Creative Re-fluffs of Character Classes or Monsters

[ScubaGoomba]

I have a player in my game whose level of lawyering has gotten to be a bit much for me, as the DM (I tend to run in the "fly by the seat of my pants" method, which has worked wonders in the past). As an example, I arbitrarily named a death patron "Hades" because it came to mind and would give the right impression, to which he immediately responded, telling me that the character is in the canon D&D pantheon and, therefore, he should be able to know everything about it when, in all actuality, I was vague about the patron because A) The patron just existed as a clue (mostly for this player) that they are dealing with a witch and not a wizard/sorcerer; B) The details on the patron are unimportant (see A); and C) The player was relying on his Knowledge (Divine) when this is an arcane patron. (Although I was met with "Well you know evil gods are still divine right?" :| No, duh.)

All of the other players seem to be on board with my methods and seem to be growing more and more dissatisfied with this player, however I don't quite want to boot him from the group (we're classmates in law school and this is really our only RP outlet, so it's a nice, fun, casual game for the rest of us). To attempt to ween him off his strictly by-the-books playstyle, I'm considering throwing in altered monsters and the like, but in a way that won't seem like I'm abusing my power to such a player (although, at this point, adding a 1 point racial trait from the Advanced Race Guide was met with a great deal of fuss from the player). I want to start creating things that look foreign but feel familiar or that look familiar but feel foreign, but not things that wouldn't be appropriate in-game.

For example, as referenced above, I gave a tribe of orcs that live in the forest Woodland Stride (a 1rp ability), which boosted the Orcs up to 9rp (still underneath any Core race they would encounter). I figured this wouldn't be an overwhelming boost to their strength; while it grants them mobility, most of the party functions at a range and wouldn't be hampered by dense terrain and those that do fight close up hit hard and were beefy enough to withstand attacks. It makes them feel a little different, fits thematically with the setting's orcs (humans that were cursed by the gods many generations ago and banished into the woods), but it doesn't overwhelmingly change the power of the race, y'dig?

I'm also a big fan of explaining what a character is by who that person is in the world and not by what class the character is. The evil baron is a cavalier, but I would never refer to him as such. The party refers to the evil witch as a necromancer, which is true to the nature of the character (Plague patron), and refers to how the world relates to the character, rather than the mechanics. Some interesting ideas for other classes (beyond "divine casters are all priests!") would be helpful!

Thanks, guys! I look forward to the suggestions that come from this.

[Feralventas]

With the discussion of racial building points, I'm guessing that you're working in Pathfinder, so I'll try to keep to that for now. If I'm mistaken or you're allowing/using 3.5 content, I'd have more to offer.

One of the easiest ways I've found to either baffle or at least surprise my players is to provide an appearance of one thing while using mechanics of another to support the perception they're intended to develop. This seems to be what you're talking about.

For example, the Synthisist Summoner is considered a Very powerful class/achetype combination for a number of reasons. None the less, you could put it forward not as a Summoner, but rather as a Barbarian who, when they "Enrage" they're in fact simply combining and using their Eidalon's powers instead of their own.

A Rogue who uses Master Craftsman to qualify for Craft Wondrous Item and Magic Arms and Armor, who purports themselves as a wizard and uses UMD or the like to fabricate spell effects. Hidden wands, continuous or at-will items, and some enchantments on Bracers of Armor should do plenty to allow them to neglect actual armor and keep up appearances, or just Glamour the armor they're wearing to look like scholarly robes. For bonus points, use Slight of Hand or cross-classed Spellcraft skill checks to give the appearance of actually casting them.

Sorcerers with the Virtuoso Bloodline make good "Bards." Make sure to get lots of enchantment effects to boost their "bardic music."

Sorcerers with the Empryeal (or maybe just Celestial, not sure) Bloodline can Channel Energy as a Cleric of their level -4. Have them dip Monk for Wis to AC (Empryeal also uses Wisdom for casting rather than Charisma) and use Sorcerer spells to buff their melee combat and you'll have them convinced that there's a Paladin before them. (Advise that you take Channel Smite and Guided Hand to also make Wisdom your Attack stat).

[Jeff the Green]

Well, here are the default refluffs of some classes in the homebrew world I'm working on:

Artificers
Centuries ago, Dwarves from the Silver Patriarchy found ways by which certain materials—mostly woods, metals, and gems—could be combined to create channels for raw magical energy without the lengthy precautions Wizards and Clerics must take to prevent backlash and without enlisting the aid of a Wildborn, like Favored Souls and Sorcerers. The Patriarchy, wanting to ensure that none of its enemies gained access to these powerful objects, declared the process of creating magic items without using spells to be a state secret and ordered the creation of the Guild of Artificers.

