Vampiric-Depressive, Werewolf Patient, and Evicted Ectoplasm: Three "Failed Careers" for Electric Bastionland

VAMPIRIC-DEPRESSIVE

Emotions run high in Bastion

You feed off of these emotions

IF YOU ARE THE YOUNGEST PLAYER

THE WHOLE GROUP IS £10K IN DEBT TO

The Stone-Statue Studio of Sherry Sherrymint: A famed artist who's vampiric curse has her trapped with her life’s work--statues--on a small canal island, unable to cross the running water around it.

YOU GET

A key to the backdoor of a local blood bank, fangs (steals d6 HP)

Vampires cannot regain HP in any way besides biting mortals. They cannot tolerate direct sunlight.

WHAT IS YOUR GIFT?

£1 Your preternaturally long fangs do d8 damage.

£2 You can sense the emotions of those around you, even through walls.

£3 You can drain 1HP worth of your own blood to make a dose of POISON.

£4 With eye contact and a honeyed tongue, you can DOMINATE any mortal a simple one-sentence command that they must follow.

£5 Pick one alternate animal form which you can TRANSFORM into at will.

£6 You can't be reduced to 0 STR by any means but direct sunlight.

WHAT IS YOUR CURSE?

1HP You cast no reflection or shadow.

2HP You take on the CHA score of whoever you last drank from.

3HP Holy symbols and blessed water deal d6 damage to you on contact.

4HP You cannot willingly cross running water.

5HP You cannot enter a place of residence uninvited.

6HP A wooden stake to the heart instantly turns you to ash.

WEREWOLF PATIENT

All of your meals left Deep Country for Bastion

They didn’t take too kindly when you came after them

IF YOU ARE THE YOUNGEST PLAYER

THE WHOLE GROUP IS £10K IN DEBT TO

Society of Advancements in Goblet Technology: Share ownership of a bowl-sized goblet that turns all liquid inside it into a niche brandy made at least partially of spinal fluid.

YOU GET

A registered lycanthrope license, teeth and claws (d8)

HOW DID THEY TRY TO HOUSE-TRAIN YOU?

£1 A Job with Mascot Manufacturing: Take a disturbingly realistic fursuit.

£2 Guard Dog Kennels: You ended up getting along with the dogs better. Take one as your companion.

£3 They mixed you up with somebody else and sent you to a Pyromaniac Rehabilitation Facility: Take a map of Bastion’s parklands and approved locations for therapist-sanctioned prescribed burns. Your wolfish nature always disapproved of the practice.

£4 Dan Dewey’s Allmeat Slaughterhouse: Take a sealed lunch pail full of anonymous meat.

£5 St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised By Wolves: Take an instructive textbook detailing how to adapt to human behavior.*

£6 Coal Mines: Take a pickaxe and a wallet full of nearly-useless company store vouchers.

WHY DID THEY GIVE UP ON YOU?

1HP You cannot wear human clothes.

2HP Your speech is always punctuated with GROWLS AND BARKS.

3HP You struggle to avoid EATING SMALL CRITTERS.

4HP Technically you’re just a BIPEDAL WOLF, not a werewolf.

5HP You have too many FLEAS (all of which are quite polite and do ask you ask)

6HP Your slobber is ACID.

EVICTED ECTOPLASM

The variety of cutting edge astral-projection tech in Bastion suckered you in

Now you’re a ghost made of colored ectoplasm, unsure how to get back to your body

IF YOU ARE THE YOUNGEST PLAYER

THE WHOLE GROUP IS £10K IN DEBT TO

Dewey, Cheatem & Howe: A law firm who have been waiting in the lobby of an inn for a client afflicted with severe slow-motion sickness for the past four months.

YOU GET

An outdated map that should lead back to your body’s last location, a bottle of ether.

HOW DID YOU END UP PROJECTING?**

£1 You got caught up in a drawn out legal battle. When the courts had already taken your home and all your possessions, they still weren’t satisfied, and took your body.

