The Martial Artist (GLOG Class)

    I've always had a deep and obsessive love of the bullshit wuxia fantasy of Exalted and similar content, and one of my favorite D&D classes has always been monk. I find the insane fights and magic of Naruto to capture my interest enough to trudge painfully through its non-fight scenes, and that's truly impressive given how much I hate everything about that show that isn't them fighting someone. There's something about long pretentious-sounding move names and reality-defying martial prowess that makes me beam at the screen like a toddler with marshmallows in their mouth. So- inspired by many of the other takes on martial artists in the Glogosphere, in particular the monk of Rise Up Comus and the re-hash of that by Wayspell. In the tradition of the GLOG, I snipped them up into pieces and scurried away into a dark alley with the bits I liked. Presented at the end of the class is also one School inspired partially by a random Exalted fan-made sidereal martial art I once read on the internet that I will never be able to locate again. I've got a few others baking in the ol' think-pan but I might get distracted with a shiny new idea before they're fully cooked through.

The Martial Artist

Starting skills: 1)Riddles 2)Meditation 3)Gardening 4)Endurance Running 5)Painting & Calligraphy 6)Dance
Starting Equipment: flowing unhindering robes (as unarmored), 20 ft of thin rope belt, shaving razor, letter of recommendation from your previous master, skilled but unscrupulous rival

A: Backhand Strike, Eternal Student
B: Chi, Unlocking the Gate
C: Candle-smoke Prana, +1 Chi
D: Temple-Shattering Insight, +1 Chi

Backhand Strike: If you make a successful maneuver against an enemy combatant, you may also make a free unarmed attack against them.

Eternal Student: Whenever you defeat an enemy combatant in a fair fight, you may formalize your insights against them into a Stance. Choose an identity of your defeated opponent and then name your Stance and write it down somewhere. After that, you may as an intelligence-based maneuver adopt that stance whenever you please, and it is obvious to regular people that you are a kung fu dude and to kung fu dudes exactly what Stance you are in. You get +2 defense and +2 to attack or perform maneuvers against enemy combatants the Stance is strong against. For example, you defeat a gnoll thief named Steve. After the fight, you note the Scorpion Stings the Nose Stance, which gives you +2 to fighting gnolls. Alternatively, you could note the Watchful Hound Stance, which gives +2 vs thieves, or the Humility-Breaking Fist Stance, which gives +2 vs people named Steve. Those trained in martial arts can trivially overcome these Stances by changing their own- you and other kung fu dudes can get a Stance's +2 bonuses against a martial artist regardless of identity, but only for the round you switch to it, and you get a -2 penalty afterwards as they learn to overcome it. You may know any number of Stances and be in only one at a time.

Chi: Through inner centering and mastery of each individual muscle and nerve of your body, you can consciously control the flow of life energy throughout yourself and turn it to other means. You start with a maximum of 4 Chi, -1 for each object worth more than a fresh apple in your inventory. Valuable possessions weigh down your thoughts and focus your energy around themselves, disrupting the delicate patterns necessary for kung fu shit. Your starting items from this class are below this limit. When you take a long rest or meditate unmoving for an hour in a location of spiritual significance, you regain all lost Chi. You may spend 1 Chi to immediately re-roll a failed check to high jump, balance, do flips, catch a fly with chopsticks, run up walls, or otherwise do crazy kung fu shit.

Unlocking the Gate: You are initiated into the secrets of the Martial Schools. The letter of recommendation from your previous master contains within it encoded katas (that you can now read) that will teach you one technique from their school (roll 1d6 on their school’s table), and you may contact them to learn more. You may also learn more by: defeating significant kung fu opponents and learning their techniques through combat; seeking out ascetic or mendicant masters and learning from them; receiving revelations through significant study of the natural world and its secrets; acquiring secret scrolls of kung fu hidden within temples or dungeons; being gifted divine inspiration by gods or spirits as rewards for your help. If you are still an active student of a school and pay obedience to a master, they often teach one technique of their school each time you acquire a new template, as you prove yourself more capable of handling kung fu’s devastating power.

