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View Full Version : The Champion 2.0 [PEACH and ideas needed]



Belial_the_Leveler
2013-03-17, 02:16 PM
Here's the second attempt at my generic, high-tier martial character. I expanded her abilities to be more utility-friendly and delegated the boring offensive stuff to maneuvers.
The problem is that a large table of utility abilities are needed - over a hundred of them - so that utility wise she can compete with spellcasters. I have filled the 1st level abilities and the capstone abilities with how I envision the character starting her career and ending it power-level-wise but the intermediate levels (2nd, 3rd and 4th lvl of abilities) are still open.

I'd like you guys to make suggestions on what you'd like to see as such abilities and/or what would make a high-tier nonspellcaster actually work.


The Champion
http://www.gamewallpapers.com/previews_zonder_letters/wallpaper_wars_and_warriors_joan_of_arc_01.jpg

Abilities: Strength is the Champion's most important ability because most her offense is based off it. Constitution boosts both her hit-points and defensive abilities while Charisma enhances her leadership abilities.

Alignment: Any
Hit Die: d10

Class Skills: The Champion's class-skills are Craft (any), Profession (any), Knowledge (any except arcana, religion or planes), Climb, Swim, Jump, Balance, Ride, Tumble, Diplomacy, Bluff, Intimidate, Spot, Listen, Sense Motive, Handle Animal, Heal and Survival.
Skill Points per Level: 8 + Int Modifier. If you are using Pathfinder, the fighter gets 4 + Int Modifier skills instead to account for skill unification.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency:
The Champion is proficient with all weapons, all armors and all shields including tower shields. She reduces armor check penalties and speed penalties from armor by her class level (round up, minimum 0).

{table=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special|Abilities

1st|
+1|
+2|
+0|
+2|skilled warrior, bonus feat|
2, 1st

2nd|
+2|
+3|
+0|
+3|bonus feat, weapon defense|
3

3rd|
+3|
+3|
+1|
+3|maneuver training|
5

4th|
+4|
+4|
+1|
+4|bonus feat, mobility 10ft|
6

5th|
+5|
+4|
+1|
+4|withstand, physical training|
7, 2nd

6th|
+6/+1|
+5|
+2|
+5|bonus feat, mobility 20ft|
8

7th|
+7/+2|
+5|
+2|
+5|readiness, mental conditioning|
10

8th|
+8/+3|
+6|
+2|
+6|bonus feat, mobility 30ft|
11

9th|
+9/+4|
+6|
+3|
+6|improved withstand|
12

10th|
+10/+5|
+7|
+3|
+7|bonus feat, mobility 40ft|
13, 3rd

11th|
+11/+6/+1|
+7|
+3|
+7|improved readiness|
14

12th|
+12/+7/+2|
+8|
+4|
+8|bonus feat, mobility 50ft|
15

13th|
+13/+8/+3|
+8|
+4|
+8|greater withstand|
17

14th|
+14/+9/+4|
+9|
+4|
+9|bonus feat, mobility 60ft|
18

15th|
+15/+10/+5|
+9|
+5|
+9|greater readiness|
19, 4th

16th|
+16/+11/+6/+1|
+10|
+5|
+10|bonus feat, mobility 70ft|
20

17th|
+17/+12/+7/+2|
+10|
+5|
+10|superior readiness|
21

18th|
+18/+13/+8/+3|
+11|
+6|
+11|bonus feat, mobility 80ft|
capstone

19th|
+19/+14/+9/+4|
+11|
+6|
+11|supreme readiness|
capstone

20th|
+20/+15/+10/+5|
+12|
+6|
+12|bonus feat, mobility 90ft|
capstone[/table]

Champion Abilities [Ex]
A Champion's physical might and skill with weapons and combat techniques is only part of her training. Champions are also powerful knights and protectors, inspired tacticians and generals, great warlords and leaders, and cunning scouts and explorers. They get a number of abilities as indicated in the table above that provide them with all sorts of tricks and utilities that are helpful in combat, army warfare, social interaction, exploration, leadership and other varied situations.
Abilities come in five levels; 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and capstone. A Champion may learn new abilities each level from any level available to her. Each time she gains a level or spends a week in training/preparation (either for this feature or for other champion class features) she may also exchange an ability she knows for another of the same or higher level. The training/preparation need not be consequetive.

