This is the second blog of my Unbloodied Heroes series exploring alternatives to 4e’s noncombat mechanics. In this blog, I will describe proposed mechanics for Exposition. The blogs in this series are:

Unbloodied Heroes 1: An Introduction
Unbloodied Heroes 2: Exposition from Point of View
Unbloodied Heroes 3: Interludes: Backgrounds and Retraining
Unbloodied Heroes 4: Travel and Group Efforts
Unbloodied Heroes 5: Exploration and Individual Efforts
Unbloodied Heroes 6: Skills Reimagined
Related to this blog series are my prior series on Combat Investment, Social Challenges, and Protagonocentrism.

Exposition

Exposition occurs any time the DM needs to convey information to the PCs. This involves giving characters background information, telling them what they can see, smell, taste, hear, and feel. (Sometimes, a Dm will tell them even what they intuit.) In 4e, this is often handled using a combination of passive skill checks and the Arcane, History, Insight, Nature, Perception, and Religion Skills. I propose that these skills be eliminated.

Rather, I will take a cue from OD&D and 1st edition. If the players need to know something for the adventure, the DM should just tell them. The DM should not need to roll to see if something is hidden. If he wants something to be hidden, he declares it to be hidden. If he wants something to think it’s hidden, he declares that it failed to hide.

Now, before you complain that I’ve eliminated half of the Skills from the game, let me assure you – active searching will remain, though in a different form. (That form will be described in the fifth blog of the series.)

POINT OF VIEW (POV)
I would replace these Skills with a new diceless mechanic called “Point of View”. If the DM wants to convey information, he can simply convey it. But how do you handle characters who seek to have expertise. Well, the DM can choose to convey information through a PC’s POV. I have divided all the information a DM might want to impart into 36 discrete categories of knowledge. When a DM seeks to convey information, he determines in what category the information most appropriately fits (and might in fact split the information across categories). He then conveys the information to the character or characters who possess this POV, and the can then share the information with the party (or not) through roleplaying.

The benefit of POVs is several. First, the DM no longer has to worry about the party failing to catch something because someone rolls a “1” on a knowledge-related Skill check. Second, the players no longer need to call for active Perception checks every five feet. If the DM wants them to notice something, he’ll tell them so. Third, the process of selecting POVs will help counter Combat Investment, requiring players to consider in which of the 36 categories their characters have an interest.

One thing to remember is that having a POV does not necessarily mean the character is an expert in that area (though it might). POV does not represent an objective level of knowledge. Rather, it represents a player character’s knowledge compared to the other characters of the party. It determines which character will receive information, not whether any character will receive information.

CATEGORIES OF KNOWLEDGE
The 36 categories, which I’ve grouped into three “schools”, are as follows:
Creatures: Aberrations, Beasts (including Dragons), Civilized Humanoids, Constructs, Demons, Elementals, Fey, Immortals, Plants, Savage Humanoids, Shadow, Undead
Fields: Alchemy, Appraisal, Arcane, Architecture, Empathy, History, Geography, Nature, Religions, Small details, Tells, Writings
Terrains: Aerial, Aquatic, Arctic, Astral Planes, Elemental Planes, Far Realms, Feywild, Shadowfell, Subterranean, Temperate, Tropics, Urban

POV GENERATION
A playing group should agree on one of the following methods of distributing the POVs amongst the PCs. These methods are ordered, not my preference, but from simplest to most complex:

METHOD I: Don’t Bother: Perhaps nobody cares who is given exposition. Then don’t bother with POVs. The DM should simply give the entire party all the exposition.

METHOD II: Overlapping Selection: Each PC chooses seven categories personal to their character. If you like, allow each player to select an additional number of categories equal to the character’s Intelligence bonus. If multiple characters take the same category then each should be given the appropriate exposition. (The DM may decide to break the information into pieces and give each character with this category one piece.) If nobody takes a category, then the entire party should be given this exposition, being presumed to be equally knowledgeable (or equally ignorant) in this category.

METHOD III: Even Distribution: Beginning with the character with the highest Intelligence score and continuing to the lowest (flip coins to break ties), each character selects a category. Once a category is taken no other character can take it. Continue until there are no categories left. Players should be encouraged to discuss their choices beforehand so people do not feel robbed of a category that really should be given to them.

METHOD IV: Competitive Distribution: Each category is given a numerical value. Characters begin with 2 points in each category. They then get 36 points to distribute amongst the categories. Every level, the character gets an additional point to add. At eleventh level and at twenty-first level, every category increases by two points. Characters may retrain 1 point per level per the retraining rules. The DM will need to track all of the PCs’ points. When exposition is to be disseminated, the DM will tally the points in that category, and randomly determine which character gets the information.

For example, let’s assume a party of four: Dorothy, Scarecrow, Lion, and Woodsman. They are confronting a wizard, and he wants to see which of them realizes the wizard is using chicanery to appear more powerful than he is. He decides this will depend on their knowledge of Architecture to see the pulleys and curtains where he hides his devices. Dorothy, Scarecrow, Lion, and Woodsman have 8, 2, 3, and 6 points respectively. This totals 19 points, so the DM rolls a d20. 1-8 means Dorothy, 9-10 means Scarecrow, 11-13 means Lion, 14-19 means Woodsman, and 20 means roll twice (a second 20 means roll twice more, and a third 20 means all the PCs are given the exposition). The DM rolls a 6, so Dorothy is given the information. The player decides her animal companion notes the curtain and tugs is open, revealing the wizard as a fraud.

