Dungeons: the Dragoning 40k 7th Edition by AccidentalHipster

Introduction

posted by AccidentalHipster Original SA post

Gonzo space fantasy it is! I look forward to your Strike Legion review.

Around the start of the year, Loki_XLII started, but sadly never finished, a write-up of a truly awesome game. A game that dared to be epic . A game that dared to be exciting . A game that dared to be stupid . That game is:



PART 1: INTRODUCTION

Strap in, kids. It's going to get fucking weird...

What is Dungeons: the Dragoning: 40,000: 7th Edition?

Dungeons: the Dragoning: 40,000: 7th Edition (which shall hereafter be called Dungeons: the Dragoning because goddamn is that a lot of wordcount) is one of those April Fools jokes that was made a reality. LawfulNice first announced it on /tg/, stating that it would be a fusion of several RPGs, including Dungeons & Dragons , World of Darkness (both old and new), Warhammer Fantasy , Warhammer 40k , and Exalted . The end result has not only that, but 7th Sea , Deadlands , and a few other systems as well. Unlike a lot of other heartbreakers out there that slap the writer's favorite systems together and leave the players to deal with the mess (*coughSecretFirecough*), LawfulNice actually bothered to playtest his cracked out system/setting. The result is really badass and fun as hell if a bit confusing at times.

As for the style and setting of the game, I'll let the game introduce itself.


Yeah, it's that kind of game. Space Fantasy, powerful and proactive heroes, ambiguous morality, the works. It is gonzo as fuck and I love it. If you like, you can download the game here for free.

http://lawfulnice.blogspot.com/

The System Basics

Dungeons: the Dragoning uses a modified version of the Roll and Keep system. For those not in the know, Roll and Keep is AEG's pet resolution mechanic and works by having you roll a certain number of 10 sided dice (usually Attribute+Skill) and then pick a certain number of them to keep (usually just straight Attribute). You add all of your kept dice together and compare the total to the TN (Target Number) of the task you were trying to accomplish and if you equal or beat it, you succeed. The notation for dice rolls is XkY, where X is Rolled Dice and Y is Kept, and the notation for dice roll formulas is Y+Z where Y is what you use as Kept and Z is what you add to Y to get Rolled. There are Raises which give you extra benefits if you succeed, but unlike in Legend of the Five Rings where you get one for every 5 you add to the TN before rolling, Dungeons: the Dragoning simply grants them to you automatically for every 5 that you beat the TN by. Dungeons: the Dragoning also uses Checks, which are the opposite of Raises and give you penalties if you fail. They follow the same formulae, they just go down instead of up.

That covers Chapter 1 folks. It was short, but sweet. I'd like to thank Loki_XLII for the nice header and I hope he doesn't mind me stealing it. Chapter 2 will be short as well since I'm not going to be going in depth with much unless it's exclusive to that chapter, so if anyone wants me to make a sample character feel free to post suggestions. You can peek at the previous, unfinished write-up if you want to know what the options are.

Next time: A star is born!

Character Creation

posted by AccidentalHipster Original SA post

I'm loving this so far. Speaking of things I love...



PART 2: CHARACTER CREATION

Today, we shall be giving life to a robot.

Step 0: Concept

Like any good RPG, Dungeons: the Dragoning starts things off by telling you to start with an idea to work towards. I have asked the thread for a concept that shall so perfectly show off everything that this system has to offer that this write-up shall be declared the new gold standard not just for the thread, but for all literature!


Eh, close enough. We'll make her female because all robot people must be feminine and call her something long and silly because she's a Tau. How about Fio'shas'ui T'au Kais Ukos?



Yeah, that's easier to type out.

The game also helpfully reminds you to check with your group to make sure your characters can work together and that the GM approves of everything.

Step 1: Starting Scores

Next step is picking out our starting Characteristics and Skills. The game asks us to divvy up points among our Mental, Physical, and Social Characteristics World of Darkness style by prioritizing them as Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary (6/4/2). Then, we're supposed to do the same for our Skills (8/6/4). We won't be doing that because I hate soybean trading. Instead, Pepsi will be using this



We'll be using Mid Power and still be coming out 600 XP ahead of a 100% min-maxed standard character creation. I get the feeling that LawfulNice was a bit overworked when he made this.

For Pepsi's Characteristics, we'll primarily be pumping up her Intelligence to 4 (the highest we can go for Characteristics at character creation before modifiers), putting some emphasis on Willpower, Dexterity, and Composure, and letting most of the other scores languish at 1 or 2. For skills, we'll be investing mostly in Mental, but Pepsi will grab Drive and Pilot so she can take the helm, Persuasion and Scrutiny so she won't be utterly bored during talky bits (and for other reasons that will soon be clear), and Ballistics so she can shoot. Most will be at 3 (the highest we can go for Skills at character creation before modifiers) but a few are lower. Don't worry, I'll show the end results eventually.

All in all, this leaves us with 600 XP, which I'd say is close enough to 10% of 5200 to be permitted to carry over.

As a quick aside, whenever a Characteristic or Skill hits 4 you get a free Specialty of your choice. I'll go over them in Chapter 3, but for now, Pepsi has an Intelligence Specialty in Book Learning.

Step 2: Race

There are a dozen races in the core book and even more in Book 2, but for now, we just need to know about the Tau. The Tau race gives Pepsi a +1 to either Intelligence or Composure (she picks Intelligence of course), a +1 to Common Lore and Persuasion (both of which were purchased at 3 for just this reason), the Racial Power of Fall Back (which lets her retreat whenever a melee attack whiffs her), and a Size of 4 (which'll be important later).

Since her Common Lore and Persuasion are now 4, Pepsi gets Specialties in them. She gets Tech and Conversation respectively.

Step 3: Exaltation

Now, for Pepsi's Exaltation. Again, there are a lot of these so we'll just glance quickly at the Promethean. This gives Pepsi a generally robotic body with all of the benefits and drawbacks that entails like immunity to Fatigue, Poison, Starvation, etc, but no natural healing and a slight penalty to talking to mortals. It also sets her Power Stat as Generation and her Resource Stat as Pyros. This'll all make sense eventually. I promise.

Step 4: Starting Class

Class are a thing here, but they're less like traditional classes and more like a series of advancement options that tell you what you can invest XP in, kind of like in Dark Heresy except you can change class tracks at almost any time. Pepsi starts with Mech-Wright, and like a good herald of the Omnissiah, she already has the necessary ranks in Academic Lore, Craft, and Tech-Use to qualify.

Step 5: Backgrounds

Backgrounds are pretty much what you think they are. They're "I'm part of the world" benefits just like in World of Darkness or Exalted and can only be bought during Character Creation. If you want more, you need to earn them through roleplay. You start with 7 dots to spread around as you please (capped at 3 unless you spend XP), so Pepsi gets Holding 2 to get herself a smuggling spelljammer, Wealth 2 to give her a decent income, and Inheritance 3 to give her plenty of good gear at character creation.

