Edge
2015-03-25, 12:48 PM
The Truesteel Chaplain
http://i537.photobucket.com/albums/ff334/SoullessEnigma/Truesteel%20Exarch_zps9tvyiwv4.png
"Do not waver. Do not falter. Do not doubt. War is come, and only together shall we survive." – Rook, truesteel chaplain.
Faith is a complicated concept for many warforged. Few select a patron deity - even those warforged who draw on divine magic seem to prefer venerating concepts to gods. However, when the living constructs do find a faith, they hold to it with an iron will.
Few gods reward their dedication as much as the War Machine.
A martial deity dedicated to strategy and with a great affection for the warforged as race, the War Machine pays close attention to his rare few crusaders and champions, rewarding those who demonstrate competence by directly upgrading their bodies and providing remote yet thorough training on combat tactics and strategy. These elite champions are the truesteel chaplains, warriors for whom every decision taken on the battlefield is a paean to their god, every victory a sacrifice in his name, every ally still standing once the dust clears a hymn to their deity's glory.
War is come. The truesteel chaplains intend to be ready.
HD: d10
Requirements
Race: Warforged
Base Attack Bonus: +6
Skills: Diplomacy 8 ranks, Intimidate 8 ranks, Martial Lore 8 ranks.
Feats: Any one Warforged feat.
Class Features: Smite 1/day, Steely Resolve 10
Maneuvers: Must have knowledge of three maneuvers of the Devoted Spirit or White Raven disciplines, including one stance.
Patron Deity: The War Machine
Class Skills: Balance (Dex), Climb (Str), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Knowledge [history] (Int), Knowledge [religion] (Int), Martial Lore (Int), Profession (Wis) and Ride (Dex).
Skill points per level: 4 + Intelligence modifier, minimum 1.
LevelBABFortRefWillSpecial
1+1+2+0+2Transgnostic Tactics Node, Truesteel Body
2+2+3+0+3Dedicated Stratagem Database
3+3+3+1+3Resolute Interpositioning Posture, Steely Resolve +5
4+4+4+1+4Truesteel Body Refinement
5+5+4+1+4Ringing Anvil Onslaught
6+6+5+2+5Optimal Stratagem Library
7+7+5+2+5Steely Resolve +5
8+8+6+2+6Truesteel Body Optimisation
9+9+6+3+6Multifaceted Stratagem Processes
10+10+7+3+7Meticulous Onslaught Paradigm
LevelMan. KnownMan. ReadiedStances Known
1st000
2nd100
3rd011
4th100
5th000
6th111
7th000
8th100
9th011
10th100
Class Features
All the following are class features of the truesteel chaplain.
Weapon and Armour Proficiency: Truesteel chaplains gain no new weapon or armour proficiencies.
Maneuvers: At 2nd, 4th, 6th, 8th and 10th levels, the truesteel chaplain gains new maneuvers known from the Devoted Spirit, Iron Heart, Iron Tortoise (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?160377-3-5-Iron-Tortoise-(v2)-a-shieldfighter-s-discipline-ToB-LoB-Discipline) or White Raven disciplines. You must meet a maneuver's prerequisite to learn it. You add your full truesteel chaplain levels to your initiator level to determine your total initiator level and your highest-level maneuvers known.
At 3rd, 6th and 9th levels, you gain additional maneuvers readied per day.
Stances: At 3rd, 6th and 9th levels, the truesteel chaplain learns a new martial stance from the Devoted Spirit, Iron Heart, Iron Tortoise or White Raven disciplines. They must meet the stance's prerequisites to learn it.
Transgnostic Tactics Node (Ex): At 1st level, the War Machine installs a library of tactical information and battlefield simulations in its chaplains as part of the process of reforging their bodies (see the Truesteel Body class feature below), laying the groundwork for greater strategical flexibility. You may now use your Intelligence bonus (if any) to your Will save rather than your Charisma bonus to determine the benefits of your Indomitable Soul class feature if you so desire. Similarly, your Smite class feature may now add your Intelligence bonus to attack rolls rather than your Charisma bonus, and you may add your truesteel chaplain levels to your crusader levels to determine your Smite's damage bonus.
Furthermore, at the start of each encounter you may designate one of your readied maneuvers. For the duration of this encounter, this maneuver is always included amongst initially granted maneuvers whenever your maneuvers refresh. The rest of your granted maneuvers are determined randomly as normal.
