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0rion79
2007-04-25, 01:11 AM
http://www.savefile.com/files/521551.

Hello, from the link above you may download a new homebrew rules set in excell format (Microsoft Office application) that I made after some good inspiraton from some pals from Wizards of the Coast forum.
I apologize, since for some unknown reasons, even coded text format does not keep its original shape and tables are a bit messy to read, so for a better understanding I suggest the reader to download the excell document first.
It is a bit long but, if you are interested, post any comment here. Thanks!

Index (contnents below):

1 - thanks & credits
2 - general changes to dodge, spellcasting, maneuvers & stances.
3 - base classes revision: barbarian, bard, cleric, druid, fighter, monk, paladin, ranger, rogue, sorcerer, wizard.
4 - new feats and fixes for official feats
5 - spells revision: banned spells and new spells

Caelestion
2007-04-26, 09:36 AM
Well, you could have posted the main points of your thread, rather than just a link. It might give people something to talk about.

Catch
2007-04-26, 10:41 AM
Well, you could have posted the main points of your thread, rather than just a link. It might give people something to talk about.

Especially since the Wizards boards are down for maintenance.

0rion79
2007-04-27, 01:59 AM
Contnents:

AS: I apologize in advance for any grammar or typing mistake I have done, and even for bad text formatting, but english is not my mother language and I've been forced to use my own manuals written in my own language, that I have had to re-translate in english using only my intuition. Please, try to concentrate on contnent only, ignoring the writing style. If you have any comment, suggestion or want to help me with english, mail me at [email protected], thanks. In addition to this guide, you may want to download the original excell table (with a better tables paging) or my Renewed animal compendium from http://www.savefile.com/files/521551.

Huge thanks to...
ContinuityLapse, since he did the first step to empower the fighter class, using some Warblade class abilities and gave me the motivation to complete this work.
Wizard of the Coast forum guys, that helped and improved both Szatany and C.L.'s with feedback and that, at the end, helped me too. And very special thanks goes to Szatany since her ideas, that I've found on wikipedia at http://www.liquidmateria.info/wiki/index.php?title=Ultimate_Classes, have been of great inspiration even if I think
that some of them are too complicated and unbalancing. That's why I have done a re-adaptation work to merge some S' good ideas to fit again the D&D 3.5 world.
So, thanks again for the "essence pool" idea, and for many of the new bardic songs, as well some of the new rogue or ranger class abilities, even if maybe some of the S' ideas has been useful to me for brainstorming purposes only. Those are not copyrighted informations and I did this guide only for fun, and to help other DM and players that had troubles dealing with high-level characters and some classes that are overshadowing the others, not for money or fame. So, in this first page, I rightfully
thank Szatany and the other players for their indirect help that influenced approximately 30% of the changes, to show them the proper respect and gratitude.

Orion's new base classes and feats collection
The purpose of those homebrew rules is to bring more balance to the most wonderful RPG ever. Since the basic classes are somehow unbalanced, with an overpower of the spellcasters, these rules not only reduce the spellcasters' power fixing some broken spell, but they reinforce the basic classes and races with new additions taken from the Wizard of the Coasts forum and from the Book of 9 swords, plus personal re-elaborations after years of dungeon-mastering.

Races:
Dwarves: if a dwarf has the feat: "martial weapon proficiency: all" and that character has access to any manoeuvres, that character gains access to Stone Dragon manoeuvres too. This ability is a racial ability.
Humans grant a +1 readied manoeuvre or +1 stance at first level to classes that already owns them, in addition to the standard bonus feat and extra skill points.
Halflings have low-light vision.
Half-orcs consider the exotic weapon "orcish double axe" as a martial weapon if they are already proficient with all martial weapons.
Elves obtain the bonus feat "weapon focus" for one of the weapons that are part of their elvish traditions if they gain levels into a class that grants the proficiency in all martial weapons. For example, if an elf stats as a ranger (or barbarian, fighter, paladin ecc…), he gains "weapon focus" with the longsword, or the rapier, or the longbow, or the shortbow.
FAQ: Half Elves are almost useless. They must be considered as a 2nd generation result between two half-elves and known as "pure half-elves". A player is now free to play an half-elf with the same racial abilities owned by humans OR elves, for interpretation purposes only. Pure half-elves are, by fact, useful only to qualify a character for elfish prestige classes that require an unbalanced multiclass character without wizard levels and elvish heritage.
An easy rule to better understand base classes:
regardless from its potential, each class may be seen as a profession too and each character interacts with the surrounding universe in a different way accordingly with his or her total class level. A 1st level character is a common normal being but there is a sensible difference from 10h level, after which characters are able to do things that are already beyond the human limits, even if not at epic levels yet. This is very important to realize that even non-spellcasting classes must be able to do outstanding things after 10th level, where spellcasters begin to learn some of the most important spells ever.

Class Level social status & potential
1 - 2 common mortal or apprentice
3 - 5 expert
6 - 10 grand master
11 - 20 mighty being (hero, force of law or chaos, feral killer ecc…)

General class changes:
Some classes do have variations that must not be considered as prestige classes but like the kits from AD&D 2nd edition, that are described together with the class.
- Dodge bonus: every character that wished to reach the top of his or her class abilities needs to venture and practice outside a school or academy, so being exposed to danger. For this reason, every character gains a dodge bonus to his or her base armour class equal to the number of his or her extra attacks, accordingly with his or her base attack bonus. In other words, a 20-level fighter has 3 extra attacks and the has a +3 dodge bonus to his AC, while a wizard only +1. This bonus is cumulative with all other dodge bonuses, extra attacks like from multiple natural weapons, 2-weapons fighting style or the monk's flurry of blows do not increase this bonus and this bonus works exactly like the "dodge" feat: if the character is attacked by more than one foe, he or she must declare at the beginning of his or her round against which foe he or she want to use his dodge bonus to AC. Characters with a dodge bonus greater than 3 may choose to "split" it against multiple foes. For example, a character with a dodge bonus equal to 3 that is fighting against 4 foes may choose to keep all of it against only one of them or to split it to better react to the attacks of 3 of them, but cannot use is dodge bonus against the attacks of the 4th foe.
- Spellcasting: every spell that affects a living target or an object and with a duration greater than instant, now affects the casting of further spells. For every active spell, a spellcaster must succeed a concentration check against a difficulty class equal to the sum of those spells levels or the new casted spell fizzles. For example, if a male wizard has stoneskin and shield active upon himself, mage armour active on a friendly monk and hold person active on a foe, the wizard has a DC = to 4+1+1+3 = 9. There is no risk of critical failure so, as long as a spellcaster has a concentration score at least equal to the total DC, there is no need to roll any die, but this penalty stacks with any other penalty received in other circumstances, like damage received from an opportunity attack or casting defensively a new spell. High constitution and feats may reduce this penalty.
- Manoeuvres and stances: manoeuvres and stances are an optional rule that enhances melee characters with special, almost magical moves that enhance their fighting
skills especially at almost-epic levels. They are an optional rule, but still a recommended one even if they make the game somehow a bit more complicated. They are almost as described in the 9 swords handbook. The main change is about the role-playing interpretation of the division among known and readied manoeuvres. Every character in fact, even the most skilled one, always tries to prepare himself to the battle and to anticipate the dangers that he or she thinks will find.
Simply, if a character needs to use a manoeuvre but he hasn't it readied yet, that means that he or she has been caught by surprise by circumstances that he or she was not expecting, and failed to predict them. A short time is needed to understand what's happening and to reorganize his or her mind.
Manoeuvres are part of a primary melee character training. Secondary melee characters like rogues and bards have a more limited access to them, while primary spellcasters with the average base attack bonus have a limited access to stances only but not to manoeuvres, even if they have the basic martial competences to enhance a primary warrior class manoeuvres selection. Primary spellcasters with the bad base attack bonus, like wizards and sorcerers, are simply untrained to the
use of any manoeuvre or stance. To qualify for manoeuvres, in the Book of 9 swords, each class has its own class manoeuvres school and each manoeuvre and stance requires that character class to be
at the same level. Simply replace the word "warblade, swordsage or crusader" with your character class if that class has access to that manoeuvres school. There is an exception for rogues, clerics, bards and druids: except for 1st level manoeuvres and stances, those classes must have a base attack bonus equal to the primary warrior class level that is required to access to that manoeuvre or stance, in addition to other prerequisites. For example, if a White Raven manoeuvre requires a Crusader level = 10, your bard needs to be at least at 14th level to qualify for that manoeuvre. Other prerequisites and multiclass character rules are unchanged. Only note that only character classes that share the same manoeuvres school do stack to determine the required level to qualify for that school manoeuvres.
The number of readied and known manoeuvres granted by each class stacks to determine the total number of known manoeuvres uses per fight. Manoeuvres and stances are exhausting for the character that uses them and are regained after every fight if that character has the time to rest for at least 5 minutes, except if written otherwise.
If you want to use those extra rules, simply take a look to the Book of 9 swords and use this table as quick reference to determine what manoeuvres are available to each D&D 3.5 base class. Only remember that manoeuvres are an optional class ability but, if you use it for characters, use it for monsters with character classes as well.
Each class' maneuvres & stances, if any, are indicated together with that class' skills, HD and weapon/armor proficiencies.

0rion79
2007-04-27, 02:03 AM
Barbarian


base attack saving throw dodge maneuvers Stances
Level bonus fort ref will bonus special known readied known
1° +1 +2 +1 +0 Fast Movement, illiterate, 1 1 0
Barbaric Rage x1
2° +2 +3 +1 +0 uncanny dodge 1 1 0
3° +3 +3 +2 +1 Feel danger +1 2 1 1
4° +4 +4 +2 +1 Barbaric Rage x 2 2 1 1
5° +5 +4 +2 +1 Improved Uncanny Dodge 3 1 1
6° +6/+1 +5 +3 +2 +1 Feel danger +2 3 2 1
7° +7/+2 +5 +3 +2 Damage Reduction 1/- 4 2 1
8° +8/+3 +6 +4 +2 Barbaric Rage x 3 4 3 2
9° +9/+4 +6 +4 +3 Feel danger +3 5 3 2
10° +10/+5 +7 +5 +3 Damage Reduction 2/- 5 4 2
11° +11/+6/+1 +7 +5 +3 +2 Improved Rage 6 4 2
12° +12/+7/+2 +8 +6 +4 Barbaric Rage x 4, 6 4 2
Feel danger +4
13° +13/+8/+3 +8 +6 +4 Damage Reduction 3/- 7 4 2
14° +14/+9/+4 +9 +6 +4 Wild Will 7 4 2
15° +15/+10/+5 +9 +7 +5 Feel danger +5 8 4 2
16° +16/+11/+6/+1 +10 +7 +5 +3 Barbaric Rage x 5, 8 5 3
Damage Reduction 4/-
17° +17/+12/+7/+2 +10 +7 +5 Indefatigable Rage 9 5 3
18° +18/+13/+8/+3 +11 +8 +6 Feel danger +6 9 5 3
19° +19/+14/+9/+4 +11 +8 +6 Damage Reduction 5/- 10 5 3
20° +20/+15/+10/+5 +12 +9 +6 Mighty Rage, Barbaric Rage x 6 10 5 3
rank good good average poor good average

Hit Die: d12
Skill points per level: 4
Class Skills: (same in player handbook).
Weapon and armor proficiencies: All simple and martial weapons; light and medium armors, and shields (but not tower shields).
Available maneuvers & Stances type: Desert Wind (Tumble), Stone Dragon (Balance), Tiger Claw (Jump)

The Barbarian

Generalities: barbarians are the strongest fighters among the wild tribes. Born to defend their brothers and sisters from invaders or to live in the name of the war and the honor of the fight, it doesn't matter: barbarian warriors are unstoppable foes that are forged by a hard life in doing better what is really needed into a 1 vs. 1 fight: dealing damage and resisting blows.
Barbarians are characterized by a natural damage reduction, keen senses, great speed and, especially a rage ability that allows them to temporary increase they strength, endurance and mind with an adrenaline rush, that transform even the most good-hearted of them into a blind, killing machine.


Class special abilities:
Note: barbarian class abilities are almost all unchanged even if some of them have lightly different names. See Player Handbook I for details.

Indefatigable Rage: At this moment, a barbarian reduces by half the time needed to recover from the "fatigued" condition caused by his or her rage. Still that condition can't be completely avoided, since it is a physical process that may be only partially trained.
Damage reduction (Ex): a barbarian is instinctively able to optimize the use of his armor to reduce the damage received by physical sources (so, any weapon but not magical or elemental damage). Since it is instinct that leads the barbarian's actions, the use of this ability is automatic whenever the barbarian receives damage. The only exception is when the barbarian wears no armor. Then, the damage reduction applies only against non-lethal attacks and is reduced by 1/2, rounded down even to zero, against natural weapons and bludgeoning weapons.

Variation: The Skald, an alternative non-raging barbarian
Imaging a barbarian, people erroneously thinks only to raging devils able only to smash foes with their huge weapons and their adrenaline rush, wild warriors who cares only about war, fighting and the glory that comes from them. But not all the barbarian tribes are like that and there are others that adopted a more quite living style, more in peace with the rest of the word and with nature, uncontaminated souls never corrupted by the "human" civilization. Among those tribes is more possible to find a "skald", an elite warrior and tribe defender.
Description: in short, a skald is exactly like a barbarian but with some differences: it does fight with one melee weapon and shield, no armor, and has some class abilities that replace damage reduction and barbaric rage.

What you loose: skalds are NOT proficient with medium armors. Skalds do not have neither barbaric rage nor damage reduction.

What you get:
Perfect Dodge (Ex), 1st: like a monk, a skald rely only on his or her reflexes to dodge attacks. A skald doesn't need to declare against which foe(s) he or she will use the dodge bonuses but the whole bonus applies against all foes at once. More, a skald increases that bonus faster than other classes, gaining a +1 dodge bonus to AC at 4th level and every next 4 levels, for a total bonus equal to +5 . If the skald wears any armor, or tower shield, but not any other kind of shield, all those bonuses are lost. More, at 1st level, a skald adds his or her Intelligence bonus, if any, to his or her armor class. This bonus can't be greater than 2 at 1st level, but this limit is raised by 1 every 5 levels.
Skald's Battlecry (Ma.), 1st: The skald is his or her tribe's champion: he or she is made stronger by the trust that the tribe puts into his or her. More, the skald represents his or her tribe's culture and years of traditions: mystical battlesongs imbued with deep meaning of honor and trusting increase the skald's abilities in combat, as well the ones of his or her allies. Skald levels counts as bard levels -4 to determine the effects of bardic music. Every skald may sing to activate some magic abilities coming from the bardic music effects list.
Extra class skill: perform (singing)
Battlecry Effects: (see Bardic Music effects, Player's handbook)
Inspire Courage (Perform rank: 3+): +1 to self and allies at saves vs charm and fear, +1 to attack rolls & damages. Advancement at 12th and every next 6 levels.
Inspire Greatness (Perform rank: 12+, level 13): +2d10 bonus HDs, +2 to hit rolls, +1 to fortitude saves. Advancement every next 3 levels.
Inspire Heroism (Perform rank: 18+, level 19): +4 to AC and saving throws. Advancement every next 3 levels (epic levels).
Note: skald levels stack with barbarian levels to determine the level of all non-rage or non-DR related class abilities. A skald under the effect of any rage or rage-like effect
looses all bonuses from Perfect Dodge and is unable to sing during the rage effects and when fatigued after being raged.

Behind the scene: originally, the barbarian was a pretty boring character and, like the other warrior classes, it had some troubles in competing with spellcasters at high
levels. Still, it was already effective in dealing damage and now, with the new feats and maneuvers, it is more balanced than before.

0rion79
2007-04-27, 02:03 AM
Bard

base attack saving throw dodge maneuvers Stances
Level bonus fort ref will bonus special known readied known
1° +0 +0 +2 +2 Bardic Knowledge, Spellcasting Special 1 1 0
2° +1 +0 +3 +3 Avoid Destiny 1 1 0
3° +2 +1 +3 +3 Familiar Special 2 1 0
4° +3 +1 +4 +4 Word is my muse 1° 2 1 0
5° +3 +1 +4 +4 2 1 0
6° +4 +2 +5 +5 Special 2 2 0
7° +5 +2 +5 +5 3 2 1
8° +6/+1 +2 +6 +6 +1 Bonus Feat 3 2 1
9° +6/+1 +3 +6 +6 Special 3 2 1
10° +7/+2 +3 +7 +7 Word is my muse 2°, 3 2 1
Great Composer +1
11° +8/+3 +3 +7 +7 Song Persistence 3 4 2 1
12° +8/+3 +4 +8 +8 Special 4 2 1
13° +9/+4 +4 +8 +8 4 2 1
14° +10/+5 +4 +9 +9 Bonus Feat 4 3 2
15° +11/+6/+1 +5 +9 +9 +2 Song Persistence 2 Special 5 3 2
16° +11/+6/+1 +5 +10 +10 Word is my muse 3° 5 3 2
17° +12/+7/+2 +5 +10 +10 5 3 2
18° +13/+8/+3 +6 +11 +11 Special 5 3 2
19° +14/+9/+4 +6 +11 +11 Song Persistence 1 6 3 2
20° +15/+10/+5 +6 +12 +12 Great Composer +2 6 3 2
rank average poor good good average poor

Hit Die: d6
Skill points per level: 6
Class Skills: Appraise (Int), Balance (Dex), Bluff (Cha), Climb (Str), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Decipher Script (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Disguise (Cha), Escape Artist (Dex), Gather Information (Cha), Hide (Dex), Jump (Str), Knowledge (all skills, taken individually) (Int), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Perform (all skills, taken individually) (Cha), Profession (Wis), Sense Motive (Wis), Sleight of Hand (Dex), Speak Language (n/a), Spellcraft (Int), Swim (Str), Tumble (Dex), and Use Magic Device (Cha).
Weapon and Armor proficiencies: A bard is proficient with all simple weapons, plus the longsword, rapier, sap, short sword, shortbow, and whip. Bards are proficient with light armour and shields (except tower shields). A bard ignores arcane spell failure caused by light armours when casting bard spells. A multiclass bard still incurs the normal arcane spell failure chance for arcane spells received from other classes.
Available maneuvers & Stances type: Setting Sun (Sense Motive), Shadow Hand (Hide), White Raven (Diplomacy).

