The
Entertainer
by
"Leomund"
The
Entertainer
by
"Leomund"
Entertainers are members of a complex character
class with
three major sub-classifications.
The entertainer,
to begin his or
her life of giving performances, needs
very low minimum ability
scores. However, once he or she specializes
in one of the
available sub-classifications, then requirements
become stiffer.
Listed below is the minimum score needed
in each ability for a
Stagehand, each of the three sub-classifications
(Juggler,
Acrobat, Troubadour) that become available
to the character
once the Stagehand becomes a Performer,
and the two highlevel
special categories (Showman and Entertainer).
| - | Str | Int | Wis | Dex | Con | Cha |
| Stagehand | 6 | 9 | 6 | 10 | 10 | 9 |
| Juggler | 9 | 9 | 13 | 16 | 12 | 9 |
| Acrobat | 13 | 9 | 6 | 15 | 15 | 9 |
| Troubador | 9 | 15 | 6 | 10 | 10 | 15 |
| Showman | * | * | * | * | * | * |
| Entertainer | 13 | 15 | 13 | 16 | 15 | 15 |
* as per the sub-groups selected, (see text)
Entertainers can
be of any alignment; in cases of doubt, or
where random determination is desired,
use this table:
| 01-40 | pure neutral |
| 41-52 | neutral good |
| 53-64 | lawful neutral |
| 65-76 | chaotic neutral |
| 77-88 | neutral evil |
| 89-92 | lawful good |
| 93-95 | chaotic good |
| 96-98 | lawful evil |
| 99-00 | chaotic evil |
Race, secondary profession, and the makeup
of the party can
influence the determination of alignment
in some cases.
Level titles for:
| Experience points | Level (see text) | Dice for
accumulated hit points |
Jugglers | Acrobats | Troubadors1 |
| 0— 850 | 1 | 1d4 | Stagehand | ------ | ------ |
| 851 — 2,250 | 2 | +1d4 | Performer | ------ | ------ |
| 2,251— 4,600 | 3 | +1d6 or +1 | Catcher | Balancer | Storyteller/Joker |
| 4,601— 10,000 | 4 | +1d6 or +1 | Blade | Athlete | Rhymer/Player |
| 10,001— 17,500 | 5 | +1d6 or +1 | Manipulator | Gymnast | Singer/Musician |
| 17,501— 37,500 | 6 | +1d8 or +1 | Deluder | Trapezist | Poet/Clown |
| 37,501— 75,000 | 7 | +1d8 or +1 | Deceiver | Aerialist | Actor/Mime |
| 75,001—200,000 | 8 | +1d8 or +1 | Trickster | Tumbler | Star/Jester/Fool |
| 200,001—400,000 | 9 | +1d8 | Juggler | Acrobat | Troubadour |
| 400,001—600,000 | 10 | +1d10 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| 600,001 + | 11 | +1d10 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
1 - A troubadour sometimes prefers to be
more serious in his profession and thus will elect to be more of an actor
than
a comic. A choice of titles is thus provided
for troubadours of a given level.
2 ----- “double title” of Showman/Showwoman (for any sub-group) -----
3 ----- Entertainer (for any sub-group)
-----
Weapons and armor
Stagehands are allowed leather
armor. No sub-class is ever
allowed scale, ring, plate, padded, studded
leather, or splint. A
Troubadour may wear chain mail and may
carry a shield when
adventuring. A Juggler may wear magical
chain that leaves the
arms bare. An Acrobat cannot wear chain
of any type. All
sub-classes may use bracers of defense,
or any of the various
magical jewelry (brooches, talismans, necklaces,
rings, etc.)
that offers protection. Troubadours may
wear cloaks and robes
if they wish, but garments such as these
would inhibit Jugglers
and Acrobats.
The first weapon of a member of the entertainer
class is
usually either a dagger or a club, with
some few knowing the
use of the quarter staff. One new weapon
is gained at third level
and another at seventh level. Double-class
entertainers (see
hereafter) may add a second new weapon
at third and again at
seventh level, and those who seek to advance
all the way to
becoming an Entertainer get a third new
weapon at both third
and seventh levels.
The weapons made available to the entertainer
as he or she
begins advancing in one of the major sub-divisions
are as
follows:
Juggler:
Any hand-held throwing weapon (hand
axe, dagger,
hammer, spear, javelin, dart, etc.) will
be taken at third level. At
seventh level, he or she may choose another
throwing weapon
or select a short sword, long sword, broad
sword or quarter
staff.
Acrobat: A member of this sub-group
may select any of the
following: short
sword, hand axe (hand-to-hand or thrown),
dagger (hand-to-hand or thrown), dart,
hammer, or horsemen’s
mace.
Troubadour: A member of this sub-group
may use a scimitar,
morning star, flail, hammer, mace, quarter
staff, long bow, short
bow, or any type of sword except a bastard
sword or twohanded
sword.
Magic items
usable
The entertainer may use any magical weapon
that his or her
sub-class may know, as well as the magical
armor and jewelry
described above, including all types of
magic rings except
those usable only by magic-users. An entertainer
can use any
potion
allowed to all classes. He or she can use scrolls of
protection, but not scrolls of spells.
An entertainer can freely
use magical clothing that is not specified
for use by only one
class (i.e., boots, gauntlets, girdles
and helms). Cloaks and
robes will prevent juggling and acrobatic
functions and must be
removed first before the performance of
the function will be
allowed.
