Machine-Bonded (class for old school RPGs)

Loook, a more random, and probably more fun version of the class I wrote up the other day where foolish young things hook themselves up to big machines! Based on Zak's Random Alternate Fighter. In this version, the bummer-loss-of-self is not reinforced mechanically. This is a lot more cartoon show.

You and the robot you control are mostly counted as one guy.
Start with the HP and saving throws of a 0-level LotFP Fighter. At 1st level and every level thereafter, get your HP as normal, but instead of Saves and To Hit improving on a schedule, roll on the following table.
But first - armor; you can't wear any. You gotta keep some skin showing so the robot will respond to your electrical field and shit, and you gotta have quick access to the tools you have strapped all over you in utility belts and such, 'cause your robot needs things tightened and adjusted and repaired all the time. So your AC? It's 12 + 1d4.
What the shizz does that mean? It means without your robot, you have an AC of 12, and your robot's AC is different depending on where it's hit. In the interest of simplicity and time, we're abstracting some things here. So when some asshole swings at you, you roll 1d4 and add it to 12 and that's your AC for that hit. The swingy-ness of this is to reflect the fact that there's a lot that goes into whether asshole hits you, a solid metal plate on your robot's chest, a joint where your robot is weaker, etc. We don't have time to calculate all that in an LotFP or Basic D&D style game so 12 + 1d4 it is.

The following table reflects you discovering things about this big weird machine you've strapped yourself to, and maybe finding inventive ways to attach scrap to it.
OK! At First and every level after, roll twice:

1 - 30: +1 to Hit

31 - 50: +1 to saves

51-52: Your robot has lights, and produces the effect of the Light spell for 3 rounds a day. Roll again and you can also do Faerie Fire once a day or Light twice a day. Roll AGAIN and you can chose Darkness.

53: Charge the batteries: If you take no action for one round, your next hit is double damage, but your AC is -2 the following round. Every time you roll this again, add +2 damage for that hit.

54-55: Hiding behind the big guy: +2 to breath weapon saves, and you get one round per day where any area of effect thingy (breath, trap spraying fire, etc) doesn't hurt you. Roll it again and additional +1 to the save and one round per day.

56-57: Lots o Hands; Most of the time during combat you are concentrating on not getting fragged, but once per combat you can take an extra action (including attacks). One more for every time you roll this. Divide combat bonus and such as you see fit.

58-59: You've got a robot strapped to you. That's a little weird? +2 to Intimidate checks.

60-61: Robots shall be splintered! Or you. You can have a limb be incapacitated instead of taking a hit. Once a day for every time you roll this result. Robot limbs can be repaired in 1 week minus 1 day per level; less than 1 day is by hours.

62-63: Quantum Folding; your robot can be folded up and stored out of sight in a normal adventurer's pack, and POP! be ready to fight at a moment's notice. Roll this again and you can summon your robot to you from anywhere, once. Roll again for another summon, etc.

64-65: Oxygen Supply; no air, bad air, poison gas? No worries. As long as you've got your robot handy, you have a breathing mask on and 10 minutes of fresh air. +10 minutes for every reroll.

66-67: POWER PUNCH! +1 to damage. Roll again, +3, again +5, etc.

68-69: MEGA-PUNCH! On a successful hit, you do your damage as usual and knock a human-sized or smaller opponent back 10 feet. Try it again and they get to save or make a STR check to resist or however the GM wants to do that. If you roll this again, you get two punches before they save or whatever.

70-71: NEGA-PUNCH! Once per combat, on a successful hit, you warp reality and cause your opponent's shadow to animate and attack them for one round. If they don't spend the round defending themselves, they take their normal damage, interrupting spells if they are casting any. Roll this again and it happens for two rounds, etc.

72-73: KO!!! On a successful hit, you do damage as usual and knock a human-sized or smaller opponent prone. If you try it again on the same opponent, they get to save or STR check or whatever. Roll this again and you get two knockdowns before they get the save thing.

74-75: FLAMING FIST! On a successful punch, you do usual damage plus 1d4 fire damage. Roll this again and they take the fire damage next round, too.

76-77: THE SHOCKER: Once per day on a successful hit, you do normal damage and deliver the effects of the Shocking Grasp spell. Roll this again and do it twice per day.

