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View Full Version : D&D 3.x Class Guy with a Sword [Tongue-in-cheek ahoy!]



Kazyan
2014-08-21, 01:17 AM
Guy with a Sword

A guy with a sword notices that there were all sorts of ways to hit things with a melee weapon, mainly the “flip out and charge with a greatsword” method, the “use maneuvers” method, and if you want to get fancy, the “flip out, use a maneuver, and charge with a greatsword” method. Then there are others no one cares about because they’re not as good. A Guy with a Sword figures it couldn't be that hard, so they just pick up a sword and decide to start hitting things. But it is indeed that hard, because--besides the basic methods--it turns out that most esoteric melee fighters are heroes of legend that perform unrealistically amazing acts, because apparently they have to be. Some of them can punch a mountain in half via sheer force of will, or similar. The Guy with a Sword has to make do with what they've got, unfortunately. And what they've got is a sword.

Adventures: A guy with a sword adventures because it’s a good way to get better at hitting things with a sword. Also, looting better swords.

Characteristics: A guy with a sword can hit things with a sword. But hey, it’s better than being a fighter.

Alignment: Swords don’t care about your philosophy. They’re swords. You hit things with them.

Religion: Gods that have swords as their favored weapons, mostly.

Background: You’re someone with a sword. Fun fact: "Guy with a Sword" doesn't necessarily mean you're male.

Races: Go read the sections for Warblade/Fighters/etc. Same thing.

Other Classes: Melee classes like guys with swords. Casters basically think they’re cattle. Skillmonkeys have an opinion, but everyone forgets they exist, so no one actually wrote down that they think in general.

Role: You roll initiative and hit things with your sword until it’s looting time.

Adaptation: You could replace “sword” with a weapon of your choice, but some of the abilities would have to be tweaked to make sense.

Other: I didn't bother with effort in the above sections because you're just going to refluff it anyway.

GAME RULE INFORMATION
Guys with Swords have the following game statistics.
Abilities: Guys with Swords like Strength, unless they’re using a shortsword, in which case they might like Dexterity. They also like Constitution because the people they hit with swords tend to hit back.
Alignment: Any.
Hit Die: d10
Starting Age: Simple.
Starting Gold: As fighter.

Class Skills
The Guy with a Sword’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Balance (Dex), Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Listen (Wis), Profession (Wis), Search (Int), Spot (Wis), Swim (Str), and Tumble (Dex).

Skill Points at First Level: (4 + Int modifier) x 4
Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 4 + Int modifier

GUY WITH A SWORD


Level
Base Attack Bonus
Fort Save
Ref Save
Will Save
Special


1st
+1
+2
+0
+0
I Found a Sword, Weapon Focus (Sword), Clash


2nd
+2
+3
+0
+0
That's Definitely a Sword


3rd
+3
+3
+1
+1
Postscript Blow (1), Mobile Attack


4th
+4
+4
+1
+1
Jump For It, Weapon Specialization (Sword)


5th
+5
+4
+1
+1
Parting Sword


6th
+6/+1
+5
+2
+2
Frantic Preparation (Initiative)


7th
+7/+2
+5
+2
+2
Ragequit


8th
+8/+3
+6
+2
+2
Postscript Blow (2), Greater Weapon Focus (Sword)


9th
+9/+4
+6
+3
+3
I Got This!


10th
+10/+5
+7
+3
+3
Efficient Swording (Swift)


11th
+11/+6/+1
+7
+3
+3
Sword Habits


12th
+12/+7/+2
+8
+4
+4
Greater Weapon Specialization (Sword)


13th
+13/+8/+3
+8
+4
+4
Postscript Blow (3)


14th
+14/+9/+4
+9
+4
+4
Melee Weapon Mastery (Slashing)


15th
+15/+10/+5
+9
+5
+5
Efficient Swording (Immediate)


16th
+16/+11/+6/+1
+10
+5
+5
Slashing Flurry


17th
+17/+12/+7/+2
+10
+5
+5
Frantic Preparation (Surprise)


18th
+18/+13/+8/+3
+11
+6
+6
Postscript Blow (4), Weapon Supremacy (Sword)


19th
+19/+14/+9/+4
+11
+6
+6
Sword It Anyway


20th
+20/+15/+10/+5
+12
+6
+6
Maximum Swording



Class Features
All of the following are class features of the Guy with a Sword.

