New Class - Friar

[bobtheoldcrank]

This is something I've just finished converting to BFRPG. I developed it for use in OSRIC/1e AD&D where it worked quite well.

Any and all input is welcome!

Cheers,

Bob

[DiceClown]

Hey Cranky Old Bob!

I am surprised nobody has commented on your Friar Class. Very well done and with great understanding of the "Friar life". I do like this new class, it offers a new way to role-play without a doubt. The Friar forces a backwards kind of thinking that I would assume many would have a tough time getting into character with. That is not a CON judgment by the way. The one suggestion I would make...

"At 5th level, the Friar hits as though his weapon possesses a magical +1, and gains +1 for every 5th level thereafter (+2 at 10th level, +3 at 15th, etc.). This bonus does not accrue to To Hit and Damage rolls; it only applies to situations in which a combat target requires a magical plus to hit it at all."

Nice special ability, considering the heavy restrictions of poverty and limitation to magical weapons. I am thinking why can the Friar not gain +1 at 5th level and then +1 every 3 levels there after (Ending at +6 at 20th). +3 at 15th level seems pretty weak even though the Friar isn't necessarily a "fighting class". Like I said, it is a really cool special ability considering the class dynamics, but even the special ability seems to have a heavy restriction on it making it obsolete ie. does not accrue to Hit and Damage rolls; it only applies to a situation where a magical bonus is required to hit the foe. Again, why the heavy restriction? He/she already cannot posses magical items or weapons of any kind.

In short, I really like the Class and agree with the restrictions other than the ability to wield a weapon as though it had a magical bonus. I was talked into it; then talked out of it.

[bobtheoldcrank]

Thanks for your thoughts! Your concerns are valid, and had been troubling me as well. Your suggestions are good, especially the one about the natural bonus being included in to-hit and damage rolls. I'll certainly think on it!

For everyone's information the Friar class was developed in a relatively low-magic world. Things players find useful - like magical weapons, armor, wands, rings, IOW stuff out of the magic items section! - are quite rare. There are, however, many other magic items which are just plain useful. Magical slippers which keep your feet warm. A chalice which makes any liquid placed therein safe to drink. A scabbard that will clean your sword blade and keep it from rusting. A pen that takes non-magical dictation. That sort of thing. Important-to-adventurers magic items like swords were so rare that they had names...like Andúril. Heck, even non-magical things that are special often got names...like Gúthwinë. (+2 to Awesome to each of you who get the second reference without Google).

The group playing in this world were very experienced - dare I say jaded? - gamers who needed shaking up in order to break them of min-maxing and metagaming. It isn't as magic-sparse as Howard's Hyboria nor as rich as Greenwood's Forgotten Realms. It's somewhere in between. The Friar class is intended to reflect that, to personify it: That you can be poor as a churchmouse - in "traditional" gaming terms - and still be a badass.

[shadowmane]

What is the effective difference between this class and a Monk class?

[bobtheoldcrank]

The differences are in the flavor and the crunch, though some powers/abilities are shared.

Great Way Adepts are Eastern/Asian in flavor and have powers/abilities which are very "kung-fu movie". They don't get spell use at all. They have Thief skills.

Friars are Medieval Europe in flavor, more like Robin Hood than Shao Lin. They may keep no treasure at all. They have limited spell use, but no Thief skills. They have powers/abilities which are more Cleric than anything. They get no unarmed combat abilities at all.

I admit it's clearly based on Adept. However, I never thought the Monk class was appropriate for a campaign/milieu with a Medieval Europe flavor, and no class I was looking for existed, so I made one.

Bob

[shadowmane]

There were European Martial Arts. Pugalists are European. The Norse had the Stav (if you believe the International Stav Society). Fencing is a martial art. So is Swordfighting (there are actually manuals from the 10th Century onwards on swordfighting). All of these can flavor your Friar, and give him abilities that an Eastern Monk might also have. Wrestling was a very important sport as well, with locks and throws that can incapacitate opponents. In fact, there are multiple forms of wrestling out of Europe that each have their own tradition.

Friars were uncloistered monks, and they operated according to the rule of the order they followed. Benedictine, Franciscan, Cistercian, etc. They simply won't have the flashy weapons an Eastern Monk would have access too. But they would have European weapons specialties.

If you can come up with different themes for orders, and give them access to one or two themes, it would go a long way towards allowing players a bit of wiggle room to create unique characters.

[Solomoriah]

Applying an increasing effective magical bonus is relevant in OSRIC but not in BFRPG. Even adding in the Field Guide, we have no "+2 or better weapon to hit" requirements, much less any higher bonus levels. Basically, there are monsters anyone can hit, monsters requiring silver or magic, and monsters that can only be hit by magic.

[Togo Galthus]

There were European Martial Arts. Pugalists are European. The Norse had the Stav (if you believe the International Stav Society).

Don't believe the International Stav Society. Sorry for the hijack but I seriously doubt that the history of "stav" (or staff in English) goes further back than the 1980's.