The guild's mission is twofold. First, teach worthy dwarves the techniques used to make magic items. Second, deal harshly with any artificer who leaves the Patriarchy's territory or teaches its secrets to a non-member. In general, an artificer who violates guild rules is sentenced to a term of imprisonment, though for egregious cases (such as teaching the enemies of the state to create magic items) death is prescribed. The guild has been almost entirely successful in maintaining control over the manufacture of magic items.

Artificers must be dwarves, must reside within the territory of the Silver Patriarchy, and must undergo a lengthy apprenticeship before being alowed to practice their craft. Once they are full members of the Guild of Artificers, they are not permitted to leave dwarf territory without permission granted by the Patriarch himself. In exchange, they receive a substantial stipend from the Silver Patriarchy, in addition to whatever they might make plying their wares.

Barbarians
Throughout Adem, from cities and castles to swamps and forests, there are warriors who fight not with a soldier's training but with the raw power born of battle-lust. Few actually call themselves barbarians, and some may be perfectly urbane, but all tap into the primal emotions, the adrenaline, the basest of instincts that kept their ancestors alive when they could barely control fire: a street fighter who loses himself in battle is as much a barbarian as a nomad dressed in bear skin. That said, blood rage is more often used by warriors from primitive tribes. Half-orcs and lizardfolk in particular frequently count barbarians amongst their ranks.

Binders
Normally when a Wildborn dies, it ceases to exist. If they have a soul that survives death, it is incapable of affecting the material world and no power can return them to life. However, when an exceptionally powerful Wildborn dies, its consciousness may leave an imprint on the Elemental Wild. These vestiges are not conscious, and have no goals of their own. A binder or character with the Bind Vestige feat are able to find these imprints and use them to augment her own abilities. The binder is protected from the energy of the Elemental Wild by the vestige and so is not in great danger from the influx of magical energies.

The Silver Patriarchy frequently makes use of binders as "fixers": agents who can be sent into the field to accomplish a mission with little to no contact with superiors. Their versatility allows them to deal with contingencies without requiring outside assistance. When a team of specialists is required, a binder is usually sent as a team leader and to back up the specialist members.

In addition to the dwarves, shamans from a number of primitive tribes and villages worship the vestiges as ancestral or familiar spirits or deities. By binding the vestiges they commune with the god and gain the power to protect their people. These shamans frequently choose to fail the binding checks as a form of obeisance.

Favored Souls
Since clerics are unable to cast their spells outside of a hallowed area, religions require a different class to serve as champions of the faith. Favored souls are usually their first choice.

When a favored soul of a major religion is first called to service, they begin training in martial combat, doctrine, and some magical theory. When they are judged to be ready, the favored soul candidate undergoes a rite that varies depending on their patron church and even order or sect. What is universal to these is that a Wildborn friendly to the church gives a blessing to the candidate that imparts some of its essence. This allows the favored souls to cast spells without worrying about backlash. However, that bit of essence must be reshaped to accomodate each new spell the favored spell wishes to cast, and so they are unable to cast more than a few spells.

Becoming a favored soul of a more minor religion, such as a tribal deity or the genius loci of a city is typically a bit harder. There is usually no organization to train them and no Wildborn who regularly interacts with the worshippers of that deity. Someone who wishes to become a favored soul of one of these deities must train and study on their own and then seek out a Wildborn that has an interest in the preservation of the candidate's religion or the candidate herself.

Favored souls are utterly dependent on the bit of Wildborn essence they carry in them. If they grossly and repeteatedly violate their church's ethical standards, the essence will leave them. The Wildborn the essence came from can also temporarily dampen the essence to hamper the favored soul's casting ability, but cannot remove it entirely.

Incarnum Classes
Spells are not the only way to access the energy in the Elemental Wild. The magical energies contained therein can also be shaped by a skilled practitioner the way an artist shapes clay. Cultures around the world have independently discovered this means of gaining magical power and it is probably the most common way of accessing the Elemental Wild.

Amongst the dwarves of the Silver Patriarchy, some degree of proficiency in meldshaping is reasonably common. Perhaps one in ten soldiers knows at least one soulmeld and half of those are incarnates or soulborn. Amongst the civilian population about five percent of the populace knows at least one soulmeld, typically one that helps in their profession.

