I'll be honest, while these posts are kind of fun to do (and a way for me to better familiarize myself with these classes,) the real core of Draw Steel's class design is in the various abilities you choose. But while the game doesn't have multiclassing, which one might imagine would really limit the kind of "builds" you can make, choosing your abilities plays a huge role in what kind of character you will actually be able to play. Two Shadows might share zero abilities, and so what you do in your turn-to-turn combat would look very different.
So, I'll concede that these deep dives might not be enough to give you the full picture for these classes. But it would also mean incredibly long posts to list every ability, and at a certain point it starts to feel like I'm just publishing their rulebook on my blog. The intent here, beyond just amusing myself (I genuinely don't know if anyone actually reads this - the last time I had a comment was back in like 2012 when someone vehemently disagreed with me over my discomfort with Protection Paladins in World of Warcraft using Haste, which at that point was considered a DPS stat, back when tanks had their own stats to chase).
Still, I think these universal class features (I think they officially distinguish between traits and features depending on whether they're useful for combat or non-combat stuff, but I won't) give you the general gist of the class, and might encourage readers to take a look at this game if these seem like interesting ideas.
With that preamble out of the way: The Fury. 5E veterans will surely equate the Fury with D&D's Barbarian, and interestingly enough, I actually think that the 2024 revisions for D&D actually make the Barbarian closer to what the Fury represents than they did before, being tied into primordial spiritual forces. In the case of the Fury, they are tied to Primordial Chaos.
In a lot of ways, I think the Null and the Fury represent equal and opposite forces. The Null is focused on counteracting magic and fighting with discipline and unity of mind and body, while the Fury is all about unleashing, unshackling.
Furies maximize both Might and Agility, starting with 2s in each, while they can array the other three characteristics as they see fit.
Subclasses:
Furies have, like most classes in the Heroes book, three subclasses. Two of these, I'd argue, are fairly straightforward, while the third, the Stormwight, is quite unusual.
Berserkers are, I think, the classic raging warrior, described as a living version of the forces that shape the world.
Reavers are no less ferocious, but lean into instinct and cunning, wielding your force in more underhanded and subversive ways.
Stormwights are unique: you don't pick a standard kit, but instead choose from a selection of Stormwight kits, which each tie you to a different elemental force and a different animal form. Stormwights can transform into a kind of were-creature based on their special kits - Bears, Ravens, Rats, or Wolves, and will typically fight while transformed either into humanoid-shaped hybrid form or a full transformation into these animal forms. As a note, Stormwights have special immunities to werewolves' infectiousness, because their source of power is very similar to that of the Draw Steel werewolf. (I think it would not be a stretch at all to play a Vuken Stormwight as a werewolf who has learned to control their lycanthropy).
As a note, much as Nulls will gain various passive effects as their Discipline grows in combat, each Fury subclass also has a similar table of effects gained as your Ferocity goes up.
Heroic Resource: Ferocity
As with all classes, when combat begins you gain Ferocity equal to your victories, and at the start of your turn you gain 1d3 Ferocity (surprising no one, this is a chaos-aligned class). Additionally, the first time you take damage each round you gain one Ferocity, and you also gain 1d3 Ferocity the first time in an encounter that you become winded or are dying (I assume this triggers on both, but each only once per combat). Naturally, Furies are expected to be on the front lines of a fight, and thus you're rewarded for pushing yourself.
Class Features:
At level 1, you get a few features from your subclasses (I've tended to skip these in previous deep dives, but I think I'll at least mention them broadly like this) that include some passives, the Growing Ferocity feature mentioned above, and a special triggered action.
Also at 1, you get Mighty Leaps, which ensures you can never get lower than a tier 2 outcome on any Might test made to jump. (You can always make a long jump a number of squares equal to your Might or Agility, your choice, minimum 1, and a high jump is 1 square, but to jump farther, you make a might or agility test. On a tier 2, you'll get one square higher and farther than that, and on a tier 3, two squares. So this means that at level 1, with a Might of 2, you're always jumping at least 3 squares as a long jump).
At level 2, other than the customary perk, you get some subclass features, including a passive bonus and a choice between two abilities from each subclass.
At level 3, you get some more passive subclass features and one 7-Ferocity ability of your choice.
At level 4, your Might and Agility both increase to 3. You also now gain 2 ferocity when you take damage the first time each round, and other various universal things.
