Flagellant class (companion).

[Karranthain]

Flagellants were mentioned in Shadenauts' post in the Monk topic; I think they're an interesting concept - what if they were one of the classes of PE? Here's a few ideas :

 

1) Overview

 

So, who are we dealing with exactly? Using Warhammer as a point of reference :

 

When war threatens, bands of crazed Flagellants instinctively gravitate towards battlefields, appearing unannounced and charging headlong towards the enemy without fear or hesitation. Flagellants fight in a crazed frenzy, driven insane by the horrors the world has inficted upon them and desperate for their pain to end.

 

In other words, flagellants in Warhammer are usually simple people who have, figuratively speaking, gazed into the abyss, but the abyss gazed into them - and their minds simply snapped. It could've been a supernatural event, or a personal loss. Sanity was then replaced with fanaticism - this renders them utterly fearless and nigh unstoppable. They have little regard for themselves.

 

2) Combat role and ability proposals

 

- Flagellants would fight in a frenzy, making them equally dangerous to foes and friends alike.

- Their conviction grants them supernatural strength and makes them immune to psychological effects (there's simply nothing left in the world that could scare them anymore).

- Highly resistant to magic, especially psionics.

- Through practice of self-mutilation they can empower themselves even further, but at the cost of their health (think blood magic).

- Martyrdom - protecting their companions with their own bodies.

 

3) Implementation

 

- Having one as a companion seems feasible - with a flagellant being a subset of a priest or monk class.

 

- New class (or a subset of a priest or monk class), available to the player - unlikely, but possible with some changes.

 

4) Companion

 

Interacting with those crazed individuals opens up some interesting opportunities. First - having them fight by your side is a big gamble - the risk is certainly high, but so is the reward.

 

Perhaps the player will help them exorcise their horrors once and for all (which would allow them to control their frenzy) ? Or maybe send them even further down the spiral of insanity (that'd increase their combat prowess but render them even more dangerous to their friends) ?

 

Also, who wouldn't want to have a Malkavian in their party?

 

5) Concept art example

 

 

What are your thoughts?

[Sarog]

I like this. Monastic zealotry means flavour.

 

Also, giving monks FLAILS instead of nun-chucks is just about the only thing that might make me want to brofist them. I can at least buy that the flail in that picture could do some damage to a knight. Take the flimsy eastern stick-on-a-rope and throw that silly thing away.

Edited October 4, 2012 by Sarog

[DocDoomII]

Again with the nunchaku. What's all this hate?

Seriously, have you all been traumatized by him when you were children?

 

Edited October 4, 2012 by DocDoomII

[Tamerlane]

Those nunchaku were banned in the UK as being "too violent".

 

He was always shown with a grappling hook instead.

[Torolf]

What if you took away the Eastern flavor, and made it more of a Western style. There's was a French Renaissance-era street acrobatic fighting style that included fighting with a cane, and sometimes, swords, straight razors, whips, and even guns. It was called Savate, or something like that, if I remember my 3rd Edition GURPS martial arts correctly.

 

Edit: Rankings were indicated by different sets of gloves, so you could still incorporate lots of items and crafting if you wanted.

Edited October 4, 2012 by Torolf

[Rink]

The description reminds me a bit of Barbarians (stretch-goal) - they usually also have frenzy skill in classic RPGs (chance of hitting party members in frenzy). I guess new classes really have to be different than the ones we already have to make sense..

I like malkavians though.

[DocDoomII]

What if you took away the Eastern flavor, and made it more of a Western style. There's was a French Renaissance-era street acrobatic fighting style that included fighting with a cane, and sometimes, swords, straight razors, whips, and even guns. It was called Savate, or something like that, if I remember my 3rd Edition GURPS martial arts correctly.

 

Edit: Rankings were indicated by different sets of gloves, so you could still incorporate lots of items and crafting if you wanted.

Isn't savate something like a french version of kickbox?

[Umberlin]

What if you took away the Eastern flavor, and made it more of a Western style. There's was a French Renaissance-era street acrobatic fighting style that included fighting with a cane, and sometimes, swords, straight razors, whips, and even guns. It was called Savate, or something like that, if I remember my 3rd Edition GURPS martial arts correctly.

 

Edit: Rankings were indicated by different sets of gloves, so you could still incorporate lots of items and crafting if you wanted.

Isn't savate something like a french version of kickbox?

 

Well a nickname for it is essentiaily that.

[Wintersong]

What about Capoeira? It's "westerner" enough? Dancing monks!

 

On topic: no way I'd like a Malkavian (Antitribu or not) in my coterie. That said, I like Assamites.

About the flagelant, he is basically some kind of (religious?) berserker (imho) so not really interested. Altough could be seen as a more original alternative to the traditional one we see in many games.

[Karranthain]

What about Capoeira? It's "westerner" enough? Dancing monks!

 

On topic: no way I'd like a Malkavian (Antitribu or not) in my coterie. That said, I like Assamites.

About the flagelant, he is basically some kind of (religious?) berserker (imho) so not really interested. Altough could be seen as a more original alternative to the traditional one we see in many games.

 

Yeah, berserkers are a staple in most cRPGs and flagellants are similar in principle - but very different in flavour.

But to be fair, they probably wouldn't work as a playable class.

 

But I do think they'd make for very interesting companions - I bet writers would have a lot fun with the dialogue options for these insane characters. And I'd assume that players would enjoy having a Hulk-type character in their team.

[Karranthain]

From the PCGamer chat :

 

forton, the monk. forton is a big believer in mortification of the flesh. and the use of mind-expanding drugs.

 

Getting some flagellant vibes from that.