The Shadow Rager (Barbarian PRC) [D&D 3.5] PEACH!

[Derjuin]

Shadow Rager

Gave up my soul? Of course not, I merely gave up my restraint. When your home is at risk of total annihilation, you'd be surprised what constitutes "pragmatism". ~ Zalphar, an elf shadow rager

Shadow Ragers are barbarians that take in vile powers and force a pact from an evil outsider. In return, they are granted enhanced powers, especially when their tempers flare. Typically, society shuns a shadow rager even more than it would their normal barbarous cousins. However, some civilizations have embraced the profession as a necessary tool to combat their foes. Those shadow ragers that have no civilization to embrace them often join the Children of Malyss, a group of shadow ragers dedicated to the source of their power.

BECOMING A SHADOW RAGER
Shadow ragers form closely-knit circles, as most beings that aren't already allied with a shadow rager see them as dangerous, vile or possessed. To become a shadow rager, a prospective barbarian must find one of these circles and appease a shadow rager in it. They must show that they are strong of will and possess the power to control the intense powers that shadow ragers fight to contain. A prospective barbarian must also make a pact with an evil outsider to gain these powers, typically through associating with the circle of shadow ragers.

ENTRY REQUIREMENTS
Alignment: Chaotic Evil.
Base Attack Bonus: +6.
Skills: Intimidate 9 ranks.
Feats: Iron Will.
Class Features: Ability to rage or frenzy (including rage variants, such as whirling frenzy or ferocity)
Special: Must have been trained in Shadow Arts by an experienced Shadow Rager.
Special: Cannot be illiterate.

Class Skills
The Shadow Rager's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Handle Animal (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Listen (Wis), Ride (Dex), Survival (Wis), and Swim (Str).
Skills Points at Each Level: 4 + int

Hit Dice: d12

{table=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special|1st|2nd|3rd|4th

1st|
+1|
+2|
+0|
+2|Shadowrage, Unspeakable Vow|0|-|-|-

2nd|
+2|
+3|
+0|
+3|Unearthly awareness, furious casting|1|-|-|-

3rd|
+3|
+3|
+1|
+3|Darkened form, shadow step|1|0|-|-

4th|
+4|
+4|
+1|
+4|Doom blade, Vow of Vengeance|1|1|-|-

5th|
+5|
+4|
+1|
+4|Shadowfury, improved shadowrage|1|1|0|-

6th|
+6|
+5|
+2|
+5|Corrupt mind|1|1|1|-

7th|
+7|
+5|
+2|
+5|Cloak of shadows|2|1|1|0

8th|
+8|
+6|
+2|
+6|Life bane, maddening power|2|1|1|1

9th|
+9|
+6|
+3|
+6|Demonic ally|2|2|1|1

10th|
+10|
+7|
+3|
+7|Demonic assimilation, Greater shadowrage|2|2|2|1[/table]

Weapon Proficiencies: A shadow rager does not gain any weapon or armor proficiencies.

Spells: A shadow rager has the ability to cast a small number of divine spells. To cast a shadow rager spell, the character must have a Wisdom score of at least 10 + the spell’s level, so a shadow rager with a Wisdom of 10 or lower cannot cast these spells. Shadow rager bonus spells are based on Wisdom, and saving throws against these spells have a DC of 10 + spell
level + the shadow rager’s Wisdom modifier. When the champion gets 0 spells of a given spell level (for instance, 1st-level spells for a 1st level shadow rager), he gets only the bonus spells he would be entitled to based on his Wisdom score for that spell level.

The shadow rager’s spell list appears below. A shadow rager does not need to prepare spells; he casts from the spell list below spontaneously, as a sorcerer or favored soul.

Shadowrage (Ex): At 1st level, a shadow rager is able to enter his namesake rage, gaining several traits of evil outsiders; this transformation usually reflects the demon with which he struck a bargain. While raging, a shadow rager's body changes in drastic ways, becoming more demonic. His feet may turn to cloven hooves, or he may grow (decorative) horns. These appearance changes can be decided by the player or the DM, but they cannot have mechanical benefits. This state is called a "shadowrage".

