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>> Requirements Ability Requirements: CON of 10, WIS of 9, INT of 8. Prime Requisite: Constitution Allowed Races: All Alignment Restriction: Must be partially neutral (LN/CN/NN/NG/NE)
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>> Themes of the Class The Puritan class is not a pious colonist of early America fleeing religious persecution. They are, however, known for their austere living and strict adherence to simplicity in living, and rejection of supernatural manifestation (note "witches", warlocks, and other spellcasters). They, like the Druid, are based somewhat on the group of people of their namesake. While the class could be better named "Mennonite" or "Amish" considering its abilites and ethos, I decided that the name "Puritan" is a much more suitable choice primarily in lieu of the history behind the Puritan Salem, Massachussetts of the 17th century. In many ways, the Puritan also resembles the Native American tribes in finding every imaginable use for the natural resources available to them. Without magic, the Puritans have become necessarily adept at finding new ways of doing old things. Puritans will often make use of agriculture, sewing, and engineering for food, clothing, and shelter, and the use of herbalism for healing. Most regard the natural world as the only realm worthy of mortal experience. Puritans make good use of manual labor (themselves or slaves), they will use equipment that can also be used for other purposes (using scythes as weapons and as farm equipment, and consuming cattle for their milk, meat, hide, and bones for food, clothing, and necromantic - looking silverware and furniture). One cliche' which describes their fastidiousness is "waste not, want not." The Puritan, in pursuit of a non - magical lifestyle, cultivates a variety of properties that he can harness into manageable powers. They are all described in the section "Powers of the Class". The basis for the strengths of the powers is the Puritan's Antimagic Percentile, or AMP. Let us not mistake this overview as descriptive of every Puritan alive. They come from a variety of lifestyles, from hermits and ascetics to wealthy plantation owners. But all Puritans seek a productive existence with an optimum use of resources that are available from pristine nature and their own labor. But all consider magic to be an abherration and corruption of nature. While many Puritans almost have a Druidic respect for virgin nature and the wilderness and playing "ranger", others prefer the comfort of living "close to danger" in the city. Some Puritans have taken on the task of the destruction of magic, while others are content to passively isolate themselves, and let the wizards be. The Puritans call their ethos "Enlightenment", which emphasizes deeper understanding of the natural world around them for the sake of progress and eventual liberation from dependence on the magical arts.
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>> Restrictions Concerning Magic The Puritan completely abandons all use of magic. He sees it as the corruption of the work ethic and the cause of chronic dependence on supernatural forces. He instead chooses to revel in world of natural phenomena, trusting in nonmagical methods of doing things and preferring the works of mortal labor versus magical constructs. Puritans of course cannot cast or learn any kinds of spells and cannot possess or use magic items, weapons, or armor of any kind. Puritans do not willingly use or benefit from any kind of magic - endowed object, whether for benefit or detriment. This does not mean that he cannot touch them; he may do anything with the items that will not activate their magical properties (if, however, an item requires only to be touched to activate, then Puritan is barred from handling it if he knows that touching will operate it). Voluntarily giving in to the temptation to "cheat" in life with magic is a serious matter indeed. It is the same as a Paladin willingly committing an evil act. If the DM is generous enough not to immediately revoke the character of his status as a Puritan, he can use the table below, devise his own, or otherwise devise a penalty on his own. "Atonement" will most likely include intensive meditation and inner reflection, plus a few CON, INT, and WIS rolls to see whether he has been able to "find himself" again. 01-30 Antimagic Percentile is reduced to 10d10% of current total for 1d4 days 31-55 The highest-level power currently possessed becomes inoperative for 2d6 days (if below 5th, spell detection is lost; if spell detection has already been lost, AMP is reduced to 1/2 racial base percentage, rounded down). 56-75 The Puritan is lowered by one experience level with his experience points accordingly adjusted to the lowest possible for that level. This penalty is permanent. 76-90 All class abilities and magic resistance are lost for a period of 3d4 days, after which one power is randomly regained per day. 91-99 Reroll with the second result being doubled in effect and/or duration; ignore if this result has already occurred once. 00 The Puritan has completely lost his sense of self (like OD'ing on 180-proof alcohol). Make a system shock roll. If successful, the character is reduced to 0th - level NPChood for 2d6 months; if unsuccessful, the character is 0th level for 3d6 months and is barred from Puritanhood forever. He may go into another character class, however, but he is forced to accept the truth that he is too much a lover of magic to be a Puritan. With this chart, depending on the severity of the violation, the DM may add a percentile modifier to the dice roll. Remember, penalties are incurred only for willful misconduct. In the example above where a Puritan knows that a magical item is activated by touch, he must not touch it; but if he has never seen it before and is unaware of its properties, his Antimagic will hopefully insulate him, without fear of penalty. A Puritan being affected by magic because of failure of his Antimagic does not necessarily require punishment -- only if he willingly desires and accepts the use of magic. When playing this class, players will no doubt run into situations of grey areas -- being trapped in a room with a door that only opens with a command word, or having fallen off a cliff and noticing a gold dragon nearby that is your only hope of rescue. Well, I'm not going to provide any remedies for those. Such is the stuff of enigmae and ethos / morality plays, with which players of paladins are no doubt familiar! With some players, there may be some temptation to "cheat", to allow oneself to be killed off or commit suicide, then hope that someone will resurrect him in order to escape a situation or existing Puritan punishment. This is not allowed. If such an act is attempted, the Puritan will merely come back to life and have to roll on the chart above in addition to his former violation, or suffer some other penalty imposed by the DM. The general idea is that the powers of the Puritan lie within the essence, or soul, of the Puritan, which is separate from the body or psyche. Anyone who attempts to raise a dead Puritan (whether against his wishes or abiding by them) still must get past the powerful saving throws he once possessed while he was alive, in order to return the Puritan's soul to the land of the living. On the other hand, taking his decaying corpse and animating it is not subject to the Antimagic since it does not involve restoring the Puritan's soul to this world.
