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View Full Version : D&D 3.x Other [PEACH] Art of War Fighter feats:



Hadrian_Emrys
2014-05-15, 09:53 PM
Fighters have limited utility, feats instead of class features, and are often seen as little more than a two-level dip.
These feats, inspired by excerpts from The Art of War, are part of an ongoing project to address these issues.
I'm curious about what the collective has to say about the theme and balance I've got going so far.


Student of War [Art of War]:
“The victorious win first and then go to war. The defeated go to war first and then seek to win.”

Prerequisites:
Fighter level 1st

Benefit:
You gain a Harmony level (1 + 1/5 Fighter level) as well as the ability to enter an Offensive, or Defensive, Stance as a Swift Action. Entering (and maintaining) either of these Stances is not a physical action and only requires that you are conscious. Ending either of these Stances is a Free Action.

Offensive benefits apply only while in an Offensive Stance and Defensive benefits only apply while in a Defensive Stance. Adaptive benefits apply in addition to the normal effects granted by either Stance. Stance benefits are Extraordinary Abilities (Ex).

Offensive:
You gain a bonus to your Attack and Damage Rolls equal to your Harmony level.

Adaptive:
You gain a bonus to your Ability and Skill Checks equal to your Harmony level.

Defensive:
You gain a bonus to your Armor Class and Saving Throws equal to your Harmony level.

Beguiling Tactics [Art of War]:
“Let your plans be as dark and impenetrable as the night, and when you move, fall like a thunderbolt.”

Prerequisites:
Student of War

Benefit:
Upon selecting this feat, you immediately add Bluff and Sense Motive to your list of Fighter class skills. When making a Bluff or Sense Motive skill check, you may use your Fighter level +3 in place of the number of ranks you have in those skills. You are considered trained in these skills even if you have no ranks in them.

Offensive:
Whenever you would use a Feint to cause a targeted opponent to lose their Dexterity bonus to AC against your next attack against them they, instead, lose their Dexterity bonus against attacks made by a chosen ally until the beginning of the target's next turn.

Adaptive:
Add your Fighter level to your Bluff check when Feinting.

You may Feint as a Move Action or as a Free Action as part of movement. You may also Feint as a Swift Action, or in place of a basic attack, if you have the Quick Draw feat.

Defensive:
Whenever you would use a Feint to cause a targeted opponent to lose their Dexterity bonus to AC against your next attack against them you may, instead, choose an ally that the target cannot make attacks of opportunity against until the beginning of the target's next turn.

Deceptive Determination [Art of War]:
“Appear weak when you are strong, and strong when you are weak.”

Prerequisites:
Student of War, Beguiling Tactics

Benefit:
Upon selecting this feat, you immediately add Autohypnosis to your list of Fighter class skills. When making an Autohypnosis skill check, you may use your Fighter level +3 in place of the number of ranks you have in that skill. You are considered trained in this skill even if you have no ranks in it.

Offensive:
Your attacks are considered to have a base damage multiplier of x1. This multiplier gets a bonus increase of 1, for each time you miss an attack against a particular target, until your next successful attack roll against them. The bonus to this ability's damage multiplier cannot go higher than your Fighter level and resets against a target once a successful attack against them has resolved.

Adaptive:
As a Free Action, made before attack damage is resolved, you may either sacrifice a number of temporary hit points in order increase your base attack damage by an equal amount or sacrifice an amount from your attack damage in order to gain that many temporary hit points. (You cannot reduce your damage roll, or temporary hit points, below 0 with this ability). Temporary hit points gained from this effect last for a number of rounds equal to your Harmony level.

Defensive:
Whenever you take hit point damage, you gain a number of temporary hit points (no higher than your Fighter level) equal to the amount of hit points lost. (Temporary hit points lost are not considered hit points for the purpose of this effect.) Temporary hit points can only be gained from this effect while you are conscious and they last for a number of rounds equal to your Harmony level.

Scholar of War [Art of War]:
“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles."

Prerequisites:
Student of War

Benefit:
Upon selecting this feat, you immediately add all Knowledge skills to your list of class skills. When making a Knowledge skill check, for the purpose of identifying creatures and their traits, you may use your Fighter level +3 in place of the number of ranks you have in those skills (even if that number is 0). You are considered trained in these skills.

Whenever you interact with a creature, you can make a Knowledge check based on its type, as described on page 78 of the Player's Handbook.
You then receive an Insight Bonus on rolls (specified below) against that creature type for the remainder of the scene. The amount of the bonus depends on your Knowledge check result, as given on the following:

Check Result|Bonus
01-15|+1
16-25|+2
26-30|+3
31-35|+4
35-__|+5

You can make only one Knowledge check per creature type per scene. If you interact creatures of multiple types during the same scene, you can make one Knowledge check per type, thereby possibly gaining different bonuses against different creature types.

Offensive:
You may add your Insight Bonus to your Attack Rolls and Damage Rolls.

Adaptive:
You may add your Insight Bonus to your Ability Checks and Skill Checks.

Defensive:
You may add your Insight Bonus to your Armor Class and Saving Throws.

Two-Pronged Approach [Art of War]:
“The skillful tactician may be likened to the shuai-jan. Now the shuai-jan is a snake that is found in the Ch'ang mountains. Strike at its head, and you will be attacked by its tail; strike at its tail, and you will be attacked by its head; strike at its middle, and you will be attacked by head and tail both.”

Prerequisites:
Student of War

Benefit: Whenever you would be able to make an attack with your main hand, you may also make an attack with your off-hand, with no penalty to either Attack Bonus from fighting with a weapon in each hand.

Offensive: If you hit an opponent with your main hand weapon and your off-hand weapon, with consecutive attacks, you deal additional damage equal to 1-1/2 times your Strength modifier plus twice your Harmony level. You can deal this additional damage multiple times in a round and, in the event that any of the triggering attacks is a critical hit, this bonus damage is multiplied according to the modifier(s) of the weapon(s) that critically hit.

Adaptive: Your off-hand attacks add your full Strength bonus to damage.

Defensive: You gain a Dodge bonus to AC, equal to your Harmony level, while wielding a weapon in each hand.


There are others in the works, many of which filling "face" and "skill" roles, but they are not nearly as fleshed out as of yet.

Edit: Yes, these are Fighter bonus feats.
Edit: -and yes, Scholar of War is basically Knowledge Devotion with a new paint job.

Ralcos
2014-05-16, 02:42 PM
These are awesome feats!
May I suggest to actually make them Fighter bonus feats, so people (when I mean people, I mean I) can make a fighter that focuses on these techniques?

Hadrian_Emrys
2014-05-16, 04:41 PM
Thanks for the kind word. These are Fighter bonus feats, though I suppose I did not clarify such in my post.