78-79: METAL FIST: Your crit range extends by one; you crit on a 19 or 20. Roll this again and it extends by one more.

80: EVEN MORE METAL: Your crits do triple frikkin' damage. Roll again and quadruple.

82-83: FLYING FIST: Your robot can fire off a body part to make a missile attack once per combat, but you gotta go get it later. Roll this again and the body part is attached by a tough metal cable, so it returns next round. Rolling this after that gives you another use per combat.

84-86: You hit it like this, you hit it like that, you hit it with a wiffle ball bat: if you crit something with a head and it's level/HD is equal to or less than yours, you knock it's head off and it goes flying. Roll this again and you can decapitate things one level higher, etc.

87-88: ROCKETS: your robot can carry you and fly your movement rate per round. Roll this again and you can carry another person. (One heavily encumbered person counts as two.)

89-90: Fission Food: your connection to your robot sustains you; you get energy from it's reactor core and can go a week without food. You still need to eat occasionally. Roll this again and gain another week, or your robot has a food replicator and you can make 1 meal for another creature no matter where you are.

91-92: Return of the son of Lots o Hands: you can Pick Pockets as a Thief/Specialist of the same level, and once per combat you can attempt to do so while your robot hits someone. Roll again and get another use per combat or 10% bonus.

93: Strength of Metal: radiation from your robot has increased your Strength by 1.

94: Radiation from your robot has increased your CON by 1.

95: Tough cookie: +1 to AC. Yeah, I said it.

96-97: Force Fields: Once per day you have the effects of the Shield spell. +1 use per day for every time you roll this again.

98: SEISMIC: Your stomps really stomp. Once per combat you can knock everything 15 feet in front of you prone if they fail a reflex check or Breath save. Roll again and they don't get the save the first time. Roll again and you get one more use per combat.

99: EVEN MORE SHOCKING: once per combat you can do Chain Lightning. Roll again for another use per combat.

00: Cloaking Device: You can turn Invisible as per the spell once. Only once. Roll again and choose: Improved Invisibility once or Invisibility once per week, roll again for twice per week, etc.

The DM should be open to the player replacing some of these entries with abilities he or she specifically desires, especially if the character endeavors to gather appropriate parts in-game to add to the robot.
If the character gathers the appropriate parts from monsters or seeks out how to build them, the player can replace an entry on this list with an ability he desires, whether a monster ability, spell effect, or something of his own devising. If it's really awesome or the character has gone through exceptional effort, perhaps he may just get the ability when the next level is gained instead of rolling on the table.

If the character has spent early levels gathering sufficient materials from defeated foes, AC improves to 12+1d6 at 3rd level.

Quantum Containment Sphere, Blaster (Magitech Items)

Quantum Containment Sphere
These spheres of intersecting metal plates are usually 10-20 inches in circumference. This item can be activated and thrown in the same round.
One round later, it will identify the three closest creatures and try to absorb them. These creatures get a save vs Magical Device at a 2 penalty and a bonus equal to HD to resist. If the save is failed, the creature disappears. The item can be used again until 3 total creatures are trapped.
The creatures reappear in the same proximity to the sphere some time later. Roll 1d6 when a creature is trapped to find out when it reappears/is freed.
One creature trapped:
1. 3 rounds
2-6. When user presses corresponding button (not more than 1 month, must be freed during a game*)

Two creatures trapped:
1. 3 rounds
2. 30 minutes
3-6. When user presses corresponding button (not more than 1 month, must be freed during a game*)

Three creatures trapped:
1. 3 rounds
2. 30 minutes
3. 3 hours
4-6. when activated (not more than 1 month, must be freed during a game*)

Once 3 creatures have been trapped and released, the item will need to be taken to a charging station before being used again.

Blaster, cheap
This is the lowliest of the blasters around but still a very rare find on Kalak-Nur. It holds 3 charges (shots) before needing to be taken to a charging station.
Treat to-hit as a missile weapon that ignores the target's armor. Reflexes and natural defenses still come into play, all at the DM's discretion. There are 3 settings:
Yellow - stun target for 1d4+2 rounds
Orange - stun target for 1d4 rounds, do 1d4 points of damage
Red - do 2d4 points of damage, no stun
Stunned creatures get a Save VS Device to throw off the stun immediately if they suffer any damage while stunned.

