In the midst of last month’s horseshit from WotC, the Merry Mushmen decided to take matters into their own hands to be sure we old school adventure-gamey folks were covered even if a pack of wizards tried to take all the toys and go home.

The fruit of their labours is CRACK!, a gleefully stripped down and funny as hell take on B/X that we can all chew on and elbaorate over as we please (it’s CC-BY!) —

So of course I’ve started chewing on it, lol.


And to that end, here’s a half-dozen more jobs for CRACK!, with a few ideas for gifts of nature appended to one, even. (hitting up the “spells” tag on here might give even more, if you want seasons or elements.)

Onward ~


Drakkaelv
Tall and imposing, with sharp and nearly reptilian features, slitted pupils, long tapered ears, claws, and a faint metallic sheen to their skin.
Health Peak: d8
Get Better: 125 XP
SAVE: 13, -2 at rank 4, 7, 10 etc.
– You can use your claws as weapons (1d4+1, if using varying weapon damage)
– Add your rank when imposing your presence on others, whether through fear, glamour, intimidation or sheer overwhelmingness (don’t call it your “majesty” or “aura”, that’s gauche)
– You can see in the dark and add your rank to resisting elemental damage (choose a type of damage)


Sylv
Forest- and glen-dwellers, green-tinted and often flowery or barky. Pointy-eared, but don’t like the comparison to elves.
Health Peak: d6
Get Better: 100 XP
SAVE: 12, -2 at rank 5, 9, 13 etc.
– You can subsist off water and light like a plant, needing only half-rations
– You’re good at identifying plants or parts of plants, even monstrous or magical ones (2-in-6)
– Once a day per rank you may draw a tool or weapon from growing plant-life (or fungi) that lasts for one hour
– You can see in the dark


Chosen
Has a special gift of the mind, which caught the attention of a supernally intelligent beastie. This can be good or bad, depending on the beastie and if you’ve got any kind of sense yourself.
Health Peak: d6
Get Better: 115 XP
SAVE: 13, -2 at 4, 7, 10 etc.
– You have a psychic gift; choose or roll:
01. you can speak in the minds of those you can see; 2-in-6 chance to pick up surface thoughts or sense emotion, with effort
02. you can lift objects with your thoughts, 1 kg/rank, even fling them like an arrow
03. you can try to see a distance place you’re familiar with, 10 mi./rank
04. you can heal 3x your rank in total HP per day
05. once per rank you can discern the answer to one question
06. you can kindle flame, visual range; 1d4 HP, if used against an adversary (also, they’re on fire)
– You are mindlinked to a companion creature, intelligent and capable of speaking in your thoughts. This beastie looks like a normal critter – perhaps with some unusual colouration – like a hunting dog, cat, fox, raven, wolf or horse. It is Bad News for you if they get killed.
– You cannot wear armour above chainmail, or use shields.


Natura
(or druid, or primalist, or woodwitch, or whatever)
Drawing on the powers of the natural world and the primal forces that fuel it. As likely to be a cheerful village gardener as a forest-dwelling wild-eyed ritualist.
Health Peak: d6
Get Better: 75 XP
SAVE: 14, -2 at rank 5, 9, 13, etc.
– Add your rank to attempts to forage for food, identify natural objects or phenomena, and resist poisons
– You can speak with animals successfully on 2-in-6
You can create a palm-sized amount of a pure element (air, earth, fire, water …) a number of times a day equal to 1 + your rank
– At 2nd rank and up, you can call on gifts of nature (spells)
– You cannot wear above leather armour or use shields

Some example Gifts Of Nature

* Natural Tap: Draw one pint / rank of sweet syrupy liquid from a flower head or a score in treebark, no matter how daft it seems.
* Whispering To The Foundations: The caster summons up a primal element for 2d6 minutes of service. The primal will have 2d8 HD, + 1d8 HD per rank of the caster, who must have at least a handful of the primal’s element to offer in thanks.
* Tanglewall: Grass grows, trees twist, and briars twine to make a barrier where the caster desires up to 2m (6′) high and 10m (30′) long. The tanglewall lasts an hour/rank, and the caster may designate up to four other creatures that may pass without trouble.
* Lesson Of The Small: Turns a subject into a wee beastie, like a rabbit or a pigeon, for one hour per rank of the caster.
* Ancient Elder’s Bulwark: Skin grows thick and barklike, granting a dAC of 14 and an ability to make punishing unarmed attacks for 2d8 turns.


Cunningfolk
Some folks toss around flashy magics, sure, but that’s not the common sense and wise sayings you learned at Auntie’s knee or from yellowed pages alongside Grandpa’s cherry pie recipe, now is it.
Health Peak: d4
Get Better: 60 XP
SAVE: 12, -2 at rank 5, 9, 13, etc.
– You can heal 3x your rank in total HP per day via applying nostrums, salves and trinkets
– You can give a charm to grant a bonus to someone (or something) or their next roll, with total bonus scores per day equal to your rank (grant +1 at rank 1, two +1s or a +2 at rank two …)
– Add your rank when resisting enchantments or unraveling riddles or other folksy things
+ Once per rank you may make a SAVE to dispel an active spell or enchantment, not necessarily on you specifically
+ You cannot wear armour above leather or use shields, or use the big fancy weapons


Duelist
Dedicated to an ideal, or at least to mastering a specific weapon, and upholding honour (or claiming to, or their own at least). Exactly why they go into holes in the ground is anyone’s guess; maybe it’s for the challenge. Or maybe someone important was offended.
Health Peak: d8
Get Better: 100 XP
SAVE: 14, -2 at rank 4, 7, 10, etc.
+ Choose a specific weapon type (rapier, etc); add your rank to attacks using that weapon
+ Add your rank when attempting feats of concentration, calmness observation, bluffing, or a good old staredown
+ Add your rank when rolling to see who acts first; yes this might put you in action before your pals, for good or bad
+ You cannot wear armour above leather