The Master Surgeon Prestige Class

[Angry Bob]

The Master Surgeon is a class that has a double focus on combat and on healing, using its skills in one to supplement the other.

Entry Requirements
Base Attack Bonus: +6
Skills: Heal 8
Feats: Weapon Focus (any light slashing weapon)
Alignment: Neutral Good, Lawful Neutral, Neutral, Or Neutral Evil. These Surgeons occasionally serve one cause or another, or learn the skills to exploit them during torture sessions, but all try to maintain a degree of objectivity.

Class Features
BaB: 3/4
Good Saves: Fort
Skills: Concentration, Craft, Heal, Knowledge (Arcana, Dungeoneering, Nature, The Planes), Profession, Search, Spot
Proficiencies: The Battle Surgeon is is proficient with all light slashing weapons (Including exotic ones).
Hit Die: d10

Class Features:

Improved Healing (Ex, Su): A Master Surgeon can make a heal check on a willing or helpless subject to emulate a cure or inflict spell, using their class level as their caster level. This check takes at least 10 minutes to perform. The DC for Humanoids, Monstrous Humanoids, Giants, Vermin (Other than swarms), and Animals is 18. The DC for Aberrations, Dragons, Magical Beasts, and Plant Creatures is 23. The DC for Outsiders, Elementals, and Fey is 28. This ability can't be used on incorporeal creatures, creatures without a discernible anatomy, constructs, undead, or oozes. If the surgeon makes the DC, the effect is that of a cure or inflict light wounds. The more the result beats the DC by, the effect improves as such:
By 5: Cure/inflict moderate wounds.
By 10: Cure/inflict serious wounds, only at class level 3th or higher
By 20: Cure/inflict critical wounds, Restoration, or Poison. Only at class level 5th or higher
By 40: Raise dead or revive outsider, whichever is appropriate, or slay living. Only at class level 10th. This is a supernatural ability.

Surgeons with the intent to emulate the effects of a spell with a costly material component require equipment and exotic materials that cost as much, though they do not need to pay XP. This ability may be used once per day per subject.

Surgeon's Skill: A Master Surgeon uses his intelligence bonus instead of his wisdom bonus to modify his heal and spot checks. Also, he adds his class level as a competence bonus to his heal checks, as well as knowledge checks dealing with creatures.
At 3rd level, he can make a heal check to provide first aid as a move action.
At 6th level, he can take 10 on any heal check, even if circumstances would dictate otherwise.

Surgeon's Eye: A Master Surgeon is adept at picking out weak spots and vulnerabilities that others miss.
At level 2, A Master Surgeon may make critical hits on creatures that are otherwise immune to them.
At level 3, He may examine an opponent as a move action. If he succeeds on a DC 20 Heal Check, the next attack he makes against that opponent during that round's threat range is doubled and the critical multiplier increases by 1. For each 10 the result beats the DC by, the threat range increases by 1(after doubling) and for each 20, the critical multiplier increases by 1. At level 8, this examination is a made as a swift action.

Surgeon's Blade: A Master Surgeon can make an attack that cripples an opponent by exploiting his knowledge of its anatomy and physiology.
At level 7, whenever a Master Surgeon makes a successful critical hit, he deals an additional 1d4 strength, dexterity, or constitution damage.
At level 9, the damage increases to 1d8 and can be divided into damage to different abilities. For instance, Streg makes a successful critical hit against an opponent. He rolls 5 for ability damage. He can choose to deal 3 constitution damage, 1 dexterity damage, and 1 strength damage.

This is my first time doing this. If it's really that bad, don't hold back on my account.

[Fruchtkracher]

oh my...
table's missing though I can live with that.

Improved healing - The benefits for the high dc's are way high - for the ressurection ability you need over fourty ranks to make it function properly
-which then results in unlimited raise dead's and cure spells. The lack of Heal hurts. Biggest problem is the one use per day per subject limit.

Though Surgeon's skill helps a bit the "one spell per party member" - especially without increased overall spellcasting - is weak.

Surgeon's Eye then again is too strong - especially when combined with Surgeon's Skill take 10 on any heal-check - and beeing able to critt anything is probably a rogue's dream.

