

At level 10 you have developed the ability to quickly adapt to new places and situations.  It takes you an hour to get used to any environmental condition that does not cause physical harm.  This allows you to move and take actions with no disadvantage to your rolls from them.  You are still harmed by environments that would do harm to you, but if there is a saving throw involved you have advantage.

Outside of these conditions, you adapt quickly to social environments.  With an hour of time spent in the new place, learning about what goes on there you gain advantage on skill rolls to learn information, find your way around, or to persuade others into assisting you in some small way (so long as they are native to the place).

  

Grim Caster

At 15^th level the character develops a small ranged of specialized spells that they can use.  You may choose your spells from the Cleric spell list.  You may choose:

·         Cantrips:  Select 2 of your choice.

·         1^st Level:  Select 2 spells to know.  You may cast your 1^st level spell up to 3 times.

·         2^nd Level:  Select 2 spells to know.  You may cast your 2^nd level spell up to 2 times.

·         3^rd level:  Select 1 spell to know.  You may cast your 3^rd level spell 1 time.

·         4^th level:  Select 1 spell to know.  You may cast your 4^th level spell 1 time.

Spells with levels can only be cast once per day and are recovered after a long rest.  Saving throw DC’s are INT based (8 + INT modifier + Proficiency bonus).

Slaying Leader

At 18^th level the character has developed skills and capabilities that allow them to lead others in hunting and slaying their chosen opponents.  When facing any of your chosen enemies from Slayer’s Training, and you spend at least an hour prepping the people who will be facing the enemy, you can grant each of them +1d8 damage when facing this foe.  If the foe is not from your Slayer’s Training you can still grant a +1d4 to damage dealt.  However, in order for this to work you must be conscious, and your allies must be able to hear you so that you can issue orders on the fly.  For yourself, you have the ability to direct the flow of battle to a degree.  You can choose, at the start of your turn, to grant one ally or yourself advantage on the next attack roll.  This cannot be applied to the same person each turn, and only applies to that person one time.  After this, a short rest is needed before the bonus can be used again.