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arkanis
2008-04-21, 01:02 PM
Ki Masters...
Concept: So the idea of chi-users and ki-masters has been around in fantasy for a long time especially in anime series such as Dragon Ball Z or Naruto. Monk/clerics and monk/sorcerers have mostly held the standard for their creation, but no base class was ever provided for the martial artist who channels her chi into various powers and abilities. So, I took a shot at it. Any constructive criticism or suggestions would be helpful.

http://tn1-3.pv.deviantart.com/fs19/150/i/2007/227/9/7/chap_364_Naruto_vs_Sasuke_by_Raidan91.jpg

KI MASTER
Hit Die: d8.
Class Skills
The ki master’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Balance (Dex), Climb (Str), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Escape Artist (Dex), Hide (Dex), Jump (Str), Knowledge (arcana) (Int), Knowledge (religion) (Int), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Perform (Cha), Profession (Wis), Sense Motive (Wis), Spellcraft (Int), Spot (Wis), Swim (Str), and Tumble (Dex).
Skill Points at 1st Level: (4 + Int modifier) x4.
Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 4 + Int modifier.

Level| BAB| Fort| Ref| Will| Special| 1st| 2nd| 3rd| 4th|
1st| +0| +2| +2| +2| Unarmed strike, martial arts +1| —| —| —| —|
2nd| +1| +3| +3| +3| Evasion| —| —| —| —|
3rd| +2| +3| +3| +3| Slowfall, fast movement +10 feet| —| —| —| —|
4th| +3| +4| +4| +4| Ki strike (magic), uncanny dodge| 0| —| —| —|
5th| +3| +4| +4| +4| Martial arts +2, eschew materials| 0| —| —| —|
6th| +4| +5| +5| +5| Improved uncanny dodge| 1| —| —| —|
7th| +5| +5| +5| +5| Combat casting| 1| —| —| —|
8th| +6/+1| +6| +6| +6| Ki strike (adamantine), improved evasion| 1| 0| —| —|
9th| +6/+1| +6| +6| +6| Fast movement +20 feet| 1| 0| —| —|
10th| +7/+2| +7| +7| +7| Martial arts +3| 1| 1| —| —|
11th| +8/+3| +7| +7| +7| —| 1| 1| 0| —|
12th| +9/+4| +8| +8| +8| Ki strike (alignment)| 1| 1| 1| —|
13th| +9/+4| +8| +8| +8| —| 1| 1| 1| —|
14th| +10/+5| +9| +9| +9| Improved combat casting| 2| 1| 1| 0|
15th| +11/+6/+1| +9| +9| +9| Martial arts +4, fast movement +30 feet| 2| 1| 1| 1|
16th| +12/+7/+2| +10| +10| +10| Ki resistance| 2| 2| 1| 1|
17th| +12/+7/+2| +10| +10| +10|—| 2| 2| 2| 1|
18th| +13/+8/+3| +11| +11| +11|Quick Cast| 3| 2| 2| 1|
19th| +14/+9/+4| +11| +11| +11|—| 3| 3| 3| 2|
20th| +15/+10/+5| +12| +12| +12| Perfect self, infinite slowfall, martial arts +5| 3| 3| 3| 3|

Table: Ki master Spells Known
{table="head"]Level| 1st| 2nd| 3rd| 4th|
1st| —| —| —| —|
2nd| —| —| —| —|
3rd| —| —| —| —|
4th| 1| —| —| —|
5th| 2| —| —| —|
6th| 2| —| —| —|
7th| 3| —| —| —|
8th| 3| 1| —| —|
9th| 3| 2| —| —|
10th| 3| 2| —| —|
11th| 3| 3| 1| —|
12th| 3| 3| 2| —|
13th| 3| 3| 2| —|
14th| 3| 3| 3| 1|
15th| 3| 3| 3| 2|
16th| 3| 3| 3| 2|
17th| 3| 3| 3| 3|
18th| 3| 3| 3| 3|
19th| 3| 3| 3| 3|
20th| 3| 3| 3| 3|
[/table]
1 Provided the ki master has a high enough Charisma score to have a bonus spell of this level.
Class Features
All of the following are class features of the ki master.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Ki masters are proficient with club, crossbow (light or heavy), dagger, handaxe, javelin, kama, nunchaku, quarterstaff, sai, shuriken, siangham, and sling.
Ki masters are not proficient with any armor or shields
When wearing armor, using a shield, or carrying a medium or heavy load, a ki master loses the benefits of her martial arts ability.