Step 6: Alignment

Alignment is… interesting. It works a bit like World of Darkness Morality, but each god has a different Hierarchy of Sins. I'll get in to it later, but for now, just know that Devotion in your chosen god (or other form of worship) starts at 6. Pepsi pledges herself to the Omnissiah who demands that she do things like make herself as machine-like as possible and seek to understand ancient technology, but doesn't care if she hangs out with Khorne worshipers or kills someone so long as she has a logical reason to do so.

Step 7: Experience

Normally, you'd get 600 XP to throw around things like increasing your Power Stat or improving your Characteristics and Skills above the normal caps, but since Pepsi used Experience Point Buy, she gets… 600 leftover XP to do the exact same thing. Okay. What the book doesn't tell you until later is that you can take up to 2 Hindrances for 100 extra XP each. Since Pepsi is a Tau, and thus new to the galaxy at large, she takes Clueless and Law O' the Stars. She's an obvious tinhorn and she won't shoot anyone in the back, but she gets a cool 200 XP out of the deal. She spends all 800 XP on her Feats and Assets, giving her Racial Feats Farsighted (+3 to Resolve and +5 to Mental Defense) and Move and Shoot (+5 to Static Defense when she does just that), her Promethean Asset Mithril (letting her spend Pyros to make Full Actions into Half Actions), Mechanicus Implants (which gives a host of lesser benefits), Sound Constitution (+1 HP, this is better than it sounds), Luminen Charge (she's a living battery), and Weapon Proficiency: Basic and Armor Proficiency: Medium (guess).

Step 8: Equipment

Here, you get to pick one of 5 packages to determine your gear as well as cash in Backgrounds like Inheritance. They're keyed to the 5 different Japanese Elements (Air, Earth, Fire, Water, Void) and are… vaguely thematic. If I had to guess, Air is the "mage" package, Earth is the "soldier" package, Fire is the "tech-guy" package, Water is the "officer" package, and Void is… Matrix? I dunno. Pepsi just grabs Fire and uses her Inheritance Background to pick up a Good Pulse Rifle and a Good Mind Impulse Unit.

Step 9: Finishing Touches

The last step is determining those little side stats that nobody cares about during Character Creation but mean a bunch during play.

Size is how big you are and is determined by your Race. Pepsi's is 4.

Static Defense is your basic "roll this to hit me" stat and is equal to 10+([Wisdom+Dexterity]*3)-(Size*2) , so Pepsi has 17.

Hit Points are how hard it is to kill you and you get (Willpower+Constitution)*2 of them. Pepsi has 11 thanks to Sound Constitution .

Mental Defense is a mental version of Static Defense and is 5+(Composure*5) , so 25 for Pepsi thanks to Farsighted .

Resolve is mental HP, and is Willpower+Composure , so 9 for Pepsi (again thanks to Farsighted ).

Speed is you movement rate in meters, and is Strength+Dexterity , only a 4 for Pepsi.

Resilience how you resist damage (you divide damage taken by Resilience) and it's ([Size+Level]/2)+1 . Since you round up for this, Pepsi gets 4.

Lastly, Hero Points are special points that can be spent for powerful effects that I'll explain later. For now, they're like Fate Points from Dark Heresy . Pepsi starts with 2 just like everyone else.

Aaand that's it! Character done! Yeah, there are things like backstory and personality to worry about, but those are simple enough. Why don't we look at what we've made.

Fio'shas'ui T'au Kais Ukos aka "Pepsi"

Race:Tau
Exaltation:Promethean

Level 1
Mech-Wright

Generation 1
Pyros 3/3
Devotion 6 (Omnissiah)

Static Defense 17
Hit Points 11/11
Mental Defense 25
Resolve 9/9
Resilience 4
Speed 4
Size 4
Hero Points 2/2
Armor 4 (5 on the Body)

Attributes

MENTAL
Intelligence 5 (Book Learning)
Wisdom 2
Willpower 3

PHYSICAL
Strength 1
Dexterity 3
Constitution 2

SOCIAL
Charisma 2
Fellowship 2
Composure 3

Skills

MENTAL
Academic Lore 3
Common Lore 4 (Tech)
Craft 3
Forbidden Lore 2
Medicae 2
Perception 3
Tech-Use 3

PHYSICAL
Ballistics 3
Drive 2
Pilot 3

SOCIAL
Persuasion 4 (Conversation)
Scrutiny 3

Feats and Assets
Armor Proficiency: Medium
Farsighted
Luminen Charge
Mechanicus Implants
Mithril
Move and Shoot
Sound Constitution
Weapon Proficiency: Basic

Hindrances
Clueless
Law O' the Stars

Backgrounds

Holdings 2
Inheritance 3
Wealth 2

Equipment

Heavy Wrench (club)
Las Pistol
Knife
Flak Vest
Combi-Tool
Data Slate
Torch
Bag of Random fiddly bits
Robes (Good Quality clothing)
Good Pulse Rifle
Good Mind Impulse Unit

I like it.

Next Time: I start explaining some of this shit

And for those wondering about that comic, it's a gag manga about RPG playing high school girls called Quick Start. Someone translated it here http://www.batoto.net/comic/_/comics/quick-start-r9502

Characteristics & Skills

posted by AccidentalHipster Original SA post

I'll probably take my Naruto d20 review off hiatus after you do that... or wait until I'm done with my Dungeons: the Dragoning write up. Speaking of which, it's time fore more



PART 3: CHARACTERISTICS AND SKILLS

Take notes kiddies. There'll be a quiz later

Specialties

I've briefly brushed on these before, but it's time for a proper explanation. Every time you raise a Characteristic or Skill to 4, you get to choose something to specialize in. Whenever you make a roll using that Characteristic or Skill and its Specialty would be relevant, you may reroll any 1's that come up.

For example, if our robo-Tau Pepsi was trying to convince someone to embrace the Omnissiah, her Persuasion Specialty in Conversation means she could potentially turn a mediocre roll of 1,1,3,3,4,5 (an 9 with her Keep of 2) into an astonishing 9,9,3,3,4,5 (an 18, double what she had) so long as she talking. However, trying to use funky-fresh dance moves as a recruitment tool like she was in Shin Megami Tensei 2 would leave her stuck with her crummy roll.

Characteristics

Characteristics are your basic talent and potential for accomplishment. There are 9 Characteristics cross-divided New World of Darkness style into Mental , Physical , and Social as well as Power , Finesse , and Resistance . They go from 1 to 5 dots with 2 representing the average. The descriptions of them also come with example Specialties and a short blurb for each Dot explaining what having that means for your character. I'll go through each one touching on the more amusing bits.

Intelligence is your Mental Power , representing memory, imagination, and deductive power. It also covers how many languages you know. You start fluent in your Native language, Trade, and an extra one of your choice per dot you have above 2. It describes 2 dots as "Smart enough to realize you're normal". Since Pepsi has a 5, she's a certified genius who knows how to speak Tau, Trade, Draconic, Binary, and the (not very) universal language of Japanese.

Wisdom is your Mental Finesse , representing alertness and ability to understand things. Useful not only for noticing that assassin's dagger but also realizing it'll hurt if you get stabbed. Pepsi's 2 in this means she sees the big picture but not the little pictures that it's made of.

