The Need for Speed! (3.5, Base Class, PEACH)

[Hefty Lefty]

Hey everyone. This is a revision of a class I brewed a few months ago. This is my first homebrew creation, so any critiques would be great. Thanks!

Post-creation notes: I feel this class may be a bit over-powered, especially with the AC Bonus. However, I also feel the class lacks a proper capstone at level 20. Thoughts?

The Red Dog

Description
Red Dogs are quick and agile warriors of speed. They can manipulate a battlefield by putting their opponent in indefensible positions by rushing past them in a whirlwind of attacks. Red Dogs do not have a strong tie to race, but most are humans, influenced by their athletic builds to take to guerilla combat. Some elves and half-elves, with their lithe frames, become Red Dogs focused on archery, perplexing their foes by pouring arrows from every direction. Most half-orcs prefer brute strength over elusive speed, but those who commit to the combat style find themselves some of the most feared Red Dogs. Gnomes and Halflings, with their reduced speed and strength, struggle to make use of the style's abilities.

Red Dogs tend to work alone. Their combat style is unique, and Red Dogs often find their teammates cannot keep up. If the Red Dog decides to work with a team, he finds himself in the role of a scout. Sometimes multiple Red Dogs work together. Those packs tend to surround their foes like wolves, then race around them in a cyclone.

Alignment
Any.

Hit Die
d8

Class Skills
The Red Dog's class skills (and the key abilities for each skill) are Balance (Dex), Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Escape Artist (Dex), Hide (Dex), Jump (Str), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Perform (Cha), Profression (Wis), Spot (Wis), Swim (Str), Tumble (Dex).

Skill Points at First Level
(4+Intelligence Modifier) x 4

Skill Points at Each Additional Level
4+Intelligence Modifier

The Red Dog
{table=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|AC Bonus|Special

1st|
+1|
+0|
+2|
+0|1|Blitz +1d6, AC Bonus, Dodge

2nd|
+2|
+0|
+3|
+0|1|Speed Bonus +10 feet, Lightning Reflexes

3rd|
+3|
+1|
+3|
+1|2|+3d6 Blitz, Mobility

4th|
+4|
+1|
+4|
+1|2|Combat Style, Speed Bonus +20 feet, Combat Reflexes

5th|
+5|
+1|
+4|
+1|3|+3d6 Blitz, Uncanny Dodge, Haste 1/day

6th|
+6/+1|
+2|
+5|
+2|3|Improved Overrun, Initiative Boost +2, Speed Bonus +30 feet

7th|
+7/+2|
+2|
+5|
+2|4|+4d6 Blitz

8th|
+8/+3|
+2|
+6|
+2|4|Flipping Attack, Speed Bonus +40 feet

9th|
+9/+4|
+3|
+6|
+3|5|+5d6 Blitz, Improved Uncanny Dodge

10th|
+10/+5|
+3|
+7|
+3|5|Blur 1/day, Haste 2/day, Speed Bonus +50 feet

11th|
+11/+6/+1|
+3|
+7|
+3|6|+6d6 Blitz

12th|
+12/+7/+2|
+4|
+8|
+4|6|Blink 1/day, Initiative Boost +4, Speed Bonus +60 feet

13th|
+13/+8/+3|
+4|
+8|
+4|7|+7d6 Blitz

14th|
+14/+9/+4|
+4|
+9|
+4|7|Blur 2/day, Speed Bonus +70 feet

15th|
+15/+10/+5|
+5|
+9|
+5|8|+8d6 Blitz, Haste 3/day

16th|
+16/+11/+6/+1|
+5|
+10|
+5|8|Blink 2/day, Speed Bonus +80 feet

17th|
+17/+12/+7/+2|
+5|
+10|
+5|9|Time Stop 1/day, +9d6 Blitz

18th|
+18/+13/+8/+3|
+6|
+11|
+6|9|Initiative Boost +6, Speed Bonus +90 feet

19th|
+19/+14/+9/+4|
+6|
+11|
+6|10|+10d6 Blitz

20th|
+20/+15/+10/+5|
+6|
+12|
+6|10|Time Stop 2/day, Haste 4/day, Speed Bonus +100 feet[/table]

Class Features

Weapon and Armor Proficiency
A Red Dog is proficient with all simple and martial weapons, and with light armor and shields (except tower shields).

Blitz (Ex)
The blinding speed of the Red Dog allows him to add damage to each attack he makes where he moves at least 10 feet before the attack. The bonus starts at +1d6 damage, and every other level after, the bonus increases by 1d6.
The extra damage only applies against living creatures that have discernable anatomy. Undead, constructs, oozes, plants, incorporeal creatures, and creatures immune to extra damage from critical hits are not vulnerable to this additional damage. The Red Dog must be able to see the target well enough to pick a vital spot and must be able to reach such a spot. Red Dogs can apply this extra damage to ranged attacks made while rushing, but only if the target is within 30 feet.
A Red Dog loses this ability when wearing medium or heavy armor or when carrying a medium or heavier load.

AC Bonus (Ex)
The Red Dog is as battle-savvy as he is quick. His speed and battle experience allows him to position himself so that he is protected during battle. At level 1, the Red Dog may add his Intelligence bonus (if any) to the value granted to him in the AC Bonus column. The Red Dog only retains this ability when wearing light or no armor.

Dodge (Ex)
The Red Dog gains the Dodge feat at first level, even if he does not meet the prerequisites.

Speed Bonus (Ex)
The Red Dog's entire focus is on his speed. At 2nd level, he gains 10 feet to his base land speed. His speed improvements advance every other level (at 4, 6, 8, etc.) by 10 additional feet per round. The Red Dog only retains this ability when wearing light or no armor.

