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Big Trouble

Page 31

by Andrew Seiple


  ADVENTURING JOBS

  ARCHER

  Archers are experts with ranged weaponry, focused on fighting at a distance. They earn experience from shooting foes or otherwise engaging in missile combat, and by making trick shots at crucial moments.

  Level 1 Skills

  Aim

  Cost: 10 ForDuration: 1 Turn

  The Archer takes careful aim and adds their aim skill rating to the next shot they take. This is an increase, not a buff. Note that the shot must be taken within the next turn, so the maximum amount of times the archer can effectively use it is twice before they have to shoot.

  Missile Mastery

  Cost: N/ADuration: Passive Constant

  The Archer’s obsession with ranged weaponry makes them an excellent shot, even with weapons that they haven’t practiced to the same level. When attacking with ranged weapons, they may substitute half of their highest ranged weapon skill, instead of the skill they would normally use. The experience for this attack goes off the skill that missile mastery replaces, instead of the one actually used. This makes it an excellent way to train up sub-par skills. The affected skill groups are archery, throwing, guns, and siege engines. This skill has no levels.

  Quickdraw

  Cost: 5 StaDuration: 1 minute

  The Archer uses supreme skill and reflexes to draw a weapon at the speed of thought. For the next minute after using this skill, the archer may draw any weapon or item on their person at incredible speed. This skill has no levels.

  Rapid Fire

  Cost: 10 StaDuration: Instant

  The Archer may take two shots in the next ranged attack, instead of one. All costs must be paid as per normal. This attack can only be used once per turn. This skill has no levels.

  Ricochet Shot

  Cost: 5 ForDuration: 1 attack

  The Archer can bounce a shot off a hard surface to strike a target behind cover, or around a corner, or otherwise not easily targeted. Activating this skill reduces the penalties required to make the shot.

  Level 5 Skills

  Demoralizing Shot

  Cost: 10 StaDuration: 1 attack

  The Archer fires a warning shot, designed to break the target’s will, rather than cause physical damage. The Archer’s attack uses agility plus ranged weapon skill and targets will instead of agility, and inflicts moxie damage instead of HP. This skill has no levels.

  Far Shot

  Cost: 15 StaDuration: 1 Attack

  The Archer strains his muscles to throw or shoot an attack as far as possible. Activating this skill reduces the penalties required to make the shot.

  Razor Arrow

  Cost: 10 ForDuration: 1 Attack

  The Archer fires a supernaturally-sharp shot that bores through the target’s armor. Activating this skill lets the attack ignore a portion of the target’s armor.

  GRIFTER

  Grifters are conmen (and women) who specialize in tricking and fooling their targets. They gain experience from lying and bluffing; the bigger the stakes the better.

  Level 1 Skills

  Fools Gold

  Cost: 10 ForDuration: 10 minutes/Skill level

  The Grifter always seems to have some fake coins on hand! This spell creates one gold coin per Grifter level. However, the gold is only temporary, and it soon dissipates. This does not tend to engender feelings of goodwill in those so fooled. The gold coins register as magical to various detection spells. This skill is a spell.

  Master of Disguise

  Cost: 10 MoxDuration: 10 minutes/Skill level

  The Grifter puts on a masterful disguise! The difficulty of seeing through it is modified by the Grifter’s charisma and skill level. The difficulty may be negatively modified if the disguise is extraordinarily different from the Grifter’s regular appearance... such as a raccant disguising themselves as a giant, or a human attempting to costume themselves as a dragon. This skill can mimic faction inclusion.

  Silent Activation

  Cost: 10 MoxDuration: 1 Skill activation

  Grifters are the masters of subtlety! As such they can silently activate any skill they have, by taking an action and spending ten moxie before activating the skill in question. They still have to move their lips, though... Anyone looking at the Grifter’s face has a chance to spot this lip movement, influenced by the Grifter’s charisma and their silent activation skill.

  Silver Tongue

  Cost: 10 MoxDuration: 10 minutes/Skill level

  The Grifter buffs their charisma by an amount equal to their skill level... but this bonus only applies to lies.

  Size Up

  Cost: 5 ForDuration: 1 Turn

  With a good hard look, the Grifter sizes up their target. If the Grifter succeeds, they learn the target’s charisma, perception, willpower, wisdom, and any detection or observation skills that might interfere with the Grifter’s lies or deceptions.

