Electro-Magnetic Beetle 2.0: Wizard School

 

A rework of my previous Electro-Magnetic Beetle class to better fit the GLOG's rules for wizards.

art by @bigmsaxon on twitter

Electro-Magnetic Beetle

Starting Equipment: Scarab Pendant (functions as a wizard's spellbook)

Starting Skill [d3]: 1 = Dung Beetle 2 = Ladybird 3 = Diving Beetle

Perks:  

Lightning Rod: You can expend two Magic Dice to act as a lightning rod, redirecting a bolt of lightning or lightning-related spell from its target and towards yourself.

Giant Beetle: Your movement is 14. Your exoskeleton gives you defence +4 as if it were armour, but it takes up no inventory slots. Your mandibles deal 1d10+str damage and are a heavy weapon. You can communicate in beetle language and morse code by clicking your mandibles. You have six legs and no arms.

Electro-Magnetic Shell: Your exoskeletal shell functions as a staff (as per Coins and Scrolls' rules) which can only be charged by being struck by lightning. When struck by magical lightning your shell gains MD equal to the [dice] spent on the spell. When struck by non-magical lightning your shell gains MD equal to the number of damage dice. Absorbing the energy of lightning in this manner negates its damage unless you exceed your shell's capacity of 6 MD, in which case damage is dealt as normal.

Restrictions: You lack hands and cannot climb ropes or use weapons that are not specifically designed for your form. You cannot use wands or staves other than your Electro-Magnetic Shell.

 

Cantrips:

1. Wings: Can cast Feather Fall as a cantrip so long as your wings are unobstructed.
2. Sense Electro-Magnetism: You can spend 30 minutes meditating to learn the approximate number of living creatures with a functioning nervous system within a mile of your location, as well as their direction relative to you.
3. Irritating Beetles: You may cast a cantrip version of Cuspit's Irritating Vermin. It is limited to 1 target and 1 round of duration. 

Spells: (taken from this list).

1. Wending Bolt

2. Thunderclap

3. Cuspit's Swarm of Irritating Vermin

4. Rolling Spark

More Spells (taken from this list).

5. Aggravate Thundercloud

6. Fly

Even more Spells (taken from another list).

7. Lightningball (as per the "...ball" spell).

8. Wall of Lightning (as per the "Wall of..." spell).

9. Cloud of Lightning (as per the "Cloud of..." spell).

10. Shape/Control Lightning (as per the "Shape/Control..." spell).

11. Speak with Beetles (as per the "Speak with..." spell).

12. Lightningbolt (as per the "...bolt" spell).

GLOG Class: Electro-Magnetic Beetle

You know how it is. Some people are humans, some people are elves, some people are Very Good Dogs... and some people are giant sentient beetles that can harness the power of lightning.

A class for Arnold K's GLOG.

art by @bigmsaxon on twitter

Electro-Magnetic Beetle

You gain +1 HP for every E-M Beetle template you posess.

Starting Equipment: Scarab Pendant

Starting Skill [d3]: 1 = Dung Beetle 2 = Ladybird 3 = Diving Beetle

A: Giant Beetle, Electro-Magnetic

B: Glide, Lightning Rod

C: Command Beetles, Sense Electro-Magnetism

D: Flight, Plague of Beetles, Blinding Lightning

Giant Beetle

Your movement is 14, but you lack hands and cannot climb ropes. Your exoskeleton gives you defence +4 as if it were armour, but it takes up no inventory slots. Your mandibles deal 1d10+str damage and are a heavy weapon. You can communicate in beetle language and morse code by clicking your mandibles. You have six legs and no arms.

Electro-Magnetic

Your body becomes "charged" when struck by lightning. This charge can be spent to shoot lightning at a target within line-of-sight as a standard action with no range penalty to attack. You can store a number of charges equal to the number of E-M Beetle templates you have.

If you are full of charges, lightning arcs visibly over your exoskeleton and it functions as an electromagnet that you can switch on and off at will. If you are not full of charges, you are immune to lightning damage.

Lightning damage has a chance to deafen its target, as per the GLOG's death and dismemberment rules. Exactly how much damage lightning deals is up to the DM, or the spell description if magical lightning is used.

Glide

You learn to use your wings to glide through the air. You cannot fly upwards.

Lightning Rod

You can expend two charges from your electro-magnetic ability to redirect a bolt of lightning from its target and towards yourself (automatic hit). The bolt you redirect restores one of the two spent charges.

Command Beetles

You have been ordained as a representative of the Radiant Pharoah, the mountain-sized scarab beetle that is equal parts God-Queen, home and kaiju-like mobile fortress to the electro-magnetic beetles. Ordinary beetles will obey your commands. They will stop short of anything obviously suicidal, but often do not have the mental capacity to realise if they are walking into a trap.

The Radiant Pharoah may occasionally send you commands by telepathic radio transmission.

Sense Electro-Magnetism

You can track any creature with a functional nervous system so long as they passed through your current location less than 24 hours ago. (Magically animated undead do not count as having a functional nervous system, but undead animated by a parasite or pathogenic disease do).

Flight

You can expend a charge from your electro-magnetic ability to fly for up to one minute.

Plague of Beetles

You can rally a swarm of ordinary beetles to swarm over a single location at a time, such as a town, city or village, acting as a blight on their crops. Alternatively, you can summon ladybirds to increase crop yield by preying on aphids or fireflies to light up the location at night.

Blinding Lightning

You can choose to have your lightning blind targets instead of deafening them.