Outlaw [Base Class]

[Defiant Element]

The Outlaw is designed to be an amalgam of the Ranger and Rogue classes. It combines the skill utility of a Rogue with a variety of Ranger abilities, most notably those that allow the Outlaw to effectively dual-wield daggers and those that allow him to take advantage of his natural surroundings.

The ambush mechanism is an idea that I think suits the class quite well, although the technical details of the abilities themselves may need some ironing out, since it allows you to capitalize on the standard Outlaw encounter, i.e. you're attacked by Bandits who swoop out from their hiding places and surround you. Camouflage, Hide in Plain Sight, and Strike from the Shadows were also implemented to enhance that concept, and Trackless Step let's the Outlaw evade pursuit after a successful heist.

Outlaw

“The lyricism of marginality may find inspiration in the image of the ''outlaw,'' the great social nomad, who prowls on the confines of a docile, frightened order.”

Class Information
Hit Die: d8

Alignment: Any non-lawful

Class Skills: Bluff (Cha), Craft (Trap) (Int), Disable Device (Int), Disguise (Cha), Hide (Dex), Intimidate (Cha), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Open Lock (Dex), Search (Int), Sense Motive (Wis), Sleight of Hand (Dex), Spot (Wis), Survival (Wis), Tumble (Dex), Use Rope (Dex)

Skill Points at 1st Level: (6 + Int Modifier) x 4
Skill Points at Each Additional Level: (6 + Int Modifier)

Outlaw
{table=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special

1st|
+0|
+0|
+2|
+0|Track, Improved Initiative

2nd|
+1|
+0|
+3|
+0| Two-Weapon Fighting, Trackless Step

3rd|
+2|
+1|
+3|
+1|Dagger Mastery

4th|
+3|
+1|
+4|
+1|Great Fortitude
5th|
+3|
+1|
+4|
+1| Ambush I
6th|
+4|
+2|
+5|
+2|

7th|
+5|
+2|
+5|
+2|Two-Weapon Defense

8th|
+6/+1|
+2|
+6|
+2|

9th|
+6/+1|
+3|
+6|
+3|Improved Two-Weapon Fighting

10th|
+7/+2|
+3|
+7|
+3|Ambush II

11th|
+8/+3|
+3|
+7|
+3|Improved Two-Weapon Defense

12th|
+9/+4|
+4|
+8|
+4|

13th|
+9/+4|
+4|
+8|
+4| Camouflage

14th|
+10/+5|
+4|
+9|
+4|

15th|
+11/+6/+1|
+5|
+9|
+5|Ambush III

16th|
+12/+7/+2|
+5|
+10|
+5|

17th|
+12/+7/+2|
+5|
+10|
+5|Hide in Plain Sight

18th|
+13/+8/+3|
+6|
+11|
+6|

19th|
+14/+9/+4|
+6|
+11|
+6|Strike from the Shadows

20th|
+15/+10/+5|
+6|
+12|
+6|Ambush IV[/table]

Class Features

Weapon and Armor Proficiencies: Outlaws are proficient with all simple weapons, as well as the hand crossbow, rapier, sap, shortbow, and short sword. Outlaws are proficient with light armor, but not with shields.

Track: At 1st level, the Outlaw gains Track as a bonus feat.

Improved Initiative: At 1st level, the Outlaw gains Improved Initiative as a bonus feat.

Trackless Step: Starting at 2nd level, an Outlaw leaves no trail in natural surroundings and cannot be tracked. He may choose to leave a trail if so desired.

Two-Weapon Fighting: Beginning at 2nd level, while dual-wielding daggers and wearing Light Armor, the Outlaw is treated as having the Two-Weapon Fighting feat, even if he does not have the normal prerequisites for that feat. At 9th level, the Outlaw gains the Improved Two-Weapon Fighting feat, the same qualifications apply.

Dagger Mastery: Beginning at 3rd level, the Outlaw’s extensive training with the Dagger begins to pay off. His ability to consistently attack with increasing degrees of precision results in more damage. At 3rd level, his daggers deal 1d6 damage. At 6th level, they deal 1d8 damage. At 10th level, they deal 2d4 damage. And, at 15th level, his daggers deal 1d10 damage.

Great Fortitude: At 4th level the Outlaw gains a +2 bonus to Fortitude saves.