Weapon and Armor Proficiencies: A Guy with a Sword is proficient with light and medium armor, simple weapons, all martial weapons that are swords, and all exotic weapons that are swords. They are proficient with shields (but not tower shields).

I Found A Sword (Ex): A Guy with a Sword begins play with one masterwork sword of his choice. The sword is made from steel, has no weapon templates, and is nonmagical. That is, the cost of the sword must be the cost of an ordinary sword + 300 gp.

If a Guy with a Sword has his sword lost/stolen/sundered/etc. for whatever reason, he can find a new one with 1 hour of searching and a successful DC 10 search check at the end of the hour. If the search check fails, the Guy with a Sword doesn't find a new sword, but he can try again as many times as desired. Any sword found in this way is an ordinary non-masterwork steel sword with no weapon templates.

If a Guy with a Sword sells a sword he found or the sword he began play with, he loses this class feature permanently. Either type of sword cannot be sacrificed to an Ancestral Relic, nor can anything similar happen.


Sidebar: What counts as a sword?
A sword is any slashing weapon consisting of an edged blade extending out from a hilt attached to the base. The blade must be at a 0 degree to 45 degree angle from how the hilt is aligned, and the blade must be at least one foot in length for a Medium creature (halve this length for every size category smaller, or double it for each size category larger) For example, a shortsword counts as a sword, but a dagger's bade is too small, and a quarterstaff does not have a blade. If it's unclear as to whether a weapon fits this definition, use common sense. If it looks like a sword, it's probably a sword.

Weapon Focus (Sword) (Ex): A Guy with a Sword gains Weapon Focus as a bonus feat. Unlike most instances of the Weapon Focus feat, this applies to all types of swords.


Sidebar: "Look at my Weapon Focus/Weapon Supremacy/etc. fix!"
It doesn't apply to the Guy with a Sword's class features, because I don't like it when the mechanics I build my class's foundations on are rewritten out from under me. If you take also Weapon Focus and similar feats normally for whatever reason, then you get to use the fix.

Clash (Ex): Guys with Swords are generally not juggernauts, so they use their sword to block and parry attacks. When a Guy with a Sword is attacked with a weapon, they may elect to make a damage roll with their sword--except that no damage bonuses apply; only the base damage dice of the weapon are rolled. The result of this damage roll is subtracted from the damage they take from the attack (to a minimum damage of 0). Using this ability interferes with the Guy with a Sword's offense, however; every time they use this ability, they lose the use of an iterative attack from their full attack routine during the next round, starting with their first attack.

If the Guy with a Sword runs out of iterative attacks, they cannot use this ability again until the end of their next turn, and cannot use a standard action to attack. They may still use their actions otherwise. So long as the Guy with a Sword has at least one iterative left, they can still use a standard action to attack, with no new penalties.

A Guy with a Sword can use this ability multiple times against the same attack, subtracting the results of all of their damage rolls from the damage they would otherwise take (to a minimum damage of 0). In any case, this ability can only be used a number of times per day equal to the Guy with a Sword's Base Attack Bonus.

That's Definitely a Sword (Ex): At 2nd level, a Guy with a Sword automatically determines the magical properties of any sword, as identify, on sight. If the sword is an artifact, the Guy with a Sword instead simply knows that it's an artifact. In addition, the Guy with a Sword gains a +10 competence bonus to notice swords hidden as hidden weapons or disguised as things that are not swords.

Postscript Blow (Ex): At 3rd level, a Guy with a Sword gains a new attack during their full attack routine, provided they perform this attack with a sword. This attack is made at the Guy with a Sword's full base attack bonus, and occurs after their first normal iterative attack, but before the second. If this attack hits, it deals damage, but no damage bonuses apply--only the base damage dice from the weapon.

