AD&D Classes: Papermaster
Compatable with all editions, and other RPGs (if you tweak it) originally plotted for 2nd edition D&D. This class allows you or your players to play as a Papermaster, a class of individual from the Manga/Anime series Read or Die (R.O.D.) It's something fun I whipped up for a game or two.
Like a cross between a wild mage and a psionist, these natural talents are born into their trades, and the skills they employ cannot necessarily be taught (Unless the players and the DM agree to a workaround.) As their name implies, Papermasters use only paper, and are limited only by their imaginations, turning it into anything from armor and rope to deadly weapons and massive forms of transport (Like bridges, aircraft, etc.) For obvious reasons, their worst enemies are fire and liquids. This is a class for imaginative players and flexible DM's/Referees, but it can sure be alot of fun, especially when you're dealing with a party that is mostly papermasters.
Restrictions and Requisites:
Prime Requisites: DEX/WIS
Equipment Restrictions: No armor heavier than normal clothing (unless paper)*
Weapon Restrictions: No weapons (unless paper)*
Hit Dice:1d6
*Anything can be crafted from paper and used, including weapons or armor of any damage or armor value. See table below for difficulty of constructing what you're interested in making.
Class Specifics
All papermasters have the same innate ability to manipulate paper, but the skill of the character is the most important aspect of this class. When determining how difficult a particular feat is, the player must first average the scores of his or her WIS & DEX, which yields the PAPER substat. (i.e. 18 WIS & 16 DEX = 17 PAPER, etc.) PAPER checks are made with penalties and bonuses as determined from the table below. Yellow boxes are relative and the values should be guessed and supplied appropriately by the DM. THAC0 with paper weapons is equal to 16 (-1 for every two levels of the caster)
Multiple Papermasters
Multiple papermasters may work on the creation of the same object. To do this, average the PAPER scores between the papermasters and total the level bonuses from all the papermaster characters involved, then subtract the appropriate penalties once and check.
Example: Maggie, Anita, and Michelle want to create a flying paper dragon approximately 60 feet long, with an AC of 2, capable of doing 1d20 damage on a strike. (Penalties: 6 + 4 + 5 = 15) Averaging their PAPER scores gives us a cumulative PAPER score of 16. Subtracting penalties gives us a check roll of 1 or less. Not very good, right? But first, we figure in level bonuses, which come out to 9 (Anita is lvl 5, Michelle is level 8, Maggie is level 9) meaning we make one big PAPER check and roll a 1d20 die in an attempt to get 10 or less. (50% chance) If Maggie, Anita, and Michelle try to aim a little lower, giving the dragon an AC of 4, and 1d8 damage in a strike, their final PAPER check rises to 15 or less.
Further Notes:
I do not own Read Or Die, and this is not a product/promotion or anything for sale. It's just for fun, for personal use (in games and such) only.
Also: if you're a player, it is always a good idea to talk with your Dungeon Master or Referee about new character classes before introducing them into an existing game. If you thought this class was interesting, however, or even if you just want to see more character classes I've created, please feel free to follow the links at the bottom of the page to check out all my other RPG friendly classes. Check back often-- I add new classes all the time!
