Prestige Classes for COMMONERS! [Peach?]

[Metastachydium]

Insurgent
Hit Die: d4.

Requirements
To qualify to become an insurgent, a character must fulfill all the following criteria.

Saves
Highest base save bonus must be lower than base attack bonus.

Skills
Profession (farmer) 5 ranks or Profession (herder) 5 ranks.

Special
Must have joined a peasant uprising at some point.

Class Skills
The insurgent’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Handle Animal (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Listen (Wis), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), Spot (Wis) and Use Rope (Dex).
Skill Points at Each Level: 2 + Int modifier.

Table: The Insurgent


LevelBABFortRefWillSpecial
1st+0+0+0+2Strength in numbers
2nd+1+0+0+3Endurance
3rd+2+1+1+3Toughness
4th+3+1+1+4Dogged defiance


Class Features
All of the following are class features of the insurgent.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency
Insurgents are proficient with the club, fauchard, torch, sling, straight scythe and pitchfork. Insurgents are proficient with padded and wicker armour, but not with shields.

Strength in Numbers (Ex)
What they lack in skill and equipment is balanced by the insurgents' numbers and the confidence these grant. As long as an insurgent is adjacent to at least one other insurgent, she gains a +1 morale bonus on attack rolls, initiative checks and saving throws against charm, fear and compulsion effects for each adjacent insurgent. This bonus can never be higher than the number of insurgent levels she possesses.

Endurance
At level 2, an insurgent gains Endurance as a bonus feat, alongside a growing determination to carry on, no matter what.

Toughness
Hardened by the struggle, at level 3, an insurgent gains Toughness as a bonus feat.

Dogged Defiance (Ex)
An insurgent who got this far has seen it all and fought many an uphill, losing battle. A 4th level insurgent can no longer be rendered shaken by any means mundane or magical.


New Weapons:


Simple Weapons
Cost
Damage (S)
Damage (M)
Critical
Range Increment
Weight
Type


One-Handed Melee Weapon









Pitchfork
1 gp
1d6
1d8
×2
–
4 lb.
Piercing


Two-Handed Melee Weapon









Scythe, straight
4 gp
1d6
1d8
×2
–
8 lb.
Piercing or slashing




♣

Yes, I gave 'em Toughness. They're Commoners, damn it, they deserve the worst feats! Anyway, stay tuned if you will. More might come.

[Maat Mons]

If you’re in a group that rules you lose PrC features if you cease to meet the prerequisites, this class could be problematic. A Commoner 2 can qualify for Insurgent, but a Commoner 2 / Insurgent 1 no longer has a highest base save lower than their attack bonus.

[Metastachydium]

If you’re in a group that rules you lose PrC features if you cease to meet the prerequisites, this class could be problematic. A Commoner 2 can qualify for Insurgent, but a Commoner 2 / Insurgent 1 no longer has a highest base save lower than their attack bonus.

Hrm. Yeah. The old Dragon Disciple issue. That's… There. I tried to take the Survivor's thing and make it really Commoner-exclusive, but I can see how that could precipitate much RAW-lawyering. Do you think I should just
1. take the one good save away;
2. assume people are reasonable and leave it as is; or
3. change the requirement to match Survivor's and hope the d4 HD,Toughness and "you're a peasant with a pitchfork" makes it clear enough this is for lousy Commoners?

[Eurus]

Hrm. Yeah. The old Dragon Disciple issue. That's… There. I tried to take the Survivor's thing and make it really Commoner-exclusive, but I can see how that could precipitate much RAW-lawyering. Do you think I should just
1. take the one good save away;
2. assume people are reasonable and leave it as is; or
3. change the requirement to match Survivor's and hope the d4 HD,Toughness and "you're a peasant with a pitchfork" makes it clear enough this is for lousy Commoners?

This is a known issue, as you point out with Dragon Disciple, so I would say it's fine to leave it as it is. I'm probably biased though, because it's just a clever little bit of wording that I appreciate...

[Metastachydium]

Wonderful, thank you! Further expert opinions continue to be welcome, of course, but I'm a firm believer in the best kind of work being the one I don't have to actually do.

[Beni-Kujaku]

I think they're still commoners, and aren't really trained in combat, relying instead on the adrenaline from being part of something greater. I'd make the BAB 1/2 an insurgent's level (or at most 3/4), but instead increase the Strength in Numbers bonus from 1 to 1/level (up to the number of adjacent commoners, so a 3rd level insurgent surrounded by 3 commoners would get +3, but only +2 if there's only two.)

[Metastachydium]

I think they're still commoners, and aren't really trained in combat, relying instead on the adrenaline from being part of something greater.

Well, that is my exact rationale behind their only good save being Will.


I'd make the BAB 1/2 an insurgent's level (or at most 3/4)

But then, at this point they are supposed to have done some fighting. 3/4 sounds like a good golden mean sort of point (and I do have this idea for a Peasant Hero continuation class, that could get the full BAB instead). I'll probably do that.


, but instead increase the Strength in Numbers bonus from 1 to 1/level (up to the number of adjacent commoners, so a 3rd level insurgent surrounded by 3 commoners would get +3, but only +2 if there's only two.)

Hey, that sounds neat! A bit clunky, though, perhaps? Would some blander form of scaling such as +1/two levels (but the +2 requiring more than one adjacent Insurgent) do the job?