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View Full Version : D&D 3.x Class The Blind Warrior - a Blind Martial Initiator



GrayDeath
2018-01-06, 02:00 PM
This class is meant to allow one of the most iconic stereotypes (the BLind Warrior/Swordsman) to be played with enough power not to suck. It still suffers from some problems (mostly the range of its perception) that make it less than optimal for many situations, but it should be more than adequate at fulfilling its role: Rocking at battle and at least be able to survive otherwise.

Any feedbakc helping me achieve this goal is vastly appreciated.

As with all my classes, this is aimed at full 3.p. If only using 3.5 adapt the allowed Disciplines as seen below, and reduce the Skillpts/Level by 2.


The Blind Warrior


Legends are full of them. Warriors without sight, besting the best Swordsmen of their time, wandering the lands with Children as their eyes, righting Wrongs.
Following their path to avenge what was done to them.

These are Blind Warriors.





Alignment: Any, but as very driven Characters Blind Warriors tend towards extreme Alignments, with most of them (around 20+% each) being Lawful Neutral, Chaotig Good and Lawful Evil. Only very few are true neutral, and Chaotic Evil Blind Warriors are the fastest to die.


Other Classes: As is to be expected, they often travel with Members of classes making up for their own failings. They dont necesarily LIKE them for that though. Overall tehy have the most in common with Monks and (if the alignment fits) paladins, and the least with Warlocks and Rogues.

Mechanics: Blind Warriors mostly need high Wisdom, COnstitution and Strenght, although high Dexterity is useful as well. They can most easily cope with low Charisma and Intelligence.





The Blind Warrior


Level
Base Attack Bonus
Fort Save
Ref Save
Will Save
Special


1st

+1

+2

+2

+2
Blind Warrior Training, Instinctual Defense


2nd

+2

+3

+3

+3
Quick Draw, Good Hearing


3rd

+3

+3

+3

+3
Blind Confidence, Improved Blind Warrior Training


4th

+4

+4

+4

+4
Chosen Weapons



5th

+5

+4

+4

+4
Will of Darkness 1


6th

+6/+1

+5

+5

+5
Blind Reflexes



7th

+7/+2

+5

+5

+5
Outer Darkness


8th

+8/+3

+6

+6

+6
Shadow Trick


9th

+9/+4

+6

+6

+6
Will of Darkness 2, Solipsistic Armor


10th

+10/+5

+7

+7

+7
Inner Stength, Perfect Hearing


11th

+11/+6/+1

+7

+7

+7
Perfected Self-Knowledge


12th

+12/+7/+2

+8

+8

+8
Perfect Parry, Curse (BLind)


13th

+13/+8/+3

+8

+8

+8
Perfect Strike


14th

+14/+9/+4

+9

+9

+9
Soul Aura, Heroism


15th

+15/+10/+5

+9

+9

+9
Solpsistic Armor 2


16th

+16/+11/+6/+1

+10

+10

+10
Cutting the Surroundings


17th

+17/+12/+7/+2

+10

+10

+10
Cutting the Soul


18th

+18/+13/+8/+3

+11

+11

+11
Unquestionable Confidence, Haste


19th

+19/+14/+9/+4

11

+11

+11
The World does not existl


20th

+20/+15/+10/+5

+12

+12

+12
Dual Stance, Supernatural hearing



General:

Blind Warriors are BLIND (among other things this means they automatically fail all perception checks involving sight, except see Class features). The only way to cure their Blindness are Wish and Miracle, and if it is ever cured, they lose acces to all of their class features and can only regain them after becoming blind again!

At taking the first Level of this class, if they are not blind, they must ritually blind themselves.

At taking the first Level, they choose if they are a Bulwark Blind Warrior or a Cutter Blind Warrior. This affects their Proficienies and Bonus feats (see below).


Skillpts/Level: 6+ Intelligence Bonus.

