GALLANT
Starting Equipment:
-a longboard, snowboard, surfboard, or similar board of transit (2 slots);
-melee weapon of your choice (varies);
-dripped-out heavy armor (4 slots);
-3 rations worth of travel-safe hot dogs, mini pizzas, and/or canned beer (3 slots);
-a worthy cause (a place in your heart)
Dripped-Out Armor: You’ve basically got light armor over your heavy armor, so it’s a +4 armor. No one other than a gallant is confident enough to pull this off effortlessly, so this functions as normal heavy armor for other classes.
Level 1: bro code, staunch attunement, hang in there
Level 2: righteous steed, +gallantry
Level 3: the tony hawkman effect, +gallantry
Level 4: keep hanging on, +gallantry
Bro Code: Whenever you gain a level in gallant, you make a new vow. This should be fairly specific and something you could conceivably fail at – “I will uphold justice” or “I will be merciful” aren’t great vows, but “I will never damage an old car” or “I will not kill” are. When you break a vow, you lose a gallant level and that vow the next time you complete a rest, unless you have atoned. When you uphold your vow at cost to yourself, you gain an additional use of Hang In There for the day.
Staunch Attunement: At character creation, choose two damage types from Cold, Wet and Righteous. Whenever you use an ability with Attuned damage, you deal damage of those two damage types. You also deal an extra 1 point of typed damage using items with your Attuned types.
Hang in There: Restore 1d6 Guard to a target within one square. You may use this ability [GALLANT LEVEL]x2 times per rest.
Righteous Steed: The board from your starting equipment becomes a magic item, and returns to you in two days if it is lost or destroyed, including if you already lost it. It is obviously Glittery and functions as if under its own power. You may also use your faithful steed as a medium Blunt reach weapon. It won’t mind.
Gallantries: You have to support your cause somehow, but not everyone agrees in what way is best. At every level after the first, you can select a Gallantry that not every gallant has access to – see the list below.
The Tony Hawkman Effect: When you are not wearing your full armor and do not visibly have your righteous steed, you may designate yourself as unrecognizable to authority figures. In combat, you may designate everyone else as targets of diminished import by dramatically donning your helmet or drawing your righteous steed. For at least the actions immediately after revealing your identity, enemies will target you in lieu of your allies.
Keep Hanging On: Hang in There now restores 1d6+4 Guard and you can choose to roll again if you roll 1 or 6 by expending an extra usage. You can keep rolling indefinitely as long as you have the uses for it. The +4 Guard is applied once after all dice are rolled.
When you retire a level 4+ gallant, you may bequeath your righteous steed to a worthy recipient. They are not proficient with it as a weapon and cannot make use of its more esoteric powers, but it does serve as a tower shield that grants its user Creepy Resist 4 and only weighs as much as a heavy shield, since it’s made of wood.
Gallantries
Choose one of these every time you gain a gallant level after the first.
Get Down, Dude!: (Loud) You may intercept an attack meant for a character that is within your movement range. Move to the square that character occupied, move them one square in any direction that makes sense, and take the attack as if you were the original target in all ways. You cannot use this ability without shouting its name, in and out of game.
Bodacious Bulwark: Once per scene, if you are wielding your righteous steed, you may swing it to the side to block an incoming attack directed at a character within your melee range. Roll melee damage with any appropriate bonuses and reduce the character’s damage taken by that amount, and then reduce it by 4 more if it’s Creepy damage.
Swipe Out: You may sweep your righteous steed across the three or six spaces in front of you in one motion, making a single standard attack roll applied to all targets. Targets take one less damage for each target of the attack.
Stay Sharp: You modify your righteous steed, such as by sharpening its fin or barbing its wheels, such that it may deal Sharp damage. You choose whether your steed deals Sharp or Blunt damage every time you attempt an attack.
Keep It Cool: Rations and similar items kept on your person are kept cool or frozen and prevented from contracting mold, bacterial contaminant, or even magical spoilage. You also gain a travel cooler and can fit 5 rations in it. You may only select this gallantry if your Staunch Attunements include Cold.
Hydrate or Die-drate: Whenever you complete a long rest, you create a radical elixir that counts as a ration and restores 1d6 Guard when imbibed. You may only select this gallantry if your Staunch Attunements include Wet.
Sword and Board: Your righteous steed now deals Righteous damage in addition to its other damage types, and it also deals extra damage. It deals +[GALLANT LEVEL] damage, and also benefits from your Staunch Attunement. You may only take this if your Staunch Attunements include Righteous.
by Paul G
The Big One: (Loud, flashy) Once per long rest, you may use your righteous steed to make an attack powered by a rushing wave of water, dealing 5d6 Cold and Wet damage in a three-square-wide space in front of you and pushing all targets aside by one square. You must have at least two squares of space between you and the target to ride the big one. You may only select this gallantry if your Staunch Attunements are Cold and Wet.
Bros In the Hot Tub: The range of Hang in There increases to three squares. It also now creates soothing steam that cures mental conditions and anything that taking a bath could solve, like being on fire or not being Immaculate. You may only select this gallantry if your Staunch Attunements are Wet and Righteous.
Chill, Bro: Once per long rest, you may encase a foe you touch in Glittering ice for [GALLANT LEVEL-1] rounds, preventing all physical action for as long as the ice entraps them. The ice has Resist 5 against all damage except Hot and Blunt, and has 10 Guard. You may only select this gallantry if your Staunch Attunements are Cold and Righteous.
Notes
the gallant is intended to be a foil to the specter, the light knight to its dark knight with the opposite elements to match. the gallant is definitely the most support-oriented core class there is, but it's also martially capable because like, listen. i love playing healers but in my humble onion, i think heal monkeys are fucking boring a lot of the time.
also, i think it's cute that the chivalrous gallant with its defensive abilities is kind of the ideal protector for the utility-focused princess.
this entire "paladins are bros" bit spiraled out of me calling radiant damage "righteous".
thanks as always to my coconspirator gigi gutsygills for her help with this class.