Entertainers can use magical books, tomes,
and manuals that
affect ability scores, but not those that
affect levels of experience
or allow the construction of golems. They
cannot use
scrying devices of any kind. In general,
they can only use items
that can easily be transported by themselves
alone (in a backpack,
hand-carried, in a pouch, etc.). Large
items will be forsaken
and will usually not operate for them in
any case.
Combat abilities
Entertainers fight as thieves
and obtain the saving throws and
magic resistances of a magic-user
in general melee. However,
each sub-class has some advantages in particular
situations:
In regular hand-to-hand melee, an Acrobat
gains a +2 bonus
to armor class for each point of dexterity
above 14.
In weaponless combat, an Acrobat gains
a bonus of +2% per
level above 2nd, on both the “Base Score
to Hit” table and the
particular Result table being used.
When firing a bow, a Troubadour uses the
fighter table instead
of the thief table for “to hit” determination.
If a Juggler is the target of a thrown
weapon and sees it
coming, he or she has a 15% chance per
level above 2nd to
catch the weapon. An Acrobat in the same
situation gets a +2
bonus to AC for each point of dexterity
above 14.
If a Juggler is the target of a fired arrow
or crossbow bolt and
sees it coming, he or she has a 5% chance
per level above 2nd to
deflect the arrow or bolt. An Acrobat in
the same situation gets
a +2 bonus to AC for each point of dexterity
above 14.
If a Juggler throws a hand-held weapon
with which he or she
is trained, he or she receives a +1 bonus
“to hit” for each level
above 2nd.
If a Juggler is subjected to any illusion,
including invisibility,
at a range of 10 feet or closer, he or
she has a 7% chance per
level above 2nd to disbelieve and discover
the illusion, in addition
to the character’s usual saving throw.
If a Juggler is attacked by telekinesis
or levitation, he or she
gains a magic resistance of 5% per level
above 2nd. For an
Acrobat in the same situation, the magic
resistance is 15% per
level above 2nd.
If a Juggler puts on or is forced to put
on a pair of cursed
gauntlets, the character has a 15% chance
per level above 2nd
of being able to remove the gauntlets —
but only one such
attempt can be made per day. An Acrobat
in the same situation
has a 5% chance per level above 2nd to
remove the gauntlets.
If an Acrobat puts on or is forced to put
on a pair of cursed
boots, the character has a 15% chance per
level above 2nd of
being able to remove the boots — but again,
only one such
attempt can be made per day.
A Troubadour who is the target of a charm,
command, or
other control-type magic gains a bonus
to his or her saving
throw of +1 per level above 2nd.
A Troubadour who is the intended target
of any sort of scrying,
or a spell such as ESP, gains a magic resistance
of 8% per
level above 2nd against such attempts.
A Troubadour gains +3 on all allowed saving
throws whenever
the character is the target of an attack
involving psionics.
If a Troubadour puts on or is forced to
put on cursed jewelry,
he or she has a 4% chance per level above
2nd of being able to
remove the jewelry (as above, one attempt
per day).
A Troubadour has a 3% chance per level
above 2nd of being
able to detect lie whenever a falsehood
is told to the character,
but only one such attempt can be made for
each falsehood.
If a Troubadour is given any “fake” item
(paste jewelry, fool’s
gold, an item with an illusion cast on
it, a magic item drained of
all its charges, etc.), the character has
a 7% chance per level
above 2nd to know that the item is not
what it might appear to be
— but only one such attempt can be made
for each item.
Races of entertainers
and allowed multi-classes
Humans, elven,
and half-elven entertainers may progress to
the rank of Entertainer (i.e., 9th level
Juggler/9th level Acrobat/
9th level Troubadour). Dwarves may be Jugglers
and/or
Acrobats but not Troubadours; they can
advance to the rank of
Showman (9th level Juggler/9th level Acrobat).
Gnomes can
advance to 7th level in any single entertainer
profession
(Juggler, Acrobat, or Troubadour). Halflings
make good
Jugglers (they may rise up to 9th level)
and fair Troubadours
(5th level maximum). Half-orcs cannot be
entertainers at all due
to their low charisma and dexterity.
An entertainer who plans to become a double-classed
entertainer
or a triple-classed entertainer (perhaps
with the goal of
becoming an Entertainer and thus an 11th
level character — see
hereafter) cannot be multi-classed in any
other profession. He
or she may give up entertaining and take
up another class (as is
allowed to any human) as permitted by alignment.
An entertainer
cannot become a bard or vice versa.
Demi-human entertainers may be multi-classed
as follows:
Halflings may be Juggler/thieves or Juggler/fighters.
In a band
of halflings, there may be a non-player
character Troubadour/
fighter or Troubadour/druid. Elves and
half-elves may be Juggler/
thieves, Juggler/assassins, Acrobat/thieves,
Acrobat/assassins,
Juggler/magic-users, or Troubadour/druids.
Gnomes
may become Juggler/illusionists or Acrobat/assassins.
Some
few Troubadour/fighters might be found
as non-player characters
in a gnome band. Dwarves can be Juggler/thieves
or Acrobat/
assassins. No other multi-class combination
is open to a
dwarven entertainer.
