Shepherd Class for BFRPG

A few weeks ago I stumbled upon Dragonsfoot's old OD&D and BECMI fan zine, OD&Dities. In addition to realizing how close I came to ripping off their name with my 3E OdditE series, I found a few things of passing interest to me; mostly different takes on character classes and optional rulesets.

The thing that really caught my interest in Issue #12 was the Shepherd class by one Kenneth Bailey. The shepherd is a rustic herder who combines a few thief/ranger skills, herbal healing, light fighting abilities, and nonmagical bardic music together into a generalist package that screams "pastoral folk hero" in like a thousand different languages and mythologies at once.

Naturally, I was piqued.

And then I was crushed, because for some reason the tables that should contain most of the information for the shepherd's abilities and how they scale with level don't appear anywhere in the zine.

All you get is its XP table (they level about as fast as magic-users on average), followed by a featureless, out-of-context spell progression table that resembles but ultimately falls behind the Rules Cyclopedia cleric's. It should be said that the shepherd is explicitly described in the text as not casting magic. Additionally, the section titled Shepherd Songs and Herbology doesn't include any of the herbology, leaving it a mystery what they do to use herbs in healing wounds, curing diseases, or doing weirder stuff like granting temporary infravision or invisibility to animals.

It's frustrating to find, and I don't know how it happened. Maybe the class was just published unfinished, or the wrong file version got submitted, or there was a major editing/formatting oopsie? I browsed around for several different hostings of the zine but all of them had the same imperfect file in their archives. I'm not going to blame anyone particular because it's a 20 year-old issue of a discontinued fan zine and I should really have better things to be doing, but it's pretty frickin' weird all the same.

I suppose I could just ask around Dragonsfoot to see if anyone from that era knows what the deal was. But I've never been a part of that community and don't know much about it, and ever since their AD&D 2E character roller with the dark green UI and half-ogres that I swear I didn't hallucinate went offline years ago, I've had little reason to start.

Anyway, with my curiosity frustrated thus, I decided I'd just make my own shepherd class instead.

Of course I'm not going to bother poring over enough Cyclopedia material to fully grok its class design all the way up to level 36, which is why you don't see BECMI in the title up there. Instead, I decided to recreate the spirit if not the letter of the class alongside my own personal tweaks in BFRPG, another OSR title of which I'm fond, and which I've made other mediocre content for in the past.

Shepherd

Shepherds are rustic hinterland folk and nomads who migrate throughout the year with their herds and flocks of animals. Some drive seas of cattle and horses across the plains to sell in distant markets, while others subsist with their small and hardy flocks in the hills and mountains. All are skilled in the ways of nature and life on the move. Such a tough life alone or in small, interdependent communities makes them competent survivalists with a broad skillset. It's no wonder then that some shepherds find themselves drawn to the adventuring life, where they help keep a very different kind of flock out of trouble.

I know I've used this art for posts in the past but I can't stop loving it.
Wanderers by merlkir

Requirements: To become a Shepherd, a character must have a Strength score of 9 or higher, a Dexterity score of 11, and a Wisdom score of 11. They may use any ranged weapon, but may not use any edged weapons besides daggers, hand axes, and shepherd's axes (see bottom of page). They may wear nothing heavier than leather armor (studded leather if using the armor and shields supplement), but not shields. There are no racial restrictions for the Shepherd.

Shepherds use a d6 to determine Hit Points. They fight using the cleric/thief columns and save as thieves. They may use magical versions of all allowed weapons and armor. Otherwise, they may utilize magical items that a thief would be able to use.

Special Abilities: Animals, both wild and domestic, are unavoidable and important facts of life for shepherds and their communities. Shepherds receive +2 to Reaction Rolls with all animals. Additionally, herd animals, beasts of burden, and all breeds of work dog never react worse than "Favorable" toward the shepherd.

Shepherds are highly proficient with the club/cudgel/walking staff and sling. When wielding a sling or walking staff, a shepherd adds +2 to their Attack Bonus. Additionally, shepherds may score a "critical hit" when an attack roll with a sling or walking staff results in a natural 20. A critical hit deals double weapon damage, increasing to triple at 5th level and quadruple at 9th.

