DCC Class - Common-Folk

So I have a problem … and his name is Bing.

He was a hapless village idiot roped into joining a bandit gang, whom the player character heroes not only spared, gave him a shortsword and a lantern and adopted into their party.

But he’s an idiot.  A babbling idiot going on about Ostler won’t let him nap in the Inn back home, and how his ma doesn’t like him causing a ruckus or getting into fights.  But he’s a likeable idiot, so I guess he’s along for the ride …

The players are very excited he’s gaining XP, and is now ready to level up.  They can’t wait to find out if he’s going to take Warrior or Thief as a class.

Sorry folks, he’s going to be .. a 1^st level Village Idiot.

Huh?

Well, he’s an NPC and is uncomfortable fighting (although he did stab a bandit that was threatening the party cleric, which cemented the group’s loyalty to him), and isn’t smart, or brave.  He’s just a common-folk kind of fellow and wants to go back to his village at some point.  And then it occurred to me – the DCC Core Rules talk about 1^st or 2^nd level NPC farmers or merchants.  Let’s lean into that.  Let’s make a class table that has the worst attack bonuses, saving throws, or action dice of every PC class, and then let’s give them a unifying class ability that make a 2^nd or 3^rd level blacksmith somewhat useful in the world..

3^rd edition Dungeons & Dragons had in the DMG the NPC classes of Commoner, Noble, Expert, Warrior and Adept – this is like that, all rolled into one.  Each ‘class’ that the common-folk take is just a descriptive name and a selection of a group of occupation skills or limited class ability.  Merchant?  Bonus to haggling, selling, and maybe even gathering news in town.  Man-at-arms?  Bonus to attack.  Hedge Wizard?  Arcane casting and a limited number of spells.  Village Idiot?  Just Lucky and can spend their Luck 1-for-1-point and recover it.

What do you think?  I’m figuring Bing gets to be of limited use without outshining the PCs who are the same level.  Have I done right by Bing?  Drop me a note to archadethered@gmail.com.

Common-Folk Class

You are no hero.  You aren’t an adventurer, a reaver, a cutpurse, a heathen-slayer, a tight-lipped warlock guarding long-dead secrets.  You are just trying to get by in a dangerous world, survive, and find a bit of contentment. 

This is the class that common-folk take, but they might use different names for the class – man-at-arms, hedge wizard, initiate, merchant, cutpurse, farmer, or maybe even village idiot.  The name can be descriptive, but regardless all Common-Folk follow the same class rules.

Remember that Common-Folk might gain XP practicing their craft, such as 1 XP per growing season, or the equivalent as well as overcoming hardships.  Someone who has been in their profession for 10 years is likely 1^st level, or 30 years and survived a couple of wars ravaging their village might be 2^nd level.

The Judge may decide that levelled-up Common-Folk get the same benefits as a levelled Player Character for Bleeding Out or Rolling the Body – totally up to them.

Hit Points: Regardless of their occupation or class name, common-folk gain 1d4 hit points at each level.

Weapon Training: Common-folk know how to use a dagger, staff, or club, and any preferred weapon provided by their occupation.

Alignment: Common-folk come from all walks of life, and can be of any alignment.

Class Bonus: Upon achieving 1^st level, the Common-Folk NPC will pick one class ability – either an occupation to receive skill bonuses to applicable groups of skills (so farmers might have a skill bonus to grow crops, appraise animals, or predict the weather for the next day), or *one* class skill or ability.  A Cutpurse might have training and a bonus to the Pick Pocket skill, or a Spy might have Sneak and Hide, or a Village Healer might have the ability to Lay On Hands, or a Hedge Wizard might have the ability to cast idol or arcane magic.  But only one skill or class ability. 

     A Common-Folk person of military bent can use their Class Bonus instead of their regular attack bonus to hit, whichever is higher.

     If a Common-Folk takes idol or arcane magic casting, their Class Bonus is their casting bonus *and* the number of spells they know or can memorize, which is much less than a player class might have.  Their maximum spell level of spells they may know at each level is detailed in the table below.

     Common-Folk can’t take the Thief or Halfling Luck class ability as written (although they can take a simpler version called Lucky, where they can expend points of Luck for +1 bonuses, and Luck will be regained at a rate of 1 point per level).

Luck: A Common-Folk character that has a positive Luck score can add it to one of their saving throws, of their choice.

Level	Attack	Crit Die/Table	Action Dice	Class Bonus	Max Spell Level	Ref	Fort	Will
1	+0	1d6/I	1d20	+1	1	+0	+0	+0
2	+1	1d6/I	1d20	+2	1	+0	+0	+0
3	+1	1d8/I	1d20	+3	1	+1	+1	+1
4	+1	1d8/I	1d20	+4	2	+1	+1	+1
5	+2	1d10/I	1d20	+5	2	+1	+1	+1
6	+2	1d10/I	1d20+1d14	+6	2	+2	+2	+2
7	+3	1d12/I	1d20+1d16	+7	2	+2	+2	+2
8	+3	1d12/I	1d20+1d20	+8	3	+2	+2	+2
9	+4	1d14/I	1d20+1d20	+9	3	+3	+3	+3
10	+4	1d14/I	1d20+1d20	+10	3	+3	+3	+3