Stay tuned for my next blog where I discuss rules for interludes.

For this blog, I plan to tackle the Noncombat System of D&D. The blogs in this series are:

Unbloodied Heroes 1: An Introduction
Unbloodied Heroes 2: Exposition from Point of View
Unbloodied Heroes 3: Interludes: Backgrounds and Retraining
Unbloodied Heroes 4: Travel and Group Efforts
Unbloodied Heroes 5: Exploration and Individual Efforts
Unbloodied Heroes 6: Skills Reimagined
Related to this blog series is my series on Social Challenges.

I have never, in any edition of D&D, been satisfied with the manner in which noncombat abilities have been represented. Too often they feel like an afterthought, or they use a one-size-fits-all approach that I feel is inappropriate. This blog follow up on concepts I discussed in my prior blogs on Combat Investment, Social Challenges, and Protagonocentrism.

I believe noncombat abilities should be tailored to the uses they will be put by adventurers. My analysis looks at a campaign as an ongoing shared story told by the DM, who controls the world, and secondarily by the players, who control the protagonists.

I firmly believe that numerical mechanics (particularly those tied to the use of dice) should be limited to the resolution of conflict, not the furtherance of narrative flow. Literary scholars identify four types of conflict, though I replace “Man” with “Character”: Character vs. Character, Character vs. Self, Character vs. Nature, and Character vs. Society. If an activity is not directly related to one of these types of conflict, then it should not involve dice.

Moreover, mechanics should be related to the actual characters in the game, not hypothetical characters in other people’s campaigns. For example, there should be no need to compare a character’s Arcane skill with the Arcane skill of a character in another campaign. Instead, what matters is a character’s Arcane Skill in relation to the encounters he faces, and in relation to the other characters (in order to determine which character may be considered an expert in the area).

I have identified six story-related endeavors in which characters engage during a campaign:

Combat: Obviously, PCs engage in combat. Much of the games mechanics revolve around combat, and for good reason. Combat is the quintessential form of conflict in D&D (Character vs. Character). However, this blog discusses noncombat, so I will only touch upon combat tangentially. Primarily, I consider any skill that might be used during combat, including the need to disarm traps occurring during combat, to be a combat-related skill use.

Exploration: The Jester had an excellent blog on this subject. When characters are traversing through a hostile environment, but not fighting or socializing, they are exploring. Exploration involves poking and prodding, trying levers, and solving puzzles. This was a major component of earlier editions, but seems to have fallen to the wayside in recent years. It is time for this to be restored to its place of prominence, and this is a form of conflict (Character vs. Nature), so dice should be implemented.

Exposition: Any time a DM needs to give information to the players, he is engaging in exposition. In my opinion, this is a bad reason for skills. A DM should always give out only that information the PCs need. Dice should not be a factor. This is one of those areas where dice does not resolve conflict. (Note, that drawing admissions from a reluctant NPC is social conflict, not exposition.)

Interlude: In between adventures, characters are likely to want to imagine what their characters do. Some may have a day job, or family obligations. Others may engage in study, or politicking. Still others may do nothing. This is primarily a narrative activity for which no dice should be needed.

Socialization: When PCs communicate with NPCs, they are socializing. However, Socialization, here, only refers to instances in which the PCs seek to accomplish a goal through social interaction. A night on the town, or at a Duke’s soiree, is not conflict. It’s simply narration for which no skills are needed, and which the characters should simply roleplay. If there is conflict (either Character vs. Character or Character vs. Society), then dice should be used.  See my Social Challenges blog to see how I would handle socialization.

Travel: PCs need to get from point A to B. Until they all gain flying mounts or teleportation, they will be traveling, whether by foot, mount, wagon train, ship, or spelljammer. They need provisions, to keep from getting lost, and to endure harsh environmental hazards. This is conflict (man vs. nature) and might involve dice.

As stated above, D&D already handles Combat fine (or at least it is beyond the scope of this blog). Of the remaining five activities, two (Exposition and Interlude) do not require dice, and three (Exploration, Socialization, and Travel) do require dice. I have already set forth, in great detail, what I would like to see with regard to Social Conflict, and will not repeat it.

In my next two blogs in this series, I will discuss my ideas for the two categories of noncombat that do not require dice. In my fourth and fifth blogs in this series, I will discuss my ideas for the two remaining categories of noncombat that do require dice. In the final blog of this series, I will discuss the Skill system in particular, and why the Skill system should be reduced to a mere nine skills. (How’s that for a tease?)

This is the sixth in a series of blogs about a new power source I have developed called “Luck”.

The other blogs in this series are:
Lucky Power 1: A New Power Source
Lucky Power 2: Buffoons, the Lucky Strikers
Lucky Power 3: Mascots, the Lucky Leaders
Lucky Power 4: Jinxes, the Lucky Defenders
Lucky Power 5: Savants, the Lucky Controllers
Lucky Power 6: Hybrids and Multiclassing

In this blog, I will present rules for hybrids and multiclassing Lucky classes.

General Rules

When a lucky class combines as a hybrid or multiclasses with another lucky class, the class may pool the boosts that each class receives. However, flourishes may only be applied to the at-will power for the class related to that flourish.

Hybrid versions of and multiclass feats for the retrofitted classes (thief, healer, aggravator, and magic-user) are not provided. The retrofitted classes exist for those who don’t want the added roleplay of the lucky power sources, but still want the simplified mechanics. The complexity of hybrids and multiclassing is antithetical to that design goal. However, for those who want a hybrid or multiclass version of these retrofitted classes, it would not be hard to apply the same retrofitting guidelines given for the lucky class to its hybrid version and multiclass feats.

