The Courtier
Courtier
Requirements: Minimum
DEX 13,
minimum INT 13, minimum CHA 12
Prime requisite: CHA
Hit Dice: 1d4
Armour: leather, ceremonial plate, no
shields
Weapons: Any
Courtiers, a specialized sub-class of thieves,
are members of elite society, not necessarily
members of the nobility themselves, but
capable of ingratiating themselves into
aristocratic circles. Inveterate flatterers,
schemers, and honey-tongued diplomats,
courtiers are often employed as emissaries
and ambassadors. Always plotting to
improve their own social standing,
adventuring serves the dual purpose of
raising their stature and lining their pockets
as well. Courtiers are all of Upper Middle
Class Social Standing or higher.
Courtiers must also maintain high living standards; they must spend more per month than other classes on food, lodging, and other lifestyle expenses.
Partial Thief Skills
Courtiers can use the following skills, with
the chance of success shown below. they must roll equal to or under the skill level shown.
Hear noise: In a quiet environment
(e.g. not in combat), a courtier may attempt
to listen at a door or to hear sounds of
something (e.g. a wandering monster,
approaching).
2 at lvl 1, 3 at lvl 3, 4 at lvl7, 5 at lvl 11. 6 at lvl 14.
Stealth: A courtier may attempt to sneak past enemies unnoticed or strike from the shadows.1 at lvl 1, 2 at lvl 3, 3 at lvl 6, 4 at lvl 9, 5 at lvl 11 6 at lvl 14.
Courtiers may use poison.
Courtiers may not
access the Black Market, but may know
others who can. They avoid Thieves’ Cant.
Back-Stab:
When attacking an unaware opponent from
behind, a courtier receives a +4 bonus to hit
and doubles any damage dealt.
Read Languages:
A courtier of 4th level or higher can read
non-magical text in any language (including
dead languages and basic codes) with 4 in 6
probability. If the roll does not succeed, the
courtier may not try to read that particular
text again before gaining an experience
level.
Gossip & Rumours:
Gossip is the courtier’s tool of trade.
Whenever an adventure provides a set of
rumours, in addition to any determined by
the adventure’s die roll, the courtier will hear
& know one additional rumour/level.
Legend & Lore:
Due to their extensive connections and
enthusiastic membership in gossip-circles,
from 2nd level, courtiers have a 2-in-6 chance
to have knowledge of surrounding people,
places, and things
Diplomacy:
1x / day courtiers may cause their
effective CHA to increase to 18 for 1
turn +1/level. Courtiers who already
possess 18 CHA gain an additional
+1/+5% bonus.
Taunt & Rally:To taunt is to level a volley of the most
libelous insults imaginable upon
adversarial forces. They must be able to
understand the courtier & have low
intelligence. (not a magical ability, but
mimics the effect of the taunt spell
(save vs. paralyzation). The courtier
may taunt 1 such opponent / 3 levels.
To Rally is the opposite, as the courtier
soothes & allays his allies with effluent
superlatives & compliments, exhorting
them to greater effort.
An ally that has failed morale or has
been subjected to magical fear is
immediately restored. A rallied ally in
combat gains a +1 bonus to hit and to all
saves for 3 rounds. The courtier may
rally 1 such ally/3 levels of exp.
Patronage & Stipend:
At 3rd level the courtier gains a patron.
Patrons are persons of high social
standing who take an interest in the
courtier and assist in his or her
endeavours, not without the expectation
that the courtier will further the patron’s
social aims and spread word of the
patron’s magnificence and munificence. The courtier receives a base stipend of 1,000
GP/year + 100 GP for every point of CHA
modifier/level of the courtier. For example,
a 5th level courtier with CHA 16 would
receive a base stipend of 1,700 GP. This
may be paid monthly or in other
installments as the courtier’s adventures
may take him or her far from civilized lands.