The Bard

generalities: bards are masters of the magic that comes from music and, then, from heart, regardless if it is a good or evil one. They are appreciated for their artistic skills, as diplomatist or talkmen, storytellers and as nimble spies too, even if every bard feels an indomitable attraction toward adventuring and exploring the world, since it is their only real muse.
Even if bards are not warriors, the foes that underestimate their fighting skills are usually no longer alive to tell how they have been outsmarted in battle. Bards are agile 2nd-line fighters or average archers, but they can use their magic both to heal themselves and their allies or to boost their already good skills, becoming deadly machines, or even to charm and manipulate minds.

Class special abilities:

Bonus Feat: bards are a bit fighters, a bit arcane spellcasters. At 8th and 14th level, they receive a bonus feat, that may be selected from the wizard or the fighter list, but bard class does NOT qualify the bard for fighter-only or wizard-only feats, like weapon specialization.
Bardic Knowledge (Ex): bards are handymen, not specialized but extremely versatile characters with an innate curiosity toward the word. Whenever a bard invests skill points into a crossed-class skill, every invested points counts as one point in that skill like a class skill, instead than the 2x1 ratio of other classes. Still, the limit of points that you may invest is always equal to (your bard level/2)+3. This effect is in addition to the Bardic Knowledge main effect described in Player's Handbook.
Bardic Music (SU): Bards' music is special and has some kind of magical abilities strikes deeply the heart of the listener, with strong emotions. The effectiveness of these effects increases with experience and practice. Whenever a bard tells a story or a tale, that story or tale cannot be interrupted more than once, up to 5 minutes or the effects ends instantly and the bard has to start over. Once per day per bard level, plus his or her charisma bonus, the bard may use one of the following songs in addition (or replacement) to the ones described in the Player's Handbook.

A 1st level bard with 4+ ranks in Perform (chosen instrument or voice) skill, may…
Countersong (Su): an influenced ally may replace his or her saving throw vs. a sound-based spell or effect with the bard's perform total score (see player's handbook).
Fascinate (Sp): A bard can cause up to one creature per 3 ranks in his Perform skill to become fascinated with him. Each creature to be fascinated must be within 90 feet, able to see and hear the bard, and able to pay attention to him. The bard must also be able to see the creature. The distraction of a nearby combat or other dangers prevents the ability from working. Any creature affected by this ability can make Will save (DC 10 + half the ranks of bard’s Perform skill + bard’s Cha modifier) to ignore it. If a creature’s saving throw succeeds, the bard cannot attempt to fascinate that creature again for 24 hours. If its saving throw fails, the creature sits quietly and listens to the song, taking no other actions, for as long as the bard continues to play and concentrate (up to a maximum of 1 hour). While fascinated, a target takes a -4 penalty on skill checks made as reactions, such as Listen and Spot checks. Any potential threat allows a target to make another Will save. Any obvious threat, such as someone drawing a weapon, casting a spell, or aiming a ranged weapon at the target, automatically breaks the effect. Fascinate is an enchantment (compulsion), mind-affecting ability.
Incite (Su): As a full round action that doesn't provoke attacks of opportunity, a bard can incite a single creature within 60 feet. The victim must make a Will save (DC 10 + half the ranks of bard’s Perform skill + bard’s Cha modifier). If the victim fails the save, it flies into a rage for 1 round per bard's rank in Perform skill. While in rage, the victim suffers all the penalties of barbarian's rage, but none of the benefits, with one exception: the victim can still use abilities that require focus or concentration (such as spellcasting), but only if she makes a DC 15 Concentration check prior to using such an ability. If a victim succeeds at its save, the bard cannot attempt to incite her again for 24 hours.
Inspire Courage (Su): +1 vs. charm and fear, +1 to attack rolls and damages. Those bonuses increase by one at 8th, 14th, and 20th.
Minor Spellsong (Sp): Choose one 0-level spell from bard’s list. He can cast this spell by spending one use of bardic music instead of a 0-level slot, if he makes a Perform check (DC 10). If he fails, bardic music is still spent and there is no effect.
Tale of Careful Thief (Su): Any creature with Intelligence 6 or more (including the bard) listening to the bard gains a +4 morale bonus on saving throws against one school of magic (of bard’s choice, same school for all characters) for the next 24 hours.
A 3rd level bard with 6+ ranks in Perform (chosen instrument or voice) skill, may …
Inspire Competence (Su): for one single ally, +2 competence bonus for one skill. (as in Player's Handbook).
A 6th level bard with 9+ ranks in Perform (chosen instrument or voice) skill, may …
Lesser Spellsong (Sp): Choose one 1st level spell from bard’s list. He can cast this spell by spending one use of bardic music, instead of a 1st level slot, if he makes a Perform check (DC 14). If he fails, bardic music is still spent and there is no effect.
Suggest(Su): 1 single creature suggested. Will saves vs. DC = 10 +(1/2 bard level) + Charisma bonus (as in Player's Handbook).
Tale of Hardships of Life (Su): Any creature with Intelligence 6 or more (including the bard) listening to the bard can ignore up to 4 points of penalties to abilities, saves, attack and damage rolls, and skill checks for the next 24 hours.
Tale of Overcoming Difficulties (Su): Any creature with Intelligence 6 or more (including the bard) listening to the bard can re-roll one failed saving throw at any time within next 24 hours. Anyone who does that must accept second result even if it’s worse than the original one.
A 9ht level bard with 12+ ranks in Perform (chosen instrument or voice) skill, may …
Inspire Greatness (Su): As a full round action that provokes attacks of opportunity, a bard grants a single ally within 60 ft. a +2 morale bonus on attack rolls, saving throws, and Damage Reduction 2/- for 1 round per rank of bard’s chosen Perform skill. The target can move away from the bard once she is affected. (This one replaces the one described into Player's Handbook).
A 12ht level bard with 15+ ranks in Perform (chosen instrument or voice) skill may …
Restive Spellsong (Sp): Choose one 2nd level spell from bard’s list. He can cast this spell by spending two uses of bardic music, instead of a 2nd level slot, if he makes a Perform check (DC 18). If he fails, bardic music is still spent and there is no effect.
Tale of freedom (Su): Break enchantment effect upon a single creature that is not the bard itself. (as in Player's Handbook).
Vexing Tune (Su): A bard can use this ability as an immediate action on a creature within 60 ft. If the target is casting a spell, using a supernatural ability, or otherwise performing action that would normally require a Concentration check to complete if the target suffered damage while attempting it, she must make a Concentration check opposed by the bard's Perform check. If she fails, the action is unsuccessful.
A 15ht level bard with18+ ranks in Perform (chosen instrument or voice) skill, may …
Inspire Heroics (Su): +4 morale bonus on saving throws and to AC upon one creature. +1 additional creature added every 3 levels thereafter. (as in Player's Handbook)
Potent Spellsong (Sp): Choose one 3rd level spell from bard’s list. He can cast this spell by spending two uses of bardic music, instead of a 3rd level slot, if he makes a Perform check (DC 22). If he fails, bardic music is still spent and there is no effect.
Tale of Resourceful Wanderer (Su): Any creature with Intelligence 6 or more (including the bard), listening to the bard, who has one or more abilities that are usable a limited number of times per day (spells do not qualify), can use those abilities one extra time per day each any time within the next 24 hours. A character cannot obtain more than one extra use of each ability per day, regardless to the uses of the "tale of resourceful wanderer": you can apply this song for a different ability for each use.
Vicious Lampoon (Su): As a full round action that provokes attacks of opportunity, a bard imposes a -3 penalty on attack and damage rolls, Will saves, and skill checks on a single foe within 60 ft. who fails a Will save (DC 10 + half the ranks of bard’s Perform skill + bard’s Cha modifier) for 1 round per rank of bard’s chosen Perform skill. The target is affected even if she leaves lampoon’s range.
A 18ht level bard with 21+ ranks in Perform (chosen instrument or voice) skill, may …
Great Spellsong (Su): Choose one 4th level spell from bard’s list. He can cast this spell by spending three uses of bardic music, instead of a 4th level slot, if he makes a Perform check (DC 26). If he fails, bardic music is still spent and there is no effect.
Mass Suggestion (Su): as Suggestion, but it is a mass effect. (as in Player's Handbook).
Tale of Potent Powers (Su): Any creature with Intelligence 6 or more (including the bard) listening to the bard adds +1 to DC of their special abilities (spells do not qualify) for the next 24 hours.
Tale of Powerful Magics (Su): Any creature with Intelligence 6 or more (including the bard) listening to the bard adds +1 to caster level of spells she casts (invocations do not qualify) for the next 24 hours.

Avoid Destiny (Su), 2nd: Once per day per bard level, a bard can use his uncanny talent to re-roll any Perform check. He must choose the new result even if it’s worse than the original one. As he gains levels, a bard can use his talent to do other things, all of them supernatural.
Familiar (Ex), 3rd: A bard may select a familiar as companion. See player handbook and Orion's Enhanced Animal Compendium for a list of extra familiars.
Word is my muse (Ex): Bard has sees and experiences a lot during his career and gets to know all kinds of people. He knows and can do many things that are normally reserved to other kinds of adventurers. At 4th, 12th, and 20th level, he gains special ability from the list below. Each foreigner ability can be selected only if the appropriate race or class exists in the setting. Whenever a foreigner ability grants a bonus on skill checks, it's a competence bonus. Each foreigner ability is extraordinary unless it grants supernatural ability of another class or race.
Culture of Dwarfs: He gains dwarven weapon familiarity and bonuses on Appraise and Craft checks. In addition, bard learns dwarven language.
Culture of Elves: He gains martial weapon proficiency: longbow or longsword and a +4 competence bonus on saves against sleep effects. In addition, bard learns elven language.
Culture of Giants: He gains rock throwing and rock catching abilities with rocks at least 2 size categories smaller than himself (a medium bard can throw tiny rocks, and so forth). In addition, bard learns giant language. Tiny rock deals 2d4 damage and has range increment of 80 ft. Only medium or bigger bards can take this ability.
Culture of Githzerai: He gains githzerai inertial armor ability and casts daze at +2 DC. In addition, bard learns githzerai language.
Culture of Gnomes: He gains gnomish weapon familiarity and bonus on Craft (alchemy) checks. In addition, bard also learns gnomish language.
Culture of Goliaths: He gains goliath mountain movement and bonus on Sense Motive checks. In addition, bard also learns Gol-Kaa.
Culture of Halflings: He gains halfling bonus on Climb, Jump and Move Silently checks. In addition, bard also learns halfling language.
Culture of Humans: All classes become favored for the bard.
Culture of Illumians: He gains all of illumian superior literacy. In addition, bard also learns illumian language.
Culture of Kobolds: He gains kobold bonus on Craft (trapmaking), Profession (miner), and Search checks. In addition, bard also learns kobold language.
Culture of Goblins: He gains +3 bonus on Move Silently and Ride checks. In addition, bard also learns goblin language.
Culture of Raptorans: He gains raptoran pact with wind lords and weapon familiarity. In addition, bard also learns to speak Tuilvilanuue.
Culture of Troglodytes: He gains Weapon Focus (javelin) as a bonus feat, a +2 bonus on saves against poison and nausea, and is immune to troglodyte stench. In addition, bard also learns draconic language.

Great Composer +1 (Ex), 10th: after many battles, heroic fights, amazing discoveries and unuque adventures, a bard has had the chance to write and improvise music for every kind of situation. Now, the bard is so good at it that can merge the effects of two songs in only one, for example telling how brave his or her friends are (inspire courage) AND singing of the epic efforts of his paladin friend (Inspire Greatness). In short, at 10th level, the bard can use 2 different bardic music effects at once, spending 2 baric music effects per day, 3 effects at once for 3 uses at 20th. A bard can't use Spellsongs tales in this way. There is another secondary effect: the persistence of the bardic songs is now greater and the bard may suspend.
Song Persistence (Ex), 11th: almost together with a greater expressiveness of heroic deeds, the effects of bardic songs persist more in the air because even the shortest sentence or rime is filled with a strong meaning and emotions. Due to this reason, the bard is now able to get small pauses during each use of bardic music, to drinking a potion, activate a magical object that requires a verbal command, or even casting a spell or use a Spellsong tale without interrupting the music effect. Still, this can't be done repetitively but, at 11th level, the bard has to "perform" at least to 3 rounds to keep up the effect before one break and another, 2 rounds at 15th and only 1 round at 19.
Note: those abilities, by fact, make useless some sub-feats from the Focused Performer feat.

Behind the scene: originally, the bard was a puny class. Let's admit it. No player loves to feel useless and to be overshadowed by primary spellcasters and the bardic music was a too weak ability, not versatile nor funny, to characterize the bard. Limited spell progression, spells that came too late than arcane spellcasters or clerics, too poor combat skills to be useful in war are all good reasons to dislike the bard. More, what's the use of diplomatic skills if there where spells that allowed to do better and faster? Now, those spells have been removed, bardic music is stronger and more powerful, and the bard has some extra class abilities that enhance the class without stealing any other class' role (nor entering a direct competition with them).

0rion79
2007-04-27, 02:04 AM
Cleric



base attack saving throw dodge Stances
Level bonus fort ref will bonus special known
1° +0 +1 +0 +2 Aura, divine energy x2, domains, 0
spellcasting, spontaneous casting
2° +1 +1 +0 +3 0
3° +2 +2 +1 +3 0
4° +3 +2 +1 +4 0
5° +3 +2 +1 +4 0
6° +4 +3 +2 +5 0
7° +5 +3 +2 +5 divine energy x 3 1
8° +5 +4 +2 +6 +1 1
9° +6/+1 +4 +3 +6 1
10° +7/+2 +5 +3 +7 extra domain, meditation. 1
11° +8/+3 +5 +3 +7 1
12° +8/+3 +6 +4 +8 1
13° +9/+4 +6 +4 +8 divine energy x 4 1
14° +10/+5 +6 +4 +9 2
15° +11/+6/+1 +7 +5 +9 +2 2
16° +11/+6/+1 +7 +5 +10 2
17° +12/+7/+2 +7 +5 +10 2
18° +13/+8/+3 +8 +6 +11 2
19° +14/+9/+4 +8 +6 +11 divine energy x 5 2
20° +15/+10/+5 +9 +6 +12 2
rank average average poor good average poor

Hit Die: d8
Skill points per level: 3
Class Skills: Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Heal (Wis), Knowledge (arcana) (Int), Knowledge (history) (Int), Knowledge (religion) (Int), Knowledge (the planes) (Int), Profession (Wis), and Spellcraft (Int).
Weapon and Armor proficiencies: All simple weapons; light, medium and heavy armors, and shields (but not tower shields).
Alignment restrictions: A cleric’s alignment must be within one step of his deity’s (that is, it may be one step away on either the lawful–chaotic axis or the good–evil axis, but not both). Exceptions are the clerics of St. Cuthbert (a lawful neutral deity), who may choose only between lawful good and lawful neutral for their alignment.
Extra languages: all churches teach to their clerics the celestial, abyssal and infernal languages.
Available Stances: Devoted Spirit (Intimidate), White Raven (Diplomacy).

The cleric

generalities: the cleric is a trained and devoted follower of a Deity, a strong guardian of the values connected with his or her faith. Clerics represent the most active members from a clergy, the ones that fulfill a Church's special tasks that cannot be assigned to priests, untrained for fighting and usually assigned to the most pacific duties required inside a church or a monastery, or the rest of the clergy, often nobles or bureaucrats.
Clerics are always devoted to their Deity and embrace all sides of their faith, but they are blessed with special powers, received directly from their Deity, accordingly with the sides of that faith that they pursuit more. Some clerics are the armored arm of their Church's law, others are expert in destroying or controlling undeads, others are pious healers or potent necromancers, but all of them are regarded with even stronger spells as long as their faith increases.
Thanks to his or her high wisdom and, often, charisma, clerics are born leaders, lore-experts, and a precious aid even for adventurers, that clerics often join to bring glory to their church and to spread their faith.

Class special abilities:
Aura (Ex): A cleric of a chaotic, evil, good, or lawful alignment has a particularly powerful aura corresponding to the alignment (see the detect evil spell for details).
Divine Energy (Su): A cleric's faith in his or her Deity is rewarded with a drop of divine energy that the cleric may use for different purposes. Divine energy is calculated into "faith points": every cleric starts with 2 faith points at 1st level, plus his or her charisma bonus or penalty. These points increase by one every 6 levels.
This is a list of what a cleric can do:
- Turn or rebuke undeads. A wave of divine energy allows good clerics to turn or destroy undead creatures, while evil clerics may rebuke or control them. (see player's handbook) Turn Undead is a standard action that does not provoke attacks of opportunity.
- Turn or rebuke a single undead creature. This attempt consumes 2 faith points but the cleric adds twice his or her charisma bonus +2 instead than only once, as usual.
- Deal 1d6 x cleric level of holy damage to all undeads in the area that a cleric could affect with a Turn Undeads attempt. Evil clerics adds instead 1d6 temporary HPs to the undeads that they already control.
- Stabilize self when on negative hit points (even if unconscious) as a full-round action.
- Re-roll a failed Heal check.