£2 You meditated a little too much one day and transcended right out of your body. You have d4 followers fascinated by your inner peace.

£3 You underwent cryogenic freezing to wait for a time period when your body’s illness has a cure. You can freeze a moderate amount of liquid on contact.

£4 You are actually just dead and hanging around for another go at it. 

£5 You used a designer drug to project from your body. You can contact your old dealer by telegram.

£6 You spent too much time daydreaming at work  

WHERE WAS YOUR BODY LAST SEEN?

1HP Floating on a boat out to Deep Country.

2HP At the Laraby Medical Suites, undergoing shock therapy.

3HP As a dummy audience member at an unpopular political candidate’s rally.

4HP Passed out in a opium den, the other attendees none the wiser.

5HP As a scarecrow in the fields.

6HP Eating a sandwich and petting a kitten on the stoop of an apartment building.

*This is based off of the excellent short story “St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves” by Karen Russell

**These are partially based off of the White Wolf RPG line Orpheus.

What makes for a weak class system?

This post is to put a name on what I feel the purpose of a class is in a TTRPG and where I find certain class systems lacking more than others.

The purpose of a class is threefold, with each game placing greater emphasis on some than others:

1. As genre emulation. Classes give players an avenue to imagine their character's features, traits, tendencies, etc. as said class appeared in movies, literature, or other games. The player chooses to be a barbarian because they wish to imagine their character as Conan and the naming/flavor text/suggested style of play facilitates that imagination in a way that no other class does.
2. As ludic tools for expression. The class provides a set of tools unique to itself that the player chooses because they wish to express themselves through those tools. The player finds a warlock's spell list and class features intrinsically interesting and so chooses it to satisfy what they wish to accomplish.
3. As balancing act/numbers game. The class facilitates a role that is implicitly needed or uniquely valuable in the game. Compared to the previous item, this is an extrinsic motivation where the class' tools provide value to the group and resolve problems that will be faced in gameplay. For instance, a party has a thief in part because without one, they will lack the tools to manage certain problems.

I've chosen to list three examples here for the sake of simplicity, but one could argue that these are really two purposes, intrinsic and extrinsic, yet I think genre emulation and ludic expression differ enough. Genre emulation and ludic expression are both intrinsic to the class itself, but while genre emulation is diegetic (exists within the game's world), the language of ludic expression is non-diegetic, external to the games world.

Now, games mechanics often have bearing on the games world itself. A spell like Grease, for instance, has a mechanical element to it, but also has effects on the imagined world and theoretical utility within that world. However, because the spell (and other things such as "Hide in Shadows" or "Berserker Rage") are predicated on mechanical language, I think it's fair to say that ludic expression as it exists on most class sheets is non-diegetic. And even if it were not, most players distinguish the genre emulation side of their class from their abilities. There is often a dissonance between them (perhaps we'll call it ludonarrative dissonance? haha) as the kind of character the player imagines and wishes to emulate is not adequately facilitated by the non-diegetic ludic elements. A great source of frustration can arise when a character who imagines the rogue as a shadowy assassin finds themselves without the ludic tools to express that vision.

We might think of Type 1 classes as (for instance) Vampire: the Masquerade clans, whose unique style of vampirism is often based on horror literature or films. Type 2 classes--maybe Dungeon World or Whitehack. And OD&D is often considered to have type 3 classes, where it is valuable to have all for the sake of collective balance.

For that matter, pretty much every game with a class system ends up having a Type 3 element to it. Even in cases where the games don't encourage party balance or anything, people will inevitably consider the raw utility of a class. I see it most often in games which encourage certain behavioral loops (like games which emphasize combat).