When hybridizing with a class from a non-lucky power source, a minor boost is treated as if it were an encounter attack power, a major boost is treated as if it were a daily attack power, and a flourish is treated as if it were a utility power for purposes of choosing powers at each level of play.

The hybrid versions of lucky classes do not receive any of the features listed in the class features Buffoonish Advancement, Jinx Advancement, Mascot Advancement, or Savant Advancement. Rather, hybrid classes may take Paragon Paths and Epic Destinies for which they qualify, even if the character combines hybrid versions of two lucky classes. Please note that hybrid lucky classes can never have more than four minor boosts and four major boosts.

Unlike other lucky classes, hybrid lucky classes do not have preselected feats. Rather, they choose feats as normal, and may only choose feats for which they are qualified. There are no feats made specifically for the lucky power source, so feats will either be generic, or related to the hybrid class with which the lucky class is combined.

Hybrids

HYBRID BUFFOON
Class Traits
Role: Striker.
Power Source: Luck.
Key Abilities: Charisma, Dexterity.

Armor Proficiencies: Cloth, leather, hide; light shields.
Weapon Proficiencies: Simple melee, military melee, simple ranged, military ranged.
Bonus to Defense: +2 to Fortitude

Hit Points at 1st Level: 7+ Constitution Score.
Hit Points per Level Gained: 3
Healing Surges per Day: 3.5

Class Skills: Acrobatics (Dex), Stealth (Dex), Thievery (Dex).

Class features: None

Suggested Combinations
Hybrid buffoons combine well with other classes that use Charisma and Dexterity, particularly strikers. Rogues are an obvious choice and provide good synergies. However, an even better combination is the sorcerer and the assassin. Other feasible combinations include warlocks, monks, and avengers. (A hybrid buffoon/avenger dedicated to Avandra would play very well.)

HYBRID JINX
Class Traits
Role: Defender.
Power Source: Luck.
Key Abilities: Charisma, Constitution

Armor Proficiencies: Cloth, leather, hide; heavy shields, light shields.
Weapon Proficiencies: Simple melee, simple ranged.
Bonus to Defense: +2 to Reflex.

Hit Points at 1st Level: 7.5+ Constitution Score.
Hit Points per Level Gained: 3
Healing Surges per Day: 4.5

Class Skills: Acrobatics (Dex), Athletics (Str_, Endurance (Con).

Class features: Jinx’ Luck (Hybrid)

Jinx’ Luck (Hybrid)
While you are not wearing heavy armor, you can use your Constitution modifier in place of your Dexterity or Intelligence modifier to determine your AC.

Suggested Combinations
A jinx’ best fit is with the psionic battlemind class, both thematically and harmoniously with the classes’ roles and primary attributes. Other good combinations include wardens, warlocks, and ardents.

HYBRID MASCOT
Class Traits
Role: Leader.
Power Source: Luck.
Key Abilities: Charisma, Wisdom

Armor Proficiencies: Cloth, leather, hide, chainmail; heavy shields, light shields.
Weapon Proficiencies: Simple melee, simple ranged.
Bonus to Defense: +1 to Fortitude and Reflex.

Hit Points at 1st Level: 6+ Constitution Score.
Hit Points per Level Gained: 2.5
Healing Surges per Day: 3.5

Class Skills: Heal (Wis), Insight (Wis), Perception (Wis).

Suggested Combinations
Mascots have two ideal combinations: clerics and ardents. However, paladins and psions can also make strong combinations with the mascot.

HYBRID SAVANT
Class Traits
Role: Controller.
Power Source: Luck.
Key Abilities: Charisma, Intelligence

Armor Proficiencies: Cloth.
Weapon Proficiencies: Simple melee, simple ranged.
Bonus to Defense: +2 to Fortitude.

Hit Points at 1st Level: 5.5+ Constitution Score.
Hit Points per Level Gained: 2.5
Healing Surges per Day: 3

Class Skills: Arcane (Int), History (Int), Religion (Int).

Class features: Weirdness (Hybrid)

Weirdness (Hybrid)
You may use the wizard power Prestidigitation once per encounter as a standard action. Often the player will invoke this without the character’s choice to create the illusion that the character does not have control over his magic. A character may attempt an epic enchantment, or even a ritual, and end up creating only a shower of sparks or puff of smoke.

Suggested Combinations
Savants combine best with Psions. However, with a little work, savants can also be combined to make lucky bards, warlocks, warlords, and wizards.

Multiclassing

The following multiclassing feats allow a character to multiclass with a class form the lucky power source.

Acolyte’s Luck (Multiclass Utility)
Prerequisite: Any multiclass feat specific to a lucky class, 8th level
Benefit: You can swap one utility power you know for one flourish of the same level or lower from a lucky class you multiclassed into.

Adept’s Luck (Multiclass Daily)
Prerequisite: Any multiclass feat specific to a lucky class, 10th level
Benefit: You can swap one daily attack power you know for a major boost. You cannot increase the number of major boosts you possess above four.

Beginner’s Luck (Multiclass Encounter)
Prerequisite: Any multiclass feat specific to a lucky class, 4th level
Benefit: You can swap one encounter attack power you know for a minor boost. You cannot increase the number of minor boosts you possess above four.