Willpower is your Mental Resistance , representing your ability to shove when pushed. It has some rather interesting Specialties like "Ambushes" and "Getting the jump on others" that I'm not quite sure how to interpret. Since Pepsi has a 3 here, she is "seldom left surprised or speechless".

Strength is your Physical Power , representing how burly you are. It has hilarious Specialties like "Fists Like Anvils" and "Hurting People". Pepsi really needs to improve this because not only does her puny 1 mean she can barely bench 80 pounds, but if she got up to 5 dots...




Dexterity is your Physical Finesse , representing agility, coordination, and reflexes. It also has some of the more colorful descriptions with 1 dot being "You are clumsy and awkward. Stop tripping over your own feet!" and 5 being "Backflips everywhere, running on walls, being awesome". Pepsi's 3 just means she's graceful, but not awe inspiring.

Constitution is your Physical Resistance , representing healthiness and toughness. Pretty simple. Pepsi's 2 means that what few mortal concerns she still has aren't harrowing, but can still be a nuisance.

Charisma is your Social Power , representing confidence and force of personality. It describes the various dots in terms of how many people you could lead and how well, except for 1 dot which says "Stop picking your nose". Pepsi's 2 means she has an active social life.

Fellowship is your Social Finesse , representing attractiveness and capacity for self-expression. The "Charming Rogue stat. It's even a Specialty! Pepsi's 2 means she's charming if a bit bland.

Lastly, Composure is your Social Resistance , representing your ability to stay calm and carry on. It's distinct from Willpower in that it's all about stability instead of endurance. Pepsi's 3 means she can remain stoic when her fellow adventurers devolve in to quoting Monty Python.

Skills

Skills are your training in various fields. They are split into Basic (which can be used if you have 0 dots in it but at a -1) and Advanced (which you need at least 1 dot to even use). These are also very World of Darkness in that they are also divided into Mental , Physical , and Social , tend to cover general fields of competence, and use Specialties to represent sub fields. This means if you've studied Law you've also studied Cryptology, Heraldry, History, Philosophy, and Psychology. It also covers your basic combat readiness. There are 27 skills in total, so I'll only talk about a few of them.

Athletics is Constitution based.
Ballistics covers marksmanship, but doesn't make you proficient in weapon groups. You still need to buy that with Feats.
Brawl includes Specialties in Karate, Jeet Kun Do, and Solar Hero Style.
Common Lore is knowledge learned through experience instead of book learning. Also, it's an Advanced skill.
Crafts is both making art and repairing simple machines.
Medicae mentions balancing bodily humors.
Tech-Use let's you use and repair complex machines like computers and precursor devices.
Weaponry is like Ballistics in that it doesn't provide proficiency, just competence. Includes Specialties in Axes, Improvised Clubs, and Martial Arts weaponry.

Welp, that's all for now. That chapter was one of the more dull ones, but don't worry, things are going to get very very quickly.

Next time: The first listed race is Spess Merheens

Races

posted by AccidentalHipster Original SA post

Level Adjustment is a terrible idea because it pretty much guarantees that the already screwy power curve of d20 gets thrown even further out of whack. Honestly, the closest I've ever seen to a good application of Level Adjustment was the way Naruto d20 had them get staggered out for powerful Bloodlines and even that sucked. But enough on write-ups I should be doing, let's talk about



PART 4: RACES

I've said it before and I'll say it again, hold on to your asses assholders!

The Basics

Races are pretty uniform in how they're laid out. Each one provides a +1 to one Characteristic (usually picked from 2 possible choices), a +1 to 2 Skills, and a Power that acts as a sort of unique Feat. They also determine Size as mentioned before. Now, this doesn't mean Races are bland. Each Race has a bit of lore tied to it as well as 3 example heroes to flesh it out and provide tips for roleplaying them. As a quick side not, every race speaks Trade and their native language and unlike most RPGs, Human is a separate language from Trade.

Races

The first Race is the Aasimar who have shed their pariah status from D&D 3.X as bland pretty boys with Level Adjustment to become fuckmothering Space Marines!


_{Brother Examplus approves of this change}

These guys are beings from another race that were blessed by the gods of Order and given extensive indoctrination and magitek genetherapy to become towering warrior-monks with huge chips on their massive shoulders. They tend to be stoic and athletic with handsome but samey features that make telling men and women apart almost impossible. Aasimar have a Size of 5 , can put their Characteristic bonus in either Constitution or Wisdom , receive a +1 to the Skills Command and Ballistics , and gain the Power And They Shall Know No Fear which gives them the Feats Fearless (immune to Fear) and Jaded (immune to mundane gross outs) for free. The three sample Heroes are Jacov who is a Paragon Paladin of Pelor and he wants to broker peace between Order and Chaos, Brother Boromos who is a Chosen Cleric of Sigmar and is convinced that he's destined to become a living legend, and Rhea who is a Vampire Assassin who will make the gods of Order pay for press ganging her and stealing her memories!

Next are the Dark Eldarin who saved themselves from the Fall of Eldarin civilization by throwing in their lot with Lolth. They avoided being devoured by Chaos, but in exchange became ebony skinned pirates that need to feel bigger and bigger emotional highs. As you'd expect, they're a mash up of Drow and Dark Eldar and they are assholes . They're highly Darwinistic and have relationships that rarely obey the credo of Safe, Sane, Consensual. Dark Eldarin have a Size of 3 , can put their Characteristic bonus in either Charisma or Dexterity , receive a +1 to the Skills Deceive and Forbidden Lore , and gain the Power Warp Miasma which let's them create a 4m radius cloud once per Scene (with additional uses at odd levels). The three sample Heroes are Iniga Angband who is a Vampire Magic User who excels at Abjuration and Divination and left her politics obsessed family behind to find fame, fortune and better magic, Talgora who is a Chosen of the Raven Queen who will do any job for the right price and is currently trying to save his ass from an amorous daemon of Lolth, and Mael Dannan who is a Daemonhost that just loves how she can mess with people even more .

Next are the Dragonborn who were created to be soldiers for Bahumat's Dragon Empire who did their best to maintain their honorable warrior culture after Tiamat tore the Empire down. They look like big scaly guys with dragon heads and Predator dreadlock-tentacles. They are very big on honorable duels and like to follow around and train under anyone who beats them fair and square. Of course, this doesn't mean they're your friend if you win, just a worth opponent, which is close enough to these guys. Dragonborn have a Size of 5 , can put their Characteristic bonus in either Strength or Charisma , receive a +1 to the Skills Command and Intimidation , and gain the Power Dragon Breath which let's them breath fire as if they had a Flamer once per Scene (with additional uses at odd levels). The three sample Heroes are Jim who is an Atlantean and a mafia leg-breaker who hopes that the older members of The Family aren't as dead as he heard they are, Mudrensh who is a flashy warrior with piracy charges looming over his head and a knack for improvising plans, and Fuu who is a Werewolf that knows next to nothing about her powers and hopes that she can find her father and make him explain everything. Huh. Those don't sound like typical "Proud Warrior Race" types.