Shepherds can Climb, Hide, and Track in wilderness areas, at percentages given in the table below. Tracking targets whom the shepherd is very familiar with, such as party members or animals from their flock, do not require a check to successfully track except in very adverse conditions such as severe weather or magical interference. When tracking a target, the shepherd must roll once per hour traveled or lose the trail.

Note: Track may also be used to represent gathering and preparing herbal medicine (see below) if your group is not using any optional rules for secondary character skills.

Shepherds are often miles from the nearest village with magical healing. As such, they are well-versed in folk medicine and herblore. Shepherds may spend time in the wilderness finding, collecting, and processing herbs into medicines that mimic the effects of a small number of cleric, magic-user, and druid spells.

To prepare a medicine the shepherd must be at least 1 level higher than a normal spellcaster who would be able to cast the spell it mimics. 1 use of medicine requires 1 hour of work per level of the spell being mimicked. Thus a poultice of cure light wounds can be made starting at 3rd level and takes 1 hour to make, a tea of cure disease becomes available at 7th level and takes 3 hours, etc. The shepherd must make a successful check (either the Track skill or an appropriate secondary skill) every hour to make progress. Failure means a setback and 1 wasted hour. Medicines of reversible spells cannot be reversed; they are not trained poisoners. Other herbal medicines probably exist out there in the world, to be discovered and learned through play. Medicines may be kept for 1 week before losing their potency.

Example Herbal Medicines include (but are not limited to):

Poultice of Cure Light Wounds - A mash of herbs applied to an injury to help heal cuts, reduce inflammation, and prevent infection. 3rd level, 1 hour.
Ointment of Protection From Animals - More of a noxious repellent, made from unmentionable substances. Slathered on the body to ward off animals, as protection from evil. 3rd level, 1 hour.
Tablets of Purify Food and Water - Pills containing bitter antimicrobial agents that kill most common pathogens, but don't help the taste much. 3rd level, 1 hour.
Tincture of Bless - A highly alcoholic solvent of one of the most powerful substances in the realms: placebo. Affects only the imbiber. 5th level, 2 hours.
Gel of Charm Animal - A cocktail of pleasant (to animals at least) botanicals sure to get the first pack of animals you encounter rubbing up on you. 5th level, 2 hours.
Tranquilizer of Slow Poison* - Depressants meant to arrest the progress of toxins until they can be fully treated. May cause grogginess. Must be formulated for a specific poison. 5th level, 2 hours.
Drops of Cure Blindness - A tiny, stoppered bottle, good for flushing out gunk and stimulating ocular muscles. 7th level, 3 hours.
Tea of Cure Disease - Technically a decoction, made by boiling horrible-tasting herbs, bark, and roots. Must be formulated for a specific disease. 7th level, 3 hours.
Eye Soak of Darkvision - Essentially just a highly concentrated dose of drops of cure blindness, able to briefly push human eyes beyond their limits. 7th level, 3 hours.
Needle of Neutralize Poison* - A rudimentary syringe with a single dose of antitoxin in it. Must be formulated for a specific poison. 7th level, 3 hours.

* Druid spell or druidic version of it.

Music is the shepherd's indispensable pastime. Without it, the long hours sitting around at pasture would be even longer. But those thousands of collective hours of boredom have also unlocked some of the secrets of those ancient songs, poems, and myths. Shepherds gain access to a limited number of Bard Songs related to wilderness survival, such as those listed below. They may also use and benefit from the effects of any magical instruments they come across. They begin with knowledge of 1 song and gain a small number of song proficiency points to either learn new songs or improve known songs according to the table below. Other shepherd songs probably exist out there in the world, to be discovered and learned through play.

Example Shepherd Songs include (but are not limited to):

Flock's Lullaby - Sometimes the animals are restless and need a bit of help settling down for the night. This song functions as the sleep spell when played to herd animals. Friendly targets may voluntarily fall asleep to it, in which case they gain +1 point of extra healing from a rest per rank.

