Class: Specialist

Specialist Features

Class Trait. You gain the Specialist trait.

Subclass. Choose Envoy, Inventor, Operative, Ranger, or Scholar and gain the associated features.

Class Skills. After selecting your subclass, you gain 5 skill boosts you can assign to any physical or mental skills, though you cannot increase a skill above apprentice (d8) in this way.

Envoy

You gain the Envoy trait and the ⧗ Consort and ◕ Convene abilities. You gain 2 skill boosts to Presence.

You also gain 3 contacts. These are NPCs you have a rapport with that are relevant to the area of the current story. One of these NPCs begin with a devoted disposition toward you, meaning you roll with +2 edge when leveraging your relationship with them, and another has a friendly disposition toward you (+1 edge). Work with your GM to determine the identities and occupations of your contacts.

Inventor

You gain the Inventor trait and the ⧗ Tinker and ◕ Jury-Rig abilities. You gain 2 skill boosts to Engineering—a trade skill unique to this subclass—which you can use for many of your Inventor abilities.

You also gain 3 item recipes of your choice from the following list: Clockwork Avian, Firespitter, Grapple Gun, Shock Gauntlet, or any Alchemical or Weapon item with a Cost of 20 Money or less (you may select this option multiple times, choosing a different item recipe each time).

Operative

You gain the Operative trait and the ⧗ Scheme and ◕ Sabotage abilities. You gain 3 skill boosts to Guile.

You also gain 3 useful secrets. These are pieces of information related to specific factions or NPCs that you can leverage to further your future goals. These secrets might be things you can use as blackmail material, or locations of black market dealings, weaknesses you can exploit, or forgotten passages or hidden doors in key areas. Work with your GM to determine secrets that will be relevant to the story.

Ranger

You gain the Ranger trait and the ⧗ Rove and ◕ Hunt abilities. You gain 3 skill boosts to Nature—a trade skill unique to this subclass—which you can use for many of your Ranger abilities.

You also gain either an animal companion from Hunter Companion, Mount Companion, or Winged Companion, or a detailed understanding of the surrounding geography including several hidden ruins, refuges, resource-rich areas, and the like. If you choose the latter, the GM should provide you with at least three hidden locations in the region that only you know about, as far as you know.

Scholar

You gain the Scholar trait and the ⧗ Study and ◕ Recollect abilities. You gain 3 skill boosts to Lore—a trade skill unique to this subclass—which you can use for many of your Scholar abilities.

You also gain a list of essential tomes, which are books or scrolls which you have studied extensively. Come up with and write down three evocative titles of such works on your character sheet. You gain +3 edge when rolling to recall knowledge about information pertaining to one of your essential tomes. Each title should be fairly specific.

For example, A Merchant's Guide to the Isles of Sayzentia might be used for any rolls involving trying to find a specific shop in that region, or to help in bargaining for passage from one island to another. Supply Chains in Times of War might be a useful resource when trying to figure out the logistics of feeding large groups of soldiers. A Complete Guide to Lesser Dragons would also be an appropriate title.

Work with your GM to determine what types of book might be of use in the adventure. You or the GM could even include an author's name for each title; you never know when you might meet them in the story!

Design Note

I have elected to simplify the skills granted and uses by each subclass. I will still incentivize characters to seek other relevant trade skills with advancement abilities. For example, an Inventor might benefit greatly from Alchemy training, since it would unlock a new tree of abilities to choose from.

Flashback (trait)

The Flashback trait appears on abilities that allow a character to take advantage of prior planning and preparation that may not have been explicitly played out in the narrative. The GM and the player must work together to come up with a plausible flashback scene that doesn't cause significant inconsistencies with the narrative.

In certain scenarios, the GM may disallow the use of certain Flashback abilities due to the character being completely unable to prepare in advance for an entirely unexpected scenario. However, this should be done rarely. A character cannot use more than one Flashback ability for a specific scenario or set of circumstances until sufficient time has passed or the circumstances have changed (GM discretion).