Next are the Eldarin who were created by the Syrne to be wizard-soldiers and after a disastrous attempt attempt to recreate Syrne civilization became worldship riding nomads obsessed with survival and conservation. Being a mix of Craftworld Eldar and Quarians, they are very effeminate and frail and are scared to go anywhere without wearing a envornmental suit and a Soulstone. They also have very limited resources and send young Eldarin on pilgrimages to gather resources and prove they can pull their own weight. Eldarin have a Size of 3 , can put their Characteristic bonus in either Intelligence or Wisdom , receive a +1 to the Skills Academic Lore and Arcana , and gain the Power Warp Step which lets them teleport up to twice their Speed once per Scene (with additional uses at odd levels). The three sample Heroes are Talieer who is an Atlantean and is a blatant shout out to Tali from Mass Effect, Mecheldr who is a Promeathean has been working hard to protect her worldship and help the Eldarin find a more stable lifestyle, and Giorna who is a Daemonhost that wants to leave her worldship to find more interesting people to drink the blood of.

Next are the Elves who avoided the downfall of the Eldarin by having become planet dwelling hicks ages before things went to shit. Elves are, unfortunately, the worst species in the book due to being stereotypical luddite romanticist elves that are in tune with nature and feel strong emotions and blah blah blah. Can't all be winners folks.


_{Not even flintlocks can negate their blandness.}

At least the sample heroes are pretty cool. Elves have a Size of 3 , can put their Characteristic bonus in either Dexterity or Wisdom , receive a +1 to the Skills Charm and Perception , and gain the Power Elven Accuracy which let's them reroll a failed Ballistics or Weaponry roll once per Scene (with additional uses at odd levels). The three sample Heroes are Avourel who is an Atlantean and is welcome homage to Avdol from Jojo's Bizarre Adventure down to his fire magic, desert homeland, and vampire hunting, Jhean Lunos who is a Werewolf who grew up as a late bloomer among werewolves and is fine tuning his knack for Transmutation and negotiation, and Reeva who is a Chosen of Corellon and is trying to get his messiah duties over with before anyone finds out he has a terminal disease.

Next are the Gnomes who were created by the Syrne to be engineers and janitors and now literally worship technology. They're stocky and surprisingly tough for their size and tend to dress very practically. Unfortunately, their reliance on genetic memory to build things means that their inventions tend to be anything but practical. Since they live in dense communities full of Synreth tech, they tend to be very unobtrusive and often try to make sure that problems are solved before they get asked to solve them. Gnomes have a Size of 3 , can put their Characteristic bonus in either Fellowship or Intelligence , receive a +1 to the Skills Academic Lore and Crafts , and gain the Power Improvise which gives them additional Weapon and Armor Proficiency for free. The three sample Heroes are Klink who is a Vampire who has been gathering followers and artifacts for a long time and isn't bothered by what he did to earn them, Trace who is a Promethean who made himself an Exalt with a box of scraps after his ship (the Excelsior) crashed and is a partial Iron Man homage, and Monana Scooter who is a Paragon who is such a damn good technician that the only reason she's not in charge of the Gnomes is because she hates paperwork.

Next are the Halflings who are as "lower class" as you can get. These dirty midgets are lazy, opportunistic, scoundrels that live for the simple pleasures. They tend to have a very "gang" mentality and show unswerving loyalty to those they count as friends and unrepentant grifters to everyone else. Most "big folk" consider them vermin and the Halfling do nothing to dispel these impressions. Halflings have a Size of 2 , can put their Characteristic bonus in either Fellowship or Intelligence , receive a +1 to the Skills Decieve and Larceny , and gain the Power Shifty which let's them count their Dexterity twice when calculating Static Defense instead of adding their Wisdom to their Dexterity. The three sample Heroes are Coerg who is a Werewolf Rogue who likes to take advantage of his knack for making literal sad puppy eyes, Wheeler who is a Daemonhost who was driven insane by his long time in the wilderness and now speaks in ryhme, and Captain Selphie who is a devoted servant of Vectron who is totally a real god and strongly approves of her decision to become a legitimate courier.

Next are the Humans who are pretty much what you'd expect from humans in a fantasy setting. A new player on the galactic scene that have made a name for themselves by pushing exploration and imperialism to heights not seen since the Eldarin Empire. Despite the most races' best efforts (and even a brief war carried out by the Eldarin Human vs Turian style), humans are absolutely everywhere and are putting their skulls and eagles motifs on everything they can. They're relationship with other races is best summed up as either "abrasive" or "amorous" depending on the human in question. Humans have a Size of 4 , can put their Characteristic bonus in Anything , receive a +1 to whichever 2 Skills they want , and gain the Power Heroic Heritage which gives them an extra Hero Point at starting. The three sample Heroes are Kuj'o J'Karra who is an Atlantean who was raised by the Tau and is looking to ORAORAORA the vampire that cursed his family just like the Jojo he was based off of, Marina Pheonix who is a Promethean gunslinger and hacker that has lost her sense of humanity, and Armstrong who is a sorcerer that has decided not to question the helpful leads that the mysterious god Acererack has been feeding him.

Next are the Orks who the Syrne built for fightin' and winnin' ya poncy git! They're big and green and they never lose!


_{If we winz, we winz. If we die, we died fighting so itz don' count. An' if we run, we can come back an' hav anuvver go!}

Orks have a surprisingly effective way of organizing themselves where the strongest takes charge and everyone else just sorta charges in whatever direction they get shoved towards. They're simple, but not stupid and they to put their brutal cunning and cunning brutality to violent use. They're also extremely sexually dimorphic with men tending to be hulking thugs built for the front lines and women tending to be toned athletes built for commando operations. Orks have a Size of 5 , can put their Characteristic bonus in either Strength or Willpower , receive a +1 to the Skills Intimidation and Scrutiny , and gain the Power WAAAAAGH! which heals them HP equal to their level at the start of every fight. The three sample Heroes are Wrecka who is an Atlantean bounty hunter who has been learning Healing magic and navel gazing from his past life, Roshenko who is a Promethean who looks like a junkyard and has never in his life seen any landing except for a crash landing, and Shibba who is a Daemonhost that has been doing her best to learn how to do things in ways other than orky ways.

Next are the Squats who are heavyworlders with a strong work ethic and fabulous beards. They have a strict and caste driven society that demands that they never lie. In fact, they favor honesty so much that they still have a barter system instead of currency. However, they aren't obligated to tell the truth and thus have learned the importance of asking the right questions. Most races think that they're dullards with somber tastes, but the truth is that they just find beauty in functional designs and colors that are outside of other races' visible spectrum. Squats have a Size of 3 , can put their Characteristic bonus in either Constitution or Willpower , receive a +1 to the Skills Common Lore and Crafts , and gain the Power Squat Toughness which adds 1 to their Resilience for calculating damage taken. The three sample Heroes are Cheri who is the last son of a noble house of shipwrights who is determined to carry on his family's traditions and fight evil in the name of his god Moradin, Roboutte who is a Vampire that is a veteran of several wars against the orks and is quite thankful that the squat underground lifestyle lets him hide his condition easily, and Setsuna who is a Daemonhost who has used the strength of her angelic possessor (it's complicated) to prevent the casteless from rising up and crushing the warrior caste.

