Vigilante City 5e - Part II - Classes Part 2

And today let’s look at the rest of the (non-powered) classes. 

• 
  Mentor (Stick, Alfred Pennyworth) – I’m in love with class and requested back when Eric and Josh were writing the original Vigilante City. They can boost many ally rolls based on their Wisdom modifier. Trainers are skill monkeys, Tutor are also, but more intelligence based, and Weapons Masters show you where and how to hit something hard. 
• Mutant Hunter (Elsa Bloodstone,  Caveboy) – Thematically this one seems more villainous than vigilante. Because of the name my mind goes to the Purifiers or Friends of Humanity in Marvel. That being said this is just vigilante that hunts things that aren’t human. In their own way the Winchester brothers fit this role (though they obviously go for supernatural targets). They get the ability to sense Mutants and other MegaHumans. As they level they get bonuses against these targets. The Annihilator is an aggressive subclass, while the Shadow Sly sticks to the dark corners to get things done.
• The Protégé (Robin, Bucky) – Whatever you do, don’t call them sidekicks. These vigilantes gain the ability to provide hero support and gain benefits for being with their mentor. They are also acrobatic masters. Protégés that have the Rallyist subclass are team cheerleaders that can rally the troops and serve as symbols. Warrior Wards on the other hand are charming combatants.
• Sharpshooter (Deadshot, Best Tiger) – Archers can’t have all the ranged fun. Sharpshooter’s are long range experts that provide great support to vigilante teams. Like the Archer they can add double their proficiency bonus to their ranged Modern weapon attacks. They also get trick shots. Bombardiers are the biggest loose cannons of the mix, being grenade experts. Gunslingers are dual pistol-wielding cool cats. Finally Snipers are experts at making their shots count. 
• Street Preacher (Azrael) – Sometimes vigilantes need God (or one of them) to take back the
  
  streets. The good aligned holy men, women, and enbies. They are immune to Madness and have divine aura. Crusaders are combat Street Preachers, Evangelists spread the good work via divine oration, and Spiritual Healers are specialized in channeling their divine power for optimal healing. 
• True Vigilante (Clown Hunter, Moon Knight) – These vigilantes fight fire with fire, using chaos and anarchy to fight anarchy and chaos. They are always ready to fight crime and flip off authority. Castigators smite their foes and a Nemesis is a True Vigilante that focuses on facing a certain type of foe.
• Tunnel Shadow (Catwoman, Black Cat) – These vigilantes are your stereotypical roguish types. They are stealthy and have sneak attack. Underworld Fences know how to acquire and sell stolen goods. Underworld Guides are experts at navigating sewers. 
• VC Mercenary (Paladin, Deathstroke) – These battle-hardened mercs are elite operators. Like Mutant Hunters, and Nemesis True Vigilantes, they know how to hunt and take down targets. Shadowmark Agents are black-ops types that are straight out of the Iron Age of comics while Guns for Hire specialize in destroying their targets.

Like I said yesterday, if the only classes for the games were these, you’d have more than you need. But no, not counting MegaHuman classes (which will be discussed tomorrow or Friday) there are 17 non-powered classes!

D6 of Doom

This is a wild idea and I love it. I even have a die like this I picked up from Dollar Tree. 

My first thought is to include it as some kind of symbiote-esque weapon to introduce into the Vigilante City game I want to run. It also works well as a magical MacGuffin for a D&D game. 

Vigilante City 5e - Part II - Classes Part 1

 Today class is in session… err I mean we’re talking about the Vigilante City classes.  As I mentioned yesterday, there are 17 non-powered classes.  I figured I’d talk about each briefly (including subclasses and such). I’ll probably break it down further and talk about the first 9 today and the other 8 tomorrow.

