Friday 28 December 2012

Sheep Class for Labyrinth Lord

(This is my 300th post on this blog! And what better way to celebrate the anniversary than with a new class for Labyrinth Lord!)

One the PC's in my Dreamlands campaign has been blessed (via a table of random starting equipment) with the companionship of a sheep. At first the sheep was just a walking ball of wool, but inevitably questions started to be asked about its hit points, armour class, combat capabilities, etc. The sheep (named Steve) has now been elevated to the status of a henchman, and I said that the player could give a share of the PC's XP to the sheep, allowing him to advance gradually. That requires a class, thus...

The rest of this post is designated Open Gaming Content according to the Open Gaming License.

Sheep
Hit Dice: d6
Maximum level: 5

Of the standard six ability scores, sheep roll 3d6 as normal for STR, DEX and CON. They roll 1d4 for WIS and INT, and have no CHA worth talking about. Comeliness (if used) may be rolled as normal -- there are some surprisingly stunning sheep out there!

Sheep use the same saving throw chart and combat matrix as fighters. Their experience advancement and level titles are as follows.

Level  XP         Title
1         0           Flockling
2         1,000    Ram
3         2,000    Stud
4         4,000    Battle Ram
5         8,000    Flock Lord

Sheep have a natural butt attack which does 1d4 damage. This damage increases to 1d6 at 2nd level, and 1d8 at 4th level. (Note that it is assumed that an adventuring sheep is male, possessing the aggressive nature and full horns of a ram.)

At 3rd level, a sheep gains the ability to charge (as per Labyrinth Lord p. 61).

At 5th level, a sheep gains the ability to rampage. When rampaging, a sheep gains +2 to hit and damage, and a -2 penalty to armour class. Once a sheep has begun rampaging, it cannot stop for 2d6 rounds, and will attack anything which moves.

It should be noted that, as adventuring companions, sheep are contrary and stubborn. They are notoriously difficult to train, and equally infamous for their wilfulness.

6 comments:

  1. I'm assuming AC 7, Move 240' (80'), Save as Fighter?

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    1. Ah yes I neglected to mention the AC and movement rate. I've been going with AC 9 and MR 120'/40', but a better AC could work too. I don't imagine sheep can run faster than humans (or do you have a running-in-terror-from-a-ram experience which says otherwise ;) ), so wouldn't be inclined to increase the movement rate.

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  2. Double Plus Good!

    The sheep is epic.

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  3. That sheep class is a nice one. I used to dislike race-as-class, but I appreciate it for monstrous races nowadays.

    I'm currently writing a retroclone and would like to use material from some of the stuff you have written. I there a way to contact you? I couldn't find an email address, but if you have time, please contact me via owlbear[at]mail[dot]com.

    Thanks,
    Leonaru

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  4. Awesome! Who wouldn't want a Flock Lord in their party?

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  5. Both my current parties are obsessed with animals -- dogs and bobcats mainly -- so I am sure they will love sheep!

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