Spellcasting: A cleric casts divine spells, which are drawn from the cleric spell list. All clerics regain spells praying for an hour their Deity. Good clerics do it at dawn, evil ones at sunset, even if there are some exceptions depending upon a Deity's will. Clerics following a neutral Deity regain their spells praying accordingly with their Deity's will as well. A cleric that does not pray his or her Deity for more than 48 hours not only does not regain the lost spells, but his or her caster levels is lowered by 1 for every day that he or she misses the praying hour.
Clerics pray to receive a limited number of spells from their Deity, but it is always the cleric that chooses the spells that he or she needs.
A cleric always need a free hand to cast spells. That hand may even hold one item, like a weapon, but it must be free to touch the cleric's holy symbol while casting a spell. Divine magic does not require very precise movements and armors or shields do not hamper any divine spellcaster when casting a spell.
Domain: A cleric’s deity influences his alignment, what magic he can perform, his values, and how others see him. At 1st level, a cleric chooses two domains from among those belonging to his Deity. A cleric can select an alignment domain (Chaos, Evil, Good, or Law) only if his alignment matches that domain. A domain gives the cleric access to a domain spell at each spell level he can cast, from 1st to 9th, as well as a granted power. At 10th level a cleric gains one extra domain from those
granted by his or her Deity.
Spontaneous casting: Every cleric is blessed with divine energy that he or she may channel to spontaneously cast healing or harming spells. This is an ability owned by all clerics, that allows good clerics to convert as a free action a prepared spell into a "cure wounds" spell of the same level, while an evil cleric may convert a prepared spell into an "inflict wounds" spell. Neutral clerics must choose what kind of spells they may spontaneously cast at first level and no cleric may convert his or her domain spells. Note that this choice influences even the attitude of neutral clerics toward undeads: the ones that choose to heal may only turn or destroy undeads, while the ones that have chosen to harm may only rebuke or command them.
Alternatively, a cleric may choose to "loose" the traditional spontaneous casting. Instead, the cleric is able to convert any of his or her prepared not-domain spells into any of the domain spells that he or she knows.
Divine Meditation: A cleric's link with her Deity is now so strong and clear that a cleric may enter a trance condition to obtain an enlightenment from his or her Deity. A cleric requires a quiet and calm place, with an altar to pray. It can be done even simply placing the cleric's holy symbol upon a rudimental stone. For every hour spent in this way, up to 3 hours, a cleric may get a +5 divine bonus to a Knowledge (arcana, history, religion, or the planes) check for the purpose to obtain information about a single, specific matter.

Behind the scene: originally, the cleric was a flat and boring character to play. The new options only marginally increase the class power but allow an higher customization and more strategic choices.

0rion79
2007-04-27, 02:04 AM
Druid

base attack saving throw dodge Stances
Level bonus fort ref will bonus special known
1° +0 +1 +0 +2 Animal Companion, Nature sense, Wild Empathy 0
2° +1 +1 +0 +3 Step in the woods, Protected Ground. 0
3° +2 +2 +1 +3 Trackless Step 0
4° +3 +2 +1 +4 Resistance to Nature's Call 0
5° +3 +2 +1 +4 Wild Shape x1 0
6° +4 +3 +2 +5 Wild Shape x2 0
7° +5 +3 +2 +5 Wild Shape x3 1
8° +6/+1 +4 +2 +6 +1 Wild Shape (Big size) 1
9° +6/+1 +4 +3 +6 Venom Immunity 1
10° +7/+2 +5 +3 +7 Wild Shape x4 1
11° +8/+3 +5 +3 +7 Wild Shape (Diminutive) 1
12° +8/+3 +6 +4 +8 Wild Shape (Plants) 1
13° +9/+4 +6 +4 +8 1000 Faces 1
14° +10/+5 +6 +4 +9 Wild Shape x5 2
15° +11/+6/+1 +7 +5 +9 +2 Timeless Body, Wild Shape (Huge) 2
16° +11/+6/+1 +7 +5 +10 Wild Shape: Elemental x1 2
17° +12/+7/+2 +7 +5 +10 2
18° +13/+8/+3 +8 +6 +11 Wild Shape x6, Elemental Shape x2 2
19° +14/+9/+4 +8 +6 +11 2
20° +15/+10/+5 +9 +6 +12 Wild Shape x7, Elemental.x3, Huge Elemental. 2
rank average average poor good average poor

Hit Die: d8
Skill points per level: 4
Class Skills: Climb, Craft, Intimidate, Jump, Profession, Spot, Swim, Martial Lore (and special: see Favored Skills).
Weapon and Armor proficiencies: All simple weapons; light and medium, and shields (but not tower shields).
Available Stances: Devoted Spirit (Intimidate), Tiger Claw (Jump)

The Druid

generalities: the druid is the guardian of nature and equilibrium and devoted their whole lives to this cause, abandoning their civilized lands to become one single thing with "mother earth". Druids merge their souls with nature and/or are devoted to nature-connected Deities like Elonna or Obad-Hai and this link grant them special powers.
There are different kinds of druids and, even if all of them tend to equilibrium, many use the powers from nature to fulfill different goals (see alignment) that may be connected with nature, with the universal equilibrium or simply they may use those powers for personal reasons. Nature is not evil nor good: it is just nature.
Even if limited by their ceremonial weapons and a limited set of armors, druids are average warriors even without their magic but, when they choose to use it, they may release a great power: druids, in fact, may alter their shape gaining the strength and skills of wild animals, may unleash the fury of elements with devastating spells, are perhaps the best summoners among the spellcasters and may even control the most powerful elemental creatures. Still, they are somehow limited by a strong code of conduct and they are more proficient when in their own wild lands, instead than inside a building or a city of any kind.

Class special abilities:
Note: druid class abilities are almost all unchanged even if some of them may have lightly different names. See Player Handbook I for details.
List of changes:
Spontaneous Casting: Every druid has the power to request the aid of nature's allies and primeval elemental forces and he or she has a stronger attitude to summoning than other spellcasters but doing so he or she subtracts energies to nature. A summoned animal means that, somewhere else, that same animal has been placed into a stasis condition and "cloned" to help the druid. An intensive use of this ability causes a misbalance in the world and, for this reason, no druid can convert more than one spell of each level into a Summon Nature Ally spell per day.
Protected Ground (Ex): At 2nd level, a druid begins to learn how to take advantages from the kind of natural land where he or she lives or protects. A druid may select only one type of land, known as favored terrain. The druid gains a +1 circumstance bonus to balance, Climb, Hide, Knowledge (Nature, including lairs), Listen, Move Silently, Search, Spot, and Survival checks made within his favored kind of terrain. All bonuses increase by 1 every four levels.
Available terrains are: arctic, deserts, forests, hills, mountains, plains, seas, swamps, underground, but not urban. Those bonuses are halved, rounded down, when a druid is in a city that shares the same climate with the protected ground and is influenced by it (like a snow-covered nordic city for a druid wit protected ground: arctic).
Animal companion abilities: The druid may chose the animal among any CR 1 or lower animal or beast. The creature has the following special abilities, ad described in the player’s handbook:
- share spells: as long as both the druid and the companion are at least 1 square close, all spells that the druid casts upon him or herself are automatically forked on the companion as well.
- share evasion: as long any rider is upon the animal, assuming that it may be used as a mount, it is considered as a transported “object”, so if the animal succeeds a reflex save against an effect that automatically strikes both of them, the rider and all the transported characters gain the benefits of evasion/improved evasion.
- empathic link: telepathy into a range of 1,5 km, as described in the player’s handbook.
If a druid releases his or her animal companion from service, he or she may be granted a new one after 24 hours, or one hour of meditation.
Progression: Your companion gains the "magic beast" sub-type and, following you in all of your tasks, it becomes stronger with time. The animal gains 2 extra Hit Dices for every 3 druid levels beyond 1st, or 4th if it has not been chose at 1st level, together with +2 to Strength an Dexterity and +1 to Constitution and Wisdom, as if it was born with exceptionally high ability scores. There is no limit to the HDs that the creature may have in this way, since it is a nature’s gift, but the creature cannot reach a greater size than the one allowed by its race. In addition, at every advancement, the companion gains in order those abilities: evasion, devotion, multiattack, uncanny dodge, improved evasion, and DR 5/Magic & Spell resistance = (ranger level) +5. Even more, at every advancement, the animal companion gains 1 extra bonus command.
Alternative Animal Companion: With experience, a druid is able to obtain better animal companions. At 4th, 7th, 10th, 13th, 16th and 19th level a druid may chose any normal, dire or legendary animal with a Challenge Rating no greater respectively than 3, 6, 9, 12, 15 or 18. The creature list may be chosen from the Monster Manual, but selecting animals from Orion's Enhanced Animal Compendium is highly recommended. Alternatively, the animals available from Monster Compendium I are: (4th) ape, black bear, bison, boar, cheetah, crocodile, dire badger, dire bat, dire weasel, leopard, monitor lizard, large shark, constrictor snake, viper snake, large viper, or wolverine. (7th): brown bear, dire wolverine, giant crocodile, deinonychus, dire ape, dire boar, dire wolf, elasmosaurus, lion, rhinoceros, huge viper snake, or tiger. (10th): polar bear, dire lion, mega raptor, huge shark, giant constrictor snake, or orca whale. In case of an alternative animal companion, the druid level is considered equal to (X - Y), where X is the druid level that unlocks that kind of companion and Y is the CR of that creature. So, if a druid selects an alternative companion at 10th level and that animal has a CR = 9, it gains benefits like a 1st-level druid animal companion.

Behind the scene: originally, the druid was a very, very strong class. Now, it is still a good one, since the changes are very few, but the spontaneous spellcasting ability,
really too strong, has been reduced a little and the animal companion has been empowered a little bit, so now it is not useless at high levels and a druid is not forced to
trade his or her wolf for a t-rex for having a still competitive animal companion at high levels.

0rion79
2007-04-27, 02:05 AM
Fighter


base attack saving throw dodge maneuvers Stances
Level bonus fort ref will bonus special known readied known
1° +1 +2 +1 +0 bonus feat Weapon aptitude, 1 1 1
favored skills
2° +2 +3 +1 +0 bonus feat Tenacity +1 2 1 1
3° +3 +3 +2 +1 retraining Capable learner 2 1 1
4° +4 +4 +2 +1 bonus feat 3 1 1
5° +5 +4 +2 +1 bonus feat 3 2 1
6° +6/+1 +5 +3 +2 +1 retraining Combat prowess 4 2 2
7° +7/+2 +5 +3 +2 bonus feat 4 2 2
8° +8/+3 +6 +4 +2 bonus feat 5 2 2
9° +9/+4 +6 +4 +3 retraining 5 3 2
10° +10/+5 +7 +5 +3 bonus feat Combat mastery 6 3 2
11° +11/+6/+1 +7 +5 +3 +2 bonus feat Tenacity +2 6 3 2
12° +12/+7/+2 +8 +6 +4 retraining 7 3 2
13° +13/+8/+3 +8 +6 +4 bonus feat 7 4 2
14° +14/+9/+4 +9 +6 +4 bonus feat 8 4 3
15° +15/+10/+5 +9 +7 +5 retraining Combat virtuosity 8 4 3
16° +16/+11/+6/+1 +10 +7 +5 +3 bonus feat 9 4 3
17° +17/+12/+7/+2 +10 +7 +5 bonus feat 9 5 3
18° +18/+13/+8/+3 +11 +8 +6 retraining 10 5 3
19° +19/+14/+9/+4 +11 +8 +6 bonus feat 10 5 3
20° +20/+15/+10/+5 +12 +9 +6 bonus feat Combat supremacy, 11 5 3
tenacity +3
rank good good average poor good good

Hit Die: d10
Skill points per level: 4
Class Skills: Climb, Craft, Intimidate, Jump, Profession, Spot, Swim, Martial Lore (and special: see Favored Skills).
Weapon and Armor proficiencies: All simple and martial weapons; light, medium and heavy armors; and shields (including tower shields).
Available maneuvers & Stances type: Diamond Mind (Concentration), Iron Heart (Balance), Stone Dragon (Balance), Tiger Claw (Jump), White Raven (Diplomacy).

The Fighter

Generalities: The fighter represents the most pure and complete warrior. A fighter gains his strength solely from his intensive training, self-discipline, and dedication to the art of war. He becomes knowledgeable about everything related to the battlefield and expert like nobody else in the use of his chosen weapon(s). More, the fighter may be considered a tactical expert, specializing even with armors and/or shields and in tactical maneuvers, like tripping foes or sundering them.
For all those reasons, usually people think to the fighters as clever foes, difficult to outsmart in battle that merge their warrior skills with a cold-blooded personality.
When not testing his prowess in deadly combat, a fighter is most likely studying and training in techniques and skills that will allow him to maximize his potential on the battlefield.

Class special abilities:

Bonus Feats: Your dedication to the art of war allows you to learn a wide variety of combat techniques over the course of your career. At 1st level, you gain a bonus combat-oriented feat, drawn from the list of feats noted as Fighter bonus feats. You gain an additional feat from the same list at 2nd level and at each level thereafter except for those that are divisible by three (i.e. 3rd, 6th, 9th, 12th, 15th and 18th). These bonus feats are in addition to the feats that a character of any class gains every three levels. You are not restricted to the list of Fighter bonus feats when choosing these regular feats. A fighter may even "loose" some of his or her bonus feats for the special abilities described in the Player Handbook II.
Weapon Aptitude (Ex): You have the flexibility to adjust your weapon training. If you spend one hour in weapon practice, you may change the designated weapon for any feat you have that only applies to a single weapon (such as Weapon Focus). You must have the new weapon available during your practice session to make this change.
You can adjust any number of feats in this way, and you do not have to adjust them all the same way. However, you cannot change the weapon choices in such a way that you no longer meet the prerequisites for some other feat you possess. For instance, if you have both Weapon Focus (longsword) and Weapon Specialization (longsword), you cannot change the designated weapon for Weapon Focus unless you change the weapon for Weapon Specialization in the same way [ToB 22].
Favored Skills: Fighters are a diverse bunch. Your previous experience in life and training imparts on you an aptitude for a few special skills that you can go on to excel in both in and outside of combat. At 1st level, you may select up to two roles from the following list (as appropriate to your character background and character concept): // Cavalier (Handle Animal & Ride); Champion (Gather Information & Knowledge [local]); Commando (Escape Artist & Survival); Guardian (Listen & Sense Motive); Guerrilla (Hide & Move Silently); Medic (Concentration & Heal); Officer (Diplomacy & Knowledge [nobility & royalty]); Sailor (Balance & Use Rope); Swashbuckler (Bluff & Tumble); Tactician (Knowledge [architecture & engineering], Knowledge [geography] & Knowledge [history]); Thug (Appraise & Search) // For each role that you choose, add the corresponding skills to your list of class skills. This choice is permanent and cannot be changed. Consult with your DM if you wish to create an alternative role for your character.
Tenacity (Ex): At 2nd level, your discipline imparts on you a steady resolve and strength of character. You gain a +1 morale bonus on Will saves. This bonus increases to +2 at 11th level and +3 at 20th level. This benefit only applies when you are wielding a weapon, which may be an improvised weapon. If you have the Improved Unarmed Strike feat or any natural weapons, the benefit applies even when you are unarmed. A Fighter's confidence is highly dependent on belief in his ability to hurt people.
Capable learner (Ex): At 3rd level, your training allows you to master techniques that would normally be beyond your physical capabilities. When determining eligibility for Fighter bonus feats (but not other feats), you may add +1 to each of your effective ability scores for the purpose of fulfilling prerequisites (for example, a Fighter with an Intelligence score of 12 could take Combat Expertise at 3rd level, as his Capable Learner ability would give him an effective Intelligence score of 13 (12 + 1) when determining his eligibility for the feat). This bonus increases by an additional +1 at 6th level and every three levels thereafter. [Thanks to Seerow & co. for this idea]
Retraining (Ex): Your effectiveness in combat derives from your extensive training in specialized combat techniques, developed over the course of your career. As you progress, however, you may find that aspects of your earlier training, which had proven so effective in the past, start to diminish in usefulness as you are pitted against different foes and situations. At 3rd level and every three levels thereafter, you may select one feat that you know (which must be drawn from the feats noted as Fighter bonus feats, and cannot be a prerequisite for any other feats you have) to be lost and replaced with any other feat that you are eligible for from the same list. The lost feat is forgotten permanently (though it may be relearned when you are next eligible for a feat), and does not count when determining eligibility for later feats (including the feat that you are replacing it with).
[Note: unlike the retraining options detailed in Player’s Handbook II, this ability allows you to replace a feat with another that you may not have been eligible for at the time you first selected the lost feat.]
Combat Prowess (Ex): At 5th level, your formidable defenses protect you against vicious attacks that might otherwise damage the more vulnerable parts of your anatomy. Through subtle changes in your stance, you are able to minimize the damage from such attacks. When an opponent scores a threat against you, you may add half your fighter level (rounding down) to your effective Armor Class against the confirmation of a critical hit.
Combat Mastery (Ex): At 10th level, you are an ever-shifting target on the battlefield, able to constantly reposition yourself to the best tactical advantage without giving any break to your foes. Choose a foe. Once per round as an immediate action, if that foe moves away from you, you may make a 5-foot step action to follow that foe. This is in addition to any 5-foot step you might make during your turn, and does not provoke an attack of opportunity. [Thanks to K for this idea]
Combat Virtuosity (Ex): At 15th level, you have learned to make the most of your weapons, capable of utilizing them beyond their usual limitations through the use of swift and daring maneuvers. During your turn, your reach with melee weapons (not including unarmed strikes or other natural weapons) increases by 5 feet. Your range increment with projectile weapons increases by 50%, and by 100% with thrown weapons. This ability stacks with the benefits of the Far Shot feat (but note that the range increase is determined according to the base range of the weapon, not the increased range granted by the feat).
Combat Supremacy (Ex): At 20th level, you are truly a force to be reckoned with on any battlefield. Your foes must brave the cloud of swirling steel you maintain around yourself if they are to even approach you, let alone slip past your defenses. While you are equipped with a melee weapon and capable of normal movement, opponents must move at half their normal speed through any squares that you threaten, or otherwise provoke an attack of opportunity from you each time they move into one of your threatened squares. An opponent who makes a 5-foot step out of one of your threatened squares also provokes an attack of opportunity from you. These attacks are in addition to any attacks of opportunity you would normally be entitled to, and do not count against your number of attacks of opportunity for the round.
If an opponent uses the Tumble skill to move through your threatened area, the Tumble DC to avoid your attacks of opportunity is double the normal DC.

Variation: the Warblade

Description: a warblade is a sort of fighter that focuses his training only in melee weapons and throwing weapons. He is even more expert than the standard fighter in controlling the battlefield but he is less versatile and protected than a standard fighter. Warblades seek honor and glory and share a similar background with fighters, but they see in them more like worthy rivals for the glory on the battlefield, than like allies. Warblades rely on intelligence in combat, that is their second most important attribute after strength, followed by dexterity.

