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Submortimer
2015-07-11, 06:20 AM
Armiger

"Never forget who you are; wear it like armor, and it can never be used to hurt you."
- Tyrion Lannister, Game of Thrones

"Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can make your stand against the Devil's schemes."
- Ephesians, 6:10 -11

"Armor, n.
The kind of clothing worn by a man who's tailor is a blacksmith"
- Ambrose Bierce

In the intense, violent schoolroom that is the battlefield, warriors have learned a great many lessons: the importance of tact and timing, the necessity of speed, and value of cunning. Yet above all these lessons, one stands triumphant in its importance and utter simplicity: skin is both soft and weak, and does little to stop an axe head.

Because of this, man developed armor. It is this tool of combat that the Armiger specializes in, both in its use and in its creation. With her skin of steel and her shield in hand, she stands between her allies and certain destruction.

Well-Fitted Suit
At 3rd level, an Armiger begins to learn the intricacies of armor craftsmanship. Doing so allows her to convert a medium or heavy suit of armor into a Well-Fitted Suit of armor. This particular suit of armor is fitted to the armiger's exact specifications, and can only be worn proficiently by her. A Well-fitted suit of armor gains a +1 magical bonus to AC, and its strength requirement is 1 less. Additionally, a well fitted suit of armor may be donned and doffed in 1/10 of the time. Should an Armiger lose her Well-Fitted suit or wishes to fit another suit, she may do so; this process takes 24 hours and costs 100 gp.

Metallurgy
An Armiger is no mere warrior; she is a craftsman. Not only does she know how to best fight in a suit of armor, she knows how to make that armor BETTER. At 3rd level, an armiger gains proficiency in Blacksmith's tools. Additionally, she unlocks some great Technique of forging that she may use to upgrade her armor. When an armiger learns a new Technique, she may apply it to one of her Well-Fitted Suits for free; upgrading her other suits takes 24 hours and 100 gold per technique she applies. At 3rd level, she learns Three Techniques, Two additional techniques at level 7, 10, 15, and one at 18. Each armiger Crafting technique is unique, and may only be selected once, unless otherwise noted.

Shining Armor
It is said that "A knight in in shining armor is a man who has never hat his Metal tested". The armiger takes this saying to heart, crafting her gear and displaying her skills in such a way as to goad others into attacking her above other targets. Starting at 7th level, the first time during combat that a hostile creature sees an armiger wearing their Well-Fitted Suit, they must make a wisdom saving throw (DC 8 + Int bonus + Proficiency bonus). Failure means that they have disadvantage on attacking any other target than the armiger. At the end of each of their turns, an affected target may make a wisdom saving throw; success ends the effect. the effect also ends if the armiger is knocked unconscious or the target loses sight of the armiger. Any creature that passes Shining Armor's saving throw cannot be affected by it again for 24 hours.

Wall of Iron
An armiger knows her place on the battlefield: as an impenetrable wall between her enemies and her allies. Starting at 10th level, as a reaction, she may move up to half her movement speed and interpose herself between an ally and an attack or damaging effect (spell, breath weapon, etc.) that she can see, either stepping in front of an ally or pushing that ally 5 ft. If she is blocking an attack, the attack now targets her, and her ally is unaffected. If it is a damaging effect, the armiger takes on the whole effect, though she is allowed a saving throw. Her ally is unaffected, even if he is still within the normal AoE for the effect.

Craftman's eye
A crafstman knows the tools of her trade, and knows how to spot and exploit or shore-up defects in someone else's work. Starting at 15th level, as an action, she may make a single melee attack against a target wearing manufactured armor that she can see. If this attack hits, the target must make a dexterity saving throw (DC 8 + Int Bonus + Proficiency Bonus), failure means that any attacks against that target are made at advantage. This lasts until the affected creature removes that suit of armor. At the end of each of that creature's turns, it may make a dexterity saving throw to end the effect. Additionally, she may spend 10 minutes to temporarily reinforce an ally's suit of armor: while reinforced, an ally's armor negates the first critical hit they receive, turning it into a normal hit. This lasts until that ally is critically hit.

Master Craftsman
An armiger is always looking for ways to improve her art, and here is where she reaches the pinnacle of her ability. At 18th level, an armiger learns to craft Adamantine Armor, Mithral Armor, and Dragonscale Armor. Doing so requires 1 week of time and 500 gold (for Mithral or Adamatine) or 5000 gold (for Dragonscale) in special tools and raw materials, plus the cost of the suit of armor. Adamantine and Mithral Armor may be any form of Medium or heavy armor, and Dragonscale may be any form of light or medium armor.