Next are the Tau who are hooved and blue skinned collectivists that fight for The Greater Good. They are surprisingly high tech for a race that only just joined galactic society, something caused by the strange magical phenomena around their slice of the galaxy called the Wall of Fire. They have a very regimented society where your job is chosen by a combination of your caste and extensive standardized testing. They have a hard time thinking of themselves but are good at thinking for themselves. Tau have a Size of 4 , can put their Characteristic bonus in either Composure or Intelligence , receive a +1 to the Skills Common Lore and Persuasion , and gain the Power Fall Back which lets them make a free Withdraw action at half normal speed every time they dodge a melee attack. The three sample Heroes are Shas'k Kais who is a young Fire Warrior who was emotionally scarred when his first taste of combat was facing a horde of daemons by his lonesome and is pretty much the player character from the Fire Warrior game, O'Shaserra who is a renowned Tau commander who has been doing her best to expand the Tau Empire and is pretty much Commander Shadowsun from 40k, and O'Shovah who is a Daemonhost with an unusual knack for melee combat that likes his big daiklave and went rogue not to long ago and is based on Commander Farsight. So yeah, every one of them is pretty much a canon 40k character.

Lastly are the Tieflings who are the Chaos counterparts to aasimar and are pretty the coolest race in my opinion.


_{For Chaos worshipers, these girls love their RRRRUUUUURRRRRRUUUS}

They are incredibly individualistic and the only physical and mental constant between them is that they tend to be big and hedonistic. They are chosen for their ambition and devotion to the ideals of Chaos and unlike aasimar undergo very little formal training or indoctrination which means that they hold on to the hopes and dreams of their past lives more readily. Most races are distrusting of them, but that is rarely cause for concern as the Ruinous powers rarely choose anyone other than iconoclasts to become tieflings. Tieflings have a Size of 5 , can put their Characteristic bonus in either Constitution or Dexterity , receive a +1 to the Skills Intimidation and Weaponry , and gain the Power Bloody Minded which lets them reroll any damage dice that come up 1. The three sample Heroes are Traya who is a Werewolf devotee of Malal who loves to berserk and throw herself in to the middle of combat but hasn't quite gotten used to the idea of betrayal, Petticoat who is a Vampire who enjoys her high class status and serves Tzeentch as both a cunning businesswoman and a deadly assassin, and Shax who is an old and jaded veteran who stopped serving the Ruinous powers in favor of Luna so he could try to help others escape the cycle of revenge he used to be trapped in.

And that's all for Races folks. It turned out a bit longer than expected but I had fun writing this post and I hope you guys are having fun reading it. There are more Races in Book 2, but I'll get to those later. I have no idea when the next part will be up but I'll try not to leave my devoted fans (all 3 of you) waiting.

Next time: An epic Mulan shout out.

Exaltations

posted by AccidentalHipster Original SA post

Well if I'm going to be up all night I may as well post the next exciting installment of



PART 5: EXALTATIONS

Today, we're getting musical.

What are Exalted?

The short answer is someone who has somehow moved beyond normality and mortality. The long answer is a bit more complex. Every Exalt is someone who has been "blessed" in some way that removes mortal concerns for them. Maybe they were born special like the Atlantean, maybe they were turned into something inhuman like the Promethean, or maybe they were "blessed" in only the loosest sense like the Daemonhost. Whatever the cause, they're something rare and unique that has been infused with the power to shape history.

Exaltation is also something that greatly defines who the Exalt is. It's intrinsically linked to them to the point that nothing can take it away from the Exalt without outright killing them. It's also never "wasted" on someone unworthy. There are no Chosen who do not follow their god, there are no Vampires who don't drink blood, and there are no Paragons who do not fight the odds. Exalts are immortal movers and shakers of the Great Wheel and they are by definition willing and able to use what they have.

Exalted Powers and Tells

Every Exalt has 3 sets of abilities. The first is their Base Powers which consist of 4 strengths and weaknesses universal to the Exalt type. These include things like a Werewolf's shapeshifting, but also their silver weakness. Second is their Power Stat which is a measure of how much the've refined their Exaltation. Each dot in a Power Stat give the Exalt a new Power. An Exalt's Power Stat is capped at the Exalt's level. Lastly, is their Resource which is a measure of how much "exaltedness" they can draw on at the moment. Every Exalt type has as different way of recovering Resource and determining how much of it they can hold, but they can all spend 1 Resource to:

• Heal 1 HP
  
• Add +1k0 to a skill Test
  
• Gain an extra Reaction Action
  
• Recover from being Stunned or Dazed
  

Healing can only be done outside of combat and every other use is limited to spending 1 Resource per dot in the Exalt's Power Stat.

Exalts also have a Tell that marks them as superhuman. Normally, people throughout the Great Wheel are so eclectic that nobody really notices if you avoid the sun, wear huge Dracula capes, and go "Bleigh!" all the time, but Tells are a dead giveaway. Every Exalt has it's own Tell that appears when they use Resource and grows more apparent the more they use it. After spending 1 Resource, the Exalt's Tell faintly appears (TN 20 Perception+Wisdom to notice), at 2 it becomes impossible to miss, at 4 it turns into an aura so blatant it could light a room or smother campfires depending on its nature, and at 6 it becomes truly epic and is often visible from low orbit. The different types of Tell are as follows:

• Atlanteans begin glowing golden with Syrneth magic and an avatar of their past life appears around them.
  
• Chosen cause the symbol of their god appear and an aura to form around them in the favored colors of their deity.
  
• Daemonhosts make vile marks appear on their skin and their forms twist with mutation.
  
• Paragons cause no blatantly visible effect, but a noticeable charisma that draws the eye of more and more people.
  
• Prometheans make more gadgets appear and obvious mechanisms and crackling power appear from their bodies.
  
• Vampires grow more pale and their fangs become more and more prominent.
  
• Werewolves develop patches of fur and grow wolflike ears and a tail. Tattoos glow brightly with silver light.
  

Tells vanish at the end of a Scene.

Exalted Types

The first Exalts are Atlanteans who are the ancient Syrne reborn among the mortal races.


_{It was the fashion at the time!}

Most Atlanteans start their lives as children with nothing strange about them aside from an odd knack for magic, but they eventually start remembering snippets of their past lives and begin to tap in to the strange immortal power inside of them. Atlanteans' Power Stat is Gnosis which represents hoqw in tune they are with their Syrneth past life and their Resource is Motes and they get Charisma+Intelligence+(Gnosis*2) . Thier Base Powers are Magical Aptitude which gives them a free rank in one Magical School of their choice, let's them buy more ranks in it as though it were always on their Class's progression list, and roll twice whenever checking for Psychic Phenomena (random magical effects) and pick which one happens or let both happen, Prestidigitation which lets them cause minor and harmless magical effects, Past Lives which makes all Skills Basic for them and lets them start know how to speak Syrneth, and Paradox which causes them to form a point of Paradox every time they spend Motes that has to be unraveled back into Motes by either meditating for an hour per Paradox or by simply letting a Psychic Phenomena happen as a Free Action. Keeping a 9 on a magic Test causes them to automatically do it the fast way. Atlantean Gnosis powers have a few Skill Specialty improving effects, but they're mostly magic improving effects like Empower Spell which let's them spend a Mote to count their Level and rank in the relevant Magic School count as 3 on their next magic Test. Atlanteans have no obvious differences between themselves and mortals beyond a strange fashion sense and have no true culture of their own. They are refugees of time with strange ancient sensibilities creeping in to their minds. Players are advised to pick up magic focused classes and Syrne style equipment. GMs looking to refluff Atlanteans are reminded that magic is the key to what makes Atlanteans what they are and one possible way to adapt them is to change the Syrne spirit into something else like an ancient ghost or an idealized avatar of what the exalt could potentially be.

