Must-have fixes for 3.5?

[fyleisch]

I'm wondering if there is a list of must-have fixes for the d&d 3.5e classes and mechanics that are looked down on.
Specifically of the monk, the truenamer and possibly the shadowcaster.

I always think of gitp's own diplomacy fix as being the canonical fix for 3.5e diplomacy, are there any particularly solid and well regarded fixes for the classes above?
Are there any other broken (i.e. too weak, or too bizarre to be worth using) things that have a good fix?

[Albions_Angel]

Death is too random as is. A common houserule (and I believe its actually how Pathfinder does death) is to say you are staggered at 0hp, unconscious at -CON bonus, and dead at -CON.

I have seen various truenamer fixes, most revolve around changing the DC to scale, not with twice CR, but either with CR linearly, or with HP in some way. Doesnt make the class tier 1, but certainly boosts its usability up to tier 4 or so. Even seen some reasonable fixes that take it firmly into tier 3 range.

My group had an interesting fix for ninja, specifically for the feat "enduring ki". Rather than spending 2 ki points to get 2 consecutive rounds of invisibility (basically making it so you can do a swift action on your second turn), we reduced it to 1 ki point per 2 consecutive rounds of invisibility. Basically, it doubles your ki pool with regards to ghost step, which means ninjas can suddenly have several combat situations per day, and still get their sudden strike ability. Does quite a lot to make them usable. Worth also looking at Master of Poisons(?) from Drow of the Underdark and considering giving it to ninjas as a class ability.

[WeaselGuy]

As far as I know, Truenamer requires a ridiculous amount of optimization to make it relatively feasible. Monk is best served as a dip, since while it gets good abilities, they are all obtained after a caster would get them. Shadowcaster is a fun class (imo) and it's creator has a few suggestions on improvements and errata for the class, since it was part of 3.5's last run, and never received any follow-up love. I don't remember what it was off the top of my head, but a quick search of Shadowcaster Handbooks should help out.

[icefractal]

There are a lot of things that could use fixing, a lot of different fixes for those things floating around, and not much consensus on which of those fixes are the best to use. Even when people agree on issues like "Monk needs a boost", to some people that means a slight boost like the PF Unchained Monk, and to others it means a much more significant boost like the Tome Monk.

Shadowcaster has a pretty simple fix though, IIRC, just changing the stats to not be so MAD, and not requiring staying in the same 'path' of mysteries. Truenamer is much harder to fix - it really needs an overhaul at a fundamental level, because it's trying to map something that's only very vaguely level-dependent (skill check results) to something that's intended as highly level-dependent (what spells you get to cast).

[Albions_Angel]

As far as I know, Truenamer requires a ridiculous amount of optimization to make it relatively feasible.

Thats highly dependent on the party optimization level. Truenamer needs a complete rewrite to compete with a guy who is powergaming a wizard. It requires several changes to truespeak checks and dcs, and how they scale, to bring it up to tier 4, and those are easy to do.

People here optimize a lot, and assume a huge level of power gaming, but remember that often, Spell Compendium, UA Flaws, and the Tomes are banned, or heavily case by case. And a lot of people dont have the knowledge to build a high powered wizard. As such, you will find a lot of groups where wizards are basically area control while the fighters, barbarians, paladins and rogues wander in and dispatch the enemy.

Its one of the reasons I personally think druids are better than wizards. Sure, they cant go quite as god mode as a wizard, or have as many options. But its really hard to screw up a druid to the point where its squishy and cant do anything helpful, while thats very, very easy to do with wiz.

[daremetoidareyo]

For monk the consensus seems to be that it should have full BAB, and overt proficiency with unarmed strikes. I suggest giving stunning fist as an inherent 1st or 2nd level class ability rather than as a bonus feat, as so many prestige classes assume that you have it. This doesn't have to replace the normal bonus feat options, Just move the first level bonus feat options to 3rd level.

Then you need to find a way to both move and full attack. Or to flurry as a standard action. Either or.

Allowing monks to permanently trade plusses to AC in exchange for armor enchantments (+1 AC for a +1 enchantment). All of the abilities except a few are EX, the rest are Su. That way you have access to some magical type effects while preserving the mundane yet mystical flavor. In order to meter the power of this option, just use the AC bonus column to differentiate this ability by class level. When you get to +2 and you have already chosen a +1, you may choose at the beginning of the day to activate either the +1 or the +2 ability. You can switch your style as a fullround action until level 12, at which it becomes a standard action.