For example, if an Envoy Specialist uses their Convene ability to cause their friends from the circus to make a distraction, they most likely cannot then attempt the Convene ability again for these circus friends until the Envoy has had the time to meet with them again, probably after the current mission has concluded. The GM may decide to make Flashback rolls Veiled, to add a bit of uncertainty until the moment of truth.

Envoy

Not all conflicts can be resolved through force of arms and bloodshed. Diplomacy and careful manipulation are often much better tools. This is the domain of the Envoy—a clever negotiator and information broker. Envoys typically have friends in all places, both high and low, and they leverage these friendships to great personal advantage.

Players with Envoy characters would do well to keep a detailed list of NPCs friendly to them in each major location, and always be looking for ways to add more names to that list. The Envoy's Consort ability is an excellent way to accomplish this. The more allies an Envoy has, the greater their opportunity to use their Convene ability to summon aid when things get complicated.

You spend some time mingling, catching up with contacts, and learning the latest gossip.

Envoy Urban Daily

Roll Presence. Choose a number of options up to half your result (minimum 1):

Meet with a noteworthy person of interest who might be of use to you.
Gain 1d12 Money from gifts, tokens of appreciation, information, etc.
Discover a significant rumor.
Use the ⧗ Socialize activity.
Gain 1 Luck.
Gain 1 Luck.

Your allies have a pleasant habit of crossing your path when you most have need of them.

Envoy Flashback

Spend 1 Luck. Work with the GM to describe a flashback where you attempted to enlist the aid of an ally or allies. Roll Presence, with a difficulty based on your relationship to those allies, the likeliehood of their appearance in the current scene, what you require of of them, and whether you offered them anything in return for their help.

Success. One or more allies come to your aid, whether by happenstance or prior planning. They usually depart shortly after rendering aid.

Failure. You are either aided by an unexpected party who will demand something in return, or no one comes to your aid (GM discretion).

Inventor

Inventors are enigmatic tinkerers and mechanics, applying strange and often inscrutable designs to control the world around them. Unlike a simple builder, the Inventor is never satisfied with "good enough," and is always on the lookout for new ways to combine materials into useful machines, either in the workshop or while on the move.

Some common examples of items an Inventor might create using the Jury-Rig ability include poisons, explosives, medicinal salves, weapons, and tools. For this purpose, Inventor players should maintain a list of known item recipes for easy reference. Item recipes can be acquired from abilities or certain shops or guilds. They can also be discovered from exploring the world and poking around in old, forgotten forges and crafting halls.

Your ceaseless tinkering might appear like madness to some, but the results are undeniable.

Specialist Inventor Daily

Requirement. You must have access to your toolkit for the duration.

Roll Engineering. Choose a number of options up to half your result (minimum 1):

Discover a clue or secret regarding the design of an item or structure.
Gain 1d12 Money worth of materials (cogs, reagents, springs, etc.)
Enhance an item. Until you finish a Rest, rolls made using the item gain +1 edge.
Use the ⧗ Craft or ⧗ Repair activity.
Gain 1 Luck.
Gain 1 Luck.

You quickly assemble a useful item from the various parts and components in your toolkit.

Specialist Inventor

Requirement. You must have your toolkit on your person.

Spend 1 Luck. Create a temporary non-Magic item of your choice for which you know the recipe. The chosen item cannot have Burden greater than 1 or cost more than 50 Money. You cannot sell or trade the item, as its make and design is inscrutable to anyone but yourself.

Roll Engineering with a difficulty equal to the item's craft difficulty.

Success. The item will cease to function after 24 hours or when you finish a Rest, whichever happens first.

Failure. The item will cease to function after 1 hour.

Cost: 20; Burden: 1

Mechanical Fire

❖ Activate (Attack; Fire). Roll Finesse against each creature in an Line 4 area. Each target becomes burning and takes 1 Damage on a failure, or 1 Stress on a success. Once used in this way, the Firespitter cannot be activated again until an action is used to load a pint of oil into it, which consumes the pint of oil.

