Spellsword - A New Class for OSR Games

I’m a big Witcher fan. I love it. I have always wanted to play as a badass fighter who can do a bit of magic, and knows shit about monsters. I have seen a few attempts at this, and while some of them are good, I didn’t want to go full-blown witcher. I have made some adjustments that simply make more sense for my setting and for OSR in general, and tried to balance things out.

Note: this class uses my Magic System, which is 100% compatible with OSR and B/X. If you haven’t read it, some of the magic described here could be a bit confusing, though the system itself is dead simple.

Another note: While this class has a d8 Hit Die, it is the B/X equivelant to a d6 Hit Die. I have stepped up the HD of all classes in my game (fighters have a d10).

Cantrips

Here is the Cantrip list for the Spellsword class. This will likely be expanded upon.

Enchant Weapon - Difficulty: 10

Touch a melee weapon or missile (such as an arrow or quarrel), and it effectively becomes a +1 magical weapon for 1 turn per caster level. This grants +1 to attack and damage rolls, and makes the weapon effective against creatures resistant to mundane weapons.

Fire Stream - Difficulty: 10

Shoot a stream of fire from your hand, to a distance of 15 feet, with an additional 5 feet per caster level. Does 1d6 damage per round for 1d4 rounds.

Flick - Difficulty: 9

Fling a small item you can see within 30’ (a weight of 2 or less) 2d10 feet away. If the item is being held, the creature holding the item must make a STR save to hang on to the item.

Healing - Difficulty: 8

Touch an individual and heal one HP per caster level, or force one willing individual to succeed on a saving throw.

Influence - Difficulty: 9

On a failed WIS save, intelligent beings can be convinced of just about anything. The affected individual is not forced to follow commands from the caster. Effect lasts one minute per caster level. Unintelligent creatures fail their save automatically. Can be used to calm (natural) wild animals.

Sense Magic - Difficulty: 8

Concentrate on a small area within 30’ for one turn, magic objects, areas, or creatures will begin to glow in a way only visible to the Mystic, for one turn. Failed checks may be reattempted, but will take another turn of focus.

Utter Quiet - Difficulty: 9

You or a willing individual you can touch, are incapable of making noise for 1 round per caster level. This effect applies to anything being held, such as coins or a weapon.

Some Design Decision Explanations

• I know that Witchers are good with potions and whatnot, but I decided to leave it out for a couple reasons. 1) potion building systems can get bulky and I am not the biggest fan as of right now, 2) for the sake of balancing against other classes, I can’t make the spellsword good at EVERYTHING.

• Armor restrictions: Making casting harder with stronger armor simply makes sense to me. The spellsword is trained to be a nimble and capable fighter that uses magic, and I wanted the class to reflect that.

• Reaction time: I have had this ability floating around in my head for a bit, and I really think that this a good class to use it on. It isn’t overpowered because the use comes at a cost (loss of an action) but can be extremely useful in dangerous situations.

• Monster Lore: I feel that this is a good way to use the education of the spellsword, and a 2-in-6 chance makes it so that not all monsters are just gonna be easy to already have information on

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