But just google monk 3.5 fix and you'll get a bunch of different options.

Truenamer, the quick dirty fix is to use 1.5X CR rather than what is typically stipulated.

I would also open up all knowledge and perform skills to all classes, just like profession and craft. In fact, UMD, disable device, autohypnosis, and Sleight of Hand are probably the only skills I wouldn't open to all classes, particularly at 1st level.

[Cosi]

I strongly recommend Frank and K's Tomes. They've got fixes for the Monk, Fighter, and Barbarian, a bunch of cool feats and PrCs, and very interesting takes on a bunch of D&Disms.

[Troacctid]

Some easy quick fixes off the top of my head:
* Remove multiclass xp penalties
* Switch the animal companions of the Druid and Ranger
* Sorcerers get bonus feats like a Wizard
* Fighters get a bonus feat at every level
* Half-casters (Ranger, Paladin, etc.) have full caster level
* Warlocks and Dragonfire Adepts get some number of extra invocations (e.g. one of each grade)
* Improved Disarm, Improved Sunder, Improved Bull Rush, Improved Grapple, and Improved Overrun all grant an extra attack like Improved Trip
* Two-Weapon Fighting and Flurry of Blows can be done as a standard action
* Full casting progressions are standardized, so Wizards and Sorcerers gain access to new spell levels at the same level—I prefer the Wizard progression, but you could use the Sorcerer progression if you like
* Various classes with 2 + Int skill points (Fighter, Paladin, Warlock, Incarnate, Cleric, Sorcerer, Psychic Warrior...) are bumped up to 4 + Int
* Soulknives gain manifesting as a Psychic Warrior/Lurk/Psychic Rogue (take your pick)
* Shadowcaster mysteries recharge every encounter, like maneuvers

[Zaq]

There's just too much to list anything that's really universal as a must-have fix. I guess removing multiclass penalties is one such thing (seriously, does anyone actually like that rule?), and applying some commonsense houserules about natural weapons and their proficiency (basically just say that everyone is proficient with whatever natural weapons they happen to pick up, including unarmed strikes if necessary), and I'm generally in favor of using fractional BAB, but there's not a ton that I would list as "must-have."

Beyond that, though? There's too much. 3.5 is so huge and so complex and prone to being broken in so many different ways that there's no quick and dirty set of fixes that is going to work for every game. Some people fix the Monk by tweaking its numbers, some people fix the Monk by slapping psionics onto it, some people fix the Monk by banning it and assigning its relevant abilities to other classes, and so on. Some people fix the Wizard by limiting their spell access, some people fix the Wizard by changing their spell slot progression, some people fix the Wizard by individually banning the most problematic spells—and some people fix the Wizard by leaving it alone and giving other classes enough goodies to level the playing field a bit. You can address the Truenamer by making the Truespeak DC easier, you can address the Truenamer by removing the Truespeak mechanic entirely, you can address the Truenamer by removing the Law of Sequence and the Law of Resistance, you can address the Truenamer by homebrewing more and better utterances so they actually have something worthwhile to do when they succeed on their check, you can address the Truenamer by some combination of those things—or you can address the Truenamer by not really changing much of what's been written but just working with the player to make sure they have enough tools in their toolbox to contribute the way they want to contribute.

Some people want to limit things a bit, so they use E6 rules (either "hard E6" or "soft E6" or something else) to change the power dynamic of the game. Some people want to increase average PC power level, so they play Gestalt. Some people don't apply any worldwide changes like E6 or Gestalt or whatever. None of these are inherently better than the others (I certainly favor certain ones over other ones, but that's generally subjective barring some extreme cases), and since you can't boil 3.5's problems down to a small list of specific issues, it's not valuable to try to identify a small list of fixes that are always relevant.

Let me be clear, in no way am I saying that you shouldn't houserule this game. Houserule the hell out of it. I encourage that. The game needs houserules. But I wouldn't call pretty much any set of houserules "must-have." It may need houserules, but it doesn't always need the same houserules.

