Have you been stumped on what character to play lately? Tired of playing the same tried and true interpretations of classes? Perhaps you are just interested in seeing new and interesting ways to flavor characters and classes. I have just the thing for you. In today's post we are going to explore interesting ways to flavor character classes to approach them from a new angle that may not have considered before!
Welcome back to Kobold Stew and today we have round 2 of the Change-up. With this mini-series, I explore new ways to play and interpret classes with maximum narrative and flavor in mind while minimizing the requirements for crunch. The main goal is to provide a fresh take on the classes presented in DnD without the need to homebrew or mechanical acrobatics and rules juggling. All of the flavor, none of the crunch! With Round 1, we took a look at how to play Barbarians, Bards, and Clerics in new ways with the Possessed Barbarian, the Commissar Bard, and the Shaman Cleric. With Round 2, we are going to look at different ways to flavor and play Druids, Fighters, and Monks.
Let's get right into it!
Druid -The Entomorph
"Most druids prefer the powerful animals that prowl, soar, or swim. Not me... I prefer the things that creep and crawl."
When you think about the animals that a druid will shift into or associate with, what comes to mind? Lions, tigers, bears, oh my! Wolves, eagles, dinosaurs, and the odd shark. Not the entomorph, though. They focus their energy and power on the creepier and crawlier critters in the world. Bugs, arachnids, and other arthropods. I got the name for the entomorph from an obscure video game from the 90's called Entomorph: Plague of the Darkfall, and in this game, the player's character over time can earn bug-like abilities and eventually possibly transform into a mantis person. Good time. It's quite wonky and fun. I remember the story being more enjoyable than I thought it would be. If you want to know more about it, I've provided a link.
Alright, when I say all of the flavor and none of the crunch, what I really mean is that you don't need to homebrew at all and you don't need to focus too much on mechanical things, buuuuuut with something like the entomorph druid, taking certain spells and certain animal forms for wild shape will help fit the flavor of a bug-centered druid. Cantrips to grab will be Infestation and Poison Spray because they are going to really fit. The way you describe spells such as Primal Savagery will help to sell the "you are a bug druid" by describing a stinger that may grow from your wrist or growing mandibles to take a bite with. Hell, go with centipede arms as seen in the image above. Maybe casting Jump causes you to grow wings for a second. Barkskin could be described as an exoskeleton or chitin instead of wood.
I would love to give a comprehensive list of Druid spells and how to reflavor them to fit the entomorph mantra, but that would take up this whole post. Get creative with how you describe your spells. Grow compound eyes, shoot up bile-like water. Make your speaking with another creature be because you attach a bug to your tongue. The entomorph is going to be enjoyable not just because of all the trappings of a good character, but also because you get a chance to gross out your DM and get whacky.
As for wild shape candidates, grab anything that is a bug or arachnid at appropriate levels. Not always the mechanically best options, but we're going for flavor town here. CR 1/4 you have Giant Centipede and Giant Wolf Spider for example. CR 1/2 you have Giant Wasp. For CR 1 you have Giant Spider. Of course, talk to the DM to fit in more bug stuff if you want it or perhaps reflavor another beast as a bug. Any DM who wants to see you achieve a character like this will be willing to work with you (and the idea is rad, so why wold they say no?!).
As per background/narrative ideas, you could be a druid from a special conclave called 'The Hive' or the likes that focuses on creepy crawlies. Or perhaps, you are an outcast druid, and having been rejected by most nature, bugs took a liking to you. Or maybe you were bitten by a magical spider, and you haven't been the same ever since. You can slap on most backgrounds and add a bug-ified version to it.
If you are feeling buggered at what character you want to play next and are considering a druid, give the Entomorph a thought.
Fighter - The Janissary
"I've been fighting and training since I was child. It was the purpose given to me."
When deciding how to make a fighter "different" than what we usually get, it was difficult to find something. Fighters are already pretty various in their approach, being able to cover all sorts of warriors. Foot-soldiers, knights, cavaliers, samurais, archers, fencers, and the likes. You can even port these "archetypes" over to other classes like barbarians or paladins. What has always made the Fighter stand out over other 'warrior classes' to me is their training and discipline. Barbarians have sheer power and fury. Paladins have their devotion and oath, but Fighters are badasses in a world of magic and wonky powers through sheer determination, discipline, and training. While scouring my history buff brain for an idea of what best fit the fighter and was more original than most things, I kept landing on one thing... the Janissary of the Ottoman Turk Empire.
