New Class: The Mad Scientist

Tags

Castles & Crusades, Gothic Romance, Gothick, Weird Fantasy

Introducing the Mad Scientist, a class for all those who want to wield items of strange science, and control horrible monsters. The class is slanted towards replicating Mad Scientists in the Gothic mold, such as Victor Frankenstein, or Doctor Henry Jekyll. It could definitely be used to add a touch of science-fiction to a fantasy Campaign, however. Naturally, the class makes a great NPC villain. Muwahahaha!

MAD SCIENTIST
A creator of mad inventions, and commander of monstrous servants.

The Mad Scientist is a master of nature’s dark corners, a transgressor of boundaries, and a relentless pursuer of his own bizarre truth. Heedless of the consequences feared by the timid, he boldly investigates the fabric of reality itself. With such knowledge he creates inventions unknown to the common folk. He even claims as his servants the abominations that haunt the nightmares of ordinary men. He is unconcerned that other think him mad and dangerous. He considers the scorn of the common man as proof of his own greatness.

The science employed by Mad Science is highly idiosyncratic. Others who try to study the Mad Scientist’s notes and journals will often find them incomprehensible. Each Mad Scientist is convinced that he has uncovered great unknown truths. Mad Scientists go beyond simply studying nature – they twist the laws of nature until they break

Mad Scientists are known for the Mad Inventions they create, and the Monstrous Servants they command. Sometimes, his servants are deformed people, and wild beasts he has bent to his will. Often, such servants are actually hybrid abominations created in the laboratory. In fact, it is the creation of new life forms that often brings the greatest anger down upon the head of the Mad Scientist. He will often find himself the target of vicious persecution for daring to “play god”.

Mad Scientists and Magicians have much in common, although each considers the world-view of the other to be fundamentally flawed. Clerics and Paladins, on the other hand, are usually quite hostile to Mad Scientists (and even to science of the ordinary sort). Grave Robbers are often in the employ of Mad Scientists, willingly or not. Demon Hunters frequently target Mad Scientists and their Monstrous Servants.

Humans and Gnomes form the bulk of Mad Scientists. Elves consider the path to be abominable, while Dwarves do not understand or appreciate the Mad Scientist’s unconventional views. Halflings are likely to be among the peasants storming a Mad Scientist’s liar to punish him for his unnatural misdeeds! Among the semi-human Freak races, Nephilim are particularly likely to become Mad Scientists, as the idea of transcending natural limits resonates well with them. Worst of all are Vampyre Mad Scientists, who often specialize in the revivification of corpses.

Mad Scientists can be of any Alignment, although they are seldom very religious. Although evil Mad Scientists are the subject of numerous tales, most are actually Neutral in moral outlook, neither Good nor Evil. Of course, the utterly mad tend to blur the usual boundaries of Alignments.

ABILITIES

SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE (Intelligence): Although they are insane, Mad Scientists still possess vast knowledge in many fields, including Mathematics, Medicine, Biology, Astronomy, Geology, Optics, Metallurgy, and Physics.

• Whenever the mad Scientist encounters a problem where Scientific Knowledge might be of use, he can make an Intelligence check to remember some useful bit of information.
• Likewise, the Mad Scientist can attempt to solve complex mathematics problems with an Intelligence Check.
• A Mad Scientist can also use his Scientific Knowledge to properly identify natural substances and materials.
• The CK should keep in mind the general technological development of his Campaign World when adjudicating the limits of the Mad Scientist’s Scientific Knowledge. For example, a Mad Scientist in a medieval setting might “know” that disease is caused by an imbalance of the four natural “humors” in the body, and that it needs to be cured with bloodletting!
• The Mad Scientist’s Scholarly Knowledge extends only to the natural world. Unlike a Demon Hunter, he has no special knowledge of supernatural creatures or substances.

MAD INVENTIONS: A Mad Invention is an item of strange science, similar in many respects to the enchanted items created by Magicians. Every Level, a Mad Scientist chooses to gain either a new Mad Invention, or a new Monstrous Servant, but not both.

• A Mad Invention replicates the powers of a magical item, but may have a different form. For example, the Mad Scientist may invent a spyglass with the powers of a Gem of Seeing.
• A Mad Invention only function for the users specified by the Mad Scientist. Nobody else will ever be able to make one work. Mad Inventions continue to function for their intended recipients even if such people are under the influence of magic such as Polymorph, Shapechange, or Alter Ego.
• Mad Inventions do not have magical auras, although if they are weapons they can hit creatures usually only harmed by magic. In Campaigns that employ Psionics, a Mad Scientist’s inventions might be detected as Psionic in nature.

