D&D Hack: The Arcane Conduit and the Satellite Acolyte

You can hack a game by making lots of tiny quibbly changes to the existing structure. “Yes, we have wizards, but ours are different in these seven small mechanical expressions” or “we have clerics because players expect them, but the flavor of ours differs in these fiddly little ways.” The result is a fantasy heartbreaker where any small improvements are overshadowed by the result’s proximity to the looming monolith of the original game. Get further away from the base, and find some more interesting territory.

Let’s use the existing D&D 5E classes as jumping off points, but try to land further afield from their basic implementation. We can do it by trying to find interesting halfway points between the classes, and create something new and different in the process.

This is not an attempt to create hybrid or multi-classed characters. We want to create something new by identifying an axis that differentiates two classes, and choosing an interesting point on that axis where a new class could live.

I’m going to randomly pair up the core classes for this exercise, but reserve the right to re-roll anything that comes up as a total blank.

Wizard and Sorcerer: The Arcane Conduit

I am immediately punished for doing this exercise randomly, with a tough combination right out the gate. Sorcerer is the least-well-defined class in 5E. Wizard is sorcerer’s closest comparable class, sharing many of the same spells and, frequently, a similar role in the party. So how do we square these two? 

Axis: Power/Control

Sorcery is a ticking time bomb inside of you. The magic in your blood is boiling over, and you are a fragile container ready to crack from the heat. Wizardry is the safety valve that releases that pressure. You didn’t want to be a wizard; you just didn’t want to die.

Mechanics

Our hybrid would build up power over time (or over stressful events/encounters). The longer they bottle it up, the more their sorcerous origin manifests. For example, for a draconic bloodline, they would become more dragon-like, ferocious and tough, but also more covetous, more solitary, and less concerned with collateral damage.

They can unleash that pent-up energy in a burst of wizardly magic. The strength of the magic (perhaps upcasting) is proportional to how much bottled up sorcerous energy they have to spend.

Cleric and Paladin

Clearly the dice hate me, foisting another closely related pair on me. Try explaining the difference between a war domain cleric and a paladin to someone who has never played D&D before. Or, for that matter, the difference between a nature domain cleric and a druid. 

This overlap seems odd, as there’s no shortage of possible domains we could pick. How about the domain of shame, the domain of earthquakes, the domain of velocity? I understand the desire for some pretty universal concepts that can be plugged into any fantasy milieu, but it shouldn’t be so broad that it’s stepping on the toes of two other classes.

Tangent over. I’m going to re-roll this one.

Barbarian and Cleric: The Satellite Acolyte

This is more like it – two classes with pretty distinct profiles. One thing that’s interesting about clerics is that they force players to choose an archetype or sub-class (in this case, divine domain) at first level. Almost every other class treats 1st (and sometimes 2nd) level as introductions before the player is compelled to choose an archetype (sorcerer is the other one that triggers at first level). I think it would make more sense to treat 1st-level clerics as unaffiliated acolytes, and let them choose their domain at level 2 or 3.

Axis: Civilization/Savagery 

The Marabou Satellite orbited the earth for a hundred generations. The astral monks living aboard did not understand the original purpose of the station or its maintenance, but they lived peaceful lives amid its rich hydroponic gardens, in contemplation and prayer to the stars. 

But the station’s orbit gradually decayed, and one terrible day it fell into a terminal decline. The station’s automated systems controlled the fall such that parts of the satellite and many of the monks survived the impact. But the holy brethren  had to learn to survive on a planet that had turned feral underneath the feet of their starward-gazing ancestors; to adapt to these harsh conditions. Stay true to the satellite vows when they could. Rage against the world when they could not.

Mechanics

Divine magic is a vestige of a lost civilized world. Barbarian rage is the necessary tool of survival in a fallen one. A character at full HP is a healer and support caster. As they lose HP, their divine magic becomes weaker, but they themselves become more resilient and deal more damage. 

That’s two abilities in a row that work on a kind of spectrum. Perhaps powers oriented in this way would be a consistent point of distinction for this hack? Or maybe they would diversify in implementation under the stress of actual testing and development?

Next: The Polythrope and The Speaker