Truesteel Body (Ex): At 1st level, the War Machine has selected you as one of its foremost champions, and it reforges your body to better withstand the travails of the battlefield, reforging your composite plating from truesteel. If you possess a Warforged feat that modifies your composite plating, you immediately lose that feat and may select another feat you meet the prerequisites in its place.
Your new truesteel plating provides you with a +6 armour bonus to AC and grants you immunity to damage from rusting grasp and the touch of a rust monster. However, your base land speed is reduced to 25ft, and you are considered to be wearing heavy armour. You have a +6 maximum Dexterity bonus to AC, a -2 armour check penalty and an arcane spell failure of 25%.
Dedicated Stratagem Database (Ex): At 2nd level, the truesteel chaplain's Transgnostic Tactics Node downloads additional information directly from the War Machine, adding great tactical flexibility to their repertoire. As a swift action that requires a successful Martial Lore check, you may initiate a stratagem, providing you and your allies within 60ft with a benefit for 5 rounds. You may only maintain one stratagem at time – beginning a new one terminates the bonuses of the previous one early. The DC of the Martial Lore check varies based on the stratagem, and many require the truesteel chaplain to be in a stance belonging to a specific discipline. Stratagems are sonic, language-dependent abilities, and so allies cannot benefit from them if they cannot hear or understand you. The Dedicated Stratagem Database provides access to the following stratagems:
Advanced Area Denial: DC 18, Iron Heart stance required. Whilst this stratagem is in effect, any enemy you or your allies damage with attacks of opportunity may be moved 5ft into any unoccupied space you desire. This extra movement does not provoke attacks of opportunity.
Calculated Rallying Cry: DC 18, Devoted Spirit stance required. Whilst this stratagem is in effect, at the start of your turn all your allies (but not you) gain fast healing equal to your current furious counterstrike bonus until the start of your next turn.
Opportune Footwork Directive: DC 20, White Raven stance required. Whilst this stratagem is in effect, you and your allies may make an additional 5ft step once per round as a swift action. If you beat the activation Martial Lore check by 10 or more, you and your allies can take this additional 5ft-step even if you have taken other movement on your turn.
Phalanx Reaping Methodology: DC 20, Iron Heart stance required. Whilst this stance is in effect, when you or your allies successfully damage an enemy with a melee attack, all other adjacent enemies take damage equal to your current furious counterstrike bonus.
Practiced Multidirectional Assault: DC 18, White Raven stance required. Whilst this stratagem is in effect, any foe adjacent to two or more of you and your allies is considered flanked, regardless of your positioning.
Proficient Evasion Program: DC 18, Iron Tortoise stance required. Whilst this stratagem is in effect, you and your allies add your current furious counterstrike bonus as a morale bonus to touch AC and Reflex saves. This bonus cannot raise your touch AC above your armoured AC.
Resolute Foeman Rebuke: DC 20, Devoted Spirit stance required. Whilst this stratagem is in effect, once per turn as a free action you may grant all allies benefiting from the stratagem a morale bonus on attack and damage rolls equal to your current furious counterstrike bonus until the start of your next turn.
Sublime Shieldwall Practice: DC 20, Iron Tortoise stance required. Whilst this stratagem is in effect, whenever you or an ally are adjacent to another ally, you and your allies in such positions gain a morale bonus to AC equal to your current furious counterstrike bonus and cannot be flanked.
Resolute Interposition Posture: At 3rd level, the truesteel champion learns to shield their allies from harm with a unique martial stance. They may take a swift action to lose the benefits of their current stance and gain the benefits of this one. Whilst in this stance, the truesteel chaplain may make a Martial Lore check as an immediate action to redirect melee attacks made against adjacent allies to themselves, with a DC equal to the attack's attack roll.
If the Martial Lore check is successful, the attack is then resolved against the truesteel chaplain using its original attack roll. If the truesteel champion successfully redirects an attack to themselves with this stance, they increase their furious counterstrike bonus on their next turn by their Intelligence bonus. The truesteel chaplain must be aware of an attack to interpose themselves to it, and cannot interpose themselves if a condition prevents them from taking immediate actions or keeps them immobile.
This stance is considered to belong to the Devoted Spirit, Iron Heart, Iron Tortoise and White Raven disciplines.
