The Mi-Chiw: an optional alien race class for Gathox!

Howdy, folks! Some quick housekeeping:

1) Quake Alley Mayhem is available in print now. That means you can go here:

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/244989/Gathox-Vertical-Slum-Quake-Alley-Mayhem

to grab a physical copy! Go get some and murder your PCs, it'll always be worth it!

2) Jesse Goldshear from the Yenemvelt blog wrote a kickass carousing table for Gathox. You should check it out here:

http://yenemvelt.blogspot.com/2018/09/party-like-you-mean-it-gathoxian.html

I dig the three-axis generation process for the results, that's super hot - and everything's tied tightly into the functional fiction and geography to boot. Jesse's also been kind enough to assist in organizing a collection of player-made game content for Gathox, which will eventually be a free .pdf! Huzzah!

The Mi-Chiw optional class for Gathox

From GVS1, Chapter 6 Monster Section

The short, violent, and hideous turtle people known as the Mi-Chiw ("MEE-chyoo") grew from a single crate of eggs thoughtlessly brought into the city on a world not visited for hundreds of years. The Mi-Chiw are barely tolerated, but they occasionally find work as death squads for the elite when on the surface. They naturally go to ground in Gathox, establishing wet warrens and complex hatcheries. Mi-Chiw possess a species-wide instinctual desire to build ladders, stacking them on the surface at night in an attempt to ascend to the sun at dawn and touch Dzak-Molu, their god. 

As monsters, they typically travel in bands of 3d4 members and warren with anywhere from 12-60 individuals. Every group of 5 or more Mi-Chiw will be accompanied by a mutated 4+2 HD Shell Priest, who casts as a 3rd level Mentalist.

As PCs, the lives of Mi-Chiw trend toward short and brutal. Their horrific countenances and penchant for violence render them simultaneously unsuited to lives of socialization and talented at adventuring. 

Mi-Chiw Race Abilities

Character Advancement: Mi-Chiw advance as Militants, and may typically advance as far as 6th level. They use Militant Hit Dice, To-Hit scores, and Saving Throws.

Weapon and Armor Restrictions: Because of their strange shape and hard shells, Mi-Chiw may only wear armor on their arms and legs, and can wear up to four pieces of armor. They may carry a small shield as well. They may only use one-handed melee or ranged weapons.

Natural Weapons and Armor: The Mi-Chiw's shell provides natural armor, which continues to harden through age and exposure to the hardships of adventuring. At level 1, a Mi-Chiw has a natural AC of 7[12]; this improves by one point each level, until at level 6, where a Mi-Chiw has a natural AC of 2[17]. Additionally, the Mi-Chiw possesses jagged, devastating claws that function as incredible natural weapons. At level 1, the Mi-Chiw's barehanded attacks do 1d6 damage. At level 3, damage improves to 1d4+2. At level 5, damage improves again, this time to 1d6+3. At level 6, their claw attacks continue to do 1d6+3 damage and are treated as magical weapons in terms of ability to damage enemies resistant to mundane attacks.

Fighting Zhezhn: Gathox's antibodies, the Zhezhn, have a difficult time adapting to the bizarre psychology of the Mi-Chiw, and thus find them difficult to engage in combat; Zhezhn only inflict half the normal damage against Mi-Chiw.

Keen Detection: Mi-Chiw are naturally subterranean and can navigate below ground with ease. On checks for spatial orientation underground, detecting slanting passages, or spotting traps, Mi-Chiw are considered to have a +2 to WIS.

Saving Throws: The Mi-Chiw intellect is so foreign that psychic attacks, whether magical or biological, trend toward failure. The Mi-Chiw has a +4 bonus on Saving Throws against all psychic attacks.

Gathox Classes: Mentalists

  

This week I'd like to share the Mentalist class and subclasses in Gathox, including a light and quick wild magic table. The Mentalist follows the Magic-User tables from Swords & Wizardry: Whitebox, and features a couple of points of departure.

Mentalists

Mentalists spend their lives in study and ritualistic practice, learning to harness psychic gravity wells and astral confluences for the purposes of invoking magic. In Gathox, they find themselves in the service of elite families, advising gang leaders, or carving out pieces of the city for their own weird devices. Some ply their trade ministering to the masses, forming cults to extant godlings or dreaming up their own. Yet others plumb the depths of reality to expand their consciousness or see beyond the veil of the cosmos.

Mentalists use the advancement tables and abilities listed for the Magic-User in Whitebox. A Mentalist can choose to be a Spiritualist, a Faith Healer, or a Cosmic Doctor at the beginning of play. Each possesses a unique ability to aid in distinguishing themselves from their cohort. Unlike Whitebox, a Mentalist may use any weapon; however, any weapon that is not a dagger or a staff does 1d4 points of damage instead. This allows the Mentalist to deploy in combat with ranged weapons or polearms at second rank, but diminishes their effectiveness.

The Spiritualist

Mankind’s adventures into the world of the self have culminated in the studies of the Spiritualist. Tapping into magical reserves within themselves, Spiritualists have learned to see beyond seeing, and often sell these skills for exorbitant prices. Although occasionally derided as ‘table knockers,’ Spiritualists genuinely possess powers which yield results.

