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Hawk7915
2008-10-23, 04:09 PM
My first class design, currently in the process of being tested in a campaign. A group member really wanted to be a melee champion of Thor ala the "Thane" from Dark Age of Camelot, and felt that neither Cleric or Paladin were doing the job well enough. I designed this "fixed" Paladin since Paladins suck anyhow...let me know what you all think!
The Thane
The FluffI was stuck in that rotting fort for three weeks. The goblins crept in every night, killing my friends. We were helpless. So I prayed. I prayed to St. Cuthbert every night to help us, and every morning more of us would be dead. Finally, on the nineteenth day, they rushed us full out. As I saw the wave of scaly green bastards in front of me, I heard a voice: strong, firm, sure. I was filled with strength. I strode forward, and St. Cuthbert guided my mace. I focused my energy and he blessed my weapons. I managed to save what was left of my squad, single-handedly wiped out all those goblins…better late than never, I guess.
- Arathor, Thane of St. Cuthbert.

The Thane is to the Paladin as the Favored Soul is to the Cleric: a Thane is born, not made. He is chosen by his deity to be a great hero; he doesn’t dedicate his life to his God as a paladin might. The Thane in battle is quite inspirational; whether they were a born leader or not, the blessings of the Gods make them leaders.

Adventures: Thanes reasons for adventuring can vary greatly. Some Thanes were devout followers of their deity before they were blessed with power, and thus see themselves as active disciples of their lord in the same way a cleric or paladin might behave. More often, Thanes are former mercenaries, soldiers, scouts, or even commoners who have had this lifestyle thrust upon them, and who may adventure out of a basic sense to do good or evil, or to simply find answers as to why one day they were average and the next day they were powered by divine strength.

Characteristics: The Thane is primarily a front-line fighter; most people marked as Thanes are hearty folk who use brute force rather than spellcasting or diplomacy to solve problems. Thanes tend to favor more mobility; though, as many were common farmers or tavern keepers. A Thane is capable of calling on his God for minor miracles; he casts divine spells spontaneously and learns a new “miracle” at each level. Their greatest ability is the aura of inspiration they exude: a experienced Thane can turn that divine aura towards a variety of battle-turning blessings for himself and his party.

Alignment: There is no “code” to being a Thane, but nevertheless a Thane must act according to his patron deities will. A Thane that moves two or more steps away from their deity’s alignment loses all powers and cannot gain Thane levels until they receive an Atonement spell. That being said, some Thanes (most Thanes, perhaps) are not chest-thumping champions of their deity but reluctant heroes who basically try to do what they think their deity probably wants. It’s a much greyer level of morality than a cleric or paladin might deal with.

Races: Thanes are most common amongst Humans, Elves, and Dwarves, but any race that has a God might have a Thane, though usually only Good or Evil gods mark individuals as Thanes. It would be quite unusual to see a Thane of Boccob or Obad-hai.

Other Classes: Much as some wizards look down on sorcerers, many clerics and paladins find Thanes distasteful: they woke up one morning and were destined to serve as a God’s champion, while paladins and clerics have studied and trained their entire life. Thanes tend to identify with fighters as they too were often members of militias or armies before they found their calling. Beyond that a Thane’s feelings towards other classes are dictated largely by alignment: a Thane of Tyr might find working with lying scoundrels difficult, a Thane of Pelor would never work with a necromantic wizard or sorcerer, and a Thane of Eythnul might have trouble identifying with lawful types like Monks.

Role: Thanes are quite capable of filling the role of a party defender: taking the brunt of damage, and dealing out spectacular blows (augmented by their Divine Assault ability). However, their inability to wear heavy armor is a hindrance to being truly successful as a party “tank”. More often, a Thane serves as a supporting figure to a party with his auras and limited spell casting. The Thane is a flexible class that, depending on equipment and feat selection, can serve many functions.

Game Rule Information
HD: d10
Abilities: Charisma is used to determine bonus spells per day, if any, and save DC for the Thane's spells. A Charisma score equal to the spell level -10 is required to learn and cast a spell.
Class Skills: The Thane's class skills and the key attributes for each are: Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Diplomacy(Cha), Heal (Wis), Knowledge (Nature) (Int), Knowledge (Religion) (Int), Profession (Wis), and Sense Motive (Wis).
Skill Pointers Per level: 2 + int modifier.
Weapon and Armor Proficiencies: The Thane is proficient with all simple and martial weapons, light and medium armor, and shields (except tower shields).
Spells: A Thane is a spontaneous caster: He may cast any spell he knows as long as he has spells per day available in the same manner as a sorcerer. A Thane learns two spells at level one, and one spell at each additional level up. A Thane may receive bonus spells per day if they have a high charisma. Spells for a Thane are chosen from their Deity's domains (see Cleric domains) and the Paladin spell list at each level. A Thane does not require a holy symbol to cast spells.

