Thursday, October 28, 2021

The Wyrding - an OSR class

Uh, yeah so I just watched Dune so...

The Wyrding

Saves and levels as a Magic-user

A scion of an ancient breeding program to produce an heir to the line of wizard kings. However, you were never trained in spells. All your sorcerous blood turned inwards, pumping around your body. 

You manifest wyrding powers -- an incredible mastery of internal alchemy and utmost physical conditioning. These are almost magical, but are not. This means they are not affected by things like magical resistance, dispel, or anti-magic fields. 

Only a few wyrding powers have a limit on the number of times that you can use them. 

At first level and every level of wyrding thereafter, toss a dice onto the Wyrding Die Drop Level Table (Table 1) to determine what wyrding power you gain. 

Table 1



Wyrding Powers

If you get the same result twice, gain the + benefit instead. 

The Hand

You can move any object that you can see and lift one handed by intensely gesturing at it. 

+: You gain +1 Strength.

The Foot

You have perfect balance and are essentially weightless. You can walk on rice paper or tree boughs or clotheslines. 

+: You gain +1 Dexterity.

The Stride

When you move, you can ignore the intervening space and teleport to any space that you could have walked. You essentially move too fast to be seen. You do not trigger pressure plates or other types of traps by this type of movement.

This does not give you the ability to traverse environments you couldn't normally (you cannot walk over acid or lava or through walls), but you can "blink" between two points in space. 

+: You gain +5 feet of movement.  

The Heart

Once per real-life hour, you can ask the GM this question: "If I do X, will Y happen?" The GM will answer you honestly and you will feel its truth in your heart. 

+: You can use this ability an additional time each hour.

The Tear

If someone falls in combat, before you check and make sure they're dead, you can cry over their body. This has a 2-in-6 chance to restore them to life with 1HP. You can only do this once per battle.

+: You gain an additional pip in this ability. You can use it all at once (3-in-6 to resurrect the person you're crying over) or split it up (2-in-6 for the first body, 1-in-6 for a second). 

The Eye

If you close your eyes, you can send your vision roaming. If your eyes are closed, you can see any of your companions, your lord, and your children. You see them as if you had a security camera hovering over them.

If your eyes are closed, you are automatically surprised by ambushes unless you're "other eye" is looking in that direction.

+: You gain +1 Intelligence.

The Nose

Once per real-life hour, you can ask the GM any specific question about your immediate environment and receive an honest answer. 

For example:

  • Is there a hidden passage here? (You can smell the draft.)
  • Is there anybody waiting in ambush? (You can smell their sweat.)
  • Is there gold hidden here? (You can smell the metal.)
+: You can use this ability an additional time each hour.

The Ear

Whenever you hear someone speak in a language that you understand, you can ask the GM what emotion the character is truly feeling. The GM will give you one of the following responses: interest, joy, trust, fear, surprise, sadness, disgust, anger. 

+: You gain +1 Wisdom.

The Seed

Whenever you have sex, you gain two abilities. 

First, you can ask your partner any one question and they are compelled to answer you honestly.

Second, you can choose any of the following:

  • Whether to impregnate/become pregnant
  • If impregnation happens, you choose what features you want the baby to have
  • If you choose the baby's features, you can even make a physical clone of yourself 
+: You gain +1 Constitution.

The Tongue

With just a drop, you can determine if something is poisoned. With just a drop, you can determine what a potion does. 

You can also choose to break down the chemical compounds of a poison or potion once per game session, ignoring any one potion/poison's effects.

+: You gain +2 HP.

The Whisper

As an action, you can issue one syllable irresistible commands to a single person. They are aware of being controlled (and hate you for it). The command can only take a moment to complete -- but can be very dangerous. The subject interprets the command in the way that is most advantageous to themselves -- but you cannot be ignored. 

For example:

  • s̴̩̤̋p̶͚̆͝ͅę̴͙̏̅a̸͍͗k̶̞̈́̚!
  • k̷̬̑n̵͔͋e̷̪͝ͅe̴̛͉̩͋l̸̻̹̀!
  • j̷̭̐́u̸͍͑͝m̶̫̕ͅp̷̢̖̈́!

+: Your commands can be +1 syllable. 

The Shout

Your voice itself is a weapon. You deal damage as a dagger just by shouting. In combat, this just counts as an attack action -- but you can never be disarmed as long as you can speak. 

+: You gain +1 Charisma.