What you loose: warblades are NOT proficient with any ranged weapon, but only throwing weapons. More, they are NOT proficient with heavy armors and tower shields. Warblades have a lesser number of bonus feats than fighters: except at 1st level, whenever a warblade gains a class ability among the ones listed below, he or she does not gain any bonus feat for that level. Warblades are still considered as fighters to qualify for fighter-only feats, like weapon specialization, but the warblade's effective fighter level for this purpose is equal to the warblade level -2. (example: Fighter 4° = Warblade 6°). Fighter and warblade levels still do stack for this purpose.

What you get:
New Hit Dice: d12
Battle Cry (Ex), 1st.: you can enter a state of almost mystical awareness of the battlefield around you. As long as you are not-flat footed, you gain an insight bonus equal to your intelligence bonus (maximum equals your warblade level) on your reflex saves.
Uncanny Dodge (Ex), 2nd: you gain the ability to react to danger before your senses would normally allow you to do so. You retain your Dexterity bonus to AC (if any) even if you are caught flat-footed or struck by an invisible attacker. However, you still lose your Dexterity bonus to AC if you are immobilized. If you already have uncanny dodge from a different class, you automatically gain improved uncanny dodge instead.
Battle Ardor (Ex.), 4th: The sheer love of battle lends uncanny strength to your blows. You gain an insight bonus equal to your intelligence bonus on rolls made to confirm a critical hit.
Improved Uncanny Dodge (Ex), 7th: You can no longer be flanked and can react to opponents on opposite sides of you as easily as you can react to a single attacker. See the barbarian class feature for more information.
Battle Cunning (Ex.), 8th: Your instinct for seizing the moment gives you a significant advantage over foes unprepared for your attack. You gain an insight bonus equal to your intelligence bonus on melee damage rolls against flat-footed or flanked opponents.
Battle Skill (Ex.), 11th: You anticipate your enemies' ploys and tactics. You gain an insight bonus equal to your intelligence bonus on any check made to oppose an enemy's bull rush, disarm, feint, overrun, sunder or trip attempt.
Battle Mastery (Ex.), 14th: You notice the most subtle openings and cues offered by your opponents. You gain an insight bonus equal to your intelligence bonus on melee attack rolls and melee damage rolls made whenever you make an attack of opportunity.
Stance Mastery (Ex), 20th: You can have two stances active simultaneously. When you use a swift action, to initiate or change your stances, you can initiate or change one or both stances.
A better maneuvers & stances advancement, as indicated in the next table.


Warblade maneuvers Stances
Level bonus feats & class abilities known readied known
1° Battle Cry, bonus feat, Weapon aptitude, fav. skills 3 3 1
2° Uncanny Dodge Tenacity +1 4 3 1
3° retraining Capable learner 5 3 1
4° Battle Ardor 5 4 2
5° bonus feat 6 4 2
6° retraining Combat prowess 6 4 2
7° Improved Uncanny Dodge 7 4 2
8° Battle Cunning 7 4 2
9° retraining 8 4 2
10° bonus feat Combat mastery 8 5 3
11° Battle Skill Tenacity +2 9 5 3
12° retraining 9 5 3
13° bonus feat 10 5 3
14° Battle Mastery 10 5 3
15° retraining Combat virtuosity 11 6 3
16° bonus feat 11 6 4
17° bonus feat 12 6 4
18° retraining 12 6 4
19° bonus feat 13 6 4
20° Stance Mastery Combat supremacy, tenacity +3 13 7 4
very good

Behind the scene: originally, the fighter had "only" 18 feats from 1st to 20th level. With the balance, every level gives something new to the player and the new 3 feats do not unbalance the class, but just make it more interesting and versatile to play, stressing less the player with the choice of feats. A very big thanks goes to ContinuityLapse, since he is the creator of this new fighter class, that I simply merged with the 9 swords handbook rules, and to the WotC crew that helped him with good comments.

0rion79
2007-04-27, 02:06 AM
Monk

base attack bonus + saving throw AC unarmed Speed Slow fall maneuvers Stances
Level flurry of blows* Fort. Ref. will bonus special damage bonus progr. (m) known readied known
1° +0 (-2/-2) +2 +2 +2 Bonus feat, flurry of blows, 1d6 +0 - 3 1 1
improved unarmed strike
2° +1 (-1/-1) +3 +3 +3 Bonus feat, evasion 1d6 +0 - 3 2 1
3° +2 (+0/+0) +3 +3 +3 Clear mind 1d6 +3 - 4 2 1
4° +3 (+1/+1) +4 +4 +4 +1 Ki strike (magic), 1d8 +3 6 4 3 2
5° +3 (+2/+2) +4 +4 +4 Bonus feat 1d8 +3 5 3 2
6° +4 (+3/+3) +5 +5 +5 Purity of body 1d8 +6 9 5 4 2
7° +5 (+4/+4) +5 +5 +5 Wholeness of body 1d8 +6 6 4 2
8° +6/+1 (+5/+5/+0) +6 +6 +6 +2 Bonus feat 1d10 +6 12 6 4 2
9° +6/+1 +6 +6 +6 +6 Improved Evasion 1d10 +9 7 4 2
10° +7/+2 +7 +7 +7 +7 Ki strike (lawful) 1d10 +9 15 7 4 3
11° +8/+3 +8/+8 +7 +7 +7 Adamantine body, 1d10 +9 8 4 3
improved flurry of blows
12° +8/+3 +8/+8 +8 +8 +8 +3 Abundant Step 2d6 +12 18 8 5 3
13° +9/+4 +9/+9 +8 +8 +8 Adamantine soul (SR=10+l) 2d6 +12 9 5 3
14° +10/+5 +10/+10 +9 +9 +9 Bonus feat 2d6 +12 21 9 5 3
15° +11/+6/+1 +11/+11 +9 +9 +9 Deadly strike 2d6 +15 10 5 3
16° +11/+6/+1 +11/+11 +10 +10 +10 +4 Ki strike (adamantium) 2d8 +15 24 10 5 4
17° +12/+7/+2 +12/+12 +10 +10 +10 Timeless body, 2d8 +15 11 6 4
language of sun and moon
18° +13/+8/+3 +13/+13 +11 +11 +11 Bonus feat 2d8 +18 27 11 6 4
19° +14/+9/+4 +14/+14 +11 +11 +11 Body emptiness 2d8 +18 12 6 4
20° +15/+10/+5 +15/+15 +12 +12 +12 +5 Inner Perfection 2d10 +18 any 12 6 4
rank average good good good perfect good

* the values enclosed in parenthesis represent the alternative base attack bonus when the monk is not able yet to use the flurry of blows without penalties.
When the monk is able to, extra attacks are added separately from level 9.

Hit Die: d8
Skill points per level: 4
Class Skills: Balance (Dex), Climb (Str), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Escape Artist (Dex), Hide (Dex), Jump (Str), Knowledge (arcana) (Int), Knowledge (religion) (Int), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Perform (Cha), Profession (Wis), Sense Motive (Wis), Spot (Wis), Survival (Wis), Swim (Str), and Tumble (Dex). See Chapter 4: Skills for skill descriptions.
Weapon and Armor proficiencies: none with armors or shields, all the weapons included in the monk special proficiency list.
Available maneuvers & Stances type: Desert Wind (Tumble), Diamond Mind (Concentration), Setting Sun (Sense Motive), Shadow Hand (Hide), Stone Dragon (Balance), Tiger Claw (Jump)

The monk

generalities: the word "monk" indicates a generic group of characters that pursuit a philosophy of life based upon wisdom and the concept of healthy mind into an healthy body. The monk characters vary a lot depending upon their culture: monks from the Rokugan lands are oriental martial-art experts, skilled like nobody else in fighting unarmed, while monks from the western lands are pious followers of a lawful Deity that follow a life of meditation and isolation to find the enlightenment. Those monks refuse the use of violence and became expert in unarmed fighting, or fighting with adapted tools taken from agricultural life, like the Rokugan monks only to defend themselves.
Monks are great 1st-line or 2nd-line warriors, agile and swift, an with unique skills like their natural ward against magic, blows that may stun or instantly kill foes or their haste in striking foes, but are even great intruders.
Alignment: due to the intense discipline needed to master their abilities, monks are always lawful. If a monk becomes neutral or chaotic, he or she looses all the monk's ki-related abilities and cannot gain new monk levels as long as he or she does not regain the lost inner equilibrium, becoming lawful again.

Class special abilities:
Note: monk class abilities are almost all unchanged even if some of them may have lightly different names. See Player Handbook I for details
List of changes:
Monk feats list:

1st - Stunning fist, weapon finesse or weapon focus (unarmed strike or weapon with which the monk is proficient).
2nd - Any of the previous ones, or deflect arrows, improved grapple, improved initiative or dodge
5th - Any of the previous ones, or improved trip or improved disarm
8th - Any of the previous ones, or any wisdom-related feat or ki-strike related feat for which the monk qualifies.
14th - Any of the previous ones.
18th - Any of the previous ones.

Perfect Dodge (Ex), 1st: A monk has a greater armor class bonus than other classes and doesn't need to declare against which foe(s) he or she will use the dodge bonuses but the whole bonus applies against all foes at once. More, a monk increases that bonus faster than other classes, gaining a +1 dodge bonus to AC at 4th level and every next 4 levels, for a total bonus equal to +5 . If the Monk wears any armor or shield all those bonuses are lost.
More, at 1st level, a monk adds his or her full Wisdom bonus, if any, to his or her armor class.
Flurry of blows note: it represent a bonus to the base attack progression and it does not affect the increasing of the dodge armor class progression when multiclassing.
Wholeness of body (Ex): additional rule: a monk adds his or her wisdom bonus, if any, to the HPs total that he or she may heal in this way.
Improved flurry of blows (Ex): additional rule: once that a monk achieved such a great speed and precision in combat, he or she may reduce the speed of his or her attacks to increase the blows accuracy. In short, a monk may trade one or all the extra attacks granted by flurry of blows to grant all other attacks a +1 cognitive bonus to attack rolls for every extra attack that he or she gives up.
Inner Perfection (Ex): the monk becomes a magical external creature, an outsider, but the monk never forgets his or her humanoid origins and chooses time per time to be affected by magic, magic-like effects or any other ability as a member of his original race or as an outsider.

Variation: The Kensai
Oriental monks, sometimes, focus their trainings with one specific weapon, or a limited number of weapons. The ying & yang philosophy is part of their training and they understand the word understanding themselves first. As well, a weapon that other warriors feel like a dangerous "tool", for a kensai becomes a part of his or her own body, granting him an exceptional skill with it.
Description: in short, a kensai, (that is different from the Weapon Master/Kensai prestige class, now called Shin Kensai) is a monk that uses forged weapons to fight, instead than a better unarmed strike. This grants him or her greater attack bonuses with that weapon, but he or she deals less damage than a monk with one single strike. His skills are at the same levels of other warrior classes in the whole, but the kensai is more oriented to offence than defense.

What you loose: a kensai's unarmed damage bonus does not become greater than 1d3 (or the proper damage for smaller or bigger creatures). The monk base attack bonus and flurry of blows are replaced with different a new progression and class ability, that DOES NOT allow a kensai to renounce to his or her extra attacks to obtain an improvement to the base attack bonus, like the new monk does. More, a kensai retain this Perfect Dodge bonus as long as he or she holds his or her favorite kind of melee weapon or a melee weapon with which he or she is proficient with, otherwise he or she uses the fighter armor class bonus.

What you get:
Weapon proficiencies: a kensai is proficient with all slashing weapons, including exotic ones, that have a size no greater than his or her one. This list includes the monk weapon proficiency, the short sword and every kind of spear, including exotic spear-like weapons. Axes are not included in the proficiency list.
Flurry of slashes: as long as a kensai holds a melee weapon with which he or she is proficient, he or she is able to use a flurry of slashes action that works exactly like the monk flurry of blows action, as the next table shows, but it does not affect the unarmed strike base attack bonus.
At 1st level, and again at 11th level, the kensai receives one extra attack per round at best base attack rate, that he or she may choose to add to other attacks when performing a full attack action. Regardless of the number of extra attacks, if the kensai does so, he or she receives a -2 penalty to all attack rolls. Instead, if the kensai selected the "weapon focus" feat for one of the weapons with which he or she is proficient, the -2 penalty is restricted to the extra attacks only.
Even more, if a kensai selects double steel strike, pole fighting, serpent strike or whirling steel strike, he or she ignores the usual feat effect to remove the -2 penalty granted by the Flurry of Slashes ability with that weapon. A kensai can't give up extra attacks to improve his or her attack bonus as a monk do.
Extra class skill: weapon lore
Stunning strike: works like stunning fist but the kensai obtain the same effects when striking with a weapon he is proficient with and only with it.
Ki-channeling (Ex): a kensai may channel all the monk ki-related abilities into his or her weapon, that will be considered magic, lawful and adamantine at 16th level, to the purpose of bypassing damage reductions.
Kensai feats list:

1st - Stunning Strike, weapon finesse or weapon focus (any melee weapon with which the kensai is proficient).
2nd - Any of the previous ones, or deflect arrows, improved initiative or dodge.
5th - Any of the previous ones, or improved trip or improved disarm
8th - Any of the previous ones, or any wisdom-related feat or ki-strike related feat for which the kensai qualifies.
14th - Any of the previous ones.
18th - Any of the previous ones.


Kensai Base attack bonus differences.
base attack bonus + base attack bonus + extra
Level flurry of blows attack with weapon focus
1° -1/-1 +1 -1
2° +0/+0 +2 +0
3° +1/+1 +3 +1
4° '+2/+2 +4 +2
5° '+3/+3 +5 +3
6° '+4/+4/-1 +6/+1 +4
7° '+5/+5/+0 +7/+2 +5
8° '+6/+6/+1 +8/+3 +6
9° '+7/+7/+2 +9/+4 +7
10° '+8/+8/+3 +10/+5 +8
11° '+9/+9/+9/+4 +11/+6/+1 +9/+9
12° '+10/+10/+10/+5 +12/+7/+2 +10/+10
13° '+11/+11/+11/+6 +13/+8/+3 +11/+11
14° '+12/+12/+12/+7 +14/+9/+4 +12/+12
15° '+13/+13/+13/+8 +15/+10/+5 +13/+13
16° '+14/+14/+14/+9/-1 +16/+11/+6/+1 +14/+14
17° '+15/+15/+15/+10/+0 +17/+12/+7/+2 +15/+15
18° '+16/+16/+16/+11/+1 +18/+13/+8/+3 +16/+16
19° '+17/+17/+17/+12/+2 +19/+14/+9/+4 +17/+17
20° '+18/+18/+18/+13/+3 +20/+15/+10/+5 +18/+18

Behind the scene: originally, the monk was supposed to be a quick and nimble character, a solitary, self-sufficient class but, as result, it proved to be too weak and to be good only as a 5th member in a party of 4 stronger classes. Now, the monk has some more alternatives, the 1st-level bonus feats allow a player to play a dexterity-based character if he or she hasn't been lucky while rolling ability scores and the improved flurry of blows enhances the monk ability to hit foes with a very high armor class. Even if it is still not as proficient as a warrior class, now a monk is really self-sufficient and autonomous class.

0rion79
2007-04-27, 02:06 AM
Paladin


base attack saving throw dodge maneuvers Stances
Level bonus fort ref will bonus special known readied known
1° +1 +2 +0 +1 Aura, divine energy x1, detect foes, smite x1, 4 5 (2) 1
2° +2 +3 +0 +1 Divine grace, lay on hands or painful touch 4 5 (2) 2
3° +3 +3 +1 +2 Extended Aura, Divine Health 5 5 (2) 2
4° +4 +4 +1 +2 furious counterstrike & steely resolve (5) or 4 4 (2) 2
+1d6 sneak attack
5° +5 +4 +1 +2 smite x 2, special mount or charging smite. 6 5 (2) 2
6° +6/+1 +5 +2 +3 +1 6 5 (2) 2
7° +7/+2 +5 +2 +3 7 5 (2) 2
8° +8/+3 +6 +2 +4 steely resolve (10) or +2d6 sneak attack 7 5 (2) 3
9° +9/+4 +6 +3 +4 8 5 (2) 3
10° +10/+5 +7 +3 +5 smite x 3, alternative smite, diehard 8 6 (3) 3
11° +11/+6/+1 +7 +3 +5 +2 9 6 (3) 3
12° +12/+7/+2 +8 +4 +6 steely resolve (15) or +3d6 sneak attack 9 6 (3) 3
13° +13/+8/+3 +8 +4 +6 10 6 (3) 3
14° +14/+9/+4 +9 +4 +6 10 6 (3) 4
15° +15/+10/+5 +9 +5 +7 smite x 4 11 6 (3) 4
16° +16/+11/+6/+1 +10 +5 +7 +3 steely resolve (20) or +4d6 sneak attack 11 6 (3) 4
17° +17/+12/+7/+2 +10 +5 +7 12 6 (3) 4
18° +18/+13/+8/+3 +11 +6 +8 12 6 (3) 4
19° +19/+14/+9/+4 +11 +6 +8 13 6 (3) 4
20° +19/+14/+9/+5 +12 +6 +8 smite x 5, 13 7 (4) 4
steely resolve (25) or +5d6 sneak attack
rank good good poor average good almost good

Hit Die: d10
Skill points per level: 4
Class Skills: The paladin’s class skills are Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Handle Animal (Cha), Heal (Wis), Knowledge (nobility and royalty) (Int), Knowledge (religion) (Int), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), Sense Motive (Wis) and Martial Lore (Int).
Weapon and Amour proficiencies: All simple and martial weapons; light, medium and heavy amours; and shields (but not tower shields).
Alignment restriction: a paladin must be exactly of his or her Deity's alignment, with the exceptions of true neutral Deities, that allow one degree of difference, if they allows paladins among their followers.
Available maneuvers & Stances type: Devoted Spirit (Intimidate), Stone Dragon (Balance), White Raven (Diplomacy).

