GLoG Class: Rebbe

The blogger MadGod created a great Rabbi class. I liked it, but it left me wanting. In that void of wanting I created my own take on the ttrpg Rabbi class suitable for the Goblin Laws.

 

The real question: what's kinder to "gaming", the Goblin Laws or halakha?
To the wise, a hint is sufficient.

Rabbi Akiva in a classic GigaChad philosopher pose

Rebbe

"the honor of your student should be as dear to you as your own"

Starting equipment: traditional Jewish clothing, glorious sidelocks and beard, knowledge of tanakh and talmud relevant for any situation you come across.

Damage Die: D4 

[This is for my hack which replaces weapon dice with template-specific damage dice]

Starting skills: linguistics, argumentation

A: Mentor, Parsha

B: Get

C: Masorah

D: Chevraya OR Tzadik

Mentor: If you assist someone with a task (skilled in that task or not) they add +2 to that roll (or -2 DV). If they succeed because of your help, they regain 1 HP and the impact of their success is heightened in a way the GM deems appropriate.

You are visibly Jewish, known as a Rebbe. Jewish communities will provide you food and housing, and will never react with hostility if you entreat them to share that hospitality with others.

Parsha: Every time you rest overnight and have access to books, you can choose a new skill or ken that you’ve never learned before. You benefit from that skill until the next Sunrise. You can relearn a skill if you have access to a library sized collection of books or if you pass a difficult Mind test.

You gain 10 XP every time you save a book from harm. You gain 40 XP every time you save a holy text and dispose of it in a proper, respectful manner (a downtime activity one can also do while resting overnight).

Get

With an hour’s work you can prepare a divorce document called a Get, which can end the marriage of any two beings. Wives from husbands, victims from disease, demons from hosts: one party must fully consent, and the other must be physically presented with the document.

Difficult parties must be persuaded, bribed, threatened, etc. Supernatural separations may require Mind tests, consulting a local Rabbinical council or adventuring for the right halakha to make the Get work. If you can convince your GM that two entities or concepts are “married”, you can write a Get and try to deliver it.

Masorah

You acquire a teenage pupil in your study. They are an underage hireling whom you do not need to pay wages, but must keep safe and fed to the best of your ability. They cannot fight. For every pupil you adventure with, you have one additional Parsha skill you can learn every evening.

When you assist someone with a task they add +3 to their roll (or DV -3), and this increases to +4 (or DV -4) if it’s one of your pupils. You can always assist someone from afar with your voice, a glance, or across a medium space.

Chevraya

You acquire D4+1 pupils who join your group. If you and your group of pupils spend a day pouring over texts, they can find the answer to matters of great import and Lore that are lost to history. At your instruction, they can impart a skill/ken to another person for a day.

When your character dies, your society of disciples publish your final Torah commentary. Anyone who spends an hour reading a copy can learn your favorite skill/ken until the next sunset.
Your next PC starts with 2 Templates and a copy of your text commentary, which they cannot lose.

OR

Tzadik

You have sublimated all early desires to only be those of G-d, and your divine soul is written over with the title of Tzadik - Righteous. You act as a conduit for the divine realm, improving your ability at mentorship. When someone fails a check you assisted them on, you can decide that they simply succeed. This can be done 7 times.

Once, you can act as a greater conduit for G-d and work a supernatural miracle through an ally or pupil. This brings them such great renown that they increase in 1 Template, and your PC dies.

Any who sleep atop your gravesite can learn your favorite skill/ken until the next sunrise.

Pupils Chart

A pupil hireling can carry 4 slots worth of inventory for their Rebbe. They are underage torah students, thus having 1 HP. 

Give them a name and roll 3D4 to determine their Personality, Memory and Ideal:

[Name] is a [personality] pupil with memory like a [memory], who strives for [Ideal].

PERSONALITY D4

1. Wicked
2. Wise
3. Uninterested
4. Simple

MEMORY D4

1. Sponge
2. Funnel (in one end, out the other)
3. Strainer (passes the wine, retains the dregs)
4. Sifter (passes the chaff, retains the wheat)

IDEAL D4

1. ...a better world
2. ...a lawful world
3. ...a simpler world
4. ...answers to messianic prophecy

I use the Yiddish term “rebbe” instead of rabbi, though I am conscious of the fact that the preferential treatment of Yiddish (and Ashkenazi cultural features) can be used to exclude Jews who do not fit that image. I do not intend to exclude non-Yiddishkayt Jews and/or Jews of color.