The Mountebank: 1st ed/LL/AEC Class

Oh mountebank, how I have yearned for ye. Way back in the misty day--before girls and punk rock turned my head--I can distinctly remember opening that old issue of Dragon (#65 I do believe) to read The Great Man Himself laying out his vision of the new D&D classes to come in the next edition.

Laying along side the soon-to-disappoint barbarian and achingly-lame thief-acrobat were some odd but compelling new additions. One in particular grabbed me at the time:

"Mountebank: This sub-class of thief specializes in deception, sleight of hand, persuasion, and a bit of illusion. These factors, together with speed, are what the mountebank relies upon. However, disguise and theatrics also provide valuable tools of the trade to this class, so that one might never know one has been had by this class."

The class shouted all kinds of awesome to me. Sadly the Mountebank's road to legal limbo is well-known in these geekified circles. TSR gave Gygax the boot and his vision of AD&D part two in all its baroque, oddball glory never came to be.

Twenty-something years later, the itch to see this character come into being in an old school game swept over me again as I watched one of the players in our San Antonio LL campaign guide a character with a name appropriately stolen from Jack Vance through a series of smooth-talking swindles--with all the seeming dice gods-given luck of his namesake. (Well that is until meeting his fate last month on the horns of a ghost minotaur he rather unwisely tried to headbutt in a cursed helmet, a story for another time.)

So, what follows is my own stab at creating such a class. Again as I did with the white wizard, I tried to put together something that fits with the satisfyingly simpled, balanced nature of pre-Unearthed Arcana D&D classes. And as always feedback is greatly welcomed.

(For those of you as annoyed by Blogger's formatting limitations as I am, a PDF version of this can be downloaded here.)

Mountebank

Requirements: INT 13, DEX 13, CHR 13

Prime Requisite: CHR

Hit Dice: 1d4

Maximum Level: None

The mountebank is the consummate con artist of the medieval-fantasy world. By use of smooth talk, sleight of hand, and magical illusion the mountebank stays one step of the law—and earns a decent living in the mean time. Because of their specialized skill set they are often also employed as spies.

As a sub-class of the thief, they are allowed to wear leather armor and use any weapon. They are also allowed to pick pockets, move silently, hide in shadows, listen at doors, and back stab as per a thief of the equivalent level. They can further use disguises as per the assassin class. All saving throws are made on the thief table.

They are also able to use a new skill, sleight-of-hand, at the level they can pick pocket--plus an additional 15 percent. Sleight of hand allows the mountebank to move, switch out, or otherwise manipulate a hand-sized object without being noticed.

Upon earning second level, mountebanks can cast illusionist spells. They learn and memorize spells as per the standard rules for illusionists and magic users. They are restricted however to only using magic items open to thieves until ninth level at which time they can also begin to use items available to magic users and illusionists.

At third level, a mountebank can use their special flim-flam fast-talking powers to cast Charm Person once a day. At seventh level they can additionally cast Charm Monster once a day.

Mountebanks cannot be lawful or “good” in alignment.

MOUNTEBANK LEVEL PROGRESSION

Experience Level Hit Dice (1d4)

0 1 1

2,501 2 2

5,001 3 3

10,001 4 4

20,001 5 5

40,001 6 6

80,001 7 7

160,001 8 8

310,001 9 9

460,001 10 +1 hp only *

610,001 11 +2 hp only *

760,001 12 +3 hp only *

910,001 13 +4 hp only *

1,060,001 14 +5 hp only *

1,210,001 15 +6 hp only *

1,360,001 16 +7 hp only *

1,510,001 17 +8 hp only *

1,660,001 18 +9 hp only *

1,810,001 19 +10 hp only *

1,960,001 20 +11 hp only *

*Hit point modifiers from constitution are ignored.

MOUNTEBANK SPELL PROGRESSION

Spell Level

Level 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

2 1 - - - - - -

3 2 - - - - - -

4 2 1 - - - - -

5 2 2 - - - - -

6 2 2 1 - - - -

7 2 2 2 - - - -

8 3 2 2 - - - -

9 3 3 2 1 - - -

10 3 3 3 2 - - -

11 3 3 3 2 1 - -

12 4 3 3 3 2 - -

13 4 4 3 3 2 1 -

14 4 4 4 3 3 2 -

15 4 4 4 4 3 2 1

16 5 4 4 4 4 3 2

17 5 5 4 4 4 3 2

18 5 5 5 4 4 4 3

19 5 5 5 5 4 4 3

20 6 5 5 5 5 4 4

Revised White Wizard Class

Based on a number of remarks both on the blog and off along the lines of "the White Wizard is a big fat wuss, who the hell would play him?" (or thereabouts), I have duly listened to you the peanut gallery and decided to give a little experience point carrot to sweeten the deal. The old magic-user level progression is henceforth to be replaced by the much-lower clerical one.

To download the revised character class as a PDF from Google Docs click here.

Stay tuned for my LL/AEC-friendly versions of the Mountebank and Barbarian later this week...

Variant 1st Ed/LL/AEC Class: White Wizard

Inspired by a recent foray into the much-famed City of the Black Toga in a play-by-post campaign, I have been itching to introduce some of the ideas found in the old second edition Lankhmar supplement into my own LL/Advanced Edition Companion tabletop campaign.