Consider 3 GMs who all want to curb the power level of T1 casters. The first GM might take the relatively easy approach of hard-banning all 9th level casters aside from the fixed-list ones (Healer, Warmage, Beguiler, Dread Necro); it's a fairly sweeping change, and it definitely limits player options, but it doesn't require a lot of extra work on the part of the GM. The second GM might painstakingly go through every single spell their players ask for and allow, modify, or ban each spell as they see fit; this leaves player power mostly intact aside from the stuff that the GM specifically doesn't want to deal with, but it's a ton of work for the GM. The third GM might not make any universal changes, choosing instead to just ask their players to be mature and play nice, relying only on GM fiat to fix problems if they still come up; this requires the least effort up front and probably has the fewest implications for the rest of the world, but it puts the GM in the position of reacting to problems that come up instead of proactively preventing them in the first place, should the players choose not to be responsible. (A fourth GM might choose to leave everything as it is, seeing no problem with the power of T1 casters and indeed encouraging players to wield that kind of power.) The three GMs have the same goal, and it's a goal that's shared by many (far from all, of course, but many) GMs you'd talk to in this community, but I wouldn't call any of their approaches "must-have."

A huge part of the lasting appeal of 3.5 is that it is so broad and so complex and so multifaceted. This does mean that the system has a huge quantity of problems, but not everyone will agree on what those problems are, and even people who agree about a given set of problems might not think that the problems should be addressed in the same way. Some GMs want to put more effort into fixing these problems than others do, and that's okay.

I repeat, I'm not saying that all houserules are equally valuable (I definitely favor certain approaches over certain other approaches, depending on many many different factors), and I'm very definitely not saying that the game doesn't need houserules. It definitely needs houserules. But since there are so many different problems with the game and so many different desired outcomes (whether you value balance with a low power scale or balance with a high power scale or simplicity of play or simplicity of bookkeeping or more randomness or less randomness or something else entirely), I don't think it's valuable to put too many universals out there. Find something that works for your group, your GM, your desired power level, your desired ECL range, whatever. But there's very little that's going to make every group happy.

[illyahr]

The Truenamer and Truespeak abilities are good as written, but the DC of Truespeak checks scales way too quickly. With a medium optimization, it is impossible for a level 20 Truenamer to affect himself with his own Truespeak (15 + 2 X 20 = 55, you can max your check at 53). A simple change to 15 + 2 + CR actually works a lot better. A level 20 Truenamer would only need a 37, much easier to perform. If you wanted to drop the + 2, you could do that also and make it a 35, which, while not a sure thing, is still made about 90% of the time if you devote appropriate resources to it.

The monk is brokenly weak, but I find that the Pathfinder Unchained version is actually playable. Just back-port it to 3.5 rules and it sits somewhere in the mid to high Tier 4, maybe even Tier 3 with all the Monk support in 3.5.

The Shadowcaster is an interesting case in that the writers put the beta version into the Tome of Magic without playtesting it first. A few easy fixes, such as not requiring previous spells in a path to qualify for the next ones, and it functions similarly to a Warlock.

There have been homebrew versions of the Fighter forever. It wouldn't be so bad if feats weren't, by default, absolutely terrible. I made a homebrew myself for it that kept all the bonus feats and added a few miscellaneous special abilities, such as a continuous freedom of movement at higher levels, the Weapon Focus feat chain for free (focus, specialization, weapon mastery, g. focus, g. specialization, weapon mastery), a bonus to AC every 3rd level, and 4/3 BAB. At the highest levels, he gets an extra attack with each weapon he is using if he full attacks as a full-round action or he can take a normal full-attack as a standard action. Not the most powerful of classes by far, but he is the most immediate threat that foes have to contend with before moving on to other targets. If you would like a link, I posted it here on GitP (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?420122-Fighter-Variant-Vanguard-PEACH).

[Zaq]

The Truenamer and Truespeak abilities are good as written, but the DC of Truespeak checks scales way too quickly. With a medium optimization, it is impossible for a level 20 Truenamer to affect himself with his own Truespeak (15 + 2 X 20 = 55, you can max your check at 53). A simple change to 15 + 2 + CR actually works a lot better. A level 20 Truenamer would only need a 37, much easier to perform. If you wanted to drop the + 2, you could do that also and make it a 35, which, while not a sure thing, is still made about 90% of the time if you devote appropriate resources to it.