Folk Hero's Ballad - This saga contains a little bit of everything; action, drama, tragedy, comedy, etc. And each chapter is more inspiring than the last. All allies within 60 feet receive +1 to saves against spells, initiative, or damage depending on if the shepherd uses the story to inspire caution, excitement, or righteous indignation in them. Additional ranks allow 2 or 3 effects to occur at once.
Wary Herder's Song - Predators in the night are a constant threat to the lone shepherd and their flock. The shepherd and all allies within 30 feet are less likely to be surprised, reducing the die roll range by 1 (from 1-2 on d6 to a roll of 1 on d6). A second rank of proficiency reduces the chance further to a roll of 1 on d8, and a third rank modifies the roll to 1 on d10.
Nomad's Migration Song - Moving camp across great distances is arduous business. This travel song helps lighten loads and spirits, increasing the carrying capacity of all who hear it by 20%, including any pack animals being used. Additional ranks increase this by +20%.

Song of Calling - This appeal to the land that sustains the shepherd summons a number of animals equal to the shepherd's Hit Dice from the surrounding wilderness to serve them and follow rudimentary commands for 1 turn per level. Unlike most bard songs, this can only be sung once per day. Additional ranks increase that limit by 1.

Shepherd

Lv	Exp. Points	Climb	Hide	Track	Songs (Max)	Hit Dice
1	0	80	10	40	1 (+1)	1d6
2	2,500	81	15	44	1 (+1)	2d6
3	5,000	82	20	48	2 (+1)	3d6
4	10,000	83	25	52	2 (+1)	4d6
5	20,000	84	30	56	2 (+1)	5d6
6	40,000	85	35	60	2 (+1)	6d6
7	80,000	86	40	64	3 (+1)	7d6
8	150,000	87	45	68	3 (+2)	8d6
9	300,000	88	50	72	3 (+2)	9d6
10	450,000	89	53	75	3 (+2)	9d6+2
11	600,000	90	56	78	4 (+2)	9d6+4
12	750,000	91	59	81	4 (+2)	9d6+6
13	900,000	92	62	84	4 (+2)	9d6+8
14	1,050,000	93	65	87	4 (+2)	9d6+10
15	1,200,000	94	68	90	5 (+3)	9d6+12
16	1,350,000	95	69	91	5 (+3)	9d6+14
17	1,500,000	96	70	92	5 (+3)	9d6+16
18	1,650,000	97	71	93	5 (+3)	9d6+18
19	1,800,000	98	72	94	6 (+3)	9d6+20
20	1,950,000	99	73	95	6 (+3)	9d6+22

Shepherd's Axes are constructed from a short staff with a small axehead mounted on it, sometimes with an accompanying metal spike or butt on the opposite end. They are commonly employed by shepherds in mountainous regions where they are useful as walking sticks, bushcraft tools, and even animal crooks (when the head is sheathed of course). Many are highly personalized, carved and decorated by their owners while they sit for long hours minding the herds.

Treat shepherd's axes as walking staffs for all intents and purposes, except that they deal 1d6 slashing damage in combat.

A monochrome public domain image to wrap up,
if that's more your speed.

Renegade Thoul Class for OSE Classic

Freak. Mutant. Abomination. Thoul.

You've heard it all by now. It doesn't phase you anymore. You don't even bother snarkily correcting their pronunciation nowadays.* It's not like they'd listen, anyway. You just ignore them, or show them what those claws of yours can do if they really push you.

You were born into the ranks a normal hobgoblin, or so everybody thought. The mutation was so vanishingly rare in your stronghold that they stopped bothering to test newborns for it generations ago. But then you came along, and before the end of your first year you accidentally paralyzed three wet nurses in a row. Then the commander slashed the sole of your foot open with a knife, and watched the cut knit itself shut even as you kicked and wailed.

So you were labeled thoul, and cast down into the proverbial dung heap of hobgoblin society. Only menial labor and the worst, most dangerous postings in the stronghold were open to you. As you languished in squalor, those of your birth-group slowly but steadily climbed the ranks, leaving you behind. You keep mostly to yourself now. Others only stop to bark orders at you, or to stare at you and try to pick out the one feature that marks you out as thoul. Sometimes it's your nose, or your teeth, or something absurd like the sound of your breath or the shape of your shadow.

