I’ll be scoring the Sapper against the other canon professions as well as against my own Archer profession (hey, I'm writing this. I make the rules
) I’ll try to be fair but obviously this will be pretty subjective. That said, disagreements and suggestions are welcome!
Scoring system:
0: no special contribution to make. The character is scarcely better than a Hotblood.
1: A minor contribution to make. The character has useful, but hardly pivotal, abilities that help to solve this challenge
2: A major contribution to make: The character is the ideal choice to deal with this challenge
Challenge 1: Feral DogsThe challenge here is to survive the battle with the dogsThis attack comes quickly and the PCs have no opportunity to flee or take up a defensive posture. The Sapper has no special skills that will help with this challenge.
Score: 0 (0/11)
Scores for other professions:
Knight: 2 (for fighting ability)
Barbarian: 2 (for fighting ability)
Sorcerer: 1 (for Dragonbreath, Image, Lesser Healing, Weaken)
Mystic: 1 (for Invigorate, Mirage, ESP, Premonition)
Assassin: 2 (for fighting ability)
Elementalist: 0
Warlock: 2 (for fighting ability, Heal Injury, Imperil, Silent Warrior)
Knave: 0
Hunter: 2 (for fighting ability, precise shot
Priest: 0
Archer: 1 (for fighting ability)
Average: 1.2
Challenge 2: Solly in the StocksThe challenge here is to free Solly from his stocksThe Sapper doesn’t have a specific skill for this but his general knowledge and equipment can probably help in opening up the stocks
Score: 1 (1/11)
Scores for other professions:
Knight: 0
Barbarian: 0
Sorcerer: 0
Mystic: 0
Assassin: 1 (for ability to climb up to stocks)
Elementalist: 0
Warlock: 0
Knave: 0
Hunter: 0
Priest: 0
Archer: 0
Average: 0
Average: 0.1
Challenge 3: About TownThe challenge here is to speak to a townsperson, even though they have locked themselves in their homes.The players may attempt to break into the homes of the scared townsfolk. The sapper doesn’t have a specific skill for this yet but perhaps his tools could make it easier.
Score: 1 (2/11)
Scores for other professions:
Knight: 1 (for social status)
Barbarian: 0
Sorcerer: 1 (for Portal spell)
Mystic: 0
Assassin: 0
Elementalist: 0
Warlock: 0
Knave: 1 (for social skills and influence)
Hunter: 0
Priest: 2 (for social influence)
Archer: 0
Average: 0.4
Challenge 4: The Manor HouseThe challenge here is getting to Le Cloche in order to defeat him.The manor is well defended and the level-1 Sapper doesn’t have the equipment, manpower, or time to attempt a break-in of the manor house that, considering the enemy forces within, would have a better outcome than that of a regular character doing the same thing.
A Sapper might conceive of an out-of-the-box solution (such as digging a tunnel into the basement and launching a surprise attack, or setting fire to the house) but the party is so small and short of resources, and the Sapper so inexperienced that this would be doomed to failure.
Score: 0 (2/11)
Scores for other professions:
Knight: 1 (for social status and fighting ability)
Barbarian: 1 (for fighting ability)
Sorcerer: 1 (for portal spell and offensive magic, image)
Mystic: 1 (for Mirage spell)
Assassin: 1 (for climbing, fighting ability)
Elementalist: 0
Warlock: 1
Knave: 1 (for subterfuge)
Hunter: 0
Priest: 0
Archer: 1 (for ability to pick of enemies in through windows)
Average: 0.7
Challenge 5: Entering the ForestThe challenge here is sticking to the path. The Sapper doesn’t yet have any chemistry, so presumably he doesn’t know how to improvise a torch that stays lit in the rain. Consequently his abilities won’t help here.
Score: 0 (2/11)
Scores for other professions:
Knight: 0
Barbarian: 0
Sorcerer: 2 (for moonglow)
Mystic: 0
Assassin: 0
Elementalist: 1 (for candle. Less useful than moonglow because nobody else can see it)
Warlock: 1 (for eyes of night. Less useful than moonglow because it only illuminates a small area)
Knave: 0
Hunter: 1 (assuming the GM allows Favoured Terrain skill to help follow the path)
Priest: 0
Archer: 0
Average: .5
Challenge 6: The First AmbushThe challenge here is to spot and avoid the ambushThe sapper doesn’t get any skills related to traps until rank 2, so he presumably won’t spot the boulder trap with any more skill than anybody else.
The sapper can probably speed up the process of clearing the underbrush preventing the players taking the long way around, but not fast enough to make a difference, so they must still climb. The Sapper doesn’t have any skill to make this easier.
