Re-Skinning Clerics (B/X)

And hot on the heels of my last post...

Folks who dig hard on the sword & sorcery fiction that inspired Dungeons & Dragons sometimes have difficulty reconciling the (largely based on) Judeo-Christian cleric class. Over the years, a common solution to "the cleric issue" has been to drop the class from the game. While some have rolled the cleric's spell list into that of the magic-user (giving wizards a kind of "white magic" option), others have simply removed all that healing magic from the game...which isn't a terrible idea if you like a more grim and gritty form of D&D (make sure to have plagues break out regularly and give PCs a chance of contracting tetanus or bad infections from their wounds!).

For those who'd like a third alternative...one that A) doesn't lose the spells, yet B) doesn't pull priests out of their temple, soiling their vestments in dank, dirty dungeons...I offer the following, fairly easy re-skins of the class:

BARD

Bards are wandering minstrels. One day may find them singing for royalty and the next find them on the street busking for enough coin to eat. Bards pick up many tales and rumors in their travels, and their music can produce magical effects.

The prime requisite of bards is Wisdom. A bard with a 13 or more in Wisdom adds +5% to earned experience; a bard with 16 or better in Wisdom adds +10%.

RESTRICTIONS: Bards roll six-sided dice (d6) for hit points, adding the +1 HP per level after 9th level. They can use any weapon and wear any armor except plate mail; bards do not use shields. They use the same experience, attack, and saving throw charts as a cleric of equal level. All bards must possess a stringed instrument such as a harp, lute, or mandolin (cost: 25 gold pieces); without such an instrument, bards cannot perform magic.

SPECIAL ABILITIES: Bards learns spells as a cleric of the same level; all spells must be chosen from the clerical spell list. Each bard spell is a song; to cast the spell a bard must have both hands free to play her instrument, and must be able to sing. All bards have the ability to sing for their supper, earning 1d6 gold pieces per day playing in town (the coins they receive may include silver and copper). Bards have a 25% chance to know a useful rumor or legend about any place or dungeon they visit, and a 10% to identify any permanent magic item they come across.

Bards never build strongholds or acquire apprentices; however, bards are welcome to the hospitality of any household of noble rank after sundown, provided the host does not already have suitable entertainment for the evening.


WITCH

Witches are practitioners of low magic, a humbler form of spell craft than the more flashy sorcery practiced by magic-users. Sometimes called "wise women" or "hedge wizards," most witches come from humble origins and focus on magic helpful to the common villager: healing, protection charms, spells to preserve food or combat the elements. Even so, many face prejudice and persecution by the superstitious, and choose solitude (or practice in secrecy) to protect themselves from the very people they could otherwise help.

A witch's prime requisite is Wisdom. A witch with a 13 or more in Wisdom adds +5% to earned experience; a 16 or better Wisdom adds +10%.

RESTRICTIONS: Witches roll six-sided dice (d6) for hit points, adding the +1 HP per level after 9th level. They face the same armor and weapon restrictions as a magic-user, but advance as a cleric and use the same attack and saving throw charts as a cleric of equal level.

SPECIAL ABILITIES: Witches cast the same number and level of spells as a cleric of the same level. Unlike clerics, witches do not have free access to the spell list but are instead limited to the spells they actually know, which are learned in the same way as a magic-user (being taught or else acquired through spell research). The spells available to a witch are the same as those found on the cleric spell list (including all reversed spells), plus the following:

1st: Spoil Food and Water (reverse of Purify Food 
    and Water)
2nd: Charm Person, Phantasmal Force, Sleep
3rd: Fly
4th: Charm Monster, Polymorph Other, Polymorph Self
5th: Animate Dead, Magic Jar

Witches perform spell research as a magic-user and may also create magic items after reaching 9th level. A witch of any level may brew magic potions (with the usual time and cost for creating magic items), so long as the potion's effect is equivalent to a spell the witch already knows. Witches are masters of herb lore and healing and can create poultices for treating wounded characters (cure 1d4 hit points of damage) at a cost of 25 gold pieces per dose; such a poultice may only be administered once (when a character is first wounded), and will have no further effect until the character has a chance to heal fully through normal rest and recuperation.

A witch may build a home or stronghold whenever she has the money to do so. A witch of Name (9th) level that has settled in place will attract 2d6 1st level acolytes seeking to form a coven under the matriarch's guidance and leadership.

[okay, I have to say it: this may be my favorite version of all the "witch" classes I've created over the years. I'm tempted to throw it into my own B/X games in place of clerics!]
; )