Candle-smoke Prana: You have trained your Chi to keep your body in perfect balance. You may run along any surface, even ones that will not support your weight, so long as you do not stop moving. You could run along laundry lines, treetops, a hail of arrows, the tops of a crowd’s heads, etc., and balance a perfectly full teacup in each hand without spilling. By spending 1 Chi, you may run along things that are not surfaces, like water, candle-smoke, spiderwebs, or fire, for three rounds or until you stop moving, whichever comes first.

Temple-Shattering Insight: You may learn the secret 7th techniques of each school, though you still must be gifted or discover them as usual. You may also invent your own techniques, given a week of seclusion, a source of inspiration such as a natural feature, a recent epic battle, or the accoutrements of a philosophy, and the GM’s approval. You may formalize these creations into their own school , and other masters may give you the respect deserved of a kung fu school’s founder.

The Princess: a GLOG class

The Princess

by CyberChronometer, with respect
to Randall Munroe

 

    Princesses are, at heart, scientists. They listen and observe and feel and think in ways that others do not. A witch is a force of nature, who knows with a primal power and either shapes the story like a rock breaks a river's flow or who guides the others with the constant wisdom of the stars guiding the swans each winter. A knight is made of action- they accept a quest or shoulder a duty or fulfill a prophecy, but they drive the story with their deeds, and are unshakeable from the path they are set upon. But a princess... she thinks. When the witch places a curse, the princess figures out its secret. When the king gives an impossible quest, the princess devises a clever solution. When the world is set against love and the knight despairs, the princess thinks to herself, "This is a dark time- but I have survived dark times, and so have my sisters." Each time a princess is pricked by a spindle or trapped in a tower or poisoned by an apple or married to a lindwurm, she writes down her story in a book- and every fairy tale teaches the next princess how to be a little bit wiser.

The Princess

Starting Skills: Singing and one of - 1) Weaving & sewing 2)Dutifulness 3)Ancient Languages 4)Hairdressing 5)Swordplay 6)Statecraft

Starting Equipment: A brightly-colored dress, extremely impractical shoes, hair down to the floor, a small knife that can be hidden easily, a polished copper handmirror, innocence (as studded leather against non-witches)

A: Heir of Magic, Hair of Ingenuity, +1 MD
B: Applied Theory
C: Knight-Errant, Shield of Love
D: Coronation

Heir of Magic: You automatically fail any save made against a hostile magical effect, prophecy, or curse. When you write down a detailed account of your experience later, you gain a Glimmer. You may spend one Glimmer to make a save against magic, even if it doesn't usually allow a save (at -2 if so). You may spend four Glimmers to learn how to cast a spell as it affects you, the full text and subject of a prophecy that you have heard of, or how to break a curse that affects you or a loved one. 

Hair of Ingenuity: Your hair functions as fine rope. You can cut twenty feet of hair per day, which magically regrows each morning. You are adept at complex knot-work and can weave baskets, slings, and other such tools out of your hair. While on your head, no force can cut your hair but your own hand and your own knife, and when tied, woven, or strung by your own hand it can be cut by no force but magic or true love.

Applied Theory: When you acquire this template, when you marry someone for the first time, when you kill a witch for the first time, and when you reclaim your throne for the first time, roll on the Princess Charm list. You learn the ritual for that entry, or the one above or below if you already have it.

Knight-Errant: Any knight you encounter falls madly in love with you. They will defend your honor against challengers, keep any promises made to you with their life, and drop in at inopportune moments with strange gifts. If you meet another knight while one is in love with you, you must either denounce one, who will retire to become a beet farmer and never again know happiness, or they will duel to the death. Once a day, you may sing out an open window to call a new knight to you.

Shield of Love:  If at least one person currently loves you truly, whenever you would die, there is a 3-in-6 chance someone who loves you truly appears suddenly and leaps in front of the harm. They die  with your name on their lips.

