It doesn’t matter.
There were battles, bonds made and broken, men and women laid out on the ground, blue with the blanket of death. You stacked rocks with scabbed, trembling fingers atop the bodies of your friends, or brothers, or sisters.
It doesn’t matter.
What matters is that you are now breaking the oath you made after your last battle. Against all reason, against the tenuous feeling of your body, against the little voice in your head saying that now, you might actually die, you have picked up arms once again.
There is something. A person, a promise through shredded lips, a doubt. You will not rest until they are dead, or the promise fulfilled, or the doubt assuaged, or your own death.
Whatever it is, though the gates of hell stand in your way, you will blast them down and with your last breath seize your prize.
Thanks to the wonderful Lexi for her feedback during the editing process!
A: +2 Old Wounds, Pangs, Vow, +1 Fighting Style
B: Drinking Buddies, Weathered, +1 Attack
C: Scores, Recall, +1 Fighting Style
D: Venerable Glory, +1 Attack
Old Wounds are the injury you suffered in your previous life come back to haunt you. Fragments of your skills remain, but using them risks tearing something. Your Old Wound dice are represented by d6’s.
When you hit with a weapon, you may roll any number of your WD (Wound Dice) in addition to damage. If the attack roll was even, add all even WD to damage; if the attack roll was odd, add odd WD instead. Sum all the WD that you didn't add and trigger the relevant Pang, then expend those dice until tomorrow.
When you take damage, you may roll any number of your WD. If the damage was even, subtract all even WD from damage; if the damage was odd, subtract odd WD instead. Sum all the WD that you didn't add and trigger the relevant Pang, then expend those dice until tomorrow. If you reduce an instance of damage to 0 using WD, you automatically trigger a relevant Pang with the sum you used to defend.
Pangs are what you suffer when your Old Wounds stir again. They range from mildly debilitating symptoms to devastating reopenings of old wounds. When your dice don’t match up as detailed above, check the sum of the unmatched dice, consult the Pangs table, and suffer its effects.
Your Vow is the reason you bear arms again. You will not rest until it is completed. You will never act in a way that directly contradicts your Vow, and if you are charmed to act against it, you can make one additional save with a +1 bonus for every Veteran template you have.
For every Veteran template you gain without breaking your Vow, you get +1 to saves against effects that would instantly kill you.
Pick a Fighting Style from Mimics and Miscreants. Pick well.
Drinking Buddies are people you served with, veterans of your war(s). You can call upon them for a small favor, like dinner and a place to sleep for the night, or an audience with the local baron. You may ask them for a larger favor, but they’ll ask a favor of you in return. There's at least 1 Drinking Buddy in any small town, and more in larger settlements.
You’re Weathered from past trauma. If your game uses stress points, trauma dice, or similar mechanics, you can ignore the first time these effects trigger. You can sleep outdoors in your armor (unless it’s plate) comfortably as long as weather conditions permit, and you have +1 to saves against exhaustion for every Veteran template you possess.
Scores are relics of your violent past that bubble to the surface as word spreads that you bear arms again. When you return to town after some time spent adventuring, roll a dice.
On evens, a person you served with, a Drinking Buddy, or a relative of such will seek your help avenging a major wrong.
On odds, an old enemy, a Drinking Buddy you offended, or a relative of someone whose death you were responsible for is waiting for you to settle affairs.
If you reject pleas for aid or put off resolving old conflicts, your Drinking Buddies will no longer extend aid until you tie up loose ends. For every Score you settle, you can reroll a Pang you dislike one time.
You may Recall knowledge from your past life. Once a day, you can make a skill check as if you knew about the relevant topic.
You are, now and forever, a Venerable Glory. The first time you kill a creature in combat, all hostile, sentient creatures must Save or refuse to attack you until you deal damage to them.
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| Carlo Arellano |
Old Wounds (1d6)
1. Right arm
2. Torso
3. Left leg
4. Head
5. Left arm
6. Right leg
How Did I Get This Wound? (1d6)
1. Pulling an unconscious friend out of the battlefield into cover.
2. Trampled by pack animals during a night surprise attack.
3. Sniped from a distance. Spent 16 hours curled up in a hole, not daring to move.
4. I tried to end myself to forget all my sins. It was only after I did it that I realized I wanted to live.
5. Stumbled across army corruption. A trio of soldiers was sent to silence me. I silenced them.
6. Wounded from behind. None of my fellow soldiers would confess to it, but I have my suspicions.
Head Pangs (Old Wounds Sum):
1. Mild headache. No negative effects.
2. Sharp spike of pain. -2 to attack rolls for 1 round.
3. Hallucinate a dead enemy as a priority target for [sum] rounds.
4. Stunned for [dice]x2 rounds.
5. -3 to mental activities for [sum] rounds.
6. Agony for [sum] rounds.
7. Flashback to your war for [sum] rounds. All creatures within sight are treated as enemies
8. Alien limb syndrome for [sum] rounds. The limb is hostile to you.
9. Unconscious for [sum] rounds.
10. Gain a Fatal Head wound.
11. You drop to 0 HP.
12. You die. No save.
Torso Pangs
1. Mild abdominal ache. No negative effects.
2. Sharp spike of pain. -2 to attack rolls for 1 round.
3. Vomit blood for [sum] rounds.
4. Stunned for [dice]x2 rounds.
5. Lose 2 HP per round for [dice]x2 rounds.
6. Agony for [sum] rounds.
7. For every action or 10 feet of movement, you take [dice] damage for [sum] rounds.
8. Overwhelming exhaustion for [sum] rounds.
9. Unconscious for [sum] rounds.
10. Gain a Fatal chest wound.
11. You drop to 0 HP.
12. You die. No save.
Arm/Leg Pangs
1. Mild ache. No negative effects.
2. Sharp spike of pain. -2 to attack rolls for 1 round.
3. -3 to physical activities for [sum] rounds.
4. Stunned for [dice]x2 rounds.
5. Appendage moves half as fast for [sum] rounds.
6. Agony for [sum] rounds.
7. Appendage goes limp for [sum] rounds.
8. Every time you use the appendage, you take [dice] damage for [sum] rounds.
9. Unconscious for [sum] rounds.
10. Gain a Fatal wound in the appropriate area.
11. You drop to 0 HP.
12. You die. No save.
Design Notes
I wanted to make a fighting class that used hacked MD for non-magical abilities. While the Veteran lacks the sheer tactical versatility of the many Fighter variants out there, and has significant overlap with the Fighter, I feel that it benefits enough from its non-combat abilities to be a good option for any adventuring party. If I were to kill all the fighters, I'd replace them with this, the Knight, the Assassin, the Barbarian, and a few other niche weird classes.
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