Masque of the Red Death 5E Iconic Characters?

[AlHazred]

So, one of the things I really like about MotRD 5E is that, you pick a class and an archetype at 1st level, so you're some version of what you're going to be starting right at the beginning of your career. There are 5 classes and 16 archetypes, leading to 80 combinations. It occurred to be that there might be several well-known characters (both real and imaginary) from the era who fit archetypes, and that this might be a useful way to show players what that combo might look like. So, basically the iconic example characters for that combination. The problem there is, I'm not much of a reader of biographies and autobiographies, so I'm not sure exactly where many people "fit in."

Your MotRD5E class represents general aptitudes and a larger approach to overcoming challenges. The five classes are:

Class	Description
Scion	The bearer of an ancient legacy of occult power
Shepherd	An influential leader and inspiring comrade
Sleuth	An astute observer skilled at uncovering what is hidden
Soldier	A master of combat with specialized weapons training
Stalwart	A resilient and athletic survivor

Your MotRD5E archetype defines your character’s calling. It gives you abilities at 1st, 3rd, 6th, and 9th level. The sixteen archetypes are:

Archetype	Description
Adept	A secretive spellcaster and keeper of ancient arcane lore
Artifact Hunter	An acquirer of rare antiquities
Charlatan	A con artist or stage magician who might blunder into true magic
Criminal	A rogue with a talent for thriving outside of the law
Expert	A scholar, tradesperson, or other specialist with highly-valued skills
Gunslinger	A master of firearms, ranged combat, and trick shots
Laborer	A steadfast worker able to tackle challenges few others could endure
Medium	A seer who views the hidden world beneath reality, whether they like it or not
Mystic	A metaphysical visionary who opens their mind to transcendent perceptions
Outrider	A scout or explorer accustomed to life on the frontier
Parson	A cleric or layperson representing a religious institution
Pugilist	A practitioner of advanced unarmed combat techniques
Slayer	A relentless hunter devoted to destroying monsters at all costs
Socialite	An influential sophisticate skilled at leveraging social privilege
Spy	A covert agent of espionage with specialized skills
Tactician	A master of the battlefield, adept at gaining the upper-hand against enemies

So, I've started a speculative table of these, but like I said, I've never been much of a reader of biographies and such, and so I don't have a firm idea where many of these characters fit, if indeed they fit at all -- I'm still not sure how I'd stat out Nicola Tesla!

Combination	Character
Scion Adept	Aleister Crowley, the Great Beast
Scion Artifact Hunter
Scion Charlatan
Scion Criminal
Scion Expert
Scion Gunslinger
Scion Laborer
Scion Medium	Prof. Abraham Van Helsing, vampire hunter
Scion Mystic
Scion Outrider
Scion Parson
Scion Pugilist
Scion Slayer
Scion Socialite
Scion Spy
Scion Tactician
Sheperd Adept	H. P. Blavatsky, Mistress of Ancient Wisdom
Sheperd Artifact Hunter
Sheperd Charlatan
Sheperd Criminal
Sheperd Expert	Thomas Edison, inventor & businessman
Sheperd Gunslinger	Wyatt Earp, lawman
Sheperd Laborer
Sheperd Medium
Sheperd Mystic	John Murray Spear, creator of the New Motive Power
Sheperd Outrider
Sheperd Parson	Charles Spurgeon, influential Baptist
Sheperd Pugilist
Sheperd Slayer
Sheperd Socialite
Sheperd Spy
Sheperd Tactician
Sleuth Adept	Dr. John Silence, physician extraordinary
Sleuth Artifact Hunter	Henry Jones Sr., Grail hunter
Sleuth Charlatan
Sleuth Criminal	Horace Dorrington, corrupt investigator
Sleuth Expert	Sherlock Holmes, consulting detective
Sleuth Gunslinger
Sleuth Laborer
Sleuth Medium	Thomas Carnacki, occult detective
Sleuth Mystic	Moris Klaw, dream detective
Sleuth Outrider
Sleuth Parson
Sleuth Pugilist
Sleuth Slayer
Sleuth Socialite	Lord Peter Wimsey, gentleman detective
Sleuth Spy
Sleuth Tactician
Soldier Adept
Soldier Artifact Hunter
Soldier Charlatan
Soldier Criminal	Harry Flashman, reformed bully
Soldier Expert
Soldier Gunslinger	Doc Holliday, gentleman gambler
Soldier Laborer
Soldier Medium
Soldier Mystic
Soldier Outrider
Soldier Parson
Soldier Pugilist
Soldier Slayer
Soldier Socialite
Soldier Spy
Soldier Tactician
Stalwart Adept
Stalwart Artifact Hunter
Stalwart Charlatan	Harry Houdini
Stalwart Criminal	A. J. Raffles
Stalwart Expert
Stalwart Gunslinger
Stalwart Laborer
Stalwart Medium
Stalwart Mystic
Stalwart Outrider	Sir Richard Francis Burton, orientalist scholar & explorer
Stalwart Parson
Stalwart Pugilist
Stalwart Slayer
Stalwart Socialite	Edward Rochester?
Stalwart Spy
Stalwart Tactician

