To be a D&D character is to be an undesirable. Someone for whom society does not care, and who must step outside the bounds of ‘acceptable behavior’ to survive. That’s why they’re willing to face absurd dangers; why they plunder tombs, and dare the mythic underworld; why the Thief is a quintessential class. Sex Workers are D&D as hell.

The Bangtail was originally published in April of 2016. I originally wrote it as a sort of reskin of the Thief, and I think I did a truly terrible job of it. I’ve had a player running a Bangtail in one of my games for a couple years now, and I frequently forget that they’re playing one. The original draft of the class so thoroughly fails to make any notable mark on the game. It needs a much more dramatic overhaul than the Bear in Disguise or Giftgiver did.

Bangtail

There’s a skill to being a courtesan. It’s more than just being good at doing a sex on the peoples what that give you a money. To be a true queen of the craft you must understand your own charms, and your quarry’s weaknesses. You’ve got to know how to draw them in, and how to keep them where you want them: in the palm of your hand.

Bangtails have a d6 hit die. They advance according to the Fighter’s experience table, and attack as a thief/specialist/rogue.

Saving Throws

The Bangtail’s work can be pretty gross. They’re regularly exposed to all manner of vectors for disease and infection, and have accumulated great stores of knowledge for how to protect themselves. The generally low regard with which they are viewed prevents their knowledge from being taken seriously, and has thus become a sort of ‘trade secret.’

Most saving throws are rolled as a thief of equivalent level. Saving throws versus Poison, however, are always one rank better than a thief’s would be. For example: a Labyrinth Lord thief’s Poison save is 14 from levels 1-4, then drops to 12 at level 5. A Bangtail’s Poison save would start at 12, and drop to 10 at level 5. (Which for the thief, does not occur until level 9.)

Life of the Party

Bangtails are skilled in a wide variety of party tricks and performances: singing, dancing, games, comedy, etc. At character creation a player ought to pick one sort of performance at which their Bangtail excels.

Sneak Attack

One can’t make it far in this profession without the anatomical expertise to make a person feel great pleasure or great pain. Because of this, Bangtails may Backstab as a thief of equivalent level. If playing LotFP, assume x2 at first level, and advancing one multiplier on every even numbered level.

Amorous Gymnastics

Flexibility and grace are an occupational necessity, and like all aspects of her craft, the Bangtail has raised this to an artform. The possibilities are broad, and intentionally left open to interpretation. A few examples of what a successful check might allow are:

• Fit themselves into spaces that might normally be considered too small, and move freely in those spaces: easily slip through the bars of a prison cell, or hide in a briefcase.
• Escape any manner of bondage, no matter how thorough.
• Balance under even the most difficult circumstances.
• Hang out of a window for several minutes before tiring.
• Generally use their body in unusual ways, such as firing a bow with their feet.

Because Amorous Gymnastics overlaps with tasks often resolved by skill systems, and because skill systems are so varied, integrating it into a game will require some judgement on the part of the referee.

If the game allows all characters to gain and spend skill points, Amorous Gymnastics might be considered a sort of combination of different skills, available only to the Bangtail, and something she can put points into or not.

If the game’s thief equivalent is the only class that advances their skills, matching a thief’s progression in some similar skill might be appropriate.

Failing all else: check Amorous Gymnastics by attempting to roll a 5 or higher on progressively larger dice. A d6 is rolled at first level, advancing to a d8 at level 3, a d10 at level 5, and a d12 at level 7.

Fans

Fans are a type of hireling which are drawn to the Bangtail automatically as she levels. She may have a number of them equal to half her level, rounded up. They are particularly devoted, with each having a loyalty score of d4 + 8.

Devoted though they may be, Fans are not cannon fodder. They have placed the Bangtail on a pedestal, and may write her many flowery poems about being willing to die in her service, but they have their own wants and needs, and are not inhumanly immune to fear. If one dies, the Bangtail cannot replace them until the next time she levels up.

Charm

In games which use the 2d6 reaction roll as the “attack roll” of a social encounter, Bangtails receive a flat +1 bonus to all such rolls.

In games which use other social resolution mechanics, some equivalently significant bonus should be substituted.