Hirelings and
henchmen
Entertainers can be hired by, or become
the henchmen of,
members of any class except bards, clerics
and monks. Troubadours,
especially, are common henchmen of fighters,
rangers
and paladins. Acrobats and Jugglers are
common henchmen of
magic-users, illusionists, thieves and
assassins. As a henchman
the entertainer might become an advisor
as well.
Entertainers cannot employ henchmen
until they are 7th
level themselves. The characters who might
come to them are
entertainers of the same sub-class, illusionists,
thieves, assassins,
fighters, and perhaps druids. Any of the
above classes
might be hirelings of an entertainer as
well. A paladin, ranger,
cleric, monk, or bard will not become a
henchman or hireling of
an entertainer. A lawful magic-user will
not join an entertainer,
but a chaotic one might.
Benefits of upper
level entertainers
Upon reaching seventh level, an entertainer
may buy or build
a small theater or large tent. He or she
may hire other entertainers <large tent
should be termed as 'pavillion', or somesuch, here>
to perform therein. Entertainers of seventh
level or higher
may charge an admission of 1 s.p. per level
for a performance,
and levels are cumulative so that a Juggler/Troubadour
(9th
level in two professions — also called
a Showman) could
charge 18 s.p. per head for his or her
performance. Additional
acts on the bill can add to the price of
the ticket, of course.
Once a theater is established, the entertainer
will find his
advertising costs
(see hereafter) cut by one-third, and his accumulated
props and sets will allow his “success
money” (see
hereafter) to be reduced by one-fourth.
All entertainers desire to perform before
an audience. Those
having bare minimum
ability scores can never achieve third
level or higher in any sub-division. They
might, however, still be
associated with the theater, acting or
doing some type of
performing, but they will never achieve
any great success.
Stagehands and Performers are just beginning
to learn their art
and haven’t decided on a specialty yet.
They gain none of the
bonuses that apply to third level or higher
in the sub-divisions.
A Stagehand or a Performer might know how
to carry a tune
as a singer, play an instrument (just barely),
dance a little (only
one or two types of steps), or perform
the basics of juggling
three balls (dropping one every now and
then). He or she will
know one weapon and will have no basic
bonus skills, except
for the minor abilities of hide in shadows
and move silently as a
first-level thief.
If a Performer has the minimum requirements
for a profession
in one or more of the sub-divisions (Juggler,
Acrobat,
Troubadour), then he or she may begin to
learn that trade from
another who already knows it and is at
least fourth level. This
training for specialization will require
2-5 months, and the
character in training can do no adventuring
during that period.
Members of the entertainer class can never
gain a new level
of experience without giving a performance
for an audience of
two dozen or more spectators. Failure to
give this performance
will negate the opportunity to go on to
a new level, regardless of
experience points gained in adventuring
and regardless of the
number of small tricks, jokes, acts, or
dances the character
might perform in lieu of the “level performance.”
When an entertainer gives a “level performance,”
he or she
must obtain the support (via applause,
laughs, thrown coins,
etc.) of the majority of the audience.
An entertainer who does
not receive praise, accolades, money, etc.,
from at least half the
members of his or her audience has failed
and will lose enough
experience points to place him or her at
the midpoint of the next
lower level.
When giving or preparing to give a “level
performance,” the
entertainer must abide by certain restrictions
and procedures:
1. The entertainer must have at least 70%
of the XP needed to advance to the next level; for instance, an
Actor (7th level) who wishes to become
a Star (8th level) must
have 70% of 75,001 experience points, or
at least 52,501, before
he gives this “level performance.” He or
she can wait until the
entire 75,001 points is accumulated if
he or she desires, but
until the performance is done successfully
he or she will remain
7th level even if more experience is gained.
If the performance
is completed successfully before the entertainer
has enough
experience points to qualify for the next
higher level, then the
entertainer will be able to advance to
the next level as soon as
the required number of XP are accumulated.
Note: An entertainer could give regular
performances using old
material, sets, etc. at any time, but no
experience is gained for
such efforts (although they might bring
in some revenue); only
“new” performances count toward the awarding
of experience.
2. The performer’s audience of intelligent
beings must
number 24 or more.
3. The performer sums the levels (HD)
of the audience
and divides this number by his or her current
level in the profession
for which he is giving the level performance.
The result is
always rounded up in favor of the audience.
(Zero-level figures
and 1-1 hit die intelligent monsters count
as one hit die/first
level.) For example: Eleven zero-level
humans, ten first-level
humans, six second-level humans, three
third-level humans,
and a fifth-level gnome fighter/thief show
up for the performance.
They add up to (11x1)+(10x1)+(6x2)+(3x3)+(1x(5+5))
=
52 levels. His current level is 7 (Actor);
52 divided by 7 = 7.42,
which is rounded up to 8. This means the
performer must roll 8
or higher on a d20 for this audience to
like the performance. If 7
or less is rolled, the Actor goes back
to being a Poet (one level
lower) at half of the required experience
points to hold the level
— in this case, 27,501. The performer can
try to qualify as an
Actor again since he or she has more than
70% of 37,501 points,
or 26,251. Of course, he or she must also
rise to 37,501 points,
as well as succeed in a new level performance,
to again be the
level of an Actor.