Steely Resolve (Ex): The truesteel chaplain's training never stops. At 3rd level, and again at 7th, your delayed damage pool increases its capacity by 5.
Truesteel Body Refinement (Ex): At 4th level, the War Machine refines the truesteel chaplain's body further. You may add your Intelligence bonus (if any) to AC instead of your Dexterity modifier, and you may add your armour bonus to AC to your touch AC.
Ringing Anvil Onslaught (Ex): At 5th level, the truesteel chaplain gains access to a unique martial strike much like those granted to martial adepts. This strike must be recovered and readied to use, just like any maneuver, and is considered to belong to the Iron Heart and Iron Tortoise disciplines.
Initiating this strike is a standard action. As part of this strike, make a normal melee attack. If your attack hits, you multiply your attack's base damage (weapon damage + your Strength modifier + furious counterstrike bonus) by an amount equal to your current furious counterstrike bonus +1. This strike never multiplies precision damage such as sneak attack, nor the bonus damage from Power Attack.
Optimal Stratagem Library (Ex): At 6th level, the truesteel chaplain receives another download of advanced tactical data from the War Machine, adding the following stratagems to the list of those they can use:
Absolute Area Denial: DC 25, Iron Heart stance required. Whilst this stratagem is in effect, any enemy you or your allies damage with attacks of opportunity may be moved up to 10ft into any unoccupied space you desire. This extra movement can provoke further attacks of opportunity.
Computed Rallying Cry: DC 35, Devoted Spirit stance required. Whilst this stratagem is in effect, at the start of your turn all your allies (but not you) gain fast healing equal to your current furious counterstrike bonus plus your Intelligence bonus until the start of your next turn. In addition, you may make an additional Martial Lore check as a standard action. Doing so restores hit points to you and your allies equal to your check result.
Designated Targeting Directive: DC 35, White Raven stance required. Designate one enemy as the target of this stratagem upon activating it. Whilst this stratagem is in effect, when you and your allies make attack rolls against the target, you may treat your d20 roll as an 11 instead of rolling. However, you and your allies are considered flat-footed against all other foes than the designated target for the duration of the stratagem.
Perfected Multidirectional Assault: DC 25, White Raven stance required. Whilst this stratagem is in effect, any foe adjacent to two or more of you and your allies is considered flanked, regardless of your positioning. In addition, the attack bonus gained by you and your allies whilst flanking an enemy is equal to your Intelligence bonus or +2, whichever is higher.
Precalculated Offensive Pattern: DC 35, Iron Heart stance required. Whilst this stratagem is in effect, you and your allies replace your weapon damage rolls with the result of the Martial Lore check you made to activate this stratagem.
Relentless Foeman Rebuke: DC 25, Devoted Spirit stance required. Whilst this stratagem is in effect, once per turn as a free action you may grant all allies benefiting from the stratagem a morale bonus on attack and damage rolls equal to your current furious counterstrike bonus until the start of your next turn. In addition, any enemies damaged by you or your allies must make a Will save or become shaken. The save DC is equal to the current size of your delayed damaged pool plus your Intelligence bonus.
Sorcery-Foiling System: DC 35, Iron Tortoise stance required. Whilst this stratagem is in effect, you and your allies gain a morale bonus to touch AC and all saving throws equal to your current furious counterstrike bonus. Furthermore, enemies you and your allies threaten cannot cast defensively.
Supernal Shieldwall Practice: DC 25, Iron Tortoise stance required. Whilst this stratagem is in effect, whenever you or an ally are adjacent to another ally, you and your allies in such positions gain a morale bonus to AC equal to your current furious counterstrike bonus plus your Intelligence bonus, and cannot be flanked.
Transgnostic Tactics Upgrade (Ex): At 7th level, the War Machine rebuilds your mental architecture, allowing exceptional strategical forethought. At the start of an encounter, you may now designate a number of your readied maneuvers equal to your Intelligence bonus, rather than 1. Select an order for them to be granted to you for the rest of the encounter. Throughout the duration of the encounter, the selected maneuvers are always granted to you in the order that you designate, with any remainder being given out randomly as normal.
Truesteel Body Optimisation (Ex): At 8th level, the War Machine upgrades your composite plating yet again. Your truesteel body now provides an armour bonus equal to your Constitution bonus or +6, whichever is higher. Furthermore, any time you take hit point damage from your delayed damage pool, reduce the hit point damage by an amount equal to your class level + your Constitution bonus.