I believe some class systems are lacking when the differences between the classes are not well defined or do not adequately follow through on the promises of a class's purpose. To use 5th Edition D&D as an example, the Barbarian and the Fighter both have unique abilities (ludic tools) that differ from one another and unique flavor text and suggested visuals which imply different genre emulations. However, the ludic tools provided to either class do not (in my experience) create enough meaningful distinction between the two. Whether you wrap a swordsman in Berserker Rage or Second Wind, their diegetic interactions with the world do not differ too much. They both wade into battle.

(D&D is often criticized for having a variety of classes that, through analysis of their ludic tools, are ultimately just different spins on 'violence-doer'. Not that violence is a problem, just that there's a singular purpose to 5e classes.)

This is not to say that flavor text and the imagined reality of the player characters is not gameplay or that it is irrelevant to discussion about games. A GM who recognizes their player's desires will tailor description and refereeing to validate and encourage the players' vision of the characters. To differ between the barbarian and the fighter, the GM would most likely use diegetic descriptions or backstory characters to reinforce genre-emulation differences. In my 5th edition game, our druid player and I worked very hard to rebuild the class's ludic tools in such a way that matched the player's vision of his character.

I'll conclude with this statement: A weak class system occurs when the ludic tools provided do not diversify diegetic play. They might not actually emulate the "type" of character they seek to emulate, or they might be redundant.

What do you think?

The Deck of Many Things

My version of the deck of many things, fitted for a Major Arcana deck of 22 cards. Each card has its upright and reversed meaning listed--the orientation of the card influences its effects.

If you don't have a tarot deck, you can try the Golden Thread Tarot app and simply pull until you get a Major Arcana card.

The Fool
Innocence, New Beginnings, Free Spirit
Recklessness, Inconsideration
Upright: The drawer levels up and may draw up to two more cards.
Reversed: The drawer loses one level and must draw again.

The Magician
Willpower, Desire, Creation
Trickery, Illusions
Upright: You can make anything through your mind alone. Can undo an event that just happened.
Reversed: The madness of the world takes its toll on you. You’re not sure of anything. Mental stats decrease by 2.

The High Priestess/The Medusa
Intuition, Unconscious, Inner Voice
Lack of Center, Repressed Feelings
Upright: Medusa’s gaze can freeze the undesirable in place. Can undo an event that just happened.
Reversed: Medusa sees you. -2 to all saves.

The Empress
Motherhood, Fertility, Nature
Dependence, Emptiness
Upright: It’s time to finally reap what you sowed. Gain a powerful magic item or exalt a mundane possession.
Reversed: You’re full of options and short on energy. All magic items lose their magic and replacements appear.

The Emperor
Authority, Control, Structure
Tyranny, Madness
Upright: Fate has bent to make you a leader of men. You gain a keep that must be won.
Reversed: You gain a permanent madness while gaining proficiency in a random skill.

The Hierophant
Tradition, Morality, Ethics
Rebellion, Subversiveness
Upright: The favor of a widely-accepted god and a clerical ally of level 4.
Reversed: The favor of a Weird god and a monstrous ally with 4 HD.

The Lovers
Partnerships, Union, Duality
Loss of Balance, Discord
Upright: Your soul is bonded with another. Advantages of ceremony when around them, and can Scry on them at will.
Reversed: You are certain of nothing, but know that your skills will defend you from a world you perceive to be uniformly violent. Acquire an artifact weapon.

The Chariot
Direction, Control, Willpower
Aggression, Lack of Control
Upright: With control, willpower, and restraint, you could be great. If you defeat your next opponent in single combat or negotiate a peace from violence, you gain a level.
Reversed: You’ve lost control of yourself through all the violence. You must defeat your next opponent in single combat or negotiate peace from violence or lose a level.

Strength
Bravery, Compassion, Focus
Insecurity, Weakness
Upright: The results of hard work and dedication always look like luck. +4 on your best and worst saving throw.
Reversed: You know what your weaknesses are, and you can’t shake the feeling that they rule you. -4 on your worst saving throw.

