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Shimeran
2017-01-19, 11:16 PM
Soldier of Fortune

Though most gain their start in military service, soldiers of fortune quickly distinguish themselves from the rank and file. Prizing adaptability, these warrior understand that much of the world is beyond their control and subject to the whims of fate. However, they also know that an quick mind and strong arm can tip the balance at just the right moment and that sometimes all it takes is the smallest of openings to topple even the mightiest opposition.

Role: Soldiers are combatants first and foremost, though they usually do have grounding in other areas. They’ve got the durability to face off against some of the most deadly things out there and survive and enough flexibly to counter many of their tricks. They are well acquainted with fighting in groups and can readily act to support or protect their allies or take advantage of openings provided by said allies.

Alignment: Any.

Hit Die: d10.

Starting Wealth: 5d6 x 10 gp (average 175gp.) In addition, each character begins play with an outfit worth 10 gp or less.

Class Skills
The soldier of fortune's class skills are Acrobatics (Dex), Bluff (Cha), Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Handle Animal (Cha), Heal (Wis), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (dungeoneering) (Int), Knowledge (engineering) (Int), Knowledge (geography) (Int), Knowledge (history) (Int), Knowledge (local) (Int), Knowledge (nobility), Perception (Wis), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), Stealth (Dex), Survival (Wis), and Swim (Str).

Skill Ranks Per Level: 4 + Int modifier.

Table: Soldier of Fortune


Level
Base Attack Bonus
Fortitude Save
Reflex Save
Will Save
Special


1
+1
+2
+0
+2
Adaptive Assault, Expanded Proficiency


2
+2
+3
+0
+3
Attack Style, Squad Training


3
+3
+3
+1
+3
Guarded Action, Student of Battle


4
+4
+4
+1
+4
Fortune’s Favor


5
+5
+4
+1
+4
Martial Surge


6
+6/+1
+5
+2
+5
Attack Style, Surge of Mobility


7
+7/+2
+5
+2
+5
Expanded Proficiency, Guarded Action


8
+8/+3
+6
+2
+6
Fortune’s Favor


9
+9/+4
+6
+3
+6
Surge of Defiance


10
+10/+5
+7
+3
+7
Attack Style


11
+11/+6/+1
+7
+3
+7
Guarded Action


12
+12/+7/+2
+8
+4
+8
Fortune’s Favor


13
+13/+8/+3
+8
+4
+8
Expanded Proficiency


14
+14/+9/+4
+9
+4
+9
Attack Style


15th
+15/+10/+5
+9
+5
+9
Guarded Action


16th
+16/+11/+6/+1
+10
+5
+10
Fortune’s Favor


17th
+17/+12/+7/+2
+10
+5
+10
Surge of Grace


18th
+18/+13/+8/+3
+11
+6
+11
Attack Style


19th
+19/+14/+9/+4
+11
+6
+11
Expanded Proficiency, Guarded Action


20th
+20/+15/+10/+5
+12
+6
+12
Fortune’s Favor, Sage of Battle



Class Features
The following are class features of the soldier of fortune.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency
Soldiers of fortune are proficient with all simple and martial weapons, with all types of armor (heavy, medium, and light), and with shields (except tower shields).

Adaptive Assault
At 1st level, soldiers of fortune learn to take advantage of momentary openings in battle. Select 3 combat feats you don’t already have to add to your adaptive assault pool. You need not meet the feat, skill rank, or ability score requirements to add a feat to this pool. You can select feats with a required base attack bonus up to 5 points higher than your own. You must meet all other requirements unless stated otherwise to add a feat to this pool. Should you permanently gain a feat in this pool, you can immediately replace it with another feat. At each level beyond 1st, you may add another feat to your adaptive assault pool.

When you make an attack roll or combat maneuver check, on a natural 5 or higher you gain one feat of your choice from this pool for 1 round. For each feat prerequisite you’re missing, the triggering roll must be 2 points higher to select that feat. For every skill rank, ability score point, or point of base attack bonus the feat requires that you don’t have, the triggering roll must be 1 point higher. You can not select unless a feat you’ve already gained unless it can normally be taken multiple times.

Expanded Proficiency
At 1st level and every 6 levels after that, soldiers of fortune gain a feat that counters the penalties, drawbacks, or risks for combat uses of a particular type of item, such as Armor Trick, Catch Off-Guard, Equipment Trick, Exotic Weapon Proficiency, Improved Shield Bash, Rapid Reload, Throw Anything, Tower Shield Proficiency, or Weapon Trick. Alternately, you can apply this training to your mount or natural weapons, allowing for feats like Improved Unarmed Strike and Mounted Combat.

Attack Style
At 2nd level and every 4 levels after that, soldiers of fortune gain a feat that lets you trade bonuses for penalties while attacks, such as Bloody Assault, Combat Expertise, Dazing Assault, Deadly Aim, Lunge, Power Attack, Stunning Assault. You can also select feats that let you trade attacks for combat maneuvers, such as Quick Bull Rush, Quick Dirty Trick, Quick Drag, and Quick Reposition. You can ignore any ability score requirements for feats gained this way.

Squad Training
At 2nd level, soldiers of fortune gain a teamwork feat of your choice. Once per round as a free action, you can treat an ally of your choice as though they had one of your teamwork feats.

Guarded Action
At 3nd level and every 4 levels after that, the soldier of fortune gains a feat that prevents opportunity attacks for taking a certain action, such as the various improved combat maneuver feats.