While shadowraging, he gains DR 3/cold iron and good, increasing by 3 at every odd level after 1st (6/cold iron and good at 3rd level, 9/cold iron and good at 5th, etc, up to 15/cold iron and good at 9th level). In addition, he temporarily gains a +2 bonus to Dexterity and a +2 bonus to Wisdom. These ability bonuses stack with any bonuses his rage normally grants him.

A shadow rager also adds his class levels to his barbarian levels to determine how often he can rage and when he gains the greater rage, tireless rage, and mighty rage barbarian class abilities. He does not gain or improve any other barbarian class abilities.

Unspeakable Vow: At 1st level, a shadow rager swears a vile vow to a powerful force of evil, usually called the "Voice of Malyss" among her children: he gains the Unspeakable Vow feat as a bonus feat. Even those shadow ragers that do not venerate Malyss must swear this vow. If the shadow rager ever abandons his vow (by removing or retraining it for another feat or by becoming non-evil), he loses all class abilities until he swears the vow again, receives an atonement spell and performs a suitable penance.

Unearthly awareness (Su): At 2nd level, a shadow rager gains greater intuition and insight into the world around him. He is always able to act in a surprise round, though he is not always immediately aware of what is threatening him (he must still make spot/listen checks to find his foes if they are hiding). In addition, he may add his wisdom modifier as an insight bonus to his AC and reflex saves.

Furious casting: By 2nd level, a shadow rager has finished his transformation and is one with the power that flows through his veins. He can cast his shadow rager spells even while shadowraging. If he has levels in other spellcasting classes, he cannot cast them while shadowraging, only shadow rager spells.

Darkened form (Ex): Beginning at 3rd level, a shadow rager becomes more difficult to hit while in a shadowrage. Power begins to radiate from him, causing his form to shift into shadows or from side to side occasionally. While in a shadowrage, he gains concealment (20% miss chance). This miss chance increases by 10% at 4th, 5th and 6th level (to a maximum of 50%). The effect of this ability does not stack with blur (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/blur.htm), displacement (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/displacement.htm), or similar spell effects.

Shadow step (Su): At 3rd level, a shadow rager can step through the boundaries of reality and appear elsewhere while shadowraging. Once per turn as an immediate action, the shadow rager may teleport up to 10 feet per character level. This does not provoke attacks of opportunity.

Doom blade (Su): At 4th level, a shadow rager's weapons become enshrouded in the same shadowy power that flows through him. Those unfortunate fools that find themselves on the wrong end of his sword find their hopes dashed and their determination broken. Creatures struck by a weapon wielded by a shadow rager with this ability take a -2 morale penalty to attacks, damage, saves and AC for 5 rounds. This is a mind-affecting effect.

Vow of Vengeance: At 4th level, a shadow rager makes yet another vow to Malyss: that he would personally visit upon his hated enemies the deaths they rightfully deserve. He gains the Vow of Vengeance feat as a bonus feat. Unlike the Unspeakable Vow, a shadow rager need not uphold his Vow of Vengeance to retain his abilities; however, those that do not maintain their vow often "fall" in the eyes of the Children of Malyss, and may end up being confronted (usually violently) by another shadow rager.

Shadowfury (Su): Upon entering a shadowrage, younger shadow ragers pulse with unprecedented power; however, those shadow ragers at 5th level or higher actually blast a nearby area with shadowfury. Enemies within 10 feet per character level of the shadow rager take 1d6 damage per shadow rager level and must make a Fortitude save (DC = 15 + shadow rager level + his wisdom modifier) or be stunned for 1d4+1 rounds.

Improved shadowrage (Ex): At 5th level, a shadow rager's shadowrage ability becomes more potent. The ability bonuses to Dexterity and Wisdom increase to +4 and he also gains a +2 bonus to Charisma for the duration of his shadowrage. He also gains the ability to see perfectly in darkness of any kind, even magical in nature.

