Prankster Kit
by Andrés Piquer OteroI thought of Wendar because I am starting to develop some D&D kits for elves with some rules in the line of GAZ 13. I will post one example; please give me some feedback on it:
PRANKSTER
This is the merrymaking elf who loves to live idly in the dark of the forest, feasting, drinking fine wine and playing games of skill, wits and magic with his fellows. One of their favourite hobbies is laying in clearings near paths which are to be travelled by humans and other non-elves. With them they play jokes and sophisticated puns; if the victims are patient, good-hearted or witty, the elves may give them help or a little present (mostly wine and food delicatessen) or some help; otherwise, the foreigners will get a good headache (perhaps being lost or imprisoned for a couple of days).
REQUIREMENTS
Pranksters follow the basic Elf advancement, HP and ST tables, as well as their spell progression and attack ranks. There is a remarkable difference: any level after level 1, a prankster may choose to gain one level of thieving skills instead of the usual spell advance (hiding, picking items, climbing and so on are vital to carry out a prankster's jokes). This can be done as often as desired, but:
1) a Prankster cannot attain thieving skills above level 9 ability (by trading all his magic advances excepting level 1)
2) after reaching level 10, the elf can gain any missing spell use advances each time he gets a new attack rank, till he reaches the usual maximum.
So, a level 10 prankster can have, for instance, spells as a lvl 6 elf and thieving skills as a lvl 4 thief. He cannot advance further as a thief, but, when he gets to AR A, he will get the spells of a lvl 7 elf, and so on.
3) pranksters cannot backstab nor open locks, nor does their detect/ disarm trap skill apply to mechanical traps, but it does to snares, lassos, tripwires, falling logs and the typical traps set on a forest (including trappers' snares), but they can use their RT to actually SET a trap against intruders or enemies (if they have time and materials). They don't get the read any language ability at lvl 4.
4) spell choice is limited: it is against the character of a prankster to learn or use spells whose basic application is producing directly physical damage. So, they cannot cast Magic Missile or Fireball, but Wall of Fire would be OK (it only causes damage if someone tries to cross the flames). They are required to take at least one spell per level which can be used in jokes: Ventriloquism, Invisibility, Phantasmal Force, Polymorph (self and other), Dimension Door...
5) A prankster must have a DEX of 13 or higher in addition to any other elf requirements
6) Pranksters must choose the following general skills: Tree-Walking, Food Tasting, Deception.
7) Pranksters may be found in nearly any Known World forest elf community which has contact with other races. Callarii and Vyalia pranksters are merry fellows who prey on helpless traders and adventurers in their borders; Wendar ones take a more militant outlook: to show the folly and gullibility of humans before the intellect of elves, their jokes tend to be quite heavy and at times crude or dangerous, especially when dealing with Heldannics; they also act as spies, unsuspectedly gaining information from any traveller in their realm (who would suspect that those little elves who set a snare, caught our party and partook their wine and jokes with us till everybody got a bit tipsy are reporting every detail of the party to the King?). Erewan and Alfheim have sadly lost their taste for that kind of games, and they do not appear in Belcadiz's urban culture.
8) They can be of any alignment; Lawful ones want to give lessons and teach foreigners the ways of the forest; neutrals are interested in protecting their way of life and having a good time; Chaotics are out for pure fun (sometimes a sadistic one) and getting some shiny items in the process. There are rumours of isolated communities of evil prankster elves, who actually steal babies, sour milk and curse crops, besides capturing humans and making them go lost in the forest for half a century. None of this rumours have been confirmed to date.
9) Adventuring pranksters fall in
two main types; the first one has annoyed his more serious
fellow-elves (hey guy, making the Treekeeper's robe Invisible
during a ceremony was NOT funny...) and must find **safer lands
where his fine wits may prey on. The second has suffered a kind of
shock, like his friends being captured or slain by monsters, and
now wants to avenge or rescue them, giving some practical use to
the skills he learnt in his idle and innocent days in the forest.