8 microclasses for characters that tried to multiclass and failed. Relationships to the original cath classes are left as an exercise to the reader.
Unraveled
You can transform into blue smoke for a round, with the following effects:
- You are intangible. You drop everything in your hands, with the exception of spectral weapons.
- You can fly, at the speed of a rolling fog. A strong gust will send you flying.
- You lose one year of memories, oldest first.
Cinder
Your burns mark you as one who plays with fire; you are barred from holy places.
Choose any number greater than 0 to represent the severity of your burns. You lose that much maximum HP and take that much less damage from fire, lightning, acid, poison, and cold.
Hollow
You have made a hole somewhere in your body — lined with clay and stone — in the pursuit of sorcerous power. Instead, something took up residence within. (d8)
- Ghost. Appears as a cold spot. Eats heat from your fingertips.
- Dray. Easily bribed with nuts. An agile-albeit-disloyal messenger.
- Asp. Venomous. Catlike indifference.
- Crab. Gluttonous. Eats ghosts as easily as carrion.
- Bees. Industrious. Large enough hives can be considered intelligent.
- Fairy. Cherubic sparrow wings. Childish carnivore. #mytwig
- Salamander. Tempestuous. Multichromatic. Fond of cigarettes.
- Stone cylinder. Slots in almost perfectly. While it's in, you remember how to read a dead language.
Prisoner
For your crimes, you were trapped in a confining metal helm. You are immune to damage above the neck. Also, you don't need to eat or drink, which is good because you can't take off the helmet, ever.
Cursed / Scapegrace
You have been cursed by a saint. (d8)
- Hounded. Add 1d6 wild dogs to an entry on every encounter table.
- Gold and sunlight are both blindingly bright to your eyes.
- Taboo. Other players choose six words. Whenever you say one of them, take 1 damage. Then, if you’ve said all of them, explode (3d6! damage).
- Replace one of your hands with a thumbless mantid claw (d6).
- A storm follows you, waiting to pounce. The next time you see the open sky, lightning will strike you (6d6).
- Structures you build collapse in a day.
- You weigh as much as a feather. Strong winds or blows send you flying.
- When frightened, save versus your whole skeleton popping out. It takes ten minutes to put your skin back on. (Skeletons can’t talk.)
You also start with a +1 magic tool. (d8)
- Cowbell
- Billhook
- Kagura suzu
- Yew rod
- Blue feathered dart
- Snakeskin veil
- Brass chime
- Red-soled sandal
Rambler / Idiot
You can get lost at will. Spend an exploration turn to transport yourself and all traveling companions somewhere you've never been before at random, ignoring plausibility. For example, you can overland travel three hexes in the time it would take to travel one, or stumble into a room that was locked from the inside.
You can't do this again until you produce a map of the new area to the gm's satisfaction.
Deserter
You deal +2 damage. Additionally, you take 2 damage whenever you attack. If this reduces you to 0 HP, you are instantly beheaded.
Bard
You know two songs. (Brief rituals that make others think of you as a potential friend. You can use them in response to bad reaction rolls, before a fight breaks out. Some require instrumentation to perform.)
- Singer describes filling a wound with alcohol; alluding to an apocalyptic flood. Resonates with former warriors and wizards.
- Singer laments the howling stone songs of their forebears, which are
no longer well known. Resonates with the elderly and with trolls.
- Singer describes a departed kinsman's misadventures as a rancorous spirit warrior. Resonates with reckless teenagers and frogs.
- Singer describes no-strings-attached sex with a series of vagabonds. Resonates with big ol' sluts.
- Singer describes a kinsman growing bloody horns. Resonates with those who are ashamed of a brother or sister.
- Singer compares themselves to the Elysian fields of Qua We; lamenting a lover lost. Resonates with the abandoned and nostalgic.
- Singer compares a great passion to being lit on fire. People love chanting the BURN, BURN, BURN part. Resonates with artists and solar atavists.
- Singer describes falling in love with a beautiful cowherd.
Singer is obviously very superficial. Resonates with young, foolish men.