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>> A Few Notes on Psionics Some regard psionics as a force that is best left untamed; others tend to ignore extraplanar forces as much as possible, avoiding whenever possible and never exploring the world of the psyche and the Astral plane Psionics, since its power comes from inside rather than from outside oneself, is a grey area for many Puritans. Some may attempt to become Wild Talents or even full Psionicists as dual - or multi - classed Puritans, while others will treat psionicists (and psionicist/puritans) as deserving the same treatment as magic-using beings.
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>> Supernatural Beings and Religion With regard to gods, demigods, and godlike beings, the Puritan ethos does not try to deny their existence but rather sees them as infinitely more powerful creatures of another existence, belonging to realms that are beyond the Puritan's existence. They are considered unreachable and untouchable. A Puritan might still very well believe in some sort of religion, but he will not dabble in priestly magic or divine magic, and will not seek divine aid or intervention in mortal affairs. At the most, he will worship his deity in ritual and deference to that deity's principles and whims, but the Puritan will not seek to benefit from any divine aid. Such things as priestly healing of disease or the resurrection of a dead or murdered loved one cannot be indulged since such things involve magic. The Puritan might associate with the priesthood of his religion, if they possess spellcasting abilities, only in a theological situation and will otherwise have little to do with them, though he himself might serve as a cleric via being dual - or multi - classed. In general, the abstinence required of Puritans extends to such fields as undead as well. Puritans generally have no access to controlling undead or turning them, even if they are Clerics and have the power available to them. In such a case, the Puritan must be willing to forgo such abilities to maintain the Puritanhood. It matters little, however, since Puritans have some measure of protection as it is from undead through their Antimagic anyway.
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>> Dealing with Other Classes Puritans try to avoid the practitioners of magic whenever possible. At the most, they may almost be acquaintances of wizards or magic - using priests. How close a Puritan is allowed to associate with these people is up to the DM, who must decide how to balance the requirement of the class to avoid the use or benefit of magic with the cohesiveness of the party with which he is adventuring. To be most avoided are the mages who eat, breathe, and sleep spellcasting. Puritans treat them as leprous individuals, for association with mages would corrupt their way of life. Next are priests of spell - granting deities. Puritans will often go out of their way to avoid these individuals, who represent the dependance on magic and gods that the Puritan try so hard to shun. Puritans will probably only have relationships with such people if they are related by blood or if they were already close friends before the Puritan took on his nonmagical existence. Even then, the relationship is bound to be strained. This partially includes paladins, rangers, and bards, who are not entirely magic - dependent for their survival but nonetheless depend on it at least a little ... Puritans can involve themselves with these "grey area" type people but must actively try to avoid being willingly affected by their magic - casting. The whole point of having to avoid certain people is to avoid the benefit of magic (and thereby faltering in their philosophy of "natural living") as much as possible. Being a normal fighter, thief, or nonmagical priest is no threat to the Puritan because they have very little spellcasting ability (save those limited number of 10th level and above thieves that can use wizard or priest scrolls). A Puritan can be also a thief, so long as he fulfills the magic - shunning requirements of his Puritan class. By the far the most problematic situation this class encounters is when a Puritan is to be in an adventuring party which will also include a spellcaster. This situation is acceptable, so long as the Puritan adheres to the following conditions. They are explained elsewhere but are written here for easy access: (1) he accepts no healing or protective magic; (2) he uses no magical weaponry, armor, equipment, or magical objects (he can do anything with them that will not invoke their magical powers)
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>> General Notes The amount of time needed to use any power is instantaneous, although there are times when the use of a power will occur in the same round that a spell is being cast that may be subject to it. Of course, one decides whether a mage is able to *fireball* his Puritan opponent, or whether the Puritan can counter that spell to save himself is decided by initiative. In some cases, losing initiative is vital; in others, winning it is much more desirable, depending on the power being used. There is no limit to the number of uses for any power; using Antimagic is similar to breathing all the air out of one's lungs and keeping it out. Either can be done as many times as can be accomplished with time, but for a limited period of time without severe consequences. When making an AMP check for a power, if a double nought (00) is rolled, the Puritan's Antimagic has hit a surge. Roll an AMP check again, and the true AMP check becomes half of what comes up, rounded up. Thus rolling a 00 and a 60 when one needs a 31 will mean success because the 60, otherwise a failure, is halved, meaning success -- in addition to this any penalty from attacking a higher-level source of magic is halved, and bonuses are doubled. The prior roll, which for example was a Spell Nullification made at 1st, which would normally be unable to affect a 7th-level spell, now has a chance to a or that power against anything within the normal range, and the power is able to extend to twice its range with the normal bonuses and penalties.