At 8th level, a Guy with a Sword gains a second postscript blow. This occurs after the second normal iterative attack, and the attack is made at the Guy with a Sword's full base attack bonus - 5. At 13th level, a Guy with a Sword gains a third postscript blow, which occurs after the third normal iterative attack, and is made at the Guy with a Sword's full base attack bonus - 10. At 18th level, a Guy with a Sword gains a fourth postscript blow, which occurs after the fourth normal iterative attack, and is made at the Guy with a Sword's full base attack bonus - 15.

All postscript blows are treated as special iterative attacks in the full attack routine. If the Guy with a Sword has an ability that modifies the penalty from iterative attacks, apply it to the postscript blow attack bonus penalties. For example, a Guy with a Sword 13/Maho-BujinOA 1 makes his second postscript blow at a - 3 penalty and his third postscript blow at - 6.

Mobile Attack (Ex): At 3rd level, when a Guy with a Sword takes a full attack action, he may substitute any of his iterative attacks with movement, up to 1/2 their speed of the appropriate movement mode. They must still make their attacks in the proper order.

Jump For It (Su): Sometimes a Guy with a Sword will face flying enemies, and that makes them sad. At 4th level, as part of an attack with a sword, a guy with a sword can jump up and fail to hit a creature, if that creature is within what would be the Guy with a Sword's attack range if it were at his or her elevation. (The result of the jump check is irrelevant.) When doing so, make an attack roll with the sword against the creature. If this attack succeeds, the creature takes damage anyway, but the damage is halved and is nonlethal. If the creature is immune to nonlethal damage, the damage is lethal.

This ability only functions where gravity is not subjective, so that the term "elevation" is meaningful.

Weapon Specialization (Sword) (Ex): At 4th level, a Guy with a Sword gains Weapon Specialization as a bonus feat. Unlike most instances of the Weapon Specialization feat, this applies to all types of swords.

Parting Sword (Ex): At 5th level, a Guy with a Sword can react to area attacks by interposing the blade of their sword. When the Guy with a Sword would be affected by an effect that targets an area and allows a Reflex saving throw, they may give up an iterative attack from their next round's full attack action (this works like Clash) to slash at the burst with their sword. This causes the Guy with a Sword to automatically succeed on the saving throw as the area effect parts around their sword.

Frantic Preparation (Ex): At 6th level, a Guy with a Sword can draw their sword at the beginning of combat as part of rolling initiative, despite being flat-footed. They can otherwise draw their sword as a free action. At 17th level, a Guy with a Sword can draw their sword as a free action during a surprise round, even when it is not their turn and while flat-footed.

Ragequit (Su): At 7th level, a Guy with a Sword recognizes the inherent unfairness of the world against people who can only do what he does. During the Guy with a Sword's turn, whenever they attack a creature with a sword and any creature takes an action in response to the attack (such as an immediate action or a command word to activate a Contingency), the Guy with a Sword can pre-empt the reaction. This is done by sacrificing whatever actions the Guy with a Sword has left in their turn, using the actions to sulk and express frustration. This causes the response action to fail. The Guy with a Sword is free to act normally during their next turn. This ability functions once per day.

Greater Weapon Focus (Sword) (Ex): At 8th level, a Guy with a Sword gains Greater Weapon Focus as a bonus feat. Unlike most instances of the Greater Weapon Focus feat, this applies to all types of swords.

I Got This! (Ex): At 9th level, a Guy with a Sword knows that he needs his magical ornaments to perform his swording correctly. As part of a full attack, a Guy with a Sword can substitute two consecutive iterative attacks with the activation or use of any magic item that has a standard action or shorter activation time, such as a potion or Healing BeltMIC, provided the magic item only affects the Guy with a Sword. For example, a Wand of Magic Missile could not be used, unless for whatever reason the Guy with a Sword targets themself. They must still make their iterative attacks in the proper order.

Efficient Swording (Ex): At 10th level, a Guy with a Sword can make a melee attack with a sword as a swift action, at a -5 penalty to the attack roll. At 15th level, this attack can be made as an immediate action.