4. A performer obtains 25 XP per level of
the
audience if successful. In the example
given, this comes to
(25x52) = 1,300. But being successful does
not mean that he or
she becomes 8th level at that moment in
time. The performer
would add the 1,300 to his or her current
XP total,
and if that brings it to 75,001 or more,
then the new level is
gained. In any event, the Level Performance
is now out of the
way, so that when the required amount of
experience is gained,
the figure can become 8th level.
The performance is always given at the level
the character is
currently at in the appropriate profession.
An entertainer who
has already earned the rank of Juggler
(9th level) might wish to
learn acting (being a Troubadour) as well.
He or she must train
for 1-4 months and then he or she will
become a 3rd level
Troubadour (Storyteller)/9th level Juggler
(Juggler). To become
4th level as a Troubador, he or she will
have to give a level
performance using 3 as the denominator
in the given equation.
He or she cannot use juggling ability during
such a performance
or it will automatically fail.
A Storyteller who fails to become a Rhymer
(4th level) is
allowed one more try. If he or she fails
that try, then advancement
as a Troubadour is forever closed. This
is also true of a
Rhymer who tries to become a Singer (5th
level), fails, and
drops back to 3rd level. Now he or she
tries for 4th level again
and fails. If he or she fails one more
time, Actor is closed to him
or her. The only exception to these rules
is for a 3rd level figure
who fails in his performance for fourth
level; he does not fall to
2nd level, but instead goes back to 2,251
experience points in
that profession and must work back up to
3,221 (70% of 4,601)
before the performance for fourth level
can be tried again.
When an entertainer is ready to become 9th
level for the first
time in any of the three sub-classes, he
or she must give a Great
Performance. This Great Performance must
have a minimum
audience of 36. His denominator in the
calculation will, of
course, be 8.
When an entertainer who has already become
9th level in one
sub-class is ready to give a performance
for ninth level in a
second sub-class, another Great Performance
is required. If
this is successful, the character becomes
10th level for the
purposes of “to hit” determination in melee,
for saving throws,
and for the special abilities allowed to
each sub-class of
entertainer.
The Command
Performance
When an entertainer who has gained 9th
level in two subclasses
(a 10th level Showman) is ready for his
or her last
performance for ninth level, it is called
a Command Performance.
In this case, the audience must number
48 or more
people, and at least one of them must be
9th level. The calculation
is as before: The performer sums the levels
of the 48 or
more people attending and divides by 8.
If he or she makes this
roll on d20, he or she is an Entertainer
(11th level) in all three
sub-classes and thereafter can draw on
all of his or her abilities
at any time he or she desires. All “to
hit” figures and saving throws, plus
special abilities, are calculated as for an 11th level
character. If he or she fails in this Command
Performance,
there is no second chance: the performer
drops back to 7th
level in that last sub-class and can never
again try to become an
Entertainer, though he or she is still
a 9/9/7 level character, is
called a Showman (or Showwoman) and earns
“to hit” abilities,
etc., as for a 10th level character.
The entertainer, assuming that he or she
never fails in a
performance in the quest to become an 11th
level Entertainer,
would have to make performances for advancement
from level
3-4, 4-5, 5-6, 6-7, and 7-8 in three sub-classes,
for a total of 15
level performances. These would usually
be called and advertised
as, for instance, the “Fifth Level Performance
for the Great
Juggler Harvey,” meaning he is trying to
go from 4th to 5th level
as a Juggler. The entertainer must make
two Great Performances
when he tries for 9th level for the first
and second times.
Then he must give one Command Performance
to become 9th
level in all three professions and be counted
as an 11th level
Entertainer. (He would charge, usually,
9 + 9 + 9 = 27 s.p.
maximum for later performances, but many
Entertainers charge
2 g.p. per head for a performance if they
have their own
theater.) Naturally, if the entertainer
botches a level performance
he will have to give two performances to
make it up.
(Exception, as noted before: If he tries
to go from 3rd to 4th and
fails then he does not have to perform
again to regain 3rd level.)
Obtaining an
audience
The entertainer cannot cheat in his attempt
to stack the
audience in his or her favor.
He or she must advertise in pubs,
inns, via town criers, with handbills,
etc., that he or she will give
a level performance, Great Performance,
or Command Performance.
Advertising must begin at least three days
before the
event. The event must be in a town, at
a reasonable time, and in
a safe place. The advertising cost is 60
g.p. per day. This outlay
of (at least) 180 g.p. can be cut by one
third (from 180 to 120
g.p., in this example) if the entertainer
already has his own
theater. He or she must provide enough
room for double the
number of people required to see the performance.
Excess
people up to the capacity of the room/hall/arena
cannot be
turned away. People who come with money
in hand must be let
in, whether they are peasant or king. The
theater management
(perhaps the entertainer himself) does
have the right to forbid
drunks and to stop hecklers and rowdy behavior
in the
audience.
The DM will roll 6d8 for a level performance,
9d8 for a Great
Performance and 8d12 for a Command Performance
to
determine
the number of people who show up. If the
size of the
audience falls short of the required 24,
36, or 48, then a show
must still go on that night (no disappointing
those who do show
up), and the performer must advertise for
three more days and
again attempt to stage the required level,
Great, or Command
Performance. However, in such a case, half
of the number of
people who showed up the first time will
come back for the
second show, in addition to the new audience.
Example: A
character is to give a level performance.
