Classes of Martapa Part 6

Clerics of Sarjon: Sarjon is the God of War. He soes not take sides in war since he is neutral and revels in a good fight, a good battle.  He loves the intricacies of strategy and may inspire his followers with unsought strategies if they are putting their hearts into a battle.  He loves to delve into battles and prick out one individual skirmish to watch.  His favorite avatar is Jet Stonecrusher, an instructor at the battle school in Stormvale.  The man his huge and bares a two handed sword.  In his immortal form he is a human in full field plate, carrying a two handed sword named Foebane.  Clerics of Sarjon should be allowed to wear any armor, use any weapon and shield and get strategy, (or similar skill), for free.  They should get a bonus to perception and other battle related skills, but lose any bonus to knowledge skills, if not battle related.

Sarjon's symbol is a flaming sword pinning a map. If alignment is called for in your system his followers must be some sort of neutral, though probably leaning to chaotic since battles are always chaotic.  Non-clerics that follow Sarjon include any one who battles, such as mercenaries and soldiers.  His clerics are charged with spreading weapon training, strategy, and the history of war.

Classes of Martapa Part 5

Clerics of Catiana: Clerics of Catiana are the keepers of wisdom and knowledge, the keepers of the Balance. They are also dispensers of justice, and thus are often called upon to act as judges.  Clerics of Catiana should be well versed in magic, (so no restrictions on magic spells or spell levels), general knowledge, (so all knowledge skills so be available), and also good at negotiations.  Clerics of Catiana wear no more then robes, so they wear no armor.  Robes are usually blue in color with gold trim.  They can use staves and daggers.

Catiana's symbol is a perfectly balanced set of scales.  Her non-cleric followers include human sages, Clan Warriors, some mages, and some seers. If your system calls for alignment, her followers would be neutral.

Classes of Martapa Part 4

Cleric Class: The cleric class is a little more complicated then some of the other classes, since there are so many Gods involved, which changes the class depending on the God.  A cleric is devoted to his God and his God's ideals.  Any race, even ogres, can be clerics, though magic is dependent, in most systems, on wisdom.  So low wisdom races will have issues as clerics.  Some Gods give benefits to weapons, some to magic, some to tracking.  Use your base cleric class, making sure that they have the ability to heal, cast magic and some ability to match their God.  You may allow them to use any weapon or armor, but it must match their God.  Sarjon's clerics should be able to wear plate, though Tinaka's clerics should only wear cloth.  In the following days I will talk about the clerics for each God

Classes of Martapa Part 3

The Bard Class: This class is of great use in a campaign as a DM character, if you want to introduce a lot of world lore.  Even as a Player Character a DM can bring in all sort of lore, as well.  Bards are the keepers of knowledge, spreaders of news and gossip, and finders of the obscure.  Bards should be able to sing, dance, or play an instrument. Or they can do all of the above.  Not all bard classes, depending on system, have magic, but for Martapa, a bard must be able to sing/dance/play an instrument to cast their magic.  They are some what proficient in small and light weapons, such as sabers and daggers, but wear little armor.  They also know how to break into places with a little practice.

Depending on  your system, magic should be based on charisma more then intellect, and agility should also be a good second main stat.  They should have magic spells, be able to wield a light weapon, and pick locks.  They shouldn't get as many spells per day as a mage, nor should they be able to hit as well as a fighter.  Humans and elves make good bards, but other races can harbor their kind.

Classes of Martapa Part 2

The Barbarian Class:  Though really a sub class of fighters, many of races, such as Ogres, Akicitia, Minotaur and dwarves could use this class.  These are fighters who become one with their weapons when the battle lust is upon them.  They prefer large, two-handed weapons over shields and a weapon.  They are very chaotic in nature, though, there are exceptions. (My Krom comes to mind.  He is very lawful, but still chaotic when it comes to combat.)  Barbarians prefer heavy leather armor, though chain is alright, as well.  They have the ability to not feel pain, and may remain on their feet, even when they should be dead.

For particulars on the class, you will have to rely on your own roleplaying system.  They should have a fighters ability to hit, with above average hit points, and are little hard up on intellect based skills.  Everything should be focused on the fight.  Adjust accordingly.

Classes of Martapa Part 1

There are many classes in the many roleplaying systems, but here are the classes I will be going over that fit well into my campaign world.  The basic classes, of course, are represented: Priest, Mage, Fighter, and Thief.  But other classes I will touch on are Barbarian, Bard, Druid, Paladin, and the special classes of Wolf Warrior and Gryphon Rider.  We will just talk about basic aspects of how they fit into the world, generalization of skills and how to fit them into your various systems.  We won't spend much time on particular "feats" or "skills" but rather what they should have so you can fit them into your campaign world.

Races of Martapa Part 73

Dragon Society: Dragons live in caves and amass large amounts of treasure, though most of the treasure is really just presents from mortal friends they made through the years, which may or may not be worth a lot later on.  They love to collect magic the most, for magic fascinates all dragons.

Dragons mate for life with an undying sense of love for said mate.  They clutch every fifty or so years, with four to five dozen eggs laid at a time. They live with their children for nearly two decades, then those who survive find their own lairs.  (Survival rate is not good, so that is the reason for so many eggs.) They are in all sense immortal, though they can die from accidents and attacks just like any other being.

Dragons were lost to the mortal realm  a few decades before the War of the Gods.  When the Chosen were searching for the pieces of the Gift of the Gods they came upon Fire Flash, a baby dragon Targon, God of Magic, saved from the last dragon clutch hatched. A little known fact is that eight dragons are needed to open the Gate of the Gods.  So the remaining seven dragons were created by the Gift of the Gods by ripping a part of the souls of the Chosen from them.  These Dragons, the Gate Dragons, began the dragons of Martapa once more.

Races of Martapa Part 72

Dragon Descriptions: Dragons are the oldest of the monstrous intelligent races.  They were created by Sarjon and Catiana and are the symbols of justice.  At least that is what they should be. Dragons are huge beings, as long in body as 20 draft horses, with tails and wingspans to match.  They come with or without horns, in many colors and differ in attitudes as much as any human might.  But because they are so large they have the ability to shape shift into any other humanoid or animal form they wish. This is painful and melds what ever equipment they have on them into their body.

Dragons can breath fire, are immune to most magic, can cast magic in limited amounts and obviously they can fly.  They help those who would maintain the Balance, though there are some dragons who go their own way.  (This is why they SHOULD NOT be used as a player character race...they would very much unbalance your campaign.)

Races of Martapa Part 71

Skieg Names:  Skieg names depend really on where they are from. If they are around humans, they tend to have more human names.  If they live in skieg enclaves then they are more likely to have names that refer to engineering type objects, such as "Torque" or "Crescent".  If they are taken by ogres they take a primitive type name, mostly to confuse the ogres, since most ogres can't tell skiegs apart.

Races of Martapa Part 70

Skieg Adventures: To use the Skieg race, I would take your base monster goblin race and give a bonus to Intelligence and Wisdom, but take from Strength and Constitution.  They make good thieves, mages, and priests.  Also, if you have a class in your system which is good at tinkering, these would be a good race for this.  If engineering is a skill/proficiency give them to Skiegs for free.  If you do this, though, weapon proficiency/skills should cost double, since they use their brains more then bronze.