Score: 0 (2/11)
Scores for other professions:
Knight: 0
Barbarian: 0
Sorcerer: 0
Mystic: 1 (for premonition and slightly higher perception)
Assassin: 1 (for high perception)
Elementalist: 0
Warlock: 0
Knave: 0
Hunter: 0
Priest: 0
Archer: 0
Average: 0.2
Challenge 7: The Cliff TopThe challenge here is defeating the 5 Thugs.If the players manage to get the drop on the thugs, the fight will be routine. There’s nothing special the Sapper can contribute.
Scores for other professions:
Score: 0 (2/11)
Knight: 2 (for fighting ability)
Barbarian: 2 (for fighting ability)
Sorcerer: 1 (for offensive spells)
Mystic: 1 (for fighting ability, Mirage spell)
Assassin: 1 (for fighting ability)
Elementalist: 0
Warlock: 2 (for fighting ability and Silent Warrior)
Knave: 0
Hunter: 1 (for fighting ability)
Priest: 0
Archer: 1 (for fighting ability)
Average: 1
Challenge 8: The Hollow OakThe challenge is to capture ErkissThe Sapper has no particular skills to make this task easier.
Score: 0 (2/11)
Scores for other professions:
Knight: 0
Barbarian: 0
Sorcerer: 0
Mystic: 0
Assassin: 0
Elementalist: 0
Warlock: 0
Knave: 0
Hunter: 0
Priest: 0
Archer: 0
Average: 0
Challenge 9: Hellhounds AttackThe challenge is to defeat the HellhoundsThe Sapper has no particular skills to make it easier to defeat the Hellhounds. There is insufficient time or warning to construct defences and the Sapper has no offensive capabilities other than those of a regular combatant.
Score: 0 (2/11)
Scores for other professions:
Knight: 2 (for fighting ability)
Barbarian: 2 (for fighting ability)
Sorcerer: 1 (for offensive magic)
Mystic: 1 (for fighting ability, Mirage spell)
Assassin: 1 (for fighting ability, special abilities)
Elementalist: 0
Warlock: 2 (for fighting ability, silent warrior)
Knave: 0
Hunter: 1 (for fighting ability)
Priest: 0
Archer: 1 (for fighting ability)
Average: 1
Challenge 10: The Final BattleThe challenge is to defeat Fhionn and her slavesThe sub-challenges in this section, and how the Sapper would fare with them are as follows:
Fhionn’s Windwall: The Sapper has no special skills or knowledge to help deal with this spell
Fight Fhionn: The Sapper has no special skills or knowledge to help deal with Fhionn
Fight the Slaves: The Sapper has no special skills or knowledge to help deal with Fhionn’s Slaves
Enslavement: The Sapper has no special skills or knowledge to help deal with Fhionn’s enslavement spell
Tangleroots and Inflict Wound: The Sapper has no special skills or knowledge to help resist Fhionn’s spells. Possibly he will be quicker at escaping Tangleroots if he has his hand free.
Making Fhionn look at Strabo’s Sword: The Sapper has no special skills or knowledge to help draw Fhionn’s eye to the sword.
Score: 0 (2/11)
Scores for other professions:
Knight: 1 (for fighting ability)
Barbarian: 1 (for fighting ability)
Sorcerer: 2 (for Image, offensive magic, ability to resist Fhionn’s magic)
Mystic: 1 (for fighting ability, Mirage, See Enchantment, Premonition, resistance of magic)
Assassin: 1 (for fighting ability)
Elementalist: 1 (for ability to resist Fhionn’s magic)
Warlock: 2 (for fighting ability, Silent Warrior, resistance to Fhionn’s magic)
Knave: 0
Hunter: 1 (for fighting ability)
Priest: 0
Archer: 1 (for fighting ability)
Average: 1
Challenge 11: Traitor’s StandThe challenge is to get Le Cloche out of the manor house or defeat him in itThis is probably the one section where the Sapper can be useful. Now that time is plentiful and the townsfolk can be employed as labourers, it should be possible to construct a tunnel into the manor house, or a battering ram to knock down the front door.
Score: 2 (4/11)
Scores for other professions:
Knight: 2 (for fighting ability, social influence)
Barbarian: 2 (for fighting ability)
Sorcerer: 1 (for Portal, Offensive Magic)
Mystic: 1 (for Mirage, fighting ability)
Assassin: 2 (for fighting ability, ability to sneak into manor house)
Elementalist: 0
Warlock: 2 (for fighting ability, offensive magic, Silent Warrior)
Knave: 2 (for fast talking and trickery against Le Cloche’s forces)
Hunter: 1
Priest: 1 (for social influence)
Archer: 1 (For fighting ability)
Average: 1.4
VERDICTAverage score: 0.45
Average score for other professions: 0.69
The sapper has a few minor opportunities to contribute his skills in The Darkness Before Dawn, but overall any given adventuring party will be better off with one of the regular adventuring professions taking his place in the lineup. He is on average half as useful as the other professions.
On the other hand, get a load of the Elementalist, Priest and Knave:
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