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>> Acquisition of Powers The process for a Puritan receiving his powers is as follows: 1. He automatically obtains the saving throws; that is the raw force of the Antimagic shielding his own body and mind from assault. 2. He gains Spell Detection if he succeeds in one INT and one WIS check with his level added as a bonus to the rolls. 2. He gains Spell Nullification if he succeeds in two CON checks and one WIS check plus his level as a bonus to the roll. 3. He gains Nullification Sphere if he succeeds in two CONs, one INT, and two WIS check plus his level as a bonus to the roll. 4. He gains Disenchantment / Energy Drain if he succeeds in three rolls of CON, two of WIS, two of INT, and one of CHA, plus his level as a bonus to the roll. These rolls represent the Puritan's exploration of the Antimagic and the eventual harnessing of these abilities. One attempt may be made for each power per level; if not all the rolls required for a power are successful, the Puritan has not quite learned how to manifest it. He must wait until next level before he can try again, but any roll previously successful counts towards any future tests. Thus a Puritan who just made 2nd level can have two of his three CON rolls, one of his WIS rolls, and the INT roll for his Disenchantment / Energy Drain which were all made at 1st level, but he does not have to redo those prior rolls, only succeed with the remaining two. The Puritan can use all powers at any level; however, any rolls he has not made or has failed will count against his AMP score for that power. Any power resulting in a negative percentile are unusable without a minimum number of rolls; others are somewhat available without any checks. But any attempt to use a power without having all its required attribute checks will result in a handicap.
| POWER HANDICAPS | |||
| POWER | PENALTY: | TOTAL REQ: | MINIMUM TO USE: |
| 1. Spell Detect: | -10% | 2 rolls | None |
| 2. Spell Null: | -15% | 3 rolls | One (1) |
| 3. Null Sphere: | -15% | 5 rolls | Three (3) |
| 4. Dis./En. Dr.: | -25% | 8 rolls | Seven (7) |
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>> Antimagic [AMP] >What Antimagic Protects Against As a Puritan continues in his quest to avoid the use of magic and psionics in his existence, he gradually acquires an immunity to it, a kind of immunity that functions like the extremely potent power of Magic Resistance possessed by some creatures of the Outer Planes. Although it is not nearly as powerful as "monstrous" Magic Resistance, Puritan Antimagic is still the first line of defense against magical attacks. Whenever a spell is cast on the Puritan or whenever other magical power is arrayed against him, the Puritan must succeed versus his AMP to completely ignore any effects it may have on him. Success indicates that nothing happens to him; failure indicates that effect occurs with all results. There is no half effect associated with success or failure of AMP. Antimagic will nullify any magic attack or aid used against the Puritan; it makes no difference whether it is a foe casting magic missiles at him or a friendly paladin attempting to heal through laying on of hands. Spellcasting aside, the Antimagic also shields the Puritan from the magical innate powers of creatures, such as the gaze of a Medusan or the breath weapon of a dragon. Antimagic also protects against such attacks as the touch of the undead, including level - draining, but is subject to a successful Antimagic roll with the appropriate bonuses or penalties. Antimagic is more than just the absence of magic -- it is the antithesis of it. Few Puritans have tried to understand its nature; most only tap the energy and know how to bring it forth. But regardless of what is made of or where it comes from, Antimagic is measured by an Antimagic Percentile score, or AMP. All the powers of the Puritan hinges on his AMP. >Development of Antimagic The actual Antimagic Percentile may vary according to the level or HD of the being who is attempting to use magic against the Puritan. For every level or HD the being is above the Puritan, 5% is subtracted; for every level below, 5% is added. Therefore a 10th level mage can cast pretty much anything he wants to at a 1st level Puritan and count on some success, while a 1st level Priest couldn't do much magicwise to a 12th level Puritan. Like monstrous Magic Resistance, Puritan Antimagic activates without any conscious effort from the character, but the power only works for the Puritan and cannot be given to other beings, although the Puritan can act as a magical barrier against certain directional spells. Depending on which race the Puritan is, he acquires Antimagic at different rates with a different base percentage. I have included the percentages of the standard demihuman races, plus many other humanoid races.
