As I mentioned before I started planing for a Swords and Wizardry campaign and am in the process of shifting everything over to Labyrinth Lord. I had come up with a lot of good ideas for house rules that have no place in the better defined world of LL. However, I'm still going to add a few touches, especially to the character classes.
I've long felt the vanilla character classes don't receive the respect they ought and are overshadowed by the more imaginative sub-classes. I'm going to spice things up a bit by making a minor addition to each class and put some restrictions on the popular and over powered sub-classes. Actual house rules will be written on another page of the blog, but here is the general outline...
Cleric
Gains the skill Oratory which can be use in any neutral setting where the Cleric can address a large audience. The effects can vary, but all face these restrictions. The audience must be able to hear the Cleric and not become distracted during the oration. Also they must be willing to listen to the Cleric so NPCs of diametrically opposed alignment are not affected. This skill has no effect on other player characters.
Sermonize: Player dissuades audience from following a course of action.
Preach: Player can advise the audience or encourage them to adopt a new idea.
Harangue: Player whips some audience members into a fighting rage.
Fighter
Has Defensive Fighting which represents the martial skills of the trained warrior. The Parry option is very badly written and has no effect for most players since it relies upon the Strength bonus for effect (I'm going to make it have a value of at least 1 regardless for all classes). When not attacking in a round the Fighter gains a -1 bonus to AC which stacks with the STR bonus expressed as a negative number. A Zone-of-Control exists around the Fighter which enemies may not pass; 5' radius with a normal weapon or 10' radius with a polearm or oversized weapon. A Ripost attack may be made at -2 against one attacking enemy for each normal attack the Fighter gets each round.
Magic-User
Generally has great power later in the game, but needs help early on so they will receive an item. An Apprentice Wand is given to the Magic-User which contains one 1st level spell from their spell book or Magic Missile. The wand has a maximum of 1d4+2 charges and may be recharged the normal way, by casting the spell into it. When recharging roll 1d20 and on a fumble the maximum number of charges is reduced by 1.
Thief
May use Combat Stealth to get behind an enemy. A player may opt to use the skill instead of attacking he/she may move around an opponent who is engaged in melee with another character. It does not result in a Backstab, but in a rear attack which is against the raw AC (no Dexterity or shield bonus).
Sub-Classes
As a whole they do not have individual restrictions, but as a group they have role play requirements in the form of Story Obsessions. Every so often the player will encounter a mundane situation that has special relevance to their sub-class. A special herb may exist in this region, or a desecrated shrine might need to be restored, or maybe a rare book is seen on a shelf. Whatever the specifics the player must succeed in gaining the item or finishing the activity. If they do not accomplish this in one week they will act as a character 1 level below their current experience until they do so.
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