Alt BFRPG Class – Stave

(Folks really seem to like Stav. Over on Dragonsfoot, a poster asked me to put together a BFRPG version of the minimalist stave class. This is based on an actual Norse martial art and philosophical system, which uses runes and Norse Mythology in its teaching. Check out Stav International for more details.)

Staves are martial artists – a kind of Norse ‘monk’. Staves regard the quarterstaff as a symbol of Yggdrasil, the World Tree. They train their bodies to be both a tool and a weapon, like the quarterstaffs they revere.

As students, young staves begin with ritualized stances resembling the sixteen runes of the Younger Futhark. Once mastery of the rune stances has been achieved, the student progresses to staff exercises. Stav is intended to be a flexible set of principles instead of techniques, focusing on finding the lines of attack and defense in any combat situation and exploiting them to the student’s benefit.

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Stave Progression

Level	XP	Hit Dice	BAB	Save
1	0	1d8	+1	13
2	2,500	2d8	+2	12
3	5,000	3d8	+2	12
4	10,000	4d8	+3	11
5	20,000	5d8	+4	11
6	40,000	6d8	+4	10
7	80,000	7d8	+5	10
8	150,000	8d8	+6	9
9	300,000	9d8	+6	9

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Game Rule Information

Prime Requisite: A stave’s prime requisite is Wisdom. A character must have a WIS score of 13 or higher, as well DEX 11+ and STR 9+, to become a stave. A stave must also have an INT score of 9+ to cast runes.

Alignment: A stave cannot be Chaotic, and is typically of Lawful alignment.

Hit Dice: Staves receive 6 starting hp (plus dwarven racial bonus and CON modifier, if any). A stave gains 1d8 hit points + CON mod per class level.

Combat Ability: A stave has a good Base Attack Bonus progression. Staves are proficient with all weapons (and gain bonuses when attacking with a staff or bare hands), but are not proficient with any armour or shields.

Saving Throws: Staves have unsurpassed saving throws due to their philosophical and martial training.

Level and Multiclass Restrictions: Stav is a human tradition; dwarves are limited to 3rd level, while humans have unlimited advancement. Due to the dedication required to their studies, staves may not multiclass.

Special Abilities

Stave Attacks: The character inflicts superior damage when attacking with a staff and with bare-hand attacks, as presented in the table below.

Starting at 2nd level, the character’s staff and unarmed attacks are equivalent to those from a cold iron or silver weapon. At 5th level, his attacks are equivalent to a +1 magic weapon, and at 8th level they are equivalent to a +2 weapon. The attacks do not actually gain this enchantment; rather, the stave may strike creatures normally only hit by such weapons.

These benefits only apply if the stave is unarmoured (including shields) and unencumbered.

Defense Bonus: A stave’s base Armour Class improves as shown below (replacing armour AC if it is higher). This benefit only applies if the stave is unarmoured (including shields) and unencumbered.

Class Skills: Staves possess a number of class skills. A starting character begins with a 1 in 6 chance of successfully performing any given class skill.

As the stave gains experience, he may distribute a number of ‘discretionary training’ points to specify areas of individual expertise. At each level from 2nd to 9th, a stave gains 1 discretionary training point per level.

Regardless of the number of training points applied, no skill may exceed a 5 in 6 chance of success. A ‘default’ skill array is provided below for guidance (in terms of x in 6 chance).

 – Spot/Listen: In addition its normal usages, a stave gains one additional application of this skill. On a successful Spot/Listen check, he can negate surprise (applies to the character only).

 – Sneak: This ability permits the stave to hide in a shadowed area large enough to contain his body and move silently to avoid detection. The stave will usually believe he remains unseen regardless of the die roll, but will generally be noticed if the roll is failed.

 – Climb Walls: Staves are skilled in climbing walls and other sheer surfaces with few or no visible handholds. This check is normally made by the player. If the roll fails, the stave falls from about halfway up the wall or other vertical surface. The referee may require multiple rolls if the distance climbed is more than 100 feet.

Runecasting: Starting at 3rd level, a stave can cast spells using runestones. The caster level and number of spells available to a character are determined by level, as shown below. The stave cannot prepare or cast runes when wearing armour (including shields) or while encumbered.

 

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Special Abilities

Stave Level	Bare Hand	1H Staff	2H Staff	Armour Class
1	1d4	1d6	1d8	12
2	1d6	1d6+1	1d8+1	13
3	1d6	1d8+1	1d8+2	14
4	1d6	1d8+1	1d10+2	15
5	1d8	1d8+1	1d10+2	16
6	1d8	1d10+1	1d10+2	17
7	1d8	1d10+1	1d12+2	18
8	1d8	1d10+1	1d12+2	19
9	1d8	1d10+1	1d12+2	20

 

Class Skills

	Stave Level
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
Spot/Listen	1	2	2	3	3	4	4	5	5
Sneak	1	1	2	2	3	3	4	4	5
Climb Walls	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4

 

Runecasting

Stave Level	1	2	3
1	–	–	–
2	–	–	–
3	1	–	–
4	2	–	–
5	3	–	–
6	3	1	–
7	3	2	–
8	3	3	–
9	3	3	1

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