| BASE ANTIMAGIC PER RACE | |||||||
| STANDARD RACES | NONSTANDARD RACES | ||||||
| Human | 30% | Bugbear | 11% | Hobgoblin | 10% | ||
| Halfling | 26% | Centaur | 03% | Kobold | 10% | ||
| Dwarf | 25% | Gnoll | 10% | Minotaur | 07% | ||
| Gnome | 18% | Goblin | 10% | Ogre | 15% | ||
| Half - Elf | 11% | Half - Ogre | 13% | Orc | 10% | ||
| Elf | 09% | Half - Orc | 13% | Wemic | 15% | ||
| ANTIMAGIC PROGRESSION PER RACE | |
| Humans & Demihumans | 3%/level |
| Humanoids | 2%/level |
| Other PC Creatures | 1%/level |
| SAVING THROWS | ||||||||||||
| LEVEL | P/P/DM | R/S/W | P/P | BW | SP | LEVEL | P/P/DM | R/S/W | P/P | BW | SP | |
| 1st | 9 | 10 | 11 | 14 | 11 | 12th | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | |
| 2nd | 9 | 10 | 11 | 14 | 11 | 13th | 5 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 7 | |
| 3rd | 9 | 10 | 11 | 14 | 11 | 14th | 5 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 7 | |
| 4th | 8 | 10 | 11 | 14 | 11 | 15th | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 6 | |
| 5th | 8 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 11 | 16th | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | |
| 6th | 8 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 9 | 17th | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 5 | |
| 7th | 7 | 8 | 9 | 11 | 9 | 18th | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 5 | |
| 8th | 7 | 8 | 9 | 11 | 9 | 19th | 2 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 5 | |
| 9th | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 20th | 2 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 5 | |
| 10th | 6 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 21st+ | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | |
| 11th | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | |||||||
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>> Spell Detection The Puritan has the power to sense the presence or proximity of spellcasting, a magical creature, or a spell that is in effect at a certain location (such as wards). This power also detects undead and beings cursed with lycanthropy (as distinguished from "natural" lycanthropes, also detectable), mummy rot, etc. This ability comes with the gradual onset of the Puritan's point of view of getting from not being able to "see the forest for the trees". Now that he is out of the "forest" of the world of magic, it is easier to see the "trees" of magical manifestations around him. The identity of the source of the sensation, the nature of the magical flux, and the power level of the magic is not revealed to the Puritan, nor can the exact spell being cast be known except by observation coupled with the knowledge to recognize it. Likewise, the Puritan will not know what creature he is detecting, or the exact magical ability being used (except by observation, such as seeing a blink dog teleport or watching a dragon use his breath weapon). The single exception to this rule is a cultivated sense of curse detection. Puritans can with some success (total AMP - one's base AMP) detect if the source of magic is cursed. This works for both items and beings: a man cursed as a werewolf armed with a *Cursed Backbiter* sword will be detected as two different sources, although a man forced into lycanthropic form by a Collar of the Werewolf will register as one source only -- the effect produced and the aura of the item's cursed nature is treated as one object. The percentage of successful use of this power is equal to the Puritan's AMP score plus his base percentage (for a human with 47%, this equals 30x2 + 17, or 77%). With a successful roll the Puritan can know the direction and distance of up to as many different magical "elements" as his INT score. Note that each of the following constitutes one "element": A single spell being cast, a spell already operating, a magical item, a spellcaster (mage or priest), a creature having magical powers, and an innate ability of such a creature being used. The range of this power is the Puritan's level in tens of yards. NOTE: If there are more elements that can be detected than the Puritan's INT maximum, the DM is encouraged to choose one of the following methods to determine which elements are and are not detected: (1) the closest ones are sense before the furthest away; (2) the more powerful ones are detected before the weakest (depending on spell level, character level, creature HD, a creature's ability's HD damage, etc.)
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>> Spell Nullification The Puritan has the innate power to actively reach out and neutralize spells and spell - like abilities like the *dispel magic* spell. It allows the Puritan to completely cancel their effects, disrupt their casting, and destroy magical potions (treated as 12th level). They can temporarily render other magical objects inoperative for 1d4 rounds in the same way as *dispel magic*, with the same rules and procedure. For every level the caster of the spell or the creator of the magical item is above the level of the Puritan, the percentage is reduced by 10%; for every level below, it is 10% greater. Like AM, the spell or effect is either completely nullified or it occurs with full force; there is no partial effectiveness. Note that spells with a duration of *permanent*, spell, magical items so enchanted, and spells cast in conjunction with a *permanency* spell or the like, are treated as only vulnerable to the Disenchantment power. When this power is used against the innate abilities of magical creatures, the AMP score is halved, rounded down. For every HD / level the creature is greater than the Puritan, a 15% penalty is deducted; for each HD / level below him, 15% is added. Note that this effect is not a magical power; it stems from the repulsion of magic that has been mastered by the Puritan with his Antimagic. It is an innate power of his and cannot be countered like its magical *dispel magic* counterpart. Some magic spells like *anti - magic shell* tend to keep EVERYTHING out (see Player's Option: Combat & Tactics, Effects of Magic in Combat). When Spell Nullification counters a spell being cast, the Power cannot be used again until after the round when the spell would have been completed. For example, countering a *TIME STOP* spell two rounds into the casting would render Spell Nullification inoperative for another seven rounds, since it takes nine full rounds for *TIME STOP* to be cast from beginning to end. If a spell has a special casting time (like *WISH*), then the number of rounds Spell Nullification must remain dormant is equal to that spell's casting level (9 rounds, then). For spells that require no time to cast, Spell Nullification cannot possibly counter them, except to dispel effects that were already in place (if any). The range of this power is the Puritan's level in tens of feet.
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>> Nullification Sphere The Puritan has an innate power equivalent to the wizard spell *anti - magic shell*. It functions much the same way as an anti - magic shell, preventing the future casting of any spells or magical qualities of items, repelling charmed, summoned, or conjured creature. For each level of a spell being cast is above the Puritan's, the percentage of Null Sphere success is reduced by 20%; for each level below, add 20%. The Puritan can move anyplace he desires, even outside the sphere's zones, although the Sphere will not move with him, The magic vacuum was created at a specific location and will remain there until it expires. It is merely the absence of all magical force within its confines; it is not a tangible object, like a hole in the fabric of magic of the universe. The Nullification Sphere prohibits the completion of all spells within its radius; wizards or priests can chant and gesture to their heart's desire but the void is still present. Spells that have an area of effect that overlaps with the Nullification Sphere will work beyond the event horizon but the zone of space that falls under both areas must be contested by an AMP roll, but often such a contest will not really matter since said contested area will be entirely empty and meaningless. The range of this power is the Puritan's level in yards. The Nullification Sphere has one important distinction from Spell Nullification: it will not dispel an already - existing spell effect from the area, nor will it interrupt a magical item that was active when the Sphere was activated. Sometimes it may come down to who wins initiative; a mage who is able to cast *fireball* before the Puritan can activate his nullification sphere will probably incinerate the man, who should have tried Spell Nullification in the first place. The Puritan can maintain this power each round he succeeds in a CON + level check, with a -1 applied for each round the current Sphere incarnation is active. Once the check fails, he cannot use the Null Sphere power until as many rounds have passed as he spent using the Power before. Note that artifacts, relics, demigods, and deities are not affected by the Nullification Sphere. Also, against an *Anti - Magic Shell*, neither Spell Nullification nor Nullication Sphere should be able to affect it. Likewise, Nullification Sphere is immune to an *Anti - Magic Shell* cast which conflicts with its own area of effect.