Multifaceted Stratagem Processes (Ex): At 9th level, having finally become comfortable with the heuristic architecture of their Transgnostic Tactics Upgrade, the truesteel chaplain becomes capable of unparalleled tactical flexibility. They may now activate two stratagems as a single swift action, and maintain up to two stratagems at once. When activating more than one stratagem, make a separate Martial Lore check to confirm if they activate.
Meticulous Onslaught Paradigm (Ex): At 10th level, the truesteel chaplain has internalised their patron's perfected art of war, manifesting this heightened understanding in the form of a unique martial stance. They may take a swift action to lose the benefits of their current stance and gain the benefits of this one. Whilst in the Meticulous Onslaught Paradigm stance, the truesteel chaplain may replace their weapon damage die with Martial Lore checks, and deal damage equal to the result plus all their usual melee damage modifiers. Furthermore, once per turn they may add a number of points to their delayed damage pool up to their Martial Lore ranks as a free action.
As a final benefit, this stance also allows the truesteel chaplain to, as a free action once per round, take hit point damage that bypasses their delayed damage pool equal to a Martial Lore check in order to gain an additional use of their Smite class feature. This additional use must be used in the current encounter or be lost.
This stance is considered to belong to the Devoted Spirit, Iron Heart, Iron Tortoise and White Raven disciplines.
New Deity: The War Machine
The Tactician, The Onslaught, The Iron One
Lesser Deity
Symbol: The War Machine’s own ghulra on an iron circle.
Home Plane: The Concordant Domains of the Outlands.
Alignment: Lawful Neutral.
Portfolio: Warforged, war, ghulra, metalwork, tactics, the magic required for warforged creation.
Worshippers: Warforged, smiths, strategists, mercenaries.
Cleric Alignments: LN, N.
Domains: Artifice, Law, Magic, Metal, Planning, Protection, Rune, War.
Favoured Weapon: The War Machine, a set of artifact warforged components. Clerics of The War Machine who select the War domain gain Weapon Focus (embedded components).
New Special Material: Truesteel
An alloy of adamantine, mithral and Acheronian iron developed by the War Machine, truesteel is a king amongst metals. Weapons forged from truesteel ignore the first 5 points of hardness or damage reduction that their target possesses. Light armour and shields fashioned from truesteel grant a +1 deflection bonus to AC in addition to its armour or shield bonus, whilst medium armour and heavy shields grant a +2 deflection bonus and heavy armour grants a +3 deflection bonus. However, truesteel's greatest benefit is that it longs to be used in war. Truesteel items never impose non-proficiency penalties on their wielder or wearer, the metal practically dancing into position of its own volition.
Being such a rare metal, truesteel is accordingly expensive and thus never used to produce items of less than masterwork quality (the cost of the masterworking is including in the prices given below). Thus, truesteel weapons and ammunition have a +1 enhancement bonus on attack rolls, and the armour check penalty of truesteel armour is lessened by 1 compared to ordinary armour of its type. Items without metal parts cannot be made from truesteel. An arrow could be made of truesteel, but a quarterstaff could not.
Truesteel is lighter and less cumbersome than iron or steel, though not so light as mithral. Armour forged of truesteel increases its maximum Dexterity bonus to AC by 1, and decreases armour check penalties by 1 (in addition to the masterwork reduction) and arcane spell failure by 10%.
Only weapons, armour, and shields normally made of metal can be fashioned from adamantine. Weapons, armour and shields normally made of steel that are made of adamantine have one-third more hit points than normal. Truesteel has 35 hit points per inch of thickness and hardness 20.
Type of Truesteel ItemItem Cost Modifier
Ammunition+55 gp
Light Armour+4,750 gp]
Medium Armour+9,500 gp
Heavy Armour+14,250 gp
Weapon+2,850 gp
Shield+1,650 gp
Notes
This class is mostly a re-imagining of my old Machine Chaplain of Redoubt (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?89724-Machine-Chaplain-of-Redoubt-(PEACH)), making use of my greater system familiarity and the wonder that is the Tome of Battle.