There are known to be portable chargers for these items, but those are usually in the hands of local warlords or very organized and protective communities.


*Any game, as long as the DM is cool with it. Fuck yeah ConstantCon!

First pic is the Green Goblin's Pumpkin Bomb from one of those Spider Man flicks, the second pic is one model of rebel blaster from Star Wars.

Ghost in the Machine (gonzo gothmetal race class for dndish blah blah)

Scattered across Kalak-Nur are remnants of ancient mining facilities. In some of these, a particular type of droid can be found, inactive at first, that can only be activated and controlled by having a technosurgeon implant certain machinery into one's body. The Hackers, Gadgeteers, and Magitek Engineers that give up part of their humanity to become part of one of these machines are known as Ghosts in the Machine, or more pejoratively as "The Soulless." They call themselves "The Two-Souled."

The robots tend to look odd and junky, as they are often found incomplete and are being continually patched together from found parts, sometimes of animals and monsters! These droids are completely different from the usual living construct robots found on Kalak-Nur, and anyone saavy will not mistake one for the other.

For clarification, below I call the human the 'Controller' and the robot the 'Machine.'

Level progression: Thief
HD, saves: as Elf
Armor: any, but -1 ac for metal armor (must leave areas open for tubes/antenna)

The robot half of the equation starts out with the stats of a first level Fighter with the following Ability Scores: STR 12 DEX 10 CON 10 INT 2 WIS 2 CHA 2. These improve by 1 for every 2 levels of the Controller. In addition, the Controller can give the Machine 1 or 2 points from his own ability scores each time a level is gained.

In addition, any time a level is gained, the Controller can give up 2 points from his max HP to give the Machine a special ability from another class (including spells), as long as they explain how the Machine does the ability. These abilities always start as if the character is level 1, no matter what level the Controller is when modifying the Machine to gain the ability. These abilities may be improved in their equivalent level by the Controller giving up a point from an Ability Score or 2 max hp when he gains a level.

At first level, the controller is physically attached to the machine by tubes and wires and must stay within 5 feet of it. He can detach these tubes and go farther, but the machine will be completely inactive. At second level , the machine begins to show a spark of life. If left detached, it will follow simple commands until reattached. (ie "Dig," or "Defend Yourself" or "Squeel if anything moves" DM's discretion, maybe limit to two words?) In addition, the Controller may go up to 30 feet away and still fully control the Machine, as the Machine has attuned to the Controller's electrical field. The Controller can use the senses of the Machine, but cannot use his own senses at the same time. (ie you can send the robot 10" away per level and see through its eyes, but your own eyes are blind while you're doing it.)

Obviously, what's going on is the Controller is giving up his health and self to the Machine. At Level 6 and every level thereafter, the Controller has a choice: to stay alive or give the Machine his final "spark." When the controller does this, he dies and the Machine awakens to true Independent consciousness. (My idea: this is a wholly alien mind that has been in the machine the whole time, frozen from some ancient era. It has been somewhat aware the whole time, and will remember the Controller fondly, but expressly is not him. Does that suck too much for the player? Should they get to choose if it's the Controller's consciousness?)

The Machine gains 1 level of Fighter HP every time the Controller goes up 2 levels, or when it goes up in level after the controller's demise.

I am afraid I am looking at this concept all wrong and maybe this sucks to play. I dunno! Let me know what you think, and feel free to come up with your own guy-controlling-robot class and play that!

Hacker (Class for science fantasy D&D games)

This is a weird class that requires a lot of setting buy in and probably some forethought on the DMs part. I'm writing them up for Kalak-nur the forgotten moon, which is full of crashed spaceships and future-ancient tech, so as written they are mostly useful in a world where technology is ubiquitous and mysterious.