The Paladin

generalities: the paladin is the essence of a value (or group of values) merged into a living being. These exceptional warriors live driven by an exceptional strong faith ad the inner will to fight for the values connected with that faith, that become their main reason of life. Even to death, it the circumstances demand so. Paladins may be of any alignment, accordingly to their faith and their Deity, and they are known with different names, like crusades or black guards accordingly with
what they fight for: those holy (or unholy) warriors are the scourge of the ones that are directly against their God and faith and, as it happens for clerics, they are blessed with special powers from their Deities, accordingly with their alignment.

Class special abilities:

Special: Code of Conduct. A paladin must follow his path and must follow his or her Deity's alignment. If his or her alignment changes, or willingly commits an act that goes against that Deity's faith, all class abilities are lost and that character cannot gain new paladin levels, except if he or she completely changed his devotion toward a new Deity, with different values and purposes ( see alignment shifting below ). In that case, the paladin adapts the lost class abilities to the new sub-class. A paladin's actions are duty-bounded to his or her faith, so that he or she has to support at best his or her brothers of faith and the ones that share a similar alignment, (provided they do not use the help for ends that are opposite to his or her faith). All the paladins have the duty to punish those who harm or threaten his brothers of faith and the ones with a similar alignment. In addition, paladin’s dedication may require additional commandments.
Lies: regardless of common imagination, all paladins can lie. For sure, the most lawful ones see it as a shame and a lack of honor, and very often their own Deities forbid them from lying, except in special circumstances like being under cover or investigating to discover special information. That's why lawful paladins are ready to put their honor aside when specific circumstances demand so: they are not brainless zealots who put their own pride in front of their faith, but they can't lie to the ones that they protect or with which they fight for (if they are not the target of a special quest).
Poison: Crusaders and lawful-neutral Ironfist judges are bound with their faith and forbidden from using any poison against their foes.
Associates: A paladin cannot associate with characters to which they could successfully deal damage with their 1st-level smite ability, not the alternative smite.
Ex-Paladins: A paladin who violates his code of conduct loses some of his class abilities. A paladin can multiclass freely only with other "neutral" classes that do not force him to change his or her alignment or that do not force him or her to a different faith or lifestyle (example: druid).

Special: every paladin receives his or her stances as a Deity's gift and a paladin may use only a limited number of maneuvers among the ones that he or she prepared for that fight. Those maneuvers are impressed in the paladin's mind randomly at the beginning of each fight, by his or her Deity's will and the paladin know which ones he or she as at the beginning of each fight. A paladin must pray for 5 minutes to change the readied maneuvers or to recover them.

Aura (Ex): Every paladin has a particularly powerful aura corresponding to his or her alignment (see the detect evil spell for details). The power of that aura is equal to his or her paladin level, just like the aura of a cleric of a Deity.
Divine Energy (Su): A paladin's faith in his or her Deity is rewarded with a drop of divine energy that the paladin may use for different purposes. Divine energy is calculated into "faith points": every paladin starts with 1 faith point at 1st level, plus his or her charisma modifier, if positive. These points increase by one every 6 levels.
This is a list of what a paladin can do:

- Turn or rebuke undeads. A wave of divine energy allows good paladins to turn or destroy undead creatures, while evil paladins may rebuke or control them. (see player's handbook) Turn Undead is a standard action that does not provoke attacks of opportunity.
- Turn or rebuke a single undead creature. This attempt consumes 2 faith points but the paladin adds twice his or her charisma bonus +2 instead than only once, as usual.
- Deal 1d6 x cleric level of holy damage to all undeads in the area that a paladin could affect with a Turn Undeads attempt. Evil paladins adds instead 1d6 temporary HPs to the undeads that they already control.
- Stabilize self when on negative hit points (even if unconscious) as a full-round action.
- Re-roll a failed Heal check.
- Turn Fiend: A paladin can use divine energy to rebuke outsiders like undeads, if he or she may successfully use "smite foe" with them. Whenever an outsider would be destroyed in this way, it is sent to its original plane instead.
Lay on Hands or Painful Touch (Su): A 2nd level paladin gains a new special ability: good ones gain lay on hands, the evil ones gain the painful touch. With lay on hands, a paladin can heal a number of wounds equal to her paladin level to any living being that he or she touches. Using lay on hands is a standard action. Alternatively, a paladin can use any or all of this healing power to deal damage to an undead creature. Using lay on hands in this way requires a successful melee touch attack. Painful touch works in the same way, but harms living beings and heal undead creatures. Neutral paladins must choose in advance, once and forever which ability they want, following the rules for the cleric spontaneous casting. Both abilities require the use of one faith pint.
Smite (Su): A paladin may attempt to smite a creature with a specific alignment, that directly opposes his or her faith (see below), with one normal melee attack. He or she adds her Charisma bonus (if any) to his or her attack roll and deals 1 extra point of damage per paladin level. If the paladin accidentally smites a creature that is not of that special alignment, the smite has no effect, but the ability is still used up. Since the "detect foes" may be influenced by items with a particular alignment, a paladin may use the smite ability, dealing non-lethal damage, to test a character's faith.
Detect foes (magic): Every paladin may cast at will the spell "detect alignment". The kind of alignment corresponds to the one owned by the creatures that he or she may smite.
Divine Grace (Su): A 2nd level paladin gains a sacred bonus equal to her Charisma bonus (if any) on all saving throws.
Extended Aura (Su): A 3rd level paladin extend his or her aura upon foes or allies. A good paladin is immune to fear and grants a +4 bonus against fear effects to his allies in a range of 3 meters as long as he or she is alive and conscious. An evil one, instead, grant a +2 bonus against fear effects to himself or herself and a -2 morale penalty to will saves to all foes into the same range. Paladins of opposite alignments cannot influence each other in this way and the two auras negate each other if active upon the same non-paladin creature.
Divine Health (Su): A 3rd level paladin is immune to all diseases, including supernatural and magical ones, like the mummy's curse or lycanthropy. Every paladin may deliberately suppress this effect.
Furious Counterstrike or Sneak Attack: at 4th level, a paladin must choose among one of those special abilities. Lawful paladins gain Furious Counterstrike (see below), while chaotic paladins gain the sneak attack. Paladins that are neutral in the law-chaos axis must chose in advance, once and forever, which ability they want.
Steely Resolve (Ex): your supreme dedication and intense focus allow you to temporarily set aside the pain and hindering effects of injuries. When an opponent strikes you, the injury does not immediately affect you. You have a delayed damage pool that allows you to forestall the effects of many injuries. This pool begins at 0 with each encounter. When you are attacked, any hit point damage the blow deals is added to your delayed damage pool. At the end of your next turn, you take damage equal to the total stored in your delayed damage pool, which then resets to 0. Any healing you receive can either increase your current hit points total as normal or reduce the total damage in your delayed damage pool. When you receive healing, you choose whenever its affects your damage pool, your hit points, or both (you can split the amount of healing as you wish). Most paladins opt to keep as much damage in their delayed damage pool as possible to maximize the benefit of their furious counterstrike ability (see below). Special effects tied to an attack, such an energy train, stun, and so forth, still affect you as normal, and their effects are not delayed by this ability. For example, if you are bitten by a venomous spider, you must still attempt a Fortitude save against the poison immediately, even though the bite damage shifts into your delayed damage pool. By the same token, any other special attack that imposes a condition, such as a medusa's petrifying gaze, takes immediate effect on you. At 4th level, your delayed damage pool can hold up to 5 points of damage, any damage beyond that comes off your hit points as normal. The maximum damage your pool holds increases by 5 every 4 levels, with a top of 25 at 20th level.
Furious Counterstrike (Ex): you can channel the pain of your injuries into a boiling rage that lets you lash out at your enemies with renewed vigour and power. Each attack that strikes you only pushes you onward to a greater glory. During your turn, you gain a bonus on attack rolls and damage rolls equal to the current value of your delayed damage pool (see steely resolve, above) divided by 5, and rounding down (minimum +1). You can only gain a maximum bonus on attack rolls and damage rolls of +5 from furious counterstrike. Use the table below to quickly determine the attack bonus and damage bonus from furious counterstrike, based on the amount of damage in your delayed damage pool. This ability's benefits last until the end of your turn.

Delayed Damage Furious Counterstrike
Pool Points Bonus
1-9 +1
10-14 +2
15-19 +3
20-24 +4
25+ +5

Special Mount: At 5th level, a paladin gains the servitude of a special, rideable creature, that serves him or her at best. The mount is a smart creature and a loyal friend, empowered by divine power with special abilities to help its rider (see description below).
Charging Smite: At 5th level, a paladin may choose to "loose" his special mount FOREVER to gain instead the charging strike ability described in the player handbook II (in short, add twice his o her paladin level to damages when successfully charging a foe & smiting it).
Alternative smite: at 10th level, a paladin realizes that "evil", meant as whatever opposes his or her faith, has many faces and he or she may now adapt the smite ability to more than one kind of foes. A paladin may use the smite ability to smite creature with an alignment from the axis that he or she was ignoring before. For example, a lawful good crusader that, before, was able to smite evil only, now may smite chaos too.
A different matter is for paladins following a Deity with a neutral attitude: neutrality doesn't mean indifference but the pursuit of equilibrium so that those paladins cannot join one side or another but they fight the excesses. For this reasons, they can smite all kind of foes from the alignment axis on which they didn't focus before, but they can use only 1/2 of their paladin level to damages and half of the charisma bonus to hit, both rounded down. Alternative smite allows only to smite different kind of foes and its effect does not stack with the 1st-leve smite ability if a foe may me affected by both.
Diehard: at 10th level, a paladin receives the diehard feat for free.
Spellcasting: A paladin casts divine spells, which are drawn from the paladin spell list. A paladin spellcaster level is equal to half of his or her paladin level, rounded down. Paladin spells are similar to cleric spells and they follow the same rules, except for the fact that a paladin must choose in advanced a small number of spells per level from the paladin spell list, then he or she may cast any of those spells at any time, assuming that he or she has not yet used up his or her spells per day for that level. The back draw is that a paladin's spell slots are not increased by a positive Wisdom modifier, even if a Wisdom bonus equal to a spell level allows a paladin to cast spells of that level when the table "spells per day" shows "zero". A paladin may change those spells when praying his or her Deity.

Paladin's spellcasting progression

spells per day Caster readied spells
Level 0 1 2 3 4 level 0 1 2 3 4
1° 1 0 2 - - - -
2° 1 1 2 - - - -
3° 2 1 3 - - - -
4° 2 0 2 3 1 - - -
5° 3 0 2 5 1 - - -
6° 3 1 0 3 5 2 1 - -
7° 3 1 0 3 5 2 1 - -
8° 3 1 1 4 5 2 2 - -
9° 4 2 1 4 6 3 2 - -
10° 4 2 1 0 5 6 3 2 1 -
11° 4 2 2 0 5 6 3 3 1 -
12° 4 3 2 1 0 6 6 5 3 2 1
13° 4 3 2 1 0 6 6 5 3 2 1
14° 4 3 3 2 1 7 6 5 5 3 2
15° 4 4 3 2 1 7 6 6 5 3 2
16° 4 4 3 3 2 8 6 6 5 5 3
17° 4 4 4 3 2 8 6 6 6 5 3
18° 4 4 4 3 3 9 6 6 6 5 5
19° 4 4 4 4 3 9 6 6 6 6 5
20° 4 4 4 4 4 10 6 6 6 6 6

Special Mount abilities: The paladin may chose the mount from the following list: bull, boar, camel, hippogriff, horse (any), riding dog or any CR1 animal or magical beast.
The creature has the following special abilities, ad described in the player’s handbook:
- share spells: as long both the paladin and the mount are at least 1 square close, all spells that the paladin cast upon him or herself are automatically forked on the mount as well.
- share saving throws: when needed the mounts automatically use the proper, best saving throw among the ones owned by itself or the paladin.
- improved evasion (see player handbook).
- share improved evasion: as long any rider is upon the mount, it is considered as a transported “object”, so if the mount succeeds a reflex save against an effect that automatically strikes both of them, the rider and all the transported characters gain the benefits of evasion/improved evasion.
- empathic link: telepathy into a range of 1,5 km, as described in the player’s handbook
- ride bonus: a paladin gains +4 bonus on Ride checks with his or her exalted mount
If a paladin releases her mount from service, he or she may be granted a new one after 24 hours, or one hour of prayer.
Progression: the mount becomes a magic beast and, following you in all of your tasks, it becomes stronger with time. Starting at 5th paladin level, the animal gains 2 extra Hit Dices for every 3 paladin levels beyond 5th, together with +2 to Strength an Dexterity and +1 to Constitution and Wisdom, as if it was born with exceptionally high ability scores. There is no limit to the HDs that the creature may have in this way, since it is a divine gift, but the creature cannot reach a greater size than the one allowed by its race. In addition, at every advancement, the mount gains in order those abilities: enhanced speed, Command on other creatures of the same species, spell resistance equal to the paladin level +5. If the mount already has its own spell resistance, add the paladin level -5 to that spell resistance instead.
Alternative mounts: With experience, a paladin is able to obtain better mounts. At 8th, 11th, 14th, 11th and 20th level, a paladin may choose any kind of mount-like creature, including magical beasts and dragons, with a Challenge Rating no greater respectively than 3, 6, 9, 12 or 15. The animal must somehow represent the paladin's faith, so a paladin following a warrior Deity would appreciate a lion, while a more pacifist one would like a white unicorn or a pegasus. The creature list may be chosen from the Monster Manual, but selecting animals from Orion Enhanced Animal Compendium is highly recommended. Alternatively, the animals available from Monster Compendium I are: (5th) dire wolf, giant eagle, lion, pegasus, or unicorn. (8th): dire lion, megaraptor, or young brass dragon. (11th): dire tiger, elephant, juvenile brass dragon, tyrannosaurus, young copper dragon, young bronze dragon, or young silver dragon. In case of an alternative mount, the paladin level is considered equal to (X - Y), where X is the paladin level that unlocks that kind of mount and Y is the CR of that creature. So, if a paladin selects an alternative companion at 14th level and that animal has a CR = 9, the result is (14-9)=5 and the mount gains benefits like a 5th-level paladin mount.

The four kinds of paladins and alignment shifting

Paladin alignment: Class name Smite Special class ability
Lawful Good or Neutral Good Crusader evil steely resolve, lay on hands
Lawful Neutral or Lawful Evil Ironfist Judge chaos steely resolve, painful touch
Chaotic Good or Chaotic Neutral Holy Liberator law sneak attack, lay on hands
Neutral Evil or Chaotic Evil Black Guard good sneak attack, painful touch

Descriptions:
Crusader: these paladins incarnate the sense of honor and law, but their main task is to fight evil in all of its forms. Neutral good crusaders usually care more about the result of their actions and a bit less about honor: they are more practical. The lawful ones, instead, are more oriented to carefully plan and organize their actions, constantly trying to optimize resources, to reduce as much as possible the loss of lives and always caring about organization, tactics and battle plans before moving. Still, all crusaders, especially the lawful ones, are bound with an honor-based code of conduct that, among many things, forbids them from using poisons.
Ironfist Judge: this title is especially true for the evil ones. Generally, the Judges care about bringing justice and order in the word and believe that the common wealth is more important that the ones of few. Evil Judges are not "evil", nor they fight to spread unhappiness in the word, but they think that order is needed everywhere and that there is no future without it. For this reason, they are ready to commit the most bloody actions if the result is the one to grant order to the masses: better rule of an unmerciful iron fist, than the chaos generated by an excess of misunderstood and wasted freedom!
Holy Liberator: they are a kind of paladins that care mainly about freedom. They are forces of good and they realize that laws and order are important for a common, pacific living, but they are ready to bend or break them to fight slavery and every kind of dictatorial government, where an excess of laws oppress freedom.
Black Guard: it is the title granted to the generals of the evil forces. These unholy warriors by fact do fight to spread evil through the word as they can. Neutral black guards are more rational and more interested into increasing their power, richness and power over the meek, while the chaotic ones bring death and destruction wherever they can. Both may lead armies of evil foes or undeads and show no mercy against their rivals.

Alignment shifting:
Let's talk, for example, about Crusaders. Especially the lawful ones believe in honor and justice but, often, their are forced by their faith and code of conduct to enter suicide missions, to see friends to fall in uselss battles or to be in front of two innocents and to be allowed to save only one of them: a terrible choice for a crusader. More, their tendency to law brings them to calculate pro and cons of every mission, to care about the battle tactics and so on, but all those experiences may shake a Crusader's faith and some of them, after loosing many brothers of arm or having seen the carnages to which a blind sense of honor and mercy may bring, slowly slide toward neutrality, moved to the need to plan everything to reduce those losses. Even worst, they may slide unwilling to the dark side of law, becoming consciously or unconsciously Ironfist judges, where they being to consider their allies no more than mere puppets, that can be sacrificed in the name of a greater wealth. As well, a neutral good Crusader may feel soon or later encumbered by the oppressive lawful code of conduct and, most likely, will become an Holy Liberator instead.

Paladin as a prestige class
The paladin class may be seen not only as a base class, but even as a prestige class. After all, time is needed to develop faith and the same word "paladin" means that a character is a champion of something, good or evil does not matter. Usually, the best candidates are warriors or clerics but sometimes, even other classes are allowed to receive such an honor and prestige.

To adapt the paladin class as a prestige class, a character must have the following prerequisites:
- Weapon focus with the Deity's preferred weapon
- The character must match exactly his or her Deity's alignment
- Special: the character must have accomplished a special task required by his or her Church that allows him or her to be accepted among the already-existing paladins. The task must be dangerous one, something that involves the accomplishment of the ultimate achievements of the paladin's faith and where the paladin effectively risks his or her life in the attempt to complete that mission.