Cheerleader (Multiclass Mascot)
Prerequisite: Cha 13, Wis 13
Benefit: You gain training in the Heal skill. You gain the ability to use the Cheer at-will knack as an encounter power.

Danger Hovers (Multiclass Jinx)
Prerequisite: Cha 13, Con 13
Benefit: You gain training in the Endurance skill. You gain the ability to use the Near Hijinks at-will knack as an encounter power.

Danger Lurks (Multiclass Jinx)
Prerequisite: Cha 13, Con 13
Benefit: You gain training in the Endurance skill. You gain the ability to use the Far Hijinks at-will knack as an encounter power.

Lucky Charm (Multiclass Mascot)
Prerequisite: Cha 13, Wis 13
Benefit: You gain training in the Heal skill. You gain the ability to use the Trash Talk at-will knack as an encounter power.

Rake’s Bravado (Multiclass Buffoon)
Prerequisite: Cha 13, Dex 13
Benefit: You gain training in the Acrobatics skill. You gain the ability to use the buffoonery at-will knack as an encounter power.

Touch of Strangeness (Multiclass Savant)
Prerequisite: Cha 13, Int 13
Benefit: You gain training in the Arcane skill. You gain the ability to use the Hocus Pocus at-will knack as an encounter power. In addition, you can wield savant implements.

Paragon Multiclassing

A character that has taken one of the lucky multiclassing feats, as well as Acolyte’s Luck, Adept’s Luck, and Beginner’s Luck before 11th level may choose to “paragon multiclass” the lucky class into which they have multiclassed rather than choosing a paragon path.

A character who chooses a lucky class as a paragon multiclass gains the following benefits:
At-Will: At 11th level, you lose the use of one of your class’ at-will powers. You gain the use of all the luck class’ at-will powers. (Most lucky classes have only one at-will.)

Encounter: At 11th level, you gain another minor boost.

Utility: At 12th level, you learn a flourish from your paragon multiclass.

Daily: At 20th level, you gain another daily boost.

Well, that’s all folks. I hope you find the lucky power source as much fun to play as it was for me to design. Please let me know if you use these classes and how well they play. Thanks for reading!

This is the fifth in a series of blogs about a new power source I have developed called “Luck”.

The other blogs in this series are:
Lucky Power 1: A New Power Source
Lucky Power 2: Buffoons, the Lucky Strikers
Lucky Power 3: Mascots, the Lucky Leaders
Lucky Power 4: Jinxes, the Lucky Defenders
Lucky Power 5: Savants, the Lucky Controllers
Lucky Power 6: Hybrids and Multiclassing

In this blog, I will present the fourth of four classes for the Luck power source: Savants, the lucky controllers.

Savant

“Abracad— whoa!”

CLASS TRAITS
Role: Controller. You have no formal training in magic, no secret pact with an otherworldly being, no innate ability to draw upon the magic of the universe. You just like to fiddle with things, and sometimes fiddling causes things to happen, sometimes not what you wanted to happen.
Power Source: Luck. Your fiddling would result in nothing happening for anybody else, or perhaps they would fry themselves. Not you. Somehow, the fates smile on you and you can get implements and magic items to create remarkable effects.
Key Abilities: Charisma, Intelligence. Constitution doesn’t hurt either.

Armor Proficiencies: Cloth.
Weapon Proficiencies: Simple melee, simple ranged.
Implement: Daggers, Holy Symbol, Ki Focus, Orbs, Rods, Staffs, Tomes, Totems, Wands. Bonus to Defense: +2 to Fortitude.

Hit Points at 1st Level: 11 + Constitution Score.
Hit Points per Level Gained: 5 Healing Surges per Day: 6 + Constitution Modifier.
Trained Skills: Arcane, History, Religion. Savants do not select additional skills, unless they get one as a result of a racial power (like human) or feat. If so, they may choose any skill in which to be trained. Savants who choose a Background that adds a new Skill to their list of Class Skills immediately replace one of their Trained Skills with the new Skill from their Background.

Class features: Weirdness, Savantry, Boosts, Flourishes, Savant Advancement

Savants can use any implements (other than weapons) that any other implement-using class can use. Although the Savant’s at-will power (Hocus Pocus) only has the Luck keyword, it gains a new keyword dependent on the implement the Savant uses. The new keyword should be related to the power source whose classes use that implement. For implements used by multiple sources (e.g., ki focuses, which are used by both shadowy assassins and psionic monks) the savant’s player may choose which keyword applies.

A savant’s player should have fun creatively describing the variety of effects that can be caused by the character. Savant powers are very broadly described, allowing for a vast variety of different visual manifestations. The savant’s player can also have fun choosing to have the savant be utterly unprepared for whatever effect is called. The character may decide to try a fiery spell, and the player decides that the spell summons writhing vines instead. Again, one of the advanced features of these classes is the division between player and character knowledge.

WEIRDNESS
Savants may use the wizard power Prestidigitation once per encounter as a standard action. Often the player will invoke this without the character’s choice to create the illusion that the character does not have control over his magic. A character may attempt an epic enchantment, or even a ritual, and end up creating only a shower of sparks or puff of smoke.

SAVANTRY
Savants get one class power: at at-will knack called “Hocus Pocus”. All of the other class features of the savant build off of this attack power. If a character would be entitled to take an additional at-will power for any reason (such as the human racial ability to take a bonus at-will power), the character instead gets an additional minor boost (see below).

The savant’s at-will power is unique in that it has an area of effect of “Burst 0”. This means one square in range will be affected. The “Burst 0” will be expanded by the use of boosts (see below).