Also at 4, you gain Primordial Attunement, gaining the ability to sense whether nearby creatures have immunity or weaknesses to acid, cold, fire, lightning, poison, or sonic damage, as well as any source of such damage types, like a fire, or perhaps a sparking electrical coil.
And also at 4, you get Primordial Strike. When you make a strike (a keyword that is included in most non-area-effect damaging abilities) you can spend 1 Ferocity to gain 1 Surge that must be used with that strike. The extra damage of the surge can be your choice of acid, cold, corruption, fire, lightning, poison, or sonic damage.
At level 5, you gain another passive feature based on your subclass, as well as a 9-Ferocity ability of your choice.
At level 6, you get a couple features.
Marauder of the Primordial Chaos allows you to sense elemental creatures or magic sources of elemental power (the examples given are a lava pool or a lake overlapping with Quintessence, the elemental plane) within 1 mile. You also gain the ability to speak with elemental creatures, and treat your Renown as 1 higher when negotiating with them. You also automatically frighten elementals with below-average Presence (based on your potencies) when they become aware of you in combat, save ends.
Primordial Portal, also at 6, allows you to touch a magic source of elemental power and create a portal to the plane of Quintessence as a main action, and teleport yourself and willing creatures within 10 squares of you onto a safe island in the plane. You can maintain a number of portals equal to your Might score.
So, just to be clear, the "Barbarian" here has a planar transportation ability, which is freaking awesome. It's to one specific plane, but Directors should hopefully build adventures that give the party a reason to go there (even if not central to the campaign's plot, it's probably a good place to go for downtime project sources).
You also gain a perk and one choice of 9-Ferocity abilities from two offered by your subclass.
At level 7, all your characteristics go up by 1 (your Might and Agility should now each be 4).
You also get Elemental Form, which causes elemental motes attuned to your mood to float around you, and your skin change sin appearance to reflect an element of your choice. Beserkers and Reavers gain immunity to acid, cold, corruption, fire, lightning, poison, and sonic damage equal to their Might, while Stormwights have immunity to the damage associated with their stormwight kit equal to twice your Might.
You also now get 1d3+1 Ferocity at the start of each of your turns, up from 1d3. Also, your subclass' Growing Ferocity feature's next effect unlocks.
And you get an additional skill.
At 8th level, you get another Perk, and then you get a new feature from your subclass.
Additionally, you pick an 11-Ferocity ability to learn.
At level 9, you get Harbinger of the Primordial Chaos, which allows you to create a temporary source of elemental power as a respite activity. The source remains for 24 hours, and can be used with Primordial Portal to open the way to Quintessence.
Additionally, you get to pick an 11-Ferocity ability from choices determined by your subclass.
Finally, at level 10, your Might and Agility increase to 5, you get the last of your subclass Growing Ferocity features, you gain an additional perk, an additional skill, and you now gain 3, instead of 2 Ferocity when you take damage the first time each round.
Your also gain Chaos Incarnate, which doubles the immunities granted by Elemental Form for Reavers and Berserkers, and increases the immunity for Stormwights based on their kits from twice to now three times your Might score.
Additionally, when any elemental or other creature that deals acid, cold, corruption, fire, lightning, poison, or sonic damage becomes aware of you in combat, they become frightened of you if they have a Presence less than your Strong potency. Also, when you use Primordial Strike, you can now spend up to 3 Ferocity, gaining a surge for each ferocity spent to be used on that strike.
Finally, you get your Epic Resource, Primordial Power. When you gain XP, you also gain Primordial Power, which can then be spent as if it were Ferocity, except that you don't lose Primordial Power until you spend it. You can also spend Primordial Power as a free maneuver to end an effect on you for each point spent. You can also spend 3 Primordial Power to create a portal to Quintessence without needing a source of elemental power.
As a note, the design of all of these classes is that with just one exception, every class is meant to become some kind of supernatural force on the battlefield by the time they hit max level. Furies, of course, become this embodiment of elemental rage. I find it interesting that Furies and Elementalists have a similar relationship that Nulls and Talents have, with the former representing magic of the elements and the latter representing psionics. We haven't touched on Conduits and Censors, but I think that there's a similar relationship there, as the pure caster and martial characters (respectively) representing divine magic.
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