Building A Profession

Now that you know who your character is, it’s time to determine what they do. Rather than asking you to pick from a large list of classes, subclasses, or professions, Exterminis: Reign of Destruction keeps things much simpler. There are four “archetypes” to choose from Warrior, Mage, Rogue, and Priest. Think of these archetypes as broad umbrella categories for the specific classes you might find in other games.

Wizards, Witches, Warlocks, Sorcerers, Illusionists, and Magic Users of all flavors fall under the broad umbrella of Mages. Likewise, Knights, Barbarians, Swashbucklers, Rangers, Martial Artists, and Tavern Brawlers are all different flavors of Warriors. Thieves, Assassins, Pirates, and the like are all different types of Rogues; and Clerics, Necromancers, Monks, and charlatans are all different kinds of Priests.

What sets one hero apart from another are their Magical Talent, their Focus, and their Armaments.

Magical Talents

The main difference that distinguishes the four archetypes from each other is their Magical Talent. All four archetypes use Akasha, but they use it in very distinctive ways. The way that each archetype uses Akasha is called their Magical Talent.

Warriors use Akasha to Smite their foes in combat. When a Warrior hits an opponent with a physical attack, they can spend Akasha to increase the damage. Each Akasha allows the Warrior to add an additional 1d6 to the damage roll.

Mages use Akasha to cast magical spells. Damaging spells deal 1d6 wounds per Akasha spent, while healing spells heal 1d6 wounds per Akasha spent. Mages can also change themselves, other people, objects, or the environment around them by spending Akasha.

Rogues use Akasha to Vanish. While Vanished, Rogues are magically invisible and silent. Rogues can vanish for 1 turn per Akasha spent.

Priests use Akasha to summon and control minions to do their bidding. 

Areas of Focus

Choose two of the following eight areas of focus. One will be your character’s primary area of focus…the thing they do better than anything else. The other will be their secondary area of focus…the other thing they’re good at. When using your character’s primary area of focus, you add a +3 bonus to your roll. When using your character’s secondary area of focus, you add a +1 bonus to your roll.

Physical Attack: Using weapons, unarmed strikes, grapples, or improvised weapons to attack a target.

Physical Defense: Avoiding damage by blocking or dodging; or absorbing damage by being incredibly tough.

Spellcasting: Using Akasha to cast magical spells that heal, harm, or change a target. If you want to cast spells, you must choose this as your primary or secondary area of focus.

Magic Resistance: Avoiding the effects of magical spells.

Stealth: Moving silently and hiding in shadows in the hopes of remaining undetected.

Perception: Noticing when “things aren’t right” or detecting someone trying to use Stealth.

Social Influence: Using charm, guile, deception, intimidation, or flattery to persuade others. Also used to summon and control weak minded creatures. If you want to summon and control minions, you must choose this as your primary or secondary area of focus.

Social Defense: Resisting the charm of others.

Arms and Armor

There are four types of weapons. When you first create your character, you choose one type for your character to use. When you reach 5th level, you can choose a second type, or give yourself an additional +2 bonus to attacks using your first chosen type. At 10th level, you can choose a third type, or give yourself an additional +2 bonus to attacks using your first chosen type.

Small Weapons: Daggers, knives, bare fists, brass knuckles, etc. Small weapons cause 1d4 wounds on a successful attack. Characters with a Speed score of 5 or higher can attack twice per turn when using small weapons. Attacks using small weapons are modified by Agility.

Medium Weapons: Swords, maces, morning stars, hammers, and almost all one-handed weapons. Medium weapons cause 1d8 wounds on a successful attack. Attacks using medium weapons are modified by Strength.

Large Weapons: Great swords, great axes, polearms, lances, etc. Large weapons cause 1d12 wounds on a successful attack. Attacks using large weapons are modified by Strength. To use large weapons, the character must have a minimum Strength score of 5. Large weapons require two inventory slots.

Ranged Weapons: Thrown weapons, bows, crossbows. Ranged weapons can be used to attack targets at near or far range. Ranged weapons cause 1d6 wounds on a successful attack. Attacks using ranged weapons are modified by Agility.

Armor

Armor Points are added to the number of wounds a character can take before dying. When a character wearing armor gets hit by a physical attack, they can deduct the damage from either their Armor Points or their Health Points. They can also split the damage between the two. When armor is reduced to 0 (zero) Armor Points, it is destroyed and must be repaired by a qualified blacksmith before being used again.

Unarmored Defense: Characters who choose to not wear any armor receive a +4 bonus to Perception checks and Physical Defense checks.

Light Armor:

Made from supple and thin materials, Light armor favors agile heroes since it offers some protection without sacrificing mobility. Light armor provides 10 armor points. Characters wearing light armor receive a +4 bonus to Sealth checks.

Padded: Padded Armor consists of quilted layers of cloth and batting.

Leather: The Breastplate and shoulder protectors of this armor are made of leather that has been stiffened by being boiled in oil. The rest of the armor is made of softer and more flexible materials.

Studded Leather: Made from tough but flexible leather, studded leather is reinforced with close-set rivets or spikes.

Medium Armor:

Medium Armor offers more protection than Light Armor, but it also impairs movement more. Medium Armor provides 20 armor points but incurs a -2 penalty to Stealth and Perception checks.

Hid⁠e: This crude armor consists of thick furs and pelts. It is commonly worn by Barbarian tribes, evil Humanoids, and other folk who lack access to the tools and materials needed to create better armor.

Chain⁠ S⁠hirt: Made of interlocking metal rings, a chain shirt is worn between layers of clothing or leather. This armor offers modest protection to the wearer’s upper body and allows the sound of the rings rubbing against one another to be muffled by outer layers.

Scale M⁠ail: This armor consists of a coat and leggings (and perhaps a separate skirt) of leather covered with overlapping pieces of metal, much like the scales of a fish. The suit includes gauntlets.

Breastp⁠late: This armor consists of a fitted metal chest piece worn with supple leather. Although it leaves the legs and arms relatively unprotected, this armor provides good Protection for the wearer’s vital organs while leaving the wearer relatively unencumbered.

Half⁠ Plate: Half plate consists of shaped metal plates that cover most of the wearer’s body. It does not include leg protection beyond simple greaves that are attached with leather straps.

Heavy Armor:

Of all the armor categories, heavy armor offers the best protection. These suits of armor cover the entire body and are designed to stop a wide range of attacks. Heavy armor provides 30 Armor Points but incurs a –4 penalty to Stealth and Perception checks. In addition, characters wearing heavy armor can’t swim or cast spells. Characters must have a minimum Strength score of 5 to wear heavy armor.

Ring⁠ Mail: This armor is leather armor with heavy rings sewn into it. The rings help reinforce the armor against blows from swords and axes. Ring mail is inferior to chain mail, and it’s usually worn only by those who can’t afford better armor.

Chain⁠ Mail: Made of interlocking metal rings, chain mail includes a layer of quilted fabric worn underneath the mail to prevent chafing and to cushion the impact of blows. The suit includes gauntlets.

Splint: This armor is made of narrow vertical strips of metal riveted to a backing of leather that is worn over cloth padding. Flexible chain mail protects the joints.

Plate: Plate consists of shaped, interlocking metal plates to cover the entire body. A suit of plate includes gauntlets, heavy leather boots, a visored helmet, and thick layers of padding underneath the armor. Buckles and straps distribute the weight over the body.