Ambush: Outlaws are able to master the technical aspects of the Ambush. By surrounding their foes and attacking with lightning speed, they are able to overwhelm and confound their targets. At 5th level, while flanking a foe, the Outlaw gains +4 to attack bonus rather than +2. At 10th level, enemies flanked by the Outlaw become increasingly aware of the threat posed by the Outlaw, and, as a result, become distracted and take a -2 penalty to Will and Reflex Saves. At 15th level, as the Outlaw's power increases, enemies become further distracted and take a -2 to attack rolls. At 20th level, enemies flanked by the Outlaw are considered flat-footed.

Two-Weapon Defense: Beginning at 7th level, while dual-wielding daggers and wearing Light Armor, the Outlaw is treated as having the Two-Weapon Defense feat, even if he does not have the normal prerequisites for that feat. At 11th level, the Outlaw gains the Improved Two-Weapon Defense feat, the same qualifications apply.

Camouflage: An Outlaw of 15th level or higher can use the Hide skill in any sort of natural terrain, even if the terrain doesn’t grant cover or concealment.

Hide in Plain Sight: While in any sort of natural terrain, an Outlaw of 17th level or higher can use the Hide skill even while being observed.

Strike from the Shadows: At 19th level, the Outlaw gains a bonus to attack and damage rolls while using daggers equal to one-fourth his class level, provided he has concealment relative to his target and succeeds on a Move Silently check opposed by the target’s Listen check.

[ForzaFiori]

2 small nitpicks.

1) improved initiative should grant improved initiative, not track again.

2) on the table, at lv 20, shouldn't it be ambush IV?

[Defiant Element]

Thanks for the heads up. I was copy-pasting rather hastily to put this together, errors were inevitable.

[Defiant Element]

Ok, well, I think that's about as complete as it's gonna get for now, any thoughts on balance?

[Combatant]

when i think 'outlaw' i think of robin hood, etc. and every time i used bandits, i used archers to do the damage. dont you think that he should be more ranged minded? instead of ranger/rougue, how about scout/rouge? feats like shot on the run, far shot, and other class features like increased movement rate, being able to move more then 5ft and still gettting a full attack would be better for ambushing. also, giving an increased bonus for observation would be cool.

[Defiant Element]

Fair enough, although that logic is based on a perception of the word Outlaw which may or may not be accurate. On the other hand, the name itself may not be accurate. When I started the class, I started with the concept of a dual-wielding dagger user, and then moved on from there, and the Outlaw idea just kind of materialized. A ranged version would be cool if for no better reason than that two of the more common Rogue builds are either TWF Rogues with Spring Attack or Ranged with SotR. I'll see what I can come up with as a variant.

[Defiant Element]

But, issues with the name (and its connotations aside), could I get some feedback on the class itself?

[Learnedguy]

But, issues with the name (and its connotations aside), could I get some feedback on the class itself?

Well, the class seem to be fairly powerful, without becoming gamebreaking or imbalanced. If used in the wrong way, this guy will die used in the right way, he will survive. Possibly, I'd raise his BAB or I'd give him trapfinding, so he could be an alternative to rogues.

[JackMage666]

What's with your Awkward BAB (at level 20 at least), and you're highly awkward Fort save?

[Defiant Element]

I'd like to leave the Base Attack Bonus alone because it seems to me that it fits better to have a what is in many ways a variant on the TWF Rogue retain the Rogue's Base Attack Bonus.

As far as Trapfinding, I think that's a good idea, and indeed, this was designed to be able to fill the role of a Rogue in many respects, the class already has quite a few abilities, and I feel like like I'd be tipping the balance by adding Trapfinding. Additionally, while I can think of reasons that an Outlaw would know how to find traps, it still seems like something of a stretch to my way of thinking.

[Defiant Element]

The awkward nature of the BAB can be attributed to a simple error on my part, it was supposed to be identical to a Rogue's.

As far as the Fort Save goes, I looked at the Rogue's saves, but felt that an Outlaw would be somewhat hardier than your typical thief and thus wanted his Fort Save to fall somewhere between 8 and 10 as a medium range save. With that in mind, I'm not sure I picked the best progression, but I don't think it negatively impacts the class.

[Azerian Kelimon]

This is probably a dip class, or an ubercheese class, if you allow dungeonscape. Reasons:

1) 1 level dip for Imp. init? Done deal!