Lightning Reflexes (Ex)
At 2nd level, the Red Dog gains the feat Lightning Reflexes.

Mobility (Ex)
The Red Dog gains the Mobility feat at third level, even if he does not meet the prerequisites.

Combat Style (Ex)
At fourth level, the Red Dog must choose between up-close combat and archery. If the former is chosen, the Red Dog recieves the feat Spring Attack. If archery is chosen, he recieves Shot on the Run. He earns these feats even if he does not meet the prerequisites.

Combat Reflexes (Ex)
The Red Dog gains the Combat Reflexes feat at fourth level, even if he does not meet the prerequisites.

Uncanny Dodge (Ex)
Starting at fifth level, a Red Dog can react to danger before his senses would normally allow him to do so. He retains his Dexterity bonus to AC (if any) even if he is caught flat-footed or struck by an invisible attacker. However, he still loses his Dexterity bonus to AC if immobilized.

If a Red Dog already has uncanny dodge from a different class he automatically gains improved uncanny dodge instead.

Haste (Sp)
At fifth level, the Red Dog gains the spell-like ability Haste. He casts this at will as a free action, and it lasts for the duration of the round. At the 10th, 15th, and 20th levels, he gains an additional use of this ability per day.

Improved Overrun (Ex)
The Red Dog gains the Improved Overrun feat at sixth level, even if he does not meet the prerequisites.

Initiative Boost (Ex)
At level 6, the Red Dog gains a +2 bonus to all initiative checks. This bonus stacks with the feat Improved Initiative and similar effects. At level 12, this bonus increases to +4, and at level 18, it maxes at +6.

Flipping Attack (Ex)
At 8th level, the Red Dog gains the feat Flipping Attack (Created by Rich! (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=172910)), even if he does not meet the prerequisites.

Improved Uncanny Dodge (Ex)
A Red Dog of 8th level or higher can no longer be flanked.

This defense denies a rogue the ability to sneak attack the character by flanking her, unless the attacker has at least four more rogue levels than the target has Red Dog levels.

If a character already has uncanny dodge from a second class, the character automatically gains improved uncanny dodge instead, and the levels from the classes that grant uncanny dodge stack to determine the minimum rogue level required to flank the character.

Blur (Sp)
At 10th level, the Red Dog develops the ability to cast Blur on himself once per day. He may only cast the spell on himself. The spell requires a standard action to use. The duration of the spell is calculated as if he were a wizard of the same level.

Blink (Sp)
At 12th level, the Red Dog develops the ability to cast Blink on himself once per day. He may only cast the spell on himself. The spell requires a standard action to use. The duration of the spell is calculated as if he were a wizard of the same level.

Time Stop (Sp)
The Red Dog, at 17th level, gains the ability to cast Time Stop once per day. At 20th level, he is able to cast the spell twice per day.

[Grinner]

It feels like this class is too tightly focused to be a base class, for it has little room for customization by itself. It would make a great PrC though.

Also, so long as the character has room to move, it's extremely overpowered. Problem is, if he doesn't, he's only marginally less powerful, considering all of the feats and class abilities he gets.

[Grod_The_Giant]

It feels like this class is too tightly focused to be a base class, for it has little room for customization by itself. It would make a great PrC though.

Also, so long as the character has room to move, it's extremely overpowered. Problem is, if he doesn't, he's only marginally less powerful, considering all of the feats and class abilities he gets.

Most base classes hew to a certain archetype-- "nature mage" or "unarmed aesthetic" or "berserker." Not to mention that attraction of not having to wait for 6-10 levels to fit the character concept.

And as for your second point... as far as I can tell, the class is fine. As long as it has at least 10 feet to move, it can deliver a nice amount of skirmish damage. Yay! But without taking a lot of trouble to get some way to move any deliver full attacks, it can't stack the die like a rogue with sneak attack. Not to mention the whole useless-against-constructs/undead/plants/anything immune to sneak attacks. It can move fast, but still gets hammered by ranged attacks and AoOs, especially from things with reach. AC? Yeah, it's decent, but light armor plus a mental stat is nothing overpowered. If anything, the class is underwhelming in the power department. (Also, no ability whatsoever requires it to move more than ten feet a turn).

My biggest worry is that the class is a bit bland, especially at upper levels. Apart from a few spell-like abilities with very limited usage, it doesn't get much of anything besides skirmish. And the fact that it uses SLAs seems to contradict the general mundane-speed-warrior flavor.

Other thoughts:

You forgot the weapon and armor proficiencies.
The skill list is really minimal. At the very least, I'd add Hide and Move Silently, so that he can be a useful scout.
Making the speed bonus dependent on what kind of armor you're wearing is confusing. Let them move at full speed in light armor.
The AC bonus mentions a Level:Armor chart? :smallconfused:
If you give Evasion, you should probably also give improved evasion.
Not sure what Trap Sense is doing in there.
Your description of the Haste ability says both at-will and [X]/day.
Initiative Boost and Uncanny Dodge both kick in way too late.
Lightning Reflexes is an awfully weak feat by 8th level.
Your SLAs need an effective caster level.
The very limited per-day usage of the SLAs is... suboptimal. Apart from Time Stop, they're really not very strong for the level you get them at. At the very least, make them swift actions, so he doesn't have to waste a turn to use them. I would also kick up the uses to Int or Dex modifier times per day.
Time Stop would make a good capstone-- just find something else to go at 17th level, and allow a few uses/day at 20th.

It needs some out-of-battle abilities.
Blitz is currently really similar to the Scout's skirmish. Idea-- make it not be precision damage, and have it scale based on how far you've moved. You also might consider limiting it to one attack/turn, to avoid TWF/Pounce/Ubercharger shenanigans.

In short, it's a solid framework, but could use more unique abilities.