Coronation: You immediately gain the A-template of Monarch and the A-template of any class with MD other than Princess, such as Witch, Sidhe, or Dragon. You may not gain experience for these classes, but may advance them through dramatically appropriate accomplishments, such as conquering a nearby kingdom for Monarch or devouring a maiden's heart for Witch.

Princess Charms:

1. Feather Cloak: Gather seven hundred and seventy-seven feathers, shed from migrating birds, and weave them into a cloak clasped by a golden chain. Twirling that cloak about your shoulders, you may transform into a migratory bird for as long as you wear the cloak, and return to your natural form by taking it off. Any who see your cloak understands magically that stealing it would grant them a boon from you, which you would be compelled to give. Traditionally, they ask for marriage.
2. True Love's Kiss: Grind in a pestle a rose as bright as blood, a cord of your hair soaked in your tears, and a stone from a stream whose source is as cold as a faerie's heart. Keep the paste in a brass tin and wear it as lipstick. Your kiss can break simple curses, enchantments, illusions, and shapechanges. Whoever you kiss falls deeply in love with you for as long as they were affected by the magic.
3. Heart's Door Charm: Find a white rabbit who will agree to help you and who you trust without reservation. Cut out your heart with a silver scalpel and the rabbit will hide it within his own. As long as it is hidden, you cannot fall in love even by magic, you cannot be affected by enchantments, and you may hide one person within the space that was once a heart by embracing them. They are completely undetectable until you release them with a whisper. Do not allow the rabbit to be caught.
   
4. Ring of Common Sense: Twine a mother's knowing smile around a sprig of sage, then rub a silver ring between your fingers until it shines, and the reflection of the smile-and-sage is trapped within the silver. Once a day, twist the ring thrice around your finger and you will instantly know what is wrong with the situation or room you are in. You will feel a pea beneath twenty cushions, hear the trick in the riddle (though not its answer), see the wizard's smile underneath his beggar's rags, or smell the obligation in a Fae's gift. If anyone ever finds out you discovered this information through anything but common sense, the ring dulls and breaks.
5. Dragon-Taming Whip: Soak a leather whip in lye and fine alcohol, then tell it one thousand apologies and ask it to be gentle. If you've done it right, it will consent. A dragon or suitably large terrible monster whipped by this weapon will have its skin and hide opened by long gashes that do not bleed. After five lashes on a Large creature, ten on a Huge, or twenty on anything larger, it will shed its skin and hide and curse and reveal a handsome, naked prince who will ask your hand in marriage. He will make a fine husband, kind, courteous, and having only small fangs. The weapon deals no damage to any other creature, as it kisses and apologizes and does not break the skin.
6. Slippers of Purest Glass: Wash a pair of silk slippers in the river until their color is gone, then speak to them of fashionable balls and grand courts and noble lords until they get their act together and stiffen up into glass. When you tap your heels together when wearing them, you may transform your clothes into anything you can imagine, and a mask appears on your face that protects you from any attempt, magical or mundane, of discovering who you are. At midnight, the spell breaks, and the shoes don't work again until you tell them a story of a time you fell in love.
   

Wizards With Guns: Wanderers and Vagabonds

Wizards With Guns

The sun beats down like lead weights. The man you’ve been hunting for three weeks has killed you twice, and your horse three times. The steel on your hip glimmers with the enchantments you spend the last day beating into it with a muttered cuss and silver chisel. The next time that cattle-rustlin’ Trouble-callin’ sonvagun rides into a town this side of the Arbiter Crossing, you’ll know, and you’ll be ready. There’s a law to the Land that you know in your bones, and not even death keeps your bullets from delivering the Land’s justice.

Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward

Character Creation

1. Assign a d6, two d8s, and a d10 between the four stats: Breath, Bone, Gunpowder, Grit
2. Write the highest result of your Bone as HP. Write half the highest result of your Breath as Fatigue.
3. Choose a Magical Element: Sun, Stars, Dust, Whiskey
4. Choose a Gun Type: Long Gun, Shotgun, Handgun
5. Choose starting equipment and rumors

Magic Overview:
Sun Magic: Radiant power good for cutting through magical protections and starting and resisting fires. Common themes are steel, light, fire, modernity, law, and honesty.
Star Magic: Cool silver energies that excel at hunting Troubles and misdirecting foes. Common themes are shadow, the moon, shapeshifting, illusions, the wild, and the cold.
Dust Magic: Deathly energies that wither mortal men and make sure the dead stay dead. Good for killing people and hunting the undead. Common themes are dust, fear, bone, death, the wind, and ghosts.
Whiskey Magic: The animating force behind all of humanity’s achievements. Good for making friends and helping allies. Common themes are alcohol, healing, community, trust, protection, and luck.

Gun Overview:
Long Guns: Rifles and carbines. Good for setting up things carefully, with improved accuracy and increased duration.
Shotguns: Says it on the tin. Good for blowing shit up with extreme violence, with powerful spells and increased damage.
Handguns: Pistols, revolvers, derringers, and other small one-handed guns. Good for looking stylish and slick, with extreme versatility and dual-wielding.

Sun-Magic, wielded by the Zenith-Smiths
    Exact noon is the wizard’s hour. When the sun hits its zenith, its blinding light burns away all magic, if only for an instant. Wizard’s guns are forged at exactly this moment, so no magical impurities remain in its shining steel. Zenith-Smiths build communities and hammer out a haven in the unforgiving wild, and forge the weapons of humanity from men and steel alike.
Radiant Deliverance: You get +1d when rolling to overcome Wards with Sun spells. You may place your palm on an ongoing magical effect and test Gunpowder to dispel that effect for a minute.
Mantle of Smokeless Fire: You and your horse suffer no ill effects from mundane extreme heat or sun exposure. You may test Bone whenever you or your horse would take magical fire damage to gain immunity against that instance of damage. Against mundane fires, this ability instead grants immunity for one minute.

Star-Magic, guarded by the Shining Strangers
    The Untamed Lands are not kind to humanity. They are harsh and unforgiving, and frequently remind humanity that it is not a privileged animal, and that it must hunt for its survival in the same way that any other predator must. The Shining Strangers are the claws of humanity then, finding, stalking, and killing its enemies, and then melting away into the shadows. They are the least like other humans, and the most in touch with the energies of the Land. Their laughter echoes down from the hills when the moon is high.
Binding Silver: You can tell at a glance if someone or something is a blight upon the Land, though particularly powerful entities may be able to fool you if you aren’t expecting it. Your damage with Star spells against these Troubles is at +1d. You may test Breath to track a Trouble you have laid eyes on in the last three days by scent.
Stranger’s Smile: You may steal the form of any person or animal you can make laugh, abandoning any others you have stolen. Test Gunpowder to assume a stolen form for one minute. While wearing a stolen form, you have silver flecks in your eyes and short predator fangs, both of which are visible only upon moderate inspection. Coyotes are notorious jokesters, and you may always shapechange into one, regardless of any other stolen form.

Dust-Magic, administered by the Reaper’s Desperados
    The practice of killing folks acquaints one with the dirt often. Whether digging graves, taking cover from a salvo of spells, or tasting the dust of the road in the air between one town and the next, the earth reminds the duelist that man was once but dirt, and will be so again. The Desperados embrace death and dust, turning one into the other with practiced skill. They blow into town on the dry wind and out with the tumbleweeds, leaving nothing but corpses and stories to mark their passage. They know anything else would simply crumble.
Dust to Dust: Your Dust spells get +1d to damage against mortal humans and the undead. Any mortal humans you kill immediately desiccates into weathered bones and dirt. You may place your hand on the ground and test Breath to determine the presence and location of any corpses, animate, ancient, buried, or otherwise, within a mile radius.
Reaper’s Authority: Common folk try not to piss off wizards in general, but no sane soul would willingly cross a Desperado. If you make it known you are hunting on the behalf of the Land, common folk will provide you and your companions and horses the bare minimum hospitality and accommodations. You may be expected to provide funeral rites as a priest might in exchange for this aid. When you gather a posse to join your hunt, you may test Grit to also summon the ghosts of past town members, who will ride with you, scout ahead, and share local wisdom, though their combat capabilities are limited.

