Originally published at: NNRPG: Weatherwatch Reveal - Ackerly Green
As you may or may not know, the Neithernor RPG uses the 18 guild-bearings from Ackerly Green’s Guide to Magiq in place of the classical concept of “classes” from other tabletop games like Dungeons & Dragons, etc.
Each Guild’s three bearings are delineated by the Sun/Moon/Eclipse concept, and in NNRPG they are also sorted into non-respective focuses of Magic, Mystic, and Melee.
Melee bearings are more physically-focused though they still use magic to overpower opponents, elevate their already impressive skills, and enhance their armament.
Magic bearings deal with mastering and bending the known scientific laws of magic like time, alchemy, technology, and weather.
Mystic bearings focus on affecting the intangible and unexplained elements of the magimystic; chaos, creation, the elements, and even reality itself.
Each Guild in NNRPG has a stack of six Skills that encompass their respective archetypes and can be augmented for further benefits within your character’s Skill ladder. The Skills for Weatherwatch’s Explorer archetype are Athletics, Rapport, Sleight, Stealth, Survival, and Wit.
We also break those six Skills down into pairs for each bearing, skills that are critically useful to that particular class. This breakdown of Skills is useful to ensure that each guild and their bearings feel unique, have their own areas of expertise, and also allows some Skills to be used in place of other skills. Here’s why that’s important:
In Fate Core, skills have four potential game actions: Overcome, Create an Advantage, Attack, and Defend. For example, Craft can be used to Overcome or Create an Advantage.
But that doesn’t really work for the Briarverse. In NNRPG, I wanted guilds and their bearings to be able to alter or augment Skills based on their areas of expertise and have options for what Skills they use for combat, defense, etc. The way we’ve broken down the skills by Guild and added Skill Focuses allows for that. Now, the Flinterforge guild-bearings have the option to use Craft in place of Fight to engage in combat since many of their Affinities center around creation, and all Weatherwatch bearings can use Wit to not only improvise their way out of a problem but to turn the tide of a battle if needed.
But enough of the boring stuff, let’s get into the fun bits! Below are the current concepts for the Weatherwatch bearings and the roles they’ll play in NNRPG.
Weatherwatch: The Explorers
Guild Skills: Athletics, Rapport, Sleight, Stealth, Survival, Wit
Guild Skill Focus: Wit
Ardeonaut – The Swashbuckling Adventurer:
Bearing Skills: Athletics & Rapport
The Sun-bearing Ardeonaut is Weatherwatch’s Melee class and represents the classic “Swashbuckling Adventurer” character of literature and film. Think Indiana Jones, Lara Croft, or even Jack Sparrow. Their sense of adventure is an insatiable urge, and they are always on the lookout for the next shiny thing, the next discovery, the next scrape to narrowly escape. Their augmented skills are Athletics and Rapport, and their Affinities are a magimystic mix of augmentations to enhance their way with both words, weapons, and wiles. From deftly evading traps and capture to talking their way out of a fight or past defenses, the Ardeonaut is quick-footed, silver-tongued, and the natural “face” of many covens.
Navimant – The Phantasmic Scout:
Bearing Skills: Survival & Wit
The moon-bearing Navimat is Weatherwatch’s Magic class. They play the unique role of a one-person scouting party who can project a second phantasmic copy of themselves to help scope out dangers ahead of the coven, map unexplored locations, confuse and distract opponents, and with the right affinities, even aid in combat. The Navimant’s augmented skills are Survival and Wit, representing both their keen instincts and their ability to improvise. Their Affinities grant upgrades that power their second self, from magimystic echolocation and mimicry to corporeally interacting with the world around them, and also afford protection and strength to the Navimant while their ghostly mirror is out on assignment.
Celestant – The Light-Wielding Rogue:
Bearing Skills: Stealth & Sleight
The eclipse-bearing Celestant is Weatherwatch’s Mystic class, a stealth-focused rogue who can manipulate the element of light, and in turn, darkness. They are both the burning star in the sky and the sea of shadow that surrounds it. Their augmented skills are Stealth and Sleight, and they can use their abilities to explore, conceal, distract, and stealthily engage enemies. They might blind a foe with a blast of sunlight, cloak their coven in the shrouded safety of darkness, or secretly disrupt technology built on fiber-optic connections. Their connection to the most essential element means the possibilities for plying light and shadow are endless, but one thing’s for sure: Their coven need never carry a torch again.
And that's Weatherwatch!
Do you have thoughts for Abilities, ideas for edits, suggestions for changes? PLEASE comment below! And once I’ve revealed all the bearings this week, we’re going to start creating spells together!
Tomorrow we’ll get into the Caretaker bearings of Gossmere!
First, I would like to say I love alllllll of these bearing-classes and I’m so happy that you released WW first. I was definitely unsure of what to expect of them, and I was caught a bit off-guard that Celestant is more of a rogue character, but I really love the concept! It’s a really unique approach to a “rogue class” and I love how connected it is to light manipulation and its raw, elemental nature. I also like that your description of the Celestant gives an example of how the bearing’s abilities could interact with technology - it really adds to the unique feel that Ackerly Green’s universe has as a “modern fantasy” world.
(noticed a couple of new skills that aren’t in the core guide and it’s got me very excited 
)
