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mabriss lethe
2007-04-30, 01:29 AM
Tada! Time for more Adventures with Non-Adventuring Classes (or NaC for short.) Click on the link to my first NaC, The Skull Thumper (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=41977), for any clarification about what an NaC is and what rules adjustments I've made so far for this campaign setting.

Conscripted Infantry

"What's happening?! I don't know... Where's?...Everybody DOWN!" - Job Tanner, conscripted infantryman (now deceased)

Not all soldiers are warriors by profession. The bulk of most armies are filled by farmers and townsmen taken by feudal lords to fill the roll of battle fodder. They give them a spear and a shield, slap the cheapest armor they can find on them and throw these poor peasants into the front lines to wear down the enemy. The ones who survive learn to depend on each other, fighting as one to stay alive.

Hit Die: d6

Skills: 2 + Int modifier


Class Skills: The Conscript's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Handle Animal (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str),Profession (Int), Ride (Dex), and Swim (Str).

Table: Conscripted Infantry
{table]Level|BAB*|SpAB|Fort|Ref|Will|Special
1|+0*|+1|+2|+0|+0|Hold the Line, Cadence Call
2|+0*|+2|+3|+0|+0|Brother in Arms (AC+1),Striking Past
3|+0*|+3|+3|+1|+1|Oops! Wrong End, Veteran
4|+0*|+4|+4|+1|+1|Brother in Arms (AC+2), Bonus Feat
5|+0*|+5|+4|+1|+1|Knockback[/table]

Weapon and Armor Proficiencies:
Conscripted Infantry are proficient with the following weapons: Dagger, shortsword and all spears. They are proficient with light armor and all shields, with the exception of tower shields.

Hold the Line: The Conscript gains a +2 bonus on saves versus fear effects. This bonus increases by an additional +1 if he is adjacent to an ally.

Cadence Call: Conscripts seem to spend most of their time traveling on foot, they learn rather quickly to deal with it. When a Conscript "Calls Cadence" the base land speed of all allies within 30 feet is improved by 10 feet for as long as the character maintains it and as long as his allies sing along. The Conscript is capable of calling cadence a number of times per day equal to his Conscripted Infantry level. Treat this ability as a non-magical version of Bardic Music, mimicking a mind affecting ability. Note that certain actions, notably anything stealth related, will be impossible while this ability is in use. It is up to the DM what can and cannot be done while the entire adventuring party is shouting at each other.

Striking Past: Constant practice in tight formations has paid off for the Conscript. At 2nd level, When using a longspear, the Conscript may attack freely through an adjacent square occupied by an ally to strike at a target on the opposite side.

Brothers in Arms: At 2nd level the Conscript learns that there is strength in numbers and as long as you guard your ally's back, he in turn will guard yours. When you stand adjacent to an ally in combat, they gain a +1 bonus to AC. This bonus improves to +2 at 4th level. Note that the conscript will not receive an AC bonus from this ability unless he is adjacent to another allied character with the "Brothers in Arms" ability and gains the bonus from them.

Veteran: At third level, the Conscript has become hardened to the realities of warfare, He has a number of effective levels in the fighter class equal to his Conscripted Infantry level -2, For the purposes of selecting feats and any special requirements only, his effective BAB from this class is also equal to his Conscripted Infantry level -2.

Oops! Wrong End: At 3rd level, the Conscript unlearns the only lesson his masters ever gave him before entering battle: Which end of the spear to point at the enemy. He may use any spear he is proficient with as a bludgeoning weapon. When using a longspear in this fashion, he wields it as a double weapon, though he takes normal penalties for fighting with a weapon in his off hand if he does so. When using the longspear as a double weapon, it is no longer considered a reach weapon. Use the table below to determine the new weapon statistics.

Table: Wrong Ended Spears
Weapon|Modified Damage|Critical|Damage Type
Short Spear|1d4|X2|Bludgeoning
Spear|1d6|X2|Bludgeoning
Longspear|1d6/1d6|X2|Piercing or Bludgeoning

Bonus Feat: At 4th level, the Conscript may select a bonus feat from the fighter list that he meets the prerequisites for. Any weapon-specific feats chosen must be taken for any spear type.

Knockback: At 5th level the conscript further debases his only lesson. . If the conscript uses his "Wrong End" ability to deal bludgeoning damage, the conscript may attempt to knock an opponent backwards. The target struck must succeed in a Fortitude save versus a DC equal to the conscript's attack roll. Failure means the target has been pushed back 5 feet, assuming there is an unoccupied square behind the target. This ability may only be used as a full attack action and only works on targets up to one size category larger than the conscript.

Notes: Yes, I know a d6 is pretty weak for a combat class, this is my intent. Conscripts directly rely on others when they fight, and back it up with good teamwork abilities. These guys are supposed to reflect something halfway between a peasant levy and a carreer soldier like the Warrior NPC class.

Magnor Criol
2007-04-30, 08:20 PM
I love the feel of this class, moreso than the last two. The way you necessitate players in this class to work together to survive a fight is well-executed and a great idea.

This plugs naturally into the Fighter, but something that could be really cool is a way for them to plug this into the Marshall class as well. I don't know how it'd be executed mechanicswise, but, say, a conscript who discovered that he liked the army and wanted to lead it would perhaps work his way to the leader of their little conscripted unit, and thus get experience leading a team, which would flow naturally into a Marshall class fluffwise.
...Maybe the Veteran ability would take the form more of an option. Their character, upon reachin veteran status, would be recognized by the military they're in as a good soldier, and can choose one of two routes:

1. They can continue their tough and straightforward soldier-y training, which ties into their Fighter classes (the current ability), or

2. If their character is interested in leading, they can instead begin training to lead, and then their class levels could stack to some degree with their Marshall levels for determining the bonuses a Marshall's aura grants. Or maybe a leadership score bonus, to be more open.

Fluffwise, this makes sense: If they continue soldier training, that means they'd pick up more feats, etc., which (if I read it right) is what the bonus does; and if they went to train as a leader, they'd stop training so hard martially, and wouldn't get the extra prowess. Of course, fluffwise, this ability would probably be placed at the end of the class, too, so I dunno.

mabriss lethe
2007-05-01, 12:20 AM
So far, this one's been my favorite, too. I liked the skullthumper and was sort of disappointed with how the hedge wizard worked out(I'm already reworking parts of it.) I have a scavenger in the works that I really want to incorporate, but I'm still having some trouble getting everything to fall into place. Scavenger in a nutshell: They're supposed to be sort of a MacGyver class, taking useless junk and improvising equipment out of it.

I've flipped through heros of battle, looked at the marshal..that's about it. I'd have to reread the material to figure out where it could stack at. ...Alternately,maybe cadence call could be reworked as an aura? Also would need to reread.

Matthew
2007-05-14, 08:29 PM
An interesting idea. I don't think I would be likely to use it for D&D, but it is interesting nonetheless.

I_Got_This_Name
2007-05-14, 10:20 PM
Needs Crossbow proficiency, and the ability to apply its bonus feat to crossbows.

DracoDei
2007-05-15, 11:30 AM
Maybe INSTEAD of spear in individual cases, but not AS WELL AS spear. These guys get minimal training remember...

mabriss lethe
2007-05-15, 09:03 PM
Maybe INSTEAD of spear in individual cases, but not AS WELL AS spear. These guys get minimal training remember...

I'm toying with an idea along those lines for a shock trooper NaC. Advanced Cannon Fodder (tm)

Basing them on the Malazan Empire's Marines in Steven Erikson's novels...Though they'd probably work better as a 20 level base class than NaC