• At 1st Level, a Mad Scientist who has chosen a Mad Invention in lieu of a Monstrous Servant can posses an item with a value up to 750 gold pieces. Examples: Potion of Alter Ego, Potion of Giant Strength, Potion of Invisibility.
• At 2^nd Level, a new Mad Invention can be worth up to 1,250 gold pieces. Examples: Sleeping Potion, Potion of Healing, Dagger +1.
• At 3^rd Level, the gold piece value can be up to 2,500 gp. Examples: Ring of Animal Friendship, Ring of Feather Falling, Ring of Jumping.
• At 4^th Level, 5,000 gp. Examples: Ointment of Transformation, Pistol +2, Ring of Sustenance.
• At 5^th Level, 7,500 gp. Examples: Ring of Force Shield, Ring of Mind Shielding.
• At 6^th Level, 10,000 gp. Examples: Brazen Head, Rapier +3, Dust of Appearance, Rod of Negation, Periapt of Health.
• At 7^th Level, 12,500 gp. Examples: Potion of Longevity, Wand of Magic Missiles.
• At 8^th Level, 15,000 gp. Example: Cube of Frost Resistance .
• At 9^th Level, 17,500 gp. Examples: Musket +4, Cloak of Displacement, Gem of Seeing, Periapt of Wound Closure, Horn of Blasting.
• At 10^th Level, 20,000 gp. Example: Amulet of the Planes.
• At 11^th Level, 22,500 gp. Example: Helm of Teleportation.
• At 12^th Level, 25,000 gp. Example: Sword +5, Ring of Energy Resistance.
• At 13^th Level, 27,500 gp. Example: Wand of Levitation.
• The Mad Scientist is assumed to create his Mad Inventions between scenarios. The invention process can be role-played if desired, but does not need to be. The player and CK should collaborate to come up with a Mad Invention that will be suitable both for the character, and the Campaign as a whole.
• Single-use or charged items are assumed to be recreated or re-charged between scenarios, provided the Mad Scientist can revisit his laboratory. The exceptions are items that Malfunction (see below). Such items are lost and cannot be restored, until the Mad Scientist gains a new Level and can reformulate them.

MONSTROUS SERVANTS: A Monstrous Servant is a creature that serves the Mad Scientist, as a henchmen, guard, pet, or slave. Every Level, a Mad Scientist chooses to gain either a new Monstrous Servant, or a new Mad Invention, but never both. The Monstrous Servant can be of any Intelligence inferior to the Mad Scientist’s, and any Type except Extraplaner, Fey, or Elemental.

