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View Full Version : Scoundrel's Fortune: Design Concept



Pleh
2018-06-03, 11:56 AM
This idea is primarily meant for fantasy games *like* D&D, but it really could easily be adapted to any system that wants to delineate Scoundrel/Rogue character archetypes and their abilities.

Been playing around with the idea of offering these character types a special relationship with Luck (not original idea, but a means of doing so that I hadn't seen before). This wouldn't be an optional ruleset like most rogue types: playing rogue type in the hypothetical system grants luck "magic" like playing a druid or ranger gives natural relation to "nature magic". It's not a branch of rogue types: it's part of the base package.

Now the nitty gritty of the idea: critical rolls belong to the skilled. Since martials train with weapons, they still get crit threats with attack rolls as per standard. But now full casters don't get critical threats on attack rolls unless they reach for proficiency with martial weapons. I list these as an example, not an exhaustive list.

Rogues (and skill monkeys) get to threaten critical on attacks, but also with skill checks in which they're trained.

This luck of the crit is defending them as well as helping them attack. Basically, you can't critical a rogue unless you have them flat footed and/or flanked. This is playing into the trope of getting saved from a bullet by the cross under your robes. Also, the only time you can ever Fumble an attack is when attacking a Lucky Scoundrel.

This concept can be applied to Advantage and Disadvantage. Maybe the Rogue has some Luck Points that can be spent 1/turn to negate disadvantage, gain advantage, negate an enemy's advantage, or bestow disadvantage on an enemy.

Like how Rangers are half fighter, half druid, martial characters still get a little Luck stuff. They can use luck points for attack or defense once per encounter.

To prevent casters from being better at luck than rogues, luck magic kinda has to be thrown away. These effects can't be replicated through spells anymore (not easily, at least). Casters have reached for phenominal cosmic power so they don't need luck, but they have some ability to mute its interference in their methods of control. They can suppress a rogue's luck abilities with the usual Dispel/Counterspell/antimagic options and they can grant themselves a few luck points with divination magic that gives them omens of the future. Entropomancers and luck mages might still exist, but it's such a specialized field that the powers that interact are prc class features, not spells generally accessible to casters that dip.