High Elf Variant

[robinmotion]

So I LOVE (yes, all caps) the magic system in DCC, particularly Corruption and Spellburn. However, I didn't feel like it quite fits to use them with elves (reasons below). So I made a variant where their spellcasting is much more "generic" with a trade-off of being less risky, too. I also gave them boosts as fighters, but not with those unpredictable mighty deeds ... elves are more precise, controlled. But like Tolkien elves, they get distant and detached more easily than the short-lived races.

Use if you like! I know it does away with a lot of what makes DCC awesome -- the randomness, the gonzo stuff -- but I think the one in 10 adventurers that is an elf, that's okay. It makes them feel even more different than other classes, more measured and controlled -- a more enlightened race, for a more civilized age, whose time has passed ; ).

Reasons for doing away with elven Corruption and Spellburn, and altering mercurial magic:
-- Neither doing terrible things to your body nor growing boils and scales seems to fit with the image of elves that are often in Appendix N, of ethereal physically perfect specimens.

-- The game's generic world seems to suggest that elves are so old as to have had tons of practice at spellcasting; they have time to learn it slowly, and get it right.

-- Elves are old buddies with their patrons. They have them on speed-dial.

Reasons for giving them other benefits/limiting Luck:

-- Elves suck as fighters. They eventually become worse at it than clerics and thieves. If I'm gonna "nerf" their spellcasting, they need to be better survivors. They should be good, in a careful, precise way.

-- Luck is for gamblers and short-lived mortal races. Elves are beyond that.

All right, here's the class itself.

High Elf Variant:

Ability Burn: Elves cannot burn Luck like other classes. However, they can burn Personality, Agility, and Luck in specific ways. For the purposes of this variant, all "burnt" ability scores are regained at a rate of 1 point per day, or 2 with extended rest. Optional: If an elf ever has 0 Personality, Agility, or Luck, they desire to withdraw completely from this world, removing to a place of sanctuary to contemplate the universe. At the Judge's discretion, other characters may bring them on a special quest to reawaken their thirst for adventure.

Spellcasting:
-- When elves roll for mercurial magic, they can swap the 10s and 1s on the roll (so a 37 could instead be read as a 73), taking whichever they prefer.

-- Whenever an elf would suffer from corruption when casting a spell, they instead "burn" one point of Personality as their minds are seduced by the siren song of the magic's weave.

-- An elf cannot use spellburn like normal wizards. However, an elf may "burn" Personality to add to their spell check results (after seeing the results), calling on their well-known patron psychically for greater power. The more they do so, however, the more distant they become, lost in their patron's otherworldly demesne.

Fighting & Survival:
-- Elves may "burn" Agility to add to their attack rolls (after seeing the results), as they focus their minds on countless decades of sword practice and live in the dream of the bladesong to strike with precision and grace. The more they do this, however, the more detached from their situation they become, leaving themselves open to attack.

-- Elves may "burn" Luck to improve their Armor Class against individual attacks (after seeing the results) as well as to add to saving throws (after seeing the results). What other races see as chance, an elf knows is but the patterns that fate has woven for them since their people first stepped into this world.

[GnomeBoy]

I'd be interested in seeing this in play, particularly in a longer-form game...

You should submit this for the Gongfarmers Almanac.

[Tjdoomslayer]

I really dig this and plan on playtesting it as soon as i can.