As a result, the character gains new levels as paladin: the base attack bonus progression, saving throws, skill points and abilities are calculated as normal.
What changes is that 1/2 of every non-paladin class level that the character gained before becoming a paladin stacks with the paladin levels to determine the use of the paladin class abilities and their effect. So, if a 10th-level male fighter becomes a paladin of Kord, at 11° he gets his 1st paladin level, but smite will work as if used by a 6th level paladin (when not a prestige class). The same for "lay on hands", the exalted mount and so on. maneuvers are not affected.
About spellcasting, if a character does not cast any spell, he or she will gain spells like a base-class paladin of 4 levels higher, as indicated in the following table, otherwise, if the character is a divine spellcaster that qualified to become paladin, his or her spellcaster level increases by 2 every 3 levels, as indicated in the column: "previous divine spellcaster advancement". In short, a cleric would gain new spells and would rise his or her spellcaster level every level marked with a "+1".
The spellcaster advancement is not limited to divine magic only if a character is devoted to a Deity with "Magic" as one of his domains. For example, a wizard that is a devoted Boccob's follower may qualify for the paladin prestige class and advance as arcane spellcaster as well but with a slower progression (1 paladin level = 1/2 arcane spellcaster level). In this case, the paladin is still blessed with the paladin spell list too, that are still separated from the arcane ones.
As last, special note, paladin levels and cleric levels stack to determine the amount of available divine energy per day and a cleric gains new uses for that ability.

P
aladin's spellcasting progression as prestige class
spells per day New Caster readied spells Divine Arcane
Level 0 1 2 3 4 level 0 1 2 3 4 caster caster
1° 2 0 2 3 1 - - - +1 +0
2° 3 0 2 5 1 - - - +1 +1
3° 3 1 0 3 5 2 1 - - +0 +0
4° 3 1 0 3 5 2 1 - - +1 +1
5° 3 1 1 4 5 2 2 - - +1 +0
6° 4 2 1 4 6 3 2 - - +0 +1
7° 4 2 1 0 5 6 3 2 1 - +1 +0
8° 4 2 2 0 5 6 3 3 1 - +1 +1
9° 4 3 2 1 0 6 6 5 3 2 1 +0 +0
10° 4 3 2 1 0 6 6 5 3 2 1 +1 +1
11° 4 3 3 2 1 7 6 5 5 3 2 +1 +0
12° 4 4 3 2 1 7 6 6 5 3 2 +0 +1
13° 4 4 3 3 2 8 6 6 5 5 3 +1 +0
14° 4 4 4 3 2 8 6 6 6 5 3 +1 +1
15° 4 4 4 3 3 9 6 6 6 5 5 +0 +0
16° 4 4 4 4 3 9 6 6 6 6 5 +1 +1
17° 4 4 4 4 4 10 6 6 6 6 6 +1 +0
18° 4 4 4 4 4 10 6 6 6 6 6 +0 +1
19° 4 4 4 4 4 10 6 6 6 6 6 +1 +0
20° 4 4 4 4 4 10 6 6 6 6 6 +1 +1

SAMPLE Spell List: This list show some of the spells available to a Crusader.
0 level - Bless Water, Create Water, Cure Minor Wounds, Detect Poison, Read Magic, Resistance, Virtue
1st level - Bless, Bless Weapon, Cure Light Wounds, Detect Evil, Detect Undead, Divine Favor, Endure Elements, Lesser Restoration, Magic Weapon, Protection from Evil
2nd level - Bull’s Strength, Cure Moderate Wounds, Delay Poison, Eagle’s Splendor, Owl’s Wisdom, Remove Paralysis, Resist Energy, Shield Other, Undetectable Alignment, Zone of Truth
3rd level - Cure Serious Wounds, Daylight, Discern Lies, Dispel Magic, Greater Magic Weapon, Heal Mount, Magic Circle against Evil, Prayer, Remove Blindness/Deafness, Remove Curse.
4th level - Cure Critical Wounds, Dispel Chaos, Dispel Evil, Interdiction from Death, Neutralize Poison, Restoration, Mark of Justice, Holy Sword, Break Enchantment.

Note: paladins are subjected to the same restrictions for clerics when casting a spell. This mean that a chaotic paladin can't cast "Protection from Chaos", while an evil one can't cast an evil spell. As well, replace the "cure wounds" spells with "inflict wounds" spells for evil paladins and adapt alignment-related spells, like Holy Weapon, that becomes holy, anarchic, axiomatic or evil, accordingly with the kind of foes that the paladin may smite at 1st level.

Behind the scene: originally, the paladin was supposed to be a champion of what is good and right but, first, it was unrealistic since the concepts of good and right change by culture to culture and the previous class didn't allow to create alternative kind of paladins, and, second, it was a too poor warrior against non-evil creatures and still too few effective against evil creatures, especially if compared with a lawful good sorcerer, wizard or even other melee fighters. Now the paladin is a good alternative, a class with a good background and, finally, a warrior that really instill the fear into his or her born enemies!

0rion79
2007-04-27, 02:07 AM
Ranger


base attack saving throw dodge maneuvers Stances
Level bonus fort ref will bonus special known readied known
1° +1 +2 +2 +0 1st favored enemy, track, combat style, 2 1 1
wild empathy
2° +2 +3 +3 +0 Skill focus: any 2 1 1
3° +3 +3 +3 +1 Physical endurance 3 1 1
4° +4 +4 +4 +1 Animal companion or Distracting Attack 3 2 1
5° +5 +4 +4 +1 2nd favored enemy 4 2 1
6° +6/+1 +5 +5 +2 +1 Improved combat style 4 3 2
7° +7/+2 +5 +5 +2 Longstrider 5 3 2
8° +8/+3 +6 +6 +2 Rapid hound 5 4 2
9° +9/+4 +6 +6 +3 Evasion 6 4 2
10° +10/+5 +7 +7 +3 3rd chosen enemy 6 4 2
11° +11/+6/+1 +7 +7 +3 +2 Combat Style Expertise 7 4 2
12° +12/+7/+2 +8 +8 +4 Hunting Ground +1 7 4 2
13° +13/+8/+3 +8 +8 +4 Mimetism 8 4 2
14° +14/+9/+4 +9 +9 +4 Hunting Ground +2 8 5 3
15° +15/+10/+5 +9 +9 +5 4th chosen enemy, Combat Style Mastery 9 5 3
16° +16/+11/+6/+1 +10 +10 +5 +3 Hunting Ground +3 9 5 3
17° +17/+12/+7/+2 +10 +10 +5 Hide in full view 10 5 3
18° +18/+13/+8/+3 +11 +11 +6 Hunting Ground +4 10 5 3
19° +19/+14/+9/+4 +11 +11 +6 11 6 3
20° +20/+15/+10/+5 +12 +12 +6 5th chosen enemy 11 6 3
rank good good good poor good average


Hit Die: d8
Skill points per level: 6
Class Skills: The ranger’s class skills are Balance (Dex), Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Handle Animal (Cha), Heal (Wis), Hide (Dex), Jump (Str), Knowledge (dungeoneering) (Int), Knowledge (geography) (Int), Knowledge (nature) (Int), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), Search (Int), Spot (Wis), Survival (Wis), Swim (Str), and Use Rope (Dex).
Weapon and Armor proficiencies: All simple and martial weapons; light armors, and shields (but not tower shields).
Available maneuvers & Stances type: Devoted Spirit (Intimidate), Iron Heart (Balance), Setting Sun (Sense Motive), Shadow Hand (Hide), Stone Dragon (Balance), Tiger Claw (Jump), White Raven (Diplomacy).

The Ranger

Generalities: the word "ranger" is commonly used to indicate a kind of valuable, swift warriors and agile intruders, that may live as guardians and guides in the forests, or as silent and deadly hunters, that give their best against their chosen enemies. Humanoids become rangers for different reasons, to track criminals, guard forests and their creatures against aberrations or evil beings, to protect their people, sometimes simply to survive in wild lands or, even worst, as bounty hunters, showing no mercy for their trophies.
Rangers base their combat skills on agility and they may become very good archers or 2-weapons style experts, aided by a sort of nature's blessing that grant them a limited amount of spells and special abilities that make them even great intruders and spies.

Class special abilities:
Note: ranger class abilities are almost all unchanged even if some of them may have lightly different names. See Player Handbook I for details
List of changes:
Combat Style 1st: in addition to the 2-weapons fighting style and the archery style, a ranger may choose a new, 3rd combat style: the wild soul. The ranger obtain in advance his or her animal companion and his or her ranger levels are now equal to druid levels to determine the level of that animal companion. If the ranger chooses this combat style, he or she does not gain any ability at 4th level, otherwise follow rules at usual.
Wild soul advancement:
6th level: The ranger extends benefits of his hunting grounds ability upon his animal companion. More, whenever a ranger and his companion flank a creature, their bonus on attack rolls increases by +4 (instead of usual +2) and they gain a +2 bonus on damage rolls as well.
11th level: The ranger can teach his animal companion any number of tricks. He can teach it tricks the companion couldn't normally learn, at a -5 penalty. In addition, teaching time is greatly reduced: every week becomes an hour. More, the ranger can speak with his companion as if he was under the effects of speak with animals and, as long as both are within 100 ft. from each other, whenever the ranger or the companion makes Listen or Spot check, or rolls initiative, they both do and better result is used.
15th level: As long as ranger and his companion are within 100 ft., whenever one of them takes any Hit Point damage, ability damage, or is successfully affected by a spell, the other one can take any number of damage on himself, or suffer the spell instead of the original target. For example, if a maze is cast on ranger's lion and it fails to save against it, the ranger can opt to be trapped instead and the lion is unaffected. This ability cannot be used against spells if the new target would be invalid or immune to the spell. More, thanks to the ability to talk with his or her animal companion, a ranger described it the tactics that he or she uses to fight his or her chosen enemies, sharing that ability with his or her animal companion. As a result, the animal companion adds to damage rolls half of the same bonus owned by the ranger, when fighting against its master's chosen enemy.
Archery style advancement: Improved Rapid Shot (Ex): At 15th level, a ranger gains this feat for free even if he doesn't meet the prerequisites.
2-weapons combat style advancement: Perfect Grip (Ex): A 15th level, ranger suffers no penalties for wielding 2 weapons, even if both weapons are one-handed. A ranger uses his or her full STR bonus with off-hand attacks.
Hunting Grounds (Ex): At 12th level, a ranger traveled the word so much that he or she knows how to take advantage even from the battlefield. A ranger may select a type of land, known as favored terrain. The ranger gains a +1 circumstance bonus to Balance, Climb, Hide, Knowledge (Dungeoneering and Nature), Listen, Move Silently, Search, Spot, and Survival checks made within his favored kind of terrain. Every two levels thereafter, the ranger may select an additional terrain from those given on the table or to boost his bonuses by 1 with the same one. All bonuses increase by 1 every two levels. Bonuses from enemies and terrains stack, if ranger encounters a favored enemy on a favored terrain. For example, if a 20th level ranger who hunts giants in mountains attempts to spot one there, he gains a +8 bonus to do so.
Available terrains are: arctic, deserts, forests, hills, mountains, plains, seas, swamps, underground, and urban.
Favored enemy: in addition to standard rules, the ranger gains a +1 bonus on Bluff, Listen, Sense Motive, Spot, Survival, and appropriate Knowledge checks when using these skills against creatures of the chosen type.
Animal companion or Distracting Attack: at 4th level, a ranger must choose one of those abilities. If the ranger already selected the wild should combat style at 1st level, he or she doesn't receive any of those abilities.
Animal companion: (see druid description and player handbook for details). Ranger level = druid level -4. Rangers that choose Animal companion at 4th, usually keep it as a special mount or as a smart and stronger intruder (hound dog, eagle…).
Distracting attack: (Player Handbook II). If the ranger hits a foe, that foes is considered flanked until the ranger's next round.
Spellcasting: A ranger casts divine spells, which are drawn from the ranger spell list. A ranger spellcaster level is equal to half of his or her ranger level, rounded down. Ranger spells are similar to druidic spells and they follow the same rules, except for the fact that a druid must choose in advanced a small number of spells per level from the ranger spell list, then he or she may cast any of those spells at any time, assuming that he or she has not yet used up his or her spells per day for that level. The back draw is that a ranger's spell slots are not increased by a positive Wisdom modifier, even if a Wisdom bonus equal to a spell level allows a ranger to cast spells of that level when the table "spells per day" shows "zero". A ranger may change those spells when meditating and creating a link with mother earth.

Ranger's spellcasting progression


spells per day Caster readied spells
Level 0 1 2 3 4 level 0 1 2 3 4
1° 1 0 2 - - - -
2° 1 1 2 - - - -
3° 2 1 3 - - - -
4° 2 0 2 3 1 - - -
5° 3 0 2 5 1 - - -
6° 3 1 0 3 5 2 1 - -
7° 3 1 0 3 5 2 1 - -
8° 3 1 1 4 5 2 2 - -
9° 4 2 1 4 6 3 2 - -
10° 4 2 1 0 5 6 3 2 1 -
11° 4 2 2 0 5 6 3 3 1 -
12° 4 3 2 1 0 6 6 5 3 2 1
13° 4 3 2 1 0 6 6 5 3 2 1
14° 4 3 3 2 1 7 6 5 5 3 2
15° 4 4 3 2 1 7 6 6 5 3 2
16° 4 4 3 3 2 8 6 6 5 5 3
17° 4 4 4 3 2 8 6 6 6 5 3
18° 4 4 4 3 3 9 6 6 6 5 5
19° 4 4 4 4 3 9 6 6 6 6 5
20° 4 4 4 4 4 10 6 6 6 6 6
Some sample spells:
0 level - Flare, Know Direction, Resistance, Virtue
1st level - Calm Animals, Endure Elements, Goodberry, Longstrider, Magic Fang, Magic Stone, Produce Flame, Shillelagh, Speak with Animals, Summon N.Ally I
2nd level - Barkskin, Chill Metal, Flame Blade, Gust of Wind, Heat Metal, Summon Nature's Ally II
3rd level - Poison, Quench, Sleet Storm, Spike Growth, Summon Nature's Ally III
4th level - Antiplant Shell, Blight, Control Water, Giant Vermin, Rusting Grasp, Spike Stones, Summon Nature's Ally IV
Note: rangers should be granted with a wider variety of spells than the one described in player handbook. Check alternative manuals for this purpose.
Animal companion abilities: The ranger may choose the animal among any CR 1 or lower animal or beast, including all horses and camels. (see Player Handbook or Orion' Enhanced Animals Handbook for a better choice)
The creature has the following special abilities, ad described in the player’s handbook:
- share spells: as long as both the ranger and the companion are at least 1 square close, all spells that the ranger casts upon him or herself are automatically forked on the companion as well.
- share evasion: as long any rider is upon the animal, assuming that it may be used as a mount, it is considered as a transported “object”, so if the animal succeeds a reflex save against an effect that automatically strikes both of them, the rider and all the transported characters gain the benefits of evasion/improved evasion.
- empathic link: telepathy into a range of 1,5 km, as described in the player’s handbook
If a ranger releases his or her animal companion from service, he or she may be granted a new one after 24 hours, or one hour of meditation.
Progression: Your companion gains the "magic beast" sub-type and, following you in all of your tasks, it becomes stronger with time. The animal gains 2 extra Hit Dices for every 3 ranger levels beyond 1st, or 4th if it has not been chosen at 1st level, together with +2 to Strength an Dexterity and +1 to Constitution and Wisdom, as if it was born with exceptionally high ability scores. There is no limit to the HDs that the creature may have in this way, since it is a nature’s gift, but the creature cannot reach a greater size than the one allowed by its race. In addition, at every advancement, the companion gains in order those abilities: evasion, devotion, multiattack, uncanny dodge, improved evasion, and DR 5/Magic & Spell resistance = (ranger level) +5. Even more, at every advancement, the animal companion gains 1 extra bonus command.
Alternative Animal Companion: With experience, a ranger is able to obtain better animal companions. At 4th, 7th, 10th, 13th, 16th level (or at 7th and every 3 levels thereafter if the ranger selected his or her animal companion at 4th level) a ranger may chose any normal, dire or legendary animal with a Challenge Rating no greater respectively than 3, 6, 9, 12 or 15. The creature list may be chosen from the Monster Manual, but selecting animals from Orion's Enhanced Animal Compendium is highly recommended. Alternatively, the animals available from Monster Compendium I are: (4th) ape, black bear, bison, boar, cheetah, crocodile, dire badger, dire bat, dire weasel, leopard, monitor lizard, large shark, constrictor snake, viper snake, large viper, or wolverine. (7th): brown bear, dire wolverine, giant crocodile, deinonychus, dire ape, dire boar, dire wolf, elasmosaurus, lion, rhinoceros, huge viper snake, or tiger. (10th): polar bear, dire lion, mega raptor, huge shark, giant constrictor snake, or orca whale. In case of an alternative animal companion, the ranger level is considered equal to (X - Y), where X is the ranger level that unlocks that kind of companion and Y is the CR of that creature. So, if a ranger selects an alternative companion at 10th level and that animal has a CR = 9, it gains benefits like a 1st-level ranger animal companion. Remember to reduce the ranger level by 4 if he or she didn't select the animal companion at 1st level.

Behind the scene: originally, the ranger was good at first levels and then became always less competitive while leveling up. Now spells are assigned earlier and it may rely on high-level class abilities and better spells that represent a good reason to reach the 20th level. More, his or her animal companion is not useless, even if the ranger is more an intruder than a warrior.

