If you were playing an RPG with a Chaplain class, what are some abilities you would expect to have?
If you were playing an RPG with a Chaplain class, what are some abilities you would expect to have?
Well, mime, obviously.
Prat falls, cane twirling, roller skating.
A notable intrinsic dodge bonus.
Decent but not great healing, blessing, persuasion, rally, calm, etc.
More or less neitral disposition with virtually everyone, save only the most extreme pro- or anti-religious.
Surprisingly good hand-to-hand combat, but only under duress and/or drunk.
Inspire allies to perform better or push their limits, bolster them against mental damage and heal mental damage they've sustained, raise the morale of a group (especially if that group shares my religion). Bonuses to public speaking, negotiation, religious knowledge, etc.
If I belong to a more fire-and-brimstone type religion, perhaps I can intimidate sinners, make my allies more effective against heretics, etc.
At a minimum I'd expect:
- real beard
- fake beard
- glass eye
- large feet
- outrageous Irish accent
- full range of card-sharp skills
- knife-fighting
- chair-fighting
- chair-throwing
- caving, pot-holing, and spelunking
- seduction
- animal familiar
- phat skate-boarding or BMX skillz.
- Speech
- Restoration
- Enchanting
- Alchemy
- Conjuration
- Alteration
- Block
- Lockpicking (don't ask)
Alteration?
Alteration. You know, Ironflesh, magelight...
Acrobatics
Persuasion Pickpocketing Buggery
HOLY CROSS and then you throw that shit
Combination cleric and bard.
D&D Cleric
Is the Chaplain distinct from other classes like priest, cleric, or paladin? If so, I would think the Chaplain is more of a ranger with a holy flair. However, if it's in a setting where it's the only holy class I would say they should have healing magic, faith based spells, and high charisma. The first thing that came to mind, however, was like a WWII military chaplain and I thought that would be pretty cool, basically a D&D style cleric but in WWII era tech, acting as a field medic, religious guide, and clairvoyant all in one.
I feel like I should have provided context, but I more wanted vibes. I'm making a rpg with 5 classes, and I am dead set on the only spellcasting class being the Wizard. So, the clericish class has to have some other role. Settled on something closer to a Bard as the main thing, where you can make an Inspiration pool of d6s that your party can scoop up dice from to add to their attack rolls and skill checks. Most of the obvious stuff that would normally belong to clerics, druids, warlocks, and paladins is all bolted to the sides and corners of the alignment chart. I'm looking for how to flesh out the meat of the class, the core stuff that everyone gets.
If you're curious, these are the 5 classes:
- Fighter: A mix of Fighter, Barbarian, and historically accurate knight stuff
- Apostle: Depending on your alignment and choices, either a Cleric, a Druid, a Paladin, a Warlock, or some mix of all four
- Ranger: In addition to normal ranger stuff, this is also the Spy class.
- Xia: Cultivation genre stuff like shattering bones with your guitar, riding your flying sentient sword, and summoning demonic spirits to fight your enemies. Also, punching real good.
- Wizard: You have a big ass spellbook which you copy spell scrolls from, and if you do really well you can start forging magic artifacts in your wizard tower.
Chaplains are on the front lines with the troops so they should be able to hold their own in a melee
To balance and contrast against priest, let Chaplains healing be HoT or temp hitpoints
Non-magical healing abilities to reflect field triage and supplement their technically low healing capacity
Inspiration buffs as they read from their holy writ
Remove fear effects, and maybe a super rare Battlefield Divine Intervention
Speaking fake German
And toothbrush mustache, too?
Conflict resolution
Magical acrobatics.
Spells that use deception to get enemies to disengage in combat.
Protection against area of effect attacks.