Body and Spirit - Strangelight’s Bouncer and Caller Classes
From the pen of agent, Matt Goetz
Prospective Bouncers and Callers, step forward! Today, I’m going to be introducing you to the tricks and tools of your trades.
Bouncers, we’ll start off light with 30 minutes on the heavy bags before we break off into two-person sparring bouts. Callers, I have a disembodied spirit from the containment levels that’ll be released shortly. First one to pinpoint its location and return to me with its name gets the rest of the day off.
The Bouncer and Caller are two of the new classes you’ll find in the Strangelight Workshop. While both classes perform vital roles within a team of agents, their specialisations couldn’t be further apart. One specialises in matters of the physical world, while the other deals with the realm of the spirit.
The Bouncer is your team’s muscle in more ways than one. Similar to the traditional 5e Fighter class, the Bouncer’s job is to protect the team against physical threats, whether they are angry gang members, hostile city watch officers, or a citizen controlled by a ghostly force, sent as a wicked puppet against the team.
The Bouncer is, first and foremost, a defensive fighter. Many of the class's core abilities grant benefits to help keep opponents away from the other members of a Strangelight Workshop team, impede their attacks, or interfere with their ability to move.
The Bouncer has three specialisations: the Blockader, the Pugilist, and the Brawler. Blockaders double down on defensive skills, with extra options to deflect or intercept attacks intended for your allies. The Pugilist leans more on the offensive side of the Bouncer’s abilities, adding some dirty tricks to your fighting style. The Brawler is the subclass with the most spectacle, granting numerous grappling and throwing techniques that are sure to make any attacker hesitate to get near you. Nobody wants to be bodyslammed into the cobblestones.
The Bouncer isn’t expected to need much in the way of equipment and has the most straightforward tools of any member of a Strangelight Workshop team. Aside from a pair of goggles, the most complex tool most Bouncers can expect to use is a trusty, charged baton — a sturdy and reliable weapon that adds a galvanic spark to each attack.
In contrast to the Bouncer, the Caller class is all about matters of the spirit. Callers are empathetic individuals who are particularly receptive to the spiritual energies of ghosts and spectres. Many of them had a near-death experience, or were close to someone who passed on after a period of prolonged suffering. This allows the Callers to hear whispers from the void, which they can enhance by cutting off their other senses with a “ghost hood,” a head covering that blocks out the Caller’s other senses and helps enhance their sixth sense.
One of the core abilities of the Caller is Spectral Resonance, which represents your sixth sense for the supernatural. If something not of the natural world is nearby, a Caller gets a growing sense of unease. When combined with the Caller’s specialised hood, they can pinpoint the presence. On top of that, Callers gain Spirit Boons, which allow you to customise your Caller with a wide variety of different benefits. Of all traditional 5e classes, the Caller is closest to the Warlock in design, with the addition of abilities allowing you to commune with spirits and (hopefully) convince them to pass on to the other side peacefully.
The Caller’s specialisations enhance different aspects of their unique abilities. The Exorcist excels at forcing entities to pass on. Meanwhile, the Medium is the best at communicating with the otherworldly. The Reader is the most perceptive and thoughtful of the three, using intelligence and enhanced perception to unravel the mysteries of unknown forces in the Iron Kingdoms.
The role of the Caller is a vital one in a Strangelight Workshop team, but they’re often the most vulnerable. They draw the attention of the supernatural, work best when fighting blind, and don’t have much in the way of physical skill. Fortunately, they trade this for a staggeringly powerful strength of spirit, a diverse toolbox of abilities, and a team member whose job is to keep them safe — the Jammer.
Check back next time as we move from Body and Spirit to Brains and Brawn — the Investigator and the Jammer.
Pre-order The Strangelight Workshop now and begin your otherworldly adventure.
The Strangelight Workshop roleplaying game allows you to fully explore every darkened corner of the Iron Kingdoms setting, every complicated aspect of a secret society devoted to explaining the unexplainable, and offers you a 5e compatible RPG experience unlike any other!
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