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| Image from Joepedia |
So, I need to do something to give me a nudge back into action, to help me maintain my delusion that I'm getting closer and closer to finishing some of the projects I've started over the years, then left to barely keep a heartbeat through a trickle of attention here on Monstrous Matters. I'm finding that, sometimes, I want to post about something specific, but then I think, "Wait, that'd be better if I ALSO posted this character with it..." Which then leads to, "Oh, if I'm gonna post that character, I need to outline this class first..." Which quickly devolves into "How can I write up this class without first finishing that other class I need to compare it to?" And by that time, I'm well past thinking about whatever post idea prompted the whole chain of events, and the cycle gets to start all over again when I read a science article or see an action figure I want to pick up.
This is (hopefully) a post that's going to make it easier to write down the stuff I want to, when I want to, IF I actually have the will to. Now that I've posted some thoughts on classes for my fantasy heartbreaker, I want to revisit the Soldier class that I scribbled down a couple years back (with action figures in mind) so that it'll fit the simplified, OSR-inspired, 5e-ish form of Monstrous Heartbreaker classes. The basic fighting class for the game is The Warrior, which is essentially just a simple set of rules that boost a character's effectiveness in combat in different ways. I think The Soldier should be similar but give a bit more of an impression of formal training in things besides dealing and taking damage.
As for balance...? I definitely don't want to end up with comparisons that make one class better than another in every reasonably conceivable RPG scenario. BUT...I'm also a believer that anything different about two similar components of a game is an opportunity for scenarios where either one can outshine the other. So let's see where that puts me with...
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| Image from Joepedia |
The Soldier
Proficiencies
Armor: All armor, shields
Weapons: All simple and martial weapons
Saving Throws: Strength, Dexterity
Skills: Athletics, Survival
All characters have had a life leading up to becoming a 1st-level adventurer, and many have hobbies and interests outside of their main profession. Decide on some of these details for your character, and select one additional Skill (from the Skill list) and two Tools and/or Talents to represent the proficiencies gained from these activities.
Equipment
Begin with a set of campaign-appropriate equipment (per DM).
Tireless
Beginning at 1st level, you treat the effects of exhaustion as one level lower than usual.
Military Specialty
You have trained for one specific role above others. At 2nd level, choose one or two of the specialties from the following list of items in bold. You gain the underlined items (skills, talents, tools, weapons, and/or languages) as proficiencies. If you already have the proficiency from another source, you gain expertise.
Asterisks (**) indicate the "cost" of each specialty. You may choose one ** specialty, two * specialties, or one * specialty taken at the level of expertise (does not stack with expertise otherwise gained).
Airborne (Athletics, Parachutes) **
Artillery *
Chaplain's Assistant (Perception, Persuasion) **
Cook *
Communications (equipment) *
Diving *
Dog Handler (Animal Handling, Dog Training) **
Electronics *
Hand-to-Hand Combat Instructor (Unarmed Combat, Perception) **
Heavy Weapons *
Intelligence (Perception, Deception) **
Interpreter (Choose four languages) **
[Biome] (Arctic, Desert, Jungle, etc.) Warfare (Nature, Survival) **
Medic (Medicine) *
Pilot (aircraft) (Flying, Aircraft Repair) **
PT Instructor (Athletics, Perception) **
Radar *
Rifle Instructor (Two-handed Small Arms, Perception) **
Sabotage (Insight, Demolitions) **
Small Arms Armorer *
Transportation (Driving, Ground Vehicle Repair) **
Action Surge
Starting at 3rd level, you can push yourself beyond your normal limits for a moment. On your turn, you can take one additional action on top of your regular action and a possible bonus action.
Once you use this feature, you must finish a short or long rest before you can use it again. Starting at 17th level (seriously? good luck to you...), you can use it twice before a rest, but only once on the same turn.
Ability Score Increase
When you reach 4th level, you can increase one ability score of your choice by 2, or you can increase two ability scores of your choice by 1.
Extra Attack
Beginning at 5th level, you can attack twice, instead of once, whenever you take the Attack action on your turn.
Once you use this feature, you must finish a short or long rest before you can use it again. Starting at 17th level (seriously? good luck to you...), you can use it twice before a rest, but only once on the same turn.
Ability Score Increase
When you reach 4th level, you can increase one ability score of your choice by 2, or you can increase two ability scores of your choice by 1.
Extra Attack
Beginning at 5th level, you can attack twice, instead of once, whenever you take the Attack action on your turn.
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| Image from Marvel.com |
The idea with this class is definitely to have the skills of a "typical" member of an infantry as the core (so that many members of the Joe team fit the model, and to feed the mechanics of action figure campaign play), but I wouldn't mind having it flexible enough to also cover similar roles like those taken on by the drivers of the Wheeled Warriors' Lightning League, or MCU Sam Wilson's work in the Air Force. The list of options is definitely a work in progress...as I tried to get the ball rolling by looking through some early G.I. Joe file cards and adapting what I found there, but it's surely an effort that could use a deeper dive into that source material, and maybe even a little more reasoning around the balance of specialties (yeah, even after scoffing at the idea of balance up above).
But now that I'm "free" to stat up Soldiers to my heart's content, I suppose I'll see how that all works out...
Thanks for reading!
