d20 Mongoose Publishing Classic Play - Heroes Of Fantasy.pdf - Mongoose Publishing - R5700

Heroes of Fantasy

The Best of the Mongoose Power Class Collection

August Hahn, Tim Hitchcock, Joseph Miller, Ian Sturrock,

John Thompson, Paul Tucker & Patrick Younts

Contents

Credits

Editor

Ted Chang

2 Introduction

3 Alchemist

11 Artificer

18 Assassin

25 Avenger

31 Cabalist

39 Charismatic

45 Crusader

50 Eldritch Vampire

56 Exorcist

64 Explorer

72 Fool

80 Gladiator

88 Hedge Wizard

96 Knight

104 Mercenary

113 Noble

120 Pirate

128 License

Illustrations

Eric Bergeron, Scott Clark,

Anthea Dilly, Marcio Fiorito,

David Griffith, Eric Lofgren,

Ralph Horsley, Patricio Soler,

Chad Sergesketter, Ronald Smith,

Ursula Vernon, Alejandro Villen

and Nathan Webb

Studio Manager

Ian Barstow

Production Director

Alex Fennell

Proofreading

Ron Bedison

Open Game Content & Copyright Information

this work by any means without the written permission of the publisher is expressly forbidden. Heroes of Fantasy

is presented under the Open Game and D20 Licences. See page 128 for the text of the Open Game Licence. All text

paragraphs and tables containing game mechanics and statistics derivative of Open Game Content and the System

Reference Document are considered to be Open Game Content. All other significant characters, names, places,

the Open Game Content status of any material herein, please contact Mongoose Publishing for clarification. ‘d20

System’ and the ‘d20 System’ logo are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast, Inc. and are used according to the terms

of the d20 System Licence version 6.0. A copy of this Licence can be found at www.wizards.com/d20. The mention

of or reference to any company or product in these pages is not a challenge to the trademark or copyright concerned.

Dungeons & Dragons® and Wizards of the Coast® are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast, Inc. in the United States

and other countries and are used with permission. Printed in China.

Mongoose Publishing

Mongoose Publishing, Upper Floor, 52-54 Cricklade Road, Swindon, SN2 8AF, United Kingdom

info@mongoosepublishing.com

Visit the Mongoose Publishing website at www.mongoosepublishing.com for additional rules and news.

Alchemist

Heroes of Fantasy

Introduction

T he Power Classes series of character classes

from Mongoose Publishing are designed to

be seamlessly slotted into any fantasy-based

d20 game. Each of these Power Classes introduces

an entirely new core character class, adding a whole

new dimension to campaigns. Players will find full

details on how to use the new character classes,

greatly increasing the wealth of options they are

presented with by the core rulebooks, while Games

Masters will revel in the wide variety of new classes

they have at their disposal for Non-Player Characters

in their campaigns.

Any player intending to play one of the new Power

Classes should read through the particular section

thoroughly so as to be familiar with all the rules

required, referring to the PHB whenever directed by

the text. In particular, special note should be made

to the many new class features which will have a

direct impact on the capabilities of any character

in the game.

Alchemist

Heroes of Fantasy

Alchemist

I n classic terms, the art of alchemy is the transmutation

aged alchemists might be limited to hiring adventurers

but mobile devotees of the craft can easily take on the task

themselves when they must. The greatest laboratory of

all, some would say, is the world itself.

of matter through the arcane science of will. This

can be mundane, using processes such as distillation,

blending and catalysing elements, or metaphysical, using

meditations and incantations to force a change that would

otherwise never occur in the physical world. Alchemy

is best known for attempts to transform lead into gold

but this analogy is truly just a representation of what

alchemists strive for. By transmogrifying something

utterly base into the best and greatest of things, alchemy

breaks the laws of the universe and allows those with the

skill and power of the ‘true science’ to rewrite them.

Characteristics: Ask a dozen alchemists what their most

important trait is and you will receive a dozen different

answers and a hundred additional questions. It is their

struggle to understand the universe through ceaseless

inquiry that sets alchemists apart. For the truly devoted,

alchemy is not about gold or sunrods, it is the eternal

question, ‘How?’ When adventurers make camp, it is

the alchemist among them who spends his time on watch

charting stars, scraping the nearby bedrock for lime

deposits and debating the elemental nature of the universe

with the campfire. Companions might not get a lot of

sleep around an alchemist but those with enough patience

to endure his ramblings can learn a lot about reality.

Alchemy is typically a perplexing art for common folk

in a fantasy setting. In any world where the majority of

people must toil to survive, the idea of someone’s life work

being to stand around boiling liquids and talking about the

‘essense of rare matter’ is quite alien to them. Alchemists

in a fantasy world are rarely considered anything other

than strange folk with ways that set them apart from the

rest of society. Of course, this is not always the case.

The first time an invading band of humanoids is turned

aside by thunderstones and tanglefoot bags, the alchemist

responsible might find himself very popular indeed.

Alignment: Alchemists come from every walk of life and

every way of thinking. Although chaotic evil individuals

probably do not have the self-discipline to proceed far

in the craft, anything else goes. Lawful alchemists are

The Alchemist

Adventures: Alchemists are not accepted as members

of common society, which would normally suggest

they are free to live a life of adventure as they choose.