Corrupt mind (Ex): At 6th level, a shadow rager's mind is protected against the prying magic of others. He becomes resistant to divinations attempting to read or alter his thoughts, as well as charms, compulsions and domination: he gains a +4 profane bonus to saves against these. While in a shadowrage, this ability becomes more potent: he is protected as if by a mind blank (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/mindBlank.htm) spell. Creatures that attempt to interact with his mind while he is shadowraging (such as by a dominate person spell) immediately know he is protected against such spells, and suffer 1d6 points of damage per level of the spell or spell-like ability used against him.

Cloak of shadows (Su): At 7th level, a shadow rager's power reaches out to shield him against spells. While in a shadowrage, individually targeted spells have a 20% chance of failing against the shadow rager. This spell failure chance increases by +10% at 8th, 9th, and 10th level. The effect of this ability does not stack with blink (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/blink.htm) or similar spell effects.

Life bane (Ex): At 8th level, a shadow rager's weapons inflict grievous wounds that refuse to heal. Any weapon wielded by a shadow rager of 8th level or higher automatically inflicts lethal damage against creatures with regeneration, and prevents fast healing from working for 1 round.

Maddening power (Su): Beginning at 8th level, shadow rager can heed the whispers of dark and tainted beings echoing in his mind and sacrifice a bit of his sanity to empower his magic. He may take 1 point of wisdom ability damage while casting a shadow rager spell to extend, quicken or maximize that spell. If the shadow rager negates the ability damage or is immune to ability damage, he cannot use this ability. The ability damage wears off after 1 hour; it cannot be cured before then.

Demonic Ally (Sp): At 9th level, a shadow rager has become thoroughly experienced enough to summon demonic allies to the battlefield. By expending an unused shadow rager spell slot as a full round action, he can call to his side a demon whose HD may not exceed 5 * the level of the spell slot expended. The demon serves the shadow rager faithfully for 1 hour or until the current encounter is over, whichever happens first. After that, the demon is free to leave. He may only have one demonic ally summoned at a time.

Demonic assimilation (Ex): Once a shadow rager becomes master of his mind and body, he fully assimilates the dark powers he has into his being. He becomes a magical creature - his type changes to outsider and he always has the DR normally granted to him by his shadowrage (DR 15/cold iron and good) even when he is not in a shadowrage. He also grows more like the form his shadowrage gives him, adopting a demonic appearance, complete with bat wings or feathered wings (shadow rager's choice) that allow him to fly at double his base land speed with good maneuverability.

Greater shadowrage (Ex): Upon becoming a master of shadow power, a 10th level shadow rager's shadowrage improves even more. The ability bonuses while in a shadowrage improves to +8 Dexterity, +6 Wisdom and +4 Charisma.

SHADOW RAGER SPELL LIST
1st Level: Bane, bestow wound, cause fear, chill touch, disguise self, doom, expeditious retreat, inflict light wounds, magic weapon, protection from good, true strike, undetectable alignment.
2nd Level: Blindness/deafness, darkness, death knell, hideous laughter, inflict moderate wounds, invisibility, mirror image, protection from arrows, resist energy, scare, spider climb.
3rd Level: Arcane sight, crushing despair, death ward, dispel magic, haste, hold person, inflict serious wounds, lightning bolt, magic circle against good, magic weapon (greater), nondetection, slow, speak with dead, tongues.
4th Level: Bestow curse, contagion, confusion, dimensional anchor, enervation, fear, feeblemind, fire shield, inflict critical wounds, invisibility (greater), locate creature, phantasmal killer, poison, wall of fire.

================================================
CHANGE LOG:

Corrupt Mind no longer grants immunity to divinations, charms, compulsions or domination, instead granting a profane bonus to saves against them. He still gains Mind Blank while shadowraging, and the damage aspect of Corrupt Mind now only applies when he is shadowraging.
Shadowrage no longer grants (additional) boosts to constitution or strength. It still stacks with rage, but only grants dexterity, wisdom and charisma.

