Character Options

© RDD Wilkin / Spilled Ale Studios

Ramshackle introduces a variety of new character options. These can be found in the Ramshackle setting guide, but are summarised here to give players an idea of what new choices are available to them.

Archetypes

Ramshackle will include one new archetype for every class, plus any additional archetypes that may be unlocked as stretch goals! The archetypes are:

Circle of the Deep (Druid)

As the Circle of the Land is to surface dwellers, so the Circle of the Deep is to those who live below the water’s surface. Circles of deep druids keep to ancient practices of reverence and protect the natural wonders of the undersea realm from both interlopers and the unthinking harm often wrought by their own people.

Deep druids are often allies of Fathom Domain Clerics and Oath of the Deep Paladins and may even worship the same gods, though they generally eschew the hierarchy and trappings of organised religion. Indeed, they often isolate themselves from underwater civilisation, living on the edges of the untamed waters. Deep druids tend to look down on coastal druids from the Circle of the Land. Meaner-spirited Deep druids have contempt for druids who won’t commit to either land or sea, while others feel sorry for the druids who can only “dip their toe into the water”.

Features: Deep druids gain the power to move through and control water, can cast water elemental spells in lower spell slots than normal, and acquire mastery over aquatic creatures that they conjure or meet. They can also find sustenance for their allies easily while underwater, and meals made from their foraged foods grant useful benefits.

College of Shanties (Bard)

Bards of the College of Shanties are known as shantycallers. They serve aboard sailing vessels where they have the important duty of leading the crew in shanties: rhythmic songs that ensure that the crew synchronise their efforts and each perform their assigned task at just the right time. The shantycaller leads the song, with the crew typically joining in for the chorus.

Life on the water has many dangers, and shantycallers are generally daring, adventurous souls.

Features: Shantycallers have to pull their weight on the ship: they are capable sailors, and passable duelists. They also gain proficiency with the concertina. A shantycaller learns to perform a shanty, a special song that grants their crew (or their allies bonuses to physical ability checks and, eventually, attack rolls. A shanty isn't just about inspiring allies: the allies can join in on the chorus to inspire the bard!

Fathom Domain (Cleric)

While seafaring cultures worship gods of Tempest, underwater races have their own ocean deities. These gods offer alternative blessings more appropriate for those who dwell beneath the waves. Fathom deities require their worshippers to demonstrate deep reverence for the underwater realms, and swiftly punish interlopers from the land who fail to show the same care.

Features: Fathom clerics have considerable power over water, extending to mastery over Cold damage. They are able to turn into seafoam to escape from attack. They are accompanied by a water elemental companion known as a Deep Guardian.

Navigator (Ranger)

Navigators are rangers who take to life on the water, where they use their pathfinding skills and knowledge of nature to chart safe and efficient courses. As alert against foes as they are against hazards, navigators are dangerous combatants who remain singularly focused on any enemy they choose as their target.

Features: A Navigator gains proficiency with water vehicles and navigator's tools, naturally! They are also highly observant. Their heightened awareness aids them in combat and on the job: a navigator finds it as easy to keep track of enemies as they do direction or potential hazards in the water. Many of the Navigator's features improve the way they use the spell hunter's mark (which they receive for free). Eventually, marked foes still provoke from you when they Disengage, and the normal benefits of the hunter's mark extend to your nearby allies.

Noble Genie Patron (Warlock)

You have made a pact with a noble genie, a creature of primordial magic whose power towers even over other genies. Such a being is more than happy to grant a wish, for a price, and a simple desire for power is one of the easiest wishes of all to resolve. Noble genies are cunning, and the price they demand is often far greater than a careless wish-maker realises. For the price of a lifetime of power, they may find themselves serving the noble genie for that lifetime, executor of its intermittent whims.

Your patron might be a Dao (earth genie), a Djinni (air genie), an Efreeti (fire genie), or a Marid (water genie). Marid patrons are well suited for Ramshackle, of course.

Features: Warlocks of a Noble Genie patron gain spells and features that are dependent on the type of patron, and are inspired by the patron's element. Some features are shared by all Noble Genies: these grant the warlock the ability to manipulate their fortunes and ultimately cast wish.

Oath of the Deep (Paladin)

Paladins who swear the Oath of the Deep protect the seas and oceans against excessive interference and contanimation by creatures of the land and sky, along with other interlopers from stranger realms. They almost exclusively hail from underwater races, for it is difficult to protect a domain one isn’t truly part of. Many Oath of the Deep paladins serve a sea deity, usually the head of their race’s pantheon.

Features: Oath of the Deep Paladins are the champions of the watery realms, and as such they command the respect of the ocean's creatures. They can use find steed to summon giant sea horses, and find greater steed to summon giant octopi or squids. Their Channel Divinity options let them summon a swarm of carnivorous fish and dominate beasts that have a swim speed. Later the Paladin projects an aura of the maelstrom that prevents foes from moving away from them, and can inspire predatory aggression in their allies.

