playswithfire
2010-09-04, 08:36 AM
This is the second completed adept class from my attempt at a follow-on to ToB (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=8691736). Looking for any comments. It's designed to be the ToB-style replacement for the bard and marshal, with the adaptation in the third section bringing it closer to the bard.
HIT DIE : d8
{table=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special|Maneuvers Known|Maneuvers Readied|Stances Known
1st|+0 |
2|
0|
2|Follow my Lead +1 |
4|
4|
1
2nd|+1 |
3|
0|
3| |
5|
4|
1
3rd|+2 |
3|
1|
3|Cautious Stance |
6|
4|
1
4th|+3 |
4|
1|
4| |
7|
5|
2
5th|+3 |
4|
1|
4| |
8|
5|
2
6th|+4 |
5|
2|
5|Watch and learn(Stance) |
9|
6|
2
7th|+5 |
5|
2|
5| |
10|
6|
2
8th|+6/+1 |
6|
2|
6|Follow my Lead +2 |
11|
6|
3
9th|+6/+1 |
6|
3|
6| |
12|
7|
3
10th|+7/+2 |
7|
3|
7| |
13|
7|
3
11th|+8/+3 |
7|
3|
7|Watch and learn(Counter)|
14|
8|
3
12th|+9/+4 |
8|
4|
8| |
15|
8|
4
13th|+9/+4 |
8|
4|
8| |
16|
8|
4
14th|+10/+5 |
9|
4|
9|Follow my Lead +3 |
17|
9|
4
15th|+11/+6/+1 |
9|
5|
9| |
18|
9|
4
16th|+12/+7/+2 |
10|
5|
10|Watch and learn(Boost) |
19|
10|
5
17th|+12/+7/+2 |
10|
5|
10| |
20|
10|
5
18th|+13/+8/+3 |
11|
6|
11|Spontaneous Recovery |
21|
10|
5
19th|+14/+9/+4 |
11|
6|
11| |
22|
11|
5
20th|+15/+10/+5|
12|
6|
12|Follow my Lead +4 |
23|
11|
5
[/table]
Class Skills (6 + Int modifier per level, x4 at 1st level): Bluff, Concentration, Craft, Diplomacy, Disguise, Gather Information, Intimidate, Listen, Martial Lore, Perform, Knowledge(local), Knowledge(history), Sense Motive, Spot, Tumble
FIREBRAND
Many will try to you tell that one man can not accomplish that much, but I found that it takes very few to lead the many to achieve great things.
-- Naidapyr, a firebrand
MAKING A FIREBRANDA firebrand is a secondary melee combatant whose primary benefit to an encounter will more often be improving his allies' combat ability rather than dealing direct damage himself, though his martial maneuvers allow him to do that as well. While closer coordination is needed to gain the benefits of a firebrand's leadership than with a bard's, the firebrand's Follow My Lead ability functions even in an anti-magic field.
Abilities: Charisma is the most vital score for a firebrand, as it powers most of his abilities. Dexterity is important for defense and more often than not for his attack via the Weapon Finesse feat. Intelligence provides him with a wide array of skills, though, with 6 ranks per level, this of secondary concern. Constitution is an important to him as it is any other character; somewhat less so if he favors ranged combat. Strength is important for his attack and damage if he does not take the Weapon Finesse route. Wisdom is necessary of only to improve his Will saves.
Races: Most firebrands are gnomes and half-elves, the former exploiting the fact that their small size leaves them often underestimated and the latter their long lifespans which gain them many loyal allies. Every race has need of the skills of a firebrand from time to time, however. Elves and halflings who become firebrands favor the Master's Voice discipline, the latter also often making great use of Wandering Eye. Human firebrands tend more towards the White Raven and Desert Wind discipline, seeking to, literally when necessary, light a fire under their followers and lead them to victory. Dwarves and Half-Orcs, with their Charisma penalty, are unconvential choices to become firebrands, but their ability to wade safely into melee makes it easier for them to make use of their, admittedly less fully realized, leadership abilities.
Alignment: A firebrand may be of any alignment, as all causes need their champions. There is a slight tendency towards chaos over law and neutrality on either axis is less common than the other possibilities. The only truly rare alignment for a name is True Neutral, but even this is only uncommon, not unallowed.
Starting Gold: 6d4x10 gp (150 gp)
Starting Age: As bardCLASS FEATURESWeapon and Armor Profiency: As a firebrand, you are proficient with all simple weapons as well as the halberd, longsword, rapier, scimitar, and short bow and light and medium armor, but not with shields.
