[AETHER] The Warrior (PEACH)

[BladeofOblivion]

Hey guys! For those of you that know me, you'll know that it's been months since I actually did any meaningful homebrew. Since, as those of you who know me know, I quite like to transform the progeny of my impossibly chaotic whirlwind of a mind into playable things, I figured that this situation needs to be rectified. Before I actually get to the class, I think it's probably better to get the first bit of news out of the way first:

I am announcing a Campaign Setting that I am working on, until I finish, get bored, go mad, or die. This Campaign Setting, called AETHER unless I think of/someone suggests something better, uses five entirely new Base Classes while completely throwing dust upon the existing core classes and pretty much all supplementary classes. Despite this, it is still going to be completely compatible with the normal D20 System, so there's nothing mechanically stopping you from playing a vanilla wizard or fighter.

For the record, this is going to be one of those settings where you have only 5 classes to choose from at the start, but a decent array of PrC's later on.

It is also designed to work with the version of the Color Wheel alignment system designed by Lord_Gareth (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=174163). But that's neither here nor there.

Anyway, since I don't think any more is really necessary to spoil for this class to make sense, I present...



The Warrior

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_yHZ5BNoBCgI/Syz4PGF7h1I/AAAAAAAAABA/u6RTtsy_70c/S1600-R/47717_the_white_knight_01.JPG

The Heart's Courage is the Soul's Guardian

A Warrior can be from just about anywhere, doing almost anything. A Warrior might be a Moonguard from Llewelyn, a Soldier from the Jiyū Isles, or even a mercenary wandering without a cause.

In essence, a Warrior is a man, woman, or other mortal that chooses to take up arms and armor, for whatever reason, using their courage and skill to overcome obstacles.

Adventures: Warriors adventure for many reasons, but the most common ones include honing their craft, defending their families, and serving their faith.

Characteristics: Warriors can use normal attacks, as well as using more complex talents for additional abilities.

Alignment: A Warrior may be of any Alignment or Color.

Religion: Warriors can be found following every religion and deity.

Background: A warrior may pick up the craft in many ways. Perhaps they picked up the family sword to defend their home. Perhaps they joined the City Guard. Perhaps they joined a mercenary band.

Races: Warriors can be of any race, and are common to all of them.

Other Classes: Warriors are well-recieved by most. After all, a wall of steel protecting you is quite nice.

Role: In AETHER, Warriors serve several purposes. They can act as a mobile wall, using talents and armor to draw and absorb the enemy's blows. They can use their talents to act as damage dealers, attempting to use massive blows or flurries of smaller blows to slaughter their enemies. Some even opt to control the battlefield entirely, using talents to manipulate and debilitate enemies.

GAME RULE INFORMATION
Warriors have the following game statistics:
Abilities: Warriors need to use either Strength or Dexterity to properly fight their foes, and they need Constitution to survive blows and to use their special talents to greater effect.
Alignment: Any.
Hit Die: 1d10
Starting Age: As Barbarian.
Starting Gold: As Fighter.

Class Skills
The Warrior's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Climb(Str), Craft(Int), Handle Animal(Cha), Intimidate(Cha), Jump(Str), Ride(Dex), Swim(Str), and Knowledge[All Skills](Int).

Skill Points at First Level: (2 + Int modifier) x 4
Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 2 + Int modifier


{table=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special|Talents Known|Max. Talent Level Known|Energy/Day

1st|
+1|
+2|
+0|
+0|Bonus Feat|1|1|0

2nd|
+2|
+3|
+0|
+0|-|1|1|1

3rd|
+3|
+3|
+1|
+1|-|2|2|3

4th|
+4|
+4|
+1|
+1|Bonus Feat|2|2|5

5th|
+5|
+4|
+1|
+1|-|3|2|7

6th|
+6/+1|
+5|
+2|
+2|-|3|2|11

7th|
+7/+2|
+5|
+2|
+2|-|4|3|15

8th|
+8/+3|
+6|
+2|
+2|Bonus Feat|4|3|19

9th|
+9/+4|
+6|
+3|
+3|-|5|3|23

10th|
+10/+5|
+7|
+3|
+3|-|5|3|27

11th|
+11/+6/+1|
+7|
+3|
+3|-|6|4|35

12th|
+12/+7/+2|
+8|
+4|
+4|Bonus Feat|6|4|43

13th|
+13/+8/+3|
+8|
+4|
+4|-|7|4|51

14th|
+14/+9/+4|
+9|
+4|
+4|-|7|4|59

15th|
+15/+10/+5|
+9|
+5|
+5|-|8|5|67

16th|
+16/+11/+6/+1|
+10|
+5|
+5|Bonus Feat|8|5|79

17th|
+17/+12/+7/+2|
+10|
+5|
+5|-|9|5|91

18th|
+18/+13/+8/+3|
+11|
+6|
+6|-|9|5|103

19th|
+19/+14/+9/+4|
+11|
+6|
+6|-|10|6|115

20th|
+20/+15/+10/+5|
+12|
+6|
+6|Bonus Feat|10|6|127[/table]

Class Features
All of the following are class features of the Warrior.

