Sellswords and Hedgemages! Hearken to me!

Sellswords and Hedgemages! Hearken to me!

Sellswords and Hedgemages! Hearken to me!

My Fighter is quickly approaching the level 10 threshold after 20+ sessions of adventure.  I need a new direction for him to continue.

Arthem is a member of the Red Guard, an order of knights without a noble that organize to serve towns and keeps as agents of protection and justice (it’s very Boy Scouts).  His sister (the only other PC) became a thief in the time he took to earn his armor with the Guard.  They reunited, and after many adventures she has now started to walk two paths – one a narrow line between good and evil as she dabbles in the shadow-arts of a deity of darkness, and the other in a specialized sorcery – gate magic, the study of the multiverse.

While Arthem’s sister Sparrow has spent her many levels going from Thief guilder to self-taught Ranger go shadow-keeper to Gatewalker, Arthem himself has spent the time just kicking ass and talking to his sentient sword, Arcaeus.  Level me up some radical Fighter=rad.

The Current Plan:  Keep getting wise about the multiverse and train up Sparrow in the ways of traveling and guarding Gates.  If Sparrow can’t banish or block it, Arthem will cut it to pieces.  Long term we’re thinking of maybe creating a new order – secret and powerful – dedicated to protecting our home-dimension (so we’re not doing it alone all the time).

TL;DR

Are there cool compendium classes i should be looking at?  Or alternative Classes i can pick up once i’m 10?

28 thoughts on “Sellswords and Hedgemages! Hearken to me!”

  4. Suggestions.  I’m not really sure what i’m looking for so far.  So tell me about cool compendium classes you’ve heard of!  Or Alt classes for me to multi-class into and such.

  5. If you want to go into a more psi/magical direction there are these two: 

    https://docs.google.com/document/d/11N8GekdGyhhABCLetz4Vv7J196JvLkgxMubb-JephBQ/edit?usp=sharing

    https://docs.google.com/document/d/1qlL-gAhB7rmSG4dL95qWEtbHc0eUt0sdY8KauGn20BA/edit?usp=sharing

    If you died already check out this: 

    https://docs.google.com/document/d/1X3gxjLzDbdbw9LzYF-Do_jx6NKvdbDLssene4dXWujI/edit?usp=sharing

    You can also look for the rest of my stuff here: 

    http://www.tinyurl.com/tfdungeonworld 

    I don’t know if the Masters of the Wild folder is of so much use for you but if you like a primal theme to your character it might help. 

  11. Most of the compendium-class type stuff I’ve written up for Sparrow is based on a “power for a price” model, so if you find something you really like, point me at it before you start taking moves from it, as I might need to tweak it to keep it in line with that.

  13. Huh. Looking at how things are set up, I’m not sure if just taking on a compendium class would actually work for the levels after 10, mostly because there aren’t enough moves to support a full 1-10 progression. The idea of switching classes at 11 is that you lose a chunk of the moves from your old class and replace them with moves from your new class, but compendium classes just layer new moves on top of what you’ve already got, so it sort of breaks that setup too. Will have to ponder and discuss.

  16. As written, passing level 10 is supposed to represent a significant in-game shift. Here’s what’s in book:

    Once you’ve reached 10th level things change a little. When you have enough XP to go to 11th level instead you choose one of these:

    • Retire to safety

    • Take on an apprentice

    • Change entirely to a new class

    If you retire you create a new character to play instead and work with the GM to establish your place in the world. If you take on an apprentice you play a new character (the apprentice) alongside your current character, who stops gaining XP. Changing classes means keeping your ability scores, race, HP, and whatever moves you and the GM agree are core to who your character is. You lose all other class moves, replacing them with the starting moves of your new class.

    But I’m open to maybe developing an alternative for you guys at 11+. 

    Off the top of my head, I’d say you’re limited to 9 “core class” advanced moves, since prioritizing and choosing between a class’s options is (in my mind) an important part of a given role. Anything beyond that has to come from compendium classes. So, Sparrow could probably still take a few Ranger moves, since she’s already invested several of her levels into non-class moves, but you’d have to use compendium classes of some kind.

    I also would probably limit stat bumps at 11+. Maybe remove them (you’ve gotten as good there as you’re going to get) or maybe limiting them to every other or every third level?