Modular
You alter your Well-Fitted Suit to be adjustable on the fly. As an action, you may remove parts from your armor, shifting it from heavy to medium, heavy to light, or medium to light armor. You may also change it from light to medium, medium to heavy, or light to heavy, but that process takes 1 min. In light armor form, It is equivalent to Studded leather; Medium Armor form, half-plate; and heavy armor form, full plate. A modular Suit may accept all forms of upgrades, but must be in it's appropriate form for them to apply.

Reinforced
You learn how to increase the toughness of your steel. While wearing your Well-Fitted Suit, you reduce all non-magical slashing, piercing, or bludgeoning damage by 2 points.

Spiked
You add a layer of retractable spikes onto the knees, shoulders, gauntlets, Helmet, and boots of your armor. While wearing your Well-fitted suit, your unarmed strikes deal 1d4 bludgeoning or piercing damage.

Hooked
You add a series of discrete, retractable hooks to the gauntlets and boots of your armor. While wearing your Well-Fitted Suit, You gain a Climb speed equal to your Movement speed.

Adamantine Plating (level 7 required)
Your well-fitted suit gains the abilities of a suit of Adamantine armor. You may not apply this and the Mithral Plating technique to the same suit. Your Suit must be Medium or Heavy Armor to accept Adamantine Plating.

Mithral Plating (level 7 required)
Your Well fitted suit gains the abilities of a suit of Mithral Armor. You may not apply this and the Adamatine Plating technique to the same suit. Your Suit must be Medium or Heavy Armor to accept Mithral Plating.

Boot Springs (Level 7 required)
You install a pair of high-tension springs in the boots of your armor. While wearing your well-fitted suit, you may use a bonus action to triple your Jump distance for that turn, and your jump distance is not limited to your movement speed. Your suit must be Medium armor to accept Boot Springs.

Juggernaut Plating (Level 7 required)
You install a set of heavy shoulder plates and a reinforced helmet on your armor, turning you into a veritable battering ram. While wearing your well-fitted suit, you may, as an action, move up to your speed towards an inanimate object (this includes buildings, walls, gates, etc.). At the end of this movement, you hit the object, dealing 3d6 damage + twice your level to the object. Your suit must be heavy armor to accept Juggernaut Plating.

Bladed Armor (Level 7 Required)
You Install a pair of retractable blades on the bracers of your Well-Fitted suit. Your blades deal 1d8 slashing or piercing damage, and have the Light and Finesse properties. You cannot be disarmed of these blades, and you have advantage on slight of hand checks made to conceal these blades. Should you wish to, you may replace one of these blades with the blade of any magical sword, or have one or both blades enchanted.

Durable Plating (Level 10 required)
The magical AC bonus of your Well Fitted suit increases by 1.

Darksteel Plating (Level 10 required)
You learn how to blend darkstone, stone infused with necrotic energy, into your steel. You gain resistance to Necrotic and Radiant damage while wearing your well fitted suit. Your Suit must be Heavy Armor to accept Darksteel Plating.

Deep Crystal Studding (Level 10 required)
You learn how to stud your underlaying leather with Deep Crystal, crystal infused with latent psychic energy. You gain resistance to Force and Psychic damage while wearing your Well fitted suit. Your Suit must be Medium armor to accept Deep Crystal studding.

Installed Crossbow (level 10 required)
You attach a hand crossbow and loading mechanism to a gauntlet on your Well-fitted suit. This hand crossbow deals 1d6 damage, and ignores the loading property, allowing you to make as many attacks as you have with it each turn. You have advantage on slight of hand checks to conceal this crossbow. Should you wish to, you may replace this installed crossbow with any magical light or hand crossbow, or you may have it enchanted.

Installed Wand (level 10 required)
With a bit of assistance, you learn how to install a functional wand in one of the arms or in a special casing on the shoulder of your armor. While wearing your well fitted suit, you gain access to three cantrips. These may be selected from any spell list, and your spellcasting modifier for these cantrips is Intelligence. You may select this Technique more than once, up to three times.

Magnetic Plating (level 10 required)
You learn to blend Loadstone into your armor plating, all the better to draw enemy attacks to your impenetrable shell. While Wearing your well-fitted suit, any ranged weapon attacks made with metallic ammo (arrowheads, metallic sling bullets, javalins, etc.) or melee weapon attacks that target a creature within 10 ft. of you instead target you. A creature wielding a metallic weapon may make a strength save (DC 8 + int bonus + prof. bonus) to target someone else. Your own attacks are not affected by your Magnetic Plating. Your armor must be Heavy to accept Magnetic Plating.

