It’s that time of year, when a big man in a red suit gives presents to children and punishment to villains.
Welcome to Essential Builds, the blog that stuffs popular culture icons into the stockings of good Essence20 players and GMs.
Ho-ho-holy cow, this one’s late. Klaus won the poll in Upshift 56 for the pre-Christmas Essential Builds (the North Poll, if you will), and yet here we are, post-Christmas, and still no Klaus Essential Build. That’s the problem with trying to create timely content for the holidays, while still having the holidays taking up my time. Consider this a late Christmas present.
Who Is Klaus?
In 2015, Boom Studios published Klaus, a sword and sorcery comic book miniseries written by Grant Morrison and illustrated by Dan Mora about the origin of Santa Claus.
Don’t let the big sword and dour expression fool you, this isn’t edgy Santa Claus. The stories may be brutal, but Klaus has a heart full of warmth, eyes that twinkle, and dimples so merry. Grant Morrison wrote Klaus as a super heroic origin to the modern concept of Santa, and wrote him more like Superman with a sword than Conan The Barbarian Claus.
Klaus entered the town of Grimsvig as a stranger looking to trade furs. He was immediately taken aback by the town’s joyless tone. The citizens weren’t just sad, they were actively made to be that way by the town’s overseer, Baron Magnus. Magnus had banned hope, criminalizing throwing coins into wishing wells, and outlawing toys. Children weren’t even allowed to play with rocks, as anything in the hands of a child could be made into a toy.
This didn’t sit right with Klaus, a fact that spiritual beings known as the Shining Family noted. That night, they took over Klaus’ body and whittled enough toys for every child in the village. Klaus delivered them the next night, sneakily, to avoid detection. When the children were punished for waking up to a cheerful surprise, Klaus investigated Baron Magnus. He discovered that he wasn’t the only recipient of supernatural powers, and that the Baron benefited from the town’s misery. With his wolf Lilli by his side and sword in hand, Klaus fought to save Yuletide.
Building Essence20 Klaus
There’s a lot to work with here. Between his fighting skills, the magic granted by his supernatural sponsors, and his wolf, we have a lot of combat options to cover. We also know a lot about his outlook and motivation, which help flesh out builds. Finally, any time we need an option that isn’t covered in any issue of Klaus, we have the modern concept of Santa Claus to draw from.
Role
Ranger (G.I. JOE Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook)
Rangers, as defined by the G.I. JOE Role, are a bit of a throwback when compared to Infantry. They become one with their environment, eschewing technology in favour of tried and true equipment and techniques.
Now, in the first Klaus mini-series, our protagonist was a product of his time. However, as future issues moved him closer to contemporary times, Klaus barely updated his equipment. The ranger felt like the best fit for this hunter and sword-wielding warrior.
At 1st level, we get an Environmental Expertise. Klaus may not be from the North Pole, but I don’t believe there’s a single issue that doesn’t take place in a snowy environment. We’re going with the Arctic.
At 2nd level, we get our first Environmental Exposure. We’re taking Beast. Ideally we’d get Lilli at 1st level, but 2nd level isn’t long to wait. And if the Christmas season taught me anything growing up, it’s that the wait makes Christmas morning that much better.
We’ll spend most of the rest of our Environmental Exposures on improving Lilli, but I want to shout out to Adapted Vehicles, which gives vehicles Klaus drives the benefits of our Environmental Expertise. Because what’s Santa with his sleigh?
Setting and Faction
My Little Pony, Generosity (My Little Pony Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook)
I don’t think I’ve ever used the Gen Con Worlds Collide: The Pony Puzzle Event – Character Preparations rules to swap to the My Little Pony Setting, so this is a fun new experience.
We’re giving up our G.I. JOE Setting (a Focus) and Faction (Yo Joe and Guide) Perks to gain the Setting and Faction Perks of the Spirit of Generosity (Friendship Circle, Health bonuses gained at 5th, 10th, 15th, and 20th level, Generosity Is Magic, Talent For Generosity, Pillar of Generosity, and Princess of Generosity).
Normally the My Little Pony Roles represent how the character embodies the spirit of the Role’s theme. In Klaus’ case, he’s embodied by literal spirits of generosity. The Shining Family are supernatural beings who give Klaus powers to serve the greater good.