Surgeon's Blade combined with all above results in a high-critting insta-killing you-can't-do-anything-at-all-anymore death machine (seriously by the time you get Improved Healing's Raise dead you cause all (thanks to poor wording not just your) attacks against a target to crit like 80% of the time for about 7 or 8 times the damage AND eeevil ability damage). Doesn't help that you can use it as often as you wish to.

Overall - kinda imbalanced, though the idea of a mad surgeon running around slicing up people in battle is cool^^

[jiriku]

I'd recommend against making skill checks during combat every round because (a) it adds one or more additional dice rolls every round and (b) with optimization, the crit potential can be made disproportionately large. I can imagine builds that would create a 2-20 threat range with a x10 critical. This distorts the intent of the critical hit system.

Instead, I'd suggest that you make many of these abilities "unlock" when the character has x ranks in the Heal skill, much like bardic music becomes available with x ranks in a perform skill. In fact you might add a feature involving class level/day uses of Surgical Talent, which can be spent for these effects like bardic music uses.

Also, the class is quite narrowly focused. How about the ability to do other things with the Heal skill, like cure magical diseases, remove negative levels, repair ability damage, remove negative conditions like blind, deaf, stunned or nauseated? Mechanically it might be more interesting to set a Heal DC to heal these conditions than to just duplicate spells. If the "main features" of the class are that it duplicates a handful of low-to-mid-level cleric spells, most people would be better off playing a cleric.

Thematically, it also doesn't make much sense that he can't heal creatures with no discernable anatomy (normally these creatures can be healed, although it may require unusual spells like repair damage or inflict), but can score criticals against them (something that normally can't be done). I would think that if this character knows enough about anatomy to pick 'em apart, he should also know enough to put 'em back together.

To represent the class's detailed knowledge of anatomy, you might also grant a modest bonus on knowledge skills to identify creatures.

[Angry Bob]

The benefits for the high dc's are way high - for the ressurection ability you need over fourty ranks to make it function properly


I'd suggest that you make many of these abilities "unlock" when the character has x ranks in the Heal skill

These two fixes can compliment each other. The lowered DCs can help with the requirements. Also, I'd like an idea for appropriate DCs.


(thanks to poor wording not just your)

What wording allows that?


especially without increased overall spellcasting

So: Make the ability better, or just add spellcasting progression?


Doesn't help that you can use it as often as you wish to.


In fact you might add a feature involving class level/day uses of Surgical Talent, which can be spent for these effects like bardic music uses.

Sounds good. Maybe have a per-day "skill pool" that all of the features draw from?


Also, the class is quite narrowly focused. How about the ability to do other things with the Heal skill, like cure magical diseases, remove negative levels, repair ability damage, remove negative conditions like blind, deaf, stunned or nauseated?

Right. I was in a bit of a rush, but the things you suggest sound good. Not sure on the exact numbers, but I agree he definitely could do them.


I would think that if this character knows enough about anatomy to pick 'em apart, he should also know enough to put 'em back together.

Kind of torn about this, actually. On one hand, the criticals affecting creatures that normally aren't affected by them doesn't make a lot of sense when you put it that way, but on the other hand, if he's good enough to emulate raise dead, he shouldn't be stopped by a creature not having an anatomy to work with. Opinions?


To represent the class's detailed knowledge of anatomy, you might also grant a modest bonus on knowledge skills to identify creatures.

It has one, though admittedly fuzzily worded.

[jiriku]

Well, if you're going to unlock abilities by Heal rank, and you require 8 ranks in Heal to enter the class, the unlock requirement should be 8 ranks + class level at which ability is intended to be gained.

As far as when to grant the ability to heal status effects, I'd say look at when a cleric gains the ability to heal them and what level you expect the archetypal master surgeon to be at using the intended entry method. The master surgeon should gain the ability to fix those conditions at the same level a cleric can, or up to one level higher or lower.

Further things I'm noticing: You grant proficiency with light slashing weapons, but Surgeon's Eye and Surgeon's Blade are usable with any weapon. Your master surgeon could, for example, use a goliath greathammer. You might wish to restrict the abilities to being usable only with a light slashing weapon, or (slightly less restrictive) only with a slashing weapon compatible with the weapon finesse feat.

Oh, and you need to specify skill points per level and the class skill list.

In the same vein (pardon the pun), perhaps instead of requiring weapon focus with a light slashing weapon, you might require weapon finesse. It's generally a superior feat.

