| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| KnightErrantJR |
Posted - 23 Jun 2007 : 01:58:01
Rich Burlew (the guy that does Order of the Stick, and has worked on some D&D material now as well, such as Dungeoncraft) posts OGL material on his site from time to time. A lot of it is interesting, logical, and well thought out.
I recently ran across this NPC class, the Gleaner:
http://www.giantitp.com/articles/gk7uKJeF296jRcx1NJw.html
Its essentially an "NPC nature divine caster," that is kind of a druid lite, but at the same time, is more oriented toward agricultural settings. When I read through this class, I could very easily picture local churches of Chauntea and some other gods having some of these people tending the flock in smaller regions.
I especially liked the non-combat oriented spells at the end of the article, as these are the kinds of spells we have talked about here from time to time, the ones that aren't useful for combat, per se, but make sense for the role of the particular caster.
At any rate, I was just wondering if anyone else had happened across these guys, or had any thoughts about using them.
(Just a side note, the class, while on Rich Berlew's site, is designed by Keith Baker, of Eberron fame) |
| 4 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Gwenfloor |
Posted - 28 Jun 2007 : 03:39:32
There has to be someone producing all those scrolls of Plant Growth.
I can just picture it now; a city in a barren desert, whose food supplies dwindle, and along come the Gleaners of Mielikki/Silvanus/other Nature Deity, bursting to the brim with magical plants and water purification spells, combating one of the most dangerous encounters of all: famine! |
| Mkhaiwati |
Posted - 24 Jun 2007 : 04:17:12
I really like the stuff on that site, especially the play theory. It has really helped rounding out characters and villains. Regarding the Gleaner class, it seems to scream out Realms as Archwizard already pointed out.
I also happen to like more non-combat oriented fluff, it makes sense that the village druid/cleric can smite enemies all around but can't do simple stuff for the villagers. |
| Darkmeer |
Posted - 23 Jun 2007 : 05:58:19
Chaunteans are creepy. (sorry, channeling Grim there).
Anyways, yes I agree.
Non-combat spells were nearly wiped from the game, and they deserve their place back in it... No I won't get on that soapbox again. What I think of with this class is a herding culture (mayhaps the Hordelands?), especially the fertility blessing. There are more cultures of that nature, but it makes sense for them to be herders in my mind.
Just random thoughts.
/d |
| Archwizard |
Posted - 23 Jun 2007 : 02:46:12
I came upon the Gleaner not too long ago and immediately thought it was ideal for the Realms with its many influential and sundry nature deities. I feel the Realms would benefit from more widespread use of NPC classes in general. Often we see a minor character who serves a useful but non-adventure related role in a city or locale, then we find they have heaps of adventuring class levels (in particular the wizard class often serves as a "civilian" lorekeeper or sage). I've consider creating an NPC class, an arcane adept that I feel is missing from the core rules and would fit the Realms especially well. |
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