Random World Part 5: Adventurers

What is a fantasy world without brave (or foolish) adventurers? Here's a few thoughts on how I could run the still-unnamed world using any of my systems of choice, namely either Basic Fantasy, Labyrinth Lord or Scarlet Heroes. It's really up to what would work best for a group, as always.

Barbarians

System: Basic Fantasy
Mostly only found among a few wild tribes and some of the more war-like communities around the Mavre Woods, the Barbarian is an uncommon sight. While there are characters who are barbarians in the sense they come from a culture perceived as cruder, the capital-B Barbarian class refer to warriors who enter a state of absolute rage. Some believe that, at least in the Mavre Woods, that this is a sign of having troll blood. Personally I'd probably rename them Berserkers but that does carry with it too many connotations to real-world cultures and isn't quite suitably fantastical.

Clerics

System: All

For the most part I have left the religion of the nameless world extremely fuzzy to non-existent: it isn't that I don't like using spiritual matters in my games, quite the opposite even. Rather it is more of a deliberate design choice to keep Cleric optional. In my head there is no 'true' version of this setting and, as such, I'm keeping my options open to simply remove Clerics or replace them with something more interesting if need be. In any version where Clerics exist, they most likely don't belong to any organized religion. This isn't the kind of world where complex and established monotheist faiths seem to exist. As such I imagine there's only loose branches and sects of various religions which overlap and are as detailed as need be. That said, there's been a hint of animism in the setting, that spirits are everywhere: as much I would probably draw some inspiration from Shinto, Hinduism and Buddhism mixed with the 'Knight Templar' style of the base Cleric.

Dwarves

System: Race (Basic Fantasy, Scarlet Heroes) and Class (Labyrinth Lord)

Dwarves are more clearly inhuman in this world than others: their skins can be shades of yellow, light green and all shades of brown with some odd grey-skinned dwarves. They are ugly, for the most part and even the youngest dwarf looks old and wizened, at least in appearance. Think more Gnome-esque than 'short bearded viking who drink a lot'. They are rarely seen in human settlements and are distrusted.

• For simplicity's sake, Dwarves use the Dwarf race-class when it exist.
• One simple option to make Dwarves fit a bit more in their sneaky, magical type in Basic Fantasy is to allow them to become Magic-Users and Thieves/Magic-Users.

Elves

System: Race (Basic Fantasy, Scarlet Heroes) and Class (Labyrinth Lord)

Elves don't exist in this world but they also....do exist. The people of Waywood and to a much lesser extent a few bloodlines in Caldbrygg still have ancient blessings which make them magically gifted and longer-lived (if only by an extra century, at most). These beings would be statted as elves but otherwise they are nearly physically identical to humans. They are, for all intents and purposes, a human subrace.

• Elves (even if they aren't called that) use the Elf class. Obviously.
• Should the Elf be allowed the Cleric class in Basic Fantasy? An interesting question I'm still unsure of.

Fighters (Fighting-Men)

Systems: All

The Fighting-Man or Fighter or whatever you want to call it is the most basic class there is, yet also the most iconic and in my opinion is more interesting than modern RPG players think. They can be just about anything, but mercenaries, sell-swords with hearts of gold, knights-errant and member of reclusive warrior tribes out for adventures are all perfectly valid character origins. The cultural variations would presumably affect their preferred fighting style and weapons:

• Knights and former city/elite guards of Caldbrygg and Waywood are your iconic armored knights, with swords, heavy armor and likely a spear of some kind to use with their mount if they have one.
• Warriors of the Jungle of Spears are, as the name implies, expert spearmen and use all manner of polearms and javelins, some coated in the poison of the beasts of the jungle. They eschew heavier armor.
• Men of Mavre (when statted as human!) are the big burly type, with high strength and constitution and a big weapon, possibly their woodsman axe. Their secondary weapon is a big longbow.
• Hunters of Yarford tend to use a mixture of sword, bows and javelins. Some make use of more exotic weapons which their ancestors picked up from the tribes in the lands they settled long ago.

Magic-Users

Systems: All

One thing I've deliberately left as ambiguous as possible is the origins of magic: in many ways, it just is and is a part of reality which just happen and 'shouldn't be questioned because fantasy settings have magic'. There are a few ideas floating in my mind but, frankly, does it even need an explanation? Magic is magic, it's mysterious, bizarre and even unnatural at times. Wizards and sorcerers, witches and warlocks. They're all around! Of course, most societies look upon them with heavy mistrust, with only in Cryham, Caldbrygg and to an extent Waywood do they have any status.

Rangers

System: Basic Fantasy

The Rangers primarily exist among the people of Mavre Woods and the Middlelanders, owing to tradition of forest exploration, hunting and the usage of bows to kill both animals and an angry troll that only a mad man would try to approach. There are also Rangers among the many tribes found in the Jungle of Spears but their traditions are otherwise unrelated.

Thieves

Systems: All

They're thieves, liars, cheaters, grave-robbers, assassins and con-men! What more can I add? They fit in everywhere. Thieves (or Rogues as I've known them) are often the cockroaches and scavengers of society, at least on a metaphorical level. They are especially common among the markets of Cryham, trying to sell stolen magical baubles found in a tomb or trying to con a young apprentice sorcerer out of what little gold he has by telling him where to find the location of some magical vault.