• Archer (Hawkeye, Green Arrow) – You know this had to be one. These cats are pretty dope. They combine ranged shenanigans with parkour. They gain double proficiency bonus when using bows and crossbows (which is ridiculously awesome). They can do all sorts of trick shots. Subclasses included Close Quarters Shooter and Reach Slayer (think sniper with a bow). Being converted from OSR, the level 3 ability for Close Quarters doesn’t make sense.  Since I’m part of the extended Bloat Games crew I’m going to make an errata document.  This is one of my favorite classes because I’ve always been a big fan of archer heroes. 
• Athlete (Wildcat, Demolition Man)– This is another classic vigilante archetype. These individuals are blessed with great physical talent. They move faster and hit harder than the average cat. The two subclasses are Powerhouse Athlete and Superstar Athlete. The Powerhouse dominates physical activities and the Superstar mixes athleticism with natural charisma. 
• Crime Fighter (Batman, Night Thrasher) – Honorable combatants that feel no one is above the law. Their subsclasses are Master Investigator and Pulverizing Crime Fighter. The first is a master of investigation while the second delivers extra brutal blows to law breaking scum.
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  Dark Avenger (Punisher, Red Hood) – These vigilantes want to make criminals suffer and do not care about the law. They are brutal and can smite their foes. Their subclasses include Psy-Avenger (which unlocks minor Psion abilities) and Umbra stalker (which are totally at home in the dark).
• Gadgeteer (Donatello, Blue Beetle)– These vigilantes are brilliant and can whip up a variety of wonderful toys to help them in their crusade. They can create and upgrade their equipment. Their subclasses are the offensive Onslaught Bringer and the defensive Reinforcing Engineer. I really like the upgrades this class gets to their gear.
• Genius (Mister Terrific, Valeria Richards) – This brilliant individuals can negate abilities by outsmarting foes and are protected by their intellect. The are extremely skillful as well. In classic comics I feel like most genius characters would also be Gadgeteers. I get why there are different classes though. The two subclasses are Genius Teacher which can impart their knowledge on to others (in the form of bonuses) and the Human Computer which are totally aware of the surroundings and eventually know everything (or at least gain proficiency in all skills). 
• Hardboiled Detective (The Question, Misty Knight) – These neo-noir heroes gather information with two-fisted investigation. They have a useful ability called insightful knowledge (which has its own special chart). They also make connections on the street. Their subclasses are the Sherlock and the Tracker.  The Sherlock relies on Intelligence instead of just Wisdom. The Tracker does what its name says.
• Knight Nurse (Night Nurse, Dr. Mid-Nite) – If you’re going to get into a fight, you want a good healer. Knight Nurses feel that role well. Combat Medic and Med Student are the subclasses. Combat Medics are rough and tumble and can hold their own in a fight. Med Students can outsmart foes and perform medical miracles. 
• Martial Artist (Bronze Tiger, Electra) – You knew this classic archetype was going to be included. These vigilantes have trained their minds and bodies to be the ultimate weapons. Their subclasses are The Mountain and Street Ninja. The Mountain is indomitable and can weather any blow. Street Ninjas are stealthy combatants that rely on cunning.

Honestly if these were only classes I’d say the game has plenty, but these are just half of the classes (and don’t take the MegaHuman classes into account). Tomorrow I’ll discuss the other classes. 

Vigilante City 5e - Part I - Overview

 Vigilante City got the 5e treatment and it’s pretty damn spectacular. There are two books: Core Rules and Villain’s Guide. The core book is around 285 pages. While it says Core Rulesyou’ll still need a Player’s Handbook or the Basic Rules to run it. While it can be used with either version of 5e, most Bloat Games 5e stuff is made with D&D 2024 in mind. The art is primarily Runehammer’s work (like the original) with a few Christopher Torres and Phil Stone pieces here and there.

Most characters in Vigilante City are Humans and MegaHumans. At your GM’s discretion you can also include non-human species.  There are 16 modern backrounds included. A majority of the book focuses on classes. There are 17 non-powered classes and 8 powered MegaHuman classes. Like the SURVIVE THIS!! version of the game, the basic classes are very well balanced. The MegaHuman classes can bend and break things though, so GM’s beware. The game was designed with Batman in mind, rather that Justice League and Superman. That being said some of the MegaHuman classes can get wild. That’s why despite the fact the authors state this is a vigilante game, not a superhero game I consider it a superhero game.

The regular classes each have multiple subclasses. The MegaHuman classes work a little different though. There are 11 subclasses that can be taken by any MegaHuman. The SURVIVE THIS!! version of the game had something similar with the powered characters.

