Scarlet Horizons
Playable Character Classes

There are four core classes in Scarlet Horizons. Each core class has two or more subclasses.

Upon attaining level 3 in any core class, you may, upon your next level advancement, (a) choose a subclass of that core class, (b) take level 1 in a new core class in which you heretofore had no levels, or (c) continue in that same core class by taking level 4 in it.

Subclasses share the hit die of their parent core class. Each subclass gives access to its own Heroic Deeds.

Fighter

Prime ability: Strength; the Fighter core class, and its subclasses, enjoy the best hit die available to PCs, the mighty d8. Additionally, the Fighter and its subclasses gain a +1 to Attack Bonus every single level. The Fighter core class (not its subclasses) gains a bonus HP at every level — this is in addition to the normal gained for level increase and Constitution bonus.

Barbarian

Prime ability: Constitution; the Barbarian subclass gives a one-time hit point boost of 10 HP at Barbarian 1. These +10 HP are in addition to the HP gained for attaining Barbarian 1 (i.e., 4 + Con bonus).

The Barbarian subclass gives access to Rage.

When a Barbarian attains the 5th (and highest) level in this subclass, the barbarian's Rage also benefits from Strength.

Gunslinger

Prime ability: Dexterity; the Gunslinger remembers the face of her father and carries herself with the poise of her ancestors.

Gunslingers attack with two guns simultaneously and are able to target the same foe with both weapons (no penalty to-hit), or she may choose to target two separate foes — the second weapon is at a -2 penalty to-hit.

Each gun has a range increment of sixty feet and deals 2d4 damage; the damage dice explode on a result of 4.

Gunslingers can only wear light armor, and tend to prefer trenchcoats of leather.

When a Gunslinger rolls a natural "1" attack roll, one of her resolvers has had a misfire. That weapon cannot be used again until cleared, which is something the Gunslinger must do outside of combat.

The Gunslinger subclass gives access to the Steely Gaze Heroic Deed.

Monk

Prime ability: Dexterity & Wisdom; the Monk subclass cannot wear armor, as the monk requires freedom of movement.

Monks can make a DC 13 saving throw to reduce falling damage or area effect damage by half upon success. If non-monk characters already get a saving throw for half-damage, then the monk suffers no damage on a successful save and half-damage on a failed save.

Because of their discipline, monks also may add their Wisdom modifier on saves against mind-influencing effects.

A monk's base armor class is 9, modified by Dexterity and Wisdom modifiers. For every two full levels in Monk up to and including Monk 10, this AC improves another step. Monks may wear magical rings and bracers, but cannot fight in armor. A monk applies her Monk level to saving throws against natural and magical diseases.

The Monk subclass gives access to the Flurry of Blows Heroic Deed.

Ranger

Prime ability: Dexterity & Wisdom; the Ranger subclass gives the PC +10 feet of movement in dungeons, and +20 feet outdoors. Rangers get advantage on any tracking or survival checks.

Examples of appropriate granularity for favored enemy type are goblinoid humanoids (goblins, kobolds, bugbears), scaled foes (dragons, hydrae, lizardmen), abberations, or undead.

At Ranger 2, a ranger may fire two arrows from a short or longbow as part of a single-attack action. They may target the identical or different targets.

At Ranger 4, the Ranger adds a second favored enemy.

At Ranger 5, the Ranger adds a third and final favored enemy type.

At each Ranger level gained, the Ranger chooses a Preferred Environment she doesn't already have from the following list: temperate forest, tundra, mountains, subterranean, desert, jungle, ocean. When operating in a preferred environment, the Ranger adds her Ranger level to skill checks and saving throws, and gains a {Ranger level} point improvement to Armor Class when operating in that preferred environment.

The Ranger subclass gives access to the Improved Ambuscade Heroic Deed.

Cleric

Prime ability: Wisdom; the Cleric is the voice and tool of a Power, be it a Power of Good or Evil. Clerics can detect good and evil at will. They can also Read Magic and Detect Magic at will. Given sufficient time and materials — the latter being expensive — a cleric can create spell scrolls of clerical spells that are within the cleric's knowledge and power.