Maneuvers: You begin your career with knowledge of four martial maneuvers. The disciplines available to you are Desert Wind, Master's Voice (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=9044629&postcount=26), Wandering Eye (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=9123215&postcount=28), and White Raven. Upon reaching 4th level and every even-numbered firebrand level thereafter, you can choose to learn a new maneuver in place of one you already know. You can swap only a single maneuver at any given level.
Maneuvers Readied: You can ready all four of your maneuvers known at 1st level, and as you advance in level and learn more maneuvers, you are able to ready more, but you must still choose which maneuvers to ready. You may recover a single maneuver as a move action which must be followed by a melee attack or a standard action to do nothing.
Stances Known: You begin play with knowledge of one 1st-level stance from any discipline open to you. At 4th, 8th, 12th, and 16th, you can choose additional stances.
Follow My Lead (Ex): When you attack an enemy, allies gain a +1 bonus on damage rolls when they attack that same enemy before the start of your next turn; they also gain a +1 bonus on Reflex saves when they are subjected to the same effect you are. These bonuses increases by 1 at 8th, 14th and 20th level. You gain the same bonus to damage rolls on subsequent attacks if you attack the same enemy more than once in a round and apply half the Reflex save bonus, rounded down, to all of your Reflex saves.
Cautious Stance (Ex): While you have an active stance, you gain a bonus to Armor Class against all touch attacks equal to your Charisma bonus; however, your touch AC can never exceed your Armor Class against normal attacks.
Watch and Learn (Ex): Your allies observe your technique and begin to copy you, gaining the ability to use some of your maneuvers and stances. When initiating a shared stance or maneuver, each ally uses their own initiator level, skill ranks and ability modifiers to determine its effects.
Stance: Beginning at 6th level, any ally who sees you initiate a stance may also initiate it as an immediate action. If they do not already know the stance, it automatically ends after a number of rounds equal to your Charisma bonus, minimum 1, and they are fatigued when the stance ends, even if it ends because they change their stance. The fatigue lasts for one round if the stance was a 1st or 3rd level stance, 2 rounds for a 5th or 6th level stance and 3 rounds for an 8th level stance.
Counter: Beginning at 11th level, you may expend a counter you know as an immediate action to give that ally the ability to initiate it. If the ally chooses not initiate the counter, it is still expended.
Boost: Beginning at 16th level, when you initiate a boost, you may choose to give knowledge of it to a number of allies equal to your Charisma bonus, minimum 1. Each of these allies may use the boost at any one time before your next action.
Spontaneous Recovery: Beginning at 18th level, you can recover a single maneuver as a free action and it can be used in the same round. This ability is usable a number of times per day equal to your Charisma modifier and can not be used in two consecutive rounds.FIREBRANDS IN THE GAMEFirebrands can be found as criminal masterminds as often as they can captains of the guards of villages the PCs visit and anything in between, but usually as either some sort of leadership position or trusted aide to the leader. Large groups composed entirely of firebrands are rare, as their large personalities can lead to conflict as easily as they can collaboration. A firebrand character traveling by himself may be a deposed leader, malcontent, or simply a wandering do-gooder and can used to hire the PCs for a wide range of tasks. If traveling with the party, a firebrand with an opposing alignment will try to manipulate them and gain a leadership position while one of compatible alignment can be their most dependable ally.
When creating a firebrand character, consider what cause or organization he will champion. A firebrand's interactions with NPCs will likely be colored by their opinions of his cause, either finding him new allies or particularly intense rivals and enemies. A firebrand can be found almost anywhere as his skill points and leadership abilities make him equally suited to serving as a battlefield leader, court herald, or local politician. The most interesting opponent for a firebrand is another firebrand championing an opposing group and any followers he may have.
Adaptation
Some firebrands, already having access to most of the supernatural maneuvers, also develop true arcane power. To create an arcane firebrand, reduce the firebrand's hit dice to d6 and his Fort save to Poor. He loses proficiency with medium armor, but can cast in light armor with no risk of arcane spell failure. His available disciplines are reduced to Master's Voice and a choice of one of his other normally available disciplines (two if he has the dragon type or the dragonblood subtype). Whenever he would learn a new maneuver, he may instead learn a new spell from the bard spell list of a level up to the maximum learnable by a bard of his initiator level. He uses his initiator level as his caster level for all level-based effects when casting the spell. DCs are Charisma-based. At 4th level and every 4th level thereafter, when you would normally swap out a known maneuver to learn a new maneuver or spell, you may instead swap out a known spell; at other such even levels, you may still only swap out a known maneuver. Spells are readied and refreshed as maneuvers, but a spell can not be refreshed while its effect is active.