My main balance concerns with the class are the stratagems, especially any that replace rolls with a skill check. I'm also considering going back to a model where the chaplain only learns a selection of the stratagems, rather than all of them. Comments on these in particular are requested, though any commentary is of course welcomed.
http://i537.photobucket.com/albums/ff334/SoullessEnigma/Truesteel%20Exarch_zps9tvyiwv4.png
"Do not waver. Do not falter. Do not doubt. War is come, and only together shall we survive." – Rook, truesteel chaplain.
Faith is a complicated concept for many warforged. Few select a patron deity - even those warforged who draw on divine magic seem to prefer venerating concepts to gods. However, when the living constructs do find a faith, they hold to it with an iron will.
Few gods reward their dedication as much as the War Machine.
A martial deity dedicated to strategy and with a great affection for the warforged as race, the War Machine pays close attention to his rare few crusaders and champions, rewarding those who demonstrate competence by directly upgrading their bodies and providing remote yet thorough training on combat tactics and strategy. These elite champions are the truesteel chaplains, warriors for whom every decision taken on the battlefield is a paean to their god, every victory a sacrifice in his name, every ally still standing once the dust clears a hymn to their deity's glory.
War is come. The truesteel chaplains intend to be ready.
HD: d10
Requirements
Race: Warforged
Base Attack Bonus: +6
Skills: Diplomacy 8 ranks, Intimidate 8 ranks, Martial Lore 8 ranks.
Feats: Any one Warforged feat.
Class Features: Smite 1/day, Steely Resolve 10
Maneuvers: Must have knowledge of three maneuvers of the Devoted Spirit or White Raven disciplines, including one stance.
Patron Deity: The War Machine
Class Skills: Balance (Dex), Climb (Str), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Knowledge [history] (Int), Knowledge [religion] (Int), Martial Lore (Int), Profession (Wis) and Ride (Dex).
Skill points per level: 4 + Intelligence modifier, minimum 1.
LevelBABFortRefWillSpecial
1+1+2+0+2Transgnostic Tactics Node, Truesteel Body
2+2+3+0+3Dedicated Stratagem Database
3+3+3+1+3Resolute Interpositioning Posture, Steely Resolve +5
4+4+4+1+4Truesteel Body Refinement
5+5+4+1+4Ringing Anvil Onslaught
6+6+5+2+5Optimal Stratagem Library
7+7+5+2+5Steely Resolve +5
8+8+6+2+6Truesteel Body Optimisation
9+9+6+3+6Multifaceted Stratagem Processes
10+10+7+3+7Meticulous Onslaught Paradigm
LevelMan. KnownMan. ReadiedStances Known
1st000
2nd100
3rd011
4th100
5th000
6th111
7th000
8th100
9th011
10th100
Class Features
All the following are class features of the truesteel chaplain.
Weapon and Armour Proficiency: Truesteel chaplains gain no new weapon or armour proficiencies.
Maneuvers: At 2nd, 4th, 6th, 8th and 10th levels, the truesteel chaplain gains new maneuvers known from the Devoted Spirit, Iron Heart, Iron Tortoise (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?160377-3-5-Iron-Tortoise-(v2)-a-shieldfighter-s-discipline-ToB-LoB-Discipline) or White Raven disciplines. You must meet a maneuver's prerequisite to learn it. You add your full truesteel chaplain levels to your initiator level to determine your total initiator level and your highest-level maneuvers known.
At 3rd, 6th and 9th levels, you gain additional maneuvers readied per day.
Stances: At 3rd, 6th and 9th levels, the truesteel chaplain learns a new martial stance from the Devoted Spirit, Iron Heart, Iron Tortoise or White Raven disciplines. They must meet the stance's prerequisites to learn it.
Transgnostic Tactics Node (Ex): At 1st level, the War Machine installs a library of tactical information and battlefield simulations in its chaplains as part of the process of reforging their bodies (see the Truesteel Body class feature below), laying the groundwork for greater strategical flexibility. You may now use your Intelligence bonus (if any) to your Will save rather than your Charisma bonus to determine the benefits of your Indomitable Soul class feature if you so desire. Similarly, your Smite class feature may now add your Intelligence bonus to attack rolls rather than your Charisma bonus, and you may add your truesteel chaplain levels to your crusader levels to determine your Smite's damage bonus.
Furthermore, at the start of each encounter you may designate one of your readied maneuvers. For the duration of this encounter, this maneuver is always included amongst initially granted maneuvers whenever your maneuvers refresh. The rest of your granted maneuvers are determined randomly as normal.