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>> Disenchantment / Energy Drain The Puritan can permanently remove one magical power from an enchanted item or location. The Puritan has to touch the magical item to be affected (while using the power of course) and with success forces it to lose one randomly chosen magical quality permanently. Equipment that can be affected includes weapons, armor, potions, rods, staves, wands, etc. An item which has all of its magical qualities eliminated with this power or by other means of disenchant becomes completely disenchanted, reduced to a normal (although high - quality) whatever - it - is. For each level the item's creator the creature affected by energy drain is above the Puritan, the percentage is reduced by 20%; for each level below, 20% is added. When used against living beings with spellcasting abilities, the Puritan can drain memorized spells from any wizard, priest, paladin, etc. One spell is drained per 10% over successful roll, but at least 1 spell is drained on success no matter what the margin. For example, rolling a 72 with an AMP score of 51% [including bonuses and penalties] will drain 2 spells. Rolling a 70, however, would only drain 1 spell -- remainders are dropped (but so close!) The range of this power is the Puritan's level in inches. If a Puritan succeeds in his Disenchant / Energy Drain check by 51 or more percentile points, the opponent also loses one level of magic - use. For example: a Puritan vs. a 3rd - level wizard; the energy drain would lower the latter's magic use to 2nd level. All other stats (HP, Saving Throw, Thac0, etc...) would be 3rd level. The Puritan Energy Drain is a magic level drain, not a life level drain that is an ability of certain types of undead. Any casting levels lost by energy drain is inflicted in addition to any spells randomly lost (though the wizard had better hope he loses only spells that he would have lost anyway!) So all spells he would have been able to cast at the level he once attained are now all lost. This level - draining ability naturally cannot occur if the Puritan has less than a 51% AMP score. Objects such as artifacts and relics cannot be disenchanted, nor can deities and demigods be energy - drained unwillingly. Any and all spells they grant to their priests are subject to nullification, however, since the Puritan is fighting against the energy already stored for use and against the powers of the priest to unleash and channel it.
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>> Proficiency Slots
| PROFICIENCY SLOTS FOR PURITANS | ||||
| Weapon Proficiencies | Nonweapon Proficiencies | |||
| Init | #Levs | Penalty | Init | #Levs |
| 1 | 3 | -3 | 5 | 3 |
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>> Allowed Proficiencies The Puritan is allowed any proficiencies from the General Group, as well as these select ones -- Warrior: Animal Lore, Bowyer/Fletcher, Hunting; Wizard: Engineering, Herbalism, Spellcraft; Priest: Healing; Psionicist: Meditative Focus. MEDITATIVE FOCUS: The main difference in the way the Puritan uses this proficiency is that Meditative Focus is required to activate any Puritan power. Of the new proficiencies listed in the Player's Option: Skills & Powers handbook, the Puritan has access to the Shield and Armor profiency (see Miscellaneous Information: Allowed Equipment) SPELLCRAFT: The Puritan receives the Spellcraft proficiency for free. This proficiency reflects the Puritan's need for "intelligence" on the very thing he strives to avoid. Refer to page 63 of the Player's Handbook for a complete description. The Spellcraft proficiency requires a roll of INT -2 to be successful. ALCHEMY: This is a new proficiency specific to Puritans (but also available to the other classes at double cost). Alchemy is the precursor to modern chemistry, consisting of the knowledge required to produce simple (yet highly exotic) substances such as gunpowder (optional), acids, and other substances. Alchemy costs 3 nonweapon proficiency slots for the Puritan. The ability check for Alchemy is WIS at a -4 adjustment.
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>> Equipment Allowed Puritans are allowed any weapon that can also be used as an agricultural, manufacturing, or hunting tool, which ones depending on the Puritans adopted lifestyle and environment (whether fisherman, farmer, hunter, nomad, etc.) Such weapons include sickles, scythes, axes, flails, hammers, knives, bows, crossbows, javelins, and the like. Most polearms, heavy swords, and other weapons that originate purely from the military arts and have little usability outside of war are generally prohibited from use (unless they are also one of the warrior classes). Insofar as Armor is concerned, Puritans may use the lesser "natural" armors. Any armor that can be worn without obstructing everyday labor is fine, since a Puritan has no reason not to be reasonably protected from both danger and accident in the field or in the shed. Heavy, expensive, constrictive armors such as a plate or chain mail are disallowed since such armors are typically only used by or available to warriors and soldiers. Puritans may still use this armor but they must take the Armor proficiency (unless they are also one of the warrior classes). This Armor proficiency means only that they have had sufficient training and experience to walk around in, fight in, and maintain these heavier armors. In order to be able to use shields effectively, Puritans must take the Shield proficiency, which requires two slots.
