GLOG Class: The Time Castaway (part I)
The concept for this class was shamelessly to stolen from Choir of Fire. Check the original at: https://choir-of-fire.bearblog.dev/parts-bin-april-2025/#Chrono-Crusader
I'm posting this before it's finished to get input on the chassis. Any comments are welcome: https://komments.cloud/b20a2c2c9d79ae8612855a
Time Castaway
Starting equipment: clothes that won't help you fit in, blaster (a complicated weapon that deals 2d8 damage, but you have a -2 to attack rolls because you’re not proficient. Only you can wield the blaster), an Artifact from your time (such as a toaster).
A-Paradoxical savior, Out of touch/time, Compass
B-Temporal stagger, Choose Your Own Alignment, Echo Chamber
C-Temporal Commando, Kingmaker
D-Superego event horizon
Paradoxical savior
At the start of each battle, roll for a random ability from the Time table. Once per battle you may summon one of your future selves take your place until the end of the turn. They are identical to you (same stats, hp, equipment…) except they have the rolled Time ability and they are proficient with the blaster.
Out of touch/time
You don’t start with an initial skill, but your character has the common knowledge of someone from your period (that is your period, not your characters). The easiest way to play this is that they know everything you do, except specialized knowledge (like if you’re a doctor or something). You always know how to use your artifact and how to repair it should you have the necessary components available.
Compass
Once per day, you may ask your future selves for advice on how to improve your current situation or bypass an obstacle. The DM will give you a short hint.
Temporal Stagger
In combat you reduce all damage by [template]; you receive this damage at the end of your next turn and you may not reduce it in any way.
Choose Your Own Alignment
Whenever your character acts in accordance to the ideals of Order, you receive an Archon token. If they instead act in accordance to the ideals of Chaos, you receive an Anarch token instead.
After rolling on the Time table you may spend an Archon or an Anarch token to roll on their corresponding tables as many times as you like. When you summon a future self to take your place you may choose which of the rolled abilities you want to use.
Echo chamber
The advice from your future selves has gotten a lot less… reliable lately. It seems like they have an agenda: after all, they have a veiled interest in making sure you end up in “their” future.
Whenever you use Compass the master secretly rolls 1d6 to determine which type of message you receive:
1-3: Helpful hint: advice that applies to your current situation, as normal.
4-6: Partisan manipulation: advice meant to steer you towards a specific action. If you go along with it, you gain either an Archon token or an Anarch token.
You may not know what type of message you received.
Temporal Commando
When you spend Archon or Anarch tokens you may have a future self take your place an additional turn per battle. You need to choose a different ability each time (so if you spend a token and roll two abilities you may summon a future self twice, each time using a different ability).
You are finally proficient with your blaster. What’s more, when you fight with your blaster in one hand and another weapon on the other, whenever you drop an enemy to 0 hp with one of the two weapons you may immediately attack with the other.
Kingmaker
As your future selves realize the other side is also trying to tip the scales in their favor, they redouble their efforts, targeting important personalities that might decide their final fate. The good news for you is that it makes them highly knowledgeable on these individuals.
When using "Compass”, instead of asking advice on your current situation you may ask for information on an important NPC. You DM still rolls, in secrets, to check the quality of the advice:
1-3: Helpful Hint: you receive a brief description of the NPC, as well as ways they might be useful or dangerous to you. The master may roll a 50-50 to determine if the description comes from the Order side or the Chaotic side.
4-6: Partisan manipulation: the information you receive has been tailored to provoke you into a specific path of action (although it’s not necessarily false). If you go through, you receive an Archon or Anarch token.
Superego event horizon
Oh you fucked up. You fucked up big time. As the conflict between your future selves raged on, it escalated until it became the catalyst for the Wizard Wars. You are pretty sure that’s not what happened in your original timeline, but it’s becoming harder and harder to remember. Oh fuck man.
The good news is that now that everything is fucked up forever your future selves are a lot less shy about helping you, so you keep reaping the befits of all the pain and suffering you have caused. Once per battle, you may spend an Archon or Anarch token at the sart of ANY turn to make the corresponding version of you appear somewhere within 30 feet and perform a single action. This ability is free against clearly Order or Chaos aligned enemies and always summons a future self of the opposing side.
Additionally, all important NPCs know of you, although what they know about you can vary wildly depending on their means (divinations, arcane lore, connections…). Some examples:
The Pythia has foreseen all of your futures and knows exactly what situation you are in. She have learned that in your Order-aligned futures you genocide their entire culture, while your Chaos-versions will save the last members of her bloodline, so she tailors her predictions in order to subtly steer you in a specific direction.
The paladin of justice received a warning from her goddess about you. She believes you are a like-minded individual in danger of being corrupted (if she is shown a future where you turn to Order) or a dangerous lunatic with good intentions (if she is shown you turn to Chaos).
Psssssst, part II is here: https://jdtassis.bearblog.dev/the-time-castway-part-ii/
The king only knows that his court wizard is afraid of you. He assumes that means you are a more powerful wizard and wants to recruit you for his court.