(GLÅUGUST) The Renunciate
GLÅUGUST challenge 6, prompt 4: a class with four templates which may be taken in any order.
Full disclosure: this is not what I was originally going to post for challenge 6. The original plan was for a large, possibly overambitious dungeon themed around 70s UK progressive rock, working title "The Drifting Court of Rael II". Unfortunately, near the end of the month, my laptop was stolen and I lost the working file. I do have backups of some older versions, but a lot of progress has been lost, and there's no way I'm getting it rebuilt in time for the end of August. Yeah, the time limit's arbitrary and I started in July anyway, but it's the symbolism of the thing, y'know?
Maybe you don't know. Maybe you hate symbolism, perhaps because symbolism killed your grandpa. In that case, you might enjoy this class.
Class: Renunciate
Morten Solgaard Pedersen, Caveman for CDC (2019)
Make it stop.
Starting equipment and skill: If this is your first class, choose another class to reflect your past life. Gain its equipment except for weapons and armour, and its starting skill.
The Renunciate's four templates may be taken in any order.
Per template: +1 to all ability checks, attacks, saves, etc., and +1 attack per round when wielding a simple, blunt weapon.
φ: Make It Stop
χ: Make It Stop
ψ: Make It Stop
ω: Make It Stop
φ: Make It Stop
You no longer have a Dexterity score. You can still attempt feats of agility and coordination, succeeding on a flat 2-in-6.
You cannot use any but the most rudimentary tools. You can still pick up and wield swords, pliers, printers, and the like, but they are of no more use to you than equivalent-sized sticks and rocks.
χ: Make It Stop
You no longer have an Intelligence score. You can still attempt feats of logic and memory, succeeding on a flat 2-in-6.
You cannot comprehend any form of representation or abstraction beyond the literal, physical world. Words and visual art blur into featureless black snarls in your eyes, and fill you with nameless rage. You are illiterate and can't count past the number of fingers you have. As a fringe benefit, you can detect illusions by sight.
ψ: Make It Stop
You no longer have a Wisdom score. You can still attempt feats of perspicacity and common sense, succeeding on a flat 2-in-6.
Your long-term memory becomes limited to the concrete and tangible. You remember things solely by your senses; you are baffled and faintly disgusted by names (and do not answer to yours), and you can't hold "raw" information or instructions in your mind unless they're the only thing you focus on. You lose all your skills. (If basic physical activities like Climbing and Swimming are skills in your system, you can keep those.)
ω: Make It Stop
You no longer have a Charisma score. You can still attempt feats of personal magnetism and charm, succeeding on a flat 2-in-6.
You must Save to take any action that isn't driven by a clear, immediate reward. Food, sex, shelter, personal safety, and the approval of your companions are all valid motivators, as long as you get them now, or soon enough that you can see them. Social standing, moral righteousness, and all forms of religion and politics are lost to you. Wealth is kind of borderline - you can chase it, but you don't quite understand why you're doing it and you hate yourself for it.
Commentary
I really enjoy subtractive classes, the kind that lose something as well as gaining something as they level. This one in particular is a loose evolution of my Barbarian from (shit, seriously?) four years ago.
A four-template Renunciate will be a combat powerhouse, but extremely difficult to steer. I'm more interested in this class's potential as a dip, seeing what you can strip away while still being an effective knight, thief, or perhaps even mage.