[Nightgaun7]

Very flavorful, very powerful, shores up a lot of Barbarian weaknesses while still keeping the right feel imo. An evil counterpart to Champion of Gwynharwyf. As a Barbarian fan I would play this in a heartbeat, assuming I was in an Evil campaign. I might change the spell list a bit, but I don't have any concrete changes to make to it in mind at the moment.

[genericwit]

This strikes me as overly powerful. You've stated that not only does shadowrage stack with normal rage bonuses, but their shadowrager levels stack with barb levels for determining greater rage/mighty rage/tireless rage, which means at level 20 their rage gives them +16 to strength and Con, +8 Dex, and bonuses to wisdom, AND they can cast spells, AND they are immune to mind effecting spells, AND there is a no-save 100 ft area of effect blast that deals 10d6 with a fairly long-duration stun on a failed Fortitude save, AND they get 50% miss chance (better than most items and equal to the best of spells), in addition to gaining a pretty solid spell list.

I love the flavor, love the style, but it just seems like it's a bit overpowered... But then again, that seems to be a staple on this forum. If a class doesn't have a sweet bonus at every level, people decry it for its dead levels, and heaven help you if your capstone doesn't make you a god among men.

Edit: I forgot up to 100 ft tactical teleportation as an Immediate action once per round. Wow. That's a capstone right there.

[Derjuin]

Very flavorful, very powerful, shores up a lot of Barbarian weaknesses while still keeping the right feel imo. An evil counterpart to Champion of Gwynharwyf. As a Barbarian fan I would play this in a heartbeat, assuming I was in an Evil campaign. I might change the spell list a bit, but I don't have any concrete changes to make to it in mind at the moment.

That was pretty much what I was going for. :smallbiggrin: Most barbarian PRCs to me are rather underwhelming, with only two really catching my eye (frenzied berserker and champion of gwynharwyf). One of them has the potential to kill your own team, and the other is exalted CG only, so I figured I'd try to make another.


This strikes me as overly powerful. You've stated that not only does shadowrage stack with normal rage bonuses, but their shadowrager levels stack with barb levels for determining greater rage/mighty rage/tireless rage, which means at level 20 their rage gives them +16 to strength and Con, +8 Dex, and bonuses to wisdom, AND they can cast spells, AND they are immune to mind effecting spells, AND there is a no-save 100 ft area of effect blast that deals 10d6 with a fairly long-duration stun on a failed Fortitude save, AND they get 50% miss chance (better than most items and equal to the best of spells), in addition to gaining a pretty solid spell list.

I love the flavor, love the style, but it just seems like it's a bit overpowered... But then again, that seems to be a staple on this forum. If a class doesn't have a sweet bonus at every level, people decry it for its dead levels, and heaven help you if your capstone doesn't make you a god among men.

Edit: I forgot up to 100 ft tactical teleportation as an Immediate action once per round. Wow. That's a capstone right there.

Admittedly, it does combine some great features into one PRC. I always over-tune classes and PRCs I make, because I prefer hedging a class back than trying to figure out ways to make it more powerful. As it is, I could understand nerfing the bonuses to Shadowrage (perhaps just Dex/Mental stat buffs, since Rage doesn't grant them normally) as well as offering a Reflex save on the damage for Shadowfury.

Thanks for the replies :smallsmile: Will keep an eye on this to see if anyone else thinks the above need toning down.

[Nightgaun7]

Thanks for the replies :smallsmile: Will keep an eye on this to see if anyone else thinks the above need toning down.

It's not bad to be powerful. It just depends on what you're aiming for. I think this would put a barbarian in high tier 3, if that means anything to you. The majority of your class features here just make you a beast in combat, with a few providing a little more utility. A decent but small spell list with a highly limited number of spells per day gives you a bit more if you need it, made easier by being, iirc, a spontaneous caster. So if you need to be invisible to sneak into a place on the spur of the moment, you're good to go.

So you're undoubtedly above pretty much all barbarian PrCs, but that's not necessarily bad. Maybe you need him to compete with a sorcerer or something.