2) Flatfooted while flanking, plus Precision Strike so that ANYTHING can be sneaked? Done deal! Or would be done deal, if I had some way of stacking it with Rogue for sneaks. Maybe you could rework daring outlaw to include the class of the same name and make it more worthwhile?

I'd also abandon the Regular fort save. If you want a better save, give him a class ability at, say, level 4 that ups your fort save.

[Combatant]

The idea of a duel wielding dagger type is really cool, don't get me wrong. some of the class abilitys are way strong,( ie, dagger mastery doing 1d10 eventually)

in a group, a bunch of these would be devestating, but have you looked at the solo aspect of it? meaning, as a player, I would make sure I wasn't ever away from my team, but as a DM I would make sure he was, lol.

When hes solo, and has the drop on his enemy, there won't be much of a problem, unless they have an AC of OMG. but if theres more then one, the fight will get a little one sided.

what I would do, give every 4 levels either a bonus feat, (from the fighters bonus feat list) or, a rouges special ability.

Giving trapfinding would be an edge, but overall prolly not the best way to go. Unless you were to give Trapfinding and the opposite, laying traps.

A smart player would take weapon focus, if the DM will bend the rule, weapon specialization, etc. and save the 3rd lvl feat for more important ones.

This class would be good for a PC group, if they were intending on playing a group of smugglers/bandits. The role play aspect would be really great, nights spent under the stars, a bonfire, with belly dancers and music. Notiating release of hostages, delegating peace agreements with small fifedoms, and non-agression pacts with other outlaw groups.

At its worse, powergaming and establishing your own fifedom, army, and ruling with fear.

Either way, it would be fun.

As an NPC group, I could see using them to take stuff from the PCs. Chasing an NPC band of outlaws with trackless step could cause a huge delay in the overall story line. Especially if they run off with the <insert name of artifact here> and sell it to the <insert name of arch enemy, group or individual>

[Azerian Kelimon]

D&D is not meant to be solo, period. You're supposed to teamplay through it.

And how is dagger mastery overpowered? In high levels, what matters is the added damage or damage dice, not the Base Weapon Damage.

[Defiant Element]

Ok, I changed the Fort Save to mirror the Rogue's and added Great Fortitude at 4th level (so you'll have +8 in the end either way).

As to the other stuff, I'm not sure how much I can do without unbalancing the class... :/

[Azerian Kelimon]

If you're not going to go Daring outlaw (on second thoughts, you're applauded for that, it'd be too overpowered), give this guy half Sneak attack or Sudden strike, make the Great Fortitude thing an untyped, featless bonus (some people take that feat, y'know), remove HiPS, and Remove Strike from the shadows. It has too many goodies piled on it, but it's still rather well built.

[Combatant]

Didnt say overpowered. Didnt meant it to sound that way either. Its one of the defining abilities, and should be strong. But a dagger that does a bastard swords damage? The only other class that comes close is the monk.

And no DnD shouldnt be played solo, but solo encounters happen. people get seperated, and have to fight by themselves. This class is huge in a group, and will have alot of problems in a fight by themselves.

[Azerian Kelimon]

Unless you just get one martial study feat, and learn Distracting Ember. It allows you to flank. Pwnzorzizing with this class, ain't it?

As for dagger mastery, it's understandable. Such focus on a single weapon DOES improve technique. With enough training, you could probably cut trees in half with a dagger.

[Defiant Element]

Ok, well, I changed Great Fortitude so that it's simply an ability, not a feat. Aside from that, I'm reluctant to remove HiPS and SftS is only because I feel like they fit the class better than a simple Sneak Attack mechanism.

Aside from that, I'm glad that no one seems to think it's an unbalanced class :)

[dragon_masterd]

Awesometastic. Pretty cool class you got there. Can't wait to multiclass! :smallbiggrin:

[GNUsNotUnix]

Hmm. Dagger mastery isn't overpowered, but usually base classes don't specialize that quickly (except those damn screwy monks). If you're going to tie a class to a specific weapon, I'd make it a PrC.

[Azerian Kelimon]

A PrC of this class would be getting 4 abilities a level, even with a 15 level PrC. It's best left as is, it doesn't have any balance problems.