He provides room for
48 spectators, as required (even though
only 24 have to attend
for the level performance to qualify),
and the DM rolls 6d8 but
the result is only 20. So far the advertising
has cost the performer
180 g.p. He gives the show, but cannot
use it as his Level
Performance since 24 spectators are not
present. He spends
180 g.p. more to advertise for another
three days. The DM rolls
6d8 and this time gets a result of 38.
According to the stipulation
given above, 10 people from the first audience
will also
show up, yielding a packed house of 48.
The entertainer must
go on, even though his chance of giving
a successful Level
Performance under those conditions is greatly
diminished from
what it would be if only the required minimum
of 24 people were
present.
Race and type of audience
members
If an audience is made up of a sizable
percentage of some
race or type of creature, this will slightly
skew the result. Given
in the following list is the minimum number
of a certain race or
type necessary to cause an effect and the
result for each
member of the race. For instance, if at
least five elves are at a
performance, all of them will tend to laugh
easily and applaud
often. Count the elves as one level lower
than they really are
even if this means “zeroing out” first-level
elves. Naturally,
since even “zero level” elves are present,
they do count toward
the total required audience. Second-level
elves would count as
first level; an elf who is third level
in two professions would
count as one fifth-level character instead
of sixth level as usual.
Fewer than five elves will not have the
group effect of his or her
peers and will not be counted as one level
lower.
Given below is each race or type of creature
for which adjustments
would be made, followed by a number in
parentheses
which is the minimum number of that type
that must be present
to affect the adjustment, and details of
the adjustment that
applies in such cases:
Elf (5) — Elves will be one level lower
than they actually are;
i.e., an easy audience to please.
Dwarf (4) — Dwarves don’t laugh at much.
Count each as one
level higher. A tough audience.
Gnome (any) — Same as humans.
Halfling (3) — Halflings laugh at almost
anything and are
easily enraptured. “Zero out” any halfling
regardless of level.
Humanoids of up to 3 HD (4) — Stupid and
dour, they will
miss the point of a story or miss a punch
line. Virtually everything
goes over their heads. Count as double
their hit dice in
levels.
Dragon (1) — Dragons love entertainment.
They are more
gullible than halflings. “Zero them out,”
and subtract 1 from the
audience level total for each of the dragon’s
age levels.
Ogre and giant (1) — Usually not too bright,
they count as 2
levels higher each.
Minotaur
(1) — Each counts as a 12th-level figure — they
have no sense of humor at all!
Treant (1) — Count each as two levels higher
than actual.
They would like to laugh, but it all happens
too quickly for them
— they get the joke three days later!
Undead (1) — You’ve got to be kidding!
Triple the hit dice of
any undead in the audience.
Note: Evil humanoids, ogres, giants, minotaurs,
undead,
dragons, etc., if they dominate or control
the audience might
eat the entertainer if he or she fails
to please them. Any entertainer
giving his level performance to a band
of ogres has got a
lot of moxie — and no brains at all!
Making the performance
a success
An entertainer can make a level performance
more likely to
be well received. He or she can spend additional
g.p. to
hire backup singers, more musicians, extra
props, lavish sets,
new material, etc. For every 100
g.p. invested in making the
show grander, the entertainer may add +1
to the required d20
roll for success. But alas, for every 100
g.p. added, he is detracting
from his own potential gain in XP, so that
the
100 g.p. must
be converted directly to XP (one
for one) and subtracted from the XP he
would
normally gain for the performance. For
the performance to be a
success, he must gain some experience,
thus limiting the
amount of gold he can pour in for extra
trappings.
Example:
A
Singer
(5th level) is about to give his level performance to
become
a Poet. He posts the proper advertisements and sends
out the
proper street criers for an investment of 180 g.p. The
night
of the performance arrives and, much to his sorrow,
instead
of 24 low-level figures arriving (the “perfect” audience),
42 people
arrive. Many of them are second level, a few are third
level
— and the mayor himself, who is seventh level, is also in
attendance.
The entertainer sums the crowd to get a total level
figure
of 78. Divided by his level (5) and rounded up, he obtains
16 as
his required saving roll. He would gain 78 x 25 = 1,950
XP if
he went on stage right now. However, he
could
invest some money to lower his roll for success. Let’s say
he will
spend 1,200 g.p. to make the production truly lavish.
Now he
need only roll a 4 or better (counting the +12 bonus) to
succeed.
He would then obtain 1,950-1,200 = 750 experience
points
for the successful performance.
Important: The performer can never make
the performance a
sure thing. If he or she rolls a natural
1 on the success roll for a
level performance, then he has dropped
the items he was juggling,
forgotten the punch line of a big joke,
sung off key or
fallen off the stage in a difficult jump;
just as a roll of “1” on a
saving throw
is always a failure, a natural 1 on the performance
success roll means he or she has blown
it regardless of the
extra gold that was spent. A Great Performance
will always fail
on a natural 1 or 2. A Command Performance
will always fail on
a natural 1, 2 or 3.
Entertainers’ hit
points
Entertainers begin with one four-sided
die for HP.
They may add a bonus for constitution of
15 or above, just as
other classes. At second level they add
another four-sided die.
Now they will specialize in one of the
three sub-classes. Whichever
one they choose, they add one six-sided
die for third,
fourth and fifth level. For sixth through
ninth they add one
eight-sided die for each level.
