Madcap
I don't know about you, but my favorite player characters, whether they were my own or just across the table from me, have always been those with a little extra flair, a unique style all their own. Usually this style came from the player themselves, playing an otherwise normal character with a certain extra showmanship, but this got us, and especially our Sewerman, thinking; why do the players have to add stylish play to a character? What if that extra pizzazz was built in? Could there be a class that was, in its very mechanical bones, extra as hell?
The Sewerman got cooking, and from their cauldron has come our third full class, the Madcap, a class built explicitly to encourage and reward style and showmanship in gameplay. A damage-dealing arcane half-caster, madcaps are designed to blend martial swordplay and aggressive spellcasting to devastate their enemies. In addition, all madcaps gain 'flair points' as they deal damage, which they store up and then spend in bursts to augment their normal weapon attacks with magical tricks and maneuvers. That way, even if a madcap runs low on spell slots, they are never fully reduced to just being a worse fighter; only death will stop you from being an obnoxious gish.
For their subclasses, madcaps each choose a 'persona', a dramatic archetype that defines what sort of over the top character they act as, and each persona offers the player specialized ways to gain flair points by leaning into a particular style of combat, from heroism, to cruelty, to pure unpredictability. We've prepared four archetypes for you already, but if there's a flavor of madman you think we overlooked, let us know!
Below, you can have a look at the sample version of the madcap, which includes the first handful of levels and the start of two personas. It's enough to get a taste, but if you can't wait to get your hands on the full document, you have two options:
The most direct will be to buy it from our Ko-Fi shop for 5 gold dollars, every copper cent of which will go right to us, and right back into our next batch of projects. Our second class, the Enjoiner, is also there, in case you want the complete set up to this point, but keep the link in your back pocket, as we have big plans for more content in the near future.
However, if you want to get Madcap and be primed to receive anything else we make as we make it, anyone subscribed to our Patreon at 5 dollars or more gains access not only to madcap, but also to enjoiner, as well as all our normal weekly content a full week early! Supporting us on Patreon is the best way you can support us, and best way for you to stay involved and up to date on all that we do as our projects and community grow!
We hope you enjoy our new flashy creation, and that we see you again soon for our next project!
To see all of our more recent, premium content, join our Patreon, where all our spiciest new brews are at your disposal. We’re slowly remastering the highlights of our backlog, and if you’re a patron, you can vote on what gets updated next! And, if you want to ask us about our homebrew, new or old, our Discord is public and full of all kinds of brewers and internet goblins. If you’re either of those, we’d love to hear from you!
Madcap
A goblin dressed in jester’s garb breathes a gout of flame before an audience of applauding royalty. A glint amongst the gathered attendants catches his eye, and he fires forth a barrage of multicolored magic missiles. Each streaks across the room, hurling into a dark-robed figure just feet from the royal throne, who collapses to the ground, poisoned dagger falling with a clatter. The goblin smiles and bows as the royal guardsmen rush toward the neutralized assassin.
A finely-groomed swordsman gracefully dodges his opponent’s lashing blade. His adversary flashes a grin, and with his other hand thrusts a dagger at the swordsman’s exposed back. The look of smug success quickly turns to stunned shock as an arcane barrier is conjured with a flick of the dashing swordsman’s wrist, ensnaring his assailant’s hand and bringing him treacherously off balance.
An orc rushes ahead of her charging allies, allowing the battlecries of her brothers and sisters to propel her forward. The enemy cavalry rushes towards her, their horses rearing as she suddenly drops to the ground and slides between the lead horse’s legs. She leaves behind her a streak of green light and smoke, and laughs as the horse’s hooves begin to sizzle and melt in a newly formed puddle of bubbling acid. The orc then raises her axe and swings, sending forth a surge of thunderous force that sends the rider flying from his saddle and tumbling into the path of the orc’s charging companions.
Madcaps use an aggressive style of combat, fueled by destructive magic and mastery of martial force. They harness their powers from their own sense of ego, using their confidence to propel themselves boldly into battle. Thus, it is normal, almost necessary for a madcap to flaunt their skills and treat battle as a performance as much as a life-or-death struggle. The magic of a madcap reflects their outgoing spirits and usually takes the form of destructive energy or otherwise vibrant displays. Madcaps favor a reactive approach to defense, preferring to parry their enemies and take opportune moments to dodge out of harm’s way rather than weigh themselves down with armor. Madcaps live for the thrill of their art, constantly seeking out new experiences in combat to test themselves against.
Force of Personality
Madcaps draw power from their personality through a magical force called ego. This connection between a madcap’s persona and their power often leads them to grow more eccentric as they develop their skills. Confidence is the driving factor behind a madcap’s magical abilities.
As a madcap becomes more talented - and dangerous - they develop a ‘persona’, an exaggeration of themselves, or a version of themselves at least, that they project into their fighting and magical abilities. This persona grants them specialized talents and abilities flavored by the madcap’s unique personal flair.
Spellswords
Madcaps combine arcane and martial prowess, channeling magical abilities alongside their honed weapon techniques and acrobatic skill. They are experts at using magic to augment their natural physical talents, combining elemental energy with nimble stunts and infusing the magic of their spells into their weapons.
With so many tools at their disposal, madcaps are masters of improvisation, using a variety of both magical and physical abilities to inflict a variety of damage, and to escape a variety of perilous situations.