From "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo"

Hacker

Attack, Weapons, Saves, HD, Armor, Level Progression: As a Thief/Specialist

From "Hackers"

Equipment: Hackers always have some sort of deck, an interface to various systems with a screen, keyboard or other input, and various connections. They can be played without one, of course, but it is harder to use their abilities (-10%). In addition, they usually have lots of cables, adapters, gadgets, and sometimes Thieves' Tools. The player and DM should insure the Hacker is always spending money and time tracking down parts, cables, adapters, a new deck; equipment lust and being frustrated with limitations is kinda their thing. A bonus to the Hacking ability based on lavish amounts spent upgrading the PC's deck makes sense.

Wargames

Abilities: well, Hacking - Hackers are good at figuring out systems. In addition, they have the most ridiculous luck finding ways to interface their deck to some system they want to use, even on another world. This requires a lot of study, which is why they don't learn magic or fight so well.

The basic rules for hacking are:

-Roll under INT, but the roll has a penalty equal to 6-level (IE a 5 penalty at level 1); this is to establish an interface and takes 1 round

-The player should keep track of the type and origins of systems interfaced

-If it is a system the Hacker has never interfaced, it takes 1 round to get their bearings; they may make another INT check to add a bonus of 10% to the next roll for this type of system forever, but it's a penalty if the INT check here fails.

So for systems the Hacker has not encountered before, so far we've got 2 rounds and 1 or 2 INT checks. 1 round and 1 INT check for systems the Hacker is familiar with.

-Then the Hacker rolls to see if they can do the effect they are going for; the chance is 10% plus 10% per level gained (so 10% at level 1, 20% at 2, etc)

-If the Hacker fails by more than 50%, they fail. If by less than 50%, divide the % failed by 10 (round down); this is how many rounds they have to sit there and hack before getting to try again. The second roll only gets a reroll on failure of 40% or less, then 30%, etc. So if your hack fails by 44%, you can sit there and hack for 4 rounds and roll again.

Limitations: The Hacker may only affect machines within 5 feet of themselves per level; IE a first level hacker could affect the door in front of them if they are at the control panel next to it, but not open the door 10 feet down the hall.

If they are hacking for information, the information must be on a computer within the 5ft/level range of Hacker influence. The scope that can be found increases with level:

Level 1 - is a specific name extant in the computer's database; how many doors does the ship have; what is the name of the default account on this computer; what planet are we near.

Level 3 - Where are the Captain's quarters?, what is the ship's manifest?

The type and scale of information will depend greatly on the campaign and situation. Limiting the scope of information gained is the part of this that requires the most thought from the GM. Anything else should balance out OK by using the 5ft/level rule.

Social Hacking- Acts like any Bluff skill; alternatively it's just like the Interface step of Hacking above but with Cha instead of Int (IE roll under at 6-level penalty: 5 at level 1, 4 at level 2, etc)

Thief Skills - LotFP Tinker score is equal to level up to level 6; If using more AD&D, then Hackers have Open Locks and Pick Pockets as a Thief.

Claudia from Warehouse 13

So, let's say your party already knows where the Captain's quarters are, and that there are security cameras in every room. What your party needs the Hacker to do is tap into that feed to see if the Ygduul Parasite from Alpha-2 is in there with him. A low level Hacker has a chance to do this, but would have to get into the next room over and right against the area the camera is in (IE he isn't skilled enough to tap into the ship's security system yet, so has to access the feed directly by pulling wires from behind a wall panel, or something).

On Tumblr without source or credit

Or let's say your party of scum villains has been caught stealing gems on a Trade Federation ship and is being chased trying to get to their ship to escape. The Hacker says, "Hold them off a minute!" And jacks into a door control panel to rig the whole door mechanism to explode in 5 seconds. The party holds off the pursuers with minor injuries, the Hacker is successful on all her rolls, the party runs through, and when the pursuers run through - BOOM!

A summary of the Hacking ability:

1. Roll under INT (penalty of 6 minus level; 5 penalty at level 1, 3 penalty at level 3), 1 round

2. If unfamiliar with system, 1 round (roll under INT to get 10% bonus with this system in perpetuity)

3. Make hacking roll (10% chance of success per level; if fails by 50% or less, reroll in # of rounds equal to failure % divided by 10)

I can't tell if this is awesome or a messy hash. What I do know is, a first level Hacker has some tiny chance of restarting the ship's engines if you put her in the Engine Room and give her time. I think they should get a +10% bonus they can spend on any hack for each time they try something crazy like that.