Incidentally, there is another Barbarian casting PrC, the Runescarred Berserker. You could look at that for ideas on a balance point if you want. The Rage Mage also does Barbarian casting.

[genericwit]

It's not bad to be powerful. It just depends on what you're aiming for. I think this would put a barbarian in high tier 3, if that means anything to you. The majority of your class features here just make you a beast in combat, with a few providing a little more utility. A decent but small spell list with a highly limited number of spells per day gives you a bit more if you need it, made easier by being, iirc, a spontaneous caster. So if you need to be invisible to sneak into a place on the spur of the moment, you're good to go.

So you're undoubtedly above pretty much all barbarian PrCs, but that's not necessarily bad. Maybe you need him to compete with a sorcerer or something.

Incidentally, there is another Barbarian casting PrC, the Runescarred Berserker. You could look at that for ideas on a balance point if you want. The Rage Mage also does Barbarian casting.

I'd argue that, with the scaled down shadowrage (which makes this class much less egregious), this class could still be a low Tier 2 high Tier 3. I mean, aren't the challenges supposed to be something like:

1) Prepare for invading army (sneak into enemy encampment, cast contagion on troops in barracks; when army attacks, wade into the front ranks, initiate rage to detonate nova and break formation, teleport to command tent (may take a few turns) and wreck them).
2) Kill dragon in it's lair (use spells/stealth to sneak up on Dragon, go toe to toe in close combat where it can't use its superior mobility)
3) Locate resistance leader in occupied territory (Locate creature, probably some other useful spells).

Not that it's a bad thing. But this PRC probably gets more/better in and out of combat utility than, say, a Warblade, and probably outstrips damage potential (can pretty much always full attack, and has spells).

[ImaginaryDragon]

It's good, but it's definitely not on the same tier as a Sorcerer or Psion, imo. After all, things like Dread Necro, Beguiler, and Factotum are in tier 3.

[Theoboldi]

Say, is it just me or does Demonic Ally allow you to summon a Balor by level 14? With 20 HD, it's just within the limit of the ability if you sacrifice a 4th level spell. Granted, it only works two times per day if you haven't pumped your wisdom and only lasts for one encounter, but that still is way too powerful.

[Astral Avenger]

Say, is it just me or does Demonic Ally allow you to summon a Balor by level 14? With 20 HD, it's just within the limit of the ability if you sacrifice a 4th level spell. Granted, it only works two times per day if you haven't pumped your wisdom and only lasts for one encounter, but that still is way too powerful.

the BAB requirement to enter means it would be level 15, but yea, that one does seem a touch OP.

don't know my demons terribly well, but would making it up to 4hd per spell level be better in terms of limiting the summoning? or have a chance of the demon ignoring your summons if you sacrifice less than 1 spell level per 2hd of the demon? so if you sacrafice one each of level 4,3,2 and 1 spells you would have a 100% chance of the demon answering, but if you try it with only a level 4 spell you end up with a 50+ chance of the demon ignoring you and loosing your spell.

[Derjuin]

Say, is it just me or does Demonic Ally allow you to summon a Balor by level 14? With 20 HD, it's just within the limit of the ability if you sacrifice a 4th level spell. Granted, it only works two times per day if you haven't pumped your wisdom and only lasts for one encounter, but that still is way too powerful.


the BAB requirement to enter means it would be level 15, but yea, that one does seem a touch OP.

don't know my demons terribly well, but would making it up to 4hd per spell level be better in terms of limiting the summoning? or have a chance of the demon ignoring your summons if you sacrifice less than 1 spell level per 2hd of the demon? so if you sacrafice one each of level 4,3,2 and 1 spells you would have a 100% chance of the demon answering, but if you try it with only a level 4 spell you end up with a 50+ chance of the demon ignoring you and loosing your spell.

These are the kinds of oversights I was hoping people would find :smallsmile:

How about this: "sacrifice a number of slots whose spell levels equal X, where X is the HD of the critter you want to call (not exceeding your own HD/total class levels)"?

