Friday 13 April 2018

Rose-Maiden Virtuosos, A Class

So, I'm running a game in Ynn for a couple of players, and among other things they've made friends with a rose-maiden whom they treated after finding her injured. They call her rosebud, her true name is unpronouncable if you have human mouths rather than stamens and petals.
I think that I'd let them take over playing her as a PC when one of them dies. And, for that end, they need a class for rose-maidens.
Now, as written, the rose-girls can only cast if they're in a choir; multiple rose-girls need to sing at once to create the harmonies for the magic to work. That's not ideal for PCs, so I'm making a class for the rare virtuosos who have learned to produce multiple distinct notes at once, mongolian-throat-singing-style.

So, the Rose-Maiden Virtuoso.

  • Hit dice is a d4, as for the MU.
  • Saves are as the MU.
  • XP is as the MU.
  • Rolls to-hit are as the MU.
  • AC is as leather. The Rose-maiden may not wear armour; it interferes with her photosynthesis and its hard to find armour that will fit a walking flower.
  • The Rose-maiden may not use weapons. Her thorny branches can't grasp weapons firmly enough for use in combat.
  • The Rose-maiden gets two attacks with her thorny fists, each dealing damage like a dagger.
  • The Rose-maiden does not start out with any equipment, but may be able to use it if she aquires it. Magic rings will fit on her branches, but magic cloaks just get shredded by her thorns. Use your common sense.
The Rose-maiden is both a plant, and a person. Effects that target plants effect her just as well as those that target people.

The Rose-maiden can perform magic by singing. The abilities she has available to her are:
  • Walk Through Plants (allowing her to move through any plants as if immaterial)
  • Grow Plant (causing a plant to grow rapidly, at a rate of rounds or turns rather than days or months, in the shape the Rose-maiden wishes)
  • Talk With Plants (allowing her to speak to and understand plants)
  • Move Plants (allowing her to make a plant move for a single round, as if animated).
  • Charm Plants (causing a plant to consider her a friend if successful)
These work like a thief/rogue/specialist's abilities. The rose maiden sings for a round, and there is a chance that the ability will take effect.
In b/x and similar games where % chances are used for thief skills; Walk Through Plants uses the chance to Pick Locks, Grow Plants uses the chance to Move Silently, Talk With Plants uses the chance to Climb Sheer Surfaces, Move Plants uses the chance to Hide In Shadows, and Charm Plants uses the chance to Find Traps.
In LotFP and similar games where skills are x-in-6, each of these skills starts with 0-in-6 chance to succeed. The Rose-Maiden has 5 'skill points' to put into them at 1st level, and then 2 more for each level she gains thereafter.
Remember, the Rose-Maiden is a plant. It is very possible to use these abilities on a Rose-maiden. Possibly even the rose-maiden herself.
When multiple rose-maidens sing at the same time, combine their chance of success (so two level 1 rose maidens each with a 17% to Walk Through Plants, can sing together and have a 34% chance to do so).

When she doesn't cast spells, the Rose-maiden can produce a droning song that distracts those listening, which works in addition to making an attack or other action. When she does, everybody able to hear is affected; there is a 1-in-10 chance that any action requiring concentration (such as casting a spell, first aid, etc) simply fails. This effect stacks; it's 2-in-10 when two Rose-maidens drone, and so on.

Lastly, Rose-Maidens evaluate everything in terms of beauty and ugliness. They get double the XP for killing ugly monsters, and half XP for killing beautiful monsters. Likewise, they get double XP for beautiful treasure, and half XP for ugly treasure. One should expect Rose Maiden PCs to be thoroughly snobbish to ugly people, and deferentially polite to beautiful ones.

1 comment:

  1. Looks interesting! In my Jungles of Chult game, I placed an interdimensional plant-thing that grows fruit- and flower-people minions for itself ... I will have to remember the Rose-Maidens when I actually have to come up with stats/class for the Flowers of Jra-Throom

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