Sawn-Off Post: Non-Playable Classes
So in dreaming up the class roster for a Los Tronos game, a lot of oldies, classics, and greatest hits won't make the cut.
This is an issue of the fruitful void, I reckon: there are some class archetypes that don't belong as player-characters in Los Tronos, largely because they belong as important figures in the world, and my vision for most games (especially this one) is that the player-characters are not that important to the world at large.
Digression: I like stories where the principal characters might grow to become important, but that's on them and chance, not a predetermined idea of the story. A lot of (really cool) GLOG classes I've seen that take aim at Big Dudes strain my imagination as to why this Big Dude would go into dungeons looking for treasure...
But enough talk! You're here to learn why I'm excluding certain classic classes from play in Los Tronos. Well, here's a short list!
THE CLERIC
I've presented a list of occultist entities for Los Tronos previously, but as the title suggests those are for occultists not clerics. That's a feature, not a bug.
Why Exclude?
In Exarchia, the central sandbox of Los Tronos, there are tons of eldritch powers and little terrors and everything in between. But there is only one God, THE DEMIURGE, and its disciples don't adventure; they're more likely to be found in high offices, leading crusades against the invading Khal, or in other such positions of power.
THE DEMIURGE doesn't grant its clerics miraculous powers either; their power is institutional. When true miracles occur, they're invoked by fervent prayers, usually tinged by powerful negative emotions like guilt or wrath or fear.
Then What?
No cleric class in Los Tronos, so no dedicated healbot. Instead, I'd include something akin to praying over your companions to heal them, which would be available to anyone in the party.
THE ROGUE
Okay, this is a big one. Why would I cut the rogue, arguably the most iconic dungeon-delver and carouser in the land?
Why Exclude?
We've heard all the arguments, and everyone's free to come to their own solution on this point. My problem with rogue classes in my OSR/GLOG games is that I feel like everyone is already a rogue. When I run games that emphasize creativity, trickery, and stealth, everyone needs to engage with those gameplay elements. For reference, the term for a player-character in my current home game is "rogue", because whether you're big sword swingy girl or sneaky shady man, this style of play is all about rogues.
It doesn't feel right for that game to have a dedicated rogue class, and for the same reason, I don't want a straight-up rogue class in Los Tronos. Sorry, but if I do any takes on the class, it won't be for the Los Tronos project...
Most of the things rogues get permissions, abilities, or bonuses to are things I encourage all my players to take a shot at, regardless of class. Dealing with locks, traps, walls, etc are more fun for my players (and these are my players, not yours, so your experience may differ) when I "yes, and..." their ideas.
Ultimately, it's an "when all you have is a hammer..." issue: when one guy has the solution to the majority of gameplay on his character sheet, my players don't engage as much with the world-as-presented. Instead, it becomes an issue of fitting square pegs into round holes: the rogue player starts to feel pigeon-holed into finding the solution that best fits their character sheet, rather than finding the solution that best fits the situation. And I'm allll about that situation.
Then What?
This one is dead-simple, at least for me and my group. No rogue class, no need to replace it. Mystical assassins? Fey tricksters? Sure, those are interesting ideas! But in general, I don't plan to feature a "vanilla" rogue in Los Tronos, and due to my personal GMing style, I don't need any mechanical replacement.
THE RANGER
This one I'm not even gonna go in-depth on. I never got the ranger; in almost any elfgame or iteration of D&D I've run games for, it never seems to find its stride as a character. Like, if you're a ranger, I understand what your mechanical distinction from the other characters is, but what's your vibe, yknow?
I know the Ranger Question has been debated to death, and I won't rehash any of the solid arguments I've heard for its inclusion or exclusion from your class roster. However, I'll still serve up this next section.
Then What?
In a previous post, I outlined how to brazenly steal from others to make travel engaging, and make one region distinct from another in how it's experienced by the party. Well, for Los Tronos, that's all I need: the landscape is either friendly enough that I'm fine giving a two-line description of your journey from A to B, or it's challenging enough that I want the party to engage in overcoming that challenge (this is really just the above "THE ROGUE" section on repeat...).
In brief: more focused design of wilderness challenges that engage the whole party, attacking their resources and bringing my players' cleverness to the forefront.
What Have We Learned?
No clerics, rogues, or rangers in Los Tronos.
Fighters, barbarians, mages? Sure. Other, weirder things? You bet.
I've tried to present my reasons for the exclusion of the cleric, rogue, and ranger clearly: it's a mix of lore concerns and gameplay concerns. Also, maybe this gives you a window into my GMing style? Who knows. Who cares. This post is just for me anyways, mainly so I keep the momentum up while I work on the next batch of GLOG classes for Los Tronos.
Next on the list: the Espantitador, a collector and employer of little eldritch monsters.