PDA

View Full Version : The Xia (Kung Fu Knight) [PrC]



DaTedinator
2008-05-08, 06:00 PM
The Xia

The xia are a widely varied group who have sought to study of the greatest of all martial arts: Kung Fu. Their intense study teaches them not only the physical aspects of most arts, nor simply the mental discipline of others; it teaches both those, and how to combine them together into one unstoppable whole.
The xia begins learning the physical form, moves on to the mental Force, and eventually masters the applications of each, and the theory that binds them together.
Xia come from a variety of past pursuits, from Fighters and Rogues seeking to enhance their understanding of the mind's interactions with the body, to Monks and Swordsages looking for the ultimate Martial Art, to Psychic Warriors and even Psions who wish to enhance their mental processes. Arcanists and Barbarians, Druids and Paladins can all benefit from at least a bit of training in Kung Fu, and many do.

Hit Dice: d8

Requirements
To qualify to become a xia, a character must meet the following prerequisites.

BAB: +6
Feats: Improved Unarmed Strike, any two of the following: Improved Disarm, Improved Grapple, Improved Trip, Snap Kick, Stunning Fist.
Skills: 10 ranks total in either of the following: Autohypnosis, Concentration; 10 ranks total in any of the following: Knowledge (Any), Martial Lore, Spellcraft; 18 ranks total in any of the following: Balance, Climb, Jump, Move Silently, Tumble; 10 ranks total in any of the following: Listen, Spot, Sense Motive.
Special: Must be proficient with at least 5 non-simple weapons.
Special: The prospective xia must be trained in the art of Kung Fu either by a 3rd level xia, or a Kung Fu text of sufficient detail.

Skills
The Xia’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Autohypnosis (Wis), Balance (Dex), Climb (Str), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Escape Artist (Dex), Heal (Wis), Hide (Dex), Jump (Str), Knowledge (All, chosen seperately) (Int), Listen (Wis), Martial Lore (Int), Move Silently (Dex), Perform (Cha), Profession (Wis), Sense Motive (Wis), Sleight of Hand (Dex), Spellcraft (Int), Spot (Wis), Tumble (Dex).

Skill Points at Each Level: 6 + Int. Modifier

{table=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special
1st|
+0|
+2|
+2|
+2|Start over new, kung fu

2nd|
+1|
+3|
+3|
+3|Formlessness to form

3rd|
+2|
+3|
+3|
+3|Quigong, force

4th|
+3|
+4|
+4|
+4|Form to formlessness, application

5th|
+3|
+4|
+4|
+4|Zen, theory[/table]

Class Features
The Following are class features of the xia.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: The xia gains no new weapon or armor proficiencies.

Start Over New: While gaining levels in xia, you learn how to apply your xia training to your previous training. Include your xia level when calculating any character ability based on your class levels (such as caster level for spellcasting classes, initiator level for martial adepts, or save DCs for classes with special abilities whose DCs are based on class level). You don’t gain any abilities, spells known, or spells per day from the addition of your xia levels, though—only the calculations of your level-based abilities are affected.
If you have levels in two or more classes in addition to your xia levels, each class gains the benefit of adding the xia levels when calculating abilities.

Kung Fu: Your training has taught you how to combine both your physical and mental strength into one powerful whole; for anything requiring the use of either your Strength or Charisma score, you may use the highest; in addition, the higher is modified by the bonus of the lower one (if there is a bonus). This is now your Power score, and is treated as a single ability score; anything that would modify either your Strength or Charisma scores modifies it, and you get a +4 bonus on saves against anything draining or damaging the score.

For example: a xia with a Strength of 14 and a Charisma of 12 would have a Power score of 15 (14 for Strength, +1 for Charisma modifier); and it could be increased by either a Belt of Giant’s Strength or a Cloak of Charisma, but not both, since they give enhancement bonuses, and enhancement bonuses don’t stack.

Formlessness to Form: You have begun to master the techniques of Kung Fu. You gain additional uses of the following skills:

Balance:Combat Stance: You know a variety of combat stances with different benefits. By making a Balance check, you may enter a Martial Stance (as Tome of Battle) as a swift action; the maximum level of the stance is equal to your Intelligence modifier, and the DC is equal to 20 + (the level of the stance squared).

Climb:Feet of the Moth: Your step is so precise, you may walk on a wall as easily as the floor. By making a Climb check, you may walk across a vertical surface as though it were floor. The DC is equal to the number of feet traveled. You may end your turn standing on the wall, but if you do, the distance traveled in this round counts for the DC next round.

Jump: Leaf on the Wind: Your step is as light as a leaf carried by the breeze. By adding +10 to the DC of a Jump check, you may end your movement in midair. On your next turn, you fall to the ground (albeit gently; you take only half falling damage, and the damage is nonlethal) if you do not make an additional jump check, with a DC that is 5 higher per round spent in midair.

