I only got to playtest the Gift Giver for about 6 months back in 2016. We got a good sense of what worked and what didn’t, but I admit I wish I’d taken better notes. I’m sure there’s something I forgot in this revision.
The act of giving gifts was a huge hit, but for some reason the original draft hadn’t made it more the focus of a class that was literally named for doing it. Perhaps because it’s tricky to build a class around social encounters when no two people run their social encounters the same way. I’m not sure I’ve done much better on that front below, but I’ve made more of an effort. The class’s secondary powers also needed some expansion and punch up.
The Gift Giver
The Jolly Order of Gift Givers is a society of venerable men, women, and other folk noted for their generosity and good cheer. Upon induction to the order each Gift Giver is endowed with mystic powers in accordance with the Faustian bargain made by the Order’s saintly founder in time immemorial. It’s said to be the only truly successful deal ever made with the Devil. The contract (penned in the founder’s own hand) is contained in 14,823 volumes in a vault deep beneath the Order’s ancestral meeting hall. Priests and church scholars of every stripe have poured over the document for centuries and report a baffling lack of any sin committed either by the founder, or by those who take the Jolly Oaths.
Basics
Gift Givers have a d6 hit die. They level according to the Fighter’s experience table, with the attack modifiers and saving throws of a Specialist or Thief. They have no particular limitations for weapon or armor use, though given the weight of the gifts they carry they may become over-encumbered if they insist on wearing heavy armor. While not required, bright colors and bells are a sort of unofficial uniform for Gift Givers. Other members of the order may look askance at someone who dressed otherwise.
Though elves are not usually willing to become hirelings to anyone but other elves, they have a mysterious liking for these jolly old folk which gives them a +2 to their loyalty. Even the elves don’t really know why they feel this way. The Gift Givers do, but won’t reveal the secret.
Gifts, and Giving Them
At the outset of each new adventure the Giftgiver muse spend 25% of their liquid wealth purchasing gifts for others. Likewise, these unspecified and amorphous gifts take up 25% of their total encumbrance at all times. If the player chooses to abandon their supply of gifts for the extra carrying capacity, they will lose access to all class features (not just gift giving) until they stock back up.
A subtle predictive magic is at play when a Gift Giver goes shopping. They themselves doesn’t really know why they buy the things they buy, but in their travels they will invariably have the perfect gift for everyone they meet. Players are encouraged to be creative and generous in coming up with good gifts for every shopkeep, quest giver, and parleying monster they encounter. The only limitation is that it must be something that could be reasonably found, made, scavenged, or purchased in the place where the adventure began.
A member of the Jolly Order would never attach strings to a gift. To do so would sully the act of giving, transform it into an exchange or a bribe. That is not the Gift Giver way. None the less, gifts change the balance of most social situations. Folks generally feel an obligation to be friendly. They’ll usually want to make some kind of concession, or offer something they think is useful as a gift in return. Precisely how they respond is up to the referee, but unless they are a truly hateful creature they ought to do something nice.
The unexpectedness of what each NPC will consider an appropriate response to a gift is part of this class’s charm, and shouldn’t be over-mechanized. That said, it’s also a little wishy-washy, and may be difficult to wrap your head around. If need be, have the player roll 3d6 and add the higher two results together, resulting in a number between 2 and 12. The higher the result, the better the NPC’s response is.
Gift Givers are limited to one gift per person per year. That’s just how the magic works.
Gift Giver Magics
Starting at second level, and at every even-numbered level thereafter, the Gift Giver’s generosity has earned them a new magic power in accord with the ancient contract. Roll d10 on the table below to determine which power they gain. If the player rolls a power they already have, they may choose for themselves one power which they don’t.
None of a Gift Giver’s abilities are subject to magical resistances, such as anti-magic fields or counter spells.
- Gift of Entry
- Enchant Animal
- Sleepytime Kiss
- Treat Oneself
- Gift of Cold
- Time Stop
- Shrink Object
- Gaze of Shame
- Baleful Levitate
- Know Heart
1. Gift of Entry
By touching the outer wall of a structure, the Gift Giver instantly appears on the other side with a faint ‘pop.’ They may bring with them a number of passengers equal to their level.
The power only allows the character to enter or exit a discrete structure. It cannot be used to bypass interior walls or doors once inside. Gift Givers may only use this power on a given structure once to enter, and once to exit each day.
While not strictly required, it is expected that a Gift Giver will leave gifts in any building they enter in this fashion. If it were known that a character failed to do so, they might be summoned to make an account of themselves before the elders of the Jolly Brotherhood.
2. Enchant Animal
Herbivorous animals do not fear a Gift Giver. They’ll happily come up and climb onto the character’s shoulder, or nuzzle against them. Once this power is obtained the Gift Giver may enchant one of these creatures for every 2 levels they have. The animals remain enchanted until they die, or the Gift Giver releases them.