At least your hardships has given you the opportunity to gain a perspective on life denied to most hobgoblins; that the promise of meritocracy and advancement through the ranks according to ability and duty is a load of festering stirge guano, meant only to keep society's subalterns obediently following the orders of their "betters". Otherwise, you'd have earned at least a captaincy by now.

But what are you going to do about it? Abandon your post and desert?

... You should probably see if that norker and the varag runt want to tag along. They aren't terrible company, and their prospects aren't much better than yours.

Hobgoblin by Tony DiTerlizzi

Renegade Thoul

Requirements: Minimum STR 9, minimum CON 9
Prime Requisite: CON and STR
Hit Dice: 1d8
Maximum level: 8
Armour: Any, including shields
Weapons: Any
Languages: Alignment, Common, Elvish, Hobgoblin

Thouls (contraction of hobgoblin tah'oul, lit. 'death hands') are strange unfortunates of hobgoblin society. They are the rare few who express a highly recessive mutation unknowingly carried by most hobgoblin populations from a long-forgotten magical experiment in which some bored god or wizard merged bits and pieces of hobgoblin, troll, and even ghoul biology. They are outwardly indistinguishable from other hobgoblins except upon close inspection.

Thouls often live in blissful ignorance among their kin until traumatic childhood events reveal their unique abilities. Almost invariably this revelation leads to the thoul getting kicked down to the bottom rung of hobgoblin society, where they are treated as mutants and aberrations lacking in honor. Some still rise through the ranks by proving themselves as bodyguards to more important individuals, while others take steps to conceal their nature. A few even strike out on their own, or with other outcasts and castoffs.

Claws

Thouls are forced to defend themselves at an early age using the long, sharp claws they sport on each hand. They gain 2 unarmed attacks for 1d3 damage each.

Infravision

Thouls have infravision to 60’ (see Darkness under Hazards and Challenges in Old-School Essentials).

Paralysis

Thouls, though not undead in any way, possess a distant echo of the ghoul's paralyzing touch. From 4th level, if a thoul hits their target with both claw attacks in a round, the target must save vs paralysis or be paralyzed for 1d4 turns. As usual, elves and creatures larger than ogres are unaffected.

Regeneration

From 7th level, a thoul regenerates 1hp per round after being damaged. Severed limbs do not reattach. Fire and acid damage cannot regenerate as normal. Either the wizard got lazy, or they couldn't cram a whole troll's worth of regeneration into a thoul-sized body.

After Reaching 8th Level

A renegade thoul has the option of creating an underground stronghold that will attract other outcast members of goblin societies from far and wide, including 1d6 other thouls of levels 1-3. Neighboring goblins will generally be unfriendly and suspicious of any community led by a known thoul, and will rarely collaborate in times of trouble at first.

Thoul Level Progression
Level	XP	HD	THAC0	Saving Throws
				D	W	P	B	S
1	0	1d8	19 [0]	12	13	14	15	16
2	4,000	2d8	19 [0]	12	13	14	15	16
3	8,000	3d8	19 [0]	12	13	14	15	16
4	16,000	4d8	17 [+2]	10	11	12	13	14
5	32,000	5d8	17 [+2]	10	11	12	13	14
6	64,000	6d8	17 [+2]	10	11	12	13	14
7	120,000	7d8	14 [+5]	8	9	10	10	12
8	250,000	8d8	14 [+5]	8	9	10	10	12

D: Death / poison; W: Wands; P: Paralysis / petrify; B: Breath attacks; S: Spells / rods / staves.

* It's pronounced like tool rather than thool. The 'h' indicates an aspirated consonant similar to that used in the word 'ghoul', and it would perhaps be better rendered as tʰoul in Common. But when do they ever care about accuracy?

Pupating Dwarf (GLOG Class)

"[...] Next the gods took their places on their thrones and instituted their courts and discussed where the dwarfs had been generated from in the soil and down in the earth like maggots in flesh. The dwarfs had taken shape first and acquired life in the flesh of Ymir and were then maggots, but by decision of the gods they became conscious with intelligence and had the shape of men though they live in the earth and in rocks. "

- High, Snorra Edda. Trans. Anthony Faulkes, 1995.

Look at what they've done to you, the wretched little Æslings.