Class Skills: Bluff, Craft (Weapons/Armor), Diplomacy, Heal, Intimidate, Knowledge (Martial Traditions and one more), Perception, Sense Motive.

Proficiencies:
Bulwark: All Armors and Shields, all Simple Weapons and 5 Martial and/or Exotic Weapons of the Players choice
Cutter: light and Medium Armor and all Weapons.

Initiating: Blind Warriors are Initiators. They begin the Game with 3 Maneuvers and 2 Stances known and 3 Maneuvers readied.

At Levels 2, 4, 5, 7,8, 10, 11, 13, 14, 16, 17, 19 and 20 they gain an additional maneuver, at Levels 3, 6, 12, 15 and 18 an additional one readied.
At Levels 4, 8, 12, 16 and 20 they may exchange a known maneuver for another one.
At Levels 5, 10, 15 and 20 they gain an additional Stance. At Level 12 and 18 they may exchange one known Stance for another Stance of the same School.

Maneuver Recovery: A Blind Warrior has only to land a regular Attack (without utilizing any maneuver or other class feature signature move) to recover 1d3 maneuvers. He may also use a full round action to recover all maneuvers spent in the battle so far, but only once per battle.

Available martial Disciplines:
3.5: Diamond Mind, Shadow Hand, Iron heart, Devoted Spirit.
3.p: Diamond Mind, Shadow Hand OR Iron Heart, Riven Hourglass and either Black Seraph or Silver Crane (depending on alignment) .


Bonus Feats: At Levels 3, 8, 14 and 20 a Blind Warrior gains a Bonus feat from one of the following Lists:
Bulwark: All Save Increasers, Toughness, Die hard, or Weapon Proficiency.
Cutter: All Crit Range enhancers, Initiative or Mobility enhancers and Skill Foki.

Blind Warrior Training: Due to their intensive lifelong training at Level 1 a Blind Warrior gains: Blindsight 20ft, Scent 40ft.

Instinctual Defense: at Level 1 a Blind Warrior gains Wisdom Bonus to AC.

Blind Confidence: At level 3 Blind Warriors increase their Intimidate Rolls by their Class Level/3, as well as reduce any opponents Intimidate Attempt towards them by Class level/3.

Chosen Weapons: Choose 3 Weapons you have prficiency for. You gain Weapon FOcus for these weapons. At Level 6 you gain Weapon Specialization, at Level 11 improved Weapon Focus and at Level 15 Improved Weapon Specialization for them.

Improved Blind Warrior Training: At Level 3, and every 3 Levels of Blind Warrior thereafter, the range of a Blind Warriors Blind Sight increases by 5ft and the range of their Scent ability by 10ft. At Level 20 this gives them Blindsight 50ft and scent 100ft.

Will of Darkness 1: At Level 5 a Blind Warrior gains their Wisdom Bonus to all Saves.

Blind Reflexes: At Level 6 a Blind Warrior gains +Level in BW/4 round up to their Reflex Save, as well as Dodge AC Bonus.

Outer Darkness: At Level 7 a Blind Warrior gains the ability to cast Darkness as an SLA 3 times/Day, the DC is equal to the Level in BW+Wisdom Bonus (this is true for all SLA`s the BW learns!)
The other SLA`s learned are: Bestow Curse (Blindness), Haste, and Heroism. Haste and Heroism may only be cast on the Blind Warrior himself.

Shadow Trick: At Level 8 a Blind Warrior can make Shadows within his Blind Sight Range imitate Movements or move small objects. This can be used to make an opponent flatfooted (Reflex Save, DC Level in BW + Wisdom Bonus) or (useful mostly Out of Combat) to bring small items to him.

Will of Darkness 2: At Level 9 a Blind Warrior gains their Wisdom Bonus, if any, to their Initiative rolls. This Bonus doubles while they are in total Darkness, magical or otherwise.