We’re then presented with 9 or 10 pages of new equipment. You get all the weapons and armor you could need. There’s also an extended section on utility belts and gadgets for them. A few new rules are included. There’s an ignited condition that objects and characters can have that just makes sense to me. Magic comes from dark dimensions (ala Doctor Strange) so there are madness and Void rules. There are new first aid rules as well an ability called Outsmart that lets you negate attacks. This is another transplant from SURVIVE THIS!! that I’m a big fan of. We also get some simple radiation rules and a few new skills. Vigilante Points (V Points) are another new rules addition for the game. It’s essentially a reputation system. Definitely makes sense in a vigilante themed game. There’s an extended rules session for team tactics. Groups can choose to take a particular formation which grants bonuses. There are also combo actions which let you do things like the fastball special.  

The book looks gorgeous and packs a lot of content for your vigilante/superhero games. As a big fan of 5e supers content this is right up my alley (which is hopefully not Crime Alley). In the next few days I’ll go more into the classes and also discuss the Villain’s Guide.

Session 0.5

It’s been a few weeks since I’ve made any real posts. Tonight will be the second session of my new D&D 2024 campaign. This is the first ongoing game I’ve been involved with in years. Sadly I can’t remember the character names at the moment and forgot to write them down. I’ll get them tonight. Here is the party:

Female Blue Dragonborn Sorcerer played by Alysha – haughty noble 

Male Wood Elf Druid played by Jacob – sarcastic avenger of nature

Female Aasimar Monk played by Tomi – amnesiac that has moved from temple to temple to learn more about religion

Female Human Warlock played by Terron – pact of the blade warlock looking for power and wealth

We had a session 0.5. Everyone made characters and I ran a quick intro session. I usedEveryone Dies at Turtle Bay from Faster, Purple Worm! Everybody Dies, Vol 1. The party were imprisoned at Grave’s End in the small costal town of Turtle Bay. Each was sentenced to life in prison. I let them decide why they were there. The Warlock had been caught stealing, the druid got in a fight, the sorcerer was framed by her jealous step-mother (who she wants revenge on), and the monk mercy killed a diseased priest.

In a Dirty Dozen-style plot the characters (along with a bugbear prisoner named Benny the Butcher) are recruited for a suicide mission. They must investigate a ghost ship. They are given their equipment, some magical boosting from a local merchant, and a ship. Unfortunately, on their way to investigate the ship they find out how the bay got its name. They are attacked by a dragon turtle and as the ship starts to sink the session ended.

This is going to be a fun game. The party is an interesting mix and I think there will be some great roleplaying opportunities. Originally, I was going to send them to Punjar, the Tarnished Jewel next. However, after talking to the players about their characters’ motivations and plans I’ve changed my mind. Fortunately, last week I found out the second Swordfish Islands book has been released. I immediately ordered it and tonight the characters will find themselves Shipwrecked in the Swordfish Islands.

We Are Jimothy

If you've been on the internet recently (and I'm assuming you have if you're reading this), you've seen tons of memes and things about Jimothy. He kind of looks like a furry Squonk to me, which makes me wonder if the original "squonk" was a critter with the same physical condition. If you'd like to add him to your D&D game or just check out his official stats you can do so on D&D Beyond.

A Dom DM

If you made a Venn Diagram of folks into kink and tabletop gamers with my friends it'd pretty much one big circle. I think that's why this one cracked me up. 

Living Spells Play-Along Pack

To hype the upcoming D&D 5.5 release, Arcana Unleashed, you can claim the Living Spell Play-Along Pack on D&D Beyond for free.

This previous the following content from the upcoming book:

• Six living spell stat blocks
• The evoker archmage stat block
• The Agent of the Ninth Quill character background
• The Arcane Infiltrator Origin feat
• The Idol of Good Fortunes magic item
• Ninth Quill faction info, including bastion and renown rewards

The first two episodes of the new season of Dungeon Masters are also available online. I haven’t watched them yet, but I loved the previous seasons Ravenloft actual plays.

Caver, Ho!

My favorite acquisition at Origins was my Caver mini from Severed Books. Because he's a real one, Justin from Severed Books brought one just for me.