Cost: 20; Burden: L

Mechanical Lightning

This metal glove is worn on one hand. While worn, you can use it to Brawl (Jab). When you do, you can use the following Boon:

Brawl (Jab)—⛊ Electrify (16-20; Lightning). The target takes 3 unblockable Stress. Then, if the target is exhausted, they are also knocked prone.

Cost: 20; Burden: 1

Mechanical Fire

This device is comprised of the gun itself, a grappling hook, and a rope 10 spaces in length connecting the two.

❖ Activate. The grappling hook launches out of the Grapple Gun to a space within 10, where it hooks onto an available protrusion (if any). Roll Finesse and add the Attack trait to this action if you're targeting an unwilling creature instead.

◈ Activate. The Grapple Gun pulls on the rope with great force, either causing you to be pulled up to 10 spaces toward the grappling hook or the hook and whatever it's attached to to be pulled up to 10 spaces toward you, depending on the relative masses secured to either end (GM discretion). The Grapple Gun can pull a relative mass of around 10 Burden, or up to around 20 Burden though the maximum distance pulled with a single maneuver is halved to 5.

Cost: 20; Burden: L

Mechanical Construct

This tiny clockwork device is birdlike in appearance. It takes one minute to wind up the device.

❖ Activate. Requirement: This device must be wound up to use this action. The Clockwork Avian takes flight in a direction of your choice traveling at 5 spaces per round, making a fluttering mechanical sound as it goes. It continues flying in that direction until it hits an obstacle or 1 minute has passed, at which point it flies back to the Space in which it began its flight. It must then be wound up before it can be activated again.

Operative

Operatives come in many shapes and sizes—assassins, thieves, detectives, spies, infiltrators, agents, and more. The unifying aspect all Operatives share is an affinity for stealth and covert operations. Most Operatives act outside of the law in one form or another, though some merely intersect with the criminal world rather than live in it.

The Sabotage action makes heavy use of the Flashback mechanic, and represents an Operative's foresight in planning for many different eventualities. For example, during an assault on an enemy keep, an Operative character might use Sabotage to flashback to the night prior when they bribed one of the gate guards to abandon their post during the assault.

Specialist Operative Daily Urban

Roll Guile. Choose a number of options up to half your result (minimum 1):

Meet with a black market trader, informant, or law enforcement officer.
Gain 1d12 Money from blackmail, minor theft or detective work, etc.
Discover a hidden route or location.
Use the ⧗ Survey activity.
Gain 1 Luck.
Gain 1 Luck.

Specialist Operative Flashback

Spend 1 Luck. Work with the GM to describe a flashback where you attempted to steal an item, bribe a guard, dismantle a trap, or poison a meal, etc. Roll Guile, with a difficulty based on the tightness of security for the target and the desired outcome.

Success. You succeeded in performing the sabotage without being discovered.

Failure. You succeeded, but your interference was secretly observed, or else evidence of the sabotage was discovered afterwards.

Ranger

Unlike most Specialists, the Ranger often feels ill at ease within urban settlements, preferring to spend their time roving through the wilderness. Each Ranger's reasons for doing so are unique to them—some are paid wardens of royal woodlands, others are staunch defenders of the natural world, others simply live for the thrill of the hunt.

Many Rangers enjoy the companionship of an animal that aids them in their travels. Others have a near-perfect knowledge of the local geography, granting them access to hidden or lost locations, as well as valuable natural resources.

Specialist Ranger Daily Wilderness

Roll Nature. Choose a number of options up to half your result (minimum 1):

Meet with a friendly animal, nomad, or fellow ranger.
Gain 1d12 Money worth of natural materials (pelts, herbs, resin, etc.)
Discover a suitable shelter, buried ruin, or hidden path.
Use the ⧗ Scout, ⧗ Forage, or ⧗ Track activity.
Gain 1 Luck.
Gain 1 Luck.