Whiskey-Magic, shared by the Bootstrap Men
    Whiskey is truly the lifeblood of the frontier. Without it, civilization would crumble to dust and mankind would surely die out. It’s a bitch of a life in a hell of a place, and oftentimes the only good part of a man’s day is when they are able to brush the dust off their coat, sit down at a table, and get absolutely hammered with their friends while the bartender makes sure no-one has cards up their sleeves and keeps their mugs full. The Bootstrap Men channel this unifying brotherly compassion and bring the camaraderie of being piss-drunk to every one-street frontier town in the West.
Liquid Courage: You never take die penalties to shooting due to being shitfaced-drunk. You get +1d to hit targets while you are under the effect of a Whiskey spell. You may test Bone to jump in front of bullets or spells that would hit close-by allies.
Favorite Guy in Town: If you spend your night in a welcoming town and have a wooden barrel available, you may test Grit (after you wake in the morning) to prepare a special batch of bourbon whiskey. Choose an emotion as specific as you’d like: it tastes like that. In addition, anyone who drinks it restores all Fatigue if it's the first flask of it they’ve had that day. It’s against Bootstrap code to charge for this service. Your bourbon lasts until you make a new batch, and has enough for a small frontier-town to have a wild party.

Long Guns
    Wizards who practice with long guns such as rifles and carbines know that honor is worthless to the dead. They practice their spells from a safe distance and watch the world twist and buckle to their will through unfeeling iron sights.
Careful Preparation: You may push your spells’ duration once without testing Gunpowder. This usually increases their duration from one round (6 seconds) to ten rounds (one minute).
Steel Sight: You never need to test Breath to hit a target protected only by light cover or Far distance, and never take penalties to Breath tests to hit targets from further than Far. If you take a round to aim before firing, you get +1d to the Gunpowder test.
Lever-Action: You may have up to four engraved spells before you must take time to handload a new brace of ammo.

Shotguns
    Wizards who specialize in shotguns know that oftentimes, the simplest solution is the most effective, and that oftentimes the simplest solution is more gunpowder. These terrifying forces of magical might are unmatched in arcane power and raw destruction. Just don’t ask them to improvise.
Volatile Gunpowder: You may push your spells’ damage or effect once without testing Gunpowder. This usually increases their damage or effect from d4 to d6.
Experimental Admixture: When you craft a spell-bullet, if it targets enemies, you may craft it with two Magic words instead of one.
Double Barrel: You may have up to two engraved spells before you must take time to handload a new brace of ammo.

Handguns
Wizards who employ handguns such as revolvers and pistols do what other wizards do but twice and with more style. Quick shots, quick mouths, and quick tempers, they make names for themselves whether they intend to or not and quickly get plenty of practice defending it. Where a handgun wizard travels, move on quickly or find yourself retold in the campfire stories they leave behind.
Fan the Hammer: You may push your spells’ number of targets once without testing Gunpowder. This usually increases their number of targets from one to two.
Practiced Duelist: Even when surprised, you may take your turn before any other combatant. When in a formal duel against any but another handgun wizard, you may choose to have any onlookers know for certain that you shot first or second, whether that is true or not.
Six-Shot Cylinder: You may have up to six engraved spells before you must take time to handload a new brace of ammo.

Starting Equipment and Rumors

1. A reliable horse, a fortnight’s rations for you and it, two glass bottles of fine whiskey, ten dollars in silver coins. You know of the location of a silver mine, abandoned soon after its opening for unknown reasons. You are known as a storyteller and wandering guitarist.
2. An ornery but strong mule, saddlebags, four week’s rations for you and it, two barrels of bad moonshine, ten dollars in raw iron ore. You’ve heard of a town that’s tamed buffalo as beasts of burden and are building some sort of monument. You’re known as a hard-ass trader, and people often try to pawn their worthless random objects onto you as treasures.
3. A large pack, a thick and sturdy walking stick, a loyal and slightly magical dog, rations for a week for you and it, maps of the area that probably aren't inaccurate, two gold teeth you stole off a corpse worth five dollars each. You’ve heard of a new rail line being constructed to absolutely nowhere out in the frontier. You’re known as a vagabond and trickster, and kids are curious about you, even if their parents strongly distrust you.