Members of other races and dwarves that were raised outside of the Patriarchy are somewhat less likely to be able to shape soulmelds, though it is not uncommon for a totemist to serve as a tribal shaman amongst nomad tribes such as the half-orcs and shifters of the Malaben coast. Some tribes, however, hold the erroneous belief that the indigo energies pulled from the Wild by meldshapers is made from the souls of their ancestors or gods, and will shun or attack those who try to do so.

Paladins
Every race has stories of knights-errant or holy warriors who by dint of their certainty in their cause overcome overwhelming odds. Such heroes are likely paladins. Paladins gain power from their belief in their righteousness, and nothing is more important than following their personal code. Those who fail to do so, even accidentally, lose the necessary confidence that fuels their powers.

Gameplay Changes
Each paladin has their own moral code that typically establishes strict requirements of behavior, though they are more lenient than that described in of the Player's Handbook or SRD (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/classes/paladin.htm). Paldins that violate their code still lose their class abilities until they atone. Lawful paladins may join an order of paladins, in which case their code should in most cases be the code of the order. Chaotic paladins rarely join orders, and those that do generally maintain their own code.

Sorcerers
Wildborn have considerable power, but are inflexible. They are rarely creative, have little propensity for guile, and their schemes are hopelessly transparent. Thus when a wildborn wishes to gain power—or maintain what they already have against an opponent that seeks to sap it—they will often employ a mortal as an emissary. By planting a small bit of themselves in the mortal they grant their emissary the power to manipulate magical energies in the same way they are able to without the attendant cost a mortal would normally incur. Wildborn typically choose an emissary at a young age and call on their services intermittently throughout their life.

Sorcerers may be found among any race, though not all react the same way. The Mindol Truth frowns on sorcery because they hold most Wildborn to be demons or false gods, and in many rural areas of the Six and Two an indiscrete sorcerer can expect to be hanged or worse by a mob of peasants. Amongst kobolds of the Frostwyrm Mountains, however, sorcery is commonplace, and Bandlpace gnomes have been known to pay exhorbitant prices for sorcerer slaves to fight as gladiators or soldiers.

Sorcerers are utterly dependent on the bit of Wildborn essence they carry in them. The sorcerer's patron Wildborn can temporarily dampen the essence to hamper the sorcerer's casting ability, but cannot remove it entirely.

Spirit Shamans
Wildborn are not the only beings with a connection to the Elemental Wild. Spirits and ghosts draw energy from the Wild to manifest, and on occasion the more powerful ones will ally with a mortal to further their agendas. These mortals gain the ability to cast a unique form of magic that is tied to the spirit world.

Spirit shamans are found among all races, but almost all come from nomadic tribes or rural environments. Most city residents direct their spiritual impulses toward organized religion and discount the power of nature spirits. The Mindol Truth considers spirit shamans to be dangerous at best and enemies of the faith at worst, and in general are treated even worse than sorcerers. In rural areas of the Six and Two, however, they can expect better treatment than their arcane brethren, and the Mindol Truth occasionally has to extirpate cults centered around one or a few spirit shamans. Spirit shamans are typically religious leaders among the half-orc and lizardfolk tribes of the Malaben coast.

Patron spirits typically either place a fragment of their consciousness in their shaman or dispatch a lesser spirit as a guide. In either case, this allows the spirit shaman to cast spells without risk of backlash and the patron spirit to communicate with the spirit shaman, usually through dreams.

Warlocks
On occasion, the magical energies that permeate Adem affect children in the womb. The most common outcome (other than miscarriage) is the birth of an Element-Seed child, but rarely the child is born with a natural aptitude for magic. Typically these abilities manifest themselves around puberty, but it is not unheard of to find capable warlocks barely old enough to speak in complete sentences.

Though magically precocious, warlocks are not any more mature than others their age, and so it is common for young warlocks to have troubled home lives. Many harm or kill friends, neighbors, or family with a stray thought. Others use their powers—intentionally or not—to obtain the affections of the opposite (or same) sex, wealth, or power. Because of this, many young warlocks are driven from their homes by the time they reach adulthood.

In some regions, organizations exist to help young warlocks learn to control their powers. In Bandlpace and the surrounding towns and villages, most warlocks are sent to St. Tybault's School for the Magically Gifted, a boarding school located a few leagues west of the city. In the Six and Two, it is more common for the church to provide education, though pastors tending to smaller towns and villages often do not have the training to recognize or teach warlocks.