Look how they've mutilated you. Stunted you. Robbed you.

They took your ancestors up in their hands, still dripping with the blood of Ymir, and toyed with them as a child would clay. They gave you stunted arms and legs in humiliating parody of their own bodies. Fat little fingers fit only for clutching tools now replace the claws that once rent stone and bone. A once-tranquil mind born of singular purpose is now plagued by doubts, anxieties, and vices like greed. You were a maggot, yet they found a way to turn you into something worse.

They did this because they are afraid. Afraid of your people, afraid of you and what you could have been- what you may yet still become.

You hear the thrumming, don't you? That drone in the base of your skull, making the edges of your vision quiver? It is because despite all their efforts, the gods could not make you forgot, not entirely. You still feel the call to grow beyond your prison; to leave this tortured youth behind and become what you yearn to be.

Pupating Dwarf

Starting Equipment: 20' of shorn beard-hair rope, scrap of fossilized chitin.
Starting Skills: Mining and Entomology. Also, roll on the adjacent table.

A: Forsake the Pick
B: Rejection of Gold
C: Instar's Ending
D: Dipteramorphosis

You gain +1 Defense for each Pupating Dwarf template you possess, as a flexible pupal case slowly overtakes your body.

A: Forsake the Pick

To begin your journey you must forsake the handicaps given to you by the gods. No longer must flabby hands swing tiring picks and hammers. Now your nails are sharp and your teeth are fearsome, as they always should have been.

You gain digging claws and a bite that can be used together as a light weapon that deals piercing damage.

B: Rejection of Gold

Avarice and refinements such as smithing were placed in the hearts of your people by the meddlesome gods. Evulse such base lust and alienation from your fellow fruit of Ymir and embrace a purer relationship with the earth.

You gain highly corrosive saliva. It can't be used to deal damage in combat, but it makes almost any organic substance soft, workable, and edible to you within a matter of minutes to hours.

C: Instar's Ending

No longer are you a slave to the clock and the midnight oil, toiling away on baubles for fools and princelings. You sleep as long as you want, as heavily as you want, and not even the thrashing of Níðhǫggr itself will rip you from your warm, moist cocoon before you are ready.

You gain the ability to enter a state of suspended animation similar to hibernation, except you don't need to gorge yourself on food beforehand. You set the conditions for waking when you fall asleep. Pain (such as from a good, hard slap) might wake you sooner, and taking damage definitely will.

D: Dipteramorphosis

In a single moment your consciousness makes its final transformation. As you awaken from suspended animation you go from being the shell, to being the thing within the shell. And it is time for you to hatch. You writhe, rip, and tear your way out of yourself until at last you stand naked and new, dazzling in your chitin and resplendent in gore.

The tattered rags of your old face gaze in eyeless awe at you, as if amazed that it always held such beauty within. But your multifaceted gaze is fixed on the sky which was denied to you for so long. Your molted husk is blessed to witness your first takeoff, before the beat of your diaphanous wings causes it to crumble to dust.

Wearing armor has become... difficult, but you gain the ability to fly at twice your normal Movement. You may also hover in place. You receive +4 to Reaction Rolls, and Advantage (or +4) to all Charisma checks when dealing with dwarves, intelligent insects, and similar creatures, most of whom prostrate themselves and weep in your presence.

Additionally, the gods now fear you (as they should).

1d6	Pupating Dwarf Skills
1	Much to your shame, you were an exceptionally stereotypical dwarf once. Gain the “Smithing” skill and a standard-issue axe.
2	Try as you might, vestiges of your old self still cling to you like cobwebs. Gain 1d6 wistful memories and a keepsake worth 5gp.
3	You are dagskjarr, as some of your kind can be. Direct sunlight is distractingly painful, but you see in the dark perfectly well.
4	Wheeling and dealing with gods and heroes may bring wealth, but also ruin. Gain the “Stealth” skill and a debt owed.
5	You always had a feeling your people’s propensity for shapeshifting indicated something deeper. You may transform into a small animal like a mouse or otter for 1 hour per week.
6	You remember things you never experienced and times you were not born for, stretching back to the blind, squirmy origins of dwarfkind. Gain the “History” skill and an interest in genetic memory.