This . . . is not entirely wrong, but it's very definitely incomplete. The fact that Truespeak DCs scale faster than Truespeak ranks is the first and most obvious problem facing the Truenamer, but the bigger problem is the lack of good utterances. You can optimize your Truespeak check to meet whatever DCs you come across in an average day, but if meeting those DCs doesn't cause level-appropriate effects to happen, then you've got problems (especially since you already invested a nontrivial chunk of your build resources into meeting those DCs).

[Milo v3]

Remove Favoured Classes/XP Penalty, is The most necessary fix that comes to my mind.

As for shadowcaster, I think there was a semi-official fix by the developer who wrote it somewhere actually...

[illyahr]

This . . . is not entirely wrong, but it's very definitely incomplete. The fact that Truespeak DCs scale faster than Truespeak ranks is the first and most obvious problem facing the Truenamer, but the bigger problem is the lack of good utterances. You can optimize your Truespeak check to meet whatever DCs you come across in an average day, but if meeting those DCs doesn't cause level-appropriate effects to happen, then you've got problems (especially since you already invested a nontrivial chunk of your build resources into meeting those DCs).

Also true, but is mildly balanced by the fact that they are at-will. Not perfectly balanced, mind you, but it helps. The only issue was the rule that they increase in DC each additional time you use them but that falls back into the crappy DC scaling. I'd go ahead and make the scaling per-encounter instead of per-day. That way you don't get bogged down too much.


As for shadowcaster, I think there was a semi-official fix by the developer who wrote it somewhere actually...

There was, actually. They did make a semi-official fix after playtesting it a bit but it was too late to include in the book. I can't, for the life of me, remember where it was though. :smalltongue:

[nyjastul69]

As for shadowcaster, I think there was a semi-official fix by the developer who wrote it somewhere actually...

This (http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?184955-Shadowcaster-fixes-by-Mouseferatu) one?

[illyahr]

This (http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?184955-Shadowcaster-fixes-by-Mouseferatu) one?

There it is. It's a shame they rushed the book, this would have made a great addition.

[Keld Denar]

I've always liked my simple monk fix. Take the monk chassis, strip off ALL of the SU abilities. Add on PsyWar manifesting and power points. Done and done.

Want Abundant Step? Wholeness of Body? Empty Body? All are powers. Even Ki Strike can best manifested (Psionic Claw) for the most part, but probably best to leave that one in.

Leave in the move speed, AC, and UAS progression. Not a bad class.

[Necroticplague]

I've always liked my simple monk fix. Take the monk chassis, strip off ALL of the SU abilities. Add on PsyWar manifesting and power points. Done and done.

Want Abundant Step? Wholeness of Body? Empty Body? All are powers. Even Ki Strike can best manifested (Psionic Claw) for the most part, but probably best to leave that one in.

Leave in the move speed, AC, and UAS progression. Not a bad class.

Funny thing, some of the more potent 'monk' types builds I've seen basically did this with Tashlatora+Psywar.

[Telok]

Something I've gotten good feedback on (but have never had the opportunity to implement for myself) is killing off the Concentration skill. So Concentration is simply no longer available to put skill points into. Obviously magic items of +Concentration are no longer available too. It does negatively impact martial adepts, but using Martial Lore for that is a good way for that skill to actually be of any use at all.

I also kill Natural Spell, Point Blank Shot, Dodge, metamagic reducers, and a few other useless feats. And all +number magic items are banned, they just don't exist. That does mean that the stupid 'must be a +1 magic item to be enchanted' is thrown out too but nobody ever complains about that.

[Coidzor]

Something I've gotten good feedback on (but have never had the opportunity to implement for myself) is killing off the Concentration skill. So Concentration is simply no longer available to put skill points into. Obviously magic items of +Concentration are no longer available too. It does negatively impact martial adepts, but using Martial Lore for that is a good way for that skill to actually be of any use at all.

Pathfinder style or making it so that if a concentration check is called for, the creature automatically fails? :smallconfused:

[nedz]

All of the dysfunctional rules require fixing - but they're straightforward for the most part.

