Basic Fantasy RPG Forums

OK, the Showcase Download for this document has been updated with my latest edits. Ranger is now Hunter and there are some minor edits throughout the doc.

Hopefully the name change helps to differentiate this really good version from the other inferior versions (just kidding).

Hey, so the description in showcase says that the pdf should have a ranger class, but it doesn’t seem to exist there? I presume that the Hunter is the Ranger? If so, the showcase description should be changed

Right you are. Changed the Showcase text.

I really like the Thug subclass you have. This is what the Assassin class should've been but maybe with an enhanced backstab or something. Nice work.

cbarchuk wrote: ↑Sun Mar 21, 2021 6:02 am I really like the Thug subclass you have. This is what the Assassin class should've been but maybe with an enhanced backstab or something. Nice work.

Thank you. That is an idea to explore.

The Assassin was always a more combat focused thief. It was better at fighting than the thief but worse at thievery or, as with your thug, has less skills. I see the thief as an opportunist focused on dungeoneering while the Assassin is your stealth expert focused on killing. So I would simply allow the Thug to either have a x3 backstab multiplier or allow them to add their level of experience to the backstab damage total. Simple. And only allow Listen, Hide, Move Silently, and Climb Walls as their skill set. Just my two cents.

I can see these sorts of changes. And it fits within my basic design concept.

My original idea was to make a reasonable "thief" option viable for races/situations that seem otherwise ill-suited for pure stealth type thieves. After all, lots of ways for thievery to occur... smash and grab, intimidation (protection racket), pirate/privateering, wilderness banditry, etc. I tried to build in some degree of suggested variability so that if a character was ill-suited for a particular activity, they might choose something else to make the character still well-rounded (hence the GM option to swap in other abilities such as Ranger tracking or Assassin shadowing).

I have never really liked the instant-dead style "assassin" ability, so your suggestions are quite viable.

SmootRK wrote: ↑Sun Mar 21, 2021 11:02 am I can see these sorts of changes. And it fits within my basic design concept.

My original idea was to make a reasonable "thief" option viable for races/situations that seem otherwise ill-suited for pure stealth type thieves. After all, lots of ways for thievery to occur... smash and grab, intimidation (protection racket), pirate/privateering, wilderness banditry, etc. I tried to build in some degree of suggested variability so that if a character was ill-suited for a particular activity, they might choose something else to make the character still well-rounded (hence the GM option to swap in other abilities such as Ranger tracking or Assassin shadowing).

I have never really liked the instant-dead style "assassin" ability, so your suggestions are quite viable.

I agree. I'm a huge fan of the Assassin class but have never been a fan of instant death effects outside of maybe poison. So I'm probably going to take your concept and mold it into an Assassin class for my own games. Subclasses by their nature are typically more narrowly focused. I find the hard part is keeping them distinct from the main class. The changes I'm personally going to make are as follows:

Attack bonus of a Fighter or simply keep the weapon specialization rules you have listed.
Same Hide & Move Silently progression as a Thief (Maybe even give them a bonus)
Climb Walls and Listen at an inferior rate to the Thief
Backstab of x3 or x2 plus Thugs/Assassins level
Can only wear Leather but can use a shield
Poison Use: Thugs/Assassins are trained in the use of poison. Victims of poisoning by an Assassin receive a -2 penalty to their saving throw.

Everything else will be as is.

I tend to see thugs as strength based characters and the backstabbing thing as something requiring dexterity. Thief abilities are chancy even with a decent dexterity bonus.
I'd expect thugs to be large individuals with innate intimidation skills.

Kinda like in a bar fight, it's the small guy standing behind the big guy that's likely to stab you in the back.