Druid

Prime ability: Wisdom; Druids in Scarlet Horizons don't cast spells beyond what they learned as clerics. Instead, they get their utility from innate abilities and Heroic Deeds.

Druids do not count their Druid levels when turning undead. They can turn entities that are antithetical to the natural order — abberations, and in so doing both their Cleric and Druid levels apply.

When a druid wields a stick, club, cudgel, or staff, it counts as a form of magical, unbreakable shillelagh while held by the druid. When attacking with this weapon, the druid adds her Druid level(s) to to-hit rolls and to the weapon's 1d6 base damage.

The Druid subclass gives the PC the ability to communicate with animals at will through a form of bestial telepathy. The form this communication takes is non-verbal and nowhere near the sophistication of people's conversations. However, the druid is able to get her point across and natural creatures (non-monsters) are predisposed to have a favorable reaction to the druid.

Druids can move through naturally occuring difficult terrain completely unhindered — briar thickets, entangling undergrowth, boot-sucking mud in a bog or swamp, etc.

Once daily, a druid can shapeshift in the blink of an eye. It literally takes a fraction of a second. A druid can shapechange at the beginning of a round and still take her normal attack and movement. Upon shapeshifting, any injury or reduction to hit points is restored. The druid regains their normal maximum hit points, plus a number of temporary hit points.

A druid can maintain this shifted shape for up to 1d6+x turns, where x is equal to her druid level. Upon returning to her natural shape, a druid has hit points proportional to those her shapeshifted form possessed at the time of transition back to normal shape.

For instance, Kelek the Antlered One is at 21/25 HP and shapechanges into a Dire Wolf with 28 HP + 7 temp HP — for a total of 35 HP. During combat, his winter wolf form drops to 20/35 (i.e., 57.1% of max). If Kelek transitions back to normal shape, he'll have 57.1% of his normal HP max of 25, which is 14 HP.

A former necromancer may recant their evil path and later in life become a druid. She must never again use her necrotic powers, or else she loses all druidic powers forever.

If a druid turns to the dark side and becomes a necromancer, she loses all druidic powers; however, her former Druid levels become Cleric levels. For example, A Cleric 3/Druid 4 embraces darkness, becoming a Necromancer. She is now a Cleric 7/Necromancer 1, and her clerical levels correspond to veneration of an evil power.

The Druid subclass gives access to the Short Port Heroic Deed.

Paladin

Prime ability: Charisma; Paladins in Scarlet Horizons are a sub-class of cleric rather than of fighter. But though they use the Cleric's d6 hit die, Paladins enjoy a fighter's base attack bonus. A paladin has the ability to Smite a subset of evil creatures. When attacking an evil outsider, aberration, or undead, a paladin adds her Charisma bonus to other attack roll modifiers, and on a successful hit deals weapon damage dice + Paladin levels.

The Paladin subclass gives access to the Enlightened Strike Heroic Deed.

Upon becoming a paladin, a good-aligned cleric has three 1st and two 2nd level clerical spells appropriate to his deity's portfolio. Add one to each level of spells per point of Wisdom bonus. Any of these spells may be sacrificed to power the casting of Hand of Succor, a healing spell that restores 2d6+2 Hit Points.

Sohei

Prime ability: Wisdom; the Sohei is a warrior-priest with the d6 hit-die of a cleric, but the base attack bonus of a fighter. Sohei can use all types of armor, disdain shields, and their special training in the naginata and kanabo (maul) allows Sohei to inflict the full 1d10 damage die with those weapons. Sohei have advantage on all Constitution checks.

The Sohei subclass gives access to the Unflappable Warrior Heroic Deed.

Thief

Prime ability: Dexterity & Charisma; the Thief is as skilled with her tongue as she is with the blade. Anyone can move quietly, but Thieves can move silently. Anyone can hide in darkness, but Thieves can hide in shadows. Anyone can climb rough surfaces, but Thieves can climb sheer surfaces.