Solipsistic Armor 1: At Level 9 a Blind Warrior gains DR/- 10 against all Attacks made from outside his Blind Sight Radius.

Inner Strength: At Level 10 a Blind Warrior adds their Wisdom Bonus to damage Rolls and Acrobatics Checks.

Perfect Self-knowledge: At Level 11 the continuous training and meditation of a Blind Warrior makes them immune to any and all mind affecting or Illusion spells targeting them. They also have a 50% chance of automatically disbelieving any illusions they encounter.

Perfect Parry: At Level 12 a Blind Warrior who is attacked in melee can make a concentration check. If it surpasses the enemies attack roll, the enemy is forced back 10ft by the perfectly timed and powerful parry and cannot attack the BW the following turn.

Perfect Strike: At Level 13 the BW learns to strike at the targets soul as much as at its body. To any target that is flatfooted, under any fear condition or suffing from the aftereffects of perfect Parry, the BW may make a single Melee attack at +5 Attack Bonus. If the attack hits, it deals normal damage and an additional 1d4+2 Wisdom Damage.

Soul Aura: At Level 14 a BW exudes a permanent Aura of Inner strength and tranquility. It has the following effects:
To all beings with the same alignment AND true friends: +5 to saves vs. Mind affecting effects, +2 AC.
To beings with opposing Alignments AND clear Enemies: -5 Initiative and -4 attack Damage/Attack.
The Aura has a range of Level in BW/4*5ft (so 35ft at this level)

Solpsistic Armor 2: The DR/- against attacks from outside the BW`s Blindsight radius increases by 5, and it also adds a elemental Resistance of 20pts against all Energy Types but Sonic that come from outside the Area.

Cutting the Surroundings: At Level 16 the BW gains the ability to execute a devastating area attack 1/day per 5 Levels of BW. This attack deals 4d8+Level in BW untyped Damage to all Beings within his Blindsight Range that are not preemptively exempted (to exempt a target he has to know it well, at least a week before executing the attack). All Beings hit by the attack must pass a Fortitude Save vs. Level in BW+Wisdom Bonus or be blinded for 1d6+4 turns and a Will Save vs. the same DC or be shaken for 1d4+1 turns.

Cutting the Soul: At Level 17 the BW learns to always strike both body and soul of his enemies. For each successful attack, make a concentration check. If this check surpasses the targets Armor Class, the attack also deals 1 point of Wisdom Damage.

Unquestionable Confidence: At Level 18 the Blind Warriors faith in himself, his perceptions and and strength of mind, become so immense that they start to affect his surroundings. From sources within his Blindsight radius he is immune to: Critical Hits, Sneak Attack/other precision damage and Attribute Damage. He also adds 30pts of elemental Resistance to one Element of his choice (except Sonic), to be determined every morning.

The World does not exist: At Level 19 the Blind Warriors will is able to ignore outside influence completely. For a duration equal to his Wisdom Bonus turns/Day he can ignore: All Damage to him, all Spells targeting him, all other effects that would affect him at all (Area effects still affect the area, just not him personally). However while the world does not exist is active all he can do is move or use abilities that only affect himself (potions, etc). The minimum consecutive Duration for this ability is 3 turns.

Dual Stance: At level 20 the Blind Warrior can assume 2 Stances at once.

Supernatural hearing: May always take 15 for perception checks involving hearing.

GrayDeath
2018-01-30, 01:06 PM
Bumped for the upcoming game and feedback.

noob
2018-01-30, 03:19 PM
Can you make a table for the number of known maneuvers(and readied maneuvers) and stances like in tome of battle?(right next to his class features like for spell slots for wizard or the normal martial classes)
(it helps reading)

aimlessPolymath
2018-01-30, 04:05 PM
Huh.

I'm not a fan of this in its current form, actually.
There are two main reasons.
First, it unnecessarily constrains the "blind but still badass" archetype to a specific type of character. If I take this class, I'm pretty constrained in what I can do- I can't be a zen archer, a blind monk (well, not very well), or whatever.