Originally I pictured myself giving him the Spirit of Generosity Role and swapping the setting to G.I. JOE (the most real world setting) or Night Vale (the most magically influenced reflection of our world) to get either the Ranger Beastmaster or Soldier Blood Space War Veteran Focus, to give Klaus Lilli at level 1 (and in the case of Blood Space War Veteran, a minimal amount of flight thanks to the Gravity Optional Focus Perk). The problem was that the only Spirit of Generosity Perks reflected Klaus were the ones we gave up by setting swapping.
Of course, there’s an issue: Klaus is not a four legged magical creature. It’s true, the setting of the Klaus comics has nothing in common with the world of My Little Pony. We’re going to have to hope our GM is toughed by the Spirit of Generosity themself and let these Setting and Faction Perks in a campaign that doesn’t take place in Equestria.
Origin
Inspiring (Power Rangers Roleplaying Game A Jump Through Time)
Where Klaus goes, joy follows. This is just as much his willingness to be good that gives people hope as it is the result of his good deeds.
In addition to heart-warming flavor, Inspiring has a fun Origin Perk. Our allies gain a bonus to Skill Tests whenever we score a Critical Success. It’s simple, straight forward, and makes sense, my favourite kind of Perk.
Influences
1st Nomad (Power Rangers Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook)
2nd Oathbound ((Power Rangers Roleplaying Game Across The Stars)
3rd Vigilant (My Little Pony Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook)
When we meet Klaus, he’s wandering from town to town hoping to trade with the locals. That fits the flavour of the Nomad Influence. The mechanics fit his general vibe. We get a bonus to Skill Tests to determine someone’s motives.
Klaus wasn’t just chosen by The Shining Family. He played their song on his flute to calm his restless mind after visiting Grimsvig. Since then, he’s gained their powers, and he uses them to uphold their values. It was more than just a choice, he swore an oath. In mechanical terms, the Oathbound Influence lets us reroll certain Skill Dice when acting in line with our greater purpose. In Klaus’ case, the spirit of Christmas.
This may be a Klaus build, but our last Influences was inspired Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town.
Is there a better way to describe someone who sees you when you’re sleeping and knows when you’re awake than Vigilant? This gives us an extra chance to catch an ambusher, letting us roll Alertness whenever we roll Initiative.
Essence Scores and Skills
Strength 4 – Athletics x1, Might x3
Speed 4 – Driving x1, Infiltration x1, Initiative x2
Smarts 4 – Alertness x2, Survival x2
Social 4 – Animal Handling x2, Persuasion x2
Hm. Even across the four Essence Scores, which is fun, but I have concerns.
What is this build? Yes, it’s Klaus, but what niche will I fill in the group? Will I be frustrated every turn because my average Skills will leave me failing as often as I succeed? Will I get tired of rolling d4s? And in a few levels, when my Speed and Smarts leave my Strength and Social behind, will it still feel right?
I think I’m concerned here because these are the Skills of a utility player, and yet Klaus is supposed to be larger than life. Granted, my ability to reroll 1s when working toward my oath benefits from having a bunch of lower dice, but when the ceiling of a Skill die is 4, getting a 25% chance to reroll it just means I hit a low max more often. Although my allies benefit from my Critical Successes, so that’s a second reason to want low Skill Dice.
OK, for now, I’m OK with this broad but low collection of Skills. And if I run out of Speed and Smarts Skills I want to invest in, I can always go with Spellcasting. In this case, waiting for that level 4 General Perk to gain Magical isn’t detrimental to the build.
Conclusion
As my commentary in the Essence Scores and Skills probably foreshadowed, I’m worried this build is less than the sum of its parts. The problem with building such an iconic character is the expectations I need to meet. Driving for the sleigh, Infiltration for delivering gifts, Animal Handling for Lilli. It spreads my Skills in so many directions that I might not fail at the things I should be great at for the sake of a few Skills I will also likely fail at.
That said, I think I picked a great combination of options that don’t generally go together. They tell the story I want them to. I just worry about what happens when Klaus hits the table. Maybe it’ll work better than I expect! That would be a Christmas miracle.
Resources
Field Guide to Action & Adventure
G.I. JOE Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook
My Little Pony Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook
Power Rangers Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook
Power Rangers Roleplaying Game Across the Stars
Power Rangers Roleplaying Game: A Jump Through Time
Transformers Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook
Welcome To Night Vale Citizen’s Guide
Gen Con Worlds Collide: The Pony Puzzle Event – Character Preparations
Ryan Costello is one of the designers of the Essence20 system and an author on the G.I. JOE, Transformers, and My Little Pony Roleplaying Game Core Rulebooks. As of this writing, he’s written over 300 000 words for Essence20, contributing to over a dozen products and counting.