BOOSTS
Instead of choosing from an array of encounter and daily attack powers, savants get minor and major boosts that they apply to their savant knack. Savants who declare the use of a savant knack may also declare that one minor or major boost will apply to the power. A minor boost increases the damage of the attack by 1d8 per tier, the radius of the burst by 1 square +1 square/tier, and the range of the attack to within 15 squares. A major boost increases the damage of the attack by 1d8 + 1d8/tier, the radius of the boost by 1 squares +2 squares/tier, and the range of the attack to within 20 squares. Additionally, any knack to which a major boost is applied can be sustained until the end of the savant’s next turn with a minor action. Savants get 1 minor boost at 1st, 3rd, 7th, and 13th levels. Minor boosts replenish after a short rest. Savants get 1 major boost at 1st, 5th, 9th, and 15th levels. Major boosts replenish after an extended rest.

FLOURISHES
Instead of utilities, savants choose from a small selection of “flourishes”. Like boosts, the application of a flourish is announced when the savant declares the use of a knack. The savant reduces the radius of the knack by 1 or more squares in return for imposing an additional effect on the targets and on the zone creates by the knack. The area of the burst cannot be reduced to less than 1 by applications of flourishes (even though the knack has an area of burst 0 without any boosts applied to it.) Each flourish can be invoked once a day. A savant learns a new flourish at 2nd, 6th, 10th, 12th, 16th, 20th, 22nd, 26th, and 30th levels. Flourishes can be combined with boosts, but no application of a flourish can reduce the number of dice applied in an attack to less than 1. A savant can choose the same flourish multiple times, which allows the savant to use that flourish an additional time per day. One flourish can be retrained each time the savant increases a level, using the retraining rules.

The flourishes from which a savant may choose are:
Flourish: Burning
Square Cost: 1
Hit: Attack causes fire damage
Zone: The knack gains the Fire keyword. Any creature that ends its turn in the zone takes fire damage equal to 5/tier

Flourish: Frightening
Square Cost: 1
Hit: Attack causes psychic damage and targets Will
Zone: The knack gains the Fear and Psychic keywords. Any creature that ends its turn in the zone is immobilized.

Flourish: Icy
Square Cost: 1
Hit: Attack causes cold damage
Zone: The knack gains the Cold keyword. Any creature that enters a square in the zone is knocked prone

Flourish: Loud
Square Cost: 1
Hit: Attack causes thunder damage and targets Fortitude
Zone: The knack gains the Thunder keyword. Any creature that enters or begins its turn within the zone is deafened until the end of its next turn.

Flourish: Shocking
Square Cost: 1
Hit: Attack causes lightning damage
Zone: The knack gains the Lightning keyword. At the end of your next turn, each creature in the zone takes 5 lightning damage per creature in the zone.

Flourish: Attractive
Square Cost: 1+
Hit: Target is pulled 1 square per square spent towards the center of the zone
Zone: Any creature that ends its turn in the zone is pulled 1 square per square spent towards the center of the zone.

Flourish: Devastating
Square Cost: 1+
Hit: Attack causes additional 1d8 damage for each square spent
Zone: The knack loses the Zone keyword and does not create a zone of difficult terrain.

Flourish: Blistering
Square Cost: 2
Hit: Attack causes acid damage and targets Fortitude
Zone: The knack gains the Acid keyword. Any creature that ends its turn in the zone takes ongoing 5 acid damage (save ends).

Flourish: Bright
Square Cost: 2
Hit: Attack causes radiant damage and targets Fortitude
Zone: The knack gains the Radiant keyword. Creatures are considered blinded while in the zone, and are denied any benefits of concealment.

Flourish: Confusing
Square Cost: 2
Hit: Attack causes psychic damage and targets Will
Zone: The knack gains the Charm and Psychic keywords. Any creature that ends its turn in the zone will make a basic attack against one of its own allies within reach as a free action.

Flourish: Dark
Square Cost: 2
Hit: Attack causes necrotic damage and targets Fortitude
Zone: The knack gains the Necrotic keyword. The zone is considered heavily obscured terrain.

Flourish: Dotted
Square Cost: 2
Hit: Target is slowed until the end of its next turn.
Zone: For each square within the burst choose a square within the area of your attack range (whether or not that square is within the burst. You attack the targets in these chosen squares, and do not attack the targets in the burst (unless they are also in a chosen square). These chosen squares act as hindering terrain until the end of your next turn, and not the burst (unless the square was also chosen).

Flourish: Expansive
Square Cost: 2
Hit: Attack targets Fortitude. Target is pushed 1 square form the center of the zone.
Zone: Any creature that starts its turn in the zone takes 1d8/tier damage. Each time the knack is sustained, the zone increases in size by 1.

Flourish: Forceful
Square Cost: 2
Hit: Attack causes force damage and targets Fortitude.
Zone: The attack gains the Force keyword. Ranged and area attacks from within the zone cannot target creatures outside the zone and vice versa.

Flourish: Grasping
Square Cost: 2
Hit: Target is grabbed while the zone is active. Attempts to escape the grab are opposed by your Arcane check.
Zone: Any creature that ends its turn in the zone is grabbed. Attempts to escape the grab are opposed by your Arcane check.

Flourish: Helpful
Square Cost: 2
Hit: Allies are not targeted by the attack
Zone: The knack gains the Healing keyword. An ally that ends its turn in the zone may spend a healing surge as a standard action.

