Character Creation Challenge: Johan Werper IV for Wasted Lands

 When D&D 3.0 hit the game stores in 2000, I was ready for it. I had been away from D&D for a number of years and was really wanting to get back into it. So, D&D 3.0 was the right game for me at the right time. In truth, there is a lot I still love about D&D 3.x, and there were some significant advances made in terms of game design and lore. So, of course, I had to make a new Johan and try out the new Paladin class.

Johan IV is the son of Celene, not Johan III, for a lot of in-game reasons that don't really matter here now. At this point, Celene is much older and retired. Johan IV has begun a quest to recover the sword Demonbane. He didn't find it, but that is another tale for another character.

For this version of Johan, I am opting to try out the Divine Warrior from the Night Companion for NIGHT SHIFT.  Thematically the Divine Warrior doesn't work with the Wasted Lands, everyone has a bit of the divine in them. But mechanically, it works great. Plus this isn't a pure Wasted Lands game, this is "O.G.R.E.S. D&D using the Wasted Lands rules."  

This version of Johan works quite well and helps differentiate him from his forefathers. In my games at this point I was playing around with the ideas of characters marked by the gods. Forgotten Realms has their "Chosen" and I had been working a lot on the Buffy RPG at this point (more on that later) so I liked the idea. Johan IV is not the chosen one (and thus I did not use that class) but he is special. In my Game he was called "The Fist of Pelor" a title for various paladins. My son had a character in 5e who is the "Fist of Bahamut." In this case the Divine Warrior class fits well.

Johan Werper IV

Class: Divine Warrior
Level: 20
Species: Human
Alignment: Light 
Background: Warrior (Wasted Lands p. 185)

Abilities
Strength: 18 (+3) N
Agility: 12 (0) 
Toughness: 12 (0) 
Intelligence: 12 (0) 
Wits: 19 (+3) A
Persona: 18 (+3) N

Fate Points: 1d12
Defense Value: 1
Vitality: 110 
Degeneracy: 0
Corruption: 0

Check Bonus (A/N/D): +8/+6/+4
Melee Bonus: +7 (base), +3 (STR), +1 Divine Touchstones
Ranged Bonus: +7 (base)
Saves: +7 to all Wits and Persona Saves, +2 to Toughness (Warrior background)

Divine Warrior Abilities
Sixth Sense, Heal Injury and Illness (20d6), Supernatural Attacks, Protection from Evil, Turn Undead (level 15), Spot Hidden (1-3 on d4).

Heroic/Divine Touchstones
1st Level: +1 to melee attacks
2nd Level: Cure Light Wounds Spell
3rd Level: Zone of Protection vs Evil
4th Level: Favored Weapon, Sword
5th Level: 
6th Level: Zone of Protection vs. Undead
7th Level: 
8th Level: Paralyze Undead
9th Level: Restore Life
10th Level: Extra Attack
11th Level: Destroy Undead
12th Level:
13th Level: 
14th Level: Spell: Ball of Sunshine

Heroic (Divine) Archetype: Protection

Gear
Longsword, Full plate armor, Holy symbol

Wasted Lands as D&D 3rd Ed

D&D 3.0 introduced a new skill system and the idea of feats to the game. Wasted Lands has skill, but takes an old-school approach to using them. Feats though have a good roleplaying (but not mechanical) analog in the Heroic Touchstones.  The Divine/Heroic Touchstones, though do tend to be more powerful than feats.

Speaking of which. The "Divine Touchstones" of Wasted Lands are being used in NIGHT SHIFT and the upcoming Thirteen Parsecs as "Heroic Touchstones." If I can, I might share some of those ideas here later on.

Unless crunching numbers for skills is your thing, I found that Wasted Lands/O.G.R.E.S. is a superior D&D feel than D&D 3.x. Character creation for a 20th-level paladin is also far simpler. 

You can get the Wasted Lands RPG and the NIGHT SHIFT RPG at Elf Lair Games.