Bard

Prime ability: Intelligence & Charisma; the Bard is a subclass of the Thief core class. The bard is even more skilled with her tongue than with the blade. She uses the power of song, music, word, and verse to aid her allies, discomfit her foes, and advance the security of civilization and the propagation of culture to the next generation.

At Bard level 1, the bard character chooses an instrument that is light and portable (flute, zither, ukelele, mandolin, small harpsichord). She gains a masterwork version of the desired instrument as a personal possession, and an initial Perform Flute +3 (substitute desired musical instrument for Flute) trait. As a thief subclass, the Bard may have a trait bonus in Perform [Instrument] that exceeds +3.

Bard level 1 also gives access to the Guidance Heroic Deed. Bards may not stack multiple Guidance effects.

At Bard 2, the Bard may confer Bardic Inspiration upon an ally once daily. That ally gains a 2d4 dice roll that they can use once only within the next hour to enhance a skill check, attack to-hit roll, or saving throw.

At Bard 3, the Bard is able to add her Charisma modifier as additional damage when delivering Circle or Backstab damage to a foe. This is in addition to the typical Dexterity modifier to such damage. Additionally, at Bard 3 the bard gains access to the Enhance Ability Heroic Deed.

At Bard 4, a bard's allies add the bard's Charisma modifier as a bonus on the Advantage they gain on saving throws against audible effects, and the Bard herself becomes immune to audible/sonic attacks.

A Bard 5 with 20+ overall levels may, as a full-round action precluding movement, attacks, Fray die usage, and heroic deed usage, use his voice and/or instrument to magically duplicate any class-based boon of another class. The benefits apply to the bard and to any allies within thirty feet.

The Bard subclass contains five levels.

Cutthroat

Prime ability: Strength or Dexterity. A Cut-Throat raises the Thief's deadliness to a whole new plateau. Cut-Throats largely fill the roles of assassins, bounty hunters, and enforcers.

A Cut-Throat at 2nd level adds both Dexterity and Strength modifiers to damage on Circle and Backstab attacks.

A Cut-Throat at 4th level may deliver bleeding wounds that inflict 1d3 HP per round until healed or bandaged.

A Cut-Throat gains Advantage on Backstab attacks at Level 5. The Cutthroat subclass does not extend beyond Level 5.

Dungeoneer

Prime ability: Intelligence or Dexterity. A dungeoneer is (usually) a former adventuring thief who has lots of (painful, nightmare-inducing) experiences from tombs, dungeons, and other locations. She has survived more traps, falls, diseases, and poisonings that most adventurers will encounter in a lifetime.

At Dungeoneer 2, the character is so familiar with dungeons and subterranean environs that he cannot become lost. This doesn't mean he knows how to proceed forward at every point — only that he is able to accurately retrace his steps back to their pre-dungeon origin.

A Dungeoneer, upon attaining 5th level, not only adds her level to dungeon ability checks and receives Advantage as noted for level 3, but also develops Tremorsense to a range of 120 feet when in dungeon environs. A creature with tremorsense is sensitive to vibrations in the ground and can automatically pinpoint the location of anything that is in contact with the ground. If the Dungeoneer did not already possess darkvision, it gains it to a range of 60 ft when in dungeon environs. If it already possessed darkvision, the range is extended another 60 feet.

The Dungeoneer subclass does not go above Level 5.

Mage

Prime ability: Intelligence; the Magic-User is a deeply-studied student of the arcane. Even the laziest mage knows at least two languages. Many know three, four, or even five. This only applies, however, to characters who begin their careers in the mage class. Those who switch to mage later don't make the cut.

A mage gains an addition +5% magic-resistance for each level in the mage core class or a mage sub-class gained after Magic-User 3rd level — to a maximum of 90%. A mage's magic resistance against any given spell should be adjusted based upon the level difference between the targeted mage and the caster of the spell — the adjustment is made in 5% increments, to a minimum of 5% and a maximum of 90%.

When adjusting for level difference for the purpose of magic resistance calculation, only compare total caster levels for both target and caster.

Enchanter

Prime ability: Wisdom or Intelligence

Enchanters are the cat's meow — the masters of enchantment — and it is their Art that outfits a band of competent adventurers and turns them into conquering heroes. Sure, you can leave things to chance, or to the fickle benevolence of the DM. But why, when you can become the creator of fantastically powerful magical items yourself?