The Thane
{table=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special|1st|2nd|3rd|4th|5th|Aura Bonus

1st|
+1|
+2|
+0|
+0|Divine Assault |0|-|-|-|-|-|

2nd|
+2|
+3|
+0|
+0||1|-|-|-|-|-|

3rd|
+3|
+3|
+1|
+1|Aura; Aura of Might|1|-|-|-|-|1|

4th|
+4|
+4|
+1|
+1|Divine Assault 2/day|1|-|-|-|-|1|

5th|
+5|
+4|
+1|
+1|Bonus Feat|1|0|-|-|-|1|

6th|
+6/+1|
+5|
+2|
+2|Turn or Rebuke Undead|2|0|-|-|-|1|

7th|
+7/+2|
+5|
+2|
+2|Aura of Vitality|2|1|-|-|-|1|

8th|
+8/+3|
+6|
+2|
+2|Divine Assault 3/day|2|1|1|-|-|2|

9th|
+9/+4|
+6|
+3|
+3| |2|1|1|-|-|2|

10th|
+10/+5|
+7|
+3|
+3|Bonus Feat|3|1|1|-|-|2|

11th|
+11/+6/+1|
+7|
+3|
+3|Aura of Endurance|3|2|1|1|-|2|

12th|
+12/+7/+2|
+8|
+4|
+4|Divine Assault 4/day|3|2|1|1|-|2|

13th|
+13/+8/+3|
+8|
+4|
+4|Class Ability|3|2|2|1|-|2|

14th|
+14/+9/+4|
+9|
+4|
+4||3|2|2|1|1|3|

15th|
+15/+10/+5|
+9|
+5|
+5|Aura of Power, Bonus Feat|4|3|2|2|1|3|

16th|
+16/+11/+6/+1|
+10|
+5|
+5|Divine Assault 5/day|4|3|3|2|1|3|

17th|
+17/12/+7/+2|
+10|
+5|
+5||4|3|3|2|1|3|

18th|
+18/+13/+8/+3|
+11|
+6|
+6||5|3|3|2|2|4|

19th|
+19/+14/+9/+4|
+11|
+6|
+6|Aura of Haste|5|4|3|3|2|4|

20th|
+20/+15/+10/+5|
+12|
+6|
+6|Bonus Feat, Divine Assault 6/day|5|4|4|3|3|4| [/table]

Divine Assault:Once per day at first level, a Thane may call on his deity to guide their strike. Doing so is a free action, and on their next attack this round (against an enemy within 30', if making a ranged attack), they add their Charisma modifier to attack, and their Thane level to the damage roll. Divine Assault may not be used against a creature that is the same alignment as the Thane, or against a follower of the Thane's deity. A Thane gains additional uses per day of Divine Assault as they gain levels.

Auras: A Thane learns how to project their divine power into several auras as they gain levels. The aura bonus is sacred (for good Thanes) and profane (for evil ones), and affects all allies within 30', including the Thane herself. Swapping auras is a standard action that provokes an attack of opportunity. The magnitude of bonus granted from an aura increases as the Thane levels up, as indicated on the above table.

Aura of Might - +X to weapon attack and damage rolls.
Aura of Vitality - Fast Healing X
Aura of Endurance - +X to saving throws and attempts to resist being tripped, overrun, disarmed, or bull rushed.
Aura of Power - Save DC of all spells +X, and +X to caster level checks to beat spell resistance.
Aura of Haste - +20' movement speed, +X dodge bonus to armor class, and can take an additional move or attack action per round. Does not stack with the "haste" spell.
Bonus Feat: Every 5th level, a Thane gains a bonus feat, chosen from the Fighter bonus feat list or any feat which requires Thane class features to obtain.

Hawk7915
2008-10-25, 12:28 PM
No one has any thoughts? Is it terrible? Overpowered? Boring?
Currently it's being played in a group of six, all ECL 4: Human Barbarian, Human Psychic Warrior, Human Sorcerer, Human Wizard, Human Thane, and Dwarf Monk (with a fix giving the Monk full BAB and the ability to "pounce" once per day), and thus far the Thane has been solid but not spectacular. About all he's really been good for is that he can cast a cure spell twice per day and buffs damage, with the Monk and Barbarian being the party rockstars (though I'm sure as we approach 5th level, the arcane casters will take off since they'll finally have enough spells to defend themselves and still blast/SaveorDie things).
That might be a build thing as opposed to a base power level thing, but other than his last two auras the Thane seems about as strong on paper as a Bard or Psychic Warrior. Any thoughts at all?

Suzuro
2008-10-25, 01:50 PM
Well, I'm not too good at this stuff, but I'll take a few shots.

It appears that you're trying to replace the paladin, almost. Casts better spells than the paladin, has a smite evil that isn't as restrictive, can turn undead and it has auras. It pretty much trumps the paladin in every category.



EDIT: aaaaand...I just read the preface, and now feel like a dumb-A.


-Suzuro

sigurd
2008-10-25, 05:09 PM
Full BAB progression with very little given up for it. High HD, spells, turning.....

Start by reducing the basic attack bonus to the same one as the cleric.

Sigurd


Truthfully, I was disappointed when it wasn't much like the Thane from history.

SilentNight
2008-10-27, 08:40 PM
Wait, I thought paladins were chosen, not self-made? The class looks good though.

thevorpalbunny
2008-10-28, 11:32 PM
Full BAB progression with very little given up for it. High HD, spells, turning.....

Start by reducing the basic attack bonus to the same one as the cleric.

It's supposed to fight. Good BAB is a baseline, everything else is to determine the personality of the class.



What I'm seeing in the class is the Paladin losing his mount, detect evil, ability to wear heavy armor, and good healing but gaining leadership, bard spells rather than paladin, and occassional bonus feats. The Auras are big, and the bard progression is better, but it could still use something. I don't think heavy armor would be overpowering.

You need an ability to fill in level 13 ("Class Ability").

It would be better to smooth out the Aura strength progression and increase it's strength a little for a bit more power. I suggest 1 at 3rd, then +1 every 4 levels thereafter.

I like the new, improved Smite; both the flavor of targeting and the feeling of having their strikes guided by their force of personality and their enemies punished by their god.

I suggest making the armor boost and the Aura boost. If this is too much and he becomes a bit too good at tanking, drop the Aura.