Originally introduced in Caver and Cube Book 1, Cavers are a combo of familiar, fantasy mech, and mobile base of operations. They've also been features in Stone Over Sky and Darkest Rock. While all three books are compatible, Stone Over Sky is system neutral and Darkest Rock is designed for Mork Borg. Both books included at least one new Caver class. 

The minis are solid af. They are 6.25 inches tall and way about 2 pounds. They have two caps on top that can be removed to conveniently place minis (see below). I LOVE my Caver, but haven't had him painted yet. I'm not good at painting, so I will probably have a friend take a crack at it.

While I'm still working out details my next game will include a Caver. If I stick with Heroes of the Borderlands, then I'll probably go with my idea that the cultists' base is actually a caver. If I don't I was thinking it would be fun if after going to the canyon and defeating evil, the party find a random new cave. If I don't go with a Borderlands game, it's no sweat. Caver's can be dropped into any setting that includes powerful magic. The game will be a 5.5 one and I think the new Bastion rules will be perfect for customizing the interior of the Caver.

If you can't tell I'm excited. Have you ever used anything like this in your game? Would you be interested? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Victory in Valachan

We only had four players again this week so I let my fellow DM, Terron, run this time. The party was:

• Human Artificer (still not sure what his subclass was) 
• Bugbear Ranger (Hollow Warden)
• Dwarf Barbarian (Path of the Berserker)
• Lupin Druid (Circle of the Moon) 

Since Terron was running I spent my time looking through bulk Magic: The Gathering singles. I did catch what was happening though, so I'll give a short synopsis.

The party find themselves in a jungle realm (Valachan). They encounter a toothy tree that's quite hunger. The druid offers to bring it food if it doesn't try to eat them. The party then saves some townsfolk from hunting phase spiders. After defeating the spiders they hear massive footsteps. A strigori and his summoned t-rex (yes a goddamn t-rex in Ravenloft) fight the party. After defeating the stirge-like humanoid the party convince the t-rex they are friends (which is an option presented in the adventure).

The group had fun and it was entertaining to listen to. This will be the last session at Dungeon Dwellers until the Season of Arcana comes out.

Stand Ready For My Arrival, Worm

Recently I discovered the 5.5 Viltrumite class. While OP in many ways, it's actually rather balanced and really good. I decided to do a DCC version for fun. You can check out the original version here.

Here's the 1st draft of my DCC Viltrumite class. Like the 5.5 one I can't say it's not OP, but it is playable and I think it'd be fun.

Link

Blood in Borca

  This week’s Season of Horror adventure was Blood in Borca. A few players were out so we combined player groups and I ran the session. The party included

• Human Artificer (not sure what his subclass was) [normally plays in other group]
• Bugbear Ranger (Hollow Warden)
• Dwarf Barbarian (Path of the Berserker)
• Lupin Druid (Circle of the Moon) [same build as the druid in my previous game but different player)

After slaying the illithid vampire in Darkon, the players wake in the domain of Borca. They save a noble from wolves. He hires them to accompany him to a party. The host uses his newly acquired shadow raven powers to incapacitate the party. They wake up in a lab and their new noble patron is ordered to repair a mechanical spider. While this is going on the party are forced to fight a fiery dwarf (an azer). The battle is hard fought and the artificer and barbarian are severely wounded, but survive.

The next room (and final encounter) contains the evil noble (a Priest of Osybus), his two fanatical cultists, and four spies that serve him. This fight was BRUTAL. The cultists started the fight by casting Hold Person on the barbarian and artificer (who failed). Then the Priest used his Soul Blade to constantly paralyze the wildshaped druid. There were many rounds of characters doing nothing but taking critical hits because they were paralyzed. If it wasn’t for the druid, it would have been a TPK. After several rounds, eventually the druid (with help from the ranger and mechanical spider) were able to take out their foes. The fight was frustrating, but ultimately the heroes triumphed. While I was chuckling at first, honestly, I felt bad during this fight. The constant paralyzing effects just made the fight tedious.

Next week will be the final Season of Horror adventure, Victory in Valachan.

Fuccubus Friday - Mozul

 Last week I talked about Malcanthet, this week I thought I'd share some art of one of her high priests (and sometimes plaything), Mozul.