Flourish: Noxious
Square Cost: 2
Hit: Attack causes poison damage and targets Fortitude.
Zone: The knack gains the Poison keyword. Any creature that begins its turn in the zone is weakened until the end of its next turn.

Flourish: Shuffling
Square Cost: 2
Hit: Attack targets Fortitude. Target is teleported to any unoccupied square in the zone.
Zone: The knack gains the Teleportation keyword. You teleport any creature than begins its turn in the zone to any unoccupied space in the zone.

Flourish: Walled
Square Cost: 2
Hit: Target pushed to nearest unoccupied space on the far side of the wall.
Zone: Instead of a burst, the knack’s area is a contiguous wall originating from within the range of the knack and occupying a number of squares equal to triple the diameter of the burst. Any creature that attempts to pass through the wall or ends its turn in the wall takes damage equal to double the wall’s length. Any creature that ends its turn adjacent to the wall takes damage equal to the wall’s length.

Flourish: Warding
Square Cost: 2
Hit: Attack targets Fortitude and does not target allies. The target is teleported to an unoccupied square adjacent to edge of the zone.
Zone: The attack gains the Teleportation keyword. Creatures may not teleport into or out of the zone.

Flourish: Stunning
Square Cost: 3
Hit: Attack targets Fortitude. Target is dazed until the end of its next turn.
Zone: Any creature that ends its turn in the zone is stunned until it saves. This flourish cannot be sustained.

SAVANT ADVANCEMENT
Savants gain the following class features at 11th, 16th, 21st, 24th, and 30th level respectively: Savant Action: At 11th level, you can use one action point every encounter. You can never have more than one action point, but that action point replenishes after a short rest.

Paragon Savantry: At 16th Level, once per day, spend all of your remaining minor boosts as a standard action. You create any non-magical material you desire, up to 100 lbs. per minor boost spent. This material will be of average workmanship and lasts until the end of the encounter or five minutes. You may also dismiss the material with a standard action. The material must appear within 10 squares of you. The material will not provide nourishment, oxygen, or slake one’s thirst and cannot be a consumable item such as antivenoms. The material will glow with the brightness of candlelight, and are thus immediately recognizable as having been magically generated.

Better Lucky than Safe: At 21st level, once per day, as a minor action, if you have used all your major boosts, you may choose to become vulnerable 10 to all damage until the end of your next turn. You may also apply a major boost to the next savant knack you use. This boost must be applied in the encounter in which this class feature is invoked.

Lucky to Be Around: At 24th level, once per day, you can spend a major boost as an immediate interrupt when you or an ally is hit with an attack that would render you or the ally helpless or unconscious. Make an implement-based Charisma attack against the vale of the attack roll that triggered the attack. If successful, the attack is considered a miss against its target. Describe your ability to counter the attack in an appropriately thematic way.

Epic Savantry: At 30th Level, once per day, spend all of your remaining major boosts as a standard action. Until the end of the encounter, when you apply a minor boost to your savant knack, you may apply as many flourishes as the major boosts you spend. The effects of the multiple flourishes are cumulative as are their costs, but if the flourishes contradict one another, neither applies. In addition, the zone created by such a knack may be sustained until the end of your next turn with a minor action.

FEATS
Savants’ feats are preselected. The character gains the benefit of this feat, even if the character would not otherwise qualify for the feat. The feats may be retrained per normal retraining rules. Any race entitled to a bonus feat may choose any feat for which the savant qualifies. If that feat appears at a higher level on the savant’s feat list, the savant may select a new feat upon achieving that level. All feats are from the Players Handbook or Players Handbook 2. The feats that savants automatically gain are:

1st: Ritual Caster
2nd: Implement Expertise (player’s choice)
4th: Jack of All Trades
6th: Alertness
8th: Timely Respite
10th: Melee Training (Charisma)
12th: Paragon Defenses*
14th: Danger Sense
16th: Fleet-Footed
18th: Mettle
20th: Evasion
22nd: Epic Will
24th: Quick Recovery
26th: Epic Reflexes
28th: Triumphant Attack
30th: Epic Fortitude
*It is recommended that you retrain this feat to Robust Defenses at 21st level.

Racial Preferences
The races that make the best savants include changelings, deva, eladrin, gnomes, humans, shades, shardminds, and tieflings

THE “MAGIC-USER” AS A RETROFITTED SAVANT
If you do not want to play the savant as a lucky character, but still want the simplicity of play of the class, it is easy to alter the savant into an arcane class, which I’ve called the “MAGIC-USER”. Make the following changes:

Intelligence Primary: Change each instance of “Charisma” to “Intelligence”.
Magic-User Flavor: Rename “Savant” as “Magic-User”, “Savantry” as “Magic-Use”, “knack” as “spell”, and “Luck” as “Arcane”.
Arcane Class: No keyword is added to the Hocus-Pocus spell based on the magic-user’s implement.
Arcane Implements: The magic-user can only use daggers, orbs, rods, staffs, and wands as implements.

This is the fourth in a series of blogs about a new power source I have developed called “Luck”.

The other blogs in this series are:
Lucky Power 1: A New Power Source
Lucky Power 2: Buffoons, the Lucky Strikers
Lucky Power 3: Mascots, the Lucky Leaders
Lucky Power 4: Jinxes, the Lucky Defenders
Lucky Power 5: Savants, the Lucky Controllers
Lucky Power 6: Hybrids and Multiclassing

In this blog, I will present the third of four classes for the Luck power source: Jinxes, the lucky defenders.