HIT DIE : d8
{table=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special|Maneuvers Known|Maneuvers Readied|Stances Known
1st|+0 |
2|
0|
2|Follow my Lead +1 |
4|
4|
1
2nd|+1 |
3|
0|
3| |
5|
4|
1
3rd|+2 |
3|
1|
3|Cautious Stance |
6|
4|
1
4th|+3 |
4|
1|
4| |
7|
5|
2
5th|+3 |
4|
1|
4| |
8|
5|
2
6th|+4 |
5|
2|
5|Watch and learn(Stance) |
9|
6|
2
7th|+5 |
5|
2|
5| |
10|
6|
2
8th|+6/+1 |
6|
2|
6|Follow my Lead +2 |
11|
6|
3
9th|+6/+1 |
6|
3|
6| |
12|
7|
3
10th|+7/+2 |
7|
3|
7| |
13|
7|
3
11th|+8/+3 |
7|
3|
7|Watch and learn(Counter)|
14|
8|
3
12th|+9/+4 |
8|
4|
8| |
15|
8|
4
13th|+9/+4 |
8|
4|
8| |
16|
8|
4
14th|+10/+5 |
9|
4|
9|Follow my Lead +3 |
17|
9|
4
15th|+11/+6/+1 |
9|
5|
9| |
18|
9|
4
16th|+12/+7/+2 |
10|
5|
10|Watch and learn(Boost) |
19|
10|
5
17th|+12/+7/+2 |
10|
5|
10| |
20|
10|
5
18th|+13/+8/+3 |
11|
6|
11|Spontaneous Recovery |
21|
10|
5
19th|+14/+9/+4 |
11|
6|
11| |
22|
11|
5
20th|+15/+10/+5|
12|
6|
12|Follow my Lead +4 |
23|
11|
5
[/table]
Class Skills (6 + Int modifier per level, x4 at 1st level): Bluff, Concentration, Craft, Diplomacy, Disguise, Gather Information, Intimidate, Listen, Martial Lore, Perform, Knowledge(local), Knowledge(history), Sense Motive, Spot, Tumble
FIREBRAND
Many will try to you tell that one man can not accomplish that much, but I found that it takes very few to lead the many to achieve great things.
-- Naidapyr, a firebrand
MAKING A FIREBRANDA firebrand is a secondary melee combatant whose primary benefit to an encounter will more often be improving his allies' combat ability rather than dealing direct damage himself, though his martial maneuvers allow him to do that as well. While closer coordination is needed to gain the benefits of a firebrand's leadership than with a bard's, the firebrand's Follow My Lead ability functions even in an anti-magic field.
Abilities: Charisma is the most vital score for a firebrand, as it powers most of his abilities. Dexterity is important for defense and more often than not for his attack via the Weapon Finesse feat. Intelligence provides him with a wide array of skills, though, with 6 ranks per level, this of secondary concern. Constitution is an important to him as it is any other character; somewhat less so if he favors ranged combat. Strength is important for his attack and damage if he does not take the Weapon Finesse route. Wisdom is necessary of only to improve his Will saves.
Races: Most firebrands are gnomes and half-elves, the former exploiting the fact that their small size leaves them often underestimated and the latter their long lifespans which gain them many loyal allies. Every race has need of the skills of a firebrand from time to time, however. Elves and halflings who become firebrands favor the Master's Voice discipline, the latter also often making great use of Wandering Eye. Human firebrands tend more towards the White Raven and Desert Wind discipline, seeking to, literally when necessary, light a fire under their followers and lead them to victory. Dwarves and Half-Orcs, with their Charisma penalty, are unconvential choices to become firebrands, but their ability to wade safely into melee makes it easier for them to make use of their, admittedly less fully realized, leadership abilities.
Alignment: A firebrand may be of any alignment, as all causes need their champions. There is a slight tendency towards chaos over law and neutrality on either axis is less common than the other possibilities. The only truly rare alignment for a name is True Neutral, but even this is only uncommon, not unallowed.
Starting Gold: 6d4x10 gp (150 gp)
Starting Age: As bardCLASS FEATURESWeapon and Armor Profiency: As a firebrand, you are proficient with all simple weapons as well as the halberd, longsword, rapier, scimitar, and short bow and light and medium armor, but not with shields.
