Author Topic: Suggestion: Lamplighter as a general feat or as a PRC?  (Read 1371 times)

Silas Rotleaf

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Suggestion: Lamplighter as a general feat or as a PRC?
« on: November 11, 2018, 12:10:59 PM »
Okay one good thing came out of some of those books we don't like very much like Champions of Darkness... And I was thinking...
We get custom melee feats like Bonetti's defense and Thibault's geometry, Agrippa's fundamental guards and so on for that cool single handed weapon and no shield duelist niche of character which makes PvE and PvP on them so darned atmospheric but what about the lamplighter?
It's a kind of especially urban fighting style used by guards and travelers where when your character has an equipped offhand that is a light source (torches, candles, lanterns)  they get a defense bonus and/or have a low on hit daze/inflict temporary blindness chance. Would that be possible in any way to implement on the engine? I would be all up in there on trying it out as a feat or PRC on the test server.

How gothic would that be to be feebly thrusting your lamp at the darkness and oozing, creeping fog while out on the lonely nightly patrols of this genre, or in the eerie condemned building, section of abandoned sewer, etc. then wielding it as a weapon of desperate utility when confronted by whichever spooky thing is stalking you or when it finally does jump out? I feel like it has a lot of atmospheric potential.
« Last Edit: November 11, 2018, 12:53:42 PM by Silas Rotleaf »

haifisch021

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Re: Suggestion: Lamplighter as a general feat or as a PRC?
« Reply #1 on: November 11, 2018, 05:20:02 PM »
Very Bloodborne-esque. I like it!
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zDark Shadowz

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Re: Suggestion: Lamplighter as a general feat or as a PRC?
« Reply #2 on: November 11, 2018, 07:25:20 PM »
Seems like a one-handed weapon with a torch slot for additional Parry skill does this well with the one-handed feats.

It's thematically appealing, I think this can be done with existing feats but more special torches with cast spells of flare, blindness. The Candle of Darkness does darkness as well as a form of blindness.

Phantasia

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Re: Suggestion: Lamplighter as a general feat or as a PRC?
« Reply #3 on: November 11, 2018, 08:10:21 PM »
The Lamplighter is a Mordentish specific PrC and only exists in Mordent. Maybe one would travel to another country for a long time but that's pretty unlikely. I will always vie for PrCs from Van Richten's Arsenal and Champions of Light that can actually be taken by mostly anyone who is either a Core native or comes to the Core. This one is just too specific.

Unless you mean just a regular old Lamplighter. Then why would you even need a PrC or feat for that?
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Silas Rotleaf

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Re: Suggestion: Lamplighter as a general feat or as a PRC?
« Reply #4 on: November 11, 2018, 10:58:36 PM »
The Lamplighter is a Mordentish specific PrC and only exists in Mordent. Maybe one would travel to another country for a long time but that's pretty unlikely. I will always vie for PrCs from Van Richten's Arsenal and Champions of Light that can actually be taken by mostly anyone who is either a Core native or comes to the Core. This one is just too specific.

Unless you mean just a regular old Lamplighter. Then why would you even need a PrC or feat for that?

True, and with Mordent being one of the event specific domains you need a DM's help and prep for to visit unless we loosened the mold a bit to fit other cities like Port-A-Lucine too...
If you keep reading the book entry about it I think they suggest on the DM side-section you can have it be present in some of the other culturally advanced urban places in a campaign. Setting-wise it originated in Mordent though, correct. If we had it be outside the organization it also grew some in popularity for high medieval aka chivalric and Renaissance domains perhaps? You can make a character be from Mordent right outside the create a new character gate on logging in. I'm hearing a protest of it's too niche in your feedback as my takeaway and that's probably why we don't have one. I'll admit it mainly lends itself to a very specific playing style that not every martial class would take full advantage of.

What was appealing to me about it is that it would make for something interesting that as a mundane you could be able take without needing access to magic as a character prerequisite.
« Last Edit: November 11, 2018, 11:10:05 PM by Silas Rotleaf »

BraveSirRobin

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Re: Suggestion: Lamplighter as a general feat or as a PRC?
« Reply #5 on: November 12, 2018, 02:09:30 AM »
Honestly, considering what he’s quoting and how it’s worded... That can very well work in Dementlieu as well, with Gendarmes, for instance, who more or less are the same thing as a Lamplighter, same technology period, too. All them NPC’s and their patrol lanterns.

Phantasia

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Re: Suggestion: Lamplighter as a general feat or as a PRC?
« Reply #6 on: November 12, 2018, 02:35:35 AM »
If you read the Prestige Class and what it is in the actual Gazetteer vol. 3 you would soon realize why this class is not suited for anywhere outside of Mordent. Not only does one of its primary features not function outside of Mordent, its other class features rely on DM presence large in part. Its only redeeming quality is being able to use an iron lantern as an offhand weapon doing 1d4 bludgeoning damage or something.

If we're talking about this Lamplighter... I guess enjoy your Continual Flame?

As an addition to this sentiment, even if you combine the two and make an investigative class, why not just call it Detective instead? I am also sure it is a Ravenloft Prestige Class that I would sooner favor over some mash of two Lamplighter concepts. And even then, we have Monster Hunter.
« Last Edit: November 12, 2018, 02:43:41 AM by Phantasia »
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BraveSirRobin

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Re: Suggestion: Lamplighter as a general feat or as a PRC?
« Reply #7 on: November 12, 2018, 03:55:51 AM »
If you read the Prestige Class and what it is in the actual Gazetteer vol. 3 you would soon realize why this class is not suited for anywhere outside of Mordent. Not only does one of its primary features not function outside of Mordent, its other class features rely on DM presence large in part. Its only redeeming quality is being able to use an iron lantern as an offhand weapon doing 1d4 bludgeoning damage or something.

If we're talking about this Lamplighter... I guess enjoy your Continual Flame?

As an addition to this sentiment, even if you combine the two and make an investigative class, why not just call it Detective instead? I am also sure it is a Ravenloft Prestige Class that I would sooner favor over some mash of two Lamplighter concepts. And even then, we have Monster Hunter.


I agree, it’d work better being called detective or something else. But I wouldn’t agree that monster hunter as implemented now would make ‘detective’ redundant. As covered in a previous discussion, extensively, Monster Hunter as-implemented doesn’t do anything a Ranger doesn’t do, unless you’re cross-classing as a class that cannot cross-class unless prestige. That’s more or less the vein something like detective could come in handy, or watchman. A skill-based PrC that could tailor as additional skills/feats/functions for private investigator characters, Guardsmen who aren’t Rangers, or other watchman-style groups that aren’t specifically focused or geared on hunting monsters. Could work for spies, too.

Silas Rotleaf

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Re: Suggestion: Lamplighter as a general feat or as a PRC?
« Reply #8 on: November 12, 2018, 03:15:58 PM »
Yeah if calling it a lamplighter is the hang up and watchman has a nicer flavor feel that's more palatable, go for it. I see those NPC Gendarmes walking around with their lantern in one hand and rapier in the other when they patrol the Port streets and I feel like there's this whole untapped side of things that lends to the spooky pathos of the genre that a feat or class that takes full advantage of having a torch, candle or lantern as your off-hand would fill out in a very satisfying way for people to be able to RP out on their player characters.
« Last Edit: November 12, 2018, 03:17:48 PM by Silas Rotleaf »