The Merchant: A Thief Sub Class now available!

 

Quick Update! I just released a little project I've been working on. I've always wanted to do some type of a merchant as a player class but I couldn't quite wrap my head around making it interesting and not dull. Who wants to be a shopkeeper when you can be a wizard?? I originally had an idea of including something with a  merchant flavor in Demesnes & Domination but I could crack it until recently. once it dawned on my that I could make a merchant a variation of the thief, the class felt like it wrote itself! Anyways, it's currently a pay-what-you-want price on DriveThruRPG. Check it out!

Design Notes: The Swashbuckler

In Demesnes & Domination, I included a fighter variant called the Swashbuckler which I originally designed and released as a basic fantasy class years ago. In fact, this is the class that got me into thinking about tinkering with game rules or looking under the hood to understand game mechanics more and leading me to dive deep into game design. I've always been interested in the idea of a specialized fighter that fights unarmored and is nimble, mostly due to my own background in fencing. I originally included it in my first release; Fantastic Wizardry; but I have since updated it based on more play testing and for streamlining the mechanics a bit more so it can be more generic for any Basic-adjacent games that float around in OSR circles. I'm highlight it here because I crammed the class into the book in a little more than half of page 133, getting smushed in right after the jester class. due to page count and lay out, I wasn't able to include the illustration I made for the class so I'm going to reproduce the class here! Enjoy!

The Swashbuckler

Swashbucklers are fighters who are extremely talented in the ways of weapon combat. They are individuals who have studied the lethal geometry and tempo of combat to outwit any opponent that comes their way. Swashbucklers seek having their abilities challenged, finding thrill and purpose in dueling while dancing the fine line between life and death. Swashbucklers don’t see a need to be slowed down by armor, for their quick reflexes and instincts are better protection than the finest armor.

 

Class Requirement: Swashbucklers must have a minimum Dexterity of 9 and a Charisma score of 9.

Prime Requisite and Class Progression: A Swashbuckler’s prime requisite is Dexterity and have the same saves and attack progression as a Fighter.

Weapon and Armor Limitations: Swashbucklers cannot use any armor except for a shield, otherwise they lose their class abilities while armored.

Class Abilities
Alertness: Swashbucklers are only surprised on a 1-on-a-d6 roll when they have a weapon drawn.

Duelist: The Swashbuckler adds their unmodified attack bonus in addition to their Dexterity modifier to their armor class. Swashbucklers lose this ability if they wear any armor heavier than a shield or if they aren’t armed. Weapons with an enhancement bonus stacks with this as well. In addition, Swashbucklers reduce any -4 penalty from performing combat maneuvers to -2 as long as they aren’t wearing armor.

Nimble: Swashbucklers aren’t hindered by difficult terrain and are able to move their full speed on any surfaces the referee deems difficult as long as they aren’t wearing armor heavier than a shield.

Tumble: When making a saving throw that deals half damage on a success, the Swashbuckler instead takes no damage at all on a success. If falling from a substantial height, the swashbuckler can make a 1 on a d6 roll to only take 1/2 damage. The success range is modified by the swashbuckler’s positive dexterity modifier, if any.

Demesnes & Domination Released!

 

After years of writing and playtesting, I have finally completed Demesnes & Domination! This started as an expansion of my prior house-rules zine Fantastic Wizardry which I put out right before I started grad school in 2017. Years later with covid and many gaming sessions played I have honed in on high level game play that is inspired by the source material but more inclined to simple implementation using familiar mechanics. I originally conceived the book to be four separate books by theme, but I ultimately complied them into one bound book to have it function as a Companions Rules of sorts to a player's preferred OSR game system. This is why I have the book broken down into different sections by theme. So consider this book (maybe even a Core book) a first in a string of releases under the title of Essential Fantasy Companion.

This blog was originally created to be an idea board of gaming mechanics and themes to help me develop this book but i ultimately kept most of the work off of this blog due to streamlining the process of editing and re-evaluating game mechanics. I am planning using this blog more for upcoming rules I'm currently testing in my own game sessions so please stay tuned!

Coming up, I am working on Seafaring and Water exploration and adventure which I don't even mention in Demesnes & Domination but was cut because It will be larger in content than a two to four page spread. This has already proven to me a fun project just due to researching what naval travel, shipping, and warfare looking like in the late middle ages which i feel like is a lesser known facet of the era. Most RPGs with boats tend to lean more into a commonly assumed stereotype of Pirates and Galleons but that is informed from a 1700s perspective while I'm focusing specifically on the late-medieval era. 

On the back burner, I have Horror-themed content Ive developed for a Ravenloft game a couple years ago that I have been reflecting on and expanding as well. So stay tuned for that content to trickle onto this blog as well

Anyways! Demesnes & Domination was designed and laid out for print so It is available on DrivethruRPG as being available in Paperback and hardcover which each provide a free pdf copy. For those that prefer just a pdf that is also available to buy. Im currently getting Demesnes & Domination ready for global distribution through Lulu so stay posted for that as well!

You can get your copy of Demesnes & Domination here!