Best of the Blogosphere (Jan/Feb 2020) Fun Character Classes!

One of my goals for my blog this year is to do a bit more sharing of other people's work that I find interesting or enjoyable. You may have gathered from my post collecting character backgrounds that I enjoy the opportunity to play someone interesting and special. So, first up, fun character classes!



From Twitter, @spookybri has a couple posts with some great inspirational art for Gothic horror gaming. I'm especially fond of  the Dire Knight and the Thief in the first image, and the Nightingale from the second. (Thanks to the Graverobber's Guide to bringing Spooky Bri to my attention!)

Necromancer, Apothecary, Dire Knight, Theurgist, Thief by Spooky Bri

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Nightingale, Pariah, Doctor, Hunter, Priest by Spooky Bri

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Also over on Twitter, @scumbelievable has a 42-post thread of delightful sounding character classes. The list is worth reading in its entirety, both for the names alone and for the delightful suggestions of interesting character powers. I've included a few examples below. (Thanks to Tales of the Grotesque and Dungeonesque for linking me to this one!)

.@Frolord: The Hive, a living host to a variety of exotic eusocial insects able to refine the insects' populations through selective breeding to infuse their own bodies with strange chemical properties, or deploy the creatures themselves as living weapons.

— Gretchen Felker-Martin (@scumbelievable) November 26, 2019

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.@YOUWONTBELAFFIN: The Haunt, a spirit possessing a suit of armor or some other mobile piece of equipment, driven by unfinished purpose and existing half in the astral world and half in the material.

— Gretchen Felker-Martin (@scumbelievable) November 26, 2019

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.@samzorn: The Magpie, a maker of divine and arcane charms and trinkets, some empowered with looted holy symbols, the remains of familiars and animal companions, and pages torn from spellbooks. They can expend or wear these trinkets for defense or flashes of stolen power.

— Gretchen Felker-Martin (@scumbelievable) November 27, 2019

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Over on an actual blog, Flight of the Sky Eels has a list of 16 character precis that sound delightful. These aren't as easy to list as the others, but here are a couple examples:

"Blossom is a Jezoflorid ecologist. Jezoflorids are serpentine plant people who are sold by the monolithic Mothercorp. Blossom is a member of the Glade, an anarchist faction that opposes Mothercorp. They are exploring the galaxy looking for bio weapons to use in their guerrilla war."

"Sir Kraver of Dung hill is a Fandoran trash knight. The Fandorans are a rat-like race that have recently been annexed into the neo-floozy empire. In the conquest Sir Kraver lost their ancestral home. They are questing for allies and material for their rebellion against the nep-floozies."
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You might remember Stone Drunk Wizard from his D6 Crabmen and D6 Slugmen character sheets that made the rounds on Google Plus. He also has some really interesting character designs for a polar bear who hunts orcas, a ghost narwhal, a three-headed seagull in a diving helmet, and a "Priest of Pearly Wisdom".

Ghost Narwhal by Stone Drunk Wizard

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Priest of Pearly Wisdom by Stone Drunk Wizard

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Ynas Midgard has an ongoing project to write up a "heartwarming sandbox". This post has the Badger and the Basilisk as playable character classes, and this one has Crows, and Dwarves that are unlike most contemporary fantasy dwarves.

My favorite so far are the Badgers, who are described as "Dwarf-sized bipedal creatures; they often wear suits and glasses. Badgers are grumpy and cynical, but also hard-working and loyal to their friends and loved ones. Most work as solicitors, accountants, and real estate agents for the fairy folk. They never give anything away for free, and they despise slouches and bums. They hate Foxes, but due to some esoteric fairy law, they belong to the same trade union."

I don't know why, but I love that detail about the trade unions.



Advanced Xerox Lord only has one post so far, but it's a really good one. They wrote three new player species for the Mausritter game. What particularly impresses me is that these three aren't just variations on a common theme; each species has unique abilities that make them feel different from the others. Consider just one ability from each:

"Moles can easily dig in soil. They aren't restricted to already existing tunnels, and can dig far faster with their powerful front claws than a mouse can with a shovel - about half their walk speed. This is tiring and tunnels can only go a short distance before you must rest: think tunneling a shortcut in a burrow maze, not tunneling across a map hex. Your GM will let you know if you can dig, and where you come out!"