Now, if they choose to become a second sub-class
of entertainer,
they begin again at third level in the
new profession after
a training period of 1-4 months with someone
who is already at
least fourth level in that sub-class. Upon
becoming this third
level in this second sub-class, they add
one hit point (the constitution
bonus does not apply any more). Thus, for
example,
an entertainer’s hit points might go like
this: 1st level, roll d4 = 3;
2nd level, roll d4 = 1 (total 4); 3rd level,
roll d6 = 5 (total 9); and so
on, until 9th level, roll d8 = 7 (total,
let’s say, 30). The character
now enters a second sub-class and trains
for 3 months (rolled
on d4) and adds one hit point for a total
of 31. At fourth level in
the new profession he adds one more point
for 32, etc., until at
9th level he adds 1d10 because now he has
become a Showman
(10th level). At eighth level he would
be up to a total of 36 and
then add 1d10 for, let’s say, 7, yielding
a total of 43 hit points. He
now begins again in the third and last
sub-class (assuming he
has the proper ability scores and is of
the proper race). After 1-4
more months he adds 1 hit point. From 3rd
to 8th level he adds
+1 and is then up to 49 hit points by the
time he is a Showman as
well as 8th level in the new profession.
If his Command Performance
is a success, and he has 600,001 experience
points or
more, he adds 1 last d10. With a constitution
of 16 to 18 and the
best die rolls possible, an Entertainer
could have as many as
120 hit points, and he would have a minimum
of 28 hit points
with a constitution of 15 or less (he must
have a 15 constitution
for acrobat, as stated earlier). Entertainers
who botch a level
performance lose hit points and must regain
them.
Skills of entertainers
Stagehand: A stagehand learns how
to move silently and hide
in shadows as a first-level thief, so that
he will be out of the way
as things occur on stage. He understands
lighting, and a very
little about a number of performing skills.
He can sing a little
(off key), play a little (very little),
juggle a simple cascade for 2-7
segments, do a shoulder roll, tell a little
joke, etc. He has no
special ability otherwise. He fights as
a first-level thief and
saves as a first-level magic-user. He will
begin to learn the
crude beginnings of makeup, but someone
can see through
one of his disguises at a 75% chance plus
5% per level of the
viewer. This chance goes down by 10% base
for every level the
entertainer gains thereafter (the 5% chance
to spot the disguise
per level of the viewer remains), so that
a fifth-level entertainer
would do a disguise that a first-level
character could see
through 40% of the time (75 minus 4x10
plus 5). An Entertainer
(11th level) would have a chance of 75
minus (10x10) plus 5% =
-20% to be spotted by a first level; i.e.,
he would not be spotted.
Note that being double-classed as an entertainer
does not help
this percent chance until Showman is achieved
and the entertainer
can count himself as 10th level.
Performer: The ability to move
silently and hide in shadows
goes up just as if the entertainer were
a thief for his or her entire
career. Otherwise, no new skills are added
at second level.
When the Performer is studying to become
third level in one
of the three sub-classes, he will begin
to specialize. However,
every entertainer begins to learn the gift
of gab. Upon becoming
third level in any of the sub-classes,
he or she has a 5%
chance per level to enrapture zero-level
type peasants. This
does not include a zero-level master craftsman
or a zero-level
educated figure; it pertains only to the
uneducated clodhopper
or the typical group of children. Such
an ability can often get an
entertainer free room and board in a home,
hut or barn.
The ability to act, sing, dance, juggle,
tumble, etc., can be a
great asset even in front of small audiences
or in one-on-one
situations. Even educated characters of
second level or higher
might like a joke, story, or trick. Give
such a figure a normal
saving throw. If the throw is failed, the
“audience” likes the joke,
story, trick, or whatever, and he will
offer to give the entertainer
a free drink, a few coins (silver), and
perhaps food and a place
to sleep. This ability does not necessarily
gain any direct benefit
for the party, but a performer can often
“work the streets” for
a few hours and get enough silver pieces
to put himself and his
friends up for the night. Alignment of
the entertainer and the
figure being entertained must be identical
or (at most) one step
apart for this form of entertainment to
work.
Other special abilities
In addition to the special abilities described
earlier that relate
directly to combat and saving throws, each
sub-class of entertainer
has other particular talents:
A Juggler has a 25% chance at 3rd level
and 9% better per
level thereafter to hide a small item (coin,
silk handkerchief,
ring, gem, etc.) on his person successfully.
A side occupation for a Juggler is the performance
of small acts of “magic” —
sleight-of-hand magic, not real magic.
Jugglers are good at the
“old shell game” and other types of “con
games.” Someone
watching the “game” is allowed a saving
throw (vs. spells) to
see through it, but that saving throw is
adjusted for their difference
in levels (if any). If the “patsy” is of
lower level than the
Juggler, the die roll is adjusted down
by the difference in levels.
If the observer is of higher level than
the Juggler, the die roll is
adjusted in the observer’s favor.
A Juggler can throw any object of reasonable
size (a bottle, a
candlestick, a beer mug, an indian club,
etc.) with no nonproficiency
penalty. However, he or she only gains
the aforementioned
+1 per level bonus “to hit” when using
weapons with
which the Juggler is proficient.
If a Juggler, empty-handed and alert, has
an object thrown to
him or her so that he or she knows and
sees it coming, there is
only a 1% chance that the Juggler will
fail to catch it. That 1%
chance is reduced by 1/10% for each level
above 3rd.
A Juggler can throw items very rapidly.