Bonus Feats [Ex]
The Champion is the undisputed master of combat techniques. She gains a number of bonus feats as indicated in the table above, chosen from the bonus feats of any melee or ranged oriented class (fighter, ranger, monk, warblade, crusader, swordsage e.t.c.)
The Champion can learn any number of extra feats beyond her basic bonus feats through observation of their use, formal training or even her own research. Learning a feat in this way requires 8 hours of practice after the feat is discovered. The hours need not be consequetive. Such feats are not considered ready for use unless readied.
As a standard action, the Champion can exchange her basic number of bonus feats with any feats on her known feats list. This is called "readying" and enables the fighter to employ any of the feats thus readied. In this way, while the Champion may not access all of the feats she knows at once, she can change which of those she does have access to.

Skilled Warrior [Ex]
A Champion has mastered more efficient and practical use of her skills. Each time she gets levels in the Champion class she gains a permanent +1 competence bonus to 3 skills of her choice from the following list;
Climb, Swim, Jump, Balance, Ride, Tumble, Diplomacy, Bluff, Intimidate, Spot, Listen, Sense Motive, Handle Animal, Heal and Survival. This reflects her harsh physical training, her ability as a guard and scout, her leadership qualities, and long days of campaigning and foraging in the wilderness.

Weapon Defense [Ex]
At 2nd level a champion learns how to actively defend against attacks by parrying and dodging. Once per round, she may roll his total attack bonus against a melee attack aimed at her or anyone in his reach. If her attack roll matches or beats the incoming attack's attack roll, the attack is parried, deflected or otherwise harmlessly negated. At 4th level, she may also roll against ranged attacks. At 6th level she may roll twice per round. At 8th level she may move up to her speed before attempting to deflect, repositioning herself so she can defend non-adjacent allies.

Physical Maneuver Training [Ex]
At 3rd level a champion has completed her basic training in many exotic maneuvers. Her Initiator level is equal to her class level for any maneuvers or stances she may get access to (such as via getting Maneuver Training as a bonus feat) and the recovers maneuvers each time she readies her bonus feats.
However, the champion isn't a supernatural warrior; if a maneuver deals damage, its type is always the champions' weapon's damage type. If it deals ability damage/drain/energy drain, the penalties become extraordinary in nature and don't apply to creatures without internal anatomy. If it heals or otherwise restores, the maneuver is limited to restoring the champion only as she draws upon inner reserves of strength. Teleportation becomes physical movement at the same distance and invisibility becomes hiding in plain sight. More outlandish supernatural effects cannot be learned by the Champion via Maneuver Training. Champions almost always adapt and rename their maneuvers to their own personal styles.

Mobility [Ex]
A Champion is the master of tactical movement. During her round, she can move the indicated speed in the "mobility" ability before or after her other actions in that round. At 6th level, she can split that movement as she likes before, after and between other actions. At 9th level, she no longer takes move penalties by difficult terrain. At 11th level, she can move before and after individual attacks, including attacks within a full attack action or attacks she takes when it is not her turn (such as AoOs).

Withstand [Ex]
A Champion's toughness, determination and resilience is legendary. At 5th level she has a number of points per round equal to her constitution modifier plus her charisma modifier which she can spend to increase saving throw results on a 1 for 1 basis after learning her roll but before learning the result. An natural 1 can be rerolled by spending 5 points. At 9th level, she can also spend points to negate ability damage, ability drain or ability penalty she is about to take on a 1 for 1 basis. At 13th level, she can also spend points to negate energy drain, numerical curse penalties and any other supernatural or magical numerical penalty she is about to take on a 1 for 1 basis. An effect diminished but not entirely negated by withstand remains diminished for its duration.

Training/Conditioning [Ex]
A Champion can undergo extreme training and conditioning, study under legendary masters of the art of war, capitalize upon her experience in fighting anything imaginable to develop her inner potential to heroic levels.
At 5th level she may permanently improve her physical ability scores or natural armor through such training, gaining enhancement bonuses. This requires either 1 week of training and conditioning per +2 enhancement bonus or gaining a level in the Champion class and requires a sacrifice in gold, treasure or magic items equal to 1/2 the cost of a magic item providing that enhancement. At 7th level, the Champion may thus enhance her mental ability scores and resistance bonus to saving throws. At 16th level, she may gain +1 inherent bonuses to her ability scores instead.
The max enhancement/resistance bonus is equal to (Champion level-3)/2, or +6, whichever is less. The max inherent bonus is +5.