Spells: A ki master casts divine spells, which are drawn from the ki master spell list. her can cast any spell her knows without preparing it ahead of time. To learn or cast a spell, a ki master must have a Wisdom score equal to at least 10 + the spell. The Difficulty Class for a saving throw against a ki master’s spell is 10 + the spell level + the ki master’s Wisdom modifier.
Like other spellcasters, a ki master can cast only a certain number of spells of each spell level per day. her base daily spell allotment is given on Table: The Ki master. In addition, her receives bonus spells per day if her has a high Charisma score. When Table: Ki master Spells Known indicates that the ki master gets 0 spells per day of a given spell level, her gains only the bonus spells her would be entitled to based on her Charisma score for that spell level.
Ki masters gain spells as indicated on Table: Ki master Spells Known. (Unlike spells per day, the number of spells a ki master knows is not affected by her Charisma score; the numbers on Table: Ki master Spells Known are fixed.)
As noted above, a ki master need not prepare her spells in advance. her can cast any spell her knows at any time, assuming her has not yet used up her allotment of spells per day for the spell’s level.

Unarmed Strike: At 1st level, a ki master gains Improved Unarmed Strike as a bonus feat. A ki master’s attacks may be with either fist interchangeably or even from elbows, knees, and feet. This means that a ki master may even make unarmed strikes with her hands full. There is no such thing as an off-hand attack for a ki master striking unarmed. A ki master may thus apply her full Strength bonus on damage rolls for all her unarmed strikes.
Usually a ki master’s unarmed strikes deal lethal damage, but she can choose to deal nonlethal damage instead with no penalty on her attack roll. She has the same choice to deal lethal or nonlethal damage while grappling.
A ki master’s unarmed strike is treated both as a manufactured weapon and a natural weapon for the purpose of spells and effects that enhance or improve either manufactured weapons or natural weapons.
A ki master also deals damage with her unarmed strike as if she were one size larger.

Martial Arts: At 1st level, a ki master gains a +1 competence bonus to all her attack rolls and damage rolls made with her unarmed strike. Also, she adds this bonus to any grapple, disarm, or trip checks made with her unarmed strike or weapons which have their proficiency feats provided by this class. Also, she adds this bonus to her armor class and adds her Wisdom modifier as an insight bonus to her armor class. These benefits are lost while she wears armor, uses a shield, or while she is encumbered with anything more than a light load.

Evasion (Ex): At 2nd level or higher if a ki master makes a successful Reflex saving throw against an attack that normally deals half damage on a successful save, she instead takes no damage. Evasion can be used only if a ki master is wearing light armor or no armor. A helpless ki master does not gain the benefit of evasion.

Fast Movement (Ex): At 3rd level, a ki master gains a +10-foot enhancement bonus to her speed. This increases to +20 at 9th level and +30 at 15th level.

Uncanny Dodge (Ex): At 2nd level, a ki master retains his Dexterity bonus to AC (if any) even if he is caught flat-footed or struck by an invisible attacker. However, he still loses his Dexterity bonus to AC if immobilized. If a ki master already has uncanny dodge from a different class, he automatically gains improved uncanny dodge (see below) instead.

Ki Strike (Su): At 4th level, a ki master's unarmed attacks are empowered with ki. Her unarmed attacks are treated as magic weapons for the purpose of dealing damage to creatures with damage reduction. At 8th level, her unarmed attacks are treated as adamantine weapons for the purpose of dealing damage to creatures with damage reduction and bypassing hardness. At 12th level, her unarmed attacks are also treated as aligned weapons (same alignments as the ki master) for the purpose of dealing damage to creatures with damage reduction. At 16th level a ki master gains a spell resistance equal to 10 + ki master level.

Slow Fall (Ex): At 3rd level or higher, a ki master within arm’s reach of a wall can use it to slow her descent. She takes damage as if the fall were 10 feet x 1/2 ki master level shorter than it actually is. At 20th level she can use a nearby wall to slow her descent and fall any distance without harm.

Eschew Materials: At 5th level a ki master gains eschew materials as a bonus feat even if she does not meet the prerequisites.

Improved Uncanny Dodge (Ex): At 6th level and higher, a ki master can no longer be flanked. This defense denies a rogue the ability to sneak attack the ki master by flanking him, unless the attacker has at least four more rogue levels than the target has ki master levels. If a character already has uncanny dodge (see above) from a second class, the character automatically gains improved uncanny dodge instead, and the levels from the classes that grant uncanny dodge stack to determine the minimum level a rogue must be to flank the character.

Combat Casting: At 7th level a ki master gains Combat Casting as a bonus feat even if she does not meet the prerequisites. At 14th level a ki master gains the ability to cast any spell requiring less than one full-round to cast without provoking an attack of opportunity.

Improved Evasion (Ex): At 8th level, a ki master’s evasion ability improves. She still takes no damage on a successful Reflex saving throw against attacks, but henceforth she takes only half damage on a failed save. A helpless ki master does not gain the benefit of improved evasion.