At Enchanter 2, the at-will once-daily magical bonus bestowed by an Enchanter rises to +2, still for one full minute. At Enchanter 3, +3 bonus; at Enchanter 4, +4; and at Enchanter 5 the bonus for one full minute is +5.

At the 5th and final level of Enchanter, the Enchanter's may speak a word of power as a bonus/free action and all of her weapons and armor, as well as all of her party's weapons and armors (for allies within thirty feet of her at the time the power word is spoken) gain a +2 bonus for the next full minute.

This is above and beyond any other bonuses those items normally possess. Optionally, the Enchanter may choose to imbue a single piece of equipment with a +5 bonus for the full minute duration.

Necromancer

Prime ability: Wisdom or Intelligence

Necromancers are made, not born. They enter upon their morbid path in response to some trauma: a chronic inability in the past to protect themselves, an ancient wrong done to their family, a rejection by society. Or, they are drawn to necromancy for power, or on a quest for understanding of the nature of time and finality.

At Necromancer 2, the necromancer gains the at-will Life Tap ability. His touch can siphon the life force of others to bolster his own. As an action, the necromancer can make a melee spell attack against a living creature, dealing necrotic damage equal to 1d8 + his Wisdom or Intelligence modifier on a hit, gaining temporary hit points equal to the amount of necrotic damage dealt. If this feature kills the creature, twice as many temporary hit points are gained from using this feature.

At Necromancer 3, Life Tap deals 2d8+Wis/Int mod, and can be delivered either via a touch attack or a ranged touch attack of up to thirty feet.

At Necromancer 4, Life Tap deals 3d8+Wis/Int modifier, and can be delivered by layering it on top of another spell effect (magic missile, finger of death, etc).

At the 5th and final level of Necromancer, the necromancer understands intuitively the processes that lead to lichdom, and Life Tap damage rises to 6d8+Wis/Int modifier.

Note: it is rumored that there are higher echelons of power within the ranks of necromancy, but that only vampires and liches may climb those ranks. If true, then there exists *necromancer* levels 6 through 10.

A necromancer may gain temporary hit points above and beyond his normal HP maximum in an amount equal to the product of X and his overall character level, where X is the sum of his Intelligence and Wisdom modifiers. Example: Uvron Alygrean Kesloril is a FGT 4/MAG 13/NEC 5 with Wis 15 and Int 18. Maximum temporary HP beyond normal maximum is 88.

Warlock

Prime ability: Charisma or Intelligence

Warlocks enjoy resistance to any damage dealt to them by infernal or Far Realm entities.

Area effect spells that include the warlock as one of multiple targets do not provoke this *pact blade* response, but spells targeted directly on the warlock do, as do ranged and melee attacks targeting the warlock.

Regardless of whether the warlock is wielding the pact blade, whenever the warlock is struck in melee combat, the pact blade magically inflicts X damage on the attacker, where X is equal to the Warlock's total caster levels — as long as the pact blade is worn upon the warlock's person or carried in a pouch or backpack.

At Warlock 2, the Warlock gains resistance to a damage type of his choice from the following list: radiant, necrotic, puncturing, slashing, bludgeoning, fire, cold, electricity, acid, and force.

At Warlock 4, the Warlock gains resistance to another damage type, not previously selected, from the foregoing list.

At the 5th and final level of Warlock, the warlock gains a permanent boon from its patron. Examples of such boons are the following at-will or automatic effects: regeneration 3, assume gaseous form, dispel magic 15' radius (as if cast by the warlock's patron), an AC improvement of 3, the ability to fly, or petrification. At Warlock 10, the warlock gains another boon from its patron, or increases the potency of an existing boon.

Warlocks may sacrifice prepared spells from other classes' spell lists to power their warlock spells. Warlocks may also sacrifice hit points to cast warlock spells, 1 HP per spell level of the spell to be cast.

Some patrons bestow lesser and/or greater boons upon their warlocks at Warlock 1.