Student of Battle
At 3rd level, the soldier of fortune has mastered the fundamental of their adaptive fighting style. By spending at least an hour training with someone who already has a given combat feat, the soldier may add feat to their adaptive assault pool. They must be able to select the feat for that feature normally to gain it this way. Should they be missing any of the feats prerequisites, increase the training time by 1 hour per requirement missed. This instruction and any needed training materials will normally add up to a gold piece cost of 5 times the instructor’s level squared.

This feature also lets the soldier count their levels in this class as fighter levels for the purpose of qualifying for feats.

Fortune’s Favor
Experienced soldiers of fortune are favored by lady luck. At 4th level and every 4 class levels after that, select one of the following options. You may select the same favor multiple times.

Animal Companion: You’ve developed an unusually strong bond with another creature. Choose an animal you own. That creature becomes your animal companion as if you had a druid level equal to your ranks in Handle Animal. If the creature is your mount, you may use your ranks in Ride instead. This conversion requires an hour of training per animal companion level the creature gains. Alternately, the DM may let an animal companion of the desired type be found in an appropriate location. Should you lose the animal companion granted by this favor, you can choose to replace this favor with another one. If you do so, the animal companion loses all levels in that class. Taking this favor multiple times increases the number of animal companions you have, but does not affect your druid level for this feature.

Bound Ally: You have learned the ritual need to summon an otherworldly ally. You gain an lesser version of the summoner’s Eidolon with no evolution pool. Should you select this favor a second time for the same eidolon, it gains an evolution pool with points equal to your class level.

Signature Item: Select an item you own. You gain a credit pool as per the Windfall favor that can only be used to improve that item. If the item is single use, you must spend credit improving it allow for multiple uses. If the item have charges, you can spend credit converting it to uses per day. Should the item be damaged, you need only spend time to repair it. If the item is lost or becomes permanently unusable, you may replace this favor with another one. Items that run out of ammunition or charges don’t count as those can be restocked with gold or credit. If you sell the item, you must spend that same amount on things with no real benefit to you before you can replace the favor. Donating or spending that money on entertainment, food, and drink are common ways of freeing up the favor. Should you pick this favor multiple times for the same item, you may turn the item into a unique magic item. Work with your DM to determine the cost of unique features. You can use specific magic items, intelligent items, and even artifacts as guidelines for copying features. Among other things, this lets you add spell effects to the selected item.

Windfall: You have a knack for finding or trading for what you need. Each time you choose this favor you gain credit equal to (character level + class level) squared * 100. When making a purchase, you can spend this credit in place of gold on 1 for 1 basis. You can also purchase things with credit even if they would be difficult to obtain or rare in your current location. Furthermore, you can spend credits to “discover” hidden properties on item you own or find. If you have the appropriate craft skill for that item, credit can also be spent to add features to existing items. Treat your character level as your caster level for the purpose of such improvements and discoveries.


Martial Surge
At 5th level, a soldier of fortune learns to draw more readily on their inner reserves. Once per round as a free action, you can expend a martial surge to gain an additional immediate action or attack of opportunity for that round. You can do this a number of times per day equal to your constitution modifier plus twice your class level.

Surge of Mobility
At 6th level, soldiers of fortune can expend a martial surge to make a full attack as standard action instead of a full round action.

Surge of Defiance
At 9th level, soldiers of fortune can expend a martial surge to reroll a failed saving throw against an effect that removes or reduces their ability to act freely. This includes effects that kill, incapacitate, transform, control, and immobilize the character, among others. Effects that simply damage the soldier don’t count. One such reroll is allowed per effect for every 5 points of base attack bonus the soldier has.

Surge of Grace
At 17th level, soldiers of fortune have mastered moving and attacking as a fluid whole. When using a surge of mobility, they may perform their attacks at any point in the movement and need not make all attacks at the point in the movement.

Sage of Battle
At 20th level, soldiers of fortune have established a strong understanding of practically every fighting style. By spending time recalling tales of past battles, doing training exercises, and reviewing their tactics, they can swap feats in their adaptive assault pool for other applicable feats. The soldier can swap up to their intelligence modifier in feats per day this way (minimum 1). This takes 1 hour for a full swap and proportionally less for a partial swap.

Shimeran
2017-01-19, 11:17 PM
I'll put other additions down here as they comes, most likely including new fortune's favors.

In the meanwhile, here's a little blurb on the design intent. The original idea was to create a kind of warrior that fit the kind of "knock down one foe, shove past another, and jab at a third" style you might see in cinematic fights. Part of the intent is do have plenty of options available without falling into a one trick pony approach.

Adaptive assault is there to mix up the action. It's meant to unlock the kind of combat stunts that are currently gated behind feats while countering the tendency to just spam one particular move. It also adds flexibility by giving the character a larger feat pool while limiting how much can be drawn from there at a time.

The other big feature is fortune's favor. It's meant to give the soldier tools to play with at higher levels when mundane type tend to fall behind. The starting options are meant to support players who want their fighter types less blatantly superhuman. I'm tempted to add options for characters like Hercules and Cuchulain later. I'm also considering an option like "connections" which is still mundane but allows for big guns through social means.

Martial surge actually started from surge of mobility. The need to stop moving to full attack isn't in keeping with the mobile multi-stunt style I envisioned, so I phased in a work around. Surge of defiance is an added perk to counter save or die tendencies.

A lot of what's left is putting feats that unlock combat options into bins and passing those unlocks out regularly without needing to sacrifice performance. Extended proficiency does that for weapon options while guarded action does that for maneuvers. Attack styles are mainly there to avoid the feat tax of power attack and combat expertise on improved combat maneuvers, but they also unlock options like using combat maneuvers in place of attacks through the various quick maneuver feats.