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>> THAC0 Improvement The Puritan uses a 3/4ths advancement of THAC0:
| THAC0 IMPROVEMENT | |||||||||||||
| LEVEL | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th | 11th | 12th | |
| THAC0 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | |
| LEVEL | 13th | 14th | 15th | 16th | 17th | 18th | 19th | 20th | 21th | 22th | 23th | 24th | 25th+ |
| THAC0 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 2 |
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>> Level Advancement & Hit Dice Humans may advance to any level within this class. Other races may advance to a level equal the maximum level of their nonspecialist mages (if any) plus the max of their clerics (if any).
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>> Experience Levels
1. Points needed to reach a level
| EXPERIENCE POINT PROGRESSION | ||
| LEVEL | XP NEEDED | HIT DICE (d12) |
| 0 | 1d12 | |
| 4,000 | 2d12 | |
| 8,000 | 3d12 | |
| 16,000 | 4d12 | |
| 32,000 | 5d12 | |
| 64,000 | 6d12 | |
| 128,000 | 7d12 | |
| 256,000 | 8d12 | |
| 512,000 | 9d12 | |
| 768,000 | 10d12 | |
| 1,024,000 | 10d12+2 | |
| 1,280,000 | 10d12+4 | |
| 1,536,000 | 10d12+6 | |
| 1,792,000 | 10d12+8 | |
| 2,048,000 | 10d12+10 | |
| 2,304,000 | 10d12+12 | |
| 2,560,000 | 10d12+14 | |
| 2,816,000 | 10d12+16 | |
| 3,072,000 | 10d12+18 | |
| 3,328,000 | 10d12+20 | |
2. Gaining experience in the class Everybody can pretty much earn experience by killing monsters, by solving puzzles or riddles, by having flashes of genius by the players, and by roleplaying your character well. Each character class can earn XP by regular use (and honing of) those abilities unique to their class. With the Puritan is no different. Here are some suggested means of gaining individual class rewards. The DM may alter, omit, or add to these as he sees fit in his campaign. 1. A successful Antimagic Percentile roll -- 5 XP 2. Defeating a magic-using opponent -- 10 XP per level/HD 3. Nullifying a spell or magic ability -- 15 XP per level of spell or creature HD 4. Disenchanting a magical item -- XP value
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* * * * * * * * * * ALCHEMIST DESCRIPTION: THe Alchemist a forerunner of the modern chemist. The Alchemist has a deeper understanding of mixing certain basic substances together, and getting new kinds of materials. While any other Puritan may learn a smattering of alchemy a few tidbits of information, the Alchemist devotes his entire life to it. ROLE: This kit explores the angle of "Enlightenment" and the concerns of the Puritan with the harnessing of the natural world. SPECIAL BENEFITS: Using Alchemy, a lot of time, and a well-stocked laboratory, an Alchemist should be able to generate mass quantities of known substances and discover new ones. Consider the following situations: An alchemist discovers what pure natrium (sodium) will do to a mug of water; he tries to stoke his fire with a little bit of charcoal, sulfur, and potassium nitrate; spilling some tree rubber on a stove, etc. New types of explosives, solvents, acids, chemicals that repel certain animals (or attract them), poisons, salves, anything that can be imagined. And all without the need for magic. It is not surprising that many intelligent Puritans also dabble in a bit of alchemy on the side. When doing research, complete realism need not be strictly adhered to; at the time of the Middle Ages only twelve elements were known to exist and by far most of the rest were not discovered until the 18th or 19th century. Essentially all that is needed for an alchemist to make a discovery is a sample of a substance, knowledge of its properties, the list of ingredients, and the details of creating it. Thus you might create a substance called Helliun that, when used, will cause a fire to burn many times hotter than normal (for whatever one needs). Another example might be Agitate, a mild contact explosive that will make a loud but harmless explosion if one happens to tread one some spread across a portal or on the knob of a door. He might even produce a small self contained cylinder which has chemicals that can combine and produce an electrical charge (tongue in cheek) With an inventive DM and some bright players, the Alchemist Puritan can become a formidable (if nerdy and hardly fantasy) character. SPECIAL HINDRANCES: Taking the Alchemy kit is required, leaving only two initial nonweapon proficiency slots available. This reflects the need for alchemists to constantly and consistently work on their interests. Because of the intensity of research, need for concentration, and innovative brains needed for this kit, Alchemists need to have a minimum INT and WIS of 16 and 17, respectively, while also meeting all the other requirements of the class alongside.
* * * * * * * * * * ASCETIC DESCRIPTION: A Puritan with this kit typically seeks a hermetic life away from all magic - using civilization. They do not seek to destroy magic, they only refuse to partake in it themselves. ROLE: This emphasizes the separatist lifestyle of the Amish and Mennonite peoples and echoes the detachment of the Puritan from the rest of the world. SPECIAL BENEFITS: Survival Proficiency - one environment (free), Hunting OR Farming Proficiency (one required). Also due to the time spent in meditation, the Ascetic Puritan has been able to strengthen his AMP slightly more than the average Puritan. As a result, he has a bonus of 7% AMP over and above his regular base and progression. SPECIAL HINDRANCES: Due to his isolation, the Ascetic may not be as familiar with the world of magic as his urban comrades. Because of this, the Ascetic Puritan incurs a -3 penalty when using the Spellcraft proficiency.