Gadgeteer (Class for science fantasy D&Dish games)

While I love the flavor of Reynaldo's Magitek Engineer, when I made one I realized the peanut butter/chocolate mix was not quite the one I wanted. His class is Thief-based and shines with a high INT and low everything else. I found myself wanting something similar but more based on the Magic-User, and so, here ya go:

NOTE: I am basing this off the Lamentations of the Flame Princess Weird Fantasy Role Playing Game for base rules, as that is simple and has a free PDF version. It should adapt to any TSR-era D&D or clone, re-imagining, etc. 

Both of these images are by Tatsuyuki Tanaka

Gadgeteer, or Gadgetech Engineer
Attack, Weapons, Saves, HD, Level Progression: As a Magic-User

Armor: Leather or self-made†. Must wear badass boots at all times.

Equipment: Tools, cost the same as Thieve's Tools. Cannot refresh gadgets without them.

Abilities: Gadget Tricks* - The Gadgeteer can make gadgets that produce the same effect as a Wizard or Cleric spell. To find out what type of effects his or her gadgets can do, take the Gadgeteer's level and consider that the number of "points" available. 

§ -1 point per level of the spell

§ -1 point for every spell beyond the first

§ -1 point for every use per day beyond the first

So, a first level Gadgeteer can make a gadget that produces the effect of one first level spell, once per day. A 4th level Gadgeteer has a lot more options: 1 fourth level spell once per day, one first and one third level spell once per day, two second level spells once per day, one second level spell three times per day, two first and one second once, One third twice, etc.

§ After a rest of 6 hours, the Gadgeteer can disassemble everything and start over with their "points" and do new spells, or just choose to have everything refresh as it was yesterday.

§ Don't make everyone wait while you choose. If you tend to get option paralysis, just choose a bunch of stuff quick and have fun working out its use. You can also plan ahead in between sessions and stick to a few basic choices during play.

§ The player MUST describe how the gadget accomplishes the task; the description does not have to make sense in any way, but must be entertaining/cool/flashy and brief!  No crap like "My gadget casts Confusion," but more like, "I press a couple buttons and my diesel-powered bulldog robot hovers in the air, a shimmering blast of colors coming from its eyes. All who are looking at it must save or be Confused by the crazy lights!" OR "The teapot that follows me around on tank treads puffs out a bunch of pinwheels that spin swirly colors and Confuses everyone within 15 feet!"

§ Instead of Spell Effects, the player can spend a "point" that can later be used for an ability check. This must be declared when gadgets are being built (IE after a rest or whatever) and must be described. ("A spindly arm of metal tubes and wires shoots out of Binky the Teapot and pushes your arm just a little farther.")

§ Points can be spent for an effect to trigger if the Gadgeteer says a specific word, but if this must be declared when points are being spent and not later. Otherwise it is assumed the Gadgeteer must have physical access to gadgets to trigger effects. 

Tinker, Languages- Gadgeteers are natural tinkerers, and they tend to need information from technical manuals in odd, dead, and foreign languages.

§ If you are using LotFP, they get one Skill point to spend on Tinker, Sleight of Hand, OR Languages every level. 

§ If you are using AD&D, at level one they start out with the same beginning percentages in Open Locks and Find/Remove Traps as Thieves do, and 15% in Read Languages. Every time a level is gained they get 16% to distribute among these as the player sees fit.

†Power Armor- At level 7, they may begin building Power Armor. They may construct Power Armor from scratch, or improve existing armor with odd glowing tubes, plates with lights and gears, etc. For every point of AC protection, 100GP of materials and one day of construction are required. They may build in "Gadget Effects" as per the DM's magic item creation rules. 

From the making of "Metropolis"

*This sort of "Character level as spell points" system has a different power curve than the standard spell progression, leading to less spells at higher level. It can be really useful for dungeons where you can come back the next day, though.

If you're looking for more visual inspiration, check out Reynaldo's version for a lot of great imagery.

Let me know what you think, if you have feedback or anything is unclear, etc. Next up: the Hacker and Machine Bonded classes. I've been thinking about them a long time, and I'm sure they're horrible. Machine Bonded are basically the goth-fighter version of this.