In addition, the DC for any high jump a xia makes is halved (so it is double the DC for a long jump, rather than quadruple).

Move Silently:Lily in the Water: Your step is as gentle as a lily resting on a lake. By making a Move Silently check, you may walk across an unstable surface (such as water) as though it were solid land. The DC is equal to 10 + (the number of feet traveled). You may end your turn standing on water, but if you do, the distance traveled in this round counts for the DC next round.

It’s notable that due to rapidly increasing DCs, many xia choose to make repeated jump checks when on the water (particularly with their Leaf on the Wind ability), rather than simply standing on water for extrended periods of time.

Tumble:Flight of the Rabbit: Your study of the Rabbit’s reflexes have taught you how to escape a pursuing foe. Whenever an opponent moves so that you are within its reach, you may take an immediate action to attempt a DC 30 Tumble check to immediately gain a five-foot step to step outside their reach. If you like, you may attempt only a DC 20 Tumble check, however they are then immediately granted a free five-foot step so long as they use it to pursue you.

Brown Bear Hunts its Prey: Your study of the Bear has taught you the secret to keeping your foe up close, where you like them. Whenever an opponent takes a five-foot step outside your reach, you may take an immediate action to attempt a DC 30 Tumble check to immediately gain a five-foot step to bring them back within your reach. If you like, you may attempt a DC 40 check and take an attack of opportunity against them, instead of pursuing them.

Quigong: Your training has taught you how to combine both your physical and mental toughness into one unbreakable whole; for anything requiring the use of either your Constitution or Wisdom score, you may use the highest; in addition, the higher is modified by the bonus of the lower one (if there is a bonus). This is now your Force score, and is treated as a single ability score; anything that would modify either your Constitution or Wisdom scores modifies it, and you get a +4 bonus on saves against anything draining or damaging the score.

Force: Your mastery of Kung Fu extends to manipulating your internal Force, of which Ki is an part; but Force is much, much more. You gain the following additional uses of the following skills:

Autohypnosis:Hunt for the Displacer Beast: Your study of the Displacer Beast has taught you how to use your Force to distort your form. As a swift action, you may attempt a DC 25 Autohypnosis check to grant yourself Concealment until the beginning of your next turn. Alternatively, you may attempt a DC 45 Autohypnosis check to grant yourself Total Concealment until the beginning of your next turn.

Skin of the Troll: Your study of the Troll has taught you have to heal your own wounds. You may make a DC 25 Autohypnosis check to heal yourself; you heal 1 HP if you take an immediate action (this may be attempted even when incapacitated), 1d4 if a swift action, 2d4 if a move action, 2d6 if a standard action, or 3d6 if a full-round action. Every 10 you exceed the DC by adds an additional die of the same type.

Blinding Speed of the Vapaad Your study of the swamp-dwelling Vapaad’s blindingly fast attacks have taught you how to use your Force to project your body to speeds faster than should be possible. You may attempt a DC 30 Autohypnosis check to gain a move action as an immediate action. You may attempt a DC 40 check to gain a standard action, or a DC 50 check to gain a full round’s worth of actions (except for new swift or immediate actions). In any case, the DC is reduced by 5 if you attempt it as a swift action instead of an immediate action.

Concentration:Kiss of the Dragon: Your study of the Dragon has taught you how to place your Force outside of your own body, so as to attack a foe you cannot physically reach. By making a DC 20 Concentration check as a Standard action, you may make a single attack with a range of 30 feet that deals 2d4 Force damage; the damage increases by +1d4 for every 5 you beat the DC. You may use Snap Kick with this technique.

Grey Render Uproots a Tree: Your study of the hulking Grey Render has taught you how to attack as a creature much larger than yourself. As a swift action taken after connecting with a melee attack, you may make a DC 25 Concentration check. If you succeed, you may attempt a Bull Rush, with the exception that you don’t need to make a melee touch attack (you've already connected; this also means you don't provoke and attack of opportunity), and you don't need to move with your opponent.

One Finger Punch: You know how to focus all of your Force into a single digit, allowing you to attack with intensely focused energy. By making a DC 30 Concentration check as a swift action, you may make a single unarmed attack as a touch attack. An opponent immune to Sneak Attacks is immune to this technique.

Form to Formlessness: Your mastery of Kung Fu has reached the point that you no longer rely on set techniques, instead modifying the technique to fit the situation. You gain an additional swift action each round, which cannot be used for an immediate action (i.e., you may take two swift actions, or a swift and an immediate action, but not two immediate actions). In addition, you ignore improvised weapon penalties if you can reasonably relate an improvised weapon to a weapon you’re proficient with (i.e., a broken bottle to a dagger is a reasonable comparison, as is a ten-foot-pole to a longspear; a chair to a club is not).

