Claws & Effect: Pirate Callings [Realms of Pugmire]

In the third part of this essay series, I wanted to talk a little about the design decisions that went into the Pirates of Pugmire callings.

This was an interesting challenge, because I had a new set of conditions I needed to fulfill. Specifically, I needed two dog-specific callings, two cat-specific callings, and one calling each for lizards and birds. Early on I made it easier for characters to share those callings, but that was still my initial design idea.

This time, though, I also gave more room to the writer (who was Dixie Cochran), so it was even more of a team effort than the Mau callings.

• Crusader (dog; Charisma and Constitution). In my tweaking of the Guardian calling in Pugmire, I realized that I never really got a chance to do a proper “paladin” calling. So this was a chance to do that, with a dash of Spanish conquistador tossed in.
• Gundog (dog; Constitution and Dexterity). When I knew I needed two gun-wielding callings, this one was pretty easy. I mean, gundogs are a thing, so the name pretty much sells the concept. Like with most areas where I want to distinguish cats and dogs, this calling errs on the side of Constitution.
• Torpedo (cat; Dexterity and Strength). That said, I wanted the cat version to be tough, too. “Torpedo” is an old criminal term for a thug or brute, someone who beats people up for a living. Pairing that with naval torpedos gave the cats a fun, gun-wielding, brutal calling to play with.
• Mystic (cat; Intelligence and Strength). I knew I wanted to do some kind of druid-like “sea witch.” They seemed to make more sense as a cat. That said, I also knew I wanted the class to have only a smattering of spell-related knacks, which is why it has a decent chunk of tracker in it as well.
• Alkalist (lizard; Intelligence and Wisdom). Early on in the art phase of Pugmire, I wanted to lean lizards away from being purely desert-dwelling. That’s where the idea of salt magic came from, so I knew I needed to add this calling. It also tied well to the “sea salt” vibe of the book. The biggest challenge was making the calling distinctive within a very small wordcount allotted to me in the book, which is why it ended up being more alchemist than wizard.
• Rimer (bird; Charisma and Wisdom). This one was a struggle in design. Originally I wanted what was essentially a serious jester, as jester classes are a bizarre but neat little trend in D&D subclasses over the decades. And I felt the colorful nature of birds worked well with the aesthetics of the jester class. But the jester class isn’t great, and we actually worked on a few different approaches in both the flavor and mechanics to get what I wanted out of this. In the end, we just gave them one solid knack around performance, some spells, and then mixed in some rogue/thief elements to make it all work.