Readiness [Ex]
Champions are highly trained to be always vigilant and anticipate threats in order to counter them. At 7th level, they can declare they have readied an action at the beginning of an encounter (before initiative is rolled) or at the start of a scene; taking that action later does not change their initiative count. At 11th level, they can ready 2 actions and may choose not to take their readied action when a trigger comes up, saving it for a later trigger. At 15th level, they can ready 3 actions and their ability to choose a trigger extends to their normal readied actions as well. At 17th level, any actions they ready (including normal readied actions) can have two different triggers instead of one. At 19th level, they can ready either a full-round action or two linked standard or move actions as a single readied action and any actions they ready (including normal readied actions) can have three different triggers instead of two.




Champion Ability Table

1st level
Heirloom Arms: You inherit or otherwise gain 1 nonmagical weapon and 1 nonmagical armor of any type. They are of standard materials and masterwork. They don't count against your wealth.
Expert Smith: You can forge 1 nonmagical weapon or shield per 2 hours of work or 1 nonmagical armor per 16 hours of work. They are masterwork. You may also craft normal items and make repairs in correspondingly short amounts of time. You still need to have crafting tools, make craft checks against their craft DC and expend the required base materials.
Law and Order: You are part of, have knowledge of or otherwise know how to contact and/or manipulate authority. Given 1 hour, you can learn the important authority figures and the open hierarchy in a village, town or city you are in. Such authorities are 1 step friendlier than normal towards you - at least until you do something to change that standing.
Social Standing: You have -or can pretend to have- a useful social standing or reputation; you might actually know how to use your family's influence, or your reputation in that fighter college, your name as a mercenary or your previous accomplishments. When interacting socially with NPCs in situations where such standing matters, they 1 step friendlier than normal towards you - at least until you do something to change that standing. Given 1 hour, you can learn of important events and rumors of interest.
Quick Recovery: Once per encounter or per 10 minutes, you can recover HP until you have half of your maximum as part of a defend or total defense action, if they were lower. Alternatively, you may recover from fatigue - but not from exhaustion.
Interpose: As an immediate action, if a creature or other target within your reach would be hit by an attack or targeted by an effect, you may interpose and take the hit instead. The attack hits your AC automatically but any other defenses and abilities you may have can still be used to defend against it.
Rapid Assessment: You instinctively know the general difficulty of an opponent in relation to you if you succeed on a Sense Motive or Knowledge skill opposed by their Bluff or Disguise check. For every 5 points you beat the check, learn one of the following; best attack bonus, current AC, total HD.
Vigilance: Lower the difficulty of pinpointing covered or concealed creatures by 10. You do not lose your DEX bonus to AC against such attackers unless attacked by a Rogue of your level or higher.
Rally: As a one-minute interaction, if you succeed in a relevant social skill check you may inspire normally unhelpful, indifferent or neutral NPCs to help you against a danger or difficulty of some sort; rally the villagers to fend off raiders, rally the caravan against a bear attack, rally the passers-by to help with a fire and so on. Provided that NPCs exist in that location, you can thus gather a number of temporary followers once per scene whose total CR does not exceed yours.
Inspire Excellence: As a standard action, you encourage target creature, giving them a morale bonus to a skill, ability or attack check for 1 minute. The bonus is +2 or your charisma modifier, whichever is higher.
Inspire Recovery: As a standard action you encourage target creature, convincing them to keep fighting despite mounting odds and wounds. They benefit as if from a Quick Recovery ability. You can encourage creatures so only once per scene.
Mounted Warrior: You own a light horse or similar mount. If you're level 3 or higher, you have an Animal Companion that is usable as a mount as per a druid of your level.
Animal Friend: You have an animal companion as per a druid of your level. You may not use it as a mount.
Great Leap: Add 10 ft to your vertical leap and 20 ft to your long jump. This distance is added to any distance from your jump results.
Distance Runner: You may run at your double move or full run speeds over long distances for 15 minutes per constitution modifier. You gain Endurance as a bonus feat.
Tracking: You gain the Track feat. You may take 10 on Survival checks to track at any time. If not pressed for time, you may take 20.
Foraging: In any non-artificial environment that has life of some sort, you can forage food and water for yourself during travel. For each hour you spend foraging instead of traveling, you can provide food and water for 1 additional creature. You may always tell if a plant or animal is edible. You may always tell if a food is poisonous or poisoned by making a survival DC 10+the poison's save DC.
Inner Compass: You always know where true north is and can retrace your path of the last 24 hours exactly. You may take 10 on survival or knowledge checks to find your way in any situations and if not pressed for time you may take 20. You always get a saving throw against illusions and other magic effects concealing terrain features, locations or paths.
Combat Tactics: You may devise a general plan for a given situation or terrain with your group. When facing that situation or being in that terrain, your group has +1 competence bonus to skill checks, attack rolls and AC. If the group has prepared both for the situation and the terrain, the bonuses stack. You may devise a number of plans equal to your Intelligence modifier or 1/3 your Champion level, round up.
Prepare for The Worst: Your group is always prepared for the worst either because you carefully lead them in their preparations or because you always complain about what danger or calamity might befall you; you and your group roll for initiative twice and get the best result.