[alhoon]

Where did you find Red Death 5e? How do they deal with the atrocious rules for spellcasting of Red Death, that are, unfortunately, part of the game?

Also, is Mata Hari, (Sleuth Socialite) inside the time period?

[AlHazred]

Where did you find Red Death 5e? How do they deal with the atrocious rules for spellcasting of Red Death, that are, unfortunately, part of the game?

Also, is Mata Hari, (Sleuth Socialite) inside the time period?

Mata Hari didn't really get up to shenanigans until the 1900s, so a little too late for the portion of the Victorian period usually used for MotRD. That said, she is absolutely a Sleuth Socialite, so great call on an iconic character!

You can find Jeremy Forbing's update of Masque of the Red Death to 5e by following this link; please note that this is an affiliate link. I like what he's done with it. Gone are any PC classes that cast spells like regular fantasy characters using spell slots; instead, you can get specific magic spells by taking a Forbidden Lore, either from your Class or from your Archetype. Nobody has spell slots. So, for example, if you take the archetype "Medium," then at 1st level you gain proficiency in a few skills and can spend a Resolve point to sense the presence of spirits. At 6th level, you can spend 3 Resolve points to cast speak with dead or clairvoyance.

Resolve points are a pool every character has, that's equal to your Proficiency Bonus plus your Level. They come back slowly, like Hit Points, and they're used for any of your remarkable abilities; any spell you cast with one of your abilities requires Resolve points to cast. You can also use them to give yourself advantage on Fear or Horror checks, but again, this is a small pool of points -- even at 5th level, you're going to have 8 of them, which isn't a lot if you spend them lavishly. I like the mechanism of it, I think it fits well with the feeling of a Gothic Earth game.

[Manofevil]

GAngsters! I'm not seeing Gangsters in the mix. There need to be Gangsters!

[alhoon]

Gone are any PC classes that cast spells like regular fantasy characters using spell slots; instead, you can get specific magic spells by taking a Forbidden Lore, either from your Class or from your Archetype. Nobody has spell slots.

Hmmm... very interesting approach; so you have access to a handful of supernatural powers, that you could use a few times per adventure. It is an interesting approach and I agree it is thematic.

[AlHazred]

GAngsters! I'm not seeing Gangsters in the mix. There need to be Gangsters!

I'll be honest, I'm not a huge gangsters fan so I'm going to be the last person to be able to pin Capone or Meyer Lansky to a particular archetype. That said, I honestly don't know what Organized Crime looked like in the 1890s! It's an interesting question!

[AlHazred]

Hmmm... very interesting approach; so you have access to a handful of supernatural powers, that you could use a few times per adventure. It is an interesting approach and I agree it is thematic.

I like that all archetypes are available to all classes, so if you wanted to play a Soldier, for example, who happened to be sensitive to the presence of spirits, that's perfectly feasible with the Soldier/Medium combination. It opens the door to a lot of interesting characters.

[alhoon]

Honestly, I can see some downsides, but if it is designed well, it could work.