The Juggernaut [3.5 Base Class] [ PEACH]

[Chaos_Laicosin]

Sooo... haven't home brewed for a while, but I had a thought on a heavy melee/tank base class based on the namesake of the class, the Juggernaut. Lemme know if its too over powered/under powered, or if the abilities are just too confusing as worded. Maybe I could organize/word the class abilities better...


Juggernaut
Hit Die: d10
Skill Points: 2+ Int Modifier
Class Skills: Balance, Climb, Craft, Intimidate, Jump, Survival, Swim

{table=head]Level|Base Attack<br>Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special|Unstoppable Force Damage

1st|
+1|
+2|
+0|
+0|Unstoppable Force|
d4

2nd|
+2|
+3|
+0|
+0|Defence of Opportunity|
d4

3rd|
+3|
+3|
+1|
+1|Momentum, Impossible Strength|
d4

4th|
+4|
+4|
+1|
+1|Immovable|
d6

5th|
+5|
+4|
+1|
+1|Bodycheck, Focussed Charge|
d6

6th|
+6/+1|
+5|
+2|
+2|Momentum 2, Perceptive Charge|
d6

7th|
+7/+2|
+5|
+2|
+2|Unstoppable Force 2|
d6

8th|
+8/+3|
+6|
+2|
+2|Immovable 2|
d8

9th|
+9/+4|
+6|
+3|
+3|Momentum 3|
d8

10th|
+10/+5|
+7|
+3|
+3|Bodycheck 2, Impossible Strength 2|
d8

11th|
+11/+6/+1|
+7|
+3|
+3|Iron Footed, Focussed Charge 2|
d8

12th|
+12/+7/+2|
+8|
+4|
+4|Momentum 4, Immovable 3|
d10

13th|
+13/+8/+3|
+8|
+4|
+4|Perceptive Charge 2|
d10

14th|
+14/+9/+4|
+9|
+4|
+4|Unstoppable Force 3|
d10

15th|
+15/+10/+5|
+9|
+5|
+5|Momentum 5, Bodycheck 3|
d10

16th|
+16/+11/+6/+1|
+10|
+5|
+5|Immovable 4|
d12

17th|
+17/+12/+7/+2|
+10|
+5|
+5|Focussed Charge 3, Impossible Strength 3|
d12

18th|
+18/+13/+8/+3|
+11|
+6|
+6|Momentum 6|
d12

19th|
+19/+14/+9/+4|
+11|
+6|
+6|Perceptive Charge 3|
d12

20th|
+20/+15/+10/+5|
+12|
+6|
+6|Immovable 5, Grab and Go|
3d6[/table]

Weapon and armour proficiencies - A Juggernaut is proficient with all armour and shields, except tower shields. A Juggernaut is proficient with all simple and martial weapons, except ranged weapons.

Unstoppable Force - When charging, creatures the same size as or smaller than you must move out of your way or suffer the consequences. Creatures in your line of charge must roll a reflex save vs a DC of 10 + 1/2 your Juggernaut level + your Str modifier or else suffer 1d4 + your Str modifier damage and be moved into an adjacent empty square that is not in your line of charge. If there is no adjacent empty square outside of your line of charge then the creature is knocked prone. This damage increases at every 4th level. You can charge through difficult terrain, but only with the movement speed allowed by the terrain.

Defence of Opportunity - When charging you do not provoke attacks of opportunity.

Momentum - At the end of a charge you can transfer your momentum into an attack, dealing 1.5x the damage you would normally deal against the target of a charge. You also gain +2 to your strength checks used to break objects against which you could charge (i.e. doors/walls/chests with 10 ft of charging room, ropes/chains longer than 10 ft, etc.)

Impossible Strength - A Juggernaut can overwhelm most opponents. You are treated as one size category larger for all bull rush, disarm, grapple, overrun, sunder, and trip checks. Your unarmed damage is also one size category larger.

Immovable - None shall pass! You are immune to bull rush and overrun attempts by opposing creatures. You also gain a Natural Armour bonus of +1.

Bodycheck - At the end of a charge, in addition to dealing damage, you have the option to thow a creature up to the same size as you a distance equal to 1/2 of your movement speed. You and the target each roll a check of 1d20 + str modifier. If you win the check, the target is thrown away from you a distance of 1/2 your movement speed in the same direction as your charge, and lands prone. Should the creature strike a heavy/immovable object in the line of the throw (wall, rock, much larger creature, etc.), it takes 1d6 damage for every 2 points of your strength modifier and falls prone in the square of the collision. If the thrown creature strikes another creature up to one size category larger than it, both fall prone in the square of the collision and each takes 1/2 of the collision damage.

Focussed Charge - Your target is going down, that's a fact. Your attack bonus while charging is increased to +4. Additionally, focussed charge grants you a +2 bonus to Will saves during any turn in which you have made a charge attack.

Momentum 2 - Your charging damage bonus is increased to 2x and your strength bonus to burst objects is increased to +4.

Perceptive Charge - You are capable of readying a defense during a charge. Your penalty to AC while charging is now only -1.

Unstoppable Force 2 - When charging, you can now choose whether a creature in your line of charge is pushed aside or knocked prone on a failed reflex save. You can now charge through creatures up to one size category large than you.

Immovable 2 - Your natural armour bonus is increased to +2

Momentum 3 - Your charging damage bonus is increased to 2.5x and your strength bonus to burst objects is increased to +6.