The Spiritualist may use Psychometry, which allows her to glean a piece of information from touching an object with bare hands. This requires one turn of focused, uninterrupted attention, and the information sought must be posed in the form of a question to the GM. At levels one through four, this power can be used once per day; at levels five through nine, twice per day; at levels 10 and above, 3 times per day.

The Faith Healer

This Mentalist has been touched by the mystic forces of Gathox - not the city built by hands, but the God That Walks Forever. The Faith Healer preaches from soap boxes, climbs the esoteric ranks of cults, and treats the sick for sums of gold. Although despised by many as bilkers or spiritual tyrants, Faith Healers possess magic as strong as any other Mentalist.

The Faith Healer may use Lay On Hands to heal the injured. He must touch his bare hands to a prone subject, and at the end of a round heal them of 1d4 hit points of damage, plus one point per level. At levels one through four, the Faith Healer may do this once per day; at levels five through nine, twice per day; at levels 10 and above, three times per day.

The Cosmic Doctor

Cosmic Doctors consider themselves the true purveyors of the arcane, the final arbiters of the divide between the worldly and supernal, the ordained masters of reality. Their studies have taken them so deeply down the rabbit holes of paradox that they become eccentric and bizarre, often with appearances to match. Cosmic Doctors find work in Gathox as advisors to elite families and traders in rarities of all sorts.

Cosmic Doctors may listen to the Echoes of the Future, gaining crucial clues as to an intended path of action. Requires 1d4 rounds of unbroken silence, and the GM arbitrates the results as she sees fit. Usable once per day at levels one through four, twice per day at levels five through nine, and three times per day at levels 10 and above.

Wild Magic

Given that Mentalists are constantly invoking magic in the midst of city-wide psychic fluctuations while riding on the back of a world-hopping godling, strange side effects can occur while casting a spell. When a spell is successfully cast, there is a 1-in-8 chance of wild magic effects; on a roll of 8, consult the chart below.

Roll (1d10)	Wild Magic Effect
1	The air ionizes, creating a burnt oxygen smell in a 20’x20’ area.
2	The caster’s skin changes hue 10% warmer, toward red.
3	The caster’s skin changes hue 10% cooler, toward blue.
4	Light rapidly shifts from bright to dark, like a strobe, 10’ radius, for 1 round.
5	A thin sheet of ice materializes on everything in a 20’ radius.
6	The sounds of laughter in reverse fill a 20’ radius for 3 rounds.
7	The spell leaves a permanent holograph hovering in reality at the point of casting.
8	The caster’s face transmogrifies into an entirely different face for a day.
9	The skin melts off the caster’s hands, leaving exposed muscle and bone. No damage.
10	The caster’s eyes become two glowing orbs of purple light.

Gathox Classes: The Militants

Gathox uses the Swords and Wizardry WhiteBox Rules as its chassis, and today I'd like to share the classes and subclasses for fighting types, also known as Militants. The information listed here is in addition to the information for Fighters found in S&W:WB.

Militants

Militants are the bread and butter of street gangs, the might making right for the elite, and the most common PC occupation in Gathox. Rare is the street urchin who grows to adulthood without learning the sweet science, and rarer yet is the merchant who has no need of muscle to enforce the protection of her goods in a lawless city.

Militants use the advancement tables and abilities listed for the Fighter in Whitebox. A Militant can choose to be a Street Tough, Soldier, or Martial Master at the beginning of play. Each possesses a unique ability to aid in distinguishing themselves from their brethren.

The Street Tough

This Militant knows the pulse and rhythm of the city, living in tune with the nuances of bravado and eternally studying the art of the hustle. Barroom brawls and back alley beatdowns provided ample classroom instruction for the Street Tough, and now the Tough is ready for the big time.

The Street Tough enjoys a natural +1 to unarmed attack, and may attempt to Intimidate any humanoid, although only one at a time. The Intimidate forces the target to roll a saving throw: success means the humanoid has called the Tough’s bluff, and failure means that the humanoid must obey the next request made by the Tough, short of harming themselves or their allies.

The Soldier

Unlike the Street Tough, a soldier consciously chose a career path from an early age, signing on with a private defense company or entering into formal training with an established gang at a young age. The Soldier understands the chain of command and how to fight in groups, and never lets the chaos of the moment undermine their countless hours of drills and martial practice.

The Soldier has learned how to apply instantaneous discipline to even the most ragtag band of combatants, and may assert Discipline on their party up to 3 times per day. The use of Discipline inspires the Soldier and her fellow combatants to gird their loins for battle, granting a 1-point bonus to AC and saving throws for 3 rounds. This only applies to teammates within vocal range.

The Martial Master

A Martial Master is a Militant raised within an insular family tradition of fighting, often utterly idiosyncratic and divergent from common forms of fighting. The Martial Master spends virtually their entire adolescence and early adulthood training with family members to become a self-contained, one man army. Players are encouraged to be creative with their chosen martial path, whether it be kung-fu, gun-kata, or something even more wild.

The Martial Master enjoys a 1-point bonus to armed attack rolls, and may Brandish two weapons at once without penalty. The Brandish allows the Martial Master to roll damage twice and take the higher of the two rolls upon a successful attack – in the case of two weapons doing unequal damage, use the higher value damage roll.