d20 Modern Conversion: The Occultist and Advanced Classes Update
This week, the next installment of the d20 Modern conversion updates the core set of advanced classes, and introduces a new advanced class to the conversion.
A driven delver into paranormal and eldritch lore, the Occultist makes a point of knowing what others do not.
The typical D&D wizard always slightly disappointed me from a mechanical perspective. They are often flavored as characters that have spent extensive time and effort researching the arcane, but this is rarely portrayed well in their mechanics in my opinion, instead coming across more as well-practiced casters rather than people that really know a lot about the supernatural. The Occultist is my attempt at coming at them from a slightly different angle, ideally to emphasise the research and lore aspects of wizardry.
The Occultist does have slightly odd casting mechanics, having to prepare spells onto scrolls before casting them, highlighting the fact that they aren't focused on casting. The wording on some of these abilities isn't quite polished yet, especially regarding the scroll casting mechanic. As it is now, I'm fairly sure it's clear how it is supposed to work, but seems a bit fiddly if I'm honest. Any recommendations on how to improve the wording are very welcome.
The Occultist has slightly strange spellcasting progression. I worked out the current slots based on the Advocate, with "Eldritch Master" and "Mystic Arcanum" removed. As is, they end up with more or less the same expected spell points per long rest as the Advocate, apart from a couple of the final levels. Arguably the Occultist is more potent, however, as they can cast upwards of 8 level 5 spells per day, however I think this is reasonably balanced by the restriction the scroll-based casting imposes.
Some of these advanced classes have received more attention here than others, and I'm certainly not finished with this set. I mostly focused on advanced classes where I could get them into an almost finished state quickly, in the aim to get as many finished up for this post. Unfortunately, that means the classes with the most work needed, like the Techie, got the least time here. I'll probably revise these advanced classes separately in a future post.
A list of the major changes is in the document.
The Occultist
This advanced class is for use with my modern base classes.
A driven delver into paranormal and eldritch lore, the Occultist makes a point of knowing what others do not.
The typical D&D wizard always slightly disappointed me from a mechanical perspective. They are often flavored as characters that have spent extensive time and effort researching the arcane, but this is rarely portrayed well in their mechanics in my opinion, instead coming across more as well-practiced casters rather than people that really know a lot about the supernatural. The Occultist is my attempt at coming at them from a slightly different angle, ideally to emphasise the research and lore aspects of wizardry.
The Occultist does have slightly odd casting mechanics, having to prepare spells onto scrolls before casting them, highlighting the fact that they aren't focused on casting. The wording on some of these abilities isn't quite polished yet, especially regarding the scroll casting mechanic. As it is now, I'm fairly sure it's clear how it is supposed to work, but seems a bit fiddly if I'm honest. Any recommendations on how to improve the wording are very welcome.
The Occultist has slightly strange spellcasting progression. I worked out the current slots based on the Advocate, with "Eldritch Master" and "Mystic Arcanum" removed. As is, they end up with more or less the same expected spell points per long rest as the Advocate, apart from a couple of the final levels. Arguably the Occultist is more potent, however, as they can cast upwards of 8 level 5 spells per day, however I think this is reasonably balanced by the restriction the scroll-based casting imposes.
The document on GM Binder: The Occultist
Base Advanced Classes
I really need to think of a better name for this set of advanced classes. The issue is that "advanced classes" is already a bit of a mouthful. Ah well, hopefully everyone knows what I mean. These Advanced Classes are the basic set presented in d20 Modern except for 2: Soldier, Martial Artist, Gunslinger, Infiltrator, Daredevil, Bodyguard, Investigator, Personality, Negotiator, and Field Scientist. Two of the core set have been left out of this update: the Techie and the Medic. These two need a much more significant rework than just a bit of polish, so I'm going to fix them up separately as their own project.Some of these advanced classes have received more attention here than others, and I'm certainly not finished with this set. I mostly focused on advanced classes where I could get them into an almost finished state quickly, in the aim to get as many finished up for this post. Unfortunately, that means the classes with the most work needed, like the Techie, got the least time here. I'll probably revise these advanced classes separately in a future post.
A list of the major changes is in the document.
The document on GM Binder: d20 Modern Advanced Classes
Honestly, I'd meant to work on this advanced class update more than I have, but hashing out all the details for the Occultist took much longer than I expected and in the end I just ran out of time. That's your lot for this week I guess. Not totally sure what the next update will be, but I have some pretty neat ideas for a little ruleset for D&D that isn't strictly tied to the conversion, but should be useful and a lot of fun for certain settings. See you then!
Honestly, I'd meant to work on this advanced class update more than I have, but hashing out all the details for the Occultist took much longer than I expected and in the end I just ran out of time. That's your lot for this week I guess. Not totally sure what the next update will be, but I have some pretty neat ideas for a little ruleset for D&D that isn't strictly tied to the conversion, but should be useful and a lot of fun for certain settings. See you then!
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