Seduction

No two seductions are quite alike, and they depend very much on who the Bangtail’s quarry is. Seducing the drunk lecher may be as simple as the player saying they wish to do so. Seducing the devotedly attached and monogamous cleric would likely require a series of successful social encounters over many weeks. Seducing a skeleton may be completely impossible–or it may not.

If a system for seduction is needed, try this: for any given NPC roll 3d6. Drop the lowest if they ought to be difficult to seduce, and drop the highest if they ought to be easy to seduce. The resulting number is their resistance to the Bangtail’s charms. It is reduced by 1 each time the Bangtail makes a successful social roll against them, and at 0 they will be eager to find some place to be alone together.

Regardless of how it is accomplished, 4 hours are required for the Bangtail to thoroughly demonstrate the many delights to which she can inspire mortal flesh.

Once someone has been seduced, the Bangtail gains a number of boons with regard to them:

• Social rolls made with a seduced person have a total bonus of +2.
• Attack rolls made against a seduced person have a bonus equal to the Bangtail’s level.
• If the Bangtail and the seduced person do not share a language, they are able to communicate as effectively as if they did.
• The Bangtail comes away knowing d6 secrets the seduced person would not normally have revealed. The Bangtail decides what type of secrets they are, but the referee determines the specific information. (ex. “I want to know something that embarrasses them,” or “I want to know the combination for their vault.”)
• The Bangtail comes away owning any one object they wish to take from the seduced person, so long as it is small enough to be carried. In the case of particularly valuable objects, the seduced person may regret their decision, and attempt to get the item back later.

How to run sex in games without making it weird

I once wrote a whole essay on this topic which I’d encourage you to reference if you feel conflicted. In brief, sex in games works just fine for most people so long as you keep three points in mind:

• Sex in the game shouldn’t be about anyone’s actual sexual gratification. If you’re getting aroused, then you’re doing it wrong.
• Describe characters having sex in the game the way you’d describe those same characters eating an unusual meal. There’s no need to ‘fade to black,’ but neither is there any need for a play-by-play.
• People’s comfort level with sex in D&D varies wildly, and it should be easy to respect that.

I only got to playtest the Gift Giver for about 6 months back in 2016. We got a good sense of what worked and what didn’t, but I admit I wish I’d taken better notes. I’m sure there’s something I forgot in this revision.

The act of giving gifts was a huge hit, but for some reason the original draft hadn’t made it more the focus of a class that was literally named for doing it. Perhaps because it’s tricky to build a class around social encounters when no two people run their social encounters the same way. I’m not sure I’ve done much better on that front below, but I’ve made more of an effort. The class’s secondary powers also needed some expansion and punch up.

The Gift Giver

The Jolly Order of Gift Givers is a society of venerable men, women, and other folk noted for their generosity and good cheer. Upon induction to the order each Gift Giver is endowed with mystic powers in accordance with the Faustian bargain made by the Order’s saintly founder in time immemorial. It’s said to be the only truly successful deal ever made with the Devil. The contract (penned in the founder’s own hand) is contained in 14,823 volumes in a vault deep beneath the Order’s ancestral meeting hall. Priests and church scholars of every stripe have poured over the document for centuries and report a baffling lack of any sin committed either by the founder, or by those who take the Jolly Oaths.

Basics

Gift Givers have a d6 hit die. They level according to the Fighter’s experience table, with the attack modifiers and saving throws of a Specialist or Thief. They have no particular limitations for weapon or armor use, though given the weight of the gifts they carry they may become over-encumbered if they insist on wearing heavy armor. While not required, bright colors and bells are a sort of unofficial uniform for Gift Givers. Other members of the order may look askance at someone who dressed otherwise.

Though elves are not usually willing to become hirelings to anyone but other elves, they have a mysterious liking for these jolly old folk which gives them a +2 to their loyalty. Even the elves don’t really know why they feel this way. The Gift Givers do, but won’t reveal the secret.

Gifts, and Giving Them

At the outset of each new adventure the Giftgiver muse spend 25% of their liquid wealth purchasing gifts for others. Likewise, these unspecified and amorphous gifts take up 25% of their total encumbrance at all times. If the player chooses to abandon their supply of gifts for the extra carrying capacity, they will lose access to all class features (not just gift giving) until they stock back up.

