Frosty
2008-03-07, 05:55 PM
After a rather mediocre attempt at fixing the Knight class, I thought about what I really wanted out of a fighter-type, and I realized just how complicated and difficult it is for some newbies to play an effective fighter. I played around with some ideas and too a lot from the Knight class and a little bit from the Crusader class, and this is what I came up with. The Protector is a class that even someone who is not extremely experienced can pick up and perform decently in the role of a tank. Not every one of the features are necessary, but theyse are all the ones that popped up into my head. I'm perfectly willing to remove a few if needed. Please give some constructive critique! Thanks.
The Protector
{table="head"]Level|BAB|Fort|Ref|Will|Special
1st|+1|+2|+0|+2|Designated charge, Shield charge
2nd|+2|+3|+0|+3|
3rd|+3|+3|+1|+3|Bonus Feat, Break concentration
4th|+4|+4|+1|+4|Armor mastery +1, Dextrous skill
5th|+5|+4|+1|+4|Defensive Terrain, Endurance
6th|+6/+1|+5|+2|+5|
7th|+7/+2|+5|+2|+5|Protect charge, Chaining strike
8th|+8/+3|+6|+2|+6|Bonus Feat, Ignore Encumberance
9th|+9/+4|+6|+3|+6|Armor mastery +2, Ignore Magical Concealment
10th|+10/+5|+7|+3|+7|Aura of Stability, Diehard
11th|+11/+6/+1|+7|+3|+7|
12th|+12/+7/+2|+8|+4|+8|Improved Shield charge, Mettle
13th|+13/+8/+3|+8|+4|+8|Bonus Feat, Slippery Mind
14th|+14/+9/+4|+9|+4|+9|Armor mastery +3, Pure Body
15th|+15/+10/+5|+9|+5|+9|Aura of Resolve, Improved Chaining strike
16th|+16/+11/+6/+1|+10|+5|+10|
17th|+17/+12/+7/+2|+10|+5|+10|Improved Protect Charge
18th|+18/+13/+8/+3|+11|+6|+11|Bonus Feat, Ignore Fatigue
19th|+19/+14/+9/+4|+11|+6|+11|Armor mastery +4, Freedom of Movement
20th|+20/+15/+10/+5|+12|+6|+12|Delay Death, Improved Die Hard
[/table]
Alignment: Any
Hit Die: 1d10
Proficiencies: All armors and shields. All simple and martial weapons.
Class Skills:
Balance, Climb, Craft, Jump, Diplomacy, Heal, Knowledge (any one), Listen, Profession, Sense Motive, Spot, Spellcraft, any 2 other skills.
Skill Points at 1st Level: (4 + Int modifier) × 4
Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 4 + Int modifier
Designated charge (Ex): Once per turn, as a free action during your turn, you may designate one creature within 30ft of you as your charge. A few of the Protector's abilities only work on your charge. In addition to the activated abilities, as long as you are within 30 ft. of your charge, you gain a +1 morale bonus to attack rolls, while your charge gets a +1 bonus morale bonus to all saves. This bonus increases by +1 at 5th level and at every 5th levels onwards, up to a max of +5 at level 20.
Shield charge (Su): As an Immediate action, you can give your charge an AC bonus against one attack as long as your charge is within 30 ft of you. The AC bonus is equal to 1 + 1/2 Protector levels (rounded down). So, a level 5 Protector can give a bonus of 3 to the AC of the creature he designated as his charge.
Break concentration (Ex): Starting at 3rd level, enemies you threaten find it more difficult to cast defensively. The DC to cast defensively increases by 2 + your Dex bonus (if any) + your Protector levels. So, a level 6 Protector with 16 Dexterity would increase the DC to cast defensively from 15 to 26 for enemies that he threatens.
Bonus feat: Starting at 3rd level, and every 5 levels after that, you gain a bonus feat selected from the list of Fighter bonus feats.
Armor mastery (Ex): Starting at 4th level, you know how to use your armor or your shield to deflect blows better. As long as you are wearing armor and/or using a shield, you gain a +1 bonus to your AC. Every 5 levels after that, the bonus increases by another +1. Also, your mastery of wearing armor and shields is such that the Armor Check penalty decreases by the same amount. Finally, your maximum Dex bonus in armor and shield increases by double that amount. For example. A level 9 Protector wearing Mithril Fullplate would have an Armor check penalty of 4, a maximum Dex bonus of +7, an armor bonus of +8, and an extra bonus AC of +2.
