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mp122984
2007-09-08, 07:25 PM
Hello again. After submitting my Mahou Shoujo (which you can read here: Mahou Shoujo (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=54639)) I decided to make another advanced class: the Otaku. It's not as ambitious as Mahou Shoujo, but it's a little more original (besides using Play a Hunch) and I hope you enjoy it nonetheless. Please feel free to add comments on what you think, and any improvements you'd like to offer. I appreciate your reading.

Advanced Class: The Otaku
In a world where celebrities, fads, and works rise to the top and fall even faster, fans are forever staying one step ahead. While most focus on a fan’s obsessive collections or problematic social skills, few note the devoted research and information gathering required to be considered a hardcore fan. Even as paparazzi pride themselves on their accomplishments, it is the rank and file fandom who gets the scoops no one else would dare to seek. With miniaturized technology and a knack for communicating, accomplished followers can learn and track the pulse of popularity as it beats on the world stage. Some call them stalkers, others call them wasted lives, but few who see them in action can doubt the skills of the Otaku.

Select this advanced class if you want your character to be able to track information at home or on the field, while interacting with other fans and benefiting from their similar goals and methods.

The fastest path into this advanced class is from the Smart hero basic class, although other classes are possible.

Requirements
To qualify to become an Otaku, a character must fulfill the following criteria.
Skills: Computer Use 6 ranks, Gather Information 3 Ranks, Knowledge (Popular Culture) 6 Ranks
Possessions: Camera, Cell Phone, Computer

Class Information
The following information pertains to the Otaku advanced class.

Hit Die
The Otaku gains 1d6 hit points per level. The Character’s Constitution modifier applies

Action Points
The Otaku gains a number of action points equal to 6 + one-half her character level, rounded down, every time she attains a new level in this class.

Class Skills
The Otaku’s class skills are as follows.
Computer Use (Int), Craft [Visual Art] (Int), Gather Information (Cha), Knowledge [Current events, popular culture, streetwise, technology] (Int), Move Silently (Dex), Navigate (Int), Research (Int), Search (Int), Sleight of Hand (Dex), Spot (Wis)

Skill Points at Each Level: 6 + Int Modifier.

{table=head]Class Level | BAB | Fort Save | Ref Save | Will Save | Special | Defense Bonus | Reputation Bonus
1st | +0 | +0 | +0 | +1 | Devoted Research | +1 |+0
2nd | +0 | +0 | +1 | +2 | Otaku's Shadow | +1 |+0
3rd | +1 | +1 | +1 | +2 | Bonus Feat | +2 |+0
4th | +1 | +1 | +2 | +3 | Search Engine | +2 | +0
5th | +1 | +1 | +2 | +4| Otaku's Shadow | +3 | +1
6th | +1 | +1 | +3 | +4 | Bonus Feat | +3 | +1
7th | +2 | +2 | +3 | +5 | Finger on the Pulse | +4 | +1
8th | +2 | +2 | +4 | +6 | Otaku's Shadow | +4 | +1
9th | +2 | +2 | +4 | +6 | Bonus Feat | +5 | +2
10th | +3 | +3 | +5 | +7 | Flashmob | +5 | +2[/table]

Class Abilities
All of the following are features of the Otaku advanced class.

Devoted Research
The first step on the path of the Otaku is gathering information. Computer Use can now provide a +2 synergy bonus on a Gather Information or Knowledge Check when searching computer records for data. In addition, you may make a Sleight of Hand check to take pictures with a Small or smaller object as a full-round action without being noticed. The DC for such checks is 15, and you get a +2 circumstance bonus to this check.

Otaku’s Shadow
While an Otaku is commonly ridiculed for his obsessive nature, his abilities to find his target are quite remarkable, especially coupled with the online resources of his fellow Otaku.

At 2nd level, an Otaku gains the ability to follow the trails of his target. The Otaku gets the Urban Tracking feat (from D20 Future).

At 5th level, the Otaku becomes adept at second-guessing his prey. Once per day per character level, after failing a Gather Information check made to track someone, the Otaku may spend 15 minutes to consider where the target may have hid. After doing so, he makes a Knowledge (Popular Culture) check with DC 35 - the target’s Reputation Bonus x5. Success allows the Otaku to continue to track his subject as if he had succeeded on his Gather Information check. The DC of such a Knowledge (Popular Culture) check is increased by 10 if the target is not a celebrity or other popular media figure.