Application: You have learned the vital lesson of how to apply Kung Fu training to more than just combat, and how to apply non-combat training to your Kung Fu. You gain the following additional uses of skills:

Listen:Monkey Listens to Zen: You can hear the tiny movements of a person; their shifts in position, the pounding of their heart, and most importantly, the subtle fluctuations of their Force. As a swift action, you may attempt a DC 20 Listen check to gain Blindsight with a 5-foot radius until the beginning of your next turn. For every 10 by which you beat the DC, the range of the Blindsight increases by 5 feet.

Sense Motive:Know Your Opponent: By understanding how your opponent is thinking even better than they themselves do, you may begin to prevent their actions before they even start them. You may make a Sense Motive check to oppose any special combat actions your opponent makes (such as Trip attacks or Grapple attempts) and whenever you beat an opponent’s Feint attempt by 5 or more, you may attempt a Feint against them as an immediate action at a +5 bonus.

Spot:Eyes of the Cat: It is a little-known fact that all cats can in fact see auras; your study of them has allowed you to do the same. As a swift action, you may attempt a DC 20 Spot check to gain an Arcane Sight effect for one round. In addition, for every 10 you beat the DC you may add one additional Detect spell to the effect.

Zen: Your training has taught you how to combine both your physical and mental agility into one unstoppable whole; for anything requiring the use of either your Dexterity or Intelligence score, you may use the highest; in addition, the higher is modified by the bonus of the lower one (if there is a bonus). This is now your Zen score, and is treated as a single ability score; anything that would modify either your Dexterity or Intelligence scores modifies it, and you get a +4 bonus on saves against anything draining or damaging the score.

If this results in an increased Intelligence modifier, you do not retroactively gain skill points, as normal.

Theory: Having mastered Kung Fu, you are aware of not only the applications, but of the reasoning behind them; you not only know what to do, but why you should do it; not only that, but from a glance you can size up your opponents, their training, and how best to defeat them. You gain the following additional application for skills:

The White Spider Weaves its Trap:Your study of Kung Fu theory has taught you how to best overcome any opponent. You may spend an immediate action to make either a Martial Lore, Knowledge, or Spellcraft check instead of a variety of other checks, as listed:

{table=head]Skill|Used Against:
Martial Lore|Attack Roll
Knowledge (Tactics)|Special Maneuver
Knowledge (Pertaining to Creature type)|Special Attack
Spellcraft|Spell[/table]

Martial Lore: When attacked with a weapon you are proficient with, you may make a Martial Lore roll that can replace your AC for just that attack, if the result is higher than your AC. You may not make this check after hearing the result of the roll.

Knowledge (Tactics): When opposing a special maneuver (for example, a Trip or a Grapple), you may make a Knowledge (Tactics) check instead of any ability check, attack roll, or the like. This can not be used to make an attack of opportunity.

Knowledge (Pertaining to creature type1): When the target of any creature's natural attack or special attack, you may make the appropriate Knowledge check instead of a saving throw, or to replace your AC.

Spellcraft: When the target of any spell, you may make a Spellcraft check instead of a saving throw, or to replace your AC.

1i.e., Arcana for Dragons, Dungeoneering for Aberrations, etc..

---

New Feats

Path of the Bard
Your previous training as a bard has granted you new avenues for using your Kung Fu: projecting your Force with your instruments.
Prerequisites: Bardic Music, Perform 8 ranks, Quigong, Form to Formlessness
Benefits: You gain a new Bardic Music: The Deadly Melody. By spending a use of Bardic Music, you may use your music as a vicious attack form, focusing your Ki through your chosen instrument as an attack at your opponents. Each round of the Bardic Music, you may make a single ranged attack at any opponent within 60 feet. You may add your Force modifier to the attack roll, instead of your Dexterity modifier, if you so desire. If you hit, you deal 1d6 Force damage per three ranks in Perform. By spending an additional use of Bardic Music while performing the Deadly Melody, you may either make a full attack, or may alter the attack to a line 15 feet wide, and 60 feet long; in this case, anyone hit is allowed a Reflex save (DC 10 + 1/2 your character level + your Force modifier) for half damage. You may perform the Deadly Melody for up to ten rounds.
Special: If you are using either Perform (Oratory) or Perform (Sing), the damage is Sonic instead of Force, by spending a use of Bardic Music you may give it an area of a 30 foot cone (instead of a line), and the technique is known as The Lion’s Roar.

Path of the Berserker
Your previous training in unleashing inhibitions has allowed you to truly unleash your inner Force.
Prerequisites: Ability to rage or frenzy; Force, Form to Formlessness.
Benefits: While in a rage or frenzy, you may still make full use of the Autohypnosis and Concentration skills; in fact, you gain an extra swift action each round that may only be used on one of them.