This base increases or decreases based upon
the courtier’s reputation. Vile deeds (or,
more accurately, being caught conducting
vile deeds) will reduce the base stipend by at
least half––all the way down to zero for the
darkest crimes. Conversely, being credited
with heroic deeds (whether or not accurately
earned) can double the base. The DM will
adjudicate. Note that if a patron is lost, a
quest may be in order to obtain a new one.
Beguile:
At 5th level courtiers may beguile any
creature of low intelligence, with whom they
may converse, the eloquent trickery
functioning as a suggestion spell (though
non-magical in nature). The victim saves vs.
paralyzation and suffers a +1 penalty on the
save for each point of the courtier’s CHA
modifier, if any.
Perjury:
At 7th level, the courtier gains detect lie /
undetectable lie once per day.
Castigate:
At 9th level, the courtier class gains its most
feared ability and may invoke a blistering
rebuke, unleashing a defamatory slur of such
horrifying intensity that the target must
immediately save vs. paralyzation (at +1
penalty per point of the courtier’s CHA
modifier, if any) or be stunned for 1 full
round, unable to take any action except to
defend itself. Thereafter the target suffers a
-2 penalty on all dice rolls as it recovers
from the mortal insult. For that duration,
victims are treated as if they had been
subject to a successful taunt spell. The target
must be able to see, hear, and understand the
courtier, and must have low intelligence.
Courtiers’ Hats: At character creation a Courtier gets to roll
for a special hat to begin his wardrobe. At
each level thereafter he gets an additional
roll on the hat table. At 1st level a hat
acquired may only be discarded, after a 2nd
hat has been acquired from the table. If a
hat is ever rerolled there is no new hat for
the Courtier that level.
Courtiers’ hats
01-03 Weather Hat
04-05 Hat of Direction
06-09 Hat of Madness
10-11 Hat of Affability
12-13 Hat of Sleeplessness
14-15 Hat of Holding
16-18 Diplomatic Hat
19-20 Poet’s Hat
21-22 Jester’s Cap
23-24 Hat of Cleverness
25-26 Hat of Protection
27 Temporal Matrix Hat
28-29 Ecclesiastical Hat
30-32 Hat of Hearing
33 Psionic Hat
34-37 Brewing Hat
38-39 Alpinist’s Hat
40 Hat of Counterfeiting
41-42 Hat of Charming
43 Dunce Cap
44 Taunting Hat
45-50 Hat of Self-Importance
51-52 Cartographer’s Hat
53-56 Smoker’s Hat
57-58 Lucky Hat 1
59-60 Lousy Hat
61-62 Songster’s Hat
63 Phallic Hat
64-66 Moss Dwarf Garden Hat
67-68 Scholar’s Hat
69-72 Lucky Hat 2
73-75 Hat of Reanimation
76-77 Hat of Polished Style
78-79 Hat of X-Ray Vision
80-81 Hat of Way-Making
82-85 Hat of the Linguist
86-87 Hat of Muddy Thinking
88-89 Geometer’s Hat
90-91 Carrier Pigeon Hat
92-94 Hat of Regeneration
95-97 Nice Hat worth 10gp
98-99 Fine Hat worth 30gp
100 Roll for two hats.
Courtier's hat discriptions:
01-03 Weather Hat. The wearer can predict the weather. And on
a roll of 1-2 in 6, accurately!
04-05 Hat of Directional
Sense. A Courtier wearing this hat will only
become lost in the wilderness on a roll of 1
in 6. Beneath the ground the hat allows the
wearer to maintain his bearings and to know
which direction is which.
06-09 Hat of Madness. The wearer of this hat changes alignment
each gaming session. If the player plays the
changes in alignment well the character will
receive an additional +5% bonus to earned
x.p. The wearer refuses to give up the hat. It
can only be gotten rid of through a remove
curse spell, or when levelling up and
acquireing a new hat.
10-11 Hat of Affability. This hat makes the wearer a friendly,
likeable, good-natured companion, and
increases the character’s CHA by +1 while
worn.