Jinx

“Not in the face!”

CLASS TRAITS
Role: Defender. Your antics always draw fire away from your friends. The more desperately you try to avoid the attacks, the more they seem to find you.
Power Source: Luck. You feel incredibly unlucky, because you are always being targeted. But, in fact you are quite fortunate and always seem to escape permanent injury.
Key Abilities: Charisma, Constitution. Dexterity doesn’t hurt either.

Armor Proficiencies: Cloth, leather, hide; heavy shields, light shields.
Weapon Proficiencies: Simple melee, simple ranged.
Bonus to Defense: +2 to Reflex.

Hit Points at 1st Level: 15 + Constitution Score.
Hit Points per Level Gained: 6 Healing Surges per Day: 9 + Constitution Modifier.
Trained Skills: Acrobatics, Athletics, Endurance. Jinxes do not select additional skills, unless they get one as a result of a racial power (like human) or feat. If so, they may choose any skill in which to be trained. Jinxes who choose a Background that adds a new Skill to their list of Class Skills immediately replace one of their Trained Skills with the new Skill from their Background.

Class features: Jinx’ Luck, Hijinks, Boosts, Flourishes, Jinx Advancement

Although Jinxes have at-will attack powers, they do not use implements. Rather, the enhancement bonuses that would normally be granted by a magic implement are inherent in their powers. However, their powers cannot be used to reduce an enemy below zero hit points. To kill someone, they will have to use a basic attack. For this reason, many jinxes spend their share of treasure on a magic weapon. However, a significant proportion of jinxes spend their entire adventuring career utterly unarmed, relying on their more competent allies to take care of the danger, as they frantically run around the battlefield screaming.

The damage inflicted by the jinx’ knacks should be described as a reduction in luck. The target of the attack should feel “jinxed”. In fact, this sense of foreboding may explain why some of the jinx’ targets attack the jinx.

Like other defenders, jinxes mark their enemies. However, a jinx’ marks are unique in that they allow the marked enemy to target adjacent enemies without penalty, even if the attack does not include the jinx. For this reason, most allies of a jinx know to give their friend a wide berth.

JINX’ LUCK
While you are not wearing heavy armor, you can use your Constitution modifier in place of your Dexterity or Intelligence modifier to determine your AC.

HIJINKS
Jinxes get two class powers: at at-will knack called “Near Jinx” and an at-will knack called “Far Jinx”. All of the other class features of the jinx build off of these attack powers. If a character would be entitled to take an additional at-will power for any reason (such as the human racial ability to take a bonus at-will power), the character instead gets an additional minor boost (see below).

BOOSTS
Instead of choosing from an array of encounter and daily attack powers, jinxes get minor and major boosts that they apply to their jinx knacks. Jinxes who declare the use of a jinx knack may also declare that one minor or major boost will apply to the power. A minor boost allows the jinx to mark 1 additional enemy per tier and the major boost allows the jinx to mark 2 additional enemies in range per tier. These additional marks only apply if the attack hits the primary target. These additional marks do not incur the damage of the jinx attack knacks, but do suffer all effects that affect the primary target due to the mark. Jinxes get 1 minor boost at 1st, 3rd, 7th, and 13th levels. Minor boosts replenish after a short rest. Jinxes get 1 major boost at 1st, 5th, 9th, and 15th levels. Major boosts replenish after an extended rest.

FLOURISHES
Instead of utilities, jinxes choose from a small selection of “flourishes”. Like boosts, the application of a flourish is announced when the jinx declares the use of a knack. The jinx trades in the ability to mark one or more additional targets in return for imposing an additional status effect on each remaining marked target. Each flourish can be invoked once a day, but if the attack misses, the use of that flourish for the day is not expended. A jinx learns a new flourish at 2nd, 6th, 10th, 12th, 16th, 20th, 22nd, 26th, and 30th levels. Flourishes can be combined with boosts, but no application of a flourish can reduce the number of dice applied in an attack to less than 1. A jinx can choose the same flourish multiple times, which allows the jinx to use that flourish an additional time per day. One flourish can be retrained each time the jinx increases a level, using the retraining rules.

The flourishes from which a jinx may choose are:
Flourish: Distributive
Cost: 1 mark
Roll damage from the knack as normal. Split the damage evenly among all targets you marked.

Flourish: Expansive
Cost: 1 mark
Effect: Increase the size of the burst of your knack by 1.

Flourish: Exposing
Cost: 1 mark
Effect: After resolving the knack, you can make a basic attack against one target you have marked.

Flourish: Unyielding
Cost: 1 mark
Effect: The mark cannot be superseded.

Flourish: Damaging
Cost: 1+ mark
Effect: For each mark spent, increase the damage inflicted by the knack against the primary target by 1d8.

Flourish: Shifty
Cost: 1+ mark
Effect: For each mark spent, shift one square towards one target marked by you.

Flourish: Advantageous
Cost: 2 marks
Effect: While the mark is active, those target grants combat advantage.

Flourish: Disadvantageous
Cost: 2 marks
Effect: While the mark is active, the target cannot gain combat advantage against you or your allies.

Flourish: Lasting
Cost: 2 marks
Effect: The mark lasts until the end of the encounter, you are unconscious or the mark is superseded.

Flourish: Slowing
Cost: 2 marks
Effect: While the mark is active, the targets are slowed.

Flourish: Unerring
Cost: 2 marks
Effect: While the mark is active, you incur no penalties to attack those targets due to concealment, cover, or invisibility.

