edit: 2020-02-06 — The class is out in the wild now. Check out the itch page!

I am pretty obsessed with Slayers by Spencer Campbell lately! I have some loose setting ideas for a place called PRIMORDIA, and was creating a ruleset to go along with them. At the time, I was using a very classic OSR engine, but it was quickly evolving. One thing I was doing was finding ways for each class to feel both thematically appropriate to the setting (no fighters here) but also implanting each class with a unique mechanic.

Each class in Slayers has a unique mechanic.

It really seems like a perfect fit. When I started porting things over, it was really easy. I took the bare bones of the class and made it into the core, and then took the abilities at higher levels and changed them into advances. The Ghostfire mechanics below are very similar to what I’d already written. I find that pretty wild.

PRIMORDIA is a game set in heaven, after a banished group finally breaks their way back in. An entire civilization has died to bring this about, and instead of finding heaven as a land of peace and rest, they find it abandoned and ravaged by impossible creatures. The players in the game would serve as a unit protecting what’s left of civilization, utilizing the power of “Ghostfire,” a fuel source that has been harnessed from their dead world. Now, they fight to claim a stake in heaven, because the world they’ve left is destroyed.

The four classes I’m working on are:

  • The Wraithshroud, a normal human suited up in unbreakable armor fueled by Ghostfire.
  • The Arcknight, a enhanced human with the last vestiges of a dead world’s magic coursing through them.
  • The Mutagenist, a human with modifications made to them by inhaling crude Ghostfire.
  • The Spectre, a dead spirit that continues to push on and aid the living.

I’m working on the other three classes for Slayers mechanics now, but I’ve got the Wraithshroud to a point that I’m comfortable putting out there. I still want to run it through a few dozen combats, but it feels good to be scooping up Ghostfire dice and pushing the limits of the batteries.

WRAITHSHROUD

You are suited up in armor fueled by the ghosts of your dead civilization. Your armor provides strength and power on the battlefield, letting you wade into the worst of it and come out unscathed. When you need to you can push the armor to its very limits, dealing devastating blows that drain your batteries.

STARTING STATS

HP: 10

Speed: d4

Ghostfire Fuel: 3d8

Damage: 2

ATTACK ACTION: Power Armor

At the start of combat, you begin with all of your Ghostfire dice as active. When you make an attack at Engaged range, choose any number of your Ghostfire dice and roll them. For each success, deal damage. If you roll below 4, step the dice size down by 1. If your Ghostfire is a d4 and you fail the action, set that dice aside as inactive until the fight is over.

QUICK ACTION: Armor Assist

Roll 1d6. On a success, choose one of the following:

  • Recirculation: Step up the dice size of a single active Ghostfire die by 1, to a maximum of d10.
  • Boost: When you use a skill as part of this turn, you may also roll your Ghostfire dice using the same rules as Power Armor, above.

ADVANCES

Basic Advances

▢ Patch: When you use Armor Assist, you can choose an additional option of patching your armor back together with fuel. If you’re at 4 or less HP, gain 1 HP.

▢ ▢ Overcharge: Increase the starting size of one of your Ghostfire dice by 1, to a max of d10.

▢ Blitz: You can roll your Ghostfire dice along with your speed to determine initiative. They follow the same rules as the Power Attack option. Additionally, you can move as part of your Power Armor attack if you step 1 Ghostfire die down first.

▢ Ghost Shield: When you or an ally within Engaged range is hit by an attack you can immediately step down 1 Ghostfire dice two times to force the attack to miss. You must choose a dice at d6 or higher.

▢ Ghost Spear: You can use Power Armor at Near range instead of Engaged.

▢ Equalize: You can use Armor Assist to return an inactive Ghostfire die. It returns at d4.

Expert Advances

▢ Efficient Recirculation: Roll 2d6 when you use Armor Assist. You can choose two separate benefits or double up on a single one.

▢ Ghost Eruption: You can choose to unleash a wave of death when you use Power Armor. If you do so, each hit deals damage to everyone within Engaged distance, including allies. Any failed rolls result in that Ghostfire dice becoming inactive instead of stepping down.

▢ Feedback Loop: If you roll the max result on one of your Ghostfire dice, step the dice size up.

▢ Battery Pack: Gain an additional Ghostfire die that starts at d4.

▢ Steamroll: When you roll at least 3 of your Ghostfire dice, each hit deals +1 damage.

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