Dungeons & Dragons Had a Jester Class That Used Dirty Underwear as a Weapon

The early days of Dungeons & Dragons were filled with experimental and goofy classes, including a Jester who could throw his dirty underwear at foes. Long before the Internet was a thing, Dungeons & Dragons fans exchanged information and inspiration in the pages of Dragon magazine, a fantasy-themed gaming magazine published by TSR, Inc. A regular feature in early issues of Dragon were homebrew classes and optional rules that ranged from serious to the ridiculous. An example of the latter can be found in Dragon #3, in which Charles Carner, William Cannon, and Pete Simon presented his Jester class, a class that attempted to defeat their enemies by making them laugh.

The Jester class was a specialized class that required high Intelligence and Dexterity stats, but very low Charisma. Because of their unusual abilities, they were also limited to a handful of weapons to use in combat. These weapons ranged from acid-squirting flowers to thrown pies or rotten tomatoes. The most unusual of the Jester's weapons were the magical dirty socks and magical dirty underwear, both of which had the ability to stun foes.

The Jester's primary ability was their jokes, which were used similar to spells. Depending on their level, Jesters could tell anything from a Pun (which prevented an enemy from attacking) to a Killer joke, which killed any enemy with less than 12 Hit Die. Other jokes could decrease an enemy's attack rolls, put an enemy to sleep, or even embarrass an enemy to the point where they couldn't do anything for multiple turns. The Jester could even weaponize their farts, which could incapacitate a foe within 15 feet. Of course, there were limits to a Jester's farting ability - they could only fart three times per game hour.

Obviously, the Jester class wasn't meant to be taken too seriously, but its placement in Dragon shows the range of homebrew material even in Dungeons & Dragons' earliest days. You can check out the full Jester class in Dragon #3, which is available for free on the Internet Archive.