Hey all!

This week I have a short update with some tweaks to the Vagabond and Warlock archetypes, and some more tinkering with the advancement rules I wrote about in last week's post.

So let's dive into it!

I've long wanted to do some changes to the Vagabond and Warlock archetypes. A lot of the feedback I've received over the last few months has been about the fact that the Fixer seems to get all the cool things, and gets something each time they level up, while the other two archetypes get something every two levels. I initially designed it this way because of three reasons:

• The Fixer's Skills are more situational compared to the combat abilities and spellcasting of the other two classes. This also establishes the Fixer as more of a skill monkey compared to the other two more specified classes.
• The Warlock can buy spells whenever they want and have enough ink, so I thought this would keep the warlock players happy in between major level-up features. The Vagabond actually gets additional grit points on the even-numbered levels which should help bridge the gaps between major level-up features.
• I didn't want to tie too many features to level progression, since I want characters to find fun items all over Orn that can expand what they are able to do.

But even with these points in mind, I wasn't perfectly sure about the features the Vagabond and Warlock were able to unlock. So after some playtesting and talks in the CULT OF THE LIZARD KING Discord, I decided to make some small changes. 

The Vagabond

First up is the Vagabond. For the Vagabond I wasn't sure about the last feature which they would unlock at level 6 and I wanted to give the class some more options to use grit points on. So to spread out the level-up features a bit more swapped out the original level 6 feature for a feature for levels 5 and 7. This makes them sit nicely between the grit point increases every even-numbered level. 

The new feature lets you pick some more combat manoeuvres to add to your repertoire.

This change makes it so that the vagabond gets a little something every time they level up.

The Warlock

Now, for the Warlock the changes are a little different. With their main mechanics and progression tied to the amount of ink they can find I thought it would be weird to add a bunch of more features to the level progression.  So the new version just adds a little spice but doesn't fill in all the gaps in the character progression.

 After some talks with the folks in the Discord we came to the conclusion that the warlock should have at least something that could help them gain some more elder ink. 

So here are the changes for the Warlock:

• A second level feature, Ink Sense, has been added that lets the warlock sniff out ink in their surrounding. This is a daily power that gets additional uses at 5th and 7th level.
• The Name-Crafting Feature has been moved from level 3 to level 4.  This creates a little gap in the progression at level 3. I trust this gap doesn't hurt the warlock since they can just invest some ink and buy another spell name in the meantime.
• The level 6 feature Spirit Seer has been altered with some more spice that gives the warlock the ability to cast spells as a reaction to another creature manifesting a spell. This will give them a little window in which they can cast a spell to get out of harm's way or take out the enemy warlock.

This new progression just leaves two gaps in the level progression of the Warlock, at level 3 and level 8. Which I think shouldn't be unbearable for an archetype that is basically a pay-to-win junkie that can shape the fabric of reality around them.

With that out of the way let's go over the advancement rules I've been tinkering with since last week.

The advancement rules

So the big changes to this have been three-fold:

• Make it the same amount of XP for the whole group, instead of rolling XP per player. This is mainly to reduce bookkeeping and reduce feel bad moments due to some players rolling badly.
• Change the wording of the questions to be a tiny bit more specific and add a reward for roleplaying and faction/NPC interactions. 
• Add an MVP bonus to have a mechanical way of transitioning to after session table chatter and evaluation.

The new advancement rules look like this:

All of these changes can be found in the 0.4 update to the free Playtest Rules that you can download now :) 

As always, I love to hear your thoughts and feedback! You can find me in the CULT OF THE LIZARD KING Discord or on Twitter @EmielBoven

Cheers!

Emiel