A Class Based on Failure

[Compliant]

Has anyone heard of a class that specializes in benefiting from failed rolls?

I tend to get rolls that are below 10, rather than above and I've gotten more 1's than 20's.

I think it would be cool to have a class that was a jinx:
-their failures always at least partially succeed
-their success tend to make other's fail
-any natural 20 is treated as a 15 (for balance)
-natural 1's are treated as normal but the target also receives the negative

It would be a goofy class for fun more than skillful play

[The Grue]

I was about to post 'Truenamer' but then saw your requirement that the class actually benefit from failing rolls.

[Calimehter]

Dunno about classes, but there are various feats out there that let you reroll natural 1's . . . since they only do anything for you if you actually roll some 1's, they are kinda sorta rewarding failure.

[Forrestfire]

There is no such class in 3.5, and as far as I know, none in Pathfinder. Your only option for something exactly like that is to homebrew.

However, we can definitely find classes and builds that hit all those points.

The simple option is to play a buffing and battlefield control wizard/cleric/etc. You can grab Luck feats for some rerolls per day, and never have to roll a die yourself if you play it right. It's also super strong and takes a lot of bookwork, so it might not be what you're looking for (especially if you want something specifically luck-themed). There is also a spell in Races of Destiny (choose destiny, specifically) that lets you roll every d20 twice and pick the highest, but it's 9th-level and probably out of reach.

Personally? I think that an awesome way to do this idea is a Bard. Be a bard and focus on buffing and debuffing. We can do all of the things you've asked through some finagling.

Their failures always at least partially succeed


As a bard, you can focus on abilities that buff allies, avoiding using dice at all. Dragonfire Inspiration, Inspire Courage, and the like are all awesome. It's really hard to fail at that. There are also a decent amount of spells you could get that debuff or defend things even if you screw up or they make their save.

In addition, you can get Luck feats to allow rerolls, or dip Cleric/use the Catalogues of Enlightenment to get the Luck domain's granted power. The feat Third Time's the Charm lets you spend luck rerolls to use the ability more times per day, which is exceptionally useful for those times you roll badly.

Their success tend to make other's fail


There is a feat in Champions of Ruin called Doomspeak. As a standard action, it lets you burn a Bardic Music use to make an enemy within 120ft get a -10 penalty to saves, attack rolls, and skill checks for a round. Its save DC is ludicrous, being based on character level instead of the normal HD/2 or spell level that DCs generally get based on. This will be the crux of the character's build, letting you make enemies have horrible, horrible luck on your turn. With an ally specialized in stuff that requires a save, you can tag-team most things to death pretty quickly.

There are also some other curse abilities and debuffing abilities that follow along the same lines. Hexblade 4 lets you get a Dark Companion, which is basically an insubstantial spirit of bad luck/curses that moves around the battlefield and applies -2 to AC and saves to any enemy next to it. There's a decent pile of other similar debuffs as well. With the right combination of stuff, you can be a terrifying debuffer, making enemies fail their saves and attacks.


Any natural 20 is treated as a 15
Natural 1's are treated as normal but the target also receives the negative


These two things don't really exist in D&D 3.5, and I personally don't think they should. Using abilities to consistently get what you want is going to lead to a more fun game that relying on the dice screwing you over to be useful. I mean, what happens if your luck changes and you suddenly start rolling well? Do you retire the character since they're pretty gimped now?


In any case, for a decently simple luck/unluck-themed build focused on not failing while making enemies fail, I would likely go with something like this:

Silverbrow Human Bard (Loresong ACF) 1/Cloistered Cleric 1 (Luck Domain, Travel Devotion, Knowledge Devotion)/Bard +n
Feats (assuming two flaws. If no flaws are allowed, drop extra music and shuffle feats down the list. Dragonfire Inspiration and Doomspeak are the two key feats that shouldn't be moved around)


1st: Lucky Start
Human bonus: Dragonfire Inspiration
Flaw bonus: Unbelievable Luck
Flaw bonus: Extra Music
3rd: Third Time's the Charm
Bard 3rd (bonus feat bard ACF from Eberron): Song of the Heart
6th: Doomspeak
9th: Tempting Fate
12th: open slot
15th: open slot
18th: open slot


Basically, at the start of each fight, you use your bardic music to buff your allies, then you can use illusions, debuff spells, and eventually Doomspeak to screw with your opponents. Unbelievable Luck, Lucky Start, and Third Time's the Charm (Complete Scoundrel) give you four luck rerolls for general stuff, and the ability to use the Luck Domain's ability a second time if you use it and still fail. Cleric's Knowledge Devotion lets you increase your attack and damage in situations where you do need to make attack rolls (and let's face it, you're probably going to at some point), Travel Devotion helps you stay out of situations where bad luck would harm you, and the bardic Loresong ACF lets you get an extra bonus a few times per day for even more increasing your rolls.

Most of the other choices are likely based on what sort of other stuff you want to do, but the core is there. I'd likely make sure to get improvisation as a bard spell known, though, for more freeform boosting of rolls you want "lucky".

[JusticeZero]

I tend to get rolls that are below 10, rather than above and I've gotten more 1's than 20's.
You could also use variant rolling mechanics of some sort, or change your dice - maybe to an online roller or a rolling app. I would recommend you start recording all your rolls and test them statistically if you really think it's a concern; often it's just a perception error that carried on from a small sample of unfortunate but highly memorable rolls.

[Kislath]

About 28 years ago or so, Dragon Magazine published the "Hopeless Character" class.

It wasn't quite what you want in that it was pretty hopeless and didn't succeed through failure, but it was pretty funny.

[DrDeth]

No such thing as "luck" once a few hundred rolls are averaged out. But many dice are biased. Get new dice.

http://blog.codeoptimism.com/most-d20-dice-are-notably-imbalanced/