• Mad Scientists acquire their Monstrous Servants in a variety of ways. Some are creatures who have been captured and trained. Others are Freaks who have been lured with the promise of shelter, acceptance and protection. Often, the Mad Scientist’s Monstrous Servant is created in a lab, through unnatural cross-breeding, outrageous chemical processes, or even blasphemous experimentation in the reanimation of the dead! Many of the monsters that infect the world are said to have been created by Mad Scientists, but later escaped into the wild and bred.
• A Monstrous Servant will respond to commands from the Mad Scientist, to the limits of its Intelligence.
• A Monstrous Servant serves until it is killed, or goes into Rebellion (see below). Non-intelligent Servants never rebel, but neither can they be truly controlled – the Mad Scientist simply knows how to avoid having them attack himself.
• A Mad Scientist still retains power over all his living Monstrous Servants when he gains a new one.
• At 1st Level, a Mad Scientist who starts play with a Monstrous Servant instead of possessing a Mad Invention can have one with a Base XP value (excluding any extra XP’s awarded per hit point) up to 7. Examples: Goblin, Deformed Human, Muscaliet, Orc.
• At 2^nd Level, a Monstrous Servant acquired can have a Base XP value up to 15. Examples: Zombie, Jaculus, Lizardman, Giant Frog, (Small) Giant Spider, Stirge, Wolf.
• At 3^rd Level, the Base XP value can be up to 30. Examples: Crocodile, Great Ape, Hippogriff, Homonculus, Ghoul, Shark, Giant Tick.
• At 4^th Level, 60. Examples: Amphisbaena, Ogre, Giant Lizard, Gray Ooze, Scitalis, (Medium) Giant Spider, Swamp Ape, Worg.
• At 5^th Level, 120. Examples: Boreyne, Deathworm, Goatsucker, Werewolf, Green Slime, Pine Devil, Pseudodragon, Giant Toad.
• At 6^th Level, 180. Examples: Gargoyle, Gelatinous Cube, Owlbear, Mermecolion, Rust Monster, Tiger.
• At 7^th Level, 270. Examples: Ankheg, Cerebrovore Zombie, Ettercap, Flesh Golem, Owlman, (Large) Giant Spider.
• At 8^th Level, 375. Examples: Alphyn, Assassin Vine, Otyugh, Minotaur, Monkeyman, Ochre Jelly, Opinicus, River Troll
• At 9^th Level, 600. Examples: Hill Giant, 5-Headed Hydra.
• At 10^th Level, 900. Examples: Dragonne, Remorhaz, Gorgon.
• At 11^th Level, 1,125. Examples: Roper, Shambling Mound.
• At 12^th Level, 1,375. Examples: Chimera, 8-Headed Hydra, Hill Troll
• At 13^th Level, 1,800. Examples: Bulette, Black Pudding.
• The Mad Scientist is assumed to acquire his Monstrous Servants between scenarios. The acquisition process can be role-played if desired, but does not need to be. The player and CK should collaborate to come up with a Monstrous Servant that will be suitable both for the character, and the Campaign as a whole.
• The Mad Scientist creates creatures like Flesh Golems using unique methods, different from the procedures used by spell casters. The technique used by a Mad Scientist to create a monster cannot be replicated by other characters – or even often by himself!
• A Mad Scientist does not possess immunity to the attacks of his own Monstrous Servants.
• Mad Scientists receive a full share of Experience Points for the actions of their Monstrous Servants.
• Naturally, Mad Scientists who command monsters in sight of ordinary people are likely to be later visited by a mob of peasants armed with pitchforks and torches. Additionally, traveling with a monster such as a Otyugh can be problematic at best. Most types of Monstrous Servants are best employed in defense of the Mad Scientist’s lair.

LABORATORY: It is assumed that a Mad Scientist either owns, or has access to, a proper Laboratory. The Mad Scientist’s Laboratory may also be his lair. Even if the facilities don’t have actual living quarters, Mad Scientists are known to sleep and eat in their Laboratories.

• Unless the player specifies otherwise, a Mad Scientist is assumed to spend the time in-between scenarios in his Laboratory, conducting bizarre experiments.

• If a Mad Scientist loses access to a proper Laboratory, he will be unable to create or recharge Mad Inventions, or acquire new Monstrous Servants.
• Establishing an adequate new Laboratory costs 100 gp per level of the Mad Scientist.
• A Mad Scientist will prefer a Laboratory inside the forbidden tower of a dark castle, located in a secret part of the sewers, hidden behind a false wall of his mansion, secreted deep inside a cavern, standing within the caldera of a dormant volcano, surrounded by primeval jungle, or in any other suitably melodramatic setting.

WEAKNESSES:

INVENTION MALFUNCTION (Intelligence): The science used by Mad Scientists is based on truly bizarre theories, and does not reflect sane thought processes. Consequentially, the Mad Inventions born of such science are not entirely stable.

• The first time an Invention is used in a scenario, the Mad Scientist who created it must make an Intelligence check. The challenge Level of the check is the minimum Level at which the Mad Scientist could have created the Invention. For example, when the Mad Scientist uses his Potion of Healing, he makes a CL 2 Intelligence Check. The first time he uses his Helm of Teleportation during a scenario, he must make a CL 11 Intelligence Check.
• If the Check succeeds, the items functions correctly for the remainder of the scenario.
• If the Check fails, it indicates that the Mad Scientist made a mistake during the creation of the item. The item will Malfunction for that use, and every use thereafter.
• Every time a Malfunctioning item is used, the Mad Scientist must roll on the Invention Malfunction Table.
• Malfunctioning items were made with fundamental errors in their underlying formulas. They cannot be remade or recharged until the Mad Scientist gains a New Level. Remaking or recharging a Malfunctioning item counts as creating an entirely new Mad Invention.
• A CK can rule that the initial Mad Invention created at 1^st Level won’t Malfunction.

