Yesterday I had the pleasure to introduce you to what I am now considering the Gold Standard version of Bodhmal. Today I want to introduce you to the what I think is the best version of Liath Luchara I have ever done. If I was happy yesterday, then I am ecstatic today.
Briefly, Liath and Bodhmal are part of the Fenian Cycle of Irish myth and legend. They are foster mothers to a young Fion MacCumhail (Finn MacCool). They were a featured set of characters in my Dark Druid adventure.
Liath is a warrior woman, but she also has a bit of magic about her. Capturing her properly in D&D-like games has been a challenge. I have tried various mixes of warriors, rangers, and barbarians. Nothing has been a great fit. Barbarians have no magic (even the 5e Wild magic one), and Rangers really have too much or not the right kind. So what am I to do? Well, once again, Wasted Lands to the rescue.
Liath starts out simple enough. She is a warrior. That is her calling, and that is how she is always described in the myths and legends, so who am I to argue. But she does have a bit more going on. So I am going with Wasted Land's secret weapons, Backgrounds and the Divine Touchstones.
Again this post is for my late friend Rebecca Joanne Ashling. She would have loved this.
Class: Warrior
Level: 10
Species: Human
Alignment: Light
Background: Barbarian
Abilities
Strength: 16 (+2) A
Agility: 14 (+1)
Toughness: 14 (+1)
Intelligence: 10 (+0)
Wits: 16 (+2) N
Persona: 14 (+1) N
Fate Points: 1d10
Defense Value: 5
Vitality: 72
Degeneracy: 0
Corruption: 0
Check Bonus (A/N/D): +5/+3/+2
Melee Bonus: +4 (base) +2 +1 (divine touchstone)
Ranged Bonus: +4 (base) +1 +1 (divine touchstone)
Spell Attack: +1
Saves: +3 to all saves (Warrior) +2 to toughness (Barbarian)
Warrior Abilities
Combat Expertise, Improved Defence, Melee Combat, Master of Battle, Supernatural Attacks, Spell Resistance, Tracking, Masters of Weapons, Extra Attacks (x3)
Sorceress Spells
First Level: Mystical Senses
Heroic/Divine Touchstones
1st Level: Arcane Power: Wild Shape (Liath was always becoming a salmon in the myths)
2nd Level: Additional +1 to combat
3rd Level: Sorceress level 1: Arcane Power: Arcane Bond (Liath)
4th Level: Divine Smite
5th Level: Great Smite
Barbarian Abilities
+2 to toughness saves,
Heroic (Divine) Archetype: Protection
Gear
Gáe Assail (great spear), Dagger
Wasted Lands Liath & Bodhmal
Ok. This is rather perfect. Again, Ranger had too much magic, and Barbarians too little. But this gives me a nice balance really. She has a barbarian background, but her divine touchstones have given her a bit more magical ability and ones she "earned" on her own. Game-wise, this feels like she was discovering more and more secrets. I have considered trying out an Archer or Divine Warrior, but those concepts, while great, were not a great fit for her. She is not a "Chosen One" by any stretch even if there are some cool things going on in that class. Save that one for Fionn himself I think.
Getting Liath and Bodhmal together, they are far more than the sum of their parts. Their Arcane Bond is focused on each other, allowing them to boost each other's magic when needed and replacing the Anamchara quality as it is supposed to.
It is one thing to design this all in mind, it is another to see it working and working far better than you imagined. Seriously, with Wasted Lands, I might never need "D&D" again. Putting them in Wasted Lands also just feel right.
You can get the Wasted Lands RPG and the NIGHT SHIFT RPG at Elf Lair Games.
If you want to read more tales of Bodhmal and especially Liath then I highly and enthusiastically recommend Irish Imbas Books.
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