Unfortunately, the sheer weight and bulk of an alchemical

lab and the many ingredients an alchemist needs to create

his wondrous formulae makes it hard for him to move

his work into the field. While there are certainly those

who can make do with a portable kit, most alchemists

are confined to a private place away from others. The

greatest adventure for most alchemists is the one they

take in the juxtaposition of universal energies and the

really interesting green fungus they found growing on

their boot yesterday.

That is not to say alchemists never adventure. Quite to

the contrary, an alchemist can be forced to take to the road

to acquire a rare ingredient, to learn a forgotten secret of

the craft, or for the mundane reason of needing money to

fund research. Alchemists are so driven by the need to

learn that they can be rousted from their laboratories by

the mere suggestion that a lost process might be recorded

on the stone walls of a recently-discovered keep. Truly

Alchemist

Heroes of Fantasy

generally of the camp that believes everything in the

multiverse obeys the same natural laws, while chaotic

alchemists remain convinced the only true law of

reality is that everything changes. Neutral alchemists

fall between the two camps, trying to chart the laws of

nature through their many permutations. Good and evil

are simple concerns of morality based entirely on the

alchemist himself. A large majority of alchemists tend

towards neutral.

impeded reason usually makes even learning the basics

very difficult. Of all the races, humans tend to be some of

the craft’s most exceptional followers. Human intuition,

ingenuity and versatility makes them well suited to the

class’s mystery and constant learning curve. Ultimately,

alchemy is less about race and more about the ability to

question.

Given their natural inclinations, gnomes would seem to be

very gifted alchemists. Alchemist is an additional favoured

class for gnomes. This allows a gnome character to take

levels in alchemist without disrupting the progression of

their other classes.

Religion: For an alchemist, the science of reality is their

religion. The time they dedicate to their craft leaves little

enough of their day to be consumed by what most of

them would deem as a pointless exercise called ‘prayer’

in any case. Those few alchemists with the disposition to

be religious tend towards the gods of magic, mysticism

and knowledge with more than half choosing the later.

Alchemists with a natural leaning, including the rare but

intriguing alchemist/druid, sometimes hold faith with a

power of nature but this too is very uncommon. Most are

content to worship the abstract concepts of universal truth

and the ‘creation divine’.

Other Classes: Alchemists, by their nearly mystical

nature, get along extremely well with wizards. Indeed,

anyone who practices arcane magic is likely to appreciate

an alchemist’s company as a colleague and fellow scholar.

Individual personalities might not mesh but the common

interests will often bridge such barriers. Anyone capable

of casting spells, even divine casters such as druids and

clerics, are considered fit company because of their

‘enlightened’ minds. Conversely, the mundane nature of

fighters, barbarians and rogues often puts them at odds

with an alchemist, though this seldom keeps them from

being able to work together. Monks and bards are usually

at least good conversation, prompting an alchemist to

engage in many discussions on the fundamental nature

of reality or lute rosin with equal vigour. Ultimately,

if an alchemist needs to adventure at all, he is likely

enthusiastic enough about the journey’s goal he will work

with anyone.

Background: Strangely, most alchemists can trace their

origins to the upper classes. While their activities have

likely separated them from this high birth, the science

of alchemy requires a substantial education and a very

important separating trait; alchemists must be able to

read. Literacy is most often the province of the privileged,

a fact which marks alchemists among their number.

This is not always the case, as lone alchemists far from

society often take in lost children or inquisitive strangers

of indeterminate birth to train and pass their secrets on

to. While alchemy may have arisen from the elite, its

practitioners are rarely status conscious.

Game Rule Information

Abilities: Intelligence is the most important ability

score for any alchemist. Aside from its importance to the

Craft (alchemy) skill, this ability score defines learning

capacity, reasoning and the tendency to question that

is integral to the nature of any alchemist. Wisdom is

also quite important as it allows an alchemist to make

sound judgments about his experiments and provides

the willpower such a born researcher needs to exercise

some restraint. Lastly, a hearty Constitution can help an

alchemist survive something in his lab going boom (and

something always goes boom). Strength and Dexterity

are virtually irrelevant to an alchemist, though they can

provide advantages during adventuring. Charisma, to

put it delicately, is rarely a high trait among alchemists.

Weeks alone with beakers and cosmic equations does not

do much for a man’s interpersonal skills.

Races: Gnomes are hands down the best alchemists

from a purely mechanical sense. Bright, inquisitive

and physically suited to the science by virtue of their

acute senses, gnomes have natural advantages in the

role. Gnomish alchemists are well-respected, even

outside their own culture, for their mastery of the craft.

Their tendency toward invention has prompted gnomes

following this class to create many of alchemy’s more

notable innovations and continually fuels their attempts

to push the science beyond its limits.

Other races also make contributions towards alchemy.

Elven alchemists are among the most natural and reverent

of the class. Dwarven alchemy often involves a lot of

smoke powder and tends to be very task-oriented as befits

their serious mindset. Halflings have their own need of

alchemy, which usually revolves around defending their

homes and bettering their comforts of life. Half elves and

half orcs can take well to the science, though the latter’s

Alignment: Any

Hit Die: d4

d20 Mongoose Publishing Classic Play - Heroes Of Fantasy.pdf

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