Enchanted Animals can speak, and fly, and will happily perform almost any task the Gift Giver requests of them. The one thing they won’t do is deadly violence. They’re happy to trip or disarm a bad person, but will do nothing that would deal direct harm. If the Gift Giver asks this of them, the enchantment is broken, and the animal will flee.
3. Sleepytime Kiss
By kissing someone, a Gift Giver can send them into a magical slumber which lasts for 1 hour. No saving throw against this is allowed. Sleepers cannot be awakened by noise or gentle physical contact. Rough physical treatment will break the spell.
A Sleepytime Kiss can not be performed in combat, or against anyone who is actively resisting the kiss. The target must either accept the kiss willingly, or be surprised by the kiss. A peck on the hand or cheek is sufficient.
Kissing someone who is already asleep will ensure they remain asleep for at least 1 more hour. Kissing someone multiple times does not add additional hours, it merely restarts the 1 hour countdown.
4. Treat Oneself
Gift Givers never know why they buy something. They simply trust the magic which guides their intuition. They know that at some point in their travels, they’ll encounter a person for whom each object is a perfect gift.
At some point their generosity is so commendable that the magics which guide them start to give something back. Unknowingly, the Gift Giver begins to purchase gifts for themselves. At some point during each adventure they may produce a single item which they now realize they purchased to aid them in whatever situation they currently find themselves in. Like the gifts given to others, these must be something that could reasonably be purchased, found, made, or scavenged at the location where they last stocked up on gifts.
5. Affinity for Cold
Weather cold enough to do harm to most folks is energizing to the Gift Giver. In such conditions they have the strength of 2 people, and experience the opposite of whatever hindrances most people face. If the weather is cold enough to deal d4 hit points of damage each hour, then the Gift Giver heals d4 hit points each hour. If the snow slows most folks movement speed by half, then the Gift Giver’s is doubled.
This effect also protects the Gift Giver from cold-based magical attacks. Against an Ice Dragon’s breath they would take half damage on a failed save, and no damage on a successful save. Against a sword with an extra d6 of frost damage, they’d only take normal weapon damage, etc.
6. Time Stop
Gift Givers have an uncanny knack for getting a lot of work done in the blink of an eye. The legends they tell of their founder say he was able to accomplish impossible feats in a single night. Contemporary members of the Joyful Order aren’t quite so skilled, perhaps because the powers are now spread across so many different people?
Once per day a Gift Giver can stop time for d4 + 1 rounds. During which time they can move and act normally. If a Gift Giver refrains from using this power for an entire year, they can gather enough power to themselves to stop time for a full d4 + 1 hours.
7. Shrink Object
In order to facilitate the ability to carry better gifts, the character gains the ability to shrink objects down to a more manageable size. This can be done to any number of objects, as many times per day as desired. The character need only touch the item, and it’ll shrink small enough to only take up a single encumbrance. Restoring the item to its proper size is equally simple.
Only inanimate material can be shrunk by this method. People and animals are immune.
8. Gaze of Shame
There’s nothing worse than the look of profound disappointment on the face of a Giftgiver. It crushes a person’s ego, makes them reevaluate themselves and their actions.
Gaze of Shame is only effective against targets who are not in combat against the Giftgiver, and can only ever be used once per target. Ever.
The weight of shame will cause the target to change their mind on a single issue indicated by the Giftgiver. What they change their mind to may not be precisely what the Giftgiver wanted, but in good faith the referee should make the target’s new position an improvement over their old one.
9. Baleful Levitate
With a waggle of their fingers and a polite barb about their target’s foibles, Gift Givers can cause one creature within their line of sight to begin floating. They may do this as often as they please, but their targets are entitled to a saving throw versus Paralyzation to resist the effect, and gain a +1 bonus to their save for each creature already floating.
Floating characters are repelled by any surface they attempt to gain purchase on. They drift erratically, unable to control their position. They can still act, but nothing is easy. For example, they can only attack people they happen to drift towards, and even then will never be in the optimum position, so their attacks are penalized by d10, re-rolled each round.
10. Know Heart
By fixing their attention on a person, a Gift Giver can know their innermost desires, and the nature of their character. This ability does not communicate the specifics of the target’s intent, plans, thoughts, or deeds. It merely lets the Gift Giver know what they want, and whether they are naughty or nice.
I feel like Gift Of Entry should definitely be usable TWICE per structure per day, right? Once for the entry and once for the exit. But on the other hand, making it just once per day would explain why Santa prefers to visit around midnight…
That was definitely my intent. In my head it’s “enter once per day, exit once per day.”
Will edit to make that more clear.