Next are Chosen who are the living saints and messiahs of their gods. They are hand picked by the gods to be champions and personal agents who answer only to the deities they serve. Their Power Stat is Faith which represents how favored they are by their god and their Resource is Favor and they get Devotion+Fath . Their Base Powers are Conviction which caps their Faith at half their Devotion rounded up in addition to the Level cap, Redeemed which let's them survive certain death through direct divine intervention by burning a point of Faith, Divine Power which lets them spend 1 Favor to change any one die result they roll to their Devotion or less so long as it isn't an Alignment Test (Devotion loss basically), and Leeway which let's them add their Faith to Alignment Tests. Their Faith powers start off with a few survival tricks, but ultimately turn to giving Chosen new ways to store, regain, and use Favor. Chosen often acquire feature reminiscent of their gods and slowly grow towards the higher end of their species' measurement (in more ways than just height ). They usually have strong ties to their gods church and are held up as role models to aspiring acolytes. Players are advised to pick up a class with religious ties. GMs looking to refluff Chosen are discouraged from doing so because it'd be hard to justify but told that hey, if you wanna make them proto-gods or something, go nuts.

Next are Daemonhosts are the unluckiest of of the Exalts since they're what happens when a powerful warp entity resurrects a dying mortal and but doesn't quite manage to take control. Even though the new Exalt is technically still themselves the daemon still adds a fair bit of itself to its host making Daemonhosts something of a dark mirror to the Atlanteans. Their Power Stat is Arcanoi which represents how warp tainted they've let themselves become and their Resource is Essence and they get Willpower+Charisma+(Arcanoi*2) . Their Base Powers are Demonic Tutor which gives them a free rank in a Magical School and the ability to always progress in it just like Atlanteans, Unholy Might which lets them spend Essence to add their Arcanoi to their Magical School rank for magic Tests, Rejected by Creation which causes them to gain Resonance when they spend Essence that they turn back into Essence by sacrificing a point of HP as a Free Action, but Testing Willpower (TN of 10+[Resonance*2]) let's them prevent the damage and still regain Essence and just like Atlanteans keeping a 9 on a magic Test forces this roll, and Feeding which gives them a bite attack that does 1k1 Rending damage and lets them safely convert Resonance back to Essence for every point of damage they inflict with it. Daemonhost Arcanoi powers warp the body in strange ways allowing Daemonhosts to shrug off nonmagical and nonsilver attacks, raise their Characteristics up to 6, and even hover. Daemonhosts often resemble tieflings in both appearance and attitude but those with Order daemons in them tend to become more like fucked up aasimar. Daemonhosts have no real culture of their own since daemons flee the warp to escape other daemons and thus discourage their hosts from congregating. Players are advised to come up with a set of daemonic urges for them to roleplay. GMs looking to refluff Daemonhosts could make them into experiments gone wrong or even corrupted Atlanteans.

Next are Paragons who are the best around and nothing's ever going to keep them down!

_{And if you'll look just off to the right you'll see the god he just killed}

They are the geniuses of their race who can push rationality and probability to the extreme with nothing but gumption and hard work. They exalted not because of the gods or some mutation but because they're just awesome and have unlimited potential. Their Power Stat is Excellence which represents how badass they are and their Resource is Action Points and they get Level+Excellence and recover them at the start of each session. Their Base Powers are Destiny which gives them 2 extra Hero Points at starting, Statuesque which lets them apply their racial Characteristic bonus to both choices instead of just one, Flash which makes them immune to surprise, and Perfection which gives them 1 Racial Feat for free. Thier Excellence powers are a bit weird because they technically don't have a 1 dot power but still get the benefit of one in the form of Pressure which acts as a pseudo Resource. You get 3 times your Excellence in Pressure and you recover 1 every time you take damage or when an opponent spends a point of Resource, Pressure, or a Hero Point and they fully refresh at the start of every Scene. They can only be spent to give yourself a flat +1 to a skill roll total but you can spend as many as you have. The other powers require appropriate music.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSS5dEeMX64

• Swift as the Coursing River - When a Paragon attempts and succeeds a 2-die Stunt or higher, they recover one Action Point.
  
• All the Force of a Great Typhoon - In battle, a Paragon is constantly pushing themselves to greater heights. At the start of a Paragon's turn, they recover Pressure Points equal to their Excellence.
  
• Strength of a Raging Fire - While stunting, a Paragon's dice explode on a roll of 9 or 10 instead of just 10.
  
• Mysterious as the Dark Side of the Moon - Whenever a Paragon uses a stunt on a test and succeeds, all allies attempting the same test (that is, using the same action) before the Paragon's next turn gain a bonus on their result equal to the number of Pressure Points the Paragon spent on her test.
  

Can you tell why I like Paragons so much? Paragons look like the epitome of their race only 20% cooler because that's what they are. They earned every bit of their power through sweat and elbow grease and it shows. Paragons tend to draw a lot of attention and often feel a sense of camaraderie with each other so they naturally form strong cults of personality around each other with more heroic Paragons turning these gathering into elite tasks forces that fight the good fight. Players are advised to learn how to Stunt and make good use of their Pressure and Action Points. GMs looking to refluff Paragons could make them genetically engineered super-soldiers or hapless fools blessed by the fates.

Next are Prometheans who are bleeding edge cyborgs with special power cores called Pyros Reactors. Entire nations sink the majority of their fortunes in to creating just a single Promethean and always expect a good return on their investment. Their Power Stat is Generation which represents how many cycles of R&D and upgrading they've gone through and their Resource is Pyros and they get Generation*3 and regeneration at a rate of 1 point per hour. Their Base Powers are Living Construct which rids them of the need to eat, drink, breathe or sleep and grants immunity to fatigue, poison, and disease, Refitting which denies them natural and Resource based healing but lets them anyone make a Crafts+Intelligence Test to repair them, Disquiet which inflicts a -2k1 penalty to all social Tests with mortals, and Superlative Constitution which does away with Critical Chart whenever they take Critical Damage and instead destroys any limb that reaches 5 Critical Damage with a destroyed to Head or Body knocking them out and destroyed Gizzards killing them. Promethean Generation powers are pretty varied starting with natural Armor and then moving on to Tardis-like weapon storage, boosting stats with Pyros, absorbing Energy damage, and finally letting them turn into giant mecha. Prometheans tend to look like either normal people with a hint of uncanny valley or big clanky masses of metal depending on their origins. Prometheans rarely gather in large groups due to the expense of creating them but they are often integrated high in the hierarchy of whichever group built them. Players are advised to make sure they have a way to repair themselves and remember take their origins in to consideration when they choose Backgrounds. GMs looking to refluff Prometheans could make them into necromantic constructs or the like.