Second Skin (Level 10 required)
You learn how to craft your armor to be breathable, light, and flexible, without compromising it's protective ability. Your well-fitted suit's maximum dex bonus increases by 1, it no longer applies disadvantage on skill checks, and no longer imposes any penalty for sleeping in it. You suit must be Medium Armor to benefit from Second Skin.

Dragon Scale Underlay (Level 15 required)
You Learn how to best utilize Dragon scale in the production of heavier armors. Select two damage types (Fire, Thunder, Lightning, Acid, Poison): While wearing your Well Fitted suit, you gain resistance to each of those damage types.

Living Wood Underlay (Level 15 required)
You apply a thin layer of Living Wood to the underside of your armor's plating. This wood seeps a restorative sap into your skin. As long as you are wearing your Well Fitted Suit, you gain 1 hp at the start of each of your turns.

Cushioning Underlay (Level 15 required)
You learn to pad your armor with Owlbear Down in just the right spots to resist damage from falling. While wearing your Well-Fitted suit, you are immune to falling damage.

Windswept plating (level 15 required)
You learn to blend Air elemental essence into your Steel, allowing your armor to nearly float in the air and move swifter than the wind. While wearing your Well-Fitted suit, your base speed increases by 10 ft., and you gain the ability to fly at your normal movement speed. You must start and end your flight on solid ground; otherwise, you immediately fall. You suit must be Medium armor to accept Windswept Plating.

Molten plating (Level 15 required)
You learn how to blend Fire Elemental essence into your steel, seeping heat into your attacks and providing you protection from the same. While wearing your Well-Fitted suit, you gain resistance to Fire damage, and your attached weapons Deal an additional 1d6 fire damage per strike.

Aquatic Plating (Level 15 required)
You learn how to blend Water Elemental Essence into your armor, allowing your armor to move effotlessly in the water. While wearing your Well-Fitted suit, you gain a swim speed equal to your normal movement speed, and you can breathe underwater.

Impenetrable Plating (level 18 required)
The magical AC Bonus of your well fitted suit increases by 1.

Invincible Plating (level 18 required)
You learn how to blend in Earth Elemental essence into your steel, making your armor nigh indestructable to certain forms of strikes. Select one type of damage (Slashing, Piercing, Bludgeoning): While wearing your well-fitted suit, you are immune to that type of damage. You suit must be Heavy armor to accept Invincible Plating

Immortal Plating (level 18 required)
You learn how to blend celestial essence into your steel; this essence knits your wounds back together, at a very alarming rate. While wearing your well-fitted suit, you heal 4 hp at the beginning of each of your turns. This stacks with the bonus from Living Wood underlay. Your armor must be Medium to accept Immortal Plating.

Alright, first draft of the Armiger is done. Hopefully, you guys think this is at least interesting; It's MAYBE a little OP, but it's mostly based around not dying, as opposed to dealing damage.

Submortimer
2015-07-12, 10:45 PM
Okay, here it is in it's current form, let me know what works, what doesn't, and what needs to be burned in a fire.

JNAProductions
2015-07-12, 11:01 PM
It seems, first off, really flipping cool.

It also seems really flipping powerful within bounded accuracy. One thing that really stuck out as overpowered was the ability to make enemies focus just on you. That turns, with a single failed saving throw, every enemy into an absolute moron. I'd allow a saving throw each turn to nullify it.

Submortimer
2015-07-13, 01:19 AM
It seems, first off, really flipping cool.


Thanks!



It also seems really flipping powerful within bounded accuracy. One thing that really stuck out as overpowered was the ability to make enemies focus just on you. That turns, with a single failed saving throw, every enemy into an absolute moron. I'd allow a saving throw each turn to nullify it.

I realize that, this is mostly to get the idea out there and see what I need to fix. I added the "Aggro pull" ability because there aren't enough ways to be a proper tank in the normal rules of the game as it stands right now. I'll probably add a save every round to nullify it.

And yeah, the bounded accuracy thing. The way it stands now, an Armiger with Full Plate and a shield can potentially get up to 18+3+3+2+3 = 29 AC, with a +3 shield and +3 armor. That, though, relies on them using two of their secrets on straight AC enhancement, specifically the level 18 one.

Submortimer
2015-07-13, 01:44 AM
Made some edits, added the "Installed Wand" Technique. Yes, you can use this class to play war machine. Yes, that's intended :smallsmile:

PotatoGolem
2015-07-13, 10:12 AM
The bounded accuracy problem is actually worse than that. Second Skin lets you have half-plate with no dex maximum. 15+5(dex)+3 (class)+3 (armor enchant)+3(shield enchant)+2(shield)= 31 AC. A level 20 fighter with 20 str/dex can only hit you on a natural 20.