A subtle predictive magic is at play when a Gift Giver goes shopping. They themselves doesn’t really know why they buy the things they buy, but in their travels they will invariably have the perfect gift for everyone they meet. Players are encouraged to be creative and generous in coming up with good gifts for every shopkeep, quest giver, and parleying monster they encounter. The only limitation is that it must be something that could be reasonably found, made, scavenged, or purchased in the place where the adventure began.

A member of the Jolly Order would never attach strings to a gift. To do so would sully the act of giving, transform it into an exchange or a bribe. That is not the Gift Giver way. None the less, gifts change the balance of most social situations. Folks generally feel an obligation to be friendly. They’ll usually want to make some kind of concession, or offer something they think is useful as a gift in return. Precisely how they respond is up to the referee, but unless they are a truly hateful creature they ought to do something nice.

The unexpectedness of what each NPC will consider an appropriate response to a gift is part of this class’s charm, and shouldn’t be over-mechanized. That said, it’s also a little wishy-washy, and may be difficult to wrap your head around. If need be, have the player roll 3d6 and add the higher two results together, resulting in a number between 2 and 12. The higher the result, the better the NPC’s response is.

Gift Givers are limited to one gift per person per year. That’s just how the magic works.

Gift Giver Magics

Starting at second level, and at every even-numbered level thereafter, the Gift Giver’s generosity has earned them a new magic power in accord with the ancient contract. Roll d10 on the table below to determine which power they gain. If the player rolls a power they already have, they may choose for themselves one power which they don’t.

None of a Gift Giver’s abilities are subject to magical resistances, such as anti-magic fields or counter spells.

1. Gift of Entry
2. Enchant Animal
3. Sleepytime Kiss
4. Treat Oneself
5. Gift of Cold
6. Time Stop
7. Shrink Object
8. Gaze of Shame
9. Baleful Levitate
10. Know Heart

1. Gift of Entry

By touching the outer wall of a structure, the Gift Giver instantly appears on the other side with a faint ‘pop.’ They may bring with them a number of passengers equal to their level.

The power only allows the character to enter or exit a discrete structure. It cannot be used to bypass interior walls or doors once inside. Gift Givers may only use this power on a given structure once to enter, and once to exit each day.

While not strictly required, it is expected that a Gift Giver will leave gifts in any building they enter in this fashion. If it were known that a character failed to do so, they might be summoned to make an account of themselves before the elders of the Jolly Brotherhood.

2. Enchant Animal

Herbivorous animals do not fear a Gift Giver. They’ll happily come up and climb onto the character’s shoulder, or nuzzle against them. Once this power is obtained the Gift Giver may enchant one of these creatures for every 2 levels they have. The animals remain enchanted until they die, or the Gift Giver releases them.

Enchanted Animals can speak, and fly, and will happily perform almost any task the Gift Giver requests of them. The one thing they won’t do is deadly violence. They’re happy to trip or disarm a bad person, but will do nothing that would deal direct harm. If the Gift Giver asks this of them, the enchantment is broken, and the animal will flee.

3. Sleepytime Kiss

By kissing someone, a Gift Giver can send them into a magical slumber which lasts for 1 hour. No saving throw against this is allowed. Sleepers cannot be awakened by noise or gentle physical contact. Rough physical treatment will break the spell.

A Sleepytime Kiss can not be performed in combat, or against anyone who is actively resisting the kiss. The target must either accept the kiss willingly, or be surprised by the kiss. A peck on the hand or cheek is sufficient.

Kissing someone who is already asleep will ensure they remain asleep for at least 1 more hour. Kissing someone multiple times does not add additional hours, it merely restarts the 1 hour countdown.

4. Treat Oneself

Gift Givers never know why they buy something. They simply trust the magic which guides their intuition. They know that at some point in their travels, they’ll encounter a person for whom each object is a perfect gift.

At some point their generosity is so commendable that the magics which guide them start to give something back. Unknowingly, the Gift Giver begins to purchase gifts for themselves. At some point during each adventure they may produce a single item which they now realize they purchased to aid them in whatever situation they currently find themselves in. Like the gifts given to others, these must be something that could reasonably be purchased, found, made, or scavenged at the location where they last stocked up on gifts.