Next are Vampires who are living dead cursed to drink blood and stalk the night due to the Slaanesh tainted shard of the dead Eldarin god Khaine trapped inside of them. They're considered the weakest of the Exalted but anyone who earns the favor of a vampire can become one just by accepting the Embrace. Their Power Stat is Blood Potency which represents how in tune they are with Khaine and their Resource is Vitae and they get Blood Potency*5 . Their Base Powers are Old Money which gives them 4 extra points worth of Backgrounds at starting, Undead Resilience which removes the need for air or mundane sustenance and makes them unkillable except by Energy Damage, Explosive Damage, silver weapons, or magical attacks, Sunlight Weakness which makes them lose 1 HP to Energy Damage every round they spend in direct sunlight without heavy clothing or dark shade to protect them, and Blood Dependency which grants them a bite attack that does 1k1 Rending damage and lets them fatigue a conscious mortal, kill an unconscious mortal, or drain 1 point of Resource from an Exalt to recover 1 Vitae but forces them to spend 1 Vitae at the start of each night to maintain consciousness. Blood Potency powers grant either passive benifits like the ability to see in the dark or let them spend Vitae to gain special boosts or powers. Vampires tend to look like sickly versions of their mortal selves and have tiny fangs that grow long and sharp whenever they feed. Vampires form massive mafia-like societies where they pool money and people to nefarious ends. Some of the more powerful gatherings even build secret space stations to escape prying eyes. Players are advised to take advantage of the lack of harmful sunlight in deep space and but always keep their hunger in mind. GMs looking to refluff Vampires could make them bizarre alien parasites or succubi that feed on life energy.

Last are Werewolves who are the shapechanging agents of Luna the goddess of nature.

_{Still not as ugly as Shigechi}

They are either blessed by Luna directly or descended from those who were. Their Power Stat is Feral Heart which represents how in tune they are with their predatory nature and their Resource is Rage and they get Composure+Willpower+Level and regenerate an amount equal to their Feral Heart at the start of every fight and every moonrise. Their Base Powers are Shifting which grants them a Wolf form they can enter as a Full Action for free and a War form that also takes a Full Action and a point of Rage on top of that, Lycan Resilience which lets them spend Rage to recover HP as a Free Action and grants their alternate forms Armor equal to their Feral Heart that is pierced by Energy Damage, Explosive Damage, silver weapons, and magical attacks, Spirit Tongue which lets them speak to Spirits fluently, and Silver Bane which halves their Size when calculating damage from silver. Feral Heart powers improve their shapeshifting by granting rapid healing and making it go faster as well as giving them new ways to interact with spirits. Werewolves usually have mithral traceries etched across their skin and often have a predatory air about them. Werewolves tend to gather in large tribes to safeguard plots of land declared sacred to Luna. Players are advised to dabble in several areas of expertise to make sure they're never caught off guard by any situation. GMs looking to refluff Werewolves could simply change whatever creature they change into or make them henshin heroes if they want to really up the gonzo.

And that's all for Exaltation. Again, I won't be posting any material from Book 2 until I get to Book 2. If you have any questions or want to me to highlight something I glossed over then post away. Until next time, enjoy the melodious tones of Jackie Chan.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2Fox6v-L8k

Next time: Rat catching in the 41st Millenium

Classes

posted by AccidentalHipster Original SA post

Brawl Feats are fun but are kind of underpowered in my opinion until Knockout Punch and Improved Knockout Punch thanks to the way nonlethal works in Modern. I have no good transition from that so on with



PART 6: CLASSES

Today's episode is brought to you by Copy+Paste.

The Basics

Classes are how you grow in power in Dungeons: the Dragoning . How they work is pretty simple.



See? Simple. For those confused by all of that (or those who can't see that), Classes determine your Level and what you're allowed to increase with XP. Your Level is equal to the highest Level out of all of your classes. In order to enter a Class you need to have all of the prerequisites and be no lower than 1 Level lower that the Class. In order to finish a class you need to buy all of the mandatory Feats. Some Feats are optional and can be skipped and some Feats are actually a choice between 2 Feats. So long as you're in a Class, you can only buy Characteristics, Skills, Feats, Gun Kata, Magic Schools, and Sword Schools tied to that Class.

Something the chart doesn't talk about is Free Study and Completion bonuses. Free Study is when you're in-between Classes and so long as you're in Free Study you can purchase anything that your completed Classes would've allowed you to. Completion Bonuses are what you get for completing a Class and range from anything from a boost to HP free dots on Skills. Classes are also split up according to Track. A Track is an expected path for you to follow as you work your way up to the Level Cap of 5. There are also Base Classes which have no Track, are all Level 1, and have no prerequisites. There are also a ton of Classes. Just look.



I'll only go through the Base Classes individually while the rest will be touched on as whole Tracks.

Base Classes

Base Classes are there mostly as easy ways to broaden your character but also help make sure that even if you're an idiot that didn't plan ahead during Character Creation you still have options.

Ratcatcher is the "almost a thief" Class and is a reference to the "best" Career in Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay which was widely beloved for having a "small but vicious dog" listed among its starting equipment. Its Feats are pretty basic survival Feats like Light Sleeper and Common Sense but it also has Obtain Familiar so that you can get your own small but vicious dog.
Characteristics: Dexterity, Composure, Wisdom
Skills: Crafts, Animal Ken, Common Lore, Perception, Larceny, Stealth, Deceive, Performer, Disguise
Completion Bonus: +2 HP

Scholar is the "almost a wizard" Class and gets nerd Feats like Eidetic Memory and Expanded Knowledge but no actual spellcasting.
Characteristics: Intelligence, Willpower, Wisdom
Skills: Arcana, Academic Lore, Common Lore, Forbidden Lore, Politics, Tech-Use
Completion Bonus: 1 Specialty in any Skill

Initiate is the "almost a priest" Class and gets Feats that let them perform minor healing miracles as well as Minor Magic which gives them a 1 time +1 to their ranks in any 1 magic school they want so long as it was at 0.
Characteristics: Wisdom, Fellowship, Intelligence
Skills: Academic Lore, Forbidden Lore, Medicae, Crafts
Completion Bonus: 1 Specialty in any Skill

Mercenary is the "almost a warrior" Class and gets Feats that give proficiency in simple stuff.
Characteristics: Strength, Constitution, Wisdom
Skills: Command, Scrutiny, Common Lore, Athletics, Ballistic, Weaponry, Perception, Brawl
Completion Bonus: +2 HP

Peasant is the "nobody" Class and gets absurdly few Feats and pretty much exists just to make boosting Characteristics easier during Free Study.
Characteristics: All
Skills: Crafts, Common Lore, Animal Ken, Scrutiny, Performer
Completion Bonus: Nothing!

Class Tracks

Tracks are Class paths you can take to Level 5. You aren't obligated to follow them to the end or even start at the beginning of them, but it is easier to do that. Each Track has a core set of Skills that act as prerequisites for the next Class in the Track with the required number of dots growing each time. Some Tracks also have Characteristics at certain ratings as prerequisites and some start requiring ranks in Magic Schools after the first Class. All of them start requiring Feats from the previous classes after the first but I won't be covering that. The Completion Bonus applies to every time you complete a class and stacks with other Completion Bonuses.