Weapon and Armor Proficiencies: A Warrior is proficient with all simple and martial weapons and with all armor (heavy, medium, and light) and shields (including tower shields).


Bonus Feats: At 1st level, a Warrior gets a bonus combat-oriented feat in addition to the feat that any 1st-level character gets and the bonus feat granted to a human character. The fighter gains an additional bonus feat at 4th level and every four warrior levels thereafter (8th, 12th, 16th, and 20th). These bonus feats must be drawn from the feats noted as fighter bonus feats. A warrior must still meet all prerequisites for a bonus feat, including ability score and base attack bonus minimums.

These bonus feats are in addition to the feat that a character of any class gets from advancing levels. A Warrior is not limited to the list of fighter bonus feats when choosing these feats.


Talented(Ex): The Warrior, as it gains experience, learns an array of special talents that allow it to perform feats much more advanced than merely swinging a sword at the enemy.

If the character's first level is Warrior, the character gains a number of bonus energy based on their constitution score and caster level. This number is equal to the character's Constitution Modifier x Caster Level x 0.5.

Talents Known:

A warrior begins play knowing one warrior talent of your choice. Each time he achieves a new odd level, he unlocks the knowledge of a new power.

Choose the talents known from the warrior talent trees. A warrior can use any talent he knows that has an Energy cost equal to or lower than his character level.

The total number of talents a warrior can use in a day is limited only by his daily energy pool.

A warrior simply knows his talents; they are ingrained in his mind. He does not need to prepare them (in the way that some spellcasters prepare their spells), though he must get a good night’s sleep each day to regain all his energy.

The Difficulty Class for saving throws against warrior talents is 10 + the talent’s level + the warrior’s Constitution modifier.

Maximum Talent Level Known:

A warrior begins play with the ability to learn 1st-level talents. As he attains higher levels, he may gain the ability to master more complex talents.

To learn or use a talent, a warrior must have a Constitution score of at least 10 + the power’s level.

[BladeofOblivion]

Brewer's Notes

Now, we come to the thing that makes my version of the Warrior different from most fighter reboot attempts: The Talent System. This idea was inspired by a number of things, but most prominently the combat system of Dragon Age: Origins. My mind struggled to think of a fair way that such a system could be implemented, and my mind jumped to Psionics. Though this mechanical implementation is slightly different than that of normal Psionic Classes, it really isn't far from a refluffed Psychic Warrior until you actually look at the abilities.

If one takes a close look at the powers available to the Psychic Warrior, one might note that the vast majority of them are what we gamers often call "Buffs:" that is, they increase the strength of you or an ally so that your party becomes stronger than enemies.

While buffing is a perfectly valid tactic, it makes much less sense when applied to a nonmagical combatant. While a few warrior archetypes, such as berserkers, carry skills that could be considered buffs, this is better suited to a prestige class than to the Warrior.

Further, in AETHER, buffing and teamwork-oriented spells largely fall under the blanket of Solar Magic, which the Warrior will not access without multiclassing. Thus, while a small amount of buffing is reasonable, it should not be a dominating focus.

Another option was to use something similar to the Tome of Battle, complex maneuvers that might as well be magic, but are nonmagical! Unfortunately, the classes in Tome of Battle are not accepted by many and are occasionally shunned as too "Anime," whatever that's supposed to mean in terms of negativity. So that's out.

This raises the question, however: If not buffing oneself or initiating complex maneuvers with spell-like effects, just what will this Warrior do in combat, other than inflicting damage? It's been discussed time and time again that fighters are just fine at dealing damage. While a few talents should deal increased damage, it cannot be the focus. Thus, I looked at what heavily-armed and armored soldiers did throughout real history.

I found that, often, the Vanguard of armies, the people that these Warriors are the most closely related to in reality, would perform their duty by being able to shrug off heavy blows, and using their skills to avoid the types of things that we gamers refer to as "Status Effects." Oh, and slice everything open.