Quick Cast (Su): At 18th level, a ki master can cast a ki master spell as a swift action, provided that the spell has a casting time of one standard action or less. This power is usable three times per day plus one additional time per day per point of Charisma.

Perfect Self: At 20th level, a ki master becomes a magical creature. She is forevermore treated as an outsider rather than as a humanoid (or whatever the ki master's creature type was) for the purpose of spells and magical effects. Additionally, the ki master gains damage reduction 10/magic, which allows her to ignore the first 10 points of damage from any attack made by a nonmagical weapon or by any natural attack made by a creature that doesn’t have similar damage reduction. Unlike other outsiders, the ki master can still be brought back from the dead as if she were a member of her previous creature type.

1ST-LEVEL KI MASTER SPELLS
Burning Hands: 1d4/level fire damage (max 5d4).
Chill Touch: One touch/level deals 1d6 damage and possibly 1 Str damage.
Color Spray: Knocks unconscious, blinds, and/or stuns weak creatures.
Divine Favor: You gain +1 per three levels on attack and damage rolls.
Endure Elements: Exist comfortably in hot or cold environments.
Jump: Subject gets bonus on Jump checks.
Longstrider: Increases your speed.
Magic Missile: 1d4+1 damage; +1 missile per two levels above 1st (max 5).
Magic Weapon: Weapon gains +1 bonus.
Obscuring Mist: Fog surrounds you.
Pass without Trace: One subject/level leaves no tracks.
Resist Energy: Ignores 10 (or more) points of damage/attack from specified energy type.
Shocking Grasp: Touch delivers 1d6/level electricity damage (max 5d6).
True Strike: +20 on your next attack roll.
Unseen Servant: Invisible force obeys your commands.

2ND-LEVEL KI MASTER SPELLS
Barkskin: Grants +2 (or higher) enhancement to natural armor.
Bear’s Endurance: Subject gains +4 to Con for 1 min./level.
Blur: Attacks miss subject 20% of the time.
Bull’s Strength: Subject gains +4 to Str for 1 min./level.
Cat’s Grace: Subject gains +4 to Dex for 1 min./level.
Cure Light Wounds: Cures 1d8 damage +1/level (max +5).
Darkness: 20-ft. radius of supernatural shadow.
Daylight: 60-ft. radius of bright light.
Detect Life: Detects living creatures.
Dimension Door, Lesser: Teleports you short distance.
Dispel Magic: Cancels spells and magical effects.
Flaming Sphere: Creates rolling ball of fire, 2d6 damage, lasts 1 round/level.
Glitterdust: Blinds creatures, outlines invisible creatures.
Gust of Wind: Blows away or knocks down smaller creatures.
Levitate: Subject moves up and down at your direction.
Mirror Image: Creates decoy duplicates of you (1d4 +1 per three levels, max 8).
Owl’s Wisdom: Subject gains +4 to Wis for 1 min./level.
Protection from Energy: Absorb 12 points/level of damage from one kind of energy.
Scorching Ray: Ranged touch attack deals 4d6 fire damage, +1 ray/four levels (max 3).
Shatter: Sonic vibration damages objects or crystalline creatures.
Wind Wall: Deflects arrows, smaller creatures, and gases.

3RD-LEVEL KI MASTER SPELLS
Arcane Sight: Magical auras become visible to you.
Clairaudience/Clairvoyance: Hear or see at a distance for 1 min./level.
Darkvision: See 60 ft. in total darkness.
Displacement: Attacks miss subject 50%.
Fireball: 1d6 damage per level, 20-ft. radius.
Fly: Subject flies at speed of 60 ft.
Haste: One creature/level moves faster, +1 on attack rolls, AC, and Reflex saves.
Heroism: Gives +2 bonus on attack rolls, saves, skill checks.
Hold Person: Paralyzes one humanoid for 1 round/level.
Lightning Bolt: Electricity deals 1d6/level damage.
Magic Weapon, Greater: +1/four levels (max +5).
Rage: Subjects gains +2 to Str and Con, +1 on Will saves, –2 to AC.
Suggestion: Compels subject to follow stated course of action.
Vampiric Touch: Touch deals 1d6/two levels damage; caster gains damage as hp.
Water Walk: Subject treads on water as if solid.
Wind Wall: Deflects arrows, smaller creatures, and gases.