5. Affinity for Cold

Weather cold enough to do harm to most folks is energizing to the Gift Giver. In such conditions they have the strength of 2 people, and experience the opposite of whatever hindrances most people face. If the weather is cold enough to deal d4 hit points of damage each hour, then the Gift Giver heals d4 hit points each hour. If the snow slows most folks movement speed by half, then the Gift Giver’s is doubled.

This effect also protects the Gift Giver from cold-based magical attacks. Against an Ice Dragon’s breath they would take half damage on a failed save, and no damage on a successful save. Against a sword with an extra d6 of frost damage, they’d only take normal weapon damage, etc.

6. Time Stop

Gift Givers have an uncanny knack for getting a lot of work done in the blink of an eye. The legends they tell of their founder say he was able to accomplish impossible feats in a single night. Contemporary members of the Joyful Order aren’t quite so skilled, perhaps because the powers are now spread across so many different people?

Once per day a Gift Giver can stop time for d4 + 1 rounds. During which time they can move and act normally. If a Gift Giver refrains from using this power for an entire year, they can gather enough power to themselves to stop time for a full d4 + 1 hours.

7. Shrink Object

In order to facilitate the ability to carry better gifts, the character gains the ability to shrink objects down to a more manageable size. This can be done to any number of objects, as many times per day as desired. The character need only touch the item, and it’ll shrink small enough to only take up a single encumbrance. Restoring the item to its proper size is equally simple.

Only inanimate material can be shrunk by this method. People and animals are immune.

8. Gaze of Shame

There’s nothing worse than the look of profound disappointment on the face of a Giftgiver. It crushes a person’s ego, makes them reevaluate themselves and their actions.

Gaze of Shame is only effective against targets who are not in combat against the Giftgiver, and can only ever be used once per target. Ever.

The weight of shame will cause the target to change their mind on a single issue indicated by the Giftgiver. What they change their mind to may not be precisely what the Giftgiver wanted, but in good faith the referee should make the target’s new position an improvement over their old one.

9. Baleful Levitate

With a waggle of their fingers and a polite barb about their target’s foibles, Gift Givers can cause one creature within their line of sight to begin floating. They may do this as often as they please, but their targets are entitled to a saving throw versus Paralyzation to resist the effect, and gain a +1 bonus to their save for each creature already floating.

Floating characters are repelled by any surface they attempt to gain purchase on. They drift erratically, unable to control their position. They can still act, but nothing is easy. For example, they can only attack people they happen to drift towards, and even then will never be in the optimum position, so their attacks are penalized by d10, re-rolled each round.

10. Know Heart

By fixing their attention on a person, a Gift Giver can know their innermost desires, and the nature of their character. This ability does not communicate the specifics of the target’s intent, plans, thoughts, or deeds. It merely lets the Gift Giver know what they want, and whether they are naughty or nice.

You might be surprised how difficult it can be to divide one’s attention between writing books and writing blogs. I’ve been working hard at bookmaking of late (have you seen my itch store?). I should probably fill you all in on that stuff, but first this place needs some damn posts. Over a month without an update makes me deeply uncomfortable.

A number of the new classes posted over the last few years are due to be revisited. Specifically the ones I’ve been able to play with, and thus gained a real sense of what worked and what didn’t in the first draft. There’s no better place to start than with an all-time favorite from way back in May 2016.

Bear in Disguise

As any sophisticated, sensible ursine knows, humans are ill equipped to deal with our kind. They are not stupid, per se, but they have narrow definitions of intelligence, civilization, and personhood. That we poop in the woods and prefer the taste of fresh fish to crushed weed-meal seems to humans an excellent argument for our lack of moral and intellectual agency. Yet credit must be given where it is due: humans have accomplished remarkable things despite their well documented lack of a soul.

