GLOG Class: Nomadic Swordsman

When I took the standard fantasy game rage mechanic and applied to the Fanged Deserter, it felt good. That particular mechanic always felt like more of a berserker thing than a barbarian thing.
I'm talking Conan, Sonja, Fafrhd, He-Man, Golden Axe, etc... Sword and Sorcery. 
I picture muscle bound hard bods, with limited clothing. Natural leaders. Usually they oppose evil wizards. Happily, those things are also available. So what else is a barbarian to me?

Well, a highly competent fighter who goes from place to place, solving a problem, and moving on. A constant outsider who does not set down roots. They are adept with many weapons, but mostly use a sword. Madmartigan fits this bill. Also wandering ronin from various movies. This is something I think I could work with. 

The techniques were inspired by various other blogs seen.

Yojimbo (1961)

Nomadic Swordsman

For every odd template of this class gain +1 ATK. For every even template of this class gain +1 critical range.
Starting gear: Loincloth and cloak or kimono, fur hat or straw hat, wine skin, sword of choice

1. Blades Of Grass, Outsider, +1 Technique

2. Quickness Of A Panther; Strength Of A Grizzly,  +1 Technique

3. Show No Pain, +1 Technique

4. Standoff, Riddle of Steel, +1 Technique

Blades of Grass (A) You can hear the grass move, and sense the motion of things around you. You cannot be ambushed by anything that can make noise. 50% chance to act in surprise round; 100% on template C.

Outsider (A) It's obvious to everyone who sees you that you are not from around here. You can always find someone to explain what's happening, find people looking for disposable assistance, and find people interested in foreign cultures.

Quickness of a Panther; Strength of a Grizzly (B) Add CON and DEX to your defence, when not wearing armour.

Show No Pain (C) Once per day per Nomad template, you can negate all incoming damage from an attack, noting the damage you would have taken. At the end of combat, suffer that much damage or save for half.

Standoff (D) Once per encounter, you may challenge a single character to a standoff. If accepted, they undertake an opposed attack roll. The loser is killed outright.

Techniques:

1) Cull the Herd When you kill a target or deal max damage, you can make another attack (if your movement provides), as many times as Nomad templates you have.

2) Reckless Abandon Gain advantage on your next attack, but allow the enemy to attack you in retaliation.

3) One Thousand Strikes An attack’s damage may be split among all adjacent creatures, as long as your attack passes said creature’s defences.

4) Perfect Parry Whenever you parry with your weapon, the damage you would take is reflected back at the attacker. Additionally, you may make a free attack against them, with disadvantage.

5) Perfect Disarm Once per fight, you may disarm an opponent with no save, after which you may make a save to catch the item in your free hand.

6) Arrow Splitter You can try to parry incoming projectiles by destroying them. If a projectile misses you, you may deflect it in a direction of your choosing. If you use this to make an attack, do so at -4.

7) Feint Superiority Once per round, only on an attack, a fumble was a feint. You make another attack immediately.

8) Flowing Strike Whenever you hit, you may try another attack against the same target, with a downgraded damage die. You may do this repeatedly until you cannot downgrade further. (ie d8>d6>d4)

9) Terrifying Murder Whenever you kill a target, you do so in a gruesome manner. Opponents who are within fifteen feet make a morale check, with a -2 penalty, otherwise they take 1d4 emotional damage. (Or they could just flee in terror, whatever)

10) Blade that was Broken You may sunder a weapon. This reduces all incoming damage from one attack, but breaks the weapon.

GLOG Classes: Fanged Deserter & Gutterborn Scum

I like Mörk Borg. It's quite popular, so I'm not alone in this.
Gorgeous rule book. Difficult to read at first, but drips in atmosphere. Rules are deceptively simple, which I love.

Looking at Borg classes, I was inspired to try putting some into GLOG.
Obviously we all do this with our own prejudices. 

The first one that stuck out to me is the first class presented, the Fanged Deserter.
To me, this seems intended as the orc of the game. Now, personally, I do not like DnD orcs. I do not like most orc depictions. They tend to fall under "noble savage" or "dumb murderer" tropes, and I don't care for either of those.

Personally, I like orcs as presented in Lord of the Rings, especially the '70s cartoon versions. To me, orcs are wretched creatures, tortured and twisted into what amounts to genetically bred soldiers. I love their song in the Hobbit cartoon, going, "We don't want to go to war today! But the lord of the lash says nay nay nay!"
They didn't ask for this. They don't want it. Going to war fucking sucks, but what can they do?
All of this struck as what the Fanged Deserter is about, be it Orcs or Hobgoblins or Gnolls or Troglodytes. Any sub-human creature who lives in a culture of conscription and has a bunch of nasty teeth and possibly eats man-flesh.