4TH-LEVEL KI MASTER SPELLS
Commune with Nature: Learn about terrain for 1 mile/level.
Dimension Door: Teleports you short distance.
Enervation: Subject gains 1d4 negative levels.
Fear: Subjects within cone flee for 1 round/level.
Fire Shield: Creatures attacking you take fire damage; you’re protected from heat or cold.
Freedom of Movement: Subject moves normally despite impediments.
Ice Storm: Hail deals 5d6 damage in cylinder 40 ft. across.
Invisibility, Greater: As invisibility, but subject can attack and stay invisible.
Locate Creature: Indicates direction to familiar creature.
Minor Creation: Creates one cloth or wood object.
Nondetection M: Hides subject from divination, scrying.
Polymorph: Gives one willing subject a new form.
Resilient Sphere: Force globe protects but traps one subject.
Shadow Conjuration: Mimics conjuration below 4th level, but only 20% real.
Shout: Deafens all within cone and deals 5d6 sonic damage.
Stoneskin M: Ignore 10 points of damage per attack.
Wall of Fire: Deals 2d4 fire damage out to 10 ft. and 1d4 out to 20 ft. Passing through wall deals 2d6 damage +1/level.
Wall of Ice: Ice plane creates wall with 15 hp +1/level, or hemisphere can trap creatures inside.

lord of kobolds
2008-04-22, 08:18 PM
This Seems Like A Fairly Balanced Class, Though I Might Sugg4est A Unique Capstone

Zeta Kai
2008-04-22, 09:44 PM
So, let me get this straight: it's a VERY monk-like base class with all good saves, but with half a sorcerer thrown into the mix for free, no really unique class features, & 5 dead levels (all after 10th level). I dunno man, I think it needs some polish.

Also, I don't the spell list for this class. I presume that it's on the way?

To fix this class, I'd suggest the following changes:

First, dead levels are no fun. Especially at higher levels, when you need all the class features you can get. Those dead levels at 11th, 13th, 17th, 18th, & 19th level need to be filled with something. Anything (seriously, nothing for 17th-19th level? Nobody would stick around till 20th level).
Second, I'd suggest some original class features, either instead of the current ones or in the dead levels. I have nothing against using published abilities, but this class doesn't offer anything unique to distinguish it from somebody multi-classing. Some class features that are unique to the Ki Master would make this class much more interesting to play. Try looking up the monk & sorcerer in the PH; find out what they can't do, & go from there. Or maybe a twist of some powers
Lastly, all good saves AND decent BAB works for a monk, but not a spellcaster. You should probably nerf something, so I'd say you could cut either the Fortitude save or the Reflex save without too much trouble. That would help balance the class (at least a little), & prevent accusations of brokenness.

I hope that this critique will be helpful. I like the idea of this class, & I think that ki powers are interesting & need to be explored further. This just needs some polish, is all.

arkanis
2008-04-22, 09:58 PM
I just put in the spell list.

The casting is a bit like Favored Soul and spells come from various places including Ranger, Paladin, and Sorcerer/Wizard. Its a compromise between Wisdom and Charisma which helps nerf them a little more so the warrior aspect doesn't break the spellcaster aspect.

The abilities are very similar to monk abilities, but I nerfed most of them, thus the class comes pre-nerfed for the spells. Its similar to a Paladin, in fact I used Paladin and Monk as starting points for creating it.

I admit, I don't like dead levels but I couldn't think of what to put for level 18. If anyone has any good ideas please let me know.

Tectorman
2008-04-23, 11:48 AM
Take a look at the Kundala in the Book of Erotic Fantasy. It's a Monk, but with spells (basically the Ranger to the Monk's Fighter). It's also pretty easy to incorporate, even being in the BoEF (ignore the Sexual Code of Conduct (it's basically meaningless, anyway, and the *ahem* picture on the left, and put in the missing weapon and armor proficiencies: I recommend simple weapons and light armor).

That said, let's take a look at your class.

Unarmed strike with no Monk damages? No Flurry of Blows?

I love the Martial Arts class feature. It fixes the inaccuracy of the Monk. One thing I'd add is for it to apply to attack-equivalent actions (Grappling, Disarming, etc.) so long as those actions involve light weapons or unarmed strikes (just so that those get bumped up in accuracy, too).

I created a class called the Psi-Fighter for the same purpose as this class. Originally, I had that class's manifester level equal to half its class level and I also had plenty of direct-damage powers on their powers list. I was quickly informed of my mistake. Now the manifester level is their class level minus three.

Your Ki Master has approximately 12 spells per day by level 20. Those are very limited resources. A single Fireball spell will drain a whole 3rd-level spell slot and you're only getting 1/2-caster-level d6 damage for it. Not the best use of resources or the power expected of a character of that level. Take a look at the other 1/2 caster level classes out there. The Hexblade, Paladin, and Ranger spell lists are spells whose effects are not based on caster level. Take a look at the Kundala; it's spell list is mostly self-buffing.

I'd either change the spells to effects that don't rely on caster level, or try to make an unarmed Duskblade.

arkanis
2008-04-23, 04:43 PM
Great idea for martial arts. Incorporated.

I added Quick Cast similar to a Duskblade.

I do need to change the spell-list but don't have access to a PHB2 now. Any actual spell change suggestions for the list?