Dextrous skill (Ex): Starting at 4th level, you learn to use some of your agility to your advantage in some opposed checks. When you make a Bullrush, Trip, or Grapple check, you may use your Dexterity in place of your Strength.
Defensive terrain (Ex): Starting at 5th level, skill and deadliness with your weapon makes the spaces around difficult to pass through safely. Enemies may not use the Withdraw option nor take a 5-foot step while threatened by you. In addition, all squares that you threaten count as difficult terrain. The DC to trumble through those squares increases by 2 + your Dex bonus (if any) + your Protector levels. So, a level 5 Protector with 16 Dexterity would increase the DC to to tumble from 15 to 25 through his threatened squares.
Endurance: At 5th level, you gain Endurance as a bonus feat.
Protect charge (Su): At 7th level, as an Immediate action, you can choose to re-direct half of the damage your charge takes as long as your charge is within 30 ft of you. You continue taking half of all the damage until the beginning of your next turn.
Chaining strike (Ex): At 7th level, you gain an extra option when making an attack of opportunity. You may choose to deal no damage on the attack. If you do, the target must succeed on a reflex save (DC = damage that would've been dealt + Dex bonus) or be totally stopped from moving. The target may not move for the rest of the round.
Ignore encumberance (Ex): At 8th level, you are counted as wearing light armor and you are counted as carrying a light load even if you are wearing heavier armor or carrying a bigger load. If you carry more than a heavy load, the usual penalties apply.
Ignore Magical Concealment (Ex): At 9th level, you ignore all miss chances generated from magical concealment. Blur, Displacement, and the like do not make your target any harder to hit. You know which of the mirror images is the real creature. This ability does not allow you to ignore the miss chance generated from Blink and similar effects.
Aura of Stability (Su): At 10th level, as a Swift action, you can activate an aura that stays active for as long as you are conscious. This aura provides a +4 bonus against being bullrushed or tripped to you and all allies within 20 ft. of you. This aura also grants a +4 bonus to balance checks.
Die Hard: At 10th level, you gain Die Hard as a bonus feat.
Improved Shield charge (Su): Starting 12th level, as an Immediate action, you can give your charge an AC bonus against one attack as long as your charge is within 30 ft of you. The AC bonus is equal to your Protector levels. There is a recharge time for this ability. Roll 1d4. The result is how many turns you might wait to use this ability again.
Mettle (Ex): Starting 12th level, you gain Mettle, as the Crusader ability with the same name.
Slippery mind (Ex): Starting 13th level, if you fail a Will save, you can immediately re-roll the save. you must accept the 2nd roll if you do.
Pure Body (Ex): Starting 14th level, when targeted by a spell or a creature's special ability does ability damage to one of your physical ability scores, even if the spell/ability does not normally allow a save, you can make a Fortitude save to negate the effect. For example, you may make a Fort save against a Ray of Enfeeblement. Save is Spell level + casting stat bonus + 10 as normal.
Aura of Resolve (Su): At 15th level, as a Swift action, you can activate an aura that stays active for as long as you are conscious. You normally can't activate more than one aura at once, so you must choose between this aura and the Aura of Stability. This aura provides a +4 morale bonus against mind-affecting spells/abilities to you and all allies within 20 ft. of you.
Improved Chaining strike (Ex): At 15th level, your Chaining strike becomes better. In addition to the benefits of the normal Chaining strike, the target is also prevented from teleporting or extra-dimensional/planar travel for the next 10 rounds if it fails a second reflex save at the same DC as before.
Improved Protect charge (Su): At 17th level, as an Immediate action, you can choose to re-direct 3/4 of the damage your charge takes as long as your charge is within 30 ft of you. You continue taking 3/4 of all the damage until the beginning of your next turn. There is a recharge time for this ability. Roll 1d4. The result is how many turns you might wait to use this ability again.
Ignore Fatigue (Ex): At 18th level, you can no longer be Fatigued or Exhausted. You also no longer need to sleep. If you have any spellcasting capabilities, you still need to be in a restful state for the appropriate amount of time to regain spells.
Freedom of Movement (Ex):: At 19th level, you are constantly under the effects of a Freedom of Movement effect that can't be suppressed or dispelled by others. You can suppress or reactivate this ability as a free action.
Improved Die Hard (Ex): At 20th level, when you are reduced to negative hit points, you may choose to act as though you were above zero hit points instead of acting as if you were disabled. Strenuous activity no longer damages you when you are below 0 hit points.