I also have read many debate threads over why the wizard is overpowered and why the fighter is weak, and it all seems to come down to versatility, and not raw power. One thing that seems to come up again and again is battlefield control.

And so I knew what had to be done.


((Note: This is NOT complete. The class is technically usable, but you won't be able to actually use any non-archery talents until I stop being lazy and finish the thing.))

Warrior Talent Trees

Courage Tree

1: Courage
2: Rally
3: Hero's Strike
4: Momentum
5: Unstoppable
6: Determinator


Polearm Fighting Tree

1: Choke Up
2: Fisherman's Trick
3: Pole Vault
4: Aim for the Vitals
5: Throw
6: Gaping Wounds


Two-Handed Fighting Tree

1: Knockdown
2: Sunder Armor
3: Inexorable March
4: Two-Handed Sweep
5: Incredible Force
6: Impossible Might


Weapon and Shield Tree

1: Shield Bash
2: Shield Defense
3: Intervene
4: Disarm
5: Catch Arrows
6: Indestructable


Dual-Weapon Fighting Tree

1: Parry and Riposte
2: Go for the Throat
3: Crippling Strikes
4: Dance of Blades
5: Blinding Speed
6: Overwhelm


Archery Tree

1: Penetrating Arrow
2: Pinning Shot
3: Crippling Shot
4: Scattershot
5: Preternatural Accuracy
6: Arrow of Slaying




Talent List

Sample:

TalentName
Level: This refers to the level of the talent and the classes that can obtain it. You must know all of the talents in the tree with a level lower than this before you can learn this talent. Thus, you need the Level 1 talent from the Archery Tree before you can take the Level 2 talent from the Archery Tree.
Casting Time: This refers to the time taken to use the talent. For example, a talent may take up a move action, which means that you can use your standard action for the round for something else. This may also say "Passive," in which case it is a free action to activate or deactivate it at any time.
Range: The Range of the talent describes what distances the talent can extend to.
Target: The target of the talent refers to what objects or creatures the talent can affect. This may be anywhere from "Personal" to "All targets in a 20 foot radius of the burst center."
Duration: This refers to the length of the effect. It can be instantaneous, permanent, or any number of specific times. It can also be "Sustained." If the duration on an ability is sustained, it lasts until the caster's next action. At the beginning of the action, the caster must pay the talent's energy cost again or lose the effect. If the cost is paid again, it lasts until the caster's next action, where this repeats itself until the caster abandons the effect or runs out of energy.
Saving Throw: This describes what saving throw, if any, the target might have. If you play DnD, you know this already.
Energy: This refers to the energy cost of the talent. Using the talent drains this much energy from the caster's energy pool. If the caster does not have enough energy, the talent cannot be used.

Archery:

Penetrating Arrow
Level: Warrior 1, Rogue 1
Time: Standard Action
Range: Weapon Range
Target: 1 creature
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: None
Energy: 1

This talent can only be used while a bow or crossbow is equipped. The caster makes a ranged touch attack at the target. It ignores all bonuses to AC except dexterity and dodge bonuses. It ignores cover. If it hits, it deals the weapon's damage in addition to whatever bonuses the caster has on the weapon.


Pinning Shot
Level: Warrior 2, Rogue 2
Time: Standard Action
Range: Weapon Range
Target: 1 Creature
Duration: 2 rounds
Saving Throw: Reflex Partial
Energy: 3

This talent can only be used while a bow or crossbow is equipped. The caster makes a ranged attack roll directed at the target. If it hits, it deals the weapon's damage in addition to whatever bonuses the caster has on the weapon. Further, on a successful hit, the target must succeed on a Reflex Save or become unable to move until the duration expires. If the target passes the reflex save, they are instead slowed (as the spell) until the duration expires.


Crippling Shot
Level: Warrior 3, Rogue 3
Time: Standard Action
Range: Weapon Range
Target: 1 Creature
Duration: 1 Minute
Saving Throw: Fortitude Partial
Energy: 4

This talent can only be used while a bow or crossbow is equipped. The caster makes a ranged attack roll directed at the target. If it hits, it deals the weapon's damage in addition to whatever bonuses the caster has on the weapon. Further, on a successful hit, the target must succeed on a Fortitude Save or become unable to take partial, standard, or full-round actions until the duration expires. The effect can be dispelled through any magical healing.