Raider (Fighter)

Raiders are marine warriors, trained for ship-to-ship battles. They are always the first onto an enemy ship, and they employ a combat style that is both forceful and unpredictable. A raider invites danger as they dash back and forth across the deck and dive headlong into groups of foes, but they are always ready to give as good as they get. They like to force their enemies into weak positions by using a combination of physical maneuvering and low cunning.

Features: Raiders are nimble but aggressive, using their speed to zip from foe to foe. Enemies get caught up in the Raider's pace, and the Raider can push or pull a creature it has hit with a melee attack. They gamble their own safety to bait enemies to overextend themselves with an opportunity attack, after which the Raider can strike back. At later levels, the Raider inspires their allies to strike hard whenever they spend their Action Surge, and gains temporary hit points and increase damage whenever they attack more than one creature on their turn.

Reaver (Barbarian)

Reavers are berkserkers who hail from coastal or island societies, particularly those who launch naval raids against their neighbours. Reavers are known to be fast, brutal, and fearless even when outnumbered in the chaos of an embattled deck or while charging ahead of their crew into the midst of a coastal village’s defenders.

Features: A Reaver charges forward and wades into melee, regardless of the number of foes. They deal additional damage whenever they move at least 10 feet before making an attack. They're also able to use theirr Strength instead of Dexterity on any check they make to keep their balance or footing, and are hard to knock prone. Later, they gain increased AC when adjacent to multiple hostile creature.

Rigging Runner (Rogue)

You have a head and a love for heights, which serves you well whether you crew a sailing vessel or delve into deep chasms. In combats you make your affinity for elevation work for you, always seeking the high ground and the advantages it affords you over your foes.

Features: Rigging runners combine athleticism and acrobatics, and their movement isn't hindered much by climbing, difficult terrain, or precarious footing. They also halve damage from falls! A rigging runner deals bonus damage when they are above their target, and they can drop down or swing down on a line to make a devastating melee attack.

School of Elemancy (Wizard)

Rather than specialise in a single school of arcane study, some wizards seek to empower their magic by deepening their understanding of the elemental forces that underpin creation. These masters of elemental magic are known as elementalists or elemancers.

Features: Elemancers learn to make spells of energy types they choose more potent, adding extra damage with their elemancy die which increases as they gain levels. Their signature spell is absorb elements, and they can use it in a number of new ways, including converting the incoming energy into a different energy type from among those they specialise in, or using the energy to heal themselves. Ultimately an elemancer learns to sacrifice spell slots to weave two energy types into the same spell, which helps them overcome resistances and immunities.

Sea Sorcery (Sorcerer)

Your innate magic comes from the power of elemental water. Some sea sorcerers gain their power after nearly drowning in a sea or ocean, while others can trace their lineage back to comingling with or interference by a powerful water creature or oceanic deity. Whatever the case may be, you are infused with water’s magic.

Unsurprisingly, sea sorcerers tend to find livelihoods on or in the water. Though they can’t control the weather as storm sorcerers can, sea sorcerers are very welcome on sailing vessels: few captains would turn their nose up at a crew member who can dive without air to heretofore unexplored depths and can communicate with native creatures of the deeps.

Features: Sea sorcerers gain or improve a swim speed, and can understand Primordial. They can summon a small, circular tidal wave that emanates from themselves, forcing foes back. Later they gain resistance to acid and fire damage, their water spells cause the sickening effects associated with intense water pressure, and they adapt perfectly to underwater existence.

Way of Endless Tides (Monk)

You follow the teachings of a monastic tradition which seeks oneness with aspects of the natural world: specifically, the moon, water, and the tides. By focusing your ki, you can draw water from your environment shape it, and control it according to your will. .

Features: Monks who follow the Way of Endless Tides connect with water on a spiritual level. They gain a swim speed and the ability to shape water as they please. They can shape water or ice into the form of a weapon which counts as a monk weapon. The Monk's mastery over water increases until they can cast water breathing and water walk on themselves, and learn to hurl water with the force of a bullet. Eventually, the monk can summon an all-consuming maelstrom around themselves that batters creatures even as it draws them in.

Backgrounds

Exile

You were born in a land you can never return to. You may have fled for reasons of political difference or religious persecution. Alternatively you might have been banished for a crime that you may or may not have actually committed.

Whatever the specifics, there is some misfortune in your background that has taught you caution in your dealings with others. You have also learned to be adaptable, since you have no choice but to embrace the ways of a new home.

Waterborn

You are a native to one of the aquatic realms below the surface of the world’s seas and oceans. You could be from anywhere under the waves, but you may also be local to Ramshackle. If so, you might have been raised among the Tritons or within a neighbouring community.

Feats

The Ramshackle setting guide includes 8 new feats suited to characters living among the pirates, smugglers, and other ne'er-do-wells who make up a not insignificant part of Ramshackle's population. These feats include: Blade in the Dark, Concealed Weapons, Consummate Liar, Fearsome Reputation, Gunslinger, Knife-Thrower, Musketeer, and Water Sports.