Delay Death (Ex):: At 20th level, once per encounter, even death finds you elusive. Once per encounter, if you would die to hitpoint damage, you can choose to keep on fighting as if affected by the Delay Death spell. The duration is equal to your Constitution bonus (if any, minumum 1). This effect also can't be suppressed or dispelled.
The Protector
{table="head"]Level|BAB|Fort|Ref|Will|Special
1st|+1|+2|+0|+2|Designated charge, Shield charge
2nd|+2|+3|+0|+3|
3rd|+3|+3|+1|+3|Bonus Feat, Break concentration
4th|+4|+4|+1|+4|Armor mastery +1, Dextrous skill
5th|+5|+4|+1|+4|Defensive Terrain, Endurance
6th|+6/+1|+5|+2|+5|
7th|+7/+2|+5|+2|+5|Protect charge, Chaining strike
8th|+8/+3|+6|+2|+6|Bonus Feat, Ignore Encumberance
9th|+9/+4|+6|+3|+6|Armor mastery +2, Ignore Magical Concealment
10th|+10/+5|+7|+3|+7|Aura of Stability, Diehard
11th|+11/+6/+1|+7|+3|+7|
12th|+12/+7/+2|+8|+4|+8|Improved Shield charge, Mettle
13th|+13/+8/+3|+8|+4|+8|Bonus Feat, Slippery Mind
14th|+14/+9/+4|+9|+4|+9|Armor mastery +3, Pure Body
15th|+15/+10/+5|+9|+5|+9|Aura of Resolve, Improved Chaining strike
16th|+16/+11/+6/+1|+10|+5|+10|
17th|+17/+12/+7/+2|+10|+5|+10|Improved Protect Charge
18th|+18/+13/+8/+3|+11|+6|+11|Bonus Feat, Ignore Fatigue
19th|+19/+14/+9/+4|+11|+6|+11|Armor mastery +4, Freedom of Movement
20th|+20/+15/+10/+5|+12|+6|+12|Delay Death, Improved Die Hard
[/table]
Alignment: Any
Hit Die: 1d10
Proficiencies: All armors and shields. All simple and martial weapons.
Class Skills:
Balance, Climb, Craft, Jump, Diplomacy, Heal, Knowledge (any one), Listen, Profession, Sense Motive, Spot, Spellcraft, any 2 other skills.
Skill Points at 1st Level: (4 + Int modifier) × 4
Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 4 + Int modifier
Designated charge (Ex): Once per turn, as a free action during your turn, you may designate one creature within 30ft of you as your charge. A few of the Protector's abilities only work on your charge. In addition to the activated abilities, as long as you are within 30 ft. of your charge, you gain a +1 morale bonus to attack rolls, while your charge gets a +1 bonus morale bonus to all saves. This bonus increases by +1 at 5th level and at every 5th levels onwards, up to a max of +5 at level 20.
Shield charge (Su): As an Immediate action, you can give your charge an AC bonus against one attack as long as your charge is within 30 ft of you. The AC bonus is equal to 1 + 1/2 Protector levels (rounded down). So, a level 5 Protector can give a bonus of 3 to the AC of the creature he designated as his charge.
Break concentration (Ex): Starting at 3rd level, enemies you threaten find it more difficult to cast defensively. The DC to cast defensively increases by 2 + your Dex bonus (if any) + your Protector levels. So, a level 6 Protector with 16 Dexterity would increase the DC to cast defensively from 15 to 26 for enemies that he threatens.
Bonus feat: Starting at 3rd level, and every 5 levels after that, you gain a bonus feat selected from the list of Fighter bonus feats.
Armor mastery (Ex): Starting at 4th level, you know how to use your armor or your shield to deflect blows better. As long as you are wearing armor and/or using a shield, you gain a +1 bonus to your AC. Every 5 levels after that, the bonus increases by another +1. Also, your mastery of wearing armor and shields is such that the Armor Check penalty decreases by the same amount. Finally, your maximum Dex bonus in armor and shield increases by double that amount. For example. A level 9 Protector wearing Mithril Fullplate would have an Armor check penalty of 4, a maximum Dex bonus of +7, an armor bonus of +8, and an extra bonus AC of +2.
Dextrous skill (Ex): Starting at 4th level, you learn to use some of your agility to your advantage in some opposed checks. When you make a Bullrush, Trip, or Grapple check, you may use your Dexterity in place of your Strength.