Truesteel Body (Ex): At 1st level, the War Machine has selected you as one of its foremost champions, and it reforges your body to better withstand the travails of the battlefield, reforging your composite plating from truesteel. If you possess a Warforged feat that modifies your composite plating, you immediately lose that feat and may select another feat you meet the prerequisites in its place.
Your new truesteel plating provides you with a +6 armour bonus to AC and grants you immunity to damage from rusting grasp and the touch of a rust monster. However, your base land speed is reduced to 25ft, and you are considered to be wearing heavy armour. You have a +6 maximum Dexterity bonus to AC, a -2 armour check penalty and an arcane spell failure of 25%.
Dedicated Stratagem Database (Ex): At 2nd level, the truesteel chaplain's Transgnostic Tactics Node downloads additional information directly from the War Machine, adding great tactical flexibility to their repertoire. As a swift action that requires a successful Martial Lore check, you may initiate a stratagem, providing you and your allies within 60ft with a benefit for 5 rounds. You may only maintain one stratagem at time – beginning a new one terminates the bonuses of the previous one early. The DC of the Martial Lore check varies based on the stratagem, and many require the truesteel chaplain to be in a stance belonging to a specific discipline. Stratagems are sonic, language-dependent abilities, and so allies cannot benefit from them if they cannot hear or understand you. The Dedicated Stratagem Database provides access to the following stratagems:
Advanced Area Denial: DC 18, Iron Heart stance required. Whilst this stratagem is in effect, any enemy you or your allies damage with attacks of opportunity may be moved 5ft into any unoccupied space you desire. This extra movement does not provoke attacks of opportunity.
Calculated Rallying Cry: DC 18, Devoted Spirit stance required. Whilst this stratagem is in effect, at the start of your turn all your allies (but not you) gain fast healing equal to your current furious counterstrike bonus until the start of your next turn.
Opportune Footwork Directive: DC 20, White Raven stance required. Whilst this stratagem is in effect, you and your allies may make an additional 5ft step once per round as a swift action. If you beat the activation Martial Lore check by 10 or more, you and your allies can take this additional 5ft-step even if you have taken other movement on your turn.
Phalanx Reaping Methodology: DC 20, Iron Heart stance required. Whilst this stance is in effect, when you or your allies successfully damage an enemy with a melee attack, all other adjacent enemies take damage equal to your current furious counterstrike bonus.
Practiced Multidirectional Assault: DC 18, White Raven stance required. Whilst this stratagem is in effect, any foe adjacent to two or more of you and your allies is considered flanked, regardless of your positioning.
Proficient Evasion Program: DC 18, Iron Tortoise stance required. Whilst this stratagem is in effect, you and your allies add your current furious counterstrike bonus as a morale bonus to touch AC and Reflex saves. This bonus cannot raise your touch AC above your armoured AC.
Resolute Foeman Rebuke: DC 20, Devoted Spirit stance required. Whilst this stratagem is in effect, once per turn as a free action you may grant all allies benefiting from the stratagem a morale bonus on attack and damage rolls equal to your current furious counterstrike bonus until the start of your next turn.
Sublime Shieldwall Practice: DC 20, Iron Tortoise stance required. Whilst this stratagem is in effect, whenever you or an ally are adjacent to another ally, you and your allies in such positions gain a morale bonus to AC equal to your current furious counterstrike bonus and cannot be flanked.
Resolute Interposition Posture: At 3rd level, the truesteel champion learns to shield their allies from harm with a unique martial stance. They may take a swift action to lose the benefits of their current stance and gain the benefits of this one. Whilst in this stance, the truesteel chaplain may make a Martial Lore check as an immediate action to redirect melee attacks made against adjacent allies to themselves, with a DC equal to the attack's attack roll.
If the Martial Lore check is successful, the attack is then resolved against the truesteel chaplain using its original attack roll. If the truesteel champion successfully redirects an attack to themselves with this stance, they increase their furious counterstrike bonus on their next turn by their Intelligence bonus. The truesteel chaplain must be aware of an attack to interpose themselves to it, and cannot interpose themselves if a condition prevents them from taking immediate actions or keeps them immobile.
This stance is considered to belong to the Devoted Spirit, Iron Heart, Iron Tortoise and White Raven disciplines.