Also, I question the philosophy of granting a d10 hit die and only a 3/4 base attack bonus. Full base attack is appropriate for any class that relies entirely on skill with weapons in combat, while a d10 hit die represents tough, trained soldiers and aggressively martial classes. I'd imagine your master surgeon as more properly having full base attack and a d8 or d10 hit die (like a ranger or swashbuckler, the base classes that are thematically most similar).

[Angry Bob]

but Surgeon's Eye and Surgeon's Blade are usable with any weapon.

They shouldn't be. The next version, they won't.


You might wish to restrict the abilities to being usable only with a light slashing weapon, or (slightly less restrictive) only with a slashing weapon compatible with the weapon finesse feat.

Right. An idea I had was making the ability usable with any slashing finesse weapon, but it got missed in the post.

All right. With that, I now redo entry requirements and skeleton.

Entry Requirements:
Base Attack Bonus: +6
Skills: Heal 8
Feats: Weapon Finesse
Alignment: Neutral Good, Lawful Neutral, Neutral, Or Neutral Evil. These Surgeons occasionally serve one cause or another, or learn the skills to exploit them during torture sessions, but all try to maintain a degree of objectivity.

BaB: 1:1
Good Saves: Fort
Skills: Concentration, Craft, Heal, Knowledge (Arcana, Dungeoneering, Nature, The Planes), Profession, Search, Spot
Skill Points/lvl: 2+Int
Proficiencies: The Battle Surgeon is is proficient with all slashing weapons that gain the benefit of weapon finesse. He does not gain any proficiencies with armor or shields.
Hit Die: d8

Bold indicates changes. Feature adjustments coming later. I'm still not sure what to use as a limiting factor on the other class features.

[Angry Bob]

Aright, Features:

Focus Points: The Surgeon has a pool of Focus points equal to twice his class level + his int modifier. The pool refills completely with 8 hours of sleep or undisturbed rest.

Improved Healing (Ex, Su): A Master Surgeon can make a heal check on a willing or helpless subject to emulate a cure or inflict spell, using their class level as their caster level. This check takes at least 10 minutes to perform. The DC for Humanoids, Monstrous Humanoids, Giants, Vermin (Other than swarms), and Animals is 17. The DC for Aberrations, Dragons, Magical Beasts, and Plant Creatures is 22. The DC for Outsiders, Oozes, Elementals, and Fey is 27. This ability can't be used on incorporeal creatures, creatures without a discernible anatomy, constructs, or undead. If the surgeon makes the DC, the effect is that of a cure or inflict light wounds. In addition, he may expend Focus points to gain more potent effects:

3: Cure/inflict moderate wounds, or remove fatigued or sickened condition.
6: Cure/inflict serious wounds, or remove nauseated or exhausted condition. Only usable with 11 ranks in heal or more
10: Cure/inflict critical wounds, restoration, or Poison, or remove temporary blindness, paralysis, or deafness. Only usable with 12 ranks in heal or more.
15: Raise dead, harm, or heal. Only usable with 18 ranks in heal or more.

Surgeons with the intent to emulate the effects of a spell with a costly material component require equipment and exotic materials that cost as much, though they do not need to pay XP.

Surgeon's Skill: A Master Surgeon uses his intelligence bonus instead of his wisdom bonus to modify his heal and spot checks. Also, he adds his class level as a competence bonus to his heal checks, as well as knowledge checks dealing with creatures.
At 3rd level, he can make a heal check to provide first aid as a move action.
At 6th level, he may spend 2 focus points to take 10 on any heal check, even if circumstances would dictate otherwise.

Surgeon's Eye: A Master Surgeon is adept at picking out weak spots and vulnerabilities that others miss.
At level 2, A Master Surgeon may make critical hits on creatures that are otherwise immune to them.
At level 3, He may examine an opponent as a move action. If he succeeds on a DC 20 Heal Check and spends 3 focus points, the next attack he makes against that opponent during that round's threat range is doubled and the critical multiplier increases by 1. At level 8, this examination is a made as a swift action.

Surgeon's Blade: A Master Surgeon can make an attack that cripples an opponent by exploiting his knowledge of its anatomy and physiology.
At level 7, whenever a Master Surgeon makes a successful critical hit, he may spend 4 focus points to deal an additional 1d4 strength, dexterity, or constitution damage.
At level 9, the damage increases to 1d6.

There you have it.