Path of the Gish
Your previous training in the art of both combat and spellcasting has benefited greatly from your Kung Fu training.
Prerequisites: BAB +10, able to cast 2nd level spells, Form to Formlessness.
Benefits: You may sacrifice a 2nd level spell slot to gain an extra swift action for one turn. You may also burn a 4th level spell slot to gain an extra immediate action.

----------

One note: I realize many DMs might feel iffy about introducing "Kung Fu" into their games; it's a simple matter of names to change the Xia, a Kung Fu Knight, into the Son of Mind and Body, instructed in the ancient martial training of the Gith that they used to break out from under the Mind Flayers, or even the Wandering Blade, a member of an elite group of swords-for-hire who secretly accept instruction from the Ancient Flame, a fiend hidden in the bowels of their home fort. Whatever you feel like. It's your game.

But yes, that's it! I think the balance level could certainly use some eyeballing; I'm generally okay with it, but I realize that there are many savvier players than I who are much better at breaking things. So, thoughts or suggestions?

DaTedinator
2008-05-15, 11:58 PM
Added three feats to allow members of previous classes to better utilize their previous training.

MorkaisChosen
2008-05-16, 10:25 AM
The skill uses look good (although I'd suggest making the water-walking thing into a Balance check, since you can already do the same with a Balance check of DC80), but there's one thing I'd suggest, if you have ToB:

Make this a Martial Adept class.

ToB was written with this kind of stuff in mind- just look at the Diamond Mind school, with its perfect focus leading to amazing feats. I don't think it'd take too much balancing- in fact, Start Over implies that this class adds +1/level to IL, rather than +1/2 levels- you could just add something specifically saying that, and maybe a couple of extra manoeuvres known/ readied (Diamond Mind definitely, maybe Setting Sun, probably some others would fit but I can't remember what they are).

Yakk
2008-05-16, 01:49 PM
The "Start over new" thing has some flavor, but it is problematic...

First, it is mechanically strange.

Second, it means that starting as an "already Xia" is way different than starting at as "almost Xia", if you get my drift.

You could make the class a 6-8 level class, and have the first level provide next to no benefits? That also lets you hand out the benefits at a more ... reasonable pace.

Ie:
1 Start Over New (penalties just for this level)
2 Kung Fu (Str+Cha merge)
3 Formlessness to Form (mobility skills)
4 Quigong (Wis+Con merge)
5 Force (action at a distance etc)
6 Form to Formlessness, Application
7 Zen (Int+Dex merge)
8 Theory (this needs a clean up)

That spreads the mastery of these techniques over more levels.

...

Another idea: ability damage/drain to the "Kung Fu" stats might be halved?

...

Theory is a bit cumbersome as described.

First, it has some really strange conditions. Second, the bonuses it grants are to a somewhat eclectic set of rolls. Third, the bonuses are small-ish and random in size, so have to be hand-calculated.

It needs a clean up, somehow. Dunno what.

DaTedinator
2008-05-18, 08:22 PM
I dunno about expanding it. If possible I might like to tone it down a bit rather than make it longer; I tried to make it so that it wouldn't take up too much of your development; the goal was for, say, a Barbarian Xia to be as viable as a Duskblade or Rogue or whatnot. Obviously full casters are always less inclined to a class that doesn't advance spellcasting, but, the option is there due to the Caster level increases.

So if I do expand it, I'd like to include some way to better advance previous class features, or at least make it so it's easier to dip, or something.

As for Martial Maneuvers, I do not have ToB, but I don't think it would necessarily be overpowered to maybe give it a stance, and a couple maneuvers. Since, yes, it does advance initiator level anyway. However, since I don't have it, I'd need someone who does to tell me what the appropriate amount/disciplines would be.

As for Theory... yeah. I was well aware it was strange. But I have no idea how to redo it. The spirit of the ability is to be able to apply combat theory, obviously; maybe, allowing you to use skill checks for things like, Spellcraft for a saving throw against a spell, use Martial Lore to oppose a melee attack, Knowledge (Tactics) to oppose any special combat action, or Knowledge (pertaining to a creature) to oppose any racial special abilities, whether to replace AC or as a saving throw? Any of those would be an immediate action. Would that work, y'think?

DaTedinator
2008-10-08, 11:06 PM
Necromantic bump...

Reworked Theory. Thoughts now?

Still iffy about Start Over New. Does anyone have any ideas how to make that cleaner?

AstralFire
2008-10-08, 11:40 PM
I would make it into a ritual to be done rather than actually forcing someone to suffer through 13-14 CR appropriate encounters like that.