2nd level
TBP

3rd level
TBP

4th level
TBP

capstone
Legendary Armament: weapons, armor and shields you personally craft have an innate enhancement bonus. They are no more affected by dispelling or antimagic than golems and similar constructs cease functioning under such conditions. They are not subject to being damaged except by weapons with total enhancement equal to or greater than their total enhancement and spells of a level equal to or higher than their total enhancement. Major artifacts and deities can still damage them normally.
Monarch by Deeds: You become a king, lord or commander of a large area or small nation which you can issue edicts for and whose population you directly but impersonally control. You have a Keep, Fortress or Palace with a cost no higher than twice your personal WBL.
Boundless Endurance: At the beginning of each of your turns you gain temporary HP equal to your class level. You are immune to fatigue, exhaustion, paralysis, daze and stunning.
Legendary Hunter: Make a Martial Lore check against an enemy's Bluff check. If successful, you know all the target's known combat feats. Make a Survival check against an enemy's CR+20. If successful, you know its creature type and racial abilities; your first attack per round ignores its natural armor, damage reduction and regeneration.
Legendary Commander: You have an army of followers of 10th level or less totaling no more than 5 encounters equal to your CR. Losses to your army are replenished over a period of 1 month. If your army is destroyed, you must either work personally for 3 months to raise another or pay 10.000 gp per CR-equivalent encounter to hire mercenaries for one encounter or fight.
Knightlord: You may provide an animal companion as a druid of your level to 1 ally per 4 Champion levels beyond yourself; those companions must be usable as mounts. You may provide a heavy warhorse to all your followers trained to use one.
Horizon Walker: You are a native of all environments and all planes you have visited (a minimum of 1 per Champion level). You get a bonus to attacks, AC, skill checks and saving throws against natives of those environments or planes equal to 1/5 your Champion level. Your knowledge of hidden interdimensional portals, faerie ways, forgotten teleportation circles and other methods of travel allow you to devise a path that can lead from any point in any plane to any point in any other plane in 1 hour or less, unless someone takes specific measures to protect a location against you (in which case you can still appear in a nearby location). If you succeed on a Survival DC 50 check, you also avoid random encounters.
Grand Strategist: If you succeed on a DC 20+enemy CR Knowledge (Tactics) or Sense Motive check as a free action, you know the enemy's plan and intentions for the encounter unless they beat your check with their own Bluff check. If something happens that changes the enemy's plan or intentions, make the check again to learn their new plan and intentions. You always get a benefit equivalent to a Foresight spell as you subconsciously notice even the tiniest detail and extrapolate potential outcomes before they happen.
Legendary Rally: Once per encounter you can rally a defeated party, beleaguered group, broken army or retreating fighting force as a full-round action. All negative mind-affecting effects (morale penalties included) on the group are ended, the group is hasted for 1 minute and gains benefits equivalent to Greater Heroism and during that minute they may keep fighting without dying or being staggered until they reach minus max hp or are disintegrated, decapitated or otherwise have their bodies destroyed.

PairO'Dice Lost
2013-03-17, 04:05 PM
I'd suggest you move the class description out of the quote block; it makes it less likely for people to critique it if they have to copy and paste abilities instead of just quoting your post.

Other than that, I'll give it a more in-depth read-through and get back to you.

Belial_the_Leveler
2013-03-17, 04:47 PM
Done!

Also, fixed some minor errors.

Gnorman
2013-03-17, 08:07 PM
Your table would greatly benefit from separate columns for Abilities Known and Ability Level. It's kind of a mess as is.