As I started the conversion of the class to GLOG compatible, I found I didn't love a bunch of the abilities presented in the Borg book. I looked at the original GLOG's rules for Fighters and Barbarians.
Then I found Caput Caprae's Scavver and it started to click for me. A lot of these were great, especially Iron Rations, though I soon realized that this class actually worked even better for the next Borg class, Gutterborn Scum. Filling the Scavver out with a few things from Borg was easy.

Turning back to Fanged Deserter I found more inspiration in The Oblidisideryptch's Soldier. Then found a clever way to implement Wizard's Teeth, thanks to Greyson Yandt's Dental Manvscript, and others found here or there that I cannot recall at this time. I felt more set. It might not be 100%, might be a little overpowered, but I think I accomplished my design goals.

The Lord of the Rings (1978 film)

Fanged Deserter

For every odd template of this class gain +1 ATK. For every even template of this class gain +1 damage.
Deserters have disadvantage in social situations.
Starting gear: Rusty foreign blade, metal helmet, black armour (as leather or chain), choice of: shield, spear, dagger

A) Gnashing Of Teeth, Iron Rations, Flashbacks
B) Rusty Blade, Forced March
C) Meat’s Back On The Menu, Wizard Teeth
D) Filthy Rusty Blade, Where There's A Whip

Gnashing of Teeth (A) You can attack with teeth, doing d6 Damage. 2-in-6 chance the enemy gets a free attack.

Iron Rations (A) You can eat almost anything, and it counts as a meal. Alcohol, ditch-water, rats, feces, etc. You have a 4-in-6 to find a meal anywhere. You have advantage on saves against eating bad food: indigestion, food poisoning (but not poisoned food), food- and water-borne disease, the runs, etc.

Flashbacks (A) You have flashbacks of the horror of battle. You gain +1 attack and damage, and do not suffer the effects of pain until the flashback is over. All actions must be taken towards defeating your enemies, and you cannot perform other actions until they are defeated or driven off. If fear is cast on you the only effect is the caster is now your primary target.
If an ally has injured you, you see them as an enemy. 3-in-6 chance you see all allies as enemies. 
At the start of a turn, you may try to calm yourself, unless under the effects of fear. If you succeed you can do no more on your turn. If you fail, you take your turn as normal.

Rusty Blade (B) Your rusty blade is rife with disease. Enemies of your level HD have a 1-in-6 chance of getting sepsis, causing them to be sickened and die within the day. They can take no more actions other than excreting from both ends. Enemies of higher HD instead become poisoned.
If your blade is destroyed, you can always find a new blade, somewhere in the mire or muck.
Filthy Rusty Blade (D) Your blade has become filthy with use. Chance is now 3-in-6

Forced March (B) You ignore 1 exhaustion per Deserter template. You can stand 2 nights watches without incurring exhaustion.
Additionally, when not in combat your party may travel normal speed over rough terrain.

Meat’s Back On The Menu (C) You can make an appropriate amount of meals out of any slain enemy, provided they did not die of disease, poison, or are naturally poisonous. Anyone consuming these meals gains an extra 1d4 HP.
Additionally, you roll with advantage on any healing done via eating meat.

Wizard Teeth (C) You have collected a pouch of wizard teeth. You may implant one into your mouth at any time, and reap the rewards. You may use the following teeth:

Wisdom Teeth Within the next half hour you find an item thought lost by you or another party member.

Intelligence Teeth You declare something to be true. You have a 50% chance of being correct, but you don't find out right away; the GM will roll when it matters. You might only be partially correct, but you will never be catastrophically wrong.

Strength Teeth For one round you act with 22 Strength.

Dexterity Teeth +1 to critical range for 10 rounds.

Constitution Teeth Either You have 4 rounds instead of 3 to remove all your fatal wounds Or Reduce incoming damage by 1d4 for ten rounds.

Charisma Teeth For half an hour, you are glamoured. Instead of disadvantage, gain advantage to social situations.

You may use these a number of times as you have Deserter templates, but you can only benefit from each tooth once a day. When extracting teeth from your mouth, pass a save or lose 1d3 HP. 

Where There's a Whip (D) Any damage you take during a round of flashback can then be added to your next attack that round.