Second, it's significantly out of line balance-wise.
-All good saves on top of two features that boost saves, and a third that boosts the saves of your allies makes saving throws virtually meaningless.
-Medium armor on top of an AC bonus does it again.
-Better than a Warblade in virtually every way that I can see.
-A number of abilities that look like martial maneuvers in disguise.
An initiating class is a perfectly good chassis on its own, it doesn't need that many features to be good. This is just gratuitous. I could go level-by-level, but I'd just be wincing at each feature.

My advice:
Write a 2-3 level pseudo-PrC for blind characters that's accessible at level 1- all you need is the Blindfight feat and being already blind.
Instead of giving blindsight, I'd pump up the ability to make Listen checks, giving them the ability to take 10 at all times, and giving them vastly more information. With a margin of success of 5 or more, you can "see" someone as though you had blindsight.
The result pumps up the range of sensing over open terrain, but doesn't let the character "see though walls" without a hefty penalty.
Progression in the PrC counts towards martial progression and effective class level in a single chosen class, but not towards class features. You can "save up" the progression if you like (and you will at level 1).

Then, any character who wants to be a blind swordsman can easily PrC in, then continue in whatever progression they want normally.

GrayDeath
2018-01-30, 04:09 PM
@ Table. Going to do that soonish, as youa re correct.


@ AP: Well, it is intended to be better. It has to be, given that, even with the amximum blindisght Range and its DR/ER BOnuses, anything far enough away can either completely avoid or destroy him at ease.

He cannot truly profit from flight either, given that scent does in no way help navigate.

Heck, he cant even charge well, given that scent does not necessarily help there.

He is extremely good at close quarters, and horrible everyhwere else.
You lose if you get into his Area of perception, you win otherwise.

So no, I dont see a problem with him being strictly better than a Warlbade if you ignore his disadvantages. :)

noob
2018-01-30, 04:34 PM
@ Table. Going to do that soonish, as youa re correct.


@ AP: Well, it is intended to be better. It has to be, given that, even with the amximum blindisght Range and its DR/ER BOnuses, anything far enough away can either completely avoid or destroy him at ease.

He cannot truly profit from flight either, given that scent does in no way help navigate.

Heck, he cant even charge well, given that scent does not necessarily help there.

He is extremely good at close quarters, and horrible everyhwere else.
You lose if you get into his Area of perception, you win otherwise.

So no, I dont see a problem with him being strictly better than a Warlbade if you ignore his disadvantages. :)
I guess you never got mindsight.
Take one level in a casting class then one level in mind bender thanks to the feat that increase cl by four up to your hit dice then find a way to shapechange in a formian queen(hard to do) and use mindsight.
Well it can help a lot to see everymind within 50 miles but I guess it is not as good as sight.(and you need to be shapechanged in a creature that can not move without a boost spell)
You also get two level behind in the blind swordsman class and maybe mindsight counts as sight but at the same time you consider blindsight is not sight which is why it is hard to guess.

aimlessPolymath
2018-01-30, 05:13 PM
I don't see a lot in the way of disadvantage though. There are loads of
How often are creatures going to outrange him by more than a move action, realistically? This class can cast Haste on itself, keep in mind.

You can't do anything to him from range, either, past his absurd saving throws and DR/AC. A simple Listen check can locate creatures at medium range (around 100 ft) without any difficulty than you would have spotting them, letting you easily navigate towards creatures anyway. At that point, you're pretty close to a normal melee character.

If you're balancing a class around "Intentionally overpowered, except in these circumstances", then you get a couple of results.
1. The player will do everything they can to get around the limitation. See: Listen checks, coordinating with their allies to identify foes, standing near important targets, fighting indoors.
2. When this does not happen, the player will be frustrated.
3. When this does happen, the player will be overpowered and overshadow the other players. This leads to frustration.