12-13 Hat of Perpetual
Sleeplessness. The wearer does not sleep and is always
fatigued, suffering -1 penalty to hit and
damage rolls. The wearer is ever watchful
and can never surprised at night. The hat
may only be gotten rid of through a remove
curse spell or when levelling up when a
better hat is acquired. Once the Courtier gets
rid of this hat, he must sleep for 1d12
months to recover.
14-15 Hat of Holding. This hat magically holds three equipped
items of any size without encumbering the
player.
16-18 Diplomatic Hat. The wearer of this hat gains an additional +1
to NPC reaction rolls.
19-20 Poet’s Hat.This hat infuses its wearer with fine poetic
sensitivity and skill. Roll d6: the wearer may
spend that number of days composing a
poem in honour of a patron, or (levels 1-2)
prospective patron, and upon completion of
the new poem gets that d6 roll as a
multiplier to his gold allowance (base
stipend) for that month. If the Courtier is a
level 1 or 2 character the gift of his poem
will be rewarded by the d6 roll x 100 gp.
Use may be repeated once per month.
21-22 Jester’s Cap. When the wearer of this hat enters melee
combat it causes opponents in battle
engaged with him to laugh uncontrollably,
suffering a -1 penalty to hit and damage
rolls, and giving the courtier +1 bonus to hit
and damage rolls.
23-24 Hat of Cleverness. Gives the wearer the benefit of +1 to INT
while worn.
25-26 Hat of Protection. Grants to the wearer a +1 bonus to Armour
Class. If the Courtier is hit the hat will
absorb half of the damage taken from the
blow, and is subsequently destroyed. Also
offers the wearer one Protection from evil
spell/day (identical to the 1st level Cleric
spell).
27 Temporal Matrix Hat. This hat has a sundial or hourglass or
steampunk clock attached to it. The wearer
can manipulate the gadgetry to slow time
once per day, doubling his movement rate
for 1d4 turns without penalty. In a combat
situation the wearer gets two actions per
round. All other members of the wearers
party are unaffected.
28-29 Ecclesiastical Hat. This mitre gives the wearer the ability to
speak the liturgic language of the church. It
is blessed and has a protection from evil
charm, usable once per day (identical to the
1st level Cleric spell).
30-32 Hat of Hearing. This hat grants its wearer a +1 bonus to all
hearing checks. In addition the hat will
continue to gather rumours on its own and
convey one new rumour to the wearer per
week.
33 Psionic Hat. Once per day the courtier may use ESP as the spell.
34-37 Brewing Hat. The hat when removed and overturned will
always be found to be containing a fresh
mug of strong beer. If the wearer should
drink the beer he becomes mildly
intoxicated and suffers/enjoys the following
effects: must stop to pee 1x/turn or wets
himself; CHA +1; WIS -1; (in the case of
retainers +1 Loyalty). Effects lasts for 6
turns.
38-39 Alpinist’s Hat. Grants the ability to climb sheer surface
similar to a thief of equal level as the
wearer.
40 Hat of Counterfeiting. Converts real SP to counterfeit GP. There is
always a risk of using such money (to be
determined by the DM) Capacity: the hat
may hold up to 100 coins. The hat is less
effective as it continues to be used, so that
the coins are less convincing. There is a
10% chance that the first 100 coins are
spotted as counterfeit, a 20% chance for the
2nd 100 coins etc. It’s really not a good idea
to risk using this hat for more than two or
three hundred coins.
41-42 Hat of Charming. This hat grants its wearer the power to
charm one other person, just like the 1st
level magic-user spell. It works once per day
with the following difference: if successful,
it may not be used again until the victim
makes his saving throw and breaks free of
the spell. The hat can only keep one person
at a time charmed. The spell is broken if the
hat is removed, lost, or damaged
43 Dunce Cap. A cursed item: -2 to wisdom and -1 to NPC
reaction rolls. A remove curse spell will
allow the character to rid himself of the hat
before rolling again when he levels.
44 Taunting Hat. Roll a d20 on the Language Chart in the
OSE Player’s Tome to determine which race
of creature is provoked to attack the wearer
of this hat when he sees it.
