Kludge Kauldron

Ruinworker Classis

I swear I haven't watched JJK in months...

What's A Classis?

"Classis" is a term I first encountered in this post. The term may even originate in the linked post, but I have no idea and no clue as how to find out: blog archaeologist I am not.

To define "classis" in my own terms, it's the basic skeleton for a fully-fledged character class, further customized by combining it with an "archetype" (again, terminology from here).

I'd say in simpler terms that a classis is just enough of a class to be playable without being exciting, and easily becomes memorable with the inclusion of the aforementioned archetypes.

The RUINWORKER Classis

You bear a curse: you can see the dread tapestry of RUIN swirling all around you, the world, and everything you love. Monstrous CLOTS haunt humanity, invisible to all but a few; to all but folks like you. Just by being aware of RUIN, you instinctively wield its awful power. Who knows, maybe you'll do something good with it?

+1 ruin die per template.
A - Ruin-Sense, Grievous Counter, First Miracle
B - Damnation in the Eyes
C - Raw Power
D - Unblocking the Chakras

Ruin-Sense [A]

You can see RUIN coursing through the world and coalescing around people, places, and things; every Ruinworker visualizes it differently, but the level of awareness is the same. This also makes you one of the select few who can perceive and effect CLOTS.

At any time, you can vibe-check something and get an accurate sense of how much RUIN it's tangled up with.

You also know exactly how many ruin dice people around you are carrying (unless they have an archetype ability that occludes this), and how horrifically dangerous a nearby CLOT is.

Grievous Counter [A]

As a reaction to a miracle committed in your presence, you may spend any number of ruin dice to attempt to shut down the miracle.

You and your opponent roll your ruin dice at the same time.

First Miracle [A]

While your archetype and your training determine most of your useful and adventure-relevant abilities, every Ruinworker started somewhere, and "somewhere" is inevitably the first miracle you ever committed. Your first miracle was magnificent, terrifying, and as it turns out, incredibly hard to replicate.

Describe your first miracle in detail; be sure not to skimp on the emotional situation surrounding why it was committed when and where and how it was. Detail its effect, and don't be afraid to go big: raising the dead or reducing someone to ashes with a glare are totally on the right track for what we're cooking here.

Currently, you cannot commit your first miracle again.

Each time you get the Brilliant Insight result when rolling ruin dice, you earn one attempt to replicate the first miracle.

To attempt to replicate the first miracle, you need one of the following conditions to be fulfilled:

  1. The emotional situation you're making this attempt in now is very similar to when you first committed the miracle.
  2. Someone you like (including yourself, but only if you like yourself) will definitely die if you can't commit the miracle right now.

Then, roll all your ruin dice. If you score a Brilliant Insight, you crack the mental wall sealing away the first miracle from your waking mind, and it comes to pass here and now. If you fail, you suffer bad enough psychic backlash to put you straight Sudden Death.

Succeed or fail, your first miracle is once again locked until you get another Brilliant Insight or gain your [D] template.

Damnation in the Eyes [B]

You can lock eyes with someone or something that has 0 ruin dice and strike them with overwhelming, gut-churning dread.

If you try to use this ability against something carrying 1 or more ruin dice, you immediately learn each other's stat blocks.

Raw Power [C]

You've grown familiar enough with the ebb and flow of RUIN to draw strength from it in brutally simple ways that less-advanced Ruinworkers find hard to compete with.

Before you roll any attribute test, you may roll and add any number of ruin dice to the result. Whatever you accomplish this way, however you try to spin it, everyone present knows you used RUIN; people who aren't in the know will be suitably freaked out, suddenly possessed by a powerful instinctive drive to avoid you forever. Yes, this includes your precious family...

Unblocking the Chakras [D]

The next time you are able to commit your First Miracle successfully, you unlock the ability to call upon it whenever you need, though it will always require you to roll all your ruin dice.

Ruin Dice & Miracles

Ruin dice are like magic dice in [name a GLOGhack]: they are d6s, they deplete on 4-6, they return to your pool on 1-3, they produce weird results on doubles and triples. They power your miracles.

Scoring ODD doubles on ruin dice gets you a Brilliant Insight. This can be used (as detailed above) to attempt a replication of your first miracle. If you don't want to squander your Brilliant Insight on this foolishness, you can instead cash it in for advantage on your next roll.

Scoring EVEN doubles on ruin dice inflicts Backlash according to your archetype (my hope is to have a d6 table for each archetype).

Scoring ANY triples on ruin dice advances you down your Doom Track (so far, so GLOGmage) which again is archetype-specific.

Whenever you score any double or triple on ruin dice, you may choose to take damage equal to [highest] and negate the effect.

Potential Ruinworker Archetypes

If these were even conceptually complete, I'd wait to post all of it together. Below, then, are just ideas and inklings.

The proposed format for an archetype would be a bit more in-depth than one perk, one drawback, and some starting equipment. While I like to keep things as simple and elegant as possible, each archetype would probably have the following details:

Here, then, are the ideas:

The Grotesque, who allows ruin to overtake them, transforming into a hideous monstrosity with inhuman capabilities.

The Keeper, who leashes CLOTS to their will as bound familiars, commanding a small, chaotic, but ultimately powerful army of RUIN.

The Mancer, who rearranges the world around them, manipulating the elements and the battlefield to secure their victory.

The Psych, who pulls on the strings of ruin to invade the minds of their opponents, twisting the enemy to their own ends.

The Surge, who burns ruin for insane physical abilities: speed, strength, toughness, heightened reflexes, impossible movement, etc.

Inspirations

The Grievous Counter ability works suspiciously like a counterspell as described here. Huh.

The idea for the First Miracle ability comes from Worm, a weird and sometimes cool thing I read part of. If you're not a fan, that's all you need to know. If you are a fan, then you know what part of that mythos inspired this mechanic.

The Raw Power ability is based on The Self Remade and Secret Art in this post...you can really see who's in my blogroll...

It's already been said in the intro, but this Fighter is fully culpable for any crimes against gaming I have committed today.

#GLOG #classes #design