Notable among these is their adventurous sensibility. There is a real ‘adventurer culture’ among humans. It is perhaps born of their inferior social structure which frequently produces problems that require extra-legal solutions. The social fabric of Bear Country is made of sterner stuff, but it does leave precious little opportunity for adventuresome youths to test their mettle. It is therefore not uncommon for a young bear to travel among humans for a time. Of course it is necessary to employ disguise to avoid agitating the creatures, but that’s a simple enough thing for any bear to do.

Basics
Bears in Disguise have a d12 hit die. They level according to the Magic User’s experience table, but their attack modifiers and saving throws advance as a Cleric. They have no special limitations for weapon or armor usage, but any clothing or armor they wear must be specially fitted for them by a skilled artisan.

Claw / Claw / Bite
Bears are adept unarmed combatants. During each round of combat they may make two claw attacks against a single target, and if both claws successfully hit they may make a third roll to attempt a bite attack. Damage dealt scales with level.

• 1st Level: Claws d4, Bite d8
• 4th Level: Claws d6, Bite d10
• 7th Level: Claws d8, Bite d12

Knowledge of the Wilderness

Bears in Disguise begin play with maximum ranks the game’s equivalent of a wilderness survival skill. For Lamentations of the Flame Princess this would mean a 6-in-6 Bushcraft. If your game has more than one applicable skill the player should choose one, or divide their ranks between the various skills. If your game has no applicable skills, a simple understanding that bears know their way around the woods is sufficient.

Encumbrance

Bears in Disguise are always treated as though they are 1 step less encumbered than they are. When they are lightly encumbered, they may act as though they were unencumbered. When moderately encumbered they act lightly encumbered, and so on.

Disguise

The technique employed by Bears in Disguise defies explanation. Very little actually changes about their appearance, smells, or sounds. They don’t alter their face, shave their fur, or employ any illusory magics. It’s all body language and a nice hat. Even their voice is just growls and roars which, somehow, are heard as the common language of the creature they’re disguised as.

Humans are the most common disguise for adventuresome young bears, but they are technically capable of appearing as any creature with similar anatomy. A bear could disguise themselves as an orc, an elf, an ogre, etc. They could make an attempt at looking like a dwarf, but people would frequently comment about their aberrant size. Disguising themselves as a goblin or halfling is out of the question.

Good as it is, the disguise is not perfect. The first time any NPC pays particular attention to the bear there is a 1-in-20 chance they will percieve the character to be the ferocious wild animal they are. Everyone will think they’re crazy for saying so, but the NPC will refuse to have anything to do with the bear. They will likely flee in terror, or even attack if they feel cornered. Under most conditions this special perception check is only ever made once per NPC.

Altering the disguise is not easy. It requires at least a week of observation if the bear is not yet intimately familiar with the species they wish to emulate, and then several hours of meditation to shift from one brain space to another. Anyone who sees how effectively the bear can disguise itself as something new will get a second opportunity to see them as the ferocious beast they are. This time the chance is 50/50, and applies to everyone who knows the bear in multiple disguises. Even long time hirelings may not be willing to overlook the deception.

Fellow player characters will will never know their companion is a bear. They’re all assumed to have failed any chances they got at some point in the past. If they knew you were a bear, they’d never agree to party with you.

Grappling

Bears are natural grapplers, which is awkward to communicate given the vast disparity between methods of resolving grapples in different games.

At my table grapples are resolved by rolling pools of the participants’ hit dice against one another. So a level 3 fighter being grappled by two 1HD goblins would roll 3d8 against their 2d6. When using this method a Bear in Disguise grapples as though they have one hit die more than they do: two dice at level 1, three dice at level 2, etc. Given their d12 hit die this is a significant advantage.

In Lamentations of the Flame Princes RAW, grapples are resolved by opposed d20 rolls modified by attack bonus and strength modifier. If I were using this system I might say a Bear gets to roll 2d20 and take the better result, or I might say a Bear’s attack modifier is equal to a fighter’s for the purposes of Grappling.

Whatever method is used at your table the essential thing is that a Bear in Disguise is probably the best grappler that exists on two legs. They can be defeated, but it’ll probably take two or three common opponents working together to bring them down.

The Bear Code

Bears are strictly peaceful with one another. If a Bear in Disguise were to turn their claws against another of their kind they would be marked for death. The rest of their days would be spent worrying which shadows contained bearsassins, until one of them finally did. There is no process of appeal. It is the code of the bears.