Actually, second skin is odd in general, because it makes a dex armiger straight-up better than a strength armiger. It seems very weird to me flavor-wise that a class that's all about being a beg armored hulk who takes blows for his allies is better for a small quick character than a big burly one.

Further issues for for strength-armiger: you have no choice of upgrades at level 7. A medium armiger can pick either material, but a strength armiger has to take adamantine and blades. I know you could have modular armor, but no one's going to take that for anything other than flavor. Heavy armor characters need strength, light and medium (especially once second skin comes in) need dex. Unless you got godlike rolls, one character won't excel at both. And even then, you only have the one fighting style.

Submortimer
2015-07-13, 06:24 PM
Made some edits:
- Added Boot Springs and Juggernaut plating.
- Changed Second Skin to be less problematic.
- Changed the armor bonus into a magical bonus, to retain bounded accuracy.

Twelvetrees
2015-07-15, 12:01 AM
Quite a cool concept you've got here, Submortimer. That said, a few things seem off to me.


Shining Armor: This is really, really strong. I'm not sure that it's broken, per se, but it's something I'd be very wary of as a DM.

Craftsman's Eye: This feel like it goes too far. Damaging an enemy's armor is thematic, but advantage against that enemy for everyone for the rest of the combat is far too strong. I'd consider making this something that required a successful save at the end of each turn to mitigate, as the enemy adapts to the weak point in their armor.

Crafting Techniques:

Bladed Armor: These blades are better than any other weapons for two-weapon fighting. Consider reducing to 1d6 damage.

Living Wood Underlay: Currently heals you when you are at 0 hp. You may want to make it more in line with the Champion feature.

Immortal Plating: Same as Living Wood Underlay.

Invincible Plating: Way too strong especially for a constant benefit. This also feels like it's encroaching on the barbarian's territory. Perhaps you could make this a better version of Reinforced, and have it stack?

Submortimer
2015-07-15, 12:55 AM
Quite a cool concept you've got here, Submortimer. That said, a few things seem off to me.

Shining Armor: This is really, really strong. I'm not sure that it's broken, per se, but it's something I'd be very wary of as a DM.


Understood. I changed it to allow a save every round, so it shouldn't be too broken.


Craftsman's Eye: This feel like it goes too far. Damaging an enemy's armor is thematic, but advantage against that enemy for everyone for the rest of the combat is far too strong. I'd consider making this something that required a successful save at the end of each turn to mitigate, as the enemy adapts to the weak point in their armor.


You make an excellent point, and I might adjust it accordingly. A thing to think about, though, is that this only works against creatures wearing manufactured armor; at that level, you wont be able to use this ability on most creatures you come across.


Bladed Armor: These blades are better than any other weapons for two-weapon fighting. Consider reducing to 1d6 damage.

This is intentional, as you can only get these as a 7th level class feature.



Living Wood Underlay: Currently heals you when you are at 0 hp. You may want to make it more in line with the Champion feature.

Immortal Plating: Same as Living Wood Underlay.

Both of these were intentional, as it heals a fair bit less per round than the Champion's ability. I may change it, but it's really supposed to be there for the "you REALLY have to make sure i'm dead" effect.



Invincible Plating: Way too strong especially for a constant benefit. This also feels like it's encroaching on the barbarian's territory. Perhaps you could make this a better version of Reinforced, and have it stack?

This is supposed to be a very defining capstone for the Armiger; nothing else fully negates a type of physical damage. The barbarian gains large damage bonuses to go with his resistance, and is resistant to much more than the armiger; by contrast, there are just some things that will never get through a Heavy Armiger's plating. I'd say that this needs a bit of playtesting before I'm going to change it, as this was one of the first things I wanted to have available to this subclass.

Flashy
2015-07-15, 01:53 AM
This is supposed to be a very defining capstone for the Armiger; nothing else fully negates a type of physical damage. The barbarian gains large damage bonuses to go with his resistance, and is resistant to much more than the armiger; by contrast, there are just some things that will never get through a Heavy Armiger's plating.

I'm leery about this too, just because I worry that some choices are more effective than others. The overwhelming majority of non-magical ranged attacks deal piercing damage, for example, which renders a high level Armiger potentially immune to mundane attack at a distance. I'm not saying I think it's unbalanced, but I agree that it definitely needs careful playtesting.