The short version is that during their rule of major parts of Eastern Europe, the Ottoman Empire would take the strongest/first born sons of Christian citizens and have them be trained and educated to become a member of the Janissary Corps. The Janissaries were elite 'slave' soldiers that served as household troops, the sultan's personal guards, and as a standing army (the first in modern history). For slaves, they were paid, given a pension upon completion of retirement, and they held power within Ottoman government, and many held titles. Not bad for a "slave soldier."
The idea of a subjected group of people giving over their first born children to serve in the emperor's personal army/bodyguard unit is already rife with flavor. For example, human children taken by an elven empire and trained to serve as the emperor's personal, elite soldiers would be pretty cool. The Janissary joins the quest when the emperor requires them to aid the party. Or perhaps the Janissary is a run away from his unit after causing some sort of political dissidence, similarly to the Auspicious Incident from history when the Janissaries rose up against the sultan, and they got disbanded. There are a lot of narrative ways to handle the Janissary.
Janissaries have a unique look. They have the robes and tunics they wear and the headress that really set them apart. They were well known for using fire-arms, which if that will
be an issue, just run a crossbow instead. They were well trained with multiple weapons, so change it up depending on the situation. Along with this, Janissaries were well educated, so this fighter will not have Intelligence be their dump stat. Their discipline, intellect, tactics, and training is what will be getting the Janissary by while they stand toe to toe with dragons,
wizards, clerics, and all the other shtuff of a fantasy world. You can work any archetype of Fighter into this character really. You can transport the Janissary into the narrative listed above or into any sort of role where they were put into their role of elite solider by a ruler. I really like the idea of the Janissary because in my mind, they fit what is a fighter in essence. They are highly trained warriors who use their discipline, training, and tactics to help them win battles.
Monk - The Friar
"Well, I suppose I travel to help the good people. I don't need much besides the robes on me back."
When people look at monks in Dungeons and Dragons and most other fantasy roleplaying games, they often look to the monks from Asian cultures and Eastern religion, but today, we are going to be looking to other monks from history. We are going to be basing this monk's flavor off of friars of Western Europe more specifically. Rather than living an ascetic lifestyle cloistered away in a monastery far off in the mountains, the friar lives within the village surviving off of charity from the people they serve.
Perhaps your friar was in training to join a monastery or a clergy, but they were too free willed or thought their role was more to help people than spread the word of their god. They prefer to show their devotion to a god or their purpose through their actions and what they do for others rather than living far away sequestered away from the common people studying, meditating, and doing other monk things. Maybe, the friar's order is more like that of the real life inspiration and is part of an order that lives for that style of doing their ascetic thing of helping the common people with their charity and perhaps a religious twist. It isn't necessary as it could be an order devoted to the idea we've been talking about.
Along with this, friars were known to travel a lot, thus perfectly setting them up for adventure. Their wandering lifestyle and desire to help others will make them mix into an adventure early on and easily. I also really enjoy the idea of a friar being good at things like cooking and/or brewing. The ale cask carrying friar seems like a fun time (yes there are monks who devote their skills to brewing beer). It something I've always personally enjoyed the idea of.
In terms of combat, you can bust out the crazy martial arts if you like. A portly friar doing a round house kick or a spinning punch might make for a fun surprise, or perhaps you would like to take the approach of the Drunken master monk and have a style that is reminiscent of times spent dealing with drunk commoners. I picture the friar having a blunted weapon, so something along the lines of perhaps a small club or their walking stick as a weapon. A brawling friar not only bring a good laugh, but also a tough as nails approach to a monk.
I really appreciate how the Monk's mechanics really aid to support in the idea of a character living an ascetic lifestyle. They don't need to worry too much about buying fancy gear because their fists are their weapons and they don't need armor. Perhaps a divine presence protects the friar, or they have just learned to protect themselves in a dangerous world. You could even go all "blind monk but is still a bad ass" trope. There are many ways you could take a friar monk, and I say... go for it!
Well there you have it! Different ways to flavor up the Druid, Fighter, and the Monk with the Entomorph, Janissary, and Friar. I really like what I came up with for what I thought was going to be one of the harder rounds of classes to do this with, and I really hope you enjoy them too. What about you? If you give them a try, let me know! I'd love to hear your feedback. You ever play anything similar to this? Have your own idea? Let me know.
As always, thank you for coming by and checking out the ramblings of a RPG fanatic with ideas spilling out of his head. I hope to have more content for y'all soon. Next time we look at the "Change-Up," we will be taking a look at re-flavoring the Paladin, Ranger, and Rogue! Come check it out.
As always,
Happy Gaming,
Mr. Puddins