Victorious Classes

[DMMike]

Good Gentlemen and Ladies,

I have recently been considering the current list of classes in Victorious. To wit;

Contraptionist
Hypnotist
Inquiry Agent
Magician
Paragon
Radiant
Strongarm
Vigilante

In this regard, it was brought to my attention that some sort of "Big Game Hunter" (a la Alan Quartermain or Sebastian Moran) class would work well in the Victorious genre.

So, I ask the opinions of the fine readers of this forum for their opinions. What do you think about this class? Are there any others you feel would fit the Steampunk/Victorian era that are not described in the prior list?

My thanks in advance for your consideration,

GM Michael

[Buttmonkey]

I am not really well-versed in the Victorian era, but some ideas that jump out at me include:

• A naturalist. Somebody who goes on lots of hiking trips into the wilderness, collects animal and plant specimens, and bird watches. Not sure how playable that would be.
• A politician.
• An artist. This could include things like painters, writers, and actors.
• A scientist. I assume your contraptionist covers PCs who devise steampunk technological devices (time machines, jet blimps, etc.). The Victorian era had scientific Renaissance men and women. A scientist could be skilled at pure scientific research without the practical skills of the contraptionist. Thus, a scientist would have broad knowledge in physics, chemistry, electromagnetism, biology, geology, etc., but probably couldn't construct a ray gun.

[Lurker]

Well, a while back when I started chasing all the 'grim' rabbits you mentioned adding a burglar type class. That or some other flavor of a rogue would fit somewhere in the setting, grim or otherwise. Oh yeah, you mentioned a monster hunter then too and that could work. It could fit you 'big game hunter' in a pinch though.

For other classes, .... I don't know. I can picture a lot of characters (for lack of a better word) but not classes. Things like a dandy/fop/socialite, anarchist, an explorer - going into darkest Africa or the poles, I just got a flash of Conrad's 'Heart of Darkness' for some reason, a soldier, a doctor, a priest/parson/preacher, .... I don't know what, if any class is needed for any of them or if you could make a character out of an existing class that fits them.

[Relaxo]

Does gunslinger or swashbucker make any sense?

[Rhuvein]

Does gunslinger or swashbucker make any sense?

Yeah, I was trying to think of a Victorian seafaring character ~ and so, swashbuckler seems appropriate.

[Rhuvein]

What about a cricket player/assassin type. I'm sure that must have been typical in this time period!

[Relaxo]

and teh obligatory chulhoid thingy!

[DMMike]

Well, a while back when I started chasing all the 'grim' rabbits you mentioned adding a burglar type class. That or some other flavor of a rogue would fit somewhere in the setting, grim or otherwise. Oh yeah, you mentioned a monster hunter then too and that could work. It could fit you 'big game hunter' in a pinch though."

Yeah, a "Criminal" could work (though "Rogueery" is also a skill). Perhaps a generic "Hunter" class that can then be tweaked to cover Big Game, Monsters, etc.

For other classes, .... I don't know. I can picture a lot of characters (for lack of a better word) but not classes. Things like a dandy/fop/socialite, anarchist, an explorer - going into darkest Africa or the poles, I just got a flash of Conrad's 'Heart of Darkness' for some reason, a soldier, a doctor, a priest/parson/preacher, .... I don't know what, if any class is needed for any of them or if you could make a character out of an existing class that fits them.

These seem to be more professions than classes, except perhaps the Soldier. I will ponder more...

Thanks to all!

Mike

[DMMike]

Hm. certainly the former but "Swashbuckler" implies 17th century to me. Not saying such a class (especially air pirates) wouldn't work well...I'll dig up a thesaurus and see if I can come up with a more 19th century evocative term.

What about a cricket player/assassin type. I'm sure that must have been typical in this time period!

I read this and my first thought was of Shawn in "Shawn of the Dead"?

GM Mike

[serleran]

I would, given the rise of the circus and side-show, encourage something along the lines of Freak or Geek... or perhaps just Exhibit. The possibilities are essentially limitless in a setting with superpowers and potential mutants.

[serleran]

Also, if looking for a more traditional Euro/UK theme, maybe include some sort of Bushman or Tribal PC type. Zulu!

[DMMike]

Hm. Sort of a general barbarian-style class. That would be interesting. Perhaps a "Frontiersman" or something similar, which could cover a Zulu warrior, an Apache scout, or a Polynesian Maori.

GM Michael

[Arduin]

I don't think that a Hunter as a class would work any better than it would in C&C. Rangers & Barbarians are hunters as a just a teeny, tiny part of their class. Most professions will NOT be Classes too.

[lobocastle]

At this time I would not add any other classes to the main RPG product. Yes, I like to see different character classes, but your system to date is based on the eight classes that you have play tested. One approach could be to suggest ways to modify C&C classes for Victorious like the Ranger, Rogue, and Assassin. The classes from Amazing Adventures (AA) are quite portable for Victorious. The Raider Class is a lot like an Indiana Jones character, which could be a Naturalist. In addition, the AA classes of Socialite, Gumshoe, Mentalist, and Hooligan can be added.

[DMMike]

Hm. I do like "Hooligan" though. You could have a point, as I do intend on doing up some optional rules compilations ...either through TLG or just self-published.

GM Michael

[Jason Vey]

FYI, folks, in the Amazing Adventures Companion I have Acrobat, Feral (Tarzan), Archer, Duelist, Gunslinger, Soldier, and Pirate character classes. There will be some overlap between Victorious and AA, as AA is designed to be a toolkit to cover every genre of pulp (which includes things like a certain swashbuckling Puritan Swordsman created by Robert E. Howard as well as The Three Musketeers, Weird West, Science Fantasy, Planetary Romance, Cosmic Horror, etc.) I'm likely going to try to largely steer clear of Steampunk Victoriana to leave that to Victorious to cover, but there you have it: some classes you all have asked for, already heading to press soon!

[Lurker]

Isn't it nice when good people play well together!

[Jason Vey]

Actually, it occurs to me that a lot of stuff in the Companion could work with Victorious. There's a super powers system and an alchemy system, both based on reskinning the Gadgeteer class. There is a new twist on magic which changes the Arcanist into the Occultist and ties magic to madness and corruption. The new rules for designing Secret Societies in the second print of AA (which are expanded in the Companion) could work well with Victorious as well. I haven't seen Victorious yet, but assuming the classes were reverse-engineered the same as mine, the two games should, in theory, play VERY well together.

Also, point of order, Mike: it's "Quatermain," not "Quartermain."