Steely Resolve (Ex): The truesteel chaplain's training never stops. At 3rd level, and again at 7th, your delayed damage pool increases its capacity by 5.
Truesteel Body Refinement (Ex): At 4th level, the War Machine refines the truesteel chaplain's body further. You may add your Intelligence bonus (if any) to AC instead of your Dexterity modifier, and you may add your armour bonus to AC to your touch AC.
Ringing Anvil Onslaught (Ex): At 5th level, the truesteel chaplain gains access to a unique martial strike much like those granted to martial adepts. This strike must be recovered and readied to use, just like any maneuver, and is considered to belong to the Iron Heart and Iron Tortoise disciplines.
Initiating this strike is a standard action. As part of this strike, make a normal melee attack. If your attack hits, you multiply your attack's base damage (weapon damage + your Strength modifier + furious counterstrike bonus) by an amount equal to your current furious counterstrike bonus +1. This strike never multiplies precision damage such as sneak attack, nor the bonus damage from Power Attack.
Optimal Stratagem Library (Ex): At 6th level, the truesteel chaplain receives another download of advanced tactical data from the War Machine, adding the following stratagems to the list of those they can use:
Absolute Area Denial: DC 25, Iron Heart stance required. Whilst this stratagem is in effect, any enemy you or your allies damage with attacks of opportunity may be moved up to 10ft into any unoccupied space you desire. This extra movement can provoke further attacks of opportunity.
Computed Rallying Cry: DC 35, Devoted Spirit stance required. Whilst this stratagem is in effect, at the start of your turn all your allies (but not you) gain fast healing equal to your current furious counterstrike bonus plus your Intelligence bonus until the start of your next turn. In addition, you may make an additional Martial Lore check as a standard action. Doing so restores hit points to you and your allies equal to your check result.
Designated Targeting Directive: DC 35, White Raven stance required. Designate one enemy as the target of this stratagem upon activating it. Whilst this stratagem is in effect, when you and your allies make attack rolls against the target, you may treat your d20 roll as an 11 instead of rolling. However, you and your allies are considered flat-footed against all other foes than the designated target for the duration of the stratagem.
Perfected Multidirectional Assault: DC 25, White Raven stance required. Whilst this stratagem is in effect, any foe adjacent to two or more of you and your allies is considered flanked, regardless of your positioning. In addition, the attack bonus gained by you and your allies whilst flanking an enemy is equal to your Intelligence bonus or +2, whichever is higher.
Precalculated Offensive Pattern: DC 35, Iron Heart stance required. Whilst this stratagem is in effect, you and your allies replace your weapon damage rolls with the result of the Martial Lore check you made to activate this stratagem.
Relentless Foeman Rebuke: DC 25, Devoted Spirit stance required. Whilst this stratagem is in effect, once per turn as a free action you may grant all allies benefiting from the stratagem a morale bonus on attack and damage rolls equal to your current furious counterstrike bonus until the start of your next turn. In addition, any enemies damaged by you or your allies must make a Will save or become shaken. The save DC is equal to the current size of your delayed damaged pool plus your Intelligence bonus.
Sorcery-Foiling System: DC 35, Iron Tortoise stance required. Whilst this stratagem is in effect, you and your allies gain a morale bonus to touch AC and all saving throws equal to your current furious counterstrike bonus. Furthermore, enemies you and your allies threaten cannot cast defensively.
Supernal Shieldwall Practice: DC 25, Iron Tortoise stance required. Whilst this stratagem is in effect, whenever you or an ally are adjacent to another ally, you and your allies in such positions gain a morale bonus to AC equal to your current furious counterstrike bonus plus your Intelligence bonus, and cannot be flanked.
Transgnostic Tactics Upgrade (Ex): At 7th level, the War Machine rebuilds your mental architecture, allowing exceptional strategical forethought. At the start of an encounter, you may now designate a number of your readied maneuvers equal to your Intelligence bonus, rather than 1. Select an order for them to be granted to you for the rest of the encounter. Throughout the duration of the encounter, the selected maneuvers are always granted to you in the order that you designate, with any remainder being given out randomly as normal.
Truesteel Body Optimisation (Ex): At 8th level, the War Machine upgrades your composite plating yet again. Your truesteel body now provides an armour bonus equal to your Constitution bonus or +6, whichever is higher. Furthermore, any time you take hit point damage from your delayed damage pool, reduce the hit point damage by an amount equal to your class level + your Constitution bonus.