The Hermit
Contemplation, Search for Truth, Inner Guidance
Loneliness, Isolation
Upright: You feel an inner pull toward the truth. You learn a new language. Casters learn a random spell of 3rd level. Non-casters learn a tool proficiency.
Reversed: In your search for mastery, you’ve become isolated from the world. Casters learn a random spell at the cost of -2 to a physical stat. Non-casters learn a tool proficiency at the cost of -2 to a mental stat.

The Wheel
Change, Cycles, Fate
No Control, Bad Luck
Upright: What goes down must come up. Next time you are reduced to 0 HP or crit, get a second wind and regain half your HP. Gain a small magic item.
Reversed: What goes up must come down. Next time you fall to Death's Door or are critically hit, you die or are disfigured, respectively.

Justice
Clarity, Truth, Cause and Effect
Dishonesty, Unaccountability, Unfairness
Upright: You know who you are, and it’s coming around to reward you. Gain a level.
Reversed: Your success is being held back by a lie, and the unfairness is coming around. A past sin comes to haunt you until you atone, whereupon you level up. This can manifest as a resurrected enemy, a backstory element, or a past action with an unexpected impact.

The Hanged Man
Sacrifice, Martyrdom, Release
Needless Sacrifice, Fear
Upright: You’ve lost plenty, and you’ll lose more. But it’s nothing compared to what you’ll gain. You lose all material wealth but gain a level.
Reversed: So much has been lost on your journeys. Even more will come. It must be worth it, right? You lose a level but gain 50,000 gold pieces.

Death
Endings, Change, Transformation
Clinging, Stagnation
Upright: Let the past die. Kill it if you have to. Immediately level up in a new class, cannot gain more levels of your previous class.
Reversed: You’re holding on to the past. Who knows if you’ll ever let go? Can never level up again, cursed to undeath.

Temperance
Patience, Meaning, Compromise
Extremes, Lack of Balance
Upright: A balance has been struck. A powerful enemy seeks to aid you.
Reversed: Balance has been lost. You lose all your material wealth.

The Devil
Excess, Materialism, Playfulness
Freedom, Release, Restoring Control
Upright: Your desire for more has been rewarded, but everything has a cost. You gain the treasure of a powerful devil, who wants it back.
Reversed: A rogue devil seeks to damn you.

The Tower
Sudden Upheaval, Pride, Disaster
Disaster Avoided, Fear of Suffering
Upright: Disaster has struck. This is your last year alive. During it, you will lose everything.
Reversed: Thunder echoes ominously in the distance. You act as a lightning rod for all lightning and cold damage, which you have resistance for. If lightning is within 100’, it will always either strike you instead or additionally strike you.

The Star
Hope, Faith, Rejuvenation
Insecurity, Faithlessness
Upright: You woke today rejuvenated, with a new sense of purpose. +2 to 1 ability score (max 20).
Reversed: You feel drained of hope, like you’re bound to make one mistake, and then you’ll be gone forever. -2 to a random ability score.

The Moon
Unconscious, Illusions, Intuition
Confusion, Fear, Misunderstanding
Upright: In this moment, your unconscious desires could be made manifest. 1 wish.
Reversed: The confused, hidden, and misunderstood attributes of the moon are manifest within you. Lycanthropy.

The Sun
Joy, Success, Celebration
Negativity, Sadness
Upright: 1 Ability Score goes up by 2.
Reversed: 1 Ability Score (randomly determined) goes down by 2.

Judgement
Reflection, Reckoning, Inner Voice
Doubt, Self-Hatred
Upright: Draw two cards. An ally picks which one applies to you.
Reversed: An NPC becomes hostile, convinced of your danger.

The World
Fulfillment, Harmony, Completion
Incompletion, No Closure
Upright: A destiny will be fulfilled. A lost friend returns to aid you in your current quest.
Reversed: Something in another’s life is incomplete, unresolved, thanks to you. A felled enemy returns for revenge.