Bodycheck 2 - You can now bodycheck creatures up to one size category larger than you. You gain +4 to your checks for this ability.

Impossible Strength 2 - You are now considered 2 size categories larger for all mentioned in Impossible Strength.

Iron Footed - When charging, your movement is unaffected by terrain. You also take no damage or movement penalty from caltrops or similar sharp terrain.

Focussed Charge 2 - Your attack bonus while charging is increased to +6. Will save bonus is now +4 while charging.

Momentum 4 - Your charging damage bonus is increased to 3x and your strength bonus to burst objects is increased to +8.

Immovable 3 - Your natural armour bonus is increased to +3

Perceptive Charge 2 - You receive no penalty to AC when charging.

Unstoppable Force 3 - When charging, you can now charge through creatures up to 2 size categories larger than you.

Momentum 5 - Your charging damage bonus is increased to 3.5x and your strength bonus to burst objects is increased to +10.

Bodycheck 3 - You can now bodycheck creatures up to two size categories larger than you. You gain +8 to your checks for this ability.

Immovable 4 - Your natural armour bonus is increased to +4

Focussed Charge 3 - Your attack bonus while charging is increased to +8. Will save bonus is now +6 while charging.

Impossible Strength 3 - You are now considered 3 size categories larger for all mentioned in Impossible Strength.

Momentum 6 - Your charging damage bonus is increased to 4x and your strength bonus to burst objects is increased to +12.

Perceptive Charge 3 - You receive a bonus of +1 to AC when charging

Immovable 5 - Your natural armour bonus is increased to +5.

Grab and Go - In lieu of running through a creature via the Unstoppable Force ability, you have the option of carrying one along with you. If a creature up to the same size as you fails its reflex save to avoid you during a charge and you have at least one empty hand, you can grab them and carry them with you through to the end of the charge. If you have at least two free hands, then you can grab a creature one size category larger than you. When you reach the target of the charge, the grabbed creature can be used to perform one extra attack against the target at your highest base attack bonus. The held creature sustains the same amount of damage as is dealt to the target by the attack and is thrown the same distance and into the same square as the target, should the Bodycheck ability be used. If Bodycheck is not used, or the target resists it, then the held creature is dropped prone into an adjecent, empty square at the end of the turn. The base damage dealt by a creature-weapon is based on its size: Tiny = 1d4, small = 1d6, medium = 1d8, large = 1d10, huge = 1d12.

[Morph Bark]

It would probably be better to collapse all the 1-6 versions of abilities under the original one. Reads better. Also, Immovable starts off ridiculously strong (not being moved by even Colossal creatures at a mere level 4) and then only gets some measly natural armor bonuses. I'd make that bonus higher and instead of being totally immune to bull rush and such, have the bonus apply to checks to resist that as well. Heck, it would probably be more elegant if you simply merged Immovable with Impossible Strength, and made Perceptive Charge a single ability only gotten once that removes the AC penalty from charging. If that frees up any room, you could fill up the then-empty levels with new, unique abilities.

[Belial_the_Leveler]

The class has the following three issues;


1) Lack of combat options make it boring. All it does in combat is charges and the occasional full attack. Even a Fighter or Monk have quite a few different active abilities, either through feats or through the class itself. Now, compare to more interesting classes like the Pathfinder Bard, the classes from Tome of Battle or the Warlock and you see how their dozens of active abilities make them far more inviting.


2) Lack of customization makes it inflexible. All "Juggernauts" will get the same abilities with the same exact mechanics at the same levels. There are no choices left to the player at all, making the class unwieldy and, again, boring. Even fighters can be significantly different through their feat choices, let alone Tome of Battle classes or Warlocks.


3) Its bonuses don't make it any more capable than a fighter. This might be the power level you're aiming for but if it is, remember that the fighter is one of the weaker combat classes and can deal with challenges only if they revolve around damage.

[Zaydos]

The big problem I see with this is it's an ubercharger in a can. Take a dip in Barbarian for pounce and combine with the charge damage multiplier you start exploding things if you can charge them and if you can't you do nothing. Classes shouldn't be made where they are either one of "wins effortlessly" or "utterly useless".

I'd increase HD size and skills. Juggernaut is a tough tough guy and the current skills are just saddening; Cain Marko is not (at least when he was introduced or in the cartoon show from the 90s) a very bright guy (I'd say no higher than Int 8 or 9 in his early appearances) so yeah he has few skill points (though even he probably had ranks in Survival, Craft [fire arms], Hide, Move Silently, etc from his days as a G.I.).

You get full armor and +5 on top of that which is reasonable (it means a dragon can't afford to Power Attack you if you invest in armor, but it's still a huge cost sink to do so compared to just the greater blurring property). I'd not raise the natural armor bonus more than another 1 to 3, but I'd suggest adding Damage Reduction and Energy Resistance. It's not that Juggernaut is hard to hit, it's that even if you do his body is magically reinforced not to be injured.

I'd also add abilities like a Fort save only Mettle.

Finally I'd say make Immovable be a sizable bonus that increases with level not complete immunity, because the Juggernaut does get knocked around at times. If he stops moving he can be sent flying (Cyclops has knocked him flying with a well aimed blast and Cyclops is relatively low powered compared to the others I've heard have done it).