Wu Jen
Many cultures throughout Adem engage in some sort of ancestor worship. Daltacian gnomes pray to saints that they might intercede with the otherwise indifferent gods, pre-Mindolite elves mummified their dead and used their bodies in ritual magic, and various tribes on the Malaben coast and the interior of Narudel worship heroic ancestors who, according to their shamans, tamed the first horses, invented steel, or wrestled giants.

Among the dwarves, however, ancestor-worship reached its zenith. The state-sponsored pantheon of Mazgka's Children is rather impersonal and fails to fill the spiritual needs of much of the populace. Most dwarves, whether residents of the Silver Patriarchy or expatriates, make burnt offerings and prayers to the spirits of their ancestors. Usually these prayers and sacrifices are not directed to a particular ancestor and are for fairly mundane things: protection, wealth, love, or to propitiate ancestors who have been wronged in some way and brought bad luck. Some few, however, have a personal connection to a particular ancestral spirit and can use that connection to work magic—wu jen. While many—perhaps most—wu jen are dwarves, they can be found amongst all races.

Wu jen superficially resemble wizards: they prepare spells and can potentially know every spell available to them. However, where wizards use complex formulae to protect themselves from backlash when casting, wu jen can transfer some of the work of spell casting to their ancestral spirit, which allows them to cast unharmed. In return for this, their ancestral spirit expects the Wu Jen to act honorably and on occasion to perform certain tasks.

A wu jen's "spell book" is often not a book. Depending on the wu jen, it may be an embroidered tapestry depicting their ancestors' achievements, a long string of macrame knots, or a canopic jar with minute decorations. In any case, the weight, hardness, and hitpoints are the same as a wizard's spellbook.

Also, all elves are tall (average 6' 2") and darkskinned, and they come from an area with few forests and many rolling plains. Dwarves mostly live in above-ground cities and practice fixed-term marriages, gnomes are sailors with a communistic government, half-orcs are largely horsemen, and halflings are farmers from a lousy place to farm that turn to piracy or paladinhood to escape.

The coolest PF-specific refluff I've seen is a synthesist summoner who's a scientist who's accidentally stumbled over information on the Old Ones and unwillingly become their prophet. When he's in danger, they send eldritch abominations to protect him (summons) and, in extremis, replace his body with a betentacled horror (synthesist eidolon)

[ScubaGoomba]

Ah yes, sorry! I'm playing in Pathfinder right now; I must have forgotten to mention.

I like the idea of refluffing a Synthesist Summoner and may try that with a new character. Since posting, I've come up with some more ideas and plan on warping them into a new plane that's based almost entirely on homebrew (or, at least, on refluffed Bestiary entries). With the Synthesist Summoner, I may create a Half-Construct (as per Advanced Race Guide) race for an opponent that is, for all intents and purposes, a transformer. Or maybe an elemental of some shade that morphs into something bigger and badder when provoked. The elemental could actually be really cool, using the summoning to bring out some lesser elementals (possibly from his or her own body).

To give an idea of class refluffing, one character I've wanted to play for a while now is an Alchemist who makes his living as a baker. Rather than create potions, he bakes pies and cakes. They carry the same benefits as potions, expire in the same manner as potions, but look totally different and add some flavor (a-yuck yuck yuck) to the character. Plus, how cool would a character that lobs explosive croissants be?

I don't necessarily want to trick them by making an amalgamation of other classes that equals something similar to one (I guess you could call this "Nale"ing it), but I do like the idea along the lines of a Rogue that poses as a sorcerer through liberal use of magic items.

[137beth]

One thing that would be fun to throw at them:
Have an encounter with two opponents, and X and a Y. The X is refluffed to sound like a Y, and the Y is refluffed to seem like an X. The greater the mechanical difference between X and Y, the better. The one rules-obsessed player will decide that it must be tactically superior to attack X before Y, and subsequently attack the Y, thinking it is an X. And yes, I am tired and going to sleep soon, so I can't come up with a good example:smalltongue:

Let us know how it goes.

[Jeff the Green]

To give an idea of class refluffing, one character I've wanted to play for a while now is an Alchemist who makes his living as a baker. Rather than create potions, he bakes pies and cakes. They carry the same benefits as potions, expire in the same manner as potions, but look totally different and add some flavor (a-yuck yuck yuck) to the character. Plus, how cool would a character that lobs explosive croissants be?

That reminds me of another one I've seen: a smoke paragenasi artificer (or any crafter) that makes his consumables into pipe tobacco, cigars, and cigarettes.