0rion79
2007-04-27, 02:08 AM
Rogue


base attack saving throw dodge Sneak maneuvers Stances
Level bonus fort ref will bonus special Attack known readied known
1° +0 +0 +2 +0 Lesser Trick,, Trapfinding +1d6 1 1 0
2° +1 +0 +3 +0 Evasion 1 1 0
3° +2 +1 +3 +1 +2d6 2 1 0
4° +3 +1 +4 +1 Uncanny Dodge 2 1 0
5° +3 +1 +4 +1 +3d6 2 1 0
6° +4 +2 +5 +2 Lesser Trick 2 2 0
7° +5 +2 +5 +2 +4d6 3 2 1
8° +6/+1 +2 +6 +2 +1 Improved Uncanny Dodge 3 2 1
9° +6/+1 +3 +6 +3 +5d6 3 2 1
10° +7/+2 +3 +7 +3 Greater Trick 3 2 1
11° +8/+3 +3 +7 +3 Lesser Trick +6d6 4 2 1
12° +8/+3 +4 +8 +4 Greater Trick 4 2 1
13° +9/+4 +4 +8 +4 +7d6 4 2 1
14° +10/+5 +4 +9 +4 Greater Trick 4 3 2
15° +11/+6/+1 +5 +9 +5 +2 +8d6 5 3 2
16° +11/+6/+1 +5 +10 +5 Lesser Trick, Greater Trick 5 3 2
17° +12/+7/+2 +5 +10 +5 +9d6 5 3 2
18° +13/+8/+3 +6 +11 +6 Greater Trick 5 3 2
19° +14/+9/+4 +6 +11 +6 +10d6 6 3 2
20° +15/+10/+5 +6 +12 +6 Lesser Trick, Greater Trick 6 3 2
rank average poor good poor average poor

Hit Die: d6
Skill points per level: 8
Class Skills: Appraise (Int), Balance (Dex), Bluff (Cha), Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Decipher Script (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Disable Device (Int), Disguise (Cha), Escape Artist (Dex), Forgery (Int), Gather Information (Cha), Hide (Dex), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Knowledge (local) (Int), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Open Lock (Dex), Perform (Cha), Profession (Wis), Search (Int), Sense Motive (Wis), Sleight of Hand (Dex), Spot (Wis), Swim (Str), Tumble (Dex), Use Magic Device (Cha), and Use Rope (Dex).
Weapon and Armor proficiencies: All simple weapons, light armors, no shields, plus the hand crossbow, rapier, sap, shortbow, and short sword.
Available maneuvers & Stances type: Setting Sun (Sense Motive), Shadow Hand (Hide), Tiger Claw (Jump), White Raven (Diplomacy).

The Rogue

Generalities: rogues are unique characters and everyone of them has a particular background that marks his or her attitudes in life. Rogues may be deadly and silent assassins, dungeon explorers, adventures, lockpickers or diplomats and may be of any alignment, accordingly with previous life experiences. Often rogues are chaotic neutral, since they love freedom, but it is not uncommon to find lawful ones, that do not pickpocket nor steal, but love exploring the world and rediscovering long time lost treasures.
When fighting, rogues may be deadly foes or good allies: even if not skilled like the warrior classes, they are the best flankers and can backstab foes when they are distracted by 1st-line allies, dealing a great extra damage. Rogues may be good archers too.

Class special abilities:
Note: rogue class abilities are almost all unchanged even if some of them may have lightly different names. See Player Handbook I for details
List of changes:
At 1st level and every 6 levels thereafter, the rogue learns some minor tricks and abilities that complete his or her basic competence area. A rogue is often forged by needs and the following bonus abilities reflect how the rogue learned to overcome life challenges.
Bonus Feat : rogue gains feat from the list below, but he or she must qualify for the feat that he or she want to select if that feat has special prerequisites.
- Player’s Handbook: Sense Traps (+1 AC vs. traps every 5 rogue levels therefore: 6th, 11th...), Acrobatic, Agile, Alertness, Deceitful, Deft Hands, Diligent, Improved Unarmed Strike, Investigator, Negotiator, Nimble Fingers, Persuasive, Quick Draw, Skill Focus, Stealthy.
- Complete Adventurer: Appraise Magic Value, Ascetic Rogue, Brachiation, Combat Intuition, Danger Sense, Death Blow, Deft Opportunist, Deft Strike, Dive for Cover, Force of Personality, Goad, Hear the Unseen, Improved Diversion, Insightful Reflexes, Jack of All Trades, Open Minded, Obscure Lore, Quick Reconnoiter, Razing Strike, Staggering Strike, Tactile Trapsmith.
Finishing Blow (Ex): A rogue has learned to quickly and efficiency deal with helpless foes and can now perform a coup de grace attack against a helpless defender as a standard action without provoking an attack of opportunity.
Heedful (Ex): A rogue adds her Wisdom bonus (if positive) to all Initiative checks. This is in addition to any Dexterity bonus she might have. To take heedful, rogue must have uncanny dodge ability.
Superior Synergy (Ex): A rogue gains better synergy bonuses from her skills. Whenever a skill with 5 or more ranks grants +2 synergy bonus to other skill or ability, this bonus increases to +3 at 10 ranks, +4 at 15 ranks, and to +5 at 20 ranks.

From 10th level, a rogue gains a special ability of his or her choice from among the options below.
Avoid Danger (Ex): A rogue can avoid (ignore) one attack directed at her. To do so, rogue must not be denied her Dexterity bonus to AC and move 5 feet in any direction except the direction from which the attack came. This ability can be used once per day. To take avoid danger, rogue must have defensive roll and improved uncanny dodge abilities.
Careful Walking (Ex): A rogue does not provoke attacks of opportunity when walking through threatened areas. However, she still provokes attacks of opportunity when moving faster than with normal speed. To take careful walking, rogue must have Insightful Reaction.
Crippling Strike (Ex): -2 to a foe's Strength whenever the rogue successfully sneak-attacks him or her. Same as in Player's Handbook.
Defensive Roll (Ex): A rogue can roll with damage, reducing otherwise deadly blow to less harmful one. Same as in Player’s Handbook.
Maximize Opportunity (Ex): A rogue adds her Dexterity bonus (if positive) to all damage rolls when making successful attack of opportunity.
Insightful Reaction (Ex): A rogue learns to sense and react to dangers before they happen, with astonishing accuracy. She adds her Wisdom modifier to all reflex saves.
Opportunist (Ex): Once per round, the rogue can make an attack of opportunity against an opponent who has just been struck for damage in melee by another character. This attack counts as the rogue’s attack of opportunity for that round. Even a rogue with the Combat Reflexes feat can’t use the opportunist ability more than once per round.
Silencing Strike (Ex): When a rogue attacks opponent that is denied his Dexterity bonus to AC, a rogue may use a silencing strike. If attack is successful, the rogue deals nonlethal damage but the victim cannot make any articulate sounds or cast spells that have verbal components for a number of rounds equal to the damage taken. A successful Heal check (DC 20) removes effects of this ability, as does healing at least 10 hit points with a single spell. Silencing strike is considered as an attack directed to a specific body area, but the rogue ignores the throat or neck size armor class and any other penalty from such a particular action.
Skill Mastery (Ex): A rogue becomes very adept at few skills. Same as in Player’s Handbook.
Slippery Mind (Ex): A rogue can escape from mind-controlling spells and abilities. Same as in Player’s Handbook.
Greater Sneak Attack (Ex): A rogue learns how to use Sneak Attack against creatures that usually are immune to it. After many battles, the rogue faced undeads, elementals, plants, constructs, jellies and incorporeal creatures. Realizing that the same combat tactics that has been useful against other creatures are useless against the ones listed before, a rogue begins to recognize the need of alternative solutions and the importance of knowledge to learn where to strike. Knowledge (alien anatomy) (Int) becomes a virtual class skill for the rogue, with a base rank equal to the rogue level +3 and that can't be: this rank updates at every rogue level and can't be increased spending further skill points. Now, the rogue can deal 1d6 sneak attack damage to elementals, plants, construct, jellies and non-incorporeal undeads for every virtual 4 ranks in Knowledge (alien anatomy) that he or she has. As additional requirement, a rogue must have a weapon that deals the required damage to bypass any damage reduction among the X/bludgeoning, piercing or slashing type. Every living being has a specific anatomy, and weak points as well, but in the case of those creatures, they are much harder to reach (sometimes, just impossible). As result the sneak damage that is possible to deal to those creatures is with no remedy lesser to the one that is possible to deal to animal-like or humanoid-like creatures and the kind of damage changes in concept accordingly with the creature type. For plants, the rogue strikes the lymphatic channels that spread the lymph in the plant's body, weakening it. For elementals, the rogue now knows approximately where are some organs that spread energy through the body, not related to the human ones: those "energy fulcrums" are hided in the core of elemental's bodies and meld into their primeval elements when they die, that's why it is so difficult to study them. For jellies, now the rogue knows, more or less, where is located their small and poor brain, more similar to a ganglion cell system. For constructs, the rogue is more skilled in striking the junctions between each limb (and the head) with the body, weakening them, and the same happens with zombified undead creatures, like zombies and skeletons, that don’t' feel pain at all. With other undead creatures, like vampires or ghouls, the rogue strikes to eyes, mouth, hears, genitals or nerves that are still partially sensible and transmit pain. Even more, you don't need to reduce your greater sneak attack when using feats like Arterial Strike or Hamstring, if the requested reduction is no greater than 3d6. Still, there is no way to harm incorporeal creatures in this way and this feat does not allow the rogue to harm any of those creatures with a critical hit and this feat does not allow to bypass other kind of abilities that grant protection by critical hits and sneak attacks, like armors of fortification.


Behind the scene: originally, the rogue was right under a conceptual point of view, but it went weaker and weaker if compared with other classes, while leveling up.
Sneak attack became even more useless and the special feat-like class abilities arrived to late to be useful. Now the rogue is still a secondary character and a sneaker, but is even more versatile than before and the Greater Sneak Attack class ability allows every 10th+ level rogue to feel still useful even at high levels.

0rion79
2007-04-27, 02:11 AM
Sorcerer

base attack saving throw dodge Stances
Level bonus fort ref will bonus special known
1° +0 +0 +0 +2 Burst of Power (cantrips); Familiar -
2° +1 +0 +0 +3 -
3° +1 +1 +1 +3 -
4° +2 +1 +1 +4 -
5° +2 +1 +1 +4 Burst of Power (1st-level spells) -
6° +3 +2 +2 +5 -
7° +3 +2 +2 +5 Burst of Power (2nd-level spells) -
8° +4 +2 +2 +6 -
9° +4 +3 +3 +6 -
10° +5 +3 +3 +7 Heritage 1 x 1 -
11° +5 +3 +3 +7 -
12° +6/+1 +4 +4 +8 +1 -
13° +6/+1 +4 +4 +8 Heritage 2 -
14° +7/+2 +4 +4 +9 -
15° +7/+2 +5 +5 +9 x 2 -
16° +8/+3 +5 +5 +10 Heritage 3 -
17° +8/+3 +5 +5 +10 -
18° +9/+4 +6 +6 +11 -
19° +9/+4 +6 +6 +11 Heritage 4 -
20° +10/+5 +6 +6 +12 Greater Heritage x 3 -
rank poor poor poor good poor none
Hit Die: d4
Skill points per level: 2
Class Skills: Bluff (Cha), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Handle Animal (Cha), Knowledge (arcana) (Int), Knowledge (dungeoneering) (Int), Knowledge (nature) (Int), Perform (Cha), Profession (Wis), Speak Language, Spellcraft (Int), Survival (Wis), and Use Magic Device (Cha).
Weapon and Armor proficiencies: All simple weapons; no armor nor shield.
Available maneuvers & Stances type: none.

The sorcerer

Generalities: sorcerers are arcane spellcasters of great power but, usually, with a mysterious and sad past. Arcane magic flows free into their bodies and, with time, the ones that didn't refuse their gift from destiny and that embraced it instead, simply learn how to better control their innate abilities. This is the sorcerer's strength: they don't need to study spells from arcane books, even if a mentor is always appreciated, but they have the use of their powers at will, until they are simply too tired to cast a new spell. Sorcerers are not very knowledgeable, they miss all the advantages coming from a wizard's training and are just average speakers, but their ability to channel spells makes them deadly machines in battle, even if not very versatile.
A sorcerer's past is very important to understand his or her present: innate arcane magic is something that always generates fears and suspects in people around the young sorcerer, often forcing him or her to a life of solitude even in the biggest cities, where magic is well-known. Still, the origins of such an innate power are a mystery, even if some sorcerer or sorceress claims a dragon or magical creature heritage, a power that remains dormant until when it wakes up into a random generation.
Wild magic requires instinct more than discipline so that sorcerers are often more chaotic than lawful, but there is no fixed rule and there are many different kind of sorcerers in the world.

Class special abilities:

Familiar (Ex): see player handbook and Orion's Enhanced Animal Compendium for a list of extra familiars.
List of changes:
Burst of Power (Su): A sorcerer’s body is so infused with magical energies that it can spontaneously power his spells on rare occasions. Whenever a sorcerer casts a sorcerer spell, there is a certain percentile chance, dependant on the spell’s level, that the spell will not use the required slot. The chance is 50% for 0-level spells (cantrips), 30% for 1st level spells, and 10% for 2nd level spells.
Heritage (Ma): at 10th level, the sorcerer rediscovers his or her lost draconic heritage, acquiring innate magic powers related to the kind of dragon that blessed his or her family with magic, generations ago. This does not changes the sorcerer’s alignment, even if many sorcerers may see it as sign that marks their life path, before often without a precise “destination” or meaning.
Roll a 10-faces die to determine the kind of dragon, using the table below: whenever the sorcerer discovers a new heritage, assign him or her a spell-like ability owned by that draconic race, ordered by the dragon age from the youth to the old age, as described by the Monster Manual. Those spell-like abilities are not part of the sorcerer’s spells list or spell slots and may be cast as separated arcane spells, even if they share the same DC as charisma-based spells. Except if written otherwise, those spells may be cast only once per day, twice at 15th
Even more, the sorcerer increases his or her power related to the kind of energy mastered by that dragon with its breath: he or she gains Energy Resistance 1 vs. that kind of energy, that stacks with further enhancements, and all energy-based spells of that kind deal +1 damage. If that dragon may choose among more than one kind of breath, choose only one kind of damage once and forever at 10th level.
Greater Heritage (Ma): at 20th level, the sorcerer discovers the dragon ultimate magical ability, that it gains when it reaches the age of “great dragon”. More, both the resistance and the damage described above are raised to 2 and the magic abilities gained with “Heritage”, that are not limited to one or two uses per day, now may be used up to three times per day.

Die score and dragon type

1. White: walk on ice or freezing fog, gust of wind, wall of ice, fog cloud, control weather x1.
2. Black: breath underwater or putrid water, darkness, insects swarm, plants growth x1, charm upon reptiles x1
3. Brass: talk with animals or endure elements, suggestion x1, control winds x1, control weather x1, summon djinni x1 (like a “Summon Monsters VII”).
4. Green: breath underwater, suggestion, plants growth x1, dominate person, command plants x1.
5. Blue: create/destroy water or imitate sound, ventriloquism, illusionary terrain x1, veil x1, arcane mirage x1.
6. Copper: spider movements carve stone x2, meld stone into mud (or mud in stone) x1, wall of stone x1, move terrain x1.
7. Bronze: talk with animals or create food & water, fog cloud, detect thoughts, control water, control weather x1.
8. Red: locate object, identify, suggestion, locate path x1, reveal location x1.
9. Silver: walk on clouds or slow fall x2, fog cloud, control living, control weather x1, reverse gravity x1
10. Gold: breathe underwater or blessing, luck bonus, obligation/quest x1 or detect gems, sun burst x1, prediction x1.
Note: more pure dragons may be added from other manuals to the list above.


Behind the scene: originally, the sorcerer was a pretty good and balanced character. It works greatly as blaster and, even if it is not as powerful as a wizard is, its ability to spontaneously cast spells is a great tactical advantage. At the very end, there are few changes needed to empower the sorcerer.

0rion79
2007-04-27, 02:12 AM
Wizard

base attack saving throw dodge Stances
Level bonus fort ref will bonus special known
1° +0 +0 +0 +2 Familiar, Scribe Scrolls -
2° +1 +0 +0 +3 -
3° +1 +1 +1 +3 -
4° +2 +1 +1 +4 -
5° +2 +1 +1 +4 Bonus Metamagic Feat -
6° +3 +2 +2 +5 -
7° +3 +2 +2 +5 -
8° +4 +2 +2 +6 -
9° +4 +3 +3 +6 -
10° +5 +3 +3 +7 Bonus Metamagic Feat -
11° +5 +3 +3 +7 -
12° +6/+1 +4 +4 +8 +1 -
13° +6/+1 +4 +4 +8 -
14° +7/+2 +4 +4 +9 -
15° +7/+2 +5 +5 +9 Bonus Metamagic Feat -
16° +8/+3 +5 +5 +10 -
17° +8/+3 +5 +5 +10 -
18° +9/+4 +6 +6 +11 -
19° +9/+4 +6 +6 +11 -
20° +10/+5 +6 +6 +12 Bonus Metamagic Feat -
rank poor poor poor good poor none

Hit Die: d4
Skill points per level: 3
Class Skills: Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Decipher Script (Int), Knowledge (all skills, taken individually) (Int), Profession (Wis), and Spellcraft (Int).
Weapon and Armor proficiencies: A wizard is proficient with 5 simple weapons of his choice, but with no armor or shields.
Available maneuvers & Stances type: none,

The wizard

generalities: wizards are the uncontestable masters of arcane magic among the non-magical creatures. Magic allows wizards to bend the physical laws of this word to their will and wizards hands down, generation after generation, their secrets to their disciples, transcribing their spells into precious books. A wizard's spell book, in fact, is his or her most valuable material good since it is needed to store spells and to refresh a wizard's memory about the complex formulae and gestures needed to cast spells. (See spellcasting).
Commonly, wizards rely only on magic and, even if it may be used to boost their combat skills, they prefer to cast their spells far away from the core of the battle, even better if guarded by strong warriors that hold the first line. More, wizards are wise humanoids and lore-experts, but all the long years spent studying made them to be pretty solitary characters, with few other interests except than magic and lore.
Magic requires a lot of discipline and, for this reason, wizards tend to law more than chaos, but there is no fixed rule and there are many different wizards in the world.