Death in Darkon

Earlier tonight I ran the third session of the Season of Horror, Death in Darkon. It was a blood bath (which is fitting because it's vampire-centric). This week Enza has sent the party to the domain of Darkon to stop the second shadow raven. My group this week was made up of the following:

• Bugbear Ranger (Hollow Warden)
• Dwarf Barbarian (Circle of the Moon)
• Drow Fighter (Eldritch Knight) 

They awake in an underground river. The first encounter they face off with an elven vampire familiar, two bandit captains, and four toughs. I was rolling crits like crazy and they had a small party. The drow (played by my kid) was taken out in one round by the familiar. The party was killed and since we had plenty of time I pulled a Groundhog's Day and let them run through it again. I took the four toughs out and still cause a party wipe. I asked them if they wanted to fight the adventure's boss, an illithid vampire, for the Hell of it. While the dwarf went down, they killed the abomination.

Despite the deaths, everyone had a lot of fun. I'm looking forward to next week's adventure, Blood in Borca.

Music Monday - Who Will You Be

 Here's another Critical Role inspired tune, though instead of jaunty this one is sexy. 

Jester's mother, Marion Lavorre (aka the Ruby of the Sea), would be a great focus for a future Fuccubus Friday post.

I Want You For The Honk Legion

I will be running two session of The Honk Legion for Lurking Fears at Origins. This 5e adventure is set in a twisted carnival full of demon clowns. It's laugh out loud funny and totally absurd. My sessions will be Thursday and Friday morning at 9:00 AM. The Thursday session is full, but four of the five spots for the Friday session are free. Here are some props and decorations I’ll have at the table.

Also if you wear a medium or smaller shirt, Hot Topic has an awesome Honk Legion shirt on clearance.

Succubus Sunday - Malcanthet

Malcanthet is the demon queen of the succubi. The first picture below is her natural appearance. However, to anyone that gazes upon her she looks like what that person finds most attractive (which I guess means she looks like Rhea Ripley to me).

Terror in Tepest

Tonight I ran the second session of the Season of Horror at Dungeon Dwellers in Portsmouth, Ohio. After saving townsfolk from the graveyard, the party made a deal with Inza. The witch told them that if they seek out the shadow ravens that caused the graveyard incident, she would send them home.

One of my players wasn't there, but a new players was. My players were:

• Bugbear Ranger (Hollow Warden)
• Dwarf Barbarian (Path of the Berserker)
• Lupin Druid (Circle of the Moon)

The mists led the party to a harvest festival in Tepest. They feasted with townsfolk and were hired to make sure a ritual site was set up properly. When they arrived they found a hobgoblin captain, some bugbears, and signs of a struggle. The hobgoblin claimed a druid let them have this abandoned home. There was a stand off, until the ranger climbed over a wall and caused the ritual effigy to animate into a death's head tree. The druid (who'd misled the humanoids and created the tree using the shadow raven) joined the fight. While the hobgoblin and her crew fought the tree and druid, the party fought flying death's heads. Eventually the humanoids were killed, but their attacks had weakened the party enough to finish off the tree. A shadow raven escaped the tree and was banished. The party grabbed some loot before the mists took them.

The session was fun. Encounters two and three were combined because of the ranger's actions, but it worked. My only disappointment is that I was never able to do the quirky thing the death's heads have. If they reduce a character to 0 HP, the creature is KO'd and the head replaces theirs's permanently. You then get to roll on a random head chart. They change is just cosmetic, but it's wild.

These scenarios are fun. There are three more. Come back next week to hear about Death in Darkon.

Music Monday - The Legend of Grog Machina

The new season of Legend of Machina is on Prime. If you want a totally accurate summary of previous seasons, check out this jaunty tune from Grog and Pike.

Dagger Danger

June 11th is International Day of Play. In honor of that D&D Beyond is offering another free Borderlands Quest for anyone to claim.

Dagger Danger is a short quest the player's find on the job board in the Keep. The characters are tasked with interring a kobold lair and retrieving a heirloom dagger. It's short, but includes a few kinds of encounters, a variety of foes, and some roleplay opportunities. I'll be adding this one to my Heroes of the Borderlands sessions.

If haven't already, you can still claim last year's adventure, Goblin Trouble, for free as well.