    Like I said, we can talk about it.

  19. One alternative that’s been discussed is that once you reach level 10, you don’t gain any more stat increases, and when you pick a new move, you have to give up an existing one.

    I think the intent is to prevent people from accumulating too much stuff on their sheets.

  20. I was thinking about the chances to add at least 5 new levels on top of the standard 10. I have few time to think about that right now, and I’d love to get Tim Franzke and other great DW players’ advices. I was thinking about different levels with different rewards, something like: 11th level: HPs boost, you get extra HPs as your Damage Die (ie fighters get 10HPs). 12th level: you get “Perfect Characteristic”, choose your best characteristic, you gain a special move that simulate your matchless ability (ie. Strength: you can make a Test of Strength – defying danger, of course – with a titanic/demigod difficulty, like lifting a 3tons some door, or Throwing away a mountain giant, or punching thru a brick wall to smack an enemy at the other side). 13th level: you get a more-than-human tag, like an holy aura so you can damage – with every your attack – unholy beasts, or a psychic energy, so you can damage hetereal enemies, etc. 14th level: great stuff, you get big thing, like a castle, or a group of trusted knights, or you are offered to rule an important guild. 15th level: dunno, right now 😀

    Of course you could let the player to choose a better suited reward (in if the story calls for the 14th level reward when a player has to choose the 11th one, go for that instead).

  23. okay. I have no idea if this would work or not but i kind of have a bad feeling about it. 

    I don’t think you should get divine abilities just for a level up. You should work for that in the fiction. Find some god particles and enhale them or create your own cult. There are ways to do it. Parley a god or whatever… 

    A level 10 fighter is also probarbly able to do half of the things you said for level 12. 

    If i would need to hack in extra post level 10+ stuff i would do it like this: 

    No more XP from a 6-. 

    No more extra Ability+ on a level up. 

    You level up every 9 (?) XP. 

    Replace the end of session question with: 

    – Did we loot tons and tons of riches

    – Did we overcome a notable threat to the world/kingdom/everything that is X (you know what i mean. Put it on a level relevant to your game) 

    – Did we change the world in a major way 

    It just requires you to do more and grander things in the game. 9 XP keeps it steady while not beeing to unreachable. 7 might work too, i am really not sure. 

    Most of the advancement of a Level 10+ character should come from things in the fiction, not from a level up. 

    I hope this can help you some. 

  24. Ohi Tim Franzke , nice insights here. However, about your “I don’t think you should get divine abilities just for a level up”, I think we should follow the general rules of Dungeon World: Descriptive and Prescriptive advancements. 

    You could have the same problems managing standard abilities (ie. the fighter’s “Heirloom”: why you should start to talk to your weapon just after a level up??? or the ranger’s “Wild Empathy”: why the ranger at the 4th level start to hear and understand squirrels??? etc.). The solutions are:

    – you and your players don’t give a f*** of those explanations.

    – you take the ability but you don’t use it, until the character in the fiction can justify it (and/or the master create the right context in the fiction to spark the new ability).

    – before getting the ability, you work in the fiction to come with the right justification for his following acquisition.

    Man, this is standard behaviour in Dungeon World, so I don’t fear to give those “advanced powers” to my players 😀   Do you? ;P

  26. So epic abilities on a wizard. Autospellcasting? Double spells prepared?

    Autocast when you use a spell you have prepared and only roll when you cast something not prepared?

    In general, what about classes at aren’t really physical?

    There are some problems.

  27. No Tim, This is not the idea behind those “Epic moves”. Those moves are the same for all the classes. Also, about the “I’m the best in what…” move, I was thinking about 6 “uber defying danger moves”, one for each characteristic, (those not dependent from classes too). So, I did that test move about defying danger on Strength. Of course, we should have one for INT, something like:

    Your superior intelligence make you a Mastermind. Roll+INT – defying danger – for undoing the very last part of an action (of yours or of one of your ally near to you), describing how you had forseen the events, and how the things that are happening apparently against you, they are at your advantage instead.

    (as always, sorry for my pitiful English explanation) 

  28. I was also thinking that you can’t get a Super characteristic move that another player got before. So you can have a sort of niche protection, with one of the character getting the demigod strength move, another the Mastermind intelligence move and so on. 

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