Microlite 20: Pathfinder-Equivalent Classes

There's a new edition of the Microlite 20 Collection available, over on RetroRoleplaying, which includes everything from the 2012 version plus updates. My games — Ultimate Fantasy, Ultimate Modern-Day, Ultimate Costumes, Ultimate Mecha, and Ultimate Ultramicrolite — are all on there. So those are the versions I'll be referring to when I write new content for the game, and using the page numbers listed there, even though each game has its own page numbers (in case you're not looking at the whole thing).

All these characters can be yours, even without your Pathfinder books. (image: Paizo.com)

My new Microlite 20 content will look something like this:

While there are Pathfinder RPG versions in the Ultimate Collection (specifically, page 1169), Ultimate Fantasy offers a unique set of classes, which uses the Class Points rules described on page 212. The classes themselves are on page 233.

Here's a list of Pathfinder classes and their Microlite 20 Ultimate Fantasy class equivalents, because one of my goals for Ultimate Fantasy was to cover as many "Fantasy RPG" bases as I could with the game expansion. This includes all the Pathfinder classes to date, as found on PFSRD.com.

Pathfinder Class	Microlite 20 Ultimate Fantasy Class
Barbarian	Barbarian
Bard	Bard
Cleric	Cleric
Druid	Animal Master, Druid, Wanderer
Fighter	Fighter
Monk	Monk
Paladin	Paladin
Ranger	Animal Master, Ranger, Twin Blade
Rogue	Rogue
Sorcerer	Sorcerer
Wizard	Wizard
Alchemist	Alchemist
Cavalier	Knight
Gunslinger	Gunslinger
Inquisitor	Wrathbringer
Magus	Mystic
Oracle	Invoker
Summoner	Summoner
Vigilante	see below
Witch	Warlock
Anti-Paladin	Anti-Paladin
Ninja	Ninja
Samurai	Samurai
Arcanist	Sorcerer, Wizard
Bloodrager	Barbarian
Brawler	see below
Hunter	Ranger
Investigator	Assassin, Rogue
Shaman	Shaman
Skald	see below
Slayer	see below
Swashbuckler	Swashbuckler
Warpriest	Cleric
Kineticist	Warlock
Medium	Cleric
Mesmerist	see below
Occultist	Wizard
Psychic	Psion
Spiritualist	Summoner

There are a few classes that don't have a match in Microlite 20 Ultimate Fantasy.

Vigilante

Class Type: Rogue

+1 Subterfuge, +1 Knowledge, +1 Communication

Improved Initiative, Monster Knowledge, Reputation (Easy To Ignore), Wealth

Brawler

Class Type: Fighter

+2 Physical, +1 Subterfuge

Attack Bonus: Melee/Hand-To-Hand, Strikeback, Unarmed Damage, Wuxia Defenses

Skald

Class Type: Rogue

+1 Physical, +2 Communication

Brute Force, Good Fortune, Medium Armor, Performance

Slayer

Class Type: Fighter

+1 Physical, +2 Subterfuge

Attack Bonus: Melee/Hand-To-Hand, Heavy Armor And Shields, Medium Armor, Monster Knowledge

Mesmerist

Class Type: Wizard

+2 Knowledge, +1 Communication

Lesser Spell List: Illusionist, Quick Thinker, Sneak Attack

USR Wednesdays: Superheroes part 2: Super-Specialisms and hit points

Specialisms for superheroes can be powers - which can be used as weapons and armor, unlike most specialisms – but also personality traits (“billionaire philanthropist,” “mild-mannered reporter”). Because they’re so free form, super power Specialisms don’t have particular damage amounts or limits (for example, how many people are mind-controlled at one time?). Turn to the comics, animation and movies: if you can find an example of the power being used in the media, you can use it, though maybe with the use of a Narrative Point.

Almost every rules-moderate to rules-heavy superhero RPG (including my own Microlite 20 Costumes) has a catalog of super powers for characters to purchase, and which count as Specialisms in superhero USR. As with any Specialism, though, the descriptions that allow for more narration are often more interesting in play. The Punisher’s Lots Of Guns is kind of boring as a Specialism, but the Flash’s Runs Fast Enough To Access The Speed Force is a simple to understand power with a unique twist (lots of heroes have Super-Speed, but don’t also get access to the Speed Force). With the Ice Control Specialism, Iceman of the X-Men can fire ice darts at a villain, but he also creates ice slides to move quickly, duplicates of himself in ice form, and so much more.

A Specialism of Magician means you can do just about anything in a superhero setting. (Also, you were expecting Dr. Strange or Zatanna, right?) (image: King Features Syndicate)

Another superhero-specific element is hit points. Heroes can take a beating, and shrug off most ordinary damage. Boosted Action and Wits stats help represent that, and so does increasing hit points, to (maximum Action die value + maximum Wits die value) x2. Alternately, heroes can be delayed in the hospital, or outright killed, only to return dramatically in the next adventure.