 

Mörk Borg core rule book

Gutterborn Scum

For every template of this class gain +1 Stealth.
Starting gear: Lockpicks, ragged clothing, a found weapon such as a broken bottle or firstfull of nails (as dagger)

A) Practical Looting, Nicked It
B) Excretal Stealth, This Is A Knife
C) Nobody’s Nobody, Survive By Not Being There
D) Extremely Practical, Human Canary, Death Dodger

Practical Looting (A) When looting a humanoid, roll twice and take both results. If somebody else has searched the body, you may still roll once. If you would receive money, gems, or other "direct" valuables, they can instead be something you can immediately wear on your person. You have 3 extra inventory slots for high priced items.
Examples include: Brooches, cufflinks, jewellery, pocket watches, gold teeth, glass eyes, rabbit’s feet, nic-nacs, etc.
Extremely Practical (D) You can now loot non-humanoids in this same manner. Gain 3 extra inventory slots for high priced items.

Nicked It (A) For any small item left unattended in the open, you have a 3-in-6 chance to steal it without being (immediately) noticed. If searched, you have a 1-in-6 chance to successfully conceal it about your person. If you elect to not nick an item in the moment, you later have a 1-in-6 chance to retroactively declare you did.
All three of these increase by 1-in-6 per Scum template you have.
If you nick something belonging to a party member, they or any other party member can make a Strength or Charisma check to bully you into giving it up.

Excretal Stealth (B) When hiding in muck, filth, debris, etc, roll with advantage.
(Alternatively, those searching for you roll with disadvantage.)

This is a Knife (B) Any weapon or object you're wielding can deal an additional 1d4 damage. This causes the item to be permanently lost or destroyed.

Nobody’s Nobody (C) You can pass yourself off as a lowest-level member of any organization you are somewhat familiar with. You can present, fake, or excuse the proper documentation, pass-phrases, uniforms, and other necessary info and gear to do so, enough to pass basic inspection. Any greater level of scrutiny will almost certainly detect you, but ordinary observers won't.
If an authority figure ever examines the party to determine who is most important (to hit with a horrible spell, say, or to assign blame), it's never you.

Survive by not Being There (C) When initiative is rolled, you always go first, but only if you use your first turn's movement and action to run, hide, avoid danger, cower, or otherwise get yourself out of harm's way.

Human Canary (D) When you save vs. physical danger (spinning saw blades and petrification count, but charm and fear don't), you gain a bonus to your save equal to the number of your comrades that are physically between you and the source of the danger.
If you are forcibly volunteered to be the first one to go into danger, you gain a bonus to your save equal to the number of your comrades that didn't go first. Those bastards.

Death Dodger (D) On death, if there is the slightest possibility that you survived, there is a 50% chance that you did. If successful, after 10 rounds you pop back up with d4 HP and an unlikely explanation of your escape.

Simple House Rules in the current game.

It was either this or "Temple of the Elephant" and this was a little more badass.

Like many before me, I use house rules when I DM.
They are clunky. They are odd. They might be missing pieces. They are continuously edited.

There are three 4-6 page documents. This is all I can get my players to read, and even then they breeze through so it's mostly for me to keep track.

Basic Rules. Character Creation. Equipment Guide.

These rules originated as a strange hybrid of 4th Edition Dungeons + Dragons, and various skirmish game rules I had been browsing at the time. I liked the feel of half board game / half roleplay.
(Later I would check out HeroQuest.)
But slowly OSR stuff started to creep in. Dungeon Crawl Classics was the biggest influence. Luck becoming a mechanic, though it's not often used. I used DCC as a template when we played in a virtual tabletop over pandemic.

After finding a bunch of things I like, I then decided to trim the fat.

There are no character classes. Characters are differentiated by heritage. Standard fantasy elves/dwarves/hobbits are there, but my own favourite pet race, changelings.

Also, stats became JUST the modifiers, since that was all we ever used.

It's been decent, it's been fun for our table. The rules mutate as things get learned, and they change as the table plays further. My players can be opinionated, so I always have a round table discussion before setting some off the fly ruling in stone.

Recently, I've been looking harder at GLOG. Sure, some things slipped in before, but I had not tried to fully understand it. There are some interesting things in there, and I like the way it's encouraged to make it your own.
To that, I started looking at classes again, and coming up with some. This means, of course, that now I have to go ahead and write my own GLOG rules, even though plopping a new ruleset down would confuse my players. It's a good mental exercise though, and maybe I will get to play a game with it some day.

To wit, I will post some classes herein.