By 8th level, an Otaku has learned to make full use of the resources of his fellow fans, using their communication network to get updated information on their targets. As long as an Otaku carries a usable communication device (cell phone or internet-capable computer), he gets a +5 equipment bonus on all Gather Information and Knowledge (Popular Culture) checks made to track people and may make his Knowledge (Popular Culture) check immediately after failing such a Gather Information check. Such a check no longer requires any additional time; making it now counts as a full-round action. When using the Otaku’s network, those the Otaku contacts may try to talk him out of particularly dangerous pursuits, or may themselves enter the pursuit for their own reasons.

Bonus Feat
At 3rd, 6th, and 9th level, the Otaku gets a bonus feat. The bonus feat must be selected from the following list, and the Otaku must meet all prerequisites of the feat to select it.

Alertness, Creative, Educated, Gearhead, Guide, Iron Will, Low Profile, Run, Studious, Stealthy, Track

Search Engine
A good Otaku must always be up to speed on the latest trends. By spending an action point, the Otaku automatically gets a result on any Knowledge, Gather Information, or Research check made to gain information on an event or person that has gained prominence in the last week equal to 10 x the Otaku’s Intelligence modifier.

Finger on the Pulse
At 7th level, the Otaku gains the ability to make a guess about a personality and be assured that it is correct. The Otaku states the assertion (“The celebrity was an orphan,” or “The mayor of Tokyo will make a public appearance at Akihabara tomorrow.”) and spends 2 hours making a Research check and/or 2 hours making an appropriate Knowledge check (usually, Popular Culture, Streetwise, or Current Events). The Otaku may Take 10 or Take 20 on these checks, but must do so on both checks if he so decides. The GM secretly rolls percentile dice: there is a 20% + Research check (if any) result% + Knowledge check (if any) result% chance on getting a response on the guess (failure indicates merely that you are unsure if this is true or not).

If the roll is a success, the GM lets the player know if the guess is true, false, both or neither. A “both” response is possible for vague assumptions such as “The band’s leader is a cold-hearted miser” which can be both true and false - the leader is a miser, but not cold-hearted. An “unknown” response is for questions with no immediate answer.

The GM may determine that a guess is so obvious that it does not require a roll, or that it is so vague there is no chance for success. In these cases, the time is not spent. A guess is obvious to the Otaku alone and does not translate to a legal truth or even a truth to other people. Finding proof of an assumption such as “the singer will commit suicide tomorrow” and convincing other people would require additional work.

Flashmob
At 10th level, the Otaku gains the ability to use online forums to convince people to converge at a particular location, usually because of a popular event or celebrity appearance. Once per day, the Otaku may attempt to form a Flashmob; this requires a 15 minutes and a Computer Use check with DC 30 (50 if the character has previously led a Flashmob to a event that turned out to be fictitious or unexpectedly dangerous, or to a person that wasn‘t there.) In addition, the Otaku must know what the precise location of his target will be when he attempts to form the mob. Failure means that the Otaku cannot attempt to form any flashmobs on that personality or event until the next day.

If successful, a number of ordinary NPCs equal to 5d10 x the personality’s reputation bonus start congregating on the site or person. A few people arrive within seconds, but the whole group takes 15-30 minutes to form. (If a flashmob was being led to an event, the GM assigns the event a Reputation bonus.)

If a personality is made the target of a flashmob, they spot him; the personality fails all mundane attempts to hide. In addition, he and all members of the flashmob can only move at half speed and fail all Spot or Listen checks made against those not in a square adjacent to theirs as the flashmob consumes the personality's attention (and vice versa). If an event was made a target, the flashmob acts as an annoyance to those in attendance, giving anyone within 50 feet a -4 penalty to all checks.

Flashmobs form a radius of 5 ft. x (the number of members/25, rounded up); if a personality was the target, they usually end up in the middle. Such mobs are mostly formed from fans, gatecrashers, fans, gawkers, and those with nothing better to do, but larger ones may include those with deliberate intent to cause chaos or harm (this is never the Otaku’s intent; if it is, the attempt to form a flashmob automatically fails.) Flashmob members will tend to flee from any danger not caused by the flashmob itself. Any target of a flash mob (the personality or an event’s sponsors, for instance) and those who find themselves dragged in (such as law enforcement, if necessary) is likely to be at the least incredibly irritated by the occurrence and will attempt to exact repercussions if they find out who created the flashmob in the first place.