[GNUsNotUnix]

A PrC of this class would be getting 4 abilities a level, even with a 15 level PrC. It's best left as is, it doesn't have any balance problems.

It's not a matter of balance; I don't have any complaints about that. It's only that, flavor-wise, PrCs usually indicate specialization and the culmination of training choices, while base classes are more generalized. Rangers use weapons where deepwood snipers use bows, clerics use magic where thaumaturgists use summoning, fighters use defense where dwarven defenders use armor, et cetera. "Daggers" is a pretty specific schtick; that kind of specificity is usually reserved for PrCs.

[Azerian Kelimon]

Show me how to stuff all of this into a PrC and I'll support you. As is, it's too big for it.


Also, dagger spec is a minor bit of the outlaw. The big part is the ambush set of abilities.

[Charlie Kemek]

I personaly agree w/ gnusnotunix:
the outlaw daggermaster
hd: d8
requirements:
feats: two weapon fighting, improved two weapon fighting, two weapon defense, weapon focus: dagger
BaB: +4
alingment: any non-lawful
class features (mixed from original class)
same class skills
BAB: average
saves: bad will, good fort & ref
trackless step at first level
dagger mastery at 2, 4, 6, and 8 level
ambush at 1, 4, 7, 10
camoflauge at 5,
hide in plain sight at 9
weapon specilization: as the feat with daggers, at 3 level
strike from the shadows at 10
improved 2 weapon defense at 3
greater 2 weapon fighting at 6

sorry i dont have time to make a table:smallredface: :smallfrown: but i think it's a good prc, any opinions?

[Defiant Element]

Hmmm... yeah, I definitely see where you guys are coming from as far as a stylistic perspective goes. As far as a PrC would go, I tend to feel like that specific version is too overloaded with abilities, but that's not to say it's not a balanced class. Also, by making it a PrC, you make Ambush IV available to people who multiclass to the Outlaw Daggermaster after taking say 10 levels of Rogue and gaining Sneak Attack. When I made the Ambush mechanic, I made it with a Base Class in mind, specifically so that you'd need 20 levels of Outlaw simply to get Ambush IV. Additionally, I think part of the reason I posted it as a Base Class was because I designed it not as an extension of a Rogue or Ranger, but as a replacement for them. For whatever reason, it doesn't "feel" right to me having a Rogue suddenly become an Outlaw. It definitely makes sense, but the shift from urbanite to woodsmen just doesn't strike a chord in me. Additionally, I actually designed this with one of my players in mind, so while it may in fact make more sense as a PrC, it's function as far as my campaign goes was going to be a Base Class, so I designed and posted it as such.

[GNUsNotUnix]

It could be that the simpler fix is not making this class a PrC but removing/modifying/generalizing the dagger abilities.

[Azerian Kelimon]

Aye, the PrC is overloaded. And, four feats for the outlaw? Have we gone mad? There's no way to take the pimped up versions of two wep fighting 'till level 10 or higher because they have a BAB prereq, people. It's not practical.


I'd also agree with defiant. If you can get sneak attack, the outlaw is suddenly more broken than an ubercharger. If you want sneak, you should have to pay a feat to get ToB's assasin's stance. Else, it'll be absolutely screwed up.

[pyrefiend]

It could be that the simpler fix is not making this class a PrC but removing/modifying/generalizing the dagger abilities.

Right. All the other flavor seems to make sense, but why does he have to use daggers? The way it is seems a little too specific.

[Azerian Kelimon]

Hmmm....maybe you could pick a single light weapon, or a rapier (or an equivalent weapon subject to the DM, like an elven thinblade), and have it increase one dice step every X levels? Say, every 5 levels, you get an increase. If you pick the rapier, the first increase makes it do 1d8, the second one 1d10, the third one 1d12, and the fourth one 2d6/2d8. It would make mucho sentido.

[Defiant Element]

That would certainly work, and I don't debate the fact that specialization as evinced in the Outlaw class that I originally designed is not fitting with the general trends in base classes. On the other hand, one of the stylistic elements I personally like about the class is the fact that it's a dual-wielding dagger user, and I feel like if people could pick any weapon (i.e. ones with higher base damage), they might be inclined to do so. :/

Either way though, from a practical standpoint, it probably makes more sense to allow the Outlaw to choose a weapon in which to specialize.