If a bear is encountered by the party the Bear in Disguise may attempt to negotiate a settlement amenable to both. If hostilities break out they must either aid their fellow bear, or remain completely neutral. Even encouraging words to their companions would mark them a traitor, loathed by their own people for all time.

That’s the Bear in Disguise! Other classes you can expect revisions for are the Gift Giver, the Bangtail, and possibly The Action Hero. (Though, to be honest, that one worked pretty well. Not sure if anything needs changing.) I have had players roll up Possessor Spirits, Anti-Magic Clerics, and a Warlock, but those characters were too short lived to get much useful info on. If anybody else out there has run games with my classes I’d be delighted to hear about how it went.

Honeyed heroes. Wardens of the hives. Masked protectors of our buzzing pals. Beekeepers use a d8 hit die. They gain experience and roll saving throws as a Thief or Specialist would.

Beekeepers begin play with a special type of heavy gambeson, complete with gloves, boots, and mask. When not wearing this armor they lose access to any swarm control abilities they have. It’s the equivalent of leather armor against normal attacks. Against swarm type creatures it’s the equivalent of wearing pull plate and carrying a shield. The armor also grants a +2 bonus to any saving throws associated with harmful gas.

To be a true friend of the bees means being a superb dancer. At some point before play began the Beekeeper will have learned an intricate dance which allowed them to befriend a swarm of bees. The swarm now accompanies them wherever they go whether they like it or not. As the beekeeper grows to understand their friendly swarm better, they will learn new dances which each correspond to some specific instruction. The swarm is only large enough to follow one instruction at a time, though in some circumstances referees may opt to allow a swarm to be divided in half so that two instructions can be carried out with reduced efficacy.

At each level, including the first, Beekeepers roll on the table below. Each time a Swarm Instruction is learned it should be crossed off the table. In the event that the Beekeeper rolls a result that has already been crossed off, they may then freely choose one of the other abilities from the list. In this way the higher level a Beekeeper becomes the more likely they are to be able to choose the abilities they want. Though it is never guaranteed.

Swarm Instructions (Roll d12)

1. Stinging Cloud – The swarm spreads out to cover a space with a 10′ radius in any location the Beekeeper indicates. Enemies within that space take 1 damage per round.
2. Vibrating Death – The swarm clings to a single target indicated by the Beekeeper. Each bee vibrates, creating an incredible amount of heat. Deals 2d6 damage each round. If the target is larger than man sized, a single swarm can’t effectively cover it, and will instead deal only 2d4 damage each round.
3. Hive Construction – With incredible swiftness the swarm can construct a hive of whatever shape the Beekeeper desires. Each adventuring turn they work allows them to create the equivalent of a 5′ cube.
4. Second Swarm – The Beekeeper befriends another swarm, allowing their bees to carry out two instructions simultaneously. The Beekeeper can still only dance out one instruction per round.
5. Communal Carry – By working together the bees can carry an impressive amount of weight. Roughly equivalent to one adult human.
6. Buzzvoice – Precisely synchronized buzzing enables the swarm to produce a sound that is recognizable as human speech. They do not understand the language, and cannot use it to express their own thoughts or ideas, but they can use it to relay messages to and from the Beekeeper.
7. Intercepting Cloud – The swarm spreads out to cover a space with a 10′ radius in any location the Beekeeper indicates. Any missiles or single-target spells directed into this space will be intercepted by a brave bee. The swarm is able to protect against a number of attacks equal to double the Beekeeper’s level each day.
8. Bee’s Bounty – With great rapidity the swarm produces a great quantity of honey. Each 10 minute turn they could produce 1 bucket’s worth. The honey is sweet and nutritious, and soothing to many common ailments.
9. Gummy Goop – With great rapidity the swarm produces a substance that looks sorta like honey, but is bitter to the taste and incredibly sticky to touch. In a 10 minute turn they can coat a 5′ square area in this substance, and anything which touches it will be stuck for at least 2d6 turns.
10. Armor – The brave and noble bees rally around the Beekeeper, covering their body to protect them from incoming attacks. While shrouded by their friendly swarm in this fashion the Beekeeper’s armor class is equivalent to plate.
11. Buzzlarm – The swarm may be directed to form a perimeter, and to buzz an alarm if anyone crosses it. The beekeeper can direct them to raise an alarm only in certain circumstances, so long as those circumstances can be communicated in a way that is understandable to bees.
12. Stop Buzzing – The Beekeeper finally figures out how to get the swarm to uniformly STOP buzzing around them for a period. Turns out the beekeeper used to be pretty stealthy before a group of noisemakers started following them around everywhere. While their swarm is quiet the Beekeeper’s stealth ability is equal to whatever your game’s median stealth ability would be. Round up. (So: a 4-in-6 for LotFP, a d10 using Middle Road skills, etc).