[Telonius]

There are some areas of consensus on what needs to be fixed. The disagreements are generally on how to fix it. As others have said, Multiclass XP penalty is probably the single most widely-disliked rule that also has an easy and obvious fix. Most of the other problems fall under a few general categories: castings classes are too powerful and/or noncasting classes are too weak; classes that don't do for a character what they thematically ought to do; rules that flat-out don't work as intended, make the game less fun, or lead to weird consequences - the "dysfunctional rules" that people have mentioned. I'd say that the bulk of houserules and homebrew fixes are aimed at addressing at least one of those problem areas.

Those three categories are pretty broad, and there are a whole lot of rules and options that have implications in each of them. Because so many things go into making the problem, there are many, many ways you could go about addressing it. (Multiclass XP is also a rare instance where there is exactly one easy and obvious fix to it, which is another reason it always comes up as an area of consensus).

[Elkad]

And all +number magic items are banned, they just don't exist. That does mean that the stupid 'must be a +1 magic item to be enchanted' is thrown out too but nobody ever complains about that.


So you can't have a magic sword that's just a better sword, but you can have one that shoots lasers and lets you fly? That's just... odd.

[Lans]

So you can't have a magic sword that's just a better sword, but you can have one that shoots lasers and lets you fly? That's just... odd.

A better sword would be keen, or maybe speed

[Grod_The_Giant]

The Unchained Monk from Pathfinder is a pretty good monk fix. I like the Book of Words (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?217713-A-Book-of-Words-An-Expanded-Truenamer-Fix-PEACH&p=11971747#post11971747) as a Truenamer fix. The Shadowcaster fix has already been mentioned, but there was a designer-suggested-update for the Hexblade (http://web.archive.org/web/20121006111759/http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75882/19547530/Contacting_Wizards_of_the_Coast_about_Hex_Blades?p ost_id=332210466), too

[Telok]

Pathfinder style or making it so that if a concentration check is called for, the creature automatically fails? :smallconfused:

Neither. I don't run Pathfinder so I don't know what they did. Just kill the Concentration skill and leave everything else alone. High Constitution casters wil still have a small chance to cast through minor damage or cast on the defensive, but not the gaurenteed auto-success of no-risk casting. This allows for anti-caster tactics without giving every monster the mage slayer feats.

As for the swords, what's magic about +1 hit and damage? It equal to 300 gold and half of one of the worst feats ever printed except that it can be dispelled or negated while the masterwork sword and crappy half feat can't be dispelled.

The +# magic items are boring, they drain character resources that could be used for fun things, and the game does not need them.

[Elkad]

A better sword would be keen, or maybe speed

Neither of which are better balanced, or more likely to cut through armor, or however you want to define an attack bonus.
Speed gives you no advantage in beating DR, and Keen only does on a very small percentage of blows (expanded threat rolls which are confirmed)

Sunder is another consideration. Load up all the enchantments you want, that +0 greatsword is still Hardness 10, HP 10 (or hardness 20, HP13 if it's adamantine), which means any melee opponent past about CR4 will just leave you weaponless if he can beat an opposed attack roll.

Your game, your rules, but to me the whole idea falls under "mundanes just can't have nice things"

[Telok]

Neither of which are better balanced, or more likely to cut through armor, or however you want to define an attack bonus.
Speed gives you no advantage in beating DR, and Keen only does on a very small percentage of blows (expanded threat rolls which are confirmed)

Sunder is another consideration. Load up all the enchantments you want, that +0 greatsword is still Hardness 10, HP 10 (or hardness 20, HP13 if it's adamantine), which means any melee opponent past about CR4 will just leave you weaponless if he can beat an opposed attack roll.

Your game, your rules, but to me the whole idea falls under "mundanes just can't have nice things"

Greater Magic Weapon.
Besides, when was the last time a character's magic weapon got sundered? People scream bloody murder over that in here.

[martixy]

Some easy quick fixes off the top of my head:
* Remove multiclass xp penalties
* Switch the animal companions of the Druid and Ranger
* Sorcerers get bonus feats like a Wizard
* Fighters get a bonus feat at every level
* Half-casters (Ranger, Paladin, etc.) have full caster level
* Warlocks and Dragonfire Adepts get some number of extra invocations (e.g. one of each grade)
* Improved Disarm, Improved Sunder, Improved Bull Rush, Improved Grapple, and Improved Overrun all grant an extra attack like Improved Trip
* Two-Weapon Fighting and Flurry of Blows can be done as a standard action
* Full casting progressions are standardized, so Wizards and Sorcerers gain access to new spell levels at the same level—I prefer the Wizard progression, but you could use the Sorcerer progression if you like
* Various classes with 2 + Int skill points (Fighter, Paladin, Warlock, Incarnate, Cleric, Sorcerer, Psychic Warrior...) are bumped up to 4 + Int
* Soulknives gain manifesting as a Psychic Warrior/Lurk/Psychic Rogue (take your pick)
* Shadowcaster mysteries recharge every encounter, like maneuvers