* * * * * * * * * * DOCTOR DESCRIPTION: Not quite a medieval doctor, but more than a herbalist and a healer. The Doctor has knowledge of triage and medicine that no priest, herbalist, healer alone could know. ABILITIES: The proficiencies of herbalist and healing are free, but another nonweapon proficiency slot must be taken: Triage, a skill unique to Puritan Doctors that shows their training and exploration of injury and how to mend broken flesh and bones. When they use the Herbalism and Healing skills they add a +3 to their INT-2 and WIS-2 rolls, respectively. By making an Intelligence check at -2, a Doctor may be able to splint a broken limb, or revive a person knocked unconscious or nearly drowned, and so forth. It is equivalent to the practice of first aid and CPR (able to bandage wounds better than most and restoring a nearly drowned person), only the use of such things are taught in secret and regarded as a socially unacceptable rites by the societies of Puritan Doctors that exist in any given area. They can make a decent trade from their expertise, you know. ROLE: Puritan Doctors are aware of some of the fallacies of "modern" techniques of healing disease and sickness. They may still believe in the heart being the seat of the human soul, mesmerism, human magnetic fields, or spontaneous generation, but they are the next level above the leechers and religious purifiers of the age in which they live. They are none close to Pasteurian medicine, but they know cleanliness is next to healthiness and to rub dirt in a wound is a summoning for death to come callin'.
* * * * * * * * * * ENGINEER DESCRIPTION: An Engineer is the great-great-granddaddy of Sir Isaac Newton. To be more precise, he is the medieval version of a physicist. He is a builder of gadgetry, of mechanical devices, and of complex buildings, engines, or other such inventions of man. Because of his Antimagical beliefs, he relies on the Intellect as the ultimate aid in survival, an intellect that can turn a forest into a fortress, or a sheer cliff into a village hewn out of the side. He can build houses, aid a warrior in building siege engines, help the local lord in the design or structure of his new castle, among other things. SPECIAL BENEFITS: Engineers (of course) get the Engineering proficiency for free, but are required to have carpentry and blacksmithing in addition. This is the case of a Puritan focusing on the cultivation of "technology", a natural alternative to the unnatural alterations of space, life, and time which the force of magic encompasses. With these three skills they are able to make constructs and machines of almost anything. The Puritan Engineer focuses on construction, therefore he has honed his proficiencies well. He gets a +2 to all his rolls with Engineering, Carpentry, and Blacksmithing. He has the ability to recognize different species of trees, whether a tree is healthy or not (all by visual inspection). The Puritan Engineer can also judge plots of land and its surroundings for its suitability for heavy construction. The Puritan Engineer can even build a castle if he puts his mind to it.
* * * * * * * * * * HUNTER DESCRIPTION: A Puritan who aggressively pursues the goal of persecuting magic-users and magical creatures. They are sometimes also called "witch hunters", though mages do not restrict their business to tracking down only female wizards; they may also be referred to as "vampire hunters", if hunting vampires, or what - have - you. ROLE: This exemplifies another aspect of the Puritan ethos, that of the destruction of magic and the producers of magic, taken to a proactive extreme. SPECIAL BENEFITS: The Hunter has concentrated on his use of powers to the point where he gains a +10% bonus to his Spell Nullification attempts. The Hunter Puritan has the ability, called Transferrance, to wield a weapon that can do normal damage to creatures immune to nonmagical weapons. The weapon, which must be a melee weapon, must be in direct contact with his skin to have this ability, and no weapon can carry this ability past remaining in physical contact with the Puritan; bows, crossbows, slings, javelins, thrown spears, thrown axes, thrown daggers, et cetera, cannot be used in this way. Such things as using a javelin like a spear, or wielding an arrow like a knife can be done, however strangely, thought little or no damage may result. The number of plusses a weapon can carry (and hence the creatures it can damage) is figured this way: Whenever the Hunter Puritan receives high AMP points, he can instead of increasing his own AMP, to channel the percentage to his ability to empower a weapon towards damaging magical creatures. For every full 10% of AMP channelled this way, he can wield a weapon with a +1 to hit versus creatures immune to nonmagical weapons. A full 10% is needed to gain the +1, however. AMP that is diverted in this way cannot count towards the Puritan's AMP for other powers, nor can he redistribute points already added to himself to the weapon ability instead, or vice versa. A Hunter can indeed have 80% AMP for himself and a total of 50% in his Transferrance ability, letting him fight melee with a +5 versus the magical creatures. These percentages will remain unchanged unless new points gained by level advancement are added. Also, Transferrance can still be increased even when the Puritan has gained 99% AMP. SPECIAL HINDRANCES: The Hunter is privy to melee weapons and is banned from using any type of missile weapon, such as those named above. His Spell Detection power is limited to detecting magical creatures; other sources of magic that might be detected will be sensed only with - 25% penalty to the AMP score. Any weapon with which the Hunter uses Transferrance is limited by the plusses of Quality it has. Thus a quarterstaff of +2 Quality (finely - made, though not so much from decoration but of sturdiness) wielded by a Hunter who can use a +3 must still do with a +2, however. The Quality of a weapon will depend on the strength of wood or steel from which it is made, with some attention paid to balance and handgrips as well.
