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Ultimatum479
2007-01-03, 01:21 PM
Okay, here's my Brawler prestige class. Unarmed class which isn't lawful, woot. Stupid Monk alignment pre-req. This is nothing like a Monk, though; I just wanted something good with unarmed attacks and somewhat cool, so the idea of a brawler character came to mind. Classic bar-fight kind of character, picking up a pool cue or breaking a bottle and hitting people with it, so I gave it some improvised weapon skill too. Its main advantages are its bonuses to the special attack feats Improved Trip, Improved Grapple, etc. Cripple isn't good at level 6 with the hefty AC reqs, but finally rocks at level 10 with Precision.

Critique all you want, as it's rather math-heavy at parts, especially Cripple, and probably needs balance adjustments. I'm new to D&D. Recently joined my first campaign ever (Eighth Seraph's Pseudelity campaign). Way too early to make my own classes, I know, but the earlier one starts, the more one can learn...Better to make mistakes now rather than later, I say.

On my table it looks better than this BBCode version, and I'm not sure how to do this without stretching the table, so I'll just explain here...The "Bonuses" on the table apply to Trip, Overrun, Grapple, Bull Rush, and Disarm checks, as well as to Unarmed Strike attack rolls (but not damage rolls).

Here's to improvised weaponry and the revival of called shots!

Brawler
Prerequisites:
Alignment: Any nonlawful
Feats: Toughness feat, Improved Unarmed Strike feat

HD: d8
Proficiencies: simple weapons, light martial weapons (except kukri), bucklers
Class skills: Escape Artist, Hide, Intimidate, Listen, Spot, Search, Jump/Tumble (decide at 1st level, other becomes class skill as well at 5th level)
A brawler may use weapons and armor other than those listed under brawler proficiencies (taking nonproficiency penalties unless he has the proficiencies from feats or other classes), but if he does, he cannot use brawler abilities such as Cripple or the added bonuses given by IT, IO, etc. He also loses the bonuses listed on the table below. The only exception is Precision: the Improved Critical feat applies to all weapons with which a level 10 brawler is proficient, even with proficiencies obtained by means other than the Brawler class’s default proficiencies.

{table=head]Level|BAB|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special|Bonuses

1st|
+0|
+0|
+2|
+0|IT/IO/IG/IBR/ID|+1

2nd|
+1|
+0|
+3|
+0|IIWF, MUS|+1

3rd|
+1|
+1|
+3|
+1|IT/IO/IG/IBR/ID|+2

4th|
+2|
+1|
+4|
+1|MIWF, UD/E|+2

5th|
+2|
+1|
+4|
+1|IT/IO/IG/IBR/ID|+3

6th|
+3|
+2|
+5|
+2|Cripple, Bonus feat|+3

7th|
+3|
+2|
+5|
+2|IT/IO/IG/IBR/ID|+4

8th|
+4|
+2|
+6|
+2|(2x) UD/IUD/E/IE|+4

9th|
+4|
+3|
+6|
+3|IT/IO/IG/IBR/ID|+5

10th|
+5|
+3|
+7|
+3|Precision|+5[/table]

Greater Overrun:
A brawler may choose the Greater Overrun special ability at level 1, 3, 5, 7 or 9 if he has the Improved Overrun feat. If he does, he can, while doing an overrun, deal nonlethal bludgeoning damage equal to 1/4 the amount by which he beat his opponent’s opposed Strength or Dexterity check (round up). A brawler whose overrun is blocked and then reversed can make a Reflex save (DC 10 + amount by which the defender won the check) to remain standing, though he cannot remain standing if there is another character standing in the square to which he is repelled. He can also make two overrun attempts per round with the same standard action, unless he attempts to overrun someone larger than himself, in which case that is the only attempt he may make that round. If he overruns someone smaller than himself, it does not count against his overrun attempts per round, though it still uses (part of) a standard action. If he is knocked back after failing an overrun but is not knocked prone (either by winning the next check or by making his Reflex save) and he may still make another overrun attempt and has enough movement left that round, he can continue his forward momentum to attempt the overrun again, though he cannot switch directions to continue his movement elsewhere that round even if he remained standing.

Greater Trip:
A brawler may choose the Greater Trip special ability at level 1, 3, 5, 7 or 9 if he has the Improved Trip feat. If he does, he can choose to trip in place of his standard melee attack when making an attack of opportunity (though, when doing so, he does not get the immediate melee attack of Improved Trip). He can trip opponents attempting to bull rush, charge, or overrun him, taking a penalty of (1/2(BLS-30) - 2(Dex mod)), to a minimum of 0, to account for the timing required for this action if his opponent is moving faster than 30 ft per round. He then makes a Trip check as normal against his opponent (with this potential penalty), and the target makes an opposed Trip check as normal. If the brawler wins, the opponent’s momentum becomes his downfall, and he lands 5 feet behind the brawler, prone, taking 1d2 + (1 for every 5 feet above 30 at which the opponent is moving) bludgeoning damage. (Due to the Improved Trip feat, the brawler then gets an immediate melee attack.) If the brawler loses, the bull rush, charge, or overrun happens as normal except that the brawler automatically fails his roll against the bull rush or overrun, or takes a -1 to his AC against the charge.