Wizards With Guns: The Grimm's Arsenal

Wizards With Guns

The steel in your hands is hot- it remembers the noonday sun that beat down on it when it was forged. The bullet between your fingers hums with arcane energies, the gunpowder, eagle’s feather, weathered lapis bead, and tiny silver pellet within it humming with barely-restrained power a hair’s breadth from explosion. You mutter a quick cuss as you slide it into the revolver’s chamber with practiced ease and take aim- the thing has already barreled through the barber’s shop, but you’ll be damned again if you let it take out the saloon. Its eyes are frenzied in the moonlight and its scything claws take apart a tied horse with frightening strength, long dark fur floating like a corona around its hulking frame. Your breath slows- in, out, in, and … fire.

 

Caio Santos

Breath, Bone, Gunpowder, and Grit
Stats are rated by a die size, d4->d6->d8->d10->d12. To test a stat, roll its die. On any die, a 1 is a critical failure, a 2-3 is a failure, and a 4+ is a success. Critical failures may add additional complications to the situation, but they also represent your character tiring as they exert themselves. Whenever you roll a 1, reduce the stat you just rolled by one step down the progression, a d8 becoming a d6, a d6 becoming a d4, etc. If you would reduce a d4, instead you are exhausted and can’t test that stat again for a full minute. The stat is only temporarily reduced: all stats are restored to their base level with a good night’s rest. Advantages or disadvantages to a roll often change the die size as well: a bonus is often recorded as +1d, indicating to improve the die size by one step for the test, and a penalty is the opposite, noted as -1d. If it falls off the progression on either side, don’t bother, the outcome should be obvious.

Test Breath to perform a careful or precise action, to move quickly, to know things about history, nature, or science, and to concentrate or focus on something despite distractions.
Test Bone to perform a strenuous or difficult physical action, to exert strength, to resist pain or fatigue, and to endure harsh weather or exhausting travel.
Test Gunpowder to know about or perform magic.
Test Grit to be recognized for good or ill, to be impressive and charismatic, to know things about people or places, and to remain unmoved and unperturbed in the face of mortal peril.

Resting
Taking a night’s sleep restores all lost HP and Fatigue, allows the wizard to clear their engraved spells from their guns, and restore all their stats to their base levels, if any had degraded through critical failures. Taking a 30 minute breather with jerky or whiskey or both restores all lost Fatigue.

Combat
When combat begins, test a stat appropriate to the situation- Grit to notice the ambush, Gunpowder to ready your spell-bullets a hair faster than the enemy wizard, Breath to spring into action before they notice you, Bone to squint through the dust-storm before the Gila-drakes strike. Success means taking your turn before the enemies, and failure means taking it afterwards. On your turn, you may move one range band towards or away from an enemy, from melee to close to medium to far, make one attack or cast one spell, and make one maneuver, such as closing a door or pulling your opponent’s hat down in their face or drinking from a flask.

Shooting Guns
Human beings can’t dodge bullets. You probably can’t either. If you shoot a gun at something, unless there’s a good reason it shouldn’t hit, it does. If the target is behind significant cover or at Far or further range, the shooter tests Breath, and hits on a success at -1d per range band beyond Far. If the target has magical protection, the protective magic will specify the test needed to overcome it. Bullets deal a d4 of damage. You are assumed to have as many as you need at any point in time- only if you roll a 1 on a d4 Gunpowder test are you out of ammunition, and even then only until you have some time to rifle more thoroughly through your poncho pockets and shake your boots out all the way.