One addition I was toying with is allowing for my own version of Newhonian white wizards as a playable class in the campaign.

As always any and all feedback would be greatly appreciated!

White Wizard

Requirements: INT 12, WIS 12

Prime Requisite: WIS

Hit Dice: 1d4

Maximum Level: None

White wizards are practitioners of a benign, defensive, and naturalistic magic school.

White wizards are much akin to their magic user cousins. They save as magic users and must keep spell books and memorize spells in the same manner. White wizards are only allowed to use simple weapons such as staffs, daggers, and darts as weapons and are not allowed to wear any armor.

White wizards differ from magic users in that they are only allowed to cast spells from the cleric and druid spell lists. (Their magic is arcane in nature and not divine in origin however.) Because of their rigorous studies, their spell progression is quicker than that of clerics and druids.

White wizards must be good in alignment (or Lawful in a three-alignment system).

White Wizard Level Progression

Experience Level... Hit Dice (1d4)

0... 1... 1

2,501... 2... 2

5,001... 3... 3

10,001... 4... 4

20,001... 5... 5

40,001... 6... 6

80,001... 7... 7

160,001... 8... 8

310,001... 9... 9

460,001... 10... +1 hp only *

610,001... 11... +2 hp only *

760,001... 12... +3 hp only *

910,001... 13... +4 hp only *

1,060,001... 14... +5 hp only *

1,210,001... 15... +6 hp only *

1,360,001... 16... +7 hp only *

1,510,001... 17... +8 hp only *

1,660,001... 18... +9 hp only *

1,810,001... 19... +10 hp only *

1,960,001... 20... +11 hp only *

White Wizard Spell Progression

Spell Level

Level 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

1... 2 0 0 0 0 0 0

2... 2 1 0 0 0 0 0

3... 3 2 0 0 0 0 0

4... 3 2 1 0 0 0 0

5... 3 3 2 0 0 0 0

6... 4 3 2 1 0 0 0

7... 4 3 3 2 0 0 0

8... 4 4 3 2 1 0 0

9... 5 4 3 3 2 0 0

10... 5 4 4 3 2 1 0

11... 5 5 4 3 3 2 0

12... 6 5 4 4 3 2 0

13... 6 5 5 4 3 3 0

14... 7 6 5 4 4 3 1

15... 7 6 5 5 4 3 2

16... 8 7 6 5 4 4 2

17... 8 7 6 5 5 4 3

18... 9 8 7 6 5 4 3

19... 9 8 7 6 5 5 3

20... 9 8 7 6 5 5 4

Hill Cantons, the South by Southwest Front

Having received the critical mass point of "what is up with your blog and campaign" type email, I've finally reached the point of tearing myself away from the so-called real world to resume posting. Short answer on the "que donde" question is, ladies and gents, that the Hill Cantons have pulled up stakes--and rules systems--from their Austin-based environs.

Due to a unique work-situation that I won't bore you with the details of, I started spending a good deal more time down the road in San Antonio last summer. Not one to miss a fresh gaming opportunity (yes, this is how far I have fallen down in the cool-o-meter rankings), I prompted launched a new campaign much along the same old sandbox-focused lines using Labryinth Lord's Advanced Edition Companion, a 1st edition D&D retro-clone. And since I'm also not one to ignore recycling opportunities, the campaign extended the Austin-based Hill Cantons campaign by setting the SA players down about 70-80 miles south of the current playing area. (How's that for some real-world sychronicity?)

If you happen to be in the San Antonio area and are looking for a game--or just dropping in and want a fun pick-up game give me a holler. And for my handful of blog followers expect a number of posts to be coming in the next two weeks on various and sundry topics such as: analysis of what worked and what didn't in my attempt to build a West Marches-ish campaign; new LL player classes I am toying with (Lankhmarian White Wizards, Mountebanks, Berserkers, etc); musings on PC deaths; play-test reviews of the new LL supplement Advanced Edition Companion; and the next scheduled Texas Old School Mixer...whew busy, busy.

We're On...Texas Old School D&D Mixer July 11

Looks like we've hit a pretty good critical mass of interest for our old school mixer idea. So with no further ado, I'd like to formally throw down a "save the date" for folks interested.

The mixer itself is set July 11, 6pm-9pm at Scholz's Garten, a famous watering (and eating) hole for politicos, newshounds, students, and other motley Austin elements. Look for us at a big table in the middle room.

We're also organizing some one-shot or drop in games early that afternoon at Dragon's Lair, so you can actually get some gaming in if you come out.

If you want to come please email me at kutalik at gmail dot com and I will send you the formal invitation and other details.

Hobbit, the Musical

After reading Troll and Flame's recent post on movies for gamers, my head suddenly inexplicably was filled with a tune from childhood. You know the kind, it plays over and over in an annoying loop until you just have to roll with that. That song would be from that great (and eminently scary) scene from the cartoon version of the Hobbit in which the warg-riding goblins chase the wee ones up a tree.

Hunting down the vid on YouTube, I was struck by how much this cartoon and its bad/good brother "The Return of the King" had an influence on my own idea of what fantasy was as a kid. For years I thought of D&D elves as somewhat sinister-looking gray-green creatures; dwarves as skinny somewhat mischievous obsessives; and orcs as oppressed draftees.

Where there is a whip, there is a way...