If he is not proficient
with the item (weapon), he is limited to
one “burst” that allows
two items to be thrown in one round. However,
both are -2 to
hit. He must state that he is going to
throw two items (weapons)
rapidly before the first is thrown. The
amount of time between
the two throws is 1-4 segments.
A Juggler who throws a small weapon with
which he is proficient
(dagger, dart, or hand axe only) can be
very rapid indeed.
The normal rate for throwing daggers is
2/round, for the dart
3/round, and for the hand axe 1/round (see
Players Handbook,
page 38). A Juggler of 4th level or higher
can exceed this rate in
most cases (see the chart below).
If a Juggler wishes to-fire a “burst” of
identical thrown weapons,
he will suffer some loss of accuracy. As
stated earlier, he is
+1 “to hit” per level above 2nd with hand-held
weapons that he
is proficient with. This +1 per level is
taken into account along
with the “to hit” penalty prescribed for
each weapon in a given
“burst,” as given in the following chart.
The Juggler must state
how many weapons he will attempt to throw
in a “burst.” If he is
hit for damage during the “burst,” it comes
to an end. All
“bursts” must be fired at the same target,
even if that target is hit
or falls over (dies) as a result of one
of the hits prior to the last
weapon in the “burst.” Leftover shots are
wasted.
Max. size of burst at level given
| Weapon | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | Penalty for
each weapon in burst |
| Dagger | 2* | 2* | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | -3 |
| Dart | 3* | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | -4 |
| Hand axe | 1* | 1* | 1* | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | -2 |
* — normal number per round allowed, not
considered
a “burst,” no penalty applied.
Example: A Showman of 10th
level (i.e., he has become a 9th
level Juggler and 9th level
in another entertainment profession
as well) decides to throw
a burst of daggers on one round, then
darts on another. He selects
4 daggers and 6 darts for the two
bursts. Since he is +8 to
hit normally with these trained weapons,
his accuracy is now +5 with
each dagger and +4 with each
dart. Note: Adjustments of
-2 and -5 for medium and long range
apply, just as with any other
missile weapon attack.
An Acrobat can jump (as the
spell) at will once for each level
of experience during any
single turn if the Acrobat has taken
less than half damage. If
current damage is more than half the
character’s total hit points,
he can jump only once per turn
regardless of level.
Magical clothing operates well for Acrobats
in some specific
cases. Boots of elvenkind make them only
1% likely to make
noise in the worst conditions. Boots of
striding and springing
will never cause them to fall or trip from
a misstep or poor jump.
An Acrobat can march for 15 hours in such
boots. Boots of
speed allow an Acrobat to move at a base
speed of 25” plus 1”
per level above 2nd.
Gauntlets of ogre power give an Acrobat
a grasping strength
of 19. Gauntlets of swimming and climbing
give an Acrobat a 3”
movement bonus in water.
An Acrobat can climb walls like a thief,
but he is better at it.
Use the following table for an Acrobat’s
chance to climb a wall
successfully (this is a base chance; see
the DMG, page 19).
Level of Acrobat
| Race | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 |
| Human,
Half-elf or Elf |
92% | 93% | 94% | 95% | 96% | 97% | 98% | 99% | 99.5% |
| Dwarf | 84% | 85% | 86% | 87% | 88% | 89% | 90% | 91% | - |
| Gnome | 81% | 82% | 83% | 84% | 85% | - | - | - | - |
An Acrobat can walk a taut wire (or rope)
in calm wind
conditions (less than 3 mph wind velocity)
at the rate of
1”/round plus ½”/round per level
above 3rd. His chance to fall is
a base 3%, minus 3/10% per level above
3rd.
An Acrobat can walk a slack wire in calm
wind conditions at
the rate of ½”/round plus ¼”/round
per level above 3rd. His
chance to fall is a base 7%, minus 7/10%
per level above 3rd.
Note: A “taut wire” has to be pulled tight
by a winch or a series
of pulleys. A taut wire is not achieved
by tying a rope between
two trees — that is a “slack wire.”
An Acrobat can walk up a slanted wire in
calm wind conditions
at the rate of ½”/round plus ¼”/round
per level above 3rd.
His chance to fall is a base 6%, minus
4/10% per level above 3rd.
The wire’s angle can be up to 15” with
no penalty. Thereafter
the chance to fall is increased by 2% per
degree of angle, with
35° being the maximum slant in any
case.
Each full 3 mph of wind velocity adds 1%
to the chance to fall
from any sort of wire, and a wind velocity
of more than 45 mph
makes the acrobat also have to save vs.
spells each round or be
thrown off the wire. An Acrobat is allowed
a save vs. wands to
catch himself in a fall from a wire (on
the wire itself). If such a
catch succeeds, the Acrobat will take a
full round to regain his
footing. Note: 1” on ropes and wires always
equals 10 feet,
never 10 yards.
A Troubadour has a 5% chance per level above
2nd to know if
an item, person, or place is historical
or legendary. The item,
person, or place must be within 10 feet
of the Troubadour, and it
must have a history that is meaningful
and relevant for the
Troubadour to have any chance to relate
some fact about it.