Most are self-explanatory. Though personally, for 3.5's skill system I'd say ALL classes get 2-3 additional skill points.
But honestly I'm fond of replacing the entire skill system with PF. Especially because of its commutative property(that is, Class A + Class B = Class B + Class A, which is not true in 3.5).

And personally, in the "current metagame" as it were, I consider alleviating many of the feat taxes a must for 3.5. Basically this (http://theworldissquare.com/feat-taxes-in-pathfinder/)(it is almost automatically back-portable). Though I'm fond of the idea of "buying" things like power attack, combat expertise, imp. unarmed strike and the like(and possibly weapon proficiencies) with BAB.

Go mundanes!

I do have 1 gripe though. Sorceror bonus feats. Not to say I think they don't deserve them, I'd just like for them to have a different, unique option.
I mean, sure, feats is the easy option.
Any ideas for something more original?

[atemu1234]

Most are self-explanatory. Though personally, for 3.5's skill system I'd say ALL classes get 2-3 additional skill points.
But honestly I'm fond of replacing the entire skill system with PF. Especially because of its commutative property(that is, Class A + Class B = Class B + Class A, which is not true in 3.5).

And personally, in the "current metagame" as it were, I consider alleviating many of the feat taxes a must for 3.5. Basically this (http://theworldissquare.com/feat-taxes-in-pathfinder/)(it is almost automatically back-portable). Though I'm fond of the idea of "buying" things like power attack, combat expertise, imp. unarmed strike and the like(and possibly weapon proficiencies) with BAB.

Go mundanes!

I do have 1 gripe though. Sorceror bonus feats. Not to say I think they don't deserve them, I'd just like for them to have a different, unique option.
I mean, sure, feats is the easy option.
Any ideas for something more original?

Make them bloodline feats from Dragon Compendium and give them medium BAB.

[nedz]

I do have 1 gripe though. Sorceror bonus feats. Not to say I think they don't deserve them, I'd just like for them to have a different, unique option.
I mean, sure, feats is the easy option.
Any ideas for something more original?

Give them a choice of Bloodline, Draconic or Heritage feats ?
Their powers are meant to be inherited anyway.

[daremetoidareyo]

For sorcerers, for the past few years, I've been letting them choose spells from any base class list.

[Milo v3]

For sorcerers, for the past few years, I've been letting them choose spells from any base class list.

That might actually not be a houserule, with some people interpreting that sorcerers can sort of already do that.

[Lans]

3.5 has 2 must have fixes

1 ban any thing that breaks the game. ie chain summoning solars

2 Boost any character that has fallen behind

[Warrnan]

I feel like full bab classes ought to have things like sense motive, diplomacy, spot, listen, etc. Make sure the rogue has more skills per level but basically give all mundanes more skill access and at least 2 or 4 extra skill points per level.

Pounce ought to be gained by all mundanes and half casters at bab 6 or when you gain a flurry or TWF type of feat. Tier 1 casters should not get access as they have soells that give them such things already such as knight's move and lion's charge.

As for monk, I give them d12 HD and full base attack. These guys literally train their whole lives to take hits with no armor and roll with it.

Bard needs to activate inspire courage as a swift action. Make the other music a standard still. What level one bard would ever inspire courage as a standard?? It makes more thematic sense to sing while launching arrows, spells, or charging in. I just don't feel bards should stand around only singing. That feeds the "bards are lame" stereotype.

Two specific feats off the top of my head: weapon finesse shouldn't require 1 bab because all level one rogues want it. Karmic strike should require combat reflexes instead of combat expertise. Combat expertise is completely counterproductive to karmic strike. I honestly believe it was a typo that never got erratta'd.

Also, sneak attack should replace sudden strike for ninja and every other class. All classes gaining precision damage dice gain the penetrating strike acf when they gain their first d6 of sneak/skirmish.