Assassin is a very combat heavy stealth focused Track with Feats like Back Stab and Quick Draw as well as Feat choices between melee options like Furious Assault and ranged options like Far Shot. This Track consists of Sell-Steel, Nighthawk, Assassin, Freeblade, and Nihilator.
Prerequisites: Stealth, Weaponry OR Ballistics
Characteristics: Dexterity, Intelligence, Fellowship
Skills: Perception, Common Lore, Acrobatics, Ballistic, Larceny, Stealth, Weaponry, Scrutiny, Persuasion, Charm, Deceive, Athletics, Pilot, Disguise, Brawl
Sword Schools: Shadow Hand, Setting Sun
Completion Bonus: +1 to Initiative rolls

Barbarian is a burly melee Track with Feats that provide lots of melee options and frenzying capabilities. This Track consists of Feral, Savage, Rager, Barbarian, and Berserker.
Prerequisites: Weaponry, Athletics
Characteristics: Strength, Charisma, Constitution
Skills: Crafts, Athletics, Drive, Weaponry, Intimidation, Animal Ken, Brawl, Acrobatics
Sword Schools: Stone Dragon, Tiger Claw, Desert Wind
Completion Bonus: +1 to melee damage

Bard is a socially focused Track with some jack-of-all-trades capabilities. It has Feats that grant it general social competence and proficiency in light armor and Fencing weapons. Most of its Classes grant Peer in any organization of your choice as well as Skill Focus in any Skill of your choice and all of them grant Speak Language in a language of you choice. Bard is also the only Track that directly grants both Sword Schools and Magic Schools. This Track consists of Minstrel, Bard, Skald, Swashbuckler, and Master Bard.
Prerequisites: Charisma, Common Lore, Performer (Enchantment or Illusion after the first Class)
Characteristics: Charisma, Fellowship, Dexterity
Skills: Academic Lore, Common Lore, Medicae, Politics, Arcana, Acrobatics, Larceny, Performer, Persuasion, Charm, Deceive, Disguise, Tech-Use, Scrutiny, Command
Magic Schools: Enchantment, Illusion
Sword Schools: White Raven, Diamond Mind
Completion Bonus: +1 dot to a skill with a rank lower than your Level

Cleric is a "divine caster" Track with an emphasis on support casting and fighting opponents of opposing faith. Most of its Feats either make you tougher, train you in armor, improve you spellcasting, or make you really religious. This Track consists of Priest, Preacher, Cleric, Zealot, and Bishop.
Prerequisites: Academic Lore, Forbidden Lore (Healing or Abjuration after the first Class)
Characteristics: Willpower, Wisdom, Composure
Skills: Medicae, Academic Lore, Forbidden Lore, Arcana, Weaponry, Intimidation, Persuasion, Command
Magic Schools: Abjuration, Divination, Healing, Necromancy, Transmutation
Completion Bonus: +1 HP

Fighter is a heavily armed and armored melee Track with Feats that emphasize melee combat and is one of the few ways to gain proficiency in Extreme armor. This Track consists of Swordsman, Myrmidon, Fight Guy, Fighter, and Master Fight Guy.
Prerequisites: Weaponry, Athletics
Characteristics: Strength, Constitution, Intelligence
Skills: Crafts, Athletics, Brawl, Drive, Ballistic, Weaponry, Intimidation, Perception, Command
Sword Schools: Iron Heart, White Raven
Completion Bonus: +1 to all Melee attack tests

Guardsmen is the ranged counterpart to the Fighter complete with multiple purchases of Sound Constitution and eventual proficiency in every armor type. This Track consists of Conscript, Guardsman, Sergeant, Grenadier, and Stormtrooper.
Prerequisites: Ballistics, Athletics
Characteristics: Strength, Dexterity, Willpower
Skills: Perception, Athletics, Drive, Ballistic, Weaponry, Command, Pilot
Sword Schools: Iron Heart
Completion Bonus: +1 to all Ranged attack tests

Magic User is the "arcane caster" Track and almost every single Feat it has improves spellcasting in some way. Most of its Classes provide Spell Book which gives you extra spells known as well as Tradition Feats which give you unique benefits when casting spells of certain schools. They also provide the option of taking Tested, which makes you a licensed spellcaster and reduces chances for Psychic Phenomena, but weakens your ability to Push your casting (basically getting extra dice in exchange for nastier Psychic Phenomena), but no Class requires you to take Tested. This Track consists of Apprentice, Aspirant, Magic User, Sorcerer, and Master Sorcerer.
Prerequisites: Academic Lore, Arcana (Multiple Magic Schools after the first Class)
Characteristics: Intelligence, Charisma, Willpower
Skills: Arcana, Academic Lore, Common Lore, Forbidden Lore, Scrutiny, Deceive
Magic Schools: Abjuration, Evocation, Illusion, Conjuration, Divination, Necromancy
Completion Bonus: +1 to all Focus Power tests

Paladin is the warrior counterpart to the Cleric. It sacrifices spellcasting for Sword Schools as well as some better melee Feats. It also gets some unique Feats like Divine Bond which grant it a summoned mount and Death Before Defeat which lets you spend a Hero Point instead of burning a Hero point to shrug off an attack that would otherwise kill or maim you. This means you're regularly shrugging off limb severing and rib shattering blows through sheer refusal to give up! This Track consists of Gallant, Protector, Defender, Paladin, and Chevalier.
Prerequisites: Weaponry, Forbidden Lore
Characteristics: Willpower, Wisdom, Constitution
Skills: Medicae, Academic Lore, Forbidden Lore, Arcana, Weaponry, Intimidation, Persuasion, Command
Sword Schools: White Raven, Devoted Spirit, Stone Dragon
Completion Bonus: +1 AP while wearing armor

Rogue is the Assassin's more evasively minded brother. It's nearly identical to the Assassin Track with the main difference being Feat choices geared more towards defense than attack and even then there's enough overlap that switching between the 2 Tracks is very easy. This Track consists of Outcast, Outlaw, Renegade, Rogue, and Stubjack.
Prerequisites: Larceny, Stealth
Characteristics: Perception, Common Lore, Acrobatics, Ballistic, Larceny, Stealth, Weaponry, Scrutiny, Persuasion, Charm, Deceive, Pilot, Disguise, Tech-Use
Skills: Perception, Common Lore, Acrobatics, Ballistic, Larceny, Stealth, Weaponry, Scrutiny, Persuasion, Charm, Deceive, Pilot, Disguise, Tech-Use
Sword Schools: Shadow Hand, Diamond Mind
Completion Bonus: +1 to Static Defense

And that's the Classes. The inability to buy Characteristics and Skills as you please (there isn't even an option to buy them at a premium) is something of a weak point in the system in my opinion but I'm biased towards point-buy these days so take that with a grain of salt. If you guys have any questions, ask away. And please tell me if you want me to stick with this write-up for now or switch back to Naruto d20 (I'll finish both eventually).

Next time: Featsfeatsfeatsfeatsassets