The superhero card game Sentinels of the Multiverse keeps defeated characters in the game until the end with one simple rule. Characters that lose all their hit points can only take one action on a turn, and it has to be used to help another hero who is still in the game. It’s described as inspiring the surviving characters to fight harder. The same concept can be used in USR, with knocked-out heroes offering a +1 to certain kind of die rolls, or a once-per-battle reroll to their surviving allies.

What are your favorite superhero Specialisms?

USR Wednesdays: Social Combat

Given the history of RPGs, finding ways to use the "Action" and "Wits" stats in USR is easy; Action  is everything from acrobatics to yo-yo tricks (admittedly, the latter is not a common Specialism...). Wits can handle research and the supernatural, like magic and psionic combat. Ego, or social skills, are less used in role playing. A character may need to roll to intimidate, seduce or seek information listening to rumors. But the number of times Ego is used compared to the other stats means Ego almost shouldn't even be a stat. Let's change that, and give debaters, manipulators and schemers a chance to fight the good fight.

Social combat can be just as interesting when fought by a master.
(image: celebdirtylaundry.com)

The Song of Ice and Fire RPG, and my other game, Microlite 20, have rules for social combat. For ease of use, it's basically like standard combat, except with different Specialisms in play. In fiction, social combat is usually over much quicker than battle, so each character begins with "social hit points" equal to the highest value of his or her Ego stat (i.e. 6, 8 or 10). Each attack and defense uses Specialisms like Bargain, Stir up trouble, Stubborn or Immune to her charms.

There's no equivalent to weapons or armor, though one Ego roll can affect the next. For example, befriending a powerful political family can help quell (or stir up) a rebellion. Allow players to describe what their characters are saying in the conversation. If it's convincing or inspiring, grant an extra +1 to the roll.

Make a simple Wits roll as initiative, to represent the planning of meeting times and places that best suit the character's goals. Social combat usually "heals" immediately after the combat ends. Just like standard combat, a character that loses all of his or her social hit points is defeated, but this doesn't have to mean death or unconsciousness. Instead, political foes can be humiliated, and enemies can be outwitted (it's much easier to trick an ogre than to try and cut it to pieces). Adventures can be just as exciting, and a lot less hazardous to life and limb.

What are the best Specialisms for exciting social combat?

Playtesting

As I get back to working on my blog more often, it's prompting me to take another look at my games. The role playing games will get special attention, since I have a lot of ideas for Microlite 20 and USR. They're not dead games, especially since the latter just got a new book from its creator and the former is part of the d20 system, designed to never die (just look at Pathfinder).

So I'm going to look more at the other games I've put together, like Monsters Menace Monopoly, Plastic Attack and Mutant Hunter. Are those the best rules sets they could be? I "eyeball" my rules a lot, and don't actually get people together to test them all that often. Solo playing games designed for multiple, competitive players, doesn't always work. This is an ongoing project, but I can at least provide a more up-to-date version of the rules for people to enjoy.

Plus, I have hundreds of miniatures and dozens of maps, let's make use of them somehow.

Microlite 20 Character Generators

One of the reasons I don't play games like Pathfinder or Rifts often is because they're very statistics-heavy. There's lots of numbers, lots of names, and stuff you have to look up in several different places. Spells, for example: a character sheet may list the names of spells, but (for space reasons as much as copyright ones) there's no description of the spell's effects there. Players have to turn to an entirely different piece of paper — or more often, a book. Kind of reduces the effect of having the entire character on one page.

Microlite 20 doesn't avoid that problem, as spell-casting characters can use any spell, as long as they have the hit points to pay for it. A character could just list signature spells with a brief, Microlite 20-style spell description. That's also why there's pre-generated spell lists (page 25 of Ultimate Microlite Fantasy) and the starter spells (on pages 26 and 27).

It's also why I created the character generator templates, simple Excel spreadsheets that calculate most of the numbers you need to get your character ready to play. There's one for Fantasy and Modern-Day games, and another for Costumes, which calculates the number of Power Points you have to spend.

As the instructions state, you type in the numbers in the purple and blue boxes, and write down the final results listed in the purple and red boxes. Just add description (race, class, equipment, etc.), and you're ready to go. It saves time on the math and makes sure you have all the bonuses and advantages your character should have, which of course can be unwieldy in a d20 System-based game.

Let's walk through character creation in my most popular game, Microlite 20 Costumes. Here's our hero, Remarkable Man, who is not unlike another well-known superhero, the first one ever.

I don't want to violate copyright law, so I'll just "suggest" who I mean.

1. Level and Power Points: As noted in the Microlite 20 Costumes rules, Remarkable Man's inspiration is a level 15 (superior) hero. That goes in cell B1 and results in 225 Power Points.

2. Races and Classes: Remarkable Man is an ordinary Earth human, who gained his powers in, oh, let's say a lab accident. No aliens here.

3. Stats: Remember, stats above 19 count as powers, so we'll plug that in here and also note it as powers in step 4. He's super-strong. Also remember that stats cost Power Points, unlike other Microlite 20 games.