"Lemmings love adventure and inspire others. Roll with advantage when forming a war band or determining 'number appearing' for hirelings."

"Hedgehogs are well traveled. When exploring a map hex, roll d6: on a 6, you've been here before. The GM will tell you what you know about the area - for example, you may know a safe path past the owl’s nest, the name of the mouse family who live in the oak tree, or where the squirrels bury their nuts."



Over at ArtStation, Kyong Hwan Kim has a series of 12 concept art images for cats with character classes. I first saw this being called "Floofs of D&D", but that appears to have been a fanon title. As with so many of these lists, it's difficult for me to pick my favorites, but I think I'm particularly fond of the Turkish Angora Healer and the Siamese Magician.
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Turkish Angora Healer by Kyong Hwan Kim

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Siamese Magician by Kyong Hwan Kim

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Finally, Remixes and Revelations has a system for organizing of knights. In addition to the expected Paladin as White Knight and Blackguard as Black Knight, we also get the Folk Hero as Blue Knight, which was the entry that especially caught my eye. There's also the barbarian-like Red Knight, and the ranger-like Green Knight. As a system, I thought this was quite clever, and it's not often you see the Folk Hero (the Knight Errant, perhaps?) elevated to the same status as Paladins.


As a final bonus, here's a d100 table for choosing one of these classes to play:

1     Necromancer
2     Apothecary
3     Dire Knight
4     Theurgist
5     Thief
6     Nightingale
7     Pariah
8     Doctor
9     Hunter
10   Priest
11   the Bruiser
12   the Martyr
13   the Blue Mage
14   the Hedge Witch
15   the Entity
16   the Damned
17   the Cipher
18   the Drudge
19   the Punished
20   the Warrant
21   the Hive
22   the Murmur
23   the Fatale
24   the Haunt
25   the Beast
26   the Twins
27   the Falconer
28   the Weaver
29   the Cur
30   the Spiritualist
31   the Mandrake
32   the Lurk
33   the Penitent
34   the Eater
35   the Devout
36   the Swarm
37   the Wind Singer
38   the Bloom
39   the Shard
40   the Automage
41   the Grave-Robber
42   the Clothier
43   the Huntmaster
44   the Null
45   the Carrier
46   the Bellwright
47   the Atavist
48   the Oracle
49   the Vessel
50   the Magpie
51   the Husk
52   the Maestro
53   robotic sword fighter, black rainbow destroyer
54   human monster hunter from a death world
55   dog person, member of the Cult of Master Vigilant
56   former human mutated into a candyling from candy addiction
57   serpentine plant person ecologist
58   sapient computer virus and hacker in a humanoid robotic frame
59   Prime Strain crystal smith
60   human academic from the Academy of Gnomic Arts
61   psychically strong but physically underdeveloped Power Fetus
62   cybernetic grub-creature telekinetic
63   reptile/human hybrid with biokinetic powers
64   a human that has adapted to live in dreams
65   a cyborg monk with an electronic brain and organic body
66   a rat-like trash knight
67   an amphibious star fish, former Orphan Guild operative
68   a sapient fungus, exorcist
69   Crabman
70   Slugman
71   Polar Bear
72   Ghost Narwhal
73   Sea Gull
74   Priest of Pearly Wisdom
75   Badger
76   Basilisk
77   Crow
78   Dwarf
79   Mausritter
80   Mole
81   Lemming
82   Hedgehog
83   Maine Coon Berserker
84   Abyssinian Bard
85   Norwegian Forest Cat Shaman
86   Persian Scholar
87   Bombay Assassin
88   Sphinx Fighter
89   Scottish Fold Warrior
90   Bengal Archer
91   American Short Hair Knight
92   Turkish Angora Healer
93   Siamese Knight
94   Russian Blue Thief
95   Paladin (White Knight)
96   Folk Hero (Blue Knight)
97   Holy Marshal (Grey Knight)
98   Red Sword (Red Knight)
99   Druidic Warrior (Green Knight)
00   Blackguard (Black Knight)