Today I'm sharing the next seven Rynath OSR classes: Assassin, Barbarian, Knight, Paladin, Ranger, Seer, and Witch. As I post these, my mind starts thinking--wouldn't some of these options make more sense as Prestige Classes? After all, wasn't the Companion Set Druid a prestige class? (for lack of a better term). I tend to view an Assassin as an experienced killer, not a 1st level character. And the same for the Ranger and the Paladin. They're more like special forces. Anyway, putting aside those thoughts and any future revisions (almost guaranteed) here are these seven classes playable from 1st level.
This Assassin's poison mechanics are triggered by critical hits. The Assassin is the only other class next to the Fighter that can crit on a 19-20 at 1st level, something I find necessary for this poison set-up. It assumes that the Assassin will always have some amount of poison on them thus doing away with book-keeping. Sacrilege I know, old-school "D&D" is largely about resource management. But, this is another method to give combat those exciting holy**** moments (like my Thief's "Combat Theft," Here if you missed my first post on Rynath OSR.) If someone miserably fails their save, a low-level Assassin can take out a high level opponent instantly. They are ASSASSINS after all. The downside is that they may go for awhile without rolling a crit. Anyhow, this is the idea I chose to post, there are other more traditional ideas I have...
My version of the Paladin is a fanatic holy warrior bred to smite evil! They're almost like living Saints, and they're not your drinking buddy (though Strongheart seemed like a decent fellow.) There's probably a little more that I could do with this class, but like the Ranger, I don't want them to be spell-casters. One of the problems modern "D&D" has is that too many classes are spell-casters.
This Ranger is the classic lone-wolf forester. He's a survivalist, a hawker, and an ARCHER who knows it's always better to kill from a distance if you can.
The Knight is a class just because I want it to be; a leader, tank, and a defender.
Seers and Witches, I could easily roll into the Wizard class by cutting back the Wizard's spells and offering a couple of side abilities. But, I know I'm not alone when I say that I want to play a Witch, not play a Wizard and call myself a Witch. If the Seers "Vision" mechanic seems familiar, it's very similar to 5th Edition's Portent ability for the Diviner. I'm usually not a fan of "x times/day" mechanics, but it seems fitting for "Vision" and "Hex."
Not gonna lie, the Barbarian is one of my least favorite "D&D" concepts, and probably should be renamed Berserkers, (Conan is a Fighter, Cuchulain is a Berserker.) I've never really been satisfied by "rage" mechanics, but I like what I've come up with here and I love my take on their distrust of magic. All-in-all, I've created a Barbarian that I would actually love to play.
To complete the series, I'll eventually post the Samurai, Ninja, Pixie, Druid, Bard/Jester, Monk, and Dark-Elf (most of these pictures aren't drawn yet.) Seeing as Rynath is a series of ideas and not a complete rule-set, I realize these classes are of limited use to people and may only serve as inspiration -- which is fine. I may end up posting more traditional versions of these classes, but really, what's the point? This is an exchange of ideas.
I'm currently working on Rynath 2d6 which I would like to post as a complete rule-set.
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