Class: Specialist and Specialist Arts (GLOG)

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The most current version of my Specialist Class is in this Google Doc. Please leave feedback if you like. I'm sure there are mistakes.

The community project version of the GLOG (if you decide to call all of the classes anyone makes part of it) has glorified the wizard and other casters at the expense of non-magical sorts. Wizards have endless schools of magic to choose from, making them fresh and exciting (and often much more powerful than other classes.) The GLOG feels like the Wizard D&D game. That's really part of its attaction. GLOG magic is pretty awesome.

I like non-casters better than wizards though, so I tried to remedy that a bit by giving the Specialist class a list of Arts, analogous to wizard schools, to choose from. I strove to keep the abilities non-magical, non-meta, sensible, and unlike spells. If you love the gonzo, meta, story-influencing abilities that dominate some corners of GLOG-land, you may desire to make some modifications.

I, however, love this class. I'd be content to run a game that only had this class.

Favorite Free Oldschool Adventures and Locations

(I think Dan's list of favorite things might have inspired this post. I honestly don't remember. It's good though, so check it out too.)

Want to grab a bunch of content from the internet and just run it without spending money on adventures/settings and without spending time making your own stuff?

Here are the very best I've found. These are quality.

• Fomalhaut and other adventures by Melan (Gabor Lux.) Not all of these are free.
• H.M.S. Appolyon and Fallen Empire
• Tomb of the Serpent Kings

Useful but I don't have enough experience with them to consider them favorites:

• Trilemma's one-page and two-page adventures
• Dyson Logos adventures

What did I miss? Tell me in the comments.

Submitted recommendations I can't personally vouch for:

One Page Dungeons (you'll have to sift through them for the good ones yourself. Comment with your favorites and I'll add them.)
Secret Santicore (see above.)

Low Attribute Scores on Kowloon Planet

When your highest Attribute Score is low, you may roll on the table to start with something extra.

Highest Attribute	3-5	6-8	9	> 9
Roll 1d6	Thrice	Twice	Once	0 times

1-3 Beneficial Mutations

1. Ambidextrous
2. Double jointed
3. Disease immunity
4. Poison resistance
5. High pain threshold
6. Each of your HD is a D8 instead of a D6.
7. Independently focusable eyes
8. Double longevity
9. Cold resistance
10. Heat resistance

4-6 Artifacts

1. Oxygen tank
2. Respiratory Filters
3. Life Vest
4. Oil of a relaxing fragrance
5. 1d6 doses of a substance that:
   
   1. Can cover your body in adaptive camouflage.
   2. Heightens senses of smell and taste
   3. Heightens sense of touch
   4. Doubles Movement
   5. Doubles DEX
   6. Doubles STR
   7. Enhances everything (Boon to all Attribute rolls for 1d6 rounds and then collapse with 0 Grit remaining. Eat and take a full rest or die on the next damage source.)
6. Belt that causes electrical field to cover skin. (Roll 1d6 each use. 1-5 causes that much damage to the one who touched. 6 causes the pack to melt after doing 6 damage to the one who touched.)
7. Poisonous tooth (permanently affixed) with 1d6 doses remaining.
8. Bone-crushing jaws made of strange metal
9. Cartridge for laser weapon (and roll again)
10. Technical manual
    
    1. Doors
    2. Artificial intelligence
    3. Security system
    4. Energy generation (water wheels to nuclear power)
11. +1 weapon, made from strange metal.
12. Collar with spinal needle that causes the wearer to melee attack any within 30’ and gain +2 Attack and Damage -2 DEF. To avoid attacking, wearer may Save once per round.

Attribute Checks as Saving Throws

In this system, Attribute Checks will function with probabilities more akin to Saving Throws.

Because of the higher chance of failure, the GM must call for checks less often, simply saying "yes" whenever a competent adventurer would be likely to succeed at a task. When the result is clearly uncertain, make an attribute check.

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To create Attributes during Character Generation, roll 1d6+3 for each Attribute. (If your rules increase Attributes when a level is gained, roll 1d6+1 instead.)

To make a check, roll under your Attribute score on a d20.

Difficult tasks add d6s to the roll. Skills subtract the results of d6s from the roll, 1d6 per point in the relevant skill.

Updated and Automated Faction Generator

It has types, traits, connections to other factions, and conflict.

Printable, editable Google doc.

Random Encounter Template Generator (From the Dungeon of Signs Blog)

Dungeon of Signs made a very useful post that provides a nice middle-ground between using a pre-made bestiary for your encounter table and just making something up entirely from scratch. He made a table for generating just the mechanical elements for each monster, leaving the theme and specifics of each monster for the GM to decide afterward.