Sword Habits (Su): At 11th level, a Guy with a Sword has figured out that, if they're going to do one thing, they may as well do it properly. If a Guy with a Sword is unable to fully act on their turn for whatever reason except for those imposed by their own class features--effects such as Slow, Tasha's Hideous Laughter, and stunning--they can still habitually swing their sword. The Guy with a Sword can make attack actions with a sword despite the status condition, though they lose the use of an iterative attack in their full attack routine per status effect (this works like Clash). Naturally, the "dead" and "dying" status conditions trump this ability.

Greater Weapon Specialization (Sword) (Ex): At 12th level, a Guy with a Sword gains Greater Weapon Specialization as a bonus feat. Unlike most instances of the Greater Weapon Specialization feat, this applies to all types of swords.

Melee Weapon Mastery (Slashing) (Ex): At 14th level, a Guy with a Sword gains Melee Weapon MasteryPHBII as a bonus feat, applying to slashing weapons.

Slashing Flurry (Ex): At 16th level, a Guy with a Sword gains Slashing FlurryPHBII as a bonus feat, except that the benefits of this feat only apply to swords.

Weapon Supremacy (Sword) (Ex): At 18th level, a Guy with a Sword gains Weapon Supremacy as a bonus feat. Unlike most instances of the Weapon Supremacy feat, this applies to all types of swords.

Sword It Anyway (Su): At 19th level, a Guy with a Sword is so good at using a sword that they can sword things that are explicitly designed to not be sworded. If the Guy with a Sword attacks a target during a full attack and either misses due to a magical effect or does no damage due to a magical effect, all subsequent attacks during the same full attack routine ignore that effect. This ability only triggers if the attack that failed was an iterative attack.

Maximum Swording (Ex): At the peak of their power, a Guy with a Sword has to compete with shards of divinity made into flesh, spells that rend arcana itself, and priests that demand miracles repeatedly every day. And they still just have a sword. But it's okay, because they're good at using a sword. At 20th level, when the Guy with a Sword makes a full attack or otherwise makes multiple attacks in immediate sequence, they can rearrange the order of their attacks however they desire. For example, they can make their iterative attacks backwards, or use all of their Postscript Blows first. Only attacks that are made with a sword can be rearranged in this way.

jqavins
2014-08-21, 11:52 AM
Guy with a Sword

I'd play this!


Melee Weapon Specialization (Slashing) (Ex): At 14th level, a Guy with a Sword gains Melee Weapon SpecializationPHBII as a bonus feat, applying to slashing weapons.
Did you mean Melee Weapon Mastery?



Sidebar: Look at my Weapon Focus/Weapon Supremacy/etc. fix!
Where is it?

Kazyan
2014-08-21, 12:16 PM
Oh, yeah, I meant Mastery, not Specialization.

I don't have a fix; that sidebar refers to other people's power-up fixes that will likely be used in homebrew games.

...
2014-08-21, 06:28 PM
You should make a class ability that lets the Guy With a Sword bounce spells off of his sword.

Kazyan
2014-08-21, 10:38 PM
I'm trying to avoid the overdone line of homebrewing where "melee isn't as good as spellcasting" means you have to pretend to make the class capable of killing spellcasters, despite the fact that D&D 3.5 is a cooperative game; caster dominance doesn't come in the form of casters bullying their melee allies. The only ability the Guy with a Sword has along those lines is Ragequit. As long as the Guy with a Sword functions at Tier 4 against CR-appropriate enemies, it's fine.

Dyhmas
2014-08-22, 08:28 AM
Warning: following concerns have been made very early in the morning, before any coffee.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the Guy With a Sword just as easily disarmed as any other guy with a sword (like a fighter)?
Since all his class abilities revolve around using a sword, he should have some form of defending himself against disarming, sundering and whatnot, right? Otherwise, by the time he's fighting colossal foes, he's barely a threat, since he wouldn't be able to compete with them in a check to avoid being disarmed/sundered/whathaveyou...