Flourish: Weakening
Cost: 2 marks
Effect: While the mark is active, the targets are weakened.

Flourish: Attractive
Cost: 2 marks
Effect: While the mark is active, the targets must spend an extra square of movement to enter a square farther from you.

Flourish: Movable
Cost: 2+ mark
Effect: Slide each target 1 square per two marks spent.

Flourish: Confusing
Cost: 3 marks
Effect: One target of your choice makes a basic attack against a target of your choice. You can have the target attack itself.

Flourish: Dazing
Cost: 3 marks
Effect: While the mark is active, the targets are dazed.

Flourish: Denying
Cost: 3 marks
Effect: While the mark is active, the targets cannot recharge powers.

Flourish: Lethal
Cost: 3 marks
Effect: The mark can be reduced to less than 1 hp with the knack. If the target is not reduced to less than 1 hp, you do not lose the use of this flourish, but the cost of the flourish is still applied to the attack. The lethality often takes the form of a freak fatal mishap.

Flourish: Magnetic
Cost: 4 marks
Effect: While the mark is active, the target incurs a penalty to its attack roll against non-adjacent ally of yours equal to 1 plus half the number of squares between you and the ally.

Flourish: Retributive
Cost: 4 marks
Effect: While the mark is active, those targets will incur 5 hp/tier in damage whenever they hit a non-adjacent ally of yours with an attack power.

Flourish: Shielding
Cost: 4 marks
Effect: While the mark is active the damage those targets inflict on your allies is reduced by 5 hp/tier.

Flourish: Stunning
Cost: 6 marks
Effect: While the mark is active, the target is stunned

Flourish: Sustainable
Cost: Special
Effect: Choose one enemy other than the target that has a mark from you that will end at the end of this turn. That mark will last until the end of your next turn. This does not affect the mark you apply to the target. The cost of this flourish is equal to the cost of the flourish being sustained (but never less than 1 mark).

JINX ADVANCEMENT
Jinxes gain the following class features at 11th, 16th, 21st, 24th, and 30th level respectively: Jinx Action: At 11th level, you can use one action point every encounter. You can never have more than one action point, but that action point replenishes after a short rest.

Paragon Hijinks: At 16th Level, once per day, spend all of your remaining minor boosts as a standard action. Until the end of your next turn, whenever an ally you can see is hit by an attack, and you were a potentially valid target of the attack, you may choose to take the effect of the attack as if you were the target and has been hit. You may do this once for each minor boost spent. You must be conscious and not helpless to take the effect of an attack. You cannot choose to spend less than all your remaining minor boosts when you invoke this feature.

Better Lucky than Mobile: At 21st level, once per day, as a minor action, if you have used all your major boosts, you may choose to become immobilized until the end of your next turn. You may also apply a major boost to the next jinx knack you use. This boost must be applied in the encounter in which this class feature is invoked.

Lucky to Be Standing: At 24th level, once per day, when you are hit by an attack that would render you unconscious or helpless (even if due to loss of hp), you may spend a major boost as an immediate interrupt. You are not rendered unconscious or helpless until the end of your next turn.

Epic Hijinks: At 30th Level, once per day, spend all of your remaining major boosts as a standard action. Until the end of the encounter, as an immediate interrupt, when an ally is hit by a melee or ranged attack, you may shift a number of squares equal to double the number of major boosts you spent. Your shift must end in a square occupied by the triggering ally. When you occupy the ally’s square, the ally is pushed one square. You become the target of the triggering attack using the result of the die rolled by the triggering enemy.

FEATS
Jinxes’ feats are preselected. The character gains the benefit of this feat, even if the character would not otherwise qualify for the feat. The feats may be retrained per normal retraining rules. Any race entitled to a bonus feat may choose any feat for which the jinx qualifies. If that feat appears at a higher level on the jinx’s feat list, the jinx may select a new feat upon achieving that level. All feats are from the Players Handbook or Players Handbook 2. The feats that jinxes automatically gain are:

1st: Melee Training (Charisma)
2nd: Toughness
4th: Durable
6th: Jack of All Trades
8th: Timely Respite
10th: Improved Initiative
12th: Paragon Defenses*
14th: Evasion
16th: Mettle
18th: Agile Athlete
20th: Fleet-Footed
22nd: Epic Fortitude
24th: Unfettered Stride
26th: Epic Reflexes
28th: Triumphant Attack
30th: Epic Will
*It is recommended that you retrain this feat to Robust Defenses at 21st level.

Racial Preferences
The races that make the best jinxes include half-elves, hobgoblins, humans, tieflings, and revenants.

THE “AGGRAVATOR” AS A RETROFITTED JINX
If you do not want to play the jinx as a lucky character, but still want the simplicity of play of the class, it is easy to alter the jinx into a psionic class, which I’ve called the “Aggravator”. Make the following changes:

Constitution Primary: Change each instance of “Charisma” to “Constitution”.
Aggravator Flavor: Rename “Jinx” as “Aggravator”, “Hijinks” as “Aggravation”, and “knack” as “discipline”.
Psionic Class: Add the Implement, Psionic, and Psychic keywords to the aggravator’s discipline. Remove the Luck keyword. The discipline now inflicts psychic damage and may result in the death of the target without the need for the Lethal Flourish.
Psionic Implements: The aggravator uses orbs and staffs as implements. The aggravator does not gain the enhancement bonus listed in the description of the at-will power.