I was starting to use the table and decided I'd rather automatically roll it with a generator since I was working at a computer instead of at a table with dice and paper. Here it is:

Fomalhaut/Kowloon Planet 3 - from Barzon to the Capital Ruins

In Barzon, an island on the Kowloon Planet. (See previous posts.)

• Sent Denton to scout out dock - Svanth is checking out docks with Flying Gods (wasps under his control by way of a cube device) hovering overhead.
• Discussed whether to take risks killing the hated Ullkmaran and decided to be practical instead. Party is disappointed.
• Gang dressed in the armor uniforms of Ullkmaran's dead guards from the warehouse.
• Started loading ship; tried to convince Svanth we're part of Ullkmaran's crew.
• Zena convinces ship guard we're part of crew; she was hired as guard
• Loaded more supplies, killed guard in warehouse.
• Denton prepare ship to depart
• Threw diambroid at governor Svanth on the dock; blown to bits and fire started.
• Blew up other ship with remaining diambroid.
• Pangea is captain. Zena is first mate.
• Traveled by night to 1408, 1508, 1607, 1707. 1 ship ration consumed.
• Traveled to 2105. Ran aground on sandbar. Sent crew into boats to lessen weight. Took 4 hours to scrape past.
• Arrived at port at 12:00 noon. Spent another ship ration.
• 6 other ships at dock. Decided to drink with crew to celebrate and boost morale. Persuaded all 16 to remain with us.
• Awaited at dock by
• man who wanted us to explore the wilderness.
• bearded old librarian man. Wizard?
• guy who says he can't currently discuss the work he'd like us to do but that we should meet him in the blue building.
• mafia lady who offers "family."
• Zena and Pangea both spent weeks in town taking hallucinogenics to expand their minds and each learned a new spell.
• Pangea lost 1 wisdom and learned to hold and expel 10x the normal amount of breath.
• Zena learned a ranged pilfering spell.

Post-game questions for the players:

1. What was the best accomplishment? Exploding Svanth.

2. What do you want to do next? Establish an alliance with a local faction.

3. What would improve the game? The referee should take better notes. (I couldn't remember several details.)

Stealth, Light, and Surprise

My light and surprise rules are mostly adapted from Gus L at Dungeon of Signs.

Highlights

• A PC can behave as a scout to increase the party's chance of surprising whomever they might encounter or fleeing before the encounter begins.
• Darkness is scary.

Read about Boons and Banes if you're not familiar.

Stealth

• Stealth = 5 + Dexterity Mod.
• In a group, use the Stealth of the least stealthy character.
• Check Stealth to move silently, hide, or pickpocket.

Light

In light, PCs may not surprise monsters or NPCs except in special circumstances, such as when ambushing or when stealthily moving through a jungle.

Darkness

• Monsters and NPCs can be surprised with a 2-in-6 chance.
• All rolls, including defense rolls, gain two Banes.
• In the dark, Hired Hands must make a Morale check every turn.

Dimness

• The final 10' of any light source is dim.
• Some light sources provide only dim light. (Example: covered lantern, candle)
• Monsters and NPCs can be surprised with a 2-in-6 chance if all members of the party are in dim light (monsters may also surprise PCs with the same chance.)
• All rolls, including defense rolls, gain one Bane.
• Henchmen and Hired Hands suffer a Bane to all Morale checks when in dim light, unless they are skilled in Stealth (5 or better) and are used to operating in such conditions.
• A stealthy character (Stealth 6 or better) suffers no Banes from dimness and gains a Boon to stealthy actions.

Light Condition	Penalties
Darkness	2 Banes
Dimness	1 Bane (unless stealthy)
Light	--

Surprise

A party that has surprise will act 1st on round 1 without need for an Initiative check and gain a Boon to all rolls for round 1.

If there is a chance that either party is surprised, roll 1D6.

1D6	Result
1	PCs Surprise in Dimness or Darkness or when opening a door
2	PCs Surprise in Dimness or Darkness or when opening a door
3	--
4	--
5	Enemies Surprise
6	Enemies Surprise

Make sure your players understand how a stealthy character in dim light can scout ahead to prevent surprise.

Often, instead of attacking on a surprise round, foes should change the battlefield (throw nets, spring traps, set a fire, hide and snipe, send one of their party to bring reinforcements), or deprive the party of a resource (smash backpacks, extinguish torches.)

Factions on Kowloon Planet

I made a faction generator for my sci-fantasy setting. I'm proud of it. It's neat.

It has types, traits, connections, and conflict. Part of it doubles as an NPC generator that creates appearance, personality, motivation.

You can make a copy and then edit the file if you like because it's a Google Doc.

Caveats

Two elements may make it less immediately useful for you:
1. Magic is essentially unknown, so there's only a 3% chance of any faction being innately magical (only one entry is about wizards, for example.)
2. Technology is sought out in much the same way magic is in a vanilla fantasy campaign.














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