Specialist Ranger

Spend 1 Luck. Choose a creature that you can perceive or find trace of, such as their tracks or scent. Roll Nature. The difficulty is equal to the creature's Guile value.

Success. Until you finish a ⧗ Rest, you have +1 edge on rolls made to ⧗ Track, ➲ Hide from, or ➲ Seek the creature, and you deal 1 Stress to them whenever you successfully Attack or Control them.

Failure. As success, but the effect only lasts for 1 minute.

This companion often lopes alongside its ranger to warn of danger and fight with tooth or claw.

Beast Instinctual Companion

Vitality 3 ◯◯◯; Stamina 2 ◯◯; Speed 6

Physical skills Mental skills
Finesse d6 Discipline d6
Might d8 Guile d6
Reflex d8 Presence d6

Tooth and Claw. When this creature uses Brawl (Jab), they inflict 1 Damage instead of 1 Stress.

The ranger is one with their mount, able to communicate their intentions with the greatest of ease.

Beast Instinctual Companion Mount

Vitality 3 ◯◯◯; Stamina 3 ◯◯◯; Speed 6

Physical skills Mental skills
Finesse d6 Discipline d8
Might d8 Guile d4
Reflex d6 Presence d6

❖ Gallop. This creature gains a +2 bonus to their Speed until the end of their turn, then Strides.

Companion. When bonded with a player character, the mounted PC can guide this creature's maneuver and action with a single Steer Mount instant.

Whether it's a hawk, an owl, a thrush, or even a bat, this companion offers great scouting capabilities.

Beast Instinctual Companion Winged

Vitality 2 ◯◯; Stamina 3 ◯◯◯;
Speed 3 (flying 6)

Physical skills Mental skills
Finesse d8 Discipline d6
Might d4 Guile d6
Reflex d10 Presence d6

Companion. When bonded with a player character, the PC gains +3 edge when using the Scout activity. This creature can deliver written messages and small objects to places or people they are familiar with, and can fly up to 5 zones per Downtime activity.

Companion (trait)

Creatures with the Companion trait are NPCs usually found acting alongside, and under the instruction of, another character (either a PC or another NPC). All Companions are ultimately under the control of the Game Master, though the leading character guides the Companion's general actions in most cases. In Tactical Mode, a Companion will follow general orders to the best of their ability, and is able to use a maneuver and action every turn just like any other character, including instants as applicable.

Companions with the Instinctual trait cannot communicate complex thoughts, and so may require a Presence or Nature roll in order to command them to do anything more complicated than protect, flee, attack, or heel. Making this roll is usually done as an instant, but more complex commands might require a maneuver instead.

If a PC's Companion is killed or lost, they can usually acquire a replacement Companion creature by starting a progress track and using activities during Downtime Mode to find, train, summon, or assemble a new one, depending on the nature of the Companion.

Scholar

Having an educated mind as part of a team can make a world of difference. The learned Scholar is a font of pertinent information. This could mean identifying exotic flora and fauna and exploiting their weaknesses, or drawing on vast historical knowledge to navigate political scenarios, or translating ancient magical runes to activate powerful artifacts. The Scholar almost always has the answer.

Specialist Scholar Daily Urban

Roll Lore. Choose a number of options up to half your result (minimum 1):

Meet with a student or colleague with which you can exchange notes.
Gain 1d12 Money from guest lectures, scribing work, etc.
Discover a significant clue.
Use the ⧗ Research activity.
Gain 1 Luck.
Gain 1 Luck.

Specialist Scholar Flashback

Spend 1 Luck. Work with the GM to describe a flashback where you researched a specific creature, object, effect, or bit of lore relevant to your current situation. Roll Lore, with a difficulty based on the obscurity of the information.

Success. You recall a wealth of useful information about the topic. For 1 minute, you and your allies gain +1 edge when this information is leveraged to interact with the target.

Failure. As success, but you only recall one useful piece of information, and the duration is until the start of your next turn.