Greater Grapple:
A brawler may choose the Greater Grapple special ability at level 1, 3, 5, 7 or 9 if he has the Improved Grapple feat. If he does, the brawler can hold targets up to two size categories larger than themselves rather than the usual one, though he cannot pin such opponents. He gains a +2 to disarm checks against a grappled opponent and a +4 to disarm checks against pinned opponents, as well as a +2 to trip checks against grappled opponents and a +4 to trip checks against pinned opponents. He can use a light weapon he is wielding to deal damage during a grapple with a grapple check instead of a normal attack roll. Rather than losing his Dexterity bonus to AC against non-grappled opponents, a brawler who has selected Greater Grapple takes a -2 to his Dex modifier to AC against non-grappled opponents for every opponent he grapples, but if that would reduce his Dex modifier below 0, he loses his Dex bonus to AC.

Greater Bull Rush:
A brawler may choose the Greater Bull Rush special ability at level 1, 3, 5, 7 or 9 if he has the Improved Bull Rush feat. If he does, he may blow away the opponent if he beats their opposing roll by 5 or more, causing the opponent to roll 1d3x5 feet and take 1d3 nonlethal damage per 5 feet rolled. The victim provokes attacks of opportunity as normal for moving, and is treated as attempting an unavoidable overrun against any opponents he hits while moving this distance. The opponent may avoid landing prone if he makes a DC 20 Reflex save (with a +2 for having 5 or more ranks in Jump, and another +2 for 5 or more ranks in Tumble), although he must fall prone if he fails an overrun check in a collision. The brawler gets a +4 bonus instead of a +2 when charging.

Greater Disarm:
A brawler may choose the Greater Disarm special abillity at level 1, 3, 5, 7 or 9 if he has the Improved Disarm feat. If he does, he may disarm an opponent by using a one-handed or light weapon and end up with the weapon in his free hand rather than on the floor. He reduces his opponent’s +10 bonus against disarms from using a spiked gauntlet to a +5 bonus, and ignores his own -4 penalty for wielding a light weapon if wielding one. If both the brawler’s hands are full, the weapon ends up in his own square rather than in the defender’s square. When attempting a disarm against an opponent wielding two weapons, a brawler may attempt to disarm his opponent of both weapons with a single disarm attempt at a -4 penalty, or he may attempt first one disarm and then the second as a single standard action, each disarm attempt being at a -2.

Improved Improvised Weapon Fighting:
A brawler can treat improvised weapons almost exactly like their closest simple/martial/exotic counterpart. Other classes do this only for damage and size category, while level 2 brawlers do this for proficiency as well (though not for threat range and critical multiplier, which remain 20/x2). If a brawler is proficient with the weapon which their improvised weaponry most closely resembles, he is considered proficient with the improvised weapon. Brawlers try not to break their newfound weapons too quickly in combat (they may add 2 to the hardness of an improvised weapon, to a maximum of the hardness of the weapon it resembles). They also get +3 on Spot or Search checks made to notice or find a potential weapon nearby.

Greater Unarmed Strike:
Any abilities which apply to a brawler’s unarmed strikes also work with fist weapons such as gauntlets or brass knuckles (such as crippling attacks to the eyes or throat; see Cripple below), and he is automatically considered proficient with all such weapons. A brawler’s unarmed strikes have a threat range of 19-20 and deal x2 damage on a roll of 19 or x3 damage on a roll of 20. A brawler can use Two-Weapon Defense with unarmed strikes if he has the feat.

Greater Improvised Weapon Fighting:
In addition to the advantages conferred upon their improvised weaponry skills by Improved Improvised Weapon Fighting, brawlers can treat their improvised weapons as the weapon which they most closely resemble for the purposes of critical hits as well, unless 20/x2 is preferable, and for range increments in the case of ranged improvised weapons (at the DM’s discretion if the improvised weapon is significantly heavier than the weapon it mimics).

Uncanny Dodge/Evasion:
A Brawler may choose either Uncanny Dodge or Evasion at 4th level.

