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