[Astral Avenger]

These are the kinds of oversights I was hoping people would find :smallsmile:

How about this: "sacrifice a number of slots whose spell levels equal X, where X is the HD of the critter you want to call (not exceeding your own HD/total class levels)"?

That would work, it would mean you could still call a balor at level 20, but once you hit epic, summoning a balor shouldn't be a game-breaker, especially if the mages can summon one from a few levels earlier without using a boatload of spell slots.

If you're worried about these guys being MAD, say that they can cast spells if their str mod is greater than 2x spell level or if their wisdom is 10+spell level.

more will be said once I get a new keyboard, as this one stopped working half way through:smallsigh:. (finished post with the on-screen keyboard)

[Andion Isurand]

How about giving the shadowrager more spells with swift and immediate action casting times, so they have time to make more attacks?

Here are some such spells, gathered from various books. Of course, some of them might not be thematically appropriate.

lvl 1 -- Accelerated Movement, Arrow Mind, Blade of Blood, Bloodletting, Blood Wind, Critical Strike, Deafening Clang, Deep Breath, Distract Assailant, Featherfall, Guided Shot, Insightful Feint, Instant Diversion, Lesser Deflect, Lightfoot, Nerveskitter, Karmic Aura, Rhino's Rush, Shock and Awe, Swift Expeditious Retreat, Sticky Saddle, Swift Invisibility, Towering Oak, Warning Shout
lvl 2 -- Avoid Planar Effects, Blades of Fire, Bladeweave, Fearsome Grapple, Hunter's Eye, Karmic Blacklash, Lesser Energy Surge, Lion's Charge, Near Horizon, Predator's Cry, Quick March, Returning Weapon, Stretch Weapon, Summon Weapon, Sure Strike, Swift Fly, Swift Haste, Tiger's Tooth, War Cry, Wraithstrike, Zeal
lvl 3 - Allegro, Blade Storm, Devil's Ego, Divine Retaliation, Earth Hammer, Energy Aegis, Giant's Wrath, Spectral Weapon
lvl 4 -- Battlecry, Curse of the Elemental Lords, Cursed Blade, Delay Death, Mass Longstrider, Meteoric Strike, Karmic Retribution

[Xuldarinar]

What an interesting PrC. It looks fairly solid. I have only one problem with it.


Special: Cannot be literate

This entry is incredibly limiting.

1. Its debated as to whether or not, if you stop qualifying for a PrC, if you lose access to your abilities. If I recall correctly, there is an entry in complete warrior that talks about it. There are those that state it pertains only to that book, others state it retroactively applies to all prestige classes, and others still that state it only applies to content released at that time and after.

2. It limits multi-classing severely, before (and after, see 1) entry. Unless you have a particular trait (Illiteracy), you only can multi-class into things that have the illiterate class feature. Otherwise you lose access to this prestige class. Does it make sense that the power of reading would forever bar someone from entry, or even potentially make them lose access to their abilities in the class?

3. Enter Gestalt. As with 2 but even more so. You almost have to plan from 1st level to enter the PrC. To my knowledge, your class combination options are limited to any combination of the following: Barbarian (and its variants), Druidic Avenger, Savage Bard. A Barbarian//Paladin of Slaughter or Barbarian//Warlock wouldn't be able to enter, in spite of thematically being fitting. Im not saying tailor the class towards gestalt rules, but I thought i'd bring them up.

Now, it is your creation. I'm simply giving you my input but you by no means are required to adhere to my advice. It is your creation after all, not mine.

Edit: Ignore Me

[Derjuin]

What an interesting PrC. It looks fairly solid. I have only one problem with it.


Special: Cannot be literate

This entry is incredibly limiting.


Shadow Rager


Special: Cannot be illiterate.

Bolded and underlined for emphasis :smallwink:

[Xuldarinar]

Bolded and underlined for emphasis :smallwink:

Ah.

Wow, I should read a little more carefully sometimes. Never mind then.