Cripple: (Round down when halving.) (DC 10 + (Brawler lvl)/2 + (Str mod) for all Fort saves)
Brawlers can inflict extra damage and/or certain status effects if they beat their opponent’s AC by a significant amount with an unarmed strike or light weapon. They can call a cripple effect before or immediately after their attack roll, though if they call it afterwards, they take a -2 penalty to the roll. If the brawler beats the opponent’s AC by 4 or more and deals at least 5 damage with his attack (after damage reduction), he can choose to land his attack on the opponent’s arm. Then, for a number of rounds equal to half the damage dealt, the opponent takes a penalty to attack rolls made and damage inflicted with that arm equal to the amount by which the AC was beaten. The same rules apply for attacks to the leg except that the penalty is taken to the Dexterity modifier for AC (which cannot go below 0), although the damage and attack roll penalty applies as well when an attack is made with the legs, such as a monk’s attacks if his arms are restrained. A successful Fort save reduces both the penalty and its duration to half. If the brawler beats the AC by 7 or more and deals at least 4 damage with his attack, he can aim for the torso, knocking the wind out of his opponent. The victim becomes fatigued for two rounds (or exhausted for three if already fatigued) and dazed for one round. A successful Fort save negates the daze. If the brawler beats the AC by 10 or more and deals at least 3 damage with his attack, he may aim for the head, dazing his opponent for two rounds. A successful Fort save causes the opponent to be dazed for one round instead. If the brawler beats the AC by 13 or more and deals at least 1 damage with an unarmed strike, he may attack his opponent’s eyes, blinding the target for two rounds. A successful Fort save shortens the blinding to a one round duration. If the brawler beats the AC by 16 or more and deals at least 1 damage with an unarmed strike, he may go for the throat, cutting off his opponent’s air for 6 rounds. During this time, the opponent’s Constitution is, for the purposes of Constitution checks made to avoid suffocation, reduced by the amount by which the brawler beat his opponent’s AC. A successful Fort save reduces the Constitution penalty to 1/2 of the amount by which the brawler beat the AC. When crippling, critical hits count as their roll plus 5, though they cannot do critical damage; the brawler must decide whether he wants to deal critical damage or use the +5 to cause a crippling effect, rather than doing both.

Bonus feat:
At level 6, a Brawler may choose Improved Trip, Improved Overrun, Improved Grapple, Improved Bull Rush, or Improved Disarm as a bonus feat.

Improved Uncanny Dodge/Improved Evasion
A Brawler who has Uncanny Dodge may take Improved Uncanny Dodge at this level, or he may take Improved Evasion if he has Evasion.

Precision:
A level 10 brawler does NOT automatically gain Precision until he takes the Improved Critical feat on a weapon with which he is proficient, though a level 10 brawler can take the Improved Critical feat without a BAB of +8. A brawler with Precision applies Improved Critical to all weapons with which he is proficient. In addition, whenever he rolls a critical, either he can add 10 to his roll and use the roll for Cripple effects, or he can use the normal roll for Cripple effects and deal critical damage. Level 10 brawlers deal x3 damage with unarmed strikes on a critical, and their threat range becomes 17-20 due to Improved Critical’s effect on all weapons with which the brawler is proficient. All Cripple effects have their damage requirements lowered by 1.

Critique away! Have no pity for the poor D&D newbie, or I'll never learn. ^_^ (Besides, I have 0 ego. Maybe less)

Ultimatum479
2007-01-03, 02:12 PM
...D'oh. I just found a base class named Brawler. Wow. *sigh*

Fax Celestis
2007-01-03, 02:19 PM
Which one, mine? Yeah, these things happen. Don't worry about it.

Ultimatum479
2007-01-03, 02:25 PM
Yup. Yours. Your improvised weapon fighting confuses me, though. Adding that kind of damage to improvised weapons would often make them deal _more_ damage than the weapons they're meant to resemble. Aside from mechanics, how does that work in a roleplaying sense? Should their damage increase up to the maximum damage of the weapon they mimic?

Fax Celestis
2007-01-03, 03:16 PM
Yes. Because it represents the mastery of weaponry that people don't know how to defend against, of weaponry that isn't weighted properly and therefore hits harder.

Ultimatum479
2007-01-03, 03:40 PM
True. And I s'pose it's balanced anyway, cuz with that kind of damage, most improvised weapons will break in no time anyway.

Eighth_Seraph
2007-01-03, 11:31 PM
One: You are NEVER using this in Pseudelity. Just wanted to reinforce that.
-In regards to Cripple: Take away the ability to declare the crippling strike after an attack roll, even at a penalty. Think about it: "Oh, I rolled a natural twenty to hit this guy in the gut! Guess I'll just chop his neck instead."
Not only that, but it severely overpowers an overpowering move in an overpowered class.
-Spread out Uncanny Dodge and Evasion. Also think about it logically: "Wow, Cyarus, how did you manage to dodge that trap? You were completely inept at that last week and now you're a master at it!"
Works mechanically, but also leads to leaps in ability that make no sense



There is SO much nerfing to be done here, I don't know where else to go next. This is right up there with gestalt characters in terms of power, though cripple will be VERY difficult to use. An optimized human fighter/brawler will be the ULTIMATE support character in melee, just setting people up to be picked off as you knock a dozen people prone in no time at all.

Demented
2007-01-04, 12:52 AM
Cut down the abilities to 3-5 sentences worth of text each. If you can't explain everything that an ability does in 5 sentences, make the ability do less.

That alone will probably balance the class. =P

Eighth_Seraph
2007-01-11, 09:34 PM
Precision, indeed the whole focus of the class, seems to not fit the flavor. Cripple is good for a dirty fighter who doesn't mind severely injuring his opponent, but precision is the exact opposite of that. Not only that, but a greater critical threat range with unarmed strike? You have just rent the Monk's toes, heart and soul.

Ultimatum479
2007-01-11, 09:37 PM
Of course, that hardly matches up to Flurry of Blows + extra unarmed damage...