Invention Malfunctions (d6)

1. Item functions normally.

2. Item does nothing

3. Item functions, but inflicts 1d6 points of damage (due to poisoning, explosion, etc.)

4. Item backfires, inflicting its effect on the user (if it was meant for another), or some random nearby person (if the effect was meant to be personal). In the case of a potion, it has the reverse of the intended effect.

6. Item functions, but emits smoke or fumes equal to Stinking Cloud. In the case of a potion, the cloud will be emitted from the person’s orifices.

SERVANT REBELLION (Charisma): Mad Scientists are skilled at bending monsters and Freaks to their will. Nonetheless, such Monstrous Servants occasionally rebel against their master, sometimes with truly disastrous results.

• Whenever a Monstrous Servant with measurable Intelligence is ordered to put its life in danger for the Mad Scientist, or ordered to do something wholly against its nature, it might rebel. A Monstrous Servant does not rebel if it decides to enter combat on its own initiative.
• The Mad Scientist makes a Charisma check (adding his own Level of course), with a Challenge Level equal to the Hit Dice of the potentially Rebellious Servant.
• If the Check Succeeds, the Servant falls into line and obeys.
• If the Charisma check fails, the Servant break free of control, and follows its own nature. Usually, this means it will attack the Mad Scientist, like the monster that it is.
• The Mad Scientist is entitled to made another Charisma Check each round to regain control of a Rebellious Servant, but only if he takes no other actions (including defending himself from any attacks.)
• If a Rebellious Servant escapes from the Mad Scientist, and remains escaped for a whole day, all possibility of controlling the creature in the future is lost. Note that Monstrous Servants who are not in Rebellion can be left alone for as long as the Mad Scientist wants.
• Completely unintelligent Monstrous Servants (such as Gray Oozes) never rebel, because they can’t actually be ordered to do anything in particular.

EXPENSES: Being a Mad Scientist is a drain on a person’s resources. There are chemicals to purchase, glassware to replace, monsters to feed, torture chambers to stock, corpses to acquire…

• A Mad Scientist must spend a minimum of 50 gp per month, per Level, to create and maintain his Mad Inventions and Monstrous Servants. The amount is in addition to the usual amounts needed for personal upkeep. A 10^th Level Mad Scientist must therefore spend an additional 500 gp per month, on top of the usual living expenses.
• If a Mad Scientist fails to meet his Expenses, he will be unable to create new Inventions (or recharge limited-use ones), and all his Monstrous Servants will rebel and turn against him.

INSANITY (Wisdom): As indicated by their name, all Mad Scientists suffer from some kind of mental disorder. The insanity is both a debility, and a likely source of the Mad Scientist’s genius.

• The player must specify what form of insanity the Mad Scientist suffers from. He can specify a real-world disorder, such as Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, or Bipolar Disorder, or create an entirely new and flavorful form of madness. Mad Scientists are often haunted by memories of deceased loved ones, convinced they can somehow “perfect” humanity, or plagued by unhealthy obsessions with specific bodily functions.
• The player should pick a disorder that he is prepared to role-play properly. The CK should not try to force the character into actions against the player’s wishes, however. Of course, if the Mad Scientist hears voices, it’s the CK’s job to speak as those voices!
• The CK may allow the Mad Scientist a Wisdom check to temporarily overcome his Insanity, in situations where it might be necessary.
• If a Mad Scientist is ever fully cured of his Insanity, he loses all special powers except his Scholarly Knowledge, becoming an Everyman Scientist of the same Level.

PRIME ATTRIBUTE: Intelligence

HIT DICE: d4

ALIGNMENT: Any

WEAPONS: Blowpipe, Bomb, Cat-O-Nine-Tails, Club, Crossbow (hand), Crossbow (light), Dagger, Grenade, Knife, Pistol, Lasso, Mancatcher, Musket, Net, Quarterstaff, Whip

ARMOR: None

ABILITIES: Scientific Knowledge, Mad Inventions, Monstrous Servants, Laboratory

WEAKNESSES: Invention Malfunction, Servant Rebellion, Expenses, Insanity

Level	Hit Dice	Basic To-Hit Bonus	Experience Points
1	d4	+0	0
2	d4	+1	2,251
3	d4	+1	5,001
4	d4	+1	9,001
5	d4	+1	18,001
6	d4	+2	35,001
7	d4	+2	70,001
8	d4	+2	140,001
9	d4	+2	300,001
10	d4	+3	425,001
11	+1 HP	+3	650,001
12	+1 HP	+3	900,001
13+			+250,000 per level