Maneuvers: You begin your career with knowledge of four martial maneuvers. The disciplines available to you are Desert Wind, Master's Voice (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=9044629&postcount=26), Wandering Eye (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=9123215&postcount=28), and White Raven. Upon reaching 4th level and every even-numbered firebrand level thereafter, you can choose to learn a new maneuver in place of one you already know. You can swap only a single maneuver at any given level.
Maneuvers Readied: You can ready all four of your maneuvers known at 1st level, and as you advance in level and learn more maneuvers, you are able to ready more, but you must still choose which maneuvers to ready. You may recover a single maneuver as a move action which must be followed by a melee attack or a standard action to do nothing.
Stances Known: You begin play with knowledge of one 1st-level stance from any discipline open to you. At 4th, 8th, 12th, and 16th, you can choose additional stances.
Follow My Lead (Ex): When you attack an enemy, allies gain a +1 bonus on damage rolls when they attack that same enemy before the start of your next turn; they also gain a +1 bonus on Reflex saves when they are subjected to the same effect you are. These bonuses increases by 1 at 8th, 14th and 20th level. You gain the same bonus to damage rolls on subsequent attacks if you attack the same enemy more than once in a round and apply half the Reflex save bonus, rounded down, to all of your Reflex saves.
Cautious Stance (Ex): While you have an active stance, you gain a bonus to Armor Class against all touch attacks equal to your Charisma bonus; however, your touch AC can never exceed your Armor Class against normal attacks.
Watch and Learn (Ex): Your allies observe your technique and begin to copy you, gaining the ability to use some of your maneuvers and stances. When initiating a shared stance or maneuver, each ally uses their own initiator level, skill ranks and ability modifiers to determine its effects.
Stance: Beginning at 6th level, any ally who sees you initiate a stance may also initiate it as an immediate action. If they do not already know the stance, it automatically ends after a number of rounds equal to your Charisma bonus, minimum 1, and they are fatigued when the stance ends, even if it ends because they change their stance. The fatigue lasts for one round if the stance was a 1st or 3rd level stance, 2 rounds for a 5th or 6th level stance and 3 rounds for an 8th level stance.
Counter: Beginning at 11th level, you may expend a counter you know as an immediate action to give that ally the ability to initiate it. If the ally chooses not initiate the counter, it is still expended.
Boost: Beginning at 16th level, when you initiate a boost, you may choose to give knowledge of it to a number of allies equal to your Charisma bonus, minimum 1. Each of these allies may use the boost at any one time before your next action.
Spontaneous Recovery: Beginning at 18th level, you can recover a single maneuver as a free action and it can be used in the same round. This ability is usable a number of times per day equal to your Charisma modifier and can not be used in two consecutive rounds.FIREBRANDS IN THE GAMEFirebrands can be found as criminal masterminds as often as they can captains of the guards of villages the PCs visit and anything in between, but usually as either some sort of leadership position or trusted aide to the leader. Large groups composed entirely of firebrands are rare, as their large personalities can lead to conflict as easily as they can collaboration. A firebrand character traveling by himself may be a deposed leader, malcontent, or simply a wandering do-gooder and can used to hire the PCs for a wide range of tasks. If traveling with the party, a firebrand with an opposing alignment will try to manipulate them and gain a leadership position while one of compatible alignment can be their most dependable ally.
When creating a firebrand character, consider what cause or organization he will champion. A firebrand's interactions with NPCs will likely be colored by their opinions of his cause, either finding him new allies or particularly intense rivals and enemies. A firebrand can be found almost anywhere as his skill points and leadership abilities make him equally suited to serving as a battlefield leader, court herald, or local politician. The most interesting opponent for a firebrand is another firebrand championing an opposing group and any followers he may have.
Adaptation
Some firebrands, already having access to most of the supernatural maneuvers, also develop true arcane power. To create an arcane firebrand, reduce the firebrand's hit dice to d6 and his Fort save to Poor. He loses proficiency with medium armor, but can cast in light armor with no risk of arcane spell failure. His available disciplines are reduced to Master's Voice and a choice of one of his other normally available disciplines (two if he has the dragon type or the dragonblood subtype). Whenever he would learn a new maneuver, he may instead learn a new spell from the bard spell list of a level up to the maximum learnable by a bard of his initiator level. He uses his initiator level as his caster level for all level-based effects when casting the spell. DCs are Charisma-based. At 4th level and every 4th level thereafter, when you would normally swap out a known maneuver to learn a new maneuver or spell, you may instead swap out a known spell; at other such even levels, you may still only swap out a known maneuver. Spells are readied and refreshed as maneuvers, but a spell can not be refreshed while its effect is active.