Defensive terrain (Ex): Starting at 5th level, skill and deadliness with your weapon makes the spaces around difficult to pass through safely. Enemies may not use the Withdraw option nor take a 5-foot step while threatened by you. In addition, all squares that you threaten count as difficult terrain. The DC to trumble through those squares increases by 2 + your Dex bonus (if any) + your Protector levels. So, a level 5 Protector with 16 Dexterity would increase the DC to to tumble from 15 to 25 through his threatened squares.
Endurance: At 5th level, you gain Endurance as a bonus feat.
Protect charge (Su): At 7th level, as an Immediate action, you can choose to re-direct half of the damage your charge takes as long as your charge is within 30 ft of you. You continue taking half of all the damage until the beginning of your next turn.
Chaining strike (Ex): At 7th level, you gain an extra option when making an attack of opportunity. You may choose to deal no damage on the attack. If you do, the target must succeed on a reflex save (DC = damage that would've been dealt + Dex bonus) or be totally stopped from moving. The target may not move for the rest of the round.
Ignore encumberance (Ex): At 8th level, you are counted as wearing light armor and you are counted as carrying a light load even if you are wearing heavier armor or carrying a bigger load. If you carry more than a heavy load, the usual penalties apply.
Ignore Magical Concealment (Ex): At 9th level, you ignore all miss chances generated from magical concealment. Blur, Displacement, and the like do not make your target any harder to hit. You know which of the mirror images is the real creature. This ability does not allow you to ignore the miss chance generated from Blink and similar effects.
Aura of Stability (Su): At 10th level, as a Swift action, you can activate an aura that stays active for as long as you are conscious. This aura provides a +4 bonus against being bullrushed or tripped to you and all allies within 20 ft. of you. This aura also grants a +4 bonus to balance checks.
Die Hard: At 10th level, you gain Die Hard as a bonus feat.
Improved Shield charge (Su): Starting 12th level, as an Immediate action, you can give your charge an AC bonus against one attack as long as your charge is within 30 ft of you. The AC bonus is equal to your Protector levels. There is a recharge time for this ability. Roll 1d4. The result is how many turns you might wait to use this ability again.
Mettle (Ex): Starting 12th level, you gain Mettle, as the Crusader ability with the same name.
Slippery mind (Ex): Starting 13th level, if you fail a Will save, you can immediately re-roll the save. you must accept the 2nd roll if you do.
Pure Body (Ex): Starting 14th level, when targeted by a spell or a creature's special ability does ability damage to one of your physical ability scores, even if the spell/ability does not normally allow a save, you can make a Fortitude save to negate the effect. For example, you may make a Fort save against a Ray of Enfeeblement. Save is Spell level + casting stat bonus + 10 as normal.
Aura of Resolve (Su): At 15th level, as a Swift action, you can activate an aura that stays active for as long as you are conscious. You normally can't activate more than one aura at once, so you must choose between this aura and the Aura of Stability. This aura provides a +4 morale bonus against mind-affecting spells/abilities to you and all allies within 20 ft. of you.
Improved Chaining strike (Ex): At 15th level, your Chaining strike becomes better. In addition to the benefits of the normal Chaining strike, the target is also prevented from teleporting or extra-dimensional/planar travel for the next 10 rounds if it fails a second reflex save at the same DC as before.
Improved Protect charge (Su): At 17th level, as an Immediate action, you can choose to re-direct 3/4 of the damage your charge takes as long as your charge is within 30 ft of you. You continue taking 3/4 of all the damage until the beginning of your next turn. There is a recharge time for this ability. Roll 1d4. The result is how many turns you might wait to use this ability again.
Ignore Fatigue (Ex): At 18th level, you can no longer be Fatigued or Exhausted. You also no longer need to sleep. If you have any spellcasting capabilities, you still need to be in a restful state for the appropriate amount of time to regain spells.
Freedom of Movement (Ex):: At 19th level, you are constantly under the effects of a Freedom of Movement effect that can't be suppressed or dispelled by others. You can suppress or reactivate this ability as a free action.
Improved Die Hard (Ex): At 20th level, when you are reduced to negative hit points, you may choose to act as though you were above zero hit points instead of acting as if you were disabled. Strenuous activity no longer damages you when you are below 0 hit points.
Delay Death (Ex):: At 20th level, once per encounter, even death finds you elusive. Once per encounter, if you would die to hitpoint damage, you can choose to keep on fighting as if affected by the Delay Death spell. The duration is equal to your Constitution bonus (if any, minumum 1). This effect also can't be suppressed or dispelled.