  Level 5 Skills

  Forgery

  Cost: 10 ForDuration: Permanent

  With some carefully-aged parchment and a few pen strokes, a Grifter can quickly craft a suitable license, authorization, or document that appears to be the real deal! Anyone scrutinizing the document may detect that it is indeed false. Fair warning: appraise and other item-reading skills will see right through this deception.

  Pickpocket

  Cost: 10 StaDuration: 1 Attempt

  What’s mine is mine. What’s yours is negotiable. The Grifter gains a buff to his dexterity rolls... but only for the purpose of performing sleight-of-hand or pickpocketing a target. This is usually paired with silent activation, as it otherwise attracts undue attention.

  Unflappable

  Cost: N/ADuration: Passive Constant

  When you trick people for a living, you become fairly resistant to things like shame and guilt. You gain a bonus to your cool equal to your Grifter level. This skill has no levels.

  ORACLE

  Chosen by a god or affected by proximity to a divine influence, Oracles serve to embody the concepts and will of their patron. They can heal, remove and transfer conditions, and eventually overcome time itself with foresight and wisdom. Oracles gain experience by predicting the future and aiding those around them to cope with twists of fate.

  Level 1 Skills

  Absorb Condition

  Cost: 10 ForDuration: 1 Action

  This skill transfers a condition or debuff from a target that you’re physically touching to yourself. Note that it doesn’t restore drained pools, so if a target’s dying, and you take the condition, then the target will instantly start dying again because their hit points are still zero. This skill has no levels. Regardless of the debuff or condition absorbed, the Oracle shakes it off after a day’s worth of time if it isn’t cured before then. This skill is a spell.

  Diagnose

  Cost: 5 SanDuration: 1 Action

  This skill reveals all debuffs and conditions on a target. It never fails and has no levels. This skill is a spell.

  Divine Pawn

  Cost: N/ADuration: Passive Constant

  Congratulations! The gods have selected you to be one of their agents on Generica. Good luck with that. You gain a bonus to your fate equal to your Oracle level. This skill has no levels.

  Foresight

  Cost: 10 ForDuration: 1 Turn

  Time is malleable to gods. They’ll share a little bit of that with you, spinning out predictions of the next few seconds. You get a glimpse of the near future, and the results of an action you choose at the time of using foresight. Bear in mind that failing to follow through with an action similar to that chosen has a risk of backfiring, as the feedback and dissonance from the false visions throws off your precognition for the rest of the day. The higher your skill, the less the chance of dissonance.

  Lesser Healing

  Cost: 5 SanDuration: 1 Action

  Instantly heals a living target within a hundred feet of the Oracle, restoring a small amount of HP, influenced by the level of this skill. This is light-based healing, and w
hen used upon an undead or negative-natured target, it inflicts damage instead of healing. This damage bypasses all defenses, and automatically hits. This skill is a spell.

  Level 5 Skills

  Afflict Self

  Cost: 5 ForDuration: 10 seconds per skill level

  Afflicts you with a random minor condition. The condition fades when it is cured, or when the afflict self duration expires, whichever comes first. This skill is a spell.

  Omens and Portents

  Cost: N/ADuration: Passive Constant

  The gods send you signs, sometimes subtle, sometimes blatant. Your dreams are occasionally filled with visions, or sometimes sticks will fall in mystical patterns around you. But it’s up to you to decipher them! This skill has no levels.

  Transfer Condition

  Cost: 10 SanDuration: 1 Turn

  This skill lets you put a condition or debuff that’s affecting you on another target. After casting this spell, you have a short amount of time to touch them, boosted by your transfer condition skill. If you succeed, then they gain a condition or debuff of your choice from those currently afflicting you. Note that the duration of the condition or debuff is unchanged. This skill is a spell.

  NOTE: General skills are self-explanatory, and do not have activation costs or require explanation.

  AUTHOR’S NOTE

  Thank you for reading the first volume of the Small Medium series! I am grateful for your patronage. If you’ve got a few seconds, please leave a review. Each review helps Chase put together her master plan!

  For news of future releases, and occasional free short fiction, please consider signing up for my mailing list, at the following URL;

  http://eepurl.com/bMPrY1

  Also, please feel free to check out my website, at the following URL;

  https://andrewseiple.wixsite.com/andrewseiple

  Finally, for more previews and news of more quality gamelit books, check out the gamelit society facebook page at the following URL;.

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  Best wishes,

  Andrew Seiple

 

 

 


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