House-Rules & changes to the Barbarians of Lemuria system Careers Someone on RPG.

net had ideas for adding a unique ability to each career. X represents your career rank in the abilities listed below. Alchemist/Apothecary - Poison Resistance (+X to all strength avoidance rolls against poisons) Assassin/Killer - Silent Attack (+X damage when unseen and unheard) Barbarian/Berserker - Berserk Rage (+2X to damage or an extra attack X times per day) Blacksmith - Strong Arm (X times per day, +X/2 dmg when wielding a one-handed weapon) Farmer/Farmhand - Strong Back (When lifting, pulling, or pushing something +X to your strength roll) Gladiator/Fighter - Resist Pain (You ignore X damage that is done to you X times per day) Hunter/Archer - Deadly Shot (You can shoot a deadly shot X times per day that adds +X to the ranged attack roll) Mercenary/Sell-sword - Quick (+X to all initiative rolls to determine order in the round) Merchant/Tradesman* Guild Member (You are a member of the merchant guild and have benefits because of it such as access to raw materials, shops, training, and a license to practice) Minstrel/Bard - Good Song (You play a song that gives a +1 to all of the party's dice rolls in the hearing area. This effect lasts X rounds and you can play this song X times per day. Roll 2d6 + Appeal + X. A failure results in the song being off key, and no one gets the bonus of this ability. A failure counts towards the maximum number of times you can use this ability per day) Noble/Aristocrat* - Estate Home & Noble Title Pact Born - granting boons based on patrons portfolio Physician/Doctor - Medical Healing (See recovering lost hit points in the rules) Pirate/Sailor - Dirty Fighting (X times per day and your next melee attack ignores half their defense rank; if they are dodging or parrying this round, add +X to the difficulty of doing such) Scribe/Calligrapher* - Language Master (You know X additional languages) Slave/Indentured Servant - Tough Skin (You gain X additional hit points) Soldier/Guard - Who Needs Sleep? (You only need 8 - X hours of rest per night. You can also sleep in heavy armor or on rough ground without any penalty) Sorcerer* - No change from core, Spell Casting is powerful enough Thief/Rogue - Lucky (You can re-roll any dice roll X times per day) Torturer/Executioner - Deathtouched (Instead of dying at -1 hit points, you die at -X hit points) Wench/Maid - Tankard of Doom (+X to your ranged attack roll with throwing weapons X/day) *These careers are literate. Boons I like the idea of differentiating the fighting styles a bit with boons. This can expand a chatacters fighting capabilities in particular fashions. Arobilan Fencing Seize the Initiative: Gain a boon to attack rolls when using an Arobilan longsword on foes with lower initiative. Mitannian Charioteer Seize the Reins: Gain a boon to controlling the chariot and bow shots from a chariot.

Khira Shan Hoplite Lock Shields: When holding a shield and adjacent to an ally, you grant +X to his Defense, where X is your Soldier or other relevant fighting career rank. Wulnese Fencer Stop Thrust: If you successfully parry someone when wielding a Wulnese weapon (rapier, dagger, cloak), on the next round you gain +X to attack that foe, where X is your Gladiator, Soldier, or other relevant fighting career rank.

Languages The Languages: The general everyday languages are Mitannian, Wulnese, Bipilan, Arobilan, Easterner (spoken in the Open East), Jilpoan, Chamboan, Amoshan, Tamanui, Northern Zimboak, and Southern Zimboak. These languages each have some form of written communication: words and letters for most of the civilised tongues and arrangements of knots, beads, and whorls for Easterner. International traders have developed a mishmash of loan-words, loud-and-slow shouting, and hand signals commonly referred to as Merchants Pidgin. Merchants Pidgin is only good for the most basic of communication (e.g. See Spot run, Wheres the bathroom, I want two of those, and Holy crap, Im on fire!). Its enough to get by virtually everywhere in El Mundo but dont expect to debate law, ethics, advanced economics, magic, or anything of the sort in it. Think of it as the rough equivalent of a 101 language course in common languages listed above. Merchants Pidgin does not have a standardized vocabulary or script; its just mixed up words. The College of Silence (a Wulnese school/institute for the deaf, dumb, and blind) has recently developed an intricate sign language that is often referred to as finger speech in the north. Its even been co-opted for use by certain schools of dance and theatre. Wulnese finger speech has standardized written symbols dictating particular gestures. There are also several otherworldly languages. The elemental languages (Ignan, Terran, Aquan, and Auran) are used by the elemental pact-born as well as elemental creatures; some old-and-conservative dwarves often learn and use Terran as well. Scholars, alchemists and dragons (if you believe the bards) use Mantean runes and words in their magic-making. Scourges and Tempters (e.g. demons and devils) both speak Demonic. These languages are not absolutely necessary for sorcerers, alchemists, and pactborn to know in order to use their magic, but they are often used in lore-books, grimoires, and holy texts. No sorcerer or pact-born considers their apprenticeship complete without a working knowledge of Mantean or the language of their elemental or demonic patron. Learning Languages: Characters automatically start off knowing the language of their land of origin. Beyond that, characters may know a number of languages equal to their Mind attribute. Further languages may be learnt with Xp at the cost of 2 Xp per language. In El Mundo, regional dialects arent as atrocious as the real world. Once youve consolidated knowledge of the main language (e.g. used a Mind slot or spent Xp learning Easterner or Wulnese), then you can acclimate yourself towards understanding and being able to use dialects usually within a week. Scribes can manage in a day thanks to their above average linguistic skills. Sorcery The Cost of Power: At sorcerer ranks 1, 3, and 5, sorcerers must take some flaw representing the costs they have paid to gain their unnatural magic. These could be represented as pacts made with

supernatural beings, binding apprenticeships to a master sorcerer, taboos observed to maintain their magic, or any other flaw (see the boons & flaws sheet). Cantrips: Cantrips (spells lower than first magnitude) do not cost mana. Theyre limited to very minor effects (such as non-game-breaking effects of prestidigitation from D&D) and generally only serve to show your mighty magical mastery over those inferior peasants. Hanging Spells: Sorcerers can cast spells and save them to be used later at a moments notice. A 1st or 2nd magnitude spell is cast (paying mana and all ordinary requirements), and then the sorcerer pays an additional point of mana to seal the spell in their mind. At any time in the future, the sorcerer may release the spells effects, all of which are chosen when the spell was originally cast. A sorcerer can have a number of hanging spells equal to their Sorcerer rank. The presence of barely active spells in a sorcerers body, however, can interfere with the finer workings of powerful spells. Apply the number of hanging spells as a penalty to any rolls involved with casting second and third magnitude spells. Furthermore, if a character is brought to near death (0 hit points or below), the sorcerers hanging spells immediately dissipate (either harmlessly or recklessly according to the GM). Counter-spelling: Sorcerers may attempt to counter an enemys spell as it is being cast. This requires having a higher initiative and casting a spell of equal or higher magnitude as the enemys spell. So if Balthos the Blue is casting a 2nd magnitude death of the North spell at you, youll need to cast a 2nd magnitude spell (perhaps shield of the phoenix?) to counter the spell. Whoever gets a higher check on casting wins.