Casting Spells
Spells in Wizards With Guns are extremely freeform- choose a magic word and an effect word and describe what they do, and that’s what the spell does. As a baseline, all spells have a basic effect of d4, a one round duration, and have one target. The spell Sunlight Beam deals 1d4 damage, bathes the target in anti-magical zenithshine for 1 round, and hits 1 target. The spell Stone Shaping allows the caster to control rock and stone, rolling a d4 for any tests required while controlling it, for 1 round, and control about a person-sized amount of material at a time. The spell Lightning Horse would summon an elemental of electricity in the shape of a horse from the storm clouds, with 1d4 HP, for 1 round, that one person can ride. If you aren’t sure what a spell might do, argue with the DM until one of you agrees with the other.

Casting a spell at base costs nothing and requires no tests. You are a magical fucking wizard and you can cast your spells whenever you want. However, casting a spell at base is often moderately weak. Whenever you cast a spell, you may test your Gunpowder to Push that spell, improving an aspect of it. You may Push a spell any number of times until you fail a test to push it. For example, if you roll a 5, then a 6, then a 4, then an 8, then a 2, you have Pushed that spell four times, but you may not Push it further. Each Push may be spent one-for-one to improve the spell- either increase the damage or effect along the following track one step (d4->d6->d8->d10->d12), increase the duration along the following track one step (1 round->1 minute->10 minutes->1 hour->until next noon), or increase the number of targets by 1 or the size of the effect along the following track one step (person sized-> horse sized-> wagon sized-> building sized-> mesa sized). For example, if you rolled a 5,6,4,8,2 as above, you Pushed the spell four times, and could improve the damage to d8, the duration to 1 minute, and the number of targets to 2.

A Note on Wards
One of the most common types of spells wizards cast in the Untamed Lands is the Ward spell. Turns out, not getting shot is high on many wizard’s lists of things to use magic for. Therefore, it’s a good idea to explain in slightly more detail how they work in this magic system. A ward spell has a base protection of d4, a base duration of 1 round, and protects one person at base. At base, the spell names one thing that it wards against (bullets, bad luck, claws, rain) and whenever that thing would happen to the protected target, it makes a test with the spell’s resistance die. For the purpose of effects that care about what test is being made, the spell’s caster determines if it uses Breath, Bone, Gunpowder, or Grit to resist the effect. For example, the spell Dust Ward protects against bullets by using intimidating glares to vaporize bullets into dust before they hit. Whenever the protected target is shot with a bullet, they roll a d4, and on a 4, the bullet turns to dust and deals no damage. Pushing a ward spell’s effect improves the resistance roll, for example from a d4 to a d6, Pushing a spell’s duration increases its duration as expected, and Pushing its targets extends the spell’s protection to more people or things, as expected. If a 1 is rolled on a resistance roll with a ward, it decreases the resistance die of the ward, but does not decrease the caster or protected wizard’s stats. If a ward’s resistance test rolls a 1 and is already a d4, the spell ends.

A Note on Healing
Healing in the Untamed Lands is hard. Bodies are complicated, and the gunpowder magics of a wizard are extremely unsuited for the delicate task of knitting flesh and bone in a way that isn’t a cancerous growth of undifferentiated matter. A wizard can benefit from healing magic only once per day, and healing spells only restore 1HP per effect die size (d4 restores 1, d6 restores 2, etc.) and takes a much longer amount of time, compared to other spells. A healing spell takes 5 rounds to cast at base, though pushing its duration reduces this one step for each Push. For example, Pushing the duration three times would reduce the casting time from 5 rounds to 2.

Enemies and Obstacles
The primary principle in Wizards With Guns is that the DM rolls dice only on random tables and when doing damage. Enemy statblocks don’t have actual stats, they have tests that players can make against them and penalties that they impose on those tests. Usually, it consists of a name, HP, penalties to tests against them, abilities, an attack and sometimes something the players can do against that attack, and a description of the monster. For example:

Tavern Goblin: 4HP, Bone -1d, Floorboard tunneling (can swim through worked wood like water), Drunken Burst, 1d4 damage, drunk for 1 minute, one target. Small, ugly creature similar in color to stained wood. Live in taverns and lick spilled alcohol from the floorboards. Sometimes paid by owners to creak floorboards when people they don’t recognize walk over them.