Kazyan
2014-08-22, 10:01 AM
This is partially true, but do note that disarming and sundering both require opposed attack rolls, and the Guy with a Sword gets the Weapon Supremacy feat line. I could make Clash able to apply against attacks rolls to disarming and sundering, though; it would be a sizeable penalty to the attack roll.

Inevitability
2014-08-22, 10:11 AM
Maybe add something on what exactly counts as a 'sword'. Longswords, short swords, greatswords and bastard swords quite obviously count, but how about cutlasses? How about kukiris? How about sabers? How about scimitars? How about elven courtblades? How about elven thinblades?

jqavins
2014-08-22, 12:52 PM
Maybe add something on what exactly counts as a 'sword'. Longswords, short swords, greatswords and bastard swords quite obviously count, but how about cutlasses? How about kukiris? How about sabers? How about scimitars? How about elven courtblades? How about elven thinblades?
Katana. Rapier. Boken. Pointed stick. Banana.

Kazyan
2014-08-22, 02:09 PM
I've added a sidebar about what counts as a sword. Turns out that's hard to define without edge cases falling on the wrong side of RAI.


Maybe add something on what exactly counts as a 'sword'. Longswords, short swords, greatswords and bastard swords quite obviously count, but how about cutlasses? How about kukiris? How about sabers? How about scimitars? How about elven courtblades? How about elven thinblades?

All of those count.


Katana. Rapier. Boken. Pointed stick. Banana.

Katanas and rapiers count.

Veklim
2014-08-22, 05:56 PM
I have been amused by this, but I shall not be happy until we also have Guy With A Pointy Stick, Guy With A Club and Guy With Rocks. May I suggest some ACFs....?:smallbiggrin:

...
2014-08-22, 07:09 PM
I'm trying to avoid the overdone line of homebrewing where "melee isn't as good as spellcasting" means you have to pretend to make the class capable of killing spellcasters, despite the fact that D&D 3.5 is a cooperative game; caster dominance doesn't come in the form of casters bullying their melee allies. The only ability the Guy with a Sword has along those lines is Ragequit. As long as the Guy with a Sword functions at Tier 4 against CR-appropriate enemies, it's fine.

I got it. A special at-will ability that only the Guy with a Sword that lets him summon a sword he already has, that can only be used by him.

Qwertystop
2014-08-22, 10:44 PM
I got it. A special at-will ability that only the Guy with a Sword that lets him summon a sword he already has, that can only be used by him.

That becomes too close to magic, I guess. This guy already has the ability to somehow find swords anywhere. Finding specific swords might be a bit of a stretch.

Kazyan
2014-08-22, 11:05 PM
I have been amused by this, but I shall not be happy until we also have Guy With A Pointy Stick, Guy With A Club and Guy With Rocks. May I suggest some ACFs....?:smallbiggrin:

Once I figure out the details, sure.



I got it. A special at-will ability that only the Guy with a Sword that lets him summon a sword he already has, that can only be used by him.
That becomes too close to magic, I guess. This guy already has the ability to somehow find swords anywhere. Finding specific swords might be a bit of a stretch.

Alternatively, the ability doesn't work because I'd like to keep this class as Exactly What It Says On The Tin. It's not someone with ancient mystical fighting arts, it's not a hero of legend that can slay armies with a single slash, it's not an epic practitioner that becomes the pinnacle of martial prowess, and it's not a mage-slayer. It's just a guy with a sword.

Inevitability
2014-08-23, 12:43 AM
Could we get a prestige class? I propose the Guy With a Big Sword.

Maaaaaaybe something for epic levels. (Guy With the Biggest Sword)

Larzzral
2014-08-23, 08:29 PM
...Naturally, the "dead" and "dying" status conditions trump this ability....

Even while dying and unconscious, Guy with Sword should still be swinging. Heck, maybe even after death until rigor sets in! :smalltongue:

...
2014-08-23, 09:55 PM
Hmm... Ooh! How about an ability where he can use his sword as a footstool to reach tall places?
Last idea, I swear.