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There's just about everything I can think of. I hope everyone who reads this character class enjoys it as much as I had creating it! --XENO
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Document Created: 12 Dec 96 (c) 1996, 1997 by Xeno, where applicable. Last Revision: 25 Jan 97 http://www.people.memphis.edu/~mlsheltn mlsheltn@cc.memphis.edu AUTHOR'S ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: "Olik" Ringdal - for his review and continued support. Mike Hudak - for his suggestion about the Hunter kit's attacks - for a much - needed alteration of the Energy Drain power - for some help on the Hunter kit's weapon abilities.
O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O
TSR DISCLAIMER --------------------------------------------------------------------------- This item incorporates or is based on or derived from copyrighted material of TSR, Inc. and may contain trademarks of TSR. The author intends no plaigarism or infringment of copyright and willfully attributes any and all copyrighted material in this work to their respective authors. In no way does the author take responsbility for the misuse of this document but does retain all rights to the original content thereof. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O QUICK REFERENCE CHART This quick reference chart is a rehash of all the tables and other relevant information. This section is for the purpose of printing out all the number - crunching material without having to print the entire document. -/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/-\-/- The process for a Puritan receiving his powers is as follows: 1. He automatically obtains the saving throws; that is the raw force of the Antimagic shielding his own body and mind from assault. 2. He gains Spell Detection if he succeeds in one INT and one WIS check with his level added as a bonus to the rolls. 2. He gains Spell Nullification if he succeeds in two CON checks and one WIS check plus his level as a bonus to the roll. 3. He gains Nullification Sphere if he succeeds in two CONs, one INT, and two WIS check plus his level as a bonus to the roll. 4. He gains Disenchantment / Energy Drain if he succeeds in three rolls of CON, two of WIS, two of INT, and one of CHA, plus his level as a bonus to the roll.
| POWER HANDICAPS | |||
| POWER | PENALTY: 1 | TOTAL REQ: | MINIMUM TO USE: |
| Spell Detect | -10% | 2 rolls | None |
| Spell Nullification | -15% | 3 rolls | One (1) |
| Nullification Sphere | -15% | 5 rolls | Three (3) |
| Disenchant/Energy Drain | -25% | 8 rolls | Seven (7) |
| BASE ANTIMAGIC PER RACE | |||||||
| STANDARD RACES | NONSTANDARD RACES | ||||||
| Human | 30% | Bugbear | 11% | Hobgoblin | 10% | ||
| Halfling | 26% | Centaur | 03% | Kobold | 10% | ||
| Dwarf | 25% | Gnoll | 10% | Minotaur | 07% | ||
| Gnome | 18% | Goblin | 10% | Ogre | 15% | ||
| Half - Elf | 11% | Half - Ogre | 13% | Orc | 10% | ||
| Elf | 09% | Half - Orc | 13% | Wemic | 15% | ||
| ANTIMAGIC PROGRESSION PER RACE | |
| Humans & Demihumans | 3%/level |
| Humanoids | 2%/level |
| Other PC Creatures | 1%/level |
| SAVING THROWS | ||||||||||||
| LEVEL | P/P/DM | R/S/W | P/P | BW | SP | LEVEL | P/P/DM | R/S/W | P/P | BW | SP | |
| 1st | 9 | 10 | 11 | 14 | 11 | 12th | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | |
| 2nd | 9 | 10 | 11 | 14 | 11 | 13th | 5 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 7 | |
| 3rd | 9 | 10 | 11 | 14 | 11 | 14th | 5 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 7 | |
| 4th | 8 | 10 | 11 | 14 | 11 | 15th | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 6 | |
| 5th | 8 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 11 | 16th | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | |
| 6th | 8 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 9 | 17th | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 5 | |
| 7th | 7 | 8 | 9 | 11 | 9 | 18th | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 5 | |
| 8th | 7 | 8 | 9 | 11 | 9 | 19th | 2 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 5 | |
| 9th | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 20th | 2 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 5 | |
| 10th | 6 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 21st+ | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | |
| 11th | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | |||||||
| PROFICIENCY SLOTS FOR PURITANS | ||||
| Weapon Proficiencies | Nonweapon Proficiencies | |||
| Init | #Levs | Penalty | Init | #Levs |
| 1 | 3 | -3 | 5 | 3 |
| THAC0 IMPROVEMENT | |||||||||||||
| LEVEL | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th | 11th | 12th | |
| THAC0 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | |
| LEVEL | 13th | 14th | 15th | 16th | 17th | 18th | 19th | 20th | 21th | 22th | 23th | 24th | 25th+ |
| THAC0 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 2 |
| EXPERIENCE POINT PROGRESSION | ||
| LEVEL | XP NEEDED | HIT DICE (d12) |
| 0 | 1d12 | |
| 4,000 | 2d12 | |
| 8,000 | 3d12 | |
| 16,000 | 4d12 | |
| 32,000 | 5d12 | |
| 64,000 | 6d12 | |
| 128,000 | 7d12 | |
| 256,000 | 8d12 | |
| 512,000 | 9d12 | |
| 768,000 | 10d12 | |
| 1,024,000 | 10d12+2 | |
| 1,280,000 | 10d12+4 | |
| 1,536,000 | 10d12+6 | |
| 1,792,000 | 10d12+8 | |
| 2,048,000 | 10d12+10 | |
| 2,304,000 | 10d12+12 | |
| 2,560,000 | 10d12+14 | |
| 2,816,000 | 10d12+16 | |
| 3,072,000 | 10d12+18 | |
| 3,328,000 | 10d12+20 | |
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