4. Powers: We already have Super-Strength accounted for. Let's see, our role model has Flight, Energy Blast (two kinds: heat and freezing), Invulnerability (multiple forms), Super-Speed, Tunnel (probably) and X-Ray Vision. And that's the normal list, not even considering all the variations from space rocks or Silver Age comics! Remarkable Man has the big ones, like Flight at rank 15, Energy Blast (heat) at rank 10, Invulnerability (ordinary weapons) at rank 15, and X-Ray Vision at rank 10.

5. Gadgets, Limits and Magic: None for Remarkable Man! He's powerful enough.

6. Skills: In his day job as a mild-mannered... well, no one pays reporters any more, so we'll say he does social media marketing. A skill has a maximum rank of level +5 (20 for our hero). We'll split his 3 Free Bonus as 1 in Knowledge and 2 in Communication. We'll add a little bit in Physical, Knowledge and Communication. Other heroes handle the stealthy stuff.

7. Combat: We're getting to the end of our character generator, with just a few points left to spend (remember, financial status is still out there). He already has the Invulnerability power, but we'll boost his Armor Class to about the same as his Melee/Hand-To-Hand attack bonus, and we'll push up his woeful Initiative bonus.

8. Financial Status and Equipment: A red, blue and yellow costume comes at no cost, and we'll pretend social media marketing pays well enough for a Comfortable status (no points).

9. Flaws: Our inspiration has his weakness to cosmic rocks, usually green, but Remarkable Man doesn't need more Power Points. No flaws for him; plenty while playing the character, but none on the character sheet.

All that leaves us with 8 Power Points, which are dropped into Hit Points. So here's Remarkable Man, as determined using the character calculator:

Level 15
STR 25 (+7), DEX 18 (+4), MIND 16 (+3)
Physical 17, Subterfuge 15, Knowledge 17, Communication 18
Flight 15, Energy Blast (heat) 10, Invulnerability (ordinary weapons) 15, X-Ray Vision 10
Hit Points 97, Initiative +7, Melee/Hand-To-Hand +22, Missile/Ranged +19, Magic/Supernatural +18, Armor Class 27
Heroism Points 10, Financial Status Comfortable

Voila! A superhero character ready to play, without too much cross-referencing and confusion.

(image: Robert Linder)

M20: Indiana Jones

This past weekend, I was at a convention (covering it for a magazine: two interests at once!), where the main activity was the local chapter of the Pathfinder Society, some two dozen games or so. There's also plenty of d20 activity happening, like Paizo's upcoming "Starfinder" and a steady stream of 5e books. So, let's revisit our version of the d20 system, Microlite.
I'm not changing anything; the newest and best versions of each rules set (except for Purest Essence itself) are on my website. Instead, I plan to continue to update options, adding more character classes and races, creating more rules, and bringing what I call "famous" characters to the Microlite 20 experience. For example, let's take another look at an old classic:

Indiana Jones (Henry Jones, Jr.)

As of: End of “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade”

Uses Microlite 20: Modern-Day (late historical era)

Level: 13

Species, Focus and Special Abilities: Human, Intellect Focus, Research, Quick Draw, Combat Style (Melee/Hand-To-Hand) +2, Combat Style (Missile/Ranged) +2, Connections (6 times per day), Lucky (3 times per day)

STR: 15 (+2)

DEX: 13 (+1)

MIND: 18 (+4)

Physical: 16

Subterfuge: 10

Knowledge: 21 

Communication: 12

Technology: 9

Hit Points: 67

Armor Class: 20

Initiative: +7

Melee/Hand-to-Hand Attack Bonus: +15

Missile/Ranged Attack Bonus: +14

Magic/Supernatural Attack Bonus: +17

Financial Status: Comfortable

Equipment: Leather Armor, Whip, Machine Pistol, Fedora

This is a straightforward translation of a well-known hero, perfectly ready to play, or inspire the creation of similar heroes. Does seeing classic characters in game terms help your game night, or do simple stats not work for you? Let me know in the comments.

M20 and USR: Captain America

"Captain America: Civil War" was released on DVD this week, though if you're reading this, you probably saw it in the theater. As Honest Trailers suggested, it really was Avengers 2.5, and a lot of fun to see all the superheroes together.

The movies are great, but I miss the red swashbuckler boots. And the little wings on the mask.

I created stats for Captain America on the old, now long-gone blog, but I've since updated the rules for Microlite 20 Costumes, so this the revised version. His financial status is Sponsored, to go along with his position in the movies (as an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.), and to simulate his long career in the comics I might update him to level 14 or even 15.

Microlite 20 Costumes: Level 12, 180 Power Points

STR 21 (+5), DEX 19 (+4), MIND 17 (+3)

Leadership 12, Weapon (Shield): Gadget 12

Physical 17, Subterfuge 16, Knowledge 15, Communication 17

Hit Points 81, Initiative +11, Melee/Hand-To-Hand +18, Missile/Ranged +16, Magic/Supernatural +15, AC 20

Heroism Points: 12, Financial Status: Sponsored

USR superheroes

Action D12, Wits D8, Ego D10

Specialisms: Icon Of Bravery +2, Star-Spangled Avenger +2, Super-Soldier +2

Hit Points: 20

Combat Gear: Body Armor +1, Vibranium Shield +2

Narrative Points: 4