45-50 Hat of SelfImportance. This is a normal hat with nothing special,
but it makes the wearer feel superior to
others.
51-52 Cartographer’s Hat. Grants the wearer the same abilities that
dwarves have to spot construction tricks,
new construction, sliding walls, sloping
passages, room traps. Helps the wearer to
construct excellent maps.
53-56 Smoker’s Hat. Comes with a Cherry-Wood pipe, tinderbox,
and a bag of pipeweed containing enough
for twenty smokes.
57-58 Lucky Hat 1. The wearer will not spring or set off traps.
Stops working after the character levels.
59-60 Lousy Hat. The wearer of this cursed lice-infested hat is
always itching and scratching. Although the
wearer suffers a -1 penalty to CON, until the
hat should be rid of by a remove curse spell,
or successful level-up, the hat does have two
effective uses: (1) It may be thrown on the
ground 10’ before the character, a cloud of
flying astral lice will emerge and conceal
the party for 1d4 rounds; (2) The hat may be
weaponized and thrown at an enemy: the
lice engulf the enemy causing a -2 penalty
to attack rolls, and 1 h.p. damage / round for
1d4 rounds. After these effects expire the
astral lice restore the hat to the wearer’s
head.
61-62 Songster’s Hat. This hat grants the wearer the enchanting
power of Bardic song, as described under
enchantment in Bard Class of the OSE
Player’s Tome.
63 Phallic Hat. A lucky hat that allows the player to re-roll
any die 2x/day, but then again you’re
walking around with THAT on your head.
64-66 Moss Dwarf Garden
Patch Hat. Deceased Moss Dwarf flesh matted upon
and held fast by a burlap hat. The hat is a
miniature travelling garden. As long as the
hat is worn continually the Moss Dwarf
flesh will continue to produce one of the
herbs or mushrooms described in the
Mushrooms & Herbs section of the
Dolmenwood Player’s Book, to be
determined by d20 roll. Every week another
dose of the herbs or mushrooms may be
harvested from the hat. Wearing of the hat
can also lead to scalp rashes and involves a
penalty of -1 to CHA.
67-68 Scholar’s Hat. A hat with a large tome at the top which lies
open upon the wearer’s head. The tome may
be removed and consulted for questions
regarding lore of creatures, magical items,
people’s, places, etc. The Courtier may
attempt a die roll for every turn spent
consulting the book. A roll of 2 in 6
succeeds.
69-72 Lucky Hat 2. A lucky hat that allows the player to re-roll
any die roll the player wants once per day.
73-75 Hat of Reanimation. The wearer of this hat, if slain, is really only
unconscious at zero hit points. (The hat only
has this power but once).
76-77 Hat of Polished Style. This stylish hat changes colour to match
with any outfit. Furthermore it is always
perfumed and emits a delicious ambrosial
scent that attracts members of the opposite
sex, and unfortunately wandering monsters
too: +2 CHR. In dungeons or wilderness,
wandering monster checks will succeed on a
2 in 6 (when the base chance is 1 in 6, etc.)
78-79 Hat of X-Ray Vision. When this hat is affixed to a door or wall it
opens a 5’ diameter circular window that
allows the player and others to see into a
room. Those in the room cannot see those
on the other side of the door or wall. The hat
has this power once per day.
80-81 Hat of Way-Making. When this hat is affixed to a door or wall it
opens a 5’ diameter circular portal through
which the character and others may step.
The hat has this power once per day.
82-85 Hat of the Linguist. Grants knowledge of 1d4 new languages
when worn, to be determined by d20 rolls
on the language table. Player may re-roll
any language that the character already
speaks.
86-87 Hat of Muddy
Thinking. The wearer of this cursed hat is perpetually
unclear about things and cannot make quick
decisions: -2 to any INT or WIS checks.
Character is incapable of leading any party.