Scattershot
Level: Warrior 4, Rogue 4
Time: Standard Action
Range: Weapon Range
Target: 20-ft.-radius spread
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: Fortitude Partial
Energy: 8

This talent can only be used while a bow or crossbow is equipped. A rain of arrows launched by the Archer's Expert Hand automatically hits all creatures in the target radius, dealing 1d6/level Piercing Damage, to a maximum of 10d6. Further, all targets in the area of effect must succeed on a Fortitude Save or become dazed for 1 round.


Preternatural Accuracy
Level: Warrior 5, Rogue 5
Time: Swift Action
Range: Personal
Target: Self
Duration: Sustained
Saving Throw: Will Negates (Harmless)
Energy: 5

This talent can only be used while a bow or crossbow is equipped. While under the effect of this talent, the critical threat range of all bows and crossbows you wield becomes 10-20. Further, while this talent is active, when you successfully inflict a critical hit on a target, you deal double damage.

Arrow of Slaying
Level: Warrior 6, Rogue 6
Time: 1 round
Range: Weapon Range
Target: 1 Creature
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: Fortitude Partial
Energy: 20

This talent can only be used while a bow or crossbow is equipped. The caster makes a ranged attack roll directed at the target. If it hits, it deals the weapon's damage in addition to whatever bonuses the caster has on the weapon. Further, on a successful hit, the target must succeed on a Fortitude Save or take damage equal to their current hit point total.


Courage Tree

Courage
Level: Warrior 1
Time: 1 Round
Range: Personal
Target: Self
Duration: 1 Minute
Saving Throw: Will Negates (Harmless)
Energy: 1

This talent cannot be used if the caster has any temporary hit points. When this talent is used, the warrior gains 5/level temporary hit points. They disappear at the end of the duration.


War Cry
Level: Warrior 2
Time: Standard Action
Range: Personal
Target: 20-ft.-radius burst
Duration: 2 minutes
Saving Throw: Will Negates
Energy: 4

When War Cry is used, all hostile creatures in the area of effect must succeed on a will save or become shaken. This is a mind-affecting Fear Effect.


Hero's Strike
Level: Warrior 3
Time: Standard Action
Range: Touch
Target: 1 Creature
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: Fortitude Partial
Energy: 10

When this talent is used, the Warrior strikes true and accurately. The target is automatically hit with whatever weapon the warrior is using, taking the full damage from the attack. All die rolls for this damage are maximized. Then, unless the target succeeds on a fortitude save, the target is knocked back 20 feet.


Momentum
Level: Warrior 4
Time: Not applicable
Range: Personal
Target: Self
Duration: Passive
Saving Throw: None
Energy: 0

When a warrior with this talent drops an opponent, that Warrior gains energy equal to the dropped opponent's HD. If this ability would cause a warrior to exceed their Energy/Day, then it has no effect until another enemy is dropped.


Unstoppable
Level: Warrior 5
Time: Standard Action
Range: Personal
Target: Self
Duration: Sustained
Saving Throw: None
Energy: 5

While this talent is active, the Warrior can move and attack normally for the duration of the effect, even under the influence of magic that usually impedes movement, such as paralysis, solid fog, slow, and web. The subject automatically succeeds on any grapple check made to resist a grapple attempt, as well as on grapple checks or Escape Artist checks made to escape a grapple or a pin.

The spell also allows the subject to move and attack normally while underwater, even with slashing weapons such as axes and swords or with bludgeoning weapons such as flails, hammers, and maces, provided that the weapon is wielded in the hand rather than hurled. The talent does not, however, allow water breathing.


Determinator
Level: Warrior 6
Time: Swift Action
Range: Personal
Target: Self
Duration: Sustained
Saving Throw: None
Energy: 8

While this talent is active, the warrior is immune to death. You heard that correctly. The caster does not die from having less than -9 hit points, is immune to death effects, cannot drown, and cannot, in fact, die.

However, if the warrior is still at less than -9 hit points when they release the effect or run out of energy, then they still die.


Dual-Weapon Fighting Tree

1: Parry and Riposte
2: Go for the Throat
3: Crippling Strikes
4: Dance of Blades
5: Blinding Speed
6: Overwhelm


Polearm Fighting Tree

1: Choke Up
2: Fisherman's Trick
3: Pole Vault
4: Aim for the Vitals
5: Throw
6: Gaping Wounds


Two-Handed Fighting Tree

1: Knockdown
2: Sunder Armor
3: Inexorable March
4: Two-Handed Sweep
5: Incredible Force
6: Impossible Might


Weapon and Shield Tree

1: Shield Bash
2: Shield Defense
3: Intervene
4: Disarm
5: Catch Arrows
6: Indestructible




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