Troubadours have a 10% chance per level
above 2nd to relate
a list of possible uses for an item found
to be magic. For
example, if a wand is found by a Troubadour
or a member of the
Troubadour’s party, the person playing
the Troubadour (who
will be the DM if the Troubadour is a non-player
character), if
the appropriate dice roll is made, can
relate the names and uses
of every wand
in the DMG that the player
can actually remember! No looking in the
book is permitted (if
this is done, the ability is cancelled),
and this ability is negated if
the playing session ends before the ability
is used.
A Troubadour who finds a scroll of commune
or legend lore
has an 11% chance per level above 2nd to
use the scroll successfully.
If a Troubadour is present during the casting
of a
commune or legend lore spell, either one
extra question can be
asked or the chance of success will go
up by 3% per level of the
Troubadour above 2nd. This benefit does
not apply to a spell
cast from a scroll.
A Troubadour, when trying to “sing for
his supper” (act, tell a
story, tell a joke, etc.) affords the listener
a saving throw at -1
per level of the Troubadour above 2nd.
This does not work on
listeners of radically different alignments
(more than one step
removed from the Troubadour).
Spell casting
— for exceptional entertainers only
Elf, gnome, half-elf, and human entertainers
who select entertainment
(anyone or more than one of the three sub-classes)
as their sole class and have INT of at
least 15 and
dexterity of 16 may learn limited spell
casting ability. The character
can use either M-U (for a human, elf or
half-elf) or illusionist
(for a human or gnome) spells.
The entertainer must be trained by a magic-user
or illusionist
for a period of 2-5 years, just as a “real”
magic-user or illusionist
must be trained. This training must be
accomplished before the
entertainer reaches third level in any
of the entertainment
sub-classes.
When the training is complete, and upon
becoming 3rd level
as an entertainer, the character can take
up some low-level
cantrips and spells. Given below is the
maximum spell/cantrip
capacity (in number and level of the speIIs/cantrips)
for a character
of a certain level. Important note: The
fact that the figure
becomes an “amateur” spell caster does
not give access to
scrolls or magic items usable only by M-U’s
or illusionists.
An entertainer of 3rd level (in his or
her highest sub-class)
can have either two M-U cantrips or one
illusionist cantrip.
A 4th level entertainer can have four magic-user
cantrips or
two illusionist cantrips.
5th level: Four M-U cantrips plus one 1st
level M-U spell, or
three illusionist cantrips.
6th level: Four M-U cantrips plus two 1st
level M-U spells, or
four illusionist cantrips plus one 1st
level illusionist spell.
7th level: Add one 1st level M-U spell
or one 1st level illusionist
spell.
8th level: Add two M-U cantrips and one
1st level M-U spell, or
one illusionist cantrip and one 1st level
illusionist spell.
9th level: Add one 2nd level M-U spell,
or one illusionist
cantrip and one 1st level illusionist spell.
10th level: Add one 2nd level M-U spell,
or one 2nd level
illusionist spell.
11th level: Add one 1st level M-U spell
and one 2nd level M-U
spell, or one 2nd level illusionist spell.
The magic-using or illusion-using entertainer
may not substitute
more cantrips for a 1st level spell the
way a magic-user or
illusionist can. For the purpose of range,
duration, and area of
effect the entertainer is considered two
levels lower than his or
her actual level.
Magic-using and illusion-using entertainers
may take any
spell they can learn. They need spell books
and cantrip books
just as magic-users and illusionists do.
Their chance to know
any single spell is 20% lower than a magic-user
or illusionist
with the same intelligence rating. The
maximum and minimum
number of spells they may know is as if
they had two less points
of intelligence than they actually do.
Spell-casting entertainers need 80% of
the experience points
necessary to rise to the next level (instead
of the usual 70%)
before they can give a Level Performance
— and they can never
use magic in such a performance. They must,
in all cases, earn
5% more experience points than would ordinarily
be necessary
to rise in level when that rise gives them
a larger spell capacity.
Entertainer spell casters, while they may
select attack spells,
may not memorize duplicate spells of the
same kind.
zb
2.
1.
1. SUBCLASS = n/a
2. SOCIAL CLASS MINIMUM =
3. ABILITY SCORE MINIMUMS
STRENGTH =
INTELLIGENCE =
WISDOM =
DEXTERITY =
CONSTITUTION =
CHARISMA =
COMELINESS =
4. POSSIBLE RACES & MAX. LEVEL ATTAINABLE
=
5. MULTI-CLASS POSSIBILITIES =
6. HIT DIE TYPE =
7. MAXIMUM NUMBER OF HIT DICE =
8. SPELL ABILITY =
9. ARMOR PERMITTED =
10. SHIELD PERMITTED =
11. WEAPONS PERMITTED =
12. OIL PERMITTED =
13. POISON PERMITTED =
14. ALIGNMENT =
15. STARTING MONEY =
16. WEAPON PROFICIENCIES =
17. NON-PROFICIENCY PENALTY =
18. NON-WEAPON PROFICIENCIES =
19. STARTING AGE =
20. COMBAT =
21. SAVING THROWS =
22. MAGIC ITEMS =
Quote:
Originally Posted by Flexor
the Mighty!
Hello Gary! I have a question
about your excellent Living Fantasy book. I haven't had time to read it
all but I was looking through the section on social classes and I noticed
that you have actors and such lumped in with the criminal underclass. Why
is that?
Heh...
Because historically such
performers were considered just that--the bottom of the social class barrel.
Of course the performers
typically earned their reputation as knaves, swindlers, thieves and the
like