You are dead.

All in all, being dead is not so bad. It’s less “The End,” and more a change in perspective. When you were alive you hated the world and all living things because you were trapped in a horrible little corner of human existence. Now your experience is unlimited. You can go anywhere, see anything. You have a myriad of more interesting reasons for hating the world and all living things.  Eventually you’ll resolve whatever unfinished business binds you to this world so you can move on, and see if the afterlife lives up to the hype. For now, though, you’re putting that off so you can have some fun as a ghost.

Possessor Spirits advance as specialists, and share their hit points and saving throws with the Magic User. As ghosts they are completely incorporeal. They can neither be affected by the material world, nor can they affect it. This means they can pass through walls, and are immune to damage from non-magical weapons. However, they couldn’t make a grain of rice wobble if their afterlife depended on it.

When a Possessor Spirit is not attached to a physical body they appear as a monochromatic specter. During character creation the player should select the color of their translucent body: classic white, ghostly green, poltergeist pink; whatever tickles their fancy. They should also figure out what clothes they died in, since that’s what they’ll be wearing for the rest of eternity.

Despite their inability to affect the physical world, ghosts can still speak, as well as experience the world through their senses. They can feel the texture of an object, or taste a bit of food, but they cannot move the object or eat the food. Also, given how most people feel about ghosts, it may prove difficult for the character to socialize with outside their party. Some wizards or monsters might be comfortable having a chat, but most folks are very fleshist.

The best part of being a Possessor Spirit is the possessions. Just gettin’ on into people’s bodies and controlling them like puppets. It’s the best. Characters are able to possess one person, per day, per level. The target of the possession is entitled to a saving throw versus Magic to remain in control of their body. Their save is modified by the difference in hit dice between possessor and possessee. (For each HD the target has above the possessor, they get a +1 to their save. For each HD below, they take a -1 penalty.) If the save is successful, the Possessor Spirit is rebuffed. They take 1d6 damage, and cannot attempt to possess this target again until they level up. A failed possession attempt does not count against the spirit’s limit of possessions per day. If the target’s saving throw fails, the spirit takes control of their body.

While in command of a body, the possessor spirit gains full access to their host’s knowledge and abilities. Any skills, spells, secrets or powers belonging to the host are now at the disposal of the possessor. This open flow of information can be a double edged sword. The suppressed mind of the host gains equal access to the knowledge and secrets of the spirit which supplanted them. They may use what they learn to troublesome effect after the possession ends.

There are a few uncommon limits to a Possessor Spirit’s mastery over their host. Individuals with a heightened awareness of the spiritual world may recognize that a body has been possessed by a foreign spirit, and may even have means by which to cast the spirit out. Likewise, the host’s intimates may pick up on their friend/parent/lover’s peculiar behavior. Any conversation with such a person has a 1-in-6 chance to tip them off that something is wrong. The chance will increase if the possessor is not doing their best to act natural.

If a host dies while a Possessor Spirit is in control, both spirits (the possessor and their victim) are forced out. The victim’s spirit has a 4-in-6 chance of becoming an angry ghost which will return at a later time to seek vengeance for their demise. Otherwise, they pass on to the afterlife. In either case, their burning anger towards the possessor knocks the player character down to 1 hit point.

There is no limit to how long a host can be possessed. However, once a Possessor Spirit leaves a body, that victim will have a +2 to any save made against future possession attempts. This bonus stacks with each successful possession.