Multifaceted Stratagem Processes (Ex): At 9th level, having finally become comfortable with the heuristic architecture of their Transgnostic Tactics Upgrade, the truesteel chaplain becomes capable of unparalleled tactical flexibility. They may now activate two stratagems as a single swift action, and maintain up to two stratagems at once. When activating more than one stratagem, make a separate Martial Lore check to confirm if they activate.
Meticulous Onslaught Paradigm (Ex): At 10th level, the truesteel chaplain has internalised their patron's perfected art of war, manifesting this heightened understanding in the form of a unique martial stance. They may take a swift action to lose the benefits of their current stance and gain the benefits of this one. Whilst in the Meticulous Onslaught Paradigm stance, the truesteel chaplain may replace their weapon damage die with Martial Lore checks, and deal damage equal to the result plus all their usual melee damage modifiers. Furthermore, once per turn they may add a number of points to their delayed damage pool up to their Martial Lore ranks as a free action.
As a final benefit, this stance also allows the truesteel chaplain to, as a free action once per round, take hit point damage that bypasses their delayed damage pool equal to a Martial Lore check in order to gain an additional use of their Smite class feature. This additional use must be used in the current encounter or be lost.
This stance is considered to belong to the Devoted Spirit, Iron Heart, Iron Tortoise and White Raven disciplines.
New Deity: The War Machine
The Tactician, The Onslaught, The Iron One
Lesser Deity
Symbol: The War Machine’s own ghulra on an iron circle.
Home Plane: The Concordant Domains of the Outlands.
Alignment: Lawful Neutral.
Portfolio: Warforged, war, ghulra, metalwork, tactics, the magic required for warforged creation.
Worshippers: Warforged, smiths, strategists, mercenaries.
Cleric Alignments: LN, N.
Domains: Artifice, Law, Magic, Metal, Planning, Protection, Rune, War.
Favoured Weapon: The War Machine, a set of artifact warforged components. Clerics of The War Machine who select the War domain gain Weapon Focus (embedded components).
New Special Material: Truesteel
An alloy of adamantine, mithral and Acheronian iron developed by the War Machine, truesteel is a king amongst metals. Weapons forged from truesteel ignore the first 5 points of hardness or damage reduction that their target possesses. Light armour and shields fashioned from truesteel grant a +1 deflection bonus to AC in addition to its armour or shield bonus, whilst medium armour and heavy shields grant a +2 deflection bonus and heavy armour grants a +3 deflection bonus. However, truesteel's greatest benefit is that it longs to be used in war. Truesteel items never impose non-proficiency penalties on their wielder or wearer, the metal practically dancing into position of its own volition.
Being such a rare metal, truesteel is accordingly expensive and thus never used to produce items of less than masterwork quality (the cost of the masterworking is including in the prices given below). Thus, truesteel weapons and ammunition have a +1 enhancement bonus on attack rolls, and the armour check penalty of truesteel armour is lessened by 1 compared to ordinary armour of its type. Items without metal parts cannot be made from truesteel. An arrow could be made of truesteel, but a quarterstaff could not.
Truesteel is lighter and less cumbersome than iron or steel, though not so light as mithral. Armour forged of truesteel increases its maximum Dexterity bonus to AC by 1, and decreases armour check penalties by 1 (in addition to the masterwork reduction) and arcane spell failure by 10%.
Only weapons, armour, and shields normally made of metal can be fashioned from adamantine. Weapons, armour and shields normally made of steel that are made of adamantine have one-third more hit points than normal. Truesteel has 35 hit points per inch of thickness and hardness 20.
Type of Truesteel ItemItem Cost Modifier
Ammunition+55 gp
Light Armour+4,750 gp]
Medium Armour+9,500 gp
Heavy Armour+14,250 gp
Weapon+2,850 gp
Shield+1,650 gp
Notes
This class is mostly a re-imagining of my old Machine Chaplain of Redoubt (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?89724-Machine-Chaplain-of-Redoubt-(PEACH)), making use of my greater system familiarity and the wonder that is the Tome of Battle.
My main balance concerns with the class are the stratagems, especially any that replace rolls with a skill check. I'm also considering going back to a model where the chaplain only learns a selection of the stratagems, rather than all of them. Comments on these in particular are requested, though any commentary is of course welcomed.