88-89 Geometer’s Hat. This hat comes with rule & compass, twine,
chalk, and pendulum. While worn it
increases the logical thinking and reasoning
faculties of the mind, granting a +2 bonus to
INT. It has the further, advantage (or
disadvantage) of marking in chalk the
ground upon which the wearer treads.
90-91 Carrier Pigeon Hat. The hat conceals within it a messenger
pigeon that can be released to carry a
message back to town or keep, e.g. “Help!
Lost, Tangled Forest somewhere SE of
Prigwort.” or “Bring draught horses &
covered wagon. Important!” The head of the
wearer is always besmeared with birdshit,
but this brings good luck, and player may reroll any die roll he or she wants 1x / day
88-90 Hat of Regeneration. When injured the wearer continues healing
at the rate of 1 h.p. per turn.
91-95 Nice Hat (10 gp). The hat may be kept or sold for 10 gp. It
grants no special favours.
96-99 Fine Hat (30 gp). This finely crafted hat may be kept or sold
for 30 gp. It grants no special favours.
100 Two Hats. Roll twice again on the table. You may keep
both; if either is a cursed hat, this is the one
that must be worn until you find a way to
get rid of it (either a remove curse spell, or
surviving to the next level).
The Courtier’s Art of the Insult
Courtiers become increasingly proficient &
sophisticated at hurling insults, casting
aspersions, & ruining reputations. They
backstab more often with blade of tongue.
In order to assist role-play of the Courtier
class, we gather here many examples of
Shakespearean insults to serve as models.
It should not be surprising that the following
words provoke immediate retaliation. They
shall sting & enrage the more when
pronounced with a snide tone of
supercilious arrogance & derision, for which
the DM may wish to apply a sweet penalty
to NPC reaction rolls.
Thou in early Modern English conveys
familiarity and disrespect. Of course, things
were not always this way in English.
Insults on Intelligence:
1. More of your conversation would infect
my brain.
2. Your brain is as dry as the remainder
biscuit after voyage.
3. He has not so much brain as ear-wax.
4. Thou art the cap of all the fools.
Insults on Character:
1. Would thou wert clean enough to spit
upon!
2. You are not worth the dust that the rude
wind blows in your face.
3. Thy sin’s not accidental, but a trade.
4. Foul spoken coward, that thund’rest with
thy tongue, and with thy weapon nothing
dares perform.
Regarding Honesty:
1. Heaven truly knows that thou art false as
hell.
2. There’s no more faith in thee than in a
stewed prune.
3. Dissembling harlot, thou art false in all.
4. Thou subtle, perjur’d, false, disloyal man!
Insults and Animals:
1. Bottled spider!
2. Poisonous bunch-backed toad!
3. Thou elvish-mark’d, abortive rooting hog.
4. I do wish thou wert a dog, that I might
love thee something.
5. Thou damned and luxurious mountain
goat.
6. Thou flea, thou nit, thou winter-cricket
thou!
Insults for the Ugly:
1. I am sick when I do look on thee.
2. Out of my sight! Thou dost infect my
eyes.
3. The rankest compound of villainous smell
that ever offended nostril!
4. The tartness of his face sours ripe grapes.
Threatening Insults:
1. I’ll beat thee, but I would infect my
hands.
2. By mine honour, if I were but two hours
younger, I’d beat thee. Methink’st thou art a
general offence, and every man should beat
thee.
3. O you beast! I’ll so maul you. . . that you
shall think the devil is come from hell.
4. Would thou wouldst burst!
Insults against the Sexes:
1. Thou hateful, wither’d hag!
2. Your virginity breeds mites, much like a
cheese.
3. Villain, I have done thy mother.
4. Away, you three-inch fool!
Lengthy Thrashing Sample:
Thou art a base, proud, shallow, beggarly,
three-suited, hundred-pound, filthy worstedstocking knave; a lily-liver’d, action-taking,
whoreson, glass-gazing, superserviceable,
finical rogue; one-trunk-inheriting slave;
one that would’st be a bawd in the way of
good service, and art nothing but the
composition of a knave, beggar, coward,
pander, & the son & heir of a mongrel bitch.
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