"Black Dougal gasps 'Poison!' and falls to the floor. He looks dead."

Monday, February 18, 2013

B/X Arabian Nights - The Holy Slayer

I have mentioned before that I love the Sinbad movies. I have also been reading the 2nd edition AD&D Al-Qadim books. Some online investigation led me to B.J. Johnson's Saturday Night Sandbox and his Jann class to replace the elf.

Taking that inspiration and my previous hacks of B/X classes for my sword & sorcery classes gives us The Holy Slayer...

The Holy Slayer
Holy slayer is the term that these killers use to refer to themselves; those who are more critical of them call them assassins. These individuals are zealously dedicated to the service of their holy slayer fellowship, ultimately answering to the grandfather or grandmother who is in charge of that organization. Holy slayers are expected to answer the call to duty without question, even if that call should require them to sacrifice their own lives.

The prime requisites for a holy slayer are Strength and Dexterity. A holy slayer character whose Strength or Dexterity score is 13 or greater will receive a 5% bonus to earned experience. Holy slayers whose Strength and Dexterity are 13 or greater will receive a bonus of 10% to earned experience.

RESTRICTIONS: Holy slayers use six-sided dice (d6) to determine their hit points. They may use any weapon. They may wear nothing more protective than leather armour, and may not use a shield. Holy slayers must have a minimum score of 9 in both Dexterity and Constitution.

SPECIAL ABILITIES: Holy slayers have better saving throws than most other character class. They are very accurate with all missile weapons and gain a bonus of +1, in addition to Dexterity adjustments, on their "to hit" rolls when using them. When striking unnoticed from behind, a holy slayer gains a bonus of +4 on "to hit" rolls and inflicts twice the normal damage. Holy slayers are difficult to spot, having the ability to seemingly vanish. Holy slayers have only a 10% chance of being detected in woods or underbrush, and even in dungeons there is a one-third chance (a roll of 1 or 2 on 1d6) that a holy slayers will not be seen in normal light if the character finds some cover (such as shadows), and remains absolutely quiet and still.

Upon reaching 9th level (Grandfather), a holy slayer may construct a fortress. A holy slayer who has constructed a fortress will attract 2-12 1st level holy slayers who have come to learn under the grandfather. These will generally (though not always) be loyal and will not be replaced by others if they die or leave.

SAVING THROWS: As Halflings

EXPERIENCE TABLE:
Level...Title...................................XP...............HD
1.........Adherents.............................0...............1d6
2.........Fida'i...............................2,000...............2d6
3.........Companions......................4,000...............3d6
4.........Assassin...........................8,000...............4d6
5.........Propagandists..................16,000...............5d6
6.........Haşhaşiler.......................32,000................6d6
7.........Greater Propagandists........64,000................7d6
8.........Hassassin.......................120,000...............8d6
9.........Grandfather....................240,000...............9d6
10........10th Level Grandfather......360,000...............9d6+2*
11........11th Level Grandfather......480,000...............9d6+4*
12........12th Level Grandfather......600,000...............9d6+6*
13........13th Level Grandfather......720,000...............9d6+8*
14........14th Level Grandfather......840,000...............9d6+10*
* constitution bonus no longer applies

This is pretty much a halfling with the AC bonus vs. giants replaced with backstab.


2 comments:

  1. As it is based on (and presumably replaces) the Halfling class, why not simply stop the level progression at 8th level?

    Personally, I think it's a great idea/mod, but other than changing out the AC bonus for backstab, I'd leave the entire halfling class intact. Well...and I'd also keep your domain notes above (requiring holy slayers to be 8th level "grandfathers" before allowing stronghold construction).

    But that's just me.
    : )

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, yeah...and leaving the class "intact" means allowing it to wear armor other than leather, too. Never know when you might need to dress up in armor as a disguise.

      Delete