Class special abilities:

Bonus Feats: Your dedication to the arcane arts allows you to learn a wide variety of secrets to enhance your spells over the course of your life. At 5th level and every next 5 levels, you gain a bonus metamagic feat, drawn from the list of metamagic feats for which you qualify. You gain these bonus feats in addition to the feats that a character of any class gains every three levels. Same as in Player’s Handbook.
Familiar (Ex): see player handbook and Orion's Enhanced Animal Compendium for a list of extra familiars.
Scribe Scrolls (Ex): At 1st level, a wizard gains Scribe Scroll as a bonus feat. Same as in Player’s Handbook.
New spells: A wizard DOES NOT gain any new spell when leveling up. Arcane magic is extremely complicated: a wizard may attempt to research the formula for a completely new spell or a spell that he or she has seen when cast by any other arcane spellcaster, but such research is a very slow process made of heuristics and mistakes to stabilize it, requiring 1d20+20 days of intense studies per spell level. That's why many wizards rely only on what they find while venturing, learning new spells from scrolls or other wizards' spell books (usually the ones that they just killed in battle), or from ancient tomes found in libraries, depending from the DM will.
Specialized wizards: in addition to standard rules, a specialized wizard gains a +1 class bonus to the DC of all spells from the favored school of magic.
Casting spells from spell book: Regardless of appearances, it is not something possible. Every spell, divine or arcane doesn't matter, requires its focus and, for arcane magic the focus is the spellcaster' himself, plus additional focuses if needed. While sorcerers and bards have inner powers and use their whole body to concentrate and release magical energy, wizards use their mind instead and they use a lightly different approach. Every formula in fact, contains two parts: the first part is used by wizards to recall arcane magic into their body and the second part is used to activate the spell when it the magic essence has been imbued in the wizard's mind. Releasing the spell means to release the energy too and wizards need to meditate with their spell book to regain such lost essence. The origins of this energy are still unknown: some wizards and researches suppose that it comes from Deities like Boccob, others believe that it is just the grouping in one single point of the energies dislocated in a living being whole body, others instead suspect that magic essence comes directly from the planet core and an intensive abuse of it may exhaust the planet of its energies, dooming all living beings to a terrible fate. But all of these theories are only speculations with no proofs.
Since a wizard's mind is the focus needed to group magical essence to convert in spells, it is almost useless to cast spells directly from the spell book since, without the proper preparation, there is no magic energy to convert to empower the spell. If the DM allows so, some spells may be cast directly from the spell book, but they are considered as cast by a 1st-level wizard and their casting time is equal to the one of a ritual (10 minutes per spell level, 5 minutes for cantrip) and should be limited only to the use of spell that are not useful in battle or to interact with other living beings. Some examples are "repair" or "sacred rest" and the casting of those spells does not use any of the wizard spell per day.
So, the feats that before implied that a wizard does not forget anymore some of his or her most favorite spells now means that the wizard doesn't loose the magic charge anymore and is able to cast them at will, like a sorcerer.
Behind the scene: originally, the wizard was already a very powerful class. Even if those new rules may enhance it a little bit, it has been weakened by the new spellcasting rules and the power reduction of some spells.

0rion79
2007-04-27, 02:12 AM
New feats & fixes

2-WEAPONS FOCUS [General]
You have always fought with only two specific kinds of weapons at the same time, training with them like if they were one single double weapon, and you are equally expert in both of them, even if they are different.
Prerequisites: base attack bonus +6, weapon focus with one weapon, two-weapons fighting.
Bonus: declare a kind of weapon for which you chosen the "weapon focus" feat, then choose a kind of melee or throwing weapon that you can hold with one and. As long as you fight with those kind of weapons together, all the feats like weapon focus, weapon specialization, greater weapon focus, greater weapon specialization and improved critical that you chosen for the first kind of weapon automatically are applied to the other chosen weapon type. If you loose one of your weapons during a fight or one of them is broken, you temporarily loose all those feats even for the first kind of weapon as long as you cannot hold again a weapon of the missing kind.
Feats for the secondary weapon are considered as virtual feats for the purpose of further feats qualification.
Special: this feat may be chosen multiple times, every time for a different pair of weapons. A fighter may choose this feat as a bonus feat.

HEAVY ARMOR PROFICIENCY [General]
You are proficient with heavy armors and may wear them without being encumbered by them.
Prerequisites: medium armor proficiency
Special: heavy armors crafted with mithral are considered as medium armors only for the purpose to calculate the characters' movement rate and for the use of class abilities like the barbarian's extra movement or rogues' evasion. Still, a character needs the Heavy Armor Proficiency feat to wear mithral heavy armors without penalties, since their shape involves the protection of body areas that lighter armors leave uncovered and a character needs training to optimize that armor use.

MEDIUM ARMOR PROFICIENCY [General]
You are proficient with medium armors and may wear them without being encumbered by them.
Prerequisites: light armor proficiency
Special: medium armors crafted with mithral are considered as light armors only for the purpose to calculate the characters' movement rate and for the use of class abilities like the barbarian's extra movement or rogues' evasion. Still, a character needs the Medium Armor Proficiency feat to wear mithral heavy armors without penalties, since their shape involves the protection of body areas that lighter armors leave uncovered and a character needs training to optimize that armor use.

MELEE WEAPON OPTIMIZATION [General]
You can use the full potential of a melee weapon that you know very well.
Prerequisites: weapon focus with a chosen melee weapon.
Bonus: you have two bonuses: first, whenever you roll a natural 1 when dealing damage with that kind of weapon, consider that score as if you rolled a natural 2. Second, you can use your weapon to cause different kinds of wounds to your foes with no penalties, or light penalties, accordingly with a weapon description.
You may use that kind of weapon to cause alternative damages to your foes with no penalties, or light penalties, accordingly with your weapon shape.
If a weapon has a blade but deals piercing damage, it can deal slashing damage too. If a weapon has a sharp tip but it deals slashing damage, it can deal piercing damage too. If a weapon has a size greater or equal to your size, or it has a clearly round and hard edge (the rear of a lance, the head of a hand axe), you may choose to use it as bludgeoning weapon too. Still, since it is very difficult to use a slashing or piercing weapon as a bludgeoning weapon, your weapon deals damage like a weapon of the same kind but of 1 size category smaller (1d8 > 1d6) and you can't completely bypass the damage reduction equal to X/bludgeoning but you can consider it as DR 2/- instead. Last but not least, if your chosen weapon is a weapon like the spiked shield or the spiked chain, now it deals piercing AND bludgeoning damage with no penalties. Spears or polearms with a staff-like grip are not subjected to both of the damage reduction limits.
Normal: without this feat, a character that may obtain the same effect but with a penalty of -4 to attack rolls. A fighter may choose this feat as a bonus feat.

IMPROVED WARDED SPELLCASTER [General]
You practiced in spells with a duration greater than instant and the casting of those spells hampers you less than usual when casting further spells.
Prerequisites: level 3+ spellcaster
Bonus: every spell that you already cast, with a duration longer than instant, is considered like a spell of 1 level lower (up to 0) to determine the penalty to concentration checks whenever you cast a new spell. For example, casting stoneskin (level 4 spell) increases the DC of your next spells by +3 instead than +4.
This feat may be selected multiple times but spells from a level higher than 1 can't be considered as spells with a level lower than 1 to determine their penalty to concentration checks.
Special: a wizard may select this special as a bonus feat.

IMPROVED DODGE [General]
You can better defend yourself against your foes' attacks
Prerequisites: dexterity 13+
Bonus: this feat replaces "DODGE", with a new name. The rules are unchanged, but the +1 bonus becomes part of each class dodge bonus and the character chooses how to distribute it.

DEFLECT ARROWS [fix]
Once per round, whenever a character with a free hand would be hit by an arrow, dart or any projectile with a size category equal or smaller to his or her own, that character may try to deflect that projectile with an opposite attack roll. If the result is greater than the one scored by the attacker, the defender deflects the arrow without receiving any damage. For this purpose, a character with deflect arrows feat may take "10" instead than rolling a d20, but he or she must be conscious of being attacked. 1 + 1/5 of your base attack bonus, rounded down, is added to the result of the defender's roll, regardless that he or she took "10" or rolled the d20.
For all other details, see player's handbook.
Feats that increase the number of deflections per round still follow the new rule of the opposite rolls. A character with uncanny dodge may use this feat even if not conscious of being attacked by ranged weapons.

IMPROVED XXX [fix for improved disarm, overrun, sunder or trip].
These feats allow you to better disarm, overrun, sunder or trip a foe.
Whenever you attempt one of those actions, you do not provoke anymore an attack of opportunity and you gain instead a bonus for that attempt equal to 1 + 1/5 of your base attack bonus, rounded down. This bonus does stack with the ones granted by special weapons with the same effect, like the "sai" for disarming foes.
Special note about Improved Trip: normal tripping is usually done with bare hands. It doesn't matter if it is done with a kick or a shoulder strike against the opponent to menace his equilibrium: it requires an unharmed attack and the improved trip feat means that you do not provoke anymore an attack of opportunity when attempting a trip attack without a specific weapon to do so.
Alternatively, it is possible to use specific weapons, like the spiked chain, to do so. A character with the improved trip feat and a weapon that allows to trip a foe gains a bonus to the trip attempt equal to 2 + 1/4 of his or her base attack bonus instead.

TURNING & REBUKING UNDEADS [fix]
All feats that talk about turning or rebuking undeads are now related to the "divine energy" class ability and use "faith points" instead.

CRAFT MAGIC ITEMS (any) [fix]
It is foolish that a character that specializes in crafting magic items, brewing potions or scribing scrolls feels LESS expert instead than MORE expert whenever he or she does so, due to the loss of experience points that occurs with traditional rules. Since it is correct and logic that a spellcaster passes part of his life and magical essence to the realized object, change the rules as follow:
Every feat that allows the creation of a magic item or a scroll, potion or everything that allows to pass a spell into an useable object, now grants a generic essence pool to that spellcaster that may be used for the creation of every kind of magic item. The spellcaster now gains a number of experience points equal to his or her spellcaster level x(5+Y), where Y is the attribute (Int, Wis or Cha) that is the source of power for that spellcaster (use the highest one for multiclass characters)*. Every item creation process now uses those virtual experience points, while it is no longer possible to use the real ones for magic item creation but they are now affected only by spells that require an experience points price, like Wish or Planar gate. New pool replaces old one, so any unspent xp is lost upon leveling up.
Multiple item creation feats DO NOT stack or enhance in any way the pool radiance but different spellcaster class levels stack do determine the essence points total.
In addition, when crafting items like magic armors, weapons or shields, or staffs, rings or every object with permanent magical effect, we are assuming that the character is creating that item under stressful circumstances and, for the effort of transmitting his or her life essence, together with magic, to enchant or craft that item, that spellcaster receive a -1 penalty to constitution for every +1 enchantment level that the object has at the end of the crafting project, or for every 1000 gold coins needed to craft it in case of a magic item that is not an armor, shield or weapon as a result of the effort needed to create such a powerful object or gear. Those constitution penalties can't be removed with magical remedies except than with spells like miracle or wish or greater wish and they heal by themselves at the rate of 1 point every 1d8 days.
For example, a wizard that empowers a +2 magic longsword into a +3 magic longsword looses 3 constitution points, which are recovered into 3d8 days.
Note that the required experience point required to craft the object can't be greater than the spellcaster essence points left for that level.
This would even explain why magic items are so rare and would allow a character, especially non-playing ones, to specialize into a magic-gear crafter and to gain artifact-crafting or epic-level item creation feats allow a crafter to enchant one item receiving a -1 penalty to Constitution for every +2 enchantment bonus and the healing time is reduced to d4 days.
* Example: a 10th level wizard with Intelligence 19 (17+ "Headband of Intellect +2") has an essence pool containing 10(level) x (5+4(Intelligence bonus)) = 90

0rion79
2007-04-27, 02:13 AM
Spells revision

Banned spells:
1. Otiliuke's resistant sphere
2. Otiliuke’s telekinetic sphere
3. Reveal location
4. Metamorphosis
5. Transformation

All spells that allow players to skip entirely game sessions, obtaining information from NPCs with no interpretation, dialogues or any effort, should be banned. Those spells should be granted only to NPCs or should be used only to LIGHTLY boost a character or party member’s diplomatic skills, so still granting a generic failure percentage: the player should never be 100% sure to have been successful with a spell.
PS: I apologize in advance if some spells do not have the proper name, but try to understand that I’ve been forced to re-translate them in English by my mother language handbooks.

List of changes:
• Invisibility: the invisible character becomes almost completely transparent, merging almost completely with the surrounding environment and gains a circumstance bonus to hide checks equal to 1 per caster levels. The main way to locate an invisible character, without using magic, is a spot check against the invisible character’s hide check, but the watcher must be aware of the invisible creature’s presence and the invisible character gains an additional +5 magic enhancement bonus to hide, if he or she does not move at all or does only quiet actions that do not interrupt the spell (as described in the Player’s Handbook). To preserve the +5 bonus while moving, a character may move each round by a number of squares no greater to 1/5 of his or her total hide score, rounded down, but can’t run, jump or swim, otherwise the environment around his or her body sticks out revealing his or her body as an out-of-focus jelly and, even if still invisible, any other creature in the same area will be aware of the invisible character’s presence, even if not able to exactly detect his or her location. When fighting, instead, or doing something else that implies the production of any sound, it is not possible to move silently and any character may detect an invisible character’s precise location with a successful listen check against a DC = 20, otherwise a successful listen check vs. the invisible character’s “move silently” check may detect his or her presence, but not the position. Other rules are unchanged.
• Greater invisibility: it works like Invisibility, but the hide bonus is equal to the caster level +5 and the spell does not automatically ends if the invisible character attacks, casts a new spell or does the actions that end the Invisibility spell as described in Player’s Handbook. Moe, remember that stolen items becomes invisible only when under invisible clothes, not when touched, while blood, mud, flower or any colored liquid or powder that touches an invisible creature or object marks its silhouette and does not become invisible.
• Knock (Transmutation, Wiz/Sor 2, Bard 1): Target: any willing creature, door or container. Duration: 1 hour per caster’s level or until used once. This spell works in a totally new, different way. First, it creates in the hands of the enchanted creature a set of energy-made masterwork picking tools, that will expire after the first use together with the spell, and may be used with “magic hand” with no penalties or restrictions. More, the spell grants the subjected creature a cognitive bonus to lockpicking equal to the caster level, that may be used even to thrust blocked doors or containers, if there is no real lock to pick. As secondary use, the spellcaster may cast the spell upon a door or container to neutralize the spell “Hold Door” or to suspend the spell “Arcane Lock” for 10 minutes.
• Magic mount (Wiz/Sor 3rd, Evocation): the summoned horse shines as a magic items and has a pentacle on the center of the head, which clearly marks it as a summoned creature. In this way, the party can’t trick traders, selling them fake mounts.
• Explosive runes: the same object can’t be enchanted with more than one “explosive runes” spell.
• Locate creature // object : in addition to the original descriptions, both spells may give only generic hints about a creature or object location, indicating the direction or showing, in the spellcaster’s mind, an elusive and blurry image of the building, surrounding area, landscape or city where that object or creature is. The image must contain some clear hint that, then, is up to the character//player to elaborate, in order to find the precise location of that creature or object, but the spell can’t show in any way the precise location of an object or creature to the spellcaster.
• Portal, Planar Ally and Greater Planar Ally: Since the Monsters Manual contains several mistakes about the monsters’ challenge rating and effective power related to their HDs, the spellcaster cant’ choose anymore the summoned creature, but it is up to the DM (even randomly choosing the summoned creature by a pre-made list, rolling a die) and the XPs cost is equal to “Monster’s CR x 100”.
• Talk with Undeads: in replacement to the Player’s Handbook rules, the spell brings back a sentient creature’s soul into his or her body for the duration of the spell. It is a painful process and, even if it is not a forbidden spell for good characters, good clerics or paladins are reluctant to use it. In addition, souls don’t like to be disturbed from their eternal resting since, with death, they find even eternal peace, leaving every material matter behind, and do not have any real interest in helping or hindering their summoner, except if the spellcaster’s questions are connected with the undead’s once relatives or closest friends. Restless souls in fact, that still have negative feelings like vengeance or have left something uncompleted in the world of the livings, roam near their death place as ghosts and do not pass in the afterlife realms. For this reasons, undeads are reluctant to remember the moment of their death, especially if they have been assassinated, or every strong and negative event that they lived before: there is no way for a cleric to force an undead to remember such sad episodes. As well, a soul’s memory of his or her previous life is blurry and usually undeads forgets the paltriest moments of their lives, like the location of a good of no relevance. The reason of the change is that the original “talk with undeads” was one of those spells that make the party to skip entire game sessions, where they are indeed supposed to investigate and to enjoy interpretative moments with dialogues. All those restrictions allow the DM to be free and to have the undead to say nothing more of what the DM originally planned, with a party with nothing to complain about.
• Zone of truth: now it is a 4th level spell.
• Reveal lies: now it is a 6th level spell.
• Dominate person: the spell duration is reduced to 1 hour per spellcaster level.

Zeta Kai
2007-04-27, 05:12 AM
Boy, there's a lot of stuff here. It'll take me a while to slog through it all. So far, I can at least say that you've been hard at work for a long time. A question though: Could you explain the reasoning behind some of your rules adjustment? Just to get a perspective on why you're making such a radical rewrite.

Caelestion
2007-04-27, 12:31 PM
Hence why I suggested posting a summary of your main points...

0rion79
2007-05-01, 02:05 AM
well, I may connect to this site only some and then. Esactly, what would you like to ask? The main goal was to reduce a bit the spellcaster's power and to increase a bit the melee classes power, preventing spellcasters from overshadowing other classes and removing "empty" class levels where, in standard rules, often nothing happens. Anyway, if you want to read the reason, look at the end of each class thread. Maybe general rules, feats & spells are more important.

Swooper
2007-05-01, 03:12 PM
My only comment on this (I didn't want to read through 50 pages or something, at least for now): Please change the name of the 'Skald' barbarian variant. Skáld means poet in my language (Icelandic, where it's from) and has nothing to do with barbarism. :smallwink:

0rion79
2007-05-02, 02:46 AM
no, it does: it is done so since it sings poetic songs while fighting... it is a sort of "kit" class from AD&D IInd. :D

de-trick
2007-05-12, 05:10 PM
3.6 is not that bad as i thought it was going to be

ZeroNumerous
2007-05-12, 05:21 PM
Now it's time for 3.7!


My only comment on this (I didn't want to read through 50 pages or something, at least for now): Please change the name of the 'Skald' barbarian variant. Skáld means poet in my language (Icelandic, where it's